LONDON, April 17 (Hina) - Croatia's Finance Minister Borislav Skegro said in London on Friday he had not called on anybody to dispatch ground troops to Kosovo, after some news agency claimed he had called for ground troops to be put
into that war-affected area. Skegro explained that he had just expressed his personal opinion that a form of the presence of international forces in Kosovo could be necessary, if there is an objective to return ethnic Albanians to their homes. Skegro said that while taking part in an economic conference in London, he was asked how the Kosovo crisis might end. I replied that I was not a military expert and neither could I say how it might finish. By hinting at a solution which enabled refugees to come back to eastern Slavonia, I said, however, that the best solution would be probably to enable refugees to return, under the protection of international forces, Skegro told Hin
LONDON, April 17 (Hina) - Croatia's Finance Minister Borislav
Skegro said in London on Friday he had not called on anybody to
dispatch ground troops to Kosovo, after some news agency claimed he
had called for ground troops to be put into that war-affected area.
Skegro explained that he had just expressed his personal opinion
that a form of the presence of international forces in Kosovo could
be necessary, if there is an objective to return ethnic Albanians to
their homes.
Skegro said that while taking part in an economic conference in
London, he was asked how the Kosovo crisis might end.
I replied that I was not a military expert and neither could I say
how it might finish. By hinting at a solution which enabled refugees
to come back to eastern Slavonia, I said, however, that the best
solution would be probably to enable refugees to return, under the
protection of international forces, Skegro told Hina.
Eastern Slavonia (a part of Croatia) was overrun in 1991 by the then
Serb-led Yugoslav People's Army and Serb paramilitaries, but it was
successfully reintegrated into Croatia last year after it was under
the UN control for several years.
Skegro added that it would be wrong to understand that he called on
anybody to deploy ground troops in Kosovo and stressed he had no
authority for something like that.
Bulgaria's Vice Premier Alexander Boskov, who also attended the
London conference, spoke of the economic damage done to his country
due to the conflict in the Balkans. In that context, questions about
the situation in the region were raised, Skegro explained.
(hina) jn ms