S/PV.3498 Security Council

As this is the first meeting of the Security Council for the month of February, I should like to take this opportunity to pay tribute, on behalf of the Council, to His Excellency Mr. Emilio J. Cárdenas, Permanent Representative of Argentina to the United Nations, for his service as President of the Security Council for the month of January 1995. I am sure I speak for all members of the Security Council in expressing deep appreciation to Ambassador Cárdenas for the great diplomatic skill with which he conducted the Council’s business last month. Adoption of the agenda

I should like to inform the Council that I have received a letter from the representative of Croatia, in which he requests to be invited to participate in the discussion of the item on the Council’s agenda. In conformity with the usual practice, I propose, with the consent of the Council, to invite that representative to participate in the discussion without the right to vote, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Charter and rule 37 of the Council’s provisional rules of procedure. There being no objection, it is so decided.

The Security Council will now begin its consideration of the item on its agenda. The Council is meeting in accordance with the understanding reached in its prior consultations. I should like to draw the attention of the members of the Council to the following documents: S/1995/56, letter dated 18 January 1995 from the Permanent Representative of Croatia to the United Nations addressed to the President of the Security Council; S/1995/82 and S/1995/93, letters dated 25 and 31 January 1995, respectively, from the Permanent Representative of Croatia to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General. Following consultations among members of the The meeting rose at 1.35 p.m. 2 “The Security Council reiterates its support for the efforts to bring about a political settlement in the Republic of Croatia which ensures full respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Croatia and which guarantees the security and rights of all communities living in a particular area irrespective of whether they constitute in this area the majority or a minority. “The Security Council strongly supports the recent efforts of representatives of the International Conference on the Former Yugoslavia, the European Union, the Russian Federation and the United States of America aimed at achieving a political settlement in the Republic of Croatia. The Security Council calls upon the Government of the Republic of Croatia and the local Serb authorities in the United Nations Protected Areas to enter urgently and without preconditions into negotiations on such a settlement, benefiting from proposals now made to them as part of these efforts. It calls upon all other relevant parties to support this process. “The Security Council reaffirms its commitment to the search for an overall negotiated settlement of the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia ensuring the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all the States there within their internationally recognized borders and stresses the importance it attaches to the mutual recognition thereof. “The Security Council reaffirms its view that UNPROFOR’s continued and effective presence in the Republic of Croatia is of vital importance for regional peace and security and expresses its desire that discussions over the weeks ahead will lead the Government of the Republic of Croatia to re- examine its position taken on 12 January 1995 in relation to the continuing role of UNPROFOR in the Republic of Croatia.” This statement will be issued as a document of the Security Council under the symbol S/PRST/1995/6. The Security Council has thus concluded the present stage of its consideration of the item on the agenda. The Security Council will remain seized of the matter.