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PRESS CUT - Croatian Press News in English
June 18, 1998

In today's press cut:
===============

� CROATIA

1. Croatia & Vatican to Sign Agreement on Friday
2. Americans Feel There is No Media Freedom in Croatia
3. Border Traffic Between Croatia and RS Doubles
4. Croatian Ambassador to Russia Injured in Crash
5. Segro to Open Largest Croatian Shopping Centre in Zagreb
6. Ivankiv Family Not Allowed Into Their Own House in Vukovar
7. Croatian Pupils Still Not in Vukovar Primary School
8. A Century in Photos
9. Two Victories are the Only Way to Merit French Bronze
10. Zagreb Has Still Not Lost Osijek Game!

� ICTY

11. Prisoners Claimed Sakic Honourable Man

� BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

12. Zubak is Thinking Sopta Over
13. Teaching Journalistic Ethics
14. Prlic Visits Chicago
15. IPTF Wants Capljina Police Chief Fired
16. Remove Military From Media Commission


Todays Exchange Rates: http://www.hic.hr/turizam/tecaj/
Todays Weather Report: http://www.hic.hr/turizam/prognoza/
HELP BUILD THE CHURCH IN TIVAT! Visit: http://www.hic.hr/tivat
Everything you want to know
about Papal visit to Croatia: http://www.papa.hr (Croatian)
			      http://www.pope.hr (English)	

***


� CROATIA

1. Hina, U petak potpisivanje sporazuma s Vatikanom, Vjesnik, October 6,
1998, Front Page.
CROATIA & VATICAN TO SIGN AGREEMENT ON FRIDAY

ZAGREB - Croatia and the Vatican will sign an economic agreement Friday, as
announced by Jure Radic, President of the State Committee for Religious
Relations in a Croatian Radio interview. The agreement will stipulate the
Church accept the Law on the Return of Confiscated Property, considering
that only a part of their property can be returned, while the rest will be
compensated in time. The agreement also concerns financing of the Churchs
public work: humanitarian, educational, cultural. This will not be financed
by church taxes, as is the case with some countries, but from the state
budget.

The agreement was not signed during the recent Papal visit to Croatia,
because no one wanted the agreement to be the centre of attention.

***

2. Hina, Hrvatska bez slobode medija, Vecernji list, October 6, 1998, p. 7.
AMERICANS FEEL THERE IS NO MEDIA FREEDOM IN CROATIA

ZAGREB - The Freedom House Agency servicing the United States government
has categorised the Croatia among those countries with no freedom of the
media. This was reported by the Voice of America, citing a statement made
by an official of the agency, Leonard Sussman.

According to the agency, the media is free in the Czech Republic, Hungary,
Poland, and Slovenia. and partially free in Slovakia, Bulgaria, Romania and
Albania. However, there is no freedom of the press in Croatia, Bosnia and
Herzegovina, Yugoslavia and some Central Asian states.

Sussman accused Croatia of an "authoritarian trend" because it sold a
cellular telephone concession to a group of business people close to the
governing political party.

***

3. V. H., Granicni promet izmedju Hrvatske i Republike Srpske dvostruko
uvecan, Vjesnik, October 6, 1998, p. 7.
BORDER TRAFFIC BETWEEN CROATIA AND RS DOUBLES

SLAVONSKI BROD - There are four border crossings along the 175 km long
water border between Croatia and B-H in Brod Posavina County. In the first
six months of this year, 522,470 Croatian citizens crossed the border
(257,848 coming into Croatia and 264,622 exiting). At the same time, 1.2
million foreigners have crossed the border.

Since the border crossings at Slavonski Brod and Stara Gradiska have been
opened, the number of border crossings doubled. Namely, there were only
620,657 border crossings at the same time last year. Interior Minister
Penic said during a recent visit to the Brod Posavina County that there are
some individuals who could cause Croatia substantial problems if they
entered the country, which is why police have to strictly adhere to border
crossing instructions.

***

4. I. Hidajet Biscevic ozljedjen u prometnoj nesreci, Vecernji list,
October 6, 1998, Back Page.
CROATIAN AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA INJURED IN CRASH

MOSCOW - Croatian Ambassador to Russia Hidajet Biscevic was seriously
injured in an automobile collision two nights ago in the heart of Moscow.
The Mercedes belonging to the Croatian embassy was travelling, when an Opel
Vectra Caravan, owned by the independent TV station NTV, crossed the median
for unknown reasons and hit the Mercedes.

Biscevic suffered a broken left arm and multiple breaks to his legs. He was
taken to the hospital and according to the doctor, his life is not in
danger. A well-known Russian television reporter, Aleksandar Gerasimov, who
was driving the Opel Vectra, suffered a concussion and broken leg.

