- Patten: BiH might sign the Agreement on the Stabilization and Association with the EU next year
- High Representative, EU’s Patten say reforms lead to Europe
- The BiH Council of Ministers discusses problems related to financing of the CIPS project
- Belkic meets with PDHR Hays
- RS leaders comment on the meeting with Petritsch
- RS President: RS authorities to clarify some of the adopted amendments
- RS NA Constitutional Commission Chairman says RS will make corrections of constitutional amendments before April 18
- Slobodna Dalmacija:
Sevdalinka for Agreement (Sevdalinka is a Bosnian folk song)- Vecernji List:
Picula and Tomac today in Mostar- Dnevni List:
HDZ will not accept invitation of Tomac and Picula!?- Slobodna Dalmacija:
Dr. Zdravko Tomac – RS is core of the problems in BiH- HSS’ Simic to attend meeting of BiH Croat politicians with Picula, Tomac in Mostar on Friday
- Crisis in the BiH Federation Government: Party for BiH Ministers request discussion on Grabovac’s responsibility
- Creation of the third entity to remain HDZ’s main political goal
- Vecernji List:
Ivo Andric Luzanski, (unrecognized) Vice President of HDZ, says political fight continues for the third entity
- RS Commission on missing persons reacts to OHR statement on the Palic case
- AFP:
66 bodies exhumed from wartime mass graves in the RS- AFP:
Bosnian Serbs accuse Federation of destroying graves- AFP:
Karadzic supporters plaster posters around Brcko
- The Austrian President arrives in BiH
- Toby Robinson denies she has been a source of the information that 20 criminal charges had been pressed in case of Hercegovacka Banka
- The international community not supporting prolongation of the next general elections
- Srebrenica women protest in Hague at Dutch report
- PLIP Agencies reiterate alternative accommodation criteria
- Serb Orthodox Church sends a protest letter to George W. Bush
- Former Serbian Interior Minister shot himself in the head
- AFP:
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana to visit Bosnia
BiH State-related Issues
Patten: BiH might sign the Agreement on the Stabilization and Association with the EU next year
All Sarajevo dailies report that the European Union Commissioner for External Relations, Chris Patten, said in Sarajevo on Thursday following the meeting with the High Representative, Wolfgang Petritsch, that BiH might sign with the EU the Agreement of the Stabilization and Association next year. However, he emphasized, that it was up to the local politicians to meet the necessary Road Map criteria in the next two or three months thereby paving the path for making the feasibility study in the autumn. For his part, Petritsch positively assessed an increased EU presence in BiH. “Europe is not any more just BiH’s vision, but its reality. Europeanization is not just a phrase, but something what BiH citizens are every day realizing and using as an advantage. Since the beginning of 2000, goods from BiH have been imported in the EU without custom duties, which is a good motive for its economy,” Petritsch said.Note: Below is summary of the RS press report on the same event
High Representative, EU’s Patten say reforms lead to Europe
(Provided by OHR Banja Luka)
Constitutional reforms have accelerated BiH’s pace of integration into Europe, EU Commissioner for Foreign Policy Chris Patten and High Representative Wolfgang Petritsch said in Sarajevo on Thursday during talks on the implementation of the conditions set in the EU Road Map, a key document that will lead BiH to Europe, Nezavisne Novine reports. “The key word for BiH now is transition from Dayton to Europe, and we agreed that constitutional reforms are extremely important and will help BiH to integrate into Europe sooner,” Petritsch told a news conference after the meeting. He added that the essence of the constitutional reforms was to improve the quality of democracy and requested that the Agreement on constitutional changes is fully implemented. “When I say this I am not talking about the RS parties only. I also called for the BiH Federation parties to vote for the Mrakovica-Sarajevo Agreement and to ensure that the democratic institutions pass the amendments”, said Petritsch. Patten said it depended on the BiH politicians whether BiH sign an Agreement on Stabilization and Association with EU next year. “In order to fulfil the remaining conditions from the Road Map, it is necessary to have the political will and determination of the domestic politicians to look to the future, and not to the past,” Patten said. Equally, he added, when BiH authorities will be able to discuss with West European states the visa regulations and their abolition for Bosnian citizens depends on the level of democratization and BiH’s ability to fight all forms or criminal activity and international terrorism
The BiH Council of Ministers discusses problems related to financing of the CIPS project
According to Oslobodjenje, at a session in Sarajevo on Thursday, the BiH Council of Ministers again discussed the implementation of the CIPS project. Milan Lovric, the Deputy Minister for Civil Affairs and Communications, told journalists following the session, that it could be assessed that the project of making the new BiH citizens’ documents was in a final phase. “The problems are related to funding of the project, since the BiH Budget for the year has not adopted yet,” Lovric emphasized. The Council of Ministers is expected to continue discussion on the project implementation with the representatives of both entities on Tuesday.
