History of Vietnam since 1945 between France and the Viet-Minh, paving the way for the French to leave Vietnam. The Geneva Conference of 1954 ended France's colonial presence in Vietnam and partitioned the country into two states at the 17th parallel pending unification on the basis of internationally supervised free elections. Ngô Đình Diệm, a former mandarin with a strong Catholic and Confucian background, was selected as Premier of the State of Vietnam by Bảo Đại. While Diệm was trying to settle the differences between the various armed militias in the South, Bảo Đại was persuaded to reduce his power. Diệm created a referendum in
Agreement on Special Parallel Relations Agreement, made in 3 (three) identical copies, at Belgrade, on 28 February 1997. For the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia: Zoran Lilic President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. For Republika Srpska: Momcilo Krajisnik President of Republika Srpska on the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Agreement on Special Parallel Relations The Agreement on Special Parallel Relations is a cooperation agreement between Republic of Serbia and Republic of Srpska ("Republika Srpska", an entity in Bosnia & Herzegovina), signed for the first time in February 28, 1997, to develop better relations between the two. A "Council for Cooperation between Serbia and the Republic