BiH State-related Issues
- BiH Council of Minister’s ban on road oil import from Croatia still valid
- BiH Council of Ministers adopts new draft law on the share of succession money
- BiH Minister for European Integration meets with representatives of justice ministries from both entities
- BiH, Yugoslav ministers to sign free trade accord in Belgrade on February 1
Federation
- BiH Federation Finance Ministry blocks bank accounts of several humanitarian organizations
- SDA to exclude from its ranks members who abused public offices
- Dnevni List:
Speculations about sale of Hercegovacka Banka to Lijanovici- Slobodna Dalmacija:
Ante Jelavic announces further legal battle for human rights violations - Slobodna Dalmacija: Interview with the Federation Defense Minister, Mijo Anic
- Slobodna Dalmacija: Interview with Stjepan Kljujic, the President of the Republican Party
- Vecernji List: Interview with Miroslav Coric, the Prime Minister of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton
Republika Srpska
- Karadzic hides in a Montenegrin monastery, Mladic in a military apartment in the Serbian town of Valjevo
- Dodik says the 1991 Census unacceptable as basis for the representation of the peoples in the authorities
- Regulatory plan “South 7” not suitable for the Islamic Community
- Special RS NA session scheduled for January 31
- RS President wants only domestic judges in the BiH Constitutional Court
- Sarovic says Federation’s proposal on constitutional changes extreme
- RS Deputy Justice Minister denies he was protecting Delimustafic
International Community
- The Economist: OHR in BiH might be a model for the future international engagement in Afghanistan
- The High Representative expects BiH leaders to find solution for the constitutional reforms
- OHR hosts the second Federation Anti-corruption Conference
- Turkish Foreign Minister visits Sarajevo
- Dnevni Avaz: Person of the Day – Paddy Ashdown
- Petritsch requests the Federation Constitutional Commission to deliver draft amendments into the parliamentary procedure
- EU send 600 policemen to replace current IPTF members in BiH
Editorials
- Oslobodjenje and Dnevni Avaz
- Dnevni List:
Headlines
- Headlines
BiH State-related Issues
BiH Council of Minister’s ban on road oil import from Croatia still valid
Oslobodjenje reports that the BiH and Croatia’s expert teams met in Sarajevo on Tuesday to discuss oil transit disputes, but failed to reach a full agreement in the issue. The BiH side requested that the oil import from Croatia is also allowed through the Izacic border crossing, which is very important for the Una-Sana Canton supplying with oil. Head of the Croatian negotiators Alojz Tusek said following the meeting he would consult the Croatian Government on the issue as soon as possible. For her part, Azra Hadziahmetovic, the BiH Foreign Trade and Economic relations Minister, said that the BiH Council of Ministers ban on the road oil import from Croatia would be in effect all until the Izacic issue is resolved.
BiH Council of Ministers adopts new draft law on the share of succession money
According to Oslobodjenje, at its session held in Sarajevo on Tuesday, the BiH Council of Ministers adopted a new version of the draft law on the share of the money BiH had obtained from the process of succession to the former Yugoslavia sending it into the urgent parliamentary procedure. BiH Treasury Minister Ante Domazet told journalists following the session that, according to the amended version, the BiH Federation (65%) and the Republika Srpska (35%) would receive money on a credit basis but without interest rates. Establishment of the credit relation with the Entities is only aimed to guarantee maintaining the succession money’s integrity. The new draft also obliges the Council to semi-annually report on the issue to the parliament.
BiH Minister for European Integration meets with representatives of justice ministries from both entities
(Provided by OHR Banja Luka)
Both Banja Luka dailies report that BiH Minister for European Integration, Dragan Mikerevic met with representatives of justice ministries from both Entities in Sarajevo yesterday and discussed the harmonisation of legal systems with the standards set by the Council of Europe and the European Union. After the meeting they said that there is a political will on both sides to harmonise BiH laws with the European standards.
BiH, Yugoslav ministers to sign free trade accord in Belgrade on February 1
(Provided by OHR Banja Luka)
Onasa news agency reports that BiH Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations Azra Hadziahmetovic and her Yugoslav counterpart Miroljub Labus will on 1 February in Belgrade sign an agreement on free trade between the two countries, the BiH Ministry said in a Monday press release. BiH and Yugoslav expert teams on 13 December 2001 ratified the text of the agreement. The agreement is based on the asymmetric model, according to which Yugoslavia will, when it becomes valid, abolish customs fees on all goods imported from BiH, except oil products and protected and used rubber. On the other side, BiH will in the next two years be gradually reducing the customs fees on the goods imported from Yugoslavia. The agreement contains 35 articles and four annexes.
