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| Mikerevic resignation accepted | FBiH HoP in session | RSNA adjourned session last night |
| Terzic says reforms not in danger | Tsunami death tolls raises to 82,000 | Sales tax laws adopted |
| DNS Hadzimitrovic on PIFWCs | UN suspends assistance to | Bijeljina Assembly in session |
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| Earthquake in | Earthquake in | RS NA on Mikerevic | RS NA in session |
| BIH HoR in session | War Crime Chamber start | BIH HoP in session | Live report from RS NA |
| FBIH HoR in session | Stankovic on Mladic | FBIH HoR on 2005 budget | Parties gathering 42 sig. |
| Mostar CC on 2005 budget | Terzic addressed BIH PA | War Crime Chamber start | Humphreys in |
| Oslobodjenje | First indictments at the end of January |
| Dnevni Avaz | No payout of invalid pension (in FBiH) |
| Dnevni List | Mostar City Council: Budget beneficiaries without salaries |
| Vecernji List | Family of three from BiH went missing |
| Slobodna Dalmacija | Ties between Mafia and political elites rules the state |
| Glas Srpske | Prices of vehicles’ insurance to go up as of 1st January: Prices higher for one third; |
| Nezavisne Novine | RS NA session: Resignation of Dragan Mikerevic accepted; BiH Prosecutor’s Office: First trial for war crimes at the end of January; Adnan Terzic: Council of Ministers is entering the crisis |
| Blic | French journalist on captivity in |
| Vecernje Novosti | Head of Inspection Department tenders resignation: Kotorsko is a large burden |
| Belgrade’s Nacional | Features Serbian related topics |
LATEST NEWS OF TODAY | |
| EUFOR soon completes inspections of military premises in BiH
| BH Radio 1 By Brana Markovic – EUFOR in |
| FBiH HoP in session
| BH Radio 1 By Aida Terzimehic – FBiH House of Peoples has commenced with the session this morning. The delegates are expected to take a stance on the draft FBiH budget for 2005, as adopted by the House of Representatives two days ago. The budget is estimated to 1,012 billion KM. |
| Turkish company wins tender for purchase of Natron company
| BH Radio 1 – Privatization Agency of the Zenica-Doboj Canton stated that majority shares of Natron company from Maglaj will be bought by the Turkish company “Kastamonu Entegre”. In the next 20 days, expert group will together with Turkish buyer conclude the contract according to which Natron and Kastamonu Entegre will establish joint venture company, most probably to be called ‘Natron Hayat’. If in same case the purchase fails, the Privatization Agency will make a deal with AHV consortium from |
Political developments/reforms | |
| RSNA accepts Mikerevic’s resignation
| BHT, FTV, Oslobodjenje pg 2 ‘Dragan Mikerevic’s resignation accepted’, Nezavisne Novine cover and pg 3 ‘Resignation of Dragan Mikerevic accepted’ by I. Simundza-V.Popovic– RS National Assembly accepted the resignation of RS Prime Minister Dragan Mikerevic. Mikerevic submitted his letter of resignation on December 17th, dissatisfied with the latest decisions of High Representative. In his speech at RS NA on Wednesday, Mikerevic emphasized that he is not ready to accept the threats and the ultimate demands of High Representative regarding the changes of constitutional order in RS and BIH. 67 representatives voted for Mikerevic’s resignation, one representative voted against, and one abstained from voting. |
| Dodik says activities on election of new RS Govt turned into ‘fight for seat’
| Dnevni Avaz pg 4 ‘Those are games driving people crazy’ by J.S. – SNSD leader, Milorad Dodik, assessed that the activities around the election of the RS Government have turned into ‘fight for the seat’: “It is all the game driving ordinary people crazy. SNSD and me personally are both out of these stupid games around the establishment of the new government. Everything turned into the farce… without concept. It is ridiculous… I believe Paddy Ashdown is partly responsible for the current crisis of authorities in RS. The situation we are in is the result of his politics. Ashdown’s problem is that he arrived in the past on the wings of great expectations. But, even those decisions which were good were irritated by the way he announced them.” |
| DA: DNS have support of 42 RSNA resp on new Govt
