COUNCIL OF EUROPE OFFICIALS VISIT OSIJEK

OSIJEK, Feb 29 (Hina) - A Council of Europe delegation on Thursday visited the eastern city of Osijek where they met Croatian officials for talks on the process of peaceful reintegration of the occupied Croatian areas and government initiatives concerning the implementation of peace agreements. Osijek County prefect Branimir Glavas said that Croatia would meet all commitments and fully respect the rights of its citizens of Serb nationality. Glavas expressed confidence that the involvement of the international community and Croatian cooperation with the UN transitional administration would result in the peaceful reintegration of the currently occupied areas of eastern Croatia. Glavas and Ivica Vrkic, head of the government office for restoration of Croatian authority in the occupied areas, stressed Croatia's commitment to the process of peaceful reintegration, expressing its willingness to fully cooperate with the international community. Pierre van der Linden of the Committee for Political Issues said that the return of refugees and displaced people was one of the key elements of the peace process. He was particularly interested in ways in which the Croatian government intended to step up the return. Van der Linden said that Croatia should show that it was willing to enable as many Serb refugees as possible to return to their homes and thus create conditions for the return of displaced Croats. The Council of Europe delegation also included Gunnar Jansson of the Committee for Legal Issues and Jan Kleijssen, secretary of the Committee for Political Issues. The delegation also met Osijek mayor Zlatko Kramaric. After the closed-door talks, Van der Linden said that it was necessary to implement the Erdut and Dayton peace agreements as soon as possible, stressing the importance of confidence-building measures and responsibility of the international community in the peace process. (hina) vm 292302 MET feb 96