Latest radio news broadcast at 12.00 on 21 July
| RADIO HERCEG-BOSNA (12,00 hrs) | BH Radio 1(12,00 hrs) | RTRS (12,00 hrs) |
| BiH CoM in session today | FBiH Government’s session | RS Govt. to present war crime report |
| Del Ponte: Ljubicic to be tried in BiH | ICTY Prosecution on Gvero, Miletic | Verification of documents ongoing |
| Gregorian on BiH admission to NATO | World news | Relations Montenegro-Croatia |
TV news broadcast on 20 July
| RADIO HERCEG-BOSNA (18,00 hrs) | TV PINK (18,00 hrs) | BHT 1 (19,00 hrs) |
| BiH Football champ’s game | Radovanovic on BiH Defense Law | Deronjic sentenced to 10 years |
| FBiH PM reactivated “Aluminij” issue | Donation to BiH de-mining unit | Commemoration for Prijedor victims |
| RS Government on Tihic’s stand | Solana meets Draskovic | Update on Milosevic case |
| Deronjic’s sentence confirmed | Kebo in visit to | RS Police on Srebrenica Commem. |
| NTV Hayat (19,00 hrs) | FTV (19,30 hrs) | RTRS (19,30 hrs) |
| Promotion in | Identification mistakes investigation | RS MoI investigation on Potocari |
| Issue of BiH War Crimes Chamber | ICMP on identification mistakes | PSC Trebinje arrested two persons |
| Transfer of ICTY cases to BiH | Audit of suspect BiH passports | RS Gov.- police reform in Institutions |
| Anniversary in Prijedor | Additional report on Valjan case | Bukejlovic on Arbitrage on Brcko |
| Oslobodjenje | |
| Dnevni Avaz | BiH Interpol searching for 20,000 stolen vehicles |
| Dnevni List | Defeat off football club Zrinjski |
| Vecernji List | Prime Minister sells 88 % of Aluminij |
| Slobodna Dalmacija | Swimmers do not care about polluted Neretva |
| Nezavisne Novine | One third of crop ruined |
| Glas Srpske | To bones across mines |
| EuroBlic | Secret lists of drug-dealers on the street |
| Vecernje novosti | A millionaire of paper |
| Srpski Nacional | Features Serbian related topics |
LATEST NEWS OF TODAY | |
| FBiH Government in session
| BH Radio 1 – At a session in |
| RS Government in session
| RTRS – RS Government will today present Report on criminal acts of war crimes committed against Serbs in |
| ICTY Prosecution on Gvero, Miletic | BH Radio 1 – ICTY Prosecution requested freezing of decision on temporary release of Milan Gvero and Radivoje Miletic, the two senior Bosnian Serbs wartime officials indicted for Srebrenica massacre, until the Chief Prosecutor has officially lodged the complaint against the release. |
Security / police and defence reforms | |
| RS Police says Potocari explosive was intended for smuggling
| RTRS by Biljana Knezevic– RS police has obtained information showing that around 35 kg of explosives found on 7 July near the Potocari Memorial complex were not intended to be activated during the 11 July commemorative gathering but for smuggling. The chief of crime police of the Banja Luka Public Security Centre, Gojko Vasic, said that the police had so far not found the person who planted the explosives, adding it had some evidence linked to the identification of the perpetrator and believed that this would help them catch the person soon. Vasic told a news conference in PINK, BHT1, Hayat, FTV, Oslobodjenje pg 2 ‘Explosive in Potocari intended for smuggling’, mentioned on cover, by O.V. pg 10 ‘Beside provocations, operation ‘Srebrenica 2005’ successfully completed’ by O. Vukovic, Dnevni Avaz pg 8 ‘Explosive in Potocari intended for smuggling’ by Onasa, Nezavisne Novine pg 2, announced on cover ‘Explosive was not planted, but instead smugglers left it behind’ by S.Karic, EuroBlic RSpg 2 ‘Explosive belongs to network of smugglers’ by Zeljka Knezevic, Glas Srpske pg 2 ‘Police matching up information’ by V.Janjic – also cover. |
| RS Govt ‘surprised’ Tihic rejects its proposal on police reform/ SDA urges police and PBS to be immediately solved
