CROATS IN SERBIA FEAR EXTREMISTS IN NEW GOVERNMENT

( Editorial: --> 3741 ) BELGRADE, March 31 (Hina) - Representatives of Croats in Serbia believe the inclusion of the neo-fascist Serbian Radical Party (SRS) into the Serbian Government will further aggravate the troubles of local Croats. "Judging by past experiences with the Socialist Party's coalition partner, which recently in Subotica called for the expulsion of Croats, we believe that our life here will be complicated even more," believes Democratic Alliance of Vojvodina Croats president Bela Tonkovic. Vojislav Seselj's extremist SRS, whose paramilitary units have become notorious for their crimes during Serb aggression in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, has been given one-third of the total number of ministers in the new Serbian cabinet. Commenting on the Association's session on Sunday for the Belgrade news agency Beta, Tonkovic said Croats were "getting ready for a harder life". However, they "will not cave in" and will use all democratic instruments to fend off "extremist policies", Tonkovic said. He remarked that recently Vojvodina Croats "suffered heavy blows", which triggered an exodus of about 45,000 Croats from the northern Serbian province. "Presently the most serious problem is the very negative public image of Croats, which has been created by hatred-filled speeches and anti-Croat propaganda over the past few years," Tonkovic said. He added that Vojvodina Croats expected Serbian authorities to "take apart the negative image of Croats just as methodically as they built it". Tonkovic pointed to the unresolved status of Croats in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY), noting that in spite of the Agreement on Normalisation of Relations between Croatia and the FRY nothing had been done on implementation of a provision on the status and the rights of the FRY Croats. The Vojvodina Croats are an autochtonous community. Vojvodina was annexed to Serbia after disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. Before 1989 the province had a high degree of autonomy. (Hina) jn mr /mb 311954 MET mar 98