CROATIA INSISTS ON QUICKEST POSSIBLE RETURN OF DISPLACED TO DANUBE REGION

REGION ZAGREB, July 17 (Hina) - The government commission for the restoration of Croatian authority in the areas of Osijek and Vukovar counties currently under UN administration met in Zagreb on Thursday to discuss measures that would ensure the quickest possible return of displaced Croats to the Danube river region. "Croatia has shown good will by allowing Croatian citizens of Serb nationality to return to their homes without any conditions, but it insists on the quickest possible return of Croat displaced persons to the Danube region," the head of the commission, Reconstruction and Development Minister Jure Radic, told reporters after the closed-door meeting. He stressed that there was no doubt that the return would be successful. After a recent meeting of Croatian President Franjo Tudjman and the head of the UN Transitional Administration in the region (UNTAES), Jacques Klein, on the return of displaced Croats to the Danube region and the return of Serb refugees currently staying there to other areas of Croatia, the commission agreed which services should deal with problems relating to the return process. Representatives of Croatian services have recently toured several villages in the UN-administered region to identify Serb refugees wishing to return to their pre-war homes elsewhere in the country. Radic said that about 70 people had recently returned from the Danube region to Korenica and that as many would return to the Banovina region today and tomorrow. He added that requests for return filed by about 1,000 refugees would be processed by the end of next week when they would be able to return to their homes in other parts of Croatia. Radic urged Klein and all UNTAES services to enable the return of about 10,000 Croats to the Danube region in the next 15 to 20 days. Radic spoke of Croatian workers being prevented from going to Marinci and Bilje to work. "What has been agreed upon at the highest level with General Klein is encountering obstacles at lower levels," he said. The Croatian agency for mediation in real estate transactions has begun concluding agreements with people wishing to sell their houses. Radic said that all such requests would be processed by the end of August. "A half of about 5,000 Serb families will be paid out while the other half will return to their homes in Croatia," he said and continued: "I also believe that about 20,000 displaced persons will return to the Danube region before the start of the school year (in September)." Radic said that there were more than 200 vacant houses in Bilje, 70 in Marinci and as many in Sarengrad which could be repaired in about ten days. He appealed to UNTAES to allow repair work to be carried out so that all conditions could be created for the return of displaced people. (hina) vm 171958 MET jul 97