| RADIO HERCEG-BOSNA (18,00 hrs) | BH TV 1 (19,00 hrs) | FED TV (19,30 hrs) | RT RS (19,30) |
| Employment conference | Police Reform Comm mtg | Pensioners’ Day marked | Terrorism in BIH |
| Officials in Mostar barracks | BiH soldiers in | Dismissed soldiers issues | ICTY indictee asset freeze |
| Cliff visited Mostar | Suspect for explosion dead | HR supports ITA | McShane on ICTY |
| Cavic meets Davidson | Busek against DPA change | 7 exhumations in Sokolac | Investigation in Bijeljina |
| Oslobodjenje | FBI investigates Al-Qaeda network in BiH ?!; Toby Robinson is a next witness against Jelavic; CoM will not accept IMF’s blackmails |
| Dnevni Avaz | Ashdown: Unnecessary doubts in the work of foreign judges; NATO and EU Ambassadors meeting: Everything read to replace SFOR; Hays: There is no better solution for internal debt |
| Dnevni List | Party for BiH can break up agreements between HDZ and SDA |
| Vecernji List | FBI in Sarajevo |
| Slobodna Dalmacija | Army at verge of poverty but it prepares to go to |
| Nezavisne Novine | Members of Venice Commission with members of constitutional Commissions of BiH Parliament: No unified stance regarding change of |
| Glas Srpske | SOFT demands BAM 70 million |
| EuroBlic | Bush to abolish the Tribunal |
| Vecernje novosti | Bush will (not) close Tribunal? |
| Nacional | Geoffrey Kuchner from “The Washington Times”: How I destroyed |
War crimes | |
| Cavic confirms Karadzic’s property will be ceased
| FTV, Oslobodjenje pg 3 ‘karadzic’s property will be frozen’ by Fena, Dnevni Avaz pg 4 ‘Cavic: We will free all Karadzic’s property’ by Fena, Vecernji List, pg 3 ‘Cavic: Freezing of Karadzics’ property’, by F, Dnevni List, pg 5 ‘Karadzic’s property will be frozen’, not signed– RS President Dragan Cavic confirmed on Monday that the RS will have to implement the European Union’s decision on freezing the assets of the indicted war crime suspect, Radovan Karadzic, just as it is requested from Serbia-Montenegro and Croatia in the case of Ratko Mladic and Ante Gotovina. Cavic reiterated that the decision refers to RTRS by Vesna Cibic – BiH authorities will also abide the decision but the issue is raised on the amount of the assets in question in BIH. Goran Radivojac spokesman of RS Prime Minister states that in order to arrest war crime suspects it is necessary to establish cooperation in the region. The Chair of the Council of Minister Adnan Terzic agrees with Cavic also stating that the decision is obligatory and that it needs to be determined how many assets do the war crimes suspects have.“I don’t know how we will do it but I know that CoM …will do everything to bring that matter to an end”, says Terzic. Luka Karadzic, brother of Radovan Karadzic, claims that all assets are frozen and the only thing remaining is the house. He adds that authorities should freeze everything on the accounts if they find them. He also says that authorities never found anything to freeze although they are trying to since 1995. OHR welcomes the position of BIH, SCG And Croatian authorities. “OHR hopes that institutions of BIH authorities will consider a possibility of taking the lead role in the future in implementation of similar measures such as freezing of assets to all war crime suspects at large”, says LJiljana Radetic OHR spokesman. |
| VL on freezing the PIFWCs’ property
| Vecernji List, pg 3 ‘Law watches over property of Radovan Karadzic’, mentioned on front, by Dejan Jazvic – Reminding that the BiH authorities have announced that they would fulfill a request of the EC and freeze the property belonging to two most wanted ICTY fugitives, namely Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic, VL reckons that it could represent a formal-legal problem. VL explains that unlike in some other countries, the current laws in BiH do not allow expropriation or temporary confiscation of property, unless there are evidence that the property is illegally acquired. Even when it comes to the latter situation, notes VL, the confiscation can only take place if there is a court verdict, which confirms that the property is indeed illegally acquired. In that context, VL argues that since Karadzic and Mladic have not been sentenced yet and since there are no evidence on illegal origin of the property, the authorities will be having difficult time in justifying a possible confiscation of their property. Finally, VL notes that the only person that could react in this situation is the High Representative Paddy Ashdown for BiH, “whose powers are above the BiH laws”. |
