Headlines
- Plavsic and Dodik met Gelbard in BL and Radisic in Sarajevo
- The BiH CoM met in Sarajevo
- The UN Security Council announced the possibility of a resolution supporting the Milosevic-Hobrooke agreement being passed
- Union of RS town and municipalities established in Brcko
- Netaniahu-Arafat reached common ground on a peace agreement
Plavsic and Dodik met with the Special U.S. Envoy for the Balkans, Robert Gelbard, in BL today. The meeting primarily focused on the implementation of the election results and the activities of the Sloga Coalition in that regard. After the meeting, Dodik stated that President Plavsic and himself had stressed that the first constitutive session of the RS NA should definitely appoint its leadership and had expressed the commitment of Sloga that the current Government should continue to work. According to Dodik the meting also discussed the issue of further foreign donations for the RS. Gelbard, on his part stated that the meeting discussed economic issues, the privatisation process, the issue of police and that of Brcko. Referring to the recent decision by the Serbian Parliament on local media being banned from re-broadcasting foreign media programmes, Gelbard described such a decision as an anti-democratic move and an act of totalitarian behaviour.
2:46
Before meeting Plavsic and Dodik, Robert Gelbard met with the President of the BiH Presidency, Zivko Radisic. The meeting discussed the implementation of the Dayton-Paris peace agreement and the work of BiH common institutions in the period after the September elections. According to Radisic, the meeting concluded that economic regeneration was the priority now and that the work of BiH common institutions and entity institutions will be of great importance in this regard in terms of creating conditions for economic development. Gelbard, on his part expressed optimism regarding the possibility of progress being made in BiH especially on privatisation and economic issues.
1:50
Today’s session of the BiH CoM in Sarajevo discussed 6 of the planned 12 items on the agenda. The session, amongst other topics, discussed preparations for determining the line to be taken at the meeting of the Paris Club scheduled for the following week and the guarantee agreement with the European Investment Bank on debts incurred before the war. The session also discussed the issue of civilian air-traffic control direction and its personnel, the completion of the foreign ministry, the funding for diplomatic and consular offices etc. According to a Deputy High Representative, Hanns Schumacher, who attended the session, the issue of a possible reform of the CoM was also discussed. The next session of the CoM is to take place on 2nd November.
2:40
The Union of RS towns and municipalities has today been established in the town of Brcko. The constitutive session that was attended by representatives of the 38 RS municipalities, the NA and the Government concluded that the Union was going to contribute to the development of local self-management, to the improvement of cooperation between different municipalities and better relations with the IC. Borislav Maric, the Mayor of Prijedor, has been appointed the President of the Union, whereas the Mayor of Banja Luka, Djordje Umicevic, and the Mayor of Serb Sarajevo, Milorad Kadic, have been appointed as the representative of the Union in Europe.
02:02
The respective representatives of Telecom and the Austrian company of Siemens today signed an agreement according to which Siemens committed to deliver equipment worth DM 12 million needed for the establishment of a mobile telephone service in the RS. The official signing ceremony was, amongst others, attended by the Austrian Ambassador in BiH and the RS Prime Minister, Milorad Dodik.
1:37
An American General, Migs Montgomery, today took over from Eric Shinseki as the SFOR Force Commander in BiH. Sergio Balanzino, the Deputy NATO Secretary- General, who attended the official hand-over ceremony, expressed regrets over a canceled meeting with the members of the BiH presidency and appealed to them to respect the DA, to cooperate with SFOR and to do their utmost to preserve the peace in BiH.
2:07
The Spokesperson for UN IPTF in Banja Luka, Alun Roberts, at a regular press conference today expressed satisfaction with the recent decision by the RS Government on the beginning of the RS police reconstruction process and added that it should be completed in about 30 days. Roberts added that the same process was going to take place on the BH Federation side.
1:23
A two-day seminar on constitutional courts started in Banja Luka today attended by legal experts from the RS and the BH Federation, as well as representatives of international legal institutions. The first day of the seminar saw several reports submitted by the participants, along with discussions on different issues, including that of the independence of constitutional courts and others.
1:39