| RADIO HERCEG-BOSNA (18,00 hrs) | BH TV 1 (19,00 hrs) | FED TV (19,30 hrs) | RT RS (19,30) |
| CoM in session | Lack of cooperation | Human rights in BiH | Summit in Romania |
| Statement of Ivo Sanader | Summit In Romania | Tihic supported Shefer | Returnees in Civcije |
| Beecroft’s statement | CoM in session | Summit In Romania | CoM in session |
| Cavic on sanctions vs RS | Violated human rights | Arrested Abu Hamza | Trial of Momcilo Krajisnik |
| Oslobodjenje | Better conditions for retirement; Confirmation of good relations between neighbours |
| Dnevni Avaz | Halilovic: SDA offered us Coalition; Karadzic’s secret letters to wife and supporters; Better conditions for pension; By setting up new conditions, EU can threat reforms |
| Dnevni List | Pensions: Men at age 60, women at age 55 to age retirement |
| Vecernji List | Diseases ruin sale of meat |
| Slobodna Dalmacija | Covic is bossing, and Colak stays silent |
| Glas Srpske | Did the agreement signed between Dragan Mikerevic and Ahmet Hadzipasic fail: Neighbour to lose |
| Nezavisne Novine | Javier Solana: EU supports Ashdown in sanctioning RS; Joint statement of Mesic, Marovic and Tihic: Collective accusations must stop; British police action in London: Abu Hamza arrested |
| Blic | Two years of Paddy Ashdown: RS to prove cooperation with the Tribunal |
| Ljiljan | Nadja Dizdarevic (wife of an Algerian Group member) beaten up in her apartment – Foreigners delivered ‘Bush’s regards’ by beating her up |
| Slobodna Bosna | Ashdown’s partnership for war |
| Dani | Life story of Aziz Zisko Gluscevic (playboy from Gorazde), the most picturesque candidate for a mayor in BiH |
Cooperation with ICTY/ PfP admission | |
| Cavic: Sanctions against RS would be counter-productive
| RHB, BHTV 1, Oslobodjenje pg ‘Sanctions would be counter-productive’, Dnevni Avaz pg 4 ‘Cavic: I understood Ashdown’s message’ by pg M. Vidovic, Glas Srpske pg 3 ‘Penalties are not solution’, Nezavisne Novine pg 4 ‘Sanctions would be counter-productive’, Dnevni List pg 16 ‘Sanctions stimulate cowardice, while courage is necessary for tough decisions’ by M.R., Blic, pg. 15 ‘Cavic: sanctions would cause bigger resistance’ by S. S. – Dragan Cavic, RS President, yesterday expressed doubt that possible sanctions against RS could improve the current situation. He also said that the RS Ministry of Internal Affairs was tasked to work on arrest of war crime suspects, in order to avoid imposition of sanctions. He further said he understood the message sent by Paddy Ashdown, High Representative to BiH, who indicated sanctions might possibly me imposed against RS if BiH were not admitted into PfP over failure of RS to cooperate with the ICTY. Cavic assessed the sanctions against the RS would be “counter-productive and ridiculous”, noting he does not have any impact on behaviour of “big guys”. Cavic said: “Sanctions would not stimulate courage, but instead cowardice.” He reiterated that war crimes are crime acts which do not fall under the statute of limitations. On this he added that “everything I speak about I speak freed of anybody’s pressure, but instead under the pressure of reality.” He reiterated the Law on cooperation with the ICTY was adopted and hence must be implemented. |
| Kalinic on HR statement on possible sanctions | Dnevni Avaz pg 4 ‘Cavic: I understood Ashdown’s message’ by pg M. Vidovic, Glas Srpske pg 3 ‘Accusations repeated’, Nezavisne Novine pg 4 ‘Sanctions would be counter-productive’ – NN brings other reactions to Paddy Ashdown’s statement regarding the possible sanctions against RS. Dragan Kalinic, RS National Assembly Speaker, said of admission to PfP that “the window for the entry into PfP has been opened”, noting that this same window would soon close unless all pre-requisites were met. He noted that “international officials are not joking this time”. Commenting on HiRep’s indication of possible sanctions against RS, he said “personnel changes are of least importance now. It is far more important that legal and political continuity of the RS, its future within BiH and its future may also be brought into question.” |
