| RADIO HERCEG-BOSNA (18,00 hrs) | BH TV 1 (19,00 hrs) | FED TV (19,30 hrs) | RT RS (19,30) |
| M17 road | Murder in Teslic | Milosevic surrendered | Loan for BIH roads |
| Cerkez arrived in | Escape from BL prison | Stanisic released | Milosevic surrenders |
| Del Ponte left | Milosevic surrendered | PIC session | Del Ponte on new cases |
| BiH Houses in session | Del Ponte-session of PIC | DRC session | PIC in session today |
| Oslobodjenje | Dragomir Milosevic transferred to the Tribunal’; Oslobodjenje on Avaz: We are determined to halt the politics of fear and blackmails; PIC: Joint police to be urgently established |
| Dnevni Avaz | Del Ponte: NATO leadership is responsible!; |
| Dnevni List | Financial collapse threatens |
| Vecernji List | Mario Cerkez arrived home |
| Slobodna Dalmacija | He went holding his head high and he returns in the same manner |
| Nezavisne Novine | More indictments will arrive; Dragomir Milosevic surrendered to the Tribunal; The Police have threw corps to Drina river; Petar Kunic invited representatives of RS authorities: submit resignations and save RS institutions; Whom does Sarajevo Tobacco Factory belong to?; Ratko Mladic had not been enlisted to RS Army payroll since 1996 |
| Glas Srpske | File for pressures |
| EuroBlic | Two convicts have escaped; Rights of 90,000 disabled persons |
| Vecernje novosti | Helpers have cut wire; Two are suspected of crimes |
| Nacional | Features Serbian related titles |
Carla Del Ponte in | |
| Del Ponte on: new indictments, criticism against NATO, RS lack of cooperation with ICTY
| BHT 1 by Damir Simic – ICTY Chief Prosecutor, Carla Del Ponteconfirmed on Friday that by the end of month her office will raise 5-6 new indictments on the war crimes committed in the former FTV by Dzenita Zidrum– Del Ponte has addressed PIC members and said that it is time that obstructions in RS are stopped. “I inform the PIC about the situation in RS and I will be grateful to High Representative on all measures that he is undertaking and which can be of help,” said Del Ponte. Dnevni Avaz cover splash ‘Del Ponte: NATO’s leadership is responsible!’, pg 2 ‘NATO leadership is responsible because 18 indictees are still at large’ by S. Numanovic – Del Ponte stated she considers NATO top leadership to be responsible for the not arresting the most wanted war crimes suspects. “Soldiers are not guilty. My criticism refers to the senior NATO structure because war crimes indictees, 18 of them, are still at large,” said Del Ponte. Commenting to the statement by NATO SG, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, Del Ponte said that the facts speak for themselves. As for Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic, Del Ponte said: “ICTY will not shut down until Karadzic and Mladic appear before the court. There are only several weeks left until the end of the year and I hope that Karadzic and Mladic will be in RHB, RTRS, Oslobodjenje cover splash, pgs 4-5 ‘Dragomir Milosevic transferred to Tribunal’ by Alda Omeragic, Dnevni List pg 5 ‘NATO leaders are responsible for non-arrest of Karadzic and Mladic’ by E. Mackic, Vecernji List pg 3 ‘6 new bills of indictment by end of year’, mentioned on front ‘ 5 or 6 bills of indictment by end of year’ by D. Jazvic, Slobodna Dalmacija pg 8, mentioned on front, ‘From 5 to 6 new bills of indictment to arrive by end of year’ by Z. Tulic, Nezavisne Novine, cover ‘More indictments will arrive’ and pg. 3 ‘New indictments will arrive by the end of the year’ by M. Cubro, EuroBlic, pg. RS3 ‘Six new indictments by the New Year’ by D. S., Glas Srpske, pg. 2 ‘Arrest by the end of the year?’ by N. Zelenovic, Vecernje Novosti, pg. 5 ‘The Tribunal will stay’ not signed– also covered. |
| War crimes indictee for shelling
| BHT 1, Oslobodjenje cover splash, pgs 4-5 ‘Dragomir Milosevic transferred to Tribunal’ not signed, Dnevni Avaz pg 4 ‘General Milosevic, accused of shelling Sarajevo, is in the Hague’ by E. Sarac, Vecernji List pg 3 ‘Bill of indictment for shelling of Sarajevo’ by kj, Nezavisne Novine, cover and pg. 3 ‘Dragomir Milosevic surrendered to the Tribunal’ by M. Cubro, Glas srpske, pg. 2 ‘Milosevic has surrendered’ by Srna, Nacional Belgrade daily, pg. 2 ‘General Milosevic has surrendered’ not signed, Vecernje Novosti, pg. 17 ‘With guarantees of Serbian Government’ by P. Vasiljevic – Former general of the RS Army, Dragomir Milosevic, indicted by the ICTY for the war crimes committed in Sarajevo region, voluntarily surrendered to Serbian authorities. ICTY Chief Prosecutor Carla del Ponte told a press conference in Sarajevo that Milosevic, charged with the siege of Sarajevo and the shelling of civilians, was transferred from Serbia to the Hague Tribunal on the same day. RTRS – Member of Serbian national council for cooperation with the ICTY, Zoran Loncar, stated that Serbian Government was unaware of Milosevic’s whereabouts and added that they have not established whose citizen he is. He also stated that Serbian Government will provide Milosevic with all necessary help and guarantees for his eventual temporarily release. FTV, RHB – also covered. |
