- The Alliance for Change’s authorized body nominated candidates for directors of the Federation institutions BiH Croat political parties representatives met in Sarajevo Dnevni List: A joint stand of the Croat parties regarding the constitutional changes BiH Federation leaders agreed on the amendments to the entity Constitution Dnevni List: What is going on Federation TV? Slobodna Dalmacija: Stolac Municipal Election Commission appointed
- Oslobodjenje: The same red thread Nezavisne Novine: Scandinavia-zation of the Balkans Dnevni List: All voted for their own favorites Dnevni List: New vine in old stomachs Slobodna Dalmacija: Who is dividing BiH now?
BiH State-related Issues
BiH House of Representatives rejects to vote on the information related to the extradition of the “Algerian Group”
According to Oslobodjenje, at its session in Sarajevo on Tuesday, the BiH House of Representatives rejected to vote on the BiH Council of Ministers information related to the extradition of the “Algerian Group.” The deputies concluded they would re-consider the information only after the BiH Federation Supreme Court and the BiH Human Rights Chamber say their final word on the issue. The House adopted draft law on the electric power transmission and accepted the Council of Minister’s request that the new draft law on the distribution of the money BiH had obtained from the process of succession to the former Yugoslavia is discussed under the urgent parliamentary procedure.
Oslobodjenje: BiH authorities attempting to trace seven Egyptians suspected of involvement in terrorism
Oslobodjenje has come into possession of a secret document, according to which, the BiH law-enforcement authorities are attempting to trace seven persons of the Egyptian nationality suspected of involvement in the international terrorism. Their extradition has been requested by the authorities in the country of their origin. The same document reads that the BiH authorities has determined there is a ground for suspicion that yet 75 Algerians were illegally awarded with the BiH citizenship status.
The fight against poverty begins
Oslobodjenje quoted BiH Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations Azra Hadziahmetovic as saying at a press conference in Sarajevo on Tuesday that BiH was starting a country-wide fight against poverty by combating corruption, which had produced a loss of more than two billion KMs. “Due to the corruption, BiH has lost more many that it is a total amount of the state and both entities’ budgets,” Hadziahmetovic said. She added that the general fight against poverty was the most important economic project in BiH. “The foreign assistance and the countries economic development will depend on the implementation of this project,” Hadziahmetovic concluded.
Lagumdzija attends OIC/EU meeting in Istanbul
According to Dnevni Avaz, the BiH Council of Ministers Chairman Zlatko Lagumdzija attending a Organization of the Islamic Conference and the European Union meeting in Istanbul met on Tuesday with the OIC Chairman and Qatar Foreign Minister Hamad bin Jasem to discuss the situation in the world following the September 111 terrorist attacks on the United States. The two officials emphasized that rights had to be guaranteed to all people regardless of their religion, particularly in the BiH-like multiethnic societies.
Federation
The Alliance for Change’s authorized body nominated candidates for directors of the Federation institutions
The body of the governing Alliance for Change authorized for personnel issues determined the rest of the names of the candidates for the directors and deputy directors of the BiH Federation Bureaus and institutions, Oslobodjenje reports. According to the proposal, Zeljko Maric (NHI) will be appointed Director of the Consumer Goods Reserves Directorate in place Pero Baroncic, as Miro Marjanovic (SDP) will be appointed his deputy in place of Esad Brkovic. Branimir Bilic (Republican Party) will remain the director of the Office for Supervision over the Insurance Companies. The final decision on the appointment of these as well as other candidates, nominated by the Alliance, will be made by the Federation Government at its session scheduled for the next week.
BiH Croat political parties representatives met in Sarajevo
ONASA reports that the Croat Democratic Union (HDZ) has agreed to appoint its delegates in the BiH Federation House of Peoples before the adoption of amendments to the entity constitutions, President of the Croat People’s Union (HNZ) Milenko Brkic said after a meeting of BiH political parties with the Croat prefix in Sarajevo on Tuesday. “Respecting the fact that adoption of constitutional changes is a very important issue, the HDZ has decided to fill in the posts in the House of Peoples,” Brkic told journalists. Representatives from the West Herzegovina Canton, Herzegovina Neretva and Livno Canton are yet to be appointed to the House of Peoples. According to Oslobodjenje, the attendees at the meeting, which primarily discussed the issue of constitutional reforms in the country, included Ante Jelavic (HDZ), Ilija Simic (HSS), Mile Ivancic (Union of Croat Christian Democrats – HKDU), Petar Milic (Croat Christian Democrats), Anto Paponja (HKDP), Stjepan Kljujic (not in the capacity of the Republican Party President but privately) and Mariofil Ljubic (HDZ, Deputy Speaker of the BiH House of Representatives).
