PARTNERSHIP FOR PEACE: CROATIA'S OBLIGATIONS

Vecernji List, September 19^th, 2001

IT IS SUGGESTED THAT CROATIA ENGAGES ITS ARMY IN THE SUPERVISION OF THE CROATIAN-BOSNIAN BORDER

The exchange of information, primarily these belonging to the intelligence and security sector, is considered to be Croatia's first big obligation after the admission in the Partnership for Peace and before the admission to the NATO.

Members of the Partnership for Peace, although not as much as the members of NATO, are obliged by Article five from the Charter which says that every member country of the union is considered jeopardized if any member country is attacked.

Formal explanations of our Government in defining Croatia's obligations are very general: the use of our air space or territorial waters is in the authority of the Croatian Ministry of Foreign Affairs while in situations such as the present one the Government would have the last word.

However, it has been specified last week to both the Ministries of Internal and Foreign Affairs that several particular actions are expected from Croatia: cooperation in the intelligence area and stronger supervision of the Croatian-Bosnian border. The border should be strongly secured with the involvement of the army if necessary. The accent lies on the part of the border around Imotski as the part in Posavina is already secured by the United States. The United States proclaimed some of the critical zones in Bosnia-Herzegovina to be the areas around Zenica, as it has been clearly stated that some of the smaller but not unimportant terrorist groups related to the latest attacks in the United States are operating there.

Ministry of Defense states that the military readiness is not higher, while the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Military Headquarter increased security measures and radar observations due to the military preparations by the United States and their European allies.