| CROAT RADIO HERCEG-BOSNA (18:00 hrs) | BH TV 1 (19:00 hrs) | FED TV (19:30 hrs) | RT RS (19:30) |
| BiH – US Agreement | Hague trial for Srebrenica | Srebrenica genocide trial | BiH – US Agreement |
| FBiH Law on Civil Service | Entity MoIs on priorities | BiH – US Agreement | Pope’s visit |
| Pope’s visit | BiH – US Agreement | FBiH employment revision | RS army officials on trial |
| ICTY trial for Srebrenica |
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| Vasiljevic released |
| Oslobodjenje | Americans protected in missions in BiH; Karadzic’s directive is a confirmation of the genocide plan; RS – Dragan Vasiljevic released; When police deals with journalists – prosecution and police at ‘Avaz’s’ disposal; Prijedor – insulting municipality symbols |
| Dnevni Avaz | Scandal at a football game in Trebinje; A trial for genocide in Srebrenica; Terzic on impressions from Milan – Berlusconi is an excellent host; Vrankic – the war debt to citizens 152 million KM |
| Dnevni List | American citizens are not subject to extradition; Del Ponte refused to be a postman; Head of University Ljubic privatized University? |
| Vecernji List | Baby left in front of a hospital; Abdic took over Agrokomerc from jail; The Hercegovacka Bank to go on sale by summer |
| Slobodna Dalmacija | Classes according to Croat curriculum are being abolished?; For the reconstruction of the Federation – $4 billion spent |
| Glas Srpske | Kotorsko case before the Doboj Basic Court – end before the beginning; Repairs Institute – possible dismissals |
| Nezavisne Novine | The Hague Tribunal – triasl against those charged with Srebrenica crimes commences; Franjo Komarica, Banjaluka Bishop – preparations for Pope’s visit as planned; Ahmet Hadzipasic, Federation PM – a battle against organised crime depends upon MoI’s assessment |
| Blic | ER in basement until the further notice; Two underage girls reported rape; The government has not delivered plans on protection against hail to SFOR; Ceca’s sister Lidija in detention |
Political Affairs | |
| HR Ashdown in France
| Avaz pg. 2 ‘Ashdown will lobby for BiH to get a status of the EU candidate’ – the main reason behind HR Paddy Ashdown’s trip to France is to lobby for BiH to get the status of a candidate for the entry to the EU. He will speak to French officials on the possibility that BiH and southeast Europe get a certain statement of intent from the EU at the Solun summit next month. According to OHR Spokesperson, Julian Braithwaite, HR’s goal is ensure that regional countries striving to join the EU get an access to so-called ‘accession funds’ of the EU to speed up the implementation of reforms. |
| US – BiH Agreement | Avaz pg. 2 ‘Still differences in opinions between BiH and Washington’ – the BiH presidency forwarded tot eh BiH CoM a draft of the Agreement with the US on the exemption of the US citizens from the jurisdiction of the International crime Court (ICC). According to Presidency member Dragan Covic, BiH proposed that US citizens working in peacekeeping mission in BiH be exempted from the ICC’s jurisdiction, The US side however, wants all US citizens in BiH, as well as all non-BiH staff working at US institution to be exempted. Dnevni List pg. 1 and 5 and Vecernji List pg. 2 ‘BiH is yielding before American demands’ – Covic stated that the BiH Presidency adopted the draft of the Agreement on the exemption of the US citizens. Covic also says that they hope that the agreement will pass a necessary procedure by Friday when the US Deputy Minister of Defense will pay a visit to BiH, and in that case the Agreement would be initialed during the visit of the aforementioned American diplomat. VL says that Covic admitted that the version of the Agreement offered by the US side was contrary to principles that the EU adopted and expressed belief that it was possible to find an agreement that would satisfy both countries. |
| Oslobodjenje commentary | Oslobodjenje pg. 2 ‘BiH and US’ by Ibrahim Prohic – on the US – BiH Agreement to exempt IS citizens from the ICC’s jurisdiction. He claims that in case the Bih authorities were to decline the US offer the American would not publicly threaten to Sarajevo. However, adds the author, Balkans are so ‘fragile’ that BiH should always think about an ally that would come to its rescue in case someone, again, decides to divide BiH. “The signing of the Agreement, following the example of 32 other countries, really gives an exclusive right to Americans. But the power of God does not beg, and BiH needs a powerful ally. The freedom fighters should take a look around them.” |
