- Three BiH Delegations Visiting USA
- BIH lifts ban on import of Croatian oil by road, limits entrance points
- BiH, Yugoslavia sing a free trade agreement
- International Community to help financing of the October elections in BiH
- No progress at meeting of parties on constitutional changes
- Federation Constitutional Commission agrees on final proposed amendments to the entity constitution
- RS Prime Minister says rejecting entities’ symmetry paves way for compromise
- Federation Prime Minister criticizes the tone of Petritsch’s letter
- US Ambassador to BiH: Petritsch need not impose any solutions
- Haris Silajdzic returns to politics, to be nominated for a member of the Presidency
- Jozo Slisko, leader of Croat Christian-Democratic Union sees no point in having the HNS: We are leaving HNS because HDZ would let us be even a security guard
- Mijo Anic, Federation Defence Minister: We cannot tun Army into a social institution
- Incidents in Mostar high school raise tensions in the city
- SFOR In Pandurevic’s Village Jasik For The Second Time
- SDA asks OHR to scrap RS National Assembly veto on joint budget
- Wanted posters for Karadzic, Mladic put up, then torn down in Banja Luka
- Wolfgang Petritsch opposes the idea of third entity
- High Representative at a Civic Forum in Mostar: National concept of education unacceptable
- UNDP’s Henrik Kolstrup: Dayton was not envisaged as a plan for the future of BiH
- Paul Martin named the new head of OHR in Banja Luka
- Dnevni Avaz: Celebrities Club – Wolfgang Petritsch (personal profile)
- Dnevni List : Petritsch’s secret meeting with students
- Slobodna Dalmacija : Policy of Croatian Government towards BIH changes with triumphant return of HSLS (Croatian Liberal Democrats) President
- Oslobodjenje : Creation or annihilation
BiH State-related Issues
Three BiH Delegations Visiting USA
Nezavisne Novine announce visit of the RS and FBiH Prime Ministers Mladen Ivanic and Alija Behmen to the USA this Tuesday, where they will have traditional February 7th breakfast with the US President George Bush. The two Prime Ministers will meet representatives of the World Bank and the IMF to discuss current political and economic situation in BiH as well as implementation of financial arrangements of the World Bank and IMF.
The daily also announces visit of BiH Deputy trade Minister Jadranko Prlic and FBiH Trade and Communications Minister Besim Mehmedic to the USA, prior to the two Prime Ministers’ visit. There is to be an additional, third visit of BiH delegation to the USA, the daily states. BiH Delegation, lead by Zlatko Lagumdzija, BiH CoM Chair, will be present at the opening of the 2002. Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.
BIH lifts ban on import of Croatian oil by road, limits entrance points
BiH and Croatia continue to exchange shots as Sarajevo decided to lift a two-week ban on imports of petroleum products by road from neighboring Croatia, but restricted the trucks’ entrance points to three border crossings, an obvious countermeasure to earlier Croatian decision. The decision came into effect at midnight Saturday, the Council of Ministers said in a statement carried by most media in the Federation
BiH, Yugoslavia sing a free trade agreement
Al media in BiH reported that the BiH minister of foreign trade, Azra Hadziahmetovic, and her Yugoslav counterpart, Miroljub Labus, signed on Friday an Agreement on Free Trade between the two countries. The agreement will provide for a free movement of goods between BiH and FRY, and ensure a tax free sale of BiH products in the FRY.
Constitutional Reform
International Community to help financing of the October elections in BiH
At Friday’s meeting, the leading ministers in the BiH Council of Ministers and representatives of the OHR and the OSCE mission to BiH agreed that the International Community will split the cost of the October general elections with BiH authorities. Oslobodjenje and Dnevni Avaz quote the French ambassador to BiH, Bernard Bajolet, as saying that a new working group will be formed in the coming days and its primary task will be to raise 7,2 million KM needed to help finance the elections. BiH Minister of Treasury, Ante Domazet, explained that BiH needs a total of 11,4 million KM to organize the upcoming elections. Both BiH entities will earmark some funds from their respective budgets, while the BiH state will provide 1,2 million KM.
