Latest radio news broadcast at 12.00 on 5 January
| RADIO HERCEG-BOSNA (12,00 hrs) | BH Radio 1 (12,00 hrs) | RTRS (12,00 hrs) |
| HR visits | Assistance to tsunami victims | Dismissed ITA staff protest in BL |
| VL on smugglers on border w/ SCG | Middle-East developments | Tihic on demilitarisation |
| RS Government session underway | Weather | HR Ashdown in |
TV news broadcast on 4 January
| RADIO HERCEG-BOSNA (18,00 hrs) | BH TV 1 (19,00 hrs) | FED TV (19,30 hrs) | RT RS (19,30) |
| OHR on police reform | Police structure decision | Still no PM designate | Still no PM designate |
| Cavic talks with parties | HR in | HR in | Matijasevic on RS MoI |
| Spiric on designated PM | OSA dismissals | Attacks on medzlis in Foca | OSA on dismissals |
| DNS won’t candidate PM | Trial to Bojic, Purisic | Farmers request protection | Trial to Bojic,Purisic |
| Oslobodjenje | New RS Government in February; Demilitarization at this moment is unrealistic option; Bringing down disputable symbols; Agents subject to criminal procedure admitted to OSA |
| Dnevni Avaz | Scenario for Lagumdzija’s withdrawal has started?’; Two million KM for the state on daily basis; Reactions: Cavic’s idea is objection to defence reform |
| Dnevni List | Ratko Maricic, consul general of |
| Vecernji List | Features |
| Slobodna Dalmacija | Features |
| Nezavisne Novine | PSC East Sarajevo filed denunciations with District PO: 24 persons suspected of murder of 229 Serbs; Update to Srebrenica: It remains unknown who has spent donation of US $ 130 million; |
| Glas Srpske | New decision on defence reform: Paddy first makes and then alters the plan |
| EuroBlic | Biljana Plavsic assaulted in prison, she broke her arm; Refinery at tender; DNS gave up, SP will not go with SDS |
| Vecernje novosti | Dismissals to secret agents |
| Nacional | Here you go, Ashdown! |
LATEST NEWS OF TODAY | |
| Serbian official on HR visit to | B92 radio, 5 Jan – Commenting the visit of the HR Paddy Ashdown to Belgrade, Branko Radujko, an advisor to Boris Tadic, said that the Serbian president will again present Belgrade’s unchangeable position that the Dayton Agreement must be honoured. “Everything that Ashdown has done in recent days leads to reducing the authority of the Republic of Srpska and this is totally opposed to the Dayton Agreement,” said Radujko. |
| RS NGOs urge SNSD, SDS to appoint PM-designate | Srna news agency – Coordination Board of the RS NGOs appealed to SDS and SNSD to meet urgently today and propose the best solution for the PM-designate. Board also says that they do not believe that Nedjo Djuric could “respond to historic task to preserve RS and its institutions.” |
| RS Govt in session | RHB at 12.00- RS Government in resignation is in session today discussing the draft laws related to the business of the insurance companies. |
| Protests of former RS Customs workers | RTRS at 12.00 – About 50 workers of the RS Customs which failed the competition for the positions in the Indirect Taxation Administration have started with the protests in front of the ITA building in |
Political issues | |
| Cavic meets SDA, SDP, SBiH
| RHB, FTV, RTRS, Oslobodjenje cover splash ‘New RS Government only in February’, pgs 4-5 ‘New RS Government to be established in February’ by Azhar Kalamujic – RS President Dragan Cavic on Tuesday held meeting with the RSNA Speaker Dusan Stojicic and representatives of the RSNA clubs of SDA, SBiH and SDPI-NHI – Tarik Sadovic, Dzevad Osmancevic and Zekerijah Osmic – where he stressed that it will not be possible to establish the new government before February. Cavic added that the PM-designate will be nominated by 8 January, but explained that it would take another 25-30 days to appoint the government. In addition, the new ministers will have to go through OHR’s vetting procedure. Dnevni Avaz pg 4 ‘SDA will not support the Government without its ministers’, mentioned on cover, by E. Sarac, EuroBlic cover and RSpg 1 ‘DNS gave up, SP will not go with SDS’ by Rajna Radosavljevic-EuroBlic team, Dnevni List, pg 2, mentioned on front ‘RS Government without national parties’, by A. Beus, N. Bise – also covered. |
| Sadovic: SDA will not support Govt without its ministers
