CROATIAN PARTIES HAIL AGREEMENT WITH ISRAEL

ZAGREB, Aug 23 (Hina) - The Croatian war veterans, including participants in the World War Two antifascist movement and the 1990- 1995 war of independence, issued a statement on Saturday, expressing their "full support" for an agreement on the establishment of diplomatic relations between Croatia and Israel. They also supported a statement by Hrvoje Sarinic, a Croatian representative in the talks with an Israeli delegation which took place in Budapest on Thursday, who "on behalf of the people and government of the Republic of Croatia offered an apology and expressed regrets over the crimes committed against the Jewish people by the quisling regime of the so-called Independent State of Croatia (Ustashas)." The war veterans stressed that there were "countless examples of Croatian people saving Jewish people in that period." The Social Democratic Party (SDP) welcomed the announced establishment of diplomatic relations between Israel and Croatia "although it comes after more than six years since the establishment of the independent Republic of Croatia." "We attach particular importance to the Croatian statement which as a document for the first time very explicitly and unambiguously condemns the Nazi crimes of the Holocaust committed on Croatian soil during the quisling Ustasha regime and expresses an apology and regret over the crimes committed by that regime. "We would have considered that statement welcome even if it had not been made on the occasion of the announcement of the establishment of diplomatic relations with Israel, as well as binding in our everyday political practice because Croatia is one of those European countries which made a huge contribution to the struggle against Nazi-fascism and their collaborators through a strong antifascist movement during World War Two," the SDP said in a statement. The Social Democratic Union (SDU) also welcomed the announcement of the establishment of diplomatic relations. "We have been waiting for that for a long time and we are confident that it is of great importance for the overall international position of the Republic of Croatia," it said in a statement. "We also hope that now the period of the Ustasha-quisling regime in the Independent State of Croatia from 1941 to 1945 will be evaluated according to historical facts and that along with an apology to the Jewish people and the State of Israel for Jewish victims during the Ustasha reign of terror the huge and indispensable role of Croatian antifascists on the side of the Allied forces during the Second World War will be stressed. "The restoration of the name of the Square of the Victims of Fascism in Zagreb would be a clear sign that it is not just an act of establishing diplomatic relations but also a genuine act of apology and deep respect," the SDU statement said. The Christian Democratic Union (HKDU) described the agreement as "a logical and expected diplomatic step of exceptional importance because of the undoubtedly important position and influence of Israel on the international political scene and the centuries-old presence of the Jews on Croatian soil, in Croatian science, politics, economy and culture, where they left an indelible historical trace." "We welcome the Croatian statement from the Agreement because its 'Brandt-style" message shows the political and overall maturity of the Croatian people ready to admit and condemn the crime of the Holocaust committed over the Jews in the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) during the Second World War, and to express an apology and regret to the Jewish people over the crimes of the dark forces from its recent past. "Thus Croatia explicitly demonstrated its human and democratic openness and its commitment to the highest standards of civilisation achievements of the democratic world, particularly to antifascism as a democratic constant of the 20th century, which we have to regard as an expression of the new quality of Croatian foreign policy," the HKDU said in a statement. (hina) vm 231532 MET aug 97