CROATIA EXPECTS INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT ON UNPA PROBLEM

ZAGREB, Jan 14 (Hina) - Croatian Foreign Minister Mate Granic today received members of a diplomatic convention accredited in Croatia, headed by doyen, Holy See ambassador Giulio Einaudi, the foreign ministry said in a statement. Granic explained Croatia's decision to end the UNPROFOR mandate on March 31 and the withdrawal of peacekeeping forces from Croatia. This decision, said Granic, did not come about in one day but rather after thorough debates on all the positive and negative aspects of the peace operation until now, and with the full consent of the Croatian public. Therefore the decision was not open to negotiation, Granic stressed. The decision was intended as a measure to end the freezing of a process which was unacceptable to Croatia and to provide a new impetus to the implementation of the peace process, Granic said. Explaining the first reactions of the Croatian President's decision on ending the UNPROFOR mandate, Granic said Croatia understood the concerns and in some cases countries' opposition to the decision, but he held that the decision would significantly quicken the process of the peaceful reintegration of occupied Croatian territory within its constitutional and legal order. This was why Croatia expected the support of the international community in efforts aimed at a peace process solidifying its territorial entirety which was important to European stability, Granic concluded. (hina) jn sd 141526 MET jan 95