- Petritsch and BiH Council of Ministers officials agree on future models of cooperation
- BiH Council of Ministers discusses Law on Concessions and salaries of the BiH state officials
- Three Bosniak wartime military officers detained and will be handed over to the Hague Tribunal
- Reuters: Bosniak officers charged with killing Croats
- Mlaco and associates to be arrested
- Petritsch discusses RTV BiH restructuring with senior Federation officials
- Cardinal Puljic receives the High Representative
- Sarajevo Canton HDZ Presidency says the racist campaign against HDZ ought to be stopped
- Jutarnji List: Sarajevo Cantonal Court decision on detention is being expected
- Vecernji List: Who is a patriot, and who is a national traitor?
- Jutarnji List: Interview with dismissed HDZ leader Ante Jelavic
- Gornji Vakuf-Uskoplje agreement signed on Thursday
- Krstic sentenced to 46 years in prison
- Sarovic and Kalinic visit Bijeljina and Janja
- Glas Srpski on the privatization of socially-owned apartments in the RS
- Klickovic escaped to BiH SBS members at Border Crossing Deleusa
- Petritsch and Beecroft express concern over the delay in passing the election law
- Nezavisne Novine: Petritsch discusses CIPS project implementation with BiH Council of Ministers representatives
- Vecernji List: Miller says USA does not have much sympathy for attempts of establishing third entity in BiH
- EU donates approximately 73 millions KM to support refugee return process in BiH
- Clarke says Arizona Market just needs the infrastructure and government services of a real town
- Dnevni Avaz and Oslobodjenje
- Slobodna Dalmacija: Heating up of the situation in BiH leads to more use of SFOR machine-guns
BiH State-related State
Petritsch and BiH Council of Ministers officials agree on future models of cooperation
High Representative to BiH Wolfgang Petritsch and Chairman of the BiH Council of Ministers Zlatko Lagumdzija, together with the ministers, discussed on Thursday the most current political issues and agreed on future models of cooperation through the Consultative Partnership Forum, according to a joint press release issued by the OHR and the BiH Council of Ministers.
BiH Council of Ministers discusses Law on Concessions and salaries of the BiH state officials
The BiH Council of Ministers on Thursday delivered the draft law on concessions to the parliamentary procedure and discussed the text of the law on the amount of salaries of the BiH state officials. Speaking at a news briefing after the session of the Council, Spokeswoman Mirjana Micevska said that the goal of the law on concessions was to create a transparent, non-discriminatory and clear legal frame for approving and selling concessions to foreign and local legal subjects. Minister for Human Rights and Refugees Kresimir Zubak said that the pre-draft law on special obligations of the officials in BiH institutions was the first law of a kind in BiH, and is to be passed in a package with the law on the civil service.
Federation
Three Bosniak wartime military officers detained and will be handed over to the Hague Tribunal
The BiH Federation Government on Thursday said it had detained three Bosniak wartime military officers, Generals Mehmed Alagic and Enver Hadzihasanovic and Brigadier Amir Kubura, and would hand them over to the Hague Tribunal. It said that the three officers, two retired generals and an active brigadier, voluntarily surrendered to the members of the Federation Interior Ministry after they had been served with the Federation Supreme Court’s extradition decisions. The Government added that the court’s decisions had been issued on the basis of secret indictments and arrest warrants from the International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia in The Hague. “These indictments were raised against individuals who executed prominent functions in the army of the wartime Republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina and relate to their command responsibility in the war period,” the Government said in a statement. It did not give details of the indictments.
Reuters: Bosniak officers charged with killing Croats
Three senior Bosniak wartime army officers will face trial on charges of war crimes against Bosnian Croat prisoners and civilians during the 1992-95 war, the Hague Tribunal said on Friday. The brigadier Amir Kubura and two retired generals, Mehmed Alagic and Enver Hadzihasanovic, are the most senior Bosniaks yet charged with war crimes by the Tribunal, which has now indicted senior figures from all three of BiH’s ethnic groups for wartime atrocities. The three were detained on Thursday by police from BiH Federation. Its justice minister, Zvonko Mijan, said they should be extradited “within the coming days”. The Hague Tribunal said the indictment against Alagic, Hadzihasanovic and Kubura covers crimes committed between January 1993 and January 1994 during vicious fighting between Bosniaks and Croats.
