ZAGREB, March 5 (Hina) - The Croatian National Parliament House of Representatives on Friday adopted the Declaration on Foreign Policy Priorities of the Republic of Croatia and the Resolution on Cooperation with the International
Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in the Hague. The documents were mooted by the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) parliament bench. The foreign policy declaration was adopted with 59 votes for, three con and 18 abstained. The Resolution was adopted with 78 votes for, seven against and 11 abstained. The declaration states that the interest and strategic goal of Croatia's foreign policy remains to be approaching to Euro-Atlantic associations. With regards to military and security associations, Croatia sees its position in joining the Partnership for Peace programme and NATO. By adopting the Declaration, the Parliament resolutely expresses opposition to
ZAGREB, March 5 (Hina) - The Croatian National Parliament House of
Representatives on Friday adopted the Declaration on Foreign
Policy Priorities of the Republic of Croatia and the Resolution on
Cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the
former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in the Hague.
The documents were mooted by the ruling Croatian Democratic Union
(HDZ) parliament bench.
The foreign policy declaration was adopted with 59 votes for, three
con and 18 abstained. The Resolution was adopted with 78 votes for,
seven against and 11 abstained.
The declaration states that the interest and strategic goal of
Croatia's foreign policy remains to be approaching to Euro-
Atlantic associations. With regards to military and security
associations, Croatia sees its position in joining the Partnership
for Peace programme and NATO.
By adopting the Declaration, the Parliament resolutely expresses
opposition to European Union's regional approach, dismissing all
attempts to place Croatia in any way politically or institutionally
into regional associations which would be exclusively connected to
south-east Europe or the Balkans.
Respecting the Washington and Dayton agreements, Croatia will
advocate a Bosnia-Herzegovina as an independent, integral and
sovereign state comprising two entities and three equally
sovereign peoples.
Croatia will continue to develop special relations with the
Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina, in line with the will of both
sides and on the basis of the Agreement on Special Relations between
Croatia and the Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina.
In order to strengthen further the democratic processes in the
country, Croatia will consistently develop tolerance and dialogue
between the authorities and the Opposition, and along those lines,
continue the internal democratic development, the Declaration
states.
The Resolution on cooperation with the ICTY said Croatia's
expectations have been let down, and the Prosecution, as well as the
International Criminal Court will carry out investigations quickly
and without delay, and indict, try and punish war crimes and other
crimes committed against the Croat people and other non-Serb people
during the Serb and Montenegrin aggression on Croatia.
The Resolution calls on the ICTY to more resolutely and effectively
perform its tasks and apprehend and try as soon as possible
Sljivancanin, Mrksic, Radic, Martic and others. The ICTY should
also, the Resolution says, exert effective pressure on Yugoslavia,
through the UN Security Council, to extradite war crimes suspects.
The Parliament warned in the Resolution that the Tribunal had
become a place for implementing exactly determined political
goals, and its incommeasurateness is introducing a serious
imbalance and instability in the Washington and Dayton
agreements.
The resolution requests the ICTY Prosecution to urgently
investigate, indict and try numerous war crimes committed during
the aggression on Croatia, from the towns of Celije, Vicin, Vukovar
to Skabrnja and the destruction of Dubrovnik.
The Resolution dismisses as disproportionate the public statements
of representatives of the Prosecution regarding Croatian military
and police operations "Storm" and "Flash" in 1995.
Considering the undoubted legitimacy of these anti-terrorist
actions on its own state territory, the Parliament holds that any
possible individual crimes committed in connection with the
operations are an issue exclusively for the Croatian judiciary, the
Resolution stresses.
The Parliament calls on the Government to continue cooperating with
the Hague Tribunal and to inform the Parliament of measures it had
taken within the next six months at the latest.
As no agreement has been reached during Friday's negotiations
between the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) and six
parliament opposition parties, known as the "Opposition Six",
regarding the views regarding the documents on cooperation with the
International Criminal Tribunal and Croatia's foreign policy,
besides the draft documents motioned by the HDZ, MPs were also
presented with a draft declaration on Croatia's foreign policy
priorities submitted by the Opposition Six.
The two declarations have many views in common, but the draft
declaration presented by the Opposition Six also suggested that in
order to continue strengthening democratic processes in the
country, Croatia was prepared to consistently develop tolerance
and dialogue between the authorities and the Opposition and, along
these lines, urgently find solutions for the electoral law and the
Croatian Radio and Television.
The Croatian Party of Rights (HSP) bench submitted their own draft
document on cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal
for the former Yugoslavia, which, among other things, suggested
that any form of politicisation of the Tribunal and its
exploitation for political pressures on Croatia should be
denounced most harshly.
The HSP also mooted a continuation of cooperation with the ICTY, but
that extradition of Croats to the Tribunal should be refused. Their
motion was immediately dismissed, with only four MPs voting for
it.
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