News Headlines
- Yeltsin leaves OSCE Summit in Istanbul after discussion with Clinton over crisis in Chechnya
- Russian rockets kill 170 people in Grozni – HINA reports
- Members of BiH delegation in Istanbul comment on OSCE Summit
- NY Times report on corruption in BiH was unfounded – International legal experts
- UN report on Srebrenica is late, but positive step – BiH Ambassador to UN Sacirbegovic
- RS Interior Ministry reports to National Assembly on investigation into Kopanja case and other terrorist attacks in RS
- RS National Assembly adopts law on citizenship that is discriminatory towards refugees
- IMC decision on EROTEL is one-sided – HDZ BiH spokesperson Zoran Tomic
- RTV BiH rejects connection with any political party in BiH
- Croatian Government Comments on Erotel Decision
- Orucevic denies Prskalo’s claims regarding Mostar Airport
- EC delegation signs six contracts worth 15 million EURO on refugee return projects in both BiH entities
- EU and BiH workgroup for establishment of functional BiH state and closer cooperation holds session in Sarajevo
- SDA demands replacement of Serb Gorazde Mayor Slavko Topalovic
- GDZ welcomes New York Declaration aspect regarding struggle against corruption
- SDP BiH introduces its political platform for Mostar
- Ralph Johnson content with progress in implementation of Brcko decision
- PEC extends deadline for voter registration abroad
- Tudjman’s health condition improves
- World news
- Does BiH need new foreign loans?
- Sports
- Weather
- Interview with Croat Cultural Society ‘Napredak’ President Franjo Topic on his visit to Kosovo and Montenegro
- Dayton must be upgraded so BiH can be strengthened – Miro Lazovic and Kresimir Zubak at press conference
- New York Declaration is incorrectly interpreted in some aspects – Dodik
- UN Mission to BiH worried over conduct of police officers at Mostar Airport
- Ganic opens two factories in Celinac
- Bicakcic attends economic forum in Monaco
- Day of Herceg-Bosna 18 November is non-working holiday in municipalities with Croat majority
- ICRC organizes seminar on “Law in Armed Conflicts” in Sarajevo
- Tuzla orphanage receives humanitarian aid from Germany
- Coal mine Kreka sands coal to returnees to Gacko Municipality
- Promotion of Mehmed Bublin’s book “Cities of BiH”
News Summary
Members of BiH delegation in Istanbul comment on OSCE Summit
A TV BiH crew interviewed members of the BiH delegation in Istanbul on Thursday, asking them for their impressions of the OSCE Summit. BiH Presidency Chairman Ante Jelavic called the Summit historic, adding that the speech by US President Bill Clinton showed the amount of support BiH still enjoys from the US Administration. BiH Presidency Member Zivko Radisic concluded that the Summit put emphasis on preventing uncontrolled turbulence in Europe in the future. BiH Council of Ministers Co-chairman Haris Silajdzic met with the European Council delegation at the Summit to discuss the prospect of BiH being admitted in to the Council. Silajdzic asserted that BiH should be accepted, although has not fulfilled all of the preconditions, because there are other countries in the Council that have not fulfilled these preconditions. “European Council representatives welcomed some of the positive steps BiH has taken towards the adoption of some necessary laws that would strengthen central institutions and Rule-of-Law in the country” Silajdzic concluded. The OSCE Summit in Istanbul resumes on Friday, when the Declaration on Security in Europe in the 21st Century is expected to be adopted.
05:00
NY Times report on corruption in BiH was unfounded – International legal experts
The New York Times allegations of corruption in BiH and the misuse of $1 billion lack foundation. This was the main conclusion of the international legal experts’ report presented on Thursday after a month-long investigation into the issue. The Commission did not find any evidence that would back the NY Times claim that $1 billion is missing from public funds in BiH and humanitarian projects and another $20 million lost from an account in a BiH bank. NY Times based its article on a 4,00-page report on corruption in BiH created by an OHR-founded anti-corruption team. The Commission has found no proof of any report by this or any other international anti-corruption team. The Commission analysed another 4,000-page report that the BiH Federation Financial Police forwarded to the OHR, but in this report, no international organization or funds were mentioned. The investigation of the Financial Police covered in this report was focused on financial manipulation in the Tuzla Canton Government by local officials. Nor did the Commission find any evidence to back the NY Times claim that higher Muslim, Croat and Serb officials in BiH practice financial abuse. The five-member commission submitted a draft report to the BiH Government and the full version is expected to be published early next year.
03:15
RS National Assembly adopts law on citizenship discriminatory to refugees
At its Thursday session in Banja Luka, the RS National Assembly adopted a law on RS citizenship, which denies refugees from the RS the right to citizenship, even though they do not have citizenship in the BiH Federation or some other country. The new law grants RS citizenship to all those who resided in the RS on 6 April 1992, unless they were residents of the BiH Federation on 1 January 1998. This practically means that refugees from the RS lose the right to vote in the RS or to participate in privatization in this entity, which opposes the Dayton Agreement‘s Annex 7 and the RS law on refugees. CD Coalition delegates in the National Assembly, who have also lost their RS citizenship by this law, announced that they will file a complaint for the High Representative to change this law.
01:23
RTV BiH rejects connection with any political party in BiH
The RTV BiH Public Relations Office reacted to allegations made by HDZ BiH spokesperson Zoran Tomic in Thursday’s press release that RTV BiH sides with the CD Coalition. “RTV BiH rejected any insinuation connecting it with any political party in BiH” reads an RTV BiH Public Relations Office press release. “RTV BiH, as a public service, will continue to uphold the (IMC) Code and professional standards as it has in the past” the press release concludes.
00:22
Croatian Government Comments on Erotel Decision
Croatian Minister for Relations with the BiH Federation Milan Kovac and Deputy Foreign Minister Ivo Senader informed the press of Croatian Government conclusions regarding the IMC decision to ban EROTEL and HRT rebroadcasts in BiH at a press conference in Zagreb on Thursday. The Croatian Government concluded that this decision jeopardized the basic right of BiH Croats to be informed. The Government wants, in accordance with the Dayton Agreement, to find a solution that would allow EROTEL to rebroadcast HRT 1 until BiH Federation TV becomes operational. Minister Kovac believes that the decision to ban EROTEL or reduce it to 5% of its current capacity significantly influences the equality and sovereignty of the Croat people in BiH. Croatian Minister of Communications and Transport Ivan Pavlovic removed all doubts about who owns EROTEL by saying that 51% of EROTEL’s shares belong to the Croat Community Herceg-Bosna, 25% to EROTEL, and 24% to HRT.
01:50
Orucevic denies Prskalo’s claims regarding Mostar Airport
Mostar Deputy Mayor Safet Orucevic reacted to Mostar Mayor Ivan Prskalo’s statement in TV BiH’s Wednesday newscast, as well as OHR Mostar Head Gerhard Sontheim’s statement that Prskalo has not fully rejected the offers for Mostar Airport. In an annex to his letter to TV BiH, Orucevic supplied documentation proving that the Croat side has rejected plans for the Mostar Airport on three occasions. “The statement by Mr. Sontheim unfortunately shows that the decision to suspend relations with the OHR Office in Mostar, due to its inefficiency, was justified” Orucevic concludes in a letter.
01:32