E. CROATIAN LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT REPS. TO ATTEND WORKSHOP IN AUST

AUST $ RIA VINKOVCI, July 28 (Hina) - Representatives of towns and municipalities of + Vukovar- Sirmium County' parts under the UN Transitional Administration (UNTAES) left + for Austria on Monday morning where they will attend a three-day workshop 'local government in the multiethnic society', organised by UNTAES and the Austrian + centre for peace and settlement of conflicts, or ASPR. The workshop, which is taking part in the town of Schlaining, is part of the ASPR project, financed by the Austrian government, for the construction of + multiethnic society in eastern Slavonia, Baranja and western Sirmium. The purpose of the Schlaining gathering is that newly-elected local bodies of authority make a plan for local administration in multiethnic municipalities, + in an atmosphere of mutual trust, and that they help the multiethnic return, economy, reconstruction and development of multiethnic communities as well as post-war + life and reconciliation. Two representatives of each municipality and town of Vukovar County's UNTAES-controlled parts, and a Deputy County Prefect, Andrija Matic, has + travelled to Austria. At the organisers' proposal, two representative of a municipality of a+ town are of different ethnic origins, for example a Croatian and Hungarian, or a + Croatian and a Serb. They will return from Austria on July 31 when representatives of + municipalities and towns of Osijek-Baranja County's UNTAES-controlled parts are due to come at+ the workshop. It has been announced that Croatian experts on local government, international experts on post-war coexistence and reconciliation and UNTAES workers will hold lectures at the workshop. The Austrian ASPR, one of organisers of the gathering, is a non-governmental, non-profit-making and non-party organisation, founded in 1982, the aim of which+ is to try contribute to promotion of peace and peaceful settlement of conflicts. (hina) mš 280945 MET jul 97