| BH TV 1 (19:00 hrs) | FED TV (19:30 hrs) | RT RS (19:30 hrs) |
| Racan visit to BiH | Croatian delegation in BiH | Racan in BiH |
| Entities PM on economy | Pensioners in BiH | PMs in Kozarac |
| BiH membership in EU | Homicide in Bijeljina | Iraq update |
| Iraq update | Trial in Mostar | Middle East |
Due to technical problems, BORAM was not able to provide RTRS summary.
| Oslobodjenje | Terzic coldly received an offer for a highway; Hadzipasic and Mikerevic in Kozarac – PMs promised help; Holbrooke’s determination does not suit Belgrade; Milosevic trial – Kljuic testifying today |
| Dnevni Avaz | What’s behind Racan’s offer; Halilovic left for The Hague; Mikerevic – my resignation would not change anything; Delic – report on Cegar completed |
| Dnevni List | Cardinal Puljic talked to Prime Minister Racan – double standards for Croats after the Dayton; International tender – condition for participation of Croatia in the realization of the Vc corridor; Names of secretaries in ministries – by the end of the week |
| Vecernji List | Sarajevo refuses Racan’s offer; Interview with Kresimir Zubak – the Alliance toppled by Ashdown; IMF orders cuts in budget |
| Slobodna Dalmacija | Instead of Croatia, ‘Bosmal’ company will build 5-C corridor; Miroslav Nikolic – ‘Vitezit’ confiscated military gear from the Federation Army |
| Glas Srpske | Newspaper ‘Defence and foreign affairs’ warns that terrorism threatens to Europe – Balkans is the painful spot; Tragic quarrel – a policeman killed |
| Nezavisne Novine | Croatian Prime Minister ends his visit to BiH – Racan and Terzic made no concrete agreement on highway; Prime ministers of the Republika Srpska and Federation made a promise to the biggest returnee community in the Republika Srpska – entities will jointly assist in the development of Kozarac; Petar Djokic, Republika Srpska Socialist Party – the Republika Srpska government has run out of time; Bijeljina – a cop kills a cop |
| Blic | Blazo Stevovic – Mayor Mijatovic hit me over the head; Miodrag Djuric – all agreements with debtors will be checked |
Political Affairs | |
| Croatia – BiH
| BHTV at 19:00 hrs by Gvozden Sarac – during the talks between Croatian delegation lead by Prime Minister, Ivica Racan, and the BiH Presidency and Council of Ministers held on Monday, it was agreed that within 60 days Croatia would ratify an agreement on the Ploce port. “BiH was ready, if guaranteed by Croatia, to work in the next 60 days on a joint annex of protocol of the contract on the usage of the Ploce port and parallel to that issue to solve the problem of passing through Neum,” said presidency member Dragan Covic. In that regard, Prime Minister Racan said that Croatia certainly ‘accepted the obligation to ratify the agreement on the port within next two months, and previously to work with the BiH government on the annex, which would secure a joint administration of Ploce without foreign arbiter.’ In regard to the building of Adriatic motorway, which would pass through Neum, it was agreed to sign an inter-state agreement previously harmonized by experts. The delegations also announced that by the end of year they would sign an agreement, which would enable citizens of both countries to cross the borders with an ID only as of 1st of January next year. In three to four weeks, the Croatian government would also propose concrete model and program for the realisation of 5C corridor project, which was the first time that Croatia publicly announced its offer to be involved in the building of the corridor. FTV at 19:30 hrs by Eldar Sarajlic – “No one from the authorities has yet done anything concrete regarding the preparation for the 5C corridor. We have had the Law on Concessions for more than two years, and still don’t have the Concession Commission. We have had the decision on forming the Coordinating Team for the Construction of 5C corridor for over two years, yet the Commission has never been formed. The Council of Ministers has to solve the strategy first and establish institutions that would then decide on a spectrum of issues,” said Terzic. As for the issue of the Ploce port, the FTV carried the following statement by Racan.