- Executive State, entities’ officials meet to discuss financial strategy in BiH
- State, entities’ officials discuss budget and constitutional changes
- Mirko Banjac Says that ID Eliminates RS
- Siemens Won Tender for CIPS Project?
- Council of Ministers adopts anti-terrorist measures, amendments to asylum law
- Police withdraws from disputed western town
- BiH Foreign Minister to visit France on Monday
- Federation TV goes on air
- Slavo Kukic, Chair of Federation TV’s Steering Board: HRT will lend 30 hours of program per week free of charge
- HDZ Youth in Canton 10 – Shutdown of HTV intended to push us into ‘Bosnian nation’
- SDP passes vote of confidence in premier, rejects the resignation of Tuzla Canton governor
- Defence minister says full integration of Federation army possible, rejects the proposal for the abolishment of Croat component
- Mijo Anic – Defense Ministry views divided on a national basis
- Party for BiH advocates the abolishment of parallelism in Ministry of Defense
- Zepce Croats protest the attempts to arrest Zepce group members
- Representatives of German Dymler-Chrycler visit Aluminij Factory in Mostar
- RS officials say national interests protected in joint bodies
- NATO discovers arms cache near base in Bosnia
- NATO’s George Robertson says one of person arrested in BiH connected to Bin Laden
- Are the West and NATO Making Deals With Karadzic? Jacques Paul Klein Again on the Issue of Arrest of Indicted War Criminals
- OHR – the only positive example: Many other international organizations have not agreed to start paying contributions for their local employees
BiH State-related Issues
Executive State, entities’ officials meet to discuss financial strategy in BiH
All media reported that the most senior state and entity officials in BiH met on Saturday in Mrakovica, near Prijedor, to discuss their mutual cooperation and the strategy of joint activities in relation to international financial institutions. The meeting was attended by the Entity Prime Ministers, Mladen Ivanic and Alija Behmen, as well as the Chairman of the BiH Council of Ministers, Zlatko Lagumdzija.
State, entities’ officials discuss budget and constitutional changes
All media in BiH reported that the BiH Presidency and senior officials from the two entities held a coordination meeting in Sarajevo on Friday. They discussed the progress in the implementation of constitutional changes, the implementation of the package of laws regulating the CIPS [Citizens’ Identification Protection System] programme and a budget revision for joint institutions for this year. “In line with its constitutional powers, the state Presidency organized a meeting in order to harmonize principles and the specifics related to the admission of BiH to the Council of Europe, the budget revision for the joint institutions, the set of laws on the CIPS project and the implementation of the constitutional changes in the entities,” the chairman of the Presidency, Jozo Krizanovic said after the meeting. Krizanovic also said that it was agreed that the implementation of the constitutional changes in the entities should be accelerated. “It is necessary to define these changes so that the Election Law can be completed and the election planned for October or November next year can go ahead as planned,” Krizanovic concluded.
Mirko Banjac Says that ID Eliminates RS
Nezavisne Novine quotes an SDS deputy in the BiH House of Representatives Mirko Banjac, as saying that two discriminatory provisions are included in the Law on Identification Cards. “The Law provides for citizens right to choose whether or not the name of entity will be written on the new ID card, but the issuing official has a duty to inform the citizen that entering the entity name in the ID can cause problems when using the same outside BiH”, said Banjac. He added that certain media claim that the personal IDs can have entity name on them, however adds that this will not be a sanction, ghetto-isation of persona with such ID cards. Banjac asks how is it possible for the RS to go from a clear constitutional and legal position to a position of choice and phase of disappearance.
Siemens Won Tender for CIPS Project?
Today’s edition of Nezavisne Novine reports that after the negotiations lasting several months, the representatives of the BiH Council of Ministers, the OHR, the European Union and embassies of the USA, Germany, Belgium, Canada and Turkey finally agreed last week to award the CIPS project to “Siemens”. A source close to Nezavisne Novine claims that the CoM confirmed this decision at its last session. The paper also claims that the CoM formed a negotiating team, led by the BiH Minister of Treasury, Ante Domazet, which will negotiate financial details with the German company”.