| RHB, Dnevni List pg 6 ‘Tihic’s political inconsistency in reforms’ by NINA, Nezavisne Novine pg 2 ‘Surprised over Tihic’ stances’ by A.S., EuroBlic RSpg 2 ‘Tihic made RS Government angry’ by N.B., Glas Srpske pg 5 ‘Tihic pushing inconsistently’ by D.Majstorovic – The RS Government stated on Wednesday that it is surprised by the position of BiH Presidency member Sulejman Tihic rejecting the proposal that talks on the police reform in BiH be held within institutions in accordance with EU principles. The RS Government expects the BiH Presidency to present its position on the police reform “instead of one member of the BiH Presidency disputing the proposal to find the solution at the level of BiH institution’. ‘Tihic’s views demonstrate his political inconsistency because he was not guided by the same principles on the defense reform issue, which is being implemented at the level of BiH institutions’, the RS Government stated. RTRS by Bojan Kecman – “I want to believe that Mr. Tihic doesn’t want us to return to the area of politicising certain reforms in BiH, because that directly slows down the profess in BiH…so, RS Government is to maintain its stance and demands the police reform to be continued within BiH Institutions”- said RS Prime Minister, Pero Bukejlovic. Seada Palavric, Head of SDA Caucus in BiH Parliament stressed that police reform has to be carried out as soon as possible, along with passing of the law on Public Broadcasting System. “In fact, I see police reform in two levels. I see that before that Entities have to transfer its authorities on the State and then BiH Institutions have to pass the Law, which, in a unified way, will solve the issue of Police, in accordance with the EC and EU standards”- said Palavric. |
| HR in Gorazde: ‘Authorities over police will be at the state level’
| Oslobodjenje pg 10 ‘Authorities over police will be at the state level’ by Elvira Aganovic, Dnevni Avaz pg 2 ‘Clock for reply on police is ticking’ by A. Bajramovic, Nezavisne Novine pg 2 ‘Without police reform the EU door will remain closed to BiH’ by Eh.D. – High Representative Paddy Ashdown visited Gorazde on Wednesday. During the visit the HR got familiar with the economic situation in the area. Talking about the police reform the HR stated: ‘The clock is ticking. We must reach an agreement by September 15. If we succedee to do this then BiH will make a historical step towards the EU, however if we are not able to do it, the EU door would remain close for us. It would be disaster for this country.’ |
| FTV says BiH prosecution investigates illegal passports
| FTV – FTV reported on Tuesday that the 37.000 passports issued in BiH are suspected of being issued on false documents. BiH Prosecution confirms that the investigations on fraud passports have been ongoing, refusing to comment details. The CIPS Directorate stated that the conditions have been created to ensure system which would timely inform the authorized institutions of possible abuses. According to unofficial sources, audit of passports under suspicion will commence as soon as BiH Council of Ministers establishes a working group. |
| Ze-Do MoI says claims on 37.000 illegal passports ungrounded
| Dnevni Avaz pg 3 ‘Alic: Ungrounded stories on 37.000 illegal passports’ by A. Dz. – The Zenica-Doboj Cantonal Interior Ministry says that there are no information or even indications which would show that a part of 37.000 allegedly illegal passports were issued in this area. Minister Muhidin Alic comments in DA the media reports stating these are ungrounded speculations. |
| DA: Disputable citizenships to be annulled
| Dnevni Avaz pg 2, mentioned on cover ‘Disputable citizenships to be annulled’ A. Malagic – The BiH Assistant Minister of Civil Affairs, Miodrag Pandurevic, confirmed in a statement for the daily that a review into the citizenships given to foreigners since 1996 was underway, but he did not want to speak about the number of these cases. According to information collected by Dnevni Avaz, some 750 persons mainly of Asian origin are being checked, and 400 of them got BiH citizenship in a suspicious way. Pandurevic says that the amendments to the BiH Law on Citizenship are being prepared and they will allow an authorized body to annul/abolish citizenship status obtained in an illegal manner. The paper unofficially learnt that the competent Brcko District’s authorities would soon launch an investigation on this matter. According to some information, a large number of documents was issued in previous years, and there are suspicions that many criminals from |
| NN: Ivanic will not vote in favor of defence laws until CoM crisis solved
