| BH TV 1 (19,00 hrs) | FED TV (19,30 hrs) | RT RS (19,30) |
| Zelimir Rebac threatened with murder if fails to resign | OHR is taking seriously threats against Head of Federal Customs Zelimir Rebac | Natural catastrophe declared in RS
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| More than 30 persons died in traffic accident in Hungary | FBiH Government ready to provide guaranties for provisional release of Naser Oric | HR appoints commission for defence reforms |
| Dragan Vasiljevic arrested | SFOR arrested Dragan Vasiljevic | No agreement on civilian control of Armies |
| FBiH Government ready to provide guaranties for provisional release of Naser Oric | Criminal charges pressed against former heads of RS Military Intelligence over espionage scandal | RS Army contributes to stability and security in BiH |
| Oslobodjenje | Herzegovina mafia threatens to assassinate Zelimir Rebac |
| Dnevni Avaz | Russian mafia threatens Rebac |
| Dnevni List | “In spite of opposition joint BiH Army by January 2004”; “Family of Zelimir Rebac threatened with death”; “Where have ended up Koshnik’s loans?” |
| Vecernji List | “USA: BiH is country of violence”; Hungary: 31 persons got killed in crash of train and bus” |
| Slobodna Dalmacija | “Dragan Vrankic on expenditures in public companies: Doorman has bigger salary than Federation Prime Minister!?”; “Interview with Martin Raguz, President of Parliamentary Foreign policy Board on admission to EU: I am afraid that BiH might stay out of EU” ; “Russian Mafia threatens with murder Head of Customs” |
| Glas Srpske | Bijeljina: Dragan Vasiljevic arrested; Sarajevo: Return on paper |
| Nezavisne Novine | Mafia threatened to the Director of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina Customs Administration; Owing to assistance provided to war crime suspects: SFOR in Bijeljina arrested Dragan Vasiljevic; James Locher: Big reform of entity armies to follow; Cvetko Savic, Head of Republika Srpska Army General Staff: Republika Srpska accepted joint command over armies; Franjo Komarica: Pope’s visit to Banjaluka on 22 June officially confirmed |
| Blic | American to head the action of defence reform in BiH; SFOR arrests Dragan Vasiljevic Vaske; Cvjetko Savic: Removals and investigation in the Army because of the spying affair; Christopher Hou (spelling!) : Karadzic and Mladic will be arrested this year |
| Slobodna Bosna | Throwing thousands of soldiers out on the street and than establishing a single army |
| B-H Dani | Serena Darko – Bosnian porno diva |
Affairs/organised crime | |
| Federation of BiH customs head allegedly receives threats from Russian mafia
| Oslobodjenje front page, pgs. 4-5 ‘Herzegovina mafia threatens to assassinate Rebac’, Dnevni Avaz front page, pg. 2 ‘Russian mafia threatens to Rebac’ – The Federation of BiH (FBiH) Customs Administration Director Zelimir Rebac has been put under tightened police protection since he has received a threatening letter from the Russian mafia in which he is told that both he and his family will be killed if he does not resign. The Customs Administration would not like to make any comments on this information because it would like to ensure uninterrupted work of customs administration officers and because of the sensitivity of the situation, FENA was told by the Public Relations Office of the Federation Customs Administration. High Representative Paddy Ashdown was also informed about the threatening letter addressed to Rebac. He told a news conference that he did not know whether the threat was authentic, but that the OHR was taking it seriously. Vecernji List (page 3, by Fena, “Mafia threatens Zelimir Rebac), Dnevni List (front and page 3, by D.L., “Mafia threatens family of Zelimir Rebac”), Slobodna Dalmacija (front and page 17, by M. Landeka, “Russian Mafia threatens Head of Customs with death”) and Nezavisne Novine, pages 1 & 3, ‘Mafia threatened to the Director of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina Customs Administration’ also report on the issue. |
| Ashdown supports Rebac | Oslobodjenje pg. 5 ‘They are risking their lives in fight against crime’, Dnevni Avaz pg. 2 ‘Rebac will have full support and protection by OHR’ – The High Representative, Paddy Ashdown, on Thursday visited FBiH Customs Administration Director, Zelimir Rebac. Ashdown expressed his recognition to Rebac’s efforts in lightening customs frauds promising all the necessary support by the international community. |