| Osmanovic, Tomljenovic repeat allegations | RHB, Vecernje novosti, pg. 15 ‘Karadzic is guarded by policemen’ by M. L., Glas Srpske pg 3 ‘Accusations repeated’ – RS Vice President Ivan Tomljenovic stated in Banja Luka on Thursday that RS Government will be responsible if the entity faces with the sanction due to lack of cooperation with the Hague Tribunal, and hence BiH is not invited to join PfP. Dnevni List, pg 2 ‘RS institutions responsible for failure to join Partnership for Peace’, not signed – RS Vice President, Adil Osmanovic, stated in Banja Luka that the RS, in other words its institutions, will be the most responsible if BiH is not invited to join the Partnership for Peace programme at the NATO Summit in Istanbul. “We have seen the latest statements by the High Representative and I think the RS will be facing serious sanctions with that regard”, said Osmanovic, adding it is obvious that there is no cooperation between the RS and ICTY. Other Vice President of RS, Ivan Tomljenovic, says the RS Government will be held accountable in case the RS is subjected to sanctions because of lack of cooperation with the ICTY. Tomljenovic says the RS Government must resign in case BiH does not join the PfP. Nezavisne Novine pg 4 ‘Sanctions would be counter-productive’, Glas Srpske pg 3 ‘Another day, another story’ – RSNA Speaker Dragan Kalinic comments on conduct of Ivan Tomljenovic, saying that “Tomljenovic one day speaks one thing, and another thing next day. He cannot lecture RS and predict the future of RS Government.” |
| Beecroft: BiH will not be admitted to PfP as long as war crime suspects are at large | RTRS, Nezavisne Novine pg 4 ‘Sanctions would be counter-productive’, Glas Srpske pg 3 ‘Patience is running out’, Blic, pg. 15 ‘Cavic: sanctions would cause bigger resistance’ by S. S – Robert Beecroft, Head of OSCE Mission to BiH, stated at the end of his farewell visit to Banja Luka that BiH would not be admitted into European and Atlantic relations until war crime suspects of high profile are still at large. He underlined there must be a clear proof that activities are being performed in the field of arrests of those persons. |
| Solana says he supports sanctions announced by Ashdown | Nezavisne Novine cover and pg 5 ‘EU supports Ashdown in sanctioning of RS authorities’ – In a brief interview to NN, Javier Solana, EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Affairs, says that the EU fully supports the sanctions announced by Paddy Ashdown, High Representative to BiH, against key officials of RS, over the failure of the RS to cooperate with the ICTY. On this he adds: “EU expects from RS authorities to meet its duties.” He further says: “It is a sad fact that eight years after the signing of the Peace Agreement, the citizens of BiH are still hostages of the political forces, especially in the RS, which has failed to perform crucial obligations from the Peace Agreement, including cooperation with the Hague.” On the EUFOR mission, Solana says that “the process of preparing this mission will be conducted in a close cooperation of all EU partners. The consultations between BiH authorities, Lord Ashdown, NATO and other international officials, including USA are ongoing. The Military forces of EU would be composed of 7 thousand soldiers.” He could not give exact date when EU forces would take over from SFOR, stressing that it might take place at the end of 2004. |
| Tihic supports NATO SG statement, calls upon IC to sanction those responsible | FTV, Oslobodjenje pg 6 ‘We cannot go to PfP with Karadzic and Mladic’ -The Chairman of the BiH Presidency, Sulejman Tihic, said today for FENA that he was backing the statement of NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer “that BiH cannot join the Partnership for Peace due to the lack of cooperation with the ICTY because the RS has not arrested war crimes indictees, among them Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic”. He further stated that in his opinion “it would not be logical for BiH to be in the PfP if the most wanted indicted war criminals Karadzic and Mladic, as well as their political and criminal followers, are free. “Tihic added that EU and NATO should clearly say who is responsible if BiH is not invited to join the Partnership for Peace at the June NATO summit in Istanbul. Dnevni Avaz pg 2 ‘BiH cannot be admitted to PfP while Karadzic and Mladic are at large’ – In addition to above mentioned, Tihic stated for DA that he expects NATO, OHR and EU to say clearly who is responsible and to sanction the “highest officials in RS, and which since Dayton are basically the same, they just keep changing seats.” He further concludes: “The entity which breaches its international obligations cannot maintain its existence. I believe that it is a final time for IC to take assured steps and to stop this years long agony.” |
