Ukraine’s defense minister on Tuesday announced that the Ukrainian army will hold its own military drill at a time when Russia and Belarus will be holding their joint military exercises.

Speaking to the Ukraine-based ICTV channel, Oleksiy Reznikov said Russia and Belarus would hold exercises from Feb. 10 to 20.
Reznikov said Ukraine would also hold a parallel exercise in which the capabilities of Bayraktar unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), as well as Javelin and NLAW anti-tank systems, would be put to test.
The joint military exercise of Russia and Belarus, "Allied Resolve 202", will kick off on February 10. According to official statements from Russia, two S-400 air defense systems as well as Su-35 fighter jets and Pantsir-S anti-aircraft gun and missile systems have been dispatched to Belarus for exercises.

<h2>Tension between Ukraine and Russia</h2>

Moscow and Kyiv have been locked in conflict since hostilities in the eastern Donbas region broke out in 2014 after Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula.

Russia has now amassed thousands of troops near Ukraine's borders, prompting fears it could be planning another military offensive against the former Soviet republic.
The US and its allies have warned of an imminent attack, and threatened Russia of "severe consequences."Moscow, however, has denied it is preparing to invade Ukraine and said its troops are there for exercises.
Efforts by world leaders including Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan are afoot to resolve the row peacefully. Turkiye has offered to host a peace summit between the leaders of Russia and Ukraine, Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky, respectively.

Russia, Belarus to hold joint military exercise on Feb. 10-20

Ukrainian army will hold its own military drill at a time when Russia and Belarus will be holding their joint military exercises

Defense minister: Ukraine to hold military drill amid Russia-Belarus joint exercises

The works on the First Transversal have stopped, there have been no workers or machines on the construction site of this capital project in the Sarajevo Canton for a long time.
The brakes on this project are the reluctance and incompetence of the current SC Government, led by Edin Fort (Our Party – Naša stranka), and the Centar Municipality led by his party colleague Srđan Mandić. The latest example of the mischief and incompetence of the duo from Our Party is the unnecessary procrastination regarding the removal of the illegal shed!
The case was before the Municipal Court, and then the Court returned it to the Municipality of Centar for retrial, as the Municipality, when conducting a public hearing, did not cover all facilities, both legal and illegal. The case was returned to the Municipality on November 1st, but has not been returned to the Court to date.

The Directorate for Roads of Sarajevo Canton is the implementer of this project, they have also provided contractors - the Institute for the Construction of SC is supervising, and the FBiH Government is providing funds. But it got stuck in property relations. The problem arose in connection with the facility owned by the Šahinpašić family, which the current cantonal and municipal authorities are unable to resolve and continue the mission of the previous SC Government, which was led by Mario Nenadić. It is estimated that 23.5 million KM will be needed to resolve land issues on the section from Kranjčevićeva Street to Velešići, but now everything is stopped.
Thus, the generation project worth more than 300 million KM was stopped.

- Expropriation and seizure of land are done by the Municipality and the Institute for Construction. It is in our interest for this to end as soon as possible, because we could end up losing funds from the FBiH Government, given that everything is taking too long. We wrote urgencies to the Court, we did not know that the case was returned to the Municipality. The court informed us that they returned the case on November 1st and that they still do not have any feedback. The court has taken all cases concerning the First Transversal into priority resolution - said in a statement for "Avaz" Selmir Kovač, director of the Directorate for Roads of Sarajevo Canton.
SBB councilor in the Municipality of Centar Sulejman Memo Haljevac also reacted, saying that all the reluctance of the current government comes to light every day.

- The year of inaction of the municipal administration and the mayor of Centar Srđan Mandić showed us that we did not do a single centimeter on the First Transversal. But what to expect when the mayor is not able to do five steps in Buka Street, solve our landslides and the most basic things, from cleanliness onwards. I hope that this is not a game of the Prime Minister of SC Edin Forto and Srđan Mandić and a classic transfer of the ball. One shed prevents them from continuing the construction of a capital project such as the First Transversal - stated Haljevac.

A new excuse of the incompetent why they cannot extend the mission of Nenadić's government

Due to the illegal shed, Forto and Mandić are stopping the construction of the road section worth 23.5 million KM

In the last 24 hours, 575 new cases of coronavirus infection were registered in Bosnia and Herzegovina, while 56 deaths were recorded.

In the past 24 hours, a total of 1,563 samples were registered with the Public Health Institute of the Federation of BiH, of which 472 were positive for SARS-CoV-2.&nbsp;In the past 24 hours, 27 deaths were reported in the Federation of BiH.The total number of deaths in the Federation of BiH is 8,248, the FBiH Public Health Institute said.
In Republic of Srpska, 181 laboratory samples were tested in the last 24 hours, and coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) was confirmed in 74 people.
In the last 24 hours, 28 deaths were reported to the RS Institute of Public Health.
So far, 108,692 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in the RS, and a total of 6,044 people who have been tested for coronavirus have died.
Today, 29 new cases of coronavirus infection were registered in the Brčko District of BiH, out of 92 tested samples. One person died, according to the website of the Government of the Brčko District of BiH.

Today, 29 new cases of coronavirus infection were registered in the Brčko District

In Republic of Srpska coronavirus was confirmed in 74 people

BiH registers 575 new coronavirus cases and 56 deaths

Bosnia and Herzegovina has made a significant step forward in migration management, it was said at meetings in Brussels.

