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OMRI Pursuing Balkan Peace, No. 18, 96-05-07

Open Media Research Institute: Pursuing Balkan Peace Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

From: Open Media Research Institute <http://www.omri.cz>

Pursuing Balkan Peace
No. 18, 7 May 1996


CONTENTS

  • [01] IZETBEGOVIC PROMISES THAT ALL BOSNIA WILL "BE LIBERATED."
  • [02] BILDT SAYS PARTITION OF BOSNIA MUST BE PREVENTED.
  • [03] WHAT DO THE BOSNIAN SERBS PLAN FOR THEIR LEADERS?
  • [04] BOSNIAN SERB PREMIER CASTS HIS LOT WITH SERBIAN PRESIDENT.
  • [05] BOSNIAN SERB SOCIALIST LEADER SAYS KARADZIC BEHIND BOMBINGS.
  • [06] CROATIA CHARGES BOSNIANS WITH TERRORISM.
  • [07] MUSLIMS ARREST TWO OF THEIR OWN PEOPLE.
  • [08] TADIC GOES ON TRIAL.
  • [09] SACIRBEY SAYS BOSNIAN SERB GENERAL PROVIDES LINK TO BELGRADE.
  • [10] BOSNIAN SERBS RELEASE FOUR BOSNIAN CROATS.
  • [11] BELGRADE FREES MUSLIM PRISONERS.
  • [12] REFUGEE KILLINGS TO BE INVESTIGATED.
  • [13] CLIMATE BETWEEN BOSNIAN GOVERNMENT AND IFOR WORSENS.
  • [14] MUSLIMS DENIED FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT IN THE REPUBLIKA SRPSKA.
  • [15] UN TO ALLOW NEW ROADBLOCKS.
  • [16] IS IFOR BEHAVING LIKE UNPROFOR?
  • [17] ROW OVER NEW ELECTION RULES.
  • [18] ELECTIONS ANNOUNCED FOR MOSTAR.
  • [19] BOSNIAN BRIDGES OPEN.
  • [20] OPPOSITION AGAINST RETURN OF REFUGEES FROM GERMANY ON THE RISE.
  • [21] BOSNIAN CULTURAL LIFE TRYING TO RECOVER.
  • [22] SERBS IN SARAJEVO SUBURBS: TRIAL FOR REINTEGRATION.

  • [01] IZETBEGOVIC PROMISES THAT ALL BOSNIA WILL "BE LIBERATED."

    Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic spoke in Gorazde on 4 May or the first time since the beginning of the war, the BBC reported the next day. He said that "history has taught us that not a single honest man of ours can be unarmed; every single one will have a rifle to defend himself." The president also pledged to retake lands lost to the Serbs: "they have not and they will not expel us; we will return to all the places they have expelled us from and our struggle will not be over until the whole of Bosnia is free. Our children will liberate the whole of Bosnia." The speech should be seen in the context of the ongoing election campaign, and against a background of growing anger and frustration among Muslims over IFOR's reluctance to make the Serbs implement key parts of the Dayton agreement, such as freedom of movement and the right of refugees to go home (see below). -- Patrick Moore

    [02] BILDT SAYS PARTITION OF BOSNIA MUST BE PREVENTED.

    The international community's High Representative, for his part, said the ethnic partition of Bosnia must be prevented if "an endless succession of Balkan wars" is to be avoided, Reuters reported on 5 May. Carl Bildt noted that a partition may achieve short-term stability in Bosnia but that it is "a recipe for long-term turmoil in an important part of Europe." He added that Radovan Karadzic, the Bosnian Serb civilian leader and an indicted war criminal, is the single greatest obstacle to reintegration. Meanwhile, George Mitchell, a member of the International Crisis Group (ICG) charged with monitoring the implementation of Dayton peace accord in Bosnia, said the presence of war criminals is the biggest obstacle to peace, Reuters reported on 4 May. -- Daria Sito Sucic

    [03] WHAT DO THE BOSNIAN SERBS PLAN FOR THEIR LEADERS?

