BiH/Central institutions: BiH Presidency members visit Banja Luka Situation in Dobrinja returning to normalcy HDZ-related News: HDZ forms a negotiating team for talks with local authorities and the International Community Croat National Assembly holds a press conference in Mostar Former Federation Defense Minister to hand over HVO documentation by Monday? Hercegovina-Neretva cantonal court judge criticizes OHR's Milisic Petritsch says the HDZ is continually losing support Croatian Americans write to President Bush - Stop the campaign of intimidating Croats in BiH Mladen and Jerko Ivankovic in their response to the slanders by the Croat Party of Rights - We have enough for ourselves and we do not want to eat with two spoons UN Mission warns the public of intimidation - Jelavic's followers threaten even the hairdressers Ivan Bender, director of the Pension and Invalidity Fund Institute in Mostar: We are getting indebted, but have money for payment of two pensions Majority of those whose money is blocked claim they remain faithful to their Hercegovacka Bank: Small depositors come to comfort the Bank's employees Following the Hercegovacka Bank blockade, the Croat-majority Cantons face big difficulties in collecting tax revenues from tax-payers Jutarnji List: All Rojs' bulldozers are in the ownership of Herceg Bosna since 1995 Republika: The money from the Croatian budget keeps flowing into Hercegovacka Bank ICG's Gareth Evans: Croats in BiH cannot blackmail the IC Federation: April Pensions lower by 60percent - PIO Fund missing 26 million KM Federation House of Representatives to discuss the excise tax on meat and construction material Republika Srpska: RS forms an expert team for relations with The Hague Non-Serb parties in the RS protest against the law on privatization of socially-owned flats AFP: SDS official says Karadzic no longer a member of the SDS Croatian Foreign Minister Picula: RS to be integrated into BiH Brcko District: Brcko on a brink of new affair? International Community: The High Representative visits Banja Luka High Representative meets the RS leadership OHR commends the Sarajevo canton authorities' work in Dobrinja Editorials: Vecernji List: The International Community offers initiative for the talks with the HDZ BiH representatives Slobodna Dalmacija: Paddy Ashdown to replace Petritsch?! Vjesnik: By the election of Ljubic a disentaglement of the crisis in BiH begins Miscellaneous: 21 anniversary of Tito's death today BiH State-related issues: BiH Presidency members visit Banja Luka Federation electronic and most RS media dedicated considerable amount of space to yesterday's visit of the three BiH Presidency members to Banja Luka. According to reports, Zivko Radisic, Beriz Belkic and Jozo Krizanovic held talks with the RS leadership, the President Mirko Sarovic, the Prime Minsiter, Mladen Ivanic, and the speaker of the RS National Assembly, Dragan Kalinic, and discussed the strengthening of the joint state institutions and their more efficient functioning. Both the presidency members and the RS leaders concluded that this visit is a sign that BiH is entering a calmer political period and stressed that such talks contribute to the strengthening of trust and coordination between the state institutions and its entities. Situation in Dobrinja returning to normalcy The head of the municipality Novi Grad, Damir Hadzic, said that the Sarajevo authorities will set up an information point or a form of an administrative unit in the parts of Dobrinja I and IV which were awarded to the Federation. This point will provide services and information to the Federation citizens and to residents of the disputed neighborhood. Hadzic also stressed that there will be no evictions in the next thirty days, however, normal procedure will resume thereafter. He added that double occupants or those who sold their property in the Federation will not be eligible for alternative accommodation. Meanwhile, the UN Mission to BiH announced yesterday that about fifty RS policemen living in Dobrinja I and IV will be offered the possibility of joining the Federation Ministry of Interior. "This would help Sarajevo authorities reach their quota of Serb policemen, and would open slots for Croat and Bosniak policemen in the Serb Sarajevo who want to join the RS Police," said UN spokesman Doug Coffman. HDZ-related News: HDZ forms a negotiating team for talks with local authorities and the International Community At yesterday's session, the Presidency of the HDZ formed a negotiating team for talks with representatives of local authorities and the International Community and decided that the legally-elected representatives of the Croat people return to the state and Federation Parliaments. According to media reports, the members of the negotiating team are Bozo Ljubic, Dragan Covic, Martin Raguz, Mijo Brajkovic, Rudo Vidovic and Ivo Vincetic. "We realized this is the moment for a serious political talk with the International Community. The aim of these talks is to get us out of the present political and institutional crisis," said the dismissed president of the party, Ante Jelavic, and stressed that neither the IC nor the Alliance had any influence on the choice of the individuals for the negotiation team. Jelavic also said that it is necessary to create a more positive atmosphere in order have the HDZ return to the legally-established institutions and the Croat soldiers and officers to the HVO barracks. Croat National Assembly holds a press conference in Mostar. (radio report transcript) The consequences of the activities of the unconstitutional authorities, the international community and our own standpoints have generated a deep institutional crisis