Headlines
- Constitutive session of the RS NA on 29th October – confirmed at today’s consultative meeting of RS parliamentary parties
- President of the BiH Presidency, Zivko Radisic, met with Brcko Supervisor Farrand
- Kosovo Albanian leader, Ibrahim Rugova, accepts the Milosevic- Holbrooke agreement
- Croatia approved limited NATO military manoeuvers in the Adriatic
A three-hour consultative meeting of RS Parliamentary parties today confirmed that the constitutive session of the RS Parliament was going to take place on 29th October, with a new consultative meeting to take place one day before to appoint the RS parliamentary Commission for verification, as the meeting today failed to reach an agreement on its composition. Today’s meeting also discussed the procedure and the order by which the newly elected MPs along with the newly elected top-level RS officials were going to take their solemn oaths. Asked about the presence of the Head of the OHR Office in BL at the session, Djokic answered that Ambassador Miguel Arias attended to greet the meeting and to remind parliamentary parties to respond to the letter from the HR on the proposed package of laws.
2:10
The President of the BiH Presidency, Zivko Radisic, met with the Brcko Supervisor, Robert Farrand, in Serb Sarajevo today. The meeting discussed the implementation of the DA and the prolonged Brcko arbitration process. Radisic expressed the hope that the final Brcko arbitration decision was going to be made according to the wish of the Brcko population and the entire RS, and added that a lot of work, however, was still to be done on the matter.
1:50
Radisic also met with the Governor of the BiH Central Bank, Peter Nicholl, in Lukavica today. After the meeting, Radisic stated that they had agreed to have continuous cooperation on important matters, which would be in the interest of the RS and the entire BiH. Peter Nicholl told the press that the Central Bank had made progress in the area in the past year and stressed that Radisic had offered his full support within the Currency Board. Nicholl went on to say that the liquidation of the National Bank was the critical issue which needed to be resolved in the next few weeks.
1:20
The RS representative at the BiH Presidency, Zivko Radisic, today received the German Ambassador in BiH. Radisic stressed that Germany had played an important role in the implementation of the DA and expressed the hope that such cooperation would continue in their mutual interest. The German Ambassador hoped that the democratisation of the RS Government and political parties would allow for good cooperation in the interest of the RS, refugees, the economy and “in our own interest”.
0:37
(Kosovo-related news) The Spokesperson for the illegal OVK today stated that this paramilitary organisation was holding the two missing journalists of Tanjug and that they would be handed over to the ICRC shortly. According to the Spokesperson, a proper investigation is currently ongoing to establish whether the two journalists have been involved in the struggle against the Albanian people.
0:24
The Kosovo Albanian leader, Ibrahim Rugova, today supported the Milosevic-Holbrooke agreement on Kosovo and appealed to Kosovo Albanian terrorist groups to refrain from provocation.
0:24
According to the Ljubljana-based “Delo” newspaper, several commissioned and non-commissioned Slovenian Army officers of Albanian background have been reported as currently staying in Kosovo as a reinforcement for the Kosovo Albanian terrorist army.
0:36
The RS President, Biljana Plavsic, and the Prime Minister, Milorad Dodik, today held separate meetings with the Austrian Ambassador in BiH, Valentin Inzko. After meeting Dodik, Inzko stated that they had discussed the post-election situation in the RS, the formation of the new Government and the position of Europe on the matter. No details were released after the meeting with President Plavsic.
0:52
A joint press conference by the SDS, the SRS and the Serb Coalition for the RS was held in Banja Luka today. The conference, which focused on the composition of the new Parliament and the formation of the new Government, stated that this Coalition would have 32 seats within the NA, just like the Coalition of the SNS, SNSD and the SPRS. Such a stalemate, Predrag Lazarevic said, allows for the formation of a Government of national unity, in which each of the two Coalitions would have 11 ministerial posts. According to Pantelija Damjanovic, the Vice- President of the SRS, this party would be prepared to enter such a coalition with Sloga, provided that there were no prior conditions for it. The conference added that the BiH Commission for Human Rights, which is part of the BiH Constitutional Court, had still not taken the complaint by the SDS regarding the removal of Dragan Cavic into their consideration.
2:18
The Mayor of Brcko, Borko Reljic, today cancelled his membership of the SDS. Explaining his decision, Reljic stated that the issue of Brcko should be regarded as an issue of importance for the entire RS, rather than an issue of importance for any individual political party.
1:13
The Hague Tribunal today changed their indictment against Goran Jelisic, a Serb who was arrested in Bijeljina this January, to state that Jelisic was not the commander of the Luka concentration camp in Brcko, but rather a “person on duty” there.
0:19