SERB NATIONAL COUNCIL HOLDS CONSTITUENT SESSION

ZAGREB, July 19 (Hina) - The constituent session of the Serb National Council Assembly, the advisory body which will look after the overall position of Serbs in Croatia, was held in Zagreb on Saturday. Milorad Pupovac was elected president of the Serb National Council (SNV), while Milorad Nenadovic was elected president of the SNV Assembly. Twenty-seven members of the SNV presidency were also elected at today's constituent session. In an introductory speech, Pupovac pointed out it was necessary to decide how Serbs would live in the new circumstances of the national and political situation in Croatia. The Serb ethnic community in Croatia should, according to Pupovac, define its status, organize and present itself within itself and in relation to the state as a whole. Pupovac announced the SNV would communicate with the Croatian authorities, cooperate with authorities of the mother country - the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the Serb people in Republika Srpska, and the Serb diaspora. Speaking about the council's goals, Pupovac stressed the necessity of realizing the cultural, spiritual, national and other interests of Serbs in Croatia, as well as eliminating, as he said, the discrimination of members of the Serb national minority, and exercising their full civil rights. The SNV would also, Pupovac pointed out, work on developing and preserving the religious, cultural and overall national identity of Serbs in Croatia , in a multicultural spirit, and in view of stimulating the development of Serb national institutions. According to Vojislav Stanimirovic, a Croatian parliament representative and the president of the Serb Democratic Independent Party, in the past two years members of the Serb ethnic community in eastern Slavonia, Knin and Dalmatia "lived through difficult times", while "lack of organization cost them greatly". Stanimirovic said the region of eastern Slavonia, Baranja and western Sirmium is the "last oasis for Serbs" and a guarantee for their return to urban parts of Croatia. The Serb National Council is an above- party organization, which should as soon as possible step on the ground and investigate possibilities for a speedier return, he said. Speaking about the necessity of coexistence and of building the Serb people's trust in the Croatian, and other peoples, Simo Rajic said Serbs must free themselves of some historical fallacies and myths. Yugoslav Ambassador to Croatia Veljko Knezevic expressed full support for the establishment of the Serb National Council. Also read were a letter of support by Radovan Pankov, a minister at the Yugoslav Government for relations with Serbs outside Serbia, and a short message of support by actor Rade Serbedzija. Today's constituent session was also attended by representatives of UNTAES, the Serb Orthodox Church, Serb dignitaries, and others. (hina) ha 191806 MET jul 97