1500 PEOPLE RETURN TO DANUBE REGION IN THE FIRST HALF OF APRIL

( Editorial: --> 7576 ) VUKOVAR, April 17 (Hina) - Fifteen hundred people returned to the Croatian Danube River region during the first fortnight of April, National Trust Establishment Committee vice-president Ivica Vrkic said on Friday. Vrkic and Independent Serb Democratic Party (SDSS) president Vojislav Stanimirovic held a press conference in Vukovar following a working meeting with local government representatives from the Danube region. Vrkic said the security situation in the Croatian Danube region was stable and it was vital that the rule of law be established as soon as possible because it would resolve current problems experienced by Croats and Serbs. There are between 1500 and 2500 newly reconstructed flats in Vukovar and regulations are being drawn up to resolve the problem of empty flats, Vrkic said. Stanimirovic said between 50,000 and 60,000 Serbs in Yugoslavia were waiting to return to Croatia. (Hina) mm mb /as 171856 MET apr 98