| RS/Serbian dailies carry Washington Times report on ‘conflict’ btw Bush and Del Ponte
| Glas Srpskepg 5 ‘Lady Macbeth of the Balakns’; EuroBlic cover and pg 2 ‘Bush to abolish the Tribunal’ by T.N.DJ.; Vecerenje Novosti cover and pg 4 ‘‘Bush will (not) close Tribunal?’; Nacional pgs2-3 ‘Bush: I will close Court in The Hague’ by Geoffrey Kuchner – The articles quote The Washington Times by saying that Washington insists on either to process war crimes committed in the Balkans before local courts or to amnesty the crimes. According to The Washington Times, State Department officials (John Bolton, the State Vice Secretary for Weapon Control is quoted as a source) have realised what ICTY Chief Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte has refused to admit – the Hague Tribunal has degenerated into a politicised Tribunal, which has not managed to stay in frame of its mandate. ‘Instead of serving as an independent institution that would punish those who had committed or ordered crimes, the Tribunal has become an instrument by which Del Ponte wishes to modify history of the Balkans wars. She has abused the Prosecutor’s Office by bringing indictments that are very weak’, an editorial of The Washington Times, signed by Geoffrey Kuchner (the Director of Communications of the Republican Research Centre), reads. According to WT, Bush’s administration demands from the Chief Prosecutor to bring cases before the Tribunal to an end. ‘Finally, USA has a right to believe the Hague Tribunal has become a non-democratic institution but also a direct threat to development of democracy in the area of former Yugoslavia’, WT reads. According to WT, Del Ponte has succeeded in what nobody had succeeded before – she had temporarily united population of former Yugoslav countries, namely they are all united in opposing her. WT compares Del Ponte with lady Macbeth, saying she is unscrupulous political careerist. |
| Comments regarding the WT article | Nezavisne Novine pg 2 ‘Del Ponte abused Prosecutor’s Office’ by D.Ra. – Following the article from the Washington Times, NN inset ‘Tadic: Serbs might stand trials in Zagreb and Belgrade’ carries that Serbian President Boris Tadic has assessed that possible trials before local courts might lead to having Serbs stand trials before courts in Sarajevo and Zagreb, which might pose an additional problem for Serbia. Dnevni List pg 4 ‘US President harshly warned Carla del Ponte’, mentioned on cover, by N. Bise – DL says that the Office of the Bosniak Liaison Officer Amir Ahmic refused to comment on the aforementioned article, while the Croat Liaison officer Goran Mihaljevic did not hear about it at all. According to DL, the US Embassy said that they will check all the claims from the article and have the White House official stand on the ICTY work today (on Tuesday). Nezavisne Novine pg 6 ‘USA would not demand closure of Tribunal without Karadzic and Mladic’ by SRNA – Dennis McShane, UKDeputy Foreign Secretary, Monday expressed his view that the American President, Administration and the public would not allow that the Hague Tribunal is closed as long as SiCG provides informal protection to Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic. |
Police and military issues | |
| Police Reform Commission meets in | BHT 1, RTRS, Dnevni Avaz pg 4 ‘Matijasevic and Njegus departed for Brussels’ by Onasa – The highest officials of the entity Interior Ministries, BiH Security Ministry and BiH Prosecutor’s Office have met in Brussels to discuss the police restructuring in the country. Talks are held within the aim of the Police Reform Commission lead former Belgian Premier Wilfred Martens. This commission’s task during next five days is to propose solutions that will make police forces in BiH more efficient. |
| Spiric on meeting of Police Reform Commission
