Latest radio news broadcast at 12.00 on January 20
| RADIO HERCEG-BOSNA (12,00 hrs) | BH Radio 1 (12,00 hrs) |
| Bush inauguration today | Bairam celebrations in BiH |
| | Bush’s inaugural ceremony |
| Other world news | World Ski cup in |
TV news broadcast on January 19
| RADIO HERCEG-BOSNA (18,00 hrs) | BH TV 1(19,00 hrs) | FED TV (19,30 hrs) | RT RS (19,30) |
| Stolac update | Todovic postpones plea | ITA Board mtg | VN on terrorism in BIH |
| HR in Fojnica | Issue of Stolac crosses | BiH farmers will protest | Vasic sentenced to 4.5 yrs |
| 1 March – farmers protests | Vasic sentenced to 4.5 yrs | Terzic on CoM session | Todovic postpones plea |
| OSA,SIPA agreement | Trial to Ramiz Delalic Celo | Vasic sentenced to 4,5 yrs | Trial to Ramiz Delalic Celo |
| Dnevni List | SDP’s round table: Idea on establishment of regionalized republic of BiH supported |
| Vecernji List | Stolac: Cross was not demolished |
| Slobodna Dalmacija | Cross stays until new decision |
| Nezavisne Novine | Three millions of people are attending hajj in |
| Glas Srpske | Water risen up to – pensions |
| EuroBlic | Mutual accusations of parties from the Federation of BiH and RS; Both the program and Ministers by mid February; Minister Kebo made refugees angry: They threat with bringing charges |
| Vecernje novosti | Features Serbian related titles |
| Nacional | Tony Blair: independent Kosovo and unitary |
| Slobodna Bosna | Children of BiH politicians are running away from country their parents rule |
Note: Due to Kurban Bairam Dnevni Avaz and Oslobodjenje have not been published today.
LATEST NEWS OF TODAY | |
| US orders Sacirbey’s extradition
| BH Radio 1 News at |
| Novakovic[SDS]: Dismissing ministers will not solve anything
| SRNA news agency – The Head of SDS Caucus in BiH House of Representative, Momcilo Novakovic, stated for Srna that the crisis in BiH authorities will not be solved by removing ministers that fail to appear at the upcoming session of the Council of Ministers. “The solution is in an agreement between those able to ensure functioning of institutions at the both RS and BiH levels,” said Novakovic commenting to Terzic’s announcement underlying that CoM Chairman is entitled to make such decision but will also have to take responsibility for consequences. |
| Spiric: Terzic should take stance on resignations
| SRNA news agency – The Deputy Speaker of BiH House of Representatives, Nikola Spiric, harshly criticised the chairman of CoM, Adnan Terzic, of hiding the crisis in this institution. Spiric stated for Srna that Terzic should submit the report to BiH Parliament on why the CoM fails to hold session. “Terzic should take stance on resignations, and there is no need to schedule session to test who will appear and who will not,” underlined Spiric. |
Political issues | |
| Bukejlovic: Consultations with parties to be completed within set deadline
| RTRS by Aida Halilovic – RS PM-designate Pero Bukejlovic announced in an interview given to RTRS that he will complete his consultations with parliamentary parties by Monday. He stated that all activities regarding appointment of the new Government will be completed within the legal deadline. Bukejlovic added that these times are very important for the RS and for that reason SNSD should consider their participation in the new Government. EuroBlic, cover ‘Both the program and Ministers by mid February’ and pg. RS2 ‘Agreement by February 15’ by Srna, Nezavisne novine, pg. 3 ‘Solution on RS Government by the end of the week’ by V. P., Glas Srpske, pg. 2 ‘Doors are open for everyone’ not signed – Bukejlovic also announced he would hold talks with NGOs, representatives of Trade Unions, Veterans’ Associations and RS Chamber of Commerce in the course of the next week. |
| Terzic: Those who do not attend BiH CoM’s session to be relieved of duty
