| RADIO HERCEG-BOSNA (18,00 hrs) | BH TV 1 (19,00 hrs) | FED TV (19,30 hrs) | RT RS (19,30) |
| Explosion in | Explosion in | Explosion in | Explosion in B.Luka |
| Packet at Circle 99 | Albanians arrested | Packett at Circle 99 | 12 Albanians arrested |
| Covic: Mostar secure | World news | Refugees Day | Mrakovica agreement |
| Religious news | Statement by Ivanic | City dumps in Zenica | EU Constitution |
| Oslobodjenje | I informed prosecutors on possible terrorism; Robinson allowed illegal investments; Sunday calm in Stolac; Packett: Capture in eight days, months or years |
| Dnevni Avaz | Alkalaj: We can be admitted even seven days after the |
| Dnevni List | Interview with British Ambassador Ian Cliff: EU black list for BiH citizens is extending!? |
| Vecernji List | They wanted to accuse Croats for attack on |
| Slobodna Dalmacija | Features |
| Glas Srpske | Amor Masovic: Making plans without consultations |
| Nezavisne Novine | Following suspension at PSC Banja Luka: Van owned by Misic family mined; Sahbaz Dzihanovic: SDA and HDZ are violating Constitution and Laws; Dragan Kalinic: If I knew where Karadzic were, I would turn him in to police |
| Blic | Bomb was thrown to a van of the father of a suspended police commander |
Security and defence issues | |
| Bomb planted damages van of father of suspended RS police commander
| RHB, FTV, Dnevni Avaz pg 3 ‘Bomb planted under van of father of suspended policeman Sasa Misic exploded’, mentioned on cover ‘Explosion in Banja Luka’, by M. Vidovic, Dnevni List pg 44 ‘Bomb planted under car of suspended policeman’, mentioned on cover, by NINA, Vecernji List pg ‘Warning bomb to RS policeman’ by B. Stevandic, Nezavisne Novine cover and pg 3 ‘Van owned by Misic family mined’, Nacional Belgrade daily, pg. 11 ‘Car exploded’- A bomb planted under the car belonging to Tomislav Misic – father of suspended 2nd Banja Luka Police Station commander Sasa Misic – exploded early Sunday morning. Misic’s car was parked outside a house in Blic RS 3 ‘Bomb planted under Tomislav Misic’s van’, mentioned on cover ‘Bomb was thrown to a van of the father of a suspended police commander’by N.B. – The spokesman of the Banja Luka police, Rade Mutic, confirmed that Sasa Misic had been temporarily suspended but not because of the reasons mentioned by the media [apparently Misic and his colleague were suspended for founding boxes and handing them to ICTY; for more details see Weekend Media Brief June 19n20] |
| Update to Misic, Culum’s suspensions
| Dnevni Avaz pg 3 ‘Njegus: three disciplinary violations’ – RS Police Director Radomir Njegus denied allegations saying that Misic has been suspended after three disciplinary violations. BHTV 1, RTRS – RTSR says that despite the fact that RS MoI denies it, Misic has been suspended because he found documents and delivered it to ICTY office. RTRS’s source says that too many accidents in events around Misic – first he found something someone hid for years, than he is suspended and at the end his car is bombed, interpreting the later as a warning. To remind, RTRS has also reported on over the weekend that the documents were found in the room 27 of the Police Station 2, and that only Radomir Njegus, Director of RS police, had the key for the room [which Njegus denied on Saturday]. SFOR started independent investigation for this case. Nezavisne Novine cover and pg 3 ‘Van owned by Misic family mined’ – Zeljko Spasojevic, PSC Banja Luka chief, stated that: “Misic has been removed from work over a breach violation of the Code of conduct”, upon initiative of the Internal Control Inspectorate of RS MoI. According to NN inset, Sasa Misic did not want to make any comment regarding eventual reasons for assault against his family, noting: “Without authorisation of the Police Minister, I cannot make any statement to the press.” NN also writes that Darko Culum has not been suspended. According to NN source at RS MoI, this was most likely effected by the fact that members of EUPM attended the interrogation of Culum. |
