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| Carla Del Ponte announced transfer of cases to the BiH authorities | Obrenovic pleaded guilty for Srebrenica massacre | Chief ICTY Prosecutor Carla del Ponte visits Sarajevo | RS President Cavic wants both to preserve RS Army and join PfP |
| Stjepan Kljujic appointed as advisor to the Croat Member of the BiH Presidency Dragan Covic | Carla Del Ponte makes another call to Karadzic to surrender | Former RS Army commander in Zvornik Dragan Obrenovic pleaded guilty for crimes in Srebrenica | Carla Del Ponte talks with BiH leaders in Sarajevo |
| Racan considers untrue information that Croatia will refuse to sign agreement on non-extradition of US citizens to the ICC | Presidency extends Peter Nichol’s mandate to the end of 2004 | Peter Nichol remains head of the BiH Central Bank | Obrenovic pleaded guilty and made a deal with ICTY prosecutors |
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| More conflicts throughout the world | Federation House of Representatives adopted new criminal code | Reaction on cease of construction of Fatnicko polje tunnel |
| Oslobodjenje | Carla Del Ponte urge Karadzic to surrender |
| Dnevni Avaz | Carla Del Ponte: I expect Karadzic to come to The Hague |
| Dnevni List | Carla del Ponte arrives to Banja Luka to get Karadzic |
| Vecernji List | EU against agreement on non-extradition of Americans: Europe criticizes, America threatens; NATO in hunt for Karadzic too |
| Slobodna Dalmacija | Karadzic, tell us where you are, I’m coming for you |
| Glas Srpske | Will mujahedeens be tried for war atrocities: Carla is weighing evidence; Shooting in Sokolac: Spaic and Jankovic wounded |
| Nezavisne Novine | Carla del Ponte in Sarajevo: Tribunal investigating 30 war crime cases; Shooting in Sokolac: Businessman Ratomir Spaic wounded; Sokolac: Vehicle owned by Republika Srpska Tax Administration destroyed; Dragan Obrenovic makes a treaty with the Hague Prosecutor’s Office: Defendant pleaded guilty for crimes in Srebrenica |
| Blic | Every third invalid has false certificate; Dragan Cavic: a way to retain Republika Srpska Army should be found |
War crimes | |
| Chief Hague Tribunal prosecutor urges Karadzic to surrender
| Osloboodjenje front page, pgs. 4-5 ‘Carla Del Ponte urges Karadzic to ssurrender’, Dnevni Avaz front page, pg. 2 ‘Carla Del Ponte in Sarajevo: I expect Karadzic to come to The Hague’ – The chief prosecutor of the Hague tribunal, Carla Del Ponte, said in Sarajevo on Tuesday that the tribunal wants the authorities and police of the former Yugoslav states to arrest 18 more war crime suspects. She said she hoped this would be accomplished soon. After meeting Principal Deputy High Representative Donald Hays, she “sent a message to Radovan Karadzic that it is high time for him, after eight years of freedom, to surrender so that his trial in The Hague can start”. She recalled that the tribunal’s strategy was to complete all investigations by 2004. “The tribunal is conducting talks with the OHR on ways to transfer some cases to the BiH Court and this is why great attention is devoted to plans to set up a department for war crimes as part of the BiH Court,” Del Ponte pointed out. She said that the whole process of reconciliation implicitly includes war crime trials before local courts. Hays urged the authorities and the police to “seriously understand their duty to arrest war crime indictees”. Del Ponte was in Belgrade on Monday and she will visit Zagreb after her stay in Sarajevo. In the course of her visit to Sarajevo, Del Ponte meet top BiH officials including the BiH Presidency members and the CoM representatives, as well as the representatives of the international community in BiH. Dnevni List (front and page 3, by M.R, “Carla del Ponte is going to Banja Luka to get Karadzic”), Vecernji List (front page, ” NATO in hunt for Karadzic too” and page 2, “I am ready to ‘pick up’ Karadzic no matter where he is”, by Dejan Jazvic), Slobodna Dalmacija (front and page 17, “Karadzic, tell us where you are, I’m coming for you”, by Zlatko Tulic), Jutarnji List (page 6, by Snjezana Pavic, “Carla del Ponte: We are still thinking about possibility that Ademi stands trial in Croatia”), Vjesnik (front page, “Del Ponte says it is time for Karadzic to turn himself in” and page 10, “Carla del Ponte called on Karadzic to turn himself in”, by Alenko Zornija) and Blic pg. 6 ‘New call to Karadzic’also reported on Del Ponte’s visit to Sarajevo. |