| Dnevni Avaz pg 4 ‘SDA will not support the Government without its ministers’, mentioned on cover, by E. Sarac, Oslobodjenje cover splash ‘New RS Government only in February’, pgs 4-5 ‘New RS Government to be established in February’ by Azhar Kalamujic – Following the meeting with Dragan Cavic, Tarik Sadovic stated for daily that SDA is ready to be a part of the parliamentary majority and new RS Government under certain conditions. Sadovic explains that if SDA is the only Bosniak party in the new Govt, than it would have to take all five Bosniak ministerial positions and that it would not accept any PM-designate. Sadovic says while SDA is ready to participate in the establishment of new RS Govt, it could easily become opposition if PM-designate decides to form the Govt without SDA participation. DA article reads that differently from SDA, Party for BiH and SPD are not ready to support the Government which would include SDA. BHT 1, FTV, RTRS, Nezavisne Novine cover ‘SNSD is withdrawing from negotiations on establishment of new RS Government’ by V. Popovic-D.Kovacevic, EuroBlic cover and RSpg 1 ‘DNS gave up, SP will not go with SDS’ by Rajna Radosavljevic-EuroBlic team , Dnevni List, pg 2, mentioned on front ‘RS Government without national parties’, by A. Beus, N. Bise– also reported on the SDA stand. |
| Osmic: SDP will not support Govt with SDS
| Dnevni Avaz pg 4 ‘SDA will not support the Government without its ministers’, mentioned on cover, by E. Sarac, Oslobodjenje pg 5 inset ‘Support to Govt’s establishment, but without SDS’ by Fena – SDP representative in the RS National Assembly Zekerijah Osmic said Tuesday, after consultations with RS President about the appointment of the new RS Government, that this party would not support the concept of the new Government which includes the participation of SDS. Osmic said that SDP support for the new Government would depend on who the Prime Minister designate is and who would be on the Government. BHT 1, FTV, RTRS, Nezavisne Novine cover ‘SNSD is withdrawing from negotiations on establishment of new RS Government’ by V. Popovic-D.Kovacevic, EuroBlic cover and RSpg 1 ‘DNS gave up, SP will not go with SDS’ by Rajna Radosavljevic-EuroBlic team, Dnevni List, pg 2, mentioned on front ‘RS Government without national parties’, by A. Beus, N. Bise– also reported on SDP stand. |
| Osmancevic: SBiH will support PM-designate nominated by opposition
| FTV, RTRS, Dnevni Avaz pg 4 ‘SDA will not support the Government without its ministers’, mentioned on cover, by E. Sarac, Nezavisne Novine cover ‘SNSD is withdrawing from negotiations on establishment of new RS Government’ by V. Popovic-D.Kovacevic, EuroBlic cover and RSpg 1 ‘DNS gave up, SP will not go with SDS’ by Rajna Radosavljevic-EuroBlic team, Dnevni List, pg 2, mentioned on front ‘RS Government without national parties’, by A. Beus, N. Bise– Party for BiH representative in the RSNA, Dzevad Osmancevic, said in Banja Luka on Tuesday that this party would support a PM-designate nominated by opposition parties. “We are not prepared to support a new Government in which SDS would participate”, Osmancevic said after consultations with RS President Dragan Cavic. Oslobodjenje cover splash ‘New RS Government only in February’, pgs 4-5 ‘New RS Government to be established in February’ by Azhar Kalamujic – Osmancevic added that Party for BiH would support the Govt whose mandatory would be Milorad Dodik. |
| Spiric: Cavic’s talks with parties unserious
| RHB, RTRS, Dnevni Avaz pg 2 ‘RS Army is not to be defended with requests to saver MoD’ by Fena, Oslobodjenje pg 4 inset ‘Consultations are unserious’ by Onasa, Nezavisne Novine cover ‘SNSD is withdrawing from negotiations on establishment of new RS Government’ by V. Popovic-D.Kovacevic – The member of the SNSD Main Board, Nikola Spiric, described Tuesday as unserious talks held by RS President Dragan Cavic with representatives of RS political parties on the appointment of the RS PM designate. Spiric thinks that these talks represent an attempt to merely redistribute authority. Spiric said that SNSD can under no conditions participate in the new Government together with SDS, and PDP as of lately. SNSD demands a new concept of authority, one without conditioning, in order to respond to reform processes, especially in the areas of army police and cooperation with ICTY. BHT 1 – “Parties that are not accepted by the IC cannot participate in the RS Gov, said Spiric. EuroBlic cover and RSpg 1 ‘DNS gave up, SP will not go with SDS’ by Rajna Radosavljevic-EuroBlic team – Milorad Dodik stated that “SNSD has said what it wanted and it would no longer waste time on talks regarding future government”. |
| DA: Ivanic rejects offer to be PM-designate
