BRITISH DEFENCE SECRETARY STOPS OVER IN CROATIA

SPLIT, April 21 (Hina) - British Defence Secretary Michael Portillo on Sunday expressed satisfaction with the progress of implementing the Dayton peace agreement in Bosnia and the return of refugees. Portillo held a press conference in the southern Croatian coastal city of Split where he stopped over on his return from Bosnia to London. He said that it was too soon to speak about the departure of the NATO-led peace implementation force since the most important thing at the moment was that the overall situation in Bosnia was going in a favourable direction. Responding to a journalist's question, Portillo said that the Croatian Adriatic coast was considered safe and that the British Defence Ministry would make a recommendatation for British tourists to travel to Croatia. (hina) vm 211631 MET apr 96