S/PV.3901 Security Council

As this is the first meeting of the Security Council for the month of July, I should like to take this opportunity to pay tribute, on behalf of the Council, to His Excellency Mr. António Monteiro, Permanent Representative of Portugal to the United Nations, for his service as President of the Security Council for the month of June 1998, and to his delegation. I am sure I speak for all members of the Security Council in expressing deep appreciation to Ambassador Monteiro and his colleagues for the great diplomatic skill with which the Council’s business was conducted last month. Adoption of the agenda

I should like to inform the Council that I have received a letter from the representative of Croatia, in which she requests to be invited to participate in the discussion of the item on the Council’s agenda. In conformity with the usual practice, I propose, with the consent of the Council, to invite that representative to participate in the discussion, without the right to vote, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Charter and rule 37 of the Council’s provisional rules of procedure. There being no objection, it is so decided.

The Security Council will now begin its consideration of the item on its agenda. The Council is meeting in accordance with the understanding reached in its prior consultations. Members of the Council have before them the report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations Police Support Group, document S/1998/500. I should like to draw the attention of members of the Council to document S/1998/589, which contains the text of Following consultations among members of the Security Council, I have been authorized to make the following statement on behalf of the Council. “The Security Council has considered the report of the Secretary-General of 11 June 1998 (S/1998/500) pursuant to its resolution 1145 (1997) of 19 December 1997. “The Security Council notes that the overall security situation in the Danube region is relatively stable. It also notes that the generally satisfactory performance of the Croatian police in the region is largely due to comprehensive monitoring by the United Nations Police Support Group and the special attention paid to the situation by the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Croatia. However, the Council is concerned that, despite the large presence of the Croatian police, ethnically-related incidents, evictions and housing intimidation cases have not been stopped, and that such incidents have increased in the recent period. “The Security Council expresses its grave concern that a large number of Serb residents and displaced persons have emigrated from the Republic of Croatia since late 1996, mainly because of continued security incidents, ethnically-related intimidation, a dire economic situation, bureaucratic hurdles, discriminatory legislation and a stalled return programme. A continuation of this trend could have a seriously negative effect on the restoration of a multiethnic society in the Republic of Croatia. The Council, therefore, welcomes the adoption by the Government of Croatia, on 20 June 1998, of a nationwide Programme for the Return and Accommodation of Displaced Persons, Refugees and Resettled Persons' (S/1998/589) and calls for its prompt and full implementation at all levels, including the abolition of discriminatory property laws and the establishment of effective mechanisms allowing owners to recover their property. It stresses the importance of the prompt and full implementation of the Programme on Reconciliation at all levels throughout Croatia and of preventing and responding to incidents of harassment and unlawful evictions. “The Security Council calls upon the Government of Croatia to improve police response to ethnically-related incidents, evictions and housing intimidation cases and to take other measures to strengthen public confidence in the police, including through public information and police preventive action. In this context, the Council stresses the importance of the implementation of the guidelines issued by the Ministry of the Interior on 9 January 1998 and the institution of a community policing programme by the Ministry. This statement will be issued as a document of the Security Council under the symbol S/PRST/1998/19. The Security Council has thus concluded the present stage of its consideration of the item on its agenda.