MOSTAR, July 16 (Hina) - In a commentary on Tuesday by the Bosnian press, doubt is expressed about the scope of Monday's summit in Sarajevo between the heads of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia and Yugoslavia which was earlier proclaimed
as a landmark meeting by High Representative Paddy Ashdown.
MOSTAR, July 16 (Hina) - In a commentary on Tuesday by the Bosnian
press, doubt is expressed about the scope of Monday's summit in
Sarajevo between the heads of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia and
Yugoslavia which was earlier proclaimed as a landmark meeting by
High Representative Paddy Ashdown. #L#
The Sarajevo-based daily "Oslobodnje" writes that the significance
of the meeting should not be diminished but it shouldn't be
exaggerated either.
Nor has the time come for historical meetings of this type nor were
the participants in Monday's summit powerful enough to bring
decisions on behalf of their countries that could be referred to as
historical, the Oslobodjenje commentary says.
Reference is made that Vojislav Kostunica as the president of
Yugoslavia has no presidential power over Serbia or Montenegro.
The Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) and (Drazen) Budisa (leader of
HSLS party) are always on Croatian President Stjepan Mesic's toes
while the three-member joint presidency in Bosnia represents all
the fluidity of the political situation in Bosnia and finally each
of them have to report to their own parties, the Oslobodjenje
notes.
Another daily, "Dnevni avaz", objects that during his visit to
Sarajevo on Monday (the third for the Yugoslav president) Kostunica
did not apologise to Bosnian citizens for their suffering and
calamities during the war.
The paper objects because Kostunica had not condemned Slobodan
Milosevic and what his politics did to Bosnia, Croatia and Kosovo.
The Mostar-based "Dnevni list" (the only daily in the country in
Croatian) believes that Monday's summit reminded of talks held
prior to the war when six presidents of the then federal republics
(in former Yugoslavia) sat at the table to discuss the
inviolability of the borders as was discussed yesterday.
This time, diplomatic silence was maintained of the quiet changes
to interior borders, i.e. that Bosnia is being divided from the
inside into two countries regardless of how the state leadership
wishes to cover this up. This can be seen in a recent statement by
the Bosnian Presidency's chairman Beriz Belkic who publicly
admitted that the Presidency did not have complete control over the
army in the country but only over two-thirds while control over the
army in Republika Srpska lay in the hands of the president of that
entity, Mirko Sarovic, the Dnevni List claims.
After all this, the question poses itself what Bosnia gets from the
Sarajevo Summit? All it gets is a cap full of promises that no-one
from outside will attempt to divide the country however, inside
it's up to us to manage, the Mostar daily says.
(hina) sp ms