A BRIEF LOOK AT CROATIAN PRESS ON WEDNESDAY

ZAGREB, May 3 (Hina) - The Zagreb daily Vjesnik carries on the front page photographs of the new Croatian currency 'kuna' and President Tudjman's message to the European Union. Full details of the ominous gathering of Serb troops and artillery around Brcko, complete with map, are also to be found on Vjesnik's front page. Possible developments in Brcko are also the subject of today's editorial by Stjepo Martinovic, who criticises Juppe's view that the lifting of the arms embargo would lead to an escalation of the conflict. "Alain Juppe's anxiety about American and Islamic pressure for the lifting of the embargo shows that accomplices in the Memorandum project (aimed at creating a Greater Serbia) are horrified at a solution based on the balance of power between Belgrade and the victims of its aggression," said the editorial, noting that the UN embargo only provided a cover for the aggression. Both Vjesnik and Vecernji List run photo features on the village of Skabrnja, razed to the ground by the Yugoslav army in November of 1991. This is the first visit of Croatian journalists to this predominantly Croatian village (pre-war population: 1906 Croats out of 1953 inhabitants), whose inhabitants had been mercilessly driven out or killed (56 people, including a number of children). "Welcome to the Dead Village" reads a Cyrillic inscription at the entrance to the village, anticipating atrocious scenes of destruction such as the defiled cemetery, Our Lady's church reduced to rubble, bones of dead animals strewn everywhere, the gutted school building littered with torn-out pages of books and the carcass of a dog. The feature is flanked by an article on the implementation of the March 29 Agreement in UNPA South, where Serb forces failed to withdraw from no less than 39 positions, "a bit of information which has been carefully avoided at UNPROFOR press conferences," says the article. Both papers reported on Deputy Prime Minister Granic's visit to Chile. Vecernji List also carries photographs of all denominations of the new Croatian currency "kuna," which is going to cost the national budget 11 million DEM, and a report from a news conference at the National Bank of Croatia. A recent decision of the Health Care Insurance to make employers insure their staff against occupational risks and diseases is commented on in an article titled: "How Much for a Healthy Worker?" "Zagreb HDZ is Virus-Free," said chairman of the Zagreb Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) branch Ivan Simek in an interview with Vecernji List on the subject of HDZ renegades joining the new party, Croatian Indepenent Democrats. 041442 MET may 94