| SBS captures 11 Albanians
| RTRS, FTV, BHTV 1, Nezavisne Novine pg 4 ’11 illegal Albanian immigrants arrested’, Blic pg. RS5 ‘11 Albanians captured’ by J. D. – In Foca Sunday night, the police arrested 11 Albanians crossing the border between BiH and Serbia-Montenegro with the help of taxi divers of Serb nationality. The oldest arrested Albanian is 23 years old. The first group, which included SCG citizens from Pristina and four Albanians, was discovered near Celebici, and the second group in the woods near Velecevo. |
| BiH Ambassador Alkajal on PfP
| Dnevni Avaz cover page ‘We can be admitted also seven days after the summit’, pg 5 ‘BiH can be admitted even five days after the summit’ by M. Drinjakovic – BiH Ambassador to Belgium, Sven Alkajal, says that if BiH fails to be admitted to Partnership for Peace this weekend, it doesn’t have to wait for the next summit – it can be admitted even seven days after. “BiH has received the official invitation to participate the NATO summit as full member of the PfP and invitation to attend the all sessions without any restrictions. That is significant recognition for BiH during these defence reforms,” says Alkajal. |
| Pendes, Ivanic, Bond on chances for BiH admission to PfP
| Dnevni List pg 4 ‘Tons of hope for admission to PfP in June’ by R. Radic – Commenting on BiH’s chances to join Partnership for Peace in June, Deputy BiH Defence Minister Marina Pendes says that she can only talk about the defence reforms and according to her opinion considerable progress has been achieved in this area. BiH Foreign Minister Mladen Ivanic said that the decision on BiH’s admission to PfP is a political issue. Ivanic believes that all technical conditions have been met and the question remains as to how the international institutions will judge the BiH cooperation with the ICTY. DL reminds that |
| Ivanic on BiH admission to PfP
| Dnevni List pg 17 ‘There is no change of BiH Constitution without consent of Serb people’, mentioned on cover, by N. Kolak – The session of the Main PDP Board was held in Trebinje during which PDP President Mladen Ivanic stated: “The door for BiH’s admission to Partnership for Peace will be opened wider at the NATO’s Summit in Istanbul, however, we cannot expect a full admission since the admission has been conditioned by many things. There are many reasons for such situation, however, the basic message from |
| NN op-ed on PfP membership
| Nezavisne Novine op-ed pg 7 ‘End of story about PfP admission’ by Mirza Cubro – The author is writing about lately most frequent speculations that BiH would not be admitted into PfP, over the failure of its authorities to apprehend war crime suspects. On this he stresses that RS should be blamed for the failure to apprehend war crime suspects, but international community should be blamed for the BiH non-admission into PfP, because SFOR has been failing for 9 years to apprehend Radovan Karadzic, Ratko Mladic and other war crime suspects. He concludes there was no political will obviously by the member-states whose soldiers make SFOR. Also, he is saying that OHR, namely, Paddy Ashdown, could have made RS authorities to arrest war crime suspects, but OHR and HiRep did not want to do that. Instead. Ashdown rewarded Risto Zaric, previously marked as obstructionist regarding cooperation with the ICTY, with a position at BiH State Intelligence Agency. |
| Miletic on speculations of terrorist attack in Mostar
