GENEVA -- Croatian Foreign Minister Mate Granic called for a 'lasting peace' in the former Yugoslav republic and said Croatia agreed to grant amnesty to all but those who committed war crimes.
Ganic reiterated his support of the proposed union of Bosnia- Herzegovina, the action plan of the European Union, and the latest initiative by the United States.
Speaking at the United Nations Human Rights Commission in Geneva, Granic said he hoped U.S. involvement in the peace process would 'soon produce positive results, end the killings and restore peace to the region.'
Granic said the Croatian parliament has agreed to grant an amnesty to all but those who committed war crimes against Croatia and proceedings against 2,450 Serbs and 497 members of other ethnic minorities have been suspended. A further 83 convicted Serbs have been pardoned.
'Should the threat to our independence and territorial integrity be removed and the war ended, I can assure you that the human rights situation in Croatia would dramatically improve,' Granic told the commission.
'It is high time to lay down the arms and find a negotiated settlement for the normalization of relations and life, to find a lasting solution which will bring peace and prosperity to all,' he said.
However, Granic warned that 'no one should have illusions' that in pursuing this objective the Croatian government would compromise its territorial integrity.
'The process of normalization of relations between my country and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia will soon provide an answer as to which policy - the policy of peace or the policy of the continuation of the war - will finally prevail,' Granic added.
Granic concluded his address to the Commission by calling on the United Nations and the international community to help facilitate a search for more than 7,600 Croatian people still unaccounted for in the war.
