| CROAT RADIO HERCEG-BOSNA (18,00 hrs) | BH TV 1 (19,00 hrs) | FED TV (19,30 hrs) | RT RS (19,30) |
| BH National Day | BH National Day | Leutar case | RS NA session on Thursday |
| HR Ashdown called for Karadzic’s arrest
| London conference | 18 UN inspectors in Iraq | SNSD – RSSP agreement |
| War against Iraq | Milosevic’s trial | National Day | National Day |
| Conservative Party won elections in Austria | 2% BiH citizens use Internet |
| Djukanovic resigned |
| Oslobodjenje | Information leaking from the secret police; IPTF part of organised crime chain; Flags only in Sarajevo |
| Dnevni Avaz | Karadzic is a symbol of anarchy; BiH never changed its name; Social Democrats – Komsic about new party |
| Dnevni List | Mario Brkic, OHR Spokesperson: Job on reform of CoM should be finished by Wednesday |
| Vecernji List | Statehood day is a non-working day in ‘Bosniak’ cantons only: Holiday divided the state |
| Slobodna Dalmacija | OHR’s Ambassador sharply criticised situation in town on Bregava in front of councillors: Bercot: Stolac is a zoo |
| Glas Srpski | As of next year elementary education in RS will last 9 years; Srebrenica mayor tailors laws; |
| Nezavisne Novine | Conference on Partnership Against Organised Crime – Balkans is the gate of crime in Europe; Former partisans mark 25 November |
| Blic | Pandurevic released; Agreement between Socialists and SNSD confirmed; Old passports valid until 28 November; As of the New Year European Union’s Police in BiH; Petar Kunic: Enlargement of CoM against the Dayton |
INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY/OHR RELATED NEWS
| London conference | Extensive coverage in both Sarajevo dailies (Avaz pg. 1 & 2, Oslobodjenje pg. 3 ‘The rule of law in BiH is a priority). “Europe will not permit the development and expansion of organised crime in the Balkans. The battle against this evil is not only important for the future of this region, but also for the stability and prosperity of the entire Europe and world peace”, was an opening statement by the British Foreign Minister, Jack Straw, at the London conference. HR Ashdown addressed on Monday conference participants (around 300 of them) saying that organised crime in Balkan was a problem of the entire Europe and therefore the strengthening of the rule of law has to be a priority no. 1 in the region. “Radovan Karadzic opened the door to organised crime in BiH. He spread it and now this man is a symbol of lawlessness. His arrest would be the biggest contribution to show that BiH was serious in its intentions to break the organised crime,” said HR Ashdown. HR Ashdown met yesterday with the British PM Blair and according to his Spokesperson Braithwaite he is to hold meetings with several senior diplomats. Lagumdzija stated that ‘organised crime, terrorism and war criminals represented the Bermuda triangle where human rights and justice were erased’. Chris Paten, EU Envoy for Foreign Affairs, said that none of the countries in Balkans could count with the membership at the EU while there was organised crime in that region. Also reported by Dnevni List pg 1 & 3 ‘Organised crime in Balkan is a problem of the entire Europe’ and Vjesnik pg. 2 ‘Ashdown: Karadzic opened door to organised crime’, Glas Srpski pg.3 ‘Balkans is Europe’s front line’, Nezavisne Novine pg. 1 & 2, Vecernje Novosti pg.6 ‘Partnership against Mafia’, ONASA and SRNA. As for the international media, only London Times reported on the conference. |
| IPTF and organised crime
| Oslobodjenje pg. 7 ‘IPTF in organised crime chain’ and Avaz pg. 28 ‘Local policemen ensured human trafficking’ – both dealing with heavy accusations against local and international policemen regarding their involvement in human trafficking/ prostitution. The accusations presented in a 75-pages report by the Human Rights Watch entitled ‘Betrayed hopes: human trafficking in the post-war BiH and forced prostitution’. “The local and international police should protect women and not participate in their further abuse,” wrote La Shawn R. Jefferson, the Executive Director of the HRW in charge of the women’s rights department. The HRW called on the BiH government to provide protection to victims, to arrest and raise criminal charges human traffickers and break corruption. “Senior United Nations officials in Bosnia are warning of a dramatic increase in trafficked women passing through the Balkans and into Western Europe. The UN Mission, which has responsibility for dealing with the issue, is due to hand over the role to the European Union at the end of the year. But the head of the UN’s anti-trafficking unit in Bosnia says the EU is not taking the issue seriously enough and lacks the political will to do so. Celhia de Laverene says the EU plans to close down the only designated unit, which deals directly with the problem. She says this will lead to substantially more women becoming the prey of highly-organized criminal gangs,” BBC‘s Nick Hawton reports (‘Balkans human trafficking set to rise’). |
