PEACEFUL REINTEGRATION PROCESS FACING CRISIS - VRKIC

OSIJEK, May 31 (Hina) - The head of the Croatian government office for restoration of Croatian authority in Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Srijem, Ivica Vrkic, held a press conference in Osijek on Friday on problems in the process of reintegration of the remaining Serb-occupied areas of eastern Croatia. "We're facing a crisis in the peaceful reintegration process because local Serb politicians are trying to create a Serb state within Croatia by continued demands for autonomy and are preventing the local population from exercising the rights guaranteed to them by the Croatian state," Vrkic said. Citing examples of Serb obstruction, Vrkic said that a team of Croatian experts had been prevented from registering applications for Croatian documents in Darda, which is a precondition for getting pensions, and that the Serbs were trying to set up their own railway and oil companies. Vrkic warned that the Croatian government may consider suspending all talks at the level of implementation committees if the Serbs insisted on demands for such talks be held only at UN check-points. On Wednesday, the local Serb authorities obstructed a pilot project for pension payment, the implementation of which began the day before, and the Serb media said that Croatia was giving up the peaceful reintegration, he said. On the first day, 96 persons submitted applications for Croatian documents and the next day the UN transitional administration (UNTAES) said that the Croatian team could not travel to Darda for security reasons, although about 200 people had been awaiting registration. Vrkic's deputy, Mirko Tankosic, said that at the insistence of UNTAES, Croatia had agreed that the registration continued on Friday. Stressing that the Serbs were demanding rights that were not specified in any agreement, Vrkic said that local Serb politicians demanded from Croatia to enable the collective return of all Serbs without exception. Noting that the Serbs were interpreting Croatian tolerance as a weakness, he warned that the reintegration process may not be completed in a peaceful way "unless the leading Serb politicians renounce ambitions for creating a Serb state within Croatia." Vrkic said that peaceful reintegration was the only way of resolving the crisis, but that Croatia would not bow down to any "blackmail for autonomy" and that it would take a tougher stance if such political rhetoric continued. The head of the Committee for Military Affairs, Major General Slavko Baric, said that the demilitarization of the Serb- occupied areas was proceeding according to the plan by UN transitional administrator Jacques Klein. The process of disbanding military and police forces and taking over military facilities by the UN force should begin between 3rd and 5th June, Baric said. (hina) vm 311451 MET may 96