Head of OSCE mission encourages churches in Croatia to support return and integration of refugees

KISTANJE, 18 December 2006 - Ambassador Jorge Fuentes, the head of the OSCE Mission to Croatia, today encouraged the Catholic and Orthodox Churches in Croatia to organize joint events to foster reconciliation and support the return of Serb refugees to Zadar and Sibenik-Knin County in western Croatia.

Ambassador Fuentes attended a meeting with leading representatives of the Catholic and Orthodox Church in Croatia at the Krka Monastery near Kistanje to discuss the return and reintegration of refugees as well as the promotion of peaceful co-existence. The region is populated by Croats, most of whom are Catholic, and Serbs, most of whom are Orthodox.

Local co-operation between the churches to foster reconciliation should be copied nationwide, Ambassador Fuentes said at the meeting.

"This would certainly contribute to a decrease of ethnic incidents and help create a more favourable environment for the return of the refugees," he said.

He also pushed the Orthodox and Catholic churches to organize joint seminars and meetings for people of both confessions to discuss reconciliation and peaceful co-existence.

The participants in the meeting - the Orthodox Bishop of Dalmatia, Fotije; Zadar Archbishop Monsignor Ivan Prendja; Serb minority parliamentarian Milorad Pupovac and Development Ministry State Secretary Stanko Janic - agreed to continue co-operation to encourage return and reintegration of refugees and displaced persons.

The meeting was a follow-up of a similar get-together that took place in Zadar in June.