Headlines
- BiH politicians warned in Strasbourg that they can not become a member of the European Council without completely integrated, sovereign and multi-ethnic Bosnia and Herzegovina
- OSCE and OHR prepare changes of the draft election law – four options for the forthcoming parliamentary elections in BiH have been considered
- Pro and contra of the Dayton Peace Agreement revision – Co-Chairman of the BiH Council of Ministers, Haris Silajdzic, and the BiH Presidency Member, Zivko Radisic, talk toTV INFO
- The RS National Assembly discusses the election of the new RS Government
- Zagreb – Deputy Minister of Defence of the Republic of Croatia, Ljubo Rojs, resigned
- Diplomatic heads of the European Union decided to partially cut their financial support to Russia because of the war in Chechenia
Arrest of a War Criminal
Members of SFOR Multi-national Division South-East have arrested Mitar Vasiljevic, a member of the paramilitary group “White Eagles”, suspected of war crimes. Vasiljevic is indicted for war crimes committed against Bosniaks in Visegrad between 1992 and 1994. Vasiljevic was arrested according to an order and authorisations of the NATO Secretary General, Lord Robertson, and the NATO Commander, Wesley Clark.
Meeting in Strasbourg
According to the report presented by the Chairman of the Ministerial Committee, David Andrews, Bosnia and Herzegovina will have to wait for better days to come or politicians who would be ready to accept the fact that BiH has to fulfil some pre-conditions in order to become a member. The high delegation of the EC left BiH disappointed with the fact that an agreement on the establishment of a joint border service could not be established and that Parliament did not adopt the election law. The report was produced by OBN journalist, Gordana Frimel.
Election Law
OSCE and OHR are preparing changes of the draft election law. Four options for the forthcoming parliamentary elections in BiH have been considered. Today, OSCE announced a decision to remove 13 candidates from the municipality election lists, OBN reporter, Vedran Persic, confirmed.
Sarajevo
An item on the round table meeting held in Sarajevo today, the cause for which was a report produced by the Helsinki Committee where things which directly obstruct the process of return were mentioned. Some of the reasons for a slow process of return are inefficiency of procedures, obstruction in municipalities so that returnees wait for several months to get answers to their claims and the ignoring of all legal deadlines. The OHR representatives attended this round table meeting. The report was produced by OBN reporter, Sefko Bajic.
This was followed by a report on the Sarajevo residential quarter Dobrinja, divided in two parts; one of them belongs to the BiH Federation, the other one to the RS. The division between the two entities in this residential quarter had been made so badly four years ago, that for instance, a bathroom of a flat belongs to one entity and the bedroom to another. The report was produced by OBN reporter, Anes Alic.
Guests of TV INFO
A piece on the implementation and the revision of the Dayton Peace Agreement was presented. At today’s press conference, the Co-Chairman of the BiH Council of Ministers, Haris Silajdzic, said that it was clear that positive provisions of the Dayton Peace Agreement were not implemented and that the Agreement was implemented in a negative direction. An interview with the Co-Chairman was produced by OBN reporter, Sanjin Beciragic.
OBN presenters, Mujo Delibegovic and Danijela Bozic, welcomed the Member of the BiH Presidency, Zivko Radisic, in the OBN Banja Luka studio. As an answer to the question about the revision of the Dayton Peace Agreement, Zivko Radisic said that the complexity of the solutions the Agreement provided should not be neglected but positive results of the Agreement should also be taken in account. Also, he said that the main foundations of the Agreement should be preserved in order to preserve equal status of BiH entities.
This was followed by a comment of the Vice President of the BiH Alternative Ministerial Council, Sejfudin Tokic. He said that recent activities and statements of the ruling parties in BiH regarding the revision of the Dayton Peace Agreement had an aim to produce homogenization of ethnic groups in BiH in the pre-election period and to make citizens of BiH forget the real economic and political problems the state is faced with.
Banja Luka
A report on the ninth session of the RS National Assembly was presented by OBN reporter from Banja Luka, Tatjana Lajsic. The Assembly discussed the election of the new government. The Prime Minister, Milorad Dodik, said that the election of the new government was not possible at the present and that the elections for the RS President could be a solution because the President would suggest candidates who would select the new government.
World
Stipe Mesic, with 41,1 % of votes and Drazen Budisa, with 27,7% of votes won in the first round of the presidential elections in Croatia, will compete in the second round of the presidential elections scheduled for February 7th. The results of the elections caused strong reactions and the Deputy Minister of Defence, Ljubo Rojs, resigned, OBN reporter from Zagreb, Gordana Simonovic, confirmed.
An item on Chechenia followed. Heavy fights continued in the capital. According to the Russian Army sources, some 1,000 troops have lost their lives to date. Diplomatic heads of the European Union countries decided to partially cut their financial support to Russia because of the war in Chechenia.
In Thailand, several hundred hostages, kept yesterday by Burma guerillas, were released today by commandos. The report on these and other current events in the world was produced by OBN journalist, Gordana Frimel.
Banja Luka
Yesterday, a shopping center in Banja Luka was robbed. Today, the Ministry of Internal Affairs issued a press release announcing that goods worth 100,000 KM were stolen from the shopping center. The perpetrators were not yet found. The report was produced by OBN reporter from Banja Luka, Suzana Vukcevic.
Sport
A report on international handball was followed by reports on international tennis and football.