Council of Ministers adopts anti-terrorist measures, amendments to asylum law
All media report that the BIH Council of Ministers outlined a package of anti-terrorist measures following the initiative by the High Representative, Wolfgang Petritsch, calling for changes to certain laws in order to intensify the fight against terrorism. These measures should ensure that draft laws, anti-terrorist measures and respect for human rights are kept in balance. BIH Radio One noted that amendments have been tabled to the citizenship law to provide for extra powers which will ensure that a person suspected of being involved in activities harmful to the vital interests of BiH can be stripped of his citizenship. It was also agreed that BIH should join international conventions which it had not joined so far, such as the one on the prevention of funding of terrorist groups. At Friday’s meeting, the Council of Ministers also adopted guidelines which will provide a basis for negotiations on cooperation in the prevention of terrorism between BiH and Croatia, which will also strengthen cooperation in the fight against drug smuggling and criminal dealings between the two countries.
Police withdraw from disputed western town
Both Federation and RS media reported that more than 40 members of the RS special police force have withdrawn from the disputed border area near the town of Bosanska Kostajnica. The UN Mission in Banja Luka has said that the RS border police will remain in this area. The state border should be determined at a meeting of the commission in charge of defining the border between Croatia and BiH, scheduled to take place on Monday [29 October].
BiH Foreign Minister to visit France on Monday
All Federatio media reported that the BiH Foreign Minister Zlatko Lagumdzija is scheduled to leave today (Monday) for a two-day visit to France for talks on economic relations with French officials and businessmen. He is to meet his French counterpart Hubert Vedrine, Defence Minister Alain Richard, Interior Minister Daniel Vaillant and other officials. In a statement for the press, the BiH Foreign Ministry said the visit is aimed at boosting bilateral relations and economic cooperation between the two countries.
Federation
Federation TV goes on air
All media in the Federation and in Croatia reported that the Federation Television started broadcasting its program on Saturday by presenting a main daily news program. “The main news programme of the BiH Federation will try to be a mirror of the BiH state. The time in which we live and survive binds us to begin without spectacles and ceremonies this new era full of challenges. We believe in better times and we will not promise anything else except true and objective information,” said Sanjin Beciragic, a Fed TV presenter and editor, in the first main news program Dnevnik 2. A number of international and local officials were present at the ceremony of launching of the Federation TV, but the Croatian newspapers claim the ceremony was not attended by senior officials of main political parties in the Federation.
Slobodna Dalmacija reports that HRT officials have not taken part in shutting off the HRT signal in BiH. The Split daily writes that HRT demanded that its signal in some parts of the Federation resumes until the Federation TV reaches the level which will satisfy the needs of Croat viewers. HRT spokesman, Kresimir Maca, noted that the OHR, however, reached a different decision.
Dnevni Avaz section “Person in Focus” carries a shorter article about Jasmin Durakovic, the Federation TV director. Avaz notes that viewers in the Federation were quite encouraged by Durakovic’s announcement that the Fed TV will be in service of the people and not of the ruling authorities. The daily writes that Durakovic will certainly persist in his efforts.
Slavo Kukic, Chair of Federation TV’s Steering Board: HRT will lend 30 hours of program per week free of charge
“I am satisfied, I hope it will get better”, said the Chair of the FTV’s Steering Board, Slavo Kukic, after the main newscast at 19:30 hrs. “I think we can count on a good domestic program because it is planned that private producers participate in domestic production by up to 10 %. We want to encourage the in-house potential, which is a cheaper way of having a quality program. (…) The current program scheme has been enacted by the Steering Board which thinks that the scheme is ambitious. We would be satisfied if the program goals from the scheme would be achieved. The current scheme runs until the end of the year. We will sign a contract with the HRT on Tuesday, which will solve program deficit by an HRT injection. HRT will borrow us between 20 and 30 hours of program per week free of charge. (…) A viewer is a consumer without national or other prefixes. I hope that the program team will do a good job and make a program that will suit everyone’s taste. As far as the spillover of the HRT in west Herzegovina is concerned, it is impossible to stop that,” says Slavo Kukic, reads Vecernji List.
HDZ Youth in Canton 10 – Shutdown of HTV intended to push us into ‘Bosnian nation’
HDZ Youth in Canton 10 issued a press release to say that the shutdown of the HRT signal in the Croat-majority areas of BiH is a direct attack on the national identity and national feeling of each individual Croat and the Croat people in general. They say the shutdown of the Erotel and of the HRT is designed to suppress the Croat national identity and push Croats into some sort of new “Bosnian nation.”
