EFFECTS OF MADELEINE ALBRIGHT'S VISIT TO B&H

Hunting Criminals

AIM Sarajevo, 4 June, 1997

The one-day visit of American State Secretary Madeleine Albright to Bosnia & Herzegovina was interpreted by all relevant political forces in this state, regardless of whether they are in power or in the opposition, as an obvious intention of Washington to accelerate implementation of the Dayton accords which was, after all, made under the dictate of the leading world super-power.

Madeleine Albright arrived after the summit in Sintry and her messages differ in no way from the conclusion of this political gathering. Briefly, she made it clear to all the parties in B&H that there would be no war, that there could be no division of Bosnia and that war criminals had to be punished.

The scenario of her visit in Bosnia & Herzegovina was made out in the spirit of these messages, and in American style, it was expressedly marked by symbolism and demonstration of leadership of Washington in world policy. Not at all accidentally, but just two days after Sintry, Mrs Albright gathered members of the Presidency in Sarajevo and formed the standing committee for military issues. This move was interpreted as an effort in favour of urgent establishment of institutions on the level of B&H, but also as a signal that all parties had to eliminate even the very notion about a military option.

The decision of Mrs. Albright to visit, during her stay in Sarajevo, a station of the cantonal police, which is the only thing in the capital of B&H that is organized according to the federal principle, cannot be considered as accidental either. By making this step, word was sent to other cantons in the Federation that they had to start in the same direction, and as concerning the authorities in Sarajevo, the message remains that the capital had to mark the way in implementation of laws and protection of human rights. "The United States of America will continue to help those in Bosnia & Herzegovina who help themselves on the road to re-establishment of peace and multi-ethnic life in B&H", stated Madeleine Albright to journalists during her visit to Sarajevo.

But, she also said that "the accused war criminals must be extradited to the Tribunal for war criminals in order to enable the good people from the region to live freely and approach the future without thinking about the past". She manifested this commitment by putting flowers on the Sarajevo Vrbanja bridge, where as the first civilian victim in the capital of B&H, Suada Dilberovic, a student from Dubrovnik, was killed. This was done in memory of the past and crimes, and the American vision of the future of B&H was demonstrated by a tour of a children's playground downtown Sarajevo, built with the assistance of the USA.

In Brcko, the city the unresolved status of which according to numerous assessments could be the cause of a possible new war, by opening the bridge over the Sava, Madeleine Albright wished to show to what extent Bosnia & Herzegovina needed connection with the world (in this actual case with Croatia) if it wanted quick economic revival. But, even this festive occasion was used to remind of the necessity of punishment of war criminals, which had specific significance, since the message was uttered on the territory controlled by Republica Srpska. By bringing Dr Haris Silajdzic, co-chairman of the Council of Ministers of B&H, and Neven Tomic, vice-president of the Council, which was the first time that any politician from the Federation attended any similar event on the territory of Republica Srpska, and by putting Boro Bosic among them, Mrs Albright raised the opening of the Brcko bridge on the state level and enabled the authority of B&H, at least for a minute, to extend to that part of the state, too. And indirectly, this was meant to show that secessionist aspirations should be forgotten.

Although during the visit to B&H she was not too benevolent towards the federal leaders, warning them in Sarajevo that they shared responsibility for obstruction of the Dayton accords, the effects of the visit of Madeleine Albright, after summing up of everything she did during the several hours she spent touring B&H, will primarily be measured by the results of the talks with Biljana Plavsic, President of RS in Banja Luka.

It is indicative that her entire stay in B&H was exceptionally well covered by media and that Mrs. Albright never missed an opportunity to address the journalists. She avoided it only after talks with Biljana Plavsic, which in itself speaks about the acute resistance she had met with. The talks took place behind closed doors, after a cold reception given to Albright in Banja Luka.

The course of the talks will probably be further analyzed in Washington and possible measures will be considered which need to be taken in order to break the resistance to implementation of the Dayton accords. Disappointment is increased by the awareness that not even Biljana Plavsic is an interlocutor by measure of the USA. Since the fact that Madeleine Albright had visited Banja Luka and intentionally avoided Pale was meant to express a specific support to Plavsic in the conflict with Krajisnik, and with this preconceived idea the President of RS was chosen as the interlocutor.

Disappointment of the USA is based primarily on refusal of Biljana Plavsic to extradite Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic to the Hague Tribunal. At the press conference held two days after the meeting with Madeleine Albright, Biljana Plavsic explained that extradition was contrary to the Constitution of Republica Srpska, and that it could cause chaos. But, it is indicative that television of Republica Srpska in its report from the press conference carried the interpretation of Madeleine Albright that the Dayton accords, that is the Constitution of B&H, were superior to the Constitution of RS.

Biljana Plavsic also told the journalists that the USA insisted that the Dayton accords be integrally implemented on the entire territory of B&H and that there could be no question about amendment of this document, that is about "Dayton 2". This in fact means that it must be understood that RS remains within B&H and that it must accept return of refugees and freedom of movement, which Mrs. Plavsic had agreed to in talks with Madeleine Albright.

Mrs. Plavsic declared to the population of RS that it would be impossible to count on receiving economic aid, because, as she stated, "there will be no conditioning only if Dayton accords are consistently implemented". And consistent implementation implies, among other, extradition of Karadzic and Mladic to the Hague.

It is obvious that Biljana Plavsic still has not enough strength to get involved in the risky game and agree to extradition of war leaders of RS. In that case she would have to get involved in an open conflict with Pale, and even risk to be proclaimed the national traitor because of agreement to arrest the "war heroes", which Karadzic and Mladic still are for a significant portion of the population of RS.

Therefore, it will be possible to judge the real effects of the meeting of Madeleine Albright to Bosnia & Herzegovina only in the days to come. The intensity which Washington has this time invested in the "game" should mean that there will be no withdrawal on its part and that all parties involved will have to get rid of war criminals. And pressure concerning this item of the Dayton accords has not been randomly chosen. Without its implementation, the effects of the forthcoming local elections will be negligible, and there will not be return of refugees either. It will also be impossible to talk about integrity of B&H in the long run either, or about departure of US soldiers from this country. And such a denouement would be mere loss of time and initiative for Washington in penetration of its influence further towards the East.

Sejad LUCKIN