Platform for Foreign Policy

Shadow Cabinet

Sarajevo, 28 March, 1997 (AIM) - Prime minister and all the ministers of the shadow cabinet met for the second time on Thursday in Banja Luka in order to coordinate views on the platform of alternative foreign policy, to talk about media in both entities, and to make necessary consultations before this alternative council of ministers left for a visit to Washington.

After talks which lasted for almost the whole day, prime minister Sejfudin Tokic, deputies Zeljko Ivankovic and Milorad Zivanovic, and ministers in the shadow cabinet, Senka Nozica, Juraj Martinovic, Srdjan Dizdarevic, Milorad Dodig amd Mico Carevic, agreed about the future foreign policy with inconsiderable complaints.

The alternative foreign minister Srdjan Dizdarevic offered the cabinet a draft of theses for the platform of alternative foreign policy of B&H in which he included all the details which were according to him significant for the appearance of this country in the world.

"B&H should offer to the international community guarantees, through implementation and abiding by declarations and conventions included in the Dayton accords, that it is a civilized country which accepts the highest European and world standards, and in this way make its road to European and world integrations easier", said Dizdarevic.

According to his words, in its foreign political orientation, B&H should seek support in European partners and integrations where it naturally belongs, but at the same time it should direct its activities towards rapprochement with the European Union and the NATO.

"One of the phases is the indication that it will be received in the Council of Europe which calls for consistent respect of human rights as the main precondition for membership in this organization", said Dizdarevic.

The American Southeast Europe Cooperation Initiative (SECI) is also an acceptable framework for stimulation and promotion of cooperation in the region, Dizdarevic claims. He, however, also warns that B&H must take care that SECI is not offered to countries of southeast Europe as a permanent solution and substitute for membership in the European Union.

"Due to consequences on the internal political scene, it is necessary to precisely define relations of B&H with the Conference of Islamic Countries. The status of a guest or observer in this organization could meet with support in the country", says Dizdarevic, addidng that along with the USA, France, Great Britain, Russia, China or Germany, Bosnia & Herzegovina should direct its foreign policy towards establishment of firm relations with secular Islamic countries, Turkey and Egypt. At the same time, it should get closer to Scandinavian countries - Danemark, Norway and Sweden, but also some other countries in Europe.

"Among bilateral relations, priority is normalization of relations with the neighbours. The policy towards the neighbours must be founded on provisions of the Dayton accords, among which the main determinant should be mutual recognition and respect of borders, and as a result, respect of territorial integrity. Special relations of entities with neighbouring countries, whose establishment was prescribed by the Dayton accords should not lead to disintegration of B&H and its division. The main policy to neighbouring countries should be oriented towards good neighbourly relations", it is stated among other in the draft platform of the shadow cabinet.

In a short and constructive discussion which followed Dizdarevic's presentation, minor corrections were proposed. Vice-prime minister, Zeljko Ivankovic, stressed that in the final version of the Platform, relations with the neighbours should be in the first place, and then relations with former Yugoslav republics.

"It is necessary to put more stress on good neighbourly relations or as foreigners say, go towards creation of peace in the region", said Ivankovic. He also stressed that absolute control of armament must be established with a tendency to reduce it.

After theses of the platform of alternative foreign policy had been adopted, a discussion on the forthcoming journey to America followed. The prime minister and ministers of the shadow cabinet will leave to the USA in the beginning of the month, where their hosts will be the American administration which had invited them. As expected, during the fortnightly stay in the US, they will visit the State Department and have meetings and talks with respectable political, economic, cultural and public workers of the USA.

Although it was on the agenda of this session of the shadow cabinet to talk about nominations of the remaining ministers (two) and all the deputies, minister Milorad Dodig proposed that this be discussed after return from the USA. In the meantime, all the parties and associations of citizens which participate in the work of the shadow cabinet, should prepare the names of the candidates accoridng to the already agreed methodology.

One of the reasons for which ministers from Republica Srpska demanded postponement of this item on the agenda was the recent initiative of the Social Liberal Party for formation of the shadow cabinet of Republica Srpska.

Members of the alternative council of ministers used their stay in Banja Luka to visit independent media in this city. The prime minister and the ministers were informed about conditions for work of Independent Television Banja Luka, newspaper Nezavisne novine and journal Novi prelom. Representatives of the shadow cabinet had already visited media from the territory of the Federation, among other the Alternative Information Network (AIM) as the only media active on the entire territory of B&H, dailies Oslobodjenje, Vecernje novine, Avaz, and news agency Onasa.

"We need to get an insight into the current situatiion in the media on the territory of both entities and based on it to state an official information about the media in B&H, but at the same time to have starting-points for elaboration of our own strategy concerning media", stated for AIM prime minister of the shadow cabinet, Sejfudin Tokic.

It was said that the alternative council of ministers should meet again next week.

The initiative for establishment of the shadow cabinet was given by the Union of B&H Social Democrats in January this year, and in the beginning of Marchm, the names of ministers were publicized. Their work, however, will officially begin only after a hundred days since the establishment of the official Council of Ministers of B&H expires.

Sandra KASALO