| Oslobodjenje editorial: Rebac and Mafia | Oslobodjenje pg. 2 In Focus column by Daniel Omeragic ‘Rebac and Mafia’ – Omeragic believes it is ridiculous to think that Rebac received threats from Russian mafia when everyone knows main target of Rebac’s actions are criminal structures in Herzegovina. |
| Aluminium d.d. Mostar fully supports arbitration procedure | Oslobodjenje pg. 5, mentioned on the front page ‘Aluminium support Arbitration’ – Management of the Mostar-based Aluminium company fully supports international arbitration procedure regarding the establishment of the ownership structure in the company, says a statement issued by the Information Office of the company. Representatives of Aluminium remind that they gave their consent for the international arbitration half a year before that of the representatives of the FBIH Government. Aluminium supports the ownership structure in the company registered with the Higher Court in Mostar in 1997, under which small shareholders, namely employees, are owners of the 64% of the capital, while 24 % of the company is in the ownership of the state and 12 % of the Republic of Croatia, better to say TLM from Šibenik. |
| VL: Former FOSS director Alibabic accuses OHR | In the context of accusations that Munir Alibabic, former Federation of BiH Intelligence Service (FOSS) revealed official secrets to certain Bosniak and Croat lawyers engaged in some court proceedings, Vecernji list (p 2, “Individuals from the OHR in the intelligence scandal”, by Z. Jurilj) carries Alibabic’s brief comment that he knows where all the recent attacks on him come from. “I would not like to get too much into the nonsense they have been trying to attach to me, I only know the attacks are orchestrated from the political factions that have been attacking me for months. I am of the opinion that some OHR employees are also involved into the whole thing”, Alibabic says. VL adds that the OHR yesterday only briefly said this was not true. |
| VL: “New indictment against Wolfgang Petritsch” | Vecernji list (p 3, by M. Sutalo) reads that on May 27, diplomatic mandate of Wolfgang Petritsch, a former High Representative, expires – the mandate which protected him (for a year after he left the position of the OHR leading man) from the lawsuit filed against him by Nino Gvozdic, a suspended judge of the Mostar Municipal Court. At the time of the suspension (May 2002), the Law on High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council was in effect in BiH and, according to it, it was only the Independent Judicial Commission (IJC) that could conduct procedures on account of offense of judicial duty and that could order a suspension, which was not the case with Gvozdic. Reminding that Petritsch has a Croatian residence permit and that, following Gvozdic’s filing of the lawsuit with the Dubrovnik Court, the Croatian Foreign Ministry and Ministry of Justice explained in a letter that Petritsch had a 1-year diplomatic immunity after the expiry of his HR’s mandate, VL says that Gvozdic’s lawsuit was declined adding that Gvozic lodged an appeal resorting to the Rome Convention according to which no one can be protected with the diplomatic immunity in cases when human rights have been violated. Gvozdic is quoted as saying that, should his appeal be declined, he will file a new lawsuit against Petritsch in some 20 days, when Petritsch get the status of an “ordinary citizen”. |
| EU list of unwanted persons | Blic pg. 7 ‘List to be ready in 20 days’ – Spokesman of OHR Julian Braithwaite says that the list with names of BiH citizens unwanted in the EU’s countries will most probably be completed in 10-15 days. “Apart from Momcilo Mandic and Milovan Bjelica, many people who are in different way connected with war criminals will be on the list. I cannot say the names, but there will be some 20 people at least,” Braithwaite says. “The aim is to create a system that will show that all those who supported or supports war criminals cannot feel safe and that they cannot hide and continue with their criminal activities”, Braithwaite emphasises. According to some information, beside Mandic and Bjelica, Milenko Vracar, Dragan Spasojevic and people from so-called petroleum Mafia involved in criminal activities and war criminals’ support networks will be on the list. The IC representatives claim that Milenko Vracar and Dragan Spasojevic are protected by the Republika Srpska authorities. As Blic learns from the Republika Srpska Government, that is not true. Rumor says that Republika Srpska Prime Minister Dragan Mikerevic laughed at the claims that Milenko Vracar, former Finance Minister and director of Nova Banja Luka’s Bank, still has great influence on legal and illegal money flows in the Republika Srpska. Spokesman of the Republika Srpska Ministry of Interior Zoran Glusac says it is still to early for Interior Ministry to give comments on the list of personae non grata. |