| RS Press on Del Ponte’s visit | Nezavisne Novine, pages 1 & 3, ‘Tribunal is investigating 30 more war crime cases’; Glas Srpske, page 3, ‘Trials at home’ – Dragan Covic, member of BiH Presidency, yesterday stated that the first Hague cases on war crimes may be processed before the BiH Court in July next year. He added that: “Before its mandate expires at the end of next year, the Hague Tribunal will investigate 30 more war crime cases and then pass all the file cases to the BiH Court.” Carla del Ponte, ICTY Chief Prosecutor, yesterday called on Radovan Karadzic to voluntarily surrender to the Hague Tribunal. She also noted that 18 war crime suspects from public lists are still at large. The meeting between del Ponte and members of BiH Presidency discussed the transfer of some file cases from ICTY to the War Crimes Chamber at BiH Court, as well as the implementation of the Rome Agreement and BiH Office for Liaison with ICTY. After the meeting with ICTY Chief Prosecutor, PDHR Donald Hays also called on BiH authorities to take their responsibility and duty seriously and accordingly arrest war crime suspects. The Chairperson of BiH Council of Ministers, Adnan Terzic, stressed that domestic politicians may less and less attention to the issue of war crimes, without whose settlement, as he noted, there will be no reconciliation and stable peace in BiH. |
| New York Times/Reuters: NATO Forces Want Karadzic Before Leaving Bosnia | The NATO-led peace force in BiH hopes to arrest former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic and 20 other indicted war crimes suspects before ending its mission, its commander said Tuesday. Gen. William Ward said the task of uniting and shrinking Bosnia’s oversized, ethnically based armed forces was also incomplete. “There is still some unfinished business. There are still persons indicted for war crimes who are out there that we want to apprehend — Karadzic, Mladic and others,” he said in an interview for Reuters. . |
| Case against “El Mujahedeen” unit | Glas Srpske, cover page story, ‘Carla weighing evidence’ – The crimes, which were, at the end of war, committed against imprisoned Serb soldiers by the members of the Unit “El Mujahedeen” (which was within the composition of the BiH Army 3rd Corps) have not still been reviewed by The Hague Tribunal. The evidence file was handed to the ICTY investigators in April last year. And it seems like that Carla del Ponte is still weighing this file. |
| ICTY: Dragan Obrenovic pleaded guilty for crimes in Srebrenica | Oslobodjenje pg. 5 ‘Dragan Obrenovic pleaded guilty’, Dnevni Avaz pg. 3 ‘Dragan Obrenovic admitted responsibility for persecution of civil population in Srebrenica’ – Dragan Obrenovic, former RS Army officer, on trial before the Hague Tribunal for participation in the massacre of several thousand Bosniaks in Srebrenica decided on Tuesday to plead guilty on a part of the crimes he is indicted for. “Obrenovic entered a plea of guilty for persecution, which represents a crime against humanity”, the ICTY stated. Obrenovic is a second high ranging Serb officer to plead guilty for the massacre in Srebrenica. In exchange for a guilty plea the prosecutor agreed to drop all other charges against Obrenovic and to demand a sentence of 10-15 years in prison for him. Nezavisne Novine, pages 1 & 3, ‘Dragan Obrenovic pleaded guilty’; Glas Srpske, page 2, ‘Obrenovic pleaded guilty’, Vecernje Novosti pg. 15, Blic pg. 18 also reported on the issue. |
Defence reform | |
| RS President urges keeping entity army as part of joint defence structure
| Oslobodjenje pg. 4 ‘Armed forces which all three peoples will have confidence in’ – Republika Srpska (RS) President Dragan Cavic has said that the RS will insist on retaining the RS Army, in an acceptable form, as part of the joint defence structure of BiH. He said that the RS would actively participate in finding a way of joining the Partnership for Peace, because it is in the entity’s strategic interest to do so, but at the same time it could not accept somebody else requesting this road on its behalf. “Eight years after the war we must be able to reach decisions in BiH on our own, and decide on their shape, authorities and the role of command and control of the armed forces in BiH,” Cavic said in Banja Luka, opening the meeting of the sub-regional consultative commission for control of weapons. The RS President believes that the integration of southeastern Europe into European, Euro-Atlantic and economic associations, depends to a great deal on the relations between Serbia and Montenegro, Croatia and