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| Rebalance of FBiH budget | SCG elections | Audit reports | New RTRS info centre |
| HDZ suggestion | SFOR released Bjelica | Milovan Bjelica released | Legija pleads not guilty |
| SFOR released Bjelica | Harvest operation | Exhumation in Sandici | Bjelica released |
| Results of SCG elections | | Elections in | Elections in |
| Oslobodjenje | Tihic demands changes of entities’ symbols; SDS on crimes in Srebrenica: Everybody committed crimes; What Karadzic, where is archive? |
| Dnevni Avaz | [Traffic accident] Tragedy occurred during deportation; BiH admission to PfP is also in US interest; Tokic: All three Presidency members are responsible |
| Dnevni List | El Mujahiddin squad of volunteers under command of third corps |
| Vecernji List | Brigade that killed Croats awarded on Day of municipality Konjic: Murderers of Croats awarded |
| Slobodna Dalmacija | Suica in black-Town in shock over tragic death of three young men: It was not like this even in the war |
| Glas Srpske | Sokolac: Bjelica released |
| Nezavisne Novine | Audit report on RS Banking Agency: RS damaged for BAM 8 million through violations of Laws; Milan Bogdanic: Next task is to establish the number of victims; Banja Luka Medical Faculty: Inspectors established grades were signed in illegally |
| Blic | Features Serbian related titles |
Srebrenica Commission and other war crimes issues | |
| SFOR released Milovan Bjelica
| RHB, BHTV 1, FTV, RTRS, Oslobodjenje pg 3 ‘SFOR released Milovan Bejlica’ by FENA, Dnevni Avaz pg 2 ‘SFOR released Milovan Bjelica’ by M. Dr., Nezavisne Novine pg 3 ‘Milovan Bjelica released from detention’; Glas Srpske cover page report ‘Bjelica released’ – Former Speaker of Srpsko Sarajevo Assembly Milovan Bjelica, who was arrested by SFOR a month ago, was released on Monday, his wife Dragana confirmed to Bijeljina Television. SFOR arrested Bjelica on 14 May in Sokolac near |
| Reactions to Spiric accusations regarding war crimes in Srebrenica
| Nezavisne Novine pg 4 ‘I was not aware of Srebrenica developments’; Glas Srpske pg 3 ‘Spiric’s untruth’ – Dragan Mikerevic, RS Prime Minister, denied claims of Nikola Spiric, Co-Chairperson of the BiH HoR, who said that Mikerevic and other RS authority officials were aware of Srebrenica developments ion 1995. Oslobodjenje pg 7 ‘Spiric lunches lies’ by Fena, Dnevni Avaz pg 4 ‘Nikola Spiric knew what happened in Srebrenica and it is strange that he did not publish it’ by FENA – Spokesperson for RS Prime Minister, Goran Radivojac, in a statement to FENA news agency, Radivojac responded to the allegations laid out by Spiric at press conference held in Banja Luka on Sunday, and said that “in the last couple of years Spiric has mostly been in the government which implies that he, too, knew and still knows, what happened in Srebrenica“. “We can also wonder why he did not publish this information any sooner,” Radivojac said. As far as resignations are concerned, which in the words of Spiric, should be tendered by representatives of the RS government, if for no other reason than a moral one, the prime minister’s spokesman said that Spiric was Speaker of the BiH House of Representatives, and in the top echelon of the BiH government, and that “it would be more than agreeable for him to set an example and show how it looks when one of the leading RS politicians steps down“. BHTV 1, Glas Srpske pg 2 ‘Nothing behind the back’ – also reported. Dnevni Avaz pg 3 ‘Spiric’s hypocrisy’ op-ed by Faruk Cardzic – Editorial refers to the statement by Nikola Spiric – Editorial says that all those accusations by Spiric would be grounded if someone else presented them, as it is difficult to believe that Spiric himself was not aware of the events in Srebrenica in 1995. |
| SDS on crimes in Srebrenica
| Oslobodjenje pg 7 ‘Everybody committed crimes’, mentioned on cover, by Fena, Dnevni List, pg 18 ‘SDS was never running away from crimes’, by De. L. – Spokesperson of SDS, Dusan Stojicic, assessed yesterday that the report prepared by the Srebrenica Commission on the events that occurred in and around Srebrenica between Nezavisne Novine pg 8 ‘There were crimes on Serb side as well’ – “SDS has never run away from the fact that there were crimes committed by the Serb side as well, but those crimes were also committed by Bosniaks and Croats as well,” said Stojicic. |
