BH CROAT REFUGEES SUPPORT DECISION OF BH CONSTITUTIONAL COURT

ZAGREB, July 13 (Hina) - An association gathering Bosnian Croat refugees from Bosnia's northern Posavina region and north-western Bosnia on Thursday welcomed a recent decision by the Bosnia- Herzegovina Constitutional Court granting constitutional status to all three BH peoples on the entire territory of the country. The president of the Executive Committee of the Assembly of Bosnian Posavina Croats and president of the Association of Expelled and Exiled Posavina Croats, Mate Gogic, told reporters in Zagreb today the decision of the BH Constitutional Court was a historical decision because it would annul Republika Srpska as a Serb state within Bosnia-Herzegovina. He expressed dissatisfaction with the fact that Croat judges at the BH Constitutional Court, like their Serb colleagues, had voted against the decision. This decision will help Posavina Croats to return to their homes, he said. "It is time for those who hoped they would divide Bosnia to come to their senses," Gogic said, calling on displaced Bosnian Croats to register for return and more aggressively seek financial assistance from competent state institutions and humanitarian organisations. The refugees are dissatisfied with the results of an agreement between Croatian Foreign Minister Tonino Picula and Republika Srpska Prime Minister Milorad Dodik because, they said, it had resulted in the return of 6,000 Serb families to Croatia whereas only several Croat families had returned to the Posavina region. (hina) rml