- BiH State Institutions-related Issues
- Council of Ministers: Petritsch's laws go before the Parliament;
- HDZ-related News
- Main Board of the HDZ decisive on the Croat self-rule;
- Deputy Commander of the Federation Army offers his resignation;
- Croatian Prime Minister says Croatian initiatives on BiH must be in
accordance with world ones;
- Croat National Assembly officials say they do not recognize
dismissal of Jelavic and others;
- Croatian Foreign Ministry sends official note to its BiH
counterpart: Confirmation of partnership;
- Republika: Interview with Ivo Komsic, president of the Croat
National Council (not to be confused with the Croat National Assembly):
- Ante Jelavic confirms ordering temporary dismissal of the HVO;
- Federation government says the situation in BiH is not dramatic;
- Federation:
- Controversy over the new Federation Minister of Social Politics and
Refugees continues;
- Federation Customs Management says Bicakcic did not order import of
non-taxed vehicles;
- Republika Srpska:
- Mladen Ivanic rejects the establishment of the state regulatory
agency on energy;
- Ratko Mladic, high profile indicted war criminal, fled the FRY;
- International Community:
- Foreign ambassadors open new terminal at the Sarajevo airport;
- International Community:
- Foreign ambassadors open new terminal at the Sarajevo airport;
- Editorials:
- Slobodna Dalamcija: The Time of Absurdities;
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BiH State Institutions-related Issues
Council of Ministers: Petritsch's laws go before the Parliament:
At yesterday's session, the BiH Council of Ministers concluded to send
sixteen important state laws which have already taken effect before the
BiH Parliament for the ratification. According to Oslobodjenje, the
sixteen - including the law on state court, the law on state anthem, flag,
and the coat of arms, the law on state border service - have all been
imposed by the High Representative, but still have to go through the
regular parliamentary procedure.
HDZ-related News
Main Board of the HDZ decisive on the Croat self-rule:
At yesterday's session held in Jajce, the Main Board of the HDZ decided to
go forth with the creation of the Croat self-rule in BiH. According to
media reports, members of the Board urged relevant cantons to constitute
bodies of authority in accordance with cantonal constitutions and the
elections results, while the dismissed party president, Ante Jelavic, said
that the self-rule will take effect on Saturday. The Board also decided to
amend the party statute and elect three additional members - Martin Raguz,
Dubravko Horbat, and Ivo Vincetic - for the HDZ Presidency. Following the
meeting, Jelavic told the press that the HDZ will insist on the annulment
of the special relations agreement between the Federation and Croatia,
since it does not want Zagreb administration to be a hostage of BiH. "The
agreement on the special relations [between Croatia and the Federation] is
a worthless paper for BiH Croats," said Jelavic, and added that the recent
meeting between the HDZ leadership (Bozo Ljubic and Dragan Covic) and the
High Representative, Wolfgang Petritsch, was initiated by the HDZ with
intention to consider all possible options for the resolution of the
present political crisis in BiH.
Deputy Commander of the Federation Army offers his resignation:
Colonel General Dragan Curcic, the Deputy Commander of the Joint Command
of the Federation Army, offered his resignation to the new Federation
Defense Minister, Mijo Anic. In a statement for the Croat Radio
Herzeg-Bosna, General Curcic said that he wants to remain loyal to the
Croat people and that he hopes that his resignation would contribute to
the resolution of the current institutional crisis to the benefit of the
Croat people in BiH.
Croatian Prime Minister says Croatian initiatives on BiH must be in
accordance with world ones:
Before the discussion on the Dayton Agreement which is to be held in the
Croatian Parliament on Friday, the Presidents of the parties and caucuses
of the Six met on Thursday in order to harmonize their positions. The
Premier Ivica Racan stated after the meeting that the whole session of the
Six was held in the light of the discussion in the Parliament and exchange
of information regarding the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina. When
being asked by journalists if the Croat National Assembly, which is
expected to proclaim the self-government in two days, would aggravate the
situation, provoke new sanctions and reduce the space for diplomacy, Racan
answered that, according to his information, the Croat National Assembly
will have a meeting in Mostar on Friday. " We hope that prudence and
responsibility will prevail at the meeting in Mostar and that there will
be those who will contribute to the talks and come up with a lasting
solution. That would be best for the Croat people in Bosnia and
Herzegovina." Racan reminded that Tonino Picula, the Croatian Foreign
Affairs Minister, is in Brussels and that Croatia did not hide to have had
strong international contacts in the last days. Those contacts will be
continued also in the days coming with the aim of stabilization of the
situation in BiH. "We hope that the discussion in the Croatian Parliament
and conclusions of the Croat National Assembly will be the best expression
of the interest of the Croatian state with regards to that issue," said
Racan.
