CROATIAN OPPOSITION PARTIES ON TUDJMAN-GORE DEAL

ZAGREB, March 13 (Hina) - The leader of the Croatian Social and Liberal Party (HSLS), Drazen Budisa, today commented on a deal between Croatian President Franjo Tudjman and US Vice President Al Gore, which was made yesterday in Copenhagen. Budisa assessed that Croatia, thus, "lost credibility" and ability to be a political decision-maker. "Croatia will be increasingly dependent on international factors in the future," Budisa said adding that nobody would seriously take into consideration our pretended resoluteness. Budisa described the announced change in UN forces mandate as small and symbolic. We could not expect that on the basis of such a decision made by the President any significant progress might be achieved in the process of the reintegration of the occupied areas or in the return of the displaced persons, he added. Budisa said "Croatia's capitulation to the international community meant the international community's capitulation to Milosevic (Serbian President). Through the remaining of international forces in Croatia he would be able to stabilize and strengthen results of the conquest". As regards the Copenhagen agreement on principle, the international secretary of Social Democratic Party of Croatia (SDP), Tonino Piculla, today said the peaceful solution in the region would not be possible without the presence of the international community's mechanisms. However, he added, the SDP is against that UNPROFOR with the current mandate should be here again. "The Copenhagen deal has not convinced us that UNPROFOR will not remain," Piculla said. "We can welcome the initiative and deal of Croatian President Franjo Tudjman and US Vice President Al Gore as yet another proof of Croatia's readiness to cooperate with world factors," Slavko Mestrovic, the deputy head of the Croatian National Party (HNS), today said in a statement. "We welcome this deal as an initiative, but we demand that no new mandates would be signed as long as the goals, deadline, guarantees and instruments for the reintegration of the occupied areas into Croatian legal and political system were not precisely defined, Mestrovic said adding that the HNS favoured the cooperation with international political factors, but which would not be to the Croatian sovereignty's detriment. (hina) mar mms 131854 MET mar 95