The tribunal said many of the alleged crimes were carried out by foreign Muslim fighters known as Mujahedeens, who flocked from Arab countries to help Bosniaks defend themselves.
Mlaco and associates to be arrested
The latest visit of The Hague investigators to Bugojno a few days ago will be crucial for indicting the former President of the War Presidency of the Bugojno Municipality Dzevad Mlaco and his associates, reads Vecernji List. The team visited all the incriminated sites where reported killings and tortures of the Bugojno Croats took place.
Petritsch discusses RTV BiH restructuring with senior Federation officials
The High Representative, Wolfgang Petritsch, on Wednesday discussed the RTV BiH Restructuring effort with a delegation including the Federation Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, Dubravko Lovrenovic, the Chair of the Federation House of Peoples, Ivo Komsic, BiH House of Representatives member Nijaz Skenderagic as well as the legal expert Dzemal Sabrihafizovic. According to OHR Spokesman Oleg Milisic, the participants agreed that the establishment of public broadcasting at the State and Entity level was of great importance for the democratization and state building processes. The High Representative said the international community would continue to provide expertise and donations for the process, and asked the representatives of the government and parliaments to lend their support to the PBS Founding Board and Federation Council, which are leading the effort, all Sarajevo dailies report.
Cardinal Puljic receives the High Representative
According to the Habena news agency, the archbishop of Vrhbosna, Cardinal Vinko
Puljic, received on Wednesday evening in his residence the High Representative of the international community in BiH, Wolfgang Petritsch. Petritsch informed the Cardinal on some issues the representatives of the international community have worked on for the last few months. Puljic pointed out at the necessity of creating a mutual trust between the Croat people in BiH and the international community.
Sarajevo Canton HDZ Presidency says the racist campaign against HDZ ought to be stopped (provided by OHR Mostar)
The Presidency of the Cantonal Board of the Sarajevo Cantonal Organization of the HDZ BiH fully supports the Cardinal Puljic and Bishop Peric’s address that they made before the US Congress’ Committee for Foreign Policy on 25th of July this year. The Board stresses: “Their well-intentioned and humane messages have been received with sharp, harsh and insulting attacks, with accusations from the same media bullies”(…) The Presidency of the Cantonal Board asks “how long will the HDZ be written about in a negative way only and how long will every natural feeling of the BiH Croats be labeled as nationalistic? The accusations of nationalism have turned into insults and belittling of the national dignity of the Croat people in BiH, so we demand that the racist campaign be stopped”, says the press release of the Board. The Cantonal Board claims that out of 730 employees in the Sarajevo Canton only 30 of them are Croats and that only one Croat is a Minister in the Cantonal Government (…) “The situation in the City Administration is the same because there are no Croat assistants to the Mayor, although according to the Statute of the City of Sarajevo there should be at least one of them(…) Ivica Osim (famous football manager) cannot be a Croat Deputy Mayor because he does not declare himself as a Croat and he lives in Austria too”, says the press release, Slobodna Dalmacija reports.
Jutarnji List: Sarajevo Cantonal Court decision on detention is being expected
(provided by OHR Mostar)
The Cantonal Prosecutor’s Office in Sarajevo believes that there is a reasonable suspicion that together with his aids Jelavic has undermined the territorial integrity of the State by establishing the Croat National Assembly (HNS) and Inter-Cantonal and Inter-Municipal Council and that the defensive power was reduced due to the HVO self-disbanding. The OHR has judged many times that the HNS establishment is not disputable because the freedom of association exists in BiH. However, HNS political decisions might be disputable since this is not an official state institution.
The establishment of the Croat self-rule might be disputable but no one in Mostar or Sarajevo can answer the question as to what the Croat self-rule is and when it was established., reads Jutarnji List.
Vecernji List: Who is a patriot, and who is a national traitor?
