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New Bosnian Serb Prime Minister Sets Out Hard Line
By Kurt Schork
The new Prime Minister vowed to implement the Dayton peace agreement, which brought an end to 43 months of fighting in Bosnia late last year. But he made that promise conditional on the actions of the Muslim-Croat federation which together with the Serb republic comprises Bosnia. The federation, he suggested, was dragging its feet.
"We shall fully implement all the provisions of the Dayton peace agreement but at the same time we shall ask the other side to do the same thing," Klickovic told reporters in the Bosnian Serb capital of Pale. "Up to now we have been a step ahead of the Muslim-Croat federation and we intend to go at the same (pace) as them, and each implementation of each provision we shall condition by the implementation of the other side."
The international community has accused both entities of dragging their feet on aspects of Dayton, but the Serb republic has come in for the most criticism for failing to hand over two
of their prominent leaders indicted for war crimes. Bosnian Serb President Radovan Karadzic and his army commander General Ratko Mladic have both been twice indicted and are banned from office under the Dayton accord. Both men cling to power. Karadzic, especially, has been singled out with accusations of obstructing the peace process.
Asked if he thought Karadzic should go to the U.N. tribunal in the Hague, as Dayton requires, Klickovic said: "There is no reason for that... The one who fought for his people and his nation's freedom cannot be guilty."
Klickovic also sounded a cautious note when the subject of reintegrating Bosnia's Muslim, Serb and Croat communities was raised, even though that is an important goal of Dayton. "The two entities (Serb republic and Muslim-Croat
federation) make a loose union until the whole process is completed. It must be clear to everybody that we can live beside each other, not together," he said.
On the subject of refugees returning to their homes across what have become de facto lines of ethnic partition in Bosnia, the new Prime Minister was equally non-committal. "It's too soon to say anything about that because the wounds are too fresh.... Maybe they'll (refugees) be able to come at some future time," Klickovic told reporters.
Klickovic, from northwestern Bosanska Krupa, was once as a deputy minister of health in the Serb republic. More recently he has worked as head of refugee councils on the resettlement of tens of thousands of Bosnian Serbs who fled their homes in the Krajina and Sarajevo areas at the end of the war.
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PALE, Bosnia, May 18 (Reuters) — New Bosnian Serb Prime Minister Gojko Klickovic on Saturday staked out hardline policies on the return of refugees to Serb territory and on handing war criminals to a U.N. tribunal. Klickovic, 40, was appointed by the Bosnian Serb Assembly just before dawn to replace moderate Rajko Kasagic, who tangled with President Radovan Karadzic over the proper policy course for post-war Bosnia and was dismissed.
Berserkistan, May 18 · Bosnian Serb Parliament Elects New Hardline PM
Berserkistan, May 18 · Karadzic Outflanks Bildt Over Prime Minister's Firing
Berserkistan, May 18 · Karadzic Names New Prime Minister to Replace Moderate Kasagic
Berserkistan, May 18 · Karadzic's Actions Intensify U.S. Sanctions Threats
Berserkistan, May 17 · Ousted Kasagic Still Controls Bosnian Serb Government
Berserkistan, May 17 · Death Threats to Media Supporting Rajko Kasagic
Berserkistan, May 16 · Bosnian Serb Prime Minister Rajko Kasagic Rejects His Dismissal
Berserkistan May 15 · Radovan Karadzic Dismisses Prime Minister Kasagic
Berserkistan May 10 · Bildt Wins Commitment from Moderate Serbs in Banja Luka
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