    But the Bosnian Serbs continue to be unwilling to hand over key suspects on their own volition. Bosnian Serb Prime Minister Rajko Kasagic told Beta news agency that the Republika Srpska (RS) will not extradite Karadzic and his military counterpart Gen. Ratko Mladic to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, Onasa reported on 4 May. Kasagic said to a ICG delegation that "people who hand over their leaders have no perspective." However, he added, the entity will cooperate on all other matters. Asked by the Hague-based court to help open an office in Banja Luka, Kasagic said the request will be studied by Bosnian Serb authorities, AFP reported on 5 May. Meanwhile, another Bosnian Serb official, parliament speaker Momcilo Krajisnik, told Beta on 2 May that Republika Srpska leaders are ready to step down if Serbia wants them to. "We do not want to carry out a policy which goes against that of Serbia and Montenegro. We hope to co-operate closely with their leaders and, if it is necessary, those of us who occupy high positions in the RS will agree to be replaced," he said. However, Krajisnik refused to say whether Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic had called for the ousting of Karadzic and Mladic. He is obliged to cooperate with the court under the terms of the Dayton accord, but it is widely suspected that he will never hand over the two top Bosnian Serbs lest they say in public what they know about Milosevic's own involvement in the conflict. -- Daria Sito Sucic

    [04] BOSNIAN SERB PREMIER CASTS HIS LOT WITH SERBIAN PRESIDENT.

    Kasagic, too, openly deferred to Milosevic in a move signaling an ever growing rift between the premier and Karadzic. In a 2 May interview with the French daily Le Monde, Kasagic said "I feel close to Milosevic; he is a realist." In apparent criticism of Karadzic's leadership, Kasagic remarked that "some people must understand that they simply cannot demand the unacceptable...[doing so] would be suicide." Kasagic, who has in the past sided with Milosevic, is regarded by some observers as a possible successor to Karadzic. -- Stan Markotich

    [05] BOSNIAN SERB SOCIALIST LEADER SAYS KARADZIC BEHIND BOMBINGS.

    And the political rifts among the Bosnian Serbs continue to deepen elsewhere, too. Dragutin Ilic, the leader of the Socialist Party that is allied to Milosevic, accused Karadzic of being responsible for a campaign of violence against the opposition. Karadzic allegedly is to blame for intimidation, bomb attacks, and sabotage in the run-up to the elections slated for September, Reuters quoted Tanjug as saying on 6 May. Meanwhile, the power struggle between Karadzic and his loyalists in Pale on the one hand and the Banja Luka leadership has intensified, AFP reported on 7 May. Banja Luka was known to the UN as "the heart of darkness" during the war because of the Serbs' ruthlessness in conducting "ethnic cleansing" and in destroying historic mosques, but the leadership there has since tried to portray itself as a moderate alternative to the men in Pale. Karadzic controls the police in Banja Luka and has used death threats and intimidation against local leaders. Finally, the Sarajevo bi-weekly magazine Slobodna Bosna said that Karadzic held a secret meeting with Croatian President Franjo Tudjman in Herzegovina last week. He was allegedly smuggled into Herzegovinian territory in a car with Herceg-Bosna license plates. The story has not been confirmed by other sources. -- Patrick Moore

    [06] CROATIA CHARGES BOSNIANS WITH TERRORISM.

    And in Croatia itself, Public Prosecutor Drago Marcinel formally charged five Bosnians with planning to kill former Bihac pocket kingpin Fikret Abdic, who now lives in Rijeka, Novi list reported on 6 May. A sixth man, a Croat, is accused of aiding "international terrorism." The prosecutor said that they were acting on orders from Bihac state security chief Ejub Ikic and had been promised DM 100,000 for the murder. The Bosnian authorities have repeatedly denied the accusations and suggested that the Croats and Abdic manufactured the incident as a publicity stunt to promote Abdic's political comeback. -- Patrick Moore

    [07] MUSLIMS ARREST TWO OF THEIR OWN PEOPLE.

    Returning to the issue of war crimes, the Bosnian authorities have arrested two Muslims wanted by the tribunal, AFP reported on 2 May. It is the first international arrest warrant to be honored by any of the Bosnian parties. The 31 year-old Hazim Delic is suspected of killing at least 14 people, plus indulging in torture, rape, beatings and a host of other acts of inhumane treatment. The 23 year-old Esad Landzo is wanted for murder and torture. Both allegedly committed the crimes at the Celebici detention center near Konjic in 1992. Another Muslim, the 48 year-old Zejnil Delalic, who was arrested by the German authorities on 18 March, was to be handed over to the tribunal. -- Fabian Schmidt

    [08] TADIC GOES ON TRIAL.

