NEW YORK, 25 Sept (Hina) - Croatia believes that there is no reason for extending the mandate of the U.N. Transitional Administration in Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium after its expiry early next year, Croatian Foreign
Minister Mate Granic said on Thursday.
NEW YORK, 25 Sept (Hina) - Croatia believes that there is no
reason for extending the mandate of the U.N. Transitional
Administration in Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium
after its expiry early next year, Croatian Foreign Minister Mate
Granic said on Thursday. #L#
My government believes that the current peace operations on
Croatia's territory - UNTAES and UNMOP (U.N. Military Observers
on Prevlaka) - are successful, Granic said in his address to the
52nd session of the U.N. General Assembly in New York.
Croatia believes that there is no reason at the moment for
the extension of the UNTAES mandate after 15 January 1998.
The achievements in the implementation of the mandate
include the completed demobilisation, the local elections which
helped reintegrate the area into Croatia's legal and political
system and the transfer of the largest part of authority in the
area to the newly-established bodies.
So far, some 1,500 Croats have returned to the Danube river
region, while 8,000 Serbs have returned to their homes in other
parts of Croatia, Granic said.
As far as the mandate of the U.N. mission on Prevlaka is
concerned, its endless extension will not lead to the solution of
the problem, he said.
Croatia cannot be completely satisfied with the work of the
International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), he
said.
The ethnic background of people who have been tried in The
Hague, still does not reflect the responsibility of parties
involved in the conflict, Granic said, adding Croatia believed
that the Tribunal had acted outside international law and its
Statute by issuing subpoenas to the states.
He supported the idea on the reform of the United Nations,
proposed by the U.N. Secretary General, as well as the proposal
to widen the Security Council by granting Germany, Japan and
Africa the status of permanent members.
Croatia holds that East European states have the right to
one new seat in the Council, Granic said.
The reform of the United Nations and the completion of
reintegration of the Croatian Danube river region were the main
topics of Granic's talks with the U.N. Secretary General Kofi
Annan.
Annan greeted all moves of the Croatian government, Granic
said after the meeting, adding that the U.N. Secretariat
continued the withdrawal of forces from Croatia, in line with the
last decision. The completion of that process would depend on the
Security Council's decision, Granic said.
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