| Bogdanic on work of Srebrenica Commission
| Nezavisne Novine cover and pg 4 ‘Next task is to establish the number of victims’ – In a brief interview to NN, Milan Bogdanic, the Chairperson of the Srebrenica Commission, says that a new task is ahead of Srebrenica Commission, which is not an easy one, and that is to establish the exact number of Bosniaks gone missing between 10 to 19 July 1995 in Srebrenica. He stresses that “it is high time an end was put to various manipulations with the number of those, who lost their lives in Srebrenica enclave”. He further says that final decision, regarding adoption of report, lays with BiH Human Rights Chamber. According to NN inset, the exhumation of human remains at one of 32 newly identified mass graves has commenced at Sandici settlement near Bratunac yesterday. |
| Serb Radical Party on Srebrenica Comm report
| RTRS, Nezavisne Novine pg 4 ‘Serb people cannot be sanctioned’ – Milanko Mihajlica, President of the RS Serb Radical Party, yesterday stated that it is inadmissible to even think about sanctioning the Serb people, RS or its institutions on the basis of Srebrenica Commission report. He said: “We are convinced the responsibility for events does not rest with institutions or the people of RS.” |
| Hays: There are few people that are obstructing cooperation with
| RTRS, Blic, pg. RS2 ‘Hays: There are few people that are obstructing cooperation with the Hague’ by M. Zubac – PDHR Donald Hays assessed on Monday in Trebinje that the lack of cooperation of RS with the Hague Tribunal is not the fault of Serb people, but it is the fault of few people that are abusing their positions and obstructing reconciliation processes in BiH. During his visit to Trebinje, Hays emphasized that it was ‘time for RS to start cooperating with the Hague Tribunal because, in this case, BiH would enter PfP and would start with the process of admission to |
| Reactions on Srebrenica Commission report from families of victims
| Dnevni Avaz pg 8 ‘RS Government must begin to arrest war criminals’ by fena – The Report of the Srebrenica Commission confirms that thousands of Bosniaks were murdered and that genocide was executed against the Bosniak population of this town, and thus, the RS Government should launch an investigation and finally start apprehending the persons responsible for these crimes. “We hope that the aggression of SCG against the sovereign BiH State will be clarified and that the names of war criminals will be announced so that the public could be informed about those who are responsible for genocide”, is stated in announcement of the Association Mothers of Srebrenica and Zepa Enclaves. Oslobodjenje pg 7 ‘Worthless without qualification ‘genocide’’ by A. Av. – The members of Srebrenica Women are dissatisfied with the report of the Srebrenica Commission. “Even though Carla Del Ponte publicly stated that genocide occurred in Srebrenica, the members of the Commission in this report did not use this term in its right sense. Without a term ‘genocide’ for us that report is worthless,” stated President of Association, Munira Subasic. She adds that all associations will ask from HR Paddy Ashdown to impose sanctions against those who kept information for 9 years, including Dragan Mikerevic, Mladen Ivanic, Milorad Dodik, and Dragan Kalinic. |
| FBiH Missing Person Comm starts exhuming mass grave located by Srebrenica Commission
| BHTV 1 – The exhumation on the first, out of the 32 locations of mass graves mentioned in the Srebrenica Commission report, has started on Monday. Amor Masovic, Chairman of FBiH Missing Persons Commission assumes that this locality of Sandici near Bratunac could hold about 20 bodies of victims executed by guns. ”For now we must wait for the results of exhumed objects from this grave and only than we can confirm credibility of that report,” added Masovic. Exhumation will be continued tomorrow, and Masovic estimates that exhumations of all locations could taken more than 2 years. |
| Oslobodjenje on trials to find Karadzic personal files
