20.02.2000

OBN News Review, 20 February 2000

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Headlines

  • Banja Luka – the RS Socialist Party stepped out of the “Sloga” coalition
  • New President of the Republic of Croatia, Stjepan Mesic, talks to TV INFO
  • Kosovska Mitrovica – multi-national troops started mass searches this morning
  • Eight individuals were killed in Iran after the announcement of parliamentary elections’ results
  • Shakespeare’s play was a main event of the 13th day of the Sarajevo Festival “Sarajevska zima 2000”

Kosovska Mitrovica

KFOR troops have shut all entrances to Kosovska Mitrovica and they are searching houses for illegal weapons. In the North of the town, Serbs threw stones at the US armored vehicles this morning. During the search, approximately 12 Serbs were arrested. The operation will last several days. The report was produced by OBN journalist, Adis Saranovic.

Banja Luka

The Main Board of the RS Socialist Party decided to step out of the “Sloga” coalition. Also, they asked from four ministers, members of the party, to resign. This decision is a result of the recent dismissal of three members of the party, carried out by the RS Prime Minister, Milorad Dodik. The RS Socialist Party said that the Coalition partners did not seriously supported efforts of the party. The Government denied the allegations and said that the Socialist party was deceiving its own members. OBN reporter from Banja Luka, Darko Savic, confirmed.

Interview with Stipe Mesic

A part of an exclusive interview produced with the new Croatian President by OBN reporter, Duska Jurisic. Stjepan Mesic was asked to comment on the return of refugee Serbs to Croatia and whether Fikret Abdic would be extradited to Bosnia and Herzegovina. The President said that Croatian citizens should and had to return to their homeland and that this would help the process of democratisation in Serbia as well. Regarding Fikret Abdic’s extradition to BiH, Stjepan Mesic said that he was aware of the fact that Fikret Abdic got citizenship of the Republic of Croatia in an way which was not completely clear. He added that this was the main issue to be solved because according to the Croatian Constitution, a citizen of the Republic of Croatia can not be extradited to another state.

Sarajevo

Yesterday in Sarajevo, the third Sabor of the Croatian People’s Council (HNV) adopted a document on the political, cultural and economic state of Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was said that the time for changes in these fields has come and they invited Croats in BiH to accept a vision of the HNV connected to the current democratic changes in the Republic of Croatia. The Secretary General of HNV, fra Luka Markesic, said that HDZ has lost legitimacy to represent Croats in BiH. The report was produced by OBN reporter, Amarildo Gutic.

This was followed by an item on the regular Sunday session of the Independent Intellectuals Association “Circle 99”. The topic of today’s meeting was religions in BiH in the middle ages. A historian, Dubravko Lovrenovic, talked to TV INFO about the history of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the middle ages. Since the tenth century, some ten empires had ruled in BiH. OBN reporter, Anes Alic, produced the report.

World

Eight individuals were killed in Iran after the announcement of parliamentary election results. The reform forces led at the elections.

In the Central Asia republic, Kirgistan, the parliamentary elections have also begun. Some 2,5 million citizens of the country are not able to vote for the biggest opposition parties because the Government forbade them to participate in the elections. This was followed by a report on the pre-election presidential race for the candidate of the US Republican Party. The report on current events in the world was produced by OBN journalist, Adis Saranovic.

Brcko

A piece on the new structure of agricultural production in the Brcko District. All three previous municipalities which form the District have been preparing for the spring activities. A new activity in this segment will be additional fields of corn which will be used for the development of live stock capacities. The report was produced by OBN reporter from the District, Slobodanka Radojkovic.

Prijedor

One of 40 state companies in the RS, whose assets exceed 300,000 DEM, and which will be privatised in the first round of the privatisation process, is the “Zitopromet” company. Managers of the company think that privatisation is the best way to re-establish their business contacts in BiH and to improve their business outside the country, OBN reporter from the town, Milena Letic-Joves, confirmed.

Tesanj

Twelve schools from Bosnia and Herzegovina have received donations through the European Union. The aim of the donation is to make schools from all over BiH closer. Schools from the BiH Federation, now have partner schools from the RS, OBN reporter from Tesanj, Rifa Vilasevic, confirmed.

Sarajevo

A piece on the 13th day of the sixteenth International Festival “Sarajevska zima 2000”. A theatre group from Slovenia presented the Shakespeare play “A Midsummer Night Dream”. This is the second time that the play has been performed at this year’s Festival. The report was produced by OBN reporter, Slobodan Maksimovic.

Sport

Reports on athletics, skiing and tennis were presented.