Namely, the delegation of the Ministry of Security of Bosnia and Herzegovina, led by the advisor to the Minister Saša Kecman, today in Brussels, held a series of meetings with European Union officials, at which they discussed the migrant situation in BiH, current EU support and continued assistance to BiH institutions in managing this process.
These topics, very important for the future management of the migrant situation in BiH, were discussed with the Head of the Department in the Directorate-General for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement (DG NEAR) Vassilis Maragos, it was announced.
Also, meetings were held with representatives of the Department for Migration, Western Balkans and Regional Strategies.
During these meetings, it was pointed out that BiH has made a significant step forward in migration management in the past year, which was recognized in the latest EC report on BiH's progress in European integration.
BiH is expected to continue working in this direction, and EU support has been announced in migration management, strengthening the capacity of BiH institutions and combating illegal migration.
An important topic of these meetings was the organization of the return of migrants to their countries of origin, strengthening the capacity of state institutions and continuing to take over migration management from international organizations.

Meetings were held with representatives of the Department for Migration, Western Balkans and Regional Strategies

BiH is expected to continue working in this direction

Brussels: BiH has made a significant step forward in migration management

Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Monday that "additional room should still be given to the talks with Bosniak parties about changing the election law and that there was still time to reach an agreement."

- At the moment, we are trying to create an atmosphere that will raise the level of trust between Croats and Bosniaks - Plenković told reporters in Zagreb after a joint session of the presidencies of the HDZ organizations in Croatia and BiH. 
- We strive to be that constructive factor that raises that level of trust - he added.
Croatian media reports that at the end of January, negotiations between Croat and Bosniak parties in Neum on changing the election law, mediated by EU and US envoys, have practically failed.
- We will try to give a chance to the talks to raise that level of trust and to reach a solution that will enable quality functioning of BiH. I still opt for giving another chance to the talks, as we still have a lot of time ahead of us - said Plenković.
When asked by journalists about the possible support for the boycott of the elections if the election law is not changed, Plenković answered: "We are not in that phase of talks yet."
He reiterated the need to reach a solution "that will be acceptable to all and which would resolve the fundamental issue, which is to avoid electoral engineering and discrimination against Croats in BiH".
The Croatian Prime Minister also emphasized that the representatives of the Venice Commission at the negotiations in Neum stated that the proposals of the Croat side were in line with European standards.

We strive to be that constructive factor that raises that level of trust, he added

Plenković: We should give chance to the talks with Bosniak parties about the election law

Germany’s foreign minister has urged Moscow on Monday to take steps to de-escalate tensions, and warned that Russia will face severe political and economic sanctions if it attacks Ukraine.

- We will respond with tough, very specific measures to any further aggression by Russia - Annalena Baerbock said in a statement.
She made the remarks ahead of her official talks in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, amid heightened tensions with Russia.&nbsp;Baerbock reaffirmed Germany’s strong support to the sovereignty and independence of Ukraine.- As a partner of Ukraine in the EU, NATO and the G7, we categorically support the territorial integrity of the country and stand alongside the people - she stressed.
The top German diplomat is in Kyiv for her second visit within a month to demonstrate solidarity with Ukraine. She is also scheduled to travel to the “contact line” in eastern Ukraine to gain a first-hand impression of the situation.
Germany is among the largest donor countries to Ukraine and provided nearly €1.83 billion ($2.09 billion) in development aid since 2014, according to government figures.
But Germany’s opposition to military support to Ukraine remains a source of friction and has been widely criticized by Ukrainian politicians.
Berlin has so far turned down Ukraine’s requests for weapons pointing to the country’s restrictive arms export policy, and arguing that this could further escalate military tensions in the region.
Russia recently amassed more than 100,000 troops near Ukraine, prompting fears that the Kremlin could be planning another military offensive against its ex-Soviet neighbor.
Moscow has denied it is preparing to invade and said its troops are there for exercises.
Kremlin also issued a list of security demands from the West, including a rolling back of troop deployment to some ex-Soviet states, and guarantees that Ukraine and Georgia will not join NATO.
Last month, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said that allies are ready to meet with Russia to address issues raised by Moscow, but also underlined that NATO "will not compromise on the fundamental principles on which Euro-Atlantic security rests."

German foreign minister is in Kyiv to show support for Ukraine at a time of heightened tensions with Russia

Germany says any Russian aggression to be met with tough response

&nbsp;NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on Monday thanked the Turkish president for his "active support" and "personal engagement to find political solution" to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine tensions.

In a Twitter post, Stoltenberg said that he spoke with Recep Tayyip Erdogan and discussed Russia’s military buildup in and around Ukraine.
- I thanked him for his active support &amp; personal engagement to find a political solution, and welcomed Turkey’s strong practical support to Ukraine - he said.
- NATO remains ready for dialogue - he added.
Russian forces in 2014 invaded the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine and annexed the Crimean Peninsula.
Moscow is now said to have amassed thousands of troops near Ukraine’s borders, prompting fears that it could be planning another military offensive.
The US and its allies have warned of an imminent attack and threatened Russia with “severe consequences” if it further invades Ukraine.
But Moscow has denied that it is preparing to invade Ukraine and said its troops are there for exercises.
Last week, Erdogan said that Turkiye is ready to host a summit of Russian and Ukrainian leaders to defuse the ongoing tensions.
Speaking to reporters on his way home from Ukraine, Erdogan said he is ready to bring Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky together.