| Nezavisne Novine pg 2 ‘Ivanic will not vote for Defence Law’, announced on cover ‘I will not vote for BiH Draft Law on Defence’ by M.Cubro – Mladen Ivanic, BiH Foreign Minister in resignation, has confirmed he will not vote for the Laws on defence and military service at BiH Armed Forces until leaders of political parties agree on escape from BiH CoM’s crisis. He said: “I will run BiH Foreign Ministry, but at the sessions of the CoM I will not vote for a single legal package, including the package of Laws on defence. By refusing to vote on any legal project, I want to exert pressure to have crisis at BiH COM settled as soon as possible, and accordingly to resolve the status of our ministers in resignation.” |
| Radovanovic urges defence related laws to be passed quickly
| PINK, Oslobodjenje pg 4 ‘To adopt the law as soon as possible’ – The adoption of the Defence Law and the Law on Service in the BiH Armed Forces is of great importance because this is a detailed project regulating the defence sector in a way that will ensure BiH full members in NATO, BiH Defence Minister Nikola Radovanovic told journalists in Camp Butmir on Wednesday. Radovanovic said that the law will be discussed by three parliaments as their adoption requires the changes to the entity constitutions. He said that the laws need to be adopted quickly because the entire concept needs to be set into place on January 1 next year when the budget year starts, and that it would be extremely difficult to start the entire tasks somewhere in the middle of the year. |
| Stankovic on defence reform: NATO or RS Army
| EuroBlic RSpg 3, announced on cover ‘The choice is: NATO or RS Army’ by Marija Milic – In a page-long interview to daily, Milovan Stankovic, RS Defence Minister, reiterates information related to BiH Draft Law on Defence, stressing that RS has only two possibilities and Parliaments is to decide whether we will say No to EU and NATO and keep entity army accordingly or to accept conditions placed before us and try to identify solutions that would mostly protect RS interests within this framework. He notes “it is illusionary to believe that Draft Law adopted through cocnensus.. Even if we have maintained the higher level of identity of army and ministries, it would only be a transitional phase. In this manner, we will fulfill conditions in a less painful manner.” He further stresses that all parties that have their representatives at all political levels of the BiH will give its stance on the proposed documents and there is absolutely no need to speculate “what if”. He reminds that decisions of OHR are of executive and mandatory nature, “which we should have learnt by now”. |
| Leakey/Podzic on defence reform: ‘There will be no reasons for fear of new war any longer’
| Dnevni Avaz pg 4, mentioned on cover ‘There will be no reasons for fear of new war any longer’ by L. Sinanovic – Asked to comment on the draft law on defense reform, EUFOR Commander David Leaky stated that in this way BiH makes progress on the way to NATO. He added that when BiH joins NATO there would be no fear of conflicts and wars any longer. Leaky believes that now the laws must pass the parliaments as soon as possible. Head of the Joint BiH Army Headquarters Sifet Podzic stated that according to the reports he received the reform course has been well accepted. |
| Gregorian reiterating Karadzic and Mladic to be arrested if BiH wants to be admitted into NATO | Glas Srpske pg 5 ‘The Hague is the only scale’ by M.Dz. – In a statement to daily, Rafi Gregorian, DRC Co-Chairperson reiterates that if Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Maldic are not arrested, BiH will not be admitted into NATO. Explaining his statement that it would take at least five years to prepare BiH for NATO admission, he noted that NATO will demand from BiH to make an action plan in five different areas (some political and legal issues). |
| Reactions on draft law on defence (Dukic, Curcic, Karavelic)