| Dnevni Avaz pg 5 ‘If I am to be a Prime Minister, RS Government will arrest ICTY suspects’ by J. Stojanovic – DNS President and Vice Presidents – Marko Pavic, Jovan Hadzi-Mitrovic and Mirko Banjac respectively – informed the RS President Dragan Cavic that they have support of 42 representatives at the RSNA for establishment of the new RS Government. At the meeting held on Wednesday in EuroBlic RSpg 1 ‘New Year’s entry without PM-designate’ by Rajna Radosavljevic; Glas Srpske pg 3 ‘Designate is still a secret’ by N. Dilklic – Apart from carrying statements of Marko Pavic, Jovan Mitrovic and Nedjo Djuric, papers also carry the statement of Borislav Bojic, SDS Vice President, who said that SDS would give its 26 votes to the designate who collects 20 other votes. He stressed SDS would like to see an exclusive participation of SNSD officials in the new Government. |
| CoM Chairman Terzic says BiH reforms not in danger
| Herceg Bosna Radio, BHT, FTV, RTRS, Oslobodjenje pg 3, mentioned on cover ‘There is no ambient for implementation of reforms’, Dnevni Avaz pg 4 ‘Terzic: I was waiting for Spiric to say one people will disappear’, Dnevni List, pg 3, mentioned on front ‘Croats should be dissatisfied’, by D. Polovina-Mandic, Vecernji List, pg 5 ‘Croats have more reasons to be dissatisfied’, by Eldina Medunjanin, Slobodna Dalmacija, back pg ‘Council of Ministers enters crisis’, by Zdenko Rerig,Nezavisne Novine cover and pg 3 ‘Council of Ministers is entering the crisis’ by M. Cubro; EuroBlic RSpg 2 ‘Terzic: There is place for Ivanic at Council’, FENA – The reforms are not in danger, they will be on the agenda in 2005 and I believe that we will sign the Stabilization and Association Agreement with the EU, the Chairman of the BiH Council of Ministers, Adnan Terzic, has said. Terzic on Wednesday informed the BiH House of Representatives about activities to implement the reforms following the resignations from the Council of Ministers. He added that two ministers and one deputy minister had resigned, stressing that every country would encounter problems if its foreign minister resigned, which is now the case with BiH. “The important thing is that the resignations are not a result of the work of the Council of Ministers or its chairman, but a reaction to decisions by the international community,” Terzic said. The BiH Council of Ministers has not reached any decision in the past two years without the consent of the Serb people, or has a single reform law been passed or a decision been reached without the agreement of the RS Government, he underlined. “If we look at the overall picture, then the representatives of the Croat people might have a valid argument against the Council because we passed the law on higher education by outvoting Croat ministers,” Terzic said. He informed the MPs that the Council of Ministers and BiH Presidency had on Tuesday adopted the draft 2005 budget for BiH institutions, which “shows that we are a serious parliamentary majority and that we can carry out what is important for BiH even in this kind of atmosphere”. “They key thing is to get an RS government as soon as possible. Without it the Council of Ministers cannot reach decisions based on complete consensus and cannot pursue the reforms any further,” Terzic said. He called on all political factors in BiH to focus their efforts on priority issues, i.e. that both entity governments and the Council of Ministers continue carrying out the reforms together and leading BiH along the safe European road. |
| EC Humphreys meets with top RS officials in BL
| RTRS, Dnevni List, pg 5 ‘European Commission will not interfere into appointment of new Government’, by NINA, Dnevni Avaz pg 4 ‘RS has still not proved cooperation with ICTY’, Nezavisne Novine pg 4 ‘EU would not interfere in election of RS Government’ by D.R.; EuroBlic RSpg 2 ‘There will be much more work’ by SRNA; Glas Srpske pg 3 ‘Asap from crisis’ by D. Majstorovic – During Wednesday’s visit to Banja Luka, Michael Humphreys, Head of European Commission delegation to BiH, stated that EC would not interfere in the process of election of new RS Government, expressing a wish that this process was completed as soon as possible in order to resume with ongoing reforms. He also commended local authorities for the progress achieved over 2004 in the fields of indirect taxation and intelligence agency. According to EuroBlic, Humphreys said that EU would never instruct BiH institutions what sort of Constitution they need to have, adding that “there will be some changes to the Constitution, but you need to decide on this by yourselves.” During his visit, EC Head had separate meetings with Dragan Mikerevic, RS Premier in resignation, Dragan Cavic, RS President, Dusan Stojicic, RS NA Speaker, and Milorad Dodik, SNSD President. After meeting with Humphreys, Dodik said that if RS wanted to have a Government of SNSD, then it had to be a Government without SDS members, irregardless of the fact that SDS had changed its policy running lately. He stressed: “No solution of any quality is in sight for the time being, apart from one presented to the public after the first meeting political officials had with Dragan Cavic.” |