| FBiH HoP session | Avaz pg. 4 ‘Cases of directors not employed via regular vacancy procedure to be revised’ – the FBiH HoP yesterday adopted the Law on Civil Service that outlines the revision of all officials in the management bodies. The revision will last for 18 months after which vacancies will be issued to employ other people. Prior to the adoption of the Law heads of the parliamentary parties and OHR reps reached an agreement on Tuesday night. Oslobodjenje pg. 6 ‘The Law on Civil service adopted’ – according to unofficial info, the Federation government should declare itself on the new version of the Law, which would then be sent for the parliamentary procedure so the lower Federation House would declare its position on it. Dnevni List pg. 1 and 5 – the FBiH House of Peoples adopted a proposal of the Law on Civil Service at the 5th sessions held yesterday in Sarajevo. The daily reports that all the current employees in the public service will have to undergo a revision and checking. The revisions and checking will start as soon as the FBiH State Service Agency is formed and that should take place within 30 days of the adoption of the Law. The process should be completed within 18 months. |
| Hadzipasic on organized crime
| Nezavisne Novine pg. 1 & 3 ‘A battle with organised crime commences when the MoI assesses so’ – Ahmet Hadzipasic, FBiH Prime Minister, claims that there is a lot of organised crime in BiH, and that the Ministry of Internal Affairs first needs to make an assessment in order to battle it. Hadzipasic explains that each crime, that includes more than one person, represents organised crime. |
| Press conf of IC org. in Mostar | Vecernji List pg. 3 ‘Minister Goran Bilic will be vetted’, Dnevni List pg. 15 ‘It is necessary to end up process of adoption of constitutional changes’ and Slobodna Dalmacija pg. 17 ‘Citizens are paying the price’ – during yesterday’s press conference of international organizations seated in Mostar, OHR Spokesperson, Avis Benes, once again reminded political parties involved in the process of the forming of the Herzegovina-Neretva cantonal government of their duty and obligation to form the government as soon as possible. She also reminded them that they should stop wasting their time on the issues that were contrary to the Federation Constitution and High Representative’s decision. |
Judicial Affairs | |
| Trial for Srebrenica massacre
| Avaz pg. 1 and 3 – a trial against three former officers of the RS Army yesterday started at The Hague. Vidoje Blagojevic, Dragan Obrenovic and Dragan Jokic are being tried for being accomplice in genocide, crimes against humanity and violating of war customs and laws. Oslobodjenje pg. 1 and 7 – Prosecution lawyer, Peter McCloskey, divided his introductory word into three parts. The first was historical background that led to the fall of Srebrenica in 1995, the second about the role of the Bratunac and Zvornik brigades in crimes in Srebrenica and the third on several key-evidence enough to prove the role of the three in the Srebrenica crimes. Nezavisne Novine pg. 1 & 3 ‘Blagojevic, Obrenovic and Jokic brought to trial’, Glas Srpske pg. 3 ‘Truth or a myth’ – “For some people, Srebrenica is a myth; the suspects find it to be a disgrace, while the Republika Srpska knows the truth very well. However, the RS population finds the case of Srebrenica to be a part of propaganda,” stated McCloskey. |
| Del Ponte – Kusljugic | Avaz pg. 2 ‘Belgrade has to extradite Ratka Mladic to The Hague by June 15’ – BiH rep at the UN, Mirza Kusljugic, met in New York with The Hague Chief Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte. He stated that they concluded the arresting of war criminals was important for the normalization in the entire region. In case of Radovan Karadzic, it was agreed that it has to be clearly defined who is responsible to arrest him. As for Ratko Mladic, he is in the jurisdiction of Serbia and Montenegro, and he should be extradited by June 15. Slobodna Dalmacija pg. 15 ‘Establish mini-Hague’ – Del Ponte was interested in activities regarding the establishment of a special department with the BiH Court for processing of the war crimes in BiH. On the same issue, Dnevni List pg. 3 ‘UN and Security Council not interested in the Balkans’ – Ambassador Kusljugic told Del Ponte that the Balkans was not in the focus of the UN and Security Council. |
