ZAGREB, March 16 (Hina) - The issue of the return of refugees and displaced persons and the constitutionality of all three peoples throughout Bosnia-Herzegovina (BH) are crucial for stability in BH and the wider region, Croatian and
Bosnian officials said on Thursday. "The two entities in BH are asymmetrical. Republika Srpska (RS) is a one-nation and unitary entity, whereas the Federation of BH is decentralised. This structure, and especially the events in RS, where one-nation authorities are doing nothing in connection with refugee returns, is blocking the democratisation of BH and hindering the further implementation of the Dayton peace agreement," said Ivo Komsic, the president of the Croat People's Council of BH. He added the constitutionality of all three peoples throughout BH territory was an important condition in solving other issues there. Croatia's new authorities should urge the international
ZAGREB, March 16 (Hina) - The issue of the return of refugees and
displaced persons and the constitutionality of all three peoples
throughout Bosnia-Herzegovina (BH) are crucial for stability in BH
and the wider region, Croatian and Bosnian officials said on
Thursday.
"The two entities in BH are asymmetrical. Republika Srpska (RS) is a
one-nation and unitary entity, whereas the Federation of BH is
decentralised. This structure, and especially the events in RS,
where one-nation authorities are doing nothing in connection with
refugee returns, is blocking the democratisation of BH and
hindering the further implementation of the Dayton peace
agreement," said Ivo Komsic, the president of the Croat People's
Council of BH.
He added the constitutionality of all three peoples throughout BH
territory was an important condition in solving other issues
there.
Croatia's new authorities should urge the international community
to do something in connection with "the status quo which only
reaffirms the results of ethnic cleansing," Komsic asserted.
"We believe RS was created as a result of an agreement between
(Yugoslav President, Slobodan) Milosevic and (former Croatian
President, Franjo) Tudjman in Dayton. We believe representatives
of the international community ought to be told clearly that
entities created by a Milosevic-Tudjman agreement should not be
recognised," Komsic said.
The present number of Croats in BH is about 400,000, he said, adding
this was half the pre-war figure.
Croatian parliament president Zlatko Tomcic agreed the asymmetry
of Bosnia's entities hindered democratisation and stabilisation in
the country, namely a successful further implementation of the
Dayton peace agreement.
"We shall attempt to solve the issue simultaneously with the return
process," Tomcic said.
He and the Bosnian Croat representatives supported the idea of
cantonisation in BH, but not on a national basis.
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