President of Finland Marti Ahtisaari arrived to Sarajevo Tuesday, and met with Chairman of the BiH Presidency Alija Izetbegovic and newly elected members of the Presidency Ante Jelavic and Zivko Radisic. Izetbegovic and Finish president discussed the current situation in area, the implementation of the Dayton agreement and post-election perspectives for the implementation of the agreement. Izetbegovic said that there is a positive trend, but that election results in the RS were contradictory, because a hard-liner has been elected for the RS president, while a representative of a democratic option won the seat in the BiH Presidency. President Ahtisaari also met with the UN Secretary General special envoy Elisabeth Rehn and SFOR Commander General Shinseki. Ahtisaari also visited Finnish SFOR troops located in Doboj.
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Croatian President Franjo Tudjman sent a letter of congratulations to the newly elected members of the Bosnian Presidency, Ante Jelavic, Zivko Radisic and Alija Izetbegovic. Tudjman expressed his hope that they would support the full implementation of the Dayton and Washington agreements in their work and continue the establishment of democratic institutions for the well being of all three nations in BiH. In his congratulations to Jelavic, Tudjman, “as the state leader of Croatia and the president of the HDZ” expressed his “best wishes for successful performing of the responsible duty in the interest of the Croat people in Bosnia and the Federation.”
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OSCE criticised publishing allocation of seats in BiH parliaments, after the elections. OSCE spokesperson Schultz said OSCE will publish the correct version of seats allocation by the end of the week. UNHCR said it was disappointed with the statement given by BiH Federation Prime Minister Bicakcic according to which the UNHCR actions related to the solution of the problem of the Kosovo refugees temporarily accommodated in BiH, are incomplete and slow. UNHCR spokesperson Quentier said it is always easy to start with the other side, especially when the full responsibility has to be taken, and added UNHCR has done a lot for Kosovo refugees in past months. Quentier also accused BiH authorities for being inert and not co-operative in this issue. The incident in Rastani from the last week was also condemned at this press conference.
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US President Clinton said that BiH Serb, Stevan Todorovic, arrested by SFOR in Bosanski Samac on Sunday, was personally responsible for some of the most gruesome crimes committed during the war in Bosnia. Clinton also said that this action represents US readiness to arrest the responsible for war crimes in BiH.
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Italian Ambassador to BiH, Valensise on Tuesday informed Deputy Foreign Minister Fuad Sabeta on the intention of Italy to impose visas for Bosnian citizens on January 1, 1999 in accordance with the Schengehn agreement, said a statement issued by the Bosnian Foreign Ministry.
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Turkish minister of energy and natural resources Ersuemer, and Kurtovic, the minister of foreign trade and economic relations in the BiH CoM, signed a Memorandum on Understanding between the two countries on Tuesday in Sarajevo. After the signing of the memorandum, Minister Ersuemer said that the Memorandum is aimed at finding ways to improve co-operation in all economic fields, and particularly in the field of energy.
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Bosnian Central Bank Governor Peter Nicholl and Deputy HR for Economic Issues Didier Fau on Monday presented the coins of 10, 20 and 50 BiH pfenings. Fau said that the design of the coins, proposed by Nicholl, is not controversial and that BiH Presidency President Izetbegovic and BiH Presidency member Zubak accepted it.
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Kosovo Information Centre reported that fighting continued, despite Serbian authorities’ claims they finished offensive against Kosovo Albanians. Kosovo Army and police units began withdrawal to their bases in some cities in Kosovo.
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