BH TV 1 (19:00 hrs) | FED TV (19:30 hrs) | RT RS (19:30 hrs) |
Croatian delegation in BiH | Croatian delegation in BiH | Racan in BiH |
BiH Journalist Association | Mass crypt in Zvornik | BiH – SCG trade |
Law on War Crimes | Explosion in Belgrade | Chechnya |
Iraqi government |
| Iraq |
Due to technical problems, BORAM was not able to provide CRHB summary.
Oslobodjenje | Bosniaks would not construct a memorial in a decade; Halilovic writing to Izetbegovic – It was my mistake to exchange you; Racan in Sarajevo; Who is Carla Del Ponte coming to see?; Holbrook for the independence of Kosovo |
Dnevni Avaz | Who helped Slovenians in robbing BiH? RS has to declare itself on Fatnicko Polje; Racan arrived to Sarajevo; Visegrad policemen hiding in Serbia; Potocari is a Bosniak shrine |
Dnevni List | Interview with Deputy Mayor of Mostar Ljubo Beslic – parallelisms in Mostar to be abolished by the end of the year; High Representative for BiH – report of European Institute Untenable |
Vecernji List | Corridor Vc through west Herzegovina; Neum full as beehive |
Slobodna Dalmacija | Features Croatia related headlines |
Glas Srpske | OHR – Ashdown is disappointed; How does the Croatian administration behave towards Jasna Tintor – she is a stranger of British nationality |
Nezavisne Novine | Creation of a strategy for paying out public debt of Bosnia and Herzegovina – one of proposals is also to write off of 80% of public debt; Ivica Racan in Sarajevo – Croatia is interested in assisting in the construction of a highway through BiH |
Blic | Dragan Solaja – it is not to be excluded there are criminal actions in Telecom; The RS Defence Ministry to sue Federation because of military apartments; Presidents of Israel and Croatia in Jasenovac |
Political Affairs | |
CRO delegation in BiH
| BHTV at 19:00 hrs by Marina Boskovic – Croatian delegation led by Prime Minister Ivica Racan is on a two-day visit in BiH. The main objective of the visit is to coordinate the political and economic relationship between BiH and Croatia. Besides Racan, the delegation consists of Minister of Foreign Affairs, Tonino Picula, Minister for Traffic, Roland Zuvanic, Minister for Navigation, Radomir Cacic, Croatian PM Gordana Sobol, and Croatian Ambassador in BiH Josip Vrbosic. It is expected that the visit would solve many issues, which have been burdening the relationship between these two countries for a long time. The main subjects of the discussions will include: Ploce port, Neum transition, crossing the borders with an ID as a permanent solution, and the construction of the 5C corridor. After the BiH Council of Ministers has decided to entrust the project of building the corridor to the Malaysian-Bosnian Corporation ‘Bosmal’, it is expected that Racan would propose to the BiH authorities the involvement of Croatian companies in the project. It is also expected that the issue of the Ploce port would be solved based on the compromise determined earlier. FTV at 19:30 hrs – the delegation will also meet Bosnian Cardinal Vinko Puljic, and members of the Croatian Cultural Society ‘Napredak’. After the delegation landed at the Sarajevo airport, Croatian Prime Minister made the following press statement. ”I am hoping for sincere conversations, and concluding of the agreements that are very important to both countries. I believe that we will find a common language. This time I would like to demonstrate that we could build the relationship based on the development programs. That is all. I am an optimist, until found otherwise.” Speaking of significance of this visit, BiH Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lidija Topic, said that the visit would contribute finding the solutions on many issues that have been discussed earlier this year. RTRS at 19:30 hrs by Stjepan Zlikovac – reported on the arrival of the CRO delegation, welcomed at the airport by Topic. Avaz pg. 1 and 3 – reported on the arrival of the CRO delegation and talks that are to take place today. Also in Oslobodjenje pg. 1 and 3. Vecernji List pg. 9 ‘Terzic: we want high through BiH’ – According to VL, Croatia expects to reach an agreement on building of Zagreb-Dubrovnik Highway, a part of which should be passing through Herzegovina i.e. the Neum area. “It would be a bad message if Croatia opted for an adventure to by-pass BiH,” said Chair of the BiH Council of Ministers Terzic. Also reported in Dnevni List pg. 5 ’Corridor Vc in interest of Croatia’, Slobodna Dalmacija pg. 3 ‘Adnan Terzic: I welcome Croatian interest in corridor Vc’, Jutarnji List pg. 2 ‘Racan for the second time in Sarajevo’ and Vjesnik pg. 1 and 2. Nezavisne Novine pg. 1 & 2 – reported on the arrival of the CRO delegation led by Racan. |