Note: Below is a CRO press report on the same event
Dnevni List: A joint stand of the Croat parties regarding the constitutional changes
(Provided by OHR Mostar)
Yesterday in Hotel Delminium, in the Sarajevo settlement Stup, a meeting of all parties with a Croat prefix was held. Only People’s Party Working for Prosperity did not show up at the meeting, while Ivo Tomasevic, a Chancellor of Vinko Puljic, attended the meeting on behalf of BiH Bishops’ Conference. Mariofil Ljubic represented Croat Parliamentary officials, while Ivan Plejic was representing the Croats, who participated in the work of the Commission for Change of the Constitution of the BiH Federation. A member of the HDZ Presidency stated for Dnevni List: ‘The consensus regarding the introduction of the Houses of Peoples in both BiH entities was reached. We advocate a consistent implementation of the Constitutional Court decision and harmonization of entities’ Constitutions with the BiH Constitution through 5 points: Houses of Peoples in both BiH entities, but with Caucuses of constituent peoples; overall protection of vital national interests, not only in terms of language and culture; confirmation of Governments at an entity and state level in both Houses; positions of national minorities should be solved through Law on National Minorities in accordance with the European Framework Convention on National Minorities. Also, we advocate that all BiH citizens have a right to vote and be elected and that 4 times bigger Bosniak electorate does not decisively influence the election of a Croat member of the BiH Presidency’, Lozancic concluded.
The participants of the meeting stated that great readiness for the return of the Croat representatives to the House of Peoples was shown. If the political process goes in a wrong direction, they will try to stop constitutional changes in the BiH Federation House of Peoples, and, also, it is possible that the Croat parties will not run for the elections. A result of these constitutional changes might be a division of BiH in two parts, a Bosniak and Serb and reducing of the Croat people to a national minority. They all believe that Serbs will not accept the establishment of the House of People in the RS. In that case, although the proposal of the Federation Commission is to have 4 Caucuses in the Federation (3 Caucuses of Peoples and 1 Caucus of National Minorities) it is not very likely that SDP, SDA, Party for BiH will accept the House of Peoples in the BiH Federation. In that context, the possibility that the Croat parties boycott elections is not excluded, as a last resort, in case that there is no other way to protect national interests.
Slobodna Dlamacija reports that Miljenko Brkic, a leader of Croat people’s Community, especially stressed positive vibrations coming from Ante Jelavic, un unrecognized HDZ President. Namely, Jelavic stated that HDZ will take part in the work of the Federation House of Peoples during the next sessions.
BiH Federation leaders agreed on the amendments to the entity Constitution
Oslobodjenje learned from well-informed sources that BiH Federation President Safet Halilovic would in the next few days, as the authorized entity official, deliver the draft amendments to the Federation Constitution to the Entity Government for the consideration and adoption under the urgent procedure. According to the newspaper, this was agreed at a Halilovic’s meeting with BiH Federation Prime Minister Alija Behmen, Speaker of the Federation House of Representatives Ismet Briga, his Deputy Ivan Brigic and Deputy Speaker of the both BiH Federation Parliament Houses Meliha Alic. The beginning of the process of the constitutional changes in the Federation does not mean the Federation leaders are giving up talks with the parties from the Republika Srpska, initiated by High Representative Wolfgang Petritsch, on finding the best modalities to protect interests of all peoples in the country.
Dnevni List: What is going on Federation TV?
(Provided by OHR Mostar)
The best proof that FTV viewers are being deluded is informative program, especially after the arrest of ‘Algerian Group’ and their extradition, or more precisely, their kidnapping to the USA. The most agile journalists, the fighters for the defense of the Algerian Group, are Mladen Maric (TV show ‘Paralele’), Sanjin Beciragic ( news) and Bakir Hadziomerovic ( TV show ’60 minutes).
We wonder whether Marija Topic Crnoja was watching these TV shows and why she has not reacted? It is obvious that the Croat personnel on RTV BiH serve as a number of the representation according to the national principle, and not to make Croats in BiH feel that this their TV and their country, in which they feel as equal, at least when the language is in question.
