Headlines
- RS MPs overwhelmingly adopted Prime Minister Dodik’s report
- At the invitation ex-patriate Serbs, President Plavsic today departed for the United States
- SFOR and IPTF troops are inspecting civilian and specialist police facilities in Pale
- New attacks by Albanian terrorists on the eve of the Milosevic-Rugova meeting
- China condemns Indian nuclear tests, while Japan announces the introduction of sanctions
(Live report from the session of the RS NA) A discussion is currently ongoing on the respective reports by RS representatives of BH Common Institutions (Krajisnik, Boro Bosic, Momir Tosic, Slobodan Bijelic). On the RS Military, Defence Minister Milovanic stressed that the RS Army was stable, and refuted any possible insinuations claiming possible divisions within the RS. Milovanovic described a two-hour speech by Krajisnik as being aimed at promoting the SDS.
2:46
The third day of the 5th session of the RS NA continued discussing the report by Prime Minister Dodik. Dodik accepted criticism voiced against him on his lack of cooperation with RS representatives of BH common institutions. On the refugee issue, Dodik stressed that the Government must work to promote new ways of resolving the issue, including the exchange of property or possible compensation. “We cannot ignore the existence of the Federation, which does not mean that we want a unitary BH. I am personally against it. I want to see a Dayton BH, comprising two equal entities, or three nations. Regarding relations with the FRY, we must complete the work on legalising the agreement on special parallel relations.” Dodik’s report was accepted with 43 votes for and 34 against. As the third item on the agenda, RS representatives of BH common institutions submitted reports on their respective work. Krajisnik stressed that the most important goal of RS representatives of BH common institutions was to preserve the interests of the RS, which required a united RS. On Dodik’s report, Krajisnik stated that current RS ministers were not experts, but rather politicians, and people completely unknown to RS citizens. On SRT, Krajsinik claimed that it manipulated people and censored his speeches.
8:50
At the request of Serbs living in the United States, RS President Plavsic this morning departed for an unofficial visit to the country. However, expectations are that President Plavsic could possibly have contacts with representatives of the American authorities and media during the visit. 2 min According to Tanjug, the Speaker of the RS NA, Dragan Kalinic, today informed MPs that SFOR troops had blocked the offices of Momcilo Krajsinik and his own office in Pale. SRT crews on the ground reported that SFOR and IPTF troops actually started inspecting civilian and specialist police facilities in the area “to control the implementation of the DA” According to an SFOR and IPTF joint statement today, inspections will be conducted in 10 such facilities concurrently.
2:10
Spanish parliamentarians today met with respective representatives of RS parliamentary caucuses. Spanish representatives expressed interest in learning more details about the forthcoming elections, the fate of SFOR in the region, the situation in Kosovo and other issues.
2:31
The German province of Westfalen is currently hosting a large number of refugees from BH. This is why a delegation of the Province, led by its Minister of Interior, today visited the RS and met with the RS Government and the Ministry for Refugees and DPs, inquiring about the possibility of refugees returning to the RS. After the meetings, Prime Minister Dodik and the three Deputy Prime Ministers also met with a delegation of the Spanish Parliament led by the Head of the Committee for Foreign Affairs.
3:01
Prime Minister Dodik met with the Russian Ambassador in BH, Philipp Sidorskiy, in Banja Luka today on economic cooperation between the RS and the Russian Federation.
1:28
An RS Vice-President, Dragoljub Mirjanic, also met with Ambassador Sidorskiy in Sarajevo today on the same matter, the recent donors’ conference and the implementation of the DA.
1:15
The Minister of Interior of the German Province of Westfalen today also visited the RS Police Academy in Banja Luka and met with the Director of the institution.
1:12
The European Parliament today adopted a resolution appealing to Milosevic and Rugova to immediately start dialogue on the future of Kosovo in the presence of international mediators. 28 sec International analysts today assess that the outcome of the forthcoming meeting of the Contact Group could possibly show whether the IC is going to give up its policy of pressure on the FRY, especially now the first move towards a political dialogue has been made. 45 sec A regular international press conference took place in Sarajevo today. The conference mainly focused on the distribution of resources that the strongest international donors had recently allocated for the RS and the BH Federation.
1:15