CRO DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER RECEIVES COUNCIL OF EUROPE RAPPORTEURS

RAPPORTEURS $ ZAGREB, Oct 10 (Hina) - Croatian Deputy Foreign Minister Ivo Sanader on Friday received rapporteurs of a Council of Europe member-countries' committee for monitoring undertaken obligations headed by president Guido de Marco, a Croatian Foreign Ministry statement said. De Marco stressed the committee's work is aimed at assisting Council of Europe member-countries in complying with their commitments more easily, more quickly and to mutual satisfaction. The committee works in cooperation with the government, he added. Sanader informed the rapporteurs with the course of the peaceful reintegration of the Danube river region of eastern Croatia, stressing the deadline for the completion of the process was 15 January 1998, in line with the Zagreb-Erdut Agreement. The Croatian government believes the process will be successful as confirmed by a recent report on the course of the reintegration process which outlines all that has been done to date, Sanader said. We consider the government's recent programme on the restoration of trust, a stepped up return and normalization of living in war-ravaged areas as particularly important, the deputy foreign minister said. The Croatian President yesterday reached a decision on the establishment of a committee for the implementation of the said programme and appointed its members, Sanader said, adding this additionally confirmed the Croatian government's commitment to do all that is necessary for a successful and due termination of the UNTAES mission in eastern Croatia. The Council of Europe rapporteurs welcomed all Croatian government steps and in particular the efficiently confirmed willingness to cooperate with The Hague war crimes tribunal. According to Sanader, the latter shows how much the Croatian government is committed to a consistent implementation of the Washington and Dayton Peace Agreements. The deputy foreign minister acquainted the rapporteurs with the course of normalization of relations with Yugoslavia. Croatia is firm in implementing the policy of strengthening and stabilising a new international order, to which good neighbourly relations contribute, Sanader concluded. (hina) ha 101308 MET oct 97