(provided by OHR Mostar)
A high-ranked official of the Croat National Assembly, who wanted to stay anonymous, stated: “A national traitor is everyone who finds employment at the Federation or State levels in BiH, while a patriot is one who lives without a salary, ignores the current authorities and rushes into poverty.” Thus he wanted to refer to an absurd situation that rules in the Croat-majority territories in BiH.’
Also he concluded with resentment that those who leave BiH for good, are not being qualified as traitors, unlike those who automatically get epithets of traitor as soon as they go to Sarajevo.
He also stated: “All this nonsense will pass. There will be an increased number of national traitors although they are not national traitors. The traitors are those who, qualifying their personal interests as national ones, are hurtling toward the unknown, leaving without the existence resources numerous families, not thinking about a better future for Croats in which Croats will become a national minority if this emigration trend continues. Then it will be known for sure who were the national traitors. Still, Croats will not have any use of it.”
Jutarnji List: Interview with dismissed HDZ leader Ante Jelavic (the interview was almost translated in full by OHR Mostar, irrelevant and frequently repeated passages were omitted)
Interview was conducted by Snjezana Pavic
Jelavic: BiH is Petritsch’s protectorate or Administration at the moment and for this reason I do not delude myself with the idea that the judiciary is independent. It is Petritsch’s Court, which decided to make political persecution…Legal proceedings on the Leutar assassination has shown that it is a staged process and that 4 innocent Croats are in the Sarajevo prison, because they wanted to accuse the Croat political leadership through them. They failed and now they want to take us back to the time of Stalin’s processes, when political opinion and acting was punished.
If the Court decides to detain you, what will you do?
I will go to prison by myself…They do not have to either send SFOR tanks or issue arrest warrants after me…It is obvious that they want to eliminate us and they are not choosing means to achieve this goal… It is obvious that the Alliance, that monstrous formation made of controversial politicians and a part of the International Community bureaucrats at the end of their mandate, now wants to distract attention from their failure since they did not achieve any success in internal and foreign policy…
You have made your next moves conditional on results of Constitutional reforms. Could you explain it?
We are preparing for a parliamentary discussion far from the public. We are preparing our proposals of Amendments and the Law on National Minorities. The establishing of the House of Peoples in both entities is of a key importance for us, as well as defining of the issues of vital national interests and solving of the position of national minorities in accordance with European solutions…
Does this mean that the HDZ is going to return to the Federation Parliament?
I was completely clear. We shall use all possibilities of a parliamentary struggle. Although we are in a difficult situation, we shall show what kind of BiH and what kind of position of the Croats within it we want.
Having in mind the importance of the constitutional reform, is there any chance for the joint stand of Croat parties, those from the line of the Croat National Assembly and those from the Alliance?
Cardinal Vinko Puljic organized the meeting of party leaders in Zenica a month ago. I hope that the next meeting will take place soon and that together with the Cardinal, who is an absolute spiritual authority of the Croats in BiH, we shall reach a consensus, not regarding daily-political issues but regarding the crucial one: the constitutional and legal position of the Croat people.
Cardinal Puljic and Bishop Ratko Peric spoke about the problems in BiH in the USA recently. Does their statement carry much weight?
Henry Hyde, the President of the Foreign Policy Board of the USA Congress, judged that people in BiH have never been so far from a stable and fair peace, because people, whose posts are being protected even by the use of force, are being installed against the will of the people. He warned about too extensive powers of the IC representatives in BiH, saying that due to the lack of limits abuses and failures are possible. This is extremely strong message. It is obvious that Robert Barry made mistake with the Election Rules, because the new Election Law envisages that each people elect its representatives. However, he just left. The question for how long diplomats will be leaving this country unpunished, as passers-by, not taking any responsibility for political and social consequences that they left behind, remains open.
Will you candidate for the HDZ President at the next HDZ Convention in October?
It is too early to talk about it. I believe that the 7th HDZ Convention will show the party’s strength and unity once again.
The resignation of Bozo Ljubic has actualized again claims about harsh conflict between the so-called hard-liners and liberals. What is going on within the HDZ BiH?
