BRCKO PROCLAIMED BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA DISTRICT

BRCKO, Mar 8 (Hina) - A decision proclaiming the Brcko District of Bosnia-Herzegovina was officially read in the northern Bosnian town of Brcko at 3 p.m. on Wednesday. The decision was passed by the international community's high representative for Bosnia, Wolfgang Petrisch. Attending the inauguration were United States Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Petrisch, European Union commissioner for foreign affairs Chris Patten, the chief arbiter for Brcko, Robert Owen, the three members of Bosnia's Presidency, and other guests. International supervisor Robert Farrand told the inauguration that as of today, Brcko would be an area belonging to both the Bosnian Serb entity and the Croat-Muslim federation. It will be under the jurisdiction of Bosnia-Herzegovina. The residents of Brcko want a stable and promising future in a stable and promising country which will enter European institutions as a real state, said high representative Petrisch. Speeches were also held by Albright, Patten, and Bosnian Presidency chairman Alija Izetbegovic on behalf of Bosnia-Herzegovina. State Secretary Albright arrived by a helicopter which landed in a Stabilisation Force military base near Brcko. Albright first addressed the soldiers in the base, and then headed for Brcko, where she was greeted party by applause and partly by disapproval. (hina) ha mm