LATEST UN RESOLUTION TREATS PREVLAKA AS PART OF CROATIA - SIMONOVIC

( Editorial: --> 7916 ) WASHINGTON, July 15 (hina) - The latest United Nations Security Council resolution extending the military observer mandate on Prevlaka represents a significant progress towards the resolution of the disputed peninsula issue because it treats Prevlaka as part of Croatia, the Croatian Ambassador to the UN said on Wednesday. The Security Council treats Prevlaka, Croatia's southernmost tip bordering with the Yugoslav Republic of Montenegro, as part of Croatia within its internationally recognised borders, Ambassador Ivan Simonovic said in New York. The Security Council assessed the Prevlaka issue was a security and not territorial issue, he explained. The Ambassador said a positive assessment was given to Croatia's proposal to reach a lasting resolution by demilitarising the area and by exerting pressure in order to step up negotiations with Yugoslavia. By supporting Croatia's territorial integrity "within (Croatia's) internationally recognised borders", as stated in the latest resolution, the Security Council took a clear stand concerning Prevlaka's belonging. When combined with the fact that the resolution also recalls Article 3 from an agreement the Presidents of Croatia and Yugoslavia signed in Geneva on 30 September, 1992, which stated that Prevlaka was a security and not territorial issue, it transpires that Prevlaka belongs to Croatia and is an exclusively security issue, the Ambassador said. This is why the Security Council's resolution differently reacts to the Croatian and Yugoslav proposals concerning the peninsula, he said. The Croatian proposal was included among positive achievements, while the Yugoslav one was merely noted, Simonovic said. He assessed the call to constructively continue the dialogue was a call to Yugoslavia to continue negotiations by recognising Croatia's international borders. Simonovic interpreted the Secretary-General's obligation to submit a new report on the status of the negotiations in three months as the acceptance of Croatia's proposal that pressure be used to step up the negotiations. The latest extension should be the last mandate of UN military observers on Prevlaka, the Ambassador said. If Yugoslavia shows good will, there is enough time to adjust security issues in a mutually acceptable way, he said. Even though the mandate was extended for six months, the clearly stated possibility of its adaptation after three months is a clear indicator that the Security Council too is considering the termination of the mandate, Simonovic said. (hina) ha 152152 MET jul 98