Bosnia Agrees to Establish Diplomatic Relations with YugoslaviaThe Bosnian presidium decided Thursday, December 7, to establish diplomatic ties with Yugoslavia after a meeting in Sarajevo, capital of Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Bosnian news agency BH-Press reported.The three-member presidium authorized Foreign Minister Jadranko Prlic to sign all necessary documents with his Yugoslav counterpart Goran Svilanovic. In the meantime, the Bosnian presidium stressed that any documents signed by both countries on normalizing bilateral ties should not affect charges "of aggression and genocide" filed in 1993 by Bosnia at the International Warcrime Tribunal in The Hague, the Netherlands. After the collapse of the former Yugoslavia in the early 1990s, Bosnia entered into a bloody war that also involved Croatia and Yugoslavia, composed of the republics of Serbia and Montenegro. The war ended in 1995, but Bosnia and Yugoslavia still have no diplomatic relations. On November 22, Svilanovic visited Sarajevo and held talks with Prlic, during which both agreed to establish diplomatic relations in two weeks. Bosnia's charges, which Bosnia said should not be mingled with diplomatic relations, is one of the key issues that hamper relations between the two countries. But the charges were dismissed by Yugoslavia, which argued that the conflict is due to individual responsibilities. |
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