| CROAT RADIO HERCEG-BOSNA (18,00 hrs) | BH TV 1 (19,00 hrs) | FED TV (19,30 hrs) | RT RS (19,30) |
| Niko Lozancic on FBiH | New BiH ambassador Leko | Conference on EU in Sa | Housing problems in RS |
| Dragan Covic in UN | Conference on EU in Sa | Displaced persons in RS | EU conference in Sarajevo |
| Leko new Amb. in SCG | Early elections initiative | Electric problems in Italy | Offensives in print media |
|
| Nuclear program in Iran |
|
|
| Oslobodjenje | (Croat) Refugees request new decision on donations |
| Dnevni Avaz | FBiH Finance Minister Dragan Vrankic: A backlog pension (payment) uncertain |
| Dnevni List | ‘HDZ has to win re-organization of Travnik’; “Public protest of Croat displaced persons and refugees in front of Governments’ |
| Vecernji List | ‘Josip Bozanic Cardinal’; “Elections questionable due to lack of money’ |
| Slobodna Dalmacija | Features Croatia related headlines |
| Blic | Cavic today with Pavic, Dodik and Djokic; Clinical Centre: Dragan Kostic to be director for 60 days; Slobodan Nagradic: Scandalous violation of human rights in Croatia |
| Nezavisne Novine | PDHR Hays will in Sarajevo today present an international auditor’s report – BH Telecom annually losses 40, HT Mostar 18 million KM |
Economic/social issues | |
| Displaced BiH Croats complain of discrimination in allocation of housing funds
| Oslobodjenje front page, pg. 7 ‘Refugees/DPs request new decision on donations’, Dnevni Avaz pg. 2 ‘Refugees/DPs request annulment of the decision on donations’ – Two BiH Croat associations of refugees and displaced persons sent an open letter to High Representative Paddy Ashdown on Sunday urging him to annul what they called a discriminating decision to allocate housing reconstruction assistance largely to Bosniak returnees. The two organizations described the decision by the Federation of BIH Ministry for Refugees and Displaced Persons as a conscious and intolerable attempt at obstructing the return of displaced Croats and refugees to BiH. Noting that only 28 out of the 480 selected beneficiaries were Croats, they complained that two Croat majority cantons – Posavina and Hercegovina – were not included in the plan for the reconstruction of housing units destroyed during the 1992-1995 war. Displaced Croats demand that the authorized bodies allocate at least one-third of the federal budget funds for the reconstruction of their houses, or else they will stage protest rallies in Sarajevo and Mostar on October 10. |
| Vrankic on possible payment of a backlog pension | Dnevni Avaz front page, pg. 5 ‘Backlog pension payment uncertain’ – “I must say that, at the moment, I am not optimist when it comes to the payment of a part of backlog pension by the end of this year. Currently we do not have funds in the Budget for the purpose, and the positions of IMF with regard to the internal debts are well known from before. Of course, there is an option of Budget re-balance and the Government will make additional efforts in attempt to improve the position of pensioners,” said FBiH Finance Minister Dragan Vrankic in an interview for the newspaper. |
| The Economic on general poverty in BiH | Oslobodjenje pgs. 4-5 ‘Reconciliation cost some 19 billion euros’, Dnevni Avaz pg. 4 ‘Poverty jeopardises reconciliation process in BiH’, Dnevni List page 8, “Poverty in BiH endangers process of reconciliation”, by Fena – In the latest issue of the Economist British weekly there is an article on BiH entitled “Almost like one country”. The prominent magazine warns that the general poverty in the country might block the ongoing process of national reconciliation. The article also says that Gerald Knaus from the Berlin Initiative for European Stability believes that the EU has to start to apply the same measures for reviving of economy as it was done in the past in Greece or now in Romania and Bulgaria. ‘The Economist’ says that the EU started the feasibility study, however, BiH needs help immediately. |
| Nagradic on return | Blic pg. 6 ‘Croatia is privileged’ – BiH Deputy Minister of Human Right and Refugees Slobodan Nagradic, says that the status of refugees and DPs will not be solved by the end of this year as the international organisations in cooperation with domestic authorities have announced. He says it is still unknown how many persons want to return and have conditions to return to their pre-war homes. “It is normal that optimism is used when talking about this issue, but it is not based on realistic facts,” Nagradic says, pointing out on Croatia, where the return process is going on very slowly. “That is the only country established after the breakdown of former Yugoslavia that is privileged. All other countries, especially BiH, have been obliged to return occupancy rights to the status of 30 April 1991. At the same time, Croatia has defined rules according to which its citizens cannot return their own property, which is scandalous violation of human rights,” Nagardic says. |
| RS: construction of apartments for families of fallen soldiers | Blic pg. 7 – The RS Government adopted the information on implementation of the programme of housing sheltering of families of fallen soldiers and war invalids and gave a concordance for the agreement on construction of 225 housing units, for which 4,904,253 KM need to be allocated. The sub-project for this year foresees the construction of 97 houses with 107 housing units and the construction of 14 facilities with 118 housing units. The contractor will be the factory “Intal” AD Milici. |