During the last 12 months we did not have time for the party defining. I believe that we shall succeed to make it at the 7th Convention. Different stands exist within the HDZ and I believe that this is normal and that we are looking for the consensus within the healthy environment. The HDZ BiH is a national movement and it will take a lot of time until it defines into a modern center party…
The self-rule is like a means to an end?
It is like a means to an end and perhaps a future goal. The possibility should never be excluded. The disentanglement of the Constitutional reform will be of a crucial importance. Just like the Cardinal stated: the struggle for BiH without entities, with Cantons, and if this cannot be realized we shall demand the third Federation unit. Nothing should be excluded. We have to have the same rights as Bosniaks and Serbs. This is our final goal.
What will the investigation on Hercegovacka Bank reveal?
I am convinced that they will not find anything. The attack against Hercegovacka Bank was planned by the part of the IC representatives and local bigwigs because the bank troubled the competition. It should be investigated how the Federation Government sold a part of Hrvatska Postanska Bank in Mostar for a small amount of money and then they sold that part of the bank to Raiffeisen Bank after the tank raid into Hercegovacka Bank had taken place. Thus Raiffeisen Bank took over the market of Hercegovacka Bank. The time will show that people who took out enormous capital from BiH, and who opened hotels all over Makarska Rivijera, gambling houses and chains of bet-shops stand behind it. At the same time Petritsch is naming ‘extremists, who only care about their financial interests and who, at the same time, are losing their political influence’. These kind of judgments especially hurt me when they come from the persons, who are vehemently fighting to extend their mandate in BiH, which bring them 50.000 Marks a month, and who are completely involved into scandals such as the purchase of GSM concession or setting up of the contract for ‘Siemens’.
Gornji Vakuf-Uskoplje agreement signed on Thursday
All three Sarajevo dailies and Banja Luka Nezavisne Novine carry a joint OHR/OSCE press release on Thursday’s signing the Gornji Vakuf-Uskoplje Agreement.
Republika Srpska
Krstic sentenced to 46 years in prison
Former Republika Srpska General Radislav Krstic was jailed on Thursday for the 1995 Srebrenica massacre of thousands of Bosniak men and boys and is the first person convicted of genocide by the Hague Tribunal. Krstic, 53, was sentenced to 46 years in prison, which is the court’s harshest penalty yet, for the grisly mass executions of Bosniaks fleeing the U.N. safe area in eastern BiH in Europe’s worst atrocity since World War Two. Almost 8,000 Bosniaks were slaughtered after Srebrenica fell in July 1995 to BiH Serb forces, of which Krstic was a commander.
Sarovic and Kalinic visit Bijeljina and Janja
The next year will be the most important year when it is about the preservation of the autonomy of the Republika Srpska, RS President Mirko Sarovic said on Thursday. Sarovic and Speaker of the RS National Assembly Dragan Kalinic visited Bijeljina and Janja, where after a meeting with leadership of the Bijeljina municipality, Sarovic told reporters that “a difficult autumn is before the RS, both in the political and economic sense.”
Glas Srpski on the privatization of socially-owned apartments in the RS
Glas Srpski, on the cover page, writes about harmonization of instructions for privatization with changes and amendments to the Law on Privatization of Socially owned Apartments. According to Miladin Gacanovic, aid to RS Minister for Urbanism, the process of privatization would starts when the harmonization is concluded. The respective Ministry should soon authorize a company which would be printing and distributing these around 75 000 packages of forms (questionnaires) based on which citizens would be able to submit their claims for privatization, Gacanovic said and added that this package of forms should cost no more than 10 KM and would be available in the following 15 days. Gacanovic also stated that returnees should have in their possession decision of the Ministry of Refugees and Displaced Persons on the repossessed occupancy right.
Klickovic escaped to BiH SBS members at Border Crossing Deleusa
Both Republika Srpska dailies report that former RS Prime Minister Gojko Klickovic, for whom the Federal authorities issued the international warrant, managed to escape to the BiH State Border Service officers at the Deleusa Border crossing on Thursday. The SBS said that Klickovic had been identified by the officers following a check on his ID. However, the driver of the Klickovic’s vehicle, who was from Belgrade, managed to bypass the guard railing in a great speed driving away in direction of Bileca.