| Kotorsko case | Glas Srpske cover page story ‘End before the beginning’ – following the lawsuit of a group of Bosniaks from Kotorsko (filed against the municipality of Doboj), a pre-trial hearing before the Doboj Basic Court yesterday was postponed, owing to the wrong addresses of the Collective Co-operative ‘Bosnakop’ and Serb refugees who started building houses in this settlement. The pre-trial hearing however established that 36 Bosniaks filed the lawsuit against 123 Serbs. Blic pg. 7 ‘Hearing in Kotorsko case postponed’ – the hearing in the Kotorsko case, scheduled for Wednesday, was postponed until further notice because the legal supposition processes for the main hearing had not been met. |
| VL on RS NA rejecting all nominated judges | Vecernji List pg. 2 – representatives of the Republika Srpska National Assembly rejected all eight candidates for the position of the RS Constitutional Court judges, as proposed by the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council. VL says that people from the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council claim that they did their part of the job and that they were waiting for the decision by High Representative Paddy Ashdown. The article says that they believe that this is about politically motivated obstruction and this is a good reason that the HR takes the thing in his own hands and imposes the solution, that is, to appoint proposed candidates in spite of disagreements between RS NA reps. Glas Srpske pg. 2 ‘Election of judges fail’ – on Tuesday evening, Republika Srpska MP’s elected Miodrag Simovic as a Serb representative to the BiH Constitutional Court. Second candidate, Jovo Rosic, failed to obtain the necessary number of votes. Furthermore, none of eight judges, who were candidates for the RS Constitutional Court, obtained necessary number of votes. According to the announcement, a three-day session will be held on May 22.Vecernje Novosti pg. 19 ‘Judges without support’ – none of the eight proposed candidates received the number of votes needed. |
| Cavic on RS NA failure to elect judges | Glas Srpske pg. 3 ‘New candidates ASAP’ – RS President, Dragan Cavic, is of the view that the failure to elect proposed candidates to the Constitutional Courts of Republika Srpska and BiH represents a serious warning to the HJPC. According to yesterday’s press release issued by Cavic’s Cabinet, the constant blockade in the work of the constitutional bodies is puts the entire legislation in the RS and BiH in jeopardy. Furthermore, Cavic announced he would propose to the HJPC to propose new candidates as soon as possible. |
Police Affairs | |
| Meeting of entity MoIs
| Avaz pg. 3 ‘A state plan is being prepared to fight human trafficking’ – a meeting of reps of BiH police structures was held in Banja Luka yesterday. They discussed activities on combating human trafficking in BiH. According to RS Minister of Interior, Zoran Djeric, the RS MoI prepared documents related to the matter, which will be taken over by Deputy security Minister Dragan Mektic, and together with info from the Federation MoI devise a set of activities to combat human trafficking. Mevludin Halilovic, Federation Minister of Interior, spoke of the arresting of war criminals. He stated there were plans for individual arrests. Nezavisne Novine pg. 2 ‘Police made a security plan’, Glas Srpske pg. 2 ‘Preparations for Pope’s visit’ – Djeric denied that preparations for the Pope’s visit to Banja Luka proceeded slowly. After yesterday’s meeting with representatives of all police structures in BiH, Djeric expressed conviction that from the security point of view, Pope’s visit will proceed well. Reps of the RS and FBiH MoIs, Brcko District, BiH Security Ministry, BiH State Border Service, SIPA, Sector for relations with Interpol, SFOR and EUPM to BiH attended yesterday’s meeting at the RS MoI. |
| Djeric on fight against crime | Vecernje Novosti pg. 19 ‘Passports to be checked’ – “I expect that soon we will have the process of reform of judiciary completed and that chain ‘Ministry of Interior – courts – prosecution’ will be connected because without it there is no fight against organised crime,” Zoran Djeric, RS Interior Minister, said on Tuesday evening in Bijeljina. According to him, priority of the RS police is to fight against business crime and drugs. Djeric also announced detail control of passport issuance in the Republika Srpska. |
