PRESIDENTIAL STATEMENT ACCEPTS CROATIA'S STANDPOINT - SIMONOVIC

( Editorial: --> 7819 ) WASHINGTON, Mar 7 (Hina) - The United Nations Security Council has with its presidential statement of 6 March accepted Croatia's standpoint that the situation in the Danube river region is mainly stable, that Croatian police are good in doing their job and that an accelerated economic revival and development are of crucial importance, Croatia's Ambassador to the UN Ivan Simonovic said Friday. However, Simonovic said in a statement issued in New York, the Security Council is concerned over the increased number of incidents and states that a standstill has occurred in the implementation of the trust establishment programme. The ambassador believed it was natural to have ups and downs in a process as delicate as the strengthening of trust after war, aggression and occupation. In the presidential statement, the Security Council voiced concern over instances of abuse of Serbs in the Danubian region of eastern Croatia, and called on the Croatian Government to take steps to ensure the full reintegration of the Danubian region's population and the protection of their rights. Simonovic said it was understandable that the return of those who had been exiled and victims of war crimes sometimes led to incidents and even for local obstructions to occur in the process of reconciliation. What is crucial both for Croatia's interior stability and its international position is the Government's resoluteness and firmness to overcome obstacles and obstructions, Simonovic said. The ambassador pointed out that all perpetrators of war crimes must individually answer for their deeds, regardless of nationality. As regarded all Serbs in the Danubian region, and elsewhere in Croatia, they have become equal citizens of Croatia as soon as they assumed Croatian citizenship, Simonovic said. Alongside rights they are entitled to as all other citizens, Serbs are in line with democratic practice entitled to special minority rights as well, he pointed out. According to Simonovic, the remarks in the Security Council presidential statement coincided with the Croatian Government's evaluations on future priorities in the completion of the reintegration process. The Croatian Government intends to take legal and practical measures for a more efficient implementation of the two-way return programme, the ambassador said. It is necessary for Croatian police to continue with their effective work, Simonovic said, adding it was also necessary to further strengthen the Serbs' trust in the absolute impartiality of the police. The police in the Danubian region is Croatian in the state and not the national sense, he said. Simonovic believed the presidential statement represented a certain pressure on Croatia but, he said, not all pressures were necessarily malevolent nor directed against Croatia. With the Kosovo crisis and the incomplete job in Bosnia- Herzegovina, Simonovic believed it was important to the international community that the remaining problems in Croatia be resolved and that Croatia effectively act as a factor of regional stability. Croatia is ready for this task, the ambassador said. What Croatia asks of the international community is a more active participation in the key issue, reconstruction and development, Simonovic concluded. (hina) ha 071341 MET mar 98