International Community
Petritsch and Beecroft express concern over the delay in passing the election law
The Head of the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Robert Beecroft, and the High Representative, Wolfgang Petritsch, have sent a letter to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Sead Avdic, and to the Speaker of the House of Peoples, Mr. Ilija Simic, expressing their serious concern over the delay in passing a BiH Permanent Election Law, according to OSCE Spokesman Henning Philipp. They call upon them to take up their responsibility for assuring that the next elections, planned for October 2002, are held in a timely manner. The letter says the Election Law is not a luxury, which BiH can do without. Should the Parliamentary Assembly take its summer recess and reconvene in September, the objective to have the Election Law passed by September is unlikely to be met. To date no provisions have been made on: the appointment of a Secretary General, the election and appointment of at least thirty core operational staff on the operations; budget allocations; allocation of physical space; extra staff and resources for the election period. All of this must occur before the real work can begin. The OSCE Head of Mission and the High Representative make it clear in their letter that further delay would seriously jeopardise the preparations for the elections to be conducted fourteen months from now and that procrastination for political point-scoring was unworthy for a state with European aspirations. You find a list with all of the rules and regulations, which must be prepared for the elections to be held in October 2002, outside on the table also in the local language.
Nezavisne Novine: Petritsch discusses CIPS project implementation with BiH Council of Ministers representatives
Nezavisne Novine reports on a meeting of the High Representative and Principal Deputy High Representative with members of the BiH Council of Ministers at which they discussed the CIPS project implementation. According to the newspaper, it was concluded that a new tender for CIPS project would be published in September, after the BiH House of Representatives passes the set of five laws concerning the issue of citizens personal identification. The meeting was held behind the closed door just before the session of the Council.
Vecernji List: Miller says USA does not have much sympathy for attempts of establishing third entity in BiH (provided by OHR Mostar)
The US Ambassador to BiH, Thomas Miller, refused to comment on the request from the Sarajevo Cantonal Prosecutor’s Office for an investigation against the leaders of the HDZ BiH and the Croat National Assembly, Ante Jelavic and six of his associates. At the press conference in Mostar, Thomas Miller, who is to be replaced by Clifford Bond this autumn, reiterated the opposition of his Government to the ever so loud announcements of establishing a Croat Republic in BiH.
Ambassador Miller said that BiH Croats are increasingly losing interest in the establishing of a third entity in BiH.
“We do not have much sympathy for illegal actions and we will certainly not support anti-Dayton activities that halt the prosperity of the people in Western Herzegovina,” stated Miller, adding that the people are more interested in the problems of economic nature.
Asked to comment on the effects of the International Community policy in BiH, which, according to the US Republican Congressman Henry Hyde, did not bring “stability and peace” in the six years since Dayton, Ambassador Miller partly denied it, reads Vecernji List, by claiming that much has been achieved in BiH through the efforts of the International Community and the US Government.
Miller said he personally recommended an extension of the US engagement in the region, where the USA “has no secret agenda.”
Miller expressed his disagreement with the views of the former Head of the OSCE Regional Centre in Mostar, Daniel Simpson, who has stated recently that the International Community in BiH are behaving like neo-colonialists. The US Ambassador said that the future of BiH is not in divided entities and that co-existence can only be achieved by long-term efforts. “It is a not hundred-metres sprint, it is a marathon.”
Miller denied he asked for replacement of the High Representative Wolfgang Petritsch, as the media speculated, and said he had a good co-operation with him. He thanked Mostar Mayor and Deputy Mayor Neven Tomic and Hamdija Jahic for co-operation without sparing words of commendation.
