Through Bosnian Eyes: The Political Memoirs of a Bosnian Serb

XVIII Joint Action for Dayton by the SGV and the HNV

M. Pejanovic, THROUGH BOSNIAN EYES XVIII. JOINT ACTION FOR DAYTON BY THE SGV AND THE HNV When preparations for the Dayton accords first got under way, between August and September 1995, the foreign ministers of Bosnia, Croatia, and Serbia (or rather Yugoslavia) met in Gen~va. At this meeting, chaired by the international community and representatives of the US, an understanding was ratified which would later be known as the Geneva Agreement.81 By this Bosnia was divided into two entities: the Republika Srpska (RS) and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was the entity of the Bosniaks and Croats established by the Washington Agreement. Under the terms of the same agreement,. Bosnia was to "continue its legal existence with its present borders and continuing international recognition." But by way of central institutions, very little was specified.82 This was not even a confederation - merely a loose union of two entities. Discussions followed of what this solution might mean, and where it was leading. Some felt that this was the last step before the final division of Bosnia. It was asked why an entity with the title ofRepublika Srpska was proposed: who decided this and how?83 81"Agreed BasicPrinciples," Geneva, 8 September 1995. 82 Article 3 of the Basic Principles provided for a Commisison for Displaced·Persons, a Human RightsCommission, joint public corporations, an arbitration system, and a Commission to Preserve National Monuments. 83 The proposed entity, of course, bore the same name ("Republika Srpska" - RS) as the break-away entity proclaimed by SDS Serbs in late 1991. The BasicPrinciples also specified thateach entitywould"continue to exist under its present constitution (amended to accommodate these basic principles)." - 209 M. Pejanovic, THROUGH BOSNIAN EYES But the Geneva Agreement merely formalized something decided much earlier in the negotiations. The Contact Group's proposal for internal territorial division using the territorial percentages of 49% and 51% was the nucleus for the creation of the two entities. I myself was not in Sarajevo when the Presidency approved the decision on this issue, but if I had been, there was nothing we could have done to avoid such a structure, which was the principal proposal of the international community, based on the Contact Group's formula for stopping the war. The actual names given to the entities could have little influence on the agreement as a whole. However, after the Geneva Agreement of September 1995, the issue of whether Bosnia would be left a loose union with only a few joint bodies to unite it, whose operation would be based solely on consensus, grew more urgent. The principal uncertainty was whether Bosnia would have any central institutions at all. A sense of resignation was taking over throughout Bosnia, but in the SGV we refused to give in, and debated what action to take. Our political friends in the Croat nation, within the Croat National Council (HNV), were thinking along the same lines. We now received an invitation from the London-based Alliance for Bosnia and Herzegovina. During the war this organization united all people, particularly British locals, who advocated for a multiethnic integral Bosnia of equal nations. They wanted delegations from both the SGV and the HNV to come to London to present our ideas, and to do what we could to challenge the Geneva Agreement. In September 1995 we set off for London, with the additional intention of paying a subsequent visit to Washington. The twelveperson SGV delegation included, apart from myself, Deputy SGV President Zarko Bulic; Presidency member Tanja Ljujic-Mijatovic; General Jovo Divjak, at that time assistant to the commander in chief of the Bosnian Army; and Mico Rakic, a former Yugoslav ambas~ador to the US. In the HNV delegation were Ivo Komsic, Sljepan Kljuic, and the writer Ivan Lovrenovic. While in London we were accommodated in astudent hall of residence. Stjepan Kljuic, who was inclined to Sarajevo-style witticisms, said one morning at breakfast, "This hall is destined to be well-known. Never in its history has it accommodated so many officials of one state in such a short space of time, and most probably never will again." What were we trying to do, and what did we accomplish? We encountered prais~worthy commitment and energy on the part of 210 M. Pejanovic, THROUGH BOSNIAN EYES our hosts, the Alliance for the Defense of Bosnia and Herzegovinaespecially from the family of Quentin Hoare and his wife...