MOSTAR, Oct 14 (Hina) - The international community's High Representative to Bosnia-Herzegovina, Wolfgang Petritsch, has cautioned that the refusal of the newly-elected Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica to recognise the legitimacy
of the Hague-based International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia (ICTY) can cause trouble for the international community that is trying to implement the Dayton peace accords in Bosnia. Announcing his meeting with Kostunica in the near future, the Austrian diplomat has said the first issue he will raise at the talks would be when Kostunica is planning to recognise Bosnia-Herzegovina and establish diplomatic relations with Sarajevo. I shall propose to Kostunica that the safest way for Yugoslavia to ensure Kosovo where Serbs have the equal right as Albanians to live, is to recognise the sovereignty of Bosnia, read an article which
MOSTAR, Oct 14 (Hina) - The international community's High
Representative to Bosnia-Herzegovina, Wolfgang Petritsch, has
cautioned that the refusal of the newly-elected Yugoslav President
Vojislav Kostunica to recognise the legitimacy of the Hague-based
International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia (ICTY) can
cause trouble for the international community that is trying to
implement the Dayton peace accords in Bosnia.
Announcing his meeting with Kostunica in the near future, the
Austrian diplomat has said the first issue he will raise at the
talks would be when Kostunica is planning to recognise Bosnia-
Herzegovina and establish diplomatic relations with Sarajevo.
I shall propose to Kostunica that the safest way for Yugoslavia to
ensure Kosovo where Serbs have the equal right as Albanians to live,
is to recognise the sovereignty of Bosnia, read an article which
Petritsch wrote for the Financial Times.
According to the article which the Office of the High
Representatives published on Friday evening, Petritsch warns the
newly-elected Yugoslav President that in case his country would
like to get the full membership in the United Nations, it must be
ready to cooperate with UN institutions including the ICTY in The
Hague.
The High Representative recalls that Milosevic's henchmen were
closely linked with the Serb nationalistic project in Bosnia,
hampering the economic development in the Bosnian Serb entity for
many years. He announces that he is going to ask Kostunica whether
he intends to discontinue such discreditable support and follow the
example Croatia has set breaking off the relation with Bosnian
Croat hardliners.
Croatia's new Foreign Minister Tonino Picula paid his first
official visit to Sarajevo and this presents the explicit
recognition of the borderlines of Bosnia - after the Tudjman rule
had tried to undermine them for years. The incumbent Croatian
authorities are taking active part in prosecution of war criminals,
Petritsch said. Commending the Zagreb Government, he added that now
it was up to the EU and its ability to take expeditious action and
award Croatian efforts.
Petritsch also suggested that following the euphoria about the
revolution in Belgrade which was carried out almost bloodlessly, it
should not be let happen that hundreds of millions of euros are
pouring into Yugoslavia without certain counter-demands.
(hina) ms