NATO SEMINAR IN DUBROVNIK: DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER ON BOSNIA

DUBROVNIK, March 23 (Hina) - Croatia has a constitutional obligation to provide for Croats in Bosnia, but the Croatian government has clearly shown it does not intend to interfere with Bosnia's internal affairs, Deputy Foreign Minister Vesna Cvjetkovic-Kurelec said on Friday. Addressing a three-day NATO Parliamentary Assembly seminar on security and stability in central and eastern Europe, taking place in the southern Adriatic city of Dubrovnik, Cvjetkovic-Kurelec outlined the Croatian government's stances on the situation in neighbouring Bosnia. "The consistent implementation of the Dayton (peace) accords and the quality of being constituent of all three peoples is the basic condition for (Bosnia's) stability," she said, adding the Croatian government would contribute to resolving the Bosnian crisis. Cvjetkovic-Kurelec assessed that any further radicalisation would prove detrimental to the interests of the three peoples, Croats, Serbs, and Muslims, the entire Bosnia, as well as the interests of the neighbours. Pointing to the situation in Bosnia's Serb entity, she said Republika Srpska was an "ethnically cleansed para-state" which recently signed a special relations agreement with Yugoslavia, something she stressed was not conducive to stability. She added Bosnian Serb representatives participated in the functioning of central Bosnian bodies only formally. Cvjetkovic-Kurelec said the Croatian government would cooperate with the international community, Bosnian Croats and institutions of authority to find solutions which will stabilise Bosnia. She added the government was considering severing a special relations agreement with Bosnia's Croat-Muslim federation. "We are aware the Croatian government's stances are acceptable and there is room for dialogue, that they don't involve (Bosnia's) internal issues, and that it is possible to find the optimal solution in cooperation with the international community." The Dubrovnik seminar, which closes on Saturday, has pooled 150 participants. Tomorrow's debate will address internal changes in Serbia, Bosnia, and Montenegro and their regional implications. (hina) ha