CROATIAN SERBS MAY BE SAFER THAN DIPLOMATS IN NEW YORK - NOBILO

WASHINGTON, March 25 (Hina) - Croatia's ambassador to the United Nations, Mario Nobilo, said on Monday that Croatia had often been exposed to unjustified criticism for its efforts to restore its authority in the formerly occupied areas. "Croatia continues to be held up to unprecedented and often unrealistic standards in every sphere of public affairs as it makes a difficult transition to a western democracy," Nobilo said in a press release. Since August last year, Croatia "has weathered unparalleled criticism" for undertaking Operation Storm early that month and "similarly harsh and more often than not unjustified criticism has been levelled against Croatia for shortcomings while it laboured to establish civilian order in the reintegrated areas," he said. Nobilo went on to say that a leading international humanitarian organization had recently criticized Croatia claiming that the Serbs in the Krajina region of Croatia continued to live in a hostile environment where their physical safety remained precarious. The unnamed organization had gathered a total of 67 individual allegations of incidents ranging from looting, harassment and threats to physical assault and murder, which amounted to 34 incidents per month per 10,000 people. "By comparison, the New York City residents, thousands of whom are diplomats, are victims of 61 incidents of violent crime and property crime per month per 10,000 persons. Additionally, the residents of Washington, DC, and Miami, Florida, for instance, are victimized on average 92 and 143 times per month per 10,000 persons, respectively," the statement said. Nobilo said that comparisons like these were important "to recognize that there is a 'natural rate of crime' in any country for which no government should be condemned, and certainly not exposed to continuous scrutiny and criticism in the Security Council, as Croatia is as present." Commenting on criticism of Croatia by an unnamed UN peacekeeping commander who had been responsible for the Krajina region, for using excessive force during the Storm, Nobilo said: "Two thousand shells falling on a military centre the size of Knin, in a one-day period, is very little by any military standards. It is almost nothing compared to the shelling of Sarajevo, where detonations numbered in excess of ten thousand on many a day for three years." Speaking of the number of Serb civilians killed during the operation, Nobilo said that the ratio of civilians and soldiers killed in post-1945 military conflicts had been 2:1 while in Operation Storm it had been 1:1. "Excessive criticism can be counterproductive. (...) The policy of excessive criticism lends to a policy of exclusion, which is contrary to western values and the spirit of European integration based on inclusion," the statement said, concluding that the policy of inclusion "is much more likely to achieve desired results in all transition states, including Croatia." (hina) vm jn 261142 MET mar 96