In the context of national relations, the case of journalist Zvonko Maric, that is, Bajram Demic illustrates the best the situation on FTV. If you thought that this is about two journalists, that is, two persons, you are wrong. It is about an FTV journalist, who was born as Bajram Demic and who is being presented on TV as Zvonko Maric, in order to make an impression that there is a bigger number of the Croats on FTV and that he, as a Croat, could succeed on FTV.
Slobodna Dalmacija: Stolac Municipal Election Commission appointed
(Provided by OHR Mostar)
Slobodna Dalmacija reports that the Election Commission of BiH has appointed members of the Stolac Municipal Election Commission following the failure of the Stolac’s Municipal Council to do so. The paper reads that the Municipal Council should have appointed the members of the Commission, but due to anachronistic nature of the provision in the Municipal Statute according to which there has to be a two-thirds quorum at a session of the Municipal Council, the Council did not appoint members of the Municipal Commission because members of the CD coalition left the session disagreeing with the proposal on the members of the Commission submitted by the Head of Municipality Zeljko Obradovic. Regarding the appointment itself, Slobodna Dalmacija reads that the BiH Election Commission in fact re-appointed old members of the Stolac Election Commission, namely Marko Raguz, the President, Irvana Hajdarovic, the secretary and Ivan Peric, a member of the Stolac Municipal Election Commission.
Republika Srpska
RS authorities and OHR representatives discussed fight against corruption in Banja Luka
(Provided by OHR Banja Luka)
Both Banja Luka dailies quote RS Prime Minister, Mladen Ivanic, as saying that the RS Government is dissatisfied with the fact that none of the corruption cases has been resolved thus far. After the meeting with Head of the OHR Anti Fraud Department, Manfred Dauster, the RS Prime Minister said that the cooperation between law enforcement agencies is slightly improved and that one case of corruption will be resolved very soon. “There is no shifting of responsibility from one institution to another and I think that is a good change, but still that is not good enough and that is why we have to accelerate the fight against corruption.”, said Ivanic. He also said that a new law on criminal procedure would be forwarded to the RS NA as soon as possible which is also a very important piece of legislation for fight against corruption. Deputy RS Prosecutor, Jovan Spajic said that the RS Persecutor’s Office requested the RS Interior Ministry to start collecting evidence for five cases of corruption. Spajic also said that he informed the OHR team about status of charges pressed against the management of the RS Pension-Invalid Insurance Fund. Head of the OHR Anti Corruption Department, Manfred Dauster said that in the entire BiH, only one case of corruption has been completed and that is the Alagic case. Dauster said that customs and the RS Tax Administration are priorities in the fight against corruption, because the taxation is one of the most important issue for any country. (Click here for ONASA’s report on the issue)
Prime Minister Ivanic and Bishop Komarica on return of Croats to BiH/RS
(Provided by OHR Banja Luka)
RS Premier Mladen Ivanic has stated to the Croatian Radio that more then 50% of property in the RS will be returned to pre-war owners in the course of the year. Premier Ivanic added that the return process would be significantly improved by KM 1,2 million, which the RS and Croatia had set aside with the assistance of international donors.
The Catholic Bishop of Banja Luka, Franjo Komarica, denied on the same radio show allegations that there was no life for Croats in BIH/RS. Komarica assessed that Croatian politicians in Zagreb were responsible for the fact that many Croats did not wish to return, because they had promised them permanent residence in Croatia in order to accomplish their own political interests.
Srpski/Bosanski Brod municipality will file a lawsuit against Croatia before the ICTY for atrocities committed against Serb civilians in this municipality during 1992
(Provided by OHR Banja Luka)
Glas Srpski quotes president of the RS Commission on missing persons chapter from Srpski/Bosanski Brod, Mirko Grabovac, as saying that the Srpski/Bosanski Brod municipality will file a lawsuit against Republic of Croatia before the ICTY for crimes that regular troops of the Croatian Army committed against Serb civilians in Bosanski Brod during 1992, when this territory was occupied by the Croatian Army. He said that a report had been prepared which on 500 pages precisely describes crimes committed by members of the regular Croatian Army troops and Croat-Muslim paramilitary formations, as well as the names of those who committed crimes and the names of those who issued orders. A total of 256 Serb civilians were killed in the former municipality of Bosanski Brod in 1992 where 17 villages with a majority Serb population were completely destroyed and burned down. The former municipality of Bosanski Brod was transformed into a concentration camp in which Serbs from the municipalities of Srpski Brod, Doboj, Modrica, Odzak, Derventa and Slavonski Brod were imprisoned. “Around 2,000 Serbs went through these prisons, half of whom were killed,” Grabovac said.
