HDZ-related news HVO soldiers taking Federation insignia off of their uniforms?; OHR: Doors are open for participation of the HDZ in legal processes; US Ambassador Thomas Miller says the International Community will not impose economic sanctions on the Croat people; Croatian Economic Union from Munich: Petritsch is an executioner of Croathood; Federation Croat POWs protest appointment of Sefer Halilovic as the Minister of Social Politics, Refugees and DPs; Republika Srpska The RS Government passes the draft Law on Free Access to Information; The RS National Assembly hold session; Editorials: Vjesnik: Petritsch's great authorities compared to small achievements; Jutarnji List: International Community still ignoring Croatian initiative for the change of Dayton Agreement; HDZ-related news (see also editorials) HVO soldiers taking Federation insignia off of their uniforms?: According to ONASA news agency's Mostar correspondent, HVO soldiers in the Federation Army are taking the Federation insignia off of their uniforms and placing BiH state and/or Croat self-rule symbols instead. This information could not be confirmed by HDZ or the Federation army officials in Mostar, or any other official sources in the entity. The Radio Free Europe, however, reported yesterday that Ante Jelavic ordered Miroslav Prce, the then Federation Minister of Defense, to dismiss HVO soldiers and tell them to remove the joint insignia from their uniforms. The new minister, Mojo Anic, told the RFE that he was aware of this order, and explained that the initial plan was to keep only the minimal number of soldiers as a security in HVO barracks. Meanwhile, speaking at a live program of the Croatian Television (HRT) late last night, the removed Croat member of the BiH Presidency, Ante Jelavic, dismissed allegations (coming from some sources in Croatia) that the HVO has been disbanded. "The HVO is an integral military part of the Croat people," said Jelavic who also could not deny or confirm whether HVO soldiers in BiH are removing the Federation insignia off of their uniforms. He added, however, that the HVO could not be left to the Alliance, which is, as he said, established in an illegal and illegitimate fashion. "For God's sake, Ivo Komsic (SDP) was the civilian commander of the BiH Army - the Muslim army - in the Croat-Muslim war. The history would remember us for placing the HVO under the control of Ivo Komsic and Ivan Brigic (SDP), who was the head of the Political component of the BiH Army," said Jelavic. Commenting on the allegations that soldiers of the Croat component are trying to separate from the Federation army, Oslobodjenje military affairs columnist writes that this move should be relatively easy to accomplish since certain HVO unites within the Federation army retained internal structures which would allow for an easy separation, e.g., the First (Croat) Guardian Unit commanded by the General Zlatan Mijo Jelic, and which is based in Mostar. According to daily's commentator, this unit represents the nucleus of the HVO. OHR: Doors are open for participation of the HDZ in legal processes: All Federation media quote OHR spokesman Oleg Milisic as saying that the High Representative is always open for a dialogue with representatives of the HDZ who respect the law, international treaties and the BiH Constitution. Milisic explained that Ante Jelavic discredited himself as a member of the Presidency by flagrantly violating the constitution, and added that the HR did not have any other choice but to remove him. US Ambassador Thomas Miller says the International Community will not impose economic sanctions on the Croat people: In an interview with Zagreb's Nacional, the US Ambassador Thomas Miller said that the International Community is closely watching every move of the HDZ, for there is an overall consensus among the foreign actors that actions of this party are contrary to the Dayton Peace Agreement. He also said that he hopes that Ante Jelavic and his associates will return to the positions that are in the interest of the general Croat population in BiH, and stop protecting their own narrow interests. Commenting on the possible economic sanctions against the HDZ, Miller said that no one in the International Community has intention to penalize the Croat people in BiH, but their irresponsible leaders. "There are individuals who live in luxurious houses, drive expensive cars and live lives that drastically stand out from the average standard in BiH. These individuals enjoy the people's confidence and most work in the public institutions," said Miller, and added that someone should finally start questioning how they have acquired such luxury. Croatian Economic Union from Munich: Petritsch is an executioner of Croathood: In a statement for the press, the Croatian Economic Union from Munich, Germany criticized the recent dismissal of senior HDZ officials by the High Representative, Wolfgang Petritsch. "Perhaps it is not a coincidence that you, an Austrian, was given to role of the executioner of the Croathood in BiH, for Mr. High Commissioner [should be Representative], high officials of the International Community needed a quasi diplomat who would misunderstand the DPA...and try to make a miniature clone