No progress at meeting of parties on constitutional changes
At the initiative of the chairman of the Social Democratic Party [SDP], Zlatko Lagumdzija, representatives of the eight strongest political parties from both entities discussed the upcoming constitutional changes at a meeting held in Sarajevo late Friday night. Most Federation media report that, this time, party leaders failed to reach any concrete agreement, and decided to set the date for the next meeting.
BiH Radio 1 reported that the participants defined new proposals for the constitutional changes, which will be discussed in detail in future. SDP Chairman Zlatko Lagumdzija also confirmed this information. “We agreed that what we discussed today should be defined in greater detail in the course of next week. We will hold another meeting sometime in mid-February to see how far we have gotten,” he said. The RS Prime Minister, Mladen Ivanic, revealed one of the topics of the discussion was the new and more powerful role of the House of Peoples on the BiH level. Oslobodjenje reported that one of the most contested issues at this meeting was the insistence of parties from the Federation to introduce a House of Peoples in the RS. Safet Halilovic of the Party for BiH told Dnevni Avaz that Federation representatives believe that the vital protection of peoples living in the entities could be secured by the entity House of Peoples, while RS leaders sought to find solutions to this problem on the state level, namely in the BiH Parliament’s House of Peoples. Halilovic also said that representatives of both entities will prepare their respective proposals in written for the next meeting, scheduled for February 14, and try to reach a consitent mechanism of protection and the implementation of the Constitutional Court ruling on ‘constituent peoples’.
Federation Constitutional Commission agrees on final proposed amendments to the entity constitution
At a session held on Friday, members of the Federation Constitutional Commission agreed on the final version of the proposed changes to the entity constitution. Most notably, they concluded that the vital national interests of the constitutive peoples in the Federation could best be protected by the House of Peoples, which would be comprised of 20 Bosniaks, 20 Croats and 20 Serbs, as well as 10 so-called “others”. A member of the Commission, Sahbaz Dzihanovic told Oslobodjenje that various commissions and councils could not adequately protect national interests, as they would not have any legislative powers. “Thus, any solution other then the House of Peoples would simply cement the present state,” Dzihanovic said. According to media reports, most members agreed with Dzihanovic, despite the fact that the Commission’s chairman, Jakob Finci ardently argued against the idea to grant such a function to the House of Peoples. “House of Peoples in the Federation is not a place where vital national interests could be protected. Rather, it is an instrument for blocking a majority vote,” he said, adding that even the smallest party in the Parliament could thereby block the adoption of any law. Speaking at a press conference on Saturday, Dzihanovic said that it would be logical that the High Representative ensures consistency in the implementation of the Constitutional Court ruling on the constituent status of peoples.
RS Prime Minister says rejecting entities’ symmetry paves way for compromise
Immediately prior to the second meeting of the working group on constitutional changes, the RS Prime Minister, Mladen Ivanic, said that all sides must make concessions and create conditions for compromise. “Our positions are still very distant. At the last meeting we established the issues on which we differ and sought alternatives. I am not optimistic that we will be able to reach an agreement today,” Ivanic told SRNA. Ivanic, who was the initiator of the talks which started in Mrakovica last week, said that the aim of the meeting was rapprochement of existing stances. “The main emphasis so far has been for the RS to do something, but I have clearly said that the Federation should also do something about the idea of a different set up of the Federation itself and other issues,” Ivanic said. “It is not just a matter of constitutional changes in the RS, there are potential problems elsewhere and therefore I think that both the RS and the Federation must show a willingness for compromise. That would be possible if we agree that not everything should be symmetrical,” he added.
Federation Prime Minister criticizes the tone of Petritsch’s letter
Commenting on the letter he recently received from the High Representative, Wolfgang Petritsch, about the work of the Constitutional Commission, the Federation Prime Minister, Alija Behmen, said that the tone of this correspondence was quite inappropriate. “In his letter, the High Representative employed a tone which is not appropriate if we take into consideration his relationship with the Federation government. As he implied the possibility of arbitration in the process of the implementation of the Constitutional Court ruling in the entities, I wanted to strengthen this possibility of arbitration. The High Representative promised this and I counted on this promise, but it obviously failed,” said Behmen, refusing to provide any details.
