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| Change of Canton 10 police symbols | Ashdown to impose Law on CoM | HR to impose Law on CoM next week | Ashdown to impose Law on CoM next week |
| FBiH Defence Ministry salaries issue | Deputy State Prosecutor arrested in Podgorica | 27th night of Ramadan | World’s AIDS Day |
| Cavic to start consultations on RS PM | Slovenia elects President in the second round | Sarajevo’s Hagadah available to public | Some Montenegrin officials involved in human trafficking |
| Vatican announces Pope’s visit to BiH | World’s AIDS Day | World’s AIDS Day | Slovenian presidential elections |
| Oslobodjenje | Four years following the start of privatisation of apartments in BiH: Former subtenants being left without apartments |
| Dnevni Avaz | SDA/Party for BiH talks continue: Fresh steps toward a stable government?; Ashdown to impose Law on Council of Ministers |
| Dnevni List | SDA/Party for BiH negotiation in crisis over posts distribution; Interview with Doris Pack – Seeking for cultural identity does not mean nationalism |
| Vecernji List | Leutar case: Suicide is being set up to protected witness Galijatovic; Paddy Ashdown – BiH has the largest number of judges per capita in Europe |
| Glas Srpski | RS Tax Administration: 20 million tax evasion; London: Blair brings in the Sqiptar Mafia |
| Nezavisne Novine | Ashdown imposing Law on BiH Council of Ministers; Adil Osmanovic, RS Vice President; Sulejman Tihic will sue RS; Anti –AIDS day marked all over the world: in BiH – 52 people HIV positive |
| Blic | Prime Minister designate to be known in ten days; Fictitious firms in Brcko embezzled million of KM |
Coalition building process | |
| SDA/Party for BiH
Safet Halilovic to remain Federation (Vice)President
Radicals receive threats, SDA looses it Main Board member
| Talks on the establishment of a coalition for all levels of authority between the SDA BiH and Party for BiH are expected to be continued in Sarajevo on Monday. According to the results of the first meeting held late on Saturday in the BiH Presidency building in Sarajevo, the two parties will soon reach the agreement on the issue regardless of certain disagreement primarily over the distribution of some positions. The sources close to the negotiating teams say that the SDA has been made a concrete offer and it is now being considered. Concerning the sate level, SDA offers to the Party for BiH The post of the BiH prime minister designate and the post of a president or vice-president of one of the BiH parliamentary houses, as the post of the speaker or deputy speaker in another BiH parliamentary houses will belong to the SDA (Dnevni Avaz, front page, p 3, Oslobodjenje, p 4). Dnevni List (front and page 3, by I.G.) reads that negotiations between SDA and Party for BiH (S BiH) will resume this evening whilst in the meantime, the parties will have consultative talks within their respective presidencies. DL carries Vice President of SDA, Adnan Terzic, as saying that the issue of who gets which ministerial post will not prevent the two parties from reaching the common reform oriented goal that is in the interest of the citizenry. “It is about reaching a partnership without somebody’s seat being the obstacle”, says Terzic. The daily says that the two parties talk most about the implementation of the election results and Haris Silajdzic’s candidacy for the Chair of CoM. The daily also learns from a source close to SDA Main Board that there was a harsh polemics regarding the SDA – HDZ agreement signed a few days ago. S BiH allegedly wants to distance itself from that and any other agreement with other national parties from the line of Croat and Serb peoples that SDA has recently struck. Slobodna Dalmacija (Sunday, page 12, by Zlatko Tulic) reads that available information say that if the Party for BiH joins “the ruling coalition” (SDA and HDZ), it is likely that Safet Halilovic will remain in the office(s) of the Federation President/Deputy President. Regarding a Croat candidate for the same office(s), the daily claims that Rudo Vidovic and Milenko Brkic look likely to assume the post. In the relation to appointment of the Federation PM, SD claims that, if the post is given to the Bosniaks, the person will come from the Zenica-Doboj Canton and that most serious candidate for the post is Semsudin Mehmedovic. Furthermore, Tulic says that Croats are counting on posts of Deputy PM and Minister of Finances. Regarding the Croat candidate for the Federation Deputy PM, SD says that the most serious candidate is Frano Ljubic, the Chancellor of University of Mostar (west), who has a backing from the Croat member of the BiH Presidency Dragan Covic. In relation to that, SD learns from sources in HDZ pinnacle that the aforementioned appointment could cause discontent among a part of HDZ membership. The daily also mentions that Filip Andric announced that he would not be running for the office of the Deputy PM and that Velimir Lovric, a former advisor to Ante Jelavic and currently working in Croatia, is the only man who could go head to head against Ljubic. Lovric himself did not want to comment on the issue. Fonet news agency has learnt that the high official of the Serb Radical Party, Ognjen Tadic, received a threat over the phone that he should not oppose the his party entering a coalition with SDS (Nezavisne Novine, p 7). Tadic stated for Nezavisne Novine yesterday that he received no threats. Member of the SDA main board, Almir Alikadic, left the party, as he does not accept the decision of the SDA officials to support Dragan Kalinic for the RS National Assembly Speaker (Nezavisne Novine, p 6). In an interview for Banja Luka daily, Alikadic said that SDA committed political suicide. |
Council of Ministers reform | |
| Ashdown to impose Law on Council of Ministers
SDS, PDP on CoM reform
Ljiljan on reform of CoM
| The High Representative, Paddy Ashdown, will in the course of this week impose the Law on the BiH Council of Ministers. According to Chief OHR Spokesman Julian Braithwaite, Ashdown decide to do so in order to help the process of reforms including the establishment and the beginning of the functioning of the BiH Council of Ministers on the basis of the agreement reached last week amongst the representatives of the BiH parliamentary political parties. “This is the first out of three steps in reforms that are to ensure undisturbed functioning of the BiH institutions. The two others refer to the reforms in the sectors of customs and tax systems including the introduction of VAT. BiH will thereby become more attractive for businessmen,” Braithwaite told Dnevni Avaz (p 2, mentioned on the front page). Nezavisne Novine, p 2, also reports on the issue. The daily quotes Braithwaite as saying: “This law defines new ministerial posts in the CoM but it does not determine the competencies. The competencies will be defined in a separate law on Ministries which will be the topic of negotiations between political parties that will begin on Tuesday.” The SDS expressed concerns over the frequent announcements that the new Law on Council of Ministers will not be adopted through the regular parliamentary procedure but in some other way. The SDS press release recalls that the party forwarded its comments on the offered draft of the Law on CoM to the OHR on 25th November. The PDP reiterated yesterday that it is against the cancellation of the consensus principle and introduction of new ministries. The PDP also warns that political parties from Sarajevo strongly influence the OHR and the arguments coming from the RS are not accepted at all. PDP believes that there is no need for the new Ministries in the BiH CoM. PDP also stated that imposition of a solution that involves radical changes, without the consent of all constitutional peoples, would be damaging for all BiH citizens as it may lead to a blockage in the work of this institution (Glas Srpski, p 2). The party also thinks that “it is totally unacceptable to introduce a Ministry of Interior Affairs and Security. Insisting on such solutions indicates on a enormous influence of the parties from Sarajevo on the OHR and on absolute neglect of arguments from the RS parties,” the PDP press release reads. “Imposition of a joint police apparatus might cause the blockade of CoM work and difficulties in other BiH institutions’ functioning,” the PDP concludes. (Vecernje Novosti p 11 headline ‘Against joint police’, Blic p 7 headline ‘Unacceptable consensus’) The last week will be remembered by the constitutional sessions of cantonal assemblies and the new RS NA. However, the key game is being played in the process of the CoM reconstruction. According to the SDHR Gerhard Enver Schroembgens ‘a concrete agreement on the CoM reconstruction and an enviable level of cooperation of all parties’ was reached during the talks. According to a senior source from OHR, the talks were organized in the way that all parties were given a chance to express their suggestions in a written form and then they would be discussed. The SDA requested that the CoM has 12 and even 14 ministries. Only parties from the RS were against the idea, an in other words they were advocating the ‘status quo’. The same OHR source stated he was slightly surprised when SDHR Schroembgens distributed a proposal on the CoM’s new structure with eight ministries, but without the defense ministry. This is the first time, the article reads that the IC, even though it has been insisting on it, admitted that they were against the state defense ministry. SDHR Schroembgens later explained that the issue of the defense ministry was something that local people have to decide, as if they previously made decisions about issues such as the national anthem, passports, tags etc. On the other hand, PDHR Donald Hays was more then clear during his visit to Banja Luka when he stated that ‘BiH had to have a civilian control over armies’. Who will have the final saying is yet to be seen (Ljiljan, December 2, by Mustafa Borovic). |
