ZAGREB, Jan 20 (Hina) - Croatia and Montenegro on Wednesday said they had reached an agreement on the opening of border crossings at Debeli Brijeg and Konfin. Croatia said it had requested the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY), of
which Montenegro is part, to accept the agreement. "Pobjeda", a Montenegrin daily paper from Podgorica, on Wednesday published a statement by Montenegrin Foreign Minister Branko Perovic, who said that Croatia and Montenegro had agreed to at once and permanently open a border crossing at Debeli Brijeg, and to enable through police control undisturbed passage across Konfin, which in practice means the latter crossing will be opened too. In a statement issued on Wednesday, the Croatian Foreign Ministry positively assessed the agreement between the Croatian and Montenegrin Interior Ministries on the opening of the two border crossings. The Croatian Foreign Ministry offici
ZAGREB, Jan 20 (Hina) - Croatia and Montenegro on Wednesday said
they had reached an agreement on the opening of border crossings at
Debeli Brijeg and Konfin.
Croatia said it had requested the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
(FRY), of which Montenegro is part, to accept the agreement.
"Pobjeda", a Montenegrin daily paper from Podgorica, on Wednesday
published a statement by Montenegrin Foreign Minister Branko
Perovic, who said that Croatia and Montenegro had agreed to at once
and permanently open a border crossing at Debeli Brijeg, and to
enable through police control undisturbed passage across Konfin,
which in practice means the latter crossing will be opened too.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the Croatian Foreign Ministry
positively assessed the agreement between the Croatian and
Montenegrin Interior Ministries on the opening of the two border
crossings.
The Croatian Foreign Ministry officially suggested to the FRY
Foreign Ministry to at once begin working on the expansion of extant
agreements between Croatia and the FRY on border crossings, local
border traffic, and Croatian-Yugoslav borders in the south, where
Debeli Brijeg and Konfin are.
In reaction to the news from Podgorica, the Croatian Interior
Ministry said in a statement that "as far as the Republic of Croatia
is concerned, the Debeli Brijeg crossing has been open since
October 1992, when it was used for humanitarian transport."
The Montenegrin Foreign Minister said the opening of the border
crossing was the result of "constant manipulations the federal
(Yugoslav) administration has been using to mask the real reasons
behind its permanently keeping Montenegro in a closed borders
regime."
He stressed "the establishment of free communication of people and
goods does not prejudge the final solution to the contentious issue
of Prevlaka."
The opening of the Debeli Brijeg and Konfin border crossing is a
delicate issue for the FRY given that it represents an actual
recognition of the current, and internationally recognised,
borders between Croatia and the FRY, and thereby a recognition of
the Prevlaka peninsula as part of Croatian territory.
The FRY has territorial aspirations to Prevlaka, Croatia's
southernmost tip, and has been labelling the Prevlaka issue
"territorial". Croatia however, considers it a security issue
which, it believes, can be solved through demilitarisation.
Since 1992, a U.N. mission of observers has been stationed on the
peninsula. The U.N. Security Council on January 15 extended their
mandate for an additional six months.
That same day, the U.S. State Department said in a statement the
U.S. considers Prevlaka a security and not territorial issue. A
solution must be in keeping with Croatia's integrity and
sovereignty in its internationally recognised borders, State
Department spokesman James Rubin had said.
(hina) ha jn