- BiH Central Institutions-related Issues
- BiH Parliament's House of Representatives to discuss the appointment
of the new Chair of the Council of Ministers next week;
- Federation
- Pensions according to the new Law to start in July!?;
- Republika: BiH is plundered by those who are supposed to help it -
the international "humanitarians" and local politicians (full text);
- Serb Cultural society "Prosvjeta" re-established in Mostar;
- Croatian Parliament forms a delegation to look into the position of
Croats in BiH;
- Republika Srpska
- SNS: RS Representatives in the House of Representatives formed two
clubs;
- Conference on Refugee Returns in Banja Luka;
- Mirko Sarovic and Mladen Ivanic met the head of the UNHCR;
- Vjesnik: Radovan Karadzic getting increasingly insecure in his
hiding place:
- International community:
- Wolfgang Petritsch to meet members of the Federation TV Council on
Tuesday;
- Wolfgang Petritsch reacts to Thomas Friedman's article in The New
York Times;
- OHR promotes new serial "Koliko jos...":
- Brcko District:
- Brcko returnees expect Garry Matthews to penalize obstructionist SDS
officials;
|
BiH Central Institutions-related Issues:
BiH Parliament's House of Representatives to discuss the appointment of
the new Chair of the Council of Ministers next week:
After a two hour debate, the Collegium of the BiH Parliament's House of
Representatives made a decision not to include the discussion on the
appointment of the new chair of the Council of ministers on the agenda of
Monday's session. As an explanation, the Collegium members said that there
were no conditions for such a discussion since the members of the BiH
Presidency were not present at the meeting. It was agreed that the issue
of the new Chair would be discussed within seven-ten days.
Federation
Pensions according to the new Law to start in July!?:
Dnevni Avaz quotes officials of the PIO Fund as saying that the
disbursement of pensions according to the new Law on Pension Fund will not
begin until July. The Director of the PIO Fund, Sead Zeco, said that the
mid-year is the best time for the new beginning, since the PIO expects
higher flow of funds at that time. "We are planning to start paying
pensions simultaneously in all cantons in the Federation from July on.
There will be a sufficient amount of funds at that time to secure an
interrupted process, " Zeco told Avaz, and added that he hopes that the
situation with pensions will stabilize before July.
Republika: BiH is plundered by those who are supposed to help it - the
international "humanitarians" and local politicians (full text):
International organizations and embassies in BiH employ over 20,000 BiH
residents whose average monthly salary amounts to over a thousand marks,
which is an exceptionally high income under the circumstances, since the
average salary in the BiH Federation amounts to 410 marks.
The problem is that the international organizations have not been paying
the contributions for the retirement and invalidity insurance for their
personnel for five years now. Taking into account the average salary of
1,000 marks, and under the legal tax rate of 33%, the MIO Mostar and PIO
(pension funds) Sarajevo funds are cheated out of around 80 million marks
a year, or, multiplied by the 5 years for which the taxes have not been
paid, they have been deprived of almost 500 million marks!
OHR Spokesperson in Sarajevo Alexandra Stiglmayer confirmed that the OHR
is having talks with other international organizations and embassies to
co-ordinate their actions because some of the organizations have resolved
this issue by using private insurance companies.
"We have to resolve the issue of the functioning of the funds first, and
then we shall be ready to pay the taxes. We allocated the funds for that
purpose as far back as 1999, however, we have not received a response from
the Foreign Ministry ever since. The matter is at a standstill for the
time being, and we will not be paying the contributions before we get a
response and explicit guarantees that everything would be legal and
transparent," stated Alexandra Stiglmayer.
She appealed to the Federal Ministry of Welfare, Refugees and DPs to deal
with the problem of "black labor." Minister Sulejman Garib replied and
stated that he has nothing against it, but that one should put one's own
house in order first. In his words, it is ironic not to be paying taxes
for their employees, but call others for such an action.
"We appeal to the employees of the international organizations to pay the
taxes by themselves into the bank accounts of the MIO and PIO because only
in that way will they be able to attain their rights and have their years
of service counted. Also, I appeal to the OHR to start a joint action of
collecting revenues at all levels and for all the employees because that
is the only way of improving the exceptionally bad and complex state of
the revenues paid to the MIO and PIO funds, which would eventually help
out pensioners," stated Garib for Republika.