“Gentlemen from the occupying force of OHR and other international organizations, puppet government in BiH and Croatia! – You can block our media, you can pull banks down, you can cause traffic accidents with SFOR APCs, you can hold trials against us in Sarajevo, Rijeka or The Hague, you can ban us from giving public statements or engaging in political activity, you can impose governments to your taste, but you cannot subdue us, nor can you kill the freedom within us,” reads the press release.
SDP passes vote of confidence in premier, rejects the resignation of Tuzla Canton governor
The presidency of the Social Democratic Party of BiH [SDP] passed a vote of confidence in BiH Federation Prime Minister Alija Behmen and his cabinet at Sunday night’s emergency session, SDP presidency member Nijaz Skenderagic told Federation media. At the same meeting, the SDP rejected the resignation of the Tuzla Canton governor, Selim Beslagic.
Defence minister says full integration of Federation army possible, rejects the proposal for the abolishment of Croat component
“I fully respect the initiatives by deputies of the House of Representatives of the BiH Federation parliament calling for harmonization and adoption of a defence law which has been in the parliamentary procedure for several months now,” Federation Defence Minister Mijo Anic said. Commenting on conclusions reached at Friday’s session of the Federation Parliament’s House of Representatives, he said that there were some disagreements between the defence minister and the deputy defence minister about certain sections of the law relating to their powers. He described as unacceptable the idea that they should have equal powers, if the aim was to achieve the full integration of the Federation Defence Ministry [FMO].
Anic also said that the time was not ripe for the abolition of the components of the Federation Army, adding that this move would be detrimental to the Croat electorate and would represent a U-turn for the Croats in the Alliance for Change. In a statement for Saturday’s Dnevni Avaz , Anic said the issue of abolishing the army components was controversial, considering the fact that the units consist of people who had previously fought against each other. According to him, the parallelism in the Federation Army is mirrored in the two ministries and two commands.
Mijo Anic – Defense Ministry views divided on a national basis
Dnevni List carries an interview with the Federation Minister of Defense, Mijo Anic. Speaking of the trial to Zepce Croats, Anic said since he perceived that some people do not take this problem seriously, he has been lobbying for a change and trying to find a reasonable way of resolving this situation. He thinks having a mono-ethnic court prosecuting the other side is wrong. He says he should have been officially informed of the process because 7 of the Zepce Group are Defense Ministry officials.
He says all of the Alliance member parties have the same goal, but some have different ways of achieving that goal. He mentioned specifically that the Defense Ministry is currently preparing the Law on Defense and Ministry officials have different views and are divided on a national basis, but he hopes the division will be overcome.
Party for BiH advocates the abolishment of parallelism in Ministry of Defense
In a statement for Dnevni Avaz, the President of the Presidency of the Party for BiH, Safet Halilovic also described the Friday session of the Federation Parliament’s House of Representatives and the discussion about the Law on Federation Defence as dramatic. Halilovic stressed that the entire Alliance and the Party for BiH in particular strongly advocate the abolishment of parallelism in all ministries, and especially in the Ministry of Defence. He complained that the present minister and his deputy, Mijo Anic and Ferid Buljubasic, have done nothing to improve the situation and have, rather, cemented the existing state.
Zepce Croats protest the attempts to arrest Zepce group members
Saturday’s Oslobodjenje reports on the front page that around 2,500 Croats residents of Zepce and surrounding areas gathered in the town center for a protest against the attempt of the Federation Ministry of Interior to detain 15 Croat officials who were charged with committing war crimes against Bosniaks in this area. The demonstrators demander that the legal proceeding against the so-called Zepce Group is suspended and asked for the dismissal of the Cantonal Court in Zenica, claiming that this court is unfit to try this case because of its ethnic composition. Zepce Croats also appealed to the High Representative to transfer this case elsewhere, i.e., to a genuinely objective court. The Friday protests were organised by the Board for Protection of Croats in Zepce and was attended by nearly all senior Croat officials in this area.