| SFOR on Fiuljanin
| A small article in Avaz on pg. 9 entitled ‘Sabahudin Fiuljanin will contact a lawyer. Following a letter by the Amnesty International to SFOR regarding the breach of Fiuljanin’s human rights, the daily carried a response by SFOR. Spokesman Iv Vanier stated that they would keep him for as long as they consider it necessary and they would send a reply to the AI. |
| Ajanovic’s letter to Ashdown | Avaz pg. 12 entitled ‘Sanction nationalism and chauvinism with prosecutions’ – a renewed request by the BOSS President Mirnes Ajanovic to HR Ashdown to use his authorities and change entity criminal laws in order to ensure the sanctioning of the nationalist chauvinism and fascism that certain individuals have been displaying. |
| Bercot on Stolac | Entitled’”OHR’s Ambassador sharply criticised situation in town on Bregava in front of councillors: Bercot: Stolac is a zoo’, Slobodna Dalmacija on pg. 1 & 15 carried a report from a session of the Stolac Municipal Council, which was attended by Bosniak councillors after a six months break. The author says that many representatives of OHR, OSCE and other international organisations also attended the session and that the Head of OHR South, Ambassador Jean-Pierre Bercot, delivered a sharp speech in which he said that Stolac, when observed from aside, looks like a zoo in which animals fought against each other. The statement apparently appalled the councillors. The author of the article, Ivo Raguz, goes on to say that Ambassador Bercot said that the biggest fights are being conducted over religious issues and that the practice had to be stopped. “Neither crosses or minarets will help improve the education and economy in this town and allow people to live better”, said Ambassador Bercot and stressed that when he entered the Municipal building he felt like entering a brand new Church. Raguz goes on to report that Ambassador Bercot said that Stolac was an example of how not to work, and called councillors to turn towards the future of this town, in particular to younger generations. “(…) If the religious leaders want to fight each other, let them fight, and you the councillors represent the civic society. You are not elected here to fight only for religion and religious symbols”, said Ambassador Bercot. Raguz says that Ambassador Bercot threatened in a harsh tone that he would be removing the Head of Stolac Municipality and the councillors if the practice continued as well as everyone who obstructed the positive changes. “The HDZ-SDA agreement must have its echo in Stolac”, concluded Bercot. According to the article, Croat and Bosniak councillors could not agree on the agenda and then the Chair of the Council, Zoran Turkovic, disappointed with the failure to impose his agenda, stopped the session in revolt and left the session together with other Bosniak councillors. The Head of Municipality, Zeljko Obradovic, assessed, despite Ambassador Bercot’s sharp critics, that Stolac is entering normal processes which will help overall living conditions in Stolac. |
| Tomislavgrad politicians’ letter to HR Ashdown | Slobodna Dalmacija pg. 1 & 14 by Milan Vukadin reads that a decision by HR to abolish the municipal Court in Tomislavgrad is still a topic number one in the town and that people are even thinking about organizing street protests. As a result, according to SD, Tomislavgrad politicians sent a letter to the OHR in which they warned that the decision is detrimental to citizens of Tomislavgrad and Kupres because it will affect the citizens the most and that it discriminates the citizenry. |
| SD editorial | Slobodna Dalmacija pg. 1 & 14, by Dino Mikulandra features a highly critical editorial in which the author criticizes firstly Kofi Annan and United Nations in context of Annan’s statement that ‘the greatest success of the UN Mission to BiH is the training of police forces and the establishment of the State Border Service. Mikulandra notes that Annan only mentioned, for the sake of it, the Srebrenica debacle saying that nobody was held accountable for the murder of 7,000 Bosniaks, foremost the French general Bernard Janvier who allegedly withheld the requested air support. The author goes on to criticize “the so-called peace mission of the IC in the past seven years”. Firstly he says that the RS, “disgusting bastard stated, which was created in crime, blood and sufferings of innocent victims of Great Serbia project” was not gradually suffocated, but came out even more aggressive and Chetnik-like in the past few years. Secondly, the author criticizes previous and current BiH HR, Carlos Westendorp for promising Croats the Federation TV in the Croat(ian) language, Wolfgang Petritsch for shattering the seeds of BiH democracy, removing 160 elected representatives of the Croats and auditing the Hercegovacka bank by tanks. ‘What about the British Lord Ashdown’, asks Mikulandra and goes on to say that OHR Press Office has created the worst neo-communist propaganda machinery in order to strengthen the cult of personality of the High Representative. |
