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| BIH Defence Ministry report | Bukejlovic won majority in the RSNA | Bad weather conditions in BiH |
| RS NA elects new Government | Report of BiH MoD presented | Snowstorms in |
| Investigation re: Bukejlovic’s support | BiH authorities to attend ICTY trials | No new cases in meningitis in BiH |
| Lozancic meets BIH ambassadors | The EUPM campaign | Flu epidemic in |
| NTV Hayat (19,00 hrs) | FTV (19,30 hrs) | RTRS (19,30 hrs) |
| Snow storms throughout BiH | Attacked man died in Visoko | Racism in BIH |
| State of emergency in Cajnice | 21-year old raped his sister | Bukejlovic new RS PM |
| Report of BiH MoD presented | Bad weather causes problems in BiH | Reactions to Kalabic’s allegations |
| Bukejlovic won majority in the RS NA | | Interview with Bukejlovic |
| Oslobodjenje | RS is not fought for only in |
| Dnevni Avaz | RS Army was paying the criminals |
| Dnevni List | The coldest February in last twenty years |
| Vecernji List | 164 states demand visas from BiH citizens |
| Slobodna Dalmacija | Snow ‘locks up’ schools |
| Nezavisne Novine | Tens of villages covered with snow |
| Glas Srpske | Winter puts in chains |
| EuroBlic | Srpska got its 10th Government: Women are in charge of finances and administration |
| Vecernje novosti | Features Serbian related titles |
| Nacional | Features Serbian related titles |
LATEST NEWS OF TODAY | |
| Jukic on const. changes | RHB at |
| Turkish delegation visits BiH
| BH Radio 1 at |
| Macedonian President arrives to BiH today
| BH Radio 1 at 12.00 – Macedonian President, Branko Crvenkovski, will arrive to BiH in the afternoon. Tomorrow, Crvenovski will meet with the Chair of the Council of Ministers, Adnan Terzic and representatives of the BiH Parliament. BiH and Macedonian officials are expected to sing the agreement on social insurance between two countries. |
10th RS Government elected | |
| RS NA elected 10th RS Government
| PINK – RS Prime Minister designate Pero Bukejlovic won the majority during the session of the RS National Assembly. In his address, Bukejlovic said that the Government was going to insist on fulfilment of all international obligations the RS – bringing back the confidence in the RS institutions – introducing the compatibility with the EU standards, implementation of the EU standards and sustainable return policy, creation of better conditions for both domestic and foreign investments. Chair of SNSD Milorad Dodik said that the offered concept consisted only of everyday phrases and that it offered no improvement of the RS international status. Dodik said “Persons, who have been proposed, are members of SDS which the RHB, TV PINK, BH TV 1, NTV Hayat, FTV, Oslobodjenje cover splash ‘RS is not fought for only in Banja Luka, but Sarajevo too’ by O.Vukovic, Dnevni Avaz pg 4 ‘New RS Government elected’, mentioned on cover ‘Bukejlovic supported by 46 delegates’ by J. Stojanovic, Vecernji List, pg 4 ‘New RS Government’, by bs, Slobodna Dalmacija pg 19, mentioned on front ‘Three Croats and five Bosniaks in RS Government’ by Aleksandar Macanovic, EuroBlic cover pg splash ‘Srpska got its 10th Government: Women are in charge of finances and administration’ and pgs RS2-3 ‘Bukejlovic: we have no time to relax’ by Nedeljka Breberina and Rajna Radosavljevic, Nezavisne Novine pgs 2-3, announced on cover ‘New RS Government was elected’ by V. Popovic and D. Risojevic, Glas Srpske pg 2 ‘New Government was elected’ not signed, Vecernje Novosti pg 4 ‘New Government aside of Sarajevo’ by M. Labus – also reported on the session. |
| Composition of the new RS Government
