- BH-Central Institutions
- SDA representatives comment proposal for the Chairman of BiH Council
of Ministers:
- Raguz to visit Banja Luka and meet with RS parliamentary parties:
- Judges of the RS and the Federation Constitutional Courts meet:
- BiH Action Plan for prevention of illegal traffic of people
discussed:
- Federation
- Payment of January pensions begins in the Federation:
- Mostar: The leaders of the City visited the waste dump Uborak : No
difficulties with the waste soon?:
- Kozarac returnees announce road blockage:
- Republika Srpska
- European Commission thinks that the RS needs radical economic
reforms
- Mladen Ivanic, the RS Prime Minister
- Single Interior Ministry unacceptable for RS officials:
- EU will continue to financially assist the RS:
- International community:
- Economy in BiH improved because of the laws the High Representative
passed:
- SFOR troops block vital institutions in Orasje:
- OHR comments proposals for natural restitution:
- The World Bank grants 15.5 million-dollar credit to demobilized
soldiers:
- Alexandra Stiglmayer, OHR spokesperson
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Central Institutions related Issues:
SDA representatives comment proposal for the Chairman of BiH Council of
Ministers:
s
Both Dnevni Avaz and Oslobodjenje dedicated their Wednesday's front pages
to SDA representatives' opinions on the proposed Chair of BiH Council of
Ministers, Martin Raguz.
SDA President, Alija Izetbegovic told Oslobodjenje that if Raguz fails his
mandate should be offered to the Alliance for Changes, underlining that
this is his personal view. SDA Vice-President, Sulejman Tihic told Dnevni
Avaz that this party will not support the mandatary from the Alliance.
Bosniak member of the BiH Presidency and member of the SDA, Halid Genjac
earlier stated that this party will support the Alliance candidate for the
Chair but Tihic said this was Genjac personal opinion and is not supported
by the SDA.
Raguz to visit Banja Luka and meet with RS parliamentary parties:
Sarajevo papers reported that Martin Raguz will visit Banja Luka on
Wednesday where he will meet with RS parliamentary parties. This is part
of his consultations with political parties on the establishment of BiH
Council of Ministers. According to Dnevni Avaz Raguz will among others
meet with Mladen Ivanic, Zivko Radisic, Mirko Sarovic, Milorad Dodik and
Dragan Kalinic. According to the same daily SNS and SNSD will not support
Raguz because their officials said that BiH Council of Ministers should be
formed without the representatives of the national parties: SDS, SDA and
HDZ.
Judges of the RS and the Federation Constitutional Courts meet:
Oslobodjenje reported that judges of the RS and the Federation
Constitutional Courts held a working meeting in Banja Luka on Tuesday.
They evaluated that it is necessary to further improve the control and
protection of constitutionality in all segments of life and that this
would contribute to the stability of the legal system and the rule of law
in the country, the daily said.
BiH Action Plan for prevention of illegal traffic of people discussed:
BiH Council of Ministers Working Group for struggle against illegal
traffic of people at its meeting in Banja Luka on Tuesday discussed the
BiH action plan intended to prevent traffic of illegal immigrants,
Sarajevo papers said. The plan is to be presented to the Council of
Ministers in February and officials invited representatives of the
international community to actively take part in creation and
implementation of the action plan.
Federation
Payment of January pensions begins in the Federation:
Zarif Safic, Pension Fund spokesman told the press that payment of January
pensions has started in the Federation on Tuesday and was already
completed in the Bosansko-Podrinje canton. It will continue on Wednesday
in the Sarajevo canton. Safic added that all but the minimal pensions were
decreased some 14 percent.
An unnamed OHR source commenting the Federation government decision to
start payments of pensions despite the fact that all the funds were not
collected told Dnevni Avaz that ``it is not clear to us what was agreed
and we will ask the Federation government to send us a written
explanation.''
Mostar: The leaders of the City visited the waste dump Uborak : No
difficulties with the waste soon?:
Split daily Slabodna Dalmacija reported that the leaders of Mostar, the
Mayor Safet Orucevic and Deputy Mayor Neven Tomic, and the Head and Deputy
Head of the Department for Infrastructure, Zara Markic and Ibrahim Sehic,
visited the waste dump Uborak, the recycling plant and temporary waste
dump in Bisce Polje. The Deputy Mayor Tomic stated he thinks that there
are no political obstacles , and if they exist, they would be overcome so
that the problem of rubbish dump in Mostar could be resolved in a
cost-effective way and the new working places might be opened. The Mayor
Orucevic emphasised that there are technical pre-conditions and experts
so that the waste-dump problem could be resolved in a quality way, since
the present solutions are inadmissible.
The waste dump Uborak is the only sanitary waste dump in B&H. It was
financed with the funds of the European Union, amounting for 4,5 million
DM. The waste dump was completed in 1997 and given to the City to manage
it. The KOMOS Company manages it now, and its capacity is 400 000 m3.
Almost 100 tons of waste is disposed in Mostar every day.