| Oslobodjenje cover page, pg 6 ‘I informed Prosecutors on possible terrorism’ by Edina Kamenica – “They better ensure money for that even rather than to analyse my statements,” commented Zlatko Miletic, FBiH Police Director, to the SDA which said that his recent statement on possible terrorist attacks during the Old Bridge opening ceremony were irresponsible and unprofessional [please see Weekend Media Brief June 19n20]. Also commenting to the statement by SDA Vice President Bakir Izetbegovic that Miletic, if he had such information, should have submitted them to the Parliament or the Government, Miletic says that such move would be in contradiction to the rule of his profession. Instead, he has forwarded the information several months ago to the state and FBiH Prosecutor. |
| NN on security of
| Nezavisne Novine pg 3 ‘BAM 700 thousand has not been provided for the opening of Old Bridge’ – NN source at the FBiH Government confirmed on Sunday that the amount of approximately BAM 700 thousand is necessary for police security at the opening ceremony of Old Bridge in Mostar on 23 July. The most recent meeting in Mostar agreed that 1200 policemen should provide security during the ceremony. |
| Tihic condemns Miletic’s statement
| Dnevni Avaz pg 2 ‘Party for BiH is still our natural partner in FBiH’, insert ‘Unprofessional statement by party representative in police’, by Aj. Delic – SDA Chairman Sulejman Tihic also condemned the statement by Zlatko Miletic on terrorist attacks during the opening ceremony, characterising it unprofessional statement of party’s representative in police. Tihic adds that this statement is a part of activities that aimed at making the ceremony worthless. |
| DA learns info on terrorist attacks a product of counter-intelligence activities
| Dnevni Avaz pg 4 ‘Neretva city is absolutely safe’ – DA says it learned from police officials in BiH that the information given by Zlatko Miletic on possible terrorist attacks in Mostar were a result of counter-intelligence activities, aimed at preventing arrival of foreign guests of the Old Bridge opening ceremony. Apparently Miletic has informed about this both Mostar Mayor and his deputy two weeks ago. Chief of Mostar Police Administration Himzo Djonko comments: “We are aware that FBiH MoI has information on terrorist attack in Mostar. A mistake was made when that information went into public, without previous checks. After all this, I believe these were counter-intelligence activities. To my knowledge, Mostar is absolutely safe city.” Mostar Major Hamdija Jahic said that information has scared the public, adding that authorized institutions should first establish all the facts and than publish something like this. |
| VL op-ed on terrorist attacks speculations
| Vecernji List, pg 13, ‘Aim of conspiracy was to proclaim Croats terrorists’, not signed (editorial report), mentioned on cover ‘They wanted to blame Croats for attack on the Old Bridge’ – VL claims to have received confirmation of information on possible terrorist attack during the Old Bridge opening ceremony from a source close to BiH intelligenceservices. The source, who wanted to remain anonymous, reveals that some Islamic terrorist organisations are mentioned as perpetrators of the attack which was planned in a Sarajevan mosque and a name which is linked to the plan is Colonel Pedja Alagic from Rogatica. Alagic is said to have quite a rich criminal file. VL claims that the main aim of the attack is not demolition of the Bridge or assassination of any of distinguished guests, but blaming Croats for the act. This would be a completion of a campaign that has been led for years by some political BiH structures and that is aimed at depicting Croats as terrorists with whom co-existence is impossible to the world. The Bridge destruction would raise the issue of division of BiH and of setting the border along the Neretva river. The daily adds that, unlike SDA structures which want to cover information that used to be top secret, the police has taken the threats seriously since security measures in Mostar have been intensified these days. |
| VL: British officials to occupy two crucial international positions in BiH?