| Oslobodjenje pg 3 ‘What Karadzic, where is archive?’, mentioned on cover, by E. Kamenica – Article reads that institutions in RS currently pay attention to the question ‘where is Radovan Karadzic’s personal documentation?’ According to Oslobodjenje’s source, Public Security Centre in Pale has carried out interrogations of all persons believed to know the answer to this question and have knowledge on the missing documents. The same source says that one of the reasons for such a ‘mess’ is that Chief ICTY Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte has demanded these documents, and adds that everybody now are more interested to obtain this documentation than to arrest Karadzic. |
| Nacional speculates on whether Karadzic would become protected witness | Nacional Belgrade daily, pg. 7 ‘Come Radovan, I will do you no harm’ by A. B. – The article speculates on the initiative that, allegedly, has been brought among associates of Carla Del Ponte to assign the status of a witness of the prosecution to Radovan Karadzic. According to the article, Del Ponte has been reacting in a different and more sustained manner on Karadzic case lately, which might indicate that some contacts with Karadzic’s net have already been established and it is quite possible that Karadzic would appear at the Hague Tribunal. |
Judicial proceedings and issues | |
| BiH Prosecutor’s special department starts with new economic crime case
| RHB, FTV, BHTV 1 – Maktouf Abduladhim, native of |
| Orao trial continues
| Oslobodjenje pg 9 ‘Nobody’s guilty?!’ by V. Du., Nezavisne Novine pg 5 ‘Defence claims that “Orao” did not export equipment to Iraq’, Blic pg RS8 ‘Defence denies claims of the Prosecutor’ by Lj. Lj. – Trial to suspects in ‘Orao’ case continued on Monday at the Court in Bijeljina. The Prosecution presented new evidence, presented a contract “Orao” has signed with “Jugoimport” firm from Novi Beograd, which had signed contracts with certain firms from |
| Tihic demands constitutional changes
| Oslobodjenje cover page, pgs 4-5 ‘Tihic demands changes of the entities symbols’ by Azhar Kalamujic – Chairman of the BiH Presidency Sulejman Tihic has recently demanded from the BiH Constitutional Court to reconsider the constituency of the coat of arms, hymn, flag of RS, and of coat of arms and flag of FBiH. According to the Court’s sources, at the same time Tihic has also submitted to the court the special demand request for estimation on the harmonisation level between BiH Constitution and some European conventions. This particularly refers to the method of electing BiH Presidency members [apparently, Tihic objects to the provisions according to which Bosniak and Croat members can be appointed only if they are from FBIH, and Serb member only from RS]. Oslobodjenje also learns that, despite announcements, Tihic has still not filed a request for decision on RS name. |
| OHR on HJPC
| Oslobodjenje pg 7 ‘Unacceptable elimination of Zarko Bulic’, xNezavisne Novine pg 5 ‘Bar Association of F BiH should have proposed three candidates’, Slobodna Dalmacija, pg 7, ‘Bar Association’s member is not appointed’, by F, carries that, in response to the open letter which the FBiH Bar Association sent to the HR Paddy Ashdown in relation to non-appointment of Zarko Bulic to the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council, the OHR Spokesperson Vedran Persic has stated that “unfortunately the Bar Association hadn’t proposed its candidates within the set deadline. The High Representative then appointed an earlier member of the Council as a means of ensuring a seamless transition to the newly established Council, and at the same time guaranteeing continuity of membership, geographical coverage, gender balance and ethnic representation based on the 1991 Census”. |
Economic issues | |
| Hays visits Stolac, Trebinje and Berkovici
| RHB, Oslobodjenje pg 8 ‘Citizens to receive more services for less money’ by N. Bise, Dnevni Avaz pg 4 ‘Hays in Eastern Herzegovina’, Dnevni List, pg 3, ‘Hays: Stolac needs new jobs’, by Nermin Bise, Vecernji list, pg 7, ‘1200 KM for water from other entity’, by Frano Matic, and Slobodna Dalmacija, pg 19, ‘Water in the interest of development of agriculture’, by Ivo Raguz, – Principal Deputy High Representative, Donald Hays,visited Trebinje, Berkovici and Stolac on Monday where he talked to the Mayors about economic situation in these municipalities as well as about ways to improve the living standard of citizens. “All this will help us prepare ourselves for the next set of projects aimed at improving living in a local community – this refers to Law on local self-governance in FBiH, conference on agriculture in BiH and offering better services in public corporations through definition: more services – less money“, Hays is quoted as saying. Hays also visited the water pump station in Do, located in the vicinity of the inter-entity border-line, from which Stolac (in FBiH) gets supplied with water from Berkovici (RS). Oslobodjenje pg 8 ‘Agriculture is a base for BiH development’ by S. Sijakovic, Blic, pg. RS2 ‘Hays: There are few people that are obstructing cooperation with |