AFFAIRS IN BiH
| Secret police | Oslobodjenje pg.1 & 6 – tells of disagreements and misunderstandings at the Federation MoI. For example, Ramo Maslesa, the FBiH MoI, went furious when he found out that Zlako Miletic, soon to be appointed the Federation Police Director, was sent to the London conference with the BiH delegation. The daily tells of disagreements between Maslesa and the FOSS Director, Ivica Vuksic, which resulted in Maslesa stopping certain investigation on crime, human smuggling and drugs in Herzegovina. According to daily’s sources, Maselsa will be removed from the current position after the IPTF expressed their dissatisfaction with Maslesa obstructing several important investigations. |
| BiH National Day | Oslobodjenje carried several articles on the issue – pg. 2, 4 $ 5 the most prominent one entitled ‘The state flags only in Sarajevo’, Avaz pg. 4 ‘Tihic: in Mrkonjic Grad BiH’s statehood renewed’, Nezavisne Novine pg. 5 ‘Only former partisans remember ZAVNOBIH’. The Federation dailies reported on yesterday’s reception at the BiH Presidency marking the BiH National Day. Oslobodjenje however carried a few more articles, which showed that the National day was really only celebrated in the Federation. The daily quoted SNSD President Dodik as saying that his party did not consider 25th November the BiH National Day because it was never adopted through a regular procedure at the BiH institutions. According to Nezavisne Novine, 25th is not regarded as a state holiday in a large part of the RS and in Mostar, it was marked only in one part of the town. The FRY media also carried some coverage on the issue. Vecernje Novosti pg. 13 and FRY Nacional pg. 11 reported of the reception at the BiH Presidency and that it was a working day in Brcko District, but Assembly Chair Djapo held a formal buffet.Radoslav Dodig signs an editorial in Vecernji List on pg. 4. “Every state needs to honour its holidays and celebrate them. At the current moment, when Bosnia and Herzegovina is full of undigested history and ideological contradictions the celebration of November 25 will end up in parades, lunches, receptions and self-advertisements, and not in reforms and hard work. Hard holiday for easy state,” wrote Dodig. |
| New Social Democrats | Avaz pg. 3 ‘After the eighth session of SDP there is a great atmosphere for the new party’. The daily quoted Ivo Komsic, who stepped out of the SDP recently, as saying that ‘ the SDP returned to rigid communism’. He stated that many respectable individuals have been contacting him regarding the membership in the new party. Oslobodjenje on pg. 2 carried a comment ‘The role of the minority’ by Mirko Sagolj. Talking about the latest SDP Congress, Sagolj write that they showed the biggest level of political immaturity and leadership irresponsibility. |
| | Vecernji List pg. 15 editorial by Eldina Medunjaninsaying that ‘divisions within the SDP will deteriorate the position of this party in the talks on constituting of a new BiH authority’.According to Vecernji List, it has been expected that the Party for BiH (SBiH) will also wait for the reactions from the international officials to the SDP Congress results, and then they will decide whether they’ll look for partners in the new Social Democratic Party or the SDP. The article also says that Zlatko Lagumdzija, the SDP President, sent a message saying that he was willing to have a post-election co-operation with democratic parties, but not with the nationalists from the SDS, SDA and HDZ. |
| Orao affair | Oslobodjenje pg. 3 ‘Kostunica was informed’ and Avaz pg. 2 ‘Kostunica behind the arms and equipment delivery to Iraq’ – it is on the latest ICG report that claims that the FRY top officials knew all about the arms delivery to Iraq. Nacional on pg. 7 carried yesterday’s article published in London’s Guardian that read that Yugoslavia was the hub for the east European arms smugglers and military experts who had been supplying Saddam Hussein with crucial equipment and knew-how to help him frustrate the US air campaign against Iraq. Vecernje Novosti on pg. 2 carried a denial in regard to information printed in Guardian by the FRY Minister of Interior Affairs, Zoran Zivkovic. He said that the ICG had bad associates in Yugoslavia and information they obtained was not relevant. |
| Reconstruction of CoM | Oslobodjenje pg. 6 ‘Against the increase of the state ministries’ and Avaz pg. 8 ‘SDA suggesting 14, HDZ eight, and PDP five – six ministries’, Dnevni List pg. 1 &3, Glas Srpski pg. 5, Nezavisne Novine pg. 7. ‘Negotiations on restructuring of Council of Ministers: Constitution as the only framework’, Blic pg. 7..The latest on the developments related to the CoM reconstruction. Oslobodjenje quoted Petar Kunic from the PDP as saying that the RS government would not give their approval for the increase of the ministries in the CoM. “The RS NA and the government are the only relevant factors to give opinions on this issue. This would be a case of transfer of powers from the entities to BiH institutions that is, a case of reducing the powers of the entity institutions,” Kunic explained. Avaz reported that most of the parliamentary parties involved in the talks on CoM’s reconstruction sent their complaints yesterday to the work material. An insert with the article entitled ‘SNSD thinks of the material as of a set up and underestimating’ – a reply by the SNSD. “We consider the Draft Law text a set up and underestimating because we presented our view, which was not taken with any seriousness,” read the SNSD’s reply.Glas Srpskireported that the OHR claimed the final version of the Draft Law on CoM still had not been finalised, which meant that the material, which had been presented to the public so far was basically made up of proposals that political parties put forth. |
| | The paper quotes SDS Spokesman Dusan Stojicic as saying that SDS is for an agreement, but within the constitutional framework. He added that SDS was against the introduction of 13 ministries. Nezavisne Novineand Avaz reported that so far only 8 parties – SDA, SDS, HDZ, PDP, HDU, Party for Prosperity, BOSS, and DNZ – have presented their commentaries to the Law on CoM. Blic carried a statement bythe SRS SG, Ognjen Tadic, that the Radicals supported an OHR approach that all relevant political parties should discuss the draft law on the Council of Ministers. He added that the Radicals would participate in the negotiations and that they would give its support to a government in accordance to the DPA.Dnevni List and SRNA quoted OHR Spokesperson Brkic. “The parties, that will participate in a new composition of the BiH Parliament Assembly, were supposed to hand over the proposals on the future structure of the BiH Council of Ministers yesterday and a working group should unify them today and hand them over in a form of a draft for the discussion on Wednesday.” Brkic SRNA also quoted SDS Spokesperson Dusan Stojicic who said that a number of senior SP RS officials did not support the deal struck on Monday between the SNSD and SP RS. Stojicic feels that the SNSD/SP RS offer to the PDP to form the new government is the idea of the Socialist leader Petar Djokic and the people round him who would secure positions for themselves through the deal. |
AFFAIRS IN RS
| SNSD – SPRS Agreement | Avaz pg. 8 ‘Socialist give support to Dodik for a designate PM post’ and Oslobodjenje pg. 6 ‘SNSD and SPRS harmonised their views’, Glas Srpski pg.2 ‘SNSD and SPRS reach an inter-party agreement – Together either in power or as an opposition. Nezavisne Novine pg. 7 ‘SNSD and SPRS will not form government with national parties – that the two parties agreed yesterday on establishing a coalition for the majority at the RS Assembly. Today a meting should be held to discuss whether Ivanic’s PDP would also join the SNSD – SPRS coalition. “SPRS supports that the future RS President be selected from the SNSD,” stated Petar Djokic, the SPRS President. Velimir Sekan from the PDP confirmed, according to Avaz, on Sunday evening that they’d form a majority with the SDS. However, according to Glas Srpski, PDP issued a press release, which states that they will ask for support for its own concept of the RS government from both SNSD and PDP, since these two parties could not agree on formation of a new RS government.Glas Srpski also quoted SDS Main Board member Cvijetin Nikic who said that he was glad that the new RS government will be formed on Thursday at the inaugural RS NA session because the SDS had already ensured the parliamentary majority. The news also covered in FRY media – Blic pg.7 ‘Expecting Ivanic’s position’ and FRY Nacional pg. 11 ‘PDP was the final piece of the jigsaw for a parliamentary majority’. |