IVICA RACAN: Units of the Croatian Army will be deployed in Kosovo as part of the composition of the NATO force there
By Igor ALBORGHETTI
In addition to the announcement that at the very next meeting of the ministers of foreign affairs of NATO and members countries of the Partnership for Peace, on May 24 in Florence, Croatia would officially request acceptance as a full-fledged member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, this was certainly the greatest surprise of Racan's visit to Brussels which concluded on Tuesday evening.
It is true that the request for acceptance into NATO was not directly mentioned by the premier in his speech, the first ever by a Croatian politician before the Permanent Council of NATO, but before a gathering of Croatian reporters in the mission of the Republic of Croatia to the European Union.
Although on Tuesday an official, written invitation to Croatia to join the Partnership for Peace was lacking, it is certain that it would be received on Wednesday, May 10, after yet another of a series of regular meetings of the Permanent Council of NATO.
"We are not disappointed that we did not receive the written invitation today," replied the Croatian premier to the direct question of "Globus", explaining that what was involved was only a regular procedure which must be honored upon acceptance by such an organization. "Come to Florence in two weeks," the well-disposed premier invited the gathered reporters, among whom was a team from CNN.
The secretary general of NATO Lord George Robertson and Croatian premier Ivica Racan arrived before reporters earlier than planned according to the protocol. It was later confirmed that Racan's appearance was very well received. He spoke in English and the members of the Permanent Council of NATO were obviously impressed by the content of his presentation. There were no additional questions directed at the premier. The ambassadors of the United States, Great Britain, Italy and Belgium only offered their compliments to the Government because of the great effort which finally resulted in the acceptance of Croatia into the Partnership for Peace.
In brief, said the premier in the beginning, Croatia has fulfilled all conditions for complete integration into the international community.
He explained in detail the most controversial part of relations between Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. "The time of the mentoring of the Bosnian Croats by Zagreb is finished and it will be replaced by a long-term and consistent partnership. This will certainly give Croatia more moral right to speak on behalf of the Bosnian Croats if and when the need to do so should appear," said Racan.
Nevertheless, he warned the Bosnian Croats that they must accept the basic principle: they are citizens of another country, to which they owe their loyalty and in which they need to build their own future. The credibility of these announcements is certainly the agreement on financial assistance to the ministry of defense of the BH Federation signed only two days before Racan's departure to Brussels. By this agreement, finally and visibly, the manners in which monies are arriving from Croatian accounts into BH are defined and so-called problems of financing the Croatian component of the federal army are resolved. Of no lesser importance is the cessation of the practice of transferring high officers from BH into the armed forces of the Republic of Croatia.
It is also significant that for the first time Racan said that Croatia will not insist on reciprocity, that is, that the return of displaced persons and refugees to Croatia will not be connected with returns to other regions in the former Yugoslavia, first and foremost to Bosnia.
The state in which the new Croatian Government found the ministry of defense and the armed forces of the Republic of Croatia was not satisfactory, and especially was not in harmony with NATO standards, said Racan. "The new leadership structure of the ministry of defense is composed exclusively of civilians. Parliamentary control over issues of defense has been strengthened. Likewise, measures are being implemented which will dispense with the privileges of the prime minister of the Republic over the armed forces, which were guaranteed by the current Constitution, and he we share those privileges with the Government and the parliament."
At the same time, the president of the Croatian Government announced significant reductions in the number of personnel employed by the armed forces in the next several years, in accordance with the strategic documents of NATO, foremost in its new strategic concept.
As far as cooperation between Croatia and the international court in the Hague is concerned, Ivica Racan pointed out two significant moves by his government: the extradition of Mladen Naletitic Tuta and cooperation with the Hague investigators in Gospic. He also said that there is currently a large number of investigators of the Hague court in Croatia and that they have been given access to the archives of the secret services, in which documents relating to the war period in BH are stored.
After he also mentioned the reforms on Croatian Radio Television and the economic reconstruction, Racan in conclusion emphasized that his Government during the past one hundred days attempted to change the situation in Croatia for the better. Because of this, he said, entry into the Partnership for Peace was not an end in itself, and would be pointless if it did not bring additional value. Croatia, announced the premier, wishes to be an active partner of NATO.
The quiet lobbying which inescapably accompanies the making of such important political decisions for some state took place on all levels and with different motives. However, one thing is finally clear: Croatia will enter the Partnership for Peace, Croatian embassies advised the seat of Croatian diplomacy in Zrinjevac Square, in the office of the president and the prime minister's cabinet, last week. There were, however, differences in interpretation how that entire process would finally take place.
Before it was addressed by Croatian prime minister Racan (while he was still on a visit to London), the North Atlantic Council (or NAC, the managing body of that organization which has the mandate to make the most important decisions) had previously met on May 4 and discussed Croatia. The ambassadors of the NATO member countries at that time achieved a consensus (all NAC decisions are reached in this manner, there is no vote where the majority decides): the Republic of Croatia will be given "clear indication that in would become an official member of the Partnership for Peace in May".
This was no longer opposed by France, Spain and Greece, who had earlier asked for greater reserve toward the new Croatian government and that the official invitation be deferred.
"Globus" source did not wish to say, even though it is a well-known fact, that the Greeks are traditionally tied to the Serbs, hence their cautious and untrusting position can to some extent be understood.
The Spaniards, on the other hand, were a complete mystery. But fortunately, their influence on the North Atlantic council, in comparison with the influence of the United States or Great Britain, carries no great weight. Figuratively stated, in NATO they are in relation two those two countries like a little boxer from the bantam weight category who finds himself in the ring at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas with a huge heavy weight.