| RTSR by Zeljka Koljancic– Nikola Spiric Deputy Chairman of BIH House of Representatives claims that the meeting of Police Reform Commission in Oslobodjenje pg 4 ‘Model is known, they should not have make the expense’ by Onasa – Spiric criticised authorities going to Brussels for meet spending the money that way, claiming that the model to be accepted has already been known. Dnevni Avaz pg 4 ‘SNSD will not allow single BiH MoI’ by M.V. – DA carries the statement by Spiric: “The HR Paddy Ashdown until now has worked to unpack the BiH Constitution in order to create conditions for its changing. Political option I belong to will not accept the solution under which a single BiH MoI is to be established. The united BiH Interior Ministry is not condition for efficient arrests of war crimes suspects, fight against organized crime, terrorism and corruption.” Nezavisne Novine pg 6 ‘Abolishment of RS police agreed on’ by V. Popovic; Glas Srpske pg 5 ‘Reform – an illegal work’ by M.Mi. – Spiric stated that Dragan Mikerevic and Dragan Cavic should have more strongly supported Darko Matijasevic in his opposition to creation of a single police force in BiH. |
| RSNA Commission on defence and internal affairs on police reform
| Euro Blic RSpg 7 ‘Through discussions to a compromise” – Velimir Sakan, the President of the RS NA Committee in charge of defence and internal affairs, Monday told the daily that this Committee is in absolute support to the participation of the RS delegation in the work of the Commission in charge of the police reform with the firm position that nobody has the mandate to accept solutions that could be in contravention with the RS Constitution and the BiH Constitution. He added: “The initially offered concept that anticipates the abolition of MoI’s at the Entity level is unacceptable for us, even though we are aware that this job needs to be done. Our position is that a compromise has to be worked out in the negotiations that will follow and that both entities will be satisfied with.” Borislav Bojic, one of the Committee members (from the SDS), said that the RS has to have a clear starting concept with regard to the police reform so that it is able to offer concrete solutions and proposals in the field. Dzevad Gusic, a Committee member from the SDA, claims that the positions with regard to the matter differed and that there would be a lot of polemics in the future discussions. According to him, realistic assessments are that a compromise would be reached in |
| Update to claims on terrorist activities in BiH
| RTRS, Vecernji List cover pg splash ‘FBI in Sarajevo’ and pg 2 ‘Terrorists trained in Zenica are killing in Iraq’ by Hina – Media report on the article published by Glas Srpske on Monday which featured Josef Bodanski, Chief Advisor in the US Congress Department for Terrorist Affairs and Non-Conventional war-waging, as saying that there is a terrorist network in BiH, composed of several groups directly or indirectly responsible to Al Qa’ead’s leader, Osama bin Laden [see BiH Media Round-up Oct 25 for detailed report]. He referred to Zenica as the most recent discovery by the Oslobodjenje cover splash, pg 7 ‘FBI questions Al’Qaeda network?!’ by A. Prlenda – Oslobodjenje also carries Bodanski’s claims, adding that FBiH Interior Ministry has no information to confirm them. Spokesperson for FBiH Police Administration, Robert Cvrtak, stated: “We have no information of training of any terrorist group [taking place here].” However, Cvrtak could neither deny nor confirm Bodanski’s claims that FBI investigators are in the country to check terrorism suspicions. OHR spokesperson |
| Covic, Pendes, Nikolic visited barracks in Mostar
| RHB, Dnevni List pg 3 ‘Covic: BiH in PfP in next 6 months’ by NINA, Vecernji List pg 2 ‘Financing main problem of FBiH Army’ by M. Mikulic, Slobodna Dalmacija cover pg splash ‘Army at verge of poverty but it prepares to go to Iraq’, pg 13 ‘Army at verge of poverty’ by Z. Zekic– Croat member of the BiH Presidency Dragan Covic, BIH Deputy Defense Minister Marina Pendes and FBiH Defense Minister Miroslav Nikolic visited barracks ‘Stanislav Kraljevic’ in Mostar on Monday. Commenting on the situation in the FBiH Army especially the Croat component Covic said that there were many problems in the past especially when it comes to financial issues. He stated that making the FBiH Army more professional is inevitable. He also expressed belief that BiH will join Partnership for Peace in the next 5 or 6 months. Pendes answered the question regarding sending BiH soldiers to |