Croat National Assembly officials say they do not recognize dismissal of
Jelavic and others:
"We do not recognize the removal of Ante Jelavic from the position of a
BiH Presidency member since 189 000 of votes (Jelavic received so many
votes at the elections) are more important than a signature and quite
unfounded decisions of the High Representative Wolfgang Petritsch," stated
Marko Tokic, the President of the Croat self-government in BiH and Deputy
President of the HDZ BiH at the public forum held in Travnik on Wednesday
night. " Nothing can stop the freedom," Tokic stressed and added that
Petritsch will leave to Austria, Barry and Klein to the USA and the Croat
people will stay to live in BiH as a political people. It is just what one
tries to take away from the Croat people through different games and
manipulations. " The problem is not in the Croat people, but the key
problem is that one wants to remove the HDZ BiH from the table for
negotiations," Tokic said.
Croatian Foreign Ministry sends official note to its BiH counterpart:
Confirmation of partnership:
In an official note addressed to the BiH Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the
Croatia counterpart stressed Croatia fully supports the activities of the
constitutional institutions in BiH, especially the BiH Council of
Ministers and the BiH Federation Government.
"The Government of the Republic of Croatia supports the framework of the
Dayton peace Agreement and holds that one should not close the space for
political initiatives aimed at developing mechanisms for their full and
consistent implementation," read the statement.
"Starting from its constitutional foundations and the fact that it is a
signatory of the Dayton Agreements, Croatia continues to take care of the
position of the Croat people in BiH. In that respect, and with an emphasis
on the fact that this Government of the Republic of Croatia has made its
relations with Croats in BiH completely transparent, and has clearly shown
its commitment not to interfere with the internal matters of the
neighboring country, Croatia reiterates its support to the BiH
constitutional institutions and its commitment to act towards the
stabilization of the situation, initiating of dialogues and functioning of
the authority institutions in BiH."
Republika: Interview with Ivo Komsic, president of the Croat National
Council (not to be confused with the Croat National Assembly):
Komsic: "The Croat(ian) people must know the truth and the truth is that
numerous crimes were committed under the patronage of the HDZ. That does
not mean that no crimes were committed against the Croat(ian)s, but that
is another problem. For, as long as the Croat(ian) people do not realize
that they have committed crimes, they will not have a political future
because we will have to hide some periods of our own history.
Q: You stated late last year that Ivic Pasalic moved his activities to
Mostar, from where he wants to overthrow the Croatian authorities. The
latest developments, including the session of the Croat National Assembly,
are a confirmation of your thesis, are they not?
A: I was not making a wild guess because I analyzed the intentions of the
HDZ, and they cannot be a success unless they have the State of Croatia
behind them.
Since they cannot get support in Croatia, they have two available
scenarios: they will either overthrow the "Six" or create an unbearable
situation in BiH. Since they know that they cannot overthrow the legal
Croatian authorities that easily, they moved their activities to Mostar
and Western Herzegovina, launching the theses of Croats being endangered
in BiH and thus trying to present the "Six" as traitors of the Croat(ian)
people. The ultimate goal is to forcibly take power in Croatia, and having
achieved such a backing, reconsolidate their position in BiH, as they have
not given up its division.
Q: What about the Church, Bishop Peric's statement in Mostar was more
radical than those of the loudest HDZ members?