Federation
BiH Federation Finance Ministry blocks bank accounts of several humanitarian organizations
According to an exclusive Oslobodjenje front-page story, in the framework of the anti-terrorist campaign in BiH, the BiH Federation Finance Ministry has blocked several bank accounts of either humanitarian organizations or individuals with deposited approximately eight million US dollars. However, the links of the money has proved not in a single case so far. The financial inspectors are particularly engaged in the investigation into the financial operation of four aid groups including the US Benevolentia, The International Foundation with branch offices in Sarajevo and Zenica, and the Sarajevo-based Global Relief Foundation. The first one, whose work has been prohibited and whose operations are being connected with Ebu Omar Budella Haj, one of the recently deported Algerians, landed a few years ago 200,000 dollars to the B-H Bank owned by Alija Delimustafic.
SDA to exclude from its ranks members who abused public offices
Dnevni Avaz reports that, at its session in Sarajevo on Tuesday, the SDA BiH Presidency decided to remove from the party all members who had abused public offices, without specifying names. Concerning the constitutional reforms, the SDA Presidency still insists on symmetric solutions in the both BiH entities. “Of course, the 1991 census must be the basis for the representation of all three peoples at all levels of authority,” SDA Vice-president Elmir Jahic told the newspaper.
Dnevni List: Speculations about sale of Hercegovacka Banka to Lijanovici
(Provided by OHR Mostar)
Regarding the article in the yesterday’s edition of the Vecernji List, according to which the “Lijanovici” were to buy the “Hercegovacka Banka” (see Cropress summary, January 29), the Dnevni List contacted Johan Verheyden, the spokesman to the Provisional Administration (PA), who told the papers that the PA were surprised with the information because nobody from the “Lijanovici” Company never contacted the PA or expressed a wish to buy the “Hercegovacka Banka”. When asked whether there were any bids to buy the bank’s stocks, Verheyden said that there were not concrete offers. The daily also contacted Drago Mikulic, the manager of the “Omni” Company, which is one of majority stockholders of the bank, regarding the alleged pressures exerted on the stockholders to sell off the stocks. Mikulic said that he has not been pressured and that he had no information that other stockholders were pressured, Mikulic pointed out that some time ago, the majority of stockholders offered their stocks to the PA at the nominal value of 1,4 which was declined by Toby Robinson. According to Mikulic, the tensions have now eased so the stockholders are not eager to sell their stocks anymore. “We are aware that they will not return our bank to us, but now we are waiting for them to sell it so we can get our investments back”, says Mikulic.
Spokesman of the “Lijanovici” Company, Zoran Zeljko, contacted the Dnevni List with a letter in which he says that the “Lijanovici” are not in the process of buying the “Hercegovacka Banka” adding that the company keeps contacts with the PA in order to protect their share in the company, the “Lijanovici” being one of the stockholders, and protect the peoples’ savings.
Slobodna Dalmacija: Ante Jelavic announces further legal battle for human rights violations
(Provided by OHR Mostar)
Ante Jelavic has sent another letter to the President of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in BiH, Srdjan Dizdarevic, welcoming the Committee’s conclusion that the officials removed by the High Representative should have been entitled to lodge an appeal.
In response to Dizdarevic’s letter of January 10, Jelavic says that Croats in BiH, contrary to a conclusion of the Committee, are indeed discriminated because their election will was not respected in that the OSCE, a month before the 2000 general elections, disrupted the balance between the ethnic and the civic in BiH and that the principles of consensus and veto were completely trampled over after the general elections.
He appealed to the Committee to reconsider their remarks, particularly those referring to the decision of removing 165 Croat officials, because otherwise, he and the other removed Croat officials will address the International Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg and demand “protection of human and civil rights they were denied by the will of the High Representative.” Jelavic says he is certain it would not be good if 165 charges for human rights violations were to end up before the Strasbourg Court.
Slobodna Dalmacija: Interview with the Federation Defense Minister, Mijo Anic
(Provided by OHR Mostar)
Slobodna Dalmacija carries an interview with Mijo Anic, the Federation Minister for Defense, on the matter of suspension of allowance payment to 750 members of the Croat component of the Federation Army.