SPRS session | RTRS at 19:30 hrs by Bozidar Stajicic – the SPRS Main Board held a session in Trebinje. “BiH, especially the RS, has inefficient authorities that show a passive approach to complex social processes. The High Representative cannot implement reforms while local authorities are standing silent,” said party President, Petar Djokic. SP demands the RS government’s dismissal and the proclamation of premature elections. Glas Srpske pg. 2 ‘Time for elections’, Nezavisne Novine pg. 5 ‘They demand dismissal of the Republika Srpska government and new elections’ – The Chair Board of the Republika Srpska Socialist Party last night demanded that the Republika Srpska government should resign and new elections should be convened. The socialists say that the Republika Srpska government has turned into a silent observer of events and demonstrated, in many ways, that it is incapable of resolving numerous problems. |
Potocari memorial
| Oslobodjenje pg. 1 and 7 – informs that Bosniaks are the ones who contributed the least to the construction of the Potocari Memorial Centre. This, according to the daily, was made more obvious during the BH Telecom action in the past two months, which raised only 150,000 KM. The entire project costs 10,5 million KM, and the action was expected to raise 2,3 million KM necessary to complete the Memorial. According to a member of the Main Board for the Centre construction, Beriz Belkic, said that people were obviously ‘not in the mood to give money for Potocari’. He also added that they had poor response from Bosniak businessmen and from other wealthy Bosniaks. |
HR Ashdown on ESI report | Dnevni List pg. 1 and 2 – HR Paddy Ashdown stated a report prepared by the European Stability Initiative (ESI) on the work of the Office of the High Representative was intellectually and factually untenable. In an interview for the BiH Radio 1, HR Ashdown stressed he had a high opinion about the ESI adding that he was disappointed the report was completed without contacting the OHR. Glas Srpske cover page story, Nezavisne Novine pg. 3 ‘The report of the European Institute is untenable’ – carried the statement given by the HR to the BH Radio 1. |
Interview with Beslic | Dnevni List pg. 1 and 7 – an interview with Deputy Mayor of Mostar, Ljubo Beslic. On the work of the Mostar Commission in light of resignation by Damir Sadovic (SDA) – Beslic assesses the work of the Commission as very successful. Regarding Sadovic resignation believes it is about a personal act and not an act by the SDA. “Mayor Jahic and myself on Friday sent a letter to the SDA to submit names of candidates to fill the Commission. Time is running out and that’s why we will be as quick as possible. As soon as we get an answer from the SDA we will get down to the selection. We will convene a session of the City Council before summer holidays so the newly appointed member of the Commission is registered.” On the formation of the Public Utility Company at City level – Beslic says the municipal councils of all six Mostar’s City municipalities transferred their authority to the City level. “I must say the job is not finished there. Decisions of the municipal councils of Old Town and North stipulate that they transfer all employees to the City level. I believe that, considering the criteria set forth by the World Bank, it will not be possible because there are too many employees in ‘Parkovi’ and ‘Komos’. The problem will most probably be solved under the auspices of the World Bank” On parallelisms in Mostar – Beslic says the parallelisms do exist, but less and less every day and he hopes that, when it comes to the City Administration, the parallelisms will be abolished by the end of the year. “I believe the eight principles by the High Representative for BiH, when you study them carefully, are directed in that very direction,” says Beslic On the rotation in office of Mayor/Deputy Mayor – “As you know, the Interim Statute of City of Mostar was tied with amendments and the Mayor and Governor could not come from the line of the same people. Since the institution of the Governor does not exist, there are no amendments and the Statute is clear. There should be rotation, so I hope we will carry out the rotation in offices of Mayor and deputy Mayor of Mostar,” says Deputy Mayor. |
RS report on Srebrenica | Nezavisne Novine pg. 2 ‘The Republika Srpska government delivers preliminary report on crimes in Srebrenica’ – the Republika Srpska government has delivered a preliminary report on crimes committed in Srebrenica to the BiH Human Rights Chamber. According to Milan Dupor, Republika Srpska representative at the Human Rights Chamber ‘they gave them what they had’. “The crucial problem lays in the fact that SFOR and ICTY confiscated some documents.” |
Audit of the RS govt. Secretariat | Nezavisne Novine pg. 4 ‘The Law violated several times through direct settlements’ – an audit report into the work of the Republika Srpska government Secretariat for 2002 established that not all goods and services, that were purchased, were performed in full compliance with the law. “The failure to include all the accounting into resources and the absence of absolute control over the disposal and use of resources opens possibilities for misuse and transfer of property.” |