“I will personally take the obligation of encouraging the Croatian Parliament to approve the ratification of the agreement. We have agreed on the adoption of the new protocol, which would exclude the international arbiter from the administration board,” said Racan. RTRS at 19:30 hrs by Stjepan Zlikovac – PM Racan also invited refugees to return to Croatia, saying the government was ready to allocate several billion Kunas for the project. “Croatia accepted the responsibility to solve the housing issue of those people. Only that would cost us several billions Kunas,” explained Racan. Vecernji List pg. 1, 2 and 3, Slobodna Dalmacija pg. 1 and 3, Dnevni List pg. 1 and 3, Jutarnji List pg. 1 and 3 and Vjesnik pg. 1 and 2 – Racan promised to the BiH authorities yesterday in Sarajevo that within the next two months the Croatian Parliament will ratify the Agreement on the Ploce Port. VL says this is the only concrete result of the yesterday’s talks since Racan’s statement that Croatia is interested in the construction of corridor Vc through BiH received ‘cold reception’. DL says that Racan denied these judgments saying that he was leaving BiH with a lot of optimism. SD says that the SDA has been lobbying that the ‘Bosmal’ company gets the concession for the construction of the Vc corridor and that even the honorary President of the SDA, Alija Izetbegovic, took part in the lobbying. Blic pg. 7 ‘Across the border without passport’ – reported on the meeting. Avaz pg. 1, 2 and 3 – asked what would happen if, in the next period, the ‘Bosmal’ was to meet all conditions listed in the letter of intention, Terzic replied the CoM would then continue negotiating with the company. Oslobodjenje pg. 1, 4 and 5 – reported extensively on the meeting. Nezavisne Novine pg. 1 and 3, Glas Srpske pg. 3 ‘Corridor to erase borders’ – also carried the report. |
| Racan – Puljic
| BHTV at 19:00 hrs – Croatian Prime Minister, Ivica Racan, had a meeting with Bosnian Cardinal Vinko Puljic. During the meeting, Puljic said that even though many settlements have been set up since the signing of the Dayton Agreement, Croats in BiH have been treated through double standards, and had great difficulties returning to their homes in the RS. He also reminded of problems concerning the reconstruction of churches in Sarajevo. DL pg. 1, 4 and 5 – reported on the meeting. Avaz pg. 2 ‘Gratitude to Croatian government – reported on the meeting. |
| Avaz commentary | Avaz pg. 3 ‘What’s behind Racan’s offer?’ by Fadil Mandal – the author asks what made the Croatian government suddenly become so interested in the construction of the Vc corridor. Goes on to say that in the background of every politics is an interest. The author further argues as disputable the fact that Racan dictated conditions in Sarajevo requesting arrogantly that an international public tender be issued. He even suggested that for the successful realisation for the project it would be much better to talk to international financial institutions then commercial banks. The Croatian PM’s suggestion, claims the author, refers to the ‘Bosmal’ deal, as this company intends to get the money for the project from commercial banks. |
| Oslobodjenje commentary | Oslobodjenje pg. 2 ‘Racan’s promise’ by Mirko Sagolj – also comments on the visit of Croatian PM Racan, but from a different angle than the above in Avaz – it is very positive and says that Racan, if he is to keep the promise he made about the ratification of the Ploce port Agreement, should act on it fast, meaning before the new elections in Croatia. |
| BiH’s membership in the EU
| BHTV at 19:00 hrs by Marina Boskovic – the EU confirmed the importance of the cooperation between the countries of the region, stressing it was a precondition for BiH to join the European Union. Saba D’Elia, Italian Ambassador to BiH, said that Western Balkans would be a priority for the EU in the next six-months period of the Italian presiding at the EU. He reminded that the unifying of Europe would not be over until the Western Balkans countries joined the EU. Italy will also insist on the support for regional initiatives such as the Central-European initiative and Stability Pact. Ambassador D’Elia said that ‘Balkans countries had to put additional efforts into the establishment of more sufficient administrative capacities, work on fight against organized crime and the establishment of civil commander over armed forces, as well as to ensure full cooperation with the ICTY’. In conjunction with the OHR, the Italian Presidency will work with the EU and EC member countries on the implementation of Thessalonica summit conclusions. Firstly, the meeting at the level of justice and interior ministers of EU members and Western Balkans states will be held in Brussels. A meeting at the level of foreign ministers will follow. In New York, political chiefs will also meet to work on parliament cooperation on the establishment of joint committees on stabilisation and membership. Head of the EC delegation to BiH, Michael Humphreys said that ‘the most important thing was that we could now expect finalizing