    Another man, whom the Germans sent to The Hague long ago, is the Serb Dusan Tadic. He is both the first indicted criminal to go to there and the first to be actually tried. Proceedings began on 7 May in the first international war crimes trial since those in Nuremberg and Tokyo at the end of World War II. The International Herald Tribune the previous day quoted a senior Western diplomat as saying, however, that "Tadic is nothing... It is doubtful that this trial will make much of an impact." The man in the dock is accused of killing and torturing, but he held no major position in either the army, the civilian apparatus, or the concentration camp system. The "biggest fish" at The Hague from any side is the Croatian Gen. Tihomir Blaskic. Many observers think it is doubtful that any of the key war criminals will ever be brought to justice. This is because IFOR is reluctant to arrest them, and because most governments are generally less than eager to honor the pledges they made at Dayton and surrender suspects. This is partly because ultimate responsibility for atrocities may reach quite high, particularly in Serbia. Many observers of the regional conflict hold Milosevic himself ultimately responsible for the conflicts and think he should go on trial. "The reputation of the court has been badly tarnished by its refusal to indict Milosevic," a European diplomat told the Herald Tribune -- Patrick Moore

    [09] SACIRBEY SAYS BOSNIAN SERB GENERAL PROVIDES LINK TO BELGRADE.

    The court did hold one man who might have been able to help prove the connection between Milosevic and the wars in Croatia and Bosnia, but it sent him back to Belgrade because of rapidly deteriorating health. Bosnia's UN ambassador Muhamed Sacirbey said before the International Court of Justice on 1 May that Bosnian Serb logistics Gen. Djordje Djukic is indeed a "smoking gun" who could demonstrate the link between Belgrade and its involvement in Serb genocide campaigns conducted in Bosnia, Reuters reported that same day. According to Sacirbey, Djukic is "the connection between the Belgrade regime and the so-called Bosnian Serb army." For its part, Belgrade continues to assert that it was never involved in the Bosnian conflict, and that the World Court should drop Bosnia's case against Belgrade. The Bosnian government, however, responds that rump Yugoslavia violated the 1948 Genocide Convention by arming and encouraging the Bosnian Serbs. -- Stan Markotich

    [10] BOSNIAN SERBS RELEASE FOUR BOSNIAN CROATS.

    Back in Bosnia, the Serbs on 2 May released four Croats they had held as suspected war criminals. The release took place after the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia said it was not interested in the men. Their release followed that of two Muslims, who were also suspected of war crimes. The men said the Serbs did not harass them during their detention. According to the Dayton agreement all prisoners of war were to have been released by 19 January except those suspected of war crimes. The UN notes that the Bosnian Serbs continue to hold seven suspects and the Bosnian government five, international media reported. -- Fabian Schmidt

    [11] BELGRADE FREES MUSLIM PRISONERS.

    Across the Drina, Belgrade authorities finally released five Muslim refugees on 1 May, following a series of protests from the international community, Reuters reported that same day. The five were among some 800 refugees who fled to Serbia from Bosnia after Bosnian Serb forces captured the "safe areas" of Srebrenica and Zepa in the summer of 1995. According to rump Yugoslav authorities, the refugees were held as war crimes suspects. With the release of the five, Belgrade apparently holds no more refugees from Srebrenica and Zepa. -- Stan Markotich

    [12] REFUGEE KILLINGS TO BE INVESTIGATED.

    Elsewhere, Bosnian Prime Minister Hasan Muratovic and the speaker of the Bosnian Serb Assembly Momcilo Krajisnik agreed to begin a criminal investigation into the murder of two Muslim refugees, who were killed after entering the Republika Srpska on 29 April. The meeting was mediated by Carl Bildt, Onasa reported on 1 May. Bildt's office and the international police deployed in Bosnia will meet with both sides' interior ministers soon. Muratovic and Krajisnik also agreed to give the UNHCR full support to organize visits of refugees to their respective home towns. IFOR, meanwhile, said that freedom of movement is one of the crucial segments in the Dayton peace accord and its obstruction constitutes a violation of human rights. -- Fabian Schmidt

    [13] CLIMATE BETWEEN BOSNIAN GOVERNMENT AND IFOR WORSENS.

