MINELRES: Fwd: BBC: Croatian Serbs win minority rights

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Original sender: Greek Helsinki Monitor <office@greekhelsinki.gr> 

 
BBC News

Croatian Serbs win minority rights 

The main ethnic Serb political party in Croatia has agreed to back the
nationalist-led government in return for concessions on minority rights. 

Under the deal, the new HDZ-led cabinet will help Serbs who fled Croatia
during the 1991-1995 war to regain possession of their properties by the
end of 2004. 

The Serb party, SDSS, said it would also push for Croatia to scrap visa
regime with Serbia-Montenegro. 

Croatia is under pressure to improve its minority rights to join the EU. 

The deal comes as the HDZ - Croatian Democratic Union - prepares to take
office next week, after winning elections in November. 

The HDZ, which secured 66 of the 152 seats in parliament when it
defeated the centre-left coalition, will depend on outside support to
rule. 

The SDSS - Autonomous Democratic Serbian Party - has three deputies in
the parliament. 

Political inclusion 

"For us, it's a good start that HDZ has agreed to work on resolving our
main problems," SDSS vice-president Milorad Pupovac told reporters. 

"We will see how they put it into practice," Mr Pupovac added. 

He stressed that the main issues in the agreement were restoring the
property rights of ethnic Serbs and also full political inclusion of the
Serb community as guaranteed by Croatia's law on minority rights. 

The SDSS said it would not formally join the HDZ-led cabinet, but would
support it in parliament. 

HDZ's leader Ivo Sanader says he will ask parliament to vote on the deal
on Monday. 

EU ambition 

Analysts say the deal means that the Serb party no longer views the HDZ
- which led Croatia to independence in 1991 and later into international
isolation with its nationalist policies - as a threat. 

Mr Sanader says he has reformed and moderated the party. 

He says his government's priorities will be raising living standards,
resolving unsettled issues with neighbours and acquiring European Union
membership. 

Earlier this month, the EU urged the new Croatian Government to
co-operate fully with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former
Yugoslavia. 

The EU also called on Zagreb and fulfil its promises on minority rights
and the return of nearly 300,000 Serb refugees. 
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/3336257.stm

Published: 2003/12/20 04:36:20 GMT

� BBC MMIII