- BH-Central Institutions
- BiH and FRY established diplomatic relations;
- The Association of Invalids of War marks "Petritsch's Pensions Law"
as inhumane;
- Soon in BiH: Natural restitution of Croatian companies' property:
- Federation
- OHR considers the Croat National Council to be a sort of a debate
club;
- Ante Jelavic protest against attempts of the International Community
to eliminate the HDZ;
- Republika Srpska
- Despite OHR's decision, Skelani Municipality still functional;
- SDS, PDP, SPRS and DNS form government in the RS;
- PDP wants the SDS to participate in the RS National Assembly;
- Two Bosniak returnees found dead in their reconstructed house in
Kozarac;
- International Community
- US Thomas Miller: Petritsch's deal with the SDS is worthless;
- SNSD accuses the SDS of "crawling collaboration" with the
International Community;
- Wolfgang Petritsch delivers speech at the Swedish Institute for
International Affairs;
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Central Institutions related Issues:
BiH and FRY established diplomatic relations:
(AFP report) BiH and Yugoslavia established diplomatic relations Friday
nearly a decade after the breakup of the Yugoslav federation that sparked
the 1992-1995 war, the worst conflict in Europe since World War II.
Foreign Minister Goran Svilanovic and his Bosnian counterpart Jadranko
Prlic signed a protocol establishing ties during a ceremony held at the
Yugoslav foreign ministry building. The chief diplomats also pledged to
work together to draft other accords and looked beyond their borders to
the situation in the Balkans as a whole following Yugoslavia's wars of
secession.
"The signing creates the foundations that will ensure that war will no
longer be possible in this region," said Prlic. "We are completely ready
to have open, fair and equal relations. I think that we have found that
Yugoslav officials are ready to be our partners to finally achieve those
principles," Prlic said.
Belgrade established diplomatic relations with Slovenia on December 9 and
ties with Croatia and Macedonia were opened under the Milosevic regime.
Kostunica's visit to Sarajevo in October was seen as a breakthrough in the
drive to normalize relations.
For his part, Svilanovic noted that "this step should have been taken
years
ago" and urged Yugoslavs and Bosnians to make the opening of ties between
governments a reality on the people's level.
"I want to send a message both to the Bosnian people and to our people
that
we have to take decisive steps to build up confidence among nations and
states
in the region," Svilanovic said.
"That is in everybody's interest in the Balkans and certainly in the
interest of all countries of the former Yugoslavia," he said.
In line with the 1995 Dayton agreement that ended the Bosnian war,
Belgrade
recognized Bosnia's territorial integrity but the protocol provides for "a
special relationship" between Serbia and their ethnic brethren in
Republika
Srpska, the Bosnian Serb republic. Kostunica is planning to attend the
inauguration of new Bosnian Serb President Mirko Sarovic in the Bosnian
city of Banja Luka, the SRNA news agency reported.
Svilanovic said Belgrade was not shunning its responsibility for the
horrors of the past but that it was now "aware of all the challenges the
future will bring, namely the challenge of recognizing what happened, what
mistakes were made and what caused them."
Following Friday's talks, Bosnia will propose bilateral agreements on
trade, investment, customs cooperation and railway traffic by the end of
this
year, Prlic said. A number of additional agreements were to be prepared by
early 2001.
The Association of Invalids of War marks "Petritsch's Pensions Law" as
inhumane:
The BiH Association of Invalids of War issued a statement in which it
described the imposition of the Amendments to the Law on Pension Fund by
the High Representative as an inhumane gesture, which reduced the already
low pensions. "We believe that this decision came in the most difficult
time, when members of pensioners' families who are employed have a
difficult time securing their own financial existence, much less that of
their retired parents", reads the statement, and reminds that with the
closure of Payment Bureaus and with privatization, many of workers will
lose their jobs, which will further endanger the population of pensioners.
Soon in BiH: Natural restitution of Croatian companies' property:
According to Slobodna Dalmacija, the property of Croatian companies in
BiH, which has been for the past ten years under the temporary
administration of BiH authorities, might soon be returned to its legal
owners. Miroslav Franjkovic, the head of Croatian Chamber of Commerce
delegation in BiH, said that the BiH government showed a good will to
resolve this problem which has been complicating the relations between the
two states for almost a decade.
Federation
OHR considers the Croat National Council to be a sort of a debate club:
OHR Spokesperson, Alexandra Stiglmayer, told press yesterday that the OHR
considers the Croat National Council to be "a kind of a debate club where
people will discuss various issues as they do at sessions of the Cricle 99
and similar fora". Thus, its decisions cannot be legally binding for
anyone, in particular not to the elected Croat officials, said Stiglmayer.
The HDZ and other Croat parties will hold the constituting session of the
Council on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the Head of the OSCE Mission to BiH, Robert Barry, sent a
letter to the Croatian Foreign Minister, Tonino Picula, and asked him to
use his influence and try to dissuade HDZ officials from holding the
constituting session and undertaking any further illegal steps.
