UN CIVIL POLICE: COOPERATION WITH CROATIAN POLICE SATISFACTORY

( Editorial: --> 3220 ) VUKOVAR, March 29 (Hina) - On the occasion of Sunday's visit of special US envoy Robert Gelbard to Vukovar, UN Civil Police Support Group issued a statement describing its cooperation with the Croatian police as satisfactory. That especially referred to Interior Minister Ivan Penic and his assistant Josko Moric, the statement said. An important factor in controlling the overall situation in the Croatian Danube River region was a system the UN Civil Police Support Group used in monitoring the Croatian police, said the statement. However, Croatian citizens were still leaving the Danube River region due to continued ethnically motivated incidents and a lack of progress in numerous issues which should be resolved on the political level as well as due to the difficult economic situation. If considerable attention is not paid to those issues, the region might stop being a multiethnic area, the statement said. The satisfactory work of the Croatian police would not be enough should the Croatian government fail to deal with the basic causes of frequently ethnically motivated incidents in the Danube River region and other parts of the country, in line with its international commitments, the statement concluded. (hina) rm 291837 MET mar 98