| NATO SG today in Sarajevo | RHB, Oslobodjenje pg 3 ‘Scheffer in Sarajevo’, Blic, pg. 13 ‘Scheffer in Sarajevo today’ by SRNA – NATO Secretary General Japp de Hoop Scheffer will visit BiH. According to the SFOR spokesperson Mark Hope the objective of the visit is to assess the latest situation and inform the NATO Council before the June Summit in Istanbul when the decision on the transformation of SFOR into EU forces and the establishment of the NATO headquarters is expected to be made. Scheffer is planned to meet members of the BiH Presidency and the BiH Parliamentary Assembly. BHTV 1 – Scheffer is also expected to meet with the Principle Deputy High Representative Donald Hays. |
| DL critical of Terzic regarding admission to PfP | Dnevni List, pg 2 ‘Partnership for failure’, by Meri Musa – argues that it is becoming evident that the eagerly awaited NATO Summit in Istanbul will again confirm the lack of competence of the domestic authorities related to meeting European obligations. Musa notes that BiH will not, judging by messages coming from NATO, be joining the PfP, and that the domestic politicians are now restoring to the good old strategy of shifting the responsibility on someone else and diminishing the importance of the situation. According to Musa, the Chairman of BiH Council of Ministers, Adnan Terzic, leads the way when it comes to such behaviour since Terzic stated that “it will not be the end of the world if we do not join the Partnership for Peace”. In this context, Musa notes that Terzic has forgotten his promise made earlier that he would step down if his Government failed to meet 16 requirements set forth by the EC. Musa also note that the High Representative’s threats that he would sanction the RS authorities because of obstructions are ‘funny’ because such behaviour of RS authorities has been tolerated for years. |
| Ian Cliff on admission to PfP, cooperation with ICTY | Nezavisne Novine op-ed by Ian Cliff pg 7 ‘RS will not be abolished’ – In an op-ed to NN, the British Ambassador to BiH, Ian Cliff, says that if BiH were invited to join NATO Programme Partnership for Peace at the upcoming June Summit in Istanbul, it would be a big step forward of BiH. He further says that prior to being invited to join PfP, BiH still needs to fulfil some technical military issues (personnel of BiH Defence Ministry must be appointed until 28 June, F BIH must adopt the Law on defence, and some other issues). Cliff says that if these issues were resolved before the Summit, the only task still left behind would be cooperation with the Hague Tribunal – this issue practically concerns RS, since it has not arrested a single war crime suspect, according to Cliff. The author is further supportive of the statement by Mladen Ivanic, BiH Foreign Minister, who said that war crime suspects should voluntarily surrender, if they consider themselves real patriots. |
Political developments | |
| Tihic’s speech at 11th Summit of Heads of States of Central Europe
| RHB, BHTV 1, Dnevni List pg 2 ‘Tihic: Integration of Western Balkans in EU does not have alternative’ by I. Glibusic – Addressing participants of the 11th Summit of Central European Heads of States, that is taking place in Romania, Chairman of the BiH Presidency Sulejman Tihic, among the other things, stated that the admission of 10 new members in full EU membership represents considerable contribution to sustainable stability and security in our region. Tihic also said that integration of the Western Balkans countries in the EU does not have an alternative regardless how painful the transition process of these countries is. Dnevni Avaz pg 2 ‘New EU demands could threat reforms’, mentioned on cover ‘EU can threat reforms with constantly posing new conditions’ by S. Numanovic – Terzic stated for DA of the summit he attends: “[At the summit] I asked for a support for fulfilling conditions, that is for EU to make certain steps towards assisting countries in order to strengthen reformatory forces. Constantly setting new conditions, and without new results especially those that would show that citizens live better, can endanger reformatory forces.” |
| Tihic, Mesic and Marovic sign statement on cooperation | RHB, RTRS, Oslobodjenje pg 3 ‘Tihic, Marovic and Mesic confirmed good cooperation between neighbors’, mentioned on cover ‘Confirmation of good neighbor relations’, Dnevni Avaz pg 2 ‘New EU demands could threat reforms’, mentioned on cover ‘EU can threat reforms with constantly posing new conditions’ by S. Numanovic, Dnevni List pg 2 ‘Tihic: Integration of Western Balkans in EU does not have alternative’ by I. Glibusic – During the 11th Summit of Central European Heads of States a trilateral meeting of Chairman of the BiH Presidency Sulejman Tihic, Croatian President Stjepan Mesic and President of Serbia and Montenegro Svetozar Marovic was organized. The result of this