Headlines
- A meeting between the US Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright, and the President of Montenegro, Milo Djukanovic, was held in Sarajevo – the US promised their full support in the preservation of peace in Montenegro
- Ms. Albright visited Banja Luka – the US pledged seven million dollars support for the RS, including one million dollars for refugee return
- The RS and the Republic of Croatia signed a declaration on refugee return
- The International Monetary Fund set a deadline for BiH to fulfill their demands by March 17th
- Pensioners from Srednja Bosna put their demands on stand-by because of politics
Banja Luka
A joint statement of the RS and the Republic of Croatia, on commitments for faster refugee return, was signed in Banja Luka today. The US Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright, attended the signing of the statement by the RS Prime Minister, Milorad Dodik, and the Croatian Foreign Minister, Tonino Picula. Ms. Albright pledged two million dollars for the reconstruction of houses in the Republic of Croatia and the RS. The deadline for finalising this new international agreement between BiH and Croatia is three months. The report from Banja Luka for TV INFO was produced by, Nedeljka Breberina.
After the meeting with the RS Prime Minister, the US Secretary of State said that during this year, the US will support the RS with seven million dollars, including one million dollars for refugee return. Ms. Albright said clearly that further support of Europe and the world to the RS would depend on whether the Government in Banja Luka would follow the principles of democracy and the implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement. The report was produced by OBN reporter, Tatjana Lajsic.
Sarajevo
A meeting between the US Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright, and the President of Montenegro, Milo Djukanovic, was held in Sarajevo. The US promised their full support in the preservation of peace in Montenegro. The US President said that Montenegro was ready to defend itself in the case of war. Also, he added that they would do nothing which could give Serbia an excuse for the waging of war, OBN reporter, Zeljka Lekic, confirmed.
This was followed by a piece on the statement of the BiH Presidency member, Zivko Radisic, on the visit of the Montenegrin President and the reasons why he did not attend the meeting held with the BiH Presidency in Sarajevo. Zivko Radisic said he was not informed about the visit of the President of Montenegro and that he would not meet with him.
An item on the deadline imposed by the International Monetary Fund for BiH to meet their demands by March 17th. If they do not meet the demands, the IMF would cancel their support worth 200 million dollars. This could endanger support of the governments and other international institutions. The report was produced by OBN reporter, Amarildo Gutic.
Zagreb
The Prime Minister of the Republic of Croatia, Ivica Racan, said that the Hague Tribunal did not accept the court trial of Mladen Naletilic (Tuta) and the appeal procedure for General Tihomir Blaskic to be conducted in Zagreb. Gordana Simonovic, produced a report for TV INFO from Zagreb.
World
Nine passengers and crew members of a Russian plane which crashed this morning at Moscow airport immediately after taking off were killed. Russian officials announced that an investigation is under way. In Chechnya, Russia troops have conquered another village with Chechen soldiers. Russian claimed that this village was conquered two weeks ago. Reports on Kosovo and the USA were presented. A piece on the current events in the world was produced by OBN journalist, Gordana Frimel.
Sarajevo
A piece on the report of ombudspersons for the last year. The BiH Federation ombudspersons announced that the most frequent issue in the last year was the breaching of returnees’ rights, especially in East and West Bosnia and East Herzegovina. OBN reporter, Anes Alic, produced the report.
Vitez
Pensioners from Srednja Bosna recently announced protests and blockade of roads for March 18th because they were unsatisfied with their pension payments. Today, they decided to postpone their protests unsatisfied with the “political situation and unjust verdicts of the Hague Tribunal”. OBN reporter from Vitez, Olivera Dimac, produced the report.
Pocitelj
An item on the return of pre-war inhabitants, Bosniaks, to the Pocitelj Polje residential quarter in the Pocitelj municipality. Now, the issues of property relations and infrastructure should be solved, Sinisa Jokic, confirmed for OBN.
Sarajevo
This was followed by a piece on the future construction of the Concert Hall in Sarajevo, worth 36 million EUROs, produced by Slobodan Maksimovic. Now, the funds for the project should be raised.
Sport
Reports on the postponed establishment of the BiH joint association of chess, international skiing, local basketball for women and international football were presented.