| RTRS – Chairman of the BiH Council of Ministers Adnan Terzic announced that the BiH CoM session is going to be held on 1st of February and warned that Ministers who do not attend the session are going to be relieved of duty. Dnevni List, pg 2 carries in its ‘Statement of Day’, Adnan Terzic, as saying: “I tried not to deepen the crisis”. Also covered by BH TV 1, Slobodna Dalmacija, pg 16 ‘Come to |
| Ivanic on Terzic’s ultimatum
| RTRS – Commenting on the aforementioned statement of Adnan Terzic, BiH Minister of Foreign Affairs in resignation Mladen Ivanicanswered that Terzic has the resignations on his desk and therefore he doesn’t know whom he will dismiss. Ivanic also feels that nothing can be done in BIH without parties from the RS. Also covered by BH TV 1 |
| Djurkovic (PDP): Serb ministers will not attend session of CoM on Feb 1
| Dnevni List, pg 4, mentioned on front ‘New resignations in Council of Ministers’, by Arijana Beus – Carries an MP in the BiH Parliament, Jelina Djurkovic (PDP), as commenting on aforementioned Terzic’s announcement. Djurkovic believes that ministers from the line of the Serb people will not attend the session. “As far as the PDP ministers are concerned, they will stick to their resignations. I also believe that minister Nikola Radovanovic, who has announced resignation, will do it at the said session. On the other hand, there is minister Slobodan Kovac, who said he’d withdraw, if other ministers from the line of the Serb people withdrew. Ivanic and Dokic filed their resignations and there is no reason to attend the session of BiH CoM”, says Djurkovic. |
| SB on Ivanic’s alleged efforts to reclaim Foreign Minister position
| Slobodna Bosna pg 6 ‘Mladen Ivanic seeks painless way to reclaim Foreign Minister position!’ by A.M. – According to DB, after “he rushed to resign from the position of BiH Foreign Minister”, Mladen Ivanic has intensified efforts to reclaim his position in the Council of Ministers. SB source says that Ivanic planned to do that by having BiH Parliament to vote non-confidence to entire CoM, after which BiH Presidency would give again the mandate to Adnan Terzic. Terzic would than restore CoM in almost the same composition. However, Terzic allegedly has not accepted this scenario fearing that Sulejman Tihic would not support him, but instead would replace him. |
| RS parties: Mtg of FBiH parties aimed at change of Const. and RS abolishment
| EuroBlic, cover ‘Mutual accusations of parties from the Federation of BiH and RS’ and pg. RS1 ‘The crisis is not accidental’ by Nedeljka Breberina and Marija Jandric – Representatives of RS parties believe the meeting of six parties from the Federation of BiH was held with an aim to launch the initiative for changing the Constitution and abolish RS. SDS Spokesperson for political issues Stanko Pivasevic, on the other hand, claims the Federation of BiH has caused the crisis by its unrealistic demands for abolishment of some RS institutions. SNSD leader Milorad Dodik says everyone is entitled to his or her opinion and everyone has the right to change anything if he/she gains the necessary consent. He said SNSD will not participate at a meeting that will be held at the end of January, since SNSD’s partner – SDP – has also refused to participate in negotiations.SDS says it will attend the meeting but ‘a minimum in protection of institutions of RS should be defined first, and one should not go beyond this line’. |
| Maroevic: EC may decide on SAA negotiations in March | BH TV 1 – EC Spokesperson Frane Maroevic says that it is possible that the decision on BiH being ready to start the negotiations on Stabilization and Association Agreement will be passed during the meeting of EC representatives, which is going to be held in March. |
| Update to Stolac: Crosses have not been removed, solution to be found by February 10