    Following that incident, the government's patience is running out. The local branch of the Bosnian federal police in Trnovo near Sarajevo told IFOR and the International Police Task Force (IPTF) that their presence is "not desirable" in the area and that their security could not be guaranteed, Onasa reported on 2 May. The move also followed recent incidents in which Serbs prevented Muslims from visiting their homes and gravesites during Kurban Bajram (see OMRI Special Report, 30 April 1996). The federal police have now set up a checkpoint in Trnovo to watch for cars with Serb license plates. The police commander is quoted as saying: "Serbs will not be allowed freedom of movement." He added that federal police will block the roads linking Trnovo with Lukavica and Dobrinja and cut off "all telephone wires" within the area. - - Fabian Schmidt

    [14] MUSLIMS DENIED FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT IN THE REPUBLIKA SRPSKA.

    Meanwhile, freedom of movement continues to be hindered elsewhere, too. NGOs in rump Yugoslavia have protested discriminatory actions by the Republika Srpska and rump Yugoslav authorities against Muslims who want to travel to the Bosnian Federation, Nasa Borba reported on 6 May. Muslims from rump Yugoslavia transiting the Republika Srpska have either been sent back to Serbia or taken away for interrogation. Serbs need only identification cards to travel to the Bosnian Federation, where they enjoy freedom of movement. Finally, rump Yugoslavia has introduced visas for Bosnian citizens at a fee of DM 50, Dnevni avaz reported on 3 May. -- Daria Sito Sucic

    [15] UN TO ALLOW NEW ROADBLOCKS.

    The International Police Task Force (IPTF), for its part, has also taken measures that could hinder freedom of movement. While paying lip-service to the importance of free passage and while recognizing that "checkpoints are a major factor in restriction of movement," the IPTF has at the same time agreed to allow local police to set up roadblocks for periods of up to one hour. Since these could turn up at intervals of as little as every two kilometers, it will be interesting to see what more happens to freedom of movement. OMRI's special correspondent reported the story on 7 May. -- Yvonne Badal in Sarajevo

    [16] IS IFOR BEHAVING LIKE UNPROFOR?

    And questions continue to arise about what NATO is actually doing, too. Some observers say that its troops are, in fact, behaving like those of the UN before it. This is because of the peacekeepers' reluctance to enforce freedom of movement and other key provisions of the Dayton agreement, claiming it is not their job. Onasa on 3 May quoted Prof. Ivo Banac of the Central European University and Yale as saying that it is time for the international community to do something to make sure the treaty is carried out -- including the right of refugees to go home. The International Herald Tribune on 6 May argued that IFOR "should prod local military units to respect Dayton's guarantees of free movement." There are nonetheless signs that local bullies, primarily among the Serbs, are trying to behave with impunity toward IFOR, much as they did to its hapless predecessor UNPROFOR. Onasa noted on 3 May that a Bosnian Serb commander has demanded that IFOR troops provide advance notice of their intention to carry out weapons inspections so that a doctor can be present. The medical staff would then carry out a "short medical examination," because the peacekeepers might be bringing in "infectious diseases." UNPROFOR had been subjected to intimidation, and hundreds of its soldiers were taken hostage until NATO showed the Serbs it meant business by using air strikes and the Rapid Reaction Force. -- Patrick Moore

    [17] ROW OVER NEW ELECTION RULES.

    Turning to domestic politics, Oslobodjenje on 5 May ran an editorial on the controversy over the OSCE's newly-announced election rules (see OMRI Special Report, 30 April 1996). Most political leaders charge that the rules violate Dayton by not insisting that all refugees be allowed to vote in their original home areas. It is accordingly felt that ethnic cleansing will be legalized if people can vote where they settled during the conflict or where they want to live in the future. This view was reaffirmed in a joint declaration by Haris Silajdzic of the Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina and Rasim Kadic of the Liberal Party. They also noted that the rules leave many questions unanswered, such as on matters of organizing the vote itself, on financing the election campaign, and on organizing the actual vote and counting the ballots, Onasa reported on 6 May. That same day Oslobodjenje wrote that a possible boycott of the upcoming Bosnian elections on the part of some political parties would be a last attempt to prevent the country's division. Many fear that the cards are stacked in favor of the nationalist parties under the current rules, which also run against the Dayton agreement. -- Daria Sito Sucic

    [18] ELECTIONS ANNOUNCED FOR MOSTAR.