| Dnevni List pg 2 ‘Defence reform unacceptable for RS’ by De.L. – President of the Coordination of RS NGOs Branislav Dukic stated that a proposed model of the defence reform in BiH is not acceptable for the RS, expressing hope the RSNA would reject proposal. Slobodna Dalmacija pg 18, mentioned on cover ‘New JNA created’ by Z. Tulic carries a comment by HVO General Dragan Curcic [who is one of the indictees in the Croat self-rule case]: ‘Most of our proposals (of the Croat side) have been incorporated in a new daft law on defence although we elaborated these proposals as early as in 1999 and in 2000.’ Retired BiH Army General Vahid Karavelic believes that the defence reform is a crucial factor for the future of BiH but he also believes that the things, which happened with former Yugoslav Army, which also used to be multi-ethnic, might happen with the BiH armed forces as well. |
| BiH Interpol searching for 20,000 stolen vehicles
| Dnevni Avaz cover page, pg 3 ‘BiH Interpol searching for 20,000 stolen vehicles’ – The BiH Interpol is intensively searching for some 20,000 stolen cars. According to BiH Interpol Deputy Director Adi Biser, the cars have been stolen since 1992 till today and it is likely that 10,000 of them were stolen in EU countries. All data on the stolen cars are stored in the central Interpol database in the French town of |
| VL: State Border Service without Director
| Vecernji List pg 5 ‘State Border Service without Director for three days’ by D. Jazvic – VL says that the State Border Service (DGS) has been without a director for 3 days after a two-month mandate to acting DGS Directors expired on July 17. VL says that such absurd situation is a consequence of new political games, which remind of the story with regard to the election of the SIPA Director. VL also says that the procedure for election of a new DGS Director has got stuck in the BiH Council of Ministers. VL goes on to say that after the Croats were deprived of the SIPA Director position it has been expected that the new DGS Director would be a Croat, however, it is obvious that there is not consent in the BiH CoM with regard to this issue. VL concludes that in case that this issue is not resolved soon High Representative Paddy Ashdown will have to react again. |
| VL: Persons who killed Travnik policeman 7 years ago revealed
| BHT1, Vecernji List pgs 6 and 7 ‘Murderers revealed’, mentioned on cover ‘Murderers of policeman Anto Valjan revealed’ by R. Soldo, A. Drmac – The FBiH Police Administration informed on Wednesday that one person has been suspected of terrorism and another person of giving a false testimony in the case of killed Travnik policeman Ante Valjan, which happened almost 7 years ago. FBiH Police Administration spokesman Robert Cvrtak refused to reveal names of these suspects. |
| EuroBlic claims confidential document of Trebinje PSC on drugs smuggling
| EuroBlic cover pg splash ‘Secret lists of drug-dealers on the street’, RSpg 1 ‘Lists of drug-dealers as on notice board’ by V.Mihojevic – Daily reports that a list containing the names of 53 persons from the municipalities of Trebinje (49), Bileca and Ljubinje, with exact information on DOB, phone numbers etc, believed to be involved in trading and smuggling in narcotics has appeared on the streets of Trebinje. Although a word on the street is that a “competitive” group infiltrated this list, police confirmed that list is actually an official document prepared by Trebinje PSC. Special attention was given to the fact that the name of Dragan Jelic, former Trebinje PSC Chief and currently OSA employee, has also appeared on the list. Jelic denies any involvement in drug smuggling. |
War crimes | |
| Mejakic/others case before BiH judiciary
| Dnevni Avaz pg 4 ‘Zeljko Mejakic and others will be tried in |
| BiH Court President Medzida Kreso on Mejakic case
| Dnevni Avaz pg 4 ‘This is a confirmation we are prepared to process war crime cases’ – BiH Court President Medzida Kreso said in a statement for the daily that the ICTY decision to transfer the Mejakic case to BiH judiciary represents a confirmation of BiH Court readiness/capability to process war crime cases. Kreso hopes this is just a beginning of the process of transferring war crimes cases from |
| Omarska/Keraterm victims welcome transfer of case | Dnevni Avaz pg 4 ‘Victims will help just decision to be brought’ by M.Z.– The Associations of Prijedor victims of the war crimes and prisoners of war welcomed the decision of the ICTY to transfer the Mejakic/others case to BiH judiciary. |
