ZAGREB, July 29 (Hina) - The Croatian Government on Thursday adopted a Statement in which it "resolutely dismisses claims made in the closing argument of The Hague Tribunal prosecutor in the trial of general Blaskic, saying that the
Bosniak-Croat conflict in central Bosnia had elements of an international conflict and accusing the leadership of the Republic of Croatia, and literally the President of the Republic, of the most direct involvement in the conflict".
ZAGREB, July 29 (Hina) - The Croatian Government on Thursday
adopted a Statement in which it "resolutely dismisses claims made
in the closing argument of The Hague Tribunal prosecutor in the
trial of general Blaskic, saying that the Bosniak-Croat conflict in
central Bosnia had elements of an international conflict and
accusing the leadership of the Republic of Croatia, and literally
the President of the Republic, of the most direct involvement in the
conflict". #L#
"The prosecutor is placing general Blaskic and his command in a
wider territorial context, and events in the Operative Zone Central
Bosnia are placed into a wider political context in Bosnia-
Herzegovina. The prosecutor says in his closing argument that the
Croatian state leadership and especially President Tudjman were
working on the partition of Bosnia-Herzegovina. The prosecutor is
using this and similar unproved postulates in order to construe a
thesis that the Republic of Croatia was involved in an
international conflict in central Bosnia. However, there is no
evidence supporting such claims either in Croatia's policy towards
Bosnia-Herzegovina or in assessments presented in numerous
resolutions of the U.N. Security Council.
The prosecutor's claims on the alleged direct intervention of the
Republic of Croatia, which lead to an international conflict in
Bosnia-Herzegovina, as well as on its aspirations regarding
territorial expansion are inadmissible - because they are
completely unfounded. A series of agreements signed so far between
Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, as well as the Agreement on the
Border, which has just been reached and which is to be signed soon,
clearly demonstrate that Croatia has always respected the
sovereignty of Bosnia-Herzegovina as a subject of international
law. We emphasise that the Republic of Croatia was the first state
to recognise Bosnia-Herzegovina and the first state to send its
ambassador to Sarajevo, at the time the town was under siege of
Serbian aggressors and the JNA. It is exactly the Croatian state
policy that was most active in designing the idea and the
establishment of the Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina, whose
purpose was the institutional and legal protection of Bosnian
Croats and their cooperation with Bosniaks-Muslims.
The BH Federation, established on the basis of the Washington
agreement, was also crucial for the survival of Bosniaks-Muslims,
because it was the sole state form and territory on which they
(Muslims), together with Croats, managed to preserve and start
building the foundations of the two-entity Bosnia-Herzegovina of
today.
Also, during the great-Serbian aggression against Bosnia-
Herzegovina, Croatia cared for at least 500,000 refugees, mostly
Bosniaks-Muslims, from that country, while almost all humanitarian
aid and military equipment necessary for the defence and survival
of the BH Federation, that is, the Croat and Bosniak peoples, was
transported over Croatian territory. Such a policy of the Republic
of Croatia, regarding the care for refugees and provision of
humanitarian aid and equipment, was also conducted at the time of
the Bosniak-Croat conflict in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
In 1992, Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina give their relations a
framework by signing an Agreement on Cooperation and Friendship.
The Presidents of the two states, Dr Franjo Tudjman and Alija
Izetbegovic, in 1994 in Geneva, signed an Agreement on Joint
Defence. The agreement on appointing general Janko Bobetko joint
chief-of-staff was reached later. The Split Declaration of July
1995 obliged Croatia and the BH Federation to breathe life into the
Washington agreements, as well as cooperate in joint defence and
adopt a political solution for Bosnia-Herzegovina's future.
Several weeks later, final operations on the territory of the
Republic of Croatia and the BH Federation took place, resulting in
the end of the Serbian occupation of western Bosnia-Herzegovina,
that is, the liberation of one fifth of the whole territory of the
neighbouring state. This opened the path to a Framework Peace
Agreement for Bosnia-Herzegovina, that is, the Dayton peace
process.
Despite its deep discontent with the closing argument in the
Blaskic trial and the inadmissible interference in the state policy
with politically unfounded and arbitrary political assessments,
Croatia and its leadership will maintain their present level of
relations with The Hague Tribunal. Croatia, which was among the
first countries to suggest the establishment of the Tribunal, which
adopted a Constitutional Law on cooperation with the Tribunal and
has been the most cooperative country, has the right to expect and
is confident that the Tribunal will base its decisions on facts
rather than abstract hypotheses and political speculation which go
beyond the framework of the trial itself", said the statement from
the Government Media and Public Relations Office.
(hina) rml