OSCE & CROATIA TO DISCUSS RETURN PROCEDURE FOR SERB REFUGEES

( Editorial: --> 5593 ) ZAGREB, April 8 (Hina) - The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) mission is discussing with Croatian authorities the document on the procedure for the return of Serb refugees to Croatia with which it is dissatisfied and it expects negotiations soon on a high government level, mission spokesman Branimir Radev said in Zagreb on Wednesday. The Croatian Government last week released the document in which it outlined the procedure for individual return to Croatia for all refugees including Serbs, but the OSCE's initial reaction was that it had elements which it could not approve. OSCE head in Croatia Tim Guldimann last week said the international community would open dialogue with Croatia over the document. At Wednesday's press conference, Radev said the mission had already this week taken part in talks at the experts level. We expect discussions to continue in the next few days at a high government level, he said. Radev recalled the OSCE's stance that the document had to respect principles in which every citizen had a basic and unconditional right of return to their home and that this right could not be subordinated by something else. The OSCE assessed that the situation in the Croatian Danube River region was continuing to deteriorate and Serbs were continuing to leave. If the departure of Serbs continued and urgent measures were not undertaken then this region might no longer be multi-ethnic, the mission said. UN High Commissioner for Refugees spokesman Andrej Mahecic said a total of 1,871 Croatian Serbs had sought asylum in Norway and that 61 asylum seekers had arrived in that country last week. The UN civil police support group in the Danube region reported that some Croat police officers had allegedly taken part in frightening Serbs in the area. We have a larger number of reports on incidents and that police officers had allegedly taken part in incidents and they are taking part in intimidating the local population, UN civil police spokeswoman Kirsten Haupt told reporters. Five such incidents had been reported last week, she said. Cooperation with police in the Croatian Danube region was generally good and these are isolated incidents, Haupt said, adding however that such behaviour would not help strengthen reconciliation. She said the UN civil police would ask the commander of Croatian police in the Danube region, Josko Moric, to take disciplinary action against police officers who had taken part in the incidents. (Hina) mm mb /lm 082040 MET apr 98