Belkic meets with PDHR Hays
Dnevni Avaz reports that the Chairman of the BiH Presidency, Beriz Belkic, met in Sarajevo on Thursday with the Principal High Representative, Donald Hays. The two officials concluded that the adoption of the BiH state budget was one of the basic pre-conditions for creating confidence of the international financial institutions in BiH. Belkic and Hays also discussed the reform of the judicial system in the country.
Constitutional reforms
RS leaders comment on the meeting with Petritsch
(Provided by OHR Banja Luka)
Glas Srpski quotes RS National Assembly Speaker and SDS leader, Dragan Kalinic, as saying that the meeting the RS representatives had with the High Representative for BiH, Wolfgang Petritsch, and members of the PIC Steering Board on Wednesday was good. Kalinic told press that the High Representative has so far been correct and constructive moderator of the negotiations. “However, thanks to manipulations by the BiH Federation parties, he has now found himself in the company of those who are running an orchestrated, negative campaign against the RS, thus requesting the OHR to impose constitutional amendments. If the High Representative yields to the pressures by the SDP BiH, Party for BiH (SBiH), NHI and some other parties and imposes constitutional amendments, then it is very clear that these amendments will not be approved by RS citizens, nor will our representatives and officials, starting from the state level to municipal level, accept them”, said Kalinic. He also said that if somebody wants to see the negotiations fail, and it seems that some parties from the BiH Federation do because they have their own problems to deal with, that will, at the end, open up many issues that go beyond the BiH Constitutional Court ruling on constituent status of all BiH peoples and either were not discussed at the meeting in Sarajevo or have nothing to do with the constitutional amendments, passed by the RS National Assembly. The paper also quotes RS prime minister, Mladen Ivanic, as saying that the RS has no intentions change the essence of amendments to the RS Constitution, passed by the RS National Assembly on April 4th. “The High Representative explained us his views on the amendments to the RS Constitution, which are, to a large degree, influenced by views of the BiH Federation politicians”, said Ivanic, and added that when they thoroughly analyzed the RS NA constitutional amendments, it turned out that most of the amendments are completely in accordance with the Sarajevo Agreement and that there is no major deviations from it. “It is beyond comprehension why such a big noise was made because of everything that the RS did regarding the implementation of the BiH Constitutional Court ruling on constituent status of all peoples in BiH. We shall implement the constitutional changes as the RS National Assembly decided and we shall also consider and some other objections that are realistic”, said Ivanic. SNSD vice-president, Krstan Simic said that there were some dilemmas left to be discussed because there are some lexical, legal and technical problems that need to be resolved through cleared text of the amendments”, said Simic. SPRS vice-president, Dragutin Ilic said that the High Representative had two objections to the text of the constitutional amendments: one refers to selection of RS vice-president and the other one refers to preamble in which referendum is mentioned. “We clearly made known to him that we are not ready to move things back to where they started, nor is it possible to return the amendments to the parliamentary procedure all over again. They explained how they see the RS NA amendments and said it was a big step forward, but added that some of them are not harmonized with the Sarajevo Agreement”, said Ilic. He also said that somebody imposed this Agreement to these peoples and made them see it as something binding. “We think that the only binding thing is the BiH Constitutional Court ruling on constituent status of all peoples in BiH and its implementation”, said Ilic.
