Headlines
- The BiH council of Ministers did not agree on who will be the Chairman
- The health state of the Croatian President, Franjo Tudjman, is very critical
- A united unit of the BiH police on East Timor
- The BiH Presidency adopted a decision on the look of 1 and 2 KM coins
- Strike of the Banja Luka “Incel” factory workers ended
Sarajevo
Members of the BiH Council of Ministers did not agree on the interpretation of the BiH Constitutional Court decision. The Court proclaimed positions of the Co-chairman and the Vice Chairman against the BiH Constitution. Positions on the issue of Serb and Croat members in the Council are different from the position of the Bosniak members. Now, a fight for the position of the Chairman is happening. This issue will be handed over to the BiH Presidency for further procedure. According to the Peace Agreement, the Presidency is authorised to appoint the Chairman of the Council of Ministers. The deadline for the implementation of the Constitutional Court is December 28th. The report was produced by OBN reporter, Damir Kaletovic.
This was followed by a report on the session of the BiH Presidency held in Sarajevo today. The Presidency adopted a decision on the look of 1 and 2 KM coins. The Presidency also agreed the draft budget for next year which should be increased by 10%. According to this draft, the budget of the BiH joint institutions in 2000 will be 265 million KM. The report was produced by OBN reporter, Bakir Hadziomerovic.
Zagreb, Croatia
Today, the medical team which treats the Croatian President, Franjo Tudjman, announced that the health state of the President was “very critical”. Due to the deterioration of the President’s health, the Croatian Government will not hold a special session which should have marked the fourth anniversary of the Croatian Government tomorrow. The report for TV INFO was produced by Gordana Simonovic from Zagreb.
Podgorica, Montenegro
According to the criminal charges brought against Veselin Vlahovic (Batko) by the Children Embassy in Sarajevo, the Montenegrin State Prosecutor asked for an investigation against Vlahovic. The claim of the State Prosecutor was submitted to the court due to the founded allegations that Vlahovic committed war crimes against BiH civilians during 1992 and 1993. The report from Podgorica was produced by Olja Bulatovic.
World
The Social-Democratic Union of Montenegro gave up their complaints about irregularities regarding the second round of the presidential elections in Macedonia upon an initiative of the European Union in order to preserve safety in the country. This was announced by the Social-Democratic presidential candidate, Tito Petkovski. The Russian troops entered the Urus-Martan town which was under siege for weeks, located 20 kilometers from the Chechen capital, Grozny. This was followed by reports on the visit of the US State Secretary, Madeline Albright, to the Middle East and raising of charges against the ex Pakistan Prime Minister who was toppled by the Army on October 12th. The report on current events in the world was produced by OBN reporter, Zeljka Lekic.
Banja Luka
Police officers from the RS and the BiH Federation will participate in the UN peace troops mission in East Timor at the beginning of next year. Today in Banja Luka, the UN Special Envoy, Jacques Paul Klein, announced that police officers would wear their entities’ uniforms but with unique emblems – those of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the United Nations. The Special Envoy met with the RS Prime Minister, Milorad Dodik, who agreed with the Special Envoy on which signs police officers would wear, OBN reporter from Banja Luka, Sanela Zivkovic, confirmed.
Sarajevo
Today, the HDZ party in BiH held a press conference. The HDZ party is worried they would loose the general elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina next year if the BiH Parliament adopts the new election law suggested by the International Community. The Head of the OSCE Mission in BiH, Robert Barry, said it was impossible to develop an election law which would satisfy all three political parties in BiH. The report was produced by OBN reporter, Vedran Persic.
Stolac / Capljina
Ombudspersons of the BiH Federation announced that the authorities of the Sarajevo Canton and Capljina and Stolac municipalities were responsible for mass breaching of citizens’ property rights, especially refugees and displaced persons. In Sarajevo Canton, 28% of claims for return of apartments have been solved positively, in Capljina and Stolac municipalities none. According to the investigation team of ombudspersons, none of the claims for return of apartments was processed in the two municipalities. Recently, the International Community dismissed heads of the two municipalities because of the obstruction of property laws. The report was produced by OBN reporter, Amarildo Gutic.
Travnik
In order to speed up the process of return in BiH, the High representative, Wolfgang Petritsch, made annexes to the property and dwelling laws for both BiH entities. Today, legal experts discussed the implementation of the decision in Srednja-Bosna Canton, OBN reporter from the area, Ana Drmac, confirmed.
Sarajevo
Today, the RS Hub for Privatisation opened its office in Sarajevo. The Hub will open its offices in all ten cantons in the BiH Federation if they receive financial support. For the beginning, the task of the Office in Sarajevo will be to inform citizens about the process of privatisation in the RS and registration of participants in privatisation. The report was produced by OBN reporter, Anes Alic.
Banja Luka / Prijedor
Strike of the Banja Luka “Incel” factory workers ended today. Tomorrow, workers will get salaries for August, and in a seven day period they will receive their salaries for September. The RS Prime Minister, Milorad Dodik, promised the support of the Government for the purchase of production equipment for the factory “Celpak” in Prijedor. Workers of this factory have been also on strike, but now it is expected that the strike will end. However, only 400 workers out of more than a thousand, will have a job. The report was produced by OBN reporter from Banja Luka, Biljana Arsic and OBN reporter from Prijedor, Milena Letic – Joves.
Sarajevo
This was followed by addressing of the Head of the Muslim Community in BiH, Reis Ul Ulema, Mustafa Ceric. Tomorrow, the holy month for Muslims, Ramazan, begins.
Sport
A report on international skiing was followed by reports on the European football matches and NBA.