| Charges against Prica and Lale | Blic pg. 8 ‘Criminal charges against Prica and Lale’- Bijeljina Public Security Centre (PSC) raised charges against former Director of the ‘Orao’ Institute, Milan Prica, and the Assistant Director for Economic Relations, Vukasin Lale, due to reasonable doubt that they overstepped their authorities in economy. As the Bijeljina PSC announced, in 2001 and 2002 Prica and Lale have, by paying employees without accounting and paying the regulated taxes and contributions, earned 3,227,736 KM. |
Economic Affairs | |
| Avaz commentary
| Avaz pg. 3 ‘New cynicism from the RS’ by Enes Plecic – first comments on the latest decision by the RS NA to start the changes of the Law to BiH Foreign Trade Chamber (so the revenues would go back to entities). According to Plecic, the Chamber was officially established (or rather changed the name, before it was the BiH Chamber of Commerce) in May last year and until March 2003 the money for it, mainly spent by now, was largely collected by companies and chamber from the Federation. The ‘modest’ contribution made by the RS was 6,900 KM and the Brcko District gave 100 KM. “Such cynicism of RS Assembly reps was not expected. Especially because they are asking back for the money they never gave to this state institution. Or is this another scenario of destroying state institutions and shifting responsibility on others who have been naively paying for it all.” The author also reminds that RS is symbolically participating in the work of the BHTV 1, BH Radio and other state institutions, yet have sharp objections and even refer to national endangerment in case their people are employed in those institutions. |
| Dixon – Kalinic | Avaz pg. 8 ‘Revenues from taxes and customs have to be public’ – yesterday’s meeting between RS NA Speaker, Dragan Kalinic, and President of the Commission for the Policy of Indirect Taxing Jolly Dixon. The two agreed that only a transparent system of customs and VAT that citizens would trust to could ensure efficiency. Kalinic said that this meant revenues from taxes and customs should be fairly distributed and controlled by entities and BiH. They also discussed possible models of the future customs organizations and VAT. Glas Srpske pg. 2 ‘Taxation according to Constitution’ – the meeting discussed possible models of the future organisation of customs and VAT systems. Blic pg. 6 ‘In line with the Constitution’ – Mikerevic said that there was a number of ways to ensure the respect of constitutional principles and authorities during the process of introducing the VAT and organising the indirect Taxation Administration. |
| Hercegovacka Bank | Vecernji List pg. 1 and 4 – the Provisional Administration for the Hercegovacka Bank will, in a few days, invite an international tender selling the bank at the banking market. Moreover, VL has been told by Spokesperson of the Provisional Administration, Lejla Komarica, that the Bank was collecting the relevant data (i.e. assets and liabilities) and that it was a matter of weeks when the tender would be issued. Unofficially, the daily learns the tender would be issued by the end of June because, according to VL, the High Representative for BiH, Paddy Ashdown, showed a big interest in the reactivation of the Bank. |
| DL on Eronet
| Dnevni List pg. 7 ‘Eronet case will not be solved for a long time’ – learns from its source in the BiH Council of Ministers that the ‘Eronet’ will not be awarded the third GSM license in the near future despite statements by the Chair of CoM, Adnan Terzic, that the case will be closed by June. The same source says the CoM is waiting for the court ruling on the issue of the return of ‘Eronet’ stocks to the ‘Hrvatske Telecommunication Mostar’ (HT Mostar). |
| Bulldozer Commission | FENA – “The FBiH House of Peoples on Wednesday enacted four Bulldozer reforms, completing the approval process for all the recommendations sent to it by the Federation government,” OHR Spokesman, Kevin Sullivan, told FENA. This brings to 49 the total number of Bulldozer reforms that have been adopted by the governments or enacted by the parliaments, at state and entity level and in Brcko. The 50th reform, on liberalizing the land-survey sector, is expected to be enacted by the RSNA before the end of May. |
