JOINT COUNCIL DISCUSSES SITUATION IN DANUBE REGION

( Editorial: --> 2072 ) VUKOVAR, March 24 (Hina) - The Joint Council of (Serb-majority) Municipalities (ZVO) met on Tuesday in Vukovar to discuss the present situation in the Danube River region, especially from the point of view of the status of Serbs and their interests. ZVO president Milos Vojnovic informed the Council about the announcement of an amnesty for 13,575 Serbs from the Croatian Danube region. "The first stage of our analysis has shown that the amnesties have been made according to a variety of regulations and legal forms and that it will be very difficult to identify pardoned persons, as some of them have been marked by name and last name only," Vojnovic said. Deputy Justice Minister Radovan Majski said that "during the war many persons joined the JNA because that was the only regular armed force at the time and I see nothing wrong about that". Deputy Interior Minister Dragan Djukic stated that the Ministry's organs in the Danube region presently employed 873 ethnic Serbs. Serb Independent Democratic Party president Vojislav Stanimirovic stated that other than 25 un-pardoned persons another 15 persons from the list of the amnestied feared prosecution, as they had been sentenced before amnesty came into effect. Hence, he advised them to appeal against the sentences in order to avoid arrest. Government Office for Refugees and Displaced Persons advisor Milenko Vucetic said that so far about 15,000 Serbs had returned to the region and that 13,000 Serbs had gone from the region to other Croatian areas. Vucetic commended the passing of a decree regulating housing issues, adding that so far the Agency for Facilitating Real Estate Transactions had bought 445 buildings, including 241 in the Croatian Danube region. However, so far only 33 Serb families had been accommodated in those buildings, and he wondered for whom the other bought buildings were being kept for. (Hina) mr mm /mb 241950 MET mar 98