| NATO, EU Ambassadors discuss EUFOR mission | Oslobodjenje pg 3 ‘US will keep its soldiers in BiH’ by Fena/AFP, Dnevni Avaz pg 3 ‘Everything is ready to replace SFOR’, mentioned on cover, by Fena, Dnevni List pg 4 ‘Scheffer: USA will keep smaller unit in BiH’ not signed – NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said on Monday that USA will keep a smaller contingent in BiH after NATO withdraws from the country and EU forces arrive in December. After the end of the session dedicated to BiH attended by NATO and EU ambassadors, Scheffer said that the size and mission of the |
Judicial issues | |
| Ints with Ashdown: I will not allow interference with the judiciary
| Dnevni Avaz cover splash ‘Unnecessary doubts in the work of foreign judges’, pg 2 ‘Ashdown: I will not let interference in the work of judiciary’ by S. Numanovic – “BiH is on the cross roads in which it has the chance to start the process under which it will once for all finish with the corruption and organized crime at the highest level. That disease has suffocated the state and has been destroying the lives of the citizens in this country on daily basis,” said the High Representative Paddy Ashdown in an interview to DA. He further stressed that this process of fighting corruption is under “potential threat caused by those believing that the best way to protect themselves is to create the debt into the foreign judges and prosecutors working in the Nezavisne Novine cover and pg 2 ‘Ashdown: I will not allow pressures against prosecutors’ by M. Cubro – In an interview to NN along the same lines, Ashdown stressed: “Now we have a chance of a life-time to purge the state of corruption and organised crime. There are people trying to jeopardise this process, but I will not allow that happen.” He did not want to give any name of such persons, saying that “everybody following up on media reports would get to conclusions easily”. Vecernji List pg 5 ‘I will prevent any attempt of interfering in court processes’, mentioned on cover, ‘Ashdown: To prevent exerting influence on courts’ by D. Jazvic – VL also carries an interview with Ashdown who says that the time has come to clean up corrupt structures in BiH and he added: ‘This is not only about Croats but about members of all 3 peoples.’ He concluded: “The process of establishment of the independent judiciary will be completed successfully.’ |
| Update on Hercegovacka bank trials
| BHT 1, Oslobodjenje pg 3 ‘Toby Robison is next witness against Jelavic’ by A.N., Vecernji List, pg 5 ‘Toby Robinson the next witness’ by ri– The next witness in the Hercegovacka Bank case before the BiH Court should be the Provisional Administrator for HB, Toby Robinson. According to Prosecutor John McNair, Robinson should be explaining about documents that have been found in the bank, and documents received from the then payment bureau (ZPP). The trials are scheduled to continue on Wednesday. Dnevni List, pg 5 ‘Toby Robinson will testify about discovered documents’, mentioned on front, by Erna Mackic – In continuation of the ‘Hercegovacka bank’ trials, witness Ivo Kulis from the (FBiH) Ministry of Defence was questioned. Slobodna Dalmacija, pg 12 ‘Defence: Bank’s archives were illegally confiscated’, by Zlatko Tulic – Regarding Kulis’ written statement, SD notes that Prosecutor McNair noted that the statement did not have comprehensive information, so it would be of no use to further question Kulis. However, Jelavic’s defence had objections to the statement, asking Kulis to explain allegations regarding the handover of documents in the FBiH Ministry of Defence. Namely, according to Kulis, the handover of financial and technical documentation never took place. Kulis explained that his allegations are based on a report of the Chief Inspection of the FBiH MoD, which in April 2001 established that documents regarding accounting were missing and that the documents were in fact in Mostar. Questioned by Jelavic’s lawyer whether there was a connection between the documents and Jelavic, Kulis said he did not know whether there was a connection. SD also notes that the defence team will be objecting to the way documents regarding Hercegovacka bank have been confiscated, since the defence believes the documents were acquired contrary to the laws in the FBIH and BiH. |
| Update to Makroprom case