Representatives of German Dymler-Chrycler visit Aluminij Factory in Mostar
Dnevni Avaz reports that representatives of the German Dymler Chrycler visited last week the management of the Aluminij company in Mostar, and notes that the company’s General-Manager, Mijo Brajkovic, hijacked this visit to, once again, dissuade Federation authorities from conducting a financial audit in Aluminij. Chairman of the Council of Ministers, Zlatko Lagumdzija, said that the business deal with the German giant will in no way endanger the stability of the production in Aluminij. He added that Germans simply wanted to be certain that their capital investment will be protected despite the dispute over the ownership structure of the company.
Republika Srpska
RS officials say national interests protected in joint bodies
SRNA news agency reported that eleven RS officials in the BiH state bodies have written an open letter to the RS leadership rejecting claims that the Entity representatives in joint institutions are not protecting the national interests of the Entity. The letter came as a result of criticism of the deputy Speaker in the BiH House of Peoples, Nikola Spiric, by some deputies at the last RS National Assembly session for not doing enough to protect the Entity’s national interests and political and legal position. The letter says that Spiric “has with his professionalism and fighting spirit showed how the national interests of the RS are represented, affirmed and protected, and how the dignity of the Serbs is preserved in Bosnia-Hercegovina”. The officials called on the RS leadership to appoint a person who would be a mediator between the government and the Serb representatives in the BiH joint institutions to secure the best presentation and protection of Serb national interests and those of the RS. They said that a competent, authoritative and courageous coordinator was necessary for the post, or someone who could synchronize activities and agreements on initiatives in the joint institutions.
International Community
NATO discovers arms cache near base in Bosnia
AFP reports that SFOR troops serving in BiH discovered an arms cache near Sarajevo on Monday that officials said could have served to attack a nearby US camp. No one was detained in the raid on the weapons depot near Han Pijesak, located some 50 kilometers (30 miles) northeast of Sarajevo, said a statement from SFOR command.
The area of Han Pijesak is located in the sector patrolled by the 3,000 US troops serving in SFOR. It is near the US Camp Connor base. “The amount of weapons and the range of weapons are still being determined,” said the statement. SFOR raided the depot after being informed of its location.
NATO’s George Robertson says one of person arrested in BiH connected to Bin Laden
All Sarajevo media quote the NATO Secretary General, George Robertson, as saying that one of the suspects arrested last week in BiH may have direct links to Osama bin Laden. Robertson also commended the joint efforts of SFOR troops and local authorities in the fight against terrorism in BiH. See the attachment.
Are the West and NATO Making Deals With Karadzic? Jacques Paul Klein Again on the Issue of Arrest of Indicted War Criminals
“I have no weapons so I cannot arrest anyone. The arrests do not fall under our mandate, but it is the job of the local police and SFOR”, stated Jacques Paul Klein, Special Representative of the UN Secretary General in BiH, replying to the question concerning the arrest of Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic. Claiming that the issue on Karadzic’s arrest “represents a black cloud over the heads of all citizens of BiH”, Klein also explained that Karadzic represents some kind of cult to people who cannot accept BiH and whose interests are in total opposition to the interests of other citizens of BiH.
OHR – the only positive example: Many other international organisations have not agreed to start paying contributions for their local employees
Oslobodjenje reports that, despite frequent calls from the Federation government, numerous international organisations – OSCE, UN, CAFAO, IMF and the World Bank – have not started paying contributions for social and health insurance for their local staff. The daily notes that the only bright example in this aspect is the OHR, which has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with obliges it to pay these contributions for its BIH employees. Relevant ministries in the Federation government will ask other international organisations to follow the example of the OHR.
Editorials
Dnevni Avaz: Positive Signal of the Council of Europe
Saturday, October 27, 2001
After three years of preparations, the BiH Parliament adopted on Thursday the set of five laws connected to the CIPS project. The importance of this set of laws transcends the very fact that all BiH citizens will have a single identity card, with or without entity names. What is even more important is the long-awaited establishment of the central data base within this system and the prevention of possible manipulations.
One should not forget that in the present atmosphere of the global fight against terrorism, the adoption of these laws implied the actual realization of BIH efforts to joining the anti-terrorist Alliance.
At the same time, the issuance of identification documents for legal residents of our country will be organized in a more orderly fashion. It is no secret that, at this time, numerous individuals hold two or even three ID cards.
All this is a reason more for individuals who objected to the adoption of the set of laws to reconsider their positions. It is true that a compromise has been reached in the last minute, and that such legal solutions are not one of the favorite ones. It is also true that matters could not be different at this moment.