| EC Humphreys: EU will not get involved in negotiations between political parties
| Oslobodjenje ‘EU will not interfere in political negotiations’, Vecernji List, pg 5 ‘BiH accessing EU in 2005’, by ra, Slobodna Dalmacija, pg 16 ‘BiH in talks with EU by summer’, by A. Macanovic,FENA – In every country where there is a problem such as the current crisis in the RS the EU will not get involved in negotiations between political parties, Head of the European Commission Delegation to BiH Michael Humphreys said in an interview to FENA. Humphreys reminded that he arrived in BiH in November 2002 immediately after the general elections and that he clearly said then that it his neither his policy nor duty to in any way interfere in how a certain government is formed, but that his interest is to ensure the existence of a reform orientated government and the one following the road towards Europe. “Today we again have a crisis in the RS, but my message is the same – I shall not get involved in bargaining between political parties, but I do think that a government needs to be formed, that it should continue with the reform policy and continue with the European road”, he said. Humphreys reminded that one of the factors behind the current crisis is the correct insisting of High Representative Paddy Ashdown that the RS should be serious about cooperation with the ICTY. “It is not up to the EU but on governments at the state and entity levels to continue with the reform policy. If this does not happen we shall step back. We shall not instruct people what to do, we shall wait for them to return to the right track and when they do and start cooperating we shall help them”, Humphreys said. Humphreys said that police reform is linked to current political manoeuvring. The report currently being finalised by Police Reform Commission Chair Wilfred Martens will be an objective report on what needs to be done and Humphreys hopes that all levels of authority in BiH will view it objectively, and not in the sense of political criteria. Asked if interests such as support for indicted war criminals and organised crime could be behind the obstruction of police reform Humphreys said that there is a host of motives, including such motives, which need to be rejected immediately, but also other motives such as sentiments, political background, wish to keep certain authorities at the entity level…In the end Humphreys said that BiH made significant progress on the road towards European structures during the year coming to an end. “If current political difficulties are overcome I hope that in early 2005 we shall be able to report of significant progress and recommend the start of talks of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement”, Humphreys said and added that in such a way the talks could start by the end of the year. Humphreys said that next year will be extremely important for BiH because it will have to overcome the latest obstacles and continue the reform process. If this does not happen BiH will fall behind the countries in the region, especially |
| FTV interview with Humphreys
| FTV – Head of Delegation of European Commission in BIH Michael Humphreys visited |
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| Vecernje Novosti pg 2 ‘Sprcial relations with Serbia’ by I.Lovric-D.Dimitrovska – In a half-a-page interview to VN, Miroslav Mikes, Co-Chairperson of the RS Council of Peoples, stresses that in compliance with the Dayton Agreement, Republika Srpska has a right to have special relations with Serbia and Montenegro, stressing that practise has not seen this achieved. Owing to this reason, he expresses his view that relations should be intensified with respect for the fact that BiH is the state, where the influence of Serb officials at state institutions should become more dominant than it currently is, “since it is easy to implement Serb policy in He reiterates claims that RS must exist, since its existence is stipulated by the Dayton Peace Agreement and BiH Constitution, which can only be changed with the assent of all three peoples in BiH. He stresses that RS should and can survive in BiH as a multi-ethnic entity. On referendum, he notes that it is regulated by certain legal norms, stressing that BiH Constitution stipulates none of BiH two entities can separate. He also expresses his dislike towards the latest and sudden outburst of concern for RS by Boris Tadic and Svetozar Marovic, since nobody from On arrest of PIWC’s, he speculates that “many war crime suspects are still not in |
