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M. Pejanovic, THROUGH BOSNIAN EYES XIX. THE DAYTON PEACE AGREEMEN.T Spring'and· summer 1995 were the most significant- period of preparation for Bosnia's peace: during this time the decisiveAmerican initiative was gaining momentum. This initiative had several strategic points. The first aimed at stopping the war, and this was achieved by a combination of diplomatic and military pressures, resulting in roughly similar levels of defeat and victory for all military forces engaged in the Bosnian war. The second strategy was to apply diplomatic pressure to the governments in Belgrade and Zagreb, as the generators of the Bosnian war, to make them accept the formula of the Dayton peace solution. The final element of the initiative was to preserve the integrity and international legal status of Bosnia and the continuity of the state. Thus, although the peace plan could not ensure all aspects of democratic growth and reconstruction, it could at least enable social development in Bosnia to unfold in this direction. The final element was the implementation of the peace process. The commitment of the international community to any peace agreement implied the participation of US forces. The man who worked to realize these strategies in the name of the US and its President was the American negotiator, Richard Holbrook, a man whose unusual strength, penetration and clarity exerted a strong influence on those with whom he negotiated. Holbrook succeeded in making all the necessary preparations to define"the basis of a peace agreement, one that would be accepted and validated by all parties, at the American air base near Dayton in the autumn of 1995. Thus the peace agreement for Bosnia acquired its name: the Dayton Peace Accords. What took place during this period of preparation? On several occasions I was a member of delegations that spoke with Holbrook during summer and autumn 1995. He was then diligently traveling 219 M. Pejanovic, THROUGH BOSNIAN EYES the Zagreb-Sarajevo-Belgrade circuit, and each time he arrived he had a fresh solution to offer or new question to raise. One of these was the issue of the electoral system. In September 1995 our delegation met Holbrook and his colleagues in the cabinet of President Izetbegovic. There were several of us: Kresimir Zubak, then President of the Federation; Hasan Muratovic, Komsic, Izetbegovic, Ganic, a Bosnian Army representative, and I. Holbrook asked us, "Gentlemen, what ideas do you have for the election system?" There was little time for discussion of this issue, however, since plenty of other items were on the agenda. Komsic and I however felt that the members of the central state institutions should be elected on a system that would. enable all citizens of Bosnia to vote for the Presidency, members of the state parliament members of the Council of Ministers. The system should also include some safeguards to ensure the equality and fair representation of all three constituent nations. This was a very short debate, and no conclusion was then reached. However, President Izetbegovic commented that the Serb side was not ready to accept any kind of solution that would mean abandoning their dominance of a closed entity. As we went into the hallway, toward the room where the press conference would be held, I found myself walking with Mr. Zubak, who said to me, "TheCroat nation will never again allow its representatives to be chosen by any other nation." Thus I learned what formula the Croat side would prefer in further talks with Holbrook. The Serb side insisted the most strongly, but the Croats took a virtually identical view of the question. It was hard, of course, for the Bosniaks to fight this attitude alone in further talks, and perhaps they, too,· actually had a preference for this option; At one point during September 1995, President Izetbegovic and I were dealing with some business together. Whenwe finished, he asked me who would represent the Serb nation in the state delegation to Dayton. I proposed Miro Lazovic, the Bosnian Parliament Speaker. I made no othersuggestions; Ifelt this was good enough. It was accepted. Lazovic was the only Serb representative from the Federation and the jointorgans of the Bosnian state to take part in the Dayton negotiations. Once the delegation had set off for Dayton, public expectation focused on the peace talks. Information trickled in, but insufficient. Then the news arrived that the negotiations were nearing their end, but how they would finish was.rendered uncertain by the problem 220 [18.188.20.56] Project MUSE (2024-04...

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