Croatian prime minister calls on Yugoslavia to remove army from the border

Thu Aug 1,11:05 AM ET

ZAGREB, Croatia - Following a weekend incident in which the Yugoslav army fired at Croats near a disputed border river island, Croatian Prime Minister Ivica Racan on Thursday called on Yugoslavia to pull the army out of the area.

"The army at the border and saber rattling is not a solution for a country that wants to have good relations with its neighbours," Racan said.

Yugoslavia can contribute to better relations between the two countries by "withdrawing its army from the border and demilitarizing the area," he said.

Racan again condemned the incident and requested that those responsible be punished.

On Sunday, Yugoslav soldiers deployed on the bank of the Danube River separating the two countries fired toward a group of Croats sailing near a disputed river island. A local official from eastern Croatia was briefly arrested.

The incident outraged Croats and underlined a lingering border dispute between the two countries that were at war in 1991-95 when Yugoslavia backed Croatian Serbs' armed rebellion against the country's independence from the former Yugoslav federation.

In 1995, Croatia recaptured a third of its territory seized by Serb rebels four years earlier.

However, some border stretches have remained disputed, including the Danube island and Prevlaka peninsula on Croatia's south, which has been controlled by the U.N. troops since the war.

Negotiations are going slowly. Although the two countries eventually recognized each other in 1996, mistrust and animosity still persist between them.

Speaking at a government session, Racan acknowledged that the border talks may last for years and that international arbitration may become necessary.

Meanwhile, people from Sarengrad, a city on the Croatian side of the Danube, seem eager to get the disputed island back. They used its fields and forests for centuries and insist it is essential for their living.

Some of them reportedly plan to visit the island again on Saturday.

Racan appealed to them not to do so, advising them to "refrain from making rash moves."