| CROAT RADIO HERCEG-BOSNA (18,00 hrs) | BH TV 1 (19,00 hrs) | FED TV (19,30 hrs) |
| Sarovic expects progress and safety in next year | EU Police Mission in BiH begins | EU Police Mission in BiH officially begin with mandate |
| Paddy Ashdown’s New Year’s message | Federal Civil Aviation took control over Sarajevo, Tuzla and Mostar airports | BiH celebrated the New Year’s Eve |
| EU police officers replaced today UNMIBH police forces | No major incidents occurred in the New Year’s Eve celebration |
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| BiH civil authorities took control over Sarajevo Airport | Writer Ahmet Hromadzic dies |
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| Oslobodjenje | Ashdown’s New Year’s message – This is a race with the time; Europe takes over police mission |
| Dnevni Avaz | European Union takes over police mission; Paddy Ashdown: BiH must move towards Europe |
| Dnevni List | 5 minutes after midnight at maternity ward of Mostar Clinical Hospital: Helena first baby in 2003 |
| Vecernji List | New operation of International Community started in BiH: First Police Mission of EU |
| Slobodna Dalmacija | How we celebrated New Year: In rhythm of firecrackers |
International community/OHR | |
| HR’s New Year message
| “The start of a New Year brings with it the sense of a new beginning. In the case of Bosnia and Herzegovina the onset of 2003 represents a real beginning, because the work undertaken in 2002 to consolidate long-standing reforms and launch new ones should now begin to bear fruit,” said the High Representative, Paddy Ashdown, in his New year’s message to the BiH citizens (Dnevni Avaz, front page , p 3: “ This is a race with the time,” Oslobodjenje, p 3, mentioned on the front page: “BiH must move towards Europe”) Dnevni List (front and page 5, “HR’s New Year’s message: Hard period of transformation is ahead of BiH”), Vecernji List (page 4, “HR’s New Year’s message: Hard period of transformation is ahead of BiH”), Slobodna Dalmacija (page 4, “Paddy Ashdown in New Year’s message to BiH citizens: We have to speed up rhythm of changes in BiH “) and Vjesnik (page 2, “Ashdown: Hard period of changes ahead of BiH”) also carry the New Year’s message of Paddy Ashdown, the High Representative. Dailies covered the message almost in full. |
| EUPM begins its mandate in BiH | At a ceremony in Sarajevo on Wednesday, the European Union officially began its police mission to BiH. The new mission that replaced the UN’s IPTF has in its composition more than 500 police officers from 15 EU countries and yet 18 states-partners. Sven Frederiksen, who was performing duties of the IPTF Commissioner, will continue his engagement as the chief of the new mission. Frederiksen told the attendees at the ceremony that “only the Rule of Law may lead BiH towards Europe.” (Oslobodjenje, front page, p 3: “European Union takes over the police mission,” Dnevni Avaz, p 2, mentioned on the front page, Guardian, BBC, IHT, NYT) Vecernji List (front and page, “New operation of International Community started in BiH: First Police Mission of EU” by Dejan Jazvic), Vjesnik (front page, “First operation of EU Police in BiH started”), Dnevni List (front and page 3, “Police mission of EU started”) and Slobodna Dalmacija (page 4, “512 European policemen will take care of Bosnia now”) also carry that the EU Police Mission, which replaced the UN Mission, started with its work in BiH yesterday. VL carries that international representatives in BiH have already rejected claims saying that the newly established Police Mission might be inefficient as UNPROFOR, the peace forces in which France and Great Britain played the main role, used to be because of conflict of interests within the European Union. DL carries the EUPM Commissioner, Sven Frederiksen, as saying: “We promise to co-operate with the local police and closely monitor their work in order to make sure that the police serves you, the people of BiH, and conduct itself in accordance to the European standards”. |
| VL: “Pope will visit Banja Luka in June” | Vecernji List (front and page 3, by Jozo Pavkovic) reads that the Italian national television RAI reported yesterday that the Pope, John Paul II, would visit Spain and Croatia this year and that there is a possibility that he visits BiH too. If the visit were to take place, it would happen in June this year. (Jutarnji List, page 4 and Vjesnik, page 2) |
Political affairs | |
| Sarovic’s New Year message
| The Chairman of the BiH Presidency, Mirko Sarovic, delivered on behalf of the body a New Year’s message to the BiH citizens. “I express my hope and conviction that the coming year will bring less poverty, general progress and safety and that, in the new year, we will have more justice and jobs for everyone,” said Sarovic in the message. (Dnevni Avaz, p 2: “More justice and jobs for everyone,” Oslobodjenje, p 3: “Justice and jobs for everyone”) |
