VIENNA/ZAGREB, March 9 (Hina) - Talks on Article 5 of Annex 1B of the Dayton Peace Accords will be a long process aimed at determining security standards for South-East Europe, Croatia's Ambassador at the Organisation for Security and
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Mario Nobilo, said on Tuesday. "The talks aren't about new limitations or reductions which would be imposed on Croatia; they represent a process aimed at determining security standards, not imposing reductions", Nobilo said in a phone conversation with Hina. The Croatian ambassador stated this after the first plenary session of 20 countries, held in Vienna yesterday, in line with commitments from the Dayton Peace Accords. The session marked the beginning of a process of negotiations on Article 5, aimed at establishing regional balance among the former Yugoslav states and in their neighbourhood. "The purpose is for arms contro
VIENNA/ZAGREB, March 9 (Hina) - Talks on Article 5 of Annex 1B of the
Dayton Peace Accords will be a long process aimed at determining
security standards for South-East Europe, Croatia's Ambassador at
the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE),
Mario Nobilo, said on Tuesday.
"The talks aren't about new limitations or reductions which would
be imposed on Croatia; they represent a process aimed at
determining security standards, not imposing reductions", Nobilo
said in a phone conversation with Hina.
The Croatian ambassador stated this after the first plenary session
of 20 countries, held in Vienna yesterday, in line with commitments
from the Dayton Peace Accords. The session marked the beginning of a
process of negotiations on Article 5, aimed at establishing
regional balance among the former Yugoslav states and in their
neighbourhood.
"The purpose is for arms control, as envisaged by the Dayton
agreement, to lean on security measures applied in Europe", said
Nobilo. "Croatia is very cooperative, because it believes that the
process is good not only because it enables us to leave the
framework of the former Yugoslavia, but also because adjusting to
European regulations and standards means approaching NATO and
European structures", he added.
According to Nobilo, the Vienna talks will tackle the strengthening
of trust, transparency, the establishment of security zones, the
announcement of manoeuvres etc. He added that he expected the talks
to last long.
The talks on Article 5 were to begin in January but were postponed
due to the situation in Kosovo and the Rambouillet talks. The date
of the next session has not been determined for the same reason,
Nobilo said adding the only thing sure was that talks would not
continue before the second round of Kosovo talks was completed
(scheduled for March 15 in Evreux, France).
The negotiating round which started with the Vienna session is the
last in a set of rounds envisaged by Annex 1B of the Dayton peace
agreement. The annex envisaged three rounds of negotiations. The
first two - on measures for trust-establishment among the warring
parties in Bosnia and on arms reduction in countries-signatories to
the Dayton agreement - were successfully completed in 1996. The
last round - on the establishment of regional balance - has
officially started with the Vienna session.
Along with former Yugoslav states, participating in the last round
of negotiations are Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, France, Greece,
Italy, Hungary, the Netherlands, Germany, Romania, Russia, the
United States, Spain, Turkey and Great Britain.
(hina) rml
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