BOSNIA HERZEGOVINA: DECISION ON DISPUTED TOWN OF BRCKO POSTPONED UNTIL END OF YEAR.

Record ID: 647623

  • Title: BOSNIA HERZEGOVINA: DECISION ON DISPUTED TOWN OF BRCKO POSTPONED UNTIL END OF YEAR.
  • Date: 15th March 1998
  • Summary: BRCKO, BOSNIA (MARCH 14, 1998) (RTV(A) - ACCESS ALL) 1. GV/PAN: BORDER IN BRCKO 0.08 2. GV: VARIOUS STREET SCENES (5 SHOTS) 0.42 SARAJEVO, BOSNIA (MARCH 15, 1998) (RTV - ACCESS ALL) 3. CU: SPOKESMAN FOR THE INTERNATIONAL ARBITER SIMON HASELOCK READING STATEMENT SAYING "TO GIVE THE NEW LEADERSHIP (OF SERBIA) A CHANCE TO ACCOMPLISH SIGNIFICANT REFORMS THE STATUS QUO UNDER INTERNATIONAL SUPERVISION WILL BE MAINTAINED PENDING A FINAL ARBITRATION PHASE TO TAKE PLACE AT THE END OF 1998 OR EARLY 1999. IN THE INTERIM THE CONTINUATION OF INTERNATIONAL SUPERVISION WILL PROTECT THE LEGITIMATE INTERESTS OF BOTH PARTIES. IN THE FINAL ARBITRATION PHASE, THE BURDEN WILL BE ON THE REPUBLIKA SRPSKA TO PERSUADE THE TRIBUNAL NOT TO TRANSFER BRCKO TO THE FEDERATION" (ENGLISH) 1.24 4. CU: INTERNATIONAL HIGH REPRESENTATIVE TO BOSNIA CARLOS WESTENDORP SAYING "WE FIRMLY BELIEVE THAT GIVEN THE PRESENT AND PAST SITUATION IN BRCKO, THE DECISION IS IN THE BEST INTEREST OF THE OF THE INTEREST OF THE PEOPLE OF BRCKO AND THE DAYTON AGREEMENT. WHAT WE STRESS AND URGE THE PARTIES TO DO IS TO ACCEPT THE DECISION AND TO DEVOTE THEIR ENERGIES TO MAKE BRCKO A PEACEFUL AND MULTI-ETHNIC COMMUNITY" (ENGLISH) 2.09 NEAR BRCKO, BOSNIA (MARCH 14, 1998) (RTV(A) - ACCESS ALL) 5. LV/GV: WIDE VIEW OF NATO MCGOVERN BASE NEAR BRCKO/ U.S. FLAG/ STABILISATION FORCE (SFOR) TANKS ON THE MOVE (6 SHOTS) 2.46 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 30th March 1998 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: BRCKO, SARAJEVO, BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA
  • City:
  • Country: Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • Reuters ID: LVA6ALM67UP2BNT1733ZWLSYLTQF
  • Story Text: An international arbiter has again postponed a decision on the disputed Bosnian town of Brcko, this time until the end of the year.

    In a statement issued jointly in Washington and Sarajevo on Sunday (March 15), a commission headed by U.S.

    lawyer Roberts Owen said a decision on the town, currently under Serb control, should be postponed to give the new moderate Bosnian Serb leadership time to enact reforms.

    International High Representative to Bosnia Carlos Westendorp said in Sarajevo the comission firmly believed that given the past and present situation in Brcko, the decision was in the best interest of the people of Brcko and the Dayton agreement.

    Brcko, a port on the Sava river which once had a Moslem majority, was captured by separatist Serb forces early in the 1992-95 Bosnian war which left the former Yugoslav republic divided between a Moslem-Croat federation and a Serb entity.

    Bosnian Serbs view Brcko as a vital lifeline which links the eastern and western halves of their territory.Hard-line nationalists have threatened to fight to keep it.

    The 1996 Dayton peace treaty which ended the Bosnian war left the territorial status of Brcko unresolved and called for binding international arbitration.

    A final decision on whether to let it remain under Serb control or award it to the Moslem-Croat federation was already postponed last year for 12 months.

    The government of the Moslem-Croat federation said it was unhappy with Sunday's decision but would respect it while continuing to fight for the right to control the town.

    Serb authorities, anxious to keep control over the town, resettled thousands of Serbs from Sarajevo in Brcko after the end of the Bosnian conflict.

    Diplomats in Sarajevo indicated last week that Owen would postpone the verdict because Western governments were reluctant to undermine the newly-elected Serb government.

    NATO Secretary General Javier Solana travelled to Brcko earlier this week to meet leaders of the multi-ethnic town council.

    Solana said he urged Bosnian Serb representatives to cooperate with peacemaking efforts regardless of the outcome of the arbitration.


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