ZAGREB, 10 April (Hina) - Croatian President Franjo Tudjman on Wednesday received a delegation of the International Commission for the Balkans, which was established after World War I by international institutes with the aim of
drawing up proposals for the establishment of a lasting peace in the Balkans, a statement from the President's Office said tonight.
FOR BALKANS - STATEMENT
ZAGREB, 10 April (Hina) - Croatian President Franjo Tudjman on
Wednesday received a delegation of the International Commission for
the Balkans, which was established after World War I by
international institutes with the aim of drawing up proposals for
the establishment of a lasting peace in the Balkans, a statement
from the President's Office said tonight. #L#
In historical, geo-political and civilization terms, Croatia
was not part of the Balkans, President Tudjman said, adding that
Croatia had entered the Yugoslav state only to defend itself from
Hungarian, German and Italian imperialist claims.
Until the establishment of the first Yugoslav state, there had
been no conflicts between Croats and Serbs, but great differences
between the Western and Byzantine civilizations resulted in the
latest great-Serbian aggression and a horrible war, Tudjman said.
Croatia wanted to join European institutions as soon as
possible, since it belonged there historically, he said.
The implementation of the Washington and Dayton agreements,
Croatia's admission and through Croatia, the admission of the
Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina into European institutions and the
Partnership for Peace program and NATO would enable the
establishment of a new world order and a lasting peace in the
region.
The Republic of Croatia favored the normalization of relations
between all states that emerged from the former Yugoslavia, but
because of historical reasons and civilization differences, it
could not accept the creation of some new Balkan or other
association, Tudjman said.
Today's talks were also attended by President Tudjman's Chief-
Of-Staff Ivo Sanader, advisor on social services Zlatko Canjuga and
aide to President Tudjman's advisor on foreign policy, Dubravka
Pleic-Markovic.
The delegation of the International Commission for the Balkans
included Leo Tindemans, John Roper, Theo Sommer, Jacques Rupnik and
Dana Allin, the statement said.
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