Croatian Generals’ Union claims that Bosnia and Herzegovina want to accuse Croatia of aggression during the 1990s.
A meeting between representatives of the Croatian Generals’ Union and Foreign Minister Miro Kovač was held today at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. They discussed relations with Croatia’s neighbours, especially with Bosnia and Herzegovina, reports N1 on September 15, 2016.
General Pavao Miljavac pointed out that the Croatian Army saved Bosnia and Herzegovina three times during the war in the 1990s, and added that the goal was not to take over parts of its territory. “We were just protecting our national interests. We would like to formalize meetings such as this because we gather over 80 generals and we can be of assistance to the Minister”, said Miljavac.
The meeting also covered an issue of the referendum that will be held in the Republika Srpska in Bosnia and Herzegovina. “I think this is a trial balloon to see how it would be accepted by the international community and politicians in Bosnia and Serbia. The ultimate goal is to try to organize a referendum on the secession, but that would not be simple. We think that no one should be making unilateral decisions”, said Miljavac.
“The focus of the talks were the indictments from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia and the issue of our people who have been indicted by the Hague Tribunal. There is a large number of indictments which have appeared in Bosnia and Herzegovina – that can have unfortunate impact on Croatia”, said Miljavac. He said the problem were not indictments themselves but allegations they contained. “They claim that Croatia participated in a joint criminal enterprise with the aim of expelling Muslim population. If there is real evidence that someone has committed a crime, we are not against criminal proceedings, but such general claims are unacceptable”, said Miljavac.
“Croatia was not an aggressor in Bosnia. There were several agreements between presidents Tuđman and Izetbegović which legalized operations of the Croatian Army in Bosnia”, said Miljavac, adding that some veterans have been informed they should not go to Bosnia and Herzegovina or EU countries because they could be arrested and extradited.
Minister Kovač said that his Ministry was working with colleagues from Bosnia and Herzegovina when it came to indictments against Croatian veterans. “As far as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is concerned, we cooperate with the State Attorney’s Office and there are talks going on to solve this problem so there would be no persecution of Croatian veterans”, said Kovač. “We now first have to form a government. We planned to have a joint session of the governments of two countries, but that did not happen because Croatian government collapsed.”