RS President: RS authorities to clarify some of the adopted amendments
(Provided by OHR Banja Luka)
Commenting on the meeting the High Representative had with the RS leaders on Wednesday, RS President, Mirko Sarovic said that the point is to stick to the views that the RS National Assembly verified when adopting amendments to the RS Constitution. “When it comes to constitutional changes, we jointly concluded that the RS did a great job and it is such a pity that the relevant international institutions did not show adequate appreciation for what the RS NA has done. We also pointed out that somebody deliberately wants to change theses and to use constitutional changes as an excuse to include something that is not mentioned in the BiH Constitutional Court ruling in the RS Constitution. This means that instead of the implementation of the BiH Constitutional Court ruling somebody is trying to reform the RS Constitution, which is unacceptable. We are determined to implement the BiH Constitutional Court ruling but nothing that goes beyond it. This means that anything else is not a subject of discussion. On the other hand, we expressed our readiness not to close the door for further processes. We shall clarify some amendments and define them with the Constitutional Law in accordance with the constitutional amendments passed by the RS National Assembly”, said Sarovic.
RS NA Constitutional Commission Chairman says RS will make corrections of constitutional amendments before April 18
(Provided by OHR Banja Luka)
Nezavisne Novine quotes Chairman of the RS National Assembly Constitutional Commission, Miroslav Mikes, as saying that the RS National Assembly (RS NA) will remove some technical and legal mistakes from the RS NA amendments to the RS Constitution that the High Representative insists on. “Petritsch requested us make some improvements and harmonization so that the RS NA amendments fully correspond to the Sarajevo Agreement. Also, the IC representatives requested that the composition of RS government be expressed in figures, that is, the prime minister + 16 ministers (8 Serbs, 5 Bosniaks and 3 Croats). Mikes said the IC representatives requested changes of some other amendments such as those pertaining to number of judges in the RS Constitutional Court (7 judges instead of 9) and the implementation of Annex 7 of the Dayton Peace Accords.
Slobodna Dalmacija: Sevdalinka for Agreement
(Sevdalinka is a Bosnian folk song)
Written by Milo Jukic (Provided by OHR Mostar)
Writing about the constitutional changes, SD’s Milo Jukic recalls a story about how he met his Zagreb colleague, who often comes to BiH, when she told Jukic how she tried to explain relations in BiH to her Zagreb colleague. “What do moderate Serbs think?”, asked the poorly informed Zagreb colleague. “There are not moderate Serbs”, was the answer. Jukic goes on to say that the talks on constitutional changes showed that there are not moderate Serbs because it was “a democrat” Milorad Dodik who was slamming against table at Petritsch’s and not Dragan Kalinic of SDS.
Jukic criticizes Sarajevo-based media for organizing campaign against HDZ and SDA who refused to sign the 27 March Agreement on constitutional changes also known as Mrakovica-Sarajevo Agreement, the media who reported that it was only SDA and HDZ who refused to put pen to paper. Jukic says that eventually one could see that the Agreement was really and only signed by leaders of SDP, Party for BiH and NHI and goes on to say that the Serb MPs in the RS NA showed what the Agreement would look like when it is built in RS laws: Bosniaks and Croat will be able to outvote Serb members in some councils but they will learn who the real boss is when their proposals go to the RS Assembly. The author says that the confusion about the constitutional changes created tectonic disturbances in the Federation with the most interesting story being that the HDZ and “local Sarajevo intellectuals” ended up on the same side, both criticizing the Agreement. Jukic says that the same intellectuals, Pecanin of Dani magazine, friar Mile Babic, Gojko Beric, Ivan Lovrenovic to name the few, usually have stomach upsets when Jelavic’s name is mentioned. Jukic also criticizes Zlatko Lagumdzija (SDP) and Ilija Simic (HSS) for going public about what the RS authorities must and must not do. He says that Lagumdzija seemed to have forgotten that he is no longer the Chair of the CoM and that Simic talks as if he had been voted for by hundreds of thousands of people not by 162 people in whole of BiH. Finally Jukic asks why there is no progress in BiH and offers an answer to the question saying that as long as intellectuals please American diplomats and as long as an opinion of Serb or Croat national Council “whose membership can be crammed into a small toilet” counts as much as it does, there will not be any progress.