of Yugoslavia. However, Mr. Petritsch, you are doing it in such a clumsy and ignorant manner that, judging from the latest reports from Brussels, your days in BiH are outnumbered. Federation Croat POWs protest appointment of Sefer Halilovic as the Minister of Social Politics, Refugees and DPs: The Croat Association of the POW of the Homeland War issued a press release in which they expressed their displeasure over the fact that Sefer Halilovic, the retired General of the BiH Army, was appointed the Minister of Labor, Social Politisc, Displaced Persons and Refugees in the Government of the BiH Federation. "As from January 29, 1993 Halilovic directed the majority of military operations in the Croat dominated territories. Soon after that he became the Head of the Main Hqs of the BiH Army in order to supervise and coordinate military actions of the plan 'Neretva 93', within which horrible crimes over Croat civilians and war prisoners were committed", read the press release. POWs also claimed that Halilovic bears responsibility for numerous crimes other committed in the Central BiH and is very likely to be on The Hague list of indicted war criminals. "Therefore, his appointment to the post in the Federation government is highly controversial," read the statement. Republika Srpska The RS Government passes the draft Law on Free Access to Information: At yesterday's session held in Banja Luka, the RS Government passed the draft Law on Free Access to Information, which was proposed by the OHR. On the basis of the law, all information, except for those that are in the interest of the defense and security, crime prevention, and information of special importance, will be accessible to the public. The Government appointed Damir Miljevic from Banja Luka, as the counselor for the privatization and economic issues, and Nedeljko Mitrovic, also from Banja Luka, as the President for Commission for Missing Persons. The RS National Assembly hold session: The RS National Assembly is expected to hold its 3rd session today. Amongst 26 points on agenda, the session is to discuss the report on budget realization for last year and the bases of economic policy of the RS for the year of 2001. Deputies are also to debate 10 proposed bills and two draft laws, the proposed program of this years' parliament curriculum. The session will address Laws within the fields of finance and tax policy, the proposed laws within the field of medical care, and the report of the Poll Commission in charge of investigating facts related to the taking of Jasenovac camp archive. Editorials: Vjesnik: Petritsch's great authorities compared to small achievements: It is the High Representative of the International Community, Wolfgang Petritsch, not a Prime Minister of one of the Governments (BiH, FBiH, RS...), nor a Presidency member or any other "local" official, that is nowadays the political personality No.1 in Bosnia-Herzegovina. His authorities are far broader than the authorities of any of the officials or the institution in BiH (Petritsch can remove any of them, and they can only resent his decisions), and the circumstances in BiH are such that Petritsch uses his broad authorities abundantly. He removes politicians, including the ones on highest positions, he passes laws, he abolishes laws and other decisions that are adopted through a regular procedure.... At the time when he was preparing himself for his service in BiH, the press published that Petritsch was visiting Vienna antique shops and was providing himself with literature on the country he was getting ready to go to. A weekly newspaper published that Petritsch provided himself with the books written before the World War I, but that he omitted one author - the former Austrian Administrator in Bosnia, Benjamin Kallay. Petritsch has obviously made an effort to acquaint himself with something about BiH and has not let himself fall under the influence of the politician who is in BiH remembered only for having (unsuccessfully) tried to create the Bosniak nation [this Bosniak, at Kallay's time, refered to all peoples in BiH not only to Muslims, i.e., Kallay tried to create a unified BiH nation - civic identity]. Today, one could not really say that he has been fully successful in this; Still, there are certain similarities between him and Kallay! Both arrived to BiH "through Belgrade". Before he took over his current office in mid-1999, Petritsch was an Austrian Ambassador in the FR Yugoslavia, and Benjamin Kallay, who ruled Bosnia between 1882 and 1903, was an Austrian Consul General in Serbia from 1868 to 1875. Petritsch's service in Belgrade, particularly its last year, actually represented a solid preparation for the role he was later to assume. To tell the truth, even before having dealt with the Kosovo issue, Petritsch had had the reputation of a good connoisseur of the Balkans, and, as the Kosovo crisis grew into a real war and coincided with the Austrian 6-month long presiding of the European Union (second half of 1998), he, by "nature of things", became the EU Envoy for Kosovo and played the role of the main negotiator at the Serbia-Kosovo negotiations in Rambouillet. When it comes to Petritsch's qualifications and qualities that can be relevant for the job he