The French were, it is claimed, most difficult to break. This is not surprising if one takes into consideration that Paris, because of disagreements with the United States, is still preventing the entrance of Croatia into the World Trade Organization.
Of course, in Quai d'Orsay, the place where diplomacy was literally invented, they attempted to convince the Croats that the detailed reports of Croatian media regarding France's opposition to the acceptance of Croatia into the Partnership for Peace was completely incorrect. They went a step further: they claimed that they had no objections to the signing of an agreement on stabilization and association between Croatia and the European Union, which, following the entrance into the Partnership for Peace, is the next big task for Racan's Government. Negotiations regarding this may begin toward the end of the year, and after a possible working visit (the protocol would be the same as for the heads of governments of member countries of the EU: a working lunch and well-prepared talks with concrete themes) by Ivica Racan to Paris. At least that is what was indicated in the office of French premier Lionel Jospen. It is important that during this period France will preside over the European Union.
The other possibility, which was discussed prior to Racan's departure to Brussels, was that the announcement of Lord Robertson, after a meeting with the Croatian premier, have the tone on the basis of which it could be indisputably concluded that Croatia would receive an invitation. Therefore, the North Atlantic Council would not give Croatia an invitation to join the Partnership for Peace immediately following Racan's speech but would do so officially only on the following day, on Wednesday, May 10, through regular diplomatic channels. In this case the premier would already be in Zagreb, and the invitation would be received by the mission of the Republic of Croatia in the EU and in NATO.
In both cases the end result should be the same: by May 24 and the NATO ministerial meeting in Florence, Croatia would be a full member of the Partnership for Peace.
The Croatian minister of foreign affairs Tonino Picula would then participate in the work of the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC), the follower of the North Atlantic Council for cooperation, which gathers representatives of the NATO member countries and of Partnership for Peace, a total of 44 of them. That is the first step. Croatia at that meeting should also receive the so-called Membership Action Plan, a document with a detailed program of action for member countries of Partnership for Peace. Fulfillment of conditions outlined in this document would make it possible to approach entry into NATO.
The supreme command for allied forces in Europe headquarters is located in Mons, the Belgian city where World War I began. It is also the base for SACEUR, the commander in chief of the allied forces in Europe. This is where, a few days ago, general Wesley Clark was replaced by general Joseph Ralston, a former fighter pilot.
In the center of this enormous complex, encircled by double electronic surveillance, a fence with entrances protected by concrete blocks for protection against car bombs, is located the building housing all the delegations of the member countries of the Partnership for Peace.
In 1994, when the first delegations moved into it, the edifice was named after Manfred Werner, the deceased former secretary general of NATO, the German who presided over the organization during the break up of the Eastern Bloc and the beginning of a new strategic concept by the alliance.
I entered this building for the first time in early spring of 1996. Lined on one side of the hall on the ground floor are offices. On the other side is a large conference hall decorated with the flags of the member countries.
The administration in Mons has already ordered the flag of the Republic of Croatia. It is also known where the Croatian office will be. The Canadians were so considerate as to already vacate their rooms on the first floor.
Not very long ago Croatia was under great pressure from the international community because of its political partition of Bosnia. In addition to this, one of the last initiatives of president Tudjman proposing the ethnic partition of Kosovo into a Serb, northern and an Albanian, southern part awoke further doubts of a Croatian-Serbian agreement regarding the division of the spheres of interest in the region. Therefore the possible departure of our peace forces to Kosovo should be considered, first of all, as acknowledgment that the Croatian Army is ready and prepared to implement an active peacekeeping politics in order to return the trust of the conflicting ethnic groups. One should also keep in mind that only five years ago Croatia was directly exposed to Serb aggression.
With more than 50,000 active soldiers and powerful air support, the international community is successfully implementing the military portion of the peace plan for Kosovo. However, despite strong military peacekeeping forces in the field, the establishment of civil government is advancing very slowly. In addition to deep-seated mutual mistrust between the Albanian and the Serb sides, one of the fundamental obstacles to the construction of a civilian infrastructure are the strong campaigns of paramilitary groups of both ethnic groups. It is apparent that both sides, in their own interests, are fanning interethnic conflicts and mistrust.
One of the fundamental deficiencies of the international military units in Kosovo is a poor knowledge of the language, customs, traditions, cultural and historic landmarks of the conflicting ethnic groups. What the tasks of the Croatian component of KFOR will be is as yet unknown. However, it is unquestionable that the Croatian soldiers, who are very well prepared because they have wartime experience and understand one of the languages of the warring sides, will make a valuable contribution to the KFOR operation.
However, the success of Croatia in the international mission in Kosovo will largely depend on the quality of preparations and support which our forces will have from the Croatian Government. In this year, with a radically reduced budget for the ministry of defense, there are no monies foreseen for participation in military peacekeeping operations. How much will be invested into the Croatian forces in Kosovo will depend on in what part of the peacekeeping operation they will be engaged. If they will participate within the UN forces, the organization and expenses for general logistics will be directly implemented and paid for by the United Nations. However, if the Croatian Army (HV) unit participates within the framework of the NATO forces, which do not have a common organized logistical support, the complete expenses for participation and organization of logistics will fall upon the state whose soldiers are participating in the united forces.
Nevertheless, Croatia on no account can afford to miss out on the opportunity to demonstrate and prove through this mission not only that it has completely abandoned the Balkan manner of resolving problems but also that as a full member of the international community it is an active factor in regional stability.