Defence reforms | |
| Commission for Defence Reform in BiH formed
| Oslobodjenje pg. 6, mentioned on the front page “This year without severance pay of 10,000 KM’, Dnevni Avaz pg. 2 “BiH must have an efficient army’ – High Representative Paddy Ashdown on Thursday made a decision about the formation of a commission which would carry out defence reforms in BiH. The commission, which will comprise eight representatives of the local authorities and four representatives of the international community, will be tasked, by September this year, to set out legal recommendations for the reform of the armed forces which will ensure our country’s membership in the Partnership for Peace. The Orao affair and the spying affair in Republika Srpska (RS) have pointed towards serious problems and systematic deficiencies in the functioning of the armed forces in Bosnia and Hercegovina, High Representative Paddy Ashdown said, reiterating that BiH, if it would like to be a member of the NATO Partnership for Peace program, needs a ministry of defence and a civilian control over the armed forces. At a press conference in Sarajevo, Ashdown said that the commission for the reform of the armed forces, which will be presided by US expert James Locher and which will comprise of representatives of the state and entity authorities as well as the OHR, OSCE and NATO, should speed up the reform of the armed forces by its recommendations and enable our country’s membership in Euro-Atlantic integration processes. Vecernji List (page 4, by D.J., “New organization of Army in September”), Dnevni List (front and page 8, by Fena, “In spite of opposition joint BiH Army by January 2004”), Blic pg. 7 ‘Civil control over the army’ and Nezavisne Novine, page 5, ‘BiH armies must accept European standards’ also carry that High Representative Paddy Ashdown passed the decision on the establishment of the Defense Reform Commission yesterday. |
| James Locher: Partnership for Peace represents top priority | Commission head James Locher said he expected that the commission will be successful in drafting up the recommendations which would create more efficient armed forces in BiH. In separate interviews given to Dnevni Avaz pg. 2 “My goal is Partnership for Peace’ and Oslobodjenje pg. 6 ‘Crucial is civil command’, Locher emphasized he would primarily stand for fulfillment of the pre-conditions for BiH’s accession to the Partnership for Peace program including the establishment of an efficient civil command over the armed forces. Vecernji List (page 4, by D. Jazvic, “Change of Constitution if it was necessary”) also carries an interview with Head of the Defense Reform Commission James Locher. Asked to comment on the opinions that constitutional changes are necessary for the complete defense reform and whether he believes that it will be necessary to change the state and entity Constitutions, Locher says: “I do not know at the moment. However, as High Representative Paddy Ashdown told me, he will not set any limits in the work of the Commission. We shall be considering issues in the widest possible range. It can happen that we need certain constitutional amendments and that the Commission gives recommendations in that direction.” Nezavisne Novine, pages 1 & 5, ‘Local politicians will have to make some serious decisions’ – Interview with Locher. Dnevni List (page 6, by Pejo Gasparevic) carries an editorial in which the author wonders whether the USA is taking over diplomatic-military initiative in Balkan. The editorial also says: “The coming of James Locher to the Head of newly established Defense Reform Commission is another move that seems extremely important in newly emerged circumstances with regard to the relation USA-BiH…British Paddy Ashdown is running civil and American Locher military affairs. And what do we have? Exactly the American-British Alliance just like in Iraq.” |