| RTRS – The Ministers in the new Government are as follows: Minister of Interior Darko Matijasevic, Defence Minister Milovan Stankovic, Minister for Refugees and DP’s Jasmin Samardzic, Minister of Trade and Tourism Boris Gaspar, Finance Minister Svjetlana Cenic, Minister of Administration and Local Self-Governance Zdenka Abazagic, Minister of Labour and Soldiers and Invalid Protection Miodrag Deretic, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management Goran Perkovic, Minister of Health and Social Protection Ivo Komljenovic, Minister of Education and Culture Milovan Pecelj, Minister of Economy, Energy and Development Miladin Gligoric, Minister of Economic Relations and Coordination Jasmin Seferovic, Minister of Traffic and Communications Dragoja Lajic, Minister of Justice Dzerard Selman, Minister of Urban Planning, Civil Engineering and Ecology Muhamed Lisic and Minister of Science and Technology Fuad Turalic. There were many critiques heard in RS NA Tuesday regarding the PM’s expose since according to some deputies it does not address main economic and reform matters. Milorad Dodik from SNSD and Slobodan Popovic from SDP were one of those who criticised Bukejlovic. RS President Dragan Cavic congratulated the new Government and stressed that it will have to work on accelerated cooperation with the ICTY. New Ministers took a solemn oath in RS NA Tuesday thus making their appointment official. |
| Bukejlovic on election
| RTRS – In a RTRS programme after the RS NA session, Pero Bukejlovic, stated that he was pleased with the support he got from RS NA deputies. He explains that his exposé was not aimed at mapping out the work program of the Government but just to signify the matters that the Government will deal with in the next period. Bukejlovic says that main issues in his expose are protection of RS institutions and economic-social matters. When asked to comment critiques that were heard in RS NA Tuesday Bukejlovic says that everyone has the right to criticise and adds that he hasn’t changed the economic policy since it has already been adopted at the beginning of the year. He says that the Government will change certain things but the main policy will remain the same. Commenting on allegations about the bribe in exchange for support to his Government. He answered that the information regarding that are untrue but never the less investigation on the matter will be launched. |
| RS President Cavic welcomes the election of new RS Government
| Glas Srpske pg 2 ‘Hague as measure for everything’ not signed, Nezavisne Novine pgs 2-3, announced on cover ‘New RS Government was elected’ by V. Popovic and D. Risojevic, EuroBlic pg RS2 ‘Cavic: People change, problems stay’ – RS President Dragan Cavic has stated after the election of new RS Government that accelerated cooperation with the Hague Tribunal is a political issue that conditions all other political developments and events. GS quotes Cavic as saying: ‘Development of the situation with regard to the status of the Army and police greatly depends on cooperation with |
| RS NA Chairman Stojicic: election is proof of maturity of RS | Glas Srpske pg 2 ‘Proof of maturity’ not signed, Nezavisne Novine pg 3 ‘Government’s hands tied from the beginning’ not signed – RS NA Chairman Dusan Stojicic has assessed that the election of new RS Government was a proof of political, institutional and democratic maturity of RS. |
| Mikerevic: PDP supported Government as the least bad solution
| Glas Srpske pg 2 ‘The least bad solution’ not signed, Nezavisne Novine pg 3 ‘Government’s hands tied from the beginning’ not signed, Vecernje Novosti pg 4 ‘New Government aside of Sarajevo’ by M. Labus – PDP member Dragan Mikerevic has said his party has decided to support the Government of PM designate Pero Bukejlovic while trying to choose between two bad solutions. GS quotes Mikerevic as saying: ‘…we have tried to choose the least bad solution. We cannot be satisfied with our selection but, at the moment, it would be worse for our citizens and party to have the outgoing Government on power’. |
| Mihajlica compliments new Government, Dodik, Gusic, Osmic criticize it