Vecernji List: Picula and Tomac today in Mostar
(Provided by OHR Mostar)
Vecernji list reads about visit of Croatian Foreign Minister Tonino Picula and Deputy Speaker of Croatian Parliament Zdravko Tomac to Mostar, saying that the delegation is not coming to give lessons or offer solutions created in Zagreb. The article says that no spectacular results could be expected from this meeting, since Croatian authorities don’t have strong influence on future relations in BiH, but it is useful in a way that Croatian side could make position of Croats in BiH more acceptable through diplomatic activities. Tomac said that he is coming to Mostar to hear all sides. The daily says that the agreement reached in Sarajevo is putting Croats in position of national minority both in RS and Federation.
Dnevni List: HDZ will not accept the invitation of Tomac and Picula!?
(Provided by OHR Mostar)
Dnevni List carries that HDZ will not respond to the invitation of Deputy Speaker of Croatian Parliament Zdravko Tomac and Croatian Foreign Minister Tonino Picula. In its explanation HDZ said that they will not attend the meeting because the Republic of Croatia has given support to the Sarajevo Agreement on constitutional changes, which strengthened the division of BiH in a Serb and Bosniak entities, and turned Croats into a national minority. By this act the official Zagreb showed its utter lack of principles and revealed that it takes the position of the BiH Croats only as a detail in a wider political deal regarding the international position of the Republic of Croatia and that the interests of the BiH Croats are completely neglected.
Slobodna Dalmacija: Dr. Zdravko Tomac – RS is core of the problems in BiH
(Provided by OHR Mostar)
Regarding the visit of Croatian Foreign Minister Tonino Picula and Deputy Speaker of Croatian Parliament Zdravko Tomac to Mostar where they are to meet with representatives of parties with Croat prefix, Herzegovina-Neretva Canton, International Community and economists, Slobodna Dalmacija carries the latter as saying that the main topic of all the meetings they are to have will be the constitutional changes in BiH. Tomac is quoted that Croatia continues its active policy towards BiH, wanting to talk to everyone, listen to everyone and publicly state its stance adding that he is aware that the visit could provoke negative interpretations from the BiH public. “We support processes that will make BiH an integrated state. We want to point out that the core of the problem is in the indulging IC and existence of RS in the shape created through ethnic cleansing. I know that these statements cause anger within parts of political circles in the RS but the relations in the region depend on the fact whether official Belgrade recognizes BiH as a unified state or continues to communicate with RS only”, says Tomac adding that Croatia would continue sending messages to BiH. “That also relates to Croatia giving up on special relations with the Federation of BiH because official Zagreb has given up on the ‘tutorship'”, says Tomac, reads Slobodna Dalmacija.
A separate article, also dealing with Picula and Tomac’s visit to Mostar, carries President of HNZ Milenko Brkic as saying that majority of Croat parties do not support the Sarajevo Agreement on constitutional changes. Brkic believes that the Agreement can only be basis for further negotiations. He also told SD that Croat parties request that the Federation Parliament’s House of representatives calls off adoption of amendments to Federation Constitution because if they are to be adopted there would be no point talking about the amendments which were, in his opinion, catastrophically adopted by the RS Assembly.
