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Annan hopes new Belgrade leadership will help restart talks on disputed Prevlaka
16 October -- Secretary-General Kofi Annan has expressed hope that recent developments in Belgrade could help re-start talks on the Prevlaka peninsula -- a strategic area disputed by Croatia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

In his latest report on the United Nations Mission of Observers in Prevlaka (UNMOP), Mr. Annan says that despite the prevailing calm on the ground there was no movement towards a political settlement during the past three months. In April, Croatia invited the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to attend a fifth round of discussions on the disputed peninsula, but although the invitation was accepted, no meeting has yet been held.

"It is to be hoped that recent developments in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the installation of a new leadership in Belgrade will now facilitate an early resumption of negotiations," Mr. Annan says in the report, which was released today at UN Headquarter in New York.

Reviewing developments in the area over the past three months, Mr. Annan reports that UNMOP recorded the highest-level violation of the UN-monitored zone yet when the Croatian President and an official party entered the area without prior authorization on 26 August. Other violations of the agreed security regime involved "the unauthorized presence of civilians and officials from one or the other side," according to the report. While not constituting a security threat, these violations "nevertheless demonstrate continuing disrespect for some of the provisions of the regime freely agreed upon by the parties."

The Secretary-General notes that UNMOP's 27 military observers continue to enjoy unrestricted freedom of movement on the Yugoslav side of demilitarized zone, but on the Croatian side, they must provide written notice before undertaking patrols in the northern area. "I therefore expect the Croatian authorities to allow the United Nations military observers unrestricted access to all areas of the demilitarized zone, with no preconditions," Mr. Annan writes.