SARAJEVO, 3 June (Hina) - It was desirable and important for the stability in the country that general elections in Bosnia- Herzegovina be held but there were no conditions for that currently, Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic told
a press conference Monday. 'No one had to exert pressure on us in Geneva to make us agree to the elections because we do not oppose the elections anyway. The difference is only in the evaluation of conditions that have been met so far. Estimations of the United States are a bit more favorable than ours', Izetbegovic said.
SARAJEVO, 3 June (Hina) - It was desirable and important for the
stability in the country that general elections in Bosnia-
Herzegovina be held but there were no conditions for that
currently, Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic told a press
conference Monday. 'No one had to exert pressure on us in Geneva
to make us agree to the elections because we do not oppose the
elections anyway. The difference is only in the evaluation of
conditions that have been met so far. Estimations of the United
States are a bit more favorable than ours', Izetbegovic said. #L#
Washington did not want the elections to be held at any price,
he added. 'No one in the West would agree to give legitimacy to the
elections which would be held in undemocratic circumstances',
Izetbegovic said, stressing that he personally would do all he can
to make the elections be held in the set time limit.
The Bosnian side did not receive any guarantees at the Geneva
meeting which would indicate that Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic
would really be extradited to The Hague War Crimes Tribunal. 'I
talked about this with Milosevic as well, and he tried to convince
me that Karadzic would be removed from his position, but he did not
confirm that Karadzic would be handed over to The Hague Tribunal',
Izetbegovic said, adding he still held that the extradition of
Karadzic was of the key issue in the implementation of elections
and that it should be completed in the next 30 days.
Commenting on difficulties regarding the adoption of a defence
law for the Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Izetbegovic said that
it had been decided that the issue of civil command over the
Bosnian army and Croatian Defence Council would be solved in line
with the Dayton peace agreement.
'It has been agreed that the integration of military
components should last three years and that during that period the
civil command would be under the jurisdiction of Croat, that is,
Bosniac-Muslim representatives in the Bosnian Presidency. Until the
elections, civil commanders would be the President of the
Presidency and the President of the Federation, Izetbegovic said,
adding that the defence bill would still be discussed at the next
session of the Constituent Assembly.
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