Word: croats
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Separate diplomatic efforts by the U.S. and Russia may signal the beginning of the end of the 23-month-old war in Bosnia. Negotiators in Washington reached a preliminary agreement to join the Muslim- and Croat-controlled areas of Bosnia in a Switzerland-like federation carved out of the 33% of Bosnia not controlled by the Serbs. The Bosnian Serbs agreed to allow relief flights to land at the besieged Muslim-held airport in Tuzla in northeastern Bosnia after Russia said it would send peacekeeping troops to monitor the flights...
This time Washington's talk of vigorous negotiation seemed more than a cover for inaction. Bosnian Croats and the Muslim-dominated Bosnian government were showing renewed interest in working together, despite brutal fighting in the year since their anti-Serb alliance split apart. Bosnian Croat forces had sought to carve out a ministate for eventual merger into a Greater Croatia, but Muslim forces were gaining the upper hand. Unlike a string of previous failed cease-fires, the truce struck last week led swiftly to the deployment of U.N. peacekeepers along confrontation lines and the withdrawal of artillery and mortars...
...sides remain far apart. The Croats are insisting on forming a separate, strong entity within the union, which the Muslims fear will serve as a trapdoor for eventual secession to Croatia. There are also disputes over where internal borders should be drawn -- and whether Muslim refugees could return. One Croat official said there was so much mutual hatred that Washington's idea of confederation was "applying Madison Avenue standards to a Bronxlike situation." But the pace of discussions accelerated as Christopher brought the key players together in Washington to work out a deal...
...Croats' willingness to bargain reflects a crucial change of tactics by Franjo Tudjman, Croatia's strongman, a consummate opportunist who has previously shifted his allegiances from the Bosnians to the Serbs and back again as he maneuvers to preserve and acquire a greater Croation state. His continued meddling in Bosnia has prompted threats of sanctions from the U.S. Security Council. Worried by Moscow's embrace of the Serbs, "there is real fear they will be ostracized by the world community," said a well-placed foreign observer. As a more positive incentive, "we are offering Croatia the world if they will...
...Croats and Muslims fighting elsewhere in Bosnia agreed to halt hostilities. Negotiating under U.N. auspices in the Croatian capital of Zagreb, representatives of the warring factions agreed to place heavy weapons along front lines under U.N. control, as in Sarajevo, by noon on March 7. Meanwhile, in a major policy shift, Croatian President Franjo Tudjman said he would accept the idea of a Croat-Muslim state within Bosnia...