BORDER CROSSING KNEZEVO-UDVAR TO BE OPENED ON 15 AUG

OSIJEK, August 8 (Hina) - Government delegations of Croatia and Hungary on Thursday met in Osijek for talks on the opening of international border crossing Knezevo-Udvar. Present at the meeting were transitional administrator Jacques Klein, head of the Croatian government's Office for the Establishment of Croatian Authority in the Croatian Danubian Area, Ivica Vrkic, and Osijek Prefect Branimir Glavas. Speaking of the importance of the opening of this international border crossing between the two friendly countries, Klein said that the basic aim of "the international administration is the reintegration of the Croatian Danubian area into the constitutional and legal system of the Republic of Croatia", adding that the international community wanted this to be a multi-ethnic region. The opening of the border crossing, announced for 15 August, was evaluated by Klein as extremely important because "the region has been isolated for several years", adding that "there exist psychological fears", but that the time had come to provide all conditions "for the return of refugees and the exchange of property". Klein said that also important was the normalization of relations between Croatia and Yugoslavia, as well as mutual recognition and the opening of borders "between Croatia, Hungary and Yugoslavia". Vrkic described the opening of the Knezevo-Udvar border crossing as "the opening of the last window and door in the area under the Transitional Administration". Knezevo-Udvar will be followed by the opening of UNTAES' administration offices in Beli Manastir, Vukovar and Ilok, where Croatian workers will issue Croatian documents to inhabitants in the UNTAES controlled area. "Serbs, Croats, Hungarians and others will move freely in Hungary and Croatia", said Vrkic, but added that "certain safety conditions must still be provided". (hina) ha as 081557 MET aug 96