MESIC, PETRISCH: DAYTON AGREEMENT MUST BE IMPLEMENTED

ZAGREB, Feb 24 (Hina) - The Dayton peace agreement must be implemented in its entirety, and only then can Bosnia's three constituent peoples work on expanding it, Croatian President Stipe Mesic and the international community's High Representative for Bosnia, Wofgang Petrisch, said in Zagreb on Thursday.#L# "Croats, Muslims, and Serbs in Bosnia-Herzegovina (BH) must be constituent throughout the territory, but first of all, the Dayton agreement must be implemented, and this means returning all displaced persons to their homes," Mesic told reporters after the talks with Petrisch. The High Representative said it was imperative to implement the Dayton agreement, and only then start with improving other issues in keeping with the wishes of Bosnia's three constituent peoples. Petrisch said it was also imperative that all displaced persons, about one million, return to their pre-war homes. He pointed to Croatia's important role in the implementation of Dayton, saying Croatia, as one of the agreement's guarantors, had a defining role in Bosnia's peace process. President Mesic pointed to the importance of the return of displaced persons, stating the contrary would offer the possibility "to show that ethnic cleansing pays." For the displaced to return, it is necessary to rebuild their homes and activate economic resources, he said, adding this was the issue "the international community has promised to assist in." Petrisch and Mesic also talked about the media in Bosnia. The High Representative said the international community was ascribing the utmost importance to see that Bosnian Croats have television channels in their language. "Our strategic goal is joining the European Union and NATO, and that is certainly the interest of BH as well," said President Mesic, adding to achieve strategic goals it was necessary to resolve existing problems, especially the return of the displaced. Croatia has opted for a European policy, he said, but added "we want to co-operate as closely as possible with BH as a state." "We must resolve all of our problems on a bilateral level, and we shall support all who work on it," Croatia's president asserted. He said he was against the financing of Herceg-Bosna structures which, he claimed, had been breaking up BH as much as Republika Srpska. Bosnian Croats, whose situation is difficult as a result of a wrong policy, must definitely be helped, President Mesic said. (hina) ha mm