EU donates approximately 73 millions KM to support refugee return process in BiH
Chairman of the BiH Council of Ministers Zlatko Lagumdzija and Head of European Commission’s (EC) office in BiH Hansjorg Kretschmer signed on Thursday the agreement by which the European Union donates 37.3 million EURO (approximately 73 million KM) to BiH for the program of refugee return. By this program, the assistance will be provided for spontaneous returns, consolidation of returns, support to the regional returns from Croatia and Yugoslavia to BiH, support to the plan of property law implementation, and for sustainable return.
Clarke says Arizona Market just needs the infrastructure and government services of a real town
According to Oslobodjenje, International Supervisor for Brcko Henry Clarke told journalist on Thursday that the Arizona Market was a real market town and that it provided a great variety of goods to the northern part of Bosnia-Herzegovina at low prices – which was why so many people come here to shop. According to Clarke, what it needs is the infrastructure and government services of a real town.
Editorials
Dnevni Avaz and Oslobodjenje
In the Oslobodjenje editorials on the second page, Sejad Luckin commented on the current crisis in the Zenica-Doboj Canton, as Hamza Baksic wrote about the situation in Macedonia. In the Dnevni Avaz Commentary of the Day, Sead Numanovic wrote about the Hague Tribunal’s sentencing culprits for the Srebrenica 1995 massacre.
Slobodna Dalmacija: Heating up of the situation in BiH leads to more use of SFOR machine-guns
Written by Marijan Puntaric (provided by OHR Mostar)
The speeches that Cardinal Vinko Puljic and Bishop Ratko Peric delivered before the influential International Relations Committee of the US Congress some ten days ago, caused much attention of the public as well as fierce reactions. (…)
Understandably, it was with exhilaration that the Croats in BiH received the news about the warnings of an unsustainable position of the Croat people in BiH that the BiH Bishop’s Conference President and the Mostar Bishop presented to the US Congress. (…)
Even more than their clear warnings of the threat of possible radicalism and extremism in BiH as consequences of the wrong policy of the International Community, Wolfgang Petritsch resented Hyde’s engagement in inquiring about the results that the International Community achieved in BiH. Henry J. Hyde, a prominent Republican Congressman, the organiser and leader of the “impeachment” of the former US President Clinton in the “Lewinski scandal,” who, The Washington Post claims, over the twenty four years of his service in the Congress came to be one of the major political figures in the American political life, gave a very notable speech during the Congress hearing which was attended by Cardinal Puljic, Bishop Peric and Dr. Ejup Ganic. The speech enraged the High Representative Petritsch so much that he decided to visit Washington straight away and speak in person to Congressman Hyde.
Despite being shaken by the two major corruption scandals (the sale of licence to the third GSM operator and the CIPS scandal), in which Petritsch’s direct participation was revealed, despite the escalating conflict between Petritsch and the BiH Council of Ministers over the reasonable suspicion of corruption among the OHR senior officials, the High Representative urgently flew to Washington and – came back empty handed. We have found out from reliable diplomatic sources that the Congress door remained closed to Petritsch. Congressman Hyde did not meet with him and excused himself by saying he was too busy. Petritsch returned to Sarajevo disappointed and aware that the rejection in Washington could mean a confirmation of the rumours that the scandalous sale of the third GSM network in BiH and introduction of the Citizens Identity Protection System reached the Peace Implementation Council, which, according to announcements from Sarajevo, may initiate the procedure of replacing the High Representative.
However, a third scandal seems to be in sight – the sale of ‘Hrvatska Postanska Banka’ in Mostar to the Austrian ‘Raiffeisen Bank’ at a reduced price, to which Petritsch allegedly very much contributed, especially by sending SFOR tanks against ‘Hercegovacka Banka.’ All those events, especially after the investigative activities have been sped up under peculiar circumstances and the indictments issued by the Sarajevo Cantonal Court against Ante Jelavic and other HNS officials, make the political situation in the neighbouring BiH maximally complicated. (…)
What was Petritsch particularly bothered about in Henry Hyde’s speech (…)? Having in mind the political and military engagement of the USA in BiH, Hyde primarily warned that “despite the guarantee that any new intervention is precisely focused and time-limited, our engagement continues to expand without any apparent indication of its finishing point.”
