News Headlines
- BiH Presidency and SCMM hold sessions
- BiH Council of Ministers discusses harmonisation of Law on Council of Ministers with ruling of BiH Constitution Court
- Bicakcic, Covic and BiH Federation ministers meet with representatives of petroleum importers and distributors
- Klein meets with Dodik and Sarovic to discuss participation of RS police officers in UN civilian police missions
- BiH Federation Ombudsmen present OHR-initiated reports on human rights violations in Capljina and Stolac, and implementation of Sarajevo Declaration
- World news
- Tudjman in critical condition
- British Ambassador to BiH Graham Hand conveys invitation from British Foreign Secretary Cook to Prlic to visit London in January
- RS Privatization Agency opens office in Sarajevo for registration of persons who want to participate in RS privatisation
- HDZ BiH dissatisfied with composition and quality of RTV BiH Federation Steering Board
- BiH Election Law has good and bad sides – Party for BiH
- Harmonisation of BiH Constitution with European Human Rights Convention would give BiH modern and democratic election law – SDP
- Kadic and Spahic sign protocol establishing Civic-Liberal Coalition for upcoming BiH local elections
- Society for Threatened Peoples BiH Branch opposes sale of Hitler’s book ‘Mein Kampf’ in Sarajevo bookstores
- Bihac kindergarten opens with assistance of one million KM donation form USAID
- Brcko District Statute is modern legal act – Brcko Mayor Kisic
- Leader of BiH Islamic Community Ceric sends message to mark beginning of Ramadan holy month
- Concert marking start of Ramadan held in Sarajevo National Theater
- Beginning of Ramadan holy holiday denoted with fireworks in Sarajevo
- Weather
- Sports BiH Council of Ministers could be forced to resign
- Montenegrin State Attorney launches suit against Veselin ‘Batko’ Vlahovic
- Petritsch and Silajdzic discuss BiH economic situation
- Over 6,000 falsified election applications from BiH diplomatic missions
- RS to accept responsibility for arrest of suspected war criminals if law on co-operation with ICTY signed – Trbojevic
- ICTY investigators release over 1,000 exhumed bodies
- Tuzla Canton Assembly faced with new resignations of Deputy Governor and three ministers
- HN Canton Government holds session
News Summary
BiH Presidency and SCMM hold sessions
The BiH Presidency at Wednesday’s session adopted the year 2000 budget for BiH common institutions and servicing the country’s foreign debt. According to the Presidency decision, the 2000 budget is 10% larger than the 1999 budget. The Advisor to BiH Presidency Chairman Ante Jelavic for Economic and Financial Issues, Velimir Lovric, stated that for first time the state budget has been harmonised with entity budgets and has been increased by 10%. He said that the 2000 budget has been conformed to standards and requirements of the International Monetary Fund and OHR. Also, the BiH Presidency determined a draft budget execution law for the BiH budget and payment of BiH’s international obligations. The Presidency adopted a report on the work of the BiH Central Bank for the first three-quarters of 1999, as well as approving the offered designs for one-KM and two-KM coins. Immediately following the BiH Presidency session, the BiH Standing Committee for Military Matters (SCMM) held a session, and concluded that military potentials would be reduced by 15%, as had been envisaged in earlier agreements. The SCMM also discussed a diplomatic note from Kazahkstan addressed to the BiH Foreign Ministry regarding the sale of MIG 21 fighter aircraft to North Korea. Supposedly, the alleged mediator in this illegal transaction was the BiH Federation Defense Ministry. According to the results of an official investigation, the BiH Federation Defense Ministry was absolved in this illegal transaction.
03:44
HDZ BiH dissatisfied with composition and quality of RTV BiH Federation Steering Board
HDZ BiH General Secretary Marko Tokic stated that the party considers that BiH Croats would experience the death of Croatian President Franjo Tudjman with sincere pain, knowing that such a political leader among the Croat people would not come along for long time to come. Tokic told a press conference that the HDZ BiH is 100% certain of its victory at the upcoming BiH local elections and that there would not be any significant changes to the political bases Tudjman established. According to Tokic, accusations regarding the placement of a large cross on the Pocitelj Fortress are unfounded and that historical fact proves that the fortress was King Tvrtko’s fortress, not a Muslim fortress. Regarding the RTV BiH Federation Steering Board, whose composition was determined by High Representative Wolfgang Petritsch two days ago, Tokic stated that the HDZ BiH is dissatisfied with the content and quality of the Steering Board. The HDZ considers this to be a step backward in the general restructuring of the BiH public broadcasting system.
00:49
Harmonizing BiH Constitution with European Human Rights Convention would give BiH modern and democratic election law – SDP
SDP Vice-president Ljubisa Markovic told a press conference that the harmonization of the BiH Constitution with European Human Rights and Freedoms Convention would give BiH a modern and democratic election law instead of the discriminatory law proposed by the OSCE. According to the OSCE draft BiH Permanent Election Law, more than two-thirds of BiH citizens would lose their right to vote.
00:26
BiH Council of Ministers could be forced to resign
The BiH Council of Ministers has once again failed to harmonize the Law on the Council of Ministers with a ruling of the BiH Constitutional Court. The deadline to conform the Law to the ruling is 28 December. Co-chairman of the BiH Council of Ministers Haris Silajdzic said, “if the harmonization is not completed by the deadline, the Court would deem all pending BiH Council of Ministers decisions null and void, which could lead to the resignation of the entire BiH Council of Ministers.”
00:50