STATEMENT ISSUED BY SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL RELATING TO PROPOSED PEACE-KEEPING OPERATION IN EASTERN SLAVONIA (CROATIA)
Press Release
SG/SM/5851
STATEMENT ISSUED BY SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL RELATING TO PROPOSED PEACE-KEEPING OPERATION IN EASTERN SLAVONIA (CROATIA)
19951213 (Because of the time difference, the Secretary-General, who is in Paris, has not yet seen the statement issued today in the name of Ambassador Madeleine Albright of the United States on the subject of the proposed peace- keeping operation in Eastern Slavonia (Croatia)).The following statement on that matter, however, was issued this evening by the spokesman for Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali:
We regret the tone and contents of this statement. The Secretary- General has submitted a report in fulfilment of his responsibility to spell out the considerations which the Security Council needs to bear in mind before taking decisions relating to the deployment of peace-keeping operations.
As the Secretary-General has pointed out on numerous occasions, the United Nations has not been given the capacity to mount, support and manage large and complex operations in the field which might require the use of force, a reality recognized in the international community's intention to deploy a multinational force under Chapter VII of the Charter to implement the peace agreement in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Nonetheless, the Secretary-General has presented the Security Council with two options. Should the Council choose the option of a United Nations peace-keeping operation, the Secretary- General will not "shy away" from his obligations to faithfully carry out the decisions of the Security Council.
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