    And local elections will soon be on in Mostar, where the new EU administrator Ricardo Perez Casado announced elections for 31 May, Onasa reported on 1 May. Lists of candidates are to be finalized by 10 May. Elsewhere, the International Federation of Journalists has pledged financial aid for the independent media in Bosnia and Herzegovina to ensure accurate information during the pre-election period. The Federation's General Manager Aidan White said that the elections will be the best test of the quality of Bosnian journalism. Aid will consist of technical equipment and seminars. The United States has also donated $7.7 million to help organize and carry out the elections which are scheduled to be held no later than mid-September. A State Department spokesman said $4 million went to the OSCE which is organizing the ballot. The remaining $3.7 million will help the Bosnian government administer the election, support political parties, and provide advisors for the media. Meanwhile, the Reporters without Borders have protested restrictions against two journalists from Austria and Novi Sad in the Republika Srpska in late April. -- Fabian Schmidt

    [19] BOSNIAN BRIDGES OPEN.

    The elections are a key component of civilian reconstruction, but that work takes on more concrete forms as well. A reconstructed bridge over the Neretva opened in Mostar on 30 April, Onasa reported. The DM 5 million project had started in January 1995 and was finished 43 days earlier than expected. Perez Casado expressed his hopes that the bridge "will be used for peace and progress in the future." Elsewhere, IFOR opened a bridge on 2 May over the Sava, linking the Belgrade - Zagreb highway with Banja Luka at Stara Gradiska. The bridge was repaired by Hungarian engineers and will initially be reserved for IFOR and humanitarian vehicles until Croatia and the Republika Srpska sign an agreement on civilian use. The bridge -- which used to be known by the ubiquitous "Brotherhood and Unity" tag and which has been renamed "the Bridge of Hope" -- was destroyed by Croatian forces on 2 June 1992, AFP reported. -- Fabian Schmidt

    [20] OPPOSITION AGAINST RETURN OF REFUGEES FROM GERMANY ON THE RISE.

    Turning to the possible deportation of Bosnian refugees from Western Europe, the UNHCR Representative to Germany Judith Kumin and the German Ombudsman for Foreigners Cornelia Schmalz Jacobsen have appealed to the German government to reconsider their plans to expel Bosnian refugees beginning on 1 July. Kumin called the decision to oblige refugees to return "premature," adding that the peace process has had some success, but that the country is still ethnically divided. The conference of interior ministers decided to hold off on finalizing its plans until shortly before the projected date of the first deportations. It may then reconsider a possible delay, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported on 3 May. -- Fabian Schmidt

    [21] BOSNIAN CULTURAL LIFE TRYING TO RECOVER.

    During the war cultural life kept going in the embattled republic because people sought to live their lives as normally as possible. The conflict nonetheless took its toll, and the national orchestra, theater, and ballet are now so decimated that they plan to base their future on young talent still in school. The director of the Music Academy told Onasa on 29 April that his institution and musical life in general did not split along ethnic or ideological lines in the course of the war, but that he now has only 90 students, compared to a prewar total of 300. Turning to books, one of the most graphic images of the siege of Sarajevo was the sight of people burning books to heat their flats. The tomes were generally old communist works by Marx or Tito, but serious literature found its way into the stoves as well. To help offset the loss -- and apparently to help promote a greater sense of national identity among the Muslims -- Oslobodjenje wrote on 4 April that its own publishing house and Prosveta publishers have launched a new 100-volume collection of Bosnian Muslim literature. -- Patrick Moore

    [22] SERBS IN SARAJEVO SUBURBS: TRIAL FOR REINTEGRATION.

    Less than two months after the Dayton accords stipulated the reintegration of Sarajevo under federation control, many Serbs from the city's suburbs already expressed their lack of faith in the process. Between 50,000-60,000 Serbs left Sarajevo during a six-day exodus in mid-February. While a fierce Pale propaganda campaign that promised to compensate Serb refugees for their abandoned homes and land encouraged the exodus, the inaction of the international community and the Bosnian Federation authorities failed to discourage it