meeting is a joint statement in which the process of integration of these thee countries in the EU was especially stressed. Tihic, Mesic and Marovic stood for strengthening of mutual cooperation, admission of the region to the European integration and they especially stressed importance of meeting obligations that these three countries have towards the ICTY. FTV, BHTV 1 – Presidents emphasized the importance of the cooperation with ICTY. Croatia and SCG supported strengthening of BiH institutions in accordance with its Constitution, return of refugees and their property, and all measures on search for. Presidents also paid a special attention to the cooperation regarding the fight against the organized crime, illicit drug trade, human trafficking and international terrorism. |
| Ashdown’s two years in BiH | RHB, Dnevni Avaz pg3 ‘Ashdown proud of BiH Court’ by onasa, Dnevni List, pg 7 ‘Ashdown: By 2006, BiH must go from Dayton to Brussels era’, by Danka Polovina-Mandic – OHR spokesperson, Oleg Milisic, stated at the press conference in Sarajevo on Thursday that the current High Representative for BiH, Paddy Ashdown, assumed the office exactly two years ago. Milisic is carried as quoting the HR’s words: “If BiH shows the will to reform we could by the end of the year be in PfP and negotiating a Stabilisation and Association agreement. The objective of BiH’s authorities at all levels has to be locking themselves irreversibly into the process of European integration. The EU has expressed its long-term commitment to BiH’s full integration, the European Union Special Representative’s role will grow in importance to reflect this change, but the speed at which we move is wholly determined by Bosnia and Herzegovina”. |
| Reactions to HR two years in BiH
| Dnevni List, pg 7 ‘Common assessment-let Ashdown share failures with us too’, by Renata Radic – carries reactions of Mirsad Kebo (SDA), Zoran Tesanovic (PDP) and Ivo Miro Jovic (HDZ) regarding HR Ashdown’s role in BiH. According to DL, these domestic politicians are unanimous in position that the international officials in BiH should also claim their part of responsibility for failures, not only take the credits for good achievements. According to Kebo, this year is the year of transfer of authority from the OHR onto the domestic institutions. “In that sense, all the activities by the Council of Ministers are dedicated to enactment of regulations that will allow us to take over the responsibility for the situation in BiH. It is hard to make a prognosis when it will exactly happen, but we are doing everything to assume the responsibility”, said Kebo, adding that there is a partnership between the domestic authorities and OHR. He labelled HR Ashdown as “the person who fully contributes to affirmation of the OHR as an institution”. According to Tesanovic, OHR has often been clumsy, “behaving like an authority which is not controlled by anyone, in other words that it is above the politicians and other citizens in BiH.”. Tesanovic could not say whether HR Ashdown was better or worse than his predecessor, however he minds that the OHR is not taking responsibility when it does something wrong. “It is necessary that the OHR has more sense of responsibility”, says Tesanovic. According to Jovic, BiH is in situation which he calls a protectorate. He says: “The High Representative in BiH, whoever he is, is in an unenviable situation (…) HR Paddy Ashdown has managed a lot better than his predecessor. This is the time when efforts are being made that the domestic institutions take responsibility for what is being done. In circumstances we are now, the IC cannot leave the leading role, but I would like it to assume responsibility for the moves made. The only salvation for BiH is the European principles and criteria”. |
| EC’s Daviddi: Your authorities should do their job and not spread empty optimism | Slobodna Bosna 24-26 ‘EC’s Daviddi: Your authorities should do their job and not spread empty optimism’ – Interview with Renzo Daviddi, the head of the economic and political department at the European Commission Delegation to BiH. Daviddi emphasized that if certain BiH official gives optimistic statements on fulfillment of Feasibility Study requirements they should be based on facts and explained in details. Daviddi referred to the recent statement by BiH Council of Ministers Chairman Adnan Terzic who expressed his conviction BiH would fulfill all the 16 EU requirements in a month. Daviddi concludes that BiH authorities should rather make additional efforts in fulfilling these requirements instead of spreading empty optimism. Commenting on the EC’s cooperation with OHR, Daviddi assessed it as fruitful adding it would be interesting to see development of OHR in coming years, since there have been a lot of discussion on increasing the role played by the EU Special Representative at the cost of the current HR’s mandate. |
