Prime Minister Milorad
Dodik said in Zagreb on 14 February that the Bosnian Serbs are
"particularly interested in establishing economic cooperation with
Croatia." Both he and Croatian Prime Minister Zlatko Matesa agreed to set
up a commission on missing persons, which will hold its first meeting
within two months. The two sides will also discuss setting up border
crossing points and promoting cooperation between the Croatian oil company
INA and the refinery at Bosanski Brod, an RFE/RL correspondent reported
from Zagreb. Dodik said he supports Croatia's wish to open a consulate in
Banja Luka, and his hosts said they will consider abolishing visa
requirements for Bosnian Serbs who are holders of the new joint Bosnian
passport. PM
KOSOVAR LEADER CALLS BELGRADE "ARROGANT." Mahmut Bakalli, a leading
communist-era Kosovar political leader, told RFE/RL from Belgrade on 14
February that the Yugoslav government is"arrogant and masochistic." He was
referring to the Yugoslav Foreign Ministry's statement the previous day
that German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel and his French counterpart,
Hubert Vedrine, are not welcome to make a previously planned visit. Bakalli
added that Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic is behaving like a "crude
Balkan Saddam Hussein" in his stubborn refusal to modify Serbia's policies
in Kosovo. Kinkel and Vedrine launched a diplomatic initiative in November
1997 to promote autonomy for Kosovo within Yugoslavia. PM
RUGOVA SAYS SERBIA DESTABILIZING KOSOVO. Shadow-state President Ibrahim
Rugova said in Pristina on 13 February that the Serbian authorities are
increasingly using force in Kosovo. He stated that Belgrade's goals are to
intimidate the ethnic Albanians and destabilize the province in the run-up
to the shadow-state's parliamentary and presidential elections slated for
March. Rugova added that the elections could provide an impetus