CROATIA, YUGOSLAVIA TO SIGN 6 AGREEMENTS IN SEPTEMBER

ZAGREB, Aug 27 (Hina) - In early September Croatia and Yugoslavia will sign six agreements important for the normalization of relations between the two countries and for a successful implementation of the peaceful reintegration of the Danube region of eastern Croatia, Zeljko Trkanjec, a spokesman for the Croatian Foreign Ministry, said on Wednesday. Croatia's Foreign Minister Mate Granic was expected to visit Belgrade early in September, where with his Yugoslav counterpart Milan Milutinovic, he would sign a package of six agreements between the two countries, Trkanjec said. This is the biggest package of agreements between Croatia and Yugoslavia which has been worked on for a full year and which represents a continuation in the implementation of an agreement on the normalization of relations the two countries signed in August 1996. "These are very important agreements for the normalization of relations between the two countries", Trkanjec said, adding they would "positively affect the peaceful reintegration of the Croatian Danube region." The two ministers of foreign affairs will sign agreements on local border traffic, border crossings, road and railway transport, social insurance, and international legal assistance. Of particular interest to residents of Croatia and Yugoslavia on both sides of the border is the agreement on local border traffic, according to which it will be possible to cross the border with a special border pass, and without additional formalities. This agreement is especially important for Croats and Serbs, citizens of both countries who live along the border. It covers other citizens of the two countries in the border region too, but it is clear that, with this agreement, Croatia shows special interest for Croats over the border, in Yugoslavia, while Yugoslavia shows interest for Serbs in Croatia. The spokesman for Croatia's Interior Ministry stressed the local border traffic agreement has been laid out in line with international standards and on the basis of full reciprocity, in relation to both rights and the area it covers. The local border traffic agreement is especially important for Croats in Yugoslavia, since it expressly puts them in a Yugoslav document. Thus for instance, Slankamen, a village in the Yugoslav region of Vojvodina, which borders with Croatia, and inhabited by Croats, is covered by the agreement. (hina) ha jn 271840 MET aug 97