| SCMM session | Oslobodjenje pg. 6 ‘SCMM: General Secretary should have ministerial authorities’ – The Standing Committee of Military Matters (SCMM) agreed at its session on Thursday it would recommend BiH Council of Ministers to give full ministerial authorities including the right to vote to the SCMM General Secretary. According to SCMM General Secretary Stjepan Pocrnja, the Committee also adopted a plan of activities for BiH’s accession to the NATO Partnership for Peace program. Dnevni Avaz pg. 2 ‘SCMM did not agree on proposed changes in BiH Constitution’ – “We did not adopt the plan (of activities for BiH’s accession to Partnership for Peace) because I did not want to agree with general formulations regarding the normative regulation of the future army structure. I believe that we must swiftly carried out an essential constitutional reforms in order to draft a defence law at the state level and make the BiH Presidency a collective civil commander of the state army,” Bosniak member of the BiH Presidency, Sulejman Tihic told the newspaper. |
| Seminar on defence reform ended on Jahorina mountain | Glas Srpske, page 3, ‘Presidency in command!?’ – Three-day seminar on defence reform in BiH ended at Jahorina yesterday. Seminar discussed the draft Law on BiH Defence and agreed on the changes to the Article 3 of the BiH Constitution, by which the command over army is transferred onto BiH Presidency. |
| RS Defence Ministry press conference
| Glas Srpske, page 2, ‘Defence according to Constitution’; Nezavisne Novine, page 2, ‘Criminal charges against Republika Srpska Army intelligence officers’, Blic pg. 7 ‘Disciplinary court for five officers’; Vecernje Novosti pg. 6 ‘To be criminally prosecuted’ – The chief of the General Staff of the Republika Srpska Army, Maj-Gen Cvjetko Savic, has said that – due to irregularities in the work of Republika Srpska Army intelligence service and inconsistency in carrying out orders – criminal charges have been filed against two people, one person has been dismissed from the Republika Srpska Army, and proceedings have been set in motion against a number of people in military tribunals. Without revealing names, Savic told a press conference held in Banja Luka that criminal charges against a former head of the army intelligence administration and a former head of the 410th intelligence, who was no longer in the army service, were filed with the Banja Luka basic prosecutor’s office. Savic explained that proceedings in the military tribunal were set in motion against a number of people responsible for the spying affair in the Army and that appropriate military and disciplinary measures would be meted out against them according to the degree of their responsibility. Savic recalled that the General Staff carried out an investigation into the work of the 410th intelligence center and established that its work was systematised but that the Republika Srpska Army intelligence service did not observe rules on every occasion. According to Savic, a General Staff commission did not establish whether phones were wiretapped, but it concluded that such actions had not been ordered and that the army did not have technology to do this. Savic and Republika Srpska Defence Minister Milovan Stankovic, who was also present at the press conference, confirmed that by the end of May conditions for forming a joint command over BiH armies should be defined, but it does not mean that the entities’ armies will be united. Stankovic said that the Republika Srpska Army and Federation of BiH Joint Army would still exist in accordance with the DPA regulations and BiH Constitution, and therefore the Republika Srpska system of defence is not disputable at all. Stankovic denied Atif Dudakovic who told Sarajevo’s media that a joint multiethnic BiH army would be formed on 1 January 2004, saying that only a joint command would be formed. (Dnevni Avaz on pg. 9 also carries article presenting different views of Stankovic, Dudakovic regarding the future structure of BiH armed forces, Dnevni List pg. 2 reports on the RS Defence Ministry press conference) |
