CRO AUTHORITIES AND SERB MINORITY'S REPS. TO MEET EVERY WEEK

ZAGREB, Sept 18 (Hina) - Croatian senior officials and the Croatian Serb national community's representatives held a meeting on Thursday to discuss further steps in the process of peaceful reintegration of the Danube river area and difficulties in the work of local authorities, employment, education and the two-way return of the displaced and refugees. After the Zagreb meeting, Reconstruction and Development Minister Jure Radic said they had agreed that all bodies of local self-government in the Croatian Danube river area must begin to work by 25 September, whereas Croatia will fulfil its financial obligations by October 1. As regards the issue, the leaderships of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ party) and the Independent Democratic Serb Party (SDSS) would meet in Zagreb on 23 September, Radic announced. A Serb representative and an MP, Vojislav Stanimirovic, said the two delegations agreed that peaceful integration was proceeding well, despite some problems. At the meeting they agreed on reinforcing efforts to help the two-way return of the displaced. The UN Transitional Administration of the Danube area (UNTAES) should be asked to allow displaced people whose houses are not damaged or are being renovated, to enter the area freely. The two delegations agreed that there were problems in the functioning of schools in the area in question and that agreements, signed by the Croatian education ministry, the (Serb) joint council of municipalities and UNTAES, should be consistently implemented. As regards 200 people who worked in bodies of local authorities until recently and who are now jobless, they should have the advantage in getting jobs in newly-established municipalities. A half of those 200 people can be employed in local self-government. The administration ministry will take the rest of them in six months, and employ them in county or other administrative bodies. The surplus of people who could not get jobs in this way should find jobs themselves, Radic said. According to Stanimirovic, they agreed to holding regularly meetings between Croatian authorities and Serb national community representatives every week. Croatian officials who attended Thursday's session were President Tudjman's deputy chief-of-staff, Vesna Skare-Ozbolt, Administration Minister Davorin Mlakar and the head of the state-run agency for mediation in real estate transactions, Ivica Vrkic. On behalf of the Serb national community, MPs, Vojislav Stanimirovic and Milorad Pupovac, Vukovar-Sirmium County's deputy prefect, Mirko Jagetic, a deputy mayor of Beli Manastir, Spiro Lazanica, and the head of the education committee at the joint council of municipalities, Djuro Podunavac, attended the Zagreb session. (hina) jn mš 181841 MET sep 97