ZAGREB, March 14 (Hina) - The two international donators' conferences for the reconstruction of the Croatian Danubian area collected $ 75 million, participants of the second donors' conference said after the end of the second
conference entitled "The Challenge of Reconstruction" which took in Zagreb on Friday.
ZAGREB, March 14 (Hina) - The two international donators' conferences for
the reconstruction of the Croatian Danubian area collected $ 75 million,
participants of the second donors' conference said after the end of the
second conference entitled "The Challenge of Reconstruction" which took in
Zagreb on Friday. #L#
The largest donator was the United States which set aside $ 28 million
for projects of reconstruction in the UNTAES-administered area.
The first goal after the elections was the return of displaced persons
and reconstruction, for which resources were necessary which could not be
collected without the help of the international community, Transitional
Administrator for eastern Slavonia, Baranja and western Srijem, General
Jacques Klein, told a news conference.
Croatian Reconstruction and Development Minister Jure Radic expressed
gratitude to the participants of the conference for the collected resources,
but stressed that the amount was still insufficient and that other ways of
ensuring help from the international community would have to be searched
for.
Radic reiterated that about $ 2 billion were necessary for the process
of return of displaced persons and reconstruction.
Croatia could set aside from its budget one billion dollars, he said,
and the rest would have to be collected through the help of the
international community.
US Ambassador to Croatia Peter Galbraith said with satisfaction that
the US had provided over one third of the so far gathered resources, and
added that it was crucial that equal treatment be ensured for all Croatian
citizens, notwithstanding their nationalities, in the process of
reconstruction and approach to resources for the reconstruction.
The European Union would set aside 7 million ECU this year, as it did
last year. Among the larger donators, besides the US, there were:
Switzerland with about $ one million ($ 500,000 are envisaged for this
year), Norway with $ 4.5 million (in 1996 it reached 7.7 million), Italy
which set aside $ 4 million for the next three-year period, besides the $ 5
million last year, and Germany with $ 5 million for sponsoring private
entrepreneurship in the Danube river region and a DM 850,000-worth mine-
clearing project in the area.
Among donors who expressed readiness to invest in the reconstruction
of the Croatian Danubian area were the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria and
Russia.
Investment in the Danube river region was a good investment not only
for the area, but also for the whole of Europe and its stability. The costs
of reconstruction transcended Croatia's capacity and the help of the
international community was necessary, The conference's president, Klein's
deputy, Derek Boothby, said.
Asked about the fate of people indicted for war crimes, Klein said
that in the case of those persons for which there was documentation that
they had committed war crimes, it was best to submit the documentation to
the International War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague and leave it to the
Tribunal to initiate procedures. This would significantly facilitate my
work, Klein said.
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