Indonesia's Balkans peace effort

As chairman of the Non-Aligned Movement, President Soeharto has fulfilled his responsibility. After his historic and dramatic visit, his judgment was that the crisis in Bosnia called for a new approach aimed at attaining a comprehensive settlement. In the President's opinion, the Bosnia crisis can only be satisfactorily settled if the three parties involved can be brought together to meet face-to-face, directly and without the interference of outside parties.

President Soeharto was prompted to make that statement not only because of feelings of empathy and solidarity with a fellow non-aligned country, but also because of our own experience, gained in our struggles to maintain our unity and cohesion and to avert disintegration due to ethnic conflicts and attempts to misuse religion to fan secessionist sentiments.

But this spirit of concern is based not only on our experience in nurturing and defending our national unity. Indonesia, under the administration of President Soeharto, also has registered a number of diplomatic accomplishments by facilitating negotiations to settle conflicts within troubled nations trying to restore their national unity, which was disrupted by ideological, ethnic and local rivalries.

Honest observers will have noted how Jakarta and Bogor have witnessed the holding of negotiations aimed at settling conflicts among factions in Cambodia and in the Philippines. The Cambodians and Filipinos are Asians. Culturally, there is a certain affinity between them and us. The Bosnians, Croats and Serbs are Europeans. Nevertheless, God willing, we will be able to facilitate negotiations between Izetbegovic, Tudjman and Milosevic through the language of humanity -- a difficult but noble task.

-- Republika, Jakarta