| Wnendt meets Covic, warns over education issues | RHB, Dnevni Avaz pg 4 ‘Failure to respect state laws can bring to constitutional crisis’, Dnevni List last pg ‘Disrespecting of state laws can result in constitutional crises’ not signed – The member of BiH Presidency Dragan Covic and Senior Deputy High Representative Warner Wnendt met in Sarajevo on Thursday and discussed the harmonization of the cantonal Laws on Elementary and Secondary Education with the Education Law at the state level. Wnendt warned that further delays of harmonisation and a “failure to respect state laws can lead to a constitutional crisis”. Cavic responded that he understands and respects the OHR position and expressed confidence that a satisfactory solution would be reached, and SDHR Wnendt assured him that harmonisation of the law will not bring into question the preservation of the Croat language, culture and tradition. Covic reiterated that higher education needs to be at the state level. He pledged to work together with other officials on finding solutions beneficial to all BiH peoples within the designated period of time. |
| NN editorial by Ian Cliff: RS will not abolished | Nezavisne Novine op-ed by Ian Cliff pg 7 ‘RS will not be abolished’ – In an op-ed to NN, the British Ambassador to BiH, Ian Cliff makes the following observation: “Over affairs such as “Orao” and Intelligence Cell disclosed at the RS NA session, there has been a large pressure against the RS over the past years. Sometimes people fear that it would be an excuse for the international plan to abolish the RS. It has never been in question. Republika Srpska is a part of the Dayton Peace Agreement and would remain a BiH entity. In order to create a sustainable and modern European state, some authorities need to be transferred onto the state level of BiH. It is inevitable that the RS failure to cooperate with the ICTY becomes an obstacle to BiH admission into EuroAtlantic relations, which would make some European politicians doubt as to whether RS institutions are responsible enough to entrust them vast authorities.” |
| SD on situation in HDZ: Covic is the boss
| Slobodna Dalmacija, front and pg 17 ‘Covic is bossing, and Colak stays silent’, by Blanka Magas – Reminding that the senior officials of the HDZ BiH a year ago were announcing that the party would be getting its act together, the author argues that there will be no major changes within the HDZ BiH. To back her claim up, Magas says the recent events in the Canton 10 authorities, where the HDZ BiH is in power, where there has been a rift among the HDZ members for ages already and which resulted in a irrevocable resignation of the Canton 10 Assembly Speaker, Dragan Bagaric, show what state the party is in. SD learns from a senior, anonymous official of HDZ BiH that nobody within the party has the ‘guts’ to raise the issue of Canton 10 in fear of losing lucrative jobs and positions. The same source says that Dragan Covic favours the current situation the most because he is the one whose opinion is respected the most, although officially the party President is Barisa Colak. |
| US Bond: I do not have normal contacts with SDS | Dani pgs 12-15 ‘Bond: I do not have normal contacts with SDS’ – Interview with US Ambassador to BiH Clifford Bond. “The reason why I do not have normal relations/contacts with SDS is because I do not see SDS as a party fully supporting idea of BiH, or a party, which supports fulfillment of BiH’s international obligations including those related to the apprehension of war criminals,” said Bond. |
| Halilovic on possible coalition with SDA | Dnevni Avaz cover page story ‘Halilovic: SDA offered Coalition to us’, pg 8 ‘Halilovic: First we need to solve some issues, and than to talk about coalition for elections’ by E. Sarac – A. Hadzic – According to the leader of Party for BiH [SBiH], Safet Halilovic says that SDA has invited his party to negotiate n possible joint actions at the upcoming elections. Halilovic says that invitations for coalitions come from a number of parties, but that SBiH has not yet decided on agreements to reach as deadlines for registration have not yet expired. As for SDA, Halilovic adds that two parties have to first of all solve a number of issues, and than discuss possible Coalition. |
