PARIS CONFERENCE ON PEACE CONSOLIDATION IN BOSNIA ENDS

PARIS, Nov 14 (Hina) - The Paris conference on the consolidation of peace in Bosnia-Herzegovina ended on Thursday afternoon with a ceremony, when French President Jacques Chirac expressed satisfaction with the adopted document and progress towards strengthening peace in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Chirac described as significant the fact that Bosnia- Herzegovina had for the first time been internationally represented by a three-member presidency in Paris, and expressed wish that the spirit of cooperation created at the conference would continue in the future. The adopted document on consolidating peace in Bosnia was described by French Foreign Minister Herve de Charette as a "moral contract between the collective presidency of Bosnia-Herzegovina and the world community. It is a contract based on reciprocity. We will assist them, but in exchange, the collective presidency has made major commitments". The international financial help will depend on the consistent implementation of the peace agreement. The ways of implementation of the Paris document will be defined at a conference in London in December, and the military aspects of international presence in Bosnia-Herzegovina will be discussed by NATO. Our wish was that the peace process should become self- maintaining in the next two years, international community high Representative Carl Bildt said. Participants in the Paris conference agreed on thirteen priorities which had to be implemented in a two-year period. The priorities are: regional stabilization, the creation of an atmosphere of security, respect of human rights, building a genuine democracy, holding of elections, freedom of movement, return of refugees to their homes or at least to their country, cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal, reconstruction, establishment of market economy, truce, the re-establishment of an education system, and removal of land mines. It was also agreed that the two-year process of peace consolidation should be reviewed after a year. The role of the high representative's Office in Bosnia should be made stronger by its role in economic issues and right to making final decisions in cases of dispute. However, the high representative also has to work on the final independence of institutions in Bosnia-Herzegovina. (hina) lm jn 141911 MET nov 96