| Dnevni Avaz pg 4 ‘SDA will not support the Government without its ministers’, inset ‘Ivanic rejected to be PM-designate’, by E. Sarac – DA learns that RS President Dragan Cavic offered PDP leader Mladen Ivanic to be RS PM-designate. DA srouce claims that Cavic was very keen to have Ivanic, experienced politicians, to occupy this position. However, due to the fact that he has already resigned to the BiH Foreign Minister position out of the disagreement with HR measures, Ivanic rejected Cavic’s offer. FTV – FTV reports that PDP also has no ambitions for someone from this party to be nominated as the PM designate. “We believe that the best solution would be if someone from SNSD is head of the Government, but with participation of these other parties that signed agreement,” stated PDP representative, Goran Milojevic. |
| DNS gives up on nominating PM-designate
| RHB, FTV, RTRS, Dnevni Avaz pg 4 ‘DNS will not propose PM-designate’ by M.Z.., Nezavisne Novine cover ‘SNSD is withdrawing from negotiations on establishment of new RS Government’ by V. Popovic-D.Kovacevic, EuroBlic cover and RSpg 1 ‘DNS gave up, SP will not go with SDS’ by Rajna Radosavljevic-EuroBlic team – DNS leader, Marko Pavic, stated today that this party gives up on the nomination of its candidate for the position of RS PM-designate, as “it doesn’t want to participates political games around this issue.” Pavic said that the biggest responsibility for composition of the new RS Government lies with the three larges parties, especially two [SDS and PDP] which brought to the crisis. “It is obvious these parties still want to participate in the Government and to be the key factor in its establishment,” Pavic told journalists. |
| SPRS: Nedjo Djuric or new elections
| FTV, RTRS, Oslobodjenje pg 5 inset ‘Nedjo Djuric, or new elections’ by Fena, Nezavisne Novine cover ‘SNSD is withdrawing from negotiations on establishment of new RS Government’ by V. Popovic-D.Kovacevic, Dnevni List, pg 2, mentioned on front ‘RS Government without national parties’, by A. Beus, N. Bise, Slobodna Dalmacija, pg 18 ‘Nedjo Djuric the new RS Prime Minister?’, by A. Macanovic – The RS Socialistic Party (SP) proposes its member Nedjo Djuric for the new RS PM-designate under the condition that national parties SDS and SDA do not take part in it, SP General Secretary Zivko Marjanac said on Tuesday. “If this proposal is not accepted SP will demand new parliamentary elections and will inform RS President Dragan Cavic about its position”, Marjanac told journalists. He confirmed that SP also received a letter from Cavic on Monday informing them that SNSD and DNS support the nomination of Djuric. |
| SDS supports Djuric’s appointment
| BHT 1 – SDS Presidency on Tuesday expressed preparedness to support the candidacy of Nedjo Djuric, the member of the RS SP for the RS PM-designate, and called on all parties to find the solution for establishing the new Government. However, the SDS rejects any possibility to establish the new government without their participation, confirmed Dusan Stojicic, RSNA Speaker. |
| Oslobodjenje op-ed on political situation in RS/talks on PM designate; RTRS comment
| Oslobodjenje pg 9 ‘Games without frontiers’ In Focus column by Senka Kurtovic – Commenting on another failed meeting on new RS Prime Minister designate organized by RS President Dragan Cavic, the Oslobodjenje Editor-in-Chief says that the unstable situation in RS will surely cause further destabilization of the political situation in the entire country. And, according to Kurtovic, that has exactly been the goal of those who had resigned from offices from the very beginning. She concludes that citizens and not any one else will at the end be the major victims of such the political games. RTRS – Reporter comments that the only optimist in the entire story on RS PM is Dragan Mikerevic. “We have overcome hard moments; better moments are ahead”, says Mikerevic. |
| NN op-ed on talks
| Nezavisne Novine op-ed pg 7 ‘Lament over Republika Srpska’ by Mirjana Kusmuk – The author is writing about political crisis in RS, claiming that the crisis has turned into a tragic-comedy with race for 42 votes. She raises the question regarding the real cause for Government composition, since it has become obvious the political parties would not reach an agreement on government composition with opposition leaders in it. Accordingly, she raises the question regarding the real point of those talks, concluding the real cause might be the intention of Dragan Cavic to clean up from possible consequences following the crisis and in case of RS destruction. |