***

5. S. Laus-Mrvelj, Segro otvara najveci trzni centar u Hrvatskoj,
Vecernji list, October 6, 1998, p. 11.
SEGRO TO OPEN LARGEST CROATIAN SHOPPING CENTRE IN ZAGREB

ZAGREB - Segro will soon be opening a shopping centre on the former site
of Nama (a large Croatian department store) in the industrial zone on
Zagreb (Zitnjak). The centre will cover an area of 30,000 square metres and
will provide over 100,000 products. The Zagreb Segro will create jobs for
180 sales clerks and over 70 million DM will be invested in the purchased
facilities.

It will also be the largest shopping centre in Croatia.

"The basic sales policy of Segro is to offer brand names with the best
quality - price relationship," said the general manager of the sales
department, Davor Dobrovic. "Furthermore, we pay a lot of attention to the
shopper. The average shopper at Segro spends four hours in our stores,
hence we have a special customer service department: promotion desks, bars,
restaurants
".

It is expected that a large part of the 40,000 Croatian shoppers who do
their shopping in Austrian Segros will begin to buy in Zagreb.

"We are aware of the fact that some Croatian consumers will continue to do
their shopping in Graz," said Dobrovic, "because prices are not burdened by
customs or any other taxes or expenses and they even get the mehrwertsteuer
(Austrian added value tax) back." But, he added, that among 100,000
products, half will be Croatian products. By coming to the Zagreb Segro,
Croatian companies will also have a chance to make it on the Austrian
market.

Dobrinovic could not confirm whether the coming of Segro to Zagreb was the
reason Metro (competitive Austrian company) postponed its arrival. He said
the two department stores have good co-operation and according to the
analysis of the market, there is room for both in Croatia. Still, it seems
Segro will threaten local sales chains, especially after Drogeria Markt has
made itself at home on the Zagreb market.

In spite of the fact that they say this company is mostly interested in
restaurants and small stores, the experience of the domestic Getro
indicates that many of their cash and carry shops do not have pizzerias
or mini-markets. Proof that this kind of shopping is worthwhile can be
found in the 15,500 square metres of shopping space of the Getro in Zagreb,
as another centre is planned in Vrbani (opposite side of Zagreb).

***

6. M. Flego, Ivankive ne puste u njihov dom, Vecernji list, October 6,
1998, p. 7.
IVANKIV FAMILY NOT ALLOWED INTO THEIR OWN HOUSE IN VUKOVAR

VUKOVAR - The kind of problems Croat returnees have to bear after seven
years of being banished from their homes has been felt by Tomislav Ivankiv.

A Serbian family from Novska has been living in his house. So far, Ivankiv
has made 15 attempts to make an arrangement with the Serbian family about
his return to his own house. The occupants constantly promise to move out,
but have yet to do so. The Ivankiv family was temporarily living in Donji
Miholjac, but had to move when the house was sold. The most normal thing to
do was to return to their own house in Borovo Naselje.

As such, they came back to their home with their belongings yesterday
morning. The Serbian family refused to leave though, and called the police.
They charge they are being "mistreated by Croats." Six police officers
quickly arrived and did not allow the Ivankiv familys possessions to be
unloaded in front of the house.

"I am surprised with the actions of the police. They even threatened to
report me because I allegedly made threats," said Tomislav Ivankiv.

The situation, but ended in a verbal argument.

OSCE personnel also came to the scene quickly and bartered an agreement
with the police to compose and sign a contract where by the Ivankiv family
has the right to move their belongings in one room (of their own house?!),
while the Serbian family has ten days in which the vacate the premises and
hand over the keys.

***

7. Hina, U Vukovaru ucenici jos nisu na nastavi, Vjesnik, October 6,
1998, Front Page.
CROATIAN PUPILS STILL NOT IN VUKOVAR PRIMARY SCHOOL

VUKOVAR - The ethnic Croatian pupils from the Grade 2 class of the Fifth
Vukovar Elementary School did not come to school on Monday.

After being abused by ethnic Serbian children last week, their parents have
decided not to allow them to go to school until Principle Radojka Serbic is
replaced and police watches are initiated in the hallways, said
Vice-principal Jozo Galic.

He added that "the police have increased patrols around the school and that
should be enough for the security of Croatian returnee children. Today all
pupils attending Croatian language classes were placed in the same shift
(Croatia has morning and afternoon school shifts) and their classrooms were
moved closer to the principles offices."

The decision to remove the principle can only be made by the minister of
Education and Sports.

***

8. Z. V. U., Stoljece u objektivu, Vecernji list, October 6, 1998, p. 16.
A CENTURY IN PHOTOS

ZAGREB - The 27th Zagreb Salon will open with a photo exhibit in the Old
City Hall tonight at 19:00 (CET). Zagreb has been nurturing its tradition
in photography since 1910, as was mentioned at a press conference in the
Zagreb Fotoklub yesterday.