"The OHR employees are paying a private health insurance, like the OSCE
employees. The OHR is ready to pay the taxes for its local staff although
we are not obliged to do it since we are a diplomatic institution. We have
agreed with the BiH Ministry of Foreign Affairs to pay taxes for the
amount of two average salaries in the BiH Federation, and we asked to be
told explicitly as to which accounts those funds would be paid into," said
Alexandra Stiglmayer.
Serb Cultural society "Prosvjeta" re-established in Mostar:
According to Slobodna Dalmacija, the Serb Cultural Society "Prosvjeta" has
been re-established in Mostar, after an eight year long pause. The society
held a founding assembly, and chose the journalist Sinisa Jokic for its
President, and Jelena Sotric and Ratko Pejanovic for the Vice Presidents.
According to Jokic, the re-establishment of Prosvjeta will contribute to
the return of Serb refugees and DPs to the Neretva Valley.
Croatian Parliament forms a delegation to look into the position of Croats
in BiH:
Republika reports that the Croatian Parliament has formed a five-member
delegation, headed by Zdravko Tomac, and which is to visit BiH before
February 3 and brief the Parliament about the problems and the status of
Bosnian Croats. According to Republika, the Croatian Parliament will, on
the basis of the results of this mission, adopt a resolution about BiH.
The delegation also includes Milan Kovac (HDZ), Mate Granic (DC), Djurdja
Adlesic (HSLS), and Josip Torbar (HSS).
Republika Srpska
SNS: RS Representatives in the House of Representatives formed two clubs:
According to the SNS (Serb National Alliance) officials, RS
representatives in the BiH Parliament's House of Representatives have
formed two clubs: the SDS club and the club comprised of 5 members from
the PDP, the SNSD-DSP, the SPRS and the SNS. He said that this second club
will be the deciding factor in the HoR, and, by the end of this week, its
members will decide whether they would support the Alliance for Change or
not. SNS officials conceded that there are certain things in the
Alliance's Protocol that the SNS dislikes, such as the joint BH army
joining NATO; the method of representation and voting in common
institutions; the transfer of duties from entity to state bodies, which is
against the GFAP, etc. According to the SNS Vice President, Branislav
Lolic, these issue will be discussed in the coming weeks.
Conference on Refugee Returns in Banja Luka:
RTRS reports that the international conference on problems accompanying
refugee returns is being held in Banja Luka on Tuesday. The
representatives of the BiH joint institutions, the RS Government, the BiH
Federation Government, the diplomatic core and the international
organizations operating in the BiH will be participating in the work of
the conference, which would discuss the possible ways of establishing the
sustainable returns. The representatives of the Governments of the FRY and
Croatia will also be participating in the work of the conference. The
conference is to be opened by the Chairman of the BiH Presidency, Zivko
Radisic. The Chair of the BiH Council of Ministers, Martin Raguz, and the
Secretary of the International League of Humanists, Zdravko Surlan are
scheduled to deliver introductory speeches.
Mirko Sarovic and Mladen Ivanic met the head of the UNHCR:
In separate meetings on Monday, the RS President, Mirko Sarovic, and the
RS Prime Minister, Mladen Ivanic, met with Verner Blatter, the head of the
UNHCR. During the meeting, they discussed the process of refugee returns
and the implementation of property legislation. Following the talks,
Blatter expressed his satisfaction with the increasing number of returns
to the RS. However, he said he was concerned with the fact that returnees
are often faced with security problems. Blatter also stressed that there
is a growing need for the International Community to provide more
financial resources for BiH, intended for the reconstruction of
infrastructure.
Vjesnik: Radovan Karadzic getting increasingly insecure in his hiding
place:
The circle around Radovan Karadzic is definitely getting closed. 'Vjesnik'
learns from its sources in Eastern Herzegovina that the fall of Slobodan
Milosevic and the announced removal of some Yugoslav generals disturbed
very much the former leader of the Bosnian Serbs. He got disturbed
additionally after Momcilo Krajisnik was arrested and Biljana Plavsic went
to The Hague. It is not a secret that Karadzic has been hiding in the
region of the Eastern Herzegovina, on the route Trebinje-Foca-Visegrad.
