GRANIC RECEIVES CONTACT GROUP AND E.U. REPRESENTATIVES

ZAGREB, Oct 7 (Hina) - Croatian Foreign Minister Mate Granic on Wednesday received Contact Group representatives and the European Union troika, including ambassadors of the United States, China, Russia, France, Germany, Netherlands, Italy and Germany, a European Commission representative and the British charge d'affaires. The meeting was also attended by the Croatian president's foreign policy adviser, Neven Madey. Granic informed the foreign diplomats about Croatia's views on the peace process in Bosnia-Herzegovina, cooperation with the international war crimes tribunal in The Hague, the latest report by the UN secretary general to the Security Council and the completion of the process of peaceful reintegration of the UN-administered Danube river region into Croatia, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. In contacts with the most important international factors Croatia has won guarantees for the speedy and fair trial of Bosnian Croats indicted for war crimes as well as for full cooperation in the implementation of the peace process and the achievement of its strategic goals, Granic said. As regards the latest report by the UN secretary general on the peaceful reintegration of the Croatian Danube region, the Croatian government assessed as positive its basic orientation towards the completion of the UNTAES mission. We will continue to do everything that is necessary in order that the UNTAES mission would become a joint success of Croatia, the United Nations and all the countries participating in it in any way, Granic stressed. We regard the government programme aimed at restoring inter- ethnic trust, accelerating refugee returns and normalising life in the war-affected areas of Croatia as an answer to some of the remarks and recommendations made in the secretary general's report, he said. Granic described as important an appeal by the UN secretary general to the Serb population in the Croatian Danube region to join in the work of all government bodies as citizens of Croatia and to accept the peaceful reintegration process in order to contribute to its successful and timely completion. The attending ambassadors welcomed all the above efforts, particularly stressing the role of President Franjo Tudjman, the Croatian government and the Bosnian Croat leadership with regard to cooperation with the Hague tribunal as well as clear Croatian support to the peace process in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Congratulating President Tudjman and the government, US Ambassador Galbraith said that with these moves Croatia proved its commitment to full implementation of the Washington and Dayton accords, stressing the need for the involvement of all present countries to ensure successful and timely completion of the UNTAES mandate in cooperation with Croatia. Speaking on behalf of the European Union, Luxembourg Ambassador Scheffer said that he shared the congratulations to President Tudjman and the Croatian government, emphasising that the EU Council of Ministers was very satisfied with these actions and that it regarded them as a significant step forward. Scheffer said that it could be expected that the EU would assess the overall position of Croatia before the end of the year regarding the further development of relations. In conclusion, Granic stressed Croatia's permanent orientation towards Central European and Euro-Atlantic economic, military and political institutions, the development of good relations with all neighbouring countries and its active role in the peace process in Bosnia-Herzegovina. (hina) vm 071852 MET oct 97