Sarajevo – BiH President Izetbegovic met Iranian Ambassador to BiH, Teherian to discuss establishment of bilateral relations and reconstruction of the country.
Sarajevo – BiH President Izetbegovic, Co-chair of the CoM, Silajdzic, Federation President Zubak, and his deputy Ganic talked with the US delegation, headed by Special Assistant to the State Department for implementation of the DPA, William Montgomery, about further steps for implementing the Brcko agreement. France Press reported that RS President Plavsic promised to implement the Brcko arbitration decision. However, it doesn’t seem to be true [BiH TV notes] after the latest incident in Gajevi, which made HR Bildt appeal for another 120 international policemen for the Brcko area.
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Gajevi – SFOR reported that the last Bosniak house, built for Bosniak returnees, was blown up by a group of 30 Serb protesters yesterday about 6 p.m.
Washington – Federation Prime Minister, Bicakcic met US officials to discuss the current situation in the Federation, and discuss US intentions to help the Federation. He was convinced that the US foreign policy supports the work of the Federation institutions. The US will assist in breaking the Federation blockade. Bicakcic emphasised that the Federation shouldn’t suffer because the Central Bank is not yet established, or because of RS obstructions.
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Sarajevo – CoM Minister of Foreign Trade and Communications, Muratovic met the Administration Officer of China and talked about the establishment of bilateral the relations and renewal of old economic and political ties. The Administration Officer announced the opening of a Chinese Embassy in Sarajevo.
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Sarajevo – The Public Affairs Department of the Croatian Embassy sent a letter to the Ministry of Information criticising their ‘unconfirmed reporting of information’ regarding Croat politicians. The Public Affairs Department, in its letter, pointed out that BiH Croat leadership, as well as Croatian leadership signed the DPA and, therefore, they fully support the document.
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Sarajevo – meeting of the Congress of BiH intellectuals – members of the Congress pointed out that the world, and the US in particular, are using BiH for their own purposes. Mr. Sacirbegovic, one of the members, said that Bosnians must keep on reminding the world what had happened in BiH. Bosnians must be patient with the world, for the world helped them during the war. However, the world minds its own business now, since the situation in BiH is gradually calming down.
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Sarajevo – Co-chair of the CoM Silajdzic received manager and producer of the rock band U2 to discuss their preparations for a concert in Sarajevo to be held in September this year.
Summary SRT News
RS president Biljana Plavsic met in Banja Luka behind closed doors with the special representative of the UN Secretary General Kai Eide. The discussions centred on the results of the Vienna Conference on Brcko and the implementation of the agreed measures. Plavsic, speaking after the meeting, said that “problems do exist but are not insurmountable… No uncontrolled actions may be allowed to happen in the region since Brcko is part of the Republika Srpska and the responsibility for all activities in the area rest with the authorities of the RS… We shall ensure that the implementation proceeds normally and that no provocation take place, from either side. We must fulfil the Vienna conclusions in order to push Dayton forward”.The RS president and Ambassador Eide also discussed the economic situation in the RS and the necessity of providing economic aid to the RS, a condition without which, Plavsic said, there can be no movement forward in the further implementation of Dayton.
The RS Government held a session in Banja Luka setting a 7-day deadline for a number of ministries to come up with solutions to resolve the problem of outstanding debts and obligations towards the RS pensioners, education and health workers. These proposals will be submitted to the RS government at its next session. The ministries tasked are those of Finance, Education, and Health, as well as the public pension fund.
The government adopted a plan and additional measures to improve the efficiency of the state commission for POW exchange and the missing. The proposals centre on bolstering the material and personnel elements of the commission, especially in the field of exhumations.
The RS government also formed a board to produce the financial construction and plan for the building of a new railway linking Bijeljina to Samac.
Former Austrian Chancellor Vranicki will again visit Albania in the capacity of a special representative of the chairman in office of the OSCE. Prior to his departure, Vranicki will submit a report on his first mission to Albania of 8 March. In his report Vranicki called on all parties not to resort to violence and to use dialogue as a means of reaching a solution to the crisis currently sweeping Albania.