| VL: “JAT rules Bosnian skies” | Commenting that JAT Airways has in the best possible way taken advantage of the collapse of Air Bosnia Co., Vecernji list (p 19, by Dejan Jazvic) reports that Air Bosnia announces a possibility of establishment of a joint company with Turkish Airlines as this company believes that, with the assistance of a stable company such as Turkish Airlines, Air Bosnia could regain its place on the market. |
Political developments | |
| Terzic addresses conference on EU enlargement in Sarajevo
| BHTV, FTV, RTRS, Dnevni Avaz pg. 2 ‘Terzic: Arrangement under the European standards’, Oslobodjenje pg. 3, Dnevni List page 3, not signed, Nezavisne Novine pg. 3 ‘All political options in BiH want into EU’’, ONASA – The political situation in BiH is not ideal and more time and activities are needed to make it favourable, Council of Ministers Chairman Adnan Terzic said on Sunday. He told a conference dubbed “Building of Europe – Enlargement Today and Tomorrow” in Sarajevo that the situation in the country was much better than it had been during earlier years. “We have a positive trend as well as political leaders and political options who are ready to forget the former ideas and turn to seeking of compromise and joint ideas in BiH,” Terzic said. He stressed that a consensus of all political parties has been reached in BiH over joining the EU. “We are in situation when the EC is to set whether BiH is capable partner to the EC and whether the country is capable to take over and meet its duties. We have made everything to prove that we are,” Terzic said, adding there was a number of answers with which the EC was not satisfied. “We have focused our activities on fixing these answers and the EC has recognized that it has a serious partner in BiH,” he emphasized. Terzic said that citizen’ consciousness should also be built on the importance and advantages of BiH joining the EU. “The entrance of BiH into the EU is something that governments alone cannot do, but all segments of the civil society should put efforts to offer clear arguments to BiH citizens and motivate them to take part in the activities on the European road,” he added. “Joining the EU is not only the matter of the parliament, but the whole BiH society,” Head of EC Delegation in BiH Michael Humphreys said. He said there are specific factors in BiH that hamper the joining the EU, such as the existence of the Office of the High Representative. “The OHR is not a barrier, but it is very important how it will act, will it have a need to act, to use its authorizations,” Humphreys said. According to him, roads to Europe are opened for all countries in the Balkans, but that each country will have to meet conditions for admission to the EU. “It is not important whether they will join together, but the important thing that they all are heading towards the same goal,” he added. The conference was organized by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation and the EC Delegation in BiH, and under the patronage of BiH Council of Ministers Chairman Adnan Terzic. |
| Doris Pack on Ashdown | Oslobodjenje pg. 3, mentioned on the front page ‘Paddy Ashdown works in BiH without control’ – Doris Pack, a deputy to the European Parliament and the chairman of the delegation for relations with South-east European countries, fiercely criticised High Representative Paddy Ashdown in Sarajevo on Sunday in her speech delivered at the end of a conference on the “Construction of Europe – enlargement today and tomorrow”. Pack was not mentioning Ashdown’s name but just his function. She said that the latest elections in BiH had been fair and correct so that she did not understand why the international community was not allowing the elected people to do their job. “They should let these people to work and even make mistakes,” she said. “Bush, Schroeder and Chirac also make mistakes”, Pack added. Pack then emphasized that the international community had let the High Representative to do what he wanted without any control. She added that no one in BiH and particularly among politicians “dares to say anything to the High Representative” because they were afraid of removals from the posts. Doris Pack also criticized the new law on primary and secondary schools saying that, according to the document one people was not allowed to hear lectures in its mother tongue, and that an assimilation was being carried out in this way. She emphasized that the Croats from Central Bosnia would move out if they are not allowed to have lectures and textbooks written in their mother tongue. |
| Interview with SDHR Werner Wnendt on Mostar re-structuring | Vecernji List (page 7, “Through re-organization of Mostar BiH will be closer to Europe”, conducted by Zoran Kresic) carries an interview with Senior Deputy High Representative Werner Wnendt. Asked whether the OHR’s response would have been faster if we suppose that Croats had been obstructing the work of the previous Mostar Commission, Wnendt says: “I know that previous Commission exerted certain efforts. I do not believe that the reasons of its failure should be discussed now. We have to focus on the new Commission now…I do not believe that any representative or member of the new Commission will obstruct its work. They all need cooperation.” Asked whether the adoption of a new Mostar Statute will mean the change of the Dayton Peace Accord (DPA), Wnendt says: “The Commission has to exert efforts to find the future of Mostar… This process of reforms is not only preparation that BiH becomes a part of European structures but to secure certain stability to this country and this is actually a part of the DPA.” Asked whether and when chairman of the Mostar Commission Norbert Winterstein will appoint his 5 advisors, Wnendt says: “He will reconsider that possibility and if there is a need he will appoint these members. If there is no need for it, he does not have to appoint a single one. He will pass the decision on this issue soon.” |