| Top RS Army officer on joint command | Nezavisne Novine, pages 1 & 5, ‘Joint command accepted’ – The Head of the Republika Srpska Army General Staff, Cvetko Savic, stated that in principle, the authorities of Republika Srpska have accepted the establishment of the joint command at BiH level, under condition that the legal regulations of BiH Constitution are fully respected. He also adds that: “The disputable issue is its name, whether it will be called joint or unified command of General Staff of BiH.” He also warned that in case that the joint command is to be established, some provisions of the BiH Constitution will have to be changed. |
| SB on defence reform | Slobodna Bosna pgs. 9-11 ‘A single army will be composed of 12,000 professional soldiers deployed in three mono-ethnic brigades’ By Suzana Mijatovic – “According to a proposal by SFOR Commander William Ward, the joint BiH Army would have between 10 and 15 thousands soldiers, but the most realistic estimation is that the number will not exceed 12,000, which is the most acceptable solution for all three parties,” the article read. |
Political developments | |
| Terzic, Mikerevic discuss economic security situation in the country
| Oslobodjenje pg. 6 ‘Creation of a single economic space’ – Prime Minister of RS Dragan Mikerevic and Chairman of the BiH Council of Ministers Adnan Terzic held talks in Banja Luka on Thursday regarding relations between entities and the Council of Ministers. They discussed economic and security issues and the efforts the authorities have to make to lead BiH into EU integrations as soon as possible. Mikerevic said at a press conference held after the meeting that the chairman of the Council of Ministers and the prime ministers of both BiH entities would travel to Belgrade to discuss cooperation on matters of economic development, membership in European integrations, security and the fight against organized crime with representatives of Serbia and Montenegro. Mikerevic added that he had discussed with Terzic the issue of loan arrangements for BiH with international financial institutions and the forming of a unified economic market, particularly in the petrol industry, as well as the reduction of the entities’ foreign trade deficit. Terzic said for his part that his visit to Banja Luka was triggered by the need to begin efforts which were agreed at the recent meeting on Bjelasica mountain between BiH government representatives and the international community. Terzic recalled that BiH representatives had made it clear at the Bjelasica meeting that they wished to take the responsibility for the situation in the country “into their own hands”. “I believe that the Council of Ministers cannot live up to its task if we do not have daily coordination of all efforts with the governments of both entities,” said Terzic, adding that such and similar talks would continue. The meeting between Terzic and Mikerevic was attended by BiH Transport and Communications Minister Branko Dokic. Terzic also spoke with leaders in the RS National Assembly in Banja Luka. Nezavisne Novine, page 6, ‘Cooperation removes economic barriers in BiH and the region’ also reports on the meeting Blic pg. 7 – “BiH will achieve the goal to join the EU by 2009. The current composition of the BiH Council of Ministers in cooperation with the entities’ governments works on creating prerequisites for solving social problems, which is the basic request of the EC”, Chairman of the CoM Adnan Terzic says. |
| Palavric: OHR protects Lagumdzija’s people
| Dnevni Avaz pg. 8 ‘Palavric: OHR protects Lagumdzija’s people’ – “OHR’s insisting on the adoption of the Civil Service Law in a form that does not contain a provision on publishing 90-day vacancy notices for the senior officers of the service represents effort to keep in the offices head appointed by Lagumdzija’s government,” SDA Vice-president Seada Palavric told the newspaper. |
| SD: Interview with President of Parliamentary Foreign Policy Board Martin Raguz | Slobodna Dalmacija (front and page 19, by Blanka Magas, “I am afraid that BiH might stay out of EU”) carries an interview with President of the Parliamentary Foreign Policy Board Martin Raguz. With regard to the BiH accession to the EU Raguz says: “The thing that I am afraid of the most and because of which I warned the representatives refers to the situation when the EU receives 10 new countries, and this will happen this year. After this happens, one big wall might be created towards the rest of the states, and then we shall have to pay a very high price for the accession, and it is questionable whether we shall have a chance to join the EU at all. For this reason now it is up to us to show that we can respond to the offer and truly join the accession process.” |
