ZAGREB, Dec 21 (Hina) - Prime Minister Ivica Racan on Thursday granted an interview to reporters from Hina and the daily press, responding to questions on Croatia's relations with UN's war crimes tribunal in The Hague and the economic
situation.
ZAGREB, Dec 21 (Hina) - Prime Minister Ivica Racan on Thursday
granted an interview to reporters from Hina and the daily press,
responding to questions on Croatia's relations with UN's war crimes
tribunal in The Hague and the economic situation.#L#
Racan said he was partly satisfied with what had been done this
year, stressing that in the first quarter of its mandate the
government had carried out more than a quarter of its tasks, and
that some steps could not yield immediate results.
Speaking about a Hague tribunal summons for an interview the
Croatian military chief-of-staff, Racan said the original had been
forwarded to the president of the republic, while the government
received a copy.
He reiterated contentious issues in relations with the tribunal and
its Prosecutor's Office should be cleared through dialogue. He
conceded there were difficulties, but that the government was
trying to solve them openly, and reminded that his two
conversations with chief prosecutor Carla del Ponte had been very
open and direct. He reminded the government had opted for defending
its policy and stance through cooperation and dialogue, and that
del Ponte had accepted his invitation to visit Zagreb next month.
Speaking about the summons to General Petar Stipetic, Racan said it
contained points which were unacceptable and contentious. "We have
to clarify the purpose, the reason for an interview... in which
capacity (Stipetic) is participating. This means we'll talk about
some very concrete formulations contained in the summons, but we
have to clear them with the Prosecutor's Office in The Hague."
One of the issues requiring clarification is that communication
should go through the government's Council for Cooperation with the
tribunal, as stipulated by Croatia's Constitutional Law on
cooperation. "The Prosecutor's Office has to respect the
Constitutional Law, the regulations of this country," he said.
"Here at the government we didn't receive the summons... directly,
but indirectly. We requested that a copy of the summons be delivered
to the prime minister as well," Racan said.
He added the original recipient had been President Stipe Mesic.
"Perhaps someone at the Prosecutor's Office thinks of the president
of the republic as of the supreme commander" of the armed forces.
Asked if Mesic had notified him about the summons immediately,
forwarding a copy, Racan said: "I have no complaints about the
president of the republic in that respect."
Asked about Drazen Budisa, a ruling coalition official, Racan said
Budisa did not say Stipetic was an indictee of the Hague tribunal,
but a suspect. Disinclined to argue, Racan said he was unhappy with
the hullabaloo around the tribunal. "We can't clear disputes with
The Hague in the street, but directly through cooperation."
Asked if the government would make its mandate available if the
tribunal issued indictments for the entire chain of command in the
1995 liberation operations Flash and Storm, he said: "I don't
believe indictments for the Homeland Defence War are possible, or
for the entire Flash and Storm operations. We didn't accept that,
nor would we... regardless of the consequences."
He said the government's stance on such indictments would not be
positive "because we don't accept from anyone that they might be
incriminating, subject to indictment." "We are willing to
cooperate in shedding light on and prosecuting concrete crimes, as
bound by the Constitutional Law and international obligations,
regardless of who committed it, Serbs, Croats, or another nation."
Asked if the ruling coalition could stand six or eight indictments
as might be expected from the tribunal and if he could imagine
Stipetic's extradition, Racan said: "I can't imagine that
situation, nor can we accept having anyone... including General
Stipetic, indicted for the Homeland... War, Flash, Storm. But... if
Stipetic, or you, were to be accused of participating in a concrete
crime, we would consider it."
Racan stressed the government wanted to avoid a global conflict
with the Hague tribunal, saying it would be stupid and considerably
damaging to Croatia's interest.
A global conflict suits those thinking the isolation and
homogenisation of Croatia resulting from a new Croatia-Europe
conflict would halt some processes in Croatia, he said. "It suits
those who would like to blame Zagreb and the Croats for Belgrade's
refusal to cooperate with the... tribunal, and not Belgrade and the
Serbs."
Asked about claims that the tribunal thought his government was
responsible for creating a situation damaging for Croatia, Racan
said it was the paradox of the situation and something which would
be discussed with del Ponte.
Racan disagreed with a reporter's assessment that there were
differences between the government, which advocated dialogue with
the tribunal, and President Stipe Mesic, who was for unconditional
cooperation. He said there were no strategic differences, that
Mesic perhaps insisted more on cooperation, while Racan also urged
solving the problems in the cooperation.
Racan said he accepted Mesic's statement that the government was in
charge of cooperation with the tribunal, and that it was now up to
the Prosecutor's Office to accept it too.
He stressed it was very important not to support assessments about
differences or conflicts in connection with the tribunal.
Speaking about his two meetings with del Ponte, Racan said they had
focused on Croatian victims and crimes committed before Flash and
Storm. He stressed the government "insists on investigating and
prosecuting every crime on Croatian territory, not only after 1994-
95, but before too, every crime during and after the Greater Serbia
aggression, on both sides. An we want no political criteria in
shedding light on those crimes."
Racan said he had been surprised at the small number of crimes
committed during the Greater Serbia aggression which had been
processed and the small number of facts submitted to the Hague
tribunal.
Speaking about the economic situation, the prime minister
announced a rise in employment in mid-2001 and the elimination of
bureaucratic hurdles discouraging foreign investments.
This year has yielded the first positive indicators, stagnation has
been halted, Gross Domestic Product and export have increased,
40,000 new positions were offered but went to the unemployed with
companies which had not worked for years, he said.
Racan announced accelerated preparations for a state
administration reform, and pointed to problems on the local level,
saying local elections would not be held before June. He also
announced the government would propose a six-month military
service.
Racan said he was satisfied with relations with neighbouring
Bosnia, and was confident Croatia would step up the solving of open
issues with Slovenia. With regard to relations with Serbia, he said
Croatia would watch the course of events. The policy was defined in
the government's conclusions on the normalisation of relations.
Wishing a merry Christmas and happy New Year to all readers, the
prime minister said: "We must join efforts so that (the new year)
demonstrates optimism is founded and that we are overcoming the
difficulties."
(hina) ha