CROAT REPS STRESS IMPORTANCE OF CROAT COMMUNITY OF HERZEG-BOSNIA ( Editorial: --> 1738 )

( Editorial: --> 1738 ) SARAJEVO, Nov 18 (Hina) - Croat officials in Bosnia-Herzegovina and the Bosnian Federation issued a statement on Tuesday, on the sixth anniversary of the establishment of the Croatian Community of Herzeg-Bosnia, recalling its important and unavoidable place in the history of the Croatian people. The statement, issued on behalf of officials from the office of the Croat member of the Bosnia-Herzegovina Presidency, Kresimir Zubak, stressed that the founding of the Croatian Community of Herzeg- Bosnia meant for Croats in Bosnia-Herzegovina the defence of their existence, national rights and dignity. "By organising ourselves into a political and defensive community of Croats in Bosnia-Herzegovina - at a time when the Republic of Croatia was already the victim of an expanding Serb aggression and when official bodies of power and leading politicians in Bosnia- Herzegovina had not yet recognised the course of tragic events - we announced clearly to everyone the readiness of the Croat people in Bosnia-Herzegovina to defend themselves and be political subjects. The later sequence of events confirmed the correctness of our judgment, especially through the establishment of the Croatian Defence Council," the statement said. The officials recalled that the Croat people had by then already realised that without such a political and defensive community in Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Washington and then the Dayton agreements, which are based on full political and legal equality of the three nations, would never have been signed. The officials stressed that, based on positive experience, and within the framework of the established Croatian Community of Herzeg-Bosnia, they would continue to ensure that all areas of Bosnia-Herzegovina where Croat people lived be connected, and through the Community secure the protection and promotion of the rights and interests of the Croat people in Bosnia-Herzegovina. "We intend to accomplish all this, as we have always intended, by recognising the rights, interests and needs of other peoples we co- exist with in Bosnia-Herzegovina, and by closely cooperating with the international community," the statement said. (hina) lm 181606 MET nov 97