BH-Central Institutions Alliance of Changes potential members met - wait for Petritsch's response: The CoM in session; 'Ante Jelavic believes that some people from the Alliance for Changes are war crime suspects' Federation Bicakcic informs Principal Deputy High Representative that he is accepting the position with Elektroprivreda: Payment of August pensions begins in the Federation this week: Federation Constitutional Court to rule on several issues today: Federation government adopts a package of six fiscal laws: Rector Zeljko Suman replies to German Ambassador Peters - 'Suspension of co-operation based on unilateral standpoints': Vladimir Bilic, the FTV General Director, about the reconstruction of B&H public broadcasting system - 'Every journalist will read the news in his/her language only' Republika Srpska Former RS President, Biljana Plavsic in The Hague: Reactions to Plavsic's departure to The Hague; International Community OHR positive about candidates for Una-Sana Canton governor: President of RS National Assembly meets with PDHR: Barry talked to Ivanic, Silajdzic and Zubak; Central Institutions related Issues: Alliance of Changes potential members met - waiting for Petritsch's response: Oslobodjenje's front page story on Wednesday tell us that a meeting of potential member parties of the Alliance for Changes was held in Sarajevo. The parties, led by SDP, agreed on all the documents and are now waiting for a positive response from the representatives of the international community. "It is now important that the representatives of the international community, that is, the High Representative give a positive answer and supports our requests. Above all, on establishment of a special institution for protection of the vital national interests in the RS Parliament, that is, on establishment of another House in this Parliament," one of the participants, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told Oslobodjenje. Dnevni Avaz reported that the Alliance for Changes parties will ask for a postponement of the session Federation Parliament House of Representatives until Petritsch reaches a decision. It is expected that the High Representative will announce his decision on Thursday, the daily said. Banja Luka papers reported on the meeting as well. The CoM in session; At today's session the CoM members will discuss problems pertaining to "the Balkan syndrome". The agenda of the 20th regular session also foresees discussion on the Freedom of Access to Information Act and obligations of the CoM and other common institutions in implementation of it, the draft law on free zones in BiH, contributions that the international organizations should pay to institutions in BiH etc., 'Ante Jelavic believes that some people from the Alliance for Changes are war crime suspects': Zagreb daily Republika reported that since the expiration of the deadlines set for the establishment of the new authorities on the level of the Federation and the whole of BiH is coming closer, the politicians on the political scene, divided between nationalist parties and the Alliance for Changes, start accusing each other more openly. Denying the legitimacy of the Alliance for Changes, Ante Jelavic, the Croat Member of the BiH Presidency and the HDZ President, stated that among the candidates of the Alliance 'are persons suspected for the war crimes committed against the Croats, but also against other BiH citizens.' The public speculates that Jelavic had Ivo Lozancic, the NHI Vice President, the party Representative in the BiH Parliament, and the former Commander of the Zepce HVO Brigade, in mind when he stated this. Commenting on this speculation, Lozancic expressed his wonder that Ante Jelavic personally proclaimed someone a suspect in advance, without stating his arguments first. 'He took over the role of The Hague. Jelavic should explain his suspicions in public. Actually, this is a try to deceive the BiH public by washing dirty linen in public and by inventing the facts in order to prevent the taking over of the power by the Alliance and in order to preserve the positions of the national parties.' Lozancic stressed: 'Jelavic does not like the coalition of the Alliance members, and at the same time, they do not want to explain to the public a strange coalition of the HDZ, SDA and SDS. Unfortunately, the public knows very well that the war profiteer stated this, the person who served the regime of Slobodan Milosevic and Veljko Kadijevic in 1991, and who participated later in the preparations for the attacks to Pakrac, Borovo Selo and some other places in Croatia. Following the war events, the former JNA officer arrived to the HVO Logistic Center in Grude, where until 1998, he developed the smuggling of the weapon and cars, and thus out of a humble officer he turned into a millionaire. Thus, it is clear that Jelavic because of his past is giving vent to his complex by using the radical rhetoric and he is trying to turn himself into the protector of the Croat national interests'. He stressed that during and after the war Jelavic became a rich man on account of a smuggling business on the relation Zagreb-Grude- Neretva Valley. 'Truly, he is not qualified to talk about the Homeland War and the national interests. It is a pity for the Croat people to be represented by the leader who has no moral values of any kind. He is only interested to stay in power, because his deposition means that he might have the same fate as Kutle, Gucic and the other tycoons in Croatia. Ante Jelavic brings the BiH Croats into conflict with the IC, which might end with the extermination of the Croats and it is even sadder that he also brings them into the conflict with the legally elected Authority in Croatia. Federation Bicakcic informs Principal Deputy High Representative that he is accepting the position with Elektroprivreda: Federation Prime Minister, Edhem Bicakcic has sent a letter to the Principal Deputy High Representative, Ralph Johnson informing him of intentions to accept the position of the General Director of Elektroprivreda, Oslobodjenje reported. Bicakcic said that his original intention was to remain the Prime Minister till January 10th but that he is prepared to accept any other date set by Johnson