in BiH, and therefore we believe it is the time for a dialogue, stated Marko Tokic, the President of the Croat self-rule. We are not preoccupied with whom or which institutions we are to talk with, we are more preoccupied with the contents of the talks and a possible agreement. The final agreement will be verified by either the Croat National Assembly or the Croat people through a referendum, should there be far-reaching consequences for the position of the Croat people in BiH, stated Marko Tokic. The standpoints of the HNS are clear - we stand for constitutional reforms under which the institution of house of peoples would be introduced in both entities, along with the parity, rotation and consensus principles and all protective mechanisms for each of the peoples so as to ensure the compliance with the principle that all the peoples are equal under the Constitution and that those who have the confidence of the majority of one people, rule within that people, stated Marko Tokic. He added it is possible to achieve through constitutional reforms and additional mechanisms. Marko Tokic: "With regards to some other solutions that have recently been attempted to be substituted as possible solutions or possible ways out of the crisis, i.e. a consistent implementation of the Constitutional Court decision on the constituency of peoples, and also there appeared the ideas that the constitutional and legal commissions would be introduced in the entities instead of the institution of house of peoples, and that the vital national interests would be determined only by a narrow part of the vital issues of the identity of each of the peoples, then I have to say that we have only one possible solution for such an option, and the civic-liberal option in general, and that would be three Federation units, a BiH Federation." In answer to a question as to whether the Croat self-rule would be abolished should the outcome of the negotiations be favourable, Tokic said it would if such negotiations would satisfy the Croat people and be verified by the Croat National Assembly, because the self-rule is not the 'end' but is the 'means'. He believes it is an operational means that would "give our negotiators time, allow that process to last, and provide for reaching of an agreement." Asked as to whether all the HVO soldiers would return to the barracks, Tokic said that it is an integral part of the negotiations and that various options are possible in the interim period. Yet, he stressed that the illegal and unconstitutional authorities cannot have the full control of the HVO. "The minimum of requirements would be a withdrawal of the Defense Minister and the Croat Presidency Member, but since I do not believe such a development will take place, combinations such as placing the Croat component under a direct competence of the SFOR, are more likely." Radio Herceg Bosna quoted Tokic as saying "yes (HVO soldiers would return), but under the command of those who supported the essence of the self-rule." Commenting on some media articles saying that the Croat self-rule opened new deposit accounts in the Zagrebacka Bank affiliate in Siroki Brijeg, Tokic said the Croat self-rule has accounts in all banks, which, as he said, is not at all disputable, and the matter of holding accounts is irrelevant. What is relevant, in Tokic's words, is the extent to which they are filled and from what sources. "I must say that unfortunately the filling of those accounts so far has not been as we would desire it to be," stated Tokic. Present in the press conference were the HNC and CBC Governors. Former Federation Defense Minister to hand over HVO documentation by Monday? Ministry of Defense of the FBiH expects the former minister of defense, Miroslav Prce, to hand over the requested documentation of the HVO and the Ministry on Monday. The spokesman of the Ministry, Antun Mrkonjic, told Habena that it is not realistic to expect the former minister to hand over the documentation during the weekend. Although the time limit for handing over expires this midnight, the Ministry of Defense is ready to wait until Monday. Hercegovina-Neretva cantonal court judge criticizes OHR's Milisic The president of the Cantonal Court of the Herzegovina/Neretva Canton, Castimir Mandaric, denied the allegations of an OHR spokesman, Oleg Milisic, that this Court has a benevolent attitude toward the Croats when it comes to the court proceedings against the persons participating in the events related to the Hercegovacka Banka, and in the cases related to the Croat National Assembly. Speaking at a press conference in Mostar, Mandaroc said that the decision of the High Representative to allocate the competence for these court proceedings to a court in Sarajevo had irritated the judges and caused frustrations. Petritsch says the HDZ is continually losing support High Representative Wolfgang Petritsch said on Thursday that the issue of criminal prosecution of the president of the so-called Croat self-rule, Ante Jelavic, is a matter of judicial bodies, adding that the allegations that Jelavic was preparing to escape to Croatia were but speculations. In a statement for the Zenica TV station "Zetel", Petritsch said that the HDZ "was continually loosing support from those who elected them," and has over the past five years lost a half of its electoral body. Croatian Americans write to President Bush - Stop the campaign of intimidating Croats in BiH Croatian Americans Associations (CAA) addressed a letter to the US President Bush that reads as follows: "The only conclusion we can make is that the High Representative Wolfgang Petritsch and the American diplomats from the close circle of Richard Holbrooke, including