Kozarac returnees announce road blockage:
Sarajevo-based news agency Onasa reported that the returnees to the
Kozarac settlement announced on Tuesday a protest meeting and said
they would block the road Prijedor-Banja Luka on February 1, because they
are dissatisfied with the delays
in the decision on the reconstruction of school and closing the refugee
center,
which is currently situated in the school.
The residents of the Kozarac center, 120 Serb refugees and displace
persons,
do not want to leave it until the Prijedor municipality provides them
with the
alternative accommodation. They rejected the offered accommodation
in the
Pensioners' Home or the adapted alternative housing.
"We just want a final decision. We would even be satisfied with
barracks
built around Kozarac or some similar housing ensured for the Bosniak
returnees.
Our aim is to get our own roof above our heads, and not a Pensioners'
Home,
which only five residents of the center is entitled to," said Veljko
Topic, a
refugee from Novi Travnik, who has been living in this center for nine
years.
The reconstruction of the "Rade Kondic" Primary School building in
Kozarac
was announced last year at a meeting of OHR, UNHCR, OSCE and other
international
organizations representatives with the Prijedor municipality
representatives.
Last Thursday, they met again and once again postponed the start
beginning
of the reconstruction, which was announced for mid-January and which
would last
until May this year.
According to the Prijedor Department for refugees and displaced
persons Head
Mirko Brkic, residents of the refugee center will be given 36
apartments in
Ljubija, which were reconstructed with RS Government assets as
alternative
housing for residents of the Prijedor refugee centers.
Republika Srpska
To Judge the Government on its Results
Glas Srpski reported that Ambassador of the European Union Hans Jorg
Kretschmer thinks that the RS citizens are facing very difficult economic
situation out of which the only exit is through radical changes.
After meetings with the RS Vice President Dragan Cavic, RS NA Speaker
Dragan Kalinic, RS PM Mladen Ivanic, five Minister from the Cabinet and BL
Mufti, Kretschmer stated that many difficult decisions and meeting of
criteria for entering the European Integration are before the RS
authorities.
"For the success of necessary economic reforms, a fight against corruption
is one of pre conditions which would significantly decrease the budget
deficit", said Kretschmer.
Further compromises would jeopardize support of SDS
Glas Srpski quoted RS PM Mladen Ivanic as saying that it was possible he
wouldn't be able to do anything more about possible additional compromises
with the IC regarding the composition of the Cabinet since the SDS could,
in such case, withdraw its support to the new RS Government.
"I think I did all I could. Now we have a stabile government, with stabile
majority support at the RS National Assembly and I think the IC should
judge this government based on moves it makes and not on its symbols",
said Ivanic in the interview to Reuters, SRNA and GS carry.
Ivanic, who dismissed Trade Minister Goran Popovic from SDS, pressured by
the US officials, assessed that, with this change in the Government he
could fulfill conditions for the International support.
Single Interior Ministry unacceptable for RS officials:
Sarajevo-based news agency Onasa reported that an initiative of Head of
the UN Mission in BiH Jacques Klein on the establishment of the single
interior ministry (MUP) at the
state level, supported by the BiH Federation MUP, is unacceptable
for the
Republika Srpska officials.
Head of the office of the RS MUP minister Boris Ivanovic told ONASA
that the
initiative has not been officially sent to the RS MUP.
Ivanovic said the initiative is a political matter that
strikes the constitutional issues and legal acts, so it "cannot be
addressed in this way.
He said that there is a need for a sharper resistance to the crime,
"which does not recognize entities or any state borders," adding
that the RS MUP already "has fertile cooperation" with MUPs of
Federation and neighboring counties.
Vice-President of the Party of Democratic Progress (PDP) Zoran
Djeric told
ONASA that his party is against the establishment of the state MUP,
because such
concept is destroying the Dayton agreement.
He said it is necessary to improve the cooperation between the
entity MUPs
and to make the police more professional. Djeric also said the
principle of
multi-ethnicity must be respected.
Secretary General of the Democratic Socialistic Party (DSP) Igor
Radojicic
reminded that the Federation has been initiating the "centralization" of
the MUP
before.
Although it is needed to establish the cooperation between the
entity
political bodies, particularly the MUPs, to combat smuggling, crimes and
illegal
immigration, "that does not mean that we should centralize the bodies and
form a
single MUP at the level of BiH,? Radojicic said.
He said that there are countries, such as the United States, in
which the
MUP is not centralized, adding that a certain level of inter-entity
coordination
and cooperation should be ensured to ?fight the problems that are common
in the
two entities in the state of BiH.?
Spokesperson for the Serb National Alliance (SNS) Mira Lolic-Mocevic
said it
is too early to talk about the single MUP, but that the entities should
ensure
professionalization and cooperation of the MUPs, ?because we live in
the same
country.?
She stressed that ?one MUP and one army are impossible in this
moment.?
A member of the Party of Independent Social-Democrats (SNSD) Rajko
Vasic
said the initiative came from the Federation, as ?another
unrealistic and artificial solution.
Vasic said the SNSD believes the cooperation between the entity MUPs
in all
fields is needed and "sufficient" for the functioning of the MUPs.