| Vrankic announces rebalance of FBiH budget
| RHB, Dnevni Avaz pg 4 ‘Spending in Federation will be decreased for 10 percent’, Vecernji List, pg 4 ‘Ministry of Finances decreases expenditures’, by F, Dnevni List, pg 3 ‘Re-balance of Federation budget because of poor collection of revenues!?’, by Miso Relota – Media got an information from the FBiH Ministry of Finances that the FBiH Finance Minister, Dragan Vrankic, would recommend re-balancing of the FBiH budget for 2004 in order to restore balance between the incomes and expenditures. Apparently, the reason for this is poor collection of revenues in the first five months of 2004, which apparently fell short for about 105 million KMs. On top of that, the FBiH budget is financing couple of State-level institutions, namely the Customs Administration and Intelligence-Security Service. |
| FTV on audit reports
| FTV – According to the FTV, the Audit Office of BiH Institutions has still no information as to when BiH parliament will discuss their report, which revealed a number of irregularities in the work of BiH institutions. “These reports are being submitted to BiH Prosecution, without any kind of selection and it is up to BiH Prosecution to decide what to do about them,” said Samir Musovic, person who performs function of General Reviser. By the end of this week, the Audit Office is to complete the reports on workings of BiH Foreign Ministry, BiH Civil Service Agency, BiH Parliament, Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations, BiH Judiciary and Ministry of Treasure and Finance. |
| DL: Scandalous letter of PDHR Hays to Toby Robinson
| Dnevni List, pg 5 ‘Toby Robinson above BiH Constitution!?’, mentioned on cover, by Jurislav Petrovic – Commenting on the announcement of a lawsuit by the Provisional Administration for Hercegovacka bank against HT Zagreb because of alleged non-compliance to the right to pre-emption related to transfer of Eronet shares from HT Zagreb onto HT Mostar, DL reminds that a similar dispute was on when 51% of Eronet shares were being transferred from Eronet onto three private companies, but at the time, the court made such ruling because the then laws said that a foreign entity could not have more than 50% of a company which is of vital interest. DL goes on to say that in the meantime, the laws have been changed, and now it is possible that a foreign entity can buy a majority stake in such companies. In this context, DL wonders why the Provisional Administrator for HB, Toby Robinson, is selling 4,48% of Eronet shares to the |
| NN says audit concludes RS Banking Agency misused 8 mil KM
| Nezavisne Novine cover and pg 3 ‘RS damaged for BAM 8 million through violations of Law’ – The RS Chief Audit Office established during the audit at the RS Banking Agency that during the temporary administration procedures at Prijedorska Banka and Privredna Banka Gradiska, the Agency has damaged the RS budget for BAM 8 million. The Agency in 2002 sold these two Banks to Nova Banjalucka Banka and “Telekom Srpske” at extremely low prices. |
| ITA on customs frauds
| Nezavisne Novine pg 2 ‘Less possibilities for custom frauds during import’ – Kemal Causevic, ITA Director, has passed an order according to which the number of centres where container deliveries from |
| SD: RS Government wasted 30 million KMs on ITA building
| Slobodna Dalmacija, pg 12 ‘Threw away 30 million KMs’, mentioned on cover, by Zlatko Tulic – In light of reports that the RS Government is going to spend 30 million KMs to accommodate the Indirect Tax Administration in Banja Luka, the author notes that the only reaction to the ‘easily’ spent money came from Dzemal Faka, an advisor to BiH Minister of Treasury. According to Faka, the RS Government unnecessarily spent the taxpayers’ money because there are several facilities in |
