SIMONOVIC: PREVLAKA IS EXCLUSIVELY A SECURITY ISSUE

( Editorial: --> 7038 ) WASHINGTON, July 11 (Hina) - Croatian Ambassador in the United Nations, Ivan Simonovic, has called on the Security Council to clearly confirm Croatia's sovereignty over Prevlaka in its next resolution on this question. In any new resolution on this issue the Security Council should be even more explicit and make known that Prevlaka is exclusively a security question and not a territorial one as well, Simonovic said in a letter published in New York on Friday. The Security Council should by mid July issue a resolution with its decision on the mandate of the U.N. monitoring mission on Croatia's southernmost peninsula. Simonovic welcomed Montenegro's willingness to resolve the problem of Prevlaka as well as Belgrade's readiness for talks. However, he rejected any questioning of Croatia's international borders. Croatia is encouraged by the first positive reactions of the Montenegrin authorities to its proposal. Croatia views these reactions as a contribution to a more constructive approach towards improving cooperation and resolving the remaining bilateral questions, Simonovic said. Such an approach contributes to the establishment of a realistic negotiation framework, based on the principles of international law, in particular the principle of inviolability of international borders, the Croatian Ambassador said. He welcomed the readiness of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia for talks, expressed in a letter sent by the Yugoslav Prime Minister to the Security Council last month. The letter theoretically supports bilateral negotiations but it also implies talks on the change of the internationally recognised borders. This approach, which ignores the principle of inviolability of borders, remains unacceptable, not only for Croatia - it is also dangerous for the prospects of security and stability in other parts of the region, Simonovic said. The Yugoslav stand is strongly opposed to the relevant Security Council resolutions on Prevlaka, adopted under the item "Situation in Croatia", which confirms Croatia's sovereignty and territorial integrity. Commenting on accusations concerning alleged violations of the demilitarisation zone by Croatia, presented by the Yugoslav Prime Minister Momir Bulatovic in the letter to the Security Council, Simonovic said Bulatovic's claims were strongly opposed to a report by the UN Secretary General, which was an objective and reliable source. In his latest report on Prevlaka, the UN Secretary General said that the most severe violations of the demilitarisation zone were those committed by the Yugoslav Army. Bulatovic, on the other hand, accused Croatia of violating the zone daily. He described Yugoslav violations as seldom and unintentional, resulting from misunderstandings about the borders of the demilitarisation zones. The process of resolving the question of Prevlaka could be additionally strengthened if the Security Council provided an effective impulse to accelerating the bilateral negotiations, Simonovic said. Such a step would stress the interests of the international community in achieving the necessary sustainable stability in this part of Europe, Croatia's Ambassador said in the letter. (hina) rml 111147 MET jul 98