SECURITY SITUATION IN E. CROATIA MORE THAN GOOD - SKARE-OZBOLT

( Editorial: --> 7206 ) VUKOVAR, Oct 9 (Hina) - The security situation in eastern Croatia is more than good as evidenced by a reduction in the number of incidents, National Trust Establishment Committee chairwoman Vesna Skare-Ozbolt said in Vukovar on Friday. She gave credit for the security situation to Croatian police, as well as to the UN civil police support group in eastern Croatia, whose mandate expires on October 15, and to the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which takes over the peace mission in the area on October 16. Skare-Ozbolt chaired a Committee meeting which discussed security and other issues related to co-existence and normal living in eastern Croatia. Speaking about reconstruction, Vukovar-Srijem County Prefect Rudolf Koenig said 300 flats would be completed by year's end. With 300 flats whose reconstruction is nearing completion and 900 already finished ones, the total of 1,500 reconstructed flats in Vukovar comply with the announcements of the Croatian Reconstruction and Development Ministry, said Koenig. By year's end the building of 650 family houses in Vukovar is expected to be completed, while works on another 350 are currently stalled due to a break in mine-clearing, he added. The areas in Vukovar to which refugees and displaced persons are returning must be cleared of mines, Skare-Ozbolt emphasised, suggesting that money should be sought in foreign sources when it cannot be ensured from the state budget. It was said at the meeting that some 9,400 people had returned to eastern Croatia to date, including 1,500 to Vukovar. The issue of illegal flat occupancy was also pointed out. Prefect Koenig said that 30 percent of flats in the Vukovar area were illegally occupied, while Vukovar Mayor Vladimir Stengl said the town was unable to evict illegal occupants and requested assistance. Speaking about the difficult situation in Vukovar's economy, the necessary to initiate small businesses was pointed out. Committee member and president of the Independent Serb Democratic Party (SDSS) Vojislav Stanimirovic said the situation on the ground with regard to both the Croats' and the Serbs' return was significantly different from statistical indicators on the matter. (hina) ha 091816 MET oct 98