Hyde explicitly asked the Committee members and the US Government: “Have our efforts in BiH contributed to the permanent solution? For many observers, the goal of the just peace and stability seems to be farther than ever. Do our solutions enjoy enough support among the population of the region on whose behalf we ask for peace establishing, or are we facing the perspective of imposing undesirable people and, in this regard, a permanent administration of the region with armed assistance?”
It is clear that Congressman Hyde negatively appraised the engagement of the International Community in BiH and the protectorate established by the Office of the High Representative in BiH, Wolfgang Petritsch.
What he marked as particularly bad is the practice of negating the election results, establishing the government that is not supported by the population, and “imposing undesirable people” whose power must be secured with the use of armed force. (…)
He pointed to the unlimited and uncontrolled powers vested in the International Community representatives in BiH, which they abuse, as is becoming more and more evident. Of course, Wolfgang Petritsch could not possibly agree with those assessments. “These are not abstract questions,” said Congressman Hyde. “In the Western efforts to impose and implement what may be unfeasible, we have secured ourselves the right to excessive powers that are dangerous by their volume and absence of limitation and which inevitably imply the risk of abuse and failure.
History taught us to be careful in believing that any action can be justified if what we want to assist is worth enough. What is much more problematic than this is that our approach does not seem to be working.” This is how Henry Hyde concluded what is one of the most critical analyses of the international and US engagement in BiH so far.
Hyde openly questioned the results of the US policy so far in the entire region, and was the first of the US politicians to point to the necessity of reviewing the role and the powers that are vested in the International Community representatives in BiH. (…)
(NB: What follows is Slobodna Dalmacija’s account of the CRA issue and the reactions surrounding it)
A few days ago, the BiH Council of Ministers stood strongly against the attempt of Wolfgang Petritsch and corrupted officials of the OHR to give the business of establishing the Citizens Identity Protection System to the Austrian ‘Siemens.’ Svetozar Mihajlovic, the Minister of Civil Affairs and Communications, was especially strong in opposing the decision to have the business worth 50 million DEM, which is to be paid from the modest BIH budget, assigned to the Austrian ‘Siemens’ without any legal basis.
Oslobodjenje and Slobodna Bosna got their hands on the case. Petritsch publicly attacked Mihajlovic, once more using vague political accusations referring to the damage afflicted to the peace process in BiH and the inflow of foreign capital. However, it was soon revealed that Petritsch’s share in this business is very significant. One of the Assistants to the General Manager of the Austrian ‘Siemens’ is Petritsch’s brother-in-law, and the company that was supposed to supervise the CIPS project is Banjaluka-based ‘Optima,’ whose presence in this business was advocated by the High Representative himself. In fact, ‘Optima’ is a company that deals with computer equipment, read Slobodna Bosna, which was originally registered in Mostar and is allegedly owned by the families of two Croat politicians, Dr. Jadranko Prlic, currently an Assistant to the BiH Minister of Foreign Trade, and Neven Tomic, the Mayor of Mostar.
The same political and financial lobby has been mentioned recently in relation to the operation of the favourable purchase of ‘Hrvatska Postanska Banka’ shares from the Banking Agency.
In the moment of the SFOR’s armed intervention and raid into the ‘Hercegovacka Banka’ building, ordered by the High Representative and clearly condemned by Congressman Hyde, the price of the banking capital and the entire banking market dropped dramatically, and the Reiffeisen Bank bought ‘Hrvatska Postanska Banka’ at a very low price and has allegedly announced to purchase ‘Hercegovacka Banka,’ too.
It remains to be seen if the observers who already claim that criminal charges against Jelavic and others are on “shaky legs” and that the Cantonal Court indictment was issued under pressure, are actually right. Those observers have assessed that the accusation of undermining the constitutional order is too serious and that Wolfgang Petritsch, who allegedly stands behind the indictments, will intervene in favour of a request for detention of the suspects, in order to neutralise the result of the two unpleasant corruption-financial scandals. Although some of them claimed much earlier to be ready to voluntarily face the court, a repeated spectacular use of SFOR units seems to be inevitable.