OSCE Chairman-in-Office calls for political settlement in Krajina

BUDAPEST, 9 August 1995 - The Chairman-in-Office of the OSCE, Hungarian Foreign Minister László Kovács, issued the following statement last night:

It is the conviction of the Chairman-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) that the most important task in the region of Croatia known as Krajina is to ensure an immediate end to the military actions and prevent them from spreading to other territories.

The Chairman-in-Office is of the view that the only pledge of a lasting solution to the conflict is to return promptly to the negotiating table, to explore possibilities for a political settlement, based on the Helsinki principles, including the principles of territorial integrity and sovereignty.

The Chairman-in-Office calls upon Croatia to assure the rights of the Serb minority within its internationally recognized borders, particularly in the said region, in line with the Croatian Constitution and accepted international norms, and to guarantee free and safe passage to the Serb population that decides to depart.

In order to promote the political settlement the Chairman-in-Office furthermore considers it essential for the international organizations and the UN peacekeeping forces to be present in the regions affected by the conflict. He therefore considers it necessary for the Croatian government to guarantee the free movement and safety of the international organizations performing humanitarian functions.

The Chairman-in-Office, moreover, stands ready to make the respective mechanisms for crisis management at the disposal of the OSCE available for promoting normalization of the current situation. Concurrently he is ready to send his personal representative to the region, to inquire, i.a. into the human rights and humanitarian situation, thereby contributing to providing adequate information to the participating States in the Organization and the international community.