| DA op-ed welcomes ICTY decision on Mejakic case
| Dnevni Avaz pg 3 ‘Great victory for BiH judiciary’ op-ed by Husein Orahovac – Editorial welcomes the decision of the ICTY to transfer Mejakic/others case to BiH judiciary, calling it the ‘great victory’. Author adds that this also sends clear message to SCG and |
| SiCG Defence Ministry denies Petrovic’s claims regarding protection of Ratko Mladic
| EuroBlic pg 5 ‘Mladic’s guard on sick leave’ by Nikola M.Jovanovic – Following the statement Goran Petrovic, former Chief of Serbian Secret Police, gave to daily Wednesday (that Colonel Dragomir Krstovic, Logistics’ Commander and member of the SiCG Army General Staff, was the Head of Ratko Mladic’ security until the end of 2002 – according to him, Krstovic is one of ten people at SiCG Army who were in charge of providing everything to Mladic), the SiCG Defence Ministry Wednesday released a denial, saying that: “Ever since the Law on cooperation with the ICTY was reached, Colonel Dragomir Krstovic, either any other active member of the SiCG has had no contact with General Ratko Mladic, neither any other war crime suspect. Hence, he is in no position to provide any sort of assistance to them.” RTRS, RHB, FTV, BHT1 – both electronic and print media have carried the claims published in Blic on 20 July. |
| Solana urges Mladic’s extradition
| BHT1, PINK, EuroBlic pg 2, announced on cover ‘You put Mladic in place, I will out Montenegro in place’ by N.Calukovic, RTRS By Teodora Vranjes – EU High Representative for Security and Foreign Policy Javier Solana visited Belgrade where he met with officials of SCG and talked to them about integrations, ICTY issue and Kosovo. SCG President Svetozar Marovic stressed that it is important for SCG to open negotiations in October and to end the case of Ratko Mladic before that. Solana said that cooperation with the ICTY is of extreme importance, stressing that even though it has improved, but that Mladic has to be apprehended. |
| FBiH Missing Persons Comm’s official accuses ICMP of wrong identification/ ICMP strongly denies
| FTV Elvira Ceric – Twenty-two cases of errors in the identification of war victims have been registered in the region of Bosanska Krajina. FTV reports that for this reason over 200 identified and buried remains of bodies will be re-exhumed to reconfirm the identity. The official of the FBiH Commission for Missing Persons Jasmin Odobasic accused ICMP (International Commission for Missing Persons) for these mistakes, claiming he had mentioned the identification mistakes already three years ago. According to him, the errors have occurred in determining gender and age of the victims, identities and in assembling body parts. Odobasic also claims that ICMP had been making mistakes in producing DNA reports. Odobasic accuses ICMP of being aware of these mistakes and tried to hide them. ICMP on the other hand denies accusations presented by Odobasic. Adnan Rizvic, Head of ICMP’s Forensic Department explained that, according to BiH laws, identification could be confirmed only by local court experts. Rizvic added that the mistakes occurred during the old ways of identification and have been disclosed through ICMP’s DNA analysis. |
| VN and NN claim Serbian Government paid war crime indictees to go to
| Vecernje Novosti cover pg splash ‘A millionaire of paper’, pg 7 ‘Millions only on a piece of paper’ by E.Radosavljevic, Nezavisne Novine pg 3 “Half a million of EURO to Lazarevic for surrender’, announced on cover ‘EURO 500,000 paid to Lazarevic for “voluntary” surrender to the Hague Tribunal’ by Agencies – Regarding information that SiCG Gvoenrment has allocated the amount of EURO half a million to General Vladimir Lazarevic for his “voluntary” surrender to the ICTY, the Serbian Government Media Office denied the claims, saying that the amount is intended as assistance to families of all ICTY war crime suspects, who have voluntarily surrendered. |
| Oslobodjenje:
| Oslobodjenje cover page, pgs 4-5 ‘Holland trying to shift responsibility for Srebrenica to UN’ – In an interview with the daily, Dion van den Berg, the project manager of the IKV Dutch peace group, said that the State of Netherlands would try through a legal procedure before The Hague Court to prove that it had not been responsible for Srebrenica developments in 1995 and shift the responsibility for the massacre to UN. |
