SOFT BORDER REGIME BETWEEN CROATIA & YUGOSLAVIA NOT BEFORE DEC. 1 ( Editorial: --> 7875 )

( Editorial: --> 7875 ) VUKOVAR, Nov 3 (Hina) - A soft border crossing regime between Croatia and Yugoslavia will not take effect before December 1 this year, the UN Transitional Administration (UNTAES) in the Danube river region of eastern Croatia said in a statement on Monday. Under the instructions of UN Transitional Administrator William Walker, with the full cooperation of the governments of the Republic of Croatia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY), the system of soft borders between Croatia and FRY will not be applied before December 1, 1997. Until then the present system of border crossing will be valid, the statement said. UNTAES will use the remaining time to distribute passes to the residents of the border area entitled to use the soft border system. Applications for passes are to be submitted to Transitional Police Force stations in Beli Manastir, Dalj, Ilok, Mirkovci and Vukovar. The price of a pass is 224 kuna ($37). (hina) vm 031914 MET nov 97