MOSTAR, Jan 6 (Hina) - The chairman of Bosnia's three-man presidency, Serb Mirko Sarovic, has objected to the establishment of a joint state-level defence ministry and military, confident that in 2003 Bosnia-Herzegovina will join
NATO's Partnership for Peace programme.
MOSTAR, Jan 6 (Hina) - The chairman of Bosnia's three-man
presidency, Serb Mirko Sarovic, has objected to the establishment
of a joint state-level defence ministry and military, confident
that in 2003 Bosnia-Herzegovina will join NATO's Partnership for
Peace programme. #L#
This statement completely contradicts a letter NATO Secretary-
General George Robertson sent Sarovic later last year.
Sarovic told Mostar's Croatian Radio Herceg-Bosnia on Monday the
Standing Commission for Military Issues was capable of taking care
of all tasks in connection with "the coordination of defence and
security".
"Insisting on one ministry and one military is an unnecessary job
and a waste of energy. Everyone proposing that doesn't understand
the problems or has bad intentions," he said.
Croats and Muslims support the establishment of a joint defence
ministry but the Croatian side insists on the future army having
national components.
Sarovic also dismissed the notion of abolishing the Serb entity in
Bosnia, stating that its establishment under the Dayton peace
accords had been part of a compromise to end the war. The
possibility of changing Bosnia's current two-entity structure
should be agreed on by the country's three constituent peoples, he
said.
Sarovic branded tampering with the foundations of current Bosnia,
composed of the Serb republic and the Croat-Muslim federation, a
"very dangerous venture".
Speaking about the country's foreign policy goals this year, he
stressed the need of drawing up a European Union access feasibility
study.
(hina) ha