By Marko Kovac BBC, Croatia

As we drove into Popovic Brdo, an eerie picture was before us.

The village felt deserted. Even at noon, there was neither dog nor man to be seen.

Smiljana Cakic lives with no water or power

The streets were lined with ruined houses brought down a decade ago by mortar fire when the village, a mainly ethnic Serb area, was on the front line in Croatia's war for independence from Yugoslavia.

But there were signs of life in a small number of rebuilt homes.

Less than 50 kilometres (30 miles) from the bustling Western-looking Croatian capital Zagreb, we had found what we were looking for - ethnic Serbs trying to return and rebuild their pre-conflict property.

Smiljana and Pavao Cakic were among the returnees.

We found the elderly couple living in a converted barn, surrounded by ankle-deep mud and fields.

None of us knew then that Mr Cakic was only weeks from death.

I never lived like this. There is no life when you have nowhere to bathe after work. I have no idea how long I'm going to keep this up Pavao Cakic, weeks from death

The couple gave us a tour of their modest premises. Their bedroom was just about big enough to garage a Mini, with cramped beds made from used bus seats.

Outside, flies were buzzing in the lean-to kitchen that backed onto the barn.

Inside the barn was a cow donated by the United Nations refugee agency.

Apart from a small amount in state welfare payments, this malnourished animal was all the Cakics had to live on.

The kitchen is a lean-to against the barn

The view from their front yard reminded 75-year-old Mr Cakic of happy years long ago: the big two-storey house in which they once lived was a few steps away across the street, occupied by Bosnian Croats.

During the war in Croatia, more than half a million people fled their homes.

In mid-1995, Croatian forces retook Serb-rebel held territories. Many ethnic Serbs fled for neighbouring Serbia, fearing revenge from Croats.

The Cakics were among those who, years later, have returned. Finding their house occupied, they made this collapsing barn across the street their "temporary" home.

Five years later, they were still there - living with no electricity, toilet or water.

The government have done nothing to help us return. Nobody has come to see how we live Smiljana Cakic

"We returned to Croatia because this was our only home," said Mr Cakic, holding back tears as he described the conditions.

"I never lived like this. There is no life when you have nowhere to bathe after work. I have no idea how long I'm going to keep this up."

As we spoke, his wrinkled hands shook and his eyes looked into the distance, fearing the "corrupt local authorities that keep the people in my house across the street in civilised conditions".

Mrs Cakic furiously waved documents reflecting pending cases in Croatian courts. The Cakics were frustrated by what they saw as the broken promises of the centre-left coalition Government that took over from authoritarian late president Franjo Tudjman's rule in 2000.

"They have done nothing to help us return. Nobody has come to see how we live," she said.

Slow progress

The reformist government has vowed to find alternative accommodation for the new "tenants" and allow the original Serb residents to move back into their homes, but progress has been slow.

Many blame local authorities - in some places right-wingers are still in power.

It's been lower on the government priorities list than we would have wished. We would welcome stronger commitment to this issue Peter Semneby OSCE

It is why many ethnic Serbs in Croatia say they returned with hope and trust, only to find authorities favouring Croatian requests for repossession and building assistance.

Back in the centre of modern and busy Zagreb, the European observer mission the OSCE, which has been monitoring human rights and democratic reforms here since 1997, talks of clear ethnic bias in the Croatian Government's rebuilding and returning of property.

OSCE mission head Peter Semneby tells me that most of the destroyed Serb housing remains to be repaired - with some 39,000 Serbs still on a waiting list.

EU consequences

"It's been lower on the government priorities list than we would have wished. We would welcome stronger commitment to this issue," he says. "The OSCE is not alone in its criticism of Croatian Government policy."

The European Commission warned Prime Minister Ivica Racan's government that failing on this issue could have dire consequences for a country hoping to start EU membership entry talks in 2005.

A high-ranking British diplomat in Zagreb says progress on the return policy is one of the key political requirements that Croatia must fulfil before negotiations with Brussels.

"There has been a lot of progress on this, but there's more that could be done," he insists.

Racan's reformist government is under pressure to do more

The UN estimates that at least another 70,000 ethnic Serbs would like to go back if conditions were right.

Mr Racan is a Social Democrat, trying to balance Croatia's international obligations with the wavering popularity of his ruling coalition - and with elections likely later this year.

The public still vividly recalls the bloody war years, and Mr Racan's fear of veteran uprising makes the return issue highly controversial.

But politics makes no sense to Smiljana Cakic, whose husband Pavao suddenly died in the dreadful conditions of their makeshift home just weeks after we spoke.

The death of her life companion makes Mrs Cakic's dream of returning to their old home fade even more.