| GS on exhumations in Bosanska Krupa | Glas Srpske cover pg splash ‘To bones through mines’ by M.Mihajlovic – Daily ntoes that there is a search after the missing Serbs from the |
Economic and return issues | |
| FBIH HoR supports Government’s solution for Aluminij
| RHB, FTV, BHT1, Oslobodjenje pg 6 ‘Government given the green light for agreement with Aluminij’ by S. Se., Dnevni Avaz pg 9 ‘Government receives support a solution for Aluminij’, Vecernji List ‘Prime Minister sells 88 % of Aluminij’ and pg 3 ‘Hadzipasic: To sell 88% of Aluminij’ by E. Medunjanin, Dnevni List pg 3, mentioned on cover ‘Pre-war workers return to Aluminij’ by N. Bise – The FBiH House of Representatives supported on Tuesday activities of the FBiH Government taken in order to resolve the Aluminij issue. The FBiH HoR authorized the FBiH Government to conclude the agreement on resolving the open issues between the FBiH Government and Aluminij after adoption of the changes to the law on privatisation of companies. PINK – “The agreement should enable “Aluminij” to develop its capacities in order to attract strategic partner”, said FBiH Prime Minister Ahmet Hadzipasic. According to the agreement, 44 % of the company would be owned by the state, 44 % would be owned by stockholders, while 12 % would be owned by a foreign partner. FBiH HoR also discussed the amendments to the FBiH Law on State Service. Representatives of FBiH Justice Ministry said that the initial law had to be changed as soon as possible, since process of revision of state officials showed some legal discrepancies. |
| FBIH Govt today to discuss Enegropetrol/ Vrankic: INA-MOL’s offer for Energopetrol’s co-capitalization is best
| Dnevni List pg 5 ‘INA-MOL is being expelled from Energopetrol’ by N. Bise – At the Federation of BiH Government’s session that is to take place on Thursday (today) the issue of Energopetrol’s co-capitalization should be discussed. Federation of BiH Finance Minister Dragan Vrankic stated on the eve of the session that it would be good to preserve the best offer in this case and that is the offer of consortium INA-MOL. Commenting on the problems which emerged with regard to the this issue, Vrankic says that this is an open intention to push away a strategic partner. BHT 1 Marina Boskovic – BHT1 says it is certain now that the tender process is going to be annulled. According to unofficial information, Party for BiH and SDA will not support the latest proposal according to which INA/MOL should remain the main negotiation partner. The working group also suggested that the additional debts of Energopetrol should be written off or by FBiH Govt taking over oil terminals. Reporter commented that different lobbies are involved in privatisation of oil companies. In case of annulled tender, INA/MOL will withdraw its offer. Workers announced protests. FTV, Dnevni Avaz pg 10 ‘Dragan Vrankic offers three solutions’ by M.K., Oslobodjenje pg 6 ‘Three proposals on annulling tender or new tender’ – announce today’s discussion on the issue. |
| Kebo meets Ljajic/Marovic discussing return
| RHB, PINK, BHT1, FTV, RTRS, Dnevni Avaz pg 9 ‘BiH deems Kosovo to be internal SCG affairs’, Dnevni List pg 2 ‘Strengthening of relations between BiH and SCiG’ by NINA, Vecernji List pg 4 ‘To strengthen cooperation between BiH and SCiG’ by ra , Hayat – BiH Minister for Human Rights and Refugees Mirsad Kebo said in Belgrade that BiH was interested in strengthening the relations with Serbia-Montenegro, pointing out that all citizens share this interest. Kebo met with SiCG President Svetozar Marovic and SiCG Minister for Human Rights and Minorities’ Rights Rasim Ljajic. “We are satisfied with the return process in BiH, as well as return of property, but we are dissatisfied wit the return process in |
| Hadzipasic, Vrankic met with IMF representatives
| Dnevni Avaz pg 4 ‘ |
Political issues | |
| Czech nominate candidate for HR position
| CTK [Czech news agency] – The Czech Foreign Ministry has proposed the candidacy of diplomat Alexandr Vondra for the post of the High Representative for BiH, Richard Krpac from the ministry press department told the agency. “Vondra is an experienced diplomat with good contacts in the security area and in the area of trans-Atlantic relations,” the Foreign Ministry said. |
