NO GROUNDS FOR SERB AUTONOMY IN EASTERN CROATIA - GALBRAITH

OSIJEK, Jan 10 (Hina) - The US ambassador to Croatia, Peter Galbraith, and the head of the Croatian government office for the UN-administered Danube river region, Ivica Vrkic, met in the eastern city of Osijek on Friday for talks on forthcoming local elections in the region. Galbraith told reporters after the meeting that foundations for the peaceful reintegration of the region into Croatia had been laid in the last 12 months and that 1997 would be a crucial year. Speaking of his visit to the region on Thursday, Galbraith said that he was impressed with the progress made there. Galbraith stressed that he had told Serb officials in Vukovar that the provisions of the Erdut agreement provided no basis for establishing Serb autonomy or a special district in the region. He added that this issue could have been negotiated in 1995 but that at that time Serb representatives had rejected any talk about it. However, Galbraith emphasized that the interests of the Serb population should be respected, that they should fully participate in the elections, elect their representatives to county governments and to accept the Croatian government's offer to choose their representatives for the posts of deputy prefects of the region's two counties as well as for senior ministerial positions. Speaking of elections set for March 16, Galbraith noted that the Croatian government had agreed that all the people who had arrived in the area after 1991 were entitled to vote either in the region or in the places they had come from. Since everyone in the region is entitled to Croatian documents, I don't see any reason why the elections shouldn't take place on March 16 as planned, the US ambassador said, adding that it was important that local elections would be taking place on the same day in entire Croatia. He said that specific interests might be discussed after the elections. Galbraith thanked Vrkic and his associates for their efforts in the peace process. He expressed confidence that the peaceful reintegration process would be completed by July 15, that the Serb population would feel safe and that Croat refugees would finally return to their homes. Vrkic said that the March 16 elections would be the best response to all those who had not believed in the peaceful reintegration process. (hina) vm mm 101447 MET jan 97