| Vecernji List pg 2 ‘Destiny of BiH in hands of two ‘strong’ British’ by D. Jazvic– In case that a British officer was appointed the Commander of EUFOR forces in BiH it will happen for the first time that persons who come from the same country are at two crucial international positions in BiH. VL goes on to say that so far the International Community has been avoiding such situation and that people who come from different countries have been occupying the crucial IC positions in BiH. According to VL, the appointment of a British officer to the position of EUFOR’s Commander would disturb this balance completely. The article says that the mandate of current High Representative Paddy Ashdown expires mid next year and this means that two British citizens would be holding two crucial international positions in BiH for 6 months at lest. |
| Dragan Mektic on police reforms in BiH | Blic, pg. RS3 ‘Police is hindered by daily politics’ by Tijana Veselinovic – BiH Deputy Minister for Safety Dragan Mektic has assessed that the recent statement of Adnan Terzic saying that ‘RS has such a police structure that has done nothing’ and ‘it should be changed, so that it is directed by the state minister for safety’ has been brought only for daily political purposes. ‘What is certain is that we need to approach more serious reforms of police structures in BiH. We must create an efficient system and, most importantly, we need to get rid of unnecessary administration, which only slows down the work’, Mektic has stated. He said that the police are facing new forms of crimes to which it needs to adjust and policemen must be specialized. According to Mektic, a new group of domestic and foreign experts, with a foreigner at its head, will be established soon. The group will draft a new organization of the police in BiH. |
| Stjepanovic on his detention in SFOR | RTRS, Nezavisne Novine pg 2 ‘I did not sell arms nor am I a terrorist’; Glas Srpske cover page report ‘False accusations’– Retired RS Army colonel Nikola Stjepanovic has been released from detention by SFOR during the weekend, after he was arrested on 28 May in Modrica for posing ‘threat to Dayton peace agreement’. Stjepanovic said that SFOR troops behaved appropriately, and that he was informed on being detained for arms smuggling, crime and terrorism. “I have never done these things in my life. And after all those interrogations I am released,” commented Stjepanovic. |
War crimes | |
| Packett attends Circle 99 session
| RHB, BHTV 1, Dnevni Avaz pg 2 ‘Packett: War criminals will not have peace until be bring them before the ICTY’, Oslobodjenje pg 3 ‘Karadzic will be arrested in eight days, eight months or eight years’, mentioned on cover ‘Arrest in eight days, months or years’, by N. Karanjac, Vecernji List pg 2 ‘With the same energy in pursuit after Karadzic’ by eme, Dnevni List pg 2 ‘Domestic authorities are more willing to arrest war crime indictees’ by I. Tabucic, Nezavisne Novine pg 2 ‘Net around war crime suspects is closing’ – Energy behind pursuit of war criminals in BiH is to remain the same whether it is SFOR’s mandate, NATO’s or the European Union’s, SFOR commander Virgil Packett said on Sunday. Packett address the association of the independent intellectuals Circle 99 in FTV – “I am encouraged with the energy that BiH authorities have, energy directed to the capture of war criminals and I am sure that you will see an action, no matter if it happens in next 8 days, months or years. [As for] activities ongoing at the BiH border, they are conducted to ensure everything is done within European standards, that is to know who crosses border and who leaves” said Packett of the announcement that SFOR patrols BiH border with Oslobodjenje pg 3 ‘OHR stays in BiH after 2005’ – Packett said that while OHR’s mandate expires next year it is pretty certain its presence would be maintained after that. |
| Kalinic on Karadzic
| Nezavisne Novine cover and pg 2 ‘If I knew where Karadzic were, I would turn him in to police’ – In an interview to Sense news agency, SDS President and the Speaker of the RS National Assembly, Dragan Kalinic, stated that the issue of arrest of Radovan Karadzic, Ratko Mladic and others on the ICTY indictee’s list is a matter of “to be or not to be” for RS. Responding to question what would he do if he would know of whereabouts of Karadzic and Mladic, Kalinic said: “It would be my duty, as a high official of RS, to pass that information to authorized institutions. At first place, I would give that information to my police because it would be reflection of my trust. I suppose that my police would forward that information to international forces if they want to cooperate”. He also added that the extended freedom of Karadzic and Mladic is an obstacle to further reforms’ course of SDS. |
