CROATIA WILLING TO ACCEPT LONG-TERM OSCE MISSION

ZAGREB, Feb 20 (Hina) - Croatian Foreign Minister Mate Granic on Tuesday received a delegation of the Council of Europe, headed by Political Director Hans Peter Furrer. The Council of Europe delegation expressed a particular interest in the process of peaceful reintegration of the Danubian region into the constitutional and legal system of Croatia, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Granic stressed that it was necessary that the implementation of the Basic Agreement on the Croatian Danubian region should begin as soon as possible, adding that its success would also depend on the process of normalization of relations with Serb-led Yugoslavia. Croatian authorities would guarantee all human and minority rights to its citizens in that area, he said. Granic emphasized that Croatia was willing to agree to the establishment of a long-term mission of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on its entire territory if an OSCE fact-finding mission, due to visit Croatia in the coming days, recommended so. Hoping that UN Security Council resolution 1037 on the Croatian Danubian region would be implemented successfully, Furrer said that the Council of Europe was willing to extend full cooperation to the civilian components of the UN Transitional Administration in Eastern Slavonia (UNTAES) regarding human rights protection, eduction and local elections in the area. (hina) vm mm 201409 MET feb 96