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Geneva, Switzerland, August 14, 1996 (Introductory remarks deleted)
SECRETARY CHRISTOPHER: Good evening. I am sorry to be late, but Bosnia always seems to take a little longer. As you know, we have just concluded the third Dayton Implementation Summit. This is the third one we have convened here in Geneva. On each occasion, it seems to me, we have moved a little closer to implementation of the Dayton agreement, and moved closer to our goal of a unified, democratic Bosnia at peace. Today, the presidents of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, and Serbia have agreed to take a number of new steps which, if implemented, will significantly strengthen the prospects for meeting the next challenge -- which is the holding of effective, democratic elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Frankly, today we focused on the problem areas as we have perceived them over the last several days and weeks. The United States and the entire international community, it is fair to say, are committed to supporting the people of Bosnia in their quest for a lasting peace. Top officials of IFOR and of the High Representative's office have agreed to hold a series of daily meetings, probably most of them in Sarajevo, meetings of all the international organizations involved in the election process. We are going to try to hold those meetings to ensure full coordination of the efforts. But I want to emphasize that in the end, the success of the election will depend upon the commitment, the dedication, and the action of the parties involved.
Today's agreement will advance four important objectives. First, ensuring the successful conduct of the elections. Second, moving ahead to complete the Federation. Third, establishing institutions which were agreed to in the Dayton agreements. Fourth, strengthening compliance in other key areas of the Dayton agreement.
The first and no doubt the most urgent steps are those necessary to ensure the democratic elections a month from today. The parties have pledged to ensure free movement of persons and full access to voting places throughout Bosnia. They have also agreed to take steps to stop incidents of violence, to stop threats or intimidation against opposition politicians or against ethnic groups or against journalists. General Joulwan has confirmed that IFOR plans to play a major role in supporting the elections, and the parties agreed to work closely with IFOR to accomplish these purposes.
To expand access to the media by all political groups, in all communities, the parties reaffirmed their agreement to support the Open Broadcast Network and other media-support projects. The Open Broadcast Network will be open to all stations throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina.
A renewed commitment was also made today that persons indicted for war crimes will not participate in the election process in any way. The July 18th agreement to remove Radovan Karadzic will be implemented in every respect, and the arrest of Karadzic and other indicted persons remains, as the parties said today, an important goal.
The second main area of agreement reached today is a plan of action to move forward with the full implementation of institutions for the Federation. of Bosnia-Herzegovina will be disbanded no later than August 31. These are important steps in the process of bringing the Federation to life and setting the stage for the new institutions which will be necessary following the elections. The third area of agreement concerns the key steps following the elections. The elections will lead to the establishment of national institutions that will govern Bosnia and Herzegovina. Today the parties agreed to work closely together to launch these new institutions -- such as the new presidency, the council of ministers, the parliamentary assembly, the central bank, and the constitutional court.
Finally, agreements were reached in other areas which are vital to compliance with the Dayton agreement. The parties agreed to strengthen their adherence to the arms control annex of the agreement, another essential element of the overall effort. They agreed to correct problems of under-reporting and slow compliance with the arms control agreement. The parties also re-committed themselves to moving forward with arbitration of the disputed portion of the inter-entity boundary line in the Brcko area, and to implement fully the results of that arbitration. The agreements reached today are the kind of step-by-step progress that has kept the parties moving forward toward peace, despite many difficulties over the last several months. These agreements will be tested and measured by the deeds that follow them, not by the words themselves. Nevertheless, I think it's important that we have taken important, additional steps toward the implementation of a very complex, very difficult Dayton agreement.
Tomorrow, I will be going to Sarajevo, where I will urge the people of Bosnia to put aside the divisions of the past and to look to the future -- as they have an opportunity to choose their leaders one month from now. I believe that the steps today could make a significant effect on achieving satisfactory results in the September 14th election. I would be glad to try to respond to your questions.
QUESTION: I have just had a look at this, let me call it the Tudjman-Izetbegovic agreement. It says the appropriate functions of Bosnia and Herzegovina will be merged with federation institutions. Will anything remain of the government of Bosnia as we know it?
SECRETARY CHRISTOPHER: Barry, the concept is that the government of Bosnia as we have known it in the past will have its functions transferred to the new Federation. The same thing is true of Herzeg-Bosnia, which will be dissolved, and its functions will be transferred to the Federation. Indeed, Barry, I am very glad you focused on that question, because I did not think my statement really focused on the importance of those transfers. It has been some time coming, but we are now going to get the transfers by the end of this month of these functions to the Federation, breathing more life into the Federation. Many of you have probably recognized that federation-building has been a step-by-step process. We've been at it over some period of time. This is probably the ultimate or the penultimate step.
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, earlier today the OSCE put out a press statement quoting Minister Cotti as saying that efforts were continuing to establish ethnically pure areas as a result of the elections. If in fact the voters of Bosnia vote for ethnically pure areas, what could the United States or the international community do about it?