RS Minister for Traffic and Communication says RS might cancel the State Border Treaty with Croatia
(Provided by OHR Banja Luka)
Glas Srpski reports on the round table on Kostajnica that was held two days ago in Kostajnica. RS Minister for Traffic and Communication, Branko Dokic told “Glas srpski” that there is a possibility that BiH might cancel the State Border Treaty with Croatia, if the representatives of Croatia fail to show their understanding for proposed solutions. Dokic stressed that the Croatian representatives insist that border-crossing should be located on the right bank of the river Una. According to Dokic, the Croatian representatives do not agree with the proposal of the RS Government and the BiH Council of Ministers according to which a joint border-crossing should be set up in Kostajnica between the rivers of Una and Uncica. The paper quotes BiH Minister for Civil Affairs and Communication, Svetozar Mihajlovic, as saying that Croatia hinders setting up of the border-crossing in Kostajnica for political reasons. “That is why BiH should consider a possibility to cancel the State Border Treaty with Croatia”, said Mihajlovic.
RS official says RS expects “numerous” fresh demands from Hague chief prosecutor
(Provided by OHR Banja Luka)
The RS prime minister’s advisor for relations with the Hague tribunal, Sinisa Djordjevic, believes that ICTY Chief Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte will visit Banja Luka on 15 February to bring fresh demands from the ICTY. “After the RS adopted the Law on Cooperation with the ICTY we can only guess what demands she will bring; given that she is meeting top government officials I think that they will be numerous and wide-ranging,” Djordjevic told SRNA. He said that the government’s Bureau for Cooperation with the Tribunal would on Friday (15 February) present Del Ponte with a series of arguments showing that the cooperation between the RS authorities and the ICTY is not only of declarative nature. “The RS government urges that relations with the ICTY be established on a realistic basis,” Djordjevic said. Noting that the RS authorities have arguments that the tribunal should take into account, he concluded that the Friday talks with Prosecutor Del Ponte in Banja Luka “will not be easy”.
International Community
Reuters: Milosevic accused of Balkans “mediaeval savagery”
A power-mad Slobodan Milosevic brought “mediaeval savagery” to the Balkans in the 1990s, prosecutors said on Tuesday as they began the biggest war crimes trial since Hitler’s henchmen were tried at Nuremberg. The former Yugoslav leader cynically harnessed Serb nationalism to catapult him to power, spearheading a campaign to create a “Greater Serbia” from the wreckage of the collapsing communist country, the Hague war crimes tribunal was told. “Beyond the nationalist pretext and the horror of ethnic cleansing, behind the grandiloquent rhetoric and the hackneyed phrases the search for power is what motivated Slobodan Milosevic,” declared Chief Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte. Milosevic, charged with genocide in the 1992-95 Bosnian war and crimes against humanity in Croatia in 1991-92 and in Kosovo in 1999, inflicted unspeakable suffering on those who got in the way of his relentless pursuit of power, she said.
OHR says the trial of Milosevic represents an historic opportunity for determining responsibility for the tragedy in the region
Jutarnje Novine reports that, according to OHR, the trial of Slobodan Milosevic before the Hague Tribunal is a historic opportunity to identify those responsible for the tragedy which people in this region endured during the 1990s. “The High Representative has complete confidence in the objectivity of the Hague Tribunal and its capacity to fulfill its responsibility to the people of the Former Yugoslavia. The Tribunal’s proceedings are also in the interest of the Serb people, who are pursuing a path towards a new future, impossible until a clear line has been drawn above the past and this is true in Bosnia and Herzegovina, perhaps more than anywhere else. The High Representative reiterates the fact that open indictments remain against Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic, who are still at large, as are several others,” OHR Spokesman Oleg Milisic told journalists in Sarajevo on Tuesday.
