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Bosnian Foreign Minister Emphasizes International Community
by Ayesha Ahmad for IslamOnline
WASHINGTON, July 12 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Only 32% of the properties of displaced persons from the Bosnian war have been returned to their owners as of yet, Bosnian Foreign Minister Zlatko Lagumdzija said Thursday in a news conference at the National Press Club.
"That is not enough," he said, emphasizing that his country still had a long way to go in recovering and rebuilding itself.
"The problem of returnees is maybe the biggest problem we have," he said in answer to a question at the Press Club conference, where he had come to speak on current reforms in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
At a donors' conference in Qatar in May, Lagumdzija - leader of his country's Social Democratic Party - spoke about the issue as well, asking for help from the international community to reach their desired goal of returning 100,000 to 120,000 displaced persons to their homes in 2001.
"Now, we have about half a million persons ready to return," he had said at the donors' conference. "The next three years should be a period of intensive, broad and sustainable return."
At Thursday's news conference, Lagumdzija reiterated the need for international support, saying that two or three years ago, the international community had given generously to the returnees program, but that at the time, Bosnia itself had lacked the political will to organize the incoming resources for the returnees.
Now, however, while the restructured, healing nation restores itself, it has found the political willpower to bring back displaced persons into its cities - but without the resources previously available.
"I hope the international community will be able to deliver the resources that the people need now," Lagumdzija said.
On Bosnia's foreign policy, Lagumdzija said that his government divided up its energy, giving a quarter each to the European Union, to Bosnia's direct neighbors and its region, to the United States and to the rest of the world.
"Why so little to the rest of the world? Because we are a little country," he said.
Lagumdzija emphasized the importance of Bosnia's relationship with the U.S., calling it "our most important neighbor [since] we live in virtual time," and saying that globalization made the U.S. in actuality "the biggest European power."
"American leadership is necessary for Bosnia and Herzegovina to become a European country," he said.
Bosnia's partnership for peace with the U.S., Lagumdzija said, started with the presence of American troops in Bosnia, which he said would need to be modified in terms of quality and quantity - "scaling down" - as Bosnia progressed "to larger participation in Europe."
Lagumdzija also addressed the issue of the indicted war criminals Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic, currently at large in Republika Srpska (RS), a Bosnian Serb entity carved out to the east and north of the former territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina by the 1995 Dayton peace accords.
"[Bosnian Serb Prime Minister Mladen] Ivanic has said clearly in The Hague that his government will cooperate with The Hague," he said, adding that it was unfortunate that Ivanic claimed not to know where "the biggest sharks" are.
The Washington Times quoted him as saying, "With so many satellite dishes, intelligence, and SFOR [stabilization force], if I represented the international community, I'd be ashamed to say we don't know where they are."
"The most important thing is that there is a political will [for cooperation with the war crimes tribunal]… and I think it is important that Mr. Ivanic be given the chance to exercise it," he said at the news conference.
Lagumdzija had fractured his right elbow in a fall at the Sarajevo airport on his way to the U.S., and had the arm set in a cast and sling upon arrival in Washington in Tuesday for his current three-day trip.
The 46-year-old Lagumdzija, a Muslim engineering professor who graduated from high school in Detroit, learned the same day, Tuesday, of his nomination back home as the new chairman of the Council of Ministers.
Bosnia's tripartite presidency had announced earlier Tuesday it was nominating the moderate foreign minister as prime minister-designate of the country's central government.
Lagumdzija said he was "very flattered" and "very thankful" to be offered the job, but needed to talk to colleagues and his family before deciding what to do. He emphasized that it was only proper he make the decision after his return to Sarajevo.
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