EUROPEAN PARLIAMENTARIANS MEET MEMBERS OF CRO PARLIAMENT COMMITTEE

ZAGREB, June 19 (Hina) - A European Parliament delegation led by Doris Pack met members of the Croatian Parliament's Subcommittee for Cooperation with the European Parliament in Zagreb on Thursday for talks on recent presidential elections, return of displaced persons, termination of the UNTAES mandate, freedom of the media and trial of war criminals. The agenda also included the political and economic situation in Croatia, the situation in the UN-administered Eastern Slavonia region, minority rights, and Croatia's relations with the international community and the European Union. Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Zarko Domljan informed the European parliamentarians about the situation in the country and the recent elections, stressing that Wednesday's agreement in the Zagreb City Council ended the local government crisis in the capital. Domljan described the economic situation in Croatia as stable and optimistic. Asked about the termination of the UNTAES mandate, Drago Krpina of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) party said that UNTAES should leave because "there is still a group of people in the Croatian Danube region who do not want to stay in Croatia and who are obstructing the reintegration process. The sooner UNTAES leaves the area the sooner the normal constitutional and legal order will be established." European parliamentarians asked Croatian colleagues to comment on an assessment by OSCE monitors that Sunday's presidential elections were free but not fair. Bozo Kovacevic of the Social Liberal Party (HSLS) said that "media coverage was not correct because electronic media gave preference to one candidate." Agreeing with Kovacevic, Social Democrat Zeljka Antunovic said that "Croatian Radio and Television is really in the service of one party" and "in that regard monitors' remarks are correct." Krpina disagreed with the OSCE assessment, saying that every political party could equally buy air time in a sponsored programme on state-run television as the HDZ had. Asked how many Serbs could return to Croatia, Domljan said that all Serb refugees were allowed to return and that 15,000 had returned so far. According to data from the Croatian Office in Belgrade, 35,000 people would like to return. In Eastern Slavonia, 5,000 have expressed a desire to return while a further 5,000 would like financial compensation for their property and after which they would leave. That process is open, Domljan said. Stjepan Radic of the Peasant Party (HSS) stressed the complexity of the return process, saying that Croats had been expelled from their homes first and that they had been living in exile for six years. "The degree of their frustration is certainly the highest and now demands are being made that Serbs should return first." Ante Djapic of the Party of Rights (HSP) said that occupied houses should be vacated so that all people could return to their homes, Moslems and Bosnian Croats to Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbs to Croatia and Croats to Eastern Slavonia. Zeljka Antunovic of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) said that it was unjustifiable to expect from Croatia, for the sake of political peace, to first resolve the problems of Serbs and then of Croats. The international community could contribute to the speedier resolution of the problem with financial assistance, in view of the fact that Croatia is devastated by war and accommodation presents a great problem. Speaking of lists of war criminals, Domljan said that the issue should be dealt with by the judiciary and not politicians. (hina) vm jn 191838 MET jun 97