| RTRS, Nezavisne Novine pg9 ‘Ljubomir Gladovic announces he would surrender to the prosecutor’ by D. Risojevic – The owner of “Makroprom” firm, Ljubomir Gladovic, a runaway under investigation on a number of criminal acts, will surrender to the Prosecutor’s Office in Banja Luka by Wednesday at the latest to give his statement on criminal acts he has been charged with, announced team of his legal represnetatives. |
| Former director of BL Clinical Centre charged
| RTRS,Nezavisne Novine pg 9 ‘Former Director of Clinical Centre indicted’ by P.K.; Glas Srpske pg12 ‘Indictment against Kozomara’ – The Banja Luka District Prosecutor’s Office has brought charges against Risto Kozomara, the former Director of the Banja Luka Clinical Centre, for office abuse by way of which he damaged this institution by BAM 60 thousand. This indictment has been brought on the basis of the reports produced by the RS Supreme Auditor’s Office for the year of 2002. |
| Update to RS Elektroprivreda
| RTRS, Glas Srpske cover page story ‘SOFT demands BAM 70 million’ – The company SB Soft from |
| Update to trial on acetyl anhydride import
| RTRS, Nezavisne Novine pg 8 ‘Defendant did not produce vinegar’; Glas Srpske pg 12 ‘No trace of vinegar’– During Monday’s resumption of the trial of Rajo Krsmanovic, the owner of the RBS Company from Bijeljina, indicted for importing 20 tons of acetyl anhydride – substance that is used in the production of drugs, Abid Hodzic, a financial expert, said that Krsmanovic’s company did not have a plant for the production of vinegar. According to him, business books showed that 11 tons of this substance was missing meaning that Krsmanovic sold it to an unknown buyer. Krsmanovic’s defence lawyer said that his client might have had given away of destroyed the anhydride. The resumption of the trial has been scheduled for November 4. |
| NN on Telekom Srpske | Nezavisne Novine cover and pg 5 ‘Stojancic made payment through false invoices’ by A. Sekulic – NN reports that in 1996 and 1997, RS Interior Ministry has run an extensive investigation on illegal activities at “Telekom Srpske, and one of the suspects for payment on basis of false invoices was current Acting Director of “Telekom”, Stevo Stojancic. However, Banja Luka Public Prosecutor’s Office has failed to process this denunciation hitherto. Nezavisne Novine pg 5 ‘Sibincic suspected of having forged court verdict’ by P. Klincov – NN also carries that the Banja Luka District Prosecutor’s Office is engaged in investigation against Predrag Sibincic, Acting Deputy Director of “Telekom Srpske”, on grounded suspicion he has forged the court verdict. Sibincic was a judge with |
Political issues | |
| Cavic, Mikerevic meet new OSCE Chief of
| RHB, RTRS, Dnevni Avaz pg 8 ‘Education Law in interests of all peoples’ by Fena, Nezavisne Novine pg 6 ‘High education waiting for compromise’ by V.P. – Following Monday’s meeting in Banja Luka with the Head of OSCE Mission, Douglas Davidson, Dragan Cavic, RS President, expressed expectation that by 31 December, the RS would have completed its duties stipulated by the Law on return of abandoned property. Cavic and Davidson also spoke about enactment of the Law on high education, concluding it needs to be adopted as soon as possible through consensus. During the meeting with Davidson, Dragan Mikervic, RS Prime Minister, stressed that the during the implementation of education reform, it is necessary to fully comply with the complex constitutional structure of BiH. Glas Srpske pg 3 ‘Playing the tune of Bologna’ by G. Dakic – According to GS, Dusan Stojicic, RS NA Speaker, Monday also met with Davidson. Stojicic informed Davidson with the Law on local self-governance, stressing that this Law is halted at the RS Council of Peoples, although it has respected all the positive solutions from European Charter. GS further adds that Davidson also had separate meetings with RS Vice Presidents, Ivan Tomljenovic and Adil Osmanovic. Dnevni List pg 2 ‘Big property problems of Serb refugees from |
| Ian Cliff visits Mostar
