CROATIAN-BOSNIAN COOPERATION COUNCIL IS SIGNIFICANT STEP: JURICA

( Editorial: --> 4439 ) ZAGREB, April 3 (Hina) - The Croatian Government is pleased to welcome the signing of an inter-state agreement on the establishment of a Council for Cooperation between Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina as a big and significant step in the further arrangement of relations between the two countries, government spokesman Neven Jurica told reporters in Zagreb Friday. Jurica also commented on remarks representatives of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) had made in relation to a government document on the return of displaced people. The establishment of a Council for Cooperation is another substantial denial of all the remarks and hasty objections that Croatia was adopting towards Bosnia an approach allegedly contrary to the Dayton peace agreement, Jurica told reporters. Croatia sees Bosnia according to Dayton agreement foundations, as having two entities and three constituent and sovereign peoples, the government spokesman pointed out. "Croatia cannot be reconciled to, nor does it in the least approve of, any attempts to revise (the) Dayton (agreement) and changes in its implementation, or to the imposition of the nonviable concept of a unitary BH," Jurica said. "In such a unitary concept where Croats would have to become Bosniaks (Muslims), the constituency, sovereignty and equality of the Croat people would be lost." The protection of the Croat people in Bosnia is Croatia's primary and lasting state and national interest, Jurica emphasised. The government fully supports the Croatian President's initiative aimed at the demilitarisation of Bosnia. It is a wise initiative of far-reaching strategic significance which carries strong political and geostrategic messages. Jurica said the initiative was a further contribution to maintaining stability and security in the region and a significant contribution to creating conditions for resolving the Bosnian crisis. The demilitarisation of Bosnia would be safeguarded by a non- aggression pact that Yugoslavia and Croatia would each sign with Bosnia, with the international community as the third party. The idea of demilitarisation would according to Jurica ensure in practice a peaceful, safe and long coexistence among Bosnian peoples and the survival of the Croat people. In such a Bosnia no people could endanger the others. On the contrary, Jurica said, it is impossible to perceive how long foreign troops would have to stay in Bosnia which, he believes, is a financial, military and diplomatic burden on the international community. Jurica found it puzzling that some Bosniak representatives a priori reject discussion of the initiative. A national cantonal arrangement in the Croat-Muslim Federation, possibly on the Swiss model, would according to Jurica put an end to the dangerously high number of Croats moving out of Bosnia, especially from those parts where they represent a minority. This, he added, would ensure the Croat people's survival and equality and is true to the spirit of a Bosnia according to the Dayton peace agreement. Negotiations on a document regulating special relations between Croatia and the Federation in the spirit of the Washington and Dayton peace agreements are expected to continue, the government spokesman told reporters. Jurica then commented on remarks OSCE mission head Tim Guldimann had made in relation to a government document on the return of displaced people to Croatia. Croatia is a sovereign, stable and organised state, mature enough not to need someone to take on the role of arbiter, Jurica said. We do not need to have our documents constantly assessed with us being supposed to listen without demurring. The government's document complies with an obligation undertaken in January when Defence Minister Gojko Susak told US Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott that Croatia would issue a concrete plan for the return of refugees by the end of March. Issued earlier this week, the document stems from Croatia's firm determination to resolve the refugee issue from a humanitarian aspect. Jurica recalled that the Croatian President had already called on Serbs to remain in Croatia as their own country. But they left when the illusion of a Serb entity in Croatia burst for good, he told reporters. (hina) ha jn /mb 031822 MET apr 98