Headlines
- Meetings in Banja Luka – President Plavsic and US military-political delegation
– President Plavsic and Prime Minister Dodik and Deputy HR Klein - Prime Minister Dodik after official visit to Bonn – full support of German officials for new RS government
- Deputy HR Klein confirmed that IC would financially support RS
- After several years, mail from Sarajevo arrives in Banja Luka
RS President, Biljana Plavsic, talked today in Banja Luka with the Deputy HR, Jacques Klein, and members of a US military-political delegation respectively. According to a press release issued by the Cabinet of the RS President, at the invitation of the French government the RS President will pay an official visit to France lasting a few days.
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RS President Plavsic and Prime Minister Dodik met today in Banja Luka with NATO’s Supreme Commander in Europe, General Wesley Clark, US Ambassador to Bosnia, Richard Kauzlarich, and US Congress and Senate representatives. The senators expressed US readiness to support the RS in its post-war economic reconstruction, emphasising that the appointment of the new government was a historic turning point for the RS people.
1:25
RS President Plavsic met with Deputy HR Klein today in Banja Luka. They talked about financial aid to the RS. Mr Klein underlined that the issue of the mail, which had been unsolved for 18 months, had now been solved under the new government in only 72 hours.
1:05
At a press conference held in Banja Luka today, RS Prime Minister Dodik underlined that within 17 days after its formation the new government had achieved the unity of the RS and obtained the support of the whole world. Upon his arrival in the RS after a two-day official visit to Germany, Mr Dodik stated that German officials were ready to support the RS government, and that they had discussed the issues of Brcko and refugee return. At the invitation of the Austrian Prime Minister, Wolfgang Schussel, RS Prime Minister Dodik will visit Vienna the day after tomorrow, where he will appear as a witness before the Arbitration Tribunal for Brcko.
1:40
RS Vice-president for the economy, Djuradj Banjac, talked with German businessmen about energy issues. Concrete results can be expected in March and April. As announced, Mr Klaus Kinkel is to visit the RS in the next ten days.
0:37
Today in Banja Luka, RS Prime Minister Dodik met with the Italian Ambassador, who expressed satisfaction with the establishment of the new government and with the results of its work. The Italian Ambassador passed to the RS Prime Minister an invitation from the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs to visit Italy as soon as possible, which was accepted with pleasure.
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RS Prime Minister Dodik, together with his assistants, met today in Banja Luka with a delegation of the World Jewish Community. They talked about possible ways of supporting the RS, as well as RS reconstruction and economic development.
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Elizabeth Rehn, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Bosnia, announced today that the UN Mission to Bosnia would continue its police restructuring programme in 1998, which would include 20,000 police officers in both entities.
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The work of the International Arbitration Commission continued today at the hotel “Ambassador” in Vienna, with the aim of bringing a final decision on the status of the strategically very important town of Brcko. Croat representatives were not present at the meeting again. In the afternoon Mr Farrand completed his testimony before the Arbitration Tribunal, as did representatives of SFOR and IPTF.
2:15
RS Minister of Defence, Manojlo Milovanovic, met today in Banja Luka with Deputy HR Klein and Military Adviser to the HR, John Drewienkiewicz. They talked about the “equip and train” programme, as well as the functioning of the B&H Standing Committee on Military Matters and the weapons amnesty.
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In the presence of Deputy HR Klein, RS Minister of Traffic and Communication, Marko Pavic, and a Sarajevo PTT delegation, about one million letters which had been kept in the Sarajevo Post Office for several years arrived in Banja Luka today. According to the DPA, a regular postal traffic between the RS and the B&H Federation should soon be established.
2:10
At today’s annual assembly of the Serb State Bank which was held in Banja Luka, a new leadership was appointed and a restructuring of this organisation was carried out. Mr Ranko Travar was appointed General Manager, and the Bank Headquarters was moved from Serb Sarajevo to Banja Luka.
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The payment of pensions for November last year, increased by 33 percent, should start on Monday, 9 February in the entire RS.
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The RS Government and the RS Trade Union agreed on an extension of the Moratorium on employees’ dismissal for another two years.
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