The Republic of Croatia has every right to restore all the temporarily occupied areas. Croatia is undertaking all the measures necessary to establish control over the territory within its internationally recognized state borders.
The republic of Croatia has agreed that UNPROFOR take
control over the occupied territories for a limited period of
time in order to stop the war and to achieve its rights
peacefully, with the smallest possible number of vicktims.
Due to the complexity of international relations, and especially the
war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, UNPROFOR`s task of disarming the
Serbian occupiers and making possible the establishment of the
legal Croatian government has not be performed.
This has a direct effect on the run of the displaced population.
At present, Croatian government does not have acces to the Vukovar area, so no estimate of damage has been made. According to eye-witness accounts, photographs, and articles in the foreign media, damage is enormous.
When the Vukovar area is liberated, which will soon happen,
the first tasks will be to establish security and improve the
sanitary conditions there.
The citizens of Vukovar who been
driven away from their homes are impatinetly awaiting their
return and are eager to go back as soon as the basic
preconditions for life and work are established.
Since the Vukovar area was occupied by the Serbian agressor, the refugees from Vukovar have been taken care of and their life has been organized. The committee for The Vukovar District is active in Zagreb. Several important commercial organizations and the Vukovar bank are also active, under unsituable conditions and without most of their fixed assets. The Vukovar Newspaper is being printed and some cultural instituions are functioning.
Programmes of return and rebuilding have been developed by the people of Vukovar themselves, in accordance with aspirations of the entire Republic. These are programmes for the reconstruction of the infrastructure, as well as economic and social activities. Precedence has been given to certain branches of industriy and to agriculture, considering the fertile soil for the Vukovar area, as well as to road, rail, and other communications.
Special attention is being paid to urban planning. The best experiences in the rebuilding of towns devasted by war all over the world have been taken as the starting point. Rebuilding will certainly include improvements, especially higher standards of public utilities and the infrastructure, and better residential conditions. In the plans for rebuilding Vukovar special attention has been paid to environmental protection.
In spite of these new values, the plans have been developed around the easily recognizable historical heritage of the thousand-year-old town of Vukovar. The overall dimensions of the streets and squares will be preserved, and the old vistas of the town will be restored. The baroque town centre and buildings of great historical value, such as the Eltz manor-house, the Srijem Zupanija building, the Franciscan Monastery and church, and the grammar school building, will be rebuilt. The traditional heritage of the Vukovar area will be taken into account when building new residential areas and buildings. Experts from abroad have shown a great interest in contribuiting to the rebuilding of Vukovar with their experience.
The help of the international community, friendly countries and all Croats at home and abroad is expected, since enormous funds will be required for rebuilding.
Numerous activities, which have passed unnoticed, are being undertaken, such as the compilation of documentation and the collection of works of art by Croatian and foreign artists for the future Vukovar gallery. Expert institutions have undertaken all the necessary steps to have the art objects and artifacts from the historical heritage which were looted by the enemy returned with the help of the intrnational community.
In the new territorial organization of Croatia, Vukovar is the seat of the easternmost Zupanija (country) of Croatia, the Vukovar-Srijem Zupanija. It is believed that Vukovar`s role as a centre of administration will help speed up its reconstruction and revival.
What is most important on this difficult road of return and rebuilding is that the enemy has not to destroy the spirit of the people of Vukovar and their Croatian identity. Because of this, the displaced inhabitants of Vukovar will return to their hearts.