Robert Barry and Jacques Paul Klein who are holding offices in the international organisations, are leading a campaign of coercion towards the Croat Catholics in BiH. This campaign, along with the frequent complaints of Croat(ian)s of our Ambassador Thomas Miller, neither serve the interests of the US Government nor contribute to peace." The Association marked as shocking the recent "raid and take-over of the private institution of Hercegovacka Bank by the armed and masked SFOR soldiers who were involved in the violence." The CAA considers the High Representative Wolfgang Petritsch responsible for the action. Mladen and Jerko Ivankovic in their response to the slanders by the Croat Party of Rights - We have enough for ourselves and we do not want to eat with two spoons The Ivankovic brothers claim to be very happy for the fact that the Croat Party of Rights (HSP) reacted so promptly to their press release of April 25 in which they announced a communication with the public via an answering machine. In the press release, they say that it is not true the Lijanovici meat industry started with "two or three butchery shops" as the HSP ironically asserted, but that the industry was noting the most intensive development in 1990 when they completed the preliminary project of building their business centre in Visoka Glavica. As for the HSP's queries about their contacts with Marko Tadic and Jadranko Prlic, the Ivankovic brothers say they respect the two gentlemen but have often criticised their work because "their intellectual potentials must be more prominent, especially when it comes to the economic development in BiH." The Ivankovics also say they firmly believe they would contribute to the achievement of a full equality of the Croat people although they would prefer it had been done earlier by those whom the Croat people assigned with that task. In conclusion, they say the following: "We have earned as much as we need for ourselves, and since we cannot eat 'with two spoons,' nor do we want to, all the property we made - the production plant and the rest - is the property that belongs to our native region and BiH more than it does to us." UN Mission warns the public of intimidation - Jelavic's followers threaten even the hairdressers "We keep receiving the complaints of Croat private companies being requested to pay as much as a few hundred thousands of Dollars that would serve to fund the functioning of the Croat National Assembly. Even the small businesspersons such as shop and restaurant owners, including hairdressers, are exposed to this sort of intimidation," stated UN Spokesperson Douglas Coffmann. Ivan Bender, director of the Pension and Invalidity Fund Institute in Mostar: We are getting indebted, but have money for payment of two pensions Bender replies to the question as to how the problem relating to the blockade of funds in the Hercegovacka Bank has been solved: "It is unfortunate that we have found ourselves in such a situation and that we have to look for alternative sources and get indebted. According to the Steering Board's decisions and upon my suggestion, we have found sufficient amount of money and the pensions are being paid. However, this has solved the problem for the month of March only. In 10 to 15 days, we are supposed to be preparing the payment of April pensions. Unless the money in the Hercegovacka Bank is de-blocked, it is going to be difficult. Had it not been for those problems, the pensions would have been paid before Easter holidays already. It is sad that in the Hercegovacka Bank we have funds for payment of two pensions but that we had to give certain interests and had some unplanned expenditures. It is difficult to say at this moment how much in the red we will be because of this way of finding funds. We are certainly thinking about pressing some charges as this is indeed a serious situation and it is not recommendable to wait. We have found a short-term solution, but someone must answer for the damages caused, i. e. the one who has created problems with respect to the Hercegovacka Bank must answer for that." Majority of those whose money is blocked claim they remain faithful to their Hercegovacka Bank: Small depositors come to comfort the Bank's employees. For over twenty days now, more than 90 000 Hercegovacka Bank depositors have been going through the mill in order to get back their savings that have been seized. International representatives, share-holders and the Bank's staff are mentioned in public daily but the depositors have, in some way, been neglected. Yet, despite of that, and according to our talks with some of them, they are still faithful collaborators of the Hercegovacka bank. It is interesting that depositors comfort the Hercegovacka Bank staff, give them their support to carry on and promise to give a part of their savings for the Bank's rehabilitation and to be its life-time depositors as they condemn the international community's moves. Following the Hercegovacka Bank blockade, the Croat-majority Cantons face big difficulties in collecting tax revenues from tax-payers: Although most of the Ministries of Finance in the Croat-majority Cantons have opened new deposit bank accounts with other banks following the Hercegovacka bank blockade, judging from the information from the field, tax payers avoid paying their commitments. Taking advantage of the still chaotic financial circumstances, which were created as a result of the recent SFOR operation, many tax-payers that fill cantonal budgets do not deposit the money in conformity with the foreseen dynamics. Daily ignoring of the payment of tax duties has put the comprehensive sustainability of this year's cantonal budgets into