CROATIAN FOREIGN MINISTER RECEIVES OSCE HIGH COMMISSIONER

( Editorial: --> 8810 ) ZAGREB, Dec 16 (Hina) - Croatian Foreign Minister Mate Granic on Tuesday received OSCE High Commissioner for Ethnic Minorities Max van der Stoel, who was accompanied by the head of the OSCE mission in Croatia, Tim Guldiman, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. It was concluded that the current progress of the peaceful reintegration of the Croatian Danube region guaranteed successful completion of the UNTAES mission on January 15 next year and that the OSCE observer mission would additionally ensure successful continuation of the process of establishing inter-ethnic trust and strengthening Croatia's international position. Van der Stoel expressed particular interest in the application of the General Amnesty Act and the return of Serbs from the Croatian Danube region to other areas of Croatia. Granic stressed that the Croatian government was making efforts to fully establish authority in the Danube region and that problems arising along the way were being promptly solved. Granic paid special attention to the problem of Croat refugees from the Serb Republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina who have no possibility of returning to their homes. Later in the day Van der Stoel was received by Deputy Prime Minister Ljerka Mintas-Hodak and the chairwoman of the National Trust Establishment Committee, Vesna Skare-Ozbolt. (hina) vm jn . 161759 MET dec 97