nowadays performs, it should certainly be mentioned that he is a historian by vocation (he got his Ph. D degree in the field of the history of South-Eastern Europe) and that he, thanks to his precise and open talk, had the reputation of a "non-diplomatic diplomat" even before he started to deal with the Balkans issues. Before joining the diplomatic service, he was the Secretary and the Chief of the Cabinet of the Austrian Chancellor Bruno Kreisky. His biographers claim that he was in Austria considered an ideal personnel-wise solution at the time when Austrian reputation in the world was jeopardized. For instance, at the time when his country was on the agenda due to the Nazi history of the then Austrian president Kurt Waldheim, for 7 years he performed the duty of the Spokesperson of the Austrian Embassy to the UN in New York. That stage of Petritsch's career was not spared from difficulties and stress: the then Foreign Minister Alois Mock suspected that he played an active role in revealing Waldheim's Nazi past which nearly ended his diplomatic career. He nevertheless kept the position of the Spokesperson and, to Mock's suspicions, replied: "I truly played no role in that except that I sent impartial reports on what difficulties Austria would face if Waldheim became the president". Some of the elements of Petritsch's biography are a brilliant recommendation for the job he now performs, however the problems BiH has been facing are huge. Next July will mark the 2-year period that the "non-diplomatic diplomat" has been dealing with them and the results achieved, no matter by what methods they are estimated, are not brilliant. Where are Petritsch's predecessors nowadays? Before Wolfgang Petritsch, the duty of he High Representative was performed by Swede Carl Bildt (1996-1997) and Spaniard Carlos Westendorp (1997-1999). After he had left BiH, Bildt dedicated himself to the political career in his own country, but he did not manage to get the duty of the Prime Minister so he again dedicated himself to the international diplomacy. Today, he performs the duty of the UN Special Envoy for the Balkans and, from time to time, he attracts the domestic public's attention by regional cooperation projects. Bildt's successor Carlos Westendorp had, just like Wolfgang Petritsch, achieved a distinguished diplomatic career before coming to BiH and his service in BiH was supposed to serve as a new takeoff. The goal was, as it was speculated, the duty of the president of the European Commission or the EU Commissioner for Foreign Policy. The first of the two duties is nowadays performed by Romano Prodi, the latter by Chris Patten, and Westendorp writes columns in a Spanish daily. Jutarnji List: International Community still ignoring Croatian initiative for the change of Dayton Agreement: Although the implementation of the Constitutional Court decision opens a wide space for negotiations on the models of achieving the equality of the Croat and Bosniak peoples in the RS, the interpretations saying that a session of the Peace Implementation Council could be initiated for an introduction of the House of Peoples in the RS National Assembly are incorrect, and so are the allegations that a new peace conference could be convened for the implementation of that decision. According to Jutarnji List, OHR experts performed a real slalom in an attempt to avoid even a mention of introducing the institution of the House of Peoples in the RS Parliament while producing the drafts for the implementation of the Constitutional Court decision. They delivered those drafts to the entity parliaments last week, for the latter to produce their complete drafts by mid April. What has been offered instead of the House of Peoples as the option for the RS, is an introduction of a 12-member constitutional commission which will be ensuring the protection of the vital interests of the constituent peoples. If the International Task Group, in this case, had to find a way not to provoke the RS Assembly delegates, it is impossible to expect anyone from the International Community to publicly agree with either the abolishment or the cantonisation of the RS at this moment. OHR Spokesperson Alexandra Stiglmayer says: "Dayton as such will not be changed, there will be no conference for some new agreement, because Dayton can be changed from the inside enough to provide for equality of all the three peoples. Any possible change in the organization of BiH will come from the inside by a change of the Constitution following the principle of two-thirds majority, but it will take time before this happens." New sanctions from Petritsch are expected to take place after the leadership in Mostar proclaim their self-government on Monday. They will be aimed primarily at sanctioning criminal activities by HDZ BiH officials and, probably, blocking the Hercegovacka Bank, since there is evidence of the criminal activities that were conducted via the Bank. As JL found out, the list of sanctions has not been thoroughly defined yet. Diplomatic sources say that the SFOR already has a plan prepared in case the part of the HVO under the control of Stanko Sopta cease their obedience to the Federation Army.

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