ZAGREB, Dec 2 (Hina) - Croatian Parliament President Zlatko Tomcic on Monday received Christian Schwarz-Schilling, the international mediator for the two entities in Bosnia-Herzegovina: the Croat-Muslim federation and the Serb
republic.
ZAGREB, Dec 2 (Hina) - Croatian Parliament President Zlatko Tomcic
on Monday received Christian Schwarz-Schilling, the international
mediator for the two entities in Bosnia-Herzegovina: the Croat-
Muslim federation and the Serb republic. #L#
Tomcic and the international diplomat talked about the return of
refugees and displaced persons.
The Sabor head informed his interlocutor that until 1 November this
year 302,783 people had returned to Croatia.
He pointed to the problem of the different dynamic of the process of
refugee return in countries in the region, in particular in the two
Bosnian entities, and for Tomcic this was the main obstacle on the
path towards a final solution to this issue.
Schwarz-Schilling commended Croatia for everything it had
accomplished so far in the development of democracy, and described
the country as an important pillar of the region's stability. In
this context he greeted Croatia's efforts to create a legal
framework for the resolution of issues concerning the return of
refugees, and added that those laws would play an important role in
the assessment of Croatia's efforts aimed at joining European
integration processes.
He pointed to the importance of the regulation of the rights of
ethnic minorities, of an electoral law and a law on the media.
Tomcic said Zagreb did not possess sufficient funding for the
implementation of programmes for refugee returns and asked for
additional assistance from the international community.
He expressed hope that the bill on minorities' rights would be
passed before the end of this year and that consensus would be
reached on other important issues, such as the electoral law.
Schwarz-Schilling said that more should be done on the local level
for ensuring the return of refugees.
(hina) ms sb