HSS’ Simic to attend meeting of BiH Croat politicians with Picula, Tomac in Mostar on Friday
(Provided by OHR Mostar)
Ilija Simic, the President of HSS, stated that he will meet with Tonino Picula, the Croatian Minister of Foreign Affiars, and Zdravko Tomac, the Deputy Speaker of the Croatian Parliament, in Mostar today. Simic stated for Dnevni Avaz that it is good and logical that they are informed about the course of the constitutional changes, but he stressed that that it is completely unacceptable for him that they appear in a role of arbitrators. Dnevni Avaz also says that the meeting of Picula and Tomac with the representatives of the parties with a Croat prefix will take place in the premises of the Croatian Consulate in Mostar. Representatives of NHI, HNZ, HDZ, HSS etc. were invited to attend the meeting.
Federation
Crisis in the BiH Federation Government: Party for BiH Ministers request discussion on Grabovac’s responsibility
According to Oslobodjenje, the Deputy President of the Party for BiH, Gavrilo Grahovac, told journalists in Sarajevo on Thursday that the Party’s Ministers would not participate in the work of the BiH Federation Government, until the issue is put on the body’s agenda of the Finance Minister Nikola Grabovac’s responsibility for planning unrealistic budget for the year and disputed transactions related to the Orasje-based AM Sped Company. In the meantime, the Head of the CAFAO, Allan Jensen, on Wednesday confirmed that his institution was not aware of new evidence justifying the return of 1.7 million KM deposit to the AM Sped. Both Grabovac and his deputy Sefika Hafizovic said on Thursday they would insist on the full investigation into the matter. (Click here for full translation of the Dnevni Avaz article on the issue provided by CAFAO press department)
Creation of the third entity to remain HDZ’s main political goal
(Provided by OHR Mostar)
Dnevni Avaz reports that, according to the sources close to HDZ, today’s session of the HDZ Central Board will not bring some radical changes and the creation of the third entity will remain the main goal and task of the HDZ activities. According to the information coming from the field and sources close to HDZ, this idea will be fully activated in autumn, before the elections. The referendum will be left as a reserve option if HDZ does not achieve desired results at the elections, so that they can cause chaos on the BiH political scene. According to a Dnevni Avaz source, which is close to HDZ, there will be no bigger changes because Ante Jelavic, an unrecognized HDZ President, and General Sopta have arranged everything so that Jelavic can continue to run the party with Sopta’s assistance and the elections organized within the HDZ Municipal Boards are the best indicator of it, since the Central HDZ Board directly imposes to the local bodies the persons, who have to become the members of the Boards. The same article carries that they are trying to win the support of the Church for the idea on the third entity, and now HDZ is testing to what extent they can count on it.
Vecernji List: Ivo Andric Luzanski, (unrecognized) Vice President of HDZ, says political fight continues for the third entity
(Provided by OHR Mostar)
Vecernji list carries interview with Ivo Andric Luzanski who said that Croats will reach the Third Entity, as only political solution, through political fight. Andric Luzanski says that Central board of HDZ, that is in session today, will not decide on Jelavic’s successor and that there will be more than one candidate for that position at the Convention of the Party. Andric Luzanski said that he is glad that the High Representative initiated criminal prosecution against Jelavic and the group, because he says that he is deeply convinced that they will prove their innocence at the court.
Republika Srpska
RS Commission on missing persons reacts to OHR statement on the Palic case
(Provided by OHR Banja Luka)
Glas Srpski quotes Chairman of the RS Commission on missing persons, Nedeljko Mitrovic, as saying that the OHR statement, which says that the RS leaders will be held responsible unless the case of Avdo Palic is completely resolved, is just one more proof that the IC applies double standards in cases like this one in the RS and the BiH Federation. Mitrovic finds completely unacceptable that one case of a missing person is singled out given that there are 17,000 missing persons in BiH. He strongly condemned this tendency of OHR to misuse one human tragedy in this way, and said that if OHR wants to be an arbitrator and work unilaterally, then it should engage in cases of missing such as: 51 killed in Sjekovac, Mayor Radjenovic killed in Drvar by a regular Croatian Army unit from Sinj, the Ozren cases – dislocation of mortal remains, “Lav” cemetery in Sarajevo, etc.
