Bill Clinton: “Herzegovina September 8, 1995 Today's successful meeting in Geneva of the Foreign Ministers of Bosnia, Croatia, and the…”

“Herzegovina September 8, 1995 Today's successful meeting in Geneva of the Foreign Ministers of Bosnia, Croatia, and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia is an important milestone on the road to peace in the former Yugoslavia. As a result of intensive mediation by Ambassador Holbrooke and his team--supported by our Contact Group partners in the European Union and Russia--the three Foreign Ministers have endorsed a set of Agreed Basic Principles that will serve as the framework for a political settlement to the conflict in Bosnia. The Foreign Ministers of Croatia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia have also agreed to work actively toward a peaceful solution in Eastern Slavonia, the Serb-controlled area of the Republic of Croatia also known as U.N. Sector East. The Agreed Basic Principles commit all three governments to support a settlement consistent with the goals we have long sought in Bosnia. Most importantly, for the first time, all three have agreed that Bosnia- Herzegovina will continue as a single state, with its present borders and with continuing international recognition. Consistent with the Contact Group plan, under the terms of a settlement, all three agree that Bosnia-Herzegovina will consist of two entities: the Federation, established under last year's Washington Agreements, and the Serb Republic.…”