A: The fact that someone is a bishop does not necessarily mean that he
holds monopoly on the faith in God. No one can hide behind the bishop's
position, especially if he acts in public because in that case, the public
has the right to judge his standpoints. The speech delivered by Bishop
Ratko Peric in Mostar is a speech of hatred and goes completely beyond the
mission of the Church and Gospel.
Q: Mostar is thus becoming the center for planning putsches in even two
countries?
A: That is right. Just think about it and you will see that the leading
officials of the HDZ have recently spent more time in Herzegovina than
Zagreb. That is why I strongly condemned the Croatian Parliament
delegation for attending the Croat National Assembly in Mostar, because
they supported the HDZ candidate exactly at the time when we were trying
to form the first anti-nationalist government in Sarajevo.
The Croatian Government is making a mistake by sending money to BiH
because it is being spent in a non-transparent manner and most of it ends
up in the Hercegovacka Bank, which is owned by Ante Jelavic and a group of
his associates. Besides all this, parallel financing systems and public
companies have been created, and all the money from those is sent to one
particular place. Therefore, some of the money from Croatia was going to
the HDZ account, and the party was creating the impression that it was
their money. What Racan's Government should do to stop such a trend is
simply stop the financing of those para-state structures.
Komsic on cantonisation: Our plan, in accordance with the circumstances of
the war, envisaged seventeen cantons, and for instance, two of them would
be in Central Bosnia, one Croat canton based in Travnik, which would go
from Kiseljak and Busovaca to Vitez, and the other would be a Bosniak
canton that would go along the valley of the river of Vrbas all the way to
Jajce. We believed that we could stop the war in Central Bosnia in that
way.
Ante Jelavic confirms ordering temporary dismissal of the HVO:
At yesterday's press conference, Ante Jelavic confirmed that he ordered a
"temporary dismissal" of certain units within the HVO (Croat component of
the Federation Army). He explained that he told HVO soldiers to take a
short-term vacation, and suggested them to remove the Federation insignia
off of their uniforms and put on the BiH state symbols instead. Jelavic
could not confirm the allegations that the deputy commander of the Joint
Command of the Federation Army, Dragan Curcic, submitted his resignation
to this post. "That is his personal decision. When I was leaving the
Yugoslav National Army at the beginning of 1991, that was my personal
decision. Then we were leaving the army in order to break it, and today,
we are leaving it to preserve the HVO," explained Jelavic.
Federation government says the situation in BiH is not dramatic:
At its first working session held yesterday in Sarajevo, the Federation
government concluded that the present political situation in the entity is
not dramatic, but that it should not be estimated either. The government
charged all relevant ministries to closely follow the security situation
and ensure that the no hasty actions are undertaken in this respect. "The
crisis areas are Capljina, Central BiH, Ljubuski, Orasje and Stolac, since
certain individuals from Croatia are coming to lobby the destruction of
the BiH Federation. For that reason, the arms and ammunition are under
strict surveillance," explained the Minister of Interior, Muhamed Besic.
Federation:
Controversy over the new Federation Minister of Social Politics and
Refugees continues:
The controversy over the appointment of the former BiH Army general Sefer
Halilovic to the post of the Federation Minister for Social Politics,
Refugees and DPs continues. After several association of Croat POW and
Veterans protested Halilovic's appointment, Croat refugees' association
issued their statement yesterday expressing their dissatisfaction. The
association from Rama said that Halilovic is responsible for a serious war
crime which took place in Uzdol, near Rama, in September 1993, when a
number of Croat civilians and POWs were allegedly massacred by the BiH
Army troops. "It is shock to see the appointment of such a man for the
Minister of one of the most sensitive fields, and this is a clear message
to displaced Croats that they should not count on return," said the
statement.
Zepce municipal board for refugees and DPs also protested Halilovic's
appointment. "What an irony! Sefer Halilovic and his army kills, expels
and displaces people from Golubinja, Brezovo Polje, Hrustusa, Lovnica,
Dolina...in the Zepce region, and is now named a Minister for Refugees and
DPs..." The board also expressed its disappointment over the fact that
both the International Community and the Alliance support Halilovic.
