MOSTAR, April 13 (Hina) - The Croat National Congress (HNS) of Bosnia-Herzegovina on Friday called on Croatian state officials to help Bosnian Croats establish dialogue and resolve the current crisis and appealed to Croats living in
Croatia to not allow "new Berlin walls to be built, mines to be planted and barbed wire fences to be set up on the border" between parts of the same nation. The HNS, which has declared Croat self-rule in Bosnia-Herzegovina, is not participating in the institutions of authority in Sarajevo. Judging by the latest developments in the Hercegovacka Banka in Mostar, the international community seems to have begun settling accounts with HNS supporters. "We need inflammatory speeches to stop and dialogue to start at all levels as well as Zagreb's help to start that dialogue as soon as possible," reads an open letter the HNS Presidency forwarded to the C
MOSTAR, April 13 (Hina) - The Croat National Congress (HNS) of
Bosnia-Herzegovina on Friday called on Croatian state officials to
help Bosnian Croats establish dialogue and resolve the current
crisis and appealed to Croats living in Croatia to not allow "new
Berlin walls to be built, mines to be planted and barbed wire fences
to be set up on the border" between parts of the same nation.
The HNS, which has declared Croat self-rule in Bosnia-Herzegovina,
is not participating in the institutions of authority in Sarajevo.
Judging by the latest developments in the Hercegovacka Banka in
Mostar, the international community seems to have begun settling
accounts with HNS supporters.
"We need inflammatory speeches to stop and dialogue to start at all
levels as well as Zagreb's help to start that dialogue as soon as
possible," reads an open letter the HNS Presidency forwarded to the
Croat people in Croatia.
Bosnia-Herzegovina Croats "do not need anyone's protection but a
normal relationship between two parts of the same nation living in
two states," says the HNS, calling on the Zagreb authorities to
clearly state that Croats in Bosnia-Herzegovina are a constituent
nation and that the Dayton peace agreement should be amended so as
to grant all nations and citizens the same rights. The association
opposes initiatives to fully implement the Dayton agreement first
and then amend it.
"By that time, it will not be necessary to amend it because there
will be no Croats in Bosnia-Herzegovina; there will only be a
Bosnia-Herzegovina divided into an ethnically cleansed Republika
Srpska and a Bosniak Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina," the letter
reads.
The HNS reminds of the contribution of BH Croats to the struggle for
Croatia's independence and seeks support for Bosnian Croats'
rights.
"We expect you to understand our problems and, as part of the same
nation, to not allow the authorities you elected to put themselves
at the service of the international administration in Bosnia-
Herzegovina which wants to make Bosnian Croats an obedient
minority, deprived of its rights."
The HNS dismisses the possibility to participate in the
institutions of authority in Sarajevo.
"The past five years spent in those institutions show that they
cannot protect the interests of the Croat people," the association
says, adding the faults of the Dayton agreement had been admitted by
its American architects, yet no one wanted to correct them.
The HNS also accuses the international administration in the
country of blaming the Croat people for the failure of the Dayton
agreement.
(hina) rml