OHR SRT News Summary, 1 September 1998

Headlines

  • French support for democratic processes in the RS
  • Yeltsin reassures Clinton – Moscow will not give up on ongoing reforms
  • The BH Parliamentary Assembly House of Representatives adopted the Law on customs policy
  • Electric power cuts to start again in the RS
  • An international agricultural fair opened in BL

President Plavsic met with the French Deputy Minister for Cooperation in Francophony, Charles Josslin. The meeting was also attended by Prime Minister Dodik, Vice- President Knezevic and the French Ambassador in BH. According to Plavsic, the meeting mainly focused on the DA and on how to improve those parts of it which appear to be difficult to implement. Josslin, who delivered a letter from French President Chirac, explained that the reason for his visit to the RS at this moment was to make clear that it mattered to France that the forthcoming elections should help continue the peace process.
2:07

The BH Parliamentary Assembly House of Representatives today adopted the Law on BH customs policy prescribing the rights and responsibilities of all subjects in the customs fee enforcement business. The session also concluded that the Commission for investigating black market and criminal activities should review relevant reports submitted by Sejfudin Tokic and inform the public accordingly. However, discussions on the respective Laws on amendments to the Law on passports, the Law on immunity, the Law on administrative fees, and the Law on telecommunications, were not amongst the items on today’s agenda. While the adoption of the above laws had earlier been requested by the OHR, the SDS club requested that the discussions on those should be postponed for some other session of this joint body.
2:01

The second international agricultural fair was opened in Banja Luka today with the participation of almost 130 companies from the RS, the FRY, the BH Federation, France, Macedonia, Croatia, Slovenia, Austria, Germany and Italy.
1:10

After six years of no railway traffic, the RS Railway Company today reopened a railway line from Doboj, via Rijecica, towards Maglaj in the BH Federation.
2:01

Representatives of the RS Trade Union Congress and the RS Direction for Privatisation met in Banja Luka today to discuss the ongoing privatisation process and their concrete cooperation on the matter. The meeting stressed that after adopting relevant sub-legislation, the RS Government should submit an economic-social programme to the RS NA, which should be intended to mitigate possible side-effects of the privatisation process. The session further stressed that those citizens of the RS who had already registered for the first privatisation did not need to pay for the expenses of the new one, where the Trade Union Congress will get involved to elaborate the criteria based on which additional vouchers will be issued for those RS workers who fulfilled their compulsory work obligation during the war.
1:46

The RS Electric Company have stated that, due to the aggravated electric power situation in the RS, there will be electric power cuts in the areas of Krajina, Posavina, Semberija and part of Podrinje.
2:08

(Kosovo-related news)
1:46

At a regular international press conference in Sarajevo today, the OSCE Spokesperson, Nicole Schulz, stated that the OSCE Election Sub-Commission had made a decision to remove two SDS candidates from the SDS list for RS MPs due to violations of election rules and regulations. Schulz added that during the election campaign the same Commission would closely monitor the behaviour of HRT and the Croatian Radio of Herceg Bosnia. The Spokesperson for the OHR, Rida Attarashany, informed the press about a decision by Carlos Westendorp to remove the current Mayor of Orasje for “obstructing the return of refugees and their safety in the area”. According to the Spokesperson for UNHCR, the number of Serb refugees from Kosovo has increased to 1600 in BiH.
2:12

Paul Hockinos, the OSCE Spokesperson in Banja Luka, at a regular international press conference today, stated that, due to violation decisions by the OSCE Media Expert Commission regarding equal access to media for all political parties, the cases of Croatian Radio and TV of Herceg Bosnia and St. John Radio would be submitted to the Election Appeal Sub-commission for their consideration. The IPTF Spokesperson, Alun Roberts, informed the press about this morning’s assault against a World Bank employee in BL.
2:00

Participants in the most recent war from the BH Federation today threatened to protest if the High Representative should move to exclude foreign military books (IDs) from the ongoing privatisation process.
0:13

The High Representative, Carlos Westendorp, in a letter to the President of the HDZ, Ante Jelavic, today requested that the current Mayor of Orasje should be removed for not cooperating with the IC, for preventing the return of refugees and for working to the detriment of the September elections.
0:21

The BH Alternative Government today held a press conference stating that the ruling parties in BiH did not want to implement the DA, nor any other document they had so far signed. The Vice- President of the Government, Ivankovic, said that the nationalist ruling parties would accept and sign any agreement without being genuinely interested in implementing them in practice.
0:24

According to reports on the voting of BiH voters abroad, the voting process has, so far, been proceeding smoothly and in line with the PEC election rules and regulations.
2:52

  1. SLOGA Coalition – an election rally in Gradiska last night, attended by Plavsic, Dodik and Radisic
  2. The SDS – a public tribune in Doboj, Krajisnik claiming that two patriot parties, the SDS and the Serb Radical Party, will win the elections
  3. The SNS – a press conference by the Vice- President, Svetozar Mihajlovic, mainly on the session of the RS NA that was to take place yesterday
  4. The SNSD – a regular press conference in BL today, mainly on activities by this party aimed at improving the living standard of the RS population
  5. The SNS – Plavsic at a public tribune in Ljubinje today
  6. The SP RS – a public tribune in Celinac this evening
  7. The Serb Movement of Renewal – a press conference in Serb Sarajevo
  8. The Radical Party of the RS – a public tribune in Brcko
  9. The Social-democratic party of BiH – a press conference in Brcko