Headlines
- Citizens of Srpska Kostajnica protested today: borderline should only be on the river Una;
- HR brought a decision on new television which will cover the entire BiH; The law on SRT to be adopted by 15 August;
- Dodik replies to Haselock: the RS Government will not accept the imposed state television;
- SFOR arrested and transferred Radomir Kovac to the Hague;
- Wolfgang Petritsch formally took over the duties of High Representative;
2,000 people gathered in Srpska Kostajnica demanding the river Una as the borderline between Croatia and BiH. They also demanded the resignations of the RS top officials. The protestors said that changing the borders means changing the DPA and added that borders should be determined by referendum. On this occasion Radisic and Djokic gave statements. Radisic said that after the CoM sesion, BiH Presidency neither held a session nor made any conclusions regarding the proposed amendments on the agreement and amendments were proposed by the Serb representatives in the CoM. “The supplemental agreement offers the possibility of resolving the problem by the end of the year, but the agreement was not accepted by BiH Presidency.
I informed Jelavic that the BiH Presidency had not complied with the procedure and that is not possible to talk about the implementation of the signed agreement until the adoption of the final decision”, said Radisic. Djokic said that statements of “some” politicians were very detrimental for the negotiations. “We have to keep talking on the issue and insist on the fact that borders should be determined by the configuration of the terrain. I am deeply convinced that the RS representatives in the BiH Parliamentary Assembly will not support the verification of the signed agreement (according to which the borders are in the territory of Srpska Kostajnica municipality), so we will request the borders to be determined by the river Una”, said Djokic.
On the occasion of the HR’s decision on the restructuring of the public broadcasting system in the BiH, Djokic reacted by issuing a statement. “Regarding the news carried by the media on HR’s decision on restructuring the broadcasting system and some other laws pertaining to the media in BiH, I have to inform the public that the RS NA has not received any official document from OHR. The information mentioned in the media is not clear enough to understand the context of HR’s new activities. Regarding the possible session of the RS NA I have to say that now we have the regular summer break and that at the last NA session it was agreed that the 8th session would take place in September”, said Djokic.
Simon Haselock said that the HR’s decision on restructuring the Public Broadcasting System in BiH aims to secure access to the broadcasting media by citizens of the entire BiH. He also said that the Public broadcasting service (system) should produce and broadcast at least 1 hour of programmes per day related to issues of interest to the entire BiH especially to information and activities regarding the work of common institutions as well as inter-entity issues. Haselock said that the Public Broadcasting System should produce a common news service and that the principle of equality of three languages and two alphabets of all three constituent nations should be implemented. Haselock also said that the HR requested the RS NA to change the law on SRT by 15th of August. According to him SRT should change its name to Radio Television of the RS, because SRT should be the entity television, not a mono-ethnic television.
Dodik replied to Simon Haselock by letter expressing his discontent regarding the HR’s decision on restructuring the public broadcasting system in BiH. SRT carried the entire letter sent to Haselock. Dodik reminded Haselock that RS Government and OHR always had good co-operation and that the RS Government was always open-minded for all democratic solutions which made progress in the field of media. He also reminded Haselock that the OHR had never had such good co-operation with the Federation Government… Dodik also said that regarding the media, Haselock is completely unwelcome in the RS territory adding that Haselock’s mediation is no longer necessary in contacts between the Federation and RS governments…
BREAKING NEWS: Haselock assessed Dodik’s letter as disturbing. “I have not received the letter yet. I have heard from the media about the content of the letter and if it is true then it is very disturbing. I have the impression that the representatives of the RS Government did not read the decision. When they read the decision they will realise that they overreacted”, said Haselock.
SFOR detained Radomir Kovac in his house in Srbinje. SFOR informed his wife that Kovac is on his way to the Hague.
Kosovo and FRY related news
SRT carried the news on kidnaps, murders, KFOR detention of Albanians, Albanian refugees returning to Kosovo, Serbs from Vitina moving out of Kosovo due to the inability of KFOR to protect them.
SRT carried the statements of SPO
Talks between Djukanovic, Ivanov, Stepashin and Moscow mayor Lushko on future relations between Serbia and Montenegro. Lushko said that the IC would not tolerate arbitrary steps of Slobodan Milosevic against Montenegro.
A plan for an interim government was presented in Belgrade. Mladjan Dinkic (G-17 Group member) presented the document called “The Stability Pact for Serbia”. The document deals with economic and political reforms in Serbia and Montenegro. Dinkic said that Serbia needed fast and transparent privatisation and that the RS model might have been the path to follow. The Pact unequivocally demands Milosevic’s resignation, said Dinkic. Patriarch Pavle also blessed the Document.
SRT carried the statements of SPO, SRS, DSS and ND.
Wolfgang Petritsch formally took over the duty of High Representative in BiH.
SFOR stated that houses for 1,000 displaced persons from Sarajevo settlements Stup 1 and Stup 2 would be reconstructed. The project is worth US $2.8 million.
Carlos Westendorp reversed his 1998 decision to suspend Dragan Cavic as the RS NA deputy. Carlos Westendorp said that he expected Cavic to contribute to the implementation of the Peace Agreement not only by words, but also by deeds.
Mile Marceta held a press conference in Banja Luka today. The main topic was return of Serb refugees to Drvar. One of the most important problems for 5,100 Serb returnees is to get the Ids. Marceta appealed to representatives of the IC to sanction the obstructions of the DPA implementation. None of these returnees works and accommodation is still one of the most important problems, because in Serb houses in Drvar live people from Split, Rijeka and Tomislavgrad, said Marceta.