of the Feasibility Study in November’. On Tuesday, the EC will hand over one third of financial assistance for BiH for this year, while it planned to contribute 63 million Euros to BiH in the next four years. FTV at 19:30 hrs by Gordana Antonic – Humphreys has announced the signing of the National Program of EU Support to BiH on Tuesday, between members of the Commission and members of the BiH Council of Ministers. The Program is worth 63 million Euro. The program funds will support the refugee return, economy and institutional strengthening. RTRS at 19:30 hrs by Vanja Filipovic – “The EU wants to work with BiH as a partner, and therefore necessary reforms must be implemented,”’ stressed Italian Ambassador D’Elia. Avaz pg. 4 ‘Western Balkans remains at the tope of the EU agenda’. |
| SDS on replacing Arseinovic and Vasic | RTRS at 19:30 hrs by Biljana Mandic – the SDS is concerned that two weeks following the High Representative’s decision on the removal of SDS delegates from their positions in the RS National Assembly, the BiH Election Commission still did not verify new mandates of qualified candidates. An SDS press release reads that this lack of action puts in question the legacy of an upcoming session of the RS Parliament, since its legal provision, which says that the RS NA has 83 delegates, was not fulfilled. The SDS also said to be worried over political context of such behaviour by the BiH Election Commission. Spokesperson for the BiH Election Commission, Marsida Bajramovic, said the Commission ‘had received the official decision from the Office of High Representative on Friday and therefore would include that topic on the agenda for the next Election Commission session scheduled for Thursday this week’. A member of the SDS Board, Cvjeto Mikic, said that HR Paddy Ashdown removed Djujo Arseinovic and Dragomir Vasic because they did not support elections in the current RS authorities. He also said that he hoped the High Representative would soon present evidence that would explain his decision. The Serb Radical Party said it believed the High Representatives’ decision was a consequence of an atmosphere created by the current authorities, describing Prime Minister Mikerevic and the rest of the government as ‘incapable of performing their functions’ and reminding the opposition to show citizens that there was an alternative to this situation. Nezavisne Novine pg. 3 ‘The SDS concerned on the eve of an Republika Srpska National Assembly session’ – NN also carries a statement by Cvjetin Nikic, a member of the SDS Main Board and President of the SDS Municipal Board in Bijeljina, who said the following. “Arsenovic was removed from his position owing to his opposition that the authority is established beyond the people’s will. He did not support the current Republika Srpska government and was accordingly sanctioned.” Vecernji List pg. 2 ‘The SDS criticizing BiH Election Commission’ – reported on the SDS being concerned with the absence of decision from the Election Commission regarding the replacements. |
| Zubak interview | Vecernji List pg. 1 and 7 – an interview with the President of New Croat Initiative (NHI), Kresimir Zubak. Q: How do you comment the fact that this authority has excellent co-operation with the OHR? Zubak: “First of all, in my opinion the Alliance was toppled by the High Representative. He did it through some of his decisions, moves and through some media. The conflicts that were burning without flame within the Alliance, which appeared because of some staffing issues, and not because of political reasons, Ashdown pushed to the maximum. That was the main reason we did not get the support from the electorate during the last elections. The High Representative knows that he could not manipulate with the Alliance the way he does with this authority. They do not have their position, they have been turned into a ‘yes-men’. It is enough to see how the High Representative controls press conferences. His people closely follow what Terzic and others politicians from the current authority will state at such events.” |
| HNK government | Vecernji List pg. 2’The OHR confirms appointments in HNK today’ – the OHR today will probably confirm the three ministerial candidates in the government of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton, as confirmed by an anonymous source who stated that ‘nobody had anything against the new ministers’. As a reminder, the HDZ nominated Tomislav Martinovic (candidate for the office of Minister of Interior) and Jago Musa (Education) whilst the SDA nominated is Mumin Isic (Justice). |
| Djokic critical of the RS govt.