Jens Stoltenberg, Recep Tayyip Erdogan discuss Russian military buildup in, around Ukraine, says NATO chief

NATO chief thanks Turkish president for ‘active support’ amid Russia-Ukraine row

Russia and France share concerns about the security situation in Europe, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday.

Opening a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron in Moscow, with tensions over Ukraine looming large, Putin thanked Macron for his “active” attitude towards what he called the problems of European security.
- I understand that we have a common concern about what is happening in the security sphere in Europe - said Putin.
He added:&nbsp;- I want to thank you for the fact that France has always been very actively involved in the development of fundamental decisions in this area - meaning the security sphere in Europe.
The Russian leader then praised Macron's efforts to resolve the Ukrainian issue and provide "equal security" in Europe.
- I see how much effort the current leadership of France and the president of France personally are making to resolve the crisis related to ensuring equal security in Europe for a serious historical perspective and to address issues that are closely related to the first part – with the resolution of the internal Ukrainian crisis in the southeast of the country - he said, referring to the conflict-torn Donbas region.

Macron said dialogue with Russia is "the principal way of achieving stability and security in Europe.”

- We have laid the foundation for a full and open dialogue in 2019. I think that the dialogue is more relevant now than ever. This dialogue is necessary only it will ensure security and stability on the European continent - he said.
Macron added that in his meeting with Putin he hopes to find answers to security issues for both Europe and Russia.
- I am glad that I will be able to discuss all the issues in detail, and we will be able to start searching for a collective answer that is useful for Russia and the whole of Europe. Such a response will help to avoid war and build stability, transparency, and trust for everyone - he said.
Moscow and Kyiv have been locked in conflict since hostilities in the eastern Donbas region broke out in 2014 after Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula.
Russia has now amassed thousands of troops near Ukraine's borders, prompting fears it could be planning another military offensive against the former Soviet republic.
The US and its allies have warned of an imminent attack, and threatened Russia with “severe consequences.”
Moscow, however, has denied it is preparing to invade Ukraine and said its troops are there for exercises.

In meeting with Putin, with Ukraine issue looming large, French president says he hopes to find answers to security issues for both Europe, Russia

Putin says Russia, France share concern about security situation in Europe

The continuation of the "Neum negotiations", ie a new meeting of the leaders of the political parties on limited electoral and constitutional reforms will be held on Thursday, "Vijesti.ba" reports.
In accordance with the conclusions from Neum, the leader of SBB Fahrudin Radončić and the president of NIP Elmedin Konaković held talks with the leader of HDZ BiH Dragan Čović these days. It was agreed that the next joint meeting of leaders who attended the talks in Neum would be held on Thursday in the building of BiH institutions. As it is known, Čović and Izetbegović accepted the idea in Neum to continue the talks, but the HNS demanded that this time the dialogue be led by domestic partners.

It was agreed that the next joint meeting of leaders who attended the talks in Neum would be held on Thursday in the building of BiH institutions

Fahrudin Radončić and Elmedin Konaković

Negotiations continue on Thursday: Radončić and Konaković spoke with Čović

Three climbers missing since Saturday afternoon were found dead on Sunday in Helmos mountain in the Peloponnese, the Greek fire brigade said, allegedly as a result of an avalanche. 

A search and rescue operation had been under way since late Saturday, with the participation of the fire brigade, a helicopter, drones and volunteers. 
The three climbers, aged 50-55 and considered experienced in ice climbing, according to media reports, set off on Saturday morning to climb near Kalavrita Ski Resort. 
When night fell, the ski resort, realising the trio had not returned as their car was still parked there, alerted the authorities.&nbsp;Weather conditions were good but rescuers saw signs of avalanche at the area where the bodies were found Sunday afternoon, around three kilometres (2 miles) away from the resort. 
- Aerial and ground searches under way from the early morning hours detected the traces of an avalanche, a very large one, at the base of the slope. Most likely, this avalanche swept away the climbers in their attempt to approach the desired route - Kalavrita Ski Resort said in a Facebook post on Sunday.

The three climbers, aged 50-55 and considered experienced in ice climbing, according to media reports, set off on Saturday morning to climb near Kalavrita Ski Resort

A search and rescue operation had been under way since late Saturday, with the participation of the fire brigade, a helicopter, drones and volunteers

Three climbers dead in Greece

Nine people died in three days of more than 100 avalanches rolling across Austria, authorities said Sunday. Most of the avalanches hit the western Tyrol region and Friday alone saw five fatalities, rescue services said. 
Police said that incident had claimed the lives of a group of Swedish skiers going off-piste with a mountain guide in the zone around Ischgl, near the Swiss border.
The monitor and four of the group were swept away with just one group member surviving. He managed to call for help and was airlifted out by helicopter.
Also Friday, a man aged 60 and his wife of 61 were engulfed while cross country skiing near the village of Auffach, Tyrol police said.
Saturday then saw an Austrian aged 58 killed at Schirmn near Innsbruck in an avalanche which injured four others. Further west, an experienced skier of 43 was killed in the popular Vorarlberg region as Austria saw exceptional quantities of snow fall going into and across the weekend.
Five winter sports enthusiasts were buried by snowfall in the major resort of Soelden but were all rescued.
- The past three days have seen some 100 avalanche-type incidents requiring 70 interventions - Tyroo regional authorities said Sunday, dubbing the situation "unprecedented" and warning of more to come.
Recent years have seen avalanches claim around 20 lives a year in Austria, fewer over the past two years after the pandemic vastly reduced skier numbers.