| DL: “HDZ has to win re-organization of Travnik” | With regard to the process of Mostar re-structuring, Dnevni List (front and page 9, by S. Kuzman) carries that the NHI Cantonal Board of the Central Bosnia Canton and NHI Municipal Board Travnik sent an open letter to the HDZ Cantonal Board of the Central Bosnia Canton and HDZ Municipal Board Travnik. Among the other things, the letter says that the Mostar Statute, which according to basic principles prescribed by the High Representative has to contain instruments for protection of national interest, the election rules which guarantee representation of representatives of constituent peoples in accordance to 1991 census and representation in structures in the proportion from 1991 cannot only remain a privilege of the city of Mostar. The letter also says that they expect that HDZ officials from the Central Bosnia Canton and Travnik will influence the representatives of their party who participate in the work of the Mostar Commission to demand the launching of the process of Travnik re-organization at the same time, or, on the contrary, to withdraw from the work of the Mostar Commission until such process is launched. |
| VL says that municipal elections are questionable due to the lack of money | Vecernji List (front page, “Elections questionable due to the lack of money” and page 3, “Without 6 million KM it is impossible to hold municipal elections”, by Zdenko Jurillj) covers the report from the BiH Election Commission which is stating that most municipalities, despite the warnings of the BiH Election Commission, have not fulfilled its obligations to provide money for the elections. It is stated that this should be done in the next few months, otherwise it would be impossible to gather 6 million KM needed for municipal elections next year. They quote president of the Election Commission Hilmo Pasic as saying that “there are certain improvements, but not sufficient in order to conclude that there will not be problems for holding of municipal elections next year.” It is also stated that Cantons carry large part of the blame since they, as it was already warned by the OSCE, have monopolized allocation of budget funds. |
| Cavic to meet with the opposition’s leaders today | Blic pg. 7 ‘To resolve crisis jointly’, Nezavisne Novine pg. 5 ‘Opposition offers resolution for overcoming the crisis’ – RS President Dragan Cavic will meet today with delegations of the SNSD, SPRS and DNS, headed by their leaders Milorad Dodik, Petar Djokic and Marko Pavic. The meeting has been requested by the opposition parties that want to present their view on catastrophic situation in the RS and propose solutions for getting out of the crisis. As representatives of these parties say, the aim of the meeting is to inform President Cavic on signing document ‘Charter for the future’ by the SNSD, SPRS and DNS. Nebojsa Radmanovic, chairman of the SNSD Executive Board, has announced the document means the parties’ joint involvement in the initiative that elections be held in 2004 for all the levels of authority in BiH, in fighting crime and corruption, resolving of the social issues, and the creation of a programme for decentralising authority in BiH. Radmanovic says that other parties and organisations may also join in with the aim to overcome the difficult situation in the RS and BiH. Vice-president of the SPRS, Miroslav Mikes, says that at today’s meeting they will explain to the RS President their dissatisfaction with the Government’s work, social condition, privatisation, etc. “We have requested the meeting, because we are worried about future of the RS and BiH, and reasons for our worry are economic and social catastrophe of all citizens’ categories,” the DNS president, Marko Pavic, says. He adds that the current authority cannot lead the RS into future, due to which they are asking for the elections. Spokesperson of the SNS, Vinko Lolic, said that this party supports the initiative of the SNSD, SPRS and DNS for holding early elections. He declared that the difficult economic situation in the RS is the basic reason for organising of elections. At a press conference Lolic reiterated that after the last elections, SNS signed partnership with the mentioned parties and that it has close political and economic views with them. |
| VL: “Left wing for early elections” | Vecernji List (p 3, by E. Medunjanin) reports that, should the cooperation of the opposition parties get consolidated and efficient, those parties may try to reach an agreement on running at the elections jointly. The opposition parties’ negotiations have intensified although most of the parties announce that they would run at the municipal elections next year independently. Yet, bigger opposition parties’ leaders have different positions on the need to making coalition with smaller opposition parties: those who oppose cooperation with smaller parties say it is exactly smaller parties’ behavior that influenced the failure of the Alliance for Changes. VL adds that there are differences in social-democratic parties’ positions also in relation to the issue of readiness to cooperate with the Party for BiH, which proved to be unprincipled as it participated in every authority. |