| DA int with Mostar Mayor Hamdija Jahic on Old Bridge opening ceremony, situation in Mostar | Dnevni Avaz pg 5 ‘There are people that want to cast a blot upon successful project of Old Bridge reconstruction’, mentioned on cover ‘Some want to cast a blot upon Old Bridge reconstruction’ by Faruk Vele – In an interview to DA, Mostar Mayor Hamdija Jahic says that there is a campaign conducted from outside of Mostar with an aim to “cast a blot upon” the project of Old Bridge reconstruction. He further presents and explains in details 10 million KM used for organization of the Old Bridge opening ceremony was not given by the state, but all invested by Mostar City, the World Banka nad international donors.. On the Mostar integration process, asked to comment what it is going to slow, Jahic responded: “City Council is regularly in session, and decisions are being made. This is complicated jobs and the process could got faster… The improvements are perhaps not yet visible on the field, however all preconditions for that are being met… There were trials to postpone the process to the September. One side would benefit out of it to realize domination. However, we insisted for set deadlines to be respected, and now things are going in their direction.” Dnevni List pg 4 ‘State did not give single KM for reconstruction of Old Bridge’, mentioned on cover, by N. Bise – also carries Jahic as saying that so far, BiH and its entities have not given a single KM for reconstruction of Old Bridge in Mostar. |
| Osmanovic hopes he will be the last RS Vice-president | Ljiljan pgs 18-22 ‘I hope I will be the last RS Vice-president’ – Interview with the RS Vice-president, Adil Osmanovic. “Following the latest elections big changes happened inside RS. One could have not even imagined that the politicians from the ranks of the Serb people would have demanded that the state defense minister be a Serb. Big changes have also been made in terms of the entity president’s powers and they have almost been brought down to the ones belonging to the two vice-presidents. I believe that the entire entity will be brought down to a measure it belongs to, which is to finally be a component of BiH,” said Osmanovic. |
| Ashdown harmonizes his political performance with Great Britain’s ambitions | Slobodna Bosna pgs 16-19 ‘Instead of building state institutions, Ashdown crowded them with British spies!’ by Senad Avdic and Emir Hodzic – According to the authors, High Representative Paddy Ashdown has in the past two years subordinated the BiH state institutions to the intelligence circles and harmonized them with the ambitions of Great Britain, which has never honestly accepted the BiH’s statehood. The magazine claims that in the course of such the policy the BiH Foreign Affairs and Defense sectors are headed by Mladen Ivanic and Nikola Radovanovic as British favorites. |
| Douglas Davidson new head of OSCE mission | Dnevni Avaz pg 2 ‘Douglas Davidson instead of Beecroft’, Vecernji List pg 3 ‘Douglas Davidson Beecroft’s successor’ by f– American Douglas Davidson has been appointed the Head of the OSCE mission to BiH. VL says it is expected that the OSCE Permanent Council will confirm this appointment in the next few days. |
Economic, social and human rights issues | |
| CoM establish draft changes to Law on Customs Police | RHB, BHTV 1, FTV RTRS, Oslobodjenje pg 5 ‘Higher salary to President of the Court and Chief Prosecutor’, pg 9 ‘Proposal of the changes to the Customs Policy Law established’, Dnevni Avaz pg 2 ‘Salaries of judges and prosecutors legally regulated’ by F.C., Slobodna Dalmacija last pg ‘Customs in favor of economy’s development’ by Z. Rerig, Dnevni List pg 3 ‘Goods provided for reconstruction projects exempt from duty’ by R. Radic– During the session held on Thursday, BiH Council of Ministers defined a proposal of Law on changes to Law on Customs Policy that will be forwarded to further procedure. BiH Minister for Human Rights and Refugees Mirsad Kebo stated that these legal provisions will make possible an equal status of domestic and foreign investors. According to Kebo, this decision also envisages exempting of duties all goods that are being imported and which are provided for reconstruction projects in BiH. CoM also established the proposal of the Law on salaries of judges and prosecutors, which also refers to the all employees of BiH Court and BiH Prosecutors’ Office. |