Recent years have seen avalanches claim around 20 lives a year in Austria, fewer over the past two years after the pandemic vastly reduced skier numbers

Rescue workers stand at the Rettenbach glacier near Soelden after five winter sports enthusiasts were rescued after being hit by an avalanche

Nine dead as hundred avalanches roll over Austria

The US economy added 467,000 jobs in January, well above market estimates, but the unemployment rate rose to 4%, the Department of Labor announced on Friday.

Market estimates were for nonfarm payrolls to see an increase of 150,000 last month.
Job additions for December were revised up strongly to 510,000, from 199,000, according to data by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.&nbsp;The unemployment rate, on the other hand, increased by 0.1 percentage point to 4% in January.The market expectation for the unemployment rate was to remain unchanged from December’s 3.9%.&nbsp;The number of unemployed individuals in the US increased to 6.5 million in January, from 6.3 million the month before.Due to the coronavirus pandemic, more than 22 million people in the world’s largest economy lost their jobs in March and April 2020.&nbsp;President Joe Biden said in a press conference later that the US economy has created 6.6 million jobs since he took office just over a year ago.He also noted that the economy during that period has shown the strongest recovery in 40 years as it came back from the pandemic.
- Vaccinations and boosters are proven incredibly effective - he said, noting that the US rolled out tens of millions of at-home tests delivered to American households for free during the past month.
- Wages are up this year - Biden said, but added "Gas and food prices are up," and argued that his economic plan would ease long-term inflationary pressures.

Number of unemployed people rose to 6.5M last month despite December job additions being revised up strongly

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, more than 22 million people in the world’s largest economy lost their jobs in March and April 2020.

US adds 467,000 jobs in January, but unemployment rises to 4%

Last night, Fahrudin Radončić, president of the Alliance for a Better Future (Savez za bolju budućnost SBB), Elmedin Konaković, president of the People and Justice (Narod i Pravda NiP), and Alma Čolo, member of the Presidency of the Party of Democratic Action (SDA) were guests of Senad Hadžifejzović's show "Centralni dnevnik" on Face television.
The backbone of the talks were the negotiations that were held in Neum under the auspices of the international community, more precisely the United States of America and the European Union.
In the introduction, Radončić explained regarding the criticism that negotiations should be conducted in state institutions, that it is not a matter of where negotiations are conducted.
- It is not a matter of where we negotiate, it is important that there are predispositions for an agreement, that everything must end in Parliament. None of us thought that we were working outside the institutions of BiH - said Radončić.

<h2>Radončić, Konaković and Ogrešević defended the civic concept</h2>

Hadžifejzović was interested in what was happening in Neum.
- I think that there were very principled talks, very direct talks, I think it is very good that NiP and people from the SDA came. I think Mr. Konaković is doing a very good thing. You know, it is easy for Mr. Nikšić, Kojović, I don't know, Forto, to throw stones at Izetbegović when he is not there, or Čović. Sit down, guys, if you have that thing, look into Mr. Čović's face and tell him. Look into Mr. Izetbegović's face and tell him. Konaković, Ogrešević and Radončić sat there completely normally, and came to the situation of defending the civic concept more than those who have been collecting political or election points because of that over the years - said Radončić.
Konaković emphasized that it was crucial to come to Neum.
- We prefer to continue negotiations. The organizers of the negotiations are the representatives of the American Embassy and Mr. Palmer, as a special envoy, and somehow it was not possible for me to refuse that invitation, wherever it happened. The talks were "hard", difficult and were the crown of a process that lasted for years. Today, I even prefer that we showed up and I think that colleagues from the civic bloc had to show up there, so that foreigners can see how much this civic concept has come to life, at least in the part where Bosniaks are the majority - said Konaković.
Alma Čolo emphasized that this was a unique opportunity to implement the judgments of international courts in the BiH Constitution.
- To ensure the conduct of elections in accordance with European standards. They have put the integrity of the election process in the first place – Čolo pointed out.
Radončić said that they did not adopt the integrity of the elections…
- We have not adopted something called the integrity of the elections, the whole package. At the meeting of the opposition, where we all signed that the integrity of the elections must be resolved first, in order for us to participate in further work, electronic voter records are envisaged. They thought they'd get us through this, and I reacted and said, "Wait, we didn't make a deal like this." The CEC gave an interpretation for these elections, our public, just like we are Biafra, is not ready to have electronic elections, but we will do it for the local elections in two years, and thus foreigners practically participated in the fraud. Because the CEC is, I said there, a politicized organization. Two SDS members, two HDZ members and one of Komšić's advisers are part of CEC, and they estimate that we as a nation are not mature enough to have fair and honest elections. Elections as we have in Serbia, Montenegro, Northern Macedonia and so on. And that point passed as a kind of honorable exit that we adopted it in part, but we raised our hand and said "wait a minute" - said Radončić.

