Agreement on Friendship and Cooperation between the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Croatia

• Country/entity

  Bosnia and Herzegovina
  Yugoslavia (former)
  
• Region

  Europe and Eurasia
  Europe and Eurasia
  
• Agreement name

  Agreement on Friendship and Cooperation between the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Croatia
• Date

  21 Jul 1992
• Agreement status

  Multiparty signed/agreed
• Interim arrangement

  Yes
• Agreement/conflict level

  Interstate/intrastate conflict(s) ( Balkan Conflicts (1991 - 1995) (1998 - 2001) )
• Stage

  Implementation/renegotiation
• Conflict nature

  Government/territory
• Peace process

  Bosnia peace process
• Parties

  President of the Presidency of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina Alija lzetbegovic; President of the Republic of Croatia Dr Franjo Tudjman
• Third parties

  -
• Description

  This agreement provides for cooperation between the Republic of Croatia and the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and proposes a constitutional framework in which the state is configured into national constituent entities. It also affirms the role of the Croatian Defence Council (HVO) in the joint command of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Although it was agreed before the conflict between Croat and Bosniak forces in Bosnia, it has been included because the outline of constitutional arrangements here has subsequent status in post-conflict agreements between Bosnia and Croatia.

• Agreement document

  BA_920721_Agreement on Friendship and Cooperation between the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Croatia.pdf | Download PDF

Groups

Gender

State definition

Governance

Power sharing

Human rights and equality

Rights related issues

Rights institutions

Justice sector reform

Socio-economic reconstruction

Land, property and environment

Security sector

Transitional justice

Implementation

The President of the Presidency of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina Alija lzetbegovic, and the President of the Republic of Croatia Dr Franjo Tudjman have concluded, after the talks between the delegations of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Croatia held in Zagreb on July 21, 1992, the following

Agreement on Friendship and Cooperation between the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Croatia

The President of the Presidency of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the President of the Republic of Croatia;

In consideration of the common interests of their countries in the protection of their independence and territorial integrity;

Seriously concerned about the continuing aggression by the rest of the Yugoslav People's Army of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and Serbian and Montenegrin regular and irregular military forces, against their areas;

Accepting the Resolutions of the United Nations Security Council No.

752 (1992) of July 15, 1991, No.

757 (1992) of May 30, 1992, No.

758 (1992) of June 8, 1992, No.

760 (1992) of June 18, 1992, No.

761 (1992) of June 29, 1992, No.

762 (1992) of June 30, 1992 and No.

764 (1992) of July 13, 1992;

Accepting the opinions presented so far by the Arbitration Commission of the Conference on Yugoslavia, and in particular the opinions concerning the termination of existence of the former Socialist Republic of Yugoslavia, the need to terminate the membership of the latter in international organizations, and the principles to be followed in the solution of succession issues;

Aware of the need for agreement in resolving issues of vital importance for their mutual cooperation and joint opposition to aggression;

Have agreed as follows:

1. The President of the Presidency of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the President of the Republic of Croatia have agreed that the future state system of Bosnia and Herzegovina will proceed from the principle of full equality of the three constituent nations:

Muslims, Croats and Serbs.

The constitutional-political system of the country will be based on constituent units in the establishment of which due account will be taken of national, historical, cultural, economic, traffic and other elements.

2. The Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Croatia will cooperate and come to agreement, proceeding from the respect of their particular interests and aware of the linked interests of the two countries, in matters of economic and financial cooperation, industrial and power supply cooperation, water resource use and protection of the environment, cooperation in the restoration of life in their areas, solution of property questions affecting physical and legal persons of one state in the other state, coordination of social activities in the two states, particularly in the sphere of labour and welfare policies, health, education, science, culture and physical culture, scientific and [illegible] cooperation, cultural and educational cooperation, information, and in [illegible].

3. The state delegation of Bosnia and Herzegovina express their gratitude to the Republic of Croatia for having received and provided for refugees from the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina beyond the capacity of the Republic of Croatia.

Faced with the pressing problem of massive persecution, particularly of the Muslim and Croat population of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Croatia will co-operate in providing for refugees in the Republic of Croatia and other countries, collection of humanitarian and financial aid, construction of refugee centres in safe zones in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the return of refugees from the Republic of Croatia to the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

A separated protocol on cooperation will be signed for the purpose.

4. The Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Croatia will also cooperate, proceeding from their common and particular interests, in the sphere of internal affairs and justice.

5. The President of the Presidency of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the President of the Republic of Croatia have agreed that they will, in order to sustain past cooperation, regularly meet at least twice a year, and that their Governments and individual ministries will meet periodically in order to examine the results achieved and possible outstanding issues, and endeavour to resolve all such issues as soon as possible within the scope of their decision-making authority and/or to refer their proposals for the solution of such issues to other competent governmental bodies.

6. The armed component of the Croatian Defence Council (Hrvatsko Vijece Obrane) is an integral part of the united armed forces of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Croatian Defence Council will have its representatives in the joint command of the armed forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Provisional civil authorities established in war-time conditions within the scope of the Croatian Defence Council will be made to conform, as soon as possible, with the constitutional-juridical system of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and talks pertaining to this matter will be initiated immediately in the spirit of the principles stated in Point 1 of this Agreement.

7. The Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Croatia will reciprocally allow their citizens to acquire dual citizenship.

8. In consideration of the continuing aggression of the Serbian and Montenegrin military forces against the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, but also largely against the Republic of Croatia from the contiguous areas of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the President of the Presidency of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the President of the Republic of Croatia call upon the international community, and in particular the United Nations, the European Community and the United States of America, to take real and efficient steps to vigorously stop the aggression against their States, to prevent further loss of human life, persecution and expulsion of their citizens and the destruction of property.

With this objective in mind both States will sustain their past successful cooperation and continuous coordination of the defensive activities in the contiguous zones of the two States.

Aware of the fact that both States are threatened, unless aggression against them is urgently stopped, by further destruction and annihilation of their state entity and integrity, the two states will, should the efforts of the international community remain ineffective, take all necessary steps in order to establish broader cooperation in the military sphere and coordinate military operations in order to definitively [illegible] the danger threatening them.

9. The President of the Presidency of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the President of the Republic of Croatia have agreed to have a protocol on the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two States at embassy level signed immediately.

10. The Governments of the two States will organize, within the shortest possible time, and as required, meetings and meetings of the ministries of the two States, in order to conclude agreements deriving from this Agreement in their sphere of competence.

[SIGNED] President of the Republic of Croatia DR.

FRANJO TUDJMAN

[SIGNED] President of the Presidency of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina ALIJA IZETBEGOVIC