BiH. “The RS institutions will actively participate in finding a model of internal organization of BiH in order to meet the standards of European integration processes and enable BiH to become a full member of the Partnership for Peace,” Cavic said. He added that armed forces are necessary for the future of BiH, which will guarantee its interstate sovereignty, territorial integrity, but also the internal entity structure as created by the constitution. “These armed forces must be organized in such way as to ensure trust among members of all three constituent peoples, and they feel them as their own, as a guarantee of state sovereignty, territorial integrity of BiH, and as a guarantee of internal entity structure and national security of each all constituent peoples,” Cavic said. The meeting of the sub-regional consultative committee is attended by delegations from Serbia and Montenegro, Croatia, the BiH Federation, the BiH Presidency, the RS and delegations from the Contact Group and the OSCE. The topic of the meeting is implementation of the agreement on sub-regional control of weapons, in accordance with provisions of Article 4, Annex 1B of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in BiH. Dnevni List page 11, unsigned, “Cavic: Preserve RS Army as integral part of BiH armed forces”, Slobodna Dalmacija, page 16, by M. Labus, “Republika Srpska will preserve the army”, Blic pg. 6 ‘We want to retain the Republika Srpska Army’ and Glas Srpske, page 3, ‘Army protects Constitution’ also carried Cavic’s remarks. |
| SFOR proposed a model for composition of BiH armed forces | Dnevni List (page 11, unsigned, “William Ward proposes one chain of command”) carries an SFOR spokesman, Dale MacEachern, as saying that the COMSFOR, Lt-Gen William Ward, sent a letter to Ministers of Defence and Commanders of Republika Srpska and Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina armies proposing them that the structure of armed forces in BiH includes a command and control at the State level, with one chain of command. Such a chain of command would go from the BiH Presidency, via the Secretary General of Standing Committee for Military Matters to the board of commanders and armed forces. However, the letter says the BiH military leadership is the one that will make a plan of reforms to BiH armed forces. Ward added that BiH could afford 12.000 troops the most. (Slobodna Dalmacija, back page, “Control army for State level”, Vecernji List, page 2, by FENA, “SFOR’s proposal of military reforms”, Dnevni Avaz pg. 8 ‘BiH can afford 12,000 soldiers) Blic pg. 6 ‘Possible solutions for joint defence’ and Nezavisne Novine, page 3, ‘BiH may have 9000 soldiers’ also reported on the issue but quoting SFOR spokesman as saying at a press conference in Sarajevo on Tuesday that BiH Army should be consisted of 9000 soldiers. |
| Oslobodjenje editorial on defence reform | Oslobodjenje pg. 2 editorial by Antonio Prlenda ‘Secreta is in how to fill the army’ – Prlenda says that while the representatives of the entities’ defence ministries have made significant progress in defining the joint BiH armed forces doctrine, they have done almost nothing when it is about the restructuring of the military in BiH. Prlenda concludes that the ethnic proportion is likely to be the key for the final composition of the armed forces in the country. |
Political developments | |
| FBiH Parliament adopted Criminal Code, Code on Criminal Procedure
| Osloboodjenje pg. 7 ‘Fore incest from three to ten years’, Dnevni Avaz pg. 4 ‘For stimulating fascism possible sanction of up to five years in priosn’ – The FBiH House of Representatives passed on Tuesday the draft Criminal Code. The piece of legislation was passed with a number of amendments. One of the amendments, put forward by Mirnes Ajanovic, allows the confiscation of illegally gained property as a legal sanction. The amendment put forward by Nermina Kapetanovic introduces long prison sentences for murder or serious bodily injuries inflicted by rape both by sane and insane persons. The House also adopted the amendment of Azra Alajbegovic banning individuals younger than 18 to be served alcohol drinks. The House also adopted the draft Code on Criminal Proceeding. Vecernji List (page 2, by Fena, “Proposal of Criminal Code was adopted”) and Dnevni List (page 3, by Miso Relota, “Proposal of Criminal Code adopted”) also covered the issue. |
| BiH officials brief EU ambassadors on why agreement with USA was signed