| RHB, Oslobodjenje pg 3 ‘Slowly, but moving’ by Fena, Dnevni Avaz pg 9 ‘Cliff: Aluminij is important for final reconciliation in Mostar’ by F. Vele, Dnevni List pg 12 ‘Cliff judged implementation of Statute ‘relatively successful’ ‘ by NINA, Vecernji List pg 5 ‘Aluminij crucial for trust’ by Hina and Slobodna Dalmacija pg 13 ‘To employ workers of other nationalities and not only Croats in Aluminij company’ by M. Landeka – British Ambassador to BiH Ian Cliff visited Mostar on Monday where he met with Mostar Mayor Hamdija Jahic and his Deputy Ljubo Beslic. Asked as to why the International Community has been focused on Mostar and as to why the IC does not turn at resolving of problems in Banja Luka where Croats and Bosniaks almost do not have any kind of support, Cliff said: ‘The British Government and the EU have a specific role in Mostar, however, it does not mean that they do not have interest for Croats and Bosniaks in Banja Luka.’ Asked about the implementation of a new Mostar Statute, Cliff said he believes it is relatively successful. On this occasion Jahic stated it is necessary to resolve the issue of Aluminij company and that the return of about 200 workers of Serb and Bosniak nationality to this company will represent real economic re-integration of Mostar. On the same issue Beslic said that Aluminij has been partly privatised and that all people who used to work in this company before the war will not return at their places of work in this company, however, a certain number of workers of other nationalities will return to work in Aluminij and this will bring back trust of Mostar citizens. |
| CoE’s Venice Commission visits BiH
| FTV by Adisa Ruzdic, Dnevni List pg 7 ‘There is still no consensus on changes to BiH Constitution’ by D. Polovina-Mandic – Representatives of the BiH Constitutional and Legal Commissions of both Houses of BiH Parliament and the CoE’s Venice Commission (Monitoring Team members) met in Sarajevo on Monday and discussed the functioning of the state institutions and the role of High Representative to BiH. Venice Commission report should be completed in the next two or three months and it will be a base for further stance of the Council of Europe on functioning of BiH institutions and possible constitutional solutions. Nezavisne Novine cover and pg 3 ‘No unified stance regarding change of Dayton’ by A. Sisic – The head of the BiH HoR’s constitutional and legal commission, Mirsad Ceman, said that guests from Strasbourg heard opposing stances regarding the need for change of BiH Constitution, noting: “The Venice Commission members are convinced there is no consensus, because the Commission members from RS said the BiH Constitution must not be change. Their stances are of extreme importance, since they are used during the process of creating legal issues of Council of Glas Srpske pg 5 ‘Assault against Constitution’ by N. Zelenovic – Petar Kunic said after the meeting that “we are of the view the existing Constitution represents a solid framework for BiH and is not an obstruction for its economic development and European integration.” |
| Busek on constitutional changes
| BHT 1, Oslobodjenje pg 5 ‘Admission of BiH to Europe depends on OHR’ by S. Rozajac, Dnevni Avaz pg 5 ‘Dayton is the history, and for future the change to the constitutional system is needed’ by L.K., Glas Srpske pg 2 ‘Against Dayton changes’ by FENA; Nezavisne Novine pg 4 ‘Governments responsible for bringing regional states closer to EU’ by M.R., Dnevni List, pg 6 ‘Project Corridor Vc was never submitted to Brussels’, by Dajana Resic– The Special Coordinator of the Stability pact in South-east Europe, Erhard Busek said on Monday in Sarajevo that development of the constitutional system in BiH is necessary, in order that BiH is admitted into European Union, noting he is not in favour of changing the Dayton Peace Agreement, because it is a part of history. He added that the development of the constitutional system is necessary for the country’s future. On this, he stressed that the development of the constitutional system is necessary for the future of this state, noting that “regional ownership” needs to be established. On this he explained that from the historic point of view, all decisions of importance for the regions were passed abroad, hence it is now necessary that regional states’ Governments take over responsibility for their states. Although he did not want to speculate as to when BiH might be admitted into EU, he said that it would depend on when OHR would complete its work. |
| DL on new Mostar mayor
