CONFERENCE ON CITIZENSHIP STATUS OF EX-YUGOSLAVIA'S CITIZENS ENDS

ZAGREB, Feb 22 (Hina) - The status of citizenship of citizens of the former Yugoslavia after its break-up was the title of a two-day international conference that ended in Zagreb on Saturday. The conference, held under the sponsorship of the secretary-general of the Council of Europe, Daniel Tarchys, was organized by the Croatian legal centre, the open society institute and the city of Osijek and it attracted many experts and people interested in the topic as well as representatives of governmental and non- governmental organizations of countries-successors to the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) and of other countries. On Saturday the conference revolved round the topic "Croatian citizenship and peaceful reintegration of eastern Slavonia, Baranja and western Sirmium and forthcoming local elections in the area". At the beginning of his address, U.S. Ambassador to Croatia, Peter Galbraith, spoke of the importance of acquiring citizenship, and stressed that the United States supported peaceful reintegration and the peace agreement which would reintegrate not only a territory but also people. He said that it was important that people got citizenship documents, and added that the Croatian Government was making positive steps forward in this field. If people in that area did not obtain the citizenship, it could be a serious reason for postponing elections, the U.S. Ambassador said. Galbraith said that the same right which Croatian displaced persons had to return, should be also enjoyed by Serbs who had fled their homes and moved into the Danubian area or outside Croatia. The Croatian Government's obligation was to create conditions for safety and security of all Serbs who lived in Croatia and that there was no discrimination, he said adding that Croatia could solve those issues soon. A member of Croatian Parliament House of Representatives, Mato Arlovic, spoke of the equal treatment of all citizens, and warned that the international community was deviating from that at the moment. The basic principle on people's return to their places of residence had not been respected at the beginning, as Serbs in the Croatian Danubian area were given the choice - they could either stay there or return to their homes, and they had the political choice where to vote, whereas the (Croatian) displaced persons could cast ballot only where they were being accommodated now, Arlovic told the conference and asked whether it was not discrimination against other citizens - Croats and Hungarian from the (Danubian) area. Such a solution could cause confrontation at moral and interest levels, as nobody in Croatia but Serbs in that area had such rights. Whoever had the right to acquire the citizenship, should receive it, he said. Arlovic added that 65,000 people in the Danubian area had already received Croatian citizenship certificates and that it was estimated that between 80,000 and 120,000 people would get them. The conference discussed a legal position of persons who became foreign nationals following the dissolution of the former Yugoslavia (SFRY), their rights in legislation of countries- successors to the SFRY, and international conventions on citizenship. The goal of the conference was to define and assess real problems in legislation concerning citizenship and to find out a basis for solving them. (hina) jn mš 221801 MET feb 97