question. Although there is an attempt to present the current financial situation, as well as the details concerning the filling of the budgets of the Croat-majority Cantons, as almost normal, the reality is completely different. It is illustrated by a radically bigger number of interventions of the Tax Inspection which has these days been "combing through" the enterprises in the Croat-majority Cantons. The ones who ordered such activities agree that it is only by using this method that one can make the taxpayers fulfill their obligations towards cantons. Jutarnji List: All Rojs' bulldozers are in the ownership of Herceg Bosna since 1995 The construction machines with which Rojs' engineering guys built roads in Croatia are in the ownership of Monitor M company from Grude. The machines are not the ownership of the Republic of Croatia and Croatia cannot ask for them back. That is the result of the report of the special Government commission which investigated the operations of Monitor and 66th Engineering Brigade in Croatia. For the second time in one week, president Stjepan Mesic asked for the return of the machines bought by the money from the Croatian budget. "We have made a debt of 100 million marks to buy the machines to build roads and gave them to the cultural community Herceg Bosna. They need books and diskettes, not machines! What is this 66th Brigade? I did not find it in the Croatian Army! Croatia is paying off its credits and Ljubo Cesic Rojs is collecting them," said president Mesic in Maksimir during the celebration of the 1st of May. But the Government did not make a debt of 100 million, but 18 million marks already paid out for the purchase of the machines, but Monitor sued Croatia fir 100 million marks due to unpaid road works. Government commission established that 66th Brigade does not exist, nor has it ever existed. Not one worker was ever employed in the Croatian Army and for them there were no salary benefits paid. That 66th Brigade was a mere code for a project, a code name for employing the Croats from Herzegovina. Croatia sent them money anyway, and through the project of 66th Brigade, they needed to earn it. On Croatian roads the 66th Brigade worked with the machines in the ownership of Monitor company. By the Decision of the Government of the Croat Republic Herceg Bosna, Monitor M d.o.o. Mostar was founded on September 20, 1995. Ante Jelavic's name is registered as the one of the acting director, and since March 16, 1996, Ignjac Rakic is the director. By abolishing CRHB, Croatian Community Herceg Bosna is founded on August 18, 1997, and it inherits all the assets of the abolished CRHB. Croat Community Herceg Bosna is a non-political association of Croats in BiH, so I guess that is why president Mesic calls it a "cultural community." The president is Vladimir Soljic, and general Rojs, although formally he does not hold any function, says himself that he has the biggest influence in Monitor, reads the article. Republika: The money from the Croatian budget keeps flowing into Hercegovacka Bank The Croatian Government, as it was confirmed on Thursday by the Croatian Ministry of Finances, keeps sending financial assistance to the BiH Croats through Hercegovacka Bank Ltd. Mostar. The situation is like this despite the action that the SFOR recently took in the seat and branch offices of Hercegovacka Bank. Sanja Mardjetko-Kurecic, the Spokesperson for the Ministry of Finances, clarified that the assistance to the Croats in BiH is paid in every three months and the next payment should be done in mid May. The last one was before the SFOR action. She was not able to say as to whether something will change in the way of the transferring of the money for the Croats in BiH. According to the Croatian budget it was planned to allocate 100 million Kunas as a financial assistance for the Croats and a half of this amount refers to the item called ' the transfer to the BiH Federation on the ground of the Agreement on Special Relations with the BiH Federation.' The allocation of the money from the Croatian budget has never been transparent, although it was the IC request even at the time while the HDZ was still in power. For this reason the special item was introduced into the budget. However, the monopoly of the Hercegovacka Bank to transfer the money from Croatia to the beneficiaries has remained to this day. ICG's Gareth Evans: Croats in BiH cannot blackmail the IC A few days ago, the International Crisis Group, an independent organization which makes analyses of crisis situations and makes proposals for their solution, published a book titled 'After Milosevic' which is, actually, a sort of analysis of the events and recommendations as to what should be done in order to preserve peace and spread democratic process in the territory of Southeast Europe. On this occasion Gareth Evans, a former Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs and the current Head of the International Crisis Group, was a guest of the American Institute for Peace. On that occasion, Evans stressed that a very harsh policy should be led against Croat and Serb nationalists in BiH. He stressed: "The Croats are wrong if they believe that anybody from the West would sympathize with them if they use methods that they are using now. They are right when they are criticize some segments of the Election Law or the Constitution, but it cannot be done by using blackmails and anti-Constitutional activities. We have an alternative solution for BiH- the Dayton has not failed but I believe that it can be revised a bit. Central institutions should be strengthened. Entities and Cantons, whose officials are corrupted, should be abolished. Prerequisites should be met