ZAGREB, March 11 (Hina) - The United States appreciates Croatian President Franjo Tudjman's support to opposing the idea of a third entity in Bosnia-Herzegovina and his insisting that all sides fully observe the Dayton Agreement,
special US envoy for the implementation of the Dayton Agreement, Robert Gelbard, said in Zagreb on Thursday, after having held talks with Croatian President Franjo Tudjman. "I consider it very notable and appreciate very much President Tudjman's support to against the idea of any third entity in Bosnia-Herzegovina and his insistence that the parties all stick completely to the Dayton Agreement," Gelbard told reporters after the talks. "President Tudjman and I had a long and sweeping discussion of issues related to our bilateral relationship as well as to issues throughout this region," he said "We had a very detailed discussion about issues related to the implementation of the
ZAGREB, March 11 (Hina) - The United States appreciates Croatian
President Franjo Tudjman's support to opposing the idea of a third
entity in Bosnia-Herzegovina and his insisting that all sides fully
observe the Dayton Agreement, special US envoy for the
implementation of the Dayton Agreement, Robert Gelbard, said in
Zagreb on Thursday, after having held talks with Croatian President
Franjo Tudjman.
"I consider it very notable and appreciate very much President
Tudjman's support to against the idea of any third entity in Bosnia-
Herzegovina and his insistence that the parties all stick
completely to the Dayton Agreement," Gelbard told reporters after
the talks.
"President Tudjman and I had a long and sweeping discussion of
issues related to our bilateral relationship as well as to issues
throughout this region," he said
"We had a very detailed discussion about issues related to the
implementation of the Dayton Agreement, including specifically,
questions of the Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croat-
Bosniak relations," Gelbard added.
We spoke about a number of issues, and our standpoints do not always
fully agree, but the meeting was very fruitful, Gelbard said.
Concerning bilateral relations, Gelbard said the two sides pointed
out the fact that Croatia had received America's support in the
Croatian Danubian region, and this support continued in issues
surrounding Prevlaka (Croatia's southernmost peninsula,
bordering with Yugoslavia).
"As Dr. Kostovic has said, we also had a significant discussion
about issues related to Brcko," Gelbard said.
Brcko is a town in the north-east of Bosnia-Herzegovina, whose pre-
war population was mostly Bosniak (Moslem) and Croat. During the
war, Bosnian Serbs occupied it. An international arbitration
commission was appointed to decide to which entity the town should
belong. The commission recently reached a decision by which the
Brcko municipality would remain a separate district.
Gelbard said he had just returned from Bosnia-Herzegovina where he
had held discussions with the three members of the Bosnian
Presidency, Jelavic, Izetbegovic and Radisic, about Brcko, which
is a subject "of great interest in Bosnia-Herzegovina".
"At the time of the arbitrator's decision, State Secretary
Madeleine Albright wrote to President Tudjman about it and the
United States appreciates the support of Croatia regarding this
decision," Gelbard stressed.
Croatian President's Chief-of-Staff Ivica Kostovic told reporters
the talks between Gelbard and Tudjman had been not only
constructive, but also exceptionally friendly. All issues had been
tackled, including the economy.
"The talks especially focused on cooperation in the implementation
of the Dayton Agreement, where Croatia has been described as a very
stable and reliable partner to the US, as well as an important
factor of peace in this part of Europe," Kostovic said.
"With its support to the decision of the international arbitrator
for Brcko, Croatia continues this policy, to the satisfaction of
all, especially our partner - the United States," he stressed.
Asked about the possibility of Tudjman visiting the US soon,
Kostovic said "President Tudjman has long ago been invited by
Croatian immigrants to visit, and should there be an official
invitation, we would accept it with pleasure".
(hina) lml