BOSNIA NEWS

ROME,Italy – The Bosnian Foreign Affairs Minister Sven Alkalaj met with Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister Massimo D’Alema in Rome. Alkalaj thanked for the generous support Italy has provided to Bosnia so far, as well as for the Italian support in the political field. He also thanked Italy for the participation of its peacekeepers in Bosnia.

D’Alema said that Italy strongly supports Bosnia on its road towards Euro-Atlantic integration and stressed that the integration of the entire Balkans region with the EU is in the interest of Italy.

Alkalaj informed his Italian counterpart about the situation in Bosnia, reform processes and their importance, especially for signing the Stabilisation and Association Agreement. They also discussed bilateral relations between Bosnia and Italy and concluded that they are very good and without outstanding issues. They agreed that the two countries need to intensify cooperation, especially in the field of economy.

The Bosnian Foreign Affairs Minister Sven Alkalaj expressed satisfaction with the presence of Italian investors in Bosnia and highlighted priority projects, especially the construction of the V-c corridor and the possibility for a more active involvement of Italian financial partners and companies.

Alkalaj and D’Alema also discussed the situation in the region and agreed that the issue of Kosovo is of great importance for the region and the international community. Alkalaj said that Bosnia will accept every solution that Pristina and Belgrade agree on.

Alkalaj and D’Alema also agreed on the need for the two countries exchanging visits at the senior level, intensifying cooperation between relevant ministries and legally regulating their mutual relations.

Alkalaj presented the draft protocol on cooperation between the two Ministries of Foreign Affairs and invited D’Alema to visit Bosnia.

SARAJEVO,Bosnia – The Bosnian government adopted on the decision on the harmonised register of agricultural properties and the harmonised register of clients in Bosnia.Bosnia's Prime minister Nikola Spiric told a press conference after the session that this is an important document for reform of the agricultural sector in Bosnia.

He reminded that the Bosnian government adopted and forwarded to the parliament the law on agricultural and rural development. He added that this is a further document that will bring order to the agricultural sector in terms of registration of properties.

“In accordance with this we have adopted the decision on agreeing and establishing Bosnia's customs tariffs, which is a commitment Bosnia has towards the EU every year”, Spiric said.

The Bosnian government also discussed conclusions from the session of the Bosnian House of Representatives’ Commission for Foreign Trade and Customs and concluded that the Bosnian Council of Ministers finds the requests and conclusion of the Commission unacceptable.

“There have been long and hard debates on whether CEFTA is the best framework, in favour of CEFTA, against CEFTA, we have heard different stories, but what the Council of Ministers needs to do regardless of different approaches and lobbies is to stick to principles accepted by CEFTA member states”, Spiric said.

The Bosnian Council of Ministers adopted conclusions and it will inform the Bosnian Parliament about them. First that CEFTA is an international agreement which has been signed and which in the view of the Council of Ministers needs to be ratified as soon as possible, that the ratification of CEFTA cannot be conditioned by the adoption of internal legislation.

“No one will believe us that we are a serious partner if we change with our own legislation what is an international agreement”, Spiric said and added that domestic legislation cannot derogate international agreements.

“It is a different matter altogether that Bosnia is paying the price to ignorance and that certain delegates involved in this form of production know more than others and others serve them as an instrument for preventing the ratification of CEFTA, which is not good. The Council of Ministers cannot agree with that regardless of the difficulties and problems that exist. We are aware that they exist, but we are also aware that this is not the way to resolve problems”, Spiric said.

According to him the interpretation of CEFTA’s article 23 bis provides the possibility of introducing adequate measures, but in accordance with the procedure defined by this agreement.

Spiric announced that the Bosnian Council of Ministers will adopt the law changing and amending the law on customs tariffs in urgent procedure.The Bosnian Council of Ministers also reviewed the Framework Bosnian State Institutions’ Budget for 2008-2010.

SARAJEVO,Bosnia — The first Talent Campus will be held in Bosnia next month as part of the Sarajevo Film Festival, which runs Aug. 17-25.After launching at the Berlinale in 2003, the international educational platform was quickly adapted for other film festivals around the globe, with Campuses taking place in Cape Town, New Delhi and Buenos Aires.

The Sarajevo Talent Campus, which runs Aug. 20-25, will have a regional focus and invite up-and-coming filmmakers from 12 countries in southeastern Europe, including Albania, Bosnia, Serbia, Greece and Turkey, to apply.