for all this and I believe that the Alliance for Changes is a good sign," stated Evans. Federation: April Pensions lower by 60percent - PIO Fund missing 26 million KM All Sarajevo dailies reported on their front pages that the disbursement of April pensions in the Federation is questionable since the Pensions Fund is short some 26 million KM, or nearly 60 percent of the total sum needed for the monthly payment. The Federation Minister for Refugees and Social Politics, Sefer Halilovic, suggested during yesterday's session of the Federation government that the missing funds are subsidized by the Federation government budget. However, the Federation Prime Minister, Alija Behmen, said that the government needs to undertake further consultations before it could make such a decision. He added that the MIO Fund (Mostar pensions fund) account in Hercegovacka Banka will soon be de-blocked, which will ensure a significant improvement. His deputy, Nikola Greabovac stressed that the fact that 50 million KM have been frozen in Hercegovacka Banka, further contributed to the difficult financial situation in the entity. Federation House of Representatives to discuss the excise tax on meat and construction material A session of the BiH Federation Parliamentary House of Representatives, whose agenda includes the harmonization of a text of the law on amendments and addenda to the law on the turnover tax on goods and services with a text of the law adopted in the BiH Federation Parliamentary House of Peoples, started on Friday in Sarajevo. The House of Representatives passed on April 11 this law in a form pursuant to which the turnover tax on meat and meat products and construction services and materials is not expected to be paid. Seven days later, the House of Peoples rejected to adopt the amendments to this law adopted by the House of Representatives, and accepted a proposal of the BiH Federation Government and International Monetary Fund (IMF) that the tax of ten percent on the meat and meat products and construction services and materials be introduced. The House of Representatives is expected to declare about this. The House of Representatives will discuss the draft law on amendments and addenda to the law on amnesty, proposal for the decision on the determination of the program of statistical researching of interests for the BiH Federation for the year of 2001, and the program of statistical researching of interests for the BiH Federation in 2001. The agenda also includes the report on the work of the BiH Federation Agency for Banking in the year of 2000, with the information on the banking system of the BiH Federation. Republika Srpska: RS forms an expert team for relations with The Hague According to the RS Ministry of Justice, a team of experts of the Department for relations with ICTY in Hague within the RS Ministry of Justice was constituted today - Friday. "The current experts' team comprises of legal, military and other scientific experts, who are primarily tasked with the collection of all relevant information for the defense of the indicted Serb persons before the ICTY, in the context of the published indictments." Read the press release. The experts' team will soon include experts from the country and abroad, in order to establish the RS Bureau for Relations with the ICTY in Hague, which will strengthen the position of the Republika Srpska towards the ICTY, i.e. towards the International Community as a whole. Non-Serb parties in the RS protest against the law on privatization of socially-owned flats Representatives of the SDA, Party for BiH, New Croat Initiative and the SDP in the RS National Assembly said that the newly-adopted law on the privatization of socially-owned apartments in the RS is discriminatory and said they hope that the OHR will change it. Sulejman Tihic of the SDA told Dnevni Avaz that the law, which stipulates that these apartments would be purchasable for 60 percent of the old foreign currency savings and 40 percent of cash is especially detrimental to returnees and to the residents of the Federation. Meanwhile, an OHR spokesman refused to comment on the law, but stressed that its text is indeed problematic. "We are still looking into it," he said. AFP: SDS official says Karadzic no longer a member of the SDS Radovan Karadzic, the Bosnian Serb wartime leader and indicted war crimes suspect, has been dropped as a member of the nationalist Serb Democratic Party (SDS) which he founded, an RS Serb weekly reported today. "Karadzic's membership has expired due to his non-participation in party activities," Mirko Banjac, a member of the SDS leadership committee, told the Nezavisne Novine weekly. The international community has repeatedly demanded that Karadzic be expelled from the SDS due to his indictment for war crimes by the United Nation's International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) based in The Hague. The tribunal wants to try Karadzic for war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity committed during the 1992-1995 Bosnian war. He recently told an interviewer that despite an international arrest warrant against him, he was living unmolested in the RS. Banjac insisted that Karadzic's membership in the SDS simply expired because he no longer took part in party activities. Croatian Foreign Minister Picula: RS to be integrated into BiH The Croatian Foreign Minister, Tonino Picula, claimed that ten days ago, the High Representative to BiH, Wolfgang Petritsch, told him that the preamble of the RS Constitution would be altered and that the RS would no longer be the exclusive state of the Serb nation, but of all BiH constituent nations. Picula assessed that this would mark the beginning