| HR Ashdown meets SCG officials – Tadic, Kostunica, Draskovic
| Dnevni Avaz pg 2 ‘Full cooperation with the ICTY necessary’ by S.N. – The High Representative, Paddy Ashdown, visits BHT 1, FTV, Oslobodjenje pg 3 ‘Talks with Kostunica, Draskovic and Tadic’ – announcement of the visit. |
| Nacional on HR visit to
| Nacional cover ‘Here you go, Ashdown’ and pg. 5 ‘We will not save you – you’re down!’ by P. T. N. – On the occasion of HR Paddy Ashdown’s visit to Belgrade, Nacional writes that HR intends to seek for a rescue for his jeopardized career in Belgrade. Report reads: “Frightened with a reaction of Bush’s administration, which obviously had not approved abolishment of RS, Ashdown now seeks for a protection of Serbian politicians. Will our politicians spit on graves of 10,000 Serbs killed in |
| DA: International community trying to convince Lagumdzija to leave top SDP post
| Dnevni Avaz cover page, pg 3 ‘Scenario to replace Lagumdzija as SDP leader’ by M. Kukan – The daily learns that the international community is attempting to implement a plan according to which Zlatko Lagumdzija should be forced to realize by his own that he can no longer be SDP leader. Allegedly he would be offered a career in international missions if he voluntarily gives up on the SDP leadership thereby creating a space for Mirza Kusljugic, Bogic Bogicevic or Nijaz Skenderagic to replace him in the office. Such a resolution would also, according to the daily, prevent further political conflicts inside SDP ahead of the upcoming party’s congress and it would strengthen the entire political opposition in BiH. |
| DA int with Humphreys
| Dnevni Avaz pg 5 ‘Issue of cooperation with the Tribunal must be resolved once for ever’ – Interview with Head of EC Delegation to BiH Michael Humphreys. “I think that I have a basis for optimism when it comes to the developments related to the BiH’s integration into EU. I hope that if the current pace of implementation of reforms is maintained, talks on Stabilization and Association with EU might begin by the end of this year,” said Humphreys. |
| VL in with Colak
| Vecernji List, pg 5, mentioned on front ‘Future of BiH is not in entities’, by Zoran Kresic – In an interview to VL, HDZ President and BiH Security Minister, Barisa Colak, comments on requests of the Bosniak side to have RS abolished: “I do not want to go with a hard attitude and say what the final solution is going to be, whether it is going to be the abolishment of the republic or establishment of something else. I believe the future of BiH is not in the organization in entities, certainly not in this shape. One needs to seek solutions by getting closer to well-known models in multi-national European communities”. In the context of organization of BiH, Colak says one has to be very careful and ensure the equality of people in BiH, noting: “Because of that I am thinking that the communities of peoples should be organized like in |
| DL: IC proposes higher education law | Dnevni List, pg 5 ‘Status quo until state ensures money’, by D. Polovina-Mandic – According to DL, representatives of the IC submitted to the BiH Ministry of Civil Affairs a (new) Draft law on higher education, which should be analyzed during the month of January. DL’s information have it that the new draft law goes into direction of regulating the issue of higher education at the state level. According to advisor to the BiH Minister of Civil Affairs, Srdjan Arnaut, the proposal should be discussed in mid-January to see whether it is acceptable to all sides and whether it would be adopted in the Parliament. |
Police, defence and intelligence issues | |
| OHR on police reform | RHB, Oslobodjenje pg 3 ‘Police in accordance with the European standards’ by Fena, Dnevni Avaz pg 4 ‘Blocking the police reforms is blocking BiH’s path to EU’ – OHR stated that the restructuring of the police in BiH is one of the 16 requirements from the EC’s Feasibility Study, which clearly states that significant progress needs to be made in this field if BiH wishes to move forward in the Stabilisation and Association Process. “The blocking of these reforms means the blocking of the BiH road towards the EU”, OHR spokesperson |