Quite logically, Karadzic chose that region as the most secure for his
shelter for many reasons. Also, that area is in the zone of responsibility
of the SFOR French soldiers. One could hear different stories about their
(un)biased approach when it comes to Karadzic's (lack of) arrest - even
those that they, allegedly, met Karadzic at the check points and that some
of their commanders went for a talk with the former leader of the Bosnian
Serbs. In the meanwhile, while changing his place of residence - however,
not in a too broad area, Karadzic is still writing his memoirs on, some
people say, a couple of thousands of pages. Allegedly, he has time enough
to run his business, with the assistance of his two brothers in Niksic,
who became rich overnight. Those who are well informed about the
circumstances in Montenegro say that Karadzic's brothers bought a big
number of luxurious houses and business premises in Niksic, Podgorica and
at the Montenegrin coast owing just to Radovan's capital, that is to say
owing to what the former leader of the Bosnian Serbs acquired mainly by
plundering in the course of his rule.
International community related issues:
Wolfgang Petritsch to meet members of the Federation TV Council on
Tuesday:
According to Onasa news agency, an unidentified member of the Federation
TV Council told this agency that, at today's meeting, the High
Representative, Wolfgang Petritsch, will announce his decision to reduce
the size of the Council from 21 to seven members. The same source said
that Petritsch will also discuss this decision with members of the RTV BiH
Union and the Council itself. Onasa reports that the latter bodies are
unanimous in their criticism of the decision, which they call
'dishonorable'. "It is dishonorable to dismiss 14 members of the Council,
since they genuinely wanted to work for the Federation TV, unlike those
who will remain, and who are ready to unreservedly support every decision
of the High Representative:, the same source said. Commenting on this
issue, OHR's Spokesman Oleg Milisic told Onasa that the Council that the
Federation TV Council itself proposed the new structure, which is indeed
needed since the tasks planned for the next three months will need speedy
actions, which is very difficult to accomplish with a 21-member Council.
Wolfgang Petritsch reacts to Thomas Friedman's article in The New York
Times:
Oslobodjenje and the OBN Television carried a SENSE Agency report about
strong reactions to the recent article by Thomas Friedman, and which was
published in The New York Times. The SENSE summarizes Friedman's arguments
and quotes the letter sent by the High Representative, Wolfgang Petritsch,
in which he argues that the partition is not a solution for BiH. (For the
full text see the attachment). Dnevni Avaz also carried the letter, as
well as a shorter column praising the efforts of the High Representative
and the Head of the OSCE Mission to BiH, Robert Berry, who wrote their
commentaries to the Friedman's article. The leader of the SDP, Zlatko
Lagumdzija, stressed that Petritsch's and Barry's responses to Friedman
were of crucial importance, and came at the right time.
Meanwhile, The Christian Science Monitor published an editorial written by
a reputable defense policy scholar, Ted Galen Carpenter, in which he
suggests to the new US Administration to leave the Balknas immediately if
it does not want to "carry the Balkans as an albatross around its neck."
OHR promotes new serial "Koliko jos...":
Dnevni Avaz reports that the High Representative, Wolfgang Petritsch, held
a press conference yesterday, during which he promoted a new OHR serial
"Koliko jos..." According to the OHR, the main theme of the serial will be
the life and testimonies of refugees and relocated persons in BiH, and
some of the episodes will be shown in the FRY and Croatia, as well. During
the conference, Petritsch said that he will never accept the paradox of
too many people in BiH taking their relocation as something normal. "I
will never accept this, for this is not a normal situation, and we will
encourage the people to take their destiny into their own hands and to
return to their homes," said Petritsch.
Brcko District:
Brcko returnees expect Garry Matthews to penalize obstructionist SDS
officials:
The Association of people from Brcko "Povratak" expects from Supervisor of
Brcko, Gary Matthews, to incisively react on the obstructions of the SDS
councilors and that he, in accordance with his authorities, will announce
as valid the law on abandoned property in the District.
The Association "Povratak" in its press release emphasizes that the law
was not been adopted at the last session of the Brcko District Assembly,
although it was in the process of adoption since October 2000.
"The SDS councillors refused to vote for this law, even though it is
completely in accordance with the set of property laws imposed by the High
Representative", the press release says.
The Association "Povratak" also opposes the attempts to appoint as the
head of Division for refugees in the department of urbanism, real estate
affairs and return Slobodan Mikic, called Bob, "who came from Serbia, got
employed in OHR, and through working in the Multiethnic Housing Commission
got the reputation of a man who maximally interceded in favor of slowing
down or making completely impossible return of expelled Bosniaks and
Croats to Brcko".
The press release emphasizes that some employees of the OHR participate in
that activity and warns that eventual replacement of Mr. Ranko Sehovac,
who works fairly in the Division for Refugees and as substitute engage
Slobodan Mikic-Bob, would present one more serious damage to the return to
Brcko.
|