AFP: 66 bodies exhumed from wartime mass graves in the RS
The bodies of 66 people, believed to be Bosniak and Croat civilians killed at the beginning of Bosnia’s 1992-95 war, were exhumed from mass graves in the northwest of the country in the past 10 days, a local official said Thursday. They were killed by Bosnian Serbs in the summer of 1992, Amor Masovic, the head of a Bosniak-led commission investigating the fate of missing people, told AFP citing survivors who escaped mass executions in the area of Kotor Varos. A single mass grave, discovered at the cemetery in Kotor Varos, contained 37 bodies, he said. The remains of women and children were also found among the victims. The commission still searches for some 330 people who went missing after Bosnian Serb forces captured the area in the early stages of the war. The team is to begin excavating a suspected mass grave in a mine near the northwestern town of Prijedor later Thursday, Masovic said. They are hoping to discover some of the 1,700 Bosniaks and Croats who were held in notorious detention camps in the area, including Keraterm. At the beginning of the war, thousands of Bosnian Muslims and Croats were dragged from their homes in the Prijedor region as part of the Bosnian Serbs’ ethnic cleansing campaign. More than six years after the end of the war, which claimed over 200,000 lives, more than 12,000 bodies have been exhumed in Bosnia. Most of them are believed to be Bosniak civilians killed by Bosnian Serb forces.
AFP: Bosnian Serbs accuse Federation of destroying graves
A Bosnian Serb association for missing people said Thursday it would sue the BiH Federation for allegedly destroying and moving wartime Serb mass graves. The association said it would take the entity to the BiH Human Rights Chamber since it has evidence that graves, containing the bodies of Serbs killed during the 1992-95 war, were being moved and destroyed. The association says it has evidence more than 550 bodies were moved from across Bosnia, Boro Peulic told journalists. He added the association had information that the remains of Bosnian Serbs were “being destroyed, so it will be never possible to find them.” “It is not difficult to conclude that by doing that there is a wish to hide war crimes,” he said. According to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) figures there are still some 17,000 people listed as missing in Bosnia, although the war ended more than six years ago. The RS commission for missing people said that of these 17,000 some 5,000 were Serb civilians and soldiers.
AFP: Karadzic supporters plaster posters around Brcko
Supporters of Bosnian Serb war crimes fugitive Radovan Karadzic plastered posters across a northeastern Bosnian town Thursday, after citizens were urged to provide tips that could lead to his arrest. Posters, which showed a photo of the wartime Bosnian Serb leader, read: “All for one, one for all. Until death and Doomsday we shall defend brother Radovan.” Posters appeared in Brcko, some 110 kilometers (70 miles) north of Sarajevo, several days after NATO soldiers airdropped leaflets offering reward for any information that could lead to his arrest, Bosnian Serb radio said. The five-million-dollar (5.7 million-euro) award is being offered by the United States government for the capture of Karadzic. Karadzic and his wartime military commander Ratko Mladic are accused of war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).
International Community
The Austrian President arrives in BiH
Oslobodjenje and ONASA report that the Austrian President, Thomas Klestil, late on Thursday arrived in Sarajevo for an official visit to BiH. The OHR Spokesman, Kevin Sullivan, told journalists that Klestil was scheduled to meet with the High Representative, Wolfgang Petritsch, on Friday and discuss the current situation in the country with regard to the Dayton Peace Agreement implementation.
Toby Robinson denies she has been a source of the information that 20 criminal charges had been pressed in case of Hercegovacka Banka
The BiH Federation Prosecutor, Marinko Jurcevic, told Oslobodjenje that he had talked with the Hercegovacka Banka Provisional Administrator, Toby Robinson by phone, and that she had denied she was source of published information that “20 criminal charges were pressed in case of Hercegovacka Banka.” “It is possible that this information comes from the Head of the OHR AFD, Manfred Dauster,” Jurcevic said.