US Ambassador to BiH: Petritsch need not impose any solutions
In an interview with SRNA news agency, the US Ambassador to BiH, Clifford Bond, said that, at this time, there should be no option of the High Representative imposing any solutions related to the implementation of the Constitutional Court ruling on the constituent status of peoples in BiH. “The issue of constitutional changes is very complex, and local authorities need to make a decision as to how to resolve it. This will be a test of sorts for the BiH institutions,” Bond said.
Federation
Haris Silajdzic returns to politics, to be nominated for a member of the Presidency
Oslobodjenje reports on its front page on Saturday that the founder of the Party for BiH [S BiH] and the former BiH foreign minister, Haris Silajdzic, will soon return to political life, after a three month-long absence. Quoting anonymous party sources, the daily notes that Silajdzic will be the S BiH candidate for the post of the Bosniak member of the BiH Presidency at the upcoming general elections scheduled for October. At a press conference on Saturday, the president of the presidency of Party for BiH, Safet Halilovic, confirmed the speculations, stressing, however, that no final decision has been made, as the consultations with Silajdzic are ongoing. Halilovic added that the S BiH would be willing to nominate its founder and uncontested leader for any post. “Naturally, we are considering only most important posts,” he said.
Jozo Slisko, leader of Croat Christian-Democratic Union sees no point in having the HNS: We are leaving HNS because HDZ would let us be even a security guard
Croat Christian-Democratic Union (CCDU) of BiH is reconsidering its position within the HNS and announces that it might leave the political block which caused many controversies in BiH. Jozo Slisko, leader of the CCDU, explains that it was the HDZ that called the shots without consulting other parties within the HNS. “There were no active participation from our side when it came to decision making. The most drastic example was the last year’s decision to disband the HVO. There were many PRs in the media with regard to the issue but the fact is that the CCDU were never consulted when the PRs were being issued. They were HDZ PRs signed as the HNS ones. We will not take it any more”, says Jozo Slisko. He also says that the decision to disband the HVO was catastrophic, the HVO being an army of the Croat people: “The most absurd thing that the people who disbanded it are now advocating for the survival of the HVO. It is a strange and unacceptable policy”. When asked whether the current establishment with regards to the armed forces in BiH would remain and whether a new, joint army would be established, Slisko ruled out the possibility saying that BiH has no one to fight against. “We are for a demilitarisation. It would contribute to economic development of BiH and internal tensions would ease”, say Slisko, reads Slobodna Dalmacija.
Mijo Anic, Federation Defence Minister: We cannot tun Army into a social institution
Vecernji List carries an interview/article with the Federation Minister of Defence, Mijo Anic, who addressed the 26th generation of the HVO recruits: “At the last solemn oath at Capljina I announced a possibility that the duration of the army service could be shortened. Unfortunately, it did not happen. There were problems with the components of the Federation Army. There were attempts to abolish the components which I resolutely went against and that was one of the reasons the Law (on Defence) was not discussed. But people realised that the abolishment of the components would not be a good solution at this moment. The Law was adopted in the form I suggested it. It will be dealt with by the (Federation) Government of Monday, and I think that it will be adopted, so it should go to the Parliament. If it gets the necessary majority it will entry into force effective immediately, so this generation will serve a shorter service”.
When asked about the 750 members of the HVO who were removed from the Federation MoD’s payroll, Anic said that those people were virtually removed from the army in ’97 and ’98 and that they were getting paid illegally. “One thing must be said: They were getting the money allocated for the Croat component. In the last three to four years they withdrew 40.000 KMs each which a hefty severance pay. I regret that they have not solved their status on time (…) We removed them from the payroll not because of my whim but because of the law. There will be treasury that takes care of 7225 soldiers and if we were to keep the 750, we will have to sack some troops”, says Anic.
