ZAGREB, March 12 (Hina) - Croatia's Foreign Ministry on Monday confirmed that top officials of Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina had held a meeting in the eastern Croatian town of Slavonski Brod on Saturday.
ZAGREB, March 12 (Hina) - Croatia's Foreign Ministry on Monday
confirmed that top officials of Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina had
held a meeting in the eastern Croatian town of Slavonski Brod on
Saturday. #L#
Present at the meeting were Croatia's Prime Minister Ivica Racan,
Foreign Minister Tonino Picula and Croatian Social Liberal Party
(HSLS) president Drazen Budisa, and Bosnia's Council of Ministers
chairman Bozidar Matic, Foreign Minister Zlatko Lagumdzija and the
President of the (Croat-Moslem) Federation, Karlo Filipovic.
"This was an unofficial working meeting which revolved around
Croatian-Bosnian ties and the situation in Bosnia," a Croatian
Foreign Ministry official said on condition of anonymity.
The unnamed official declined to either confirm or refute the
speculation that the participants in the Slavonski Brod talks had
discussed a proposal on Bosnia's re-organisation, recently
proposed by Drazen Budisa.
According to the HSLS leader, Bosnia should be organised as a
country with 12 to 14 cantons, a bicameral parliament, while the
current entities - the Republic of Srpska and the Federation -
should be revoked.
This proposal is likely to be discussed at the meeting between
Minister Picula an the European Union's foreign policy and security
commissioner, Javier Solana, scheduled for Thursday in Brussels,
the same source added.
Although he did not openly comment on Budisa's suggestion, PM Racan
said last week that Zagreb would like to be a part of European and
international initiatives for the settlement of open issues in
Bosnia and help seek new solutions which should ensure the equality
of all the three constitutional peoples (Croats, Moslems or
Bosniaks, and Serbs) on the entire territory of Bosnia.
On that occasion Racan added the said proposal could not be
considered before "we discuss it with desirable partners in the
international community."
Therefore it was expected that this topic would be considered at the
Zagreb meeting between Racan and ambassadors of EU member-states
and UN Security Council permanent members last Friday. But after
that meeting the government's sources unofficially said the Zagreb
talks had not revolved around Budisa's suggestion.
(hina) ms