RS officials on HR’s authorities | Glas Srpske pg. 4 ‘An absolute power in the hands of few’ – Mirko Sarovic SDS Vice President. “It was high time that somebody raised this issue. Is BiH admission into European Union possible if BiH is to make that move straight from the protectorate, which it has been turned into?” He further stressed that there will be no admission into the EU without the prior development of democracy and democratic bodies of authority. Consequently, the authority of HR must be restricted within a framework of the Dayton Peace Agreement. Bosko Siljegovic, lawyer and delegate at the House of Peoples of BiH, presented his view. Siljegovic also warns that the local authorities must finally take over responsibility for their ‘job descriptions’. “It is hard to engage in politics and to fear at the same time the possibility of being penalised by the HR. It is not just about the removals, but also decisions, which deprive us of basic human rights, such as the right to employment and right to be elected.” He further stressed that some BiH institutions were to take a part of guilt for certain decisions and laws, which were imposed. He illustrates this with the information that sometimes, the necessary decisions were brought too slowly, and accordingly the HR was forced ‘to put an end’ to such matters. Slobodan Radulj, Advisor to the Serb Presidency member for legal affairs and implementation of the DPA, says that certain authorities have been given to the HR, which would not be approved in any other legal system. “Bonn, Brussels, Rome and other declarations have given large authorities to the HR. By its nature, a declaration represents no legally binding act anywhere in the world. Nowhere, except here.” Nevenka Trifkovic, PDP Secretary General, told GS that the High Representative has been expanding his authorities, even when he had no grounds to do such thing. “It happened so many times that the Office of the High Representative sought from Republika Srpska National Assembly to adopt certain laws, without giving the possibility of any change or addenda to it. The Republika Srpska Parliament was not able to enact any amendment to certain laws, to place a comma where it found appropriate. However, it had to take full responsibility for the implementation of such laws.” She further stressed that many decisions passed by the HR should be reviewed in the future. Nikola Spiric Co-Chairperson of the House of Peoples at the BiH Parliamentary Assembly partially shares Trifkovic’s view.: “The decision of the European Parliament, regarding the reduction of authorities for the HR is of great significance for BiH, because it actually forces the BiH authorities to finally take over the responsibility for BiH’s destiny. I do not think that the HR was too happy when he had to pass any decisions. Moreover, it is the fact that it leads to no good to place so much authority in the hands of only one man.” Dusan Stojicic, SDS Spokesperson, is of the view that the Peace Implementation Council should get some lessons from the conclusions reached by the European Parliament. He reiterated that the SDS was pledging in favour of true partnership between local and international officials. |
Lijanovic on constitutional changes | Dnevni List pg. 9 ‘Rationalization of administration through dis-empowering of the state’ – an interview with President of the People’s Party Working for Prosperity (NSRZB), Mladen Ivankovic Lijanovic. With regard to the issue of constitutional changes, Ivankovic-Lijanovic said the following. “Our proposal is to dis-empower the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH), that is, to transfer authorities to the state. This way, the amount of 344 million KM, that the FBiH administration is spending on salaries and material expenses, could be reduced by 200 million KM (…) The money, which would be saved from the re-organization and reduction of the bureaucratic apparatus, should be used for the development of economy and opening of new jobs in order to employ extra workers who worked in the administration.” |
Komarica on Croats’ return | Dnevni List pg. 1 and 10 – Banja Luka Bishop, Franjo Komarica, after speaking about the return of Catholics during the Pope’s visit, went one step further revealing that some senior officials of the IC told him that there was ‘an international program’, which supported instability in BiH – the main reason why Croats could not return to their homes. According to DL, Bishop Komarica asked on several occasions what was the Croats’ fault to which he received the following reply. “You are guilty because you are Croats and because you are Catholics. And you are guilty because you are trying to stay in the Republika Srpska and BiH.” |
DL editorial on Ravnogorski Chetnik Movement | Dnevni List pg. 4 by Ivica Glibusic ‘Chetniks in Brcko proclaimed anti-fascists’ – although the US has recently sanctioned Ravna Gora Chetnik Movement, that is, its property, BiH has not taken any moves in order to ban that organization. According to DL, the IC is tolerating the Movement and it does not want to place it in the group of terrorist organizations. “The one can suspect that there is connection between some international, political circles with chetniks’ organizations or their lobby in the world. Having in mind the fact that High Representative Paddy Ashdown is coming from Great Britain, where the refugee Yugoslav government was stationed and where successors of the Karadjordjevic dynasty, who glorify the chetniks’ movement, are still living, it is becoming clear as to why organizers of this movement are not being sanctioned.” |