Silajdzic wonders: If Milosevic is tried why that his project in BiH is being legalized
In a comment with Dnevni Avaz on the beginning of the Milosevic’s trial before The Hague Tribunal, Party for BiH founder Haris Silajdzic wondered whether it was logical that former Yugoslav President was tried for a project, which was currently being implemented and legalized in BiH. “All imagined and wanted by the “Greater Serbia’s” ideologists including Cosic, Ekmecic, Mihajlovic and others (all prominent Serbian academics), as well as Milosevic as the executor of the idea is today happening in BiH. The fact is BIH is nowadays ethnically divided. There is the Republika Srpska, which is practically clean in the ethnic sense,” Silajdzic concluded. He therefore asked (in an ironic tone) why Milosevic was tried if his project was so good.
The High Representative visits Travnik
The High Representative, Wolfgang Petritsch, on Tuesday visited Travnik, where he opened the new OHR office in the town and held talks with Canton Six officials, Dnevni Avaz reported. The High Representative was briefed, during his meeting with officials, on the returns process, the Canton’s difficult budget situation and its fiscal policy. In his remarks at the opening of the OHR office, the High Representative emphasized the fact that return depends on the rule of law, including property law implementation, and on the integrity of institutions, including efficient and impartial town hall administration and professional policing. “These criteria have largely been met in Canton Six”, he said. (Slobodna Dalmacija also reported on the HR’s visit to Travnik)
Petritsch appoints Josip Blazevic as a new Federation RTV Steering Board member
Dnevni Avaz and Jutarnje Novine carries the Fena news agency report, according to which, the High Representative, Wolfgang Petritsch, appointed Josip Blazevic, the President of the Apel (Appeal) Association of Journalists and a correspondent of the Banja Luka Nezavisne Novine from Mostar, as a new member of the BiH Federation Radio-Television Steering Board. The appointment followed a resignation to the post by former Board member Dunja Blazevic.
Slobodna Dalmacija: OHR says war crime indictees cannot perform public duties
(Provided by OHR Mostar)
Regarding the announcement of the Democratic People’s Community (DNZ) that the President of the DNZ, Fikret Abdic AKA Babo, will run for the Bosniak member of the BiH Presidency in the autumn elections, the OHR spokesman Oleg Milisic told Slobodna Dalmacija that it is well known in BiH that people who do not comply with court summons cannot be elected or run for a public office. “For persons who are obliged to show up before a court to be tried for war crimes charges, there is a domestic Election Law in BiH and the Election Commission, which should take a decision with regards to the DNZ’s request”, says Milisic (…), reads Slobodna Dalmacija.
Editorials
Oslobodjenje: The same red thread
Written by Amra Kebo (a partial translation)
It seems that the Republika Srpska Prime Minister, Mladen Ivanic, learned nothing during his stay in the United States. Premier Ivanic returned from America with positions not changed at all comparing to those he had before, showing in this way all the consistency of the Serb politics, from Dayton to these days.
And instead of to speak about what he had agreed and to mention a possibility of cooperation and coming out from the (constitutional) crisis, Ivanic, under an already seen scenario, attack (verbally) Petritsch!
He attacked the High Representative due to a statement, which hit Ivanic directly in his heart, and an idea of Republika Srpska in the essence of its existence. In an interview with the SRNA news agency, the High Representative said a proposal was acceptable that the 1991 census is used as a ground for the ethnic composition of the RS Government, which will be a way ensuring full representation of the constituent peoples and others in the RS. This position, according to Ivanic, represents supporting of only one side. This means the Bosniak side. Because in the mind of each Serb politician the other side is always the Bosniak side. The third party (side – Croats) anyway wants its own entity so that they are of the same positions. And they well understand each other.
In this way, Petritsch actually prevented, as Ivanic explains his statement, the possibility of compromise. And knowing, I guess, that this cannot be said just like that, he called on Americans to support him, and said that the US Administration believed the constitutional changes in BiH should be agreed by the political institutions and that they should not be imposed. And this is exactly what Patritsch said a hundred times. BuT, for the purpose of the daily political argumentation, Ivanic anyway quoted this American position. And he sent a clear message to all that the RS Constitution could not be imposed and that the Government would not implement imposed solutions.
In order to underline all the seriousness of his claim, Ivanic, in a well recognisable manner, threatened a little bit. And with a new war, what else, in order that all be threatened. Ivanic said that the RS was verified by the Dayton Agreement and that there was a clear commitment not to touch this agreement, because it “would mean opening of new problems in the Balkans (what a miracle), which is in no one’s interests.” The persistent politics, isn’t it? From that Radovan Karadzic’s threat that Muslims will disappear as a people, until today, there is always that red thread, which, it seems, surely hits right in the target…
In the continuation of the commentary, Kebo wrote that the RS politicians actually do not want to change anything. Aware of such of their position, according to Kebo, the High Representative this time made it clear that the 1991 census was acceptable as the ground for the share of authorities in the RS. Wolfgang Petritsch should resolve this issue before he leaves his office because of BiH and the principles of democracy he has been proclaiming all the time.