| Nezavisne Novine pg.s 1 & 6 ‘The Republika Srpska government has run out of time’ – Petar Djokic, President of Republika Srpska Socialist Party, is of the view that it is high time that the government of Dragan Mikerevic resigned. Djokic claims that in the past seven months, it was proved that the Republika Srpska government had no strength to resolve some inherited problems, nor the new ones. |
| Balkans – terrorist base? | Glas Srpske cover page story ‘Balkans is the painful spot’ – the author raises the question as to whether the American and West European authorities would seriously take information passed on by their intelligence agencies, that warn that BiH is one of the most critical spots in the Balkans and also the centre of the international terrorism in Europe? Gregory Couply, one of the editors of the Defence and Foreign Affairs newspaper recently warned of this issue as well. He noted that Balkans are only the ‘take-off’ place for the quest of radical islamists in Europe. The American newspaper also criticised SFOR and OHR for having failed to conduct a thorough investigation into the camp, which was recently detected in the area between Prozor and Jablanica, believed to be used for the training of terrorists. |
| Ashdown’s statement for SRNA | Nezavisne Novine pg. 2 ‘Better than Petritsch’ – High Representative to BiH Paddy Ashdown yesterday expressed full support to conclusions passed by the European Parliament, which demanded from the HR to pass on responsibility onto the local authorities. In a statement given to SRNA news agency, Ashdown expressed his commitment to the reduction of the OHR scope of activities. The HR also said that in comparison with his predecessor Wolfgang Petritsch, the number of imposed decisions has been significantly reduced. |
| Orton criticizes HR | Glas Srpske pg. 3 ‘Protectorate at the door’ – BiH Ombudsman, Frank Orton, said that some decisions passed by HR Paddy Ashdown have turned BiH into a protectorate. During yesterday’s briefing with members of the press, Orton expressed concern over decisions passed by the HR, which related to the rule of law and the accomplishment of basic rights. He also added that Ombudsman couldn’t interfere and have an impact upon the work of the international organisations. |
| Novakovic critical of HR | Glas Srpske pg. 5 ‘A pressure instead of agreement’ – deals with conclusions of the European Stability Institute, and includes an inset with a statement by Sonja Pastuovic, OHR Regional Spokesperson, who said that the HR passed his decisions following consultations with his associates, representatives of authority and local and foreign experts. When it comes to replacements, she stressed that such decisions were not passed suddenly, but instead were preceded with talks and warnings. Momcilo Novakovic, a delegate at the BiH House of Representatives, says the method of work of HR Ashdown and his predecessors does not have many links with democracy and reality in BiH. “The HR’s work sometimes reflects the interests of some interest groups, and sometimes his personal ambitions,” said Novakovic. |
| Interview with Mikerevic | Avaz pg. 1 and 5 – an interview with RS PM Dragan Mikerevic. As for some reports that prove the RS went bankrupt, Mikerevic stated that there were many who wanted such thing to happen tot eh RS, but added the smaller entity was getting stronger by day in every sense, including political and economical. Asked about his resignation, he said the issue was currently irrelevant. “I already presented my view. It is easy to find 42 reps who will vote for the removal of the government, but almost impossible to get the same number of reps for the election of the new government. My resignation would not change anything because the time has come to finally build institutions, not individuals.” |
Economic Affairs | |
| Privatisation in FBiH
