MATESA RESPONDS TO OSCE'S CRITICISMS

( Editorial: --> 2560 ) ZAGREB, March 26 (Hina) - Premier Zlatko Matesa on Thursday responded to yesterday's reactions by OSCE representatives in Croatia on his earlier statement in which he said that the international community was not paying enough attention to the return of displaced Croats from Bosnia-Herzegovina. "According to all discussions which I have had to date, and prompted by talks with representatives of the Croatian Association of the Displaced, I think that there exists a disproportion of care for those displaced, regardless of what the OSCE representatives think about that," Matesa told reporters. On 18 March, Matesa said he regretted the fact that "the international community is showing almost no interest in the return of our people, of whom a large number are still accommodated in hotels and private houses, or in the rights of those Croats who came to Croatia as refugees from Bosnia-Herzegovina, mostly from Republika Srpska". "I would like the leadership of the OSCE Mission and other international factors to pay some attention to that group of people as well," Matesa said back then. The OSCE spokesperson in Croatia, Mark Thompson, responded to those comments yesterday, expressing regret that the accusation directed to his organisation, which he says has come up before, came "from such a high level". According to Thompson, Bosnian Croats are complaining to OSCE that the authorities in Croatia do not wish to make their return home easier. He resented that Matesa called these displaced Croats from Bosnia- Herzegovina "our people" and in his opinion "excluded people of other nationalities". In Thursday's statement Matesa stresses that his contribution to trust establishment can be seen through the work of the Croatian Government and what it has done for the peaceful reintegration of the Croatian Danube River region. If it wasn't for that contribution, said Matesa, OSCE would not be in Croatia and they would not have anything to monitor or judge. He said that for him as the Croatian Premier, all Croatian citizens were equal. However, Matesa said he would like the return of Croats expelled from Republika Srpska to be given the same importance as the return of other Croatian citizens who are today in Republika Srpska, and that equal conditions for the return of all people are made both in Croatia and Republika Srpska and other territories "I do not have the impression that this is being done with the same degree of effort," said Matesa. (hina) jn mrb/rm 261750 MET mar 98