| Cavic on ORAO investigation | “The report on the investigation into the violation of the UN arms embargo on Iraq by the Bijeljina-based Orao Aviation Institute contains all relevant facts and it will be delivered on January 3 to the BiH Presidency, OHR and COMSFOR William Ward,” said the RS President, Dragan Cavic. According to Cavic, the whole affair was started not in the past two years but in 1997 and there are indications that similar activities were taking place not only in the RS but also in the BiH Federation and other former socialist Yugoslavia’s countries. (Dnevni Avaz, p 2: “Cavic expects that OHR, SFOR and OSCE will accept findings of the authorized bodies (in Orao case)”, Oslobodjenje, p 6: “Cavic on the Orao affair – Companies from the BiH Federation involved as well” |
War crimes | |
| Ashdown’s statement for BBC on Karadzic
| The High Representative, Paddy Ashdown, said in a statement for BBC on Wednesday that the Bosnian Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadzic would be apprehended once when he has lost the support of the local population (Dnevni Avaz, p 3: “Karadzic will be arrested when he has lost the4 support of the people”) Vjesnik (front page, HINA) reports that Ashdown told the BBC “Karadzic will not be arrested by an American apache helicopter. He will most probably be arrested when we, little by little, remove the support by the people who find him a hero (…) Am I sure that Radovan Karadzic will sooner or later end up in The Hague? Yes”, said HR Ashdown. (Dnevni List, page 10, “Karadzic will be arrested when the people do not support him”, Jutarnji List, page 4, “Ashdown awaits Karadzic arrest, Vecernji List page 2, “Ashdown for BBC: Karadzic will be arrested when he is no longer a hero”) |
| Klein on the need for arrest of Karadzic
| The former Head of the UN Mission to BiH Jacques Paul Klein has said that NATO must be ordered to arrest the indicted war criminal Radovan Karadzic and insisted that until the Serb leader is taken to The Hague the country can make no progress. Speaking to The Times on the eve of the European Union taking over his role (December 30), he said: “Karadzic, for all of us, is an international embarrassment. It clearly is the impotence of the West in the face of evil. You cannot tell me that the most powerful military alliance in the history of the world can’t find this one war criminal.” |
| Croatian’s Mihaljevic on trial of Milosevic | Vecernji List (page 2, by Dejan Jazvic) carries the Croat liaison officer to the ICTY, Goran Mihaljevic, as denying his Bosniak colleague, Amir Ahmic, who recently said that the BiH liaison officers to the ICTY had financial problems to that extent that the liaison offices could have problems providing the ICTY Prosecution with evidence against Slobodan Milosevic. “All three offices of liaison officers in The Hague have enough money for normal work. The State budget for 2003 envisions that each of three offices gets 500.000 KMs which is sufficient for our needs if the money is spent rationally and transparently”, says Mihaljevic adding that there would be no problems with providing the evidence to the ICTY against Milosevic. |
| JL: “US unhappy with co-operation of FRY, BiH and Croatia with The Hague” | Jutarnji List (page 7) reads that a senior US official, special Ambassador for war crimes, Pierre Richard Prosper, accused Federal Republic of Croatia, BiH and Croatia of failing to co-operate with the ICTY. Prosper also announced he would visiting the region in the second half of January. |
| FRY Foreign Minister Svilanovic: “Milutinovic will not go to The Hague before Orthodox Christmas” | Slobodna Dalmacija (page 4) carries the FRY Foreign Minister Goran Svilanovic who told the Belgrade-based B92 radio that the former Serbian President, Milan Milutinovic, an ICTY indictee, would not be extradited to the ICTY before the Orthodox Christmas on January 7. “One should not expect anything special in the next few days”, said Svilanovic adding that the extradition procedure would be initiated only after the New Year’s and Christmas holidays. |
Legal/economic matters | |
| Safet Halilovic welcomes imposition of the Citizenship Law
| The President of the BiH Federation, Safet Halilovic, welcomed the decision by the High Representative, Paddy Ashdown, to impose amendments to the BiH Law on Citizenship. Halilovic expressed his hope that the activities would be launched soon in the state parliament in order to liberalise procedure for getting dual citizenship and harmonise it with the regulations in the democratic countries. (FENA, Dnevni Avaz, p 2: “BiH Parliament must liberalise procedure for getting dual citizenship”) In addition, in the Dnevni Avaz Commentary of the Day (“Saved citizenship”), Husein Orahovac assessed Ashdown’s decision to impose the amendments to the citizenship law as one of the most important decision made ever by the institution of the High Representative of the international community in BiH. |
