INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY SET TO SPEED UP RETURN OF REFUGEES

( Editorial: --> 9096 ) GENEVA, Dec 17 (Hina) - The return of refugees and problems relating to reconstruction and the normalisation of life in all war-affected areas of former Yugoslavia were the main topics discussed at a meeting of the Working Group for Humanitarian Issues of the Peace Implementation Council, which was held at UN headquarters in Geneva on Wednesday under the chairmanship of UN High Commissioner for Refugees Sadako Ogata. The Croatian delegation was led by the chairwoman of the National Trust Establishment Committee, Vesna Skare-Ozbolt, while the Yugoslav and Bosnian delegations were headed by the ministers for refugees and social welfare. In their opening remarks Ogata, UN Transitional Administrator for Eastern Slavonia William Walker and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson positively assessed the process of the return of refugees, but they stressed obstacles and problems which were still present. It was emphasised that the international community intended to increase pressure on all parties to ensure the return of refugees. Speaking of Croatia, participants in the meeting almost unanimously commended the government, particularly the National Trust Establishment Committee, for the results it had achieved in the process of peaceful reintegration of the UN-administered Danube river region. Representatives of the United States and the European Union said they firmly believed that the UNTAES mandate would end successfully and that the Croatian government would successfully continue the peaceful reintegration process. Addressing the meeting, Skare-Ozbolt described the UN peace operation in Eastern Slavonia as one of the most successful in the history of the world organisation. She cited measures Croatia had taken to restore inter-ethnic trust on its territory and to normalise living conditions of all people. Skare-Ozbolt said that more than 15,000 Serb pensioners in Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Srijem were receiving Croatian pensions while several thousand people were on social welfare. She stressed that the Croatian legislature had removed all obstacles to the return of refugees. Skare-Ozbolt called on the international community to get involved in the reconstruction of Eastern Slavonia, for which Croatia would need about $2.5 billion. She announced that a donors' conference would be held soon, at which projects would be proposed for the reconstruction of schools, medical institutions and infrastructure in the region's towns and villages. Skare-Ozbolt later held a news conference at which she put an emphasis on economic aspects of the peaceful reintegration process. She cited today's meeting with a World Bank official who expressed interest in participating in the donors' conference for Eastern Slavonia, expected to take place in March next year. Responding to a question, Lovro Pejkovic of the Office for Displaced Persons and Refugees commented on a part of the speech by Yugoslav minister Miroslav Ivanisevic, who announced the mass- scale departure of Serbs from Eastern Slavonia after the end of the UNTAES mandate in mid-January. Under circumstances when all efforts are being put in normalising the situation in the Danube region, such an action could be considered as a provocation aimed at hampering the stabilisation process in the region, he said. Pejkovic stressed that proposals presented in today's discussion - - according to which the problem of refugees should be solved regionally, i.e. by tripartite agreements between Yugoslavia, Croatia and Bosnia -- were unacceptable to Croatia. He added that Croatia supported bilateral agreements like the one already proposed to the Yugoslav government. (hina) vm mm 171947 MET dec 97