SIMONOVIC: UNTAES MANDATE MUST END 15 JANUARY 1998

WASHINGTON, Oct 20 (Hina) - The Monday UN Security Council presidential statement on the reintegration of eastern Slavonia, Baranja and western Srijem continues the trend of improved assessments of the situation in and prospects of the peaceful reintegration of the Danube river region of eastern Croatia, Croatia's Ambassador to the UN Ivan Simonovic said on Monday. A recent vigorous action in accelerating the reintegration process and Croatia's contribution to stability in the wider region have brought a radical change in the Security Council's assessment, Simonovic said in a statement issued in New York. The most positive aspect of the presidential statement was according to Simonovic the fact that 15 January 1998 was again the Security Council's preferred deadline for the termination of the peace mission in eastern Croatia. He said the presidential statement accepted the Secretary General's principal assessments that the transfer of remaining administrative authority to Croatian bodies must wait until the end of the mandate, whereas the military component of the UNTAES might continue withdrawing without delay. The UNTAES mandate must end on 15 January 1998, after the Croatian government complied with all obligations, the Croatian ambassador to the UN said. Simonovic said the Security Council now believed in the possibility of a successful completion of the UNTAES mandate on 15 January. While considering the request that in view of successfully completing the reintegration Croatia must comply with all commitments, Simonovic assessed it was unfavourable that the presidential statement demanded of the Croatian government to effect a big progress in numerous other areas of unspecified content. This, the ambassador said, made arbitrariness possible in assessing whether Croatia had complied with all obligations, and whether the UNTAES mandate should end on 15 January 1998 or not. (hina) ha mm 202107 MET oct 97