CROAT ASSUMES COMMAND OF TRANSITIONAL POLICE IN DANUBE REGION

VUKOVAR, July 1 (Hina) - Ivan Babic on Tuesday assumed the command of the Transitional Police Force in the UN-administered Danube river region of eastern Croatia. Babic, a Croat who has up to now been deputy commander, took over from retiring Serb Petar Djukic at a ceremony in Vukovar. The head of the UN Transitional Administration (UNTAES) in the region, General Jacques Klein, said that Djukic had managed to set up a professional joint police force although it had seemed in the beginning that it would not be possible. Klein said he believed that the new commander would continue to work professionally and that he would meet the criteria so far reached by the Transitional Police. The order and law are a key to any reintegration, reconciliation and reconstruction, he stressed. Babic said that he would endeavour to contribute to the professionalisation of police which would guarantee a lasting peace and safety for all people of good will in the region. Babic emphasised that under his command the Transitional Police "will step up preventive and repressive measures" to improve general security. He thanked Djukic for his "unselfish contribution to the professionalisation of the police force with the aim of creating conditions for a better life of all citizens in the Croatian Danube region." Thanking UNTAES and Transitional Police officials for cooperation, Djukic stressed his commitment to democratic principles and police professionalism. Speaking to reporters after the ceremony, Babic said that the Transitional Police Force was currently made up of 836 Croats and about 800 Serbs, who had signed employment contracts with the Croatian Interior Ministry. The organisation of the Transitional Police Force according to the structure of the Croatian Interior Ministry will be completed these days, Babic said, adding that the pace of organising police departments in Osijek-Baranja and Vukovar-Srijem counties now depended on the police force. The Transitional Police commander in Sector South, which coincides with the UN-administered territory of Vukovar-Srijem County, will be a Croat, Josip Grcanac, while the commander in Sector North, which covers the UN-controlled area of Osijek-Baranja County, will be a Serb, Ljubomir Banjeglav. (hina) vm jn 011504 MET jul 97