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Kostunica In Sarajevo Shores Up Bosnian Peace Accords
SARAJEVO (News Agencies) - Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica made his first official visit to Sarajevo on Friday and reaffirmed his commitment to the peace accords which ended Bosnia's civil war, a pact he said was a model for coexistence in the Balkans.
But a human rights group and a local Muslim leader urged the new Yugoslav leader to acknowledge his government's role in the bloodshed that ravaged Bosnia after it broke from the Yugoslav federation in 1992.
"I would like to reiterate my support for the Dayton peace accords," Kostunica said, referring to the U.S.-brokered agreement that ended the war in 1995.
He was speaking after meeting the three members of Bosnia's collective presidency - Serb chairman Zivko Radisic, Muslim Halid Genjac and Croat Ante Jelavic.
"The Dayton peace agreement is a model for coexistence between countries which have been torn by tension and conflict," Kostunica told journalists.
The Dayton agreement set up two entities - the Serb-run Republika Srpska (RS) and the Muslim-Croat Federation - joined within a single state, Bosnia-Herzegovina.
The accord, signed by Yugoslavia and Croatia, put an end to both countries' territorial designs on Bosnia.
"Looking at the achievements of the new Yugoslav administration, I think that establishing ties with Bosnia was the greatest," Kostunica said, referring to a decision announced after he replaced hardline nationalist Slobodan Milosevic ad Yugoslav president in October.
Friendly ties between Bosnia and Yugoslavia were central to keeping the peace in the Balkans as a whole, he added.
But he added that Yugoslavia would continue to have a special relationship with the Bosnian Serb republic, while recognizing it as part of Bosnia-Hercegovina.
The chairman of the Bosnian presidency also hailed a new era in relations between Belgrade and Sarajevo.
"The time of hardships, wars and hatred is behind us," Radisic said.
The two countries will soon open up embassies in each other's capitals and a number of trade deals had already been agreed, he added.
For some, however, the old wounds have not healed.
Bosnia's chief imam, Mustafa Ceric, refused to meet Kostunica unless he apologized to the Bosnian people for Yugoslavia's role in the war. A meeting had initially been scheduled between the two men.
"It is regrettable that Kostunica missed the opportunity to show political courage and sensitivity that would contribute to the reconciliation," said one radio report, quoting a statement from Ceric's office.
Earlier Friday, a human rights group urged Kostunica to accept his country's responsibility for the Bosnian conflict as the first step towards reconciliation.
The Bosnian branch of the Luxembourg-based Society for Threatened Peoples, called on Kostunica to "make a goodwill gesture and admit guilt for the genocide and aggression committed against Bosnia-Herzegovina.
"Calls for reconciliation are not enough," said the statement. Accepting Yugoslav guilt for the "genocide and aggression" would help the process of reconciliation process with those who lost loved ones in the war.
Belgrade, under Milosevic, backed the Bosnian Serbs during the war that left about 250,000 dead and displaced over a million.
Kostunica was accompanied in Sarajevo by Foreign Minister Goran Svilanovic, who with his Bosnian counterpart Jadranko Prlic signed a cooperation protocol.
Sarajevo and Belgrade notably agreed to establish an inter-state council to discuss their relations.
Kostunica on Friday also met Orthodox Metropolitan Nikolaj and a representative of the Catholic Church in Sarajevo.
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