Headlines
- US Government donated $10 million to the RS;
- Talks between BiH Presidency members and EU Co-ordinator Bodo Honnbach: Summit on Stability Pact to take place in Sarajevo at the end of July;
- 15 Serb houses burned down in Prizren;
The RS PM Dodik, US Ambassador to BiH Kauzlarich and Head of USAID in BiH Buck signed MoU which provides assistance to the RS budget. $10 million will be used for salaries in education, the Ministry for refugees and DPs and in the privatisation process. The item is followed by statements from all three. Dodik thanked US Government for promptness in allocation and disbursement of funds. Kauzlarich stressed the confidence in the present RS Government and Buck emphasised that USAID had invested $30 million in the RS privatisation process.
RS NA Speaker Djokic scheduled the RS NA Session for July 14; About 30 draft and proposed laws will be on the agenda.
BiH Presidency members talked to EU Co-ordinator Honnbach on preparations for the Summit on Stability Pact. The exact date will be confirmed on 14th of July. The Summit will probably take place on July 29 and 30. Honnbach also met BiH CoM members who agreed that Bosnian participation in Stability Pact means entering a new era.
Radoslav Brdjanin, indicted for war crimes, pleaded not guilty at the hearing before the Hague Tribunal;
KOSOVO and FRY RELATED NEWS
SRT reports on situation in Prizren, Serb refugees in Montenegro, Kraljevo and Belgrade, situation in Gnjilane. SRT carried the statements of Trajkovic (Serbian Resistance Movement, monk Sava of Decani monastery, Patriarch Pavle, Hashim Thaqui, SPO and DS and news on civilian-dressed police disturbing the action of Alliance for Change in Belgrade and Nis, FRY Army reservists protesting in Vranje.
US under State Secretary Julia Taft talked to the RS Minister for refugees and DPs Miladin Dragicevic on Annex 7 of DPA and return of refugees. Dragicevic’s Federation counterpart Sulejman Garib also attended the meeting. Julia Taft supports the idea of BiH Presidency which enables the return of 2,000 people to Banja Luka, Mostar and Sarajevo. Dragicevic thinks that 2-way return is the best solution. Garib supports the return of minorities, expressing his discontent with the returns of Bosniaks in Banja Luka and the RS so far and inviting Serb refugees to return to the Federation.
The president of the Serb Association of Donje Livanjasko Polje, Zdravko Sormaz requested the resignation of Serb officials in Bosansko Grahovo municipality. Sormaz accused Serb local authorities of abusing their positions, embezzlement of humanitarian assistance and material means allocated for the reconstruction of houses and return of refugees. Sormaz illustrated his statement with the fact that 300 Serbs returned to village Crni Lug and only 2 houses were reconstructed.
Federation Dep. Minister of Labour, Welfare and Refugees Davor Cordas said that the latest incidents in Drvar, which halted the return of Serbs to the town, were only the part of the problem. The problem is that Serbs are returning to the municipality and do not accept the Federation ID cards and regulations, but they keep their RS documents, said Cordas.- BETA
Senior Deputy HR Hanns Schumacher said that the former president of HDZ Cantonal Board from Drvar, Drago Tokmadzija must be completely removed from the political scene. Schumacher said that Tokmadzija is completely responsible for last year’s demonstrations and incidents caused by Croat returnees in Drvar.- ONASA
SFOR spokesman David Scanlon said at a press conference in Sarajevo that unknown persons threw a bomb at a Muslim house in Banja Luka on 10th of July. Nobody was injured. The perpetrators also shot at the house with automatic weapons. Scanlon called on the RS authorities to undertake the necessary measures and punish the perpetrators. Scanlon added that SFOR would intensify patrols in Banja luka.