ZAGREB, Dec 30 (Hina) - Elections in the Croatian Danubian area will take place on 16 March, as in other parts of Croatia, on Monday said Croatian Deputy Premier, Ivica Kostovic, who attended a meeting between Croatian President
Franjo Tudjman and Transitional Administrator Jacques Klein.
ZAGREB, Dec 30 (Hina) - Elections in the Croatian Danubian area
will take place on 16 March, as in other parts of Croatia, on
Monday said Croatian Deputy Premier, Ivica Kostovic, who attended a
meeting between Croatian President Franjo Tudjman and Transitional
Administrator Jacques Klein. #L#
Tudjman received Klein in Zagreb on Monday afternoon.
Kostovic stressed that the talks had focused on achievements
and future tasks in the process of peaceful reintegration of the
Danubian area.
They had reached an agreement on the way of implementing the
elections and electoral rules which are to be regulated by a
special decision of General Klein, Kostovic said.
For the most part, the meeting had focused on preparations of
an agreement which are to be signed by UNTAES and the Croatian
government in the presence of President Tudjman, which would, for
the first time and fully, define the status and rights of the local
Serb population in the constitutional and legal system of Croatia,
Kostovic said.
Asked whether and where Serb refugees in the UNTAES-
administered area could vote, Kostovic said that they could vote in
places of their residence, or as decided by General Klein.
After the meeting with President Tudjman, Klein said, "I just
had a very good end-of-the-year meeting with the President. We
basically reviewed the year, how much progress we have made and we
obviously talked about the forthcoming elections which we agreed
would be held at the same time as the Croatian regional elections
in the middle of March.
We have also worked out a Memorandum of Understanding," in
line with international standards, Klein said.
The Memorandum established issues such as the position of the
local authority, the structure of the area and minority rights,
Klein said, adding that he held it was a 'good package'.
"I will now forward that package to the Security Council,
tomorrow I will meet the Contact Group ambassadors and brief them
on it," Klein said.
The package would also be presented to local leaders in the
Danubian area, Klein said, expressing hope that the process of
peaceful reintegration would continue successfully and end his
mandate.
Klein said that significant progress had been made in some
important issues in the last six to eight months, such as the right
to vote, speed of issuing identity cards to residents of the
UNTAES-administered area.
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301552 MET dec 96