International community/OHR | |
| Interview with Paddy Ashdown
IC expresses sympathy towards nationalists
Interview with Doris Pack | Vecernji List (front and page, conducted by Frano Matic) carries an interview with Paddy Ashdown, High Representative for BiH, in which he talks about topical issues and his priorities. On the reform of Council of Ministers and his possible intervention: “After a series of talks it was agreed to have the Council of Ministers with eight ministries with a Chair at the helm, but without the rotation of the Chair. It is an inter-party agreement and it is important to have the law in force in order to form the government as soon as possible. It is important that the BiH parties did it themselves and not the IC, and that is an extremely important event for BiH”. On reform to judiciary and abolishment of some courts in BiH: “It is all a normal European standard and if other states can have justice based on that standard – why BiH cannot do it. According to that standard, the starting point for the local courts is the number of residents and the problem is not the location of the court but how much work judges carry out. It is unacceptable that BiH has four more judges per capita than Germany, which has most judges per capita in Europe. Every judge in BiH does half a work than his/hers colleague in Germany, which can show the efficiency of abolishment of courts”. Questioned what were the threats that BiH meets in the future, HR Ashdown says that, in the short run, the biggest threat is the lack of rule of law because criminals amass big sums of money through various customs and tax frauds, and in the long run, an increasing number of young people leaving BiH. Asked about his priorities in the future, High Representative Ashdown said that the priorities were the rule of law and the education which needs reform of curricula. Feral (pages 32 and 33, by Ivan Lovrenovic) carries an editorial on the SDP split and as to how this split has de-stabilized democracy in BiH. The editorial also says that a large part of the International Community, led by Paddy Ashdown, the High Representative, has started recently to express almost a shocking sympathy and trust towards nationalists because, allegedly, “they are not the main danger any longer”, “they are not the old nationalists any longer, “it is possible to implement reforms with them” etc. Lovrenovic says that such behaviour raises the question about “real, unexpressed intentions of the International Community in Bosnia”. “Does it all lead again to the division, first of all, the ethnic one within BiH and then the regional one, according to a model give the RS in return for Kosovo and so on.” The editorial also says that when the HR denies such information he should be more convincing and not that confused. The editorial also says: “The author of these lines tends to think that behind described inconsistency of international officials in Bosnia stands an ordinary emptiness and improvisation, the absence of intention and not some sort of a secret, some intention that we cannot grasp and, in my opinion, this is the worst thing that could happen to us. However, this is only the way I think.” Dnevni List (front and page 3) carries an interview with Doris Pack, the President of the EU Parliament Commission for Southeast Europe. Pack says: ”The raid into Hercegovacka Bank, ordered by OHR, which was carried out by camouflaged Bosniak policemen and under protection of SFOR soldiers, was humiliating for Croats. Personally, I was very shocked and ashamed when I arrived to Mostar the same morning. I am sure that OHR would never dare to do it in Sarajevo or Banja Luka. However, this does not mean that OHR suspicions were not grounded, however, do not we have the same suspicions in Sarajevo and Banja Luka. Does anyone know the results of this action? To be constituent people on the whole territory is fine, however, if little is being done in order to make that Croats return to the RS, what does constituency mean then? Unfortunately, we have to admit, that some political leaders of Croats in Herzegovina were not presenting Croats in a proper way.” With regard to the third entity, Pack says: “Perhaps, the third entity would resolve some problems of the Croats in Herzegovina. However, the Croats do not only live in Herzegovina, but also in Sarajevo, Banja Luka, Posavina and this fact should be on one’s mind and it should help Croats to feel as equal citizens no matter where they live, the third entity cannot be a response.” |