as long as it is not longer than January 31st. Payment of August pensions begins in the Federation this week: Dnevni Avaz reported on the front page that the Federation government has informed the public on Tuesday that the payment of August pensions in the Federation will begin on Thursday. The pensions will be paid in their original amount without any cuts and will be paid according to a previously established system, the daily said. This was done despite earlier OHR announcement that this year payment of January pensions will be done in February while the payment of five late pensions will be postponed. OHR officials told Dnevni Avaz that they will meet with Federation representatives on Wednesday and ask for an explanation of the latest government decision. "Our position is that the implementation of the Pension Law, imposed by the High Representative, has to begin and there are no discussions about it," Chris Bird, OHR spokesman told the daily. Federation Constitutional Court to rule on several issues today: Federation Constitutional Court should at its session scheduled for Wednesday rule on several issues of vital importance, Oslobodjenje reported. The main issue is the constitutionality of the Mostar City Council's decision on compensations Elektroprivredas have to pay for the use of power plants on the Neretva river. The Court is also expected to rule on the so-called "old hard currency savings," of BiH citizens that were transformed into certificates. A group of Federation Parliament representatives have said that the saving should be turned into a public state debt. Federation government adopts a package of six fiscal laws: Federation government at its Tuesday's session has adopted a package of six fiscal laws that will be sent to the Federation Parliament for urgent adoption, Dnevni Avaz said. This was one of the pre-conditions of the World Bank for a new credit line and the government has informed the Bank that it has done its part of the job and that it should wait for the parliament decision now. The government also discussed the "Balkan syndrome," and has instructed the Health Ministry to investigate the entire case. Rector Zeljko Suman replies to German Ambassador Peters - 'Suspension of co-operation based on unilateral standpoints': Split daily Slobodna Dalmacija reported that the acting Rector of the Mostar University Zeljko Suman sent a reply to the letter of the German Ambassador to B&H, Hans Jochen Peters, on Tuesday, and expressed his surprise at the decision of the German Federal Government not to further the co-operation of the German organisations with the Mostar University for an indefinite period of time due to the removal of Rector Marko Tadic last autumn. "We are especially surprised at the fact that you are making your standpoint public in the time of continuous strengthening and intensification of the co-operation between the Mostar University and the universities and academic institutions in the Federal Republic of Germany," says Suman. He says the views stated in Peters' letter are unilateral, and claims that former Rector Tadic was "relieved of duty in a regular academic procedure in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Mostar University Statute." In Suman's words, in a secret voting process, Tadic received the vote of non-confidence from most of the University Senate members, after which, Suman claims, Tadic resigned and was consequently relieved of duty. Suman is sure that the co-operation between the Mostar University and the German academic community will continue. Vladimir Bilic, the FTV General Director, about the reconstruction of B&H public broadcasting system - 'Every journalist will read the news in his/her language only' Zagreb daily Vecernji List reported on Wednesday RTV BiH is ceasing to exist next week, but it will not cause any significant changes in the domestic media landscape. Namely, the current state television will be replaced by the Federal Television, which will take on all the employees. It is a result of the "decree" passed by the HR, Wolfgang Petritsch, who passed the Second Decision on the Restructuring of the public broadcasting system in B&H as far back as October last year. Under Petritsch's directive, a framework was set for the existence of three public televisions: the B&H Public Broadcasting Service, which will be functioning at the level of B&H in general, the Federal Radio and Television and the Radio and Television of Republika Srpska. The two entity televisions will be producing programs at their entity levels, and the program scheme will have 40% of domestic program at the minimum. Also, a considerable part of the program, under Petritsch's decision, must be made up of independent production. The Federal TV will not have an editor-in-chief, but the RTV Director will appoint radio and television news editors and chiefs of program departments. The radio and television in the RS will be managed by the Steering Board. Former RTV BiH Editor-in-chief Senad Hadzifejzovic thinks that the television (or the radio) cannot function without an editor-in-chief because "there is not one body that can function collectively in seconds." However, since this is not the first experiment that is tested on the Dayton Bosnia, there were no particularly loud reactions in Sarajevo to this concept of the international envoys. FTV General Director Vladimir Bilic said that there would be no editorial offices in exclusively Croatian or Bosnian languages. "We have the editorial offices that are working on both radio and television programs. Since October when the HR passed the Decision, we have been taking care that the series and films be translated into both Croatian and Bosnian languages. In the news and political program, the journalists will be speaking their respective languages. This means if someone is a Serb, he/she will be speaking in his/her language. The same applies on Croats and Bosniacs," said Bilic. News and Political Program Editor Marija Topic-Crnoja has recently presented the very ambitious concept of her editorial office. As of next Monday, the Federal TV will have three newscasts and "Vase Teme" broadcast, a 25-minute-long broadcast that will be created by the correspondent's