BiH/Central institutions: State Border Service to take over four more border crossings in BiH: BiH Parliament House of People established, Chairman and Deputies elected: Federation: Federation Defense Minister and Deputy Commander of Federation Army say there will be no parallel military troops in the Federation: HDZ Mostar City Board's non-confidence vote for Mayor Neven Tomic: Edhem Bicakcic still fully controls Elektroprivreda BiH: Republika Srpska: RS Constitutional Commission to discuss three proposals: Hans Koschnik, Chairman of the Steering Board for Refugee issues in the Stability Pact for South-Eastern Europe visits Banja Luka Cooperation of the RS and Serbian Ministries of Education International Community: Principal Deputy High Representative, Ralph Johnson meets the Federation Prime Minister, Alija Behmen: Peace Implementation Council Steering Board meets with the High Representative, Wolfgang Petritsch: Oleg Milisic, OHR spokesperson on demonstrations in Osmaci Livno: The UN Mission warning the officials of the Ministry of Interior of the HB Canton: Do not listen to the removed ones - you might be dismissed Banja Luka: Principal Deputy High Representative Ralph Johnson and World Bank Director in BiH Joseph Ingrum about the interest-free credit - 'Take it or leave it!' Background of Petritsch's rejection of Drazen Budisa's proposal - HDZ BiH put away 54 million DEM of the assistance from Racan's Government to a secret account to be used for establishment of the self-rule Brcko District: SDS requests elections in Brcko: Editorials: Slobodna Dalmacija: After the battle: Stallin's pupils BiH State Institutions-related Issues State Border Service to take over four more border crossings in BiH: Sarajevo papers reported that the members of the State Border Service will in the next ten days take over additional four border crossings in BiH. With these four border crossings with Croatia that the Border Service is to take over, it will put 60 percent of the BiH borders under its control. The four crossing are in Brod, Brcko, Hum and also the long expected border crossing takeover in Neum, dailies said. BiH Parliament House of People established, Chairman and Deputies elected: Dnevni Avaz reported that at Tuesday's constitutive session of the BiH Parliament House of People Ilija Simic was elected the chairman and Sejfudin Tokic and Nikola Spiric his deputies. With this the results of the November elections were implemented and the House has been established, officials said. One of the first tasks for the House will be to confirm the new Bosniak and Croat member of the BiH Presidency, House officials said and added that they expect that this will be done within two weeks, Dnevni Avaz reported. Federation related issues: Federation Defense Minister and Deputy Commander of Federation Army say there will be no parallel military troops in the Federation: Oslobodjenje on its front page reported that the Federation Defense Minister, Mijo Anic and the Deputy Commander of Federation Army, Ivo Lozancic told as news conference on Tuesday that there are no possibilities of an establishment of a parallel military force in the Federation. "Preventing this from happening is not just our worry but the international community's as well. We will not allow paramilitary troops," the two officials said. HDZ Mostar City Board's non-confidence vote for Mayor Neven Tomic: HDZ's Mostar City Board at its session on Tuesday decided on a non-confidence vote for the Mostar Mayor, Neven Tomic and asked for his removal, papers reported. An unnamed HDZ source told Dnevni Avaz that HDZ wants Tomic removed from his post because of his close ties with Jadranko Prljic, the Federation government and BiH Council of Ministers. According to the same source Tomic, who was present at the session, has refused to resign from his post. Mostar City Council is to decide on Tomic future as mayor at its next session and the daily adds that HDZ does not have the majority in this institution. US Embassy to BiH issued a statement in which it basically supports Tomic and said that it sorry that HDZ Mostar is asking for his removal. Edhem Bicakcic still fully controls Elektroprivreda BiH: Ognjen Markovic, who is carrying the duty of the temporary Director General of Elektroprivreda BiH confirmed to Banja Luka daily Nezavisne Novine that Edhem Bicakcic, former Federation Prime Minister who was removed from the Director General of Elektroprivreda post by the OHR is working in the company as Markovic's advisor. Elektroprivreda and Bicakcic himself earlier denied the claims that he is Markovic's advisor. Bicakcic has a separate office and in fact still fully controls Elektroprivreda, Dnevni Avaz reported. Republika Srpska: RS Constitutional Commission to discuss three proposals: RS Constitutional Commission is scheduled to meet in Banja Luka on Wednesday and discuss three proposals for the implementation of the BiH Constitutional Court's decision on the constituency of nations in BiH, Oslobodjenje said. The three proposals were submitted to the Commission by the OHR's international working group, the RS government and the SDA party, the daily said. Four Bosniak members of the RS Constitutional Commission have publicly stated they do not support and do not agree with the OHR