Headlines
- The President of RS, Biljana Plavsic, told SRNA: “We accept the RS joining in the Equip and Train programme”.
- President Plavsic in a working visit to Srpski Brod and Derventa
- In Banja Luka, the book fair opened
- Tensions between UN and Iraq still increasing
The President of RS, Biljana Plavsic, stated today in an exclusive interview with SRNA that she unconditionally accepts the joining of RS in the “Equip and Train” programme.
“I accept that without any conditions”, she said, stressing that in any concept of international relations Serbs can find their place if they follow integration processes, on the regional and the world level. “We are not out of the world, and we should join, but first through our surroundings. It is recommended that Serbs join the world’s processes and not resist because each system has its good and bad sides. We should analyse what is good in that and to look for our interest”, President Plavsic told SRNA.
Talking about the coming parliamentary elections in RS, the President stated that the elections would create a different distribution of power in the Assembly and that probably certain coalitions and agreement would be formed regarding certain issues. She added that the new Assembly would be very busy with economic issues, which means that the Government must be functional and professional, she stated to SRNA.
1:00
The President of RS visited Srpski Brod this evening. The Municipal board of Serb National Alliance held a public tribune today in the Sports Centre in Srpski Brod where, among members of the Municipal and the Main board, the President of SNS and the President of RS, Biljana Plavsic also spoke to the public. “We must have good state institutions which will govern the state interests and the interests of the entire people and not just the interests of one party. We have to ensure people’s survival in these areas and to work for the future, and what we do has a definite future, and that is what people ask for”, said Biljana Plavsic at the tribune of the Serb National Alliance in Srpski Brod.
2:00
The Republic Board for Privatisation and Development finished the first round of distribution of free shares, in spite of the international ban. For that reason many reactions followed this process. The Syndicate of metal workers and miners of RS demand that the Republic Government stop this way of privatisation because, they think in the Syndicate, conditions do not exist for its fair implementation.
0:20
A Working group of the Government of RS has today published a report on the activities of the Government and the bodies of RS in reconstructing economic and social life in the past five years.
Its conclusion states that the entire political and economic-social situation is satisfactory, reports Beta. The Government states that its main activities will be directed towards the organisation and material assistance of the Army, to create a strong defence-protection system of RS, the accommodation of a huge number of refugees and displaced persons and establishment of official bodies, reports Beta.
0:40
The Commission for the election and denomination of the Municipal Assembly in Brcko, where there are six representatives of the political parties from RS and five from the Federation of BiH, has not been able to agree on the suggestion of electing crucial functions in the municipality, reports Srna, mentioning a statement from the member of the Commission from SDS, Mladen Bosic, who thinks that the reason is the constant effort to discredit the role of the Assembly in Brcko.
0:30
Today in Teslic a regular meeting of the municipal Assembly with new members has been held. The agenda was, as voted at the constitutive Assembly, only one point: the election and denomination of crucial functions of the municipal Assembly. By counting the votes it has been established that for the position of the President of the municipal Assembly, Milovan Stankovic, the representative of SDS, has been elected. Other positions will be discussed at the next meeting of the Assembly.
3:00
Concerning the pre-election activities of the political parties today we note the activities of the Democratic Party of RS and the Party of the Independent Social Democrats of RS. In the today’s public announcement of the Democratic Party it was stated that human rights and freedoms have been violated in the part of RS controlled by the Ministry of Interior from Bijeljina, which reached the level of classical political terrorism against the opposition. With the aim of intimidating and enabling the opposition to be politically active, the State Security service, known as the political police, uses the methods of arrests, information interrogations, making lists for arrests, anonymous telephone calls with threats, etc. Recent pressure has been put on the Democratic Party of RS, where an interrogation invitation has been sent to the former delegate and the President of the Executive board of the Democratic Party of RS, Mr. Ljubi{a Savic – Mauzer, who is the first candidate of the Coalition of the Democratic Party of RS for the Parliament elections in 1997. This party was forced to reduce its promotion activities in the part of RS controlled by the Ministry of Interior from Bijeljina, says the announcement.
2:00
The Party of Independent Social Democrats has started its pre-election campaign, which will be mainly presentation of the party through the media, said Milorad Dodik, the President of the Party, today.
0:20
Members of SFOR took over of the department of the special police in Doboj yesterday. The action arose because the police department in Doboj did not respect Annex 1a of the Dayton Agreement. About the details of the action, more was said at the press conference of the Nord-Pol brigade of SFOR in Doboj, where a representative of the SFOR brigade said that members of the 5th police detachment were present as the special VIP bodyguard to President Krajisnik on his way to Banja Luka, without the approval of SFOR.
2:00
Representatives of the international organisations, SFOR, IPTF and OHR, informed the press about their activities.
Regarding the problem with the 5th detachment of the special police from Doboj, the SFOR spokesperson, Mike Wright, said that a significant amount of personal weapons, infantry armour and ammunition was confiscated.
The OHR spokesperson, Vladislav Savic expressed his satisfaction with the decision of the studio in Banja Luka to move out of Banski dvor. He also welcomed President Biljana Plavsic’s decision to support SRT’s move from Banski Dvor, where the institution of the President is based. The OHR spokesperson stated that they were aware that good intentions to cover the electoral campaign more objectively were not enough. The International Community would not tolerate a single party or candidate being deprived of media space. The Studio in Banja Luka therefore has a special responsibility in the media campaign. He also warned of certain mistakes in the work of the round table, namely the debate, where some mistakes were made by SRT BL. Savic expressed his hope that the editorial board would pay attention to these mistakes and do everything to prevent them. Vladislav Savic stressed the necessity for objective information, especially in the pre-election campaign.
The IPTF spokesperson, Alun Roberts, expressed his concern at the efforts of the political structures in Prnjavor to influence the activities of the police in this town. He also mentioned the arrest of a certain Mr. Lucic, the former Chief of Police in Jajce, who had been arrested at the border crossing in Gradiska by the Serb police and was released soon after.
The OSCE spokesperson, Paul Hokenos, mentioned the coming elections in RS and expressed SRT assurance that none of the candidates would be deprived of media space during the public presentation.
3:00
At the railway station in Sid, the train from Croatia arrived, and with it officially, after six years, railway traffic has been established between FR Yugoslavia and the Republic of Croatia.
00:30
Alija Izetbegovic has refused the proposal of Croatian President Franjo Tujman regarding the establishment of special ties between Croatia and the Federation of BiH. Such a proposal has provoked strong criticism of international representatives in Sarajevo.
1:00
In Vares, three Croats were beaten, one of them being the new delegate of the municipal Assembly.
0:30