| Oslobodjenje op-ed on Carla Del Ponte’s visit
| Oslobodjenje pg 9 ‘Carla’ op-ed by Aldijana Omeragic – Editorial refers to the address of the Carla Del Ponte, who repeated once more she hopes to see Karadzic and Mladic arrested by the end of the year. Noting that she did not return to the ICTY empty handed [referring to surrender of Dragomir Milosevic], author says that she actually has not carried anything with her but hope. “But, what Del Ponte and victims of the aggression in BiH… have out of that hope. Nothing at all. Because, as she said, next year it will be ten years since Karadzic and Mladic have been hiding from justice,” concludes editorial. |
| Mario Cerkez released by ICTY
| RHB, FTV, BHT 1, Vecernji List front pg splash ‘ Mario Cerkez arrived home’, and pg 3 ‘Mario Cerkez’ family finally together again’ by D. Miljus, Dnevni List pg 3, mentioned on front, ‘Cerkez in Bosnia after Christmas’ by A. Beus, Vecernji List and Slobodna Dalmacija front pg splash and pg 15 ‘He went holding his head high and he returns in the same manner’ by Z. Cilic and last pg ‘Mario Cerkez welcomed in Split’ by S. Setka – Dailies report that after the ICTY Appeals Chamber had ordered the “immediate release” of a BiH Croat, Mario Cerkez, whom the trial chamber sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2001 for war crimes committed during the Croat-Bosniak conflict in the Lasva Valley, central Bosnia, Cerkez arrived to Split on Friday. |
| Source close to RS Army claims RS is not financing Ratko Mladic
| Nezavisne Novine, cover ‘Ratko Mladic had not been enlisted to RS Army payroll since 1996’ and pg. 2 ‘Plavsic’s order denies Ashdown’s claims’ by D. R., Glas srpske, cover page story ‘File for pressures’ by M. Dz. – Sources close to RS military structures claim RS is not financing Ratko Mladic because all relations with him were terminated in 1996 when he was released from duty of Commander of RS Army Headquarters. According to the source, the strongest evidence in support of this claim is an order of then RS President Biljana Plavsic by which she released him from the duty and put him at disposal of RS Army. ‘It is clear from the order of Biljana Plavsic that Mladic could have been receiving incomes only in the six months following his dismissal, as in accordance with laws’, the source says. |
| State Department on Karadzic, Mladic | Nezavisne Novine, pg. 3 ‘Arresting of Karadzic and Mladic is still a priority of USA’ by Fena – State Department Spokesperson Richard Boucher has stated that the US Government considers arresting of Hague indictees Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic is still a priority even after NATO in BiH was replaced by EU peace mission. He has stated that Karadzic and Mladic are one of reasons why US and NATO were leaving a part of their forces in BiH even after handing over peace mandate to EU military forces. |
Peace Implementation Council in session | |
| PIC in session: on cooperation with ICTY, police and judiciary reforms, etc
| FTV, RTRS, Nezavisne Novine, pg. 2 ‘BiH must get a state police’ by M. Cubro, Glas Srpske, pg. 2 ‘A warning to Srpska’ by Srna – The Political Directors of the Peace Implementation Council Steering Board at the session held on 2 and 3 December repeated their unequivocal position that continued unsatisfactory compliance by the BiH authorities, especially those in Republika Srpska, with the ICTY will bring progress on Euro-Atlantic integration to a halt. If a small group of individuals continues to hold the people of BiH back from their European future, further steps will be necessary. BHT 1 – Serious warnings have been sent to the RS Interior Minister Darko Matijasevic and RS President Dragan Cavic. Dnevni Avaz pg 2 ‘Continuation of the sanctions against RS announced’ by S. Numanovic – The Steering Board has also called for urgent implementation of the systemic changes in security and law enforcement structures, adding that the a positive outcome in police restructuring will require the establishment of a single policing structure in BiH and noted the European Commission view that this would require all legislative and budgetary competency vested at the State level and applied in functional areas based on technical policing criteria. DA comments that this means that RS could soon stay without its Interior and Defence Ministries if BiH fails to be admitted to the Partnership for Peace program on 9/10 December. PIC also paid attention to the economic issues, urging from all relevant authorities to ensure adoption of the single rated VAT Law. Oslobodjenje pgs 4-5 ‘Urgently establish the joint police’, mentioned on cover, not signed, Dnevni List pg 7 ‘Authorities did not meet priority tasks’ by N. Bise and Slobodna Dalmacija pg 8 ‘Obstruction of The Hague by RS damages BiH’ by D. Pasic – also covered. |