Nezavisne Novine: Scandinavia-zation of the Balkans
By: Jadranko Prlic (Provided by OHR Banja Luka)
Nezavisne Novine Jadranko Prlic writes that regional cooperation between the Balkan countries is a very sensitive issue given the four brutal wars that took place in the 20th century. And while on one side the demands for regional cooperation are becoming stronger and stronger, there are still forces in some other Balkan countries who see this initiative as a reincarnation of the former Yugoslavia. Prlic argues that all Balkan countries should follow the example of Scandinavian countries who cooperate on all important issues, such as trade, economy, communication, education etc. Prlic says that the different languages that Scandinavian nations use is not an obstacle to their cooperation. The language differences in the Balkans are less than in Scandinavia, but their language differences did not prevent the Scandinavians from cooperating in fields of education and employment. In the end, Prlic concludes that the new situation in the Balkans “gives us probably one of the best opportunities in our history to re-organize the Balkans in accordance with European standards and of course to include our specific local characteristics to this re-organization”. The Balkan peoples should also follow the example of other European regions and certainly, the Scandinavian example is one of the examples that we should consider as a role model.
Dnevni List: All voted for their own favorites
Written by Marko Markovic (Provided by OHR Mostar)
We were convinced that the talks are important, however, in spite of the announcements of the others, we did not consider them as the talks of a historical importance. In any case, it might be about a decisive meeting of the Croat political leaderships in BiH.
Although HDZ is the most influential among these parties, this time, it presented itself as an equal partner to the other parties. All representatives, apart from Lijanovici, attended the meeting, and there is no any doubt that a complete public will object them this move. Instead to show up in Sarajevo, Lijanovici chose Zagreb this time, and the people from ‘the butchers’ party’ responded to the invitations of Miljenko Brkic and Ante Jelavic, an unrecognized HDZ President, by saying: ‘Go back to the House of Peoples!’
Many BiH citizens remember an SDA slogan from the last elections, which says: ‘All voted for their own, what about you?’ It was a clear message sent to Bosniaks and all the others in BiH saying what it is all about. The International Community has been trying to make a civic party through SDP and Alliance for Changes. Perhaps, they were hoping that they will succeed, however, they sobered up when Lagumdzija could not receive Vojislav Kostunica because the Yugoslav President came to visit him on Ramadan. It was the first test on which he failed. When the time has shown that there is no difference between SDA and SDP when vital interests of Bosniaks-Muslims are in question, a clearer positioning among the Croats has been taking place (the situation with Serbs regarding this issue has always been the same).
The meeting of the leaderships of the Croat political parties in Sarajevo is not historical, but it is a good start for a joint stand regarding the protection of vital national interests at all Authority levels, because, in terms of politics, stormy days and months, which might mean to be or not to be for the Croats in BiH, are ahead of us.
Dnevni List: New vine in old stomachs
Written by Marko Markovic (Provided by OHR Mostar)
As ‘Pepsi Cola’ and other versions of Cola failed to endanger ‘Coca-Cola’, thus people from the Marketing of the International Community realized that they can only sell classical HDZ to the Croats in BiH. With a help of all those, who were abandoning the HDZ boat ( Perinovic, Kljujic, Brkic, Prlic, Tomic, Lijanovici, Anic, Zubak, M. Tadic…), the strategists of the International Administration were persistently trying to find a formula to adjust parties to their own needs, wishes and goals.
The stories about ‘moderates’ and ‘hard-liners’, communists’ and ‘nationalists’, ‘urban intellectuals’ and ‘highlanders’, ‘Europeans’ and ‘autistic patients’ were repeated to the last thesis about ‘original’ or ‘classical’ HDZ members or ‘Communist-Generals’ lobbies.