Incidents in Mostar high school raise tensions in the city
Dnevni List carries in its weekend edition an article entitled ‘After a fight in a High School street riots in Mostar!’ The article says that Vedran Mahmutagic was brutally beaten up by a group of hooligans from Active Muslim Youth from Mostar East and their dogs attacked him while he was lying on the ground. Hrvoje Sarac, a boy who was with Vedran when he was beaten up, was very upset and said that after such events he is supposed to talk something about a unified Mostar. Jusuf Hadziosmanovic, a headmaster of the gymnasium, stated that they would demand a permanent protection from the Police. The author of the article concludes that this is an obvious example that the joint police in Mostar does not function.
Neven Tomic stated that this is about hooliganism that became regular phenomena because it has not been sanctioned. Tomic stressed that in the last case the Police has done its part of work but it is obvious that these processes have never been completed.
Miro Coric, the President of the HNC Government, stated that they are not satisfied with the work of the Court. He added that he couldn’t escape an impression that behind these children, who are committing crimes, stand some other, much stronger organization. ‘I am afraid that this school has been chosen to make a case out of the City of Mostar.’ Goran Bilic, the HN C Minister of Interior, stated that the Police would patrol the whole city not only in cars but also as pedestrians in order to make this city safe.
The article says that it will be interesting to hear a comment of international representatives or they will as always turn a deaf ear. If something like this had taken place in Stolac it would have been turned into a problem of a state importance. Since the situation is different, everything will stay the same, it is only questionable as to how long young taliban will remain calm before they prepare a new surprise.
The article ends up with a conclusion :’Does someone have to get hurt before the international factors take security measures or such situation suit them because it is a guarantee that they will stay here until ‘the tribes get cultivated”?
Republika Srpska
SFOR In Pandurevic’s Village Jasik For The Second Time
Glas Srpski writes that SFOR forces, second time in the last 15 days, visited family of Vinko Pandurevic, indicted war criminal, delivering a letter asking for his volunteer surrender to The Hague Tribunal. Father of Vinko Pandurevic said that SFOR visits are a constant pressure for the family and added that if they only wanted to deliver a letter they should not have come with armored vehicles and helicopters.
SDA asks OHR to scrap RS National Assembly veto on joint budget
The SDA [Party of Democratic Action] deputy chairman, Seada Palavric, said on Saturday that the SDA had asked the High Representative in BiH, Wolfgang Petritsch, to make null and void the decision by the RS National Assembly, which enables a draft budget for the BiH joint institutions to be vetoed, on the grounds that “it does not have the force of law”. “This decision is against the constitution and also contrary to the legal opinion of the OHR, and nothing but an attempt to score cheap political points,” Paravlic told a news conference in Sarajevo, SRNA news agency reports. She added that adopting the budget for the RS was a result of an unprincipled compromise by the OHR, the Alliance for Change and the RS Prime Minister, Mladen Ivanic, which was detrimental to returnees. “It is worrying that the SDA, the Party for BiH and the New Croat Initiative [NHI] sided with the SDS during the voting in the RS National Assembly,” Palavric said.
Wanted posters for Karadzic, Mladic put up, then torn down in Banja Luka
Most media in the Federation reported that the ‘wanted posters’ featuring the names of the two most high profile war crimes suspects, Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic, and which were posted across Banja Luka on Saturday, were, by Sunday, either torn down or ripped up. Sunday’s Oslobodjenje carries on its front page a large photo of a youth in Banja Luka tearing down one of the posters.
International Community
Wolfgang Petritsch opposes the idea of third entity
During his Friday visit to Mostar, the High Representative, Wolfgang Petritsch, dismissed, once again, the idea of the third entity in BiH, and which has been put forth by certain officials in the so-called Croat National Assembly [HNS]. “The attempt to create parallel structures is destined to failure,” Petritsch told journalists. “The removal of [Ante] Jelavic [from the post of the HDZ leader] is the best warning that such projects – self-rule and/or third entity – will not succeed,” Petritsch said, adding that he, personally, will ensure that the equality of the Croat people in BiH is secured in the upcoming process of constitutional reform. “Croats are not a national minority, but a constitutive people and will have the same rights as other peoples in BiH,” Petritsch said at the end. (Original Fena report was carried by Oslobodjenje and Dnevni Avaz, as well as the Federation television and BiH Radio 1)
High Representative at a Civic Forum in Mostar: National concept of education unacceptable
During his visit to Mostar, the High Representative, Wolfgang Petritsch, on Friday held the fourth Civic Forum in this city, discussing issues of social importance with eleven representatives of civic society in Herzegovina. He also paid a visit to the Jewish Community of Mostar, met with students from both universities, and visited Ljubuski.