Ante Jelavic protest against attempts of the International Community to
eliminate the HDZ:
Commenting on the recent statement of the Special Balkans Envoy to the
White House, James O'Brien, that the new government in BiH could be formed
without the HDZ, the party's president, Ante Jelavic, warned that such
international efforts directly endanger democratic processes in the
country. He also said that the not-yet formed Alliance for Changes is an
anti-Croat coalition.
Republika Srpska
Despite OHR's decision, Skelani Municipality still functional:
Despite the recently imposed decision on the abolishment of the Skelani
municipality in Srebrenica, this illegal structure is still functional.
According to the municipality's head, Momo Blagovcanin, the official order
about the abolishment has not been submitted, and that the local
authorities will wait for the RS National Assembly to make a decision on
this matter. Blagovcanin also said that 2.5 million KM have been invested
in Skelani in the past three years, which would "certainly not be the case
had Skelani were a part of Srebrenica". He stressed that its abolishment
will be highly detrimental to the population in the municipality which
already lives in very difficult position.
SDS, PDP, SPRS and DNS form government in the RS:
After the meeting with representatives of political parties, the RS
National Assembly Speaker, Petar Djokic, said that an alliance made up of
the SDS, the PDP, the SPRS (Socialist Party of the RS) and the DNS
(Democratic National Alliance) has been formed. According to Djokic, the
alliance will have a majority in the RS NA and will present its candidates
at the inaugural session of the RS NA. Although concrete names have not
been discussed, Djokic said that it was certain that one vice-president of
the body will be Bosniak from the SDA or the Party for BiH.
PDP wants the SDS to participate in the RS National Assembly:
The president of the Party of Democratic Progress (PDP), Mladen Ivanic,
said on the ATV that "there will be no RS National Assembly if the SDS
does not form a parliamentary majority," and added that "the option with
ten parties in the Cabinet is doomed to fail." He said that the main
problem is forming the NA which would be able to resolve the accumulated
problems.
Two Bosniak returnees found dead in their reconstructed house in Kozarac:
Bodies of Husein Hodzic (61) and his wife Hatka Zeric (66) were found
yesterday in their house in the village of Brdjani, near Kozarac, in the
Prijedor Municipality. The murder of the couple caused panic amongst
Bosniak returnees in Kozarac. Although the tension is very high in the
village, there were no incidents reported after the Police arrived at
site.
Hatka and Husein were one of the first returnees to Kozarac. They
initially lived in a ruin in the village of Dera hoping that the German
NGO THW will reconstruct their house. However, it did not happen, so Hatka
and Husein decided to reconstruct a small room in their ruined pre-war
house.
International Community
US Thomas Miller: Petritsch's deal with the SDS is worthless:
Dnevni Avaz writes that the US Ambassador to BiH, Thomas Miller, marked
the recent agreement between the High Representative, Wolfgang Petritsch,
and the SDS leadership as worthless. Miller also said that he spoke with
Petritsch after the meeting and was told that the HR is trying to get the
SDS to agree to as many things as possible at least on paper. The US
Ambassador stressed that he was not impressed by the joint statement, for
he did "not see in it anything about war crimes or about the cooperation
with The Hague Tribunal," nor any deadlines which could show that the SDS
has good intentions. Despite his skeptical attitude, Miller said his aim
was not to criticize the efforts of Petritsch. "He is trying to accomplish
the same as I do - that is, to ensure that all parties in power in the RS
are European oriented not only in the economic sphere, but in all other
aspects as well," said Miller, and added that he believes that the SDS is
not one such party.
SNSD accuses the SDS of "crawling collaboration" with the International
Community:
The SNSD (Party of Independent Social Democrats) issued a press release
yesterday in which it accused the SDS of being ready to do anything in
order to cleanse itself from the dark past and fawn over the International
Community. Commenting on the decision of Mirko Sarovic, Dragan Kalinic and
Dragan Cavic to sign the document which binds them to further comply with
the Dayton Peace Agreement, the press release further reads that the SDS,
as a party which conducted the policy of the ethnic cleansing of Bosniaks
and Croats, will now endure their accelerated return and the repossession
of their property. "Moreover, the SDS, who is responsible for the
destruction of religious sites, will reconstruct approximately 800 mosques
and a great number of catholic churches at the expense of the RS. The SDS
promises that it will work on the strengthening of the joint institutions
and establish regulatory agencies at BiH level, all of will strip the RS
of its sovereign rights. In its crawling collaboration they are even ready
to arrest Serbs indicted for committing war crimes, and transfer them to
the Hague; they are even ready to commit a homicide of their father
Radovan Karadzic (SIC!), reads the press release. The SNSD also warns that
the threats of the RS being deprived of the international assistance if
the SDS is in government are not seriously understood, while it is evident
the entity could not politically or financially survive on its own.
Wolfgang Petritsch delivers speech at the Swedish Institute for
International Affairs:
Both Sarajevo and Banja Luka media carry excerpts from the speech the High
Representative delivered at the Swedish Institute for International
Affairs.
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