| BHT 1 on police reform | BHT 1 by Mirela Cosic – BHT 1 reports on the possibility that a final solution for the police structure in BiH is agreed at the session of the Peace Implementation Council (PIC) scheduled for the beginning of February. Previously, it was announced that HR Paddy Ashdown would send final proposals of the Police Reform Commission to the BiH Council of Ministers until mid January. RS officials have not gave up on a position to preserve entities MoIs. “Commission’s Chairman submitted three proposals to the High Representative and the HR currently reviews these. Final consultations will be made… in order to determine which one is technically the best,” said OHR spokesman, |
| Reactions on Cavic’s statement on demilitarization of BiH
| Dnevni Avaz pg 2 ‘BiH cannot be the only unarmed country in the region’ by E. Sarac – Bosniak member of the BiH Presidency Sulejman Tihic is against idea to demilitarize BiH, which was presented by RS President Dragan Cavic. “That idea contradicts the Oslobodjenje pg 8, mentioned on cover ‘Demilitarization is currently unrealistic option’ by A. Prlenda, Nezavisne Novine pg 5 ‘Work of Defence Reform Commission extended’ by M. Cubro – BiH Deputy Defense Minister Enes Becirbasic believes that the demilitarization of BiH is currently unrealistic for many reasons including the fact that BiH is obliged to fulfill international agreements such as the one on sub-regional arms control as well as BiH’s obligations related to the establishment of international partnership relations. FBiH Defence Minister Miroslav Nikolic said he agreed with the idea on demilitarization of BiH in principle if there were certain guarantees by NATO for the BiH’s safety. SDS Vice-president Bosko Siljegovic says the party has still not made its stand on the Cavic’s idea. Dnevni Avaz pg 2 ‘RS Army is not to be defended with requests to saver MoD’ by Fena, Nezavisne Novine pg 2 ‘Defence of constitutional position of RS’ by V.P.– Commenting on defence reform in BiH and the position of RS President Dragan Cavic that RS parties could propose a demilitarisation of BiH, SNSD Main Board member Nikola Spiric said that SNSD proposed this two years ago. He added that the best thing would be to cancel the draft and form a professional military in BiH if a demilitarisation is not possible. Oslobodjenje pg 9 ‘Srpska or nothing’ op-ed by Antonio Prlenda – According to Prlenda, mutual trust is necessary for demilitarization and as long as Karadzic and Mladic are being assisted by certain RS institutions’ components such the trust cannot be established. |
| Stankovic on defence reforms
| Glas Srpske cover page story ‘Paddy first makes then alters the plan’ by M. Dz. – Milova Stankovic, RS Defence Minister commented on defence reform by saying that the most recent decision of HR Paddy Ashdown on the Defence Reform Commission had neglected the existence of RS and FBiH. He believes that the reasons explaining the decision were too confusing and could not be accepted as strong arguments, adding: “Ashdown’s decision had fully discredited efforts of all competent bodies in BiH to conduct defense reform in a manner that would be acceptable for everyone. RS Army and RS Defense Ministry had not done anything to be treated in such a manner.” Stankovic claims the High Representative has, by this decision, changed pre-requisites for the admission of BiH to PfP because he has defined it was necessary to establish a single defense structure, which had not been requested in the past. Inset ‘Sakan’ carries a statement of Velimir Sakan, a member of the RS NA Board for surveillance over the work of defense and interior affairs institutions, saying that the DRC had received tasks it needs to complete, however RS NA will give the final word on this matter. Inset ‘Language and alphabet’ – claims the decision was not published in Serb language, but that OHR web-site contains only “Bosnian language” version. Inset reads: “The practice tells us this was not the only decision of the High Representative that could not have been found in Serb language and in Cyrillic alphabet”. |
| Dismissed officers accuse OSA leadership
| BHT 1 – BiH Intelligence Agency’s [OSA] officers who were fired on Oslobodjenje pg 2 ‘Agents subject to criminal procedures also admitted to OSA’, mentioned on cover, by R.I. – also bring accusation by Jovicic and Besic. FTV, RTRS. Dnevni Avaz pg 8 ‘Respected Constitutional provisions when officers elected’, Oslobodjenje pg 2 inset ‘960 applications reviewed’, Nezavisne Novine pg 4 ‘Majority of staff were dismissed on the basis of qualifications’ by D.R., Dnevni List, pg 4 ‘307 redundancies handed over at OSA’, not signed, Slobodna Dalmacija last pg ‘OSA BiH: 307 employees dismissed’ by B. Kristo – OSA Evaluation Commission denied these allegations issuing a press release on reviewing applications and interviewing 960 former employees of the FOSS and OBS. |