| Ombudsmen say human rights systematically breached in | BHTV 1, FTV, RTRS, Dnevni Avaz pg 9 ‘Human Rights in BiH are being systematically breached’ by H. Orahovac – The BiH Ombudsmen for Human Rightd concluded that the human rights in BiH are being systematically breached, and that the most common violation refered to the slow court proceedings. They added that the decreases in a number of judges has resulted in longer proceedings before the courts, stating that some judges are in charge of up to 3,000 cases. Safet Pasic, a BiH Ombudsman, said that there was a large increase in unidentified perpetrators of various criminal activities, which indicated lack of efficiency of institutions in charge of security. According to the other BiH Ombudsman, Mariofil Ljubic, the total number of cases reported from January 1, 2004 and May 27, 2004 is 3,084. |
| FBiH Govt proposes measures regarding labour and pensions | BHTV 1, FTV, Oslobodjenje cover page story, pgs 4-5 ‘Better retirements conditions for workers’ by A.Omeragic, Dnevni Avaz pg 4 ‘To be retired at age of 63’, mentioned on cover ‘More suitable conditions for retirement’, by A. Hadziarapovic, Serbs from Croatia being evicted from flats and houses in RS – FBiH Government has sent into the parliamentary procedure the change to the Law on Pension/Invalid Insurance [PIO] with an aim to additionally stabilize FBiH PIO, assist workers who will be laid off in the bankruptcy process and to facilitate the retirement procedure. As for retirement, authorized Minister Radovan Vignjevic, explains that persons missing three years to retirement would not be able to buy them out, and the Government also asked retirement age to be reduced from age of 65 to 63. As for legal provision that would harmonize growth of pensions with the growth of salaries, Ministers explains that it is not possible to do so yet and that Ministry negotiates with the international financial institutions on this issue. FBiH Government codified the Draft Law on Mediation in Employment and Social Security of Unemployed Persons, which defines the status of the unemployed categories. |
| VL says brucellosis and Q-fever ruin meat market in BiH
| Vecernji List, front and pg 5 ‘Diseases ruin sale of meat’, by Zdenko Jurilj – claims that the sale of meat has been halved in BiH following the outburst of brucellosis and Q-fever, adding that the most difficult situation is in areas of Herzegovina, Banja Luka and Sarajevo, where the sales have dropped by 60%. VL goes on to say that the people involved in the meat industry will be meeting the entity Ministers of Agriculture in order to try and find a solution. On top of the two aforementioned diseases, VL notes that the swine plague has appeared in Herzegovina and the veterinary services in Herzegovina announce they will try to contain the disease. |
| GS on Mrakovic meeting | Glas Srpske cover page ‘Neighbor should lose’ – GS is writing about the Mrakovica Agreement, which was supposed to simplify the trade in excise goods between RS and F BiH. The representatives of the F BiH Tax Administration made it clear recently that they would not sign the agreement, on whose implementation Serb Brod Oil Refinery expected most. The F BiH officials actually blackmailed the RS, according to GS, because they offered the enactment of the Law on excise and taxes at the BiH level. Goran Radivojac, Spokesperson of RS Prime Minister, says that: ”We expect that the Steering Board of the Indirect Taxation Administration would pass decision and demand full implementation of Mrakovica Agreement.” GS could not get any comment from the Finance Ministry of F BiH. |
| Serbs from Croatia being evicted from flats and houses in RS | Vecernji List, pg 2 ‘1200 Serbs from Croatia will be evicted in RS’, by Branka Stevandic – notes that some 370 Serb families from Croatia, who have during the war swapped their property in Croatia for the Republika Srpska, will be evicted from houses and flats in the RS unless the verdicts on annulment of contracts on exchange of property are not put out of force. The problem lies in the fact that legal provisions related to property issues are different in Croatia and BiH because the exchanged flats of the Serbs in Croatia have been in the meantime privatized. What happens now is that the Croats claim their flats in the RS and in the same time the Serbs cannot claim their flats in Croatia because they have been privatized. Because of this situation, the RS Government will through the BiH Mission with the Council of Europe in Strasbourg launch an initiative to try and harmonize the property related regulations in the region. |
| BiH Central Bank appoints Vice Governor | Blic, pg. 13 ‘Vice-governor appointed’ by J. D. – The Governor of BiH Central Bank, Peter Nicholl, appointed Anka Musa the Vice-governor of the Central Bank yesterday. Governor Peter Nicholl also reached a decision on the appointment of Ankica Kolobaric to the position of the Chief Controller. This was also covered by electronic and Sarajevo print media. |