| Dispute between RS and FBiH pensioners | Blic, pg. RS5 ‘No man’s pensioners’ by Rajna Radosavljevic – RS Government confirmed they have signed the Memorandum on Understanding that would regulate disputable relations between Pension Funds of RS and of the Federation of BiH. The World Bank has brought the initiative in relation to the Memorandum, which, as a condition for the approval of credit lines in frame of SOSAC 2 project, should resolve problems of pensioners-returnees. The Head of RS Pension Fund, Jovo Kosmajac, claims that the Pension Fund of the Federation of BiH is still avoiding the fulfilment of its obligations. Kosmajac emphasizes that the true solution for this issue would be the adoption of an umbrella laws at BiH level. The Deputy Head of the Pension Fund of the Federation of BiH, Nedzmija Resic, claims it will be difficult to resolve the pensions issue, since many pensioners have earned their pensions in former |
Political issues | |
| OHR on Kalinic statement
| Dnevni Avaz pg 2 ‘State institutions must be stronger to fulfil obligation towards the Hague’, Oslobodjenje pg 5 ‘Dayton is two-way road’ by Fena, Glas Srpske pg 3 ‘Dayton is a two-way street’ – It’s clear that Constitutional change is possible, but this would have to be agreed by all three BiH Constituent peoples, OHR spokesperson Oleg Milisic old FENA on Monday commenting on RSNA Speaker and SDS President Dragan Kalinic’s statement given to OSM TV over the weekend [Kalinic was asked to comment initiatives to abolish RS, to which he responded that would not happen, “Serbs created it, Serbs will protect it”]. Milisic added that Kalinic talks of defending the RS yet he is a part of the RS leadership that is failing to uphold BiH’s international obligations to ICTY. “The DPA is a two way street and the RS is failing to fulfil it’s international obligations. This is a very serious situation, for which the RS leadership is accountable not only for what has happened but what happens next. The RS must remain focused on meeting its responsibilities until they have detained those indicted by ICTY and handed them to |
| VL on Kalinic
| Vecernji List pg 2 ‘Rattling of weapons’ by Ljuba Djikic – Commenting on recent statements by the President of SDS, Dragan Kalinic, that the Serb people had formed the RS and that the Serb people would defend it, the author says such statements are reminiscent of Radovan Karadzic’s statements from 14 years ago in the then BiH Parliament. Djikic is sending a message to Kalinic telling him that it was not the Serb people that established the RS, it was rather the IC, foremost the Americans, who stopped the offensive of the BiH Army and HVO, which in the fall of 1995 came close to capturing Banja Luka. Djikic goes on to say that the same IC should now recognize its mistake and undo it, but without threat of weapons that Kalinic and likes of him use. |
| NN on Kalinic
| Nezavisne Novine pg 7 ‘Pre-election tactics or a serious threat’ op-ed by Josip Blazevic – The author is writing about the most recent statement of Dragan Kalinic, who condemned the statement of Sulejman Tihic seeking abolishment of RS. On this, the author says: “The inciting statement of Dragan Kalinic addressed to Sulejman Tihic is a more like a product of the SDS pre-election campaign and diversion from the course of questioning the responsibility of the RS top leadership in failing to fully cooperate with the ICTY”. |
| Tihic in
| Oslobodjenje pg 4 ‘BiH is on a good way to become functional state’ by Fena – Chairman of BiH Presidency Sulejman Tihic is currently in Dnevni Avaz pg 2 ‘Changes of the constitutional system needed for BiH’s progress’ by F. M. – Tihic stressed that BiH has met almost all obligations put before it, expect admission to the Partnership for Peace. However, he added that BiH was close to fulfilling 16 conditions set by the European Commission in order to approach negotiations on Stabilisation and Accession Agreement. Tihic concluded that presence of the IC is still necessary in BiH. “I expect that in the next year conditions will be met to reduce its institutional presence. However, I believe this is possible only after changes to the constitutional system, as it is complicated and inefficient,” said Tihic. |
| SDS rejects Spiric’s accusations