Over 3,000 photographs art from 36 countries (486 photographers) have
submitted their work to this years Salon. An international judges
committee chose 340 of them. The general sponsor of the Salon is Zagreb
City Hall and the organiser is Fotoklub Zagreb. The exhibit will include
80 black and white photos and 82 colour. In the spirit of spreading
photographic culture, exhibits will open simultaneously in Zagreb, Sibenik,
Bjelovar and Kukljica.

Zvonimir Dumancic, a member of the judges committee, said this years Salon
is the first since the war, but its quality is at a pre-war level.

According to art critic Dubravka Kosecki-Jakelic, who is responsible for
the concept and staging of the exhibit, the authors have shown everything
currently happening in the world of photographic art in the free theme
category.

The names of the 28 winning photographers of this years Salon were
announced at the press conference too. The gold medal for single-photo
black and white photography was awarded to Austrian Maria Biedermann, and
Italian Gabrielle Rigon won best black and white collection. Gold in the
single shot colour photography category went to German Rudolf Puetelnik,
while his compatriot, Manfred Kriegstein won gold for his colour collection.

***

9. T. P., Croatian Information Centre - Zagreb, October 6, 1998.
TWO VICTORIES ARE THE ONLY WAY TO MERIT FRENCH BRONZE

ZAGREB - "We are third in the world and that is an obligation. We cannot
afford to lose our reputation," said the head coach of the Croatian
National Soccer Team at the beginning of his press conference yesterday.

The Croatian Selects will be playing two qualifiers for the 2000 European
Championship against Malta (away - October 10) and Macedonia (home -
October 14). The team left for Porec, where they will prepare for both
games. There is an accent on Malta, as this team recently outplayed, but
lost against Germany 2:1, not to mention the 2:0 loss Croatia suffered at
the hands of Irelands best in Dublin, in their first qualifier in September.

Politics were also mentioned, as the situation in Kosovo has cancelled a
game in this group against FR Yugoslavia (UEFA has cancelled FRYs game
against Ireland and England cancelled its international friendly against
them, as well).

"That is none of my business. I feel bad about everything going on there
because I know that everybody can hardly wait for us to play against FRY. I
will do all I can to keep the players motivated, which has been very strong
ever since they found out FRY is in our group. Motivation is the most
important element in the formula of success," said Ciro Blazevic.

***

10. R. S., Ponistena odluka povjerenika Martinca, Vecernji list, October
6, 1998, p. 31.
ZAGREB HAS STILL NOT LOST OSIJEK GAME!

ZAGREB - The Appeals Commission of the Croatian Soccer Federation has
accepted the appeal of Premier Division member Zagreb against the decision
of a league delegate to not allow them to play against Osijek and register
the 3:0 victory (this was because a lot of the players did not have a valid
health certificate).

"There is no foundation in Article 56 for such a decision of the league
delegate ," said Josip Levatic, Appeals Commission President, "which is why
he will have to re-examine his decision."

The decision was passed by three delegates instead of five. Galovic was not
allowed to participate because he represents Zagreb and the delegate from
Split did not show up at the meeting.

"I will ask the Regulations Committee to examine this case," said Martinac,
who is the delegate which made the controversial decision. A new decision
should be made by the end of this week.

***

� ICTY

11. S. P., Logorasdi su mi rekli da je Sakic postenjak, Vecernji list,
October 6, 1998, p. 7.
PRISONERS CLAIMED SAKIC HONOURABLE MAN

ZAGREB - In the investigative procedure against Dinko Sakic, accused of WW
II war crimes, witness Mijo Topljak (84) gave his testimony yesterday.

Topljak said he was arrested in Zagreb, February 22, 1942 and is still not
sure why. He was held at Jasenovac for a few days and then transferred to
Stara Gradiska, where he remained from the end of to the end of 1943. He
was then granted amnesty and released. He recalls the case of two prisoners
caught trying to escape. They disappeared soon after their capture and he
supposes they were executed. Other prisoners told him Sakic was an
honourable man.

***

� BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

12. J. C., Croatian Information Centre - Sarajevo, October 6, 1998.
ZUBAK IS THINKING SOPTA OVER

SARAJEVO - B&H Presidency member Kresimir Zubak has still not made a final
decision on relieving Gen. Stanko Sopta and Brig. Ilija Rasic of their
duties as demanded by Gen. Erik Shinseki, commanding officer of SFOR. In
Shinsekis letter dated September 29, he set October 1 as the deadline to
do so. Copies of the letter were sent to B&H Federation Defence minister
Ante Jelavic and Deputy Commander of the B&H Federation Army Zivko Budimir.