Bosnia and Herzegovina | |
| Croatia’s Tomac on BiH constitutional reforms Sarovic meets with Portuguese Prime Minister | “The constitutional changes in BiH actually were a major failure. Fore many reasons, the international community did not want to do what it had to do, and it did not through the constitutional reforms ensure equality of all three peoples in the entire country’s territory,” Zdravko Tomac, the Chairman of the Croatian Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, said in an interview with Dnevni Avaz (p 5). The Chairman of the BiH Presidency, Mirko Sarovic, met with the Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Manuel Durao Baros (sp!) in Sarajevo (Nezavisne Novine, p 4). It was concluded at the meeting that Portugal will keep supporting the institutional development of BiH and its further stabilization through economic, judicial, political and education reforms. |
Federation BiH | |
| Privatisation of apartments
Leutar case
Mostar as the possible Federation Capital
| Summing up the results of the four-year privatisation of the apartments in the BiH Federation, the Entity Minister of Urban Planning and Environment, Ramiz Mehmedagic, claims that approximately 140,000 or 74% of all the socially-owned apartment have been purchased so far. The state still owns more than 26,000 returnee’s, two-three thousands nationalized and some 18,000 destroyed housing units. The current audit of the purchasing contracts will show whether the apartments will be taken away from the former subtenants, fictively divorced persons and newly-established families. So far, according to Mehmedagic, the auditors have checked on only 561 contracts, 34 of which had been illegally concluded. With regard to the issue, OHR Spokesman Oleg Milisic said the audit had been launched primarily due to the families, which had been trading with occupancy rights. “The trade with occupancy rights has always been illegal,” Milisic explains (Oslobodjenje, front page, pages 4-5) Vecernji List (front and page 3, by Milo Jukic) explains as to why a part of the Sarajevo press is publishing claims about the alleged kidnapping of Merim Galijatovic, a protected witness in the Leutar case, referring to the information published in Walter saying that Galijatovic was kidnapped by persons who came in a car with the Croatian license plates. VL says that it is clear to everyone that none Croat(ian) secret service has a motif to kidnap Galijatovic, but those who staged the whole process have a reason to want that Galijatovic disappears because he knows details related to the staging of this process. HR Ashdown’s decision to abolish the special status of two FBiH cantons – Herzegovina Neretva Canton (HNK) and Central Bosnia Canton (SBK) – did not at first receive the same amount of attention as today. The initial excitement has been deflating, especially after a meting between OHR Mostar office head, Jean Pierre Bercot and SDA representatives (picked by Bercot, which stripped them off their elementary democratic right). He made it clear that the first thing OHR planed to do was to abolish the temporary Mostar City Statute, after which Mostar should be promoted as the FBiH capital. The SDA reps did not share the opinion and informed the public about everything. They thought that the Mostar and its Statute were the core parts of the DPA, and therefore should not be re-defined but implemented. The magazine concludes that with corrections, the change of the Statute and the abolishment of the special status of the HNK, Mostar would simply become ‘the Croat capital’. The magazine goes on to explain this by saying that if OHR was serious about realizing the project then they would have to openly confront the HDZ. A large number of Croats would have to be dismissed, and a significant number of Bosniaks would have to be employed. On top of everything, President of the cantonal government Coric made it clear that he did not want to know of any dismissals, which he should implement if told by OHR (Ljiljan. December 2, by Enes Ratkusic). |
Republika Srpska | |
| Cavic today starts talks on RS prime minister
Tihic to officially request change of RS name
Orao investigation
Comments following session of RS National Assembly
Kotorsko issue
