TALKS IN NEW YORK STRENUOUS AND ADVANTAGEOUS - GRANIC ON CRO TV

ZAGREB, Sept 28 (Hina) - The bilateral talks the Croatian delegation conducted during the UN General Assembly session in New York have been strenuous and advantageous considering that the main topics were the peaceful reintegration of the Croatian Danube region, the peace process in Bosnia-Herzegovina, cooperation with the war crimes tribunal in The Hague and certain pressures on Croatia, Croatian Foreign Minister Mate Granic told the Croatian Television's evening news broadcast on Sunday. "The international community views the process of peaceful reintegration of the Croatian Danube region positively in the whole, especially the latest measures of the Croatian government, but there have been certain remarks and pressures", Minister Granic said. The remarks, he explained, referred to not complying fully with what had been agreed on on the highest level. Nevertheless, UN's mission in Croatia will as a whole be assessed as the most successful mission the UN has undertaken lately, Granic said. Speaking about cooperation with The Hague tribunal, Minister Granic pointed out this issue "is the main cause of certain pressures on the Republic of Croatia." Croatia, he added, has cooperated with the tribunal in The Hague since its foundation and, he stressed, had initiated its establishment. "We have done a lot so far, but (…) the latest pressures are the result of requesting Croatia to exert all of its influence and that accused Croats from BH go to The Hague voluntarily", the foreign minister said. According to the Split declaration, he added, "Croatia has consented to use all of its influence because it wants to at once become a full member of the international community and Euro-Atlantic integrations, and build partnerships will all significant international factors." Croatia wants certain guarantees, the foreign minister said, and "these are a speedy and fair trial". "A lot of talk has been conducted in connection to that and (there have been) certain misunderstandings, since Croatia has requested guarantees in writing as to how to solve this problem", Granic said, pointing out negotiations on the matter were still in course. Commenting on his meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Croatia's foreign minister said the meeting was open and concrete, focusing on the reintegration of the Danube river region of eastern Croatia, cooperation with The Hague tribunal, the peace process in BH where Croatia, according to Granic, "had the opportunity to state some facts which run through the international community insufficiently." "The Croat is the smallest community in BH", Granic said. "There are a little over 400,000 Croats (in BH) at the moment, and there have been over 800,000", he said, adding Croats are the most endangered community in BH. "Especially Croats from Zepce, Usora, central Bosnia, Sarajevo," he said, adding this jeopardized the stability of both the Bosnian Federation and the peace process. The talks with Albright focused in particular on The Hague tribunal, in relation to which, the foreign minister said, the U.S. has clearly stated its expectations. "We hope to solve through dialogue certain open issues, (we) believe that the pressure in Strasbourg was both unnecessary and unjustified," Granic said, adding that "at this moment, Croatia's interest is to find a common language with the international community and settle certain open issues." "When we speak about the peaceful reintegration of the Croatian Danube region," the foreign minister said, "we have to stress that next week, the UN secretary general will submit his report to the Security Council, which will reach a decision on the basis of that report and information it received from the Croatian government and Security Council member-countries". Three options are possible, Granic said. "The first is to decide at once on the termination of the UNTAES mandate on 15 January next year, the second is to extend the UNTAES mandate, for which chances are very small, regardless of certain indications that some countries will request it." Croatia's foreign minister said the second option was almost impossible "because the current mandate was established on the basis of the Erdut-Zagreb Agreement, while a new (mandate) should be based on disturbance of peace and safety in this part of the world, for which the reintegration of the Croatian Danube region is definitely not the cause." "The third, and most probable, option is that some time will pass before a final decision is reached, which will certainly be the termination of the UNTAES mandate on 15 January next year," Croatian Foreign Minister Granic said in his interview with the Sunday evening news. (hina) ha 282232 MET sep 97