| Slobodna Bosna, Dani on Ashdown tourism tour | Slobodna Bosna pgs 5-7 ‘Ashdown, aware of a fact he did nothing in BiH, has been wandering across Europe for weeks’ by Nidzara Ahmetasevic – In the week in which NATO announced that BiH would not admitted into PfP at the next Alliance’s Summit in Istanbul due to failure to arrest the most wanted war criminals, a tragic-comic tour of Paddy Ashdown and domestic diplomatic tourists was ended. Instead of explaining to the NATO ambassadors what he has done in the past two years in order for BiH to become a normal state, Ashdown was entertaining diplomats and politicians throughout Europe with talks of BiH as a tourist’s heaven, the article read. Dani pg 16 Bosnian Barometer – The magazine assessed Ashdown tourism promotion tour with three black dots (disastrous move) because the current political and security situation in the country makes it inappropriate. |
Other war crimes issues | |
| DA publishes recent Karadzic’s letters to his wife
| Dnevni Avaz pg 3 ‘Radovan Karadzic contacts those protecting him through his wife Ljiljana ‘Lilika’ Zelen’, mentioned on cover ‘Karadzic’s secret letters to wife and supports’ by N.V. – DA says it learned that Radovan Karadzic maintains contacts with his supporters through his wife Ljiljana Zelen-Karadzic. DA also says it obtained from Western intelligence the set of letters written by Karadzic to his wife in recent past. DA publishes facsimile of a letter to wife, and another wife which givens clear instructions to his family members on what to do. |
| Bogdanic, Bacon and Masovic agree to intensify cooperation | FTV – According to the press release issued by Srebrenica Commission, the Chair of the Commission, Milan Bogdanic and a member Gordon Bacon met with the chair of FBiH Commission for Missing Persons, Amor Masovic on Wednesday. Commission agreed on intensifying cooperation, especially when it comes to determining locations of primary and secondary mass graves. |
| Masovic and Srebrenica survivors insist word ‘genocide’ to be included in Srebrenica Comm report
| Dnevni Avaz pg 9 ‘Entire world saw that genocide happened in Srebrenica’ by A. Hadzic – E. Sarac – Chair of FBiH Commission for Missing Persons, Amor Masovic says he informed Srebrenica Commission members that a report not including word genocide to explain the events in and around Srebrenica in July 1995 would be regarded as just a piece of paper. Presidents of Associations Women of Srebrenica and Mothers of Srebrenica, Hajra Catic and Hatidza Mehmedovic respectively, also said that they would not accept the report not mentioning genocide. Commenting Masovic’s attitude, spokesperson for RS Prime Minister, Goran Radivojac commented: “Masovic should leave political questions up to politicians. I am not going to comment something like that. It would be better if he was doing his job.” Chair for Srebrenica Commission, Milan Bogdanic, also refused to comment saying that discussions like this over media only draw attention from the Commission’s aim. |
| Bjelica case update | Blic, pg. 15 ‘Bjelica’s location still unknown’ by J. D. – SRNA – The Spokesperson of ICRC, Sanela Bajrambasic, has confirmed that ICRC representatives have visited Milovan Bjelica who is at a safe location, on which they have compiled a report and delivered it to the multinational forces. She emphasized she could give no detail contained in the report. SFOR will soon make it possible for lawyer Veljko Civsa to get in contact with his client, Milovan Bjelica, as SFOR Spokesperson Mark Hope stated yesterday. He could not say when the contact should take place, nor whether this would be a meeting or just a phone conversation. |
Intelligence | |
| Ljiljan on intelligence: ‘Lobbying for Munja’ | Ljiljan pgs 31-32 ‘Lobbying for Munja’ by Edin Rizvanovic – According to the author, following the adoption of the Law on BiH Intelligence-Security and appointment of the Head and Deputy Head of the Agency, Munir Munja Alibabic, the former FOSS Director who has a sick ambition to control the intelligence sector throughout BiH, has faced a fresh task. And it is to ensure at any cost that as many as possible out of his reliable associates are remaining in the service possibly on the top posts. Other current and former FOSS officers once appointed to the posts by Alibabic have also got involved in the campaign for engaging the staff loyal to Alibabic in work of the newly-established state agency. |