SIMONOVIC WELCOMES ROLE OF INT. COMMUNITY IN SOLVING KOSOVO CRISIS

( Editorial: --> 3840 ) WASHINGTON, April 1 (Hina) - Croatia's Ambassador in the United Nations, Ivan Simonovic, welcomed the active role of the international community in solving the crisis in Kosovo and supported the idea of a political solution which would take into account both the conclusions of the Badinter commission and Kosovo's territorial autonomy. Speaking at Tuesday's session of the UN Security Council which adopted a resolution on imposing an arms embargo on Yugoslavia, Simonovic said: "Croatia believes that all political questions in Kosovo, including its future status, must be solved through dialogue between Belgrade authorities and Kosovo Albanians and through a truly democratic political process". That dialogue must take into account both the views of the Badinter commission on the inviolability of borders of new states which emerged after the disintegration of former Yugoslavia as well as the tradition of Kosovo's territorial autonomy, Simonovic said. The lack of respect which Yugoslavia showed towards the views of the Badinter commission concerning the territorial integrity of its neighbours Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina is returning to Yugoslavia like a boomerang in Kosovo, he added. Croatia condemns the violation of human rights and rejects all acts and forms of terrorism "regardless whether they are committed by the state, a group or an individual, bearing in mind the fact that state terrorism represents the most dangerous form of terrorism because of possibilities the state has at its disposal". Croatia respects the importance of normalisation of relations between Yugoslavia and the international community but it believes that a precondition for that is for Yugoslavia to submit membership applications and meet all admission criteria, as is the case with all new candidates, Simonovic said. (hina) rm 011144 MET apr 98