ANNAN'S REPORT IS FAVOURABLE FOR CROATIA - SIMONOVIC

( Editorial: --> 7681 ) WASHINGTON, Jan 28 (Hina) - Croatian Ambassador to the UN, Ivan Simonovic, said on Tuesday that the latest report by UN Secretary- General Kofi Annan on the UNTAES mandate had been calm in tone, and expected and favourable for Croatia in content. The most important was Annan's assessment that the process of reintegration was continuing and that progress was visible in all crucial areas, Simonovic said in a statement issued in New York. He said that Annan's call for the consistent implementation of the programme of establishing trust on the local level was consistent with efforts of the Croatian government and its commission for the Danubian region. The presence of the UN support group, OSCE and UNHCR in the Croatian Danubian area after the end of the UNTAES mandate on 15 January did not jeopardise Croatia's sovereignty, and it was realistic to expect that they will cease gradually, parallel with achieved results in the completion of the reintegration process, Simonovic said. International presence in the Danubian area and observing had their good side - the prevention of subterfuge, and guaranteed complete transparency. The independent solving of the remaining issues would prove that Croatia had successfully been separated from the area of crisis of the southeast of Europe, and that conditions were ripe for it to join European economic associations and Western defence alliances, Simonovic said. Supporting the achieved success was also the fact stated by Annan that the number of people leaving the Danubian area was significantly smaller than had been expected, Simonovic said, adding that Serbs had successfully assimilated not only into the political life of Croatia, but also in the life of the Serb minority in Croatia, a significant part of whom had remained loyal to their homeland during the whole period of aggression, and had actively participated in its defence. The positive development of the situation was obvious by the fact that in this report, the accent had been removed from security issues to peace-time problems: the importance of economic development of the Danube river region, social security of the citizens and the protection of the cultural autonomy of the Serbs, he said. We would have liked the report to more clearly call on the international community to provide support in the economic reconstruction of the Danubian area, especially if it is taken into consideration that out of the US$1.7 billion invested into reconstruction, the international community had contributed only with three per cent of the amount. An International donors' conference was being prepared for this May for the reconstruction of the Croatian Danube river region, Simonovic said. (hina) lm jn 281206 MET jan 98