YUGOSLAVIA-REPUBLIKA SRPSKA AGREEMENT - CONTINUATION OF GREAT- SERBIAN IDEAS - MESIC

ZAGREB, March 5 (Hina) - The agreement on the establishment of special relations between Yugoslavia and the Bosnian Serb entity is the continuation of Great-Serbian ideas and the continuation of what Croatia and the Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina (Croat- Muslim entity) signed during Tudjman's time in the form of a special relations agreement, Croatian President Stjepan Mesic said on Monday. It is almost the same thing, only in a different package, and with this latest move Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica has only additionally complicated the situation regarding Bosnia- Herzegovina, Mesic said in a Croatian radio broadcast. The Yugoslavia-Republika Srpska special relations agreement was signed by Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica and Republika Srpska President Mirko Sarovic in Banja Luka today. Speaking about yesterday's decisions by the Croat National Assembly in Mostar, Mesic said many of the people who attended the Mostar gathering belonged to groups which opposed the existence of Bosnia-Herzegovina and who did all they could to dismantle it. Mesic believes the problem which followed the change of the country's election rules and the mode of election of deputies to the country's House of Peoples by the international community should have been resolved through dialogue and not by ultimatums, which was what the Croatian Democratic Union of Bosnia-Herzegovina did. The international community does not listen to ultimatums by more important powers, let alone those by Herzeg-Bosnia, he said, adding the election rules were not controversial in principle. If they are controversial for those to whom they refer, and those are BH Croats, then Croats have to insist that they be changed by the next election or that the same rules apply to the Serb entity as well, he said. For the time being the main priority is the implementation of the Dayton agreement and only after the agreement is implemented, refugees return and war damage is repaired, can one debate the amending of the Dayton agreement, Mesic said when asked about his opinion on the possible cantonisation of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Asked to comment on some draft changes to the Croatian Constitution, including the one saying the president of Croatia should in the future be elected by parliament, Mesic said it would not make sense because the president of state would in that case not be what he is - moral authority and the function which in crisis situations enables the resolution of disputes through institutions. We can talk about a court process only after it is finished, the President said commenting on the statement by the head of the Headquarters for the Protection of the Dignity of the Homeland War, Mirko Condic, that the trial of Mirko Norac and other Gospic suspects was a rigged political process. Those wishing to interfere with the trial do Croatia and those on trial harm, Mesic said. That General Petar Stipetic will be interviewed by Hague investigators in mid-March should not be a big problem, Mesic said adding he did not know what Stipetic was suspected of. Asked whether the Croatian authorities would treat General Stipetic the same way they treated General Norac, Mesic said he did not know in what sense that would be. General Stipetic is not being brought in but he agreed to give his testimony, which is what Mirko Norac should have done, Mesic concluded. (hina) rml