| Editorial: “Seada Palavric, lawyer, even historian” | Dnevni List (page 2, by Ivica Glibusic) carries an editorial commenting on the statements the vice-president Seada Palavric gave in the OBN TV show ‘Telering’. DL says that from the Palavric’s statements the one could conclude that she sent a message to Croats to take one-way ticket and go to Zagreb. According to DL, Palavric sent another message to Croats saying that one cannot say a Croat from BiH but something different and the author concludes that the differences and divisions between Croats from BiH, Croatians from Croatia, Croat(ians) from Austria is being made. DL says that these are dangerous ideas on which Croats in the BiH authority keep silent, as well as, numerous associations that call themselves defenders of Croathood in BiH. The author also says that if Palavric and those who share her opinion do not know Croats, Serbs and Bosniaks also live in Herzegovina and due to this fact they call themselves Herzegovinians. According to the author, erasing the term Herzegovina from the name of state of Bosnia and Herzegovina is at least desecration of the name of the state and it seems that this is the stand of SDA. |
Defence/security | |
| Wards encourage by final acceptance of defence reform in BiH
| Oslobodjenje pgs. 4-5, mentioned on the front page ‘Some has to betray (reveal whereabouts of) Karadzic, Mladic’ – The outgoing SAFOR Commander William Ward said in a farewell interview for the newspaper that a larger assistance by the local population was needed for the apprehension of the most wanted war crime suspects Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic. Ward admitted he was disappointed with a fact the two had not been arrested during his mandate, but he said that, at the same time, he was encouraged by the final acceptance of the defence reform proposals in BiH. |
| Circle 99 on defence reform | FTV, Oslobodjenje pg. 5, mentioned on the front page ‘The international community’s goal is not establishment of a single army (in BiH)’, Dnevni List page 7, “What kind and whose BiH Army”, Vecernji List (page 2, “What kind and whose BiH Army”, Nezavisne Novine pg. 4 ‘Proposed military organisation saves BiH’s integrity’– “Even if the BiH Defence Law is adopted in the version proposed by the Defence Reform Commission, the military system in BiH will remain complicated since the two entity armies will continue to exist. It will be expensive at the same time. However, BiH will get a single Defence Ministry, what will be its visa for entering PfP as the first step towards the Euro-Atlantic integration,” said Oslobodjenje military correspondent/analyst Antonio Prlenda at a session of the Circle 99 Independent Intellectuals Association in Sarajevo on Sunday. According to Prlenda, the international community could if they wanted force RS authorities to accept establishment of a single army in BiH right now, but that obviously this is not their goal. |
| Avaz editorial on defence reform: BiH on the right way | Dnevni Avaz pg. 3 ‘BiH on the right way’ – Commentary of the Day by Edina Sarac. Sarac claims that BiH is surely on the right way leading towards the Euro-Atlantic integration. However, “BiH must go further. The next step is the establishment of a single army, which is a pre-condition for joining NATO. It is again up to us. The world and Europe are waiting,” Sarac concludes. |
| US’ Bond on the defence reform | Dnevni List (page 7, by Miso Relota) carries that within the visit of the American war ship ‘USS Nicholas’ to BiH, American ambassador to BiH Clifford Bond and Chief Commander of the American Navy for Europe Admiral Gregory Johnson held a press conference in Neum. On this occasion Bond stated: “In case that the conclusions that the Defense Reform Commission reached were met, they should made out of BiH a country that will meet prerequisites for Partnership for Peace. The essence of the visit is support to sovereignty and territorial integrity of BiH, as well as, a sign of the American support to the BiH membership in Partnership for Peace and NATO if you meet all conditions.” |
Media | |
| DL: “FTV Director blames CRA for media chaos in BiH” | Dnevni List (front and page 8, “Durakovic accused CRA of media chaos in BiH”, by I. Glibusic) carries that Head of FTV and head of BHTV1 project team Jasmin Durakovic was a guest at Sarajevo private TV ‘Hayat’ and accused the Serb side for non-cooperation in forming of BHTV1. Durakovic also accused the International Community for the chaos in the process of transformation, that is, that the IC does not do enough to speed up that process. Durakovic also said that the big problem is a breakthrough of TV ‘Pink’ from Serbia and Montenegro on the BiH territory, and Durakovic accused CRA that it should have taken care of the BiH media space, which is still not ready to accept foreign, competitive TV outlets. DL says that it has been planned to launch BHTV1, as a new channel at the state level, for the beginning of September, however, still there are no indications that it will happen. |