Anic says the Federation Army has 7225 soldiers, but upon assuming the position, he inherited certain additional lists of persons on the payroll. In his words, it was illegal because those persons were in no way connected with the Ministry, i.e. were dismissed three or four years ago as they were found redundant. However, they were not told the real truth, probably to avoid stirring things up, and the truth is that most of them were not entitled to pension because no pension and disability contributions had been paid for them. Many of them met not even the minimum of the conditions for retirement, which, according to Anic, means that those people were deceived. He insists the decisions of retirement that those persons were granted are not legal because not even the MIO Fund would accept them. He does not know what criteria they had to meet in order to be able to qualify for “retirement,” and many of them come from Posavina or Bihac, the areas that could not offer a strong resistance. In Anic’s words, contributions and taxes for the Croat component members were not paid in since Dayton until the time he assumed the ministerial post, and the unsettled amount in question is between 65 and 80 million Marks. The Federation Government allocated a certain amount of money for covering the pension and disability insurance of the HVO soldiers at a time, but unfortunately, those funds were soon withdrawn, at least that is what the press said, says Anic. That was at the time when Bozo Misura was heading the MIO Fund in Mostar and on account of that money, Misura allegedly came into a conflict with Ante Jelavic who was Defense Minister back then.
Slobodna Dalmacija: Interview with Stjepan Kljujic, the President of the Republican Party
Interview conducted by Dino Mikulandra (Provided by OHR Mostar)
Slobodna Dalmacija carries an interview with Stjepan Kljujic, the President of the BiH Republican Party. In answer to the question if “the High Representative’s hesitation regarding the implementation of the Constitutional Court Decision, in fact, means an implicit support of the international community to the cementing of the autonomous Serb entity created out of crime and genocide,” Kljujic said everyone should realize that the introduction of House of Peoples in the RS is the only just solution to the BiH crisis. He says the Croat (and Bosniak) negotiators in Dayton hold the major responsibility for that because they fought for Drvar, Glamoc and Bosansko Grahovo, sacrificing Posavina and giving up on the Croat return there. Kljujic says “the fact that Wolfgang Petritsch has not imposed the implementation of the Constitutional Court Decision is his major failure.” In his words, it is tragic that Petritsch comes from the country that has a brilliant legal system, that he knows Bosnia well and has traditional obligations to it.
As for the High Representative’s statement about introducing House of Peoples in Croatia, Kljujic says Croatia was being punished for a long time due to the destructive policy of Zagreb towards BiH. However, in his words, this proposal is absurd. “The Republic of Croatia has the Law on National Minorities which is in conformity with the European standards and any request in this respect is legally ungrounded.”
He says the biggest handicap of the Alliance is the efforts of one group of leaders at taking power personally. When it comes to the Croat cadres, says Kljujic, then by the old recipe, incompetent but obedient cadres, with all due respect to the exceptions, were in a much more advantageous position.
Vecernji List: Interview with Miroslav Coric, the Prime Minister of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton
(Provided by OHR Mostar)
In an interview for Vecernji List, Miroslav Coric, the Prime Minister of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton, says he will try improve the situation in the Canton during his mandate, if there is anything that needs improving.
In his words, they have set three priorities. “Since the Cantonal Budget for 2001 was adopted no sooner than late last year, this time I will insist on compliance with the deadline as far as the Budget is concerned. This part of the Government is working expeditiously on the preparation of the Budget and the final deadline for its adoption is March 31. The second priority is to go ministry by ministry and clear up the laws which, if they pass Government session, will go ahead to the Cantonal Assembly for adoption. I think a final adoption of some laws is in the interest of us, Croats in particular, because the Croat part of the Canton still relies on some laws of Herzeg-Bosnia, and the Bosniak part in some cases even works by the laws from Sarajevo. However, I think we will manage to reach an agreement regarding the laws and I think there is a progress in this aspect. Our third priority is – economy. The Cantonal Privatization Agency has been assigned, along with the Government, to bring the privatization process to an end as soon as possible,” says Coric.
