U.S. WELCOMES CROATIA'S AGREEMENTS WITH BOSNIA & FEDERATION

WASHINGTON, Nov 25 (Hina) - The United States on Wednesday welcomed the two agreements Croatia recently signed with Bosnia-Herzegovina and one of its two entities, the Croat-Muslim Federation, assessing they would strengthen the development of relations between the two countries in line with the Washington and Dayton peace accords. In a statement issued by the State Department, the U.S. in particular commended the efforts made by the leaders of Croatia, BH, and the Federation towards overcoming the serious political obstacles which had hindered the process in the reaching of the two agreements. The agreement between Croatia and BH, regulating BH's use of the Croatian port of Ploce and Croatia's passage through the BH seaside resort of Neum, and the special relations agreement between Croatia and the Federation should, according to the statement, help stronger constructive relations between Croatia and BH, in line with the peace agreements which had helped in reaching peace in the region. The U.S. called on the two countries' political leaders to do everything for the agreements to be ratified and become effective as soon as possible. The State Department statement also pointed out to the role of U.S. mediators in reaching the two agreements, which were signed in Zagreb last Sunday. (hina) ha