SERBS WALK OUT OF VUKOVAR TOWN COUNCIL MEETING

( Editorial: --> 4011 ) VUKOVAR, April 1 (Hina) - After members of the Independent Democratic Serb Party walked out of the Vukovar Town Council meeting on Tuesday, the chairman of the Vukovar branch of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), Petar Mlinaric, told Hina on Wednesday that the local HDZ would meet this week and offer solutions to the problems discussed in the meeting. Serb councillors left the meeting on Tuesday dissatisfied with the representation of Serbs in the town leadership. Mlinaric said that Croatian councillors called for the replacement of the Town Council chairman Marko Ceprnja, who had also left the meeting. Mlinaric also said that the Town Council had quorum even without the Serb councillors, so it could continue working. The SDSS councillors repeat in a statement on Wednesday that they do not intend to take part in the work of the Town Council until their demands are met, for example, that the Town Council be filled proportionally to the pre-war population structure of Vukovar, when there lived 45% Croats and 32% Serbs. Commenting on that request, Petar Mlinaric said that in that case, the Vukovar HDZ would require this ratio to be followed in all Vukovar institutions, administrations and businesses, which would certainly not please Serbs. Namely, in many of those institutions and businesses there had been very few Croats before the war. For example, from 300 working in the Borovo company, there were only a dozen Croats. The situation was similar in "Vuteks", the tax department, as well as in other services, concluded Mlinaric. (hina) jn jfk/mrb 012048 MET apr 98