| Pecelj refuses to sigh guidelines on common core in history/geography textbooks
| Dnevni Avaz pg 4 ‘RS Minister doesn’t accept joint guidelines on textbooks’ by S.S. – Deputy BiH Civil Affairs Minister, Srdjan Arnaut, told DA that the RS Education and Culture Minister Milovan Pecelj again refused to sign guidelines for writing history and geography books in BiH and is the only education minister in BiH that rejects this document. “At the meeting of the Coordination Board of the Conference of Education ministers in BiH held in PINK, BHT 1 – also reported. |
| RTRS: Pecelj on textbooks guidlines, addenda to education law
| RTRS by Marina Marjanovic– Milovan Pecelj stressed that he is prepared to sign these guidelines, respecting the basis of the law on Elementary and High Education in BiH, but he stressed that common core when it comes to the history or geography has to be clearly defined. “I have asked just for these two words to be put in those guidlines” said Pecelj. Radmila Trifkovic, from OSCE Regional Centre Banja Luka said that OSCE’s stand is that any delay in implementation will have negative impact on children and OSCE hopes that Minister Pecelj will fulfil his duties. RS Board for Science, education and Culture held a session on Wednesday, and discussed situation in RS educational system, with special attention to the higher education. Pecelj proposed changes and addenda to the Law on Higher Education, whose implementation should start with new academic year. On the other side Education Trade Union is sceptical, however the President of the Union Ranka Misic said she wouldn’t be surprised if this would be passed in urgent procedure. The proposal will be submitted to the RS National Assembly, during one of the following sessions. |
| Susan Johnson disputes location of mosque construction in Brcko
| BHT1, FTV, RTRS, Oslobodjenje pg 7 ‘Location for mosque is not good’, Dnevni Avaz pg 10 ‘Supervisor Johnson disputes building mosque in S settlement’ by E.R. – Brcko Supervisor Susan Johnson sent a letter to the Brcko District Assembly stating she disapproves of constructing a mosque in the compound of former military barracks in Brcko. The letter reminds that the former military barracks, which have been rehabilitated and converted to civic use in the context of the demilitarisation of the District, today houses the Judiciary, multiethnic schools, a Youth Centre and other public institutions. Letter says the compound is not an appropriate/acceptable location for a new mosque. The reconstruction of former military barracks in Brcko was financed by the US Government with 2 million dollars. Glas Srpske pg 2 ‘Serbs left the session’ by M.Djurdjevic – Daily reports that the Serb delegates at District Assembly Wednesday evening left the session following intention of Bosniaks to – in spite of Brcko District Supervisor, Susan Johnson’s decision. Sinisa Kisic, delegate, informed Parliament that five delegates of SPRS, SNSD and DNS will not take part in further work of session. Mladen Bosic, Head of SDS Caucus, stated that it is obvious that Brcko Mayor used adoption of regulation plan for politicisation purposes. |
| VL: M. Zilic to become Terzic’s advisor
| Vecernji List pg 2 ‘Mehmed Zilic at the same time defendant and Prime Minister’s advisor’ by D. Jazvic –According to VL, as of the next month former FBiH Interior Minister and current advisor to Bosniak member of the BiH Presidency, Mehmed Zilic, should become an advisor on internal affairs to Chairman of the BiH Council of Ministers Adnan Terzic. VL says that this case is disputable since only a few days ago the bill of indictment against Zilic was confirmed, accusing him of abuse of position at the time when he was the FBiH MoI. VL concludes that the BiH CoM becomes a shelter for sentenced and indicted politicians. As an example the article states the case of former BiH Minister of Traffic and Communications Branko Dokic. VL goes on to say that ‘Dokic’s unplanned stay’ in the BiH CoM is not disputable for the OHR and therefore it would not be surprise if the OHR keeps silent on the Zilic’s coming to the BiH CoM as well. Nezavisne Novine pg 4 ‘Hearing of Mehmed Zilic scheduled for 24 August’ by A.D. – The hearing, at which Zilicis to enter plea, has been scheduled for 24 August, the Sarajevo Municipal Court confirmed. Zilicis charged with office abuse at the time he was the F BiH Interior Minister. |
