OHR Chronology

1996 January 10 January First meeting of Joint Civilian Commission (JCC), chaired by Carl Bildt, Sarajevo 15 January International conference on elections in BiH, Stockholm 17 January First meeting of Major Implementation Agencies, chaired by Mr. Bildt, Brussels 24 January First meeting of Joint Interim Commission (JIC), chaired by Mr. Bildt, Sarajevo 29 January Meeting of the Human Rights Task Force in Brussels 31 January Hasan Muratovic replaces Haris Silajdzic as BiH Prime Minister February 1 February First session of the Provisional Election Commission (PEC) set up by the OSCE 3 February Transfer from one entity to the other of areas specified in the GFAP, notably around Sarajevo and "the anvil" around Mrkonjic Grad (D+45) 17-18 February Rome meeting on implementation involving the Contact Group and the three Presidents of Bosnia, Croatia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. 24 February Transfer of police and civil authority to the Federation in Vogosca, Sarajevo March 4 March International meeting on Human Rights in BiH, Vienna 5 March Meeting of PIC Steering Board, Brussels 14 March Carl Bildt sends his first report to the UNSC 16 March Third Meeting of the Joint Interim Commission 18 March Geneva meeting of Contact Group and the three Presidents Transfer of police and civil authority in final Sarajevo suburbs including Grbavica 21 March First Meeting of the Commission on Real Property for Displaced Persons and Refugees , Sarajevo 23 March Moscow meeting of Contact Group and three Foreign Ministers 12-13 March Brussels conference on Economic Reconstruction April 3 April Carl Bildt reports to UNSC in New York 13 April Second EU/World Bank Donors' Conference for BiH in Brussels, boycotted by the RS. Pledges made: $ 1.3 billion 24 April Meeting of PIC Steering Board, Sarajevo 25 April Federation Forum, Petersberg, Bonn May 6 May Carl Bildt opens OHR office in Banja Luka 14 May Federation Forum, Washington 18 May Gojko Klickovic replaces Rajko Kasagic as RS Prime Minister 22 May First pledging conference for Open Broadcast Network: Brussels 24 May Appointment of Local Election Commissions PIC Steering Board: Paris June 2 June Geneva meeting of Contact Group and three Presidents 4 June Contact Group Ministerial in Berlin 13-14 June Peace Implementation Review Conference, Florence 14 June Deadline for registration of political parties 27 June Federation Forum, Sarajevo 28-29 June G7/8 Lyon Summit: demand for Mr. Karadzic to leave political office 30 June City elections in Mostar Release of Karadzic letter to Carl Bildt confirming resignation from public office. Biljana Plavsic to be acting President of RS July 10 July Carl Bildt sends his second report to the UNSC 19 July Start of BiH election campaign Richard Holbrooke brokers deal for Karadzic to step down from Party offices First meeting of OBN Governing Council, OHR Brussels 25 July PEC extends out-of-country registration to 5 August (and later to 8 August) 30 July PIC Steering Board: Brussels 31 July Carl Bildt reports to UNSC in New York August 12 August Contact Group meeting in Brussels 14 August Contact Group meeting in Geneva with three Presidents Ivan Prskalo appointed Mayor of Mostar 27 August Amb. Frowick of OSCE announces postponement of municipal elections 29 August Violent clashes between Bosniaks and RS police in the village of Mahala, BiH 31 August Formal deadline for dissolution of "Herceg-Bosna" September 5 September Meeting of the PIC Steering Board in Brussels 5-12 September Sir Arthur Watts conducts 4th round of discussions on succession issues meeting separately with delegations of all five States, Brussels 7 September Contact Group meeting in Frankfurt Open Broadcast Network, BiH's first independent, cross-entity TV network, goes on air 7-8 September Informal meeting of EU Foreign Ministers in Tralee, Ireland 9 September Ministers of Interior Avdo Hebib for the Federation and Dragan Kijac, for the RS, decide on 19 "voters' routes" across the IEBL as recommended passage for transportation of voters on election day. 14 September Bosnia-wide elections for BiH Presidency, the House of Representatives of BiH, the Presidency of RS, the National Assembly of RS, the House of Representatives of the Federation and the Cantonal Assemblies in the Federation of BiH 16 September Preliminary Statement by the Coordinator for International Monitoring (CIM), Eduard van Thijn, expresses satisfaction with technical aspects of the elections. Prijedor Chief of Police, Simo Drljaca, and IFOR troops exchange gunfire 21-22 September Bosniaks enter the village of Jusici in the ZOS 24 September Second Statement by the Coordinator for International Monitoring (CIM), Eduard van Thijn, confirms general satisfaction with the conduct of the elections. 25 September Contact Group Ministerial level meeting, New York 26 September Carl Bildt briefs the UN Security Council in New York 29 September PEC certifies the results of the 14 September multi-party elections in BiH - official results reveal that Alija Izetbegovic, Kresimir Zubak and Momcilo Krajisnik will form the three member BiH Presidency. Izetbegovic, with most votes, serves as Chairman. 