The Talent Campus invites established directors, writers, producers and cinematographers to lecture and discuss the world of film with aspiring young moviemakers.

Next year's Talent Campus in Berlin, which is currently accepting applications, will highlight "emotionality and film" and explore questions such as what producers need to know when it comes to selling a story and how cinematographers, composers and editors develop sympathy for a character, move viewers to tears or create suspense in a thriller.The Berlinale Talent Campus will run Feb. 9-14,2008.

SARAJEVO,Bosnia – “Economic and Social Reintegration of Landmine Victims/Survivors in Bosnia” project was presented in Sarajevo. The project presentation took place at the “Grand” Hotel, organized by the “Mercy Corps” Association and in cooperation with the Landmine Survivors Network (LSN).

The project is worth EUR 378.000 and is sponsored by the EU, Hypo Alpe Adria Bank, the Princess Diana Memorial Fund and other institutions. Its purpose is to offer help to the mine victims survivors in their economic and social reintegration.

Project implementation will last for 16 months and will encompass 80 mine survivors from Bosnia.

The “Mercy Corps” Association representatives will cooperate with the Bosnian government in order to define legislature for the benefit of the landmine survivors.

Michael Doherty, Head of the EC’s Sector for Democratization Stabilization and Social Development stated that the accent will be placed on providing help to mine victims.

A memorandum on cooperation between the financiers was signed during the presentation.

PODGORICA,Montenegro - Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic's brother Luka Karadzic said yesterday his home in Montenegro was searched by the Montenegrin police in an attempt to get information on Serbian most wanted war crimes fugitive.

Luka Karadzic said police ransacked his house in Niksic, 40 kilometers (25 miles) northeast of Montenegro's capital, Podgorica, on Thursday, seizing CDs, computer hard discs, family photos and letters.

Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic, the former leader of the Serbians living in Bosnia, is sought by the U.N. war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, based in The Hague, Netherlands, for atrocities committed during the 1992-95 Serbian aggression against Bosnia. He and the wartime commander of the genocidal forces of the Serbians living in Bosnia, Ratko Mladic, are the tribunal's two most-wanted Serbian war criminals.

Serbian war criminals Karadzic and Mladic have been charged with genocide and crimes against humanity for the 1995 slaughter of up to 10,000 Bosnian men and boys in the eastern Bosnian town of Srebrenica - the worst atrocity in Europe since World War II.

Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic,who was born in Montenegro, believed to be hiding in Serbia or in the part of Bosnia currently locally controlled by the Serbians living in Bosnia, has evaded attempts by NATO-led peacekeepers to capture him despite a U.S.-sponsored $5 million reward for information leading to his arrest.

Luka Karadzic said his sister, Ivanka Djurdjevac, was given a polygraph test by police. He said his wife, Milica, refused to take one.He said the raid lasted five to six hours and was a "psychological nightmare."

Earlier this month,the UN urged Montenegro to step up search for war crime suspects.The chief U.N. war crimes prosecutor for former Yugoslavia urged Montenegro to intensify the search for top Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic and other suspects.

Carla Del Ponte said she made the appeal to Montenegrin officials after another top Serbian war criminal, Vlastimir Djordjevic, was recently arrested in the tiny Balkan state even though its authorities have previously said no Serbian war criminals have been sheltering here.

Del Ponte said the Serbian war criminals Karadzic and Mladic must be arrested.

"One day they will be obliged to face justice.There is no impunity for Karadzic and Mladic,"Del Ponte said after talks with Montenegrin officials. Although Del Ponte praised Montenegro's cooperation with the U.N. war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague, Netherlands, she criticized the fact that Djordjevic, a former Serbian police general indicted for war crimes in Kosovo, was able to hide in Montenegro without being detected.

She said Djordjevic - who was arrested in the seaside resort of Budva last month - used the fake surname Karadzic.

"The fact that Djordjevic was able to hide in Montenegro during a long time without being detected, and with the false name of Karadzic, is something that must be avoided," Del Ponte said.

"Let us see how many Karadzics live in Montenegro, and maybe we can find the real one," she said, repeating she has no precise information about his location.

Montenegro's President Filip Vujanovic pointed to Djordjevic's arrest as an " example of good cooperation.

"We are committed to full cooperation with the tribunal," Vujanovic said, pledging to make the work "more efficient."