| Association of FBiH Employers on BiH economy | Dnevni List (page 7) carries Tomislav Grizelj, President of Employers Federation of BiH, as saying that he is afraid that, when the economy is in question, BiH will be divided in the Brcko District, Federation of BiH, RS and Herzeg Bosnia and added: “National parties can take this country towards future, however, not with the current approach.” According to Grizelj, prerequisites that BiH has to meet on the way to a better future is the introduction of a unique tax system at the BiH level and introduction of a unique customs at the State level too. Asked what else should be done in order to improve the BiH economy, members of the Association of Employers the Federation of BiH say: “We shall not always have the High Representative or some mentor who will be deciding what is better for us.” |
Financial affairs; incidents | |
| Slobodna Dalmacija on investigation into corruption in FBiH Pension-Invalid Insurance Fund
| Slobodna Dalmacija (page 14, by T. Zoric) claims that an investigation into corruption and frauds within the Federation Pension and Disability Fund (MIO/PIO) has been launched at the end of last year following a document that was sent to the Federation Prosecution by the OHR’s anti-corruption department. The daily says that the OHR requested an investigation against the current Federation Prime Minister, Alija Behmen, Director of MIO/PIO, Marko Matic, and his deputy Bakir Mujic and goes on to say that the OHR’s statement, in which the OHR denied that it had requested an investigation against the three, was clumsy. SD carries the Federation Prosecutor, Marinko Jurcevic, as saying: “The Federation Prosecution received a documentation on possible corruption and fraud in the Federation MIO/PIO from the OHR’s anti-corruption team. I forwarded the documentation to my deputy Vlado Miskovic who forwarded it to the Sarajevo Canton’s Prosecutor Mustafa Bisic”. The daily notes that the Federation PM is being charged with illegal payment of 13,5 million KM which he used to pay out overdue pensions just before the last elections thus trying to buy the votes of the Bosniak pensioners. |
| Croatian Government to discuss status of HVO members who receive financial support from Croatian Budget | Vecernji List (front and page 10) and Slobodna Dalmacija (page 3) carry that the Croatian Government will discuss soon the status of about 7000 HVO members (perhaps, as early at its session that is to take place tomorrow), who receive pensions and disability allowances from the Croatian, state budget according to the decision of the Croatian authority passed at the time when HDZ Croatia was in power and when General Ljubo Cesic Rojs and Marinko Kresic were in charge of these issues. VL says that among them are also the persons, who receive the pension and disability allowances on the ground of false documents. The article says that the Government will try to resolve the status of HVO members through an agreement reached between Croatia and BiH in a similar way in which the issue of pensions of persons, who were employed in a civil sector, was resolved. The special fund would be established through which about 400 million Kunas would be distributed as it is the case now, however according to defined criteria and rules, which would be the same for all beneficiaries. The dailies say that the Croatian Government cannot pass this decision alone but with consent of the Croatian Parliament. Croatian officials says that the Croat officials from the BiH authority support this initiative because it is not acceptable that some people realize their rights in both, BiH and Croatia, while the others are deprived of their rights. |
| Fresh attack on Croat family in Konjic municipality | Vecernji List (page 2, ik) claims that there was another attack on the Croats in the Konjic Municipality. This time the daily says that a family house of Slavko Bilic was attacked on Sunday around 1810 hrs when two stones were thrown at the house, one of which breaking a window on the entrance door. “We were watching TV, expecting nothing, they surprised us and those stones scared us”, says Slavko Bilic. Bilic reportedly went out in front of the house with his hunting rifle and fired a shot which, according to him, scared away the attackers. He also informed the police which carried out an investigation on Monday and apprehended the attackers. The daily unofficially learns that the attackers were S. Soljic from Solakova kula and O. Tukegdzic from Blucic, a neighbouring village. Finally, Slavko Bilic told the daily that the police said that Sojic was mentally incompetent. Bilic says that he never noticed, since they are from the same village, that Soljic was mentally incompetent because he sees him doing all the agricultural works. |
| Arabic flag appears in Sretnice near Citluk | Vecernji List (front and page 2) reads that unknown persons placed a green, Arabic flag that is usually used for burials of Moslem believers on a board used for obituaries in Sretnice near Citluk in west Herzegovina. The local population reportedly is not clear what the message of the deed is but is allegedly certain it is a continuation of provocation on national and religious basis. (NB: Sretnice is a small village with Croats forming a vast, if not 100% majority, in it) |