The international community does not support postponement of the next general elections
In an interview with Dnevni Avaz, the High Representative, Wolfgang Petritsch, warned the BIH and the BiH Federation authorities to as soon as possible pay their share in funds planned for the organization of the next elections. Petritsh emphasized that BiH was obliged to pay 1.2 million KM, but that it had so far paid just 100,000 KM. “The obligation of the Federation amounts up to 1.6 million, and unfortunately, it has not paid anything, as the RS is the only one which has fulfilled its obligation and paid a million,” Petritsch said. He said that the elections should not be delayed due to the lack of funds. In addition, the Head of the OHR Press Office, Alexandra Stiglmayer, told Oslobodjenje that the international community believed the elections should also not be brought into question due to slowness in the adoption of the amendments to the entities’ constitutions. Stiglmayer emphasized that the OHR would in the next days analyze the legal aspects of the current developments. “The BiH Election Law has certain undefined issues concerning the way of the election of the Presidents of the RS and the BiH Federation and the members of the BiH Federation House of Peoples. These matters are supposed to be resolved in the framework of the amendments to the Constitutions of the entities, and in accordance to the BiH Constitutional Court’s decision on the constituency of the peoples. We hope that the parliaments will realize the seriousness of the situation, and that they will as soon as possible pass the amendments foreseen by the Agreement signed in Sarajevo,” Stiglmayer said.
Srebrenica women protest in Hague at Dutch report
Bosnian women bereaved in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre protested silently outside the Dutch parliament on Thursday at a report that largely exonerated Dutch troops for failing to prevent Europe’s worst atrocity since World War Two, according to Reuters. Relatives of some of the 7,000 Bosniak men and boys murdered after Bosnian Serb forces overran the U.N. “safe area” held up almost 2,000 brightly colored cloths, each embroidered with the name of a Srebrenica victim, birth date and home town. “All these cloths were sewn with tears,” said Hajra Catic, who lost her husband and son. “We seek truth and justice about Srebrenica, and that what happened there in 1995 should not be forgotten.” In Srebrenica, a Bosnian town close to the Serbian border, 110 lightly-armed Dutch troops from the multinational U.N. peacekeeping force were assigned to protect the Muslim residents. In the event the town fell to the Serbs without a shot being fired. The long-awaited Dutch report published on Wednesday slammed the army and politicians for giving their peacekeepers a “mission impossible” to defend Srebrenica. The women walked out of the presentation in anger, perceiving it as too weak and wrong on certain key facts. The Bosniak women and supporters formed a circle outside the parliament, the cloths they bore — some decorated with hearts, flowers or teardrops — fluttering in the breeze. Three banners in a row bore the surname Hurenovic. Aida Hurenovic was born in 1980, Halid in 1977 and Fahrudin in 1954. The 7,000-page NIOD report found no evidence linking ex-Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic — currently on trial in The Hague for alleged Balkans crimes — or Bosnian Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadzic with the slaughter. Dnevni Avaz reports that with regard to the report, BiH Foreign Minister Zlatko Lagumdzija in Sarajevo on Thursday met with the Dutch Ambassador to BiH, Robert Boser. Lagumdzija requested that the Dutch Government takes an official stand about the claims from the report.
PLIP Agencies reiterate alternative accommodation criteria
According to OHR Spokesman Kevin Sullivan, the Property Law Implementation Plan agencies note that there are still misunderstandings regarding the alternative accommodation. “Once a decision, whether it is a 15-day decision or a 90-day decision, has been issued and has expired, the holder of the decision has no further right to remain in the property. The decision may state that the occupant has the right to seek alternative accommodation from the competent authorities. However, this entitlement, while obliging the local authorities to take immediate action to provide such accommodation, gives the occupant no further legal basis to continue to occupy the property,” Sullivan told a press conference in Sarajevo on Thursday. (Jutarnje Novine report on the OHR Spokesman’s addressing the issue at the press conference) Click here for the OHR press release.
