CROATIA FACING POST-WAR TURNING POINT - MINISTER TELLS UNHCR

( Editorial: --> 0327 ) GENEVA, March 17 (Hina) - Following the successful completion of the peaceful reintegration of the Croatian Danube region, Croatia has achieved a necessary level of peace, stability and security. Now it can turn to economic and social development, the protection of human rights and participation in Euro-Atlantic integration processes, Croatian European Integration Minister Dr. Ljerka Mintas-Hodak said on Tuesday in Geneva at a UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR) meeting. Mintas-Hodak said that this year, when the world marks the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, also represented a turning-point for Croatia. In spite of the past achievements, there were several issues resulting from the aggression on Croatia which still had to be resolved, such as tracking down and identification of the missing people, helping war victims and invalids, and the return of refugees and displaced people, Mintas-Hodak said. Emphasising how recently launched changes to the Croatian tenancy legislation would facilitate the two-way return process. The Croatian Minister noted that more than 31,000 Serbs had returned to their homes in Croatia. Of that number 12,000 had returned from eastern Slavonia to other Croatian areas, while others arrived from the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Croatia is the only country in the region which has experienced such a large scale return, Mintas-Hodak said. She recalled that the UNHCR estimated that future implementation of the trust establishment and humanitarian programmes in Croatia required $44.6 million. The Croatian Minister also warned the UNHCR meeting of the problems of mines which still remained in parts of Croatia. Mintas-Hodak said it was necessary to improve coordination of activities of various international organisation that monitor the state of human rights in Croatia. She also said the promotion of human rights could not be an excuse for political pressure. "Cooperation with the International Tribunal in The Hague is for Croatia a legal, a political and a moral obligation," Mintas-Hodak said. However, she added that the breakdown of ICTY's indictees should reflect relative responsibility of different parties in the conflict. Croatia supports the activities of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson, whose forthcoming visit to Croatia will encourage future cooperation, Mintas-Hodak concluded. (Hina) jn mb /mr 172042 MET mar 98