CROATIA COMMITTED TO WORLD'S EFFORTS IN ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

WASHINGTON, June 26 (Hina) - Croatian Deputy Prime Minister Ljerka Mintas-Hodak, speaking at a session of the UN General Assembly in New York on Thursday, confirmed Croatia's commitment to international efforts in environmental protection. Mrs Mintas-Hodak said that Croatia supported a principle that the costs of cleaning up the environment should be borne by the biggest polluters. She said that 85 per cent of pollution affecting Croatia's sea and coastal forests was caused by sources outside the country. Mrs Mintas-Hodak said the special responsibility lay with developed countries which cause about 80 per cent of the pollution of our planet. Noting that the main cause of the destruction of the environment in Croatia had been the war, she reported on measures Croatia had undertaken to protect the ozone layer and prevent global warming. (hina) vm jn 271727 MET jun 97