BELGRADE TO DROP NATO LAWSUIT IF CROATIA, BOSNIA DROP THEIRS

BELGRADE, June 28 (Hina) - Serbia-Montenegro will not withdraw its lawsuit against NATO before The Hague's International Court of Justice unless Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina abandon their lawsuits against Serbia-Montenegro, its Defence Minister Boris Tadic said on Saturday. #L# "We see all lawsuits before the International Court of Justice in The Hague identically. Our position is that if one lawsuit should fall, all should fall at the same time, ours against NATO, and Bosnia-Herzegovina's and Croatia's against Serbia-Montenegro," Tadic told the press in Novi Sad. He added the lawsuit against NATO over the 1999 bombings would not pose a hurdle to his country's entry into NATO's Partnership for Peace programme and Euro-Atlantic institutions. "The basic objection regarding us is that we can't sue someone we wish to be in some sort of contractual relationship with, such as Partnership for Peace. We acknowledge this reason, but how are we to build the regional peace and security policy if we are being sued by states which are our neighbours?" NATO leaders have cautioned Belgrade that besides cooperation with the Hague war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, dropping the lawsuit against NATO was a prerequisite for Serbia-Montenegro to be admitted into Partnership for Peace and other Euro-Atlantic structures. (hina) ha sb