EU will continue to financially assist the RS:
RS news agency Srna reported that the EU will continue to financially
assist the RS government, but the government and Parliament will have to
comply with certain EU requests so that RS and BiH might join the European
community, said the EU ambassador, Hans Jorg Kretchmer. He said the EU
requests pertain to implementation of property laws, cooperation with the
Hague Tribunal, implementation of the BiH Constitutional Court decision
that al three peoples are constituent throughout BiH, and compliance with
UN resolutions, which, he said, take precedence over domestic laws.
International community related issues:
Economy in BiH improved because of the laws the High Representative
passed:
Improvement in BiH economy was noted in last three months, thanks to the
laws imposed by the High Representative, Alexandra Stiglmayer, head of OHR
Public Affairs told a news conference, Sarajevo papers reported. The
improvements are reported in privatization and infrastructure and in
establishing a legal frame needed for the transition to market economy,
Stiglmayer said. The High Representative has, in the period from November
12 to December 20 last year, imposed 20 laws and amendments in order to
enable the further economy growth of BiH, the OHR official said.
Stiglmayer at the same presser invited the HDZ and its satellite parties
to start seriously working in the legal institutions of the Federation and
not meet at strange assemblies and pass strange decisions.
SFOR troops block vital institutions in Orasje:
SFOR troops last night blocked several vital institutions in Orasje,
Dnevni Avaz reported on Wednesday. The police station, the canton
government building, the National Security Service building and the center
of HTP telecommunications were blocked in this action and SFOR inspected
these sites, Posavina canton officials told the press.
OHR comments proposals for natural restitution:
Commenting the Islamic Community's petition supporting the natural
restitution OHR spokesman, Oleg Milisic told Dnevni Avaz that ``if the
Federation and the RS want to carry out the restitution of the confiscated
property they have to have programs based on real financial options,'' and
have to define what property is viable for restitution, how much will this
process cost, who will finance it and who will implement it.
Milisic added that the international community is fully aware of the
sensibility of this issue.
The World Bank grants 15.5 million dollar credit to demobilized soldiers:
The World Bank has granted a 15.5 million dollars credit intended to help
demobilized soldiers of BiH armed forces. World Bank officials told a news
conference on Tuesday that 11 million dollars will go to the Federation
and 4.5 to the RS and the credit is intended to help the reintegration of
former soldiers into civilian society. The credit is to be returned within
35 years with a 10-year grace period, papers said.
Sabor - a Debate Club only
Nezavisne Novine carry a statement of Alexandra Stiglmayer, OHR
spokesperson, from the SA Press Conference referring to Croat National
Parliament:
We do not think that the Croatian National Assembly has any legal
importance. It is a club for debate as there are many other clubs. We
expect the HDZ and its satellite parties to start working seriously. They
have been elected to work in the FBiH legal institutions and not to gather
in some strange National Assembly and decide on some strange things. That
is their legal obligation and we also think that HDZ cannot assert they
are the only ones that can represent the Croat nation in BiH. It is true
that the HDZ received a lot of votes, but allegations that they received
90 percent of all Croats votes are exaggerated as many Croats did not vote
at all while some Croats voted for other parties. We expect the HDZ to
become more serious and start working at the positions it was elected for.
She also added, NN carry, that IC would not use force to make HDZ take
part in the work of Federal institutions.
Unusual invitation of the Head of the OSCE Mission to B&H: Ambassador
Barry invited 37 Croats:
Split daily Slobodna Dalmacija reported that the American Ambassador
Robert L. Barry, who is presently performing the duty of the Head of the
OSCE Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina, has sent out recently a very
interesting invitation in which, as he says, 'he has the honour to invite
for an informative meeting and discussion on the implementation of the
elections results, and the role of the Croat people in B&H in that
process'. The mentioned meeting will be held in the conference hall of the
Office of the Head of the OSCE Mission in Sarajevo. It is interesting for
one to analyse as to who the 37 invited Croats are, whom Barry still
trusts and which criteria he used when he selected them. They are mainly
the intellectuals from Sarajevo, who are known to be, apart from few
honourable exceptions, strong detractors of the HDZ B&H, which received
more than 90% of votes of all Croats in B&H at the last general elections.
It is clear that those invited can speak just in their own name, while
those Croats who have legitimacy and legality acquired at the elections,
have not been invited at all. The invitation is, also, one more obvious
attempt of Barry to disunite the Bosnian and Herzegovinian Franciscans to
its structures. How else can it be interpreted that Barry invites the
present and former Provincial of Bosna Srebrna, fr. Mijo Dzolan and Petar
Andjelovic and not also the Herzegovinian Provincial, Dr. fr. Tomislav
Pervan and Andrija Nikic, a university professor and author of nearly 60
books.
Zagreb's Vecernji List journalist J. Pavkovic, in the article titled
'Meeting for chosen Croats,' comments on the same subject:
"However wise those discussions may be, they cannot solve the problem of
establishment of the authorities and position the role of the Croat people
properly. If Barry needs an academic group to back up that the electoral
and post-electoral process conducted by the OSCE was constitutional,
legal, democratic and European, then they should have discussed those
issues before the elections. The results are known now. They should be
respected, just like the will of all peoples in accordance with the B&H
Constitution. At least such are the principles in the civilised democratic
countries."
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