Brcko – The PEC verified the election results in Brcko which are the following: out of 56 seats, SDS gained 17, Coalition 16, SRS 7, Socialists 6, SDP BiH 7, and HDZ 3. Supervisor Farrand said that the future Brcko town assembly will be multi-ethnic and have the president, vice-president, and secretary representatives of all three nations. The assembly will be established by majority of votes (not less than half). SRT broadcast part of the tape (Farrand’s address to the Brcko people) which was broadcast in full after the news as a part of the Udrigovo Agreement. There were no SRT comments.
4:00
Pale – Member of BiH Presidency, Krajisnik met the Italian Ambassador to BiH, and discussed the situation in the RS and implementation of the DPA. Italian Ambassador said that they thoroughly discussed the media issue, underlining that the media is obliged to report objectively and professionally. They also talked about the forthcoming elections in the RS.
2:00
Flash news:
Former US Envoy to the Balkans, Holbrooke, said that NATO will not abandon the DPA and BiH, adding that he had talked to all relevant people who had confirmed that NATO would extend its mandate. However, he was not sure what the NATO and US role would be after the SFOR mandate expires. Hague – The defence of accused dr. Kovacevic who was captured on July 10 this year proposed negotiations to the Hague Prosecutor. Kovacevic was accused of collaboration in the ethnic cleansing of Muslims in the Prijedor area. The EU will freeze 230 million French Francs, which should be given to BiH as support for the return of refugees, if the authorities are not more co-operative. There are about 600,000 BiH refugees abroad, and only 150,000 have returned so far.
2:00
Pale – SDS HQ is holding a session as of late last night, to discuss the current situation in the RS, the local election results, and the forthcoming parliamentary and presidential elections. Head of the SDS directorate, Vrkes, said that SDS concluded that they won the elections in the majority of the RS municipalities, and they were satisfied with the results.
2:00
Kotor Varos – Federation and RS parties that won the local elections held their first meeting, and discussed the implementation of election results and the establishment of the town assembly. In this town the Coalition gained 13 seats, SDS 8, SRS 6, Socialists 3, Serb Patriotic Party 1, and HDZ 4 seats. The Serb parties suggested that the establishment of the city assembly should be held on Oct. 31. They also informed the Federation side that they would establish a block of their parties in order to join the seats, which is in line with OSCE rules.
2:00
Banja Luka – Three Serb parties, the Serb People’s Party, the Democratic party, and the Serb Peasant Party held a joint press conference, underlining that they are against the holding of parliamentary and presidential elections by the principle of electoral units, which was imposed by Klickovic’s Government, because in that case, the election results would be known before the actual holding of elections.
2:00
Trebinje – With regard to the cadre changes in the local police, Mayors of Trebinje and Bileca, Vucurevic and Vjekovic, respectively, gave statements to the local Trebinje radio, which were not aired. Therefore, SRT Banja Luka, in order to inform the public and do their job professionally, reported on these statements. They said that the cadre changes were expected, since the legal bodies in the town are prevented from carrying out their duties by a group of people who receive orders from the top. The group illegally trades with the Federation with cigarettes and other goods refusing to pay taxes and custom fees. This way the RS has lost about 300,000 dollars this year. The group holds all the strings in the town. They were even awarded for bravery since they allegedly took part in the war, as if they were the only ones fighting and shelling. They have so much money now, while VRS soldiers are starving, pensioners have not received their pensions, and refugees don’t have an accommodation. If they would give half of the money they have stolen, soldiers would have had their wages and pensioners their pensions.
3:00
Prijedor – Former soldiers and others who took part in the Bosnian war and the World War II, attended a memorial ceremony of the second anniversary of the fall of Sanski Most, and paid tribute to several hundred victims of the aggression and 100,000 of exodus. Now, there are about 40,000 people from Sanski Most who either fled abroad or stayed in Prijedor and Banja Luka. Old Sanski Most people remember that the same thing had happened in 1941 when about 5,000 people were killed by the same enemy that attacked this town two years ago.
Mrkonjic Grad citizens also paid tribute to their victims killed by Croats who stormed into the town, and controlled it until Feb. 4 1996 when it was returned to the RS.
3:00