| Dnevni List, pg 3, mentioned on front ‘Demolition of cross above Stolac suspended’, by Nermin Bise – The crosses on Krizevac hill above Stolac, which were supposed to be removed yesterday, were not removed following the decision of the FBiH Ministry of Urban Planning. According to information coming from the office of FBiH Minister of Urban Planning, Ramiz Mehmedagic, the postponement of decision came to be after the Head of Stolac Municipality, Stjepan Boskovic, suggested that the interested parties should reach an agreement about the issue in days to come. The said Ministry expects from Boskovic to carry out intensive talks in order to overcome the newly-born situation in Stolac and find a solution by February 10. “If the cross and foundations are not removed by then, the FBiH Ministry of Urban Planning will schedule the execution of the decision, which should have been carried out on January 19”, reads the information from Mehmedagic’s office. RHB, BH TV 1, FTV, RTRS, Nezavisne Novine, cover ‘Croats held a mass, Bosniaks gave up from going to a picnic’ and pg. 3 ‘Crosses were not pulled down’ by V. Coric, Slobodna Dalmacija, front pg splash and pg 17 ‘Cross stays until new decision’, by Ivo Raguz, Vecernji List, front pg splash ‘Stolac: Cross was not demolished’ and pg 3 ‘Procession at Krizevac postpones demolishing of the cross’, by Frano Matic – also covered. |
| Russian Foreign Minister: ‘DPA must remain base for regulating situation in BiH’
| Nezavisne Novine, pg. 2 ‘Lavrov: the Dayton cannot be changed’ by Srna, Vecernje Novosti, pg. 13 ‘Russia opposes blackmailing of Serbia’ by Branko Vlahovic, Glas Srpske, pg. 5 ‘Do not interfere with the Dayton’ not signed – Russian Minister of Foreign Affair Sergej Lavrov has stated Russia pleads for the implementation of the Dayton Agreement and he says a violation of the Dayton Agreement would be unacceptable. Asked to comment the latest events in RS, Lavrov said: ‘the |
| SDP’s round table on constitutional changes: Decentralized BiH organized in regions
| Dnevni List, front pg splash and pg 8 ‘SDP’s round table: Idea on establishment of regionalized republic of BiH supported’, by D. Polovina-Mandic – The SDP BiH organized a round table in Sarajevo yesterday (Wednesday) the topic of which was the party’s proposal on changes to the Constitution of BiH. According to DL, apart from members of SDP, prominent public and scientific workers and representatives of opposition parties took part in the round table. Summarizing conclusions of the round table, a member of the SDP Main Board, Sabrija Pojskic, stated that the majority of participants agreed that there needed to be a parliamentary discussion about the issue, which would be initiated by the Parliament, which would have to take a decision on necessity of changes to the Constitution. “The changes that the SDP proposed (in September last year) have been supported and our proposal that the pre-amble (of Constitution) should read that ZAVNOBiH’s decisions are foundation of statehood of BiH, have been positively assessed. It was also supported that BiH becomes a republic and be decentralized on principle of regionalization”, said Pojskic. |
| DL op-ed on constitutional changes: FBiH parties irritating political parties in RS
| Dnevni List, pg 2 ‘Constitutional monologue’, by Danka Polovina-Mandic – Commenting on recent meetings that have been organized by both the ruling and opposition parties in the FBiH, which highlighted the need for carrying out of constitutional changes in BiH, the author says that the changes to the BiH Constitution indeed ought to take place, however the author questions the method the parties are using to push forward the changes by simply saying the entities must be abolished, which irritates the political players in the RS, which in turn creates counter-effects. According to the author, the FBiH-based parties need to resort to diplomacy more rather than carry on with their ‘monologues’ regarding the need to abolish the entities i.e. the RS. |
| VL: Croats not represented enough in senior posts in SIPA
