Headlines
- Robert Frowick: OSCE proud of the co-operation with the authorities of RS
- Officially confirmed meeting Plavsic-Clinton on 22nd December in Sarajevo
- St. Barbara’s day – holiday for miners of RS
- NATO Ministers of Foreign Affairs about the future of peace forces in BiH and relations between NATO and Russia
The High Representative of the International Community for BiH, Carlos Westendorp, decided to adopt the law on Citizenship, starting 1st January, even though it has not been adopted by the Parliament of BiH. He announced his decision today in his letter to the members of BiH Presidency, which was published in its entirety by the Sarajevo press. Westendorp stated that his decision would apply until the law is adopted by both Houses of the Parliament in its proposed form without comments and conditions.
The decision on bringing the law into force was brought in the spirit of the Bonn Conference on BiH, which authorised him to decide in cases where the parties in BiH could not reach an agreement. The law on Citizenship that both Houses of the BiH Parliament were expected to adopt by the 15th December 1997 was not significantly reviewed, because of the demand of the Serb side to solve the issue of dual citizenship in that context. It is obvious that Westendorp partially supported that demand in his letter to the members of the BiH Presidency, since he asked the Parliament to sign a statement on the possibility of making a bilateral agreement on dual citizenship. He has also asked the members of the BiH Presidency to consider the subjects on dual citizenship. The House of Representatives and the House of the Peoples of the BiH Parliament were obliged, according to the demands of the International Community, to adopt three crucial laws by the 15th December; the law on citizenship, law on passports and law on Council of Ministers.
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The President of RS, Biljana Plavsic awarded Ambassador Robert Frowick with the medal of Njegos of the second rank during his farewell visit today.
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The President of RS, Biljana Plavsic will meet with American President, Bill Clinton, on Monday, the 22nd Dec in Sarajevo, it was confirmed from the Cabinet of the President of RS.
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The Vice-President of RS and the Rector of the University of Banja Luka, Dragoljub Mirjanic, met with a Swiss delegation, headed by the newly appointed Ambassador of Switzerland in BiH. They expressed mutual satisfaction at the co-operation between RS and Switzerland. Mr. Mirjanic thanked the Swiss Government for participating in the reconstruction of the “Rada Vranjesevic” orphanage and the Geriatric Center in Banja Luka. Mr. Mirjanic proudly highlighted the signing of the Protocol on co-operation with the University centre in Lugano. “We are also included in the European Conference of Universities”, said Mirjanic, and added that programmes for the international exchange of professors and students were taking place. Mr. Schmidt stressed that the Swiss Government had already allocated resources to assistance for infrastructure and refugees in RS.
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The Head of the General Headquarters of the Army of RS, General Pero Colic, met today with the Deputy Commander of NATO for Europe, General Krivolapov. General Colic stressed the consistent implementation of Annex 1a of the Dayton Agreement in RS and stated that the programme “Equip and Train” in the BiH Federation did not contribute to the development of peace and mutual confidence in this region. General Krivolapov agreed with this statement and confirmed that all three sides in BiH have to comply with DA.
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NATO Ministers for Foreign Affairs met today in Brussels with their colleagues from 28 partner countries from NATO to discuss the future of SFOR troops in BiH. The NATO Ministers will introduce to their colleagues from Eastern and Western European countries plans for the forces that will replace SFOR in BiH.
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American State Secretary, Madeleine Albrigh,t and the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yevgeni Primakov, talked today in Brussels about the extension of the mission of international forces in BiH, reports ATP. Moscow announced its participation in the future mission of international forces in BiH. Two years of good co-operation between Russian troops and NATO forces in BiH was frequently used as a good example for establishing a system of new European security.
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The French Prime Minister, Lionel Jospin, stated that the demands of the Hague Tribunal’s Main Prosecutor, Louise Arbour, were unacceptable, by which she asked him and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hubert Vedrine, to dismiss the French Minister of Defence, Alain Richard, and accused her of lying and making false allegations, reports le Monde.
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The spokesperson of the UN and the Hague Tribunal in Belgrade, Susan Manuel, stated today that the International Court for war crimes is collecting material to start and investigation of war crimes committed against Serbs in Sarajevo.
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The Yugoslav Government proposed that FR Yugoslavia, Republika Srpska, the BiH Federation and the Republic of Croatia reach an agreement on the realisation of a permanent solution for the refugees in former Yugoslavia, funded by UNHCR, said the Head of the Yugoslav delegation, the Federal Minister for work, health and social policy, Miroslav Ivanisevic, in the Palace of Nations in Geneva at a meeting of the humanitarian issues working group of the Peace Implementation Council. The FR Yugoslavia is still the country with the largest number of refugees in Europe. The flow of new refugees from Eastern Slavonia is especially worrying, and that number is now around 40,000 registered refugees, which is expected to increase.
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The Prime Minister of the dissolved National Assembly of RS, Dragan Kalinic, stated that the constitutive session of the new Assembly would be scheduled within the legally prescribed period.
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At a press conference today, the President of the Socialist Party of RS, Zivko Radisic, denied making a coalition with any of the parties, because, as he stated, any coalition would only lead to greater divisions.
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The Special Envoy of the Secretary General of the UN, Kai Eide, made a farewell visit to the Computer Centre at Banja Luka University, when he made a very valuable donation: 30 computers to the Banja Luka Association of Higher Education.
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