As for the number of companies liable to privatization, Coric says there are 237 such companies registered in the Canton. Speaking of the Government’s support to those companies, Coric said he hopes the money on the canton’s account, around one million Marks collected from privatization, will be properly distributed by certain criteria, which, again, are to be adopted by the Government. The Government will thus offer a form of encouragement for employment or at least try to make sure that the employees of these companies have an income and a market secured, but since this is an election year, he is aware that there will be certain imputations.
“The Cantonal Government has to deal with many projects of the integration of ministries, and the first steps in that direction were made in the Ministry of the Interior. This project is, in fact, a pilot project of the integration of ministries and we can say it would be malicious if we would not consider it a positive step. It is a fact that the Cantonal Government participated in the project One City – One Police, and all decisions in this regard were taken at Government sessions. Therefore, such steps must be welcomed.”
Coric remarked that the cases of demobilized soldiers, evictions and problems of Homeland War victims are also big issues in the Canton. In answer to the question as to whether the Government will be solving those problems, Coric said he met with Hvidra representatives earlier that day. He says it is difficult for him to listen to individual stories and solve separate problems and thinks those associations should best appoint one representative each and then address someone at a higher instance.
Asked as to whether there are any setups or malversation in the establishing of priorities when it comes to apartments, Coric said: “For instance, there will be 120 housing units at the Dairy complex and the JOT building. I cannot comprehend that people come here to see me because they do not know where they stand on the list, or sometimes they are this or that number on the list but their ranking changes overnight or they disappear from the list. I asked to be handed the official list within ten days and I will require much accounting for if there should be any sudden changes of it. This way, I can only suspect there have been some irregularities on the basis of the stories of the people who address me. We must know who should be on that list and if that is the final solution for those people. Only then can we exert pressure on the Federation Government and say – Here, these are the people! Now it is up to you to provide money! Mr. Grabovac (Nikola Grabovac, the Federation Minister for Finance) was recently a guest on the HTV Oscar-C, on which occasion he elegantly said that he had endorsed two million KM for the project and that he would soon endorse the rest of the money. Therefore, in total it is 3.5 million KM for the completion of the works on those 120 housing units. Of all that money he was talking about so much, he paid neither the two million, nor the other million and a half. I sent a letter to Mr. Grabovac a few days ago, requesting him to declare himself once more and say whether he really paid that money in and where. The way the things have functioned so far will simply not work any longer,” says Coric.
Republika Srpska
Karadzic hides in a Montenegrin monastery, Mladic in a military apartment in the Serbian town of Valjevo
Dnevni Avaz learned from well-informed sources that Radovan Karadzic is well protected and hides in a monastery in the area of Vilusina in Montenegro. According to the same sources, Ratko Mladic lives in a military apartment in the Serbian town of Valjevo.
Dodik says the 1991 Census unacceptable as basis for the representation of the peoples in the authorities
(Provided by OHR Banja Luka)
Both Banja Luka dailies quote leader of the Party of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD), Milorad Dodik, as saying that it is unacceptable that constitutional amendments in the RS are imposed by the High Representative. Dodik told a news conference that there should be no deadlines in talks – the talks should last as long as it takes to reach a compromise. According to him the structure of the RS NA should be taken as a basis for participation of Bosniaks and Croats in RS executive authorities regardless whether their political parties make the parliamentary majority or not. Dodik said that the 1991 Census should not be taken as a basis for distribution of power in the RS, adding that the 1991 Census has never been officially recognized. He also said that Bosnian language should not be included in the RS Constitution, because the term “Bosnian language” implies that only one people in BiH is given a preferential treatment. Dodik said if the party leaders fail to agree on constitutional amendments at the next meeting, which is to take place in Sarajevo, he will leave the talks. He also said that Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic must be brought before the Hague tribunal, adding that their being at large is harmful to the citizens and the RS as a whole. “Karadzic and all other indictees must prove their innocence or guilt before the Hague tribunal. All they have been doing up until now is keeping the citizens of the RS hostage which is not helping anyone,” said Dodik at a press conference. If Karadzic and Mladic were patriots once, which is doubtful, then they would have to accept voluntary cooperation with the Hague tribunal, said Dodik, adding that the SNSD felt that their cooperation with the Hague tribunal could no longer be postponed.