In fact, all this could have been resolved differently if the High Representative imposed the CIPS laws. Had he imposed this set, this would be a fictive victory. Ultra-nationalists form the SDS would brag how they did not accept the single ID and how this was imposed on them by the OHR. In addition, the proclaimed partnership with the International Community would be no more then the dead letter on the paper.
At the same time, this would be a signal to the Council of Europe, now when we are on its door step, that the adoption of the Election Law in the BiH Parliament was a mere “democratic incident,” rather then the ability of this highest state legislative body to independently make decisions.
Fortunately, BH Parliamentarians have decided on their own.
Sundays’ Oslobodjenje also notes that the adoption of the CIPS laws is a certain victory for the Alliance which demonstrated that it could be a true partner to the International Community. In the same editorial, Zija Dizdarevic strongly criticized Kresimir Zubak and Mijo Anic for standing behind the Friday protests of Zepce Croats and for their latent support for parallel structures in the Federation. Dizdarevic notes that such behavior of Alliance officials, who are trying to protect the narrow interests of their respective parties, could be highly detrimental to the coalition.
Dizdarevic’s colleague, Mirko Sagolj, similarly notes in Saturday’s Oslobodjenje that the Alliance needs to curb the existing internal disputes, or it will simply open an avenue for the HDZ and the SDA to come back to power. Sagolj writes that the present split in the Federation Ministry of Defense is simply a mirror of situations in other spheres in this entity, where national dualism still plays an important role. He argues that the main culprit for such a sorry state in the Alliance is the very concept of the ruling coalition which is governed by mere power politics rather then a clear political and social program.
Jutarnji List commented on Saturday that the Alliance for Changes has been rather successful as far as foreign policy is concerned. However, the Croat-majority territories have not recognized its competence. Thanks to the OHR assistance the Alliance has succeeded to abolish the HDZ parallel institutions to a large extent. By ignoring the political reality the HDZ is giving up the influence of the strongest Croat party in BiH and if they continue to do so they will lose their voters sooner or later.
Dnevni List reports in its weekend edition that the International Community is trying to create a new political spectrum made up of the right to center parties, which would include the HDZ, SDA and SDS. Engaging these parties would make impossible their further national radicalization. According to this plan, the IC supports the idea of bringing the HDZ and NHI closer, the Party for BiH and the SDA, as well as Ivanic’s PDP and SDS.
Ibrahim Prohic comments in Monday’s issue of Oslobodjenje that despite frequent attempts to stigmatize BiH as a terrorist country, BiH has shown that the situation is quite different. Best testimony to this is the recent statement of the NATO Secretary-General George Robertson who commended the efforts of local authorities in the global fight against terrorism.
In Monday’s Dnevni Avaz, Faruk Cardzic writes that the recent formation of the Coordination Team for Economic Development, which includes representatives of state and entity executive and legislative bodies, is truly a positive step. Cardzic notes that, despite difficulties and limitations, the Coordination Team demonstrated that cooperation between different levels of authorities and two entities and the state is possible. The recent meeting also showed that even the thus far obstructive SDS officials could act like partners in a body like this one. Such bodies, notes Cardzic, could be show us a way to a better future.
Dnevni List: Transferred ‘stars’ and one part-time employee
Written by Zvonimir Banovic; partial translation
The High Representative believes all citizens of BiH should identify with the Federation Television in time, whereas the Federation President claims that the authorities do not wish to govern either the radio or the television. Perhaps Petritsch and Filipovic, sitting in the first row in front of a big screen, were under a special impression of the launch of the ‘big’ project, but then again, perhaps they only repeated the phrases they previously committed to memory. Anyway, some of the viewers took differently the first newscast of the ‘new’ television, the newscast that, by the nature of things, is in fact the prism of many newscasts to come.
Some of the citizens had to wait patiently until the 21st minute of the Saturday newscast to hear a word in Croatian. They were ‘their own on their own’ for two minutes and then the next six (until the end of the broadcast, sports report and weather forecast excluded) they had to listen to other languages. Therefore, 27:2, and in the third place. (…)
One could have noticed, naturally by the language used, that some of the citizens were represented by transferred ‘stars,’ and others by a single ‘part-time employee’ (this is not about the professional ‘quality’ of individuals, but about the status of ‘personalities’ that people like to identify with). Since the first newscast, theoretically, was being prepared ever since Dayton and practically for two years, a little has been done to secure this sort of balance in the status and factual position of what people see, reads Dnevni List.