and RS government proposals because both proposals represent reducing the Constitutional Court's decision, Oslobodjenje said. Hans Koschnik, Chairman of the Steering Board for Refugee issues in the Stability Pact for South-Eastern Europe visits Banja Luka Glas srpski and Nezavisne novine, extensively report on visit of Hans Koschnik to BL, during which he met with RS President Mirko Sarovic and Prime Minister Mladen Ivanic. Press release from the Cabinet of the RS President Mirko Sarovic reads "it was jointly assessed that, apart from the political ambient, economic situation has a special influence on return of refugees so it could become sustainable". Sarovic informed Koschnik about problems of return of Serbs to Croatia, as well as on problems of refuges who wish to return to BiH from FRY. After the meeting with the RS prime Minister Ivanic Koschnik said that specific actions for resolution of problems of refugees and displaced persons were discussed. According to Koschnik, it was also assessed that there is a problem of repossession of property to its owners and providing of adequate accommodation for refugees who live in somebody else's property. Hans Koschnik met the RS Minister for Refugees and DPs Mico Micic which was of "crucial importance for him. "The basic message from this meeting is that Koschnik will try, together with the OHR representatives, in the Stability Pact to insure funding for reconstruction and return of refugees to remain on the same level", said Micic. Cooperation of the RS and Serbian Ministries of Education Glas srpski reports on the meeting between the RS Education Minister Gojko Savanovic and Aid to Serbian Minister for Education, Science and Culture Slobodanko Turajlic in Banja Luka. Reform of education system in the RS and Serbia was discussed as well as education within the framework of Special and Parallel relations between the RS and FRY. The next meeting will be held on April 9. in Belgrade. International Community: Principal Deputy High Representative, Ralph Johnson mets the Federation Prime Minister, Alija Behmen: Principal Deputy High Representative, Ralph Johnson met on Tuesday in Sarajevo with the Federation Prime Minister, Alija Behmen, Sarajevo papers reported. According to Dnevni Avaz Behmen told Johnson that the Federation government can, with the help of the international community, stop the attempts of jeopardizing the functioning of the Federation and solve all the current problems. Johnson said after the meeting that the international community is monitoring the situation and will provide support and help to the Federation government and other institutions in protecting the constitution. Peace Implementation Council Steering Board met in Brussels on Tuesday with the High Representative, Wolfgang Petritsch: Sarajevo papers reported that Political Directors of the Peace Implementation Council Steering Board met in Brussels on Tuesday with the High Representative, Wolfgang Petritsch. Dnevni Avaz on its fourth page carries extracts from the communiqué released after the meeting and said that PIC fully supports Petritsch actions and condemns the illegal and unconstitutional establishment of Croat self-rule in BiH. Oslobodjenje carried its report on the ninth page. Oleg Milisic, OHR spokesperson on demonstrations in Osmaci Both RS dailies carry statement of the OHR spokesperson Oleg Milisic on demonstrations in Osmaci near Zvornik. "It is known that DP's in Osmaci are not filing claims for repossession of their private property in their municipalities of origin. This is their choice, but they must be aware that they can not continue to occupy someone else's property. We advise the temporary occupants in Osmaci, and throughout BiH, to give thought to their options because nobody can occupy another's property indefinitely' said Milisic. According to him "reinstatements will be performed in each case where possible to allow the real owner to repossess their property, and to vacate the property that they are temporarily occupying as a displaced persons". Livno: The UN Mission warning the officials of the MoI of the HB Canton: Do not listen to the removed ones - you might be dismissed Split daily Slobodna Dalamacija reported that the officials of the Ministry of Interior the HB Canton will be deprived of their credentials if they follow the instructions given by some of 5 officials, who were recently deprived of their credentials, or if they cooperate with them as with the officials of this Ministry. This is the main part of the warning that the UN Mission sent to the Ministry of Interior officials on Monday morning. Banja Luka: Principal Deputy High Representative Ralph Johnson and World Bank Director in BiH Joseph Ingrum about the interest-free credit - 'Take it or leave it!' Zagreb daily Vecernji List said that after getting a consent in the BiH Federation, Johnson and Ingrum are encountering a reluctance in the RS regarding the acceptance of the interest-free credit of 80 to 90 million US Dollars intended for the development of the Energija III project. The credit repayment term is 40 years and the condition for it is acceptance of the common State Regulatory Agency, which will co-ordinate the usage of the already integrated electric power network. International investors finance