| HR Ashdown announces ‘further measures’ if ‘a small group of individuals continues holding BiH citizen hostage’
| BHT 1, Dnevni Avaz pg 2 ‘Measures to be taken by Ashdown depend on NATO’s decision’ by Fena – At a news conference in Sarajevo today, High Representative Paddy Ashdown announced “further measures” if “a small group of individuals continues holding BiH citizens hostage” and continues to be a an obstacle to the achievement of their European future. Ashdown said that this was also a stance of the PIC. Asked by the journalists what kind of “further measures” he announces, HR answered: “I never speculate until a concrete situation comes along.” He added that NATO’s decision on BiH’s admission to the PfP should also be awaited. The decision on the sanctions is also closely linked with the cooperation with the Hague tribunal. Asked, when talking about the small group, whether he was referring to people who have been obstructing the arrest of war crime suspects or the suspects themselves, Ashdown said that he was referring to both. FTV – “But you can be sure that in my decision I will include words of NATO, words of Carla Del Ponte and words of PIC and then I will bring my decision. Not before that,” said HR. On the cooperation with the ICTY, Ashdown also said: “In order to ensure the cooperation with the ICTY, systematic changes will have to be made in the police and security structures and in implementation of laws.” As the proof for systematic institutional weakness, HR has stressed that Ratko Mladic held position in the RS Army until 2002, and that recent arrest of Gojko Jankovic failed after he was warned about it by the police source. He also said he was familiar with the RSNA conclusion on police reform, however repeating that a minimal European Commission’s condition is the establishment of the State authority over police work and regional organization on functional principle. RTRS – also covered. |
| Terzic addresses PIC: on police reform, SAA, VAT
| Dnevni Avaz pg 2 ‘Next year I expect recommendation from the European Commission’ by Fena – BiH Prime Minister Adnan Terzic informed the Peace Implementation Council on the progress of meeting the conditions under the Feasibility Study stressing that CoM’s focus is the process of the European Integrations. Terzic said that authorities understand that the establishment of the single economic space is the pre-condition for commencing the Stabilization and Association Agreement. Terzic stressed that progress has been achieved in the field of judiciary and internal affairs, processing war crimes and economic crime. “The Police Reform Commission has been established upon my request, and despite the differences I expected to have submitted the proposal of the solutions. What we demand is restructuring of the police forces in BiH in accordance with the European standards,” said Terzic adding that the cooperation with the ICTY remains key issue. On VAT, CoM Chair said that the law was forwarded to the procedure in the BiH House of Representatives and that he expects HoR to adopt the single rated VAT Law. |
| DA op-ed notes RS MoI and MoD could be abolished by HR
| Dnevni Avaz pg 3 ‘Fear of |
Defence and police reforms | |
| PIC extends DRC mandate until end of 2005
| RHB, Oslobodjenje pg 7 ‘NATO headquarters took over Defence Reform Commission’ by A. Prlenda, Dnevni Avaz pg 11 ‘The mandate of the Defence Reform Commission until the end of 2005’ by M. Kukan– The Defence Reform Commission held the meeting on Friday, and BiH Defence Minister Nikola Radovanovic stated concluded that this year had been a successful one for defence reforms and added there were high expectations for next year. Radovanovic added said that the BiH institutions will continue with the implementation of the established decisions and the Law on Defence. Radovanovic, who is also the first co-chair of the Commission, said that a new period in terms of the structure of the Commission’s mandate, expanded by PIC for another year, is coming. He thanked outgoing Commission co-chair James Locher who will be replaced by Raffi Gregorian. |
| Defence reforms to be under NATO’s office in