| Matijasevic: RS MoI must stay
| RTRS, Dnevni Avaz pg 4 ‘RS MoI must stay’, Nezavisne Novine pg 5 ‘No abolishment of RS police’ by D.Mu.; Glas Srpske pg 2 ‘Constitution guarantees survival’ by S. Sekara, Dnevni List, pg 4 ‘Ministry must exist’, not signed – Head of the Office of the RS Minister of Interior, Zoran Glusac, stated at Pale on Tuesday that the RS Ministry of Interior and its Minister under resignation, Darko Matijasevic, did not give up the position according to which the existence of the RS MoI was necessary. Glusac added that during the meeting of the RS MoI Collegiums, which was also held on Tuesday, they discussed the RS MoI priorities in 2005 and Glusac stressed that these priorities were activities regarding the cooperation with the ICTY and arrest of war crime indictees, the struggle against organized crime and terrorism etc. |
| Colak on police reform | Vecernji List, pg 5, mentioned on front ‘Future of BiH is not in entities’, by Zoran Kresic – Asked whether the Croats would accept the abolishment of the cantonal interior ministries and survival of entity Police forces/interior ministries, given the position of the Serb side, BiH Security Minister, Barisa Colak says: “Something like that is excluded. I was clear in talks with everyone that something like that is unacceptable. I understand their (Serb) positions. However, if the entity Police stays in the RS, the Police must remain in cantons too.” |
Economic and social issues | |
| Farmers write to Terzic
| RHB, FTV – The BiH Farmers’ Association sent an open letter to Chairman of the BiH CoM Adnan Terzic in which they demand from Terzic to protect BiH agricultural production. Farmers Association has requested from Terzic to maintain current 10% rate of tax on turnover of imported agricultural goods, but the cut the same rate for domestic products. |
| Association of Unemployed write to Terzic
| RHB, FTV, Dnevni List pg 6 ‘Reducing of unemployment or social unrest’ by E. Mackic – The BiH Association of Unemployed Persons addressed an open letter to BiH Prime Minister, Adnan Terzic, calling for urgent measures to be taken in order to address the issue of unemployment in BiH. In its letter the Association also stressed that it is necessary to employ at least 20 000 people in BiH in 2005 (12 000 in the Federation of BiH and 8000 people in the RS) in order to avoid eruption of social unrest in the country. Also reported by |
| ITA Director says indirect taxation to increase BiH revenues significantly
| Dnevni Avaz pg 8, mentioned on cover, ‘Two million KM for the state on daily basis’ by F. Cardzic – Director of the Indirect Taxation Administration, Kemal Causevic, said that the implementation of the Law on tax on turnover of goods and services has finally launched the establishment of the single market in BiH. The tax revenues collected at the single ITA bank account as of BHT 1 – ITA expects new collection of indirect taxes to show results in about 10 days. |
| VAT: BiH Employers criticize BiH authorities, IC
| Vecernji List, pg 3 ‘Shopping from Grude moves to border with Serbia and Montenegro’, mentioned on front ‘VAT a menace to trade people from Herzegovina’, by Zdenko Jurilj – Notes that the VAT will not be introduced this year in BiH, and according to VL’s information obtained from the BiH Council of Ministers and Indirect Taxation Authority, the introduction cannot happen this year because of technical reasons. VL also carries the President of Assembly of Association of BiH Employers, Damir Miljevic, which criticizes the BiH authorities and the IC and which believes that the BiH economy and citizenry will not be able to cope with the increase of prices the VAT causes. “The citizens will have difficult time coping with increase of prices of services and products by 17% without organizing social unrests. The same goes for business people, who are not against the VAT, but against the way the single tax rate is being imposed”, says Miljevic. |
| Update to Bosanski Brod refinery