Much of the discussion during the three-hour Civic Forum revolved around problems in the field of education. The participants regretted the ethnically divided education system in BiH, which is particularly evident in Mostar, with its two universities, low education standards, and lack of public funds for education — despite the fact that education is crucial to ensuring a better future for Bosnia and Herzegovina. They agreed that BiH’s economic situation simply could not support three separate education systems. “The ethnically segregated system in the long term destroys each of the peoples because it does not provide them with the education they need in order to prosper and move their country forward. When you see that something doesn’t work, then try to change it. Take the fate of this city in your hands. It is possible. Just don’t give up,” Petritsch said during the session. (OHR press release was carried by Oslobodjenje – page 6, Dnevni Avaz, – page 4, BH Radio 1 and the Federation Television. Dnevni List and Vecernji List also carried shorter reports on the High Representative’s visit to Mostar)
UNDP’s Henrik Kolstrup: Dayton was not envisaged as a plan for the future of BiH
In an interview with Oslobodjenje, the UNDP resident representative, Henrik Kolstrup, said, among other things, that the Dayton Peace Agreement, is not an ideal solution for BiH. “It is easy to criticize Dayton, but I most note that Dayton was never envisaged as a plan for the future of BiH. It simply represented a best framework for ending the conflict,” Kolstrup said, adding that BiH has experienced a tremendous change in political sense in the past three years. “Things that were unimaginable three years ago are now in place. True, everything is developing very slowly, too slowly even, and the International Community and BIH citizens are losing patience.”
Paul Martin named the new head of OHR in Banja Luka
The High Representative, Wolfgang Petritsch, named on Friday a Canadian diplomat, Paul Martin, to the posts of the Deputy High Representative and the head of the Banja Luka OHR. Martin is to replace Georges Bordet and officially assume his new post on February 19. (Oslobodjenje and Dnevni Avaz carry the OHR press release on pages 4 and 2 respectively.)
Dnevni Avaz: Celebrities Club – Wolfgang Petritsch (personal profile)
Editorials
In Saturday’s Oslobodjenje, Azhar Kalamujic notes that BiH has, during the ongoing oil dispute with Croatia, demonstrated that it has grown into a genuine state whose political leaders and their decisions are regarded with highest respect. By introducing vigorous and decisive countermeasures to the originally Croatian ban on transport of oil, BiH Council of Ministers taught Croatia a lesson and showed it that it cannot act as a mini Balkan power.
In Sunday’s Dnevni Avaz, Almina Pilav writes that better days are coming for pensioners in the Federation, in particular after the successful integration of the two pensions funds. Entity leaders announced last week that the first regular pensions for the month of January will be paid on Monday (today) and that their amounts will, for the first time in a year, not be reduced. “The newly instituted pension system finally enabled the disbursement of pensions on monthly basis which ended one of the most painful social reforms in the country,” Pilav said.
In its weekend edition, Dnevni List notes that many journalists, who attended the Vecernji List ceremony “Personality of the Year”, expressed their displeasure over the fact that the High Representative was awarded with a media-press award. “Most people who were present at the ceremony, apart from the journalists and guests from Zagreb, were mainly the persons, who were removed by the High Representative,” said List.
Vecernji List carries on Sunday an editorial titled ‘Spice’ written by Zdenko Cosic, in which he comments on the recent High Representative’s interview with this Zagreb daily. Commenting on Petritsch’s statement that he would like that ‘Croats some day realize that he was their friend,’ the author says that if the Croats see Petritsch’s moves as friendly in future then that future is darker than the Croats can even predict. The High Representative characterized as a man who is above the Law admits that from the very beginning he realized that the people smallest in a number are in the most difficult situation in BiH and this is the only thing that the High Representative and the Croats have agreed upon. The truth is that the Petritsch does not know to resolve the Croat issue but he is convinced that the third entity is not a solution. When the RS is in question, he is not concerned and he is not interested to know as to how to find the way to systematically protect the people in that entity. It is sad to hear empty and senseless phrases that there is no BiH without the Croats. According to this phrase the Croats should serve as a sort of spice in their own country. What if they want to be a part of the main recipe of the Bosnian pot? [Bosanski lonac – a famous Bosnian dish, however not a melting pot, but rather a dish where all ingredients preserve their distinct look and flavor].
