SARAJEVO, Sept 13 (Hina) - Statements by Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica and his close associate, Dragan Marsicanin regarding the union of Republic Srpska and Serbia have led to a dramatic cooling down of relations between
Sarajevo and Belgrade.
SARAJEVO, Sept 13 (Hina) - Statements by Yugoslav President
Vojislav Kostunica and his close associate, Dragan Marsicanin
regarding the union of Republic Srpska and Serbia have led to a
dramatic cooling down of relations between Sarajevo and Belgrade.
#L#
The Sarajevo "Dnevni avaz" daily on Friday hit the streets with a
headline "Kostunica Calling for New War in the Balkans". Such
dramatic headlines have not appeared since Milosevic's rule.
The chair of the Bosnian Presidency, Beriz Belkic, announced he
would ask that the presidency voice its official stance towards the
statements made by Yugoslavia's president, when a meeting is
scheduled with the state leadership on Saturday. Belkic believes
that Kostunica "showed his expansionist tensions towards Bosnia"
with his statements.
During a recent electoral rally for the elections for Serbia's
president in Mali Zvornik on the Bosnian border earlier in the week,
Kostunica said that Republika Srpska was only temporarily
separated from Serbia.
The Foreign Ministry in Bosnia asked for an official explanation of
this statement with the mediation of its embassy in Belgrade.
Instead of an explanation, an even more drastic statement was
uttered by the vice president of Kostunica's Democratic Party of
Serbia (DSS), Marsicanin, who told a press conference that there
was nothing contentious in Serbia's to unite both sides of the Drina
River. Marsicanin believes that the only thing that can be
questioned is if this can be realised and when, which will depend on
"circumstances, political opportunities and the relations of
power".
"We need to point out that this is pretension towards Bosnia's
territorial integrity and sovereignty as an internationally
recognised state. After everything, we are left with a bitter taste
in our mouths because of the ambiguity in statements made by high
ranking Yugoslav officials," a spokesman in the Bosnian foreign
ministry, Amer Kapetanovic, said.
Ambiguous statements from Belgrade were condemned by the highest
officials of the international community in Bosnia and the European
Union commissioner for foreign and security affairs, Javier
Solana, also became involved. In a special statement, he warned
that the future of Bosnia would not be decided in Brussels or
Belgrade, nor in Zagreb.
The future of that country is in the hands of its citizens, Solana
said. He pointed out that the EU expected countries neighbouring
with Bosnia to respect that country's integrity and unity which was
also in their interest.
The loudest condemnation of Vojislav Kostunica's statement was
given by the unofficial head of the Party for Bosnia, Haris
Silajdzic. He held a special press conference in Sarajevo in order
to comment on the statements made by the Yugoslav president.
Siljadzic accused Kostunica of open aspirations towards Bosnian
territory. Silajdzic at the same time promised that if he was
elected as a member of the Bosnian presidency at the election in
October, he would undertake all measures to protect Bosnia's
integrity and sovereignty.
Compared to Silajdzic, the current president of the Bosnian Council
of Ministers, Dragan Mikerevic, does not think that Kostunica said
anything unacceptable. "I do not know where Republika Srpska, or
Bosnia, will be in five years' time. Everyone has the right to their
opinion," he said
Kostunica himself tried to avoid any further discussion on the
matter after the fervent reactions from Sarajevo, however, he tried
to explain "What he really meant by what he said". In a statement to
the press in New York, he said that a political campaign was being
waged against him in Sarajevo, but that he was not particularly
perturbed by this. Nevertheless, he added that he did not intend to
call on secession. Instead, he believes all countries from the
former Yugoslavia should be integrated into Europe so that the
current borders would only be formal, he said.
The Yugoslav president in the meantime did not fail to point out
that Serbia continued to strengthen special relations with
Republika Srpska in keeping with provisions of the Dayton Accord.
He deliberately kept silent about the fact that Croatia has backed
down from similar relations with the Bosnian Federation, while the
Dayton accord allows for special relations between entities and
neighbouring countries, but only on identical-parallel
foundations.
Regardless on Kostunica's true intentions, he achieved an
important aim -- his electoral campaign has gained in intensity.
Similar gains were made possible for those preparing for the
October elections in Bosnia who can only profit from increased
political tensions.
(hina) sp lml