"Im still thinking," said Zubak for the B&H daily Oslobodenje. Zubak said
he is unsure of his status as Presidency member and has asked the Office of
the High Representative for clarification, as well as the OSCE.

"Personally, I think I retain the powers of Presidency member to the moment
the new members take over," said Zubak. "Besides that, there is a meeting
Tuesday with the Presidency as it is. I also received a letter from Deputy
High Representative Jacques Klein saying the Presidency is in transition
and that the newly-elected members take power when their mandate is verified."

As for Jelavic, who says he did not receive Shinsekis letter, Zubak refers
back to Soptas suspension in August.

"The same day I suspended Gen. Sopta, I sent a letter to Ante Jelevic and
Gen. Budimir, in which I asked for an investigation into Gen. Soptas
actions. I never received a response to that letter."

Additionally, the Defence Ministry has sent a letter to Zubak saying
Shinsekis demand "brings into question the whole system and range of
measures undertaken in building civil-military relations in these difficult
times."

It also says those relations were shaken unnecessarily during the election
campaign. The goal still remains to implement the peace accords to benefit
Croatians, as well as the other peoples in B&H.

Zubak says the letter is unclear on what he should do regarding Sopta and
Rasic, as well as proof that Jelavic received Shinsekis letter.

***

13. J. C., Croatian Information Centre - Sarajevo, October 6, 1998.
TEACHING JOURNALISTIC ETHICS

SARAJEVO - The first private journalism school in Bosnia and Herzegovina
opened Monday under the auspices of Media Plan. The school will begin with
20 students from around the country and instructors from France and B&H.

The students are already working journalists, but will in the next nine
months enhance their skills in print, radio, television, agency and
Internet journalism. The school offers practical training, which separates
it from universities said Zoran Udovicic, president of Media Plan.

The schools goal is to instil a sense of freedom and autonomy into its
students. It will also spend much time teaching students about
professionalism and ethics.

The project has taken three years to develop in conjunction with the
prestigious Lisle journalism school in France. The French government also
helped, as did the European Union, the Westminster Foundation in London,
the Winston Foundation in Washington and the Sarajevo Association in Paris.

***

14. J. C., Croatian Information Centre - Sarajevo, October 6, 1998.
PRLIC VISITS CHICAGO

CHICAGO - B&H minister of Foreign Affairs Jadranko Prlic held a lecture
yesterday at the Croatian Cultural Centre.

Prlic spoke to an audience of about two hundred people about the Dayton
peace accords and the current political situation in south-eastern Europe.

During his trip the United States, Prlic also attended the 53rd UN General
Assembly. Beginning Wednesday, he will attend the International Monetary
Funds annual meeting in Washington.

***

15. J. C., Croatian Information Centre - Sarajevo, October 6, 1998.
IPTF WANTS CAPLJINA POLICE CHIEF FIRED

MOSTAR - Reginald Bonvier, IPTF Commander for Mostar, is demanding an
immediate investigation into the Capljina police force after Fridays
events in Tasovcici, which left one man dead and several others injured.

Bonvier wants disciplinary action taken against officers who brutally beat
two of their Bosniak-Muslim colleagues and an elected official. Moreover,
Bonvier wants Capljina police Chief Kreso Buntic fired. Croatian officials
are against such action.

***

16. J. C., Croatian Information Centre - Sarajevo, October 6, 1998.
REMOVE MILITARY FROM MEDIA COMMISSION

ZAGREB - Members of the Croatian Journalists Association, the B&H
Independent Union of Professional Journalists, the Serbian Independent
Journalists Association and the International Federation of Journalists
are protesting the inclusion of military personnel in the Independent Media
Commission in B-H.

According to a joint press release, the associations say the inclusion of
the three professional soldiers in the IMC pressures journalists and
demonstrates how they will be dealt with in the future.

"We respect their enviable military careers, but at the same time, we feel
it would be more natural and beneficial that the Commission be composed of
people whose professions are related to the media and journalism," states
the release. "We are confident that there are enough media and journalism
experts in the international community who could help in developing free
and professional journalism (in B&H)."

The associations are demanding the Office of the High Representative and
the IMC replace the soldiers with international media experts. They also
ask the IMC closely co-operate with all journalist associations in B&H
before making any decisions or laws on the media.

***

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Croatian Information Centre           Tel:   385 1 / 611 5116
Trg Stjepana Radica 3                      Fax:   385 1 / 455 0700
10000 Zagreb                               E-Mail:   hicnews@hic.hr
REPUBLIC OF CROATIA            Web:   http://www.hic.hr/news

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Croatian Information Centre      Tel:   385 1 / 611 5116
Trg Stjepana Radica 3            Fax:   385 1 / 455 0700
10,000 Zagreb                 E-Mail:   hicnews@hic.hr
REPUBLIC OF CROATIA              Web:   http://www.hic.hr/news

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~