Dnevni List: Petritsch’s secret meeting with students
Dnevni List reports that one of the reasons of the High Representative’s visit to Mostar was a secret meeting about the reintegration of the two Mostar Universities. On Friday at 12 o’clock, the secret meeting between students from Dzemal Bijedic University and two students, who were allegedly representing someone from the Mostar University, was held. The President of the Students’ Assembly stated that they were not informed that the meeting will take place. According to a Dnevni List source, during the talk a wish to unify the two Universities was expressed and it was stated that the Mostar University and the Students’ Assembly should be held responsible for the situation that the two Universities are divided. Also, the information that most of the students and professors support the unification was stated. How come that none has asked 7000 students as to what they think about this idea and says that this can be understood only if we are familiar with Petritsch’s democracy.
Slobodna Dalmacija: Policy of Croatian Government towards BIH changes with triumphant return of HSLS (Croatian Liberal Democrats) President: Budisa crashes Republic of Srpska
By Dino Mikulandra
Slobodna Dalmacija carries a lengthy article about possible changes that might take place in the Croatian policy towards Bosnia and Herzegovina following Drazen Budisa’s return to the top of the HSLS (HSLS is a part of the 5-party ruling coalition). The author says that the return of Budisa will put an end to the disgraceful silence of the Croatian diplomacy to dramatic events in BiH reminding that Budisa had already reacted to the HR’s statement who said from the dizzy heights that Croatian authorities ought to introduce a House of Peoples in Croatia. What will be Budisa’s first initiative, asks the author. One might expect that Budisa might try to resuscitate a plan that he presented back in March 2001 according to which BiH would be united and with full territorial integrity which also advocates for abolishment of both the Federation of BiH and RS. The plan, in the essence of it, advocates for a federal BiH which would consist of 12 or 14 Cantons and is perhaps a reminiscent of the Vance-Owen’s plan from 1993. Budisa’s plan was ignored by Brussels and Washington which stayed silent. To be more honest, comments the author, they answered through their most powerful representative in Croatia, the Croatian President Stjepan Mesic who said that the cantonization of BiH was a premature initiative. Drazen Budisa will in the second round of the coalition rule in Croatia try absolutely everything to strengthen the resistance of the legitimate Croat representatives to the Bosniak unification and to personally help BiH become a state which will not be used as an epitaph for BiH Croats. Will he succeed in that? Only heavens know, reads Slobodna Dalmacija.
Oslobodjenje: Creation or annihilation
By Mirko Sagolj
If Wolfgang Petritsch leaves the post of the High Representative of the International Community before the constitutions in the RS and the Federation are brought in line with the Constitutional Court ruling on the constituent peoples, his mission in BiH will be considered to be a complete failure. Even greater failure then the one of Carl Bildt. Everything that he has done for BiH during his mandate, and he has done a great deal, will become meaningless unless he forces the hard-line RS leadership to comply with the Constitutional Court ruling. However, one should not be politically naďve and believe that resistance is present only in the RS. It is not. There is resistance in the Federation as well. Granted, it is lesser, but not completely benign. HDZ would be the happiest if the RS would be consistent in its desire to stay the way it is, because, in that case, it [HDZ] would ask for the third, Croatian, entity. Although Bosniak leaders, regardless of their party affiliation, most vocally advocate the application of the principle of the constituency of all peoples on the entire territory of BiH, some of them are still dreaming about their national entity. Some of them are even within the Alliance for Change, and one of them was advocating ethnic division in the most critical moment for BiH, during the war, immediately following the signing of the Washington Agreement….