Konaković added that without the whole package, nothing can be partially adopted.
- There is one quick implementation of some untested software. We must have regular, lawful, legal elections. This is also a two-thirds amendment of the Constitution. My general impression is that the HDZ does not want to make a deal, to conduct negotiations, so they were not happy when these concrete solutions of international mediators came. I think that the tension with Komšić benefits them to the extent that they mobilized everything else and that they won dozens of positions and that they killed pluralism in the Croatian corps - said Konaković.
Čolo added that the SDA is in favor of deleting the prefix.
- It is a step towards the future of BiH. The agreement suits us. They blame Izetbegović for not making proposals, we gave all the proposals to eliminate discrimination. Whoever advocates for the Croatian people to elect a Croatian member of the Presidency, let him propose that - said Čolo.
The president of SBB explained that the strategic Croat-Bosniak relations are being resolved, which are in big trouble and that the participants in the negotiations in Neum from the Bosniak Corps are under a heavy burden.
- This is the tip of the iceberg - Election Law. And now we have a problem, and when we take a little genesis, why foreigners, why we have to use the authority of foreigners… We must have their attention, because when you look, in 1992, the Croats helped us on March 1st. Well, then we had the Washington Agreement, so we had Dayton, it is very important that Bosniaks and Croats have settled relations. We now have some demands from them that are maximalist - said Radončić.

<h2>The SBB leader and Čović polemicized three times</h2>

He added that he had polemicized with Čović three times.
- And three times the Venice Commission sided with me. They demanded that, when a member of the Presidency is elected, the Club of Bosniak or Croat Delegates decide whether he will be confirmed or removed. And then there is a conflict of two legitimacies, indirect and direct. And I told Čović that for the first, second and third time, and he never wanted to give up. The Venice Commission has said every time that my interpretation is correct. Someone who received 200-300 thousand cannot be overthrown by the members of the Croatian club, in which you have a majority of eight people who were indirectly elected. The candidate who won the largest number of electoral votes on the list was elected a member of the Presidency, and who is than confirmed by the Bosniak delegates of the House of Peoples of the Federation Parliament and the Croat ones. And after the third arbitration of the people from the Venice Commission who were at our disposal, Dragan gave up. I said every time: "Dragan, we cannot accept this." Imagine now, SBB is a leading party, which is not good for SBB, SDA is a very strong infrastructure party. Theoretically, the SBB candidate appears, gets 200-300 thousand votes, you have the majority in the House of Peoples, take that man down and appoint another. Why did the Croats want that, they went for the variant, if Komšić wins, they will appoint Čović, but these are things unacceptable from the position of legalism - Radončić explained.
Hadžifejzović asked if it was true that Izetbegović was mostly silent, which Radončić and Konaković denied and said that very exhaustive negotiations had been conducted until late at night and that the fight for the state had no alternative.
- That is the good side of our synergy. It is not a coalition. But this was very reflexive and justifies why we should have been there and why we had to talk - said Konaković.
Radončić said that the mistake of the international community, which is a participant is in the wrong approach.
- They constantly went to the SDA and HDZ for five years, so that they could agree on that. You others, you will say yes, you will join and so on. And now they have seen the benefits for the first time when other parties come to participate in the process. They have the Mostar agreement, which they did not implement, on constitutivity and so on. The relationship between Čović and Izetbegović is on the verge of personal antagonism. I’m not sure these two men want to agree on anything. Such is the atmosphere at the negotiations. I will always defend Bakir that he was very active in these negotiations. We stayed until 3 in the morning and consulted with each other. But I'm not sure you have another burden of negotiations. We have elected Mr. Komšić as a member of the Presidency of BiH three times, with the option to do so for the fourth time. It is a great thing for Croats that they cannot get over. So, the situation is too serious to be resolved in one session of three days - said Radončić and added that Čović and Izetbegović got tired of each other, that is, that there is no more material left.

<h2>Coalition for the defense of Bosnia and Herzegovina</h2>

The leader of SBB commented on Izetbegović's statement that he was surprised by the moves of Radončić, Konaković and Ogrešević in Neum.
- Bakir says he is surprised. Well that's an insult. I was in Sarajevo every day of the war. What are you surprised by? Bakir compliments us for another, very precise reason, but Bakir is in fear, he needs as wide a front as possible, because then he is not a radical. We have Dino, Radončić, Ogrešević, which is politically legitimate and wise on his part, he snuck in among all of us. He will take the result for himself, let him take it, but only to reach an agreement.
Konaković added that this is not the time for a "digitron"..
- This calculation by not making decisions has led to 100-150 thousand people leaving BiH every year. One whole city disappears. I especially told Čović and Izetbegović that, together with Dodik, they have the greatest responsibility. We are now emerging as mediators. At the end of the negotiations, Čović said: "I will respond if Radončić and Konaković call me." Well, now we shouldn't call. Of course, we will call because these times require courageous decisions, we do not have that at the moment - Konaković added.
Čolo stated that Izetbegović has been asking the international community for a year to involve other parties in the negotiations. Konaković said that they heard in Neum that the SDA and HDZ had met several times and that the processes were being conducted.
Radončić emphasized that this is a coalition, but only when it comes to the defense of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
- We performed here in a very unique and synchronized way. There can be no opposition to what is called the defense of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Let the stories about the party's coalitions be resolved in the elections. That story is over - said Radončić.
Konaković said that overnight his family and he and party members were destigmatized because of Izetbegović's statements, and reiterated Radončić's words that they are not a coalition nor do they intend to be in a coalition. They underlined that there was no coalition with the SDA and that there were no talk about it in Neum.
- Mr. Čović told us, we are not resolving the issue of Dragan Čović because I will not run for a member of the Presidency of BiH. Konaković said very politely from the side: "Dragan, do I hear well and can I quote that?" And then Mr. Džaferović said: "I will not be a candidate either." And that was explained - "I have been advocating for 10 years for the Bosniak-Croat dialogue, to reach a solution. If we do not reach a solution, this policy is dead, someone else will come. Even if we agree, I have solved my problem and I can withdraw in peace." Then Džaferović said:" I will not run either," I said, it is already known about me, and I then I asked: "Bakir, you are not going to run either?" Bakir did not say anything - Radončić recounted.
The leader of SBB said that Čović made the situation even more difficult with his speech in the NARS.
- After such difficult sentences, even if they are taken out of context, you can't get so much out of context, it's not like you said, it made mediation difficult for the two of us tomorrow. Because the same Bakir will say, look, they are bringing Dragan like this, whose gears broke somewhere. He obviously has some maximalist goal, "I want to get a Croatian member of the Presidency", I quote him, "in the option that it is 100 percent". There is no democracy where someone can guarantee someone a 100 percent choice. And that is the cause of all the problems. We do not want to majorize Croats. We do not want to elect their member of the Presidency of BiH. Dragan certainly does not help us with that exclusivity. He has one sentence that is correct, I personally expected when it comes to leading the process, because the SDA has the personnel potential to offer those ideas, Dragan offers something, we say he can't, we offer, he says, well, I just I can not. This slowly became the position of the entire Croatian corps. They gathered around their national council and are acting together - said Radončić.