Regulatory plan “South 7” not suitable for the Islamic Community
(Provided by OHR Banja Luka)
Glas Srpski reports that the representatives of the Medzlis Executive Board of the Banja Luka Islamic Community turned to the IC representatives for help in the matters pertaining to the “South 7” Plan and reconstruction of area where Ferhadija is going to be rebuilt. The paper quotes, OHR Spokeswoman, Sonja Pastuovic, as saying that the OHR is informed about the Islamic Community request according to which the building of the School of Electrical Engineering should be relocated because “it ruins the view on Ferhadija”. Pastuovic told Glas Srpski that the OHR representatives will discuss this issue with “some people” who are not “local officials”.
Special RS NA session scheduled for January 31
(Provided by OHR Banja Luka)
Both Banja Luka dailies report that RS NA Speaker, Dragan Kalinic scheduled the third extraordinary session of the RS National Assembly for Thursday, January 31st. The RS NA will discuss the proposed RS budget for this year and the Law on execution of budget. The papers also report that there is a possibility that the RS NA Collegiate body decides to include the item on the Radisic’s veto on BiH common institutions budget in the agenda.
RS President wants only domestic judges in the BiH Constitutional Court
(Provided by OHR Banja Luka)
SRNA news agency quotes RS President, Mirko Sarovic, as saying that the BiH Constitutional Court should in future seat only domestic judges, namely, three from the RS and six from the BiH Federation. “It is too expensive to pay foreigners and I am convinced that the BiH Parliamentary Assembly will adopt amendments to the law on the Constitutional Court in May, in line with Appendix 4 of the Dayton Agreement, which will stipulate that all nine judges are to be domestic,” said Sarovic. Commenting on the fact that the mandates of the current BiH Constitutional Court judges, of which three are foreign, are expiring in May, he said that “it is time that BiH thanked the foreigners”. “There is a lot of dispute in the BiH Federation on the matter, and there are those who feel that foreigners should remain for the time being, but I feel that there are no arguments to support this,” said Sarovic.
Sarovic says Federation’s proposal on constitutional changes extreme
(Provided by OHR Banja Luka)
SRNA news agency quotes RS President, Mirko Sarovic, as saying yesterday in Pale that the constitutional changes were a priority in the forthcoming period and that he expected the process to end in the RS in February or March. “The fact is that the BiH Federation officials have extreme demands and expect to fulfil their war-time goals through constitutional changes. The most important thing is to find a solution in line with the decision of the BiH Constitutional Court, which would eliminate discrimination and secure equality for all,” Sarovic said.The RS National Assembly Speaker and the chairman of the Serb Democratic Party (SDS) presidency, Dragan Kalinic, said at a session of the Pale branch of the SDS main committee that without strong RS there could be no strong BiH. “The problem for BiH is not the RS, but unresolved relations within the BiH Federation and its cantons,” Kalinic said. Commenting on the constitutional changes, Kalinic emphasized that the optimal solution would be to strike a balance between the Entities, that is, not to undervalue the RS. “The BiH Federation is not proposing equal but biased solutions, which is not right,” Kalinic said.
RS Deputy Justice Minister denies he was protecting Delimustafic
(Provided by OHR Banja Luka)
Nezavisne Novine quotes RS Deputy Justice Minister, Mladjen Mandic, as saying that he had not protecting or hiding Alija Delimustafic in Banja Luka three months before Delimustafic went to Belgrade (fall 2001). Mandic says he knows that Delimustafic was in Banja Luka but he did not see him. He says they are linking him with Delimustafic because his brother, Momo Mandic had a good business cooperation with Delimustafic. Mandic says these accusation against him is nothing but a political showdown between Democratic Party (led by FRY Prime Minister, Zoran Djindjic) and DSS (led by FRY President, Vojislav Kostunica). Mandic says he is only interested to see Delimustafic as a witness or an indectee for murder of JNA soldiers in Doborovoljacka Street in Sarajevo in 1992.
International Community
The Economist: OHR in BiH might be a model for the future international engagement in Afghanistan
A comment on the international engagement in Afghanistan published in The Economist of January 26 reads that the work of the Office of the High Representative in BiH could be a model for the future international efforts in the country. “Yet an Office of the High Representative for Afghanistan, modeled on the international agency that has been overseeing Bosnia since the Dayton conference in 1995, with considerable though not unqualified success, would have had much to recommend it,” the comment reads.