    Many of the Serbs who left came from families that had lived in Sarajevo for 200-300 years. Thousands of them are now living in barracks or dormitories in the Republika Srpska with no prospects for jobs or permanent housing despite the alluring promises made by Pale. A growing number are choosing to return to Sarajevo, preferring the difficulties at home to an uncertain future in the Republika Srpska. Milorad Kojevic, a member of the Executive Board of the anti- nationalist Serbian Civic Council (SGV), estimates that already about 5,000 Serbs want to return. His organization is cooperating closely with the Democratic Initiative of Sarajevo Serbs (DISS). The SGV represents Serbs who remained loyal to the Bosnian government throughout the war. The DISS, by contrast, primarily represents Serbs from Sarajevo suburbs who supported Karadzic during the war but who nevertheless have decided to stay in the now federally-controlled city. The organizations nonetheless claim the common goal of helping Serbs who wish to return to their original Sarajevo suburbs. "In the last 15 days, 50 families returned to the Ilidza suburb alone," Kojevic said

    The first Serbian families who decided to return to Sarajevo from RS faced many unexpected difficulties. In Lukavica, which is the nearest town in the RS to the Sarajevo suburbs, they had to reload their belongings onto other vehicles because federation police would not let any truck with "unrecognized license plates" pass over the so-called Inter-entity Borderline. SGV subsequently requested UNHCR assistance. The UNHCR immediately assigned two trucks with drivers to what it dubbed a repatriation project

    Transportation proved to be just one of many obstacles in the reintegration. The houses and apartments which the Serbs vacated in Sarajevo are now occupied by other residents despite prior agreements. Kojevic said: "We [SGV] had agreed with the Interior Ministry that all vacated flats would be sealed for at least six months to enable the possible return of the owners and that federation police would be in charge of fulfilling this government promise. But none of this is happening." He said that his organization must negotiate with the ministry on a case-by-case basis whenever a family wishes to resettle in its occupied flat but adds that this method has not once been successful

    There is a growing suspicion among many observers that this is part of Bosnian federal authorities' silently orchestrated campaign to resettle mainly Muslim refugees from eastern Bosnia. Some reports claim this campaign started immediately after D+90 in late March. Others allege that nearly 10,000 people moved into the vacated residences in the five suburbs during the seven weeks that followed D+90. Both the federation and the new local authorities refuse to comment on the matter. Still, no one denies that the settlers are refugees from four places in eastern Bosnia that would be almost impossible to return to--Srebrenica, Foca, Rogatica, and Jelac. On several occasions, bus convoys brought these refugees from the Tuzla region to Sarajevo. To some this has implied a calculated strategy on the part of the Bosnian officials

    The bi-weekly Slobodna Bosna was the first publication in late April to broach this issue. Its article recalled Radovan Karadzic's offer already three years ago to exchange what was then Muslim-held Srebrenica for some of the Serbian Sarajevo suburbs. The publication then asked whether the current settlement of Srebrenica refugees in Sarajevo is not just the delayed fulfillment of an old deal. Kojevic would only comment that, whatever the reason, the current situation is contrary to prior agreements. He added: "There should be very strong pressure on the international community and especially on High Representative Carl Bildt, the IPTF, and the Federation government to change their attitudes."

    Political and educational representation are other issues. Not in one Sarajevo suburb are the Serbs who have stayed represented in the local government. Kojevic commented that "this is a very important fact. If it were changed, it might convince even more people [Serbs] to come back." Almost all Serbian children have stopped attending school in the city. Most teachers ignored the fact that these children were taught a different curriculum than the other students. On several occasions, new teachers simply provoked the children with the Islamic greeting "Salam Alejkum." In Ilidza alone, approximately 100 children are taught at home by their parents. Current law does not permit the existence of private schools, so Serbs have no alternatives for influencing their children's education

    Another complaint of the Serbian Sarajevo residents is that none of the 26 doctors from their community are employed. The local hospitals were deliberately destroyed by Serbian thugs and the equipment taken away in February. Only emergency medical service is available with several small ambulances functioning in the five suburbs. Otherwise, patients are required to go to the city for treatment

    Kojevic summed up the situation: "The political parties are not interested in solving problems, they just hunt for votes. Two representatives from social democratic parties--SDP and UBSD--came to talk to us [SGV], but with no results. Others did not even bother. The media is not interested either, except for the independent station TV99. Actually foreign journalists show more interest than our own. Something is wrong. It seems that neither government [of the RS nor of the Bosnian Federation] is really interested in reintegration. But if reintegration does not work in Sarajevo, it will also not work anywhere else." -- Jan Urban in Sarajevo

    Compiled by Patrick Moore


    This material was reprinted with permission of the Open Media Research Institute, a nonprofit organization with research offices in Prague, Czech Republic.
    For more information on OMRI publications please write to info@omri.cz.


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