| Oslobodjenje pg. 4 ‘EU ambassadors meets with the BiH Presidency, Dnevni Avaz pg. 8 ‘Exchange of views regarding the agreement with US’ – The members of the BiH Presidency and BiH Foreign Minister Mladen Ivanic on Tuesday briefed ambassadors of the EU countries to BiH about the reasons behind initialing the agreement with the USA on granting immunity to US citizens before the International Criminal Court (ICC). Presidency chairman Borislav Paravac said at the start of the meeting that the USA had played an important role in the creation and signing of the Dayton Agreement as well as in the stabilization force (SFOR). “BiH’s admission to the Partnership for Peace programme can ensure a lasting peace here. Croatia has already joined it and the admission of Serbia-Montenegro would create a wider region of stability,” Paravac said. “We are aware of a specific situation in which BiH has found itself and we would like to be a linking and not dividing factor,” BiH Presidency member Dragan Covic said. According to a statement by the BiH Presidency, Bosniak member of the Presidency, Sulejman Tihic, called on the ambassadors to inform their governments that BiH would like to become a member of the EU and was following that path. The Greek ambassador said that the EU would like to help BiH in the process of integration and that it was important for that reason alone to respect certain European standards. |
| EU wants BiH not ratify agreement with US | Vecernji List (front “Europe criticizes, America threatens” and page 3, “EU requests BiH not to ratify agreement with US”, by E. Medunjanin) reports that Sarajevo received a clear warning from the EU after BiH signed an agreement on non-extradition of US citizens to the ICC. Apparently, Brussels criticized BiH over the decision to sign the agreement warning that the agreement was not in harmony with previously published EU guidelines. Moreover, the daily says that despite the EU showed understanding for the “unfavorable” position of countries from the west Balkans, BiH authorities have been called on not to ratify the agreement. Dnevni Avaz pg. 3 ‘European Commission disappointed with the agreement between BiH and US’ – “The European Commission has been disappointed with the content of the agreement signed between BiH and US on granting immunity to the US citizens before the ICC. We are particularly disappointed with the provisions of the agreement defining whom the immunity can be granted to,” Emma Adwin, the spokesperson for the European Commissioner for Foreign Affairs Chris Patten, told the newspaper. |
| BiH CoM established a team for fighting terrorism | Dnevni List (front and page 5, by M. R., “Co-ordination team for fight against terrorism being established”) carries a report from yesterday’s session of the BiH Council of Ministers at which the CoM, among other decisions, passed a Decision on establishment of Co-ordination team for fight against terrorism, appointing the BiH Security Minister, Barisa Colak, the team leader. “The basic task of the team is to monitor the situation and propose measures and actions to competent BiH institutions in the fight against terrorism”, said Colak. Sarajevo dailies also reported on the session. Oslobodjenje pg. 5 ‘Set of laws from the sector of judiciary adopted’ – According to the newspaper, the CoM on Tuesday also adopted a set of draft laws belonging to the judiciary sector that had been recently passed by the High Representative on the temporary basis. These laws, according to BiH Security Minister Barisa Colak, include the BiH Criminal Code, Code on Criminal Procedure, Law on Protection of Witnesses and the Law on Judicial Police. The drafts will be sent to the BiH Parliamentary Assembly for adoption in an urgent procedure. |
| Zivkovic’s statement | Vjesnik’s Marko Barisic writes on page 4, “New Serbian authority does the old thing”) – “At the end even the former Serbian opposition and the current authority, when it comes to foreign policy towards its neighbors, did not move away from positions from the times of Milosevic regime. The myth about necessity of expansion of the Serbian State is, judging by Zivkovic’s interview, strong enough to cause a repetition of the bloody story from the early nineties. It is a consequence of a fact that the IC did not allow the defeat of the Great Serbia policy in BiH, like it happened in Croatia and Kosovo, so the ‘fruit’ of the strategic decision, will be felt by everyone for a long time”. Oslobodjenje pg 7, mentioned on the front page ‘Serbia-Montenegro has no territorial aspirations towards