SECRETARY CHRISTOPHER: I read that statement, and I was somewhat puzzled by the way that particular phrase was composed. The parties will be voting -- in each of the two entities they will be voting. In Srpska, they will choose their leaders of Srpska. The other entity will also be part of the voting picture. There will be elections, and in elections, some will win and some will lose. But I ca not see that that voting itself will result in ethnically pure areas. They may choose leaders who have a tendency in that direction. I think we will have to wait and see the kind of leaders that will be chosen by the people. The Dayton agreement commits to give the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina an opportunity to have a multi-ethnic, unified country. How deeply they hold that conviction will be measured by the choices they make in the election. We hope they will make sound choices. We believe in democracy. If you look at the elections that have been conducted around the world, I must say the people quite often surprise the experts.
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, you mentioned in your preamble explaining the events of today that the leaders have agreed to new measures that would move along toward free and fair elections. As far as I can see, what they have done is just reaffirmed their agreement at Dayton. The last time we were here, there was a great deal of talk about new, proactive controls on the part of IFOR forces. Have those taken place? I do not see any evidence.
SECRETARY CHRISTOPHER: On the first point, there was, to be sure, some reaffirmation of decisions taken at Dayton. That is necessary in this process. The Dayton agreement was so far-reaching that, from time to time, I felt the need to invite the presidents here to get a recommitment to Dayton. I am not embarrassed to say that that is true and necessary and desirable. Beyond that, Steve, this was the first time, as far as I know, that the parties have agreed to fix a date when the governmental functions of the present Bosnia republic will be transferred to the Federation. This is the first time I think the parties have fixed a date for the dissolution of Herzeg-Bosnia. Those are very important steps for federation-building, and of course the ultimate success will in many respects be only as strong as the Federation itself. Other important developments today, I would say, relate to the broadcast network, to Brcko, where we did get a commitment from the parties to go ahead with the arbitration structure that's been set up, with Robert Owen of the United States being the third arbitrator and understanding that he will break the tie, that he will make the decision. Steve, I do not shy away from the fact that this is a work in progress. We are making progress, but we have to keep working at it.
Steve, I talked to General Joulwan about this, and members of his staff yesterday at NATO Headquarters, and they assured me that the number of patrols have increased. They have particularly increased in the Pale area, and generally throughout the country. So there has been a step-up in the patrols, at least based upon what General Joulwan -- you might want to direct that question more precisely to the IFOR officials. I raised the same question and was assured that there had been an acceleration and an increase in the number of patrols.
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, you said earlier that arresting war criminals remains an important role. Are you concerned or disturbed about reports that NATO may have had in its grasp General Mladic and failed to act upon that? Is there a will to actually go out and seek out and arrest and bring to justice Dr. Karadzic and General Mladic?
SECRETARY CHRISTOPHER: Lee, the particular incident to which you referred came to my attention for the first time at about 4 o'clock today. I understand General Joulwan has made a statement on that, and has indicated that that particular incident will be reviewed. But more broadly, he has assured me and has assured the press that it continues to be the policy of IFOR to arrest war criminals as they come into the purview, or as they come into contact with them. I am pleased that that continues to be the policy of IFOR. I do not have any further comment on that at this point, other than to reinforce that and to reassert that as the proper policy of IFOR.
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, on the open broadcast network, are you saying that the Bosnians have agreed to allow both political and commercial broadcasts?
SECRETARY CHRISTOPHER: I expect that the Open Broadcast Network will be up and running by about the end of the month, in time to have an important impact on the elections. In the longer term, and I assume also in the shorter term, I think that it needs to have a commercial function as well as a public affairs function. Exactly how that will be worked out in this very short time line, I do not know. But what is important here is that it be up and running in time to have a public education function in connection with the elections.
MR. BURNS: We have time for two more quick questions.
QUESTION: Did you discuss with President Milosevic about the Kosovo problem? [inaudible]
SECRETARY CHRISTOPHER: We discussed a very wide range of matters today. Every time I meet with President Milosevic, we refer to [Kosovo] because it is an area of my concern. We did not dwell on it today, but we did refer to it and I indicated that we were glad to have finally a United States Information Service facility in Kosovo. The purpose of that facility will basically be to give the United States, and the world as a whole, a listening post so that we can have a better way to assess what is going on in [Kosovo] and also an opportunity to provide information to the people of that area. I want to stress that it is a very small facility on behalf of the United States. It does not resolve the problem, but it addresses one element of the problem. I continue to be concerned about the situation in Kosovo, and will continue to raise it. We are hoping to produce a dialogue between President Milosevic and the leaders of Kosovo.
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, did you get rebuffed by both President Tudjman and President Milosevic on the question of turning over war criminals to the tribunal?
SECRETARY CHRISTOPHER: No, I did not get rebuffed by either of them. I reminded them of their duty to do so. I had a particularly focused conversation with President Tudjman on that subject. I told him that we had reports that a man, I believe his name is Mr. Kordic, who is an indicted war criminal, had been seen in Zagreb. I called that to President Tudjman's attention. I told him it was part of his responsibility to turn indicted war criminals over to The Hague. He responded that they had done so in one rather celebrated case in the past. He did not think that Mr. Kordic was there in Zagreb. He took the point of my question as an important inquiry. I would not say I was rebuffed by either of them. Thank you very much.
[end of document]
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