SRNA News Roundup /II/ - February 15, 2024

REPUBLIKA SRPSKA

BELGRADE, FEBRUARY 15 /SRNA/ - Speaker of the Republika Srpska National Assembly Nenad Stevandić, who this evening in Belgrade received the high recognition of the State of Serbia – the Sretenje Order of the First Degree, told SRNA that Serbs, regardless of which side of the Drina they are from, are one family that protects each other. BELGRADE, FEBRUARY 15 /SRNA/ - President of the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Republika Srpska /ANURS/ Rajko Kuzmanović, who was presented with the Sretenje Order of the First Degree on the occasion of the Statehood Day of Serbia, said that he was happy to see that Serbia and Republika Srpska, under the leadership of Aleksandar Vučić and Milorad Dodik, do everything in their power to defend their constitutional positions. BELGRADE, FEBRUARY 15 /SRNA/ - Serbia's decision to posthumously award one of the youngest soldiers of the Republika Srpska Army, Spomenko Gostić, with the Golden Medal for Courage proves that Serbs in Serbia and Srpska are one nation, regardless of where someone fell and where he fought, said Mladen Stojanović, a close relative of this minor hero. BELGRADE, FEBRUARY 15 /SRNA/ - Director of the Republika Srpska National Theater Dijana Grbić pointed out this evening that it is a great honor and pleasure that Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vučić awarded this cultural institution with the Sretenje Order of the Second Degree on the occasion of Serbia's Statehood Day. BELGRADE, FEBRUARY 15 /SRNA/ - The young actress Biljana Čekić, who starred in the film "Dara of Jasenovac," said that it was a great honor to be awarded with the Star of Karađorđe this evening in Belgrade on the occasion of Serbia’s Statehood Day. BANJA LUKA, FEBRUARY 15 /SRNA/ - The Palace of Republika Srpska was lit up this evening in colors of the Serbian flag on the occasion of the Day of Serbian Statehood - Sretenje. BANJA LUKA, FEBRUARY 15 /SRNA/ - Acting director of the Investment and Development Bank /IDB/ of Republika Srpska Dražen Vrhovac said that he hopes for future cooperation with the European Association of Long-Term Investors /ELTI/ after all the possibilities and significance of joining that association are considered, not only for the IDB but also for Republika Srpska. BANJA LUKA, FEBRUARY 15 /SRNA/ - The District Court in Doboj, at the proposal of the prosecution, issued an order to the Ministry of Security in the Council of Ministers - Interpol in Sarajevo to renew the international red warrant for the arrest of Nijaz Čaušević, aka Medo, from Slavonski Brod, accused of war crimes against the civilian population in Brod in 1992, the Doboj District Public Prosecutor's Office confirmed to SRNA. BANJA LUKA, FEBRUARY 15 /SRNA/ - Acting director of the Republika Srpska Center for Research on War, War Crimes and the Search for Missing Persons Viktor Nuždić believes that bringing Nijaz Čaušević to justice would reveal answers to many questions that remained unresolved, and his extradition would solve many crimes committed against Serbs. BANJA LUKA, FEBRUARY 15 /SRNA/ - The president of the Organization for the Search for Killed Soldiers and Missing Civilians from Brod Marko Grabovac expects that, after an indictment was issued against Nijaz Čaušević, aka Medo, from Slavonski Brod for war crimes against civilians in 1992, the Ministry of Justice in the Council of Ministers will urgently request Croatia to arrest and extradite him to BiH. BANJA LUKA, FEBRUARY 15 /SRNA/ - The Republika Srpska Association of Women War Victims expects that, after Nijaz Čaušević and Dedo Odobašić are extradited to BiH, the scale of war crimes against Serbs in Brod and the whole of Posavina will finally be revealed, and the perpetrators and those who ordered these crimes will be brought to justice and punished, said the president of this association, Božica Živković Rajilić. BANJA LUKA, FEBRUARY 15 /SRNA/ - The president of the Banja Luka DEMOS City Committee, Boran Bosančić, said that this party is in favor of approving EU funds, but not for the "European House" to be located in the "Petar Kočić" park in the center of Banja Luka. BiH BANJA LUKA, FEBRUARY 15 /SRNA/ - Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik said that by interfering in BiH's internal affairs, US Ambassador Michael Murphy violates the UN Charter and creates a problem in the agreement of domestic officials regarding the European path, and instead of admitting that he made a mistake - he is trying to find some accountability. SARAJEVO, FEBRUARY 15 /SRNA/ - The Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Council of Ministers, Elmedin Konaković, must know that the Council of Ministers is not any government of BiH, but what it is - the Council of Ministers, which is composed of representatives of Srpska and the FBiH and serves as an auxiliary body of