BiH’ – “The claims are not correct that Serbian Premier Zivkovic was linking in an interview for Spiegel Republika Srpska and Kosovo and Metohija. The borders cannot be changed. This means that they cannot be changed when it is about BIH, or Kosovo and Metohija as well,” Stanimir Vukicevic, the Serbia and Montenegro Ambassador to BiH, told the newspaper. Dnevni Avaz pg. 5, mentioned on the front page ‘I do not have impression that Belgrade can hardly wait to annex RS’ – Interview with Renata Flotau, the Der Spiegel correspondent from Serbia-Montenegro. “Djindjic was really talking about the possibility that the annexation of RS is requested in case of Kosovo’s secession. However, his successor Zivkovic was not talking about the issue in that way,” Flotau said. Glas Srpske, page 2, ‘Misinterpretation’ and Vecernje Novosti pg. 6 – German weekly “Der Spiegel” said on Tuesday that it published an interview with Serbian Prime Minister, Zoran Zivkovic as an authorized text and that each denial is related “strictly to wrong translation (or interpretation)” by the BiH media. Zivkovic confirmed that the editorial board of “Der Spiegel” has published his interview in authorized text. |
| RS Council of Peoples has no objections to the RS NA adopted laws | Nezavisne Novine, page 3, ‘Republika Srpska Council of People’s has no objections to Laws’ – Republika Srpska Council of People’s yesterday gave a green light to the laws enacted at the latest session of the Republika Srpska National Assembly. The Clubs of constitutive people’s, Serb, Bosniaks and Croats, concluded that the Laws, enacted by Republika Srpska Parliament on 14 May, do not jeopardise the vital national interests. |
| BiH lawsuit against Serbia-Montenegro | Nezavisne Novine, page 4, ‘No agreement with Belgrade’ – In a short interview to NN, Sakib Softic, BiH agent in the BiH lawsuit against Serbia and Montenegro, stated that those who bid with the Hague lawsuit against Serbia and Montenegro want to divert somebody’s attention from the very core of the problem. He concludes that no BiH politician cannot take a responsibility onto himself of any out-of-court settlement with Belgrade. Softic announces that International Court of Justice will schedule the first hearing on this lawsuit in the next few days. Vecernje Novosti pg. 6 ‘Neither settlement nor withdrawal’ also carried the statement. Blic pg. 3 ‘All lawsuits fall’ – Serbian and Montenegrian Defence Minister Boris Tadic said that Serbia and Montenegro’s stand was that the S&M lawsuit against NATO was linked to the BiH and Croatian lawsuit against S&M and ‘if some lawsuits fall, then all should fall at the same time’. He said that he had never stated that the lawsuit against NATO would be withdrawn. Sulejman Tihic, Bosniak member of the BiH Presidency, says that the BiH lawsuit against S&M will never be withdrawn. He added that official Sarajevo had not been informed about negotiations on unanimous withdrawing of S&M lawsuit against NATO and BiH and Croatian lawsuit against S&M. “As long as I am a member of BiH Presidency, BiH lawsuit will not be withdrawn”, Tihic was categorical. Speaking about financing of the lawsuit, he said there would be no problems because there is foundation ‘Justice for BiH’ in which citizens give their contribution. As far as Croatia is concerned, there is no official information that Croatia may withdraw the lawsuit against S&M if S&M withdraws the lawsuit against NATO. Ivan Simonovic, deputy Croatian Foreign Affairs Minister, says that Croatia should not insist on the lawsuit if Croatian requests from the lawsuit could be achieved in some other way. |
| SDS Presidency member M. Milenkovic on BiH structure | Slobodna Dalmacija (page 17, by Darko Juka, “New state organisation through agreement”) carries that member of the SDS Presidency Milenko Milenkovic attended the 2nd Convention of Croat Christian Democrats. Milenkovic stated: “This Dayton organisation of BiH with three peoples and two entities is first such solution in the world, and I hope that we shall reach an agreement among ourselves about some other solution. As an example I always say that it will not occur to any Italian to build a house in the Spanish neighbourhood.” |
Economic affairs | |
| BiH Presidency reappoints Central Bank governor
