CROATIA SHALL NOT CEDE ANY PART OF ITS TERRITORY - GOVERNMENT

WASHINGTON, Nov 29 (Hina) - The Croatian mission to the United Nations forwarded to the UN Secretary-General an aide-memoire rejecting Yugoslavia's claims to the peninsula of Prevlaka in southern Croatia. "Croatia has always been prepared to settle all disputes with its neighbours peacefully. However, as before, Croatia shall not cede any part of its territory as a price for peaceful settlement of outstanding issues, but rather, it shall defend its territory by all means available to all states equally under international law," said the document, which was circulated as a document of the General Assembly on Friday. "In this regard, Croatia is fully confident that it has the suport of the entire international community, support based on the principal provisions of the Charter of the United Nations," the document said. In an aide memoire circulated as a document of the General Assembly about four weeks ago, the Yugoslav Government had attmpted to present a case that a part of the Prevlaka peninsula in Croatia should belong to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. "The claim by the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to a part of the territory of its neighbouring state, the Republic of Croatia, does not contribute to the strengthening of international security," the document said. The document outlines the history of the Prevlaka area, which has uninterruptedly been part of Croatia since the 15th century, through various forms of Croatia's stathood, including during the period of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. "After gaining independence on 8 October 1992, Croatia's boundaries within the former Yugoslavia, including the boundary with the Republic of Montenegro, became 'frontiers protected by international law'," the document said, invoking the opinion of the Badinter Commission, "based on 200-year-old international practice in respect of retaining of frontiers in casese involving the independence of states," and the relevant Security Council Resolutions, which uphold Croatia's sovereignty over the Prevlaka area. (hina) as 292312 MET nov 96