In all this, journalists are a story of their own. Sometimes it seemed that colleagues Orahovac, Mijatovic, Savic or Magas know more about HDZ than the HDZ Presidency and Secretary themselves. It was not hard to conclude that a source of their information was, perhaps, within the HDZ itself. Now, when HDZ awoke from the dead, it came to the headlines of Sarajevo newspapers again and it deserved to be a topic of daily commentaries. There is no any doubt that at the next election it will win an absolute support of the voters. According to public opinion polls, Ante Jealvic, an unrecognized HDZ President, is the most popular among Croats, Zlatko Lagumdzija among Bosniaks and Mladen Ivanic among Serbs.
Jacques Paul Klein and Petritsch have already stated their stands about ‘respectable SDS’. Obviously, they have realized that it does not pay off to ‘patch up Alliance’ at every cost. However, they and some Ambassadors of Contact Group are trying to sell to the Croats and Serbs new contents in the old package, through the most recent democratic forces within SDS and especially within HDZ. Under a label HDZ BiH they should ‘sell’ politicians loyal to OHR and OSCE, that people recognize as ‘Northern Alliance’ opposite to sanctioned ‘talibans’ from south (and north).
Slobodna Dalmacija: Who is dividing BiH now?
Written by Josip Jovic (Provided by OHR Mostar)
(…) Klein’s statement sheds a new light on the interpretation of political roles and relations that were dealing with the solving of the crisis in BiH in the early ’90. It is definitely becoming clearer that Bosnia was not being divided by Tudjman and Milosevic alone, but Izetbegovic too, who was at the time in favour of internal if not the complete division of the country (…) Nowadays when questioned about the whole deal, Stjepan Mesic confirms the existence of Izetbegovic’s offer justifying him by saying that it was a case of probing of Tudjman and that the offer was made at an informal meeting. The question is why Mesic did not go public with his knowledge earlier or in The Hague perhaps, when he pays so much attention to the problem of division and preservation of BiH? It would not fit in the conception of tendentious accusation of Tudjman’s policy, the thing that he only cares about (…) It is interesting that Klein had gone public with it only now, although he has allegedly known it for a while. Certain reasons behind the Klein’s action could be traced in the terrorist attacks from September last year. We saw that it had direct consequences on the American attitude towards the situation in BiH. Suddenly there were talks about mujahedeens in the country, some were extradited to the US. Furthermore, many analysis, like the latest one from the CATO institute of Washington, show that it is practically impossible to build a multi-ethnic and centralised BiH, so the Klein’s statement can be interpreted as a sign of new US policy towards BiH (…) Ante Jelavic, (unrecognised) President of the HDZ, announced creation of a separate Croat federal unit in BiH, following the Wolfgang Petritsch weakness that resulted in the failure of the concept of constituent status of all peoples in BiH, which can be also linked to the new American winds. A Jutarnji List commentator identifies the position of Italians in Croatia with Croats in BiH taking it as a normal thing. Muslim politicians do not even insist on House of Peoples in the RS, on the contrary, they are in favour of abolishment of the same chamber in the Federation (…) A simple opinion poll conducted among the MPs in the Croatian Parliament showed that majority of them did not know who was the Croat representative in the BiH Presidency. How will they know that there is one Jozo Krizanovic when he was not appointed by Croats, but he was installed as a Governor by others, like other political representatives of the Croats (…), reads Slobodna Dalmacija.
Headlines
Oslobodjenje
- A trial of the century begins
Dnevni Avaz
- Energopetrol requests the Financial Police investigation: Lucarevic accused of debt amounting up to 100 million KM
Jutranje Novine
- Milosevic responsible for the worst crimes known to the world
Glas Srpski
- Municipality of Srpski/Bosanski Brod files a lawsuit against Croatia;
- RS authorities and OHR representatives discussed fight against corruption – Fight full of vacillations;
Nezavisne Novine
- Milosevic trial begins – ICTY tries individuals not states or peoples;
- OHR Anti-corruption team: RS Interior Ministry starts 5 investigations;
Dnevni List
- Exclusively: After kidnapping of ‘Algerian group, the USA identified a new group of Islamic terrorists in Sarajevo: CIA demands extradition of 9 terrorists from ‘ Egyptian group’
- How Sarajevo journalists reveal all HDZ secrets: A mole detected in Jelavic’s ranks
- What is going on the Federation TV: FTV in service of defense of Islamic terrorists
Vecernji List
- The Hague: Trials against Milosevic start: Del Ponte: Milosevic left thousands of dead behind
- West-Herzegovina Canton: Six secondary schools on strike
- Sarajevo talks of Croat parties on position of Croats in BiH a success: All Croat parties but Lijanovici gathered