| VL: Bosniak boycott of Petritsch’s amendments in the HNC | In light of the aborted Herzegovina-Neretva Canton (HNC) Government session, during which Bosniak Ministers refused to accept the so-called Petritsch’s Amendments to Cantonal Constitutions thus abolishing the HNC’s special regime, Vecernji list (p 7, “Up to the OHR consistency”, by Zoran Kresic) comments that it is likely that the final judgment will once more have to be made by the OHR and that it is not excluded that the OHR resorts to sanctions. Tomislav Martinovic, the president of the HNC Commission for Drafting the Constitution, is quoted as saying that he expects the OHR to be consistent now and to implement the amendments as imposed by the former HR. He is also of the view that the goal of the Bosniak side is parallelism and believes that the aim is to stall the establishment of the new Cantonal Government by political means. VL reminds that the Bosniak side also demands that the Interim Statute of Mostar be integrated into the Cantonal Constitution so that, when the new City Statute is adopted, they could engage in bargaining at the Cantonal level, too. On the same issue, Dnevni list (p 5, “The HNC Government can have only one Prime Minister and 8 Ministers”, Onasa report) carries Avis Benes, the OHR-South Spokesperson, as saying that the HNC Government can only consist of 9 members, i.e. a Prime Minister and 8 Ministers. The daily reminds that according to the OHR decision from last October, the composition of Federation BiH and Cantonal bodies of authority are harmonized with the Constitutional Court’s Decision on Constituency of Peoples, i.e. the positions of Deputy Prime Ministers and Deputy Ministers, as well as of the Presidents and the Vice-presidents of Cantons, are abolished. |
| RS National Assembly session | Glas Srpske, page 3, ‘Roof for 509 families’; Nezavisne Novine, page 6, ‘Green light for several draft laws’ – At yesterday’s session in Banjaluka, the Parliament of Republika Srpska adopted the Programme on full accommodation of the families of the killed soldiers and war invalids in 2003, according to which 509 will get roofs above their heads by the end of this year. Republika Srpska National Assembly yesterday also adopted the draft laws on foreign currency transactions, changes and addenda to the law on maintenance of apartment houses, law on tourism, privatisation of business garages and Law on internal affairs. |
| Dodik: the current authority is inefficient | Blic pg. 3 – President of the SNSD Milorad Dodik said that the current structure of authority in the Republika Srpska is inefficient and composed of political parties that have incapable members unable to answer on reform requests. “SNSD supports the European road of BiH and BiH joining to the PfP, but we are dissatisfied with slow movements on that road”, Dodik said. |
| SB: Tihic wants to topple Terzic and Hadzipasic | Slobodna Bosna pgs. 5-7 ‘With consent of Izetbegovic, Tihic wants to topple Terzic and Hadzipasic‘ By Asim Metiljevic – The leadership of SDA is being shaken by fierce political conflicts amongst the factions fighting for full power inside the party, learns the magazine from sources close to SDA. According to SB, in spite of the attempts of the senior party officials to cover up these disputes, the facts are indisputable: there are two main factions in conflict inside SDA being led by Sulejman Tihic and Adnan Terzic. |
| Dani: Interview with Hadzipasic | B-H Dani pgs. 8-11 ‘Hadzipasic: Now criminals are in favour of rule of law as well’ – Interview with the Federation of BiH prime Minister Ahmet Hadzipasic. “Take the fact that BiH is spending million and a half tons of oil yearly. However, when the incomes from paid contributions are put together, it seems that BiH is importing approximately 800,000 tons of oil yearly. This means that 700,000 tons is being smuggled in various ways,” said Hadzipasic. |
War crimes | |
| NATO arrests bodyguard of Bosnian Serb war crimes suspect
