SARAJEVO, Aug 16 (Hina) - Bosnia-Herzegovina at this particular moment is not under particular pressure by the United States to accept an agreement by which US citizens would be protected from prosecution at the International Criminal
Court (ICC), however, the mere announcement of such a possibility has caused negative reactions in the local media.
SARAJEVO, Aug 16 (Hina) - Bosnia-Herzegovina at this particular
moment is not under particular pressure by the United States to
accept an agreement by which US citizens would be protected from
prosecution at the International Criminal Court (ICC), however,
the mere announcement of such a possibility has caused negative
reactions in the local media. #L#
Bosnia's state Presidency on Thursday for the first time officially
spoke about this issue with US Ambassador Clifford Bond.
A statement released following their meeting says only that the US
showed interest in concluding a bilateral agreement with Bosnia
that would regulate the stand towards the ICC.
A joint conclusion was that this was an issue that required long-
term attention, keeping in mind the international obligations and
status of both countries, the statement noted.
Bond claimed that the US was not exerting any pressure or possible
punitive measures against Bosnia.
He explained that this also related to the continuation of the
Stabilisation Force (SFOR) mission, stressing that the NATO peace
mission in Bosnia would not depend on the stance towards the ICC.
Commenting on speculation that the US could block Bosnia's
endeavours to access NATO's "Partnership for Peace" programme if it
did not guarantee protection for US citizens from war crimes
trials, Bond said there was no connection between these issues.
He added that Bosnia's accession to "Partnership for Peace"
depended exclusively on political will within Bosnia to fulfil
previously set conditions.
A fundamental pre-condition is the integration of defence and
military structures in Bosnia, which the Serb side has been
resolutely rejecting.
High Representative Paddy Ashdown admitted for the first time this
week that Bosnia would not be able to access NATO until it set up a
single army. Ashdown also warned the authorities in Republika
Srpska that their claims that NATO would accept special entity
military forces were absurd.
Ashdown, however, did not make any reference to US demands tied to
the ICC.
Despite the fact that he is also the EU's special envoy for Bosnia,
Ashdown decided to treat this issue as a matter of bilateral
relations between Sarajevo and Washington.
The latest demands by the US administration, however, did not meet
with favourable reactions in the Sarajevo media.
The "Slobodna Bosna" weekly on Friday claimed that this was just one
more proof of the US fight against human rights.
Another influential weekly, "Dani", claimed that Washington's
demands were absurd.
(hina) sp ha