OHR SRT News Summary, 21 January 1999 - Office of the High Representative

Headlines

Joint agreement of the Government and RS representatives in the BiH common bodies on protection of RS interests stressed again at today’s session of the RS Government
RS PM Milorad Dodik and Vice-President Mirko Sarovic talked in separate meetings with SFOR Commander General Montgomery Meigs
International pathologist team, engaged on autopsy of the Kosovo Albanians killed in the village of Racak, completed
Rumanian mineworkers in conflict with the police

The 42nd session of the RS Government was held in Banja Luka today. It discussed 16 items of the agenda, amongst which most attention was paid to the pre-draft law on changes and amendments to the Law on the rights of soldiers, military war invalids and families of dead soldiers. The session was attended also by representatives of the RS in the BiH common bodies.Agreement on the manner in which the interests of the RS are going to be represented in future in the BiH common bodies was reached. The Republic Government today considered and gave opinion on the proposals and draft laws that are going to be discussed in the House of Representatives of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly.
2:59

The RS PM Milorad Dodik and the Minister of Interior Sredoje Novic talked in Banja Luka today in separate meetings with the SFOR Commander to BiH General Montgomery Meigs. The meetings focused on issues relating to the current political situation in the RS. General Meigs also met with the RS Vice President Mirko Sarovic. This meeting raised important issues of relations and cooperation between RS and SFOR, such as legal regulation of the trade between the Entities, normalisation of the situation in Srebrenica and more significant engagement of USAID resources for local development.
1:22

Kosovo-related news

The fighting in the area of Vaganica near Kosovska Mitrovica was renewed this morning
Chief of the Finnish pathologist team will arrive in the course of the day in Pristina, where he will join the team working on the autopsy of the bodies of the Kosovo Albanians killed in the conflicts in the village of Racak
Tomorrow’s meeting of the Contact Group in London is expected to produce key ideas and proposals for resolving the crisis in Kosmet; important negotiations are on-going in Belgrade as well

6:57

At a press conference of the international organisations held in Sarajevo today, the spokesperson for OHR Alexandra Stiglmayer stated, on arbitration for Brcko, that the OHR position was not to interfere with the work of the main arbiter. At the conclusion of the “SRNA” journalist that the main arbiter is supposed to make a decision in accordance with the provisions of the DA, which says that the subject of the arbitration is a part of the inter-entitry boundary line in the area of Brcko and the whole city, Stiglmayer said that at the moment she was not sure what is exactly written in the DA, but that it should be checked.
1:43

Brcko and the forthcoming arbitration award for the area of this city were the main topics of today’s SPRS press conference held in Banja Luka. The member of the SPRS Main Board and the RS NA Speaker Petar Djokic confirmed at today’s press conference that the Socialists, i.e. the coalition “Sloga” does not support the candidacy of Brane Miljus for prime minister designate.
1:51

The prime minister designate Brane Miljus confirmed today to the SRNA agency that he had finished the first part of consultations with all the presidents of the parties, i.e. their representatives. According to his statement, all those he had talked to agreed with his concept of the Government. According to Miljus, the SNS president Biljana Plavsic refused to talk with him since she considers, as stated, that she represents the Coalition “Sloga” and not the SNS and he had already consulted other members of this party. Reiterating that his Government would be a Government of experts and a multinational one, Miljus expressed the belief that the cabinet that he is going to complete after the second part of the consultations would obtain an absolute majority at the assembly session on January 25. He went on to say that an information war is being led against him in the RS.
0:52

The SDA will not support the candidacy of Brane Miljus for RS prime minister designate, the spokesperson for that party Aznan Jahic stated today, reports Beta.
0:32

A group of counsellors of the municipal assembly of Knezevo, who have so far been members of SPAS and the National Party of RS, changed the party option due to political disagreements, as they said. The SNSD president Milorad Dodik talked in Banja Luka today with 5 counsellors of the municipal assembly of Knezevo, members of SPAS and one member of National party of RS who, as of today, became members of SNSD. As stressed at the meeting with Dodik, the main reason for their joining the other party was disagreement with the policy led by the leaders of their, now former, parties, i.e. statements of the prime minister designate for the composition of the new Republic Government.
1:56

The member of the BiH Presidency Alija Izetbegovic considers that there is only a theoretical possibility for the IC to leave the city of Brcko to the RS, and assesses that such a decision, should it be made, would cause chaos.
0:25

The Assistant Minister for Traffic and Telecommunications in the RS Government Stevo Kovacevic assessed in a statement for Beta that the single country code for international telephone traffic of both entities in BiH would not be introduced on February 1. According to him, the RS will not be able to provide, by this date, the technological conditions necessary for realising OHR requests.
0:31