$ AREA ZAGREB, Sept 23 (Hina) - During the past several months great effort had been invested and great progress achieved in the reintegration of the Croatian Danube river region into Croatia's economic and legal system. Existing
problems are being solved daily, along the way, and they are not such as to slow down the peaceful reintegration process, the Croatian government concluded in a report on the implementation of the Letter of Intent about the peaceful reintegration of the Danubian area which had been adopted at Monday's closed session.
DANUBIAN
$ AREA
ZAGREB, Sept 23 (Hina) - During the past several months great effort
had been invested and great progress achieved in the reintegration
of the Croatian Danube river region into Croatia's economic and
legal system.
Existing problems are being solved daily, along the way, and
they are not such as to slow down the peaceful reintegration
process, the Croatian government concluded in a report on the
implementation of the Letter of Intent about the peaceful
reintegration of the Danubian area which had been adopted at
Monday's closed session. #L#
Conclusions of the 40-page report continue to stress that the
activities of the Croatian government, public companies and other
Croatian institutions in the Danube river region unequivocally
substantiated the fact that the Croatian government had, as well as
in other spheres, achieved good results in the return of Serbs from
the Danubian area to other parts of Croatia, because 50% of Serbs
who had submitted requests to return had done so, without any
serious incidents, while considerably fewer Croats, Hungarians and
others - only two percent - had returned to the Danubian area.
Almost 10 billion kuna had been invested into programmes of
reconstruction and revitalisation of war-ravaged areas of Croatia,
out of the state budget and public companies' resources, the report
said, adding that international aid for that purpose had amounted to
less than two percent of the sum.
The Croatian government will continue with measures of
stimulating economic development in the destroyed areas of the
Danubian area, so they could reach development levels of other parts
of the country as soon as possible.
Everything that had been done so far on the reintegration of
the Danubian area was a good precondition for the start of a mass
return of Croats, Hungarians and other displaced persons to their
homes, which the Croatian government and UNTAES would increase
efforts to accomplish, so the expected return could happen within
the upcoming months, the report's summary said.
Thus, the Croatian government held that the procedure of
transfer of all executive authority from UNTAES to the Croatian
state should be accelerated, so the UN Transitional Administration's
mandate could end by 15 January 1998 at the latest.
In the report, the government stressed that under no
circumstances and for no reason would it consent to the mandate
being extended, and that it would continue to exert maximal efforts
in cooperating with the international community in the
reconstruction, establishment of trust and full reintegration of the
war-ravaged areas of Croatia.
The report contains detailed presentations of activities of
relevant ministries, public companies and other competent Croatian
institutions in the process of reintegration of the Danubian area
into Croatia's constitutional, legal and economic system hitherto:
the establishment of state and local government and self-government,
return of displaced persons, reintegration of the judiciary, police
force, health, health, pension and invalid insurance, social
welfare, reintegration of public companies, customs, tax system and
payment operations, education, culture etc.
(hina) lm mm
231754 MET sep 97