| BHT 1 – At the DRC press conference, Assistant of NATO General Secretary, James Colston said that lack of cooperation with the ICTY is the last obstacle for BiH’s admission to the Partnership for Peace programme and that the defence reform in BiH as of the next year will be under NATO’s Headquarter in FTV by Azra Pasukan–Buljina– “BiH must fulfil all conditions to achieve membership in PfP, not only in reform if but the cooperation with ICTY, is of key importance. The road is now becoming more difficult but NATO is determined to provide help to BiH on way toward European integrations,” said John Colston. “There is much more to be done so that BiH alone would take over the responsibility in carrying out of these reforms. The cooperation with ICTY is very important in sense of arrest and extradition of war criminals,” said James Locher. It was also noted that DRC will remain even after BiH is admitted to PfP. “Personally, I am glad that we will have the Commission even after admission to PfP, for which I am almost certain will happen before 2006,” said Nikola Radovanovic. Dnevni List pg 4 ‘Defence Reform Commission under Operative NATO’s Headquarters’ by E. Mackic, Vecernji List pg 2 ‘BiH armed forces still without joint symbols’ by eme – also covered. |
| Update to police reform
| Nezavisne Novine, pg. 2 ‘The Parliament cannot influence the work of the Police Restructuring Commission’ by V. P. – OHR has stated that the Police Restructuring Commission is an independent body and the Parliament cannot influence its work. OHR expects that the Commission will complete its work by mid December as well as that it would present recommendations on police reform in BiH. Ranko Karapetrovic, a member of the Police Restructuring Commission, on Friday stated that the Parliament has supported the work of the Commission in the context of forming of a functional structure of police forces that would be based on BiH and RS constitutions. He also said that an efficient police do not exclude the existence of RS MoI. |
Economic issues | |
| BiH HoP, HoR discuss economic progress
| RHB, FTV, BHT 1, RTRS, Dnevni Avaz pg 8 ‘BiH Economy is closer to self-sustainability’ by H. Orahovac, Oslobodjenje pg 8 ‘Out of 385 measures, 215 implemented’ by V. Zivak, Dnevni List pg 5 ‘PRSP achieves positive results’ by D.P.M., Vecernji List pg 2 ‘Lack of harmonization endangers spending of 1,5 billion US Dollars’ by eme, Nezavisne Novine, pg. 6 ‘The opposition does not believe in claims on improved standard’ by M. Cubro, Glas Srpske, pg. 2 ‘Quorum for dispersal’ by Srna – Representatives of both Houses of the BiH Parliament received at their plenary session held on Friday a report on implementation of BiH Mid-Term Strategy (PRSP) and all suggestions and objections stated during the discussion on this issue will be forwarded to the BiH Council of Ministers. Commenting on this issue Chairman of the BiH Council of Ministers Adnan Terzic stated that as a supplement to PRSP the BiH CoM will prepare the strategy of export, development of small and medium companies and foreign investments. Also, the participants of the session agreed that PRSP should be supported since it gave some positive results. |
| On difficult financial situation in WHC
| Dnevni List front pg splash and pg 7 ‘Financial collapse threatens The strike was also covered by the electronic media. |
| NN int with Joly Dixon
| Nezavisne Novine, pg. 8 ‘The budget of the Agency will be larger than the total budget of three Customs Administrations’ by P. Klincov – The Chairman of ITA Steering Board, Joly Dixon, confirmed in an interview to NN that the budget of ITA will be higher than the total amount of budgets of Customs services of RS, FBiH and Brcko District, however it will not be for 20 million KM higher than the sum of these three budgets, as it had been suggested. |
| NN op-ed on ITA budget | Nezavisne Novine, pg. 7 ‘Costs’ by Predrag Klincov – The author says there will be no reduction in costs as expected due to abolishment of separate customs services of RS, FBiH and Brcko District followed by establishing of ITA. He also said that the Chairman of ITA Steering Board, Joly Dixon, has admitted ITA budget would amount more than the sum of budgets of the three customs services. The author criticizes this fact and concludes as follows: ‘The only thing left for public is to hope ITA employees will, through their work, deny all suspicions as well as that, by breaking many smuggling chains and by collecting much more of customs fees, thry will justify their expenses next year already’. |
Political and other issues | |
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| Dnevni Avaz pg 9 ‘BiH: Difficult past, uncertain future’, mentioned on cover ‘Why is BiH’s future uncertain’, by William Montgomery – Former US Ambassador to Croatia, William Montgomery, writes for DA on the issue of the BiH’s future. He notes that despite the progress achieved, it is obvious that there are still problems to be tackled, such as corruption and economy still depending on the international community, and the issue of war crimes suspects at large. On the Dayton Peace Agreement, |