30 September First meeting of the newly elected members of the BiH Presidency, Saraj Hotel Sarajevo October 1 October The UN Security Council formally lifts remaining sanctions imposed on FRY Carl Bildt submits his third report to the UN Secretary-General 2 October PIC Steering Board, Sarajevo 3 October Meeting between Presidents Izetbegovic and Milosevic, Paris Bosniaks in Jusici agree to abide by procedures for safe and orderly return to the village 4 October OBN Governing Council Meeting, Brussels Ambassador Frowick announces that municipal elections will be held from 22-24 November 5 October Inauguration Ceremony of the Presidency and of the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly, National Theatre, Sarajevo - Izetbegovic and Zubak sign the "Solemn Declaration" - RS Presidency member, Momcilo Krajisnik fails to attend 10 October Contact Group Meeting, London 14-15 October Sir Arthur Watts meets in plenary session with delegations of all five States, Brussels 15 October UN IPTF formally takes over from the Western European Union police the responsibility for monitoring police in Mostar New Procedures for the return to ZOS are devised by UNHCR, working with OHR, IFOR and IPTF 19 October Inaugural session of the newly elected RS National Assembly, Banja Luka 21-22 October Political Directors of France, Germany, Italy and the UK visit Sarajevo for meetings with members of the BiH Presidency 22 October BiH Presidency Meeting, National Museum, Sarajevo - RS Presidency member Momcilo Krajisnik signs the "Solemn Declaration" Ambassador Frowick announces postponement of municipal elections - new timeframe being considered between April and June 1997 23 October Carl Bildt briefs the North Atlantic Council, Brussels - also meets with SACEUR, General Joulwan, at SHAPE to discuss deployment of LANDCENT 23 and 25 October Federation Special Group Meetings - agreements reached on flag, coat of arms and future organisation of Sarajevo 25 October BiH Presidency Meeting, Lukavica, Sarajevo(4th meeting - 3rd working session) 2nd session of the BiH Presidency, Lukavica, Sarajevo 27 October Ambassador Steiner visits Prijedor and Drvar - sites of recent destruction of homes 29 October Sir Martin Garrod writes to Federation President Zubak expressing grave concern about the situation in Mostar 3rd Session of the BiH Presidency, National Museum, Sarajevo 30 October Sarajevo Cantonal Assembly meeting Three Personal Representatives of the BiH Presidency meet at OHR to discuss detention issues November 1 November 4th session of the BiH Presidency, National Museum, Sarajevo 3 November 1st elections in FRY since the end of the war 5 November 5th session of the BiH Presidency, Lukavica, Sarajevo 6 November Both Houses of the Federation Assembly hold constituent sessions, Sarajevo 7 November PIC Steering Board Meeting, Brussels IFOR Commander Admiral Joseph Lopez formally hands over duties to General William Crouch, Sarajevo Airport Human Rights Task Force Meeting 8 November 6th session of the BiH Presidency, Sarajevo 11 November Contrary to agreed measures, several hundred Bosniaks from the Celic area cross the IEBL into Gajevi resulting in violent reactions from RS police. Dayton Property Commission for Real Property Claims of Displaced Persons and Refugees begins processing claims Sarajevo, Lukavica and Mostar 12 November 7th session of the BiH Presidency 12-13 November Sir Arthur Watts meets in plenary session with delegations of all five States, Brussels 14 November Ministerial level PIC Steering Board Meeting, Paris IFOR announce the establishment of a "temporary restriction zone" in the Celic region to prevent the recurrence of recent violations of crossing procedures 21 November US freighter arrives in Ploce harbour to unload arms for the BiH Federation "Train and Equip" programme 22 November 8th session of the BiH Presidency, Sarajevo 23-24 November Coalition for Return Meeting, Mostar 25 November Open Broadcast Network (OBN) Governing Council meeting, Brussels 26-27 November PIC Steering Board Meeting, Bonn 28 November 9th session of the BiH Presidency 29 November European Commission hosts conference on the role of the media in ex-Yugoslavia, Brussels December 1 December The Government of RS announces it has withdrawn from the Brcko arbitration process 2-3 December OSCE Summit, Lisbon 3-5 December Plenary Meeting on Succession Issues for the Former Yugoslavia, London 4-5 December Full Meeting of the Peace Implementation Council, London 8 December The Brcko Arbitral Tribunal announces a two month extension to the arbitration process, until 15 February 1997 8-9 December Inaugural conference of the University of Sarajevo Human Rights Centre, Sarajevo 11-12 December NATO Summit, Brussels 13-14 December BiH Federation Forum, Mostar and Sarajevo 12 December 10th session of the BiH Presidency, Sarajevo 15 December Coalition for Return Meeting, Banja Luka 16 December Carl Bildt attends meeting of UNHCR chaired Humanitarian Issues Working Group in Geneva Contact Group meeting, Geneva 20 December IFOR officially hands over its duties to the Stabilisation Force (SFOR) 27 December OSCE's Felipe Gonzalez releases a report on his Mission's findings which concludes that the Opposition "Zajedno" had won the elections in 13 Serbian municipalities in the 17 November elections Third session of the RS National Assembly, Jahorina 28 December Carl Bildt releases a statement urging President Slobodan Milosevic to recognise the findings of the OSCE Mission 30 December 11th session of the BiH Presidency, Lukavica 1995 | 1996 | 1997 Office of the High Representative