ZAGREB, Nov 20 (Hina) - The Dayton peace accord has to be implemented fully, but some of its components need fine-tuning to make implementation more successful, Croatian President Stipe Mesic said on Monday. Speaking to reporters upon
returning from a two-day conference in Dayton, which marked the fifth anniversary of the signing of the accords which ended the conflict in Bosnia, Mesic said the parts needing fine-tuning referred first of all to the armed force, which he stressed could have three components, but a single command and a single source of financing. Mesic also recommended strengthening the powers of central state bodies in Bosnia. Foreign Minister Tonino Picula, who also attended the Dayton conference, said the very composition of the Croatian delegation had sent a very strong message to the international community, Dayton accord signatory-countries, and the European Union. "When after five years on
ZAGREB, Nov 20 (Hina) - The Dayton peace accord has to be
implemented fully, but some of its components need fine-tuning to
make implementation more successful, Croatian President Stipe
Mesic said on Monday.
Speaking to reporters upon returning from a two-day conference in
Dayton, which marked the fifth anniversary of the signing of the
accords which ended the conflict in Bosnia, Mesic said the parts
needing fine-tuning referred first of all to the armed force, which
he stressed could have three components, but a single command and a
single source of financing.
Mesic also recommended strengthening the powers of central state
bodies in Bosnia.
Foreign Minister Tonino Picula, who also attended the Dayton
conference, said the very composition of the Croatian delegation
had sent a very strong message to the international community,
Dayton accord signatory-countries, and the European Union.
"When after five years one country attends the assessment of the
Dayton accord with such a high-ranking delegation while the others
don't, then it is a very strong message that Croatia is very serious
in abiding by its political obligations," he said.
Picula stressed Croatia did not see the accord as a document, but a
process which should gradually improve living conditions in Bosnia
and Herzegovina.
"We are not satisfied with many things, but it should be worth
trying to make BH a politically far more stable and democratic
country after the next five years," said the foreign minister.
Speaking about his talks in Dayton with Carla del Ponte, chief
prosecutor with UN's war crimes tribunal in The Hague, President
Mesic said they focused on the tribunal's cooperation with
Yugoslavia in the future.
"We jointly concluded that Karadzic, Mladic, the Vukovar trio
(Sljivancanin, Radic, Mrksic) and Milosevic at the helm must go to
The Hague. We insisted on individualising guilt and believe that
all countries participating in foreign units in BH and Kosovo must
help in apprehending all wanted by The Hague tribunal," Mesic
said.
While in the United States, the Croatian delegation held talks with
UN's Secretary-General Kofi Annan and General Assembly president
Harri Holkeri. The talks tackled the Nov. 24 Zagreb Summit and the
issue of Prevlaka, Croatia's southern-most tip bordering on
Montenegro.
(hina) ha