| Irfan Ajanovic: Terzic has full support of SDA
| Dnevni List pg 3 ‘Terzic has full support of party’ by E. Mackic – President of the SDA main Board Irfan Ajanovic denied media speculations about a possibility that Chairman of the BiH Council of Ministers Adnan Terzic leaves SDA. Asked whether Terzic’s stands on early elections and BiH CoM’s crisis differ from the SDA stands, Ajanovic said: ‘The SDA Presidency gave full support to Terzic, however, the party disagrees when organizing of early elections is in question.’ |
| FTV speculates auditor of joint institutions will not display any irregularities
| FTV by Sanjin Beciragic – Audit Report on of spending of BiH state institutions has been completed. According to FTV’s unofficial information, the report will not concluded that the BiH institutions have committed any irregularities in spending of budgets, as they have been using budget reserves to cover all exceeding costs. FTV claims that in this way, irregular and exceeding costs are covered legally. Audit Report has been submitted to the state institutions already, and it will be officially presented by the BiH Chief Auditor Miljenko Sego. FTV’s unnamed source claims that the the disputable costs covered by budget reserves were spend for the Mostar Old Bridge opening ceremony, purchase of a new vehicle for BiH Presidency member Borislav Paravac, travel expenses and phone bills. Reporter commented that, after this report, it becomes clear “why the new law on appointment of auditors hasn’t been adopted yet”. Under the new law, auditors should be appointed after public competition. Reporter claimed that the BiH Audit Agency is controlled by HDZ President Dragan Covic. He also claimed that the candidates for new BIH Deputy Chief Auditors, Dragoljub Koviljcic and Munevera Baftic are under influence of BiH Presidency members Sulejman Tihic and Paravac. |
| Bukejlovic visits Brcko
| RTRS, Nezavisne Novine pg 4 ‘Harmonisation of stances on final arbitration decision soon’ by N.Ta., Glas Srpske pg 3 ‘To London without secrets’ by M.DJurdjevic – RS Prime Minister, Pero Bukejlovic has visited Brcko and stated that until the end of August, RS Government will harmonize stances with Brcko District Government, regarding disputable issues on the final arbitrage decision (which Arbitration Tribunal demanded from parties in question at its London session in June). Bukejlovic has also said that “we have reached the agreement regarding a joint demand that District should have its representatives at various agencies at the BiH level.” Brcko Major Mirsad Djapo has characterized this visit as very successful and stressed that similar meeting will soon be held with FBiH Government and Council of Ministers. |
| Tunovic: Two remaining conditions PBS and police
| Oslobodjenje pg 2 ‘BiH political reality is a game without winners’ – “There are only two key issues which remain outstanding for the EU: the adoption of a law on the Public Broadcasting System in line with Dayton principles and EC requirements; and agreement on police restructuring in line with EU principles” said |
| GS comment on OHR
| Glas Srpske pg 5, announced on cover ‘OHR-ism, that is what it is’ by Sl.Puhalo – Explaining developments in BiH from the aspect of the international law, Dr Milan Blagojevic notes that BiH is not a protectorate, but instead a special form of independence of a state, which he calls “OHR-ism”, adding: “OHR-ism can be determined as undemocratic political regime in the state, which has been declared sovereign formally, and reality shows the opposite. Because the crucial political and any other power is concentrated in the hands of the High Representative of the international community and his bureaucratic apparatus.” |
| NN op-ed criticising local politicians / OHR | Nezavisne Novine op-ed pg 7 ‘Naïve’ by Almedin Sisic – The author notes that we are convinced the BiH is nowadays the only state in |