Economic Affairs | |
BiH – Serbia & Montenegro trade
| RTRS at 19:30 hrs by Gordana Draskovic – trade between BiH and Serbia and Montenegro has increased by 30 percent during January – March period. While officials stress good trade cooperation, there is still $ 78 million of BiH’s trade deficit. Still, optimistic announcements are coming from Sarajevo with claims that BiH position in trade with other countries will improve. Does it means that the economy is going to be a priority in relations between BiH and SCG? |
RS Law on Libraries | RTRS at 19:30 hrs by Tatjana Mizdrak – the Bulldozer Commission changed the RS Law on Libraries. Instead of 12, publishers are obligated to provide 10 copies of published books to the National Library. That makes a unique precedent in Europe since the previous Law was in accordance with the European laws on libraries. “By getting involved in the library business, the Bulldozer Commission is destroying something that is being built in Europe for 100 years,” said Director of the RS National Library Ranko Risojevic. Publishers complain over a number of mandatory copies that must be submitted to the National Library since some of the issues have very expensive copies. “The answer to that question should be found among members of the first Bulldozer Commission on the state level,” said Secretary of the Bulldozer Commission Goran Romic. |
Vc corridor | Vecernji List pg. 1, 4 and 5 by Frano Vukoja ‘Corridor Vc through west Herzegovina’ – on possible plans for the construction of highways and roads in BiH. Regarding the construction of the Vc corridor through BiH, the author says that one of regional discussions is beginning to impose a solution that the corridor should be built through the west Herzegovina because the route would be shorter, more viable and it would by-pass the ecologically sensitive area of the delta of Neretva river. The daily also carries Pavo Boban, a member of BiH Expert Team for Highways and Chair of the Steering Board of Association for Stimulation of Development of Infrastructure at ‘Mostar API’, as saying it is most important to reach a consensus between all sides in BiH on the corridor Vc, Adriatic-Ion Highway and other strategically important roads. He also advocates the building of a fast road between Mostar and Livno because the current route is too busy and out of date. |
Tradesmen request postponing of the new tax law | Vecernji List pg. 8 ‘Ministers under strike of tradesmen’ – due to the announced introduction of unified tax rate for high-tariff goods, oil and oil products, that is to take place on August 1, the strong tradesmen’s lobby is exerting pressure against representatives of entity authorities in BiH. They demand postponing of a new tax law introduction. VL says that this demand was discreetly sent to authority representatives through high-ranked officials in order to avoid the paying of tax on large amount of goods that have been imported so far and which should be sold before the application of the new tax law has started. VL says that apart from tradesmen, financially powerful persons, who laundered large amounts of money through fictitious companies, are also exerting the same kind of pressure. President of the Association of Businessmen of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Tomislav Grizelj, confirmed this information. |
DL editorial | Dnevni List pg. 6 by Jadranko Prlic ‘Brains that came too late’ – as far as the economic system is concerned, all modern market institutions will be built in BiH, but too late to have an effect that they had in developed, European economies. “The value-added tax will finally eliminate the current, huge tax administration and the system, which according to its definition, was encouraging the tax evasion.” The editorial concludes that the introduction of the value-added tax will also increase the costs of the most endangered category of the BiH population. |
Police Affairs | |
Explosion in Ljubuski | BHTV at 19:00 hrs by Angela Cvitanovic – five persons suffered minor injuries in an explosion, which resounded in Ljubuski on Friday night. A bomb exploded in a toilet of the ‘Flamenco’ bar owned by Simun Mucic. The explosion caused the material damage to the object. The owner did not want to give any comments on the incident. Even though the explosion was life threatening, West Herzegovina Canton Ministry of Interior has not given any official statements. FTV at 19:30 hrs – reported on the explosion. |
Military Affairs | |
Serbia and Montenegro’s lawsuit against federation | Blic pg. 7 ‘No comment’ – the Federation government has not been interested to comment on announced lawsuit of Serbia and Montenegro, because the Federation does not allows former owners of military apartment to return their property. The OHR has also rejected to say more about this issue. “The OHR does not want to comment on bilateral issues between two countries,” Spokesperson for the OHR Banja Luka Sonja Pastuovic said. |