CROATIA'S AMBASSADOR ADDRESSES OSCE MEETING IN BUCHAREST

BUCHAREST, May 24 (Hina) - Croatia's ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Darko Bekic, today addressed an extraordinary meeting of OSCE senior officials in Bucharest on the importance of political tolerance in inter-ethnic and international relations. Bekic said that the Croatian government pursued its policy in accordance with the principle of tolerance in resolving interethnic and international conflicts. But at the same time the international community showed greater flexibility towards strong parties to such conflicts, he stressed. Bekic said that the current occupation of Croatian areas was not particularly favourable for further strengthening of the concept of tolerance. In this context, Bekic spoke of preparations for the unification of Serb-occupied territories in Bosnia and Croatia into one "state", which would later merge with Serbia to form a greater Serbia. The international community's tolerating such a unification would mean approving the results of aggression and forcible annexation of the territories of other countries, Bekic said. The Croatian government reserved the right to use all available means to defend its legitimate national interests as well as the highest principles of the international community and democratic order in the world, he said. (hina) jn vm 241654 MET may 95