Serb Orthodox Church sends a protest letter to George W. Bush
(Provided by OHR Banja Luka)
Glas Srpski carries a statement, issued by the Serb Orthodox Church, which says that, the Serb Orthodox Patriarch, Pavle, sent a protest letter to the US President, George W. Bush, the Chief Commander of SFOR troops in BiH, General John Sylvester and the High Representative for BiH, Wolfgang Petritsch. The protest letter refers to the recent event that happened in Celebici, Borja and Hocevo, all located in the Dabrobosanska Episcopate, when SFOR attempted to arrest Radovan Karadzic. The Press office with the Serb Orthodox Church states that the aforementioned persons are informed about the unpleasant events experienced by the members of the Serb Orthodox congregation when SFOR troops entered their houses, clinics and schools on February 28th and March 1st claiming they were looking for Radovan Karadzic. “The Holy Synod of the Serb Orthodox Church is shocked about the behavior of the SFOR soldiers toward innocent civilians. They were armed and used force when entering the Church of the Assumption of God’s mother in Celebici where they stepped on the altar and broke some pots and items that priest use for varies ceremonies including the chalice used by priests in the Communion service. Such behavior of the SFOR soldiers make us draw the conclusion that their goal was not to arrest Karadzic but to intimidate innocent civilians, the members of the Serb Orthodox congregation”, states the letter written by the Patriarch Pavle.
Former Serbian Interior Minister shot himself in the head
(Provided by OHR Banja Luka)
Both Banja Luka dailies report that former Yugoslav Interior Minister, Vlajko Stojiljkovic shot himself in the head outside the Yugoslav Parliament after the Parliament passed the Law on cooperation with the ICTY. The ICTY indicted Stojiljkovic for war crimes committed against Albanians in Kosovo. Stojiljkovic left a good-by note in which he accused leaders of the Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS) and the Yugoslav President, Vojislav Kostunica, of being responsible for the break-up of Yugoslavia.
AFP: EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana to visit BiH
European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana will arrive in BiH on April 16 for two days of talks with officials and international envoys, the foreign ministry said Thursday. During his visit Solana is expected to have a joint meeting with Prime
Minister Dragan Mikerevic, Foreign Minister Zlatko Lagumdzija and the officials of BiH’s two entities. Solana will also hold meetings with the top international envoy to Bosnia Wolfgang Petritsch and the head of the UN mission here Jacques Klein.
Headlines
Oslobodjenje
- Party for BiH Ministers froze their participation in the work of the BiH Federation Government: Determining responsibility of Deputy Prime Minister Grabovac requested
Dnevni Avaz
- Payment of invalid pensions fro March starts today
Jutarnje Novine
- Sarajevo Stock Exchange Office to be opened today: market offered with the capital of 120 companies
Glas Srpski
- Nenad Banovic returns home – Lying and hiding finished;
- Stojiljkovic shot himself to the head;
Nezavisne Novine
- Women of Srebrenica protest in Sarajevo and Tuzla – Protests to take place in The Hague;
- Vlajko Stojiljkovic shot himself in the head;
Dnevni List
- The 10th Anniversary of HVO and war events from 1941-1992 was marked in Kupres: Marko Tokic announced in Kupres forming of Croat Republic in BiH
- From Herceg-Bosna Canton: Will TV Livno start to broadcast its program in summer?
- About 700 members of the 2nd Guard Motorized Brigade signed yesterday in Mostar a breach of the agreement with the Ministry of Defense: Quo vadis, cousin?
Vecernji List
- New problems of Federation Government: Lack in the state budget
- Ivo Andric Luzanski, HDZ Vice President: Third entity, sooner or later
- Preparations for trials to war criminals in BiH: Next year The Hague in Sarajevo
- TV and Radio program for the whole state: Joint TV News Program on 7 May