OSIJEK, Jul 12 (Hina) - The peaceful reintegration of the Croatian Danubian area was Croatia's "chief strategic goal and the single most important issue," Deputy Prime Minister Mate Granic told an Osijek panel on peaceful
reintegration on Friday.
OSIJEK, Jul 12 (Hina) - The peaceful reintegration of the Croatian
Danubian area was Croatia's "chief strategic goal and the single
most important issue," Deputy Prime Minister Mate Granic told an
Osijek panel on peaceful reintegration on Friday.#L#
The two-day panel opened today with introductory speeches by
Deputy Prime Ministers Mate Granic and Ivica Kostovic.
Stressing that the reintegration process should be completed
"by peaceful means, as it was begun," Granic noted that Croatia had
accepted all international norms and standards in the protection of
human rights and the rights of minorities.
It lay with the UN Security Council to decide on a possible
extension of the UNTAES mandate, but it could not be done without
Croatia's consent, Granic said, adding that the issue "must be
resolved by mutual agreement."
Noting that UN and EU reports on peaceful reintegration had
been positive so far, Granic said the success of the peaceful
reintegration project, "would contribute, more than any other move,
to Croatia's development and stability and its integration into the
international community." He added that the demilitarisation of the
Croatian Danubian area would not have been successful without
cooperation from Belgrade.
"The Government's greatest challenge in the next period will
be the return of refugees," said Deputy Prime Minister Ivica
Kostovic.
The peaceful reintegration of the Croatian Danubian area would
be speedier and more economic if Croatian companies were allowed to
operate in the area, he said. The international community should
accept the reality and encourage the Serb population to cooperate,
he said.
He voiced his "extreme dissatisfaction with Belgrade's
attitude to the issue of prisoners and missing persons."
Deputy Transitional Administrator Derek Boothby spoke of the
Administration's tasks in the next period. These would include
keeping law and order, encouraging the economic reconstruction of
the Danubian Area and dealing with other issues that had not been
specified in the Erdut Agreement, such as the introduction of the
kuna as legal tender.
(hina) jn as
122200 MET jul 96