[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 21 (Wednesday, March 2, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: March 2, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
        MOSLEM AND CROAT AGREEMENT ON BOSNIA OFFERS SIGN OF HOPE

  Mr. PELL. Mr. President, yesterday, Bosnian Croat and Bosnian Moslem 
representatives reached an agreement which we all hope will lead to an 
end to the bitter fighting between the Croat and Moslem people in 
Bosnia. As a unified front, the Bosnian Croats and Moslems stand a 
better chance of prompting the Bosnian Serbs into negotiations, which 
will not only bring an end to the fighting, but could yield a fair and 
just settlement to one of the world's most difficult foreign policy 
challenges.
  At the state level, the Croatian and Bosnian Governments also signed 
an agreement yesterday which could lead to the establishment of a 
confederation between the Republic of Croatia and the Bosnian 
Federation. That separate accord also sets out procedures regarding 
access to the sea for the Bosnian Federation, and transit through 
Bosnia for Croatian vehicles.
  I must say that there is a bit of irony surrounding the confederation 
agreement between Croatia and Bosnia. In 1990 and 1991, before the 
breakup of Yugoslavia, many, including Croatian leaders, saw 
confederation as a compromise between the complete breakup of 
Yugoslavia and its continued unity. Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic, 
insisting on the preservation of a Serb-dominated Yugoslav Federation, 
vetoed the confederation idea, precipitating the independence 
declarations by Slovenia, Croatia, and later, Bosnia and Herzegovina. 
Three bloody years later, the confederation idea is back on the table 
as a real alternative.
  There is cause for optimism, but we should be cautious. These 
agreements are only first steps. The negotiations included neither the 
Bosnian Serbs, who continue to control approximately 70 percent of the 
land in Bosnia, nor their patrons in Serbia. Moreover, as we have seen 
during the past few days in the Middle East--another part of the world 
long wracked by ethnic and religious strife--today's hope engendered by 
the commitments of leaders can easily give way to doubt and frustration 
produced by the bullets of a fanatic.
  As one who is very reluctant to see United States military 
involvement in the former Yugoslavia, I am encouraged by the diplomatic 
successes of the past several days. The United States, with the 
personal leadership of Secretary of State Christopher and the able 
negotiating skills of Ambassador Charles Redman and our diplomatic 
staff in the former Yugoslavia, deserves great credit for seizing the 
diplomatic initiative.

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