| GS denies Masovic
| Glas Srpske cover page story ‘Making plans without consultations’ – GS is writing about the most recent statement of Amor Masovic, President of the F BiH Commission for Search after Missing Persons, who stated that less number of Serbs than quoted had gone missing over the past war. He claims that this figure does not exceed 1500. GS further denies these claims by saying that out of 1876 missing persons (discovered and identified so far in RS since 1996), only 645 persons had been previously registered with the International Committee of Red Cross. This means that the Book on missing persons cannot be the only ration regarding the exact number of persons gone missing over the past war. |
| Miroslav Toholj on SFOR’s campaign to arrest Karadzic
| Nacional Belgrade daily, pg. 3 ‘The most wanted Serb receives gifts only personally’ by J. Z. – On the occasion of Radovan Karadzic’s birthday, SFOR put posters that read “Radovan, we did not forget” in Pale on Saturday. SFOR Spokesperson Mark Hope stated that this is a part of the campaign by which SFOR wishes to remind citizens that the support to war crimes indictees is illegal. ‘Radovan Karadzic will not accept his birthday gift from SFOR. He will not reply on the gift either. Luckily, other enslaved peoples in |
| DNS demands Srebrenica Commission report to be public
| Nezavisne Novine pg 6 ‘Request to make Srebrenica report public’ – Hadzi Jovan Mitrovic, Vice President of the Democratic People’s Alliance (DNS), on Saturday stated that DNS would demand that Srebrenica Commission report is made public, because authority officials have embodied some “false information” in this report in order to satisfy international community. |
| Exhumations in | Oslobodjenje pg 6 ‘Unknown destiny of 80 civilians in Srebrenica’ by onasa, Vecernje novosti, pg. 19 ‘Exhumation of civilians’ by P. V , Nezavisne Novine pg 6 ‘Skrba: Search after missing civilians in Srebrenica resumes’ – The RS Office for Missing Persons will today exhume Serb civilians at several locations in Srebrenica Municipality. According to Slobodan Skrba, a member of the RS Commission for Missing Persons, exhumations will take place in Mitrovica Brdo, Zalazje, Ratkovici, Krajgivode, Potkorijen and Srebrenica cemetery. |
Political issues | |
| Mikerevic: At the time, RS is better part!
| RHB, Dnevni Avaz pg 2 ‘At the time, RS is better part’, Nezavisne Novine pg 5 ‘RS is currently a better part of BiH’; Glas Srpske pg 3 ‘Srpska is fulfilling its duties’ -RS Prime Minister Dragan Mikerevic stated on Sunday that in this moment the RS is the better part of BiH and that it is not an obstacle in any of the sectors of implementation of the Dayton Agreement. Mikerevic told reporters in Trebinje, where the session of the PDP Main Board was held, that the RS has been meeting all obligations from the Dayton Agreement in accordance with its competencies and responsibilities. |
| Ivanic: There is no change of BiH Constitution without consent of Serb people
| BHTV 1, Oslobodjenje back page ‘There is not change to Constitution without Serbs consent’, Dnevni List pg 17 ‘There is no change of BiH Constitution without consent of Serb people’, mentioned on cover, by N. Kolak– Attending PDP Main Board session in Trebinje, BiH Foreign Minister Mladen Ivanic said that inappropriate pressure against RS has been inserted lately. “One of those is changing BH Constitution,” said Ivanic stressing that the constitution can be changed only with the consent of all 3 constituent peoples in BiH. Nezavisne Novine pg 4 ‘Ivanic: No discussion about abolishment of RS; Glas Srpske pg 2 ‘A door slightly opened’’ – He also stressed that the issue of abolishment of RS cannot be a topic of talks. |
| DL int with Ian Cliff
| Dnevni List front pg ‘EU black list for BiH citizens is extending!?’ and pgs 8 and 9 ‘Discussion on extending of black list for BiH citizens’ by R. Radic carries an interview with British Ambassador to BiH Ian Cliff. Asked whether the black list for BiH citizens will be extended, Cliff says that the discussion on this issue has been underway in |
| NN int with Dzihanovic
| Nezavisne Novine cover and pg 4 ‘SDA and HDZ are violating Laws’ – In a brief interview to NN, Sahbaz Dzihanovic, F BiH Vice President, expresses his view that F BiH is working under impossible conditions and under the pressure of the ruling political parties of SDA and HDZ. He stresses that the appointment of the Directors and Steering Boards is not carried out in accordance with tender and accordingly is unconstitutional. He also stresses that Party for BiH, whose member he is, will not take part in those activities. He also emphasises that the party influence is the reason why public administration reform, but also implementation of other reforms, is lagging behind in BiH. |
