NEW YORK, April 20 (Hina) - Croatia on Tuesday requested the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia remove its troops which in the morning entered a demilitarised zone on Croatia's southernmost peninsula, Prevlaka, bordering with Montenegro.
It also called on the United Nations to ensure the implementation of all its resolutions on Prevlaka. "Upon instructions by my Government I should like to inform you that approximately 200-300 soldiers of the Army of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia have today entered the demilitarised zone established pursuant to an agreement between the Republic of Croatia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) dated 15 September 1992, confirmed in Security Council Resolution 772 (1992). The violation in the demilitarised zone occurred in the area of the access road to the border-crossing points opened in agreement with Montenegrin authorities," the Croatian ambassador to the UN, Iva
NEW YORK, April 20 (Hina) - Croatia on Tuesday requested the Federal
Republic of Yugoslavia remove its troops which in the morning
entered a demilitarised zone on Croatia's southernmost peninsula,
Prevlaka, bordering with Montenegro. It also called on the United
Nations to ensure the implementation of all its resolutions on
Prevlaka.
"Upon instructions by my Government I should like to inform you that
approximately 200-300 soldiers of the Army of the Federal Republic
of Yugoslavia have today entered the demilitarised zone
established pursuant to an agreement between the Republic of
Croatia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) dated 15
September 1992, confirmed in Security Council Resolution 772
(1992). The violation in the demilitarised zone occurred in the
area of the access road to the border-crossing points opened in
agreement with Montenegrin authorities," the Croatian ambassador
to the UN, Ivan Simonovic, said in a letter addressed Tuesday to the
president of the United National Security Council.
"The act violates the agreement between the two states and the
relevant Security Council resolutions, Furthermore, in effect it
nullifies progress hitherto achieved in establishing and
maintaining security and stability in the area of Prevlaka.
We recall that the Secretary-General in his Report stated that the
opening of the border-crossing point Debeli Brijeg 'was welcomed by
the Security Council in Resolution 1222 (1999) as a significant
confidence-building measure in normalisation of relations between
two parties...'.
In this particular situation the blocking of traffic through the
border-crossing point Debeli Brijeg may present a heavy blow to
ongoing international efforts to provide humanitarian assistance
to the displaced population of Kosovo.
The Republic of Croatia calls upon the FRY to immediately withdraw
its forces from the demilitarised zone and the Security Council to
ensure strict compliance with its resolutions pertaining to the
Prevlaka issue," Simonovic said in the letter.
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