| Dnevni List cover pg splash and pg 15 ‘Party for BiH can break up agreements between HDZ and SDA’ by S. Bjelica – DL carries an article on possible, future Mostar Mayor and the article says that HDZ claims that they will propose their candidate for the position of a Mostar Mayor only after they receive final election results. According to the article, most likely, current Mostar Deputy Mayor Ljubo Beslic will be the HDZ candidate. DL also says that current President of the SDA Mostar City Council Suad Hasandedic will be an SDA candidate for the Mayor’s position if SDA does not support the HDZ candidate. The article also carries that both, HDZ and SDA, deny that they have had any negotiations regarding this issue. Party for BiH (SBiH) will also have its candidate for the Mayor’s position and that is Mili Huseinagic (Director of Public Company ‘Vodovod’). DL says that many people believe that SDP, People’s Party Working for Prosperity and a part of SDA Councillors will support Huseinagic, although Hasandedic denied that SDA Councillors will support Huseinagic’s candidacy. President of the SBiH Herzegovina-Neretva Canton Board Safet Omerovic stated that they have not contacted any political party yet, however, according to him, SBiH is aware that the coalition HDZ-SDA and their agreements could be broken up finally. |
| NN: Patten writes to Terzic | Nezavisne Novine pg 3 ‘Progress achieved in BiH’ by M. Cubro – Chris Patten, European Commissioner for Foreign Affairs, confirmed in a letter, which he last week addressed to Adnan Terzic, BiH CoM CHair that BiH has achieved a progress in fulfilment of requirements for admission into EU, noting: “The progress you have accomplished is evident. I believe we would be able to identify the fields, where all tasks were completed, at our next meeting. I am convinced that it will be possible in the near future to launch negotiations on stabilisation and association agreement, which is to be followed with the singing of the contract relations.” Terzic said that BiH authorities regard this letter as a confirmation of good results and the recommendation to the new composition of the European Commission to launch negotiations with BiH as soon as possible. Frane Maroevic, EC Spokesperson, said there is no exact date established when negotiations on SAA may commence, noting “the meeting, which is to assess the fulfilment of requirements, is to follow in November, I think. If conclusions of that meeting were positive, European Commission would recommend to EU Council to launch negotiations.” |
| NN editorial highly critical of HR Ashdown | Nezavisne Novine op-ed pg 7 ‘Lord Potemkin’ by Slavko Mitrovic – The introduction to the article refers to the statement Chris Patten gave some months ago (“We cannot accept you pretend to implement reforms, and we pretend to believe you”), describing this sentence as definition of “reforms” in BiH. The author is critical of the ongoing reforms, referring to Paddy Ashdown as “Potemkin” [note: Russian statesman in 18th century] after whom (in post-nationalistic and post-Ashdown era as author says) there will be a lot of work to be done. Mitrovic is extremely critical of Ashdown and his deeds, co-identifying him with Mladen Ivanic and his lies, stressing: “Ashdown may be a person, who was not so much under the spot-light of public hitherto, and BiH was a sort of gift at the end of his – not so good- political career.” The author is also critical of a number of decisions imposed by HiRep saying that removals of 59 officials of SDS and PDP represented a delayed reaction whose purpose was to save Ashdown’s “unstable position”. The author notes that “somebody would have to try for what is happening in BiH – either court with foreign judges and prosecutors or the generation of young people, from whom they stole the future”. Mitrovic notes that “only OHR does not perceive what everybody else perceives – which is that criminals and corrupted authority cannot build BiH”. He concludes the article by saying: “It is a time for the IC… to so something. Otherwise, all the trouble and enormous resources – and what far the worst, expectations of citizens – would be ruined.” |
Economic and social issues | |
| Unemployment conference held in