| RS economy | Blic pg. 7 ‘Economy to be revised’ – the Republika Srpska National Assembly deputies discuss again the basis of economic policy for 2003, because the RS government has been tasked to put into this document deputies’ interventions that will be on the assembly’s agenda late in May. Among other things, this document will contain a proposal for the budget rebalance for 2003 due to drought. RS PM Dragan Mikerevic said he would accept proposals by deputies to include inputs into the proposal of economic policy. |
| Brcko | FENA, Radio Brcko District, Blic pg. 8 and Nezavisne Novine pg. 6 – during yesterday’s OHR Brcko press conference, Supervisor Henry Clarke announced that Brcko would have the honour to be the first place in BiH that would implement reforms in the field of income taxes. The previous system of four taxes on various kinds of income will be replaced with a single income tax for families and businesses, as in accordance with the Income Law worked out by the GTZ and Brcko Tax Administration. He pointed out that the new Law would have at least three advantages – lower taxes or none at all for people with the lowest incomes, more favourable for businesses, especially those that invest in their business, easier to collect so that everyone pays their share. Those who receive more will pay more, but the rate is so low that people will not be discouraged from earning as much as they can and paying their fair share of the tax. |
Military Affairs | |
| Avaz survey | Avaz pg. 3 – conducted a survey asking whether BiH should have a single army under civil control. 71% said yes, 11% said no and 18% said they did not know. |
Media Affairs | |
| Oslobodjenje vs. Radoncic | Oslobodjenje pg. 1 and 3 – a sequel to the front-page article in yesterday’s issue of Oslobodjenje (for more info pls check yesterday’s Media Round-Up) on charges by Radoncic against Oslobodjenje. The daily contacted some of the OHR officials to ask them what they though about the promptness of the judge in this case (responded nine days after the charges were files). Zoran Pajic, Head of the OHR Legal Reform Unit, stated this was the case for the court and relevant institutions. Oleg Milisic, OHR Spokesperson, stated it was not a matter for the OHR to get involved with. Senad Pecanin said that maybe the OHR and the US ambassador who live in one of Radoncic’s villas should finally ask for the proclamation of the Law on the Protection of the work of Avaz and its owner. |
Education Affairs | |
| VL and SD on reforms | Slobodna Dalmacija pg. 1 and 15, Vecernji List pg. 1 and 3 – sees the adoption of the Proposal of a draft State Law on Primary and General Secondary Education, which was adopted by the BiH Council of Minister, as a plan to abolish the Croat(ian) language in schools and eventually to create a single curriculum in BiH that would undermine the foundations of the Croat people’s future. According to the founder of the Croat Christian Democrats, Petar Milic, who is also a physics teacher, many articles of the draft law are in collision with the BiH Constitution and Dayton Peace Accord. The DPA, according to Milic, stipulates that when it comes to the FBiH, it is the cantons that decide about the education related issues. According to the journalist, who allegedly conducted a small opinion poll among Croat teachers, the mood in the ‘Croat’ schools is close to rebellion. In that context, the journalist talks about a blockade of all Croat schools if the law is adopted on June 10. According to Head of Education Institute of Mostar, Mladen Kvesic, who is also a member of the Working group that presented the ‘green paper’ in Sarajevo on Thursday, the Croat side in BiH is ready to actively participate in changes of the education system. Kvesic however says there are individuals who would like to use the reforms to raise the issue of the Bosnian language. In this context, Kvesic says the draft Law adopted by the CoM allows a Serb teacher from Nevesinje to give lectures in the Serb language at Siroki Brijeg, something that is not right according to Kvesic. Regarding the ‘green paper’, a document that should contribute to modernizing of the education system in BiH, Kvesic said the following. “The green paper is a good foundation for further public debate. I do not believe in overnight results achieved through decrees,” says Kvesic. |