| The Republika Srpska President, Dragan Cavic, is expected today to start consultations with the representatives of the parliamentary political parties on the candidates for the RS prime minister designate. Cavic has earlier announced that the name of the prime minister designate would be known in ten days, and that he would seek for a person who can match the concept of almost all political parties in the Entity. Cavic did not speak about the concrete names, but according to unofficial information, the selected candidate might be the current RS Prime Minister Mladen Ivanic (Dnevni Avaz, p 2, mentioned on the front page, Nezavisne Novine, p 7, Glas Srpski, p 3). Since that Cavic got support from the SDS, PDP and SDA, it is the most likely that these parties will decide about a Prime Minister designate. Spokesman of the SDS, Dusan Stojicic, confirmed that the SDS would support a Prime Minster designate from the PDP “because they would like to stabilise and widen the existing parliamentary majority”. On the other side, the moderate parties headed by the SNSD will propose Milorad Dodik for a Prime Minister designate. This was confirmed by Nebojsa Radmanovic, president of the SNSD Executive Board. The SDA says it will support a Prime Minister designate from the PDP. According to the SDA vice-president Elmir Jahic, the SDA will support a government headed by Mladen Ivanic, because in that government the SDA will get three-four ministerial posts including that one of these ministers is RS Government vice-president, and the support for the RS Council of People president. (Blic p 7 headline ‘Prime Minister designate to be known in ten days’) Nezavisne Novine (p 3) carries an interview with the RS Vice President, Adil Osmanovic, which begins with the following statement: “For Adil Osmanovic, the first Bosniak assuming the post of the RS Vice President, some things are crystal clear: this entity can no longer have the same name as until now.” Osmanovic said that the Bosniak member of the BiH Presidency and SDA leader, Sulejman Tihic, will soon request the change of the RS name, its anthem and coat of arms. Osmanovic did not want to speculate on possible decision of the BiH Court. The RS Chief Auditor, Bosko Ceko, completed the audit of the “Orao” Institute documentation and forwarded his report to the RS Supreme Defense Council (Nezavisne Novine, p 3). Ceko did not want to make any comments on the contents of his report. Nezavisne Novine (p 7) carries comments of the SDS founders and former SDS members on the coalition of this party with SDA. Milorad Vujovic, one of SDS founder in Herzegovina region says that the link between SDS and SDA is their wish to remain in power, as this is SDS’s ultimate goal. Vujovic also says that Dragan Kalinic is the most responsible for SDS – SDA coalition. One of the former SDS leaders, Mirko Banjac, says that through cooperation with SDA, the SDS committed crime over its own people. The daily quotes Banjac as saying: “After such precedent, the Serb people must ask SDS leaders for whom those 25 000 Serbs died and should the Serbs exist at all? The dead Serb soldiers have become victims of crime and robbery.” Former SDS delegate to the RS National Assembly, Dragan Djuric from Prnjavor stated that SDS leadership is deeply involved in crime and that they do not care with whom they will be in coalition for as long as they can keep robbing their own people. Former RS Prime Minister, Rajko Kasagic, stated that BiH is brought into a chaotic situation, thanks to SDS and SDA. He accused the representatives of the international community for assisting the war parties to return to the political scene. Miro Mladjenovic, who was senior SDS official in Banja Luka, stated that people who are now members of SDS were not in that party when it was really needed. The OHR Spokesman, Oleg Milisic, stated that OHR supports reform process not political parties. Milisic did not want to comment on the allegations that OHR supports coalitions of national parties, due to the fact that they are easier to manipulate with. FRY Nacional (p 11 headline ‘Houses built, Bosniaks want the land plots back’) reports that refugees in Kotorsko have been building houses in Kotorsko on the land given to them by the Doboj Municipality. However, the Doboj Basic Court has forbidden the further construction on the basis of Bosniaks’ complaints that the land belongs to them. Although the Human Rights Chamber annulled the Doboj Basic Court’s decision, under the OHR pressure it had to make another decision that forbids the construction. But, the president of “Ostanak” Association Bosko Bajic claims that there are clear proofs that the disputable land is not in Bosniaks’ possession. He says that Bosniaks sold the land to agricultural cooperative ‘Agrokop’40 years ago. Despite this, the OHR insists on implementing the decision of the Doboj Basic Court. Asked who will compensate the damage for 137 almost built houses, OHR spokesman, Oleg Milisic, said it would be the best if these people ask for legal help. ‘Ostanak’ thinks that the justice will win, because they have indisputable proofs. The next step that Serbs from Kotorsko will do is to submit the complaint to the RS Supreme Court. “If the Court supports the OHR’s and Doboj Court’s decision then we will request the compensation for houses,” Bajic said. |