| Vecernji List, pg 3 ‘It’s about national parity’, mentioned on front ‘SIPA: Head of Mostar office removed’, by Dejan Jazvic – reports that leadership of SIPA (BiH State Agency for investigation and protection) removed Andjelko Hrgic (Croat) from the office of head of regional office of SIPA in Mostar last month and appointed Vahid Alagic (Bosniak) to the office. According to VL, this move disrupts the national representation in senior offices of one of most important State institutions. VL goes on to say that there are almost no Croats in senior posts in SIPA because in the same time Hrgic got replaced, the Head of Protection of VIPs, Mijo Golub (Croat), also got removed too. VL unofficially learns that two of them got removed after a special commission of SIPA decided not to award them the rank of chief inspector, which is one of formal pre-requisites to assume senior posts in the Agency. VL reckons that in reality this means that young officials do not have much chance to assume senior posts, since only between 8-10 old Police officials will be in the running for the posts. VL notes that Dragan Lukac, Deputy Director of SIPA, is the only Croat with the rank of chief inspector. |
| HR visited Fojnica
| RHB, Dnevni List, pg 2, mentioned on front ‘Ashdown will lobby for help to Franciscan monastery’, by NINA, Slobodna Dalmacija, pg 8 ‘Ashdown concerned with working conditions in school’, by B. Jukic, Nezavisne Novine, pg. 4 ‘Ashdown visited Fojnica’ by Fena – The High Representative, Paddy Ashdown, visited Fojnica on Wednesday and met with the guardian of the Monastery of the Holly Spirit, Mirko Majdandzic. Ashdown also attended the ceremony of issuing the reprint of the “Fojnicki grbovnik”, which is one of the most important BiH medieval manuscripts. |
| Nacional on Blair and HR Ashdown
| Nacional Belgrade daily, cover ‘Tony Blair: independent Kosovo and unitary Bosnia’ and pg. 2 ‘Blair wants an independent Kosovo and unitary Bosnia and Herzegovina’ by B. T. N. – SiCG President Svetozar Marovic met with the Prime Minister of Great Britain, Tony Blair, and Minister of Foreign Affairs Jack Strow on January 17 in London. The article claims the cooperation with ICTY is not the only pre-requisite for the admission of SiCG to EU but, reportedly, Blair advised Marovic the issue of Kosovo and RS must be resolved as well. The article further speculates Blair is in favor of having an independent Kosovo and also reads: ‘It is well known Blair is protecting interests of Muslims in BiH on the detriment of Serbs. This fact reflects through activities of his close associate Paddy Ashdown, who is trying his best to abolish RS’. |
Mesic on BiH Croats’ right to vote in Croatian elections
| Dnevni List, pg 7, mentioned on front ‘Media attacks will not exacerbate my relations with Croats in BiH’, by Ivica Glibusic – Carries an interview with the Croatian President, Stipe Mesic, in which he mostly talks about the position of BiH Croats in BiH and about their right to vote in Croatian parliamentary/presidential elections. “Croatia, fur sure, must help Croats in BiH, but in a way to support their cultural, scientific, sports and other projects”, said President Mesic. |
| Sanader dismissed claims that only Croatian tax payers should be eligible to vote | Dnevni List, pg 13 ‘Solve issue of voting of BiH Croats through bilateral agreement’, not signed – Croatian Prime Minister, Ivo Sanader, has announced that he would start an initiative, which would result in signing of a bilateral agreement between Croatia and BiH, which would, among other issues, solve the issue of voting of BiH Croats in Croatian parliamentary/presidential elections. PM Sanader dismissed claims that only Croatian citizens that pay taxes in |
War crimes/Judicial procedures | |
| ICTY approved Todovic’s appeal to enter plea in 30 days | RTRS, BH TV 1, FTV, RTRS, Nezavisne Novine, pg. 2 ‘The indictee postponed plea’ by Sense – ICTY indictee Savo Todovic did not enter his plea in the first ICTY appearance on Wednesday. Todovic asked to enter his plea in 30 days, which was approved by ICTY. |