Dnevni List: Federation Television can do without Croats
Dnevni List says the Federation Television (FTV) is a classical farce. Viewers expected new faces, new editors and journalists, an approach different than that of the BHT, which the paper refers to as ‘Bosniak television.’ The daily says the FTV slogan is “We are not a pillar of government, but the voice of the people,” and adds that Karlo Filipovic made it clear as to which people that is, by mentioning that all peoples must be represented equally and listing them in the following order: Bosniaks, Croats, Serbs, Jews, Gypsies. The sign-off credits in the Saturday broadcasts showed which one of the peoples had the highest representation rate, says the paper and adds that there were only four Croat names (Ivan Kordic, Sanja Bagaric, Boris Curkovic and Marija Topic-Crnoja) among dozens of stage designers, cutting editors, script writers, technicians, journalists, editors, etc.
A few Croats attended the promotional ceremony, but none of the legitimate Croat representatives could be seen, says the daily. The Croatian language on the FTV could have a better representation if the Television sends Bosniak journalists to a Croatian course.
The daily says neither the OHR nor the Federation Parliament did the huge job of transforming the BHT into the FTV, which the FTV Council Chair Slavo Kukic boasts about, but it was the stage designers and the authors of the FTV jingles. Around a thousand BHT employees fared the best in the whole story, says the paper, because they will keep their jobs, continue to do what they were doing before, be financed from the Federation Budget, with the money of both Croat and Bosniak taxpayers and all they had to change was the “company name.” Croats from the western region of BiH, along the border with Croatia, do not have it bad, either, because they can still receive the HRT signal from the Biokovo transmitter.
Dnevni List says the objections about an insignificant number of Croats on the FTV can be justified by the poor response and a lack of Croat personnel, but even if that is true, and it is, why lie by telling the stories about equitable representation. The paper says this text could be reproached for counting people by their nationality, and the answer to this could be “a professional is a professional regardless of his/her nationality.” If that is so, says the daily, then we can conclude that neither the Federation nor the Federation Television need Croats.
Vecernji List: Television
Written by Jozo Pavkovic
Vecernji List carries an editorial about the launch of the Federation Television and the situation that has been created since the HRT signal has been shut down in BiH. The article says the impression is that the viewers, regardless of ethnicity or religion, are sad because they will no longer be able to watch their favorite shows that were aired by the HRT. As far as BiH Croats are concerned, the HRT was more than a mere television to them. The few Croat journalists on FTV will try to compensate in terms of the Croatian language, culture, truth … That fact is the biggest stumbling block. According to the current proportion of powers (at the FTV), it is already clear that the truth will be imposed by the FTV. The major teacher of the Croatian language has gone together with the HRT. Since last night the Croat viewers have become common viewers. In a few years’ time we will see negative effects of the shutting down of the HRT. But the finger cannot be pointed at a certain group, as many moves of the Croat(ian) politicians in the last few years have resulted in the HRT losing a big number of viewers and a market two nights ago, reads Vecernji List.
Vecernji List: Television design borrowed from the HRT
The launch of the Federation Television on Saturday at 19:30 meant that the two most important media in BiH, the HRT and TV BiH, have been “swept” away. The ceremony itself was witnessed by a number of politicians without any influence, such as the Federation President, Karlo Filipovic, or the leader of BiH Republicans, Stjepan Kljujic. Members of the BiH Presidency, let alone of the Government were not there, and neither were leaders of the SDP, HDZ or SDA. Director of the FTV, Jasmin Durakovic, was only accompanied by the High Representative, Wolfgang Petritsch. There is a lot of reminiscence of the HRT at the FTV. The design (at the FTV) was borrowed from the HRT. Even the font used for announcement of shows is identical to the HRT’s one (…) Even the FTV journalists admitted that the good televisions should be used to learn things, HRT included. The contents of the first newscast are far from announcements. “This will have to improve, although this is the beginning”, said Stjepan Kljujic. Journalists’ excuse could be the fact that the launch was on Saturday, Saturday being a slow day (…), reads Vecernji List.