The High Representative expects BiH leaders to find solution for the constitutional reforms
The leaders of the main political parties in BiH met in Mrakovica near Prijedor last Friday to discuss the implementation of the Constitutional Court’s Constituent Peoples Ruling, which is a meeting fully supported on Tuesday by High Representative Wolfgang Petritsch, ONASA reports. ”The High Representative in BiH, Wolfgang Petritsch, fully supports such meetings as they are what democracy is about – discussion, negotiation, and in the end, agreement”, Spokesman for the OHR Alexandra Stiglmayer said at a press conference on Tuesday in Sarajevo. Stiglmayer added that last week’s meeting in Mrakovica may have been the first time since Dayton at which the top leaders from both Entities and all three constituent peoples had come together without mediation by the international community in order to solve a question crucial for the further development of BiH. ”The Mrakovica meeting, which we understand will be followed by another meeting this week in Sarajevo, shows that BiH’s politicians are assuming responsibility and ownership, and that they are taking their obligations toward the voters seriously”, Stiglmayer said. She added that the High Representative expects them to find a solution to the Constitutional Court’s ruling. ”Its implementation is not an option, but a necessity to guarantee the rule of law in the year in which BiH is likely to accede to the Council of Europe”, said the OHR spokeswoman. ”There is no time for further delay, and no possibility for failure. The ruling must be implemented by mid-March in order to allow for the timely completion of the Election Law and the holding of elections under this Law in October. Both are commitments the BiH authorities have made to the Council of Europe, as well as to the people of BiH”, Stiglmayer concluded. (Oslobodjenje reported on the issue, as Dnevni Avaz and Jutarnje Novine carried the Fena news agency report)
OHR hosts the second Federation Anti-corruption Conference
More than 30 officials from various institutions of the BiH Federation gathered on Tuesday in Sarajevo together with representatives of the Anti-Fraud Department of the Office of the High Representative (OHR) at the Second Anti-Corruption Conference, ONASA reports. The goal of the conference was to determine the course of investigation in the cases of revision of accounts of ministries in the BiH Federation government, to identify problems that the authorities are facing in those investigations and discuss structural issues related to the fight against corruption, Head of the Anti-Fraud Department Manfred Dauster said at a press conference following the gathering. BiH Federation prosecutor Marinko Jurcevic said that he was not satisfied with the results achieved so far, since only a small portion of 74 corruption cases identified by the OHR and OSCE have been investigated and processed. Dauster said that he was especially concerned over the situation in the Herzegovina Neretva Canton, where prosecutors launched investigation but the law enforcement officials failed to do their part. He added that a huge obstacle to efficient fight against corruption was the lack of cooperation between the police and prosecutors and the fact that the police is undermanned. He said that, for example, the financial police should have at least 120 policemen and inspectors. However, the BiH Federation financial police is working with only one third of its capacities. Commenting on the audit into the Hercegovacka Bank privatization, Dauster said, according to Oslobodjenje that the results would be announced soon, but hat it seemed to be an illegal privatization. (Dnevni Avaz and Oslobodjenje prominently also reported on the conference)
Turkish Foreign Minister visits Sarajevo
Oslobodjenje reports that Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail Dzem arrived on Tuesday in Sarajevo for one-day official visit to BiH. He met with BiH Council of Ministers Chairman and Foreign Minister Zlatko Lagumdzija to discuss the improvement of the bilateral cooperation between the two countries. On the occasion, the two officials signed the Agreement on the Cooperation in the fields of culture, education and sports. They also exchanged diplomatic notes obliging the two countries to ratify the Agreement on the Foreign Investments Improvement and Protection.
Dnevni Avaz: Person of the Day – Paddy Ashdown
Dnevni Avaz declared Paddy Ashdown , the British liberal-democrats leader who is most likely to succeed Wolfgang Petritsch in the Office of the High Representative, as the Person of the Day, not just because he was a proved friend of BiH bust also due to a fact Ashdown is the first candidate for the Office who visited the country even before making the formal decision on his appointment (see the attachment for full translation of the article).
Petritsch requests the Federation Constitutional Commission to deliver draft amendments into the parliamentary procedure
According to Dnevni Avaz, the High Representative, Wolfgang Petritsch, sent a letter to Jakob Finci, the President of the BiH Federation Constitutional Commission, requesting that the draft amendment to the Entity Constitution are immediately sent into the parliamentary procedure.