| ICTY official on Todovic’s surrender
| BHT 1 – ICTY representative in BiH Mathias Helman said “[Savo] Todovic’s surrender presents positive step and I hope that it is going to open the way for better cooperation. It is extremely important to note that inviting ICTY indictees to surrender does not free any state from its responsibility to do what ever it takes to arrest all war crime indictees.” |
| Matijasevic/Cliff on Todovic
| Nezavisne Novine, pg. 2 ‘Matijasevic and Cliff discussed transfer of Todovic to the Hague’ by Srna – The Spokesperson of British Embassy to BiH, Emir Salihovic, has stated that RS Minister of Interior Darko Matijasevic informed the Ambassador of Great Britain to BiH, Ian Cliff, on the course of the transfer of war crimes indictee Savo Todovic to the Hague. Minister Matijasevic and Ambassador Cliff also discussed the current political situation in RS. |
| HJPC Chairman on Trebinje and Vlasenica case
| Nezavisne Novine, pg. 5 ‘The decision is up to the President of the Court’ by P. Klincov – RS Public Attorney has asked from RS Supreme Court to assign a priority to processing of “Alijagic” case. The Chairman of HJPC, Branko Peric, has stated the President of RS Supreme Court, Zelimir Baric, will decide on this request. He emphasized HJPC would not use its authority to influence the resolving of “Alijagic” case saying that they want to establish a full independence of Courts and judges in processing of cases. |
| Pekic on blockade of Trebinje and Vlasenica accounts
| Nezavisne Novine, cover ‘Slaven Pekic: you should ask judges about the blockade of Vlasenica and Trebinje accounts’ and pg. 5 ‘You should ask judges about the blockade of accounts’ by V. Popovic – The outgoing RS Minister for local administration and self-governance, Slaven Pekic, has stated one should ask judges and HJPC what they would do about the case of the blockade of Vlasenica and Trebinje accounts. Pekic wonders ‘why the international representatives have not reacted on this, considering the fact the entire local community was put in jeopardy because someone has done something wrong in the past’. |
| SNSD to request from RSNA discussion on blocking of Trebinje and Vlasenica accounts
| RTRS, Dnevni List, pg 3 ‘SNSD condemns behaviour of Republika Srpska Government’, not signed, Glas Srpske, pg. 5 ‘It is the Government’s fault’ by N. D., Nezavisne Novine, cover ‘Slaven Pekic: you should ask judges about the blockade of Vlasenica and Trebinje accounts’ and pg. 5 ‘You should ask judges about the blockade of accounts’ by V. Popovic – SNSD condemned the conduct of the RS Government in regard to the Municipalities of Trebinje and Vlasenica, whose accounts have been blocked by court decisions, and announced that it would request a discussion on these matters at the next session of the RS National Assembly. |
| McNair testified in Fazlic case
| FTV – Prosecutor John McNair testified on Wednesday in the trial against former BiH Interpol Deputy Director Asim Fazlic. McNair said that, after talking to prosecution key witness Izet Mustafic, he gained impression that Fazlic was ready to influence persons who could offer influence against him. Also covered by BH TV 1, Nezavisne Novine, pg. 4 ‘Indictee Fazlic was sending messages from prison to late Mustafic’ by A. D. |
| Vasic sentenced to 4,5 years in prison
| BHT 1, FTV, RTRS, Nezavisne Novine, cover and pg. 15 ‘Four and a half years of prison for Vasic’ by A. Durmo, Slobodna Dalmacija, back pg ‘Defendant gets 4,5 years of prison’, by B. Kristo – BiH Court on Wednesday sentenced Bogdan Vasic to 4,5 years in prison for illegal drug dealing and forging of documents for imports of 43 tons of acetic acid anhydride. |