| NN int with Reinhardt Priebe
| Nezavisne Novine supplement ‘Revija’ cover and pgs. 4-5 ‘If BiH Constitution is an obstacle for the admission to EU, then it should be changed’ by Mirza Cubro – The Head of the EC Bureau for Western Balkans, Reinhardt Priebe, believes that, in several months time, he will be in a position to say BiH has achieved a significant progress in fulfilling pre-requisites for the start of negotiations on stabilization and accession to EC. He also added that a complicated organization of the country should not pose an obstacle for BiH authorities to fulfill pre-requisites. He has stated that BiH Constitution should be changed if it is an obstacle to the adoption of European standards. |
| DL int with Mladen Ivanic
| Dnevni List pg 27 ‘There are 3 obstacles ahead of BiH when approaching NATO and EU is in question’ by I. Glibusic carries an interview with BiH Foreign Minister Mladen Ivanic who says that there are 3 obstacles when BiH’s approaching the EU and NATO is in question and according to Ivanic they are cooperation with the ICTY, the fact that a part of BiH institutions is not adequately prepared for the EU and speculations about connection of BiH institutions with terrorism. Asked about the police reform Ivanic said that his party supports reforms and better coordination at the state level, however, he does not support abolishment of the RS Ministry of Interior. |
| Oslobodjenje vs. Avaz
| Oslobodjenje pg 3 ‘We are determined to halt the politics of fear and blackmail’, also on cover, by Oslobodjenje – Following the articles on the privatisation of Oslobodjenje daily that have appeared in Dnevni Avaz and Ljiljan which say that Sarajevo Tobacco Industry director Sefik Lojo and SDA Vice President Bakir Izetbegovic are to use state budget for this, daily carries harsh reaction on the full page. Among a series of strong critics and accusations against Avaz, daily says: “We should have issued this press release several days ago in order not to all ‘media octopus’ to spread its tentacles onto everything that makes a life worth of a citizen. Today we are doing so, because they have crossed a line of any civilized behaviour, and crossed all lines of ‘media freedom’. Avaz lies, fabricates ‘credible sources’, doesn’t sign texts, intimidates people and its families, ruins successful managers and companies and stops positive projects in BiH.” |
| Raguz on Law on Pardons
| Dnevni Avaz pg 5 ‘Entire Law on Pardons should not have been repealed’ by Fena – The BiH House of Representatives Speaker, Martin Raguz, told journalists at the press conference that the Law on Pardons was recently passed in the regular procedure and that the key issue is its implementation. He added that it should have been checked whether it is compatible with other laws in other democratic countries. “I believe that was the best way to make corrections related to certain provisions instead of repealing entire law. But, now we are obliged to meet pre-conditions to have this law in the procedure again,” said Raguz. Last week, the Law on Pardons was revoked by the High Representative Paddy Ashdown. |
| Spiric on Law on Pardons
| Dnevni List pg 8 ‘Law on Pardon cast shadow on work of the House’ by D. Polovina-Mandic carries Deputy Chairman of the BiH House of Representatives Nikola Spiric as saying that the Law on Pardon that put out of force might make more difficult the BiH’s way towards European integration and he added: ‘The BiH Presidency has got a chance to use this law completely and pardon their party colleagues who might be indicted and sentenced for various things and this is not good for BiH. I believe that Parliament will have strength to take out from this situation although they have already shown certain hesitation.’ DL says that Spiric actually refereed on the HoR’s refusal to deprive of mandate Munib Jusufovic who was sentenced to 9 months in prison because he abused official position and who was pardoned by the BiH Presidency. |
| VL on Covic’s role in Lijanovici case
| Vecernji List pg 5 ‘Secret games of witnesses’, mentioned on front, ‘Secret witness revealed ‘criminal organization’ because of revenge’, by Z. Kresic comments on the suspicions that Croat member of the BiH Presidency Dragan Covic as the Minister of Finances made possible for ‘Lijanovici’ company not to pay customs in the period from 1998 to 2002 and in return Covic was on Lijanovici’s payroll. VL says that these accusations, which come from a secret witness in this case, are ridiculous having in mind the fact that ‘Lijanovici’ are political opponents of Covic. |