Federation Customs Management says Bicakcic did not order import of
non-taxed vehicles:
Director of the Federation Customs Management, Fuad Kasumovic, told
Oslobodjenje that the former Federation Prime Minister, Edhem Bicakcic,
was not responsible for the decision to import 900 non-taxed vehicles into
BiH. Kasumovic said that the High Representative, who recently labeled
Bicakcic responsible for this scandal, has been misinformed about the
issue. He said that all 900 vehicles, confiscated during the action
"Automobil" have been returned to their owners but only after they paid
all customs and duty charges. Kasumovic stressed that the Federation
government made a proper decision, since the buyers, who were not aware
that they were purchasing illegally-imported cars, would otherwise have to
pay again for the same vehicle. "Needless to say, none of them could do
so," said Kasumovic, and added that the government wanted to speed up the
process and avoid paying high rents for storing the cars.
Republika Srpska:
Mladen Ivanic rejects the establishment of the state regulatory agency on
energy:
Banja Luka's Nezavisne Novine quote the RS Prime Minister, Mladen Ivanic,
as saying that the RS Government will send a letter to the World Bank
stressed that the RS is not against the establishment of the state
regulatory agency for telecommunications. According to Ivanic, the RS
Government wants to protect the interests of the RS and get guarantees
that both entities are equal. "The World Bank did not give us the
guarantees that interests of entities will be protected and that is why we
kept rejecting the establishment of the agency." Ivanic told the press
that electric power production, transmission and distribution are under
entity competence and that this issue can only be discussed with consent
of entities", said Ivanic.
Ratko Mladic, high profile indicted war criminal, fled the FRY:
Former Bosnian Serb army commander Ratko Mladic, one of the Balkans most
sought-after war crimes suspects, has fled Yugoslav territory for fear of
being abducted by bounty hunters, Nezavisne Novine magazine reported on
Friday. Mladic and his aides decided to move after indications that he
might be captured by people hoping to claim some kind of reward, said an
anonymous source within the Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS), now in
power. An unnamed senior Serbian police official told the magazine that
the new administration might even have warned Mladic, through an
intermediary, that it would be best for him if he disappeared. Mladic has
spent time in Belgrade since the end of the war in BiH.He is high on the
list of war crimes suspects sought by the Hague International Criminal
Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).
International Community:
Foreign ambassadors open new terminal at the Sarajevo airport:
Federation media reported that the European Commission ambassador, and the
ambassador of Netherlands officially opened the new terminal of Sarajevo
airport yesterday. The ceremony was also attended by local officials and
the High Representative, Wolfgang Petritsch.
Editorials:
Slobodna Dalamcija: The Time of Absurdities:
By Tihomir Dujmovic
Just as an illustration, we can pose a hypothetical question: Can anybody
imagine that the Croats occupied a half of Bosnia, made a thorough ethnic
cleansing, that the world tolerated it for six years, and after those six
years Racan came and signed the agreement on special relations? These days
Kostunica was allowed to do so. So, the attitude of the international
community is unambiguous: if you ask for an energetic attitude in the
change of policy toward the RS, they shrugged their shoulders; if you,
after six years of racism, ask for the abolishment of that state, you are
suspicious because you destroy the Dayton. I do not have any special
illusions toward the policy of the HDZ BiH, however, the notorious fact is
that the international community made a series of moves which the Croats
there see as a betrayal of the Dayton Agreement. One should seriously
understand their threats that they would en masse move to live in Croatia.
On the other hand, even if the allegations are completely true that
Jelavic and company are led by suspicious motives, the bishops from entire
BiH, including Cardinal Puljic, strongly supported the gathering in
Mostar: maybe they are also suspicious?
If the Croats in BiH become a minority in any sense, if the RS remains to
be like that one, which Karadzic left behind him, the Bosniaks will make
their exclusive entity of the Federation. In such a development (the
things have been developing in that way for six years), the Croats in BiH
will be the only dramatic loser, and also the Croatian state, indirectly.
In that sense a new question is posed: who, at all, could initiate the new
solution in BiH, if not Croatia!? Is President Mesic, who is now rejecting
the cantonisation, aware, at all, of his historical responsibility for
such behavior?
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