| Cant. Prosecutor’s Office: Indictment against Vuksic to be issued soon because of “coup d’etat” affair | Nezavisne Novine, cover ‘Investigation on “coup d’etat” affair: Indictment against Vuksic will be brought soon’ and pg. 3 ‘Indictment against former FOSS Director will be brought soon’ by M. Cubro – NN Collocutor from Sarajevo Cantonal Prosecutor’s Office has confirmed that the Cantonal Prosecutor’s Office will soon bring an indictment against Ivan Vuksic, former acting Director of FOSS, because of abuse of office and authorities in “coup d’etat” affair. The Spokesperson of Sarajevo Cantonal Prosecutor’s Office, Oleg Cavka, has confirmed that the investigation on Vuksic is being conducted for several months now. ‘I can confirm the existence of the investigation on Ivan Vuksic because of the responsibility in “coup d’etat” affair but I cannot confirm whether or when the indictment would be brought’, Cavka has stated. |
Economic and social issues | |
| BiH farmers to organize mass protest as of March 1
| RHB, FTV, Dnevni List, pg 5 ‘Blockade of Council of Ministers on March 1’, by Danka Polovina-Mandic, Slobodna Dalmacija, pg 57 ‘Change free trade agreements or blockade of Council of Ministers’ by D. Pasic – The BiH Association of Farmers will start mass demonstrations as of 1st of March. President of the Association Ranko Bakic stated that the demonstrations will last until the BiH CoM starts an audit of a Free Trade Agreement and protects domestic producers. |
| GS on FBiH and RS stands regarding payment of pensions
| Glas srpske, cover page story ‘Water risen up to – pensions’ by R. S. – The article reads that the Federation of BiH still refuses to implement decisions of the Human Rights Chamber with regard to payments of pensions. The article announces the RS NA would discuss Draft Changes and Addenda to the Law on Pension and Disability Insurance and, should delegates adopt the changes, RS would stop paying pensions to approximately 10,000 pensioners – returnees to the Federation of BiH. FBiH Minister for Labor and Social Welfare, Radovan Vignjevic, has stated: ‘We do not want to work under any pressure. Our Fund is paying out pensions in accordance with agreement that has been reached. I think the Federation of BiH has fulfilled concrete decisions of the Human Rights Chamber’. |
| ITA Steering Board to propose changes to Law on Excises
| FTV, Nezavisne Novine, pg. 5 ‘Changes to the Law on Excises to follow’ by M. C. – ITA Steering Board will propose changes to the Law on Excises in order to protect domestic production, as Miodrag Kudic, the member of the Steering Board, stated on Wednesday. CoM Chairman Adnan Terzic has stated he would support the changes. |
| Danas: Aluminij CEO Brajkovic on future plans, selective audit of privatisation
| Danas, pgs 31-33, mentioned on front ‘Federation Government prevents employment of thousands of people’, by Josip Milic – Carries an interview with the CEO of ‘Aluminij’, Mijo Brajkovic. Questioned as to who is blocking the new Electrolysis, Brajkovic says: “It is mostly the laws and the FBiH Government, and people who incite the Government against Aluminij. German companies and banks are ready to invest their funds, but they must have guarantees regarding the electricity and one has to know who owns Aluminij”. Questioned to comment on the issue of selective audit of privatization, Brajkovic says the company is in favour of the audit, to be more precise in favour of audit of privatization of companies that were sold for one KM or for useless certificates. |
| Stevanovic says refugees will start bringing charges against BiH | EuroBlic, cover ‘Minister Kebo made refugees angry: They threat with bringing charges’ and pg. RS2 ‘We will sue BiH’ by N. Breberina – The Chairman of the Union for coordination of RS Associations of Refugees and DPs, Veljko Stevanovic, has stated that, unless a fund for compensation is established in BiH, refugees and DPs will start bringing private charges against BiH. ‘Establishing of the fund for compensation is an obligation prescribed by the Dayton Agreement and BiH Ministry for Human Rights and Refugees should raise this issue and apply pressure to entity authorities to comply with their obligations’, Stevanovic has stated. |