| SD on political situation in BiH: BiH cannot function as state of two entities
| Slobodna Dalmacija, pg 17 ‘Conflict of RS and friends’, by Marin Erceg – Carries an op-ed about the current political affairs amid resignation of the RS Government and situation in the BiH Council of Ministers. The author argues that the whole situation has turned into a crisis of whole of BiH and that the essence of the whole story is the survival of the RS as a Serb entity. Noting that the Police reform triggered the Serb homogenisation, the author reminds of a statement by leader of the SNSD who stated “if someone says no to the Republika Srpska, I say no to BiH”. In that context, the author says Dodik showed his true colours with the statement. The author goes on to say that it is a paradox that many political parties, media and intellectuals based in Sarajevo say the RS cannot survive because it is not abiding by the Dayton agreement, and in that context the author argues everyone should have figured by now that BiH cannot function as a state with two entities, of which one is single-ethnic and the other bi-ethnic. |
| FBiH Prime Minister Hadzipasic assesses Government’s 2004 performance as successful
| Oslobodjenje pg 2, mentioned on cover ‘Better privatisation, better care about those jeopardized’, Dnevni Avaz pg 3 ‘Government was in crisis twice but it did not fall’, FENA – FBiH Prime Minister Ahmet Hadzipasic and Federation Ministers organised a New Year reception for members of the media in Sarajevo on Wednesday. Hadzipasic described the work of the Government in 2004 as successful and expressed confidence that planned activities and programs would be implemented during the rest of the body’s four-year mandate. He also said that “two crisis” with a number of ministers who in one period “froze their” work were also successfully resolved. According to Hadzipasic this was resolved thanks to the support of those who selected the current Government. “We have not finished creating conditions for intensifying the privatisation process and much also remains to be done on transferring authority to the state level in the police sector, as well as taking necessary measures in the field of financial discipline”, Hadzipasic said. Hadzipasic said that production growth of 14 percent, increase of export by 13 percent, and import by 8 percent are the basic economic indicators for 2004. He also said that import is covered by export with 32 percent, that the further increase of unemployment rate was stopped and that 7.500 new jobs were created. Hadzipasic expressed confidence that industrial production would continue growing in 2005 and that FBiH and BiH would more strongly focus on export. He also said that FBiH has made great efforts in ensuring that BiH gets its own source of funding and that for the first time BiH does not depend of payments by entities. Hadzipasic said that this would be the orientation of the FBiH Government in 2005. He wished a quick resolution of the crisis in the RS and BiH Council of Ministers. |
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| Herceg Bosna Radio, Dnevni List, front pg splash and pg 13 ‘Budget beneficiaries without salaries’, by Sanja Bjelica, Vecernji List, pg 9 ‘Beslic: There will be complete blockade of city’, mentioned on front ‘City that will blocked’, by Fena, Slobodna Dalmacija, pg 16, mentioned on front ‘Mostar’s treasury locked up?’, by M. Landeka – The Mostar City Council (MCC) failed to pass a decision on temporary financing of the City of Mostar for first quarter of 2005, which was proposed by the Mayor of Mostar, Ljubo Beslic, because the SBiH councillors voted against the proposal, whilst the SDA councillors abstained from voting, meaning a 2/3 majority could not be secured. According to Mayor Beslic, consequences of the decision will be far-reaching because “in the next four to five months it is likely that the budget beneficiaries will not be paid, there will be no electricity, heating and everything else that is being paid from the city budget”. Beslic further explains that in the situation in which the heads of departments with the City administration were appointed not long ago and when there is no strategy of future work in place, the temporary financing was the only solution. According to Ahmed Dzubur from the SBiH, the SBiH councillors could not support the temporary funding since the proponent did not present a plan regarding what the money would be spent on. As a result, the President of MCC, Murat Coric, proposed two conclusions, namely to consult the OHR and get its interpretation whether the decision on temporary funding requires simple majority (in the MCC) and to vote on the proposal again by January 15. HDZ’s Caucus rejected Coric’s proposals. |
