CROATIA DELIVERS LETTER OF INTENT TO SECURITY COUNCIL

ZAGREB, Jan 14 (Hina) - Croatia on Monday forwarded a Letter of Intent to the UN Security Council in New York on the completion of the peaceful reintegration of the Croatian Danubian area, Croatian Ambassador to the UN, Mario Nobilo, told Hina on Tuesday. The Letter of the Croatian Government has become an official document under number S/UN 27. The UN Security Council is expected to discuss the document in the end of this week or in the beginning of next week. At the moment, it is most important for Croatia that elections will be held in time so that Croatian rule in the Danubian area will be established in 30 day after the elections," Nobilo said. The Letter of the Croatian Government says that elections in the Croatian Danubian area will be held on 16 March 1997, on the same time when local elections will be held in other areas of the Republic of Croatia. Local bodies of authority in parts of Osijek-Baranja and Vukovar-Srijem counties which are under the UN Transitional Administration, will be established in accordance with the electoral results, within the lawfully prescribed term but not later than 30 days after the elections. Members of the local Serb ethnic community, as well as other Croatian citizens, are eligible for local elections if they were residents at the time of the 1991 census, in parts of Osijek-Baranja and Vukovar-Srijem counties currently under the Transitional Administration. Possession of Croatian citizenship/identity documents is an essential prerequisite for participation in the elections. In the document the Croatian Government offers to Serbs, who are Croatian citizens, settled into the UN-administrated area prior to the beginning of the UNTAES mandate to choose to vote for local bodies of authority either in the area in question or in the area they used to live in 1991. In the Letter Croatia has made several gestures toward local Serbs, which are very well accepted in the international community, particularly in the Security Council, as they give additional guarantees that the peaceful reintegration and the return of Croatian displaced persons will pass off with no serious incidents. The guests also guarantee the strengthening of the rule of law in that part of Croatia , Ambassador Nobilo said. According to the Letter, it is guaranteed to the Serb ethnic community in the area under the Transitional Administration that in local bodies of authorities, they will hold the post of Sub-Prefect in Osijek-Baranja and Vukovar- Srijem counties. The Croatian Government guarantees that Serbs along with other ethnic minorities' members in the area, will have approximately 700 to 800 men in local police. The members of the Serb ethnic community from the area currently under the Transitional Administration shall appoint a Joint Council of Municipalities. The leadership of the Joint Council of Municipalities shall meet at least once every four months directly with the President of the Republic or with the chief of the Presidential cabinet. The Letter says that following the next census of the population of Croatia's inhabitants, the number of seats reserved at subsequent elections for members of the Serb and other national minorities in the House of Representatives of the Croatian Parliament shall reflect the proportion of their representation as determined by the census results. Following the elections, Croatia's chief task is to mobilize the international assistance in the reconstruction of war-torn areas in the Croatian Danubian area and to normalize relations between ethnic communities respecting human and minorities rights and strengthening all elements of the law- based state in the region, Ambassador Nobilo said. The President of the Republic of Croatia shall appoint two representatives from the Serb ethnic community as deputies in the House of Counties, according to the Letter. The representatives of the Serb ethnic community from the Danubian area will be appointed to senior posts in the Ministry of Reconstruction and Development and the Office for Displaced Persons and Refugees and at a level not lower than Assistant Minister in the Ministries of Interior, Justice, Education and Culture. It is guaranteed to members of the Serb and other ethnic minorities in the Croatian Danubian area to have full rights with respect to educational and cultural autonomy. According to the document, members of the Serb ethnic community may establish a Council of the Serb Ethnic community that may propose to Croatian President or Premier solutions of issues of common interest for the national minority. Croatian Defence Minister will enact a special decision for all members of the Serb ethnic minority in the Croatian Danubian area on the deferment of military service for a period of two years from the end the UNTAES mandate. After the expiration of the two-year deferment period, applications for deferment of military service at the personal request of the members of the Serb ethnic community in the area under the Transitional Administration will be considered by the Ministry of Defence. Members of the Serb and other ethnic communities from the area under the Transitional Administration who are war victims, particularly disabled, widows and children without parents, will have full health and social rights in accordance with the laws and regulations of the Republic of Croatia, except for the rights defined by the Law on the Rights of Croatian Defenders, according to the document. (hina) mm mš 142029 MET jan 97