This is a crucial year for BiH. As a state, it will either be created or it will wither away. The Dayton framework is too tight for her, it strangles here…and even as such, it has not been fully implemented yet. As the time goes by, it is becoming increasingly apparent that it is precisely on this basic human right on national and political equality that the complicated Bosnian not will be finally untied, or the country will wither away thus divided.
The only way to avoid such a fate is to fully integrate BiH – geographically, politically, economically, culturally – and to return to the principles of AVNOJ [principle rests on the premise that ‘Bosnia is neither Serb, nor Croat, nor Bosniak, but both Serb and Croat and Bosniak.”] That, however, will be difficult to accomplish so long as all refugees and DPs return to their homes, and they will not return until their human right to national and political equality is cemented in the entity constitutions and in the reality.
Naturally, there will be always enough room for those who criticize the integration, especially in the RS…The motives behind the resistance in the RS are completely clear. Its ruling political forces, regardless of their party affiliation, are doing their best in order to keep a state within a state. If the CoCO ruling across BiH is ever implemented and if refugees return to the RS in a more significant numbers, the existence of such a national entity becomes obsolete, and it might even have to change its name. Its present name was made upon a genocide.
The insistence of the Alliance and the SDA that the solutions reached are symmetric is completely logical. However, a hard-line attitude can only impede the changes. Nothing should hold Alliance back from applying the equality principle in the Federation especially when it is deciding on the important posts in various companies and bureaus. Instead, it distributes the posts in line with the national key: 65% to Bosniaks and 35% to Croats, and Serb could remain ‘on the waiting lists.’ A bit more flexibility of the Alliance on the principle of symmetric solutions could function as a moral pressure of sorts on the RS and Petritsch and make them move faster. In this case as well, Petritsch has to be ready sitting as a substitute -he needs to be ready to run into the field at any given time, give some red and yellow cards, issue proclamations resolving all disputed issues and impose changes to the entity constitutions which will say that all BIH citizens are equal and constituent. Hopefully, he will not leave BiH with this job unfinished.
Headlines
Saturday
Oslobodjenje:
- Silajdzic to be a candidate for the member of the BiH Presidency
- Political parties searching for acceptable models
Dnevni Avaz:
- Investigation in the Employment Bureau
- Game with RPG turns fatal
Dnevni List:
- Drama on Mostar streets – 30 hooligans from east Mostar attack students with chains, bats and dogs
- New conflict between Croatia and BiH over oil – Lagumdzija strains relations with Racan
Vecernji List:
- Oil dispute between Croatia and BiH deteriorates: BiH threatening with boycott of Croatian cigarettes and alcohol
- From Vecernjak ceremony for persons of 2001 in BiH: Mijo Brajkovic: People like fighters
- Incident in front of Mostar’s “fra Dominik Mandic” grammar school: Hooligans broke student’s fingers with chains
Glas Srpski
- Berlin police find the body of Vladimir Milosavljevic – Body of Milosavljevic dead for five years not discovered;
- Due to heating problems in the Zvornik Highschool, students attend classes in the building of Zvornik municipality;
Nezavisne Novine
- Free trade treaty between BiH and FRY signed in Belgrade – A step towards free market;
- Political parties discuss constitutional changes – Introduction of House of Peoples the most disputable issue
Sunday
Oslobodjenje:
- Constituent status of BiH peoples has two faces
- Clear atttidue towards war criminals – photo of a child tearing down wanted Karadzic and Mladic poster in Banja Luka
Dnevni Avaz:
- Government accepted requests of war invalids and families of fallen soldiers
Vecernji List:
- BiH Council of Ministers decision: Tank lorries crossing the Orasje Zupanja border crossing
Monday
Oslobodjenje:
- BiH policemen leave service due to low salaries
Dnevni Avaz:
- Delimustafic wants to be extradited to BiH
Jutarnje Novine:
- Beriz Belkic: Restructuring of the Federation Army
Dnevni List:
- After frequent hooligan attacks, student from West Mostar threaten they will boycott classes
Glas srpski:
- No Medicines, no Salaries
Nezavisne novine:
- More than 30 People Died in Earthquake in Turkey