| DL: HR Ashdown will not have the courage to pronounce five Police regions in BiH
| Dnevni List, pg 9 ‘Will OHR have the courage to pronounce five Police regions?’, by Zvonimir Jukic – Talking about the course of Police reform in BiH, DL says that sources close to international diplomatic circles in BiH say that the High Representative for BiH will not have the courage to pronounce a new organizational scheme of the Police in BiH, as announced earlier. In that context, the author says that following the crisis in the authorities in the RS and the joint position of the parties in the RS, from the SDS to the SNSD, that the organization of future Police in five multi-ethnic regions is unacceptable, HR Paddy Ashdown has been put to a difficult test. DL notes if the HR supports the aforementioned plan, he will be facing an even more difficult political crisis in the RS and at the level of BiH Council of Ministers, wondering whether “the British lord” has an answer to the situation. In that context, the author also wonders whether the HR will overcome the crisis by using a “rotten compromise, so characteristic for his way of ruling in BiH, which will postpone the real solution for some other time, thus prolonging the agony of BiH and its citizens”. Speaking about the organization of Police force in BiH, which envisages 5 multi-ethnic regions, DL notes that the plan was made by the Director of FBiH Police, Zlatko Miletic, and that HR Ashdown, knowing that the plan would be unacceptable to the RS, tried to remove Miletic in summer 2004 in order to prevent the plan from getting to the Police Reform Commission (PRC). However, when Miletic presented the plan, he was strongly supported by HDZ and SDA members in the PRC. DL also reminds that the Sarajevo-based Slobodna Bosna earlier reported that HR Ashdown’s intention was prevented by the PDHR |
Economic/social affairs | |
| FBiH HoR fails to adopt rebalance budget thereby preventing payout of Dec invalid pensions
| Herceg Bosna Radio, Oslobodjenje pg 6 ‘No invalid pensions for December’ by A. Terzic, Dnevni Avaz cover splash ‘No payout of invalid pension’, pg 8 ‘Nadarevic: Invalid pensions for December will not be paid out’ by A. Basic, Dnevni List, pg 5 ‘Payments to defenders and invalids questionable’, by J. Petrovic – The FBiH House of Representatives on Wednesday postponed the vote on the Law on rebalance of the FBiH Budget for 2004, although it has accepted the budget proposal for 2005. The vote has been postponed until the next HoR session in mid January due to doubt expressed by the majority of the representatives regarding the transparency of FBiH Government’s spending of the budget in 2004. According to FBiH Minister for Veterans issues, Ibrahim Nadarevic, the Government has no other means to make payments of December invalid pensions: “Invalid pensions will not be paid out until the budget rebalance is adopted. The government ensured 11 million KM to pay invalid pensions, however those means cannot be operational until rebalance is endorsed by the representatives.” FBiH Finance Minister, Dragan Vrankic, stated that the Govt will prepare new report on the spending for the next session, stressing that the rebalance adoption is necessary. Dnevni Avaz pg 8 inset ‘Redzic: Compensations for war invalids must not be questioned’ – The Chair of the War Invalids Associations from FBiH, Safet Redzic, says that the invalids pensions must be paid: “That is the priority that must not be challenged… If there is no enough means to carry out things from budget… than some obligations are not to be paid out, but those do not include something as important as invalids pensions.” |
| BiH Parliament adopts law on sales taxes, excises
| Oslobodjenje pgs 4-5, mentioned on cover ‘Better conditions for domestic producers’ V. Zivak, FENA – The BiH House of Representatives on Wednesday adopted the Law on the Sales Tax and the Law on Excises in BiH. The taxed goods are divided in two tax groups – with tax of 20 percent and 10 percent. This law will come into effect on the day of its publication in the BiH Official Gazette, and will be implemented as of FENA – The BiH House of Peoples also adopted the Law on Sales Tax and Law on Excises in Dnevni Avaz pg 4 ‘Terzic: I was waiting for Spiric to say one people will disappear’, FENA – The Joint Commission of both Houses of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly on Wednesday evening harmonized the texts of the Law on the Sales Taxes and the Law on Excises in BiH. The House of Representatives and the House of Peoples, which have adopted these laws in different texts earlier in the day, adopted the report of the Joint Harmonization Commission late on Wednesday. |
