TOMAC AND ROSSIN ON BILATERAL TIES AND SITUATION IN BOSNIA

ZAGREB, Feb 7 (Hina) - The Croatian parliament's foreign affairs committee head, Zdravko Tomac, on Wednesday received the incoming U.S. Ambassador in Zagreb, Lawrence G. Rossin. The Sabor committee's head expressed hope that cooperation between Zagreb and Washington would continue to be successful, and supported the new U.S. Administration's decision not to substantially change its policy towards countries in this part of Europe, read a statement issued by the Sabor. Tomac and Rossin discussed the implementation of the Dayton peace accords and the situation in Bosnia-Herzegovina, agreeing that Bosnia's neighbours - both Croatia and Yugoslavia - should promote bilateral ties with Bosnia as a whole rather than separately with its two entities. We agreed that the promotion of stronger ties between an entity and the neighbours to the detriment of ties on the state level would lead to new conflicts, Tomac said after the meeting. He expressed expectations that the United States would continue playing "a positive role" without which there would no stability in the region. Croatia's official also supported Rossin's standpoint that Bosnia should be built as a civic state in compliance with the ruling of the country's Constitutional Court that all three constituent peoples (Croats, Moslems and Serbs) are equal on the entire territory. The two interlocutors maintained that the current crisis of authorities in that country could be solved only through dialogue and the will of all concerned parties to participate in the establishment of the new authorities. "Parallel institutions must not be created and any territorial division of Bosnia and the creation of ethnically cleansed areas are against the (Bosnian) Croat people's interests," said Tomac. (hina) sb ms