| Glas Srpske pg 2 ‘Remarks of the opposition’ not signed – SNSD delegate Milorad Dodik has assessed PM designate Bukejlovic’s expose to be ‘full of phrases’ and said the proposed concept was not concrete enough nor obligatory for the new executive authority. GS reads Dodik has expressed his regret they have missed their chance to show HR Paddy Ashdown he can no longer act arrogantly towards RS, its institutions and leadership. Dzevad Gusic (SDA) thinks the expose was written in order for the international community to like it. Milanko Mihajlica (SRS) says RS needs the new Government and assessed the presented stance of Bukejlovic’s cabinet as one that guarantees seriousness, professionalism and competency. Vecernje Novosti pg 4 ‘New Government aside of Nezavisne Novine pgs 2-3, announced on cover ‘New RS Government was elected’ by V. Popovic and D. Risojevic – also carries statement of Dzevad Gusic and reports SNSD delegate Dodik has said Bukejlovic’s concept was not offering any improvement of international position of RS but only its complete isolation. He also said it was unacceptable for a designate who, as well as his party, was banned from entering EuroBlic pgsRS2-3 ‘‘Bukejlovic: we have no time to relax’ by Nedeljka Breberina and Rajna Radosavljevic – Party for BiH delegates think the expose was a reflection of political trades. Nezavisne Novine pg 3 ‘Government’s hands tied from the beginning’ not signed – Zekerijah Osmic (SDP) thinks the election of the new RS Government represents a sign RS continues to follow a path that does not lead to the future, since this Government is composed out of SDS and its “satellites”. Dnevni List pg 4 ‘Republika Srpska gets the 10th government’, by Jurislav Petrovic –SDB MP in the RSNA, Slobodan Popovic, noted that Prime Minister, Pero Bukejlovic’s expose should have been much more serious, concrete and with more data. |
| NN op-ed on support to new RS Government, PDP
| Nezavisne novine op-ed pg 7 ‘Political prostitution’ by Momir Dejanovic – the author comments on the latest developments with regard to the election of new RS Government and criticizes parties because, as he says, they support the authority because of material benefits. He also says ‘PDP again has the highest price at the market of political prostitution in BiH…’ and claims the party was offered attractive positions in BiH institutions, Telekom, “Srpske Sume” and other institutions and firms in an exchange for support to the new Government. |
| Update to DNS bribery / Comments
| Nezavisne Novine pg 3, announced on cover ‘The Prosecutor’s Office is investigating “purchase” of votes’ by D. R. and V. P. – Banja Luka Regional Prosecutor’s Office on Tuesday launched an investigation upon claims of DNS delegate Drago Kalabic saying he had been offered bribery to support the election of new RS Government. There were some speculations in the parliament on Tuesday that delegate Milosava Jakovljevic (Party for BiH) had received a bribery in the amount of 10,000 KM. Jakovljevic denied these allegations. NTV Hayat, Dnevni List pg 4 ‘Republika Srpska gets the tenth government’, by Jurislav Petrovic– The RS Helsinki Committee Executive Director Branko Todorovic asked for investigation to be conducted regarding the issue. PDP asked RS Minister of Interior Darko Matijasevic to do the same. RHB, RTRS, Nezavisne Novine pg 3, announced on cover ‘The Prosecutor’s Office is investigating “purchase” of votes’ by D. R. and V. P. also report on Todorovic’s demand. RTRS, Nezavisne Novine pg 3, announced on cover ‘The Prosecutor’s Office is investigating “purchase” of votes’ by D. R. and V. P.– Stanko Pivasevic from SDS says that he sees no reason for someone to offer money to Kalabic in exchange for his support since the Government has all the necessary support. Glas Srpske pg 2 ‘Bribery?’ not signed – “Certain privileges and jobs were offered from certain individuals who are not top officials in the political sense. They are representatives of that criminal mafia lobby that supports such a political structure”, says Dodik. Chief of PDP caucus Nevenka Trifkovic asked Minister of Interior Darko Matijasevic to investigate these allegations. |
| Oslobodjenje criticises Bukejlovic for having failed to address police reform
| Oslobodjenje pg 9 ‘New RS Government’ by Senka Kurtovic – Referring to the RSNA session which discussed the appointment of the new RS Government, the editorial notes that Pero Bukejlovic, PM-designate, did not say a single concrete or any thing in his presentation, and that he avoided to talk about the key issue – establishment of the single police. “It is clear that lobbying and, as many have been saying, bribing have results,” concludes the author. |
| Terzic says following RS Govt election, BiH COM should now be elected