| Oslobodjenje pg. 7, mentioned on the front page, Dnevni Avaz pg. 4 – NATO-led peacekeepers in Bosnia Thursday arrested a Bosnian Serb suspected to be the bodyguard of a fugitive war crimes suspect indicted for genocide in the Srebrenica massacre, a spokesman for the troops said. Dragan Vasiljevic is suspected of being a bodyguard for Ljubomir Borovcanin, who was indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) for genocide in the Srebrenica massacre, in which over 7,000 Bosniak men and boys were killed by Bosnian Serbs forces in July 1995. Vasiljevic, who was arrested in his house in the northeastern town of Bijeljina, is “suspected of being part of the network that is supporting persons indicted for warcrimes”, said Jeff Coverdale, spokesman for Stabilisation Force (SFOR). Vasiljevic is currently being questioned by SFOR, and he will be turned over to the authorities of Republika Srpska for further action, Coverdale said. No casualties occurred during the arrest, according to Coverdale. Nezavisne Novine, pages 1 & 3, ‘SFOR in Bijeljina arrested Dragan Vasiljevic’; Glas Srpske, cover page story, ‘Dragan Vasiljevic arrested’, Blic pg. 8, Vecernje Novosti pg. 15 also reported on the apprehension. |
| FBiH Government prepared to provide guarantees for temporary release of Oric | Oslobodjenje pg. 3 ‘Guarantees for Oric: Waiting for a request by Court’s Chamber’ – The Federation of BiH (FBiH) Government on Thursday expressed readiness to provide guarantees in case of temporary release of the Hague indictee Naser Oric after and if the ICTY Chamber submits official request related to the issue. Nezavisne Novine, page 4, ‘Guarantees for Oric temporary release’ and Dnevni List pg. 2 also report on the issue |
| Trial against Blagojevic, Obrenovic and Jokic postponed | Nezavisne Novine, page 4, ‘Trial for crimes in Srebrenica postponed for 14 May’ – The commencement of the trial of Vidoje Blagojevic, Dragan Obrenovic and Dragan Jokic, former officers of Republika Srpska Army, before ICTY was postponed for 14 May. The three of them have been charged with war crimes against Bosniak civilian population in the wide area of Srebrenica. |
| US’ Hoh on Karadzic and Mladic | Blic pg. 7 ‘Mladic and Karadzic may be arrested in 2003’ – Deputy Chief of Mission of US Embassy to BiH Christopher Hoh says he hopes that Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic will be arrested this year. He says he does not know who from BiH will be banned from entering the EU, but he thinks there are a lot of candidates. “I can only talk about ban from entering the US. At that list the US have some officials, but I cannot say their names”, Hoh says. According to him, these persons are not only those connected with war criminals, but there are some Croats, Bosniaks and Kosovo’s Albanians as well. |
Other issues | |
| RS Tax Administration on allegations on KM 100 million budget loss
| Nezavisne Novine, page 3, ‘Government renounces KM 100 million’ – Republika Srpska Tax Administration yesterday confirmed that it concluded agreements with private and state owned firms, in regard to re-programming of debts, which did not calculate the interest rate of those debts. Accordingly, the Republika Srpska budget suffered a loss of KM 100 million. Tax Administration further announced that the agreements reached were mainly made with the firms from the final list of the firms for voucher-presentation. The agreements were also reached upon decision by Republika Srpska Government on re-programming of debts. Bosko Ceko, Republika Srpska Chief Auditor, yesterday did not want to make any comment onto these claims. He just said that: “The report on Audit at Republika Srpska Tax Administration has not been finalised as yet. I will be able to speak about these issues when the report is completed and clear.” |
| PLIP statistics | Glas Srpske, cover page story, ‘Return on paper’ – The PLIP statistics in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina does not indicate the original level of returns of refugees and DP’s in the course of last year, because a large number of those are Serbs, who sold their property or intend to do so in the near future. The akin situation can be applied to Republika Srpska as well, where Bosniaks and Croats mainly sell or exchange their property |
| Upcoming Pope’s visit to Banja Luka | Nezavisne Novine, pages 1 & 2, ‘Pope in Banjaluka on 22 June’; Glas Srpske, page 2, ‘Service at Petricevac’ – Franjo Komarica, Banjaluka Bishop and the President of the Coordination Board for the Pope’s visit to BiH, yesterday announced that the Public Affairs of Holy See from Rome yesterday officially confirmed the date of the apostle travel of the Holy Father John Paul II to Banjaluka. Namely, Pope will visit Banjaluka on 22 June. |