OSIJEK, 23 Jan (Hina) - The Croatian Government Office for the U.N. -administered Area of Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Srijem held a session in Osijek on Thursday. The session focused on time frames and deadlines for the
completion of peaceful reintegration of the Croatian Danubian area.
OSIJEK, 23 Jan (Hina) - The Croatian Government Office for the U.N.
-administered Area of Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Srijem
held a session in Osijek on Thursday. The session focused on time
frames and deadlines for the completion of peaceful reintegration
of the Croatian Danubian area. #L#
The head of the Office, Ivica Vrkic, called on Serbs from the
U.N.-administered area to 'prepare themselves for the elections and
show whether they are ready to cooperate in the establishment of
Croatian authority'.
'We want to tell those who do not accept it to give up
terrorism. This is the final stage (of reintegration) and I think
that a critical mass has been established among the members of the
Serb nationality, which is ready to accept the establishment of
Croatian authority since it is the only guarantee of prosperity in
the area', Vrkic said.
In President Tudjman's speech which took place in Parliament
yesterday, peaceful reintegration was described as Croatia's most
important political and strategic aim, said Vrkic's deputy Mirko
Tankosic, adding that the most important priority in the coming
period was to prepare and implement the elections.
'A head office led by Administration Minister Davorin Mlakar
will be in charge of organizing and implementing the elections and
we expect that details of their implementation would be agreed on
during the day at the talks with representatives of the
Transitional Administration', Tankosic said.
The head of the Government Coordination for Public Companies
in the Croatian Danubian area, Ivan Majdak, recalled that the
inspection into the state of facilities and equipment in public
companies in the area should be completed by 31 January, while
administrative boards should be established by the end of February.
The deadline for the integration of public companies in the
U.N.-administered area into Croatia's public companies' system is 1
March, Majdak said.
A member of the executive committee for civil administration,
Franjo Zdravcevic, said that new offices for issuing Croatian
documents had been opened in the area. Offices in Erdut and Tenja
started working yesterday, an office was opened in Dalj today and
several offices would be opened in the next couple of days,
Zdravcevic said.
Among the current problems were applications for Croatian
documents by citizens who left Croatia for Yugoslavia after the
Croatian army and police operations 'Flash' and 'Storm' and for
whom it was difficult to establish when they arrived in the
Croatian Danubian area.
Ivan Babic, deputy superintendent of the Transitional Police
Force (TPF) announced that the issuing of accreditation papers for
another 100 Croatian interior ministry officers would start
tomorrow, which would increase the share of Croatian police
officers in the Transitional Police Force to 29%.
For the sake of the further increase of Croatian police
officers in TPF, a seminar on human rights would be organised for
250 police officers, Babic said, adding that facilities which would
house police stations in Bilje and Baranjsko Petrovo Selo were
being constructed.
The following steps in the reorganization of police forces
were the introduction of river police on the Drava river and border
police on the Danube, for which nine vessels, to be additionally
equipped later, had been secured, with the aim of preventing
illegal crossing of the state border and weapons-, drug and
consumer goods' trafficking.
A four-week seminar for members of a future special police
troop, including 50 Croats and 25 Serbs, had started in Pula, Babic
said, stressing the importance of preventing possible incidents
during the pre-election campaign.
(hina) rm jn
231819 MET jan 97