EU send 600 policemen to replace current IPTF members in BiH
The European Union decided to send 500-600 policemen to BiH, where they will replace current 1,800-memebr IPTF contingent in the country, but probably with a bit different mandate, ONASA and Jutarnje Novine report. This would be the first EU mission of this kind since its leaders declared the European defense-security structure operative. The structure is expected to contain forces for urgent interventions with up to 60,000 soldiers, as well as 5,000 policemen and members of the special police forces.
Editorials
Oslobodjenje and Dnevni Avaz
In the Oslobodjenje editorial, Amra Kebo comments on still poor results achieved in the return of the hundreds of thousands of people to their pre-war homes. This is according to Kebo, the best evidence that the domestic political structure is not able to resolve the problem. On the other side, she concludes, it is evident that the majority of the international projects in this field have not been completed successfully. Aida Delic criticized in the Dnevni Avaz Commentary of the Day poor living conditions in the state prisons in the BiH Federation.
Dnevni List: Ivanic’s initiative raises HDZ from clinical death
Written by Marko Markovic (Provided by OHR Mostar)
Following the enormous success at general elections on November 11, 2000 and the successful referendum organized on the same day, the HDZ and other parties within the HNS have reached their peak on March 3, 2001. They have opened the issue of survival of the Croats in BiH requesting for Croats nothing less and nothing more but what the other two peoples already have. The Croat people have awaken and a high degree of consensus between political factors and the Church has been reached. The question is, was the timing right? Was everyone sincere in efforts to secure a better position to their people? Should have they persisted despite the coordinated attacks during which SFOR and OHR used all means? Those are the enigmas that no analysts can solve. In the meantime the (7th) Congress (of the HDZ) was just an infusion that allowed the party to stay undivided and perhaps to even survive. The return to the Federation Parliament showed that the HDZ is still the best organized and the intellectually strongest Croat party in BiH, but an impotent party. Amendments to the Constitution initiated by the HNS were just a catalyst which strengthen the Alliance. Nothing more. It enabled individual talks with Croat parties from the Alliance, there were two or three attempts to organize new Croat blocks or coordinations. But in the end, everything that was initiated by the worried representatives of the IC was destined to fail. That’s why the Ivanic’s initiative, albeit seen as a start of his election campaign, was also labeled as the HDZ’s true comeback. Ante Jelavic’s delegate, Niko Lozancic, showed through his presence, discussion and suggestions that the HDZ was not in total state of coma, that the HDZ had been preparing for the times to come. During the past few months, when the HDZ was dealing mostly with itself, its initiatives were taken and articulated by the NHI, especially Mijo Anic, and individuals such as Stjepan Kljujic, Neven Tomic and representatives of the Lijanovici family (NB: should read Ivankovic) trying to present them as initiatives of their own. The Mrakovica meeting will be remembered by the fact that it was not organized by representatives of the IC. It was about time that we decide about the future of our country, without pressures, threats and political processes. It is also worth mentioning that Dr. Mladen Ivanic established a PDP branch in Mostar on Sunday and the HDZ renewed its office in Sarajevo which can be considered a start of the election campaign. The talks between the parties will resume in Sarajevo on Friday and will be hosted by Zlatko Lagumdzija. One can expect that the same or altered delegations will meet in Mostar in two-three weeks time where they should be hosted by Ante Jelavic. In the end, I must make a remark that these meetings, in opinions of many analysts, remind of meetings of Presidents of the six (former Yugoslav) republics in spring and summer of 1991.
Headlines
Oslobodjenje
- Delimustafic owes 200,000 dollars to a prohibited foundation
Dnevni Avaz
- Affair in the Employment Bureau: Presents worth up to 300,000 marks
Jutarnje Novine
- 550,000 marks stolen in a tunnel
Glas Srpski
- Regulatory plan “South 7” does not suit the Islamic Community – The school or the view;
- Green cards stopped traffic between Rudo and Priboj;
Nezavisne Novine
- BiH and Turkey signed two bilateral agreements – Bosnia is an important partner of the European Union;
- RS Deputy Justice Minister Mladjen Mandic says he was not protecting Delimustafic in Banja Luka;
Dnevni List
- Drama among parents in Mostar – High-school students carry guns to their classrooms
- Confusion over an SFOR secret document – Government did not plan liquidation of General Ante Gotovina
Vecernji List
- Croatian and Bosnian negotiations about oil corridors get stuck at Izacici border crossing near Bihac – Cisterns still cannot go to BiH