of the RS integration into BIH. International Community: The High Representative visits Banja Luka The visit of the High Representative, Wolfgang Petritsch, just like the visit of the BiH Presidency members, to the RS capital was in the focus of media attention in both entities. During his stay, Petritsch met with the Banja Luka Mufti, Edhem Camdzic, and visited the site of destroyed Ferhadija mosque, whose reconstruction is to begin on Monday. "The reconstruction of the Ferhadija mosque is a symbolic gesture for the unification of Europe. Europe starts here, where there is tolerance and cooperation of all peoples," said Petritsch during his visit to Banja Luka. High Representative meets the RS leadership Republika Srpska President Mirko Sarovic met on Thursday with the High Representative Wolfgang Petritsch and discussed the functioning of common BiH institutions, arbitration decision for Dobrinja, refugee return and the implementation of property legislation. Sarovic said that he presented the High Representative with the view of the RS regarding the arbitration decision for Dobrinja and called on the Office of the High Representative (OHR) to get involved in solving of certain issues related to the decision. "We presented our complaints related to the work of international arbiter and said that beside dissatisfaction, there was also disappointment regarding the speed of implementation of the decision," Sarovic said. According to Sarovic, Petritsch said that he had seen an obstruction by Serb delegates in functioning of the BiH common institutions. "We said that it is very important that all solutions on the level of common bodies are found not by imposing, but with the harmonization of wills of all three peoples, which can be the principle that is going to lead toward self-sustainable society in BIH," Sarovic said. OHR commends the Sarajevo canton authorities' work in Dobrinja The Office of the High Representative (OHR) is pleased with the positive approach taken by the Sarajevo canton authorities since the Arbitrator, Mr. Justice Diarmuid Sheridan, announced his final and binding decision on the location of the inter-entity boundary line (IEBL) in the Sarajevo suburbs of Dobrinja I and IV. According to a statement from the OHR on Friday, representatives of the Sarajevo Canton and Serb Sarajevo are expected to meet next Monday to form working groups, which will look at all aspects concerning the implementation of the arbitration award. During a meeting held on Thursday at the OHR, representatives of the Dobrinja Trade Association based in Serb Sarajevo were informed of plans and discussions between the local authorities on each side of the IEBL concerning property and human rights. According to the statement, the OHR reassured its interlocutors that property and business rights would not change with the arbitration award, unless they were held illegally. The representatives of the Dobrinja Trade Association are expected to meet with Sarajevo Canton authorities in the near future. "The OHR appreciates the common-sense approach taken by the Sarajevo Canton authorities. Their concern for the welfare of the residents of Dobrinja I and IV should have a positive outcome for those who live in the area and will help tackle the challenges ahead," the statement read. All news agencies in the Federation carried the OHR press release. Brcko District: SRNA: Brcko on a brink of new affair? The highest officials of the Brcko District will have to give back 60,000 KM they took from the District's safe, in the name of travel expenses for travelling to the USA in January and February this year, agency Srna has found out from a source in OHR Brcko. Members of the Interim Government, president of the Interim Assembly and head of District Revenue Agency (12 of them) took 5,000 KM each, although the organizer of travelling - USAID, paid all their expenses for 15-day trip to the USA. The same source said the OHR reprimands Mayor Sinisa Kisic, president of the Interim Government, Mirsad Djapo, and head of the District Revenue Agency, Osman Osmanovic, for " not protecting public money, although it was their duty." "Office of Supervisor is disappointed by such a behavior of the most responsible people in the District, and the same opinion shares the organizer of travelling", the source said. OHR thinks it is inadmissible that such enormous sum of money is spent when a large number of people in the administration and other District public institutions are left jobless, especially when it is all about the officials who have the biggest salaries in BiH. Mayor Sinisa Kisic receives 3, 950 KM per month, Mirsad Djapo 3,000 KM, while members of the Government and head of the District Revenue Agency receive 2,500 KM each. Miscellaneous: 21 anniversary of Tito's death today Today is the 21st anniversary of the death of Josip Broz Tito. Numerous veterans organizations form the Second World War and some political parties in BiH will lay flowers on Tito's monument across BiH. Editorials: Vecernji List: The International Community offers initiative for the talks with the HDZ BiH representatives by Jozo Pavkovic The International Community's experts have drawn up a strategy on how to overcome the current crisis that has been brought about, as it has been emphasised, by the "radical and anti-constitutional activities of a part of the HDZ". According to the strategy, the crisis could be overcome by "consistent implementation of the legal and constitutional provisions and by sanctioning the participants in anti-constitutional activities, by establishing a dialogue, and through the process of resolving the open issues through the institutions of the system and by