| NTV Hayat – Chair of BiH Council of Ministers Adnan Terzic said that the crisis in the Council should be settled following election of new RS Government. NTV Hayat asked Terzic what was he going to do since the Government had been nominated. Terzic said “I think that now we have elements for having a normal discussion on what we are going to do with submitted resignations, and to discuss on eventual changes in the CoM…The best solution would be for resigning ministers to withdraw their resignations in order for the CoM to continue its work. I would not give any prejudices on the results of the political agreements except that the issue is going to be solved soon and efficiently.” |
| PDP received promise from Cavic on BiH COM
| RTRS – PDP supported the new Government since they received promises from RS President Dragan Cavic and SDS that new CoM will be elected in BIH Parliament. CoM Chairman Adnan Terzic says that he will not allow BIH Parliament to vote against the current CoM. “I am glad that PDP arranged that with President Cavic because it means that political subjects in RS are cooperating. I am just not clear how do they think to implement that and what do they want to gain with that”, says Terzic. Terzic stated that the most favourable thing for CoM would be for the Ministers Mladen Ivanic and Branko Dokic to withdraw their resignations. Terzic also stated that if that doesn’t happen after the RS Government is elected he will start negotiations regarding fulfilment of their positions. |
Defence reform / Hiding of Mladic | |
| BiH MoD report: ‘Mladic had received 13,500 KM of salary from RS’
| PINK – BiH Minister of Defence Nikola Radovanovic presented today the report on conducted investigation for systematic weaknesses in command and control over BiH military forces. The investigation could not prove whether Ratko Mladic was hiding in barracks near Han Pijesak. The investigation has not proved the information stated in the High Representative Paddy Ashdown’s letter regarding Mladic’s dismissal from the RS Army, in 2002. Radovanovic said that the RS Prosecution had conducted investigation against 6 persons for taking money for Mladic. The investigation focused on identification of necessary means, which would ensure effective control and command in the BiH military forces. Radovanovic said “Investigations, which have been conducted, proved that a great number of reforms is being carried out in defence system and that the implementation was ongoing. I want to stress the fact that we are still in the first year, still the first year of implementation of practical measures in the defence system.” The report has been submitted to the OHR. NTV Hayat – Radovanovic said “The investigation could not prove whether Ratko Mladic hid in military barracks near Han Pijesak, during summer 2004, and it was impossible to connect any RS military officer with issue of supporting any war crime indictee.” BiH Ministry of Defence is going to conduct measures in order to stop supporting war crimes indictees. RHB , FTV, Dnevni Avaz cover splash ‘RS Army was paying the criminals’, pg 3 ‘Criminals Mladic and Pandurevic were receiving salaries from RS Army’ by E. Sarac, Oslobodjenje pg 3 ‘Six suspected of paying Mladic’, mentioned on cover, by A. Prlenda, Dnevni List, pg 2 ‘Ratko Mladic was on regular payroll between 1999 and 2001’, by Danka Polovina-Mandic, Vecernji List, pg 3 ‘Investigation did not prove claims’, by Eldina Medunjanin, EuroBlic pg RS5 ‘They were not hiding him, he was only receiving a part of salary’ by Dusanka Stanisic, Glas Srpske pg 3 ‘Mladic was not coming’ by N. Zelenovic, Nezavisne Novine pg 2, announced on cover ‘Mladic had received 13,500 KM of salary from RS’ by M. Cubro also reports on the issue. |
| Oslobodjenje op-ed on BiH MoD report
| Oslobodjenje pg 9 ‘Mladic and puberty’ by Antonio Prlenda – Following the press conference the BiH Defence Ministry held to present the investigation report on allegations that Ratko Mladic was hiding in Veliki Zep, the author notes that the real benefit of this report “rests with the fact that the defence minister and his staff had to face something this serious, and gather resources and establish weaknesses until the system is being built.” Author welcomes the fact that the report did establish that Mladic was paid by the RS Army until |