| Terzic on Euro-Atlantic integrations
| Dnevni List, pg 4, ‘Cyprus’s example of integration unacceptable for BiH’, by Nermin Bise – In light of an SDA Main Board’s conclusion that BiH should be admitted to PfP and the RS should be sanctioned over non-cooperation with the ICTY, Adnan Terzic, Chairman of BiH Council of Ministers was asked to comment on whether BiH can hope for integrations on example of Cyprus (where Greek part was admitted to the EU, while the Turkish part remains in isolation). Terzic says: “I do not think it is good for Bosnians and Herzegovinians to look up to any area in the world in which principle of disintegration is the leading principle. I absolutely refuse to make comparisons with |
| Tihic: SDA wants to be more of Bosnian, and less of nationalist party
| Dnevni Avaz pg 2 ‘Party for BiH is still our natural partner in FBiH’ by Aj. Delic – Following the session of SDA Main Board held over the weekend in Mostar, SDA Chairman Sulejman Tihic stated for DA that SDA “wants to be more of Bosnian, and less nationalist party. We want to become a modern European party.” Asked whether there are already coalitions being planed for after-elections period, Tihic says that SDA natural partner in FBiH has always been Party for BiH. |
| Changes to BiH Citizenship Law
| RHB, Oslobodjenje pg 5 ‘Soon changes of the BiH Citizenship law’ by Fena, Dnevni Avaz pg 5 ‘Legal provision on agreement on dual citizenship to be abolished’ – Upon request by BiH disapora to solve the issue of dual citizens, BiH Civil Affairs Minister Safet Halilovic stated that the initiative for changes to the BiH Citizenship Law has been launched. The change would erase the article in the law which stipulates that it is necessary to have bilateral agreement as the condition for dfr4ual citizenship. |
| CoE Parliament to discuss BiH
| FTV, Glas Srpske pg 3 ‘Democracy on a wrong road’ – For the first time following accession to the Council of Europe BiH is on the agenda of the CE Parliamentary Assembly session, the BiH Parliament stated. The CE Parliamentary Assembly will discuss the Monitoring Team’s report on BiH on Wednesday, as well as the report of the Political Commission on evolution and further development of democratic institutions in BiH. |
| Stolac update | Oslobodjenje pg 3 ‘Sunday’s cal in Stolac’, mentioned on cover, by E.K. – Chair of the Youth Forum in Stolac, Nerin Dizdar, says that the situation in Stolac is calm, while the works on bringing down the wall around city stadium have been halted [see Weekend Media Brief June 19n20]. DA and Oslobodjenje over the weekend reported that Catholic Church has been taking down the wall in order to build |
Economic and social issues | |
| Pensions issues
| Oslobodjenje pgs 4-5 ‘Without pensions from SCG until September!’, mentioned on cover’, by Amina Ahmetasevic – Daily writes that pensioners residing in FBiH who earned their pensions in Serbia and Montenegro will most probably have to wait September to receive their next pensions. Apparently the problem is the non-harmonized standards of receiving pensions in SCG and BiH [i.e. pensioners from SCG have just received their March pensions.] |
| Oslobodjenje on audits of insurance companies
| Oslobodjenje pg 8 ‘Robinson allowed illegal investments’, mentioned on cover, by A. Omeragic – Oslobodjenje writes that the Audit Office of the insurance companies has revealed that Hercegovina osiguranje – insurance company mainly owned by Hercegavacka bank – invested last year 10 million KM more than is regulated by the law. The audit of companies, analysed by the FBiH Government, says that insurance companies invested 19 million failing to meet provisions stipulated by Law, whereas Hercegovina osiguranje has been the biggest perpetrator “despite the fact that last year the temporary administrator of Herzegovcka Bank, Toby Robinson, was in company’s top, in governing board.” Hercegovina osiguranje Marketing Director, Ivan Kristic comments: “We invested our own money, not anybody’s else.” |
| FBiH HoR to discuss internal debt | Oslobodjenje pg 5 ‘105 million KM to savings holders’ by Fena – FBiH House of Representatives is expected to discuss the proposal law on FBiH internal debt at the session to be held on 29 June. The law will also include the issue of foreign currency savings. FBiH Government has forwarded the text of the proposal to the Parliament. Internal debt of the FBiH is currently about 3 billion KM, out of which 1.1 billion KM refers to currency savings. |