the states and not just their parts. Regarding the most recent developments initiated by the HDZ BiH and the alleged agreement between this political structure and the Croatian Government on the necessity of territorial re-organisation of BiH, Ralph Johnson said he does not have the impression that there is such an agreement, in the way of which, as is often suggested, stands just the Republika Srpska. "The High Representative and his Office interpret the Dayton Agreement very carefully. Never have we suggested a cantonisation of the RS, which we respect as an entity, and we do not stand for a change of the status," stated Ralph Johnson. Background of Petritsch's rejection of Drazen Budisa's proposal - HDZ BiH put away 54 million DEM of the assistance from Racan's Government to a secret account to be used for establishment of the self-rule Zagreb weekly Nacional found out from high European diplomatic circles in Sarajevo as to why the International Community reacted so strongly to Budisa's proposal of cantonisation of BiH and what the International Community reproaches Racan's Government for. To substantiate that the HDZ BiH leadership was planning carefully and for a long time to re-establish Herzeg-Bosnia as a separate state creation, the High Representative of the International Community in BiH, Wolfgang Petritsch, presented to his interlocutors from the Croatian Government a secret bank account number of the HDZ BiH with the Hercegovacka Bank in Mostar. The bank account contained 54 millions DEM, and Petritsch claims the money had been collected for months and was intended for the funding of the initial stage of the Herzeg-Bosnia establishment. It is claimed that the first salaries to newly formed administration, police and army were to be paid from the secret account that was reportedly opened by the HDZ BiH. Some of the money that Ivica Racan's Government sends to Mostar in the form of assistance was deposited on that account, and so were the foreign currencies that Croats from BiH collected abroad. Since some of the HDZ BiH leaders, including Ante Jelavic, are co-owners of the Hercegovacka Bank, the financial operation was not hard to realise and it was not hard to keep it secret either. The representatives of the International Community do not hide that they consider the authorities in Zagreb responsible for such a situation because the money that they are sending to Herzegovina in the forms of invalidity allowances, various sorts of pensions and welfare, does not reach the individual addresses, but instead, goes to the joint account with the Hercegovacka Bank. The leading officials of the HDZ BiH, through their people at the Hercegovacka Bank, further allocate that money at their own discretion and at the rate that suits them. Thus they were given the possibility of manipulation and fund misappropriation. This is the reason why the representatives of the International Community demanded Ivica Racan for the Government to send the money for Herzegovina exclusively to the recipients' addresses in the future, and not to the joint account with the Hercegovacka Bank. A senior European diplomat in Sarajevo explained for Nacional as to why the reaction of the International Community to the HSLS President Drazen Budisa's proposal of cantonisation of BiH was so strong and antagonistic. "That is because the initiative is one of the variants of what the Herzegovinian separatists are demanding. The European Union have assessed that the HDZ BiH tactics is to provoke convening of a new conference on BiH, in which the long-term prerequisites would be created for a secession of Herzeg-Bosnia from BiH. Under that scenario, what has been envisaged as the first stage of a gradual separation is creation of ethnically pure Croat, Bosniak and Serb cantons. After some time, they would be integrated into common, nationally pure entities, which would practically open a way for a definitive division of BiH. After that, the secession of such a homogenous Croat entity from BiH and its annexation to Croatia would be only a matter of time and technical realisation. It is exactly for the reason that this scenario is well known that we could not understand how the usually levelheaded and always careful Ivica Racan could fall for such an HDZ-like setup on the cantonisation of BiH. Besides, we managed to remove from power all politicians from the extremist Serb and Muslim nationalist parties, primarily the SDA and the SDS, and any change would open space for a new political and territorial card shuffling in BiH, and that is unacceptable to the International Community at this time," concluded Nacional's interlocutor in Sarajevo. It is said in Sarajevo and Brussels that the accusations of the HDZ BiH that their leaders come under attack of the international protectors are quite false. The international community was much harsher when the politicians from the biggest parties of Bosniaks and Serbs had been removed because of their speeches of hatred and nationalistic exclusivity. Brussels diplomats do not hide their satisfaction with the latest moves of the Government in Zagreb. Its intention to officially formulate the proposal of cantonisation of BiH is considered as a hasty and politically unwise move. Unlike Racan's Government, Brussles diplomats