| DL op-ed on BiH MoD report
| Dnevni List pg 2 ‘Reliable information’ by Danka Polovina-Mandic – Commenting on Minister Nikola Radovanovic’s statement that despite helping during the investigation, the OHR, OSCE and EUFOR did not submit the intelligence data on basis of which they claimed that Ratko Mladic was hiding at Han-Pijesak, the author argues that whilst the IC could not share the intelligence, the war crimes suspects are still dodging the justice, which as a consequence means that ordinary citizens in BiH will keep suffering the most, “condemned to live in this sort of BiH”. |
Other political issues | |
| Novakovic freezes discussion on his proposal before the
| TV PINK – The Constitutional-Legal Commission within the BiH Parliament has stopped further procedure regarding the adoption of law on FTV, Dnevni Avaz pg 2 ‘Momcilo Novakovic froze discussion on his proposal before |
| OHR against big pensions to MPs
| TV PINK, HB T 1, NTV Hayat, Dnevni Avaz pg 4 ‘Growing privileges of state delegates is scandalous’, Slobodna Dalmacija, pg 18, mentioned on front ‘MPs give themselves pensions of 2500 KMs!?, by D. Pasic, B. Kristo – OHR gave the statement on proposal of law on rights and obligations of members of BiH Parliament. Spokesperson to OHR |
| Jovic on OHR’s comment
| Dnevni List, pg 6 ‘OHR against big pensions to MPs’ by Danijela Kozina – According to Deputy President of BiH Parliament’s HoRs’ Constitutional-Legal Committee, Ivo Miro Jovic, the OHR’s statement that the Proposed law on rights and duties of Members of Parliament will enable parliamentarians to receive pensions in region of 2500 KMs is an “orthodox lie”. “There is an article in the Law on rights and duties of MPs that says if an MP becomes a professional, meaning if an MP works at least two years plus one day, that MP would have a pension that amounts to 60% of average salary received in last three months, which amounts to some 1400 KMs”, says Jovic. |
| HDZ, SDA, PDP, SBiH to discuss constitutional changes next week
| Dnevni Avaz pg 5 ‘SBiH suggests the division of authorities at the state and municipal level’ by F. Vele – DA writes that the representatives of SDA, HDZ, PDP and SBiH would accept the invitation to attend the meeting on constitutional changes in BiH scheduled for the next week by the BiH Presidency member, Dragan Covic. Covic says he believes that at the beginning, representatives will first discuss the issues country faces. “I don’t believe that the attitude on abolishment of RS should be immediately taken, because we would at the very beginning kick out one of three sides and would waste the chance for success,” says Covic adding that HDZ will present the model of constitutional changes at the meeting. PDP leader, Mladen Ivanic, says that this party welcomes such talks, but stressed that “there is no chance to abolish RS and its institutions.” SDA leader, Sulejman Tihic, says that this meeting to be held in Neum could result in consensus on 80% of issues, while 20% should be solved through the international community. |
| Tihic: BiH should have one president
| Nezavisne Novine pg 6 ‘BiH needs to have one president’ by A. S. – BiH Presidency member Sulejman Tihic has stated the organization of BiH with only one president is a reality and added he presumed Croat member of BiH Presidency Dragan Covic would agree with his initiative on only one president. |
| Lozancic/Radivojevic/Grahovac on Dzihanovic’ initiative
| Dnevni Avaz pg 8 ‘It is necessary to downsize executive authority in F BiH’ by M. Kukan – Niko Lozancic, F BiH President, views the initiative of the F BiH Vice President, Sahbaz Dzihanovic as a confirmation it is necessary to change internal structure of BiH, which stipulates the abolishment of many institutions. In a statement to DA, Lozancic says that: “The rationalisation of authority in BiH and its functional efficiency is only possible through constitutional reforms, which demand political consensus.” Desnica Radivojevic, F BiH Vice President, notes that the changes of F BiH Constitution automatically impose demand for change of BiH Constitution, but conditions need to be created when such process would be parallelly implemented in RS. Gavrilo Grahovac, F BiH Vice Premier, fully supports demand for abolishment of positions of F BiH President and Vice Presidents, as well as Government re-shuffle and adequate filling of positions at BiH HoP. RHB – also carries Lozancic’s statement. |