<h2>Milanović is reducing us to the people he will order, he will not be able to do that!</h2>

Konaković added that there is no political pluralism in the Croatian corps, that they act homogenously. Hadžifejzović reiterated statements by Croatian politicians that, even if no agreement is reached on the Election Law, there is a module for a third entity.
- Anyone who thinks he can create a third entity is doing the greatest damage to the Croatian people. It will not work for us or for the Croats. The Washington agreement was not made because someone wanted it for no reason. Here, the international community strongly insists that Croats and Bosniaks must stay together. To be stronger towards RS and for Bosniaks not to be alone. The international community has used much stronger levers and pressures in the past. Here is the responsibility of the international community. We can, and we have done that, say "gentlemen Croats, we understand you here", we understand that others should not choose your member of the Presidency, but these are red lines, where we cannot give in. But the international community must take responsibility. It is very bad for us when one media outlet attacks Schmidt, and in the end it turns out that they did not do that. These talks failed because there was no systematic conduct of the process for three days. The first point is the election standard. I expect the continuation, even if we can determine the red lines, which is an alternative to the negotiations - said Radončić.
Konaković added that it should be said who rejected the agreement.
- Negotiations should continue because of the agreement, and not because of the pressure of some HNS on the third entity. You have, on the other hand, a brave negotiating position of people who came ready to say - well, we think it's not fair, everything else is. I listened to terrible messages from Zagreb on HRT. I do not want to comment on Milanović. They say two or three times that Komšić was not constitutionally elected - said Konaković.

SDA Presidency member Alma Čolo said that Izetbegović asked the international community to include other parties in the negotiations throughout the negotiations

Radončič, Konaković, Čolo and Hadžifejzović

Radončić and Konaković: Defense of BiH has no alternative, we will not form a coalition with SDA, there will be no third entity

The leader of the Alliance for a Better Future of BiH (Savez za bolju budućnost SBB), Fahrudin Radončić, addressed the media after the negotiations on changes to the BiH Election Law ended.
- I must say that all parties - SDA, NiP, SBB, NES - were very united in not allowing them to strengthen ethnically in relation to the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina. We had a lot of suggestions, and we made the greatest result in raising the preservation of the integrity of the elections. We have diagnosed everything where we disagree. As you can see, conditionally speaking, this pro-Bosnian delegation or Bosniak delegation was very united - said Radončić.

<h2>There are no winners in the negotiations</h2>

He said that he saw some inscriptions stating that the negotiators in Neum were dealing with Karađorđe's betrayal.
- Unfortunately, I responsibly tell you that the fact that we did not agree best shows that we protected a multiethnic, democratic Bosnia and Herzegovina, with full care to really enable the Croatian people to sovereignly choose their authentic representative, but fulfilling this real demand cannot be to the detriment multiethnic and what is called the crossing of some red lines, for which we were not ready - Radončić added.
When asked who is the winner of the negotiations, the leader of SBB said that there are no winners of the negotiations.
- There are no winners in the negotiations, I think we are all defeated with such an epilogue, that we do not have a proposal for legal solutions that would be adopted in BiH institutions. All this can further complicate the already very complicated relations between Croats and Bosniaks - Radončić explained.

<h2> As a responsible man, I do not want to diminish the result</h2>

He said that there is an option for domestic factors, if there are elements from the SDA and HDZ, to bring their own views closer together, saying that they must negotiate.
- As a responsible man, I do not want to diminish the result, it is a great thing that we have diagnosed problems, listed the checklist of where we agree and where we disagree, but I am not optimistic. If we had not come up with a solution that we would offer to the Parliamentary Assembly with such strong foreign mediators, it would be difficult for us to do it alone.
I am telling the citizens that I have been participating in these negotiations since Brussels, Prague, this has been going on for ten years now, and that nothing dramatic is happening. The elections will be held and we will see that we harmonize these relations as much as possible. The weaker the Bosniak-Croat relations, the stronger Mr. Dodik becomes. That is not our goal and we will know how to adapt here - said Radončić.
He explained in sports jargon that they are close to an agreement, but at the same time far away.
- This was an electoral system that is very potent and I think we should work on it, but at this moment, due to some protective mechanisms that the Croats were looking for, we could not accept it. I hope that we will bring our views closer together and that is one of the great potentials of future negotiations - added the leader of SBB, who did not want to give details.