involvement of the relevant International Community's representatives in the dialogue." Apart from the representatives of the state bodies and the political parties' representatives, it has been foreseen to also have talks with those HDZ BiH representatives who have not been removed by Petritsch and who are not involved in the Croat self-rule. According to the document, the ones who participated in disbanding of the HVO will not be admitted to the talks either. It has been planned to also include the representatives of the Church, of cultural and humanitarian, as well as civil society associations in the talks. They would discuss four issues: the implementation of the BiH Constitutional Court's Decision on the Constituency of Peoples, the Election Law, the functioning of the institutions of the system and the International Community in BiH's role. Negotiators are to agree by consensus on equal approach to the constitutional changes, equality of the peoples in the same fashion in both entities through the Houses of Peoples or through the Constitutional-Legal Commissions, the representation in the executive and judicial bodies. According to the offered document, it is planned to ensure composition of representatives of the constituent peoples based on parity on the entity levels and the ratio of Others within the Constitutional and Higher courts. Approximately equal representation of the constituent peoples must be ensured in the executive authority. Representatives of all the constituent peoples should be on the top of the executive and legislative authorities. This, among other things, means that the presidents of the executive authority and the chairmen of the Parliamentary Houses should be the representatives of different peoples. The chairmen and the vice-presidents of the Houses in the Federation and of the National Assembly in the RS will be elected from the lines of all the three constituent peoples. All the deputies in the Houses of Peoples will have to have electoral legitimacy (from municipal, cantonal or entity levels). Decisions of the vital national interest will be in the Houses of Peoples passed by consensus. And vital national interests would be defined by the Constitutions of the entities. Some of them are also listed in the document, passing of decisions on the Constitution for instance, then on the representation in the Houses of Peoples, preservation of the national identity, culture, confession, languages, scripts, tradition, coat-of-arms, flag, anthem, stamp. When it comes to the Election Law, it should stipulate the rights of the constituent peoples to elect candidates to certain Homes. The Parliamentary Assembly's House of Peoples would consist of the equal number of deputies from all the three constituent peoples and the appropriate number of Others. The Houses of Peoples would elect the Bosniak, Croat and Serb caucuses and the caucus of the Others. Candidates for the Presidency members can be individuals from all the three peoples. The elected members should have the support of their peoples, as well as the support of all BiH citizens. The election would be carried out within the framework of the preferential system. Alternative would be to elect the Presidency members in both Houses of the Parliamentary Assembly. The BiH Presidency has also been informed on this proposal by the International Community by means of which the IC plans to resolve the current difficult and complicated crisis. Slobodna Dalmacija: Paddy Ashdown to replace Petritsch?! By Bisera Lusic "A senior official of the international community, in a private talk with one of the most influential officials in Croatia, described the situation in the neighbouring country honestly and without mincing words by saying this: Bosnia and Herzegovina is a dying patient in a coma. Gathered around the patient is a consultation of doctors, the most reputable ones in the world: the UN, OHR, OSCE, SFOR... and each one of them, in that hopeless situation, from time to time thinks of a therapy they did not try on the comatose patient before, although they assume beforehand that the therapy will fail and doubt it will be effective. Therapies go on and on, and the patient is still in a coma. This honest metaphor uttered by an international official with a temporary address in BiH clearly shows that something has to be changed, because otherwise the agony of the international 'doctors' consultation' and the patient itself will go on indefinitely, creating nothing but even larger a rift. For that reason, although officially such positions are still hidden, the Croatian officials whom the international community is calling louder and louder for help as far as BiH is concerned, claim that the organising of an international conference on the neeighbouring country is an idea that has not matured yet but will be realised. According to assessments of expert circles, a conference is supposed to be organised by the end of the year once the preconditions for it are created, but the Croatian politicians have stressed that the prerequisites for it would be the implementation of the Constitutional Court Decision on the Constituency of Peoples and passing of the Permanent Election Law to which all the three peoples would give their 'blessing.' The international community representatives encourage establishing of contacts between the Croatian state leadership and the BiH authorities, as they consider that Croatia could set an example democratisation-wise, but also when it comes to the necessary reforms and the functioning of the state of law, and have requested that Croatia gets even more actively engaged in that issue. In the meantime, some of the most important seats in