offices from all over the Federation. "As far as language is concerned," says Topic-Crnoja, "according to Petritsch's decision, we have to find the journalists that speak the Croatian language, but we in the News and Political Program cannot function on the principle of having five minutes of spoken Bosnian language and then five minutes of Croatian. We want to have a better program, and if we have a chance to get skillful journalists who speak Croatian, naturally, we are in a better position." Republika Srpska Former RS President, Biljana Plavsic in The Hague: All Sarajevo and Banja Luka dailies reported on the front page that the former RS President, Biljana Plavsic on Tuesday left for The Hague. Front pages of both BL dailies are almost completely dedicated to Biljana Plavsic's departure to The Hague. However, there is slight different in reports of "GS" and "NN". While "GS" reports that Biljana Plavsic departed Banja Luka Airport and went to The Hague today around ten o'clock where she is going to voluntarily surrender to the ICTY, "NN" provides more details on the background and the event itself. "NN" reports that Plavsic was escorted by Svetozar Mihajlovic (SNS), representative of the US Consulate in Banja Luka and Milorad Dodik. "NN" learned from very well informed sources that on December 22nd Thomas Miller informed Plavsic that the indictment was raised against her. Although she was very surprised she asked Miller to get in touch with Carla Del Ponte and to ask her to let her spend Christmas vacation with his brother in Belgrade. Moreover, "NN" learned that Plavsic's indictment will not be much different from the one raised against Krajisnik. Defense team will consist of Krstan Simic (SNSD top official) and Zarko Banjac (Plavsic's ex-husband) and will demand that Biljana Plavsic get the opportunity to stand trial in absence. Since the RS Government has to provide certain guarantees for such procedure the FRY Justice Minister Vladan Batic will provide ones. According to sources close to SNS, Biljana Plavsic will hand over the document to the ICTY in which Radovan Karadzic ordered Plavsic's removal from Pale and her isolation from the RS leadership. The same sources expressed its belief that the Judicial Council would accept the proposal of the defense that Biljana Plavsic should stand trial in absence. Reactions to Plavsic's departure to The Hague: Mirko Sarovic says that there have been many controversies regarding Plavsic's departure to The Hague, and that he does not know whether she is going there as a witness or an indictee. "We shall comment on it when we get the official information from the ICTY", says Sarovic. Svetozar Mihajlovic (SNS top official) confirmed that Plavsic went to The Hague. "This voluntary departure of Ms. Plavsic only showed that she has some virtues that other politicians do not have - courage, boldness and honesty. I am quite convinced that she is going to prove her dignity as well as dignity of the Serb people. The Bosniaks accuse her of being involved in alleged war-crimes, and some Serbs that she is a traitor, but I think that both sides will soon be ashamed of what they said about her. The truth will come out very soon", says Mihajlovic. Dragan Kostic (president of DNS) says that he has just heard about the news. "No matter if Plavsic went there as a witness or as an indictee, I can only say that I am not very thrilled with the news", says Kostic. Sefer Halilovic (SBiH) says that Plavsic's appearance before The Hague should not be a sensational news. "I do not want to anticipate further steps of the ICTY because I still do not know if she is a witness or an indictee. However, it is up to the Tribunal to find it out", says Sefer Halilovic. Igor Radojicic (DSP) says that this is a scandalous move of the ICTY in case Plavsic is indicted for alleged war crimes. It is very disputable to indict a person who neither played political nor military role. It is quite clear that Plavsic did not command during the war, because vice-presidential post meant as much as it means nowadays. With this move the Tribunal enables raising indictment against wider circle of people who had not been involved in decision making during the war", says Radojicic. Sulejman Tihic (SDA vice-president) commends Plavsic's decision to appear before The Hague. "This is a very positive move and should be an example to all those who are summoned to the Hague, no matter if they are indicted or witnesses", says Tihic. Branko Dokic (PDP vice-president) assesses Plavsic's decision as a very moral act. "I am convinced that she has very strong evidence for her defense. This time she accepted, just as she used to do before, to be a victim and to go there where she can defend from all accusations", says Dokic. Mladen Ivanic (PDP President and RS PM designate) told the press that he was distributed with the news. For Ivanic this is yet another attempt of "imposing collective guilt on Serb people." International Community OHR positive about candidates for Una-Sana Canton governor: OHR's regional office in Bihac has sent a letter to the Una-Sana Canton Assembly in which it evaluated positively all three candidates for the President of the Canton, Sarajevo papers said. This move has opened the path for the Assembly representatives to go ahead and elect one of the candidates, dailies said. President of RS National Assembly meets with PDHR: President of RS National Assembly, Dragan Kalinic met on Tuesday in Banja Luka with the Principal Deputy High Representative, Ralph Johnson, Sarajevo and Banja Luka papers said. The main topics of the meeting were the preparations for session of RS National Assembly and the election of the new entity government, media said. Barry met with Ivanic, Silajdzic and Zubak; Today's edition of "GS" reports that Robert Barry met with Ivanic, Zubak and Silajdzic on Monday. After the meeting Barry stressed that accelerated implementation of election results was necessary.

The BiH Media Round-up is being compiled primarily for the OHR's internal purposes under time pressure. Please disregard grammar and typing mistakes. The mentioned media reports do not reflect OHR views, and the OHR does not take responsibility for them.

OHR BiH Media Round-up