ZAGREB, 24 Jan (Hina) - Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina would propose to the United States to organise a session of the Federation Forum so that numerous problems, which had arisen recently between Croats and Muslims in Bosnia and
Herzegovina, could be solved, Bosnia's and Croatia's foreign ministers Jadranko Prlic and Mate Granic stated in Zagreb on Friday.
ZAGREB, 24 Jan (Hina) - Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina would
propose to the United States to organise a session of the
Federation Forum so that numerous problems, which had arisen
recently between Croats and Muslims in Bosnia and Herzegovina,
could be solved, Bosnia's and Croatia's foreign ministers
Jadranko Prlic and Mate Granic stated in Zagreb on Friday. #L#
Prlic arrived in Zagreb today in order to discuss with
his Croatian colleagues the implementation of the Washington and
Dayton agreements and further strengthening of political and
economic ties between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
'Since there are certain problems in the functioning of
and in talks within Bosnia-Herzegovina, especially between the
Bosniacs and Croats, our joint stance is that it is necessary to
organise a meeting of the Federation Forum as soon as possible',
Granic told reporters after the meeting.
'We will send our joint proposal to the United States',
he added.
'The Croat-Bosniac relations have been artificially made
to deteriorate lately. That is why we have started this
initiative which is aimed at organizing a session of the
Federation Forum and a meeting between Bosniac and Croat peoples
so that some open questions could be solved', Prlic said, when
asked to comment on whether he arrived in Zagreb against the
will of the Bosniac side.
The visit had been arranged earlier and it was confirmed a
week ago; representatives of the Croat-Bosniac Federation and
representatives of Republika Srpska were informed about the
platform for talks', Prlic said.
Prlic arrived in Croatia alone, without a delegation which was
to include Muslim representatives. It had been announced earlier
that Prlic would be accompanied by a delegation.
Despite regular diplomatic practice, Prlic was not accompanied
by the Bosnian Ambassador to Croatia, Kasim Trnka, either.
Asked by the Croatian news agency HINA reporters why
Ambassador Trnka had not attended the meeting, Bosnian Embassy
officials in Zagreb said the Ambassador was ill.
Croatia's and Bosnia's common strategic goal was cooperation
within Euro-Atlantic integration processes and the Central European
Initiative (CEI). The two countries were willing to cooperate in
the accomplishment of that aim, Granic said.
Both countries rejected their integration into Balkan or
south-eastern integration processes, but were ready for good
neighbourly relations with other south-eastern European countries.
Croatia strongly supported the implementation of the
Washington and Dayton agreements, Granic said.
The two ministers also discussed the already signed agreements
as well as those to be signed with regard to the recent elections
and the establishment of new bodies of authority on the level of
Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The talks also tackled the functioning of the Council for
Cooperation between Croatia and the Federation of Bosnia and
Herzegovina, Granic said.
Relations between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina were
developing positively, Prlic said, announcing that Bosnia would
soon start talks on the signing of a cooperation agreement with the
European Union.
Bosnia and Herzegovina wanted to become a member of the NATO
Partnership for Peace program, Prlic said, adding that its
membership in the program would depend on the pace of the
organisation of the Federation army, the implementation of the
disarmament agreement and the integration of the Republika Srpska
army into the process.
Commenting on statements saying that a certain number of Serbs
from the Croatian Danubian area would come to Bosnia and
Herzegovina, to Republika Srpska, Prlic said that his Croatian
counterpart had informed him about measures Croatia was undertaking
in order to secure all human, civilian and national rights for
Serbs living in the area and in Croatia.
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