ZAGREB, 18 Dec (Hina) - A delegation, headed by the Croatian ombudsman Ante Klaric and representatives of the Government Office for Cooperation with the U.N. Transitional Administration in Eastern Slavonia (UNTAES), held two-day talks
with Council of Europe officials and Parliamentary Assembly secretary general in Strasbourg. Upon his arrival from Strasbourg, Klaric said that the two sides had exchanged their views on human rights situation in Croatia.
ZAGREB, 18 Dec (Hina) - A delegation, headed by the Croatian
ombudsman Ante Klaric and representatives of the Government Office
for Cooperation with the U.N. Transitional Administration in
Eastern Slavonia (UNTAES), held two-day talks with Council of
Europe officials and Parliamentary Assembly secretary general in
Strasbourg.
Upon his arrival from Strasbourg, Klaric said that the two
sides had exchanged their views on human rights situation in
Croatia. #L#
The Croatian delegation presented official Croatian stands on
human rights, the necessity of peaceful reintegration of the
Croatian Danubian area and the non-extension of the UNTAES mandate,
Klaric said.
As regards the forthcoming elections in the Croatian Danubian
area, Klaric said he had insisted that the right to vote should be
granted only to those Croatian citizens who had permanent residence
in the area before the war, but not to those who came there later.
'I was against any ethnic rearrangement in Croatia, since it
is my duty to protect human rights, primarily those of Croatian
citizens', Klaric said.
Klaric said he also opposed any changing of election dates,
since 'those are state elections, for the bodies of local authority
and the House of Counties'.
'I have informed Council of Europe officials that the decision
on the time of the elections had already been made', Klaric said.
Local Serb representatives did not deny that the Danubian area
was an integral part of Croatia and they demanded a separate county
for them, as well as the demilitarization of the area. They also
demanded that the Serb men do not spend their military service in
the Croatian army.
'Their stands are well-known, but we stressed that all
Croatian citizens have rights as well as obligations towards the
Croatian state. That is why Croatian stands will not be changed',
Klaric said.
The president of the Implementation Committee for Human Rights
with UNTAES and organizer of the meeting, Ambassador Henrik Amneus,
who also returned from Strasbourg, described the talks as very
useful. The talks would contribute to better cooperation between
the Council of Europe and the Croatian government and UNTAES,
Amneus said.
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