| Dnevni Avaz pg 4 ‘SDS is not writing citizens’ constitution’ by M.V., Dnevni List, pg 17 ‘Spiric spreads untruths that SDS is making civic constitution of BiH’, not signed, Glas Srpske pg 2 ‘Nothing behind the back’ – SDS Spokesperson Dusan Stojicic denied the statement made by SNSD Nikola Spiric that SDS is working behind the back of the public on the development of a civic constitution for BiH, which does not include entities. He descried Spiric’s claims untrue: “On behalf of SDS I responsibly reject as lies and fiction claims that SDS has together with SDA established some sort of a commission without the knowledge of the public that would develop a civic or some other sort of a BiH Constitution.” Stojicic accussed Spiric of intentionally spreading such untruths. |
| DA int with Sejfudin Tokic
| Dnevni Avaz pg 5 ‘All three Presidency members equally responsible’, mentioned on cover, by Faruk Cardzic – In an interview to DA, SDU Vice President Sejfudin Tokic accused of both parties at power and opposition in RS of only fighting for power and in the course of this action to change their attitudes on even daily basis, instead of trying to solve difficult situation in the entity. Asked to comment audit reports into BiH presidency, Tokic said such findings damage BiH reputation, and that he considers all three members to be equally responsible for irregularities. He adds that it would be the best if they resign. SDU expects good results at upcoming elections. |
| BiH Election Commission has only half of money needed for elections
| Oslobodjenje pg 5 ‘Only half of the means needed collected’ by A.T. – Oslobodjenje writes that only 1.9 million KM have been paid to the bank account of BiH Elections Commission, to be used for holding October elections. Only 52 municipalities out of a total of 146 have met their obligation to make a payment to the Commission to enable financing of the elections. Chairman of the commission, Vehid Sehic stated that Commission was promised by authorities at different level that the finances issue will be solved by the end of this month. |
| BiH politicians on SCG elections
| BHTV 1 – BHTV1 has asked several politicians from BIH to comment to the elections in |
Security and defence issues | |
| BiH delegation meets with Rumsfeld, Powell, Rice
| Dnevni Avaz pg 3 ‘BiH admission to PfP is also in US interests’, mentioned on cover, by Sead Numanovic – Adnan Terzic, Chairperson of the BiH Council of Ministers, in the company of Nikola Radovanovic, BiH Defence Minister, and Lidija Topic, BiH Deputy Foreign Minister, on Monday in Washington met with Donald Rumsfeld, US Secretary of Defence, and his Deputy, Paul Wolfovich. “We, once more, confirmed that BiH’s integration into EU and NATO have no alternative. We have been encouraged with US support to the further reforms process,” stated Terzic for DA, adding that US officials stressed it is also in US interests for BiH to be admitted to PfP. Terzic also met with Condoleezza Rice, National Security Advisor, who also expressed support to BiH’s admission to PfP, however stressed that presence of the war criminals, especially Radovan Karadzic, was still a serious threat to stability and reforms in the region. BiH Delegation also met with Colin Powell, Secretary of State. Nezavisne Novine pg 6 ‘Donald Rumsfeld satisfied with the progress in BiH’ – Rumsfeld expressed satisfaction over the progress achieved in reforms’ implementation, adding he is impressed with results, which BiH has achieved in the past 17 months. He said that American troops would maintain presence in BiH, in order to assist in defence reform implementation. The joint assessment was that BiH admission into NATO programme PfP is necessary. |
| NATO official: BiH chances to join PfP minor
| Nezavisne Novine pg 4 ‘Minor chances for BiH admission into PfP’; Glas Srpske pg 3 ‘Time is ticking’ – James Apathurai, NATO Spokesperson, on Monday in Brussels stated that the chances for BiH admission into NATO programme Partnership for Peace at the Istanbul Summit in June are minor. He stressed that final decision on this issue has not been reached as yet, noting that no significant progress has been achieved as yet. Accordingly, it could be said that “the door of PfP are not more open than they used to be”. |
| Accusations against general Rasim Delic
