18.02.2000

OBN News Review, 18 February 2000

image_pdfimage_print

Headlines

  • Several thousand citizens and over seventy foreign delegations attended the ceremony of inauguration of the new Croatian President, Stipe Mesic, at the “Markov trg” square in Zagreb – Stipe Mesic is the second President since Croatia became an independent state
  • The US State Secretary and the BiH delegation attended the ceremony in Zagreb
  • Ambassador Robert Farrand announced today that the statute of the Brcko District would not be enacted on February 28th as it was previously announced
  • Convertible mark (KM) will appear in the exchange offices of the Czech Republic as from March 1st
  • Web site “Bosnian Health Portal” was promoted in Sarajevo today

Zagreb

New President of the Republic of Croatia, Stipe Mesic, took an oath at the Markov trg in Zagreb. Seventy two foreign delegations, including twelve heads of states, attended the ceremony. In his inauguration speech, Stjepan Mesic reiterated that he would keep his pre-election promise and decrease his presidential authorities. The ex presidential candidate, Mate Granic, said that the biggest challenge for the new President would probably be internal relations. OBN journalist, Duska Jurisic, produced the report from Zagreb.

This was followed by a report on the BiH delegation visit to Zagreb. In the morning, the President of the BiH Presidency, Alija Izetbegovic, met with the Croatian President, Stipe Mesic, They discussed improving of the cooperation between the two states. Alija Izetbegovic also met with the Croatian Prime Minister, Ivica Racan. Croatian foreign Minister, Tonino Picula, said for OBN that the present political will between the two countries should be used for the implementation of some practical things.

A part of the interview with the President of the Croatian Parliament, Zlatko Tomcic, was presented at TV INFO. Zlatko Tomcic, was asked to comment in which way the current Croatian authorities would prove that their relation towards Bosnia and Herzegovina was different? He answered that the previous authorities did have pretensions to deal with the internal issues of BiH. He added that in the future, the new Croatian authorities will stop financing of the Croats in BiH as it was in the past.

London

The High Representative, Wolfgang Petritsch, met in London with the UK Foreign Secretary, Robin Cook, and, the Secretary of State for the Department for International Development, Clare Short, yesterday. In his statement for OBN, the High Representative said that he received the UK support for Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as for the work of his Office. The report was produced by Milan Trivic for OBN.

Brcko

At today’s press conference in Brcko, Ambassador Robert Farrand announced that the statute of the Brcko District would not be enacted on February 28th as it was previously announced. He explained that the decision was made because of too many applications for the positions of nine heads of departments and a director of tax administration in the interim Government of the District, OBN reporter from Brcko, Slobodanka Radojkovic, confirmed.

World

NATO Commander for Europe, General Wesley Clark, said NATO would take an action in order to prevent a division of the Kosovska Mitrovica town. General Clark promised sending of additional troops and support of the UN to the town. The General did not reveal details of the action, although there were some indications that it could be undertaken in the next few days. The Government of Montenegro announced opening of the border crossings towards Albania which were closed last year because of the Belgrade authorities’ decision. This was followed by pieces on the situation with human rights in Chechnya, parliamentary elections in Iran and readiness of Australian Government to help cleaning of Tisa and Dunav rivers. The report on current events in the world was produced by OBN journalist, Gordana Frimel.

Prague

Today, the Governor of the BiH Central Bank, Peter Nicol, announced in Prague that convertible mark (KM) will appear in the exchange offices of the Czech Republic as from March 1st. The exchange will be implemented with three commercial banks from the Czech Republic.

Sarajevo

Tour operator “Avio Express” has submitted its application to the BiH Federation authorities four months ago for eight charter flights per month between Sarajevo and Istanbul. Only a few days ago their claim was granted but only partially. The Federal Ministry of Transport wants to protect the state tour operator while the international organisations ask fair play. The report was produced by OBN reporter, Amarildo Gutic.

Bratunac

A piece on the general strike of the “Remontni zavod” company from Bratunac. The workers went on strike on February 11th. They sent their requests to the employer and the RS Government but they did not receive an answer, OBN reporter from the area, Zeljko Pantelic, confirmed.

Visoko

This was followed by an item from Visoko where the Peoples Republic of China donated 150 tons of cotton to both BiH entities. Six companies from the BiH Federation got 90 tons of cotton, while 60 tons were sent to the “Dubicanka” factory in the RS, Vanja Elezovic confirmed for OBN.

Mostar

The US non-governmental organisation, World Association of Churches, decided to help returnees in the area of Mostar by providing them support for the re-start of agriculture production. The report was produced by OBN reporter, Denis Vila.

Sarajevo

Standards for de-mine, adjusted to the BiH conditions, were presented in Sarajevo today. Members of the BiH Mine Action Center, with the help of international experts, produced the rules. Ana Drmac produced the report.

Trebinje

The first regional center for mental health was opened in Trebinje. The center was supported by Italian humanitarian organisations. The project is worth 160,000 DEM, OBN reporter from the area, Sinisa Jokic, confirmed.

Sarajevo

Today, the web site “Bosnian Health Portal” was promoted in Sarajevo at the State Hospital. Medical experts will be able to find information on all medical accomplishments, Sefko Bajic reported.

This was followed by a piece on the “Troskok” film by Srdjan Vuletic. The film was presented with the first award of the New York Film Academy in the category of short feature films. The author talked to TV INFO from Venice.

Sport

Reports on athletics, tennis and NBA were presented.