BiH seem to be vacated. The Head of the OSCE Mission to BiH, Robert Barry, is leaving from Sarajevo and his successor is still unknown since a decision about the new Head of Mission is to be taken by a consensus in the session of the OSCE Standing Council in Vienna. While the name of the new Head of the OSCE Mission to BiH is still unknown and there have been no notable speculations about his successor, the situation is more 'dynamic' as far as the position of High Representative in BiH is concerned. Following Carl Bildt and Carlos Westendorp, the 'hottest' seat in Sarajevo was taken up two years ago by the Austrian Wolfgang Petritsch, whose moves have caused divided reactions in the BiH political sphere. Even though during his recent visit to Zagreb his reply to a question as to his repeated running for the office of the person No. 1 of the international community in BiH was the brief 'we shall see,' and our sources in the OHR Sarajevo claim Petritsch is still not leaving the post, the 'whispers' about Petritsch leaving BiH which has already given him too much headache are getting louder and louder and the name that came to the surface from the names of his possible successors is Paddy Ashdown, a British liberal and parliamentary delegate. As a reminder, Ashdown became known to the public of the former Yugoslavia for a drawing about a division of BiH which, as he claims in his memoirs, was made by the late Croatian President Dr. Franjo Tudjman during a dinner in London. The British parliamentarian earlier expressed his wish to become the international community's special envoy to Kosovo, but Bernard Kouchner 'seized' the post from him. With the expiration of Petritsch's mandate approaching, the mention of Paddy Ashdown as his successor is becoming more and more frequent, and we tried to check the information with Ashdown's office in London. In answer to our question as to whether Ashdown would stand for the post of High Representative in BiH, his Secretary in the Parliament said that Mr. Ashdown does not intend to comment on such speculations for the time being, since he is still a delegate in the British Parliament. 'However, after the elections (and those will be held in two months - author's remark), Mr. Ashdown will be thinking about new jobs. For the moment, he does not want to declare himself on the posts that are presently occupied," said Ashdown's Secretary in a telephone conversation. Reading between the lines, it is clear that Paddy Ashdown, who is not running at the next parliamentary elections in Great Britain, is very much interested in the post in BiH. With the expected personnel changes in the top leadership of the international community, the most important, vital question is whether the policy of the international representatives in BiH will change and how. The departure of the 'old' personnel opens the options of new talks about the future of the post-Dayton BiH, i.e. the options of the realisation of the cantonisation idea and the negotiations about a revision of the Peace Agreement. Therefore, the assessments from Zagreb that a new international conference on BiH could be held by the end of the year, once the vacant seats are filled in with new 'fresh' officials, do not sound unrealistic. 'No clear and concrete decisions have been made about the future yet, but you know well that the incumbent High Representative, Wolfgang Petritsch has very strong obligations to BiH,' stated OHR Spokesperson Chris Burns (NB: the name is Chris Bird; error by Slobodna Dalmacija) in answer to our question as to whether Petritsch, whose mandate is expiring, will run for that post again." Vjesnik: By the election of Ljubic a disentaglement of the crisis in BiH begins Editorial by Mario Marusic A two-month delay of the Croat self-rule realization in BiH, which expires on May 15, makes topical the issue of (im)possibility of the disentanglement of the political crisis in BiH again. Meanwhile, neither Croat parties, gathered around the Croat National Assembly, nor the IC representatives, led by the High Representatives, have given up their requests, at least in their official statements, although, according to some statements given by the protagonists of the big political crisis, one could hint that they are trying to find room for a dialogue and for the overcoming of the current situation. Also, messages were sent to the HDZ to return to Authority institutions in Sarajevo, which is, according to the OHR, the only possible way to meet the interests of the Croat people in BiH. Then they could possibly talk about some requests of the Croat National Assembly on including into the legal regulations the provisions that would guarantee the equality of Croats in BiH, that is, which would lead to a correction of the famous Barry's provisions and some other acts. Also, Petritsch stated that the IC does not want to have any kind of a talk with Ante Jelavic and his associates, asserting indirectly that, in some way, the IC is ready to give in a bit, but under the condition that somebody else is a negotiator. Well-informed sources claim that the name of Bozo Ljubic, as a person who is eligible for the IC, is most frequently mentioned and it is up to the HDZ and the Croat National Assembly to decide whether they will accept Ljubic, a moderate person, to be their leader or they will remain unyielding. If they decide to support Ljubic, perhaps we might start talking about the disentanglement of the crises. On the contrary, the IC is sending rather clear signals that the leaders of the Croat self-rule and the Croat-majority territories in general, will be put under an even greater pressure.

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