| NN op-ed on constitutional changes
| Nezavisne Novine op-ed pg 7 ‘“Premonition” of disaster’ by Almedin Sisic – The author refers to frequent initiatives and proposals on constitutional changes and says ‘unfortunately, nobody asks BiH citizens, regardless of their national, geographic, social or any other belonging, what they want’. The author says every initiative on constitutional changes is explained with sentence ‘state, entities and all citizens would reach an edge of financial collapse unless changes are adopted’ while, at the same time, nobody sees many citizens go through garbage cans searching for food. He criticizes the oversized public administration composed out of incompetent and lazy employees and concludes constitutional changes are indeed needed in BiH, but for the benefit of better lives of citizens, not for the benefit of political and national power. |
| Wnendt in Mostar
| RHB, PINK, Dnevni Avaz pg 2 ‘Wnendt: Parallel institutions must urgently be untied’, Dnevni List, pg 13, mentioned on front ‘Unify institutions and select employees’, by Sanja Bjelica, Slobodna Dalmacija, back pg ‘Mostar without money from Elektroprivredas’, by M. Landeka– Senior Deputy to HR Werner Wnendt met with Mostar Mayor Ljubo Beslic and Chairman of Mostar City Council Murat Coric. They spoke about the problems regarding the process of Mostar unification. Beslic stated that the biggest challenge is adopting the 2005 budget. Coric stated that CC will not break processes that are necessary for Mostar unification. Wnendt is scheduled to visit Stolac tomorrow. |
| VL on visa regime for BiH
| Vecernji List cover pg splash and pg 5 ‘164 states demand visas from BiH citizens’ by M. Sutalo – Carries that as many as 164 states demand visas from BiH citizens. VL goes on to say that apart from Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro and Macedonia, there are only 13 countries that BiH citizens can enter without visas, however, none of these countries are Europe. |
War crimes | |
| Tihic on BiH lawsuit against SCG
| Oslobodjenje pg 7, mentioned on cover ‘Tihic believes that HDZ will not be working against Croat victims of aggression’ by A. Kalamujic – Bosniak member of the BiH Presidency Sulejman Tihic confirmed for ‘Oslobodjenje’ that his colleagues Borislav Paravac and Dragan Covic could formally launch the procedure at BiH Presidency for review of the decision on BiH lawsuit against Serbia and Montenegro. Tihic added that Paravac and Covic can outvote him and in that case Tihic would launch the procedure for protection of a vital national interest in the House of Peoples of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly. Tihic also expressed his belief that HDZ will not go all the way when demands for reaching an out-of-court settlement with SiCG are in question since it would be contrary to the interests of the Croats who just like Bosniaks were victims of the genocide that SiCG is responsible of. |
| Covic: lawsuit of BiH against SiCG will have no success
| Vecernje Novosti pg 4 ‘Lawsuit aside of the state’ not signed – Croat member of BiH Presidency Dragan Covic stated Tuesday Bosniak political top of BiH treats lawsuit of BiH against SiCG as a lawsuit of their people and it has no chance for a success since state institutions and individuals from the authority are not behind it. |
| Kovac: BiH is ready for trials but not against all criminals
