ZAGREB CITY COUNCIL CHAIRMAN URGES COUNCIL OF EUROPE TO ACCEPT CRO

CRO $ ATIA ZAGREB, March 18 (Hina) - Chairman of the Zagreb City Council, Zdravko Tomac, Monday forwarded a letter to the chairman of the political committee of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly, Andreas Barsony, asking him to back Croatia's admission to the permanent membership of the Council of Europe. The letter was endorsed by councilmen from the Association of Seven Parties, who make up 60% of the City Council, Tomac told a press conference Monday. HDZ and HSP (Croatian Party of Rights) councilmen were also consulted about the letter, but they have not given their official opinion yet. "Such a backing would only help democratic forces and processes in Croatia," the letter said. "The Zagreb crisis" was no reason for refusing Croatia admittance, the letter said. "Even though we are fully aware of the seriousness of that crisis, we believe that such a refusal could only compound this situation, which could be resolved only if Croatia accepted European standards and was integrated into the European legal system," the letter said. Deputy chairman of the City Council, Stjepan Brolich (HDZ), said that his personal opinion was that certain parts of the letter were "not correct." The correct procedure, according to Brolich, would have been to send a letter endorsed by the entire Council. (hina) jn as 182101 MET mar 96