| EuroBlic cover ‘Refinery at tender’ and RSpg 2 ‘Tender in February’ by Tijana Veselinovic – Djordje Lajsic, RS Minister of Energy, told EuroBlic that the goal of the Ministry and RS Government was to issue a tender for privatisation of Bosanski Brod Refinery in February. He said that bearing in mind same excise and tax rates had seen implementation as of 1st January throughout BiH, there were no legal restrictions any longer for supplying the entire BiH with oil. |
| Update to Buk Bijela project
| EuroBlic RSpg 2 ‘Buk Bijela should be built’ by SRNA – Darko Uskokovic, Montenegrin Minister of Economy, stated that the Hydro Power Plant “Buk Bijela” should be built, since the electricity obtained from that source would be the cheapest one for Montenegro and its citizens. |
| NN: ‘It remains unknown who has spent donation of US $ 130 million in Srebrenica’ | Nezavisne Novine cover and pg 4 ‘‘It remains unknown who has spent donation of US $ 130 million’ M.Cubro – Hakija Neholjic, war-time and post-war senior police official in Srebrenica and Tuzla, confirmed that the Government of Saudi Arabia in summer 1995 donated the amount of US $ 130 million to Srebrenica, but nobody knows where this money has ended. According to him, the rumour at the time was that three firms were founded shortly after the donation had arrived. |
Other issues | |
| Trial of Pursic, Bojic, accused of Lukic murder, resumes
| BHT 1, RTRS, Nezavisne Novine pg4 ‘Witnesses claim they did not plan the operation’ by A. Durmo; EuroBlic, RSpg 3 ‘Operation plan requested afterwards’ by D.S.; Glas Srpske pg 13 ‘Plan after the operation?’ by N. Zelenovic – The testimonies of several RS MoI police officials called by the defence marked the resumption of the trial against Vedran Purisic and Drazen Bojic, members of the RS Special Police charged with the murder of Novica Lukic during the police operation of April last year in Visegrad. East Sarajevo PSC Chief Dragomir Andan stated Tuesday that he had not been involved in this operation nor he was informed about it well in advance. Dragan Ribic, who at the time was Deputy Commander of the Special Police, said the helicopters provided had not been able to take off owing to the weather conditions. According to him, Lukac called the then RS Police Director Radomir Njegus and informed him of this. Having talked with Njegus, Lukac said that the operation must continue. |
| Foca municipality condemns attack on Islamic community
| FTV, Dnevni Avaz pg 4 ‘Foca municipality requests perpetrators to be punished’, Oslobodjenje pg 3 ‘Municipal officials condemned attack’, Slobodna Dalmacija, pg 18 ‘Attack on Medzlis condemned’, by F– The Foca Municipal Assembly on Tuesday sharply condemned the barbaric act of attacking the building of the Islamic Community Medlis in Foca, which occurred during the New Year’s holidays. They have been called upon to take all measures with the aim of discovering and sanctioning the perpetrators of this barbaric act. Municipal Head, Zdravko Krsmanovic, condemned the attack and offered the Municipality’s help in recovering the damages. |
| VL: Smugglers built road on border with
| Vecernji List pg 3 ‘Smugglers built road 10 kilometers long on border with SCiG’ by D. Jazvic – According to VL, the Montenegrin police has recently warned the BiH Security Ministry that smugglers from BiH built a 10 road kilometers long towards the border with Montenegro (near Foca) and in this way they bypassed the official border crossing and made the road over which they illegally transport goods. VL also says that instead of checking the aforementioned information, the leadership of the BiH Border Service (DGS) awarded the Commander of the DGS unit in charge of the border in eastern |
| ICTY rep in BiH: cooperation with courts in region not satisfactory
| Dnevni List, pg 3 ‘BiH Prosecution in charge of raising new indictments’, by Erna Mackic – DL carries an interview with an ICTY representative in BiH, Matias Hellman, who reiterates that the Tribunal will not be shut down as long as the most wanted war crimes suspects are still at large. Asked to assess the courts in the region and whether a BiH Croat or a BiH Serb (charged with war crimes) would be tried in either |
| East Sarajevo PSC files report against 24 persons for war crimes | Nezavisne Novine cover and pg 3 ‘24 persons suspected of murder of 229 Serbs’ by N. Krsman – East Sarajevo PSC has filed report on committed criminal act of war crime against 24 persons, suspected of having committed war crime against 229 civilians of Serb nationality in the Sarajevo settlement of Pofalici during the war. |