| Oslobodjenje pg 5, mentioned on cover ‘BiH is ready for trials but not against all criminals?!’ by A. Omeragic – BiH Justice Minister Slobodan Kovac stated on Tuesday that ‘in principle BiH is ready to take over from the ICTY war crime cases which are according to the ICTY rules certified as junior level’. He also said that he talked with Prosecutor Marinko Jurcevic and President of the BiH Court Meddzida Kreso about all cases that Chief ICTY Prosecutor Carla del Ponte wants to transfer to BiH and he added: ‘In principle we agree that BiH is ready for the trials against war crime indictees, however, the question is whether we want all the cases that the ICTY Prosecution is proposing. We have to decide which cases should stay in the ICTY because of their specific nature and which cases should be transferred to BiH courts.’ |
| SD on transfer of cases from ICTY to BiH judiciary
| Slobodna Dalmacija, pg 17 ‘Lawyers from Republic of Croatia cannot defend indictees in BiH’, by Zlatko Tulic – Writing about the transfer of cases from the ICTY onto the BiH judiciary, SD reads that according to some information, there are fierce “behind the stage” discussions at the ICTY regarding the transfer of cases that Croatia and Serbia and Montenegro want to try before their courts. Allegedly, the stalling in transfer of cases came to be following the statements of President of BiH Court, Meddzida Kreso, that she will not allow processing of crimes that were committed in BiH before courts in other countries. |
Other issues | |
| EC notes there is still racism in BiH
| RTRS, PINK, BHT1, NTV Hayat, Nezavisne Novine pg 5 ‘Ethic and religious discrimination is present in BiH’ by Beta, Dnevni Avaz pg 5 ‘There are problems of racism, ethnic and religious discriminations in BiH’ by Onasa, Oslobodjenje pg 2 ‘Ethnic and religious discrimination still a problem in BiH’ – The report of the European Commission for Fighting Racism and Intolerance [ECRI] notes that the serious problems with racism and racial discrimination, including ethnic and religious, are still present in BiH as a result of national policies of ethnically impassioned political parties. |
| EUPM launches campaign on single police
| PINK, BHT 1, NTV Hayat. Dnevni Avaz pg 3 ‘Single police structure more efficient in the fight against crime’ by L.S., Dnevni List, pg 5 ‘Police in BiH subjected to political manipulation’, by Mensud Zorlak – EUPM launched the campaign of raising public awareness of the BiH citizens regarding the benefits of the single BiH police structure. EUPM Commissioner Kevin Carty stated at the launch that the existing police structure was inappropriately organized and as such was useful only to criminals: “Politics should play no part in operational police work. If politics is allowed to influence, in any way, the operational work – which is the case in BiH – we have police forces serving state, not the citizens. In other words, a police state.” Carty pointed out that 140 million KM could be saved through proposed new police structure. |
| Guardian: EFT investigated for suspicious dealings in Balkans
| Dnevni List, back pg ‘British EFT involved in suspicious deals in BiH and SCG, Oslobodjenje pg 7 ‘EFT involved in suspicious dealings in BiH and SiCG’, mentioned on cover, by Guardian, Nezavisne Novine pg 5 ‘EFT was accused of exploiting Balkans’ by P. Klincov – Media carry out the article published by the UK-based ‘Guardian’, which reads that EFT Ltd, a British electricity trading enterprise, is being investigated by the UK Serious Fraud Office [SFO] for alleged corruption in BiH and SiCG. The company denies breaking the law and says it is the victim of political in-fighting, including allegations presented in the special audit reports. Guardian cites the HR, Paddy Ashdown, explaining he commissioned a series of special audits, which allege that kickbacks may have been solicited by state power company officials to write advantageous electricity-swap contracts with private companies. “The public utilities have been used as cash cows to line the pockets of politicians and others…I have no doubt that illegal, corrupt money is used to protect war criminals,” Ashdown told the Guardian. EFT is not accused by the auditors of being involved with war criminals, and it denies paying kickbacks. The report called for its contractual relationships with the state company to be investigated. EFT has a British director, James Nye, while records show that it is controlled by a Serb, Vuk Hamovic, and a group of |