| Oslobodjenje pg. 6, mentioned on the front page ‘Kozaric to be BiH Central Bank Governor as of 2005’, Dnevni Avaz pg. 2 ‘Peter Nicholl to hed BiH Ceb=ntral Bank until the end of 2004’ – The BiH Presidency on Tuesday appointed members of the managing board of the BiH Central Bank and extended the mandate of current Governor Peter Nicholl. BiH Presidency chairman Borislav Paravac told a news conference after the Presidency session that Kemal Kozaric, Manojlo Coric, Cvijetin Nikic and Mila Gadzic had been appointed members of the managing board. Paravac explained that Nicholl agreed to stay Governor of the BiH Central Bank until the end of 2004, following which current Vice-Governor Kozaric should take over his post. The BiH Presidency is still under an obligation to appoint a new member of the BiH Central Bank from the ranks of the Bosniak people by that time. Since the newly-appointed member from the ranks of the Croat people, Mila Gadzic, is holding the post of BiH minister for foreign trade and economic relations, it is expected that she will resign this post as this is required by the principle of incompatibility of posts. Paravac added that the BiH Presidency assessed the Central Bank’s work as very successful and lent its support to the continued work of this financial institution in BiH, the work based on the currency board. The Presidency made recommendations according to which the main controller of the BiH Central Bank until 1 January 2005 should be a Croat, while the president of the managing board of the agency for ensuring deposits should be a Serb. Dnevni List (page 4, by De. L., “Mandate to Governor Peter Nicholl extended”) and Vecernji List (page 3, by E. Medunjanin, “Minister Gadzic goes to Central Bank”) also report on the issue. |
| OHR: Hays to visit Bosmal City Centre on Wednesday | Oslobodjenje pg. 18 ‘Hays on the Bosmal construction site’- Principle Deputy High Representative Donald Hays will visit the Bosmal City Centre construction site Wednesday, OHR announced, according to FENA. The Bosmal City Centre is the first condominium in this part of the world and represents a new concept of life in BiH. The investment into the construction of the structure is the largest direct “greenfield” investment so far and totals 50 million USD. |
| Mikerevic and Krsmanovic with WB official | Glas Srpske, page 3, ‘Arrangement of finances is the goal‘ – Dragan Mikerevic, Republika Srpska Prime Minister, and Branko Krsmanovic, Republika Srpska Finance Minister, yesterday in Banjaluka, met with Ed Melckert, the Director Executive of the World Bank. The meeting discussed the status of finances and introduction of VAT. The meeting pointed on the need for full respect of constitutional solutions and fiscal sovereignty. |
| Gas dealer Nikic released from custody
| Nezavisne Novine, page 5, ‘Owner of gas-station Nikic released’ – The owner of the gas station “Nikic” near Pelagicevo (Brcko), Mico Nikic, was released from detention on 16 May. According to Dragica Nenadic, Modrica Chief Public Prosecutor, explained that the only reason for placing Nikic in detention was jeopardy of seeing him exert pressure to witnesses. Since all the witness were questioned, he was released from detention upon motion filed by his defence attorney. Nenadic also explained that Nikic has been charged with criminal act of misuse of authorities in economy. She added that no addenda to the criminal report, with reference to the criminal act of tax evasion, has been filed so far. If such arrived soon, new investigation would be launched and Nikic may again be placed in detention. |
| Fatnicko Field – Bilecko Lake tunnel | Blic pg. 7 ‘Self-will, agreement or recommendation’; Vecernje Novosti pg. 19 ‘Directors hides order-issuing person’ – Works on Fatnicko Field – Bilecko Lake tunnel, project in which 70 million € have been invested so far, have been stopped by the decision of acting director of the Republika Srpska Elektroprivreda Pantelija Dakic, for which Republika Srpska Minister of Energy Milan Bogicevic says to be self-willed and personal decision behind which the Republika Srpska Government does not stand. Dakic claims that is not true, but that he was given an order by the Government and if necessary he will say who ordered him to stop the works on tunnel. However, yesterday he refused to mention any name, saying that he was given an oral order to stop the works. The head of Bileca Municipality, Miladin Samardzic, says that the decision to stop construction of the Fatnicko Polje-Bilecko Jezero tunnel was illegal, warning of great damage which will be done to the RS economy, particularly Bileca, for 300 of the 500 workers left unemployed are from the Bileca area. |
