More on Iraq led the news, at the start of a lengthy foreign bloc, followed by further reactions to the Madrid Declaration. Chairman of the BiH Presidency Zivko Radisic gave a press conference and stated the Conference conclusions offer a new chance for BiH. He said it is incorrect that the powers of the HR have not been extended – those bestowed at Sintra and Bonn have merely been further endorsed.
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The Council of Ministers at its session today chiefly considered the conclusions of the Madrid Conference. The RS members did not attend owing to a religious holiday.
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The World Bank has announced it will be allowing credits to BiH, distributed to both Entities.
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In a bloc containing individual party reactions to the Madrid Declaration, the SDA gave a press conference in which member of the BiH Presidency Alija Izetbegovic spoke about the conference, and what can be expected in its aftermath. Premier of the Federation Edhem Bicakcic spoke about economic issues. Ejup Ganic spoke about Brcko (No details of any of these speeches were given.) The SDA said they will be preparing a special statement about the Bijelina court sentences of the Srebrenica prisoners. The BiH Social Democrats hailed the resolutions passed at Madrid. The MBO is afraid that the extended powers of the HR could affect the successful implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement. 1.00 Austrian Ambassador to BiH Valentin Inzko announced that Austria will be giving credits to BiH with the aim of assisting small business enterprises.
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Elektroprivreda has cut off power supplies from the Bratsvo factory, Travnik. 1300 people are now unable to work. The company manufactures artillery, which is sold to Iran and other countries. 1.00 The non-Croat workers expelled from the Aluminium corporation of Mostar sent a delegation to CoChair of the CoM Haris Silajdzic, to protest once again about their problems.
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The press conference given by the Ombudsmen’s department for Livno revealed that they received 711 complaints from Livno citizens last year, and 362 this year. Most of these related to return of private property, and the right to employment. The Ombudsmen stated that their department failed to assist any of those who were sacked for ethnic reasons. The Ombudsmen also stated that parallel governments are functioning in Grahovo, and the security situation in Grahovo is problematic. An example is the terrorisation of Serb returnees Kazarci, and the recent throwing of two hand grenades in Grahovo itself. The Ombudsmen are also concerned about the presence of Albanian refugees from Kosovo alongside the Serb returnees to this area.
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