| Prices of vehicles’ insurance to go up as of 1st January | Glas Srpske cover page story ‘Prices higher for one third’ by D.M. – Grujo Komljenovic, Assistant to General Manager of “Kosig Dunav Osiguranje” confirmed that as of 1st January, the prices for insurance of vehicles would go up for one third. |
| RSNA adop-ts 2005 Budget
| FTV, RTRS, Glas Srpske pg 2 ‘Recipe to set up production’ by D. Zec; Nezavisne Novine pg 4 ‘RS budget for 2005 amounts BAM 945.6 million’ by I.S.-V.P. – AT Wednesday’s session in Banja Luka, the RS NA has adopted the RS budget for 2005 of BAM 945.6 million. Following lengthy discussions, 52 MP’s voted pro, 16 voted contra and 8 abstained from voting on proposed budget. The RS NA also adopted conclusions, according to which it had obligated RS Government to identify additional resources to meet the needs of the RS Interior Ministry in relation with the cooperation with the ICTY. |
Crime/judiciary | |
| BiH prosecutors discuss start of war crime trials in BiH
| BHT, FTV, RTRS, Oslobodjenje cover page, pgs 4-5 ‘First indictments at the end of January’ A. Omeragic, Dnevni Avaz pg 2, mentioned on cover ‘Indictment to be sealed until they have been confirmed by Court’ M. Drinjakovic – According to Marinko Jurcevic, Chief BiH Prosecutor, first trials at BIH Court’s War Crime Chamber will not start on January 1, 2005, as previously announced. First indictments can be expected only at the end of January. The main focus of all Prosecutions in BiH will be processing of war crime cases, especially those approved by ICTY. Over 600 persons in BIH are suspected war criminals. BiH Prosecutor Vaso Marinkovic confirmed that several cases have been transferred from ICTY, but he didn’t want to give any details. All war crime cases which will be processed at diverse courts in BIH must be approved by BIH Prosecution. Waiting for the start of war crimes processing in BiH, the BiH Prosecution on Wednesday organized a consultative meeting with the prosecutors at all levels in the country to discuss the issue and prepare better for the new challenges. Dnevni List, pg 2, mentioned on front ‘Start of war crimes trials postponed’, by Erna Mackic, Slobodna Dalmacija, pg 17 ‘Superficial investigations for processes from The Hague’, by Z. Tulic, Nezavisne Novine cover and pg 2 ‘First trials for war crimes at the end of January’ by A. Sisic also covered the issue. |
| Testimony of French journalists taken hostages in
| EuroBlic cover and pg 6 ‘Kidnappers were Bin Laden’s veterans from Bosnia’ by TANJUG; Glas Srpske pg 5 ‘The hostages of mujahedeeins’; Nacional pg 14 ‘Kidnappers were Bin Laden’s veterans from Bosnia’ by B.T.N – The French journalist, Christian Schenoe, who was held hostage with his colleague and compatriot by Islamic Army in Iraq for four months, on Wednesday told TANJUG news agency that his kidnappers had been veterans of Osama Bin Laden from Bosnia, adding: “The kidnappers told us they fought in Bosnia.” He also said that one of kidnappers released a tape with Bosnian music on it. He also testified that two Macedonians and the Italian journalist Enco Baldoni had been amongst the people, who this Islamic Army had executed. |
| Colonel Krsmanovic finally free
| Glas Srpske cover page story ‘Colonel free at last’ by N.Z. – Sarajevo Cantonal Court on Wednesday rejected motion filed by the Prosecutor’s Office in charge demanding renewal of criminal proceedings against Aleksa Krsmanovic, the retired RS Army Colonel. |
| RS Defence Minister Stankovic on Mladic
| BHT, RTRS, Nezavisne Novine pg 4 ‘Mladic was not in Han Pijesak’ by ONASA; Glas Srpske pg 5 ‘We are not hiding Mladic’– Milovan Stankovic, RS Defence Minister in resignation, on Wednesday stated that the information was false that Ratko Mladic had been included on the payroll of the RS Army, adding that the claims Mladic was at the military facility in Han Pijesak “represent a result of somebody’s imagination”. He told the press that the RS Defence Ministry was preparing a report, which would include all the facts related to payments to General Maldic and other PIWC’s. Oslobodjenje pg 3 and Dnevni Avaz pg 2 also carried the statement. |