OSIJEK, 31 March (Hina) - The head of the Croatian government office for the U.N.-administered area, Ivica Vrkic, condemned "a severe incident, which occurred today in front of the hotel 'Dunav' in Vukovar", on behalf of the
government office and the Croatian Government.
OSIJEK, 31 March (Hina) - The head of the Croatian government office for the
U.N.-administered area, Ivica Vrkic, condemned "a severe incident, which
occurred today in front of the hotel 'Dunav' in Vukovar", on behalf of the
government office and the Croatian Government. #L#
In an open letter, sent to Onofre dos Santos, head of the UNTAES
election committee, Vrkic said that a group of about 1,500 and 2,000 local
residents used stones, bricks and eggs to attack the leadership of the
Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) party in Vukovar County and Croatian
journalists who were covering today's HDZ pre-election news conference in
Vukovar.
'I would like to remind you that Croatia has made enormous efforts in
securing all political and technical preconditions for the forthcoming
elections', Vrkic said, adding that 'it is necessary that the UNTAES and
transitional police meet security requirements needed for the organisation
of similar pre-election rallies which are normal for all democratic states'.
At the end of his letter, Vrkic recalled that 'today's attack on the
leadership of the HDZ Vukovar county committee and similar incidents by
local Serbs can neither prevent the implementation of the elections nor the
reintegration of eastern Slavonia, Baranja and western Srijem into Croatia's
constitutional and legal system'.
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