| RHB At the Conference on Employment in BiH, which is taking place in BHT 1, FTV, Dnevni Avaz pg 2 ‘Authorities will create atmosphere for faster employment’ by E. Plecic, Oslobodjenje pg 8 ‘Domestic money for new vacancies’ by M.K.S. , Slobodna Dalmacija pg 14 ’30 000 KM of loans for new place of work’ by D. Pasic, Vecernji List pg 2 ‘Government does not employ people’ by eme and Dnevni List pg 9 ‘Prime Minister Terzic: We have to create job by ourselves’ by D. Polovina-Mandic – also covered the conference. |
| PDHR Hays on FBiH internal debt law
| Dnevni Avaz pg 4 ‘There is no better solution for internal debt then the law currently in the parliament’, mentioned on cover ‘There is no better solution for internal debt’, by PDHR Donald Hays – The PDHR Donald Hays writes about the issue of the FBiH Internal Debt Law which is to be discussed by the members of the FBIH House of Peoples today. It took 5 months for FBiH House of Representatives to adopt the law, considering it inappropriate. However, Hays says “that there are no different plans for the country with such high debts and whose economy is in this phase of the recovering. That is the fact, no matter how cruel it looks. Non-adoption of the law, will destroyed without any doubt all efforts taken with the aim to stabilize BiH’s economy and establish macro-economic stability.” Hays adds that there is no better solution for the internal debt issue then the law before the parliament. PDHR concludes that “it is time for all to leave their hopes into better solution aside, and to support the only realistic possibility and that is the possibility discussed by the FBiH Parliamentarians. The HoR showed courage despite the serious opposing and HoR voted in favor. It is up to HoP to now show the similar courage.” Oslobodjenje pg 5 ‘Today, discussion about FBiH internal debt’ by Fena – brings announcement of the FBiH HoP session. |
| Oslobodjenje: “CoM will not accept IMF’s blackmails”
| Oslobodjenje pgs 4-5 ‘Council of Ministers will no accept IMF’s blackmails’, mentioned on cover, by Azhar Kalamujic – Daily reads that the BIH Council of Minister “will not accept the blackmail coming form the International Monetary Fund [IMF] that conditions the 50 million US dollars loan for social programs in BiH with the cessation of the authorities’ plans to finance the construction of Vc corridors from its own money.” Chair CoM, Adnan Terzic, BiH Transport and Communications Minister Branko Dokic and his Deputy Haris Basic all confirmed in their statements to Oslobodjenje that authorities will not give up from decision to finance road projects through levies paid by three GSM operators. Terzic explains that instead of this, IMF demands to be paid to the ESCROW account to pay out internal debt. “In addition, CoM would not be able to use this money without IMF’s approval,” adds Terzic. Basic concludes that the aim of the aim is to take BiH’s revenues at the time its needs finances to implements its plans, and instead to offer the country with credits. “What IMF offers is throwing the money in the air, and that confirms that its politics in BiH is not development oriented,” said Basic. |
| HR supports ITA
| FTV – The High Representative, Paddy Ashdown, last week enacted amendments to the Law on the Indirect Taxation System in BiH. The decision is a result of an inconsistency between certain BiH laws and the Law on Indirect Taxation System, where civil servants with appropriate expertise in the field of indirect taxation may be prevented from being appointed as members of the Board. Without these amendments advisors with executive functions and the relevant experience were barred from being members of the Board. HR also amended the BiH Law on Conflict of Interests and BiH and Entity Laws on Civil Service. The High Representative enacted these amendments following consultations with the ITA and its Governing Board, relevant institutions of BiH and the Entities. These laws will be in force on provisional base, until BiH parliamentary Assembly do not adopt it in the same form. |
| Update on HT Mostar/GSM services | Dnevni List, pg 5 ‘Meeting between Prlic, Knezevic and Brankovic today’, by J. P. – The FBiH Minister of Traffic and Communications, Nedzad Brankovic, told DL that he was expecting to meet with presidents of HT Mostar and Eronet’s steering boards, namely, Stipe Prlic and Bozo Knezevic, in Mostar today (Wednesday) in order to discuss issues pertaining to the 3rd GSM licence. Brankovic hopes that the two companies would find a solution. |