JELAVIC URGES ESTABLISHMENT OF STRONG BOSNIAN CROAT MEDIA

MOSTAR, Dec 31 (Hina) - A member of Bosnia-Herzegovina's three-man Presidency and the President of the Bosnian Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), Ante Jelavic, on Thursday advocated the reorganisation of the Bosnian Radio and Television. Jelavic urged the establishment of a federal television and a TV channel in the Croatian language, which is guaranteed by the European Charter. At Thursday's New Year reception held for journalists in Mostar, he said the media in Croatian language was one of important preconditions for Croats' existence in Bosnia. Therefore, he added, it would be necessary to create strong Croatian media in the country and begin publishing dailies and weeklies in Croatian in Mostar. He accused Moslem (Bosniak) media of "attacking without valid arguments all that is Croat and of perfidiously prejudging political solutions in Bosnia." Jelavic called on journalists to advance cooperation with the Independent Media Commission. He maintained that the pre-war Sarajevo-based Bosnian Radio and Television had been "an exclusively Moslem electronic medium" although all three constituent peoples in country had paid for the construction of its transmission system. (hina) ms