CRO SOLDIERS SAY NEW GOVT DEVALUES HOMELAND WAR

SPLIT, March 15 (Hina) - The Association of Croatian Homeland War Volunteers on Wednesday voiced dissatisfaction with the new government's attitude towards the soldiers and last decade's Homeland War, threatening with protests unless it changed. Speaking at a press conference in Split, the Association's vice president, Marko Skejo, accused the new government of having started a "real invasion" on the Homeland War and the soldiers. According to Skejo, 75,000 participants in the National Liberation Movement (NOB) during World War Two are receiving pensions in Croatia even though, he said, it is a well known fact that a large number of chetniks, Serb collaborationists, had joined the NOB towards the end of WW2. Skejo said nobody was urging the revision of NOB participants' pensions, but the revision of pensions of Croatian generals who created the state. The volunteers' association also believes "at least 15 Croats will be sent to The Hague (war crimes tribunal)" now that the new government has found documents on last decade's war in Bosnia- Herzegovina. "We shall forcefully oppose all this. We knew how to get organised in 1991, we shall know now, we will not stand by to be spat at and see our people end in The Hague as criminals only because they defended their people and state," Skejo said. Association representatives Hari Nincevic and Luka Podrug said they had kept their mouth shut until now to give the authorities a chance, but added that unless the new authorities' attitude changed, they would stage public protests and take all soldiers onto the streets. (hina) ha jn