| Dnevni List, front and pg 17 ‘El Mujahiddin squad of volunteers under command of third corps’, by N. N. – DL carries report from Monday’s issue of ‘Nezavisne novine’ which reported that the wartime commander of the BiH Army, general Rasim Delic, sent the HQ of the BiH Army’s 3rd Corps an order on August 13, 1993, to form a squad of foreign volunteers called ‘El Mujahiddin’. Nezavisne Novine pg 6 ‘Rasim Delic has no comment’ by A.S. – Rasim Delic, war-time Commander of the Army of RBiH, yesterday did not want to make any comment on his order regarding the establishment of the unit composed of foreign volunteers from Islamic states called “El Mujahedeen”. Delic said: “From now on, I do not want to make any comment on anything, bearing in mind various fabrications.” |
| Ivan Cosic Chief OSA Inspector
| RHB, Dnevni Avaz pg 8 ‘Ivan Cosic Chief OSA Inspector’, Vecernji List, pg 2 ‘Ivan Cosic could be chief inspector of OSA’, by F – The BiH Council of Ministers got a confirmation from the OHR that there were no obstacles to appointment of Ivan Cosic to the office of Chief Inspector of BiH Intelligence-Security Agency (OSA), FENA learns from the BiH CoM. It is expected that Cosic will be appointed at a session of the BiH CoM scheduled for Friday, June 18. |
| Tihic on admission to PfP
| Dnevni Avaz pg 2 ‘Changes of the constitutional system needed for BiH’s progress’ by F. M. – Chairman on BiH Presidency Sulejman Tihic stated: “Normally, it is important for BiH to be admitted to Partnership for Peace. However, it is much more important for European standards when it comes to crimes and criminals to be respected in BiH and the region. War crimes cannot be justified with any kind of national interests, because crime is a crime and has not nation.” |
| Mikerevic on treats from El Jahid organization
| Slobodna Dalmacija, pg 12 ‘El Jihad’s threats against me come from Sarajevo’, mentioned on cover, by Boro Jelic – carries an interview with the RS Prime Minister, Dragan Mikerevic, who speaks about recent threats he had received from an organization called ‘El Jihad BiH’. Mikerevic says: “It is hard to say what triggered these threats, but other people too are exposed to these threats. I know about Dragan Cavic. In essence, I had clearly voiced several positions regarding the status of the RS in BiH and I think the RS will make it clear that no revision of the DPA could go into direction of stopping of progressive processes. I was talking about the need for breaking of barriers between the entities, economically wise, but on several occasions I had a negative opinion about some very radical circles and radical statements that came from some NGOs from Sarajevo, which are shooting poisonous arrows at the RS. I also spoke about some senior officials, especially in the Federation, who mind the RS and its name, and who often use the term smaller BiH entity. The problem is in them because I am deeply convinced that the RS is a better part of BiH. By hitting on the RS, the Federation is only hiding its problems”. |
| BiH Parliamentary Commission endorses Podzic’s appointment
| Dnevni Avaz pg 5 ‘Appointment of Sifet Podzic supported’ by H. Orahovac – BiH Parliamentary Joint Commission for defence and security policies has concluded at the session held on Monday that vetting procedure carried out by the international community for the appointments of generals to the BiH Armed Forces has not been transparent, and in some cases even contrary to the European human rights conventions. The member of the Commission, Seada Palavric, added that the Commission has supported appointments of Sifet Podzic, Slavko Puljic and Vlado Dzoic to leading positions with the BiH Army. |
| Update to bad financial situation of FBiH Army | Oslobodjenje pg 6 ‘Federation Army again without money’, mentioned on cover, by A. Prlenda – FBiH Defence Minister Miroslav Nikolic says that he seriously considers postponing the arrival of the next class of recruits for military service due to the desperately bad financial situation. He adds that army has no money to cover even for the food expenses. Dnevni Avaz pg 4 ‘Food to army from stocks’ not signed – Spokesperson for the FBiH Army Joint Command HQ brigadier Hamza Visca says that since it is obvious that budget at disposal is not sufficient for defence sector, it is will be necessary to consider its rebalance. He adds that FBiH Defence Ministry and the Army have already informed FBiH government on this issue. |