$ ZAGREB, July 30 (Hina) - British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook held talks in Zagreb on Wednesday with Croatian President Franjo Tudjman. The talks focused on the completion of the peaceful reintegration of the Croatian Danube river
region, peace process in Bosnia-Herzegovina and overall relations between Great Britain and Croatia, Croatian Foreign Minister Mate Granic, who had attended the meeting said.
SECRETARY
$
ZAGREB, July 30 (Hina) - British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook held talks in
Zagreb on Wednesday with Croatian President Franjo Tudjman. The talks
focused on the completion of the peaceful reintegration of the Croatian
Danube river region, peace process in Bosnia-Herzegovina and overall
relations between Great Britain and Croatia, Croatian Foreign Minister Mate
Granic, who had attended the meeting said. #L#
"The peaceful reintegration of the Croatian Danubian area is not
questionable for Croatia, and we believe that it will be completed by 15
January next year. This, we believe, will be the most successful mission of
the UN," Granic said after the meeting.
He stressed that Croatia firmly supported the Bosnian Federation,
"but such as had been created under the Washington and Dayton
agreements," adding that Tudjman had warned about certain concerning
Unitarian or Islamic tendencies in the Bosnian Federation.
Granic announced a meeting between Tudjman and the chairman of
the Bosnian Presidency, Alija Izetbegovic, on 6 August, adding that Croatia
expected the meeting to solve certain open issues.
Croatia did not want to enter any integrations concerning the
southeast of Europe, but saw its place within Euro-Atlantic integrations,
Granic said.
The talks also focused on the media in Croatia.
"President Tudjman stressed that besides three state television
channels, there were 11 private television stations in Croatia, 97 private
radio stations and over 100 dailies and weeklies, some of which probably
would not be allowed to be printed even in countries with a long democratic
tradition," Granic said.
Stressing that one of the subjects discussed was the cooperation with
the International Criminal Tribunal in The Hague, Granic said that Croatia
supported the cooperation, but also expected a fair attitude towards all sides
in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
"Nobody in Bosnia-Herzegovina has as yet been charged with war
crimes against the Croat people. Croatia will in any case, within the realm of
its capabilities, contribute to the cooperation with the Hague Tribunal,"
Granic said.
Great Britain wanted Croatia to be welcomed into the family of
European nations, Cook said.
"It is now possible to drive from Rome to Lisbon without any
roadblocks in the way. There are no conflicts between the many different
ethnic groups that make up that modern Europe. I want Croatia to become
part of that modern Europe," Cook said.
Speaking about the peace process in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Cook said
that the international community, including Great Britain, had two key goals:
the continuation of the implementation of the Dayton Agreement and the
recreation of Bosnia-Herzegovina as a single multi-ethnic state.
"I have stressed to both (President Tudjman and Minister Granic) that
the patience of the international community is running out on the slow
progress implementing that (the Dayton) agreement. President Tudjman
very fairly said that part of the tragedy of Bosnia-Herzegovina is in the past
that international community had been divided as to the way forward. I have
assured him tonight that there is now a very firm common resolve from all
the international community, particularly from Germany, the United States
and Great Britain that we want to see the Dayton Agreement through. That
is why we have set deadlines in which the steps must be taken and by which
they must be implemented," Cook said.
The talks had also focused on issues of the reinstatement of full
freedom of movement and the return of refugees and displaced persons.
"We welcome the progress that has been made in Slavonia and we
very much hope that that would be carried through to a successful
conclusion so that Serbs and Croats can again share the region. We want
to see the same progress in 'Krajina' from which many Serbs were displaced
during the war," he said.
Another key issue discussed during the talks had been the extradition
of war crimes suspects to the International Tribunal in The Hague.
"I have sought the help of Minister Granic and President Tudjman to
make sure that those who have been charged, should they enter Croatia, or
should they be in the Croat part of Bosnia-Herzegovina, are handed over for
trial in The Hague. Both have said, and it is a fair point, that the people
awaiting trial have been waiting too long. Britain has taken action to tackle
the problem. There is now no reasonable excuse for war criminals who have
been charged in The Hague not to be handed over for trial. If they are
innocent, they have nothing to fear. But it is very important, if we are going
to (reach) reconciliation in Bosnia-Herzegovina," that those charged with
war crimes are brought to justice, Cook said.
There is no plot on the side of the international community against
Croatia, nor is there an intent to recreate a new political association in the
southeast of Europe, but the international community wants Croatia to meet
European standards, in order to become part of the modern Europe.
He said he had held with President Tudjman "very interesting
discussion on the concept of democracy," adding that he did not entirely
share the conception of President Tudjman.
"The essential concerns of the international community are that
Croatia must have free media. It is perfectly true that other European
countries in the European Union do have a state-owned TV station. But,
none of us run that TV station through a council dominated by members of
the governing party. The TV stations are independent and are free to chose
who to interview. We wish to see the same conditions in Croatia. And the
second elementary test of a modern European country is respect of ethnic
minority rights. And that is why it is so important for Croatia, as well as for
the ethnic minorities, that the full programme of return of the refugees and
displaced persons is allowed to continue. If those two tests are met, then I'm
sure there will be no difficulty in removing those concerns that the
international community has which have led to the judgements of
international financial institutions," Cook said.
302339 MET jul 97