The weaker the Bosniak-Croat relations, the stronger Mr. Dodik becomes. That is not our goal and we will know how to adapt, said Radončić

Radončić: The pro-Bosnian delegation was united, we protected a multiethnic, democratic BiH

Bakir Alispahić, a man on the US blacklist, is hiding how much his companies are taking from the dedicated brokerage industry. While Bosniaks rightly expect everyone to stop doing business with companies associated with Milorad Dodik, that does not apply to Bakir Alispahić.
Alispahić in the Federation of BiH has no sanctions or consequences in doing business even with state-owned companies.
After the announcement of new US sanctions against individuals in BiH, the big question that remains is the relationship between the government and state-owned companies when it comes to giving jobs to the "new alispahić's". And does that mean that the Federation of BiH is consciously questioning the credibility of the United States? Especially if you read the explanation why Alispahić was blacklisted in the USA.

He is a man who has been on the US blacklist for more than two decades due to ties with Iranian services, and who was put on the list by the administration of then US President Bill Clinton because of his key role in forming the illegal terrorist camp in Pogorelica. The Americans imposed sanctions on him for organizing and participating in the function of this Iranian camp, where foreign murderers were trained in warfare and killing, which the BiH authorities permanently claimed did not exist. The camp was closed after the intervention of the American military forces in the beginning of 1996.
This former police officer and intelligence officer, a KOS member and many other things, during the war was in the highest military and police structures. At the time of the formation of the Iranian camp "Pogorelica", Alispahić was the Minister of the Ministry of the Interior of BiH.
In addition to all off that, according to reliable sources, Alispahić's network has not only not been sanctioned, but has expanded and let go its tentacles even in the dedicated industry.
The question is whether the Americans will strengthen the sanctions against Alispahić and ask the domestic authorities to respect them at the level of BiH as well? A parallel can be drawn here with ATV, a television close to Dodik, because Bakir Alispahić also has a portal with two names, NAP and Patria, which he directly controls by presenting his driver as its founder.
Similar to Dodik's case, they send threatening messages through this portal to anyone who wants to reconsider Alispahić's bestender business.

<h2>State and cantonal prosecutor's offices have work to do</h2>

It is commendable that SDP, Naša stranka and SBB in Tuzla Canton ultimately demanded that Mirsad Kukić leave the leadership position from the PDA leadership, in order to show deep respect for the multidimensional significance and importance of respecting the sanctions imposed by official Washington.
The question here is - knowing that both the SDA and the DF - have the same sensibility and responsibility for sanctioning individuals and their blacklisted businesses, will there be a process of serious questioning of Alispahić's treatment?
There is obviously enough work here for both state and cantonal prosecutors.
Senad Šahinpašić Šaja and the late Hasan Čengić, who are under US sanctions, could not do business at all, they even had problems opening personal giro accounts to receive a pension, and all this never applied to Alispahić, who even appointed his son as the head of the Supervisory Board of a dedicated industry factory.

While Bosniaks rightly expect everyone to stop doing business with companies associated with Milorad Dodik, this does not apply to Bakir Alispahić

Bakir Alispahić: His network has released tentacles even in the dedicated industry

Why doesn't anyone in the Federation respect American sanctions against Alispahić?

If so then facts that come from Dr Nevenka Tromp’s seminal book, The Unfinished Trial, published in 2016 (Routledge) may be of help. The book was historically accurate and prescient. But it is not clear to me that either its view of the past or its forecast for the future have gained the attention in Bosnia due to them.

Before getting to the truths in her book, three other things.
Dr Tromp and I found ourselves involved in three scandals that demonstrate the difficulty of getting access for the public to material relevant to Bosnia’s past and future and – sorry to say – the difficulty of getting Bosnians to use material once it is accessible.

<h2>The terrible crisis of the 1990s</h2>

First, the Supreme Defence Council Records which were largely obscured from public view by a strange decision of the Prosecutor at the ICTY. Dr Tromp and I went as far as we could, maybe at some personal risk, to expose the process that had allowed this to happen.&nbsp;The unseen parts of the documents were thought - in public discussion in Bosnia - to be the answers to the shortcomings of the ICJ genocide Judgment. By chance, they became available later in another trial. And it seemed then that almost no one analysed them (quite hard work, by the way) for the strong public debate that should have followed. Interest in them had died.&nbsp;Second, intercepts of phone calls between Milošević and Mladić at the time of Srebrenica. I took steps to publicise their existence, the need for them to be made available and (to the extent I could) how they had been suppressed.&nbsp;Follow-up from those citizens in Bosnia whose interests would have been served by the intercepts? Little - none.Third, at the end of 2016 Dr Tromp and I were drawn into a venture to suggest that President Bakir Izetbegović was doing his best to correct the ICJ Judgment, when he wasn’t. Who knows what was going on. Not Dr Tromp and me. The document filed at the ICJ on behalf of Bosnia and its people has never been made public. Why not? It might lead to something significant about the overall history that caused the President to act as he did.&nbsp;Are Bosnia and its citizens doing enough now - before the moment is lost for ever - to correct the history and drive those who determine Bosnia’s future to work with hard facts. If they expect others to do everything for them they are poor judges of other governments and even of individuals. Bosnia’s terrible crisis of the 1990s is history now. Students at universities in the UK, for example, often enough don’t know where and what the former Yugoslavia was or what happened at Srebrenica.&nbsp;And when they read about it - if they do – competing accounts pop up and why should they automatically choose the Bosnian version? Especially when the 30- and 40-years olds playing chess for their governments with the pieces of the former Yugoslavia can see such advantages in letting the RS become part of the Serbia proper.Serbia sees itself as a winner even when it loses. And everybody loves a winner. Does Bosnia see itself as a winner? If Serbia had a book full of straightforward facts as shown in Dr Tromps book but on Serbia’s side, it would use them well and draw on other sources to prove the same essential points. Has Bosnia done that?&nbsp;I quote some passages at length for readers to take the time to read and about which to think. On P268 (English language hardback version) she explains:

- Although Milošević and his associates avoided any explicit mention of Greater Serbia, their policy of "All Serbs in a Single State" in the 1990s and Greater Serbia plans were very similar.Milošević had been selected (initially by Serbs in Kosovo) to lead this project of which he was not the creator. He was not even the person who revived the project – and he barely dared to speak its name. The long process of that revival had initially been driven by others who were not inclined to climb into the driver's seat of the vehicle – call it a train - they had fired up and re-started.Milošević was in a sense simply the driver of the train, although a very willing driver once he had his hands on the controls. The train's progress was blocked by defeats: in Croatia with Operations 'Flash' and 'Storm', in Bosnia when the Dayton Peace Agreement allowed for the existence of Republika Srpska but blocked its immediate annexation by Serbia; in Kosovo when NATO took sides and bombed Serbia into its loss of Kosovo that achieved its surprising independence. But the train was not derailed.&nbsp;Train driver Milošević was pushed off the footplate as the train slowed down. The train did not stop. It has not stopped. It is rolling still.
- Or, to quit the analogy, the Serb State project is not dead and might never die. It assumes ever new forms – reduced or enlarged – depending on internal and external circumstances. The tragedy for the other unconsidered ethnicities is that Serbia's ideology can only ever be realised through new territorial borders drawn by violence, probably mass violence.

<h2> A project that brought even more bloodshed</h2>

Do those who determine Bosnia's future take account of this? If not Bosnian Muslims must force them to because the rest of us cannot do this for Bosnia, for you.P269 "The most alarming conclusion, on one reckoning, may be that even if the international community understood the danger of the Serbian State project this did not stop the project being afforded some support coming as the inevitable consequence of determined international resistance to creation of a Muslim state on the heart of Europe. Better, it might be thought, to tolerate an unfortunate but Christian project that has brought wars and may bring more bloodshed than to see strong Muslim entities in Europe - Milošević’s /Green Transversal- from Bosnia through Kosovo, Albania and Macedonia towards."The same points apply. Is Bosnia pressing this issue?P275 "A number of Serbia’s current political elites see the Serbian state project as unfinished business and hope yet to change the western borders of the state, to encompass Republika Srpska. In fact, in 2013, Prime Minister Dačić publicly reiterated the importance for Serbia of insuring preservation of the Bosnian entity, calling it even more important for Serbia than Kosovo."The last fact takes us back to the 1990s and to these two maps, produced by the demography department of the ICTY and used in lectures by Dr Tromp as one of the easiest ways to explain how the Bosnian tragedy happened by killing Bosnians and by forcing them to leave a land of diversity that was their home.

The maps show both that and why people – Bosnians and Croats – were ethnically cleansed and murdered. But they should be generating for politicians a slightly more pressing universal human question. What would any of those Muslims who were forced out from the blue, green, pale pink bits on the first map that the war in Bosnia turned red in time for the second map to be drawn answer to the question: "Where is your home?"I cannot be sure but I expect home is where you were born and where your roots are.&nbsp;So why – again something covered in Dr Tromp’s book, at page 269 and a point no one made before she did with such force:

- The most notable and concrete of a cluster of associated conclusions is that whatever the international community’s underlying motivations may have been, its invariable response to a Balkan problem was ethnic separation.

I periodically wonder how much or how little the diplomats in the foreign ministries of the big countries, to whom the Western Balkans is a bit of a game but who likely determine Bosnia’s fate - on their two or so year circulations in and out of foreign ministry desks of countries of minor importance - actually know of the real Bosnian history, even the 1990s history. As Dr Tromp has asked the world to note:&nbsp;- Witnesses testified that the rumoured partition agreed to as early as the 1991 Karađorđevo meeting had actually enjoyed European support, because Europe was not prepared to allow the formation of a unitary BiH, with a Muslim majority. This – it must be recalled – preceded any significant ethnic violence. Further highly persuasive evidence of European support for this proposed ethnic division can be found in what those who may have supported it in 1991 did in subsequent years. In the period from February 1992 to December 1995, international negotiators proposed five peace plans, all of which were based to varying degrees on the principle of ethnic separation.&nbsp;The first, the Cutileiro Peace Plan – proposed almost one year after the Karađorđevo meeting and two months before war broke out in BiH – evoked the arrangement Tuđman and Milošević had reportedly discussed at Karađorđevo.&nbsp;Ethnic separation of BiH was also the basis of the Vance-Owen Peace Plan of 1993, which proposed the creation of ten cantons. During negotiations for the Vance-Owen Plan, violence escalated as Serbs and Croats fought for more territory, anticipating that it would be awarded to them at the negotiating table. Instead, negotiations failed by mid-1993, as they did for two subsequent peace proposals: the Owen-Stoltenberg Peace Plan of 1993 and the Contact Group Peace Plan of 1994, each of which was premised on ethnic separation.Why has this point