think, it is only President Mesic, of all the leading Croatian politicians, who kept the principled view. Mesic did not get engaged in cheap scoring of political points. He was the only one who was courageous enough to make a precise diagnosis of the situation and propose a solution: all those who can not accept the existence of BiH have to go from the political stage in BiH, and so also those among the BiH Croats. However, the only problem in the process of stabilisation of the situation in BiH are not just the nationalist extremists from the Croat, Serb and Bosniak lines. The most recent developments have shown that there is a number of unclear things in the US policy as well, and there is also a general dissatisfaction with the achievements of Wolfgang Petritsch, the High Representative of the International Community, so far. While the State Department during the Clinton's administration would immediately condemn the initiatives such as the creation of a Croat self-rule, Bush's administration is not reacting to it at all. Therefore, the diplomats in Brussels and Sarajevo are asking whether a strategic turnabout has occurred in Washington or perhaps it is just because they are only settling into routine. The Americans are not hiding their dissatisfaction about the role of Wolfgang Petritsch so far and they are not alone in it. The situation in BiH is much worse than it was two years ago when Petritsch arrived, and they hold him the most responsible for it. They blame him for a total lack of ideas and visions, they say that he has done nothing for a new phase of reconstruction, he only created a huge bureaucratic apparatus which is totally unreceptive to new initiatives and ideas. Therefore, the diplomats in Sarajevo are sure that Petritsch will have to leave his position before this summer, which is when his mandate expires. Of course it will not be of great help to BiH. Since the conflicted interests of its neighbours, Europe and the USA break down in that state, the parties involved will have to do much more for a permanent stabilisation of the situation in the country. Brcko District related issues: SDS requests elections in Brcko: Nezavisne Novine reported that the SDS caucus requested yesterday from the Brcko District Interim Assembly to reject the report on the work of the Government for the period March-December 2000, and to express the need for an urgent holding of elections in the District. The caucus with biggest number of councilors in the Brcko District Assembly asked that the current Government, which was appointed by the Order of the international Supervisor last year, should perform its duties as the technical government until the implementation of the elections. "Regarding the fact that the Assembly and the Government have the transitional character, and that the OHR had an important role in their formation, we think that only by elections we can get out of this newly-created situation," said Milan Puric, the head of the SDS caucus. After that the president of the Assembly, Mirsad Djapo, made a half- an- hour break, and asked for the opinion of the Legislative Commission on this proposal. In the first part of the session held on March 15, the majority of councilors expressed their dissatisfaction with the work of the Government. Presenting the objections from the assembly commissions, the councilors assessed that " the government did not pay much attention to the protection of human rights since out of 4,429 citizens' complaints it is only 11 which were responded." The Government was blamed for not making a framework program for the realisation of the Annex 7 DPA, and that it did not implement the assembly decisions on distribution of land plots to the displaced persons at the location of "Bosnaplod", and did not determine the program for reconstruction of devastated houses. Brcko District related issues: Slobodna Dalmacija: After the battle: Stallin's pupils - written by Josko Celan The Croats, who have not become completely blind from the historical oblivion yet, will remember Stallin's show trials. You know the story: He was a model comrade until yesterday, a pillar of the revolution, and then over night he turned into an agent of imperialism. It is just happening these days, not to any Croat but to the one who was officially, until yesterday, the President of the Croats in another Croat state-Ante Jelavic. As you know he was replaced by the imposed ruler Petritsch, on the ground of his unlimited dictatorial authorities. Jelavic, the President who was replaced by force, responded to his persecutor and slanderer Petritsch in a way which is completely out of all diplomatic customs: if he does not present in public the evidence on the responsibility for the Leutar's murder, he will be regarded by Jelavic as 'an ordinary political liar' and his statements will be regarded as 'the dirtiest form of the special war'. Do you think that a person who ordered the murder in a cool manner would react so emotionally? However, it is incomprehensible that only a few people in Croatia are interested in this troglodyte terror. Visnja Staresina, a journalist of 'Vecernji list' proclaimed Petritsch, the most detested person among the Croats, a person of the week.

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