MARGARET THATCHER WRITES TO PRESIDENT TUDJMAN

( Editorial: --> 4597 ) ZAGREB, 15 Jan (Hina) - Since she was not able to attend the ceremony marking the successful reintegration of the Croatian Danube River region, distinguished politician and former Prime Minister of Great Britain, Margaret Thatcher, sent Croatian President Franjo Tudjman a letter expressing her satisfaction with the successfully completed reintegration process which enabled the return of Croatian displaced people to their homes. Thatcher says however that success was only a small compensation by the international community, which had left Croatia in its agony in 1991 and turned its back on scenes of terrible barbarism unseen in Europe for half a century. Had the Serbian aggression been prevented from winning in Vukovar and elsewhere, the creators of aggression from Belgrade would not have been encouraged to attack Bosnia and the terrible tragedy could have been avoided, Thatcher said. The international community now has to help Croatia reconstruct Vukovar and other areas as well as carry out an action which would bring identified war criminals before justice, Thatcher said in her letter. (hina) jn rm 151145 MET jan 98