A BRIEF LOOK AT CROATIAN PRESS ON MONDAY

ZAGREB, Dec 5, (Hina) - Today's VJESNIK leads with a front page article on the start of the CSCE session in Budapest, headlined 'Croatia Warns of the Importance of Bihac'. Croatia demands that the declaration on Bihac be separate from special decisions, because Bihac was a cross point at which Serb aggression becomes a world problem. The paper carries President Franjo Tudjman's statement on leaving for Budapest last night, that resolving the crisis in the former Yugoslavia was now facing the final stage. The paper also carries a statement from the Croatian Defence Ministry on the explosion of a fuel truck at the Lucko airfield in Zagreb. The paper carries an article on fighting in Bihac under the headline 'Serbs Just 500 m from Hospital'. Under the headlines 'Changing Cities and Regions' and 'Juppe and Hurd have Faith in Milosevic' Vjesnik writes on the arrival of Hurd and Juppe in Belgrade and echoes of a Contact Group meeting in Brussels. A comment piece headlined 'Sobering Veto' discusses the Russian veto of the Security Council resolution which would affirm sanctions against rebel Serbs. The Russians have confirmed the conjugation of its strategy of temporary borders and the greater Serbia project, the commentary says. There is also an article from the Vjesnik correspondent in Italy under the headline, 'Discrimination Against Croatian Travelers'. There are interviews with Josip Pankretic the vice president of the Croatian Farmers Party and Zeljko Olujic the head of the newly-formed Croatian Forum. The other Zagreb daily VECERNJI LIST carries a front page report on the work of the Financial Police under the bold type front page headline '50 million Kuna in October'. There is also a front page headline on the start of the CSCE session in Budapest. In a comment piece titled 'Yeltsin Plays at the CSCE' the author writes that new bureaucratic mastodons in the shape of the CSCE, NATO, the WEU, EU, Partners for Peace and others are ineffective when it comes to serious matters important for peace in Europe, and how it was reminiscent of the League of Nations in the not so distant past. 'Talks Make us Stronger,' is the headline of an interview with HDZ (Croatian Democratic Union) member Bozidar Petrac on the current political events and situation of the HDZ. (Hina) jn sd 051336 MET dec 94