| BHTV at 19:00 hrs by Lejla Redzovic – the FBiH Privatisation Agency and UK consulting agency ‘IMC’ signed an agreement worth over 600,000 KM on preparation and selling of four strategic companies in FBiH. The companies are as follows – Bira from Bihac, Enker from Tesanj, Metalni from Zenica and Granit from Jablanica. BiH took a $ 20 million loan from the World Bank, which it would use to pay consulting agencies tasked to prepare and sell strategic companies in the country. FBiH Privatisation Agency Director, Resad Zutic, said that he believed this reasonable price ‘under condition that good results were achieved in the privatisation process, meaning to find strategic investors, which would continue to successfully run the business in these four companies.’ The IMC has a task to prepare four abovementioned companies for selling and to find strategic partner for sale. Director of the consulting house, Steve Donough, said that their primary task was to achieve good price for the companies. The company has six months to finish its job. The total state capital in the companies it sells is $ 13 million. The Privatisation Agency plans to privatise all 56 strategic companies in FBiH this way. FTV at 19:30 hrs by Indira Sehic – reported on the signing of contract with the British IMC, which is now in charge of selling four strategic FBiH companies. |
| Entity PMs on economy | BHTV at 19:00 hrs by Zorica Lolic – the entity prime ministers lobbied for the creation of a single economic space and regional development in BiH during their visit to Prijedor municipality on Monday. Prime ministers lead their delegations that participated at the ‘Perspectives of development through regional economic cooperation’ economic forum held in this town. They also visited Kozarac, which together with Prijedor, is the leading city in minority returns and economic sustainability, but remains in a difficult situation. RS Prime Minister, Dragan Mikerevic, said that he would take problems described to him as priorities in order to make life of citizens of Kozarac easier. FBiH Prime Minister, Ahmet Hadzipasic, stated that ‘people there had strength and knowledge, a business concept already built and in that regard the FBiH and RS governments would jointly seek solutions to improve the economic development’. FTV at 19:30 hrs by Mirza Sadikovic – returnees have formed 55 companies over the last few years, with the annual income that exceeds 15 million KM. By conducting the reforms in this region, almost all of the returnees will be employed. According to a member of the Bulldozer Commission, Muhamed Cavkunovic, the development of the region is also one of the main goals of the Commission. RTRS at 19:30 hrs by Biljana Knezevic – Prime ministers and their delegations also participated second economic forum held in Prijedor, which was also attended by business associations, representatives of the Bulldozer commission and the international community. The agenda focused on regional economic cooperation and economic development. Blic pg. 7 ‘Without detriments to the entities’, Vecernje Novosti pg. 20 ‘Interests launch cooperation’ – reported on the visit. The visit further reported by Oslobodjenje pg. 1 and 6, Avaz pg. 3 ‘Mikerevic promised help to returnees’. Nezavisne Novine pg. 1 and 3, Glas Srpske pg. 3 ‘Destiny in their own hands’ – carried the report. |
Education Affairs | |
| Beecroft | Dnevni List pg. 7 ‘There is no place for politics in schools’, Slobodna Dalmacija back page ‘Soon plan of merging of grammar schools from both parts of Mostar’ – Head of the OSCE Mission to BiH, Robert Beecroft, visited Mostar yesterday and according to his words, the aim of the visit was the ongoing education reform in BiH. Ambassador Beecroft had separate meetings with Croat and Bosniak politicians. “I stress that interests of constituent peoples will not be ignored. I visited the Old Grammar School where I saw the sad condition the institution was in, which was a respectable institution in the region. You will not get the support from the IC if you do not fulfill promises related to the education reform. I told political leaders that there was a great possibility of improving the education system in BiH. We talked about a progressive plan of merging of two schools, which were located on two opposite sides on the Bulevar. Those are the Old Grammar School in the west and the First Mostar Grammar School in the east part of the city. The IC, in co-operation with Mostar leaders, will see that the integration of these two schools is done and that principles that are in the joint curriculum be respected. I call on the media to stop with politicizing of the education because there is no room for politics in classrooms,” said Beecroft. Questioned how the problem of the Old Grammar School was to be solved, Beecroft said the following. “Details will be made known in a few days, but I can only say that BiH cannot afford to have two schools under one roof.” Also reported in Oslobodjenje pg. 2 ‘One grammar school in Mostar’. |