| Paravac meets with Humphreys, discusses BiH economic development | Dnevni List (page 6, unsigned, “Way out in direct foreign investments”) reports that the Chair of BiH Presidency, Borislav Paravac, met with the Head of EC Mission to BiH, Michael Humphreys. Paravac is quoted as saying: “A country opens to foreign market when it’s strongest, and we opened when we were weakest, and the foreign goods destroyed our economy, so we see the way out in direct foreign investments”. Both Paravac and Humphreys agreed that membership in NATO and EU was important for general development in BiH. On the same issue, Vecernji List (page 19, by M. Stankovic, “BiH is crying out for billions”) carries that in order to reach goals of its development strategy, BiH has to attract 2 billion Marks of new foreign investments and only 700 million Marks have been collected so far. |
| VL: “UNDP’s support only to unitary – Bosnian nation” | Vecernji List (front and page 3, by zk) notes that the UNDP presented, at a recently organized workshop on UNDP’s support on management and co-ordination of development funds, conclusions whose aim is to strengthen a joint economic space and stimulate development programs. However, the daily notices that the text of the conclusions that were delivered to the participants, according to VL, “builds foundations of a single nation”. The text reads that “the donors’ fund will be going through the State Government, in other words contribute to creation of a unique, unitary nation with single economic space”. The author’s comment to this is that the UNDP is ignoring the fact that there are three peoples in BiH which are not an obstacle to single economic space saying it is the Dayton Peace Accord which did not create a self-sustainable State and an acceptable State framework for all peoples or nations. |
Other issues | |
| Sokolac shooting
| Nezavisne Novine, pages 1 & 2, ‘Spaic and Jankovic wounded’; Glas Srpske, cover page story, ‘Spaic and Jankovic wounded’ – Ratomir Spaic, the owner of RMG company from Serb Sarajevo and Slobodan Jankovic were seriously wounded yesterday around 15:00 hrs in Sokolac centre. The Serb Sarajevo PSC confirmed that eyewitnesses testified that Ognjen Orasanin nicknamed Oras and Mladen Ceho (both from Sokolac) shot at Spaic and Jankovic. Serb Sarajevo police last night confirmed that the investigation is ongoing, including the search for assailants. Moreover, the police will today release an extensive press release on this case. Police circles claim that one of assailants, Mladen Ceho, is known by having shot at Zeljko Skrba in 1993 at Grbavica. (Skrba, who was close associate of Momcilo Mandic, was recently murdered in Belgrade.) Furthermore, citizens of Sokolac claim that Ceho is often seen in the company of Sasa Karadzic, son of Radovan Karadzic. |
| Explosion in Sokolac | Nezavisne Novine, pages 1 & 2, ‘Republika Srpska Tax Administration vehicle destroyed’ – An explosive device exploded under a private vehicle in Sokolac owned by Republika Srpska Tax Administration Office. According to press release issued by Serb Sarajevo PSC, the car was parked in the garage owned by the Tax Administration inspector, Obren Arbinja. The ezplosion took place at 22:00 hrs Monday evening. The son of Obren, Aleksandar Arbinja, told the press that the vehicle is almost destroyed, the hosue windows broke owing to explosion. He is not aware as to whether anybody ever threatened to his father. Investigative judge Biljana Cukovic investigated the crime scene, but did not want to give any statement later on. Republika Srpska Tax Administration assessed that the explosion against its official represents “a terrorist attack against Tax Administration and other state institutions, which have made significant results in the fight against organised actions of groups and individuals and their illegal actions of money laundering. Blic pg. 7 ‘Against tax by bomb’ also reports on the issue. |
| Statement by Glusac | Glas Srpske, page 3, ‘No delay for action’ – Zoran Glusac, Spokesperson of the Republika Srpska Interior Ministry, told GS that the interior ministers of Republika Srpska and Serbia respectively, Zoran Djeric and Dusan Mihajlovic, agreed at Monday meeting in Belgrade on simplified forms of cooperation between police forces of Republika Srpska and Serbia. This refers to the exchange of information in the fight against organised crime and corruption. He also added that the Monday meetings would improve and promote currently correct relations between Interior Ministries of Republika Srpska and Serbia. |