the Presidency of BiH, said Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers Staša Košarac. EAST SARAJEVO, FEBRUARY 15 /SRNA/ - Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers Staša Košarac pointed out that Republika Srpska leads a permanent policy of peace and stability and advocates friendship with all countries, not only in the region but also in Europe and the world. BANJA LUKA, FEBRUARY 15 /SRNA/ - Radovan Kovačević, a member of the Serb Caucus in the House of Peoples of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly, said today that BiH is not on the Euro-Atlantic path, but only on the European path, with which the US Embassy in BiH has nothing to do. SARAJEVO, FEBRUARY 15 /SRNA/ - Snježana Novaković-Bursać, an SNSD member of the Serb Caucus in the House of Peoples of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly, has said that in the time we live in, the mess made by the US administrations around the world has become more visible than ever, just as their efforts to leave BiH in a state of complicated conflict that they generate and maintain are visible. BANJA LUKA, FEBRUARY 15 /SRNA/ - Head of the EU Delegation to BiH Johann Sattler assessed that changes to the election law are one of the key priorities when it comes to BiH's European path and called on domestic politicians and institutions to do everything possible until March 21, when the European Council will decide on the start of accession negotiations. SARAJEVO, FEBRUARY 15 /SRNA/ - The Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations in the Council of Ministers, Staša Košarac, said that the total volume of foreign trade last year was affected by reduced economic activities at the level of the EU, which is the largest foreign trade partner of BiH, and pointed out that we should work on opening new markets for the sale of domestic products. EAST SARAJEVO, FEBRUARY 15 /SRNA/ - Former commander of the Fifth Corps of the so-called Army of BiH, Atif Dudaković, is a daily guest at various gatherings from which he sends warmongering messages, while his trial before the Court of BiH for crimes against Serbs is persistently postponed due to fabricated reasons, president of the Assembly of the Republic Organization of Families of Captured and Killed Soldiers and Missing Civilians Branimir Kojić told SRNA. SARAJEVO, FEBRUARY 15 /SRNA/ - The Ministry of Justice in the Council of Ministers forwarded extradition documentation to Sweden with a request for the extradition of Dedo Odobašić, a resident of that country, accused of war crimes against Serbian civilians in Brod. SARAJEVO, FEBRUARY 15 /SRNA/ - Deputy Ministers of Defense in the Council of Ministers, Aleksandar Goganović and Slaven Galić, spoke today in Sarajevo with a high-level French delegation about the possibilities of improving bilateral military cooperation, the role of EUFOR in BiH, and the priorities of the Armed Forces of BiH. SARAJEVO, FEBRUARY 15 /SRNA/ - At today's hearing in the Court of BiH, the Prosecutor's Office of BiH requested an extension of the detention of the suspended president of the Court, Ranko Debevac, and the former director of the Intelligence and Security Agency, Osman Mehmedagić, due to the expansion of the investigation and the hearing of new witnesses. BRUSSELS, FEBRUARY 15 /SRNA/ - NATO is concerned about the malignant influence from outside on BiH, which undermines democracy in BiH and exploits its internal vulnerability, an unnamed high-ranking official of the Alliance told SRNA. SERBIA BELGRADE, FEBRUARY 15 /SRNA/ - Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vučić pointed out this evening, during the presentation of awards on the occasion of Sretenje - the Day of Serbian Statehood, that freedom has no price for Serbs and Serbia. BELGRADE, FEBRUARY 15 /SRNA/ - Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vučić, presented in Belgrade, on the occasion of Statehood Day, the highest state award, Sretenje medals to deserving individuals and institutions from Serbia, Republika Srpska, Montenegro, and abroad. BELGRADE, FEBRUARY 15 /SRNA/ - The premier of Vojvodina Igor Mirović pointed out in his address at the presentation of the Sretenje medals in Belgrade, that the first message of Sretenje was that, after centuries of slave chains and darkness that was broken by the light of the Serbian Church, Saint Sava, and the Kosovo Covenant, a new free Serbia was conceived on that day and that today, the most important thing is the Serbian harmony and willingness to sacrifice for one's homeland. BELGRADE, FEBRUARY 15 /SRNA/ - The message from young Miloš and Stefan Stojanović, who were wounded by an Albanian terrorist on Christmas Day last year in Gotovuša, Kosmet, is that the Medal for Courage "Miloš Obilić" - awarded by the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, is an additional encouragement for them to stay in Kosovo and Metohija.