Military Affairs | |
| Jackson
| Blic pg. 7 ‘To NATO with one army’ – President of the American Committee for NATO, Bruce Jackson, told Srna that precondition for BiH joining the NATO is a single army. “It is not possible to have three armies and be in the process of joining the NATO, nor to have three defense ministers and be in the process of joining the EU,” Jackson said. According to him, BiH, which has a problem of creating a unitary state, will be invited to participate at the meetings on Adriatic Charter. “We do not want to create certain kind of processes in which BiH will not be included,” Jackson said. Dnevni List pg. 4 ‘All charges are losing sense by entering Euro-Atlantic Integration’ and Vjesnik pg. 2 ‘Extradition of Ratko Mladic condition for admission of Serbia and Montenegro to Partnership for Peace’ – Jackson said that Federal Republic of Yugoslavia’s charges against NATO and charges of BiH and Croatia against Yugoslavia would be pointless when all countries of the region join the integration processes and their citizens get the EU passports. “I hope that all these countries will give up the charges if they join the integration processes,” Jackson told journalists in Belgrade. Jackson stated he had no information on Ratko Mladic’s whereabouts on the territory of Serbia and Montenegro. |
| Interview with Nikolic | Slobodna Dalmacija pg. 1 and 17 ’Vitezit’ seized military equipment of Federation Army’ – an interview with FBiH Minister of Defense Miroslav Nikolic. Nikolic mainly complains about the work of Manager of the ‘Vitezit’ company Pero Dzepina. “We have sent many official letters about the unacceptable situation in the company to Dzepina, however, they did not give any results and I will demand from the ‘Vitezit’ Steering Board to accept Dzepina’s resignation and to appoint another person to his position.” Nikolic also says that former FBiH Minister of Defense, Mijo Anic, has made many illogical moves and that many people were dismissed under strange circumstances. With regard to the abolishment of the HVO, Nikolic says that having in mind the Dayton Peace Accords, FBiH Constitution and the law nobody has the right to say that the HVO is being abolished. “The line of command has to be clearly defined and all wrong interpretations on the abolishment of the HVO or BiH Army are utterly ill-intentioned. Both components have to survive as the components of the future armed forces in BiH and that is the interest of peoples from this area because their national interests are being protected in this way.” |
The Hague Affairs | |
| Carla Del Ponte | Avaz pg. 4 ‘The RS is primarily responsible for the arrest of war criminals’ – Chief Hague Prosecutor, Carla Del Ponte, arriving to Banja Luka on Friday July 18. She will meet with officials from the smaller entity and discuss problems of the lack of corporation of the RS with The Hague. |
Reconstruction Affairs | |
| Catholic Church in Tasovcici | Vecernji List pg. 8 by Frano Matic ‘Against construction of Catholic church’ – a group of Serb returnees to Tasovcici near Capljina recently sent to the OHR and other international organizations a petition against the construction of a Catholic church in Tasovcici. According to VL, it resulted in a temporary suspension of works because the OHR, according to VL’s findings, insisted on gathering signatures of Bosniak and Serb returnees to see whether they approved the construction of the church for the need of the increasing number of Croat families that live there. VL goes on to say that the group of dissatisfied Serbs were left alone because other Serbs and Bosniaks agreed to the construction of the church, which previously gathered all necessary documentation. |