| RADIO HERCEG-BOSNA(18,00 hrs) | TV PINK (18,00 hrs) | BHT 1 (19,00 hrs) |
| Pope’s health condition | HR announces measures against RS | Trajkovski commemoration – Skoplje |
| Puljic denies hiding Gotovina | Del Ponte criticises NATO | Mostar airport with no regular flights |
| HR threatens RS with sanctions | Prosper on SCG-ICTY cooperation | Del Ponte on war criminals’ arrests |
| Prosper on arrest of ICTY indictees | Stojkovic on Mladic and Karadzic | HR threatens RS with sanctions |
| NTV Hayat (19,00 hrs) | FTV (19,30 hrs) | RTRS (19,30 hrs) |
| Del Ponte criticises NATO | Del Ponte’s and Ashdown’s warnings | Del Ponte criticises NATO |
| HR announces measures against RS | Puljic denies hiding Gotovina | Transfer of ICTY cases to BiH |
| Stojkovic on Mladic and Karadzic | New way of electing school directors | |
| Puljic denies hiding Gotovina | TK Govt checking education quality | Employees in BIH defence sector |
| Oslobodjenje | First non-political school director in BiH elected; Ashdown announces sanctions against RS; Anniversary of President Trajkovski’s death marked; Two billions of deficit in trade with SCG and |
| Dnevni Avaz | Dokic on Vc corridor: We received too many unserious offers; Petritsch: Why BiH intellectuals do not talk about changes; Del Ponte accuses NATO of fiasco in arresting criminals |
| Dnevni List | Cardinal Puljic: I was not hiding Ante Gotovina |
| Vecernji List | Warning: Viruses ravaging through mobile phones |
| Slobodna Dalmacija | Features |
| Nezavisne Novine | Former Chief of Serbian State Security Service Goran Petrovic: Kostunica and Bulatovic are hiding war criminals |
| Glas Srpske | Not published today |
| EuroBlic | Features Serbian related titles |
| Vecernje novosti | Features Serbian related titles |
| Nacional | Not published today |
Cooperation with ICTY | |
| Del Ponte accuses NATO on ‘fiasco’ in searching for war crimes suspects
| Dnevni Avaz pg 2 ‘Del Ponte accuses NATO of fiasco in arresting criminals’, mentioned on cover, by news agencies – Chief ICTY Prosecutor, Carla Del Ponte, on Saturday accused NATO of fiasco in arresting Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic, warning she would publicise documents which would prove this claim. In an interview to Parisian “Liberation” newspapers, Del Ponte also accuses Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica of non-cooperation with the ICTY and the international community for not applying enough pressure on PINK, RTRS, BHT1, FTV, Hayat, Dnevni List, pg 5 ‘NATO’s fiasco in arresting Karadzic and Mladic’, by De. L.– also reported on Del Ponte’s statement. BHT 1 – Commenting to the warning by Carla Del Ponte, the NATO spokesperson in BiH Dwight Mood said: “Whenever documents are published, we will analyze them, we have experts, we will study them carefully and then answer on them.” |
| Ashdown: Arrests of Karadzic, Mladic are priorities for RS
| Oslobodjenje pg 2 ‘Ashdown announces sanctions against RS’, mentioned on cover – The High Representative Paddy Ashdown stressed that arrests of Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic are priorities for the RS authorities, warning he would impose new sanctions against RS if it doesn’t strengthen cooperation with the ICTY. “This country may not lose the fight on future because of several people dincited for war crimes. If nothing is done on the issue of cooperating with the ICTY, I will carry out new sanctions,” said Ashdown in an interview given to RTRS on Friday in a show ‘Oci u oci’. He added: “If Chief ICTY Prosecutor, Carla Del Ponte, against estimates that there is an obstruction of RS authorities, RS will again face the consequences.” RHB, PINK, Hayat, BHT 1, FTV – also reported. |
| Serbian Justice Minister: Mladic is not in
| Dnevni Avaz pg 2 ‘Mladic is not in Serbia, Karadzic is in BiH’ by Srna – The Serbian Justice Minister, Zoran Stojkovic, stated on Saturday that Ratko Mladic is not in Serbia and that Radovan Karadzic is “most probably” in BiH. Stojkovic also said that he has no information whether former JNA high-ranking officer, Momcilo Perisic, has been indicted by ICTY for crimes in Mostar. He added that RTRS, BHT 1, FTV, PINK, Hayat, Oslobodjenje pg 3 ‘Radovan Karadzic is most probably in BiH’ by Fena, Vecernji List, pg 2 ‘Stojkovic: Karadzic is probably in BiH’, by rt, Nezavisne Novine pg 3, announced on cover ‘Karadzic is in BiH, Mladic is not in Serbia’ by B92, Beta, EuroBlic pg 3 ‘Mladic is not in Serbia’ by Beta, Vecernje Novosti pg 3 ‘Karadzic is in Bosnia’ not signed – also carry the statement. |
| Former Serbian BIA Chief Petrovic: Bulatovic and Kostunica were protecting Mladic and Sljivancanin
| Nezavisne Novine cover pg splash, pgs 8-9 ‘Former Chief of Serbian State Security Service Goran Petrovic: Kostunica and Bulatovic are hiding war criminals’ byGoran Djogic – In a two-page long interview to NN, former Chief of Serbian State Security Service Goran Petrovic commented on the current situation at the Serbian State Security Service and political situation in Serbia. Asked whether it was possible that the indictment for Zoran Djindjic’s murder would fail, Petrovic has stated: ‘…those who have been guarding Ratko Mladic like Vojislav Kostunica and Rade Bulatovic have, those who have been guarding Sljivancanin whose protection was too organized by Rade Bulatovic upon an order of his supreme commander Vojislav Kostunica – it is no problem for those who have done such things to interfere the trial…Jocic and Bulatovic are at their positions out of two reasons – first, to make sure no Hague indictee is arrested and to keep everyone from shedding light on Zoran Djindjic’s murder’. |
| Prosper: It is up to
| RTRS, RHB, PINK, Oslobodjenje pg 3 ‘Citizens can help in search for indictees’ by VoA, EuroBlic pg 3 ‘Prospere: surrenders are encouraging’ by FoNet– In an interview to Voice of America, the US Ambassador for war indictees at large, Pierre Richard Prosper, stated the surrender of several war crimes suspects to ICTY presents an improvement, however added that much higher degree of Belgrade’s cooperation with the Tribunal is needed. Prosper said that |
| Cardinal Puljic denies he helps Ante Gotovina to hide
| RHB, FTV, Hayat, Dnevni Avaz pg 2 ‘I do not participate in hiding general Ante Gotovina’ by Srna, Oslobodjenje pg 2 ‘Accusations on assisting Gotovina malicious’ by Onasa , Dnevni List, front pg splash ‘Cardinal Puljic: I was not hiding Ante Gotovina’ and pg 2 ‘Cardinal Puljic denies helping Gotovina’, by Hina, Slobodna Dalmacija, pg 3 ‘Cardinal Puljic denies charges on him helping Gotovina’, by Hina, Nezavisne Novine pg 2 ‘I have not been hiding Ante Gotovina’ by Hina – The Archbishop of Vrhbosnia, Cardinal Vinko Puljic, stated that attempts to present him as a person who is allegedly helping the hiding of Croatian army general Ante Gotovina (wanted by ICTY) are malicious attacks the aim of which is to discredit him because of his efforts to reveal the truth about the situation in BiH. Earlier, some Croatian media reported that Cardinal Puljic was being treated by the Croatian intelligence as a part of network that supports Gotovina. |
| BiH Justice Ministry tasked to prepare law that would punish war criminals’ aides | Vecernji List, pg 2 ‘Sanctions against The Hague indictees’ aides’, by Miso Relota – Reports that the Working group for monitoring of cooperation with the ICTY has tasked the BiH Justice Ministry to start making a law on punishing persons who are parts of networks that support war crimes suspects. VL also reports that a public campaign, which will be led by the Republika Srpska’s institutions and whose aim is to create an atmosphere in the public in order to secure complete cooperation with the ICTY, will start on March 15. |
Political issues | |
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| Oslobodjenje cover splash, pg 3 ‘First non-political director in BiH elected’ by V. Jahic – Primary school ‘Sjenjak’ in BHT1, FTV, Dnevni Avaz pg 8 ‘First direct elections for school director in BiH’ by J.B. – also reported. |
| BiH CC: Discussion on constituency of FBiH and RS coats of arms and flags on 17 March
| FTV, RTRS, Dnevni Avaz pg 4 ‘Discussion on constituency of FBiH and RS coats of arms and flags on 17 March’, FENA- The BiH Constitutional Court [CC] held its second plenary session on February25, during which its discussed several cases from its jurisdiction. The CC decided to reject twelve requests that contested the CC’s decisions, as ungrounded. The CC also held preparatory discussions related to the request of a member of the BiH Presidency, Sulejman Tihic, who is questioning the constitutionality of certain articles of the Law on coat of arms and flag of FBiH, and Constitutional law on flag, coat of arms and anthem of RS, Law on Use of flag, coat of arms and anthem of RS and Law on holidays of RS. The CC concluded that the Venice Commission, Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights in BiH and OSCE Mission in BiH should attend a public discussion about the case in capacity of ‘friends of the court’, the discussion that is scheduled for March 17. The said institutions informed the CC they would accept the invitation. The CC also discussed the request of Nikola Spiric, who is contesting laws and decisions that enabled changes to names of town of Oslobodjenje pg 6 ‘Friends of court invited’ – The Constitutional Court also held the discussion on the letter sent by the HR Paddy Ashdown regarding the additional jurisdiction of the court. |
| Former HR Petritsch welcomes Neum meeting
| Dnevni Avaz pg 5 ‘Talks between politicians in Neum should be continued’, mentioned on cover ‘Why BiH intellectuals do not talk about changes’, by Sead Numanovic – In an interview to DA, former High Representative, Wolfgang Petritsch, welcomes the last week’s meeting of leading parties in Neum and adds that such talks should be continued. “If Europe doesn’t see that BiH really wants to be sovereign country… that it will start decreasing the support its gives now to official Sarajevo. This is why Neum talks are important.” Asked whether the Dayton Agreement should be abolished and the new Constitution drafted, Petritsch says that DPA should stay the foundation of modern |
| DL: ‘Reforms needed within OHR’
| Dnevni List, pg 3, mentioned on front ‘Reforms needed within OHR’, by Zvonimir Jukic – The daily reminds of a recent article which was published by the Ljubljana-based ‘IFIMES’ institute (International Institute for Middle East and Balkans Studies) in which the IFIMES warned of the growing bureaucracy within the OHR and complete centralization in the decision-making process within the OHR, which excludes junior OHR staff from the process. To back the IFIMES’ claim up, the author cites the example of the OHR South and its public relations office, claiming that the OHR South has no important role in the political life in Mostar and Herzegovina-Neretva Canton, whilst its public relations office has no freedom when contacting the media outlets. The author goes on to say prior to the arrival of the current High Representative for BiH, Paddy Ashdown, the then spokeswoman of the OHR South, Avis Benes, was able to respond to any journalist’s question and present the OHR’s positions, however since the arrival of HR Ashdown it takes several hours to get a reply, which needs to be approved by Ashdown’s office in Sarajevo. The author also notes that the OHR was unscrupulous in firing 25% of its staff, without paying them the severance pays although the BiH laws envisage that. |
| NN criticizes Mladen Ivanic
| Nezavisne Novine pg 7 ‘Mladen Ivanic – a politician without principles’ by Natasa Krsman – the author brings general data on Mladen Ivanic’s life, education and career. The article reads Ivanic, while he was the President of RS Government, has launched a privatization process, which was characterized by cheap sales of banks, re-selling of state capital, blackmails and racketeering at public auctions. The author notes every member of PDP who comes to any of official positions only claim to be experts but never prove it. As a conclusion, the author writes, while Ivanic is protecting chairs of fellow PDP members, many citizens fear from another pre-election campaign and hope all stocks of “Makroprom” products have been destroyed – PDP distributed packages of “Makroprom” food to voters prior to Municipal elections in East Sarajevo and many say the food was spoiled. |
| Oslobodjenje op-ed on recent political developments | Oslobodjenje pg 9 ‘Post-Neum’ op-ed by Senka Kurtovic – Op-ed examines the latest political developments in BiH. Referring to the last week’s meeting of leading political parties in Neum, author says that “it is hard not to think that nobody knows what was happening… in Neum.” Further reminding of the HR Paddy Ashdown’s warning to RS over the cooperation with the ICTY, author cynically notes that it is to be expected from HR to remove the people on such low-ranking positions that they have no importance however. She also heavily criticises Sulejman Tihic for his lack of political skills, saying this was obvious in his “support” for Mladen Ivanic to stay in CoM, and statements that he is certain Dragan Covic supports BiH lawsuit against SCG. In addition, concludes author, “Tihic has something more important to do right now than to read between lines of Covic’s statements. SDA convention and fight between [SDA] fractions is getting closer.” |
Economic issues | |
| Dokic on Vc corridor: “We have received too many unserious offers”
| Dnevni Avaz cover splash, pg 4 ‘We got too many unserious officers for construction of highway’ by L. Sinanovic – The BiH Transport and Communications Minister, Branko Dokic, says that he is not satisfied with the tempo of drafting the project documentation for the Vc corridor. He added that he warned the companies in charge – Hayat – Hayat says that the issue of Vc corridor has not been treated with the same importance in both entities. FBiH Transport and Communications Minister, Nedzad Brankovic says:“There is a political willingness, but when you start realising it first problems occur.” Dokic however believes that there is a consensus among politicians that this project is a priority. |
| Hayat on Bosmal’s negotiations and lobbying in US to win Vc concession
| Hayat by Kenan Cerimagic – Hayat reports from |
| BiH Farmers and Foreign Trade Ministry clash over FTAs; 10.000 farmers to protest on 4 March
| Oslobodjenje pgs 4-5 ‘Two billions of deficit in trade with SCG and Hayat – In the “Face to Face” section of Hayat’s news, Chair of BiH Farmers Association Ranko Bakic and Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations Slobodan Ecimovic discussed the FTAs. Farmers demand removal of Minister Dragan Doko and Ecimovic, claiming they work for the benefit of BHT 1, FTV– also reported on demand to remove Mekic. |
| EFT co-owner sues British Frauds Office
| Dnevni Avaz pg 11 ’11 million dollars of US donations taken illegally’, Oslobodjenje pg 5 ‘Hamovic sued British Frauds Office’ by Guardian – London based company EFT, co-owned by, Vuk Hamovic, has sued the British Frauds Office [SFO] because of confiscation of company’s documents. According to |
Defence reform | |
| Radovanovic announces measures to strengthen control | Nezavisne novine pg 2 ‘Current employees have a priority’ by Srna – BiH Defense Reform Commission has stated it would recommend the persons who lose their jobs through restructuring to have a priority at getting a job at state defense structures. BiH Defense Minister Nikola Radovanovic Saturday informed commissioners with measures he intend to undertake in order to strengthen command and control at the state level. PINK, RTRS – also reported. |