Decision to allocate 2250 plats for house construction to Serbs in Brcko reminds on construction of a biological wall, Brcko Supervisor Farrand said at the Arbitration Tribunal in Vienna, interpreting situation in Brcko since the last Arbitration session up to date. Farrand said for the HDZ that it is an ultra-national party, doing everything to prevent Croats to return to Brcko. Farrand also said that leading RS parties are ultra-nationalist, and that they go to Milosevic for opinion. A RS delegate asked Farrand to comment this statement, but Farrand briefly said he is sure “that they are not going to Belgrade for a game of cards.” As for the SDA, Farrand said that this is a national party, which co-operates well, but they do not offer a lot of assistance when it comes to two-way return. Federation delegation head, Ganic appealed again to HR Westendorp to make a transparent public statement and say whether he is leading campaign with the Contact Group for postponing of the Brcko decision or not. HR Westendorp refuted allegations on arbitration postponing, saying that the Arbiter will make the final decision on Brcko, and the OHR is here to implement it.
6:00
BiH Presidency held a session, discussing implementation of decisions that the State Presidency has adopted at the previous seven sessions, and decided that most of these decisions were implemented.
1:00
The Kosovo Negotiations continued the fourth day. US Mediator, Hill said that there was certain progress made in negotiations, but negotiation delegations disagreed with such assessment. A high NATO officer said that should the agreement be reached by the end of the next week, as it was planned, NATO will be ready to allocate its troops in Kosovo in a very short time, under condition that this is covered in the agreement and decided in Brussels.
3:00
After yesterdays meeting of High Representative Westendorp with the “Sloga” Coalition representatives, Westendorp held press conference in Banja Luka and said that this Coalition still supports Milorad Dodik as the candidate for the RS Designate. Westendorp also said that the RS National Assembly Chairman Petar Djokic informed him that President Poplasen did not consult Djokic before nominating him for the post of the Designate. Djokic emphasised that he refused the nomination. Westendorp also expressed concerns of the International Community that President Poplasen is not acting as the RS President, but as the President of the Radical Party. Westendorp said that “we are simply in situation to believe that Poplasen is not acting as an institution but as an agent from Belgrade” adding that Poplasen does not respect his Constitutional obligations.
2:00
Municipal Council of Bihac held a session, discussing current problems with housing in this town. Municipality Governor Alagic said that he lives in an apartment in which a Serb person was living before 1992. Several councilors also said that they are currently occupying other people’s apartments. The International Community representatives who were attending the session were informed on the fact that most of the returnees are elders.
1:30
After today’s Brcko Arbitration session, Federation delegation head Ganic was asked by the press to comment on OHR spokesperson Stiglmeyer’s denial of his claims that the High Representative was conducting campaign at the Contact Group regarding postponing of the Brcko decision. Ganic said that this denial is a product of either misinformation or untruth and that his statements were based on sources close to the OHR and information from two European capitals. Ganic also invited Westendorp to appear before the Arbitration Tribunal and to make a statement, which will enter the records “for the reasons of historical responsibility, or that he tell openly to Brcko citizens via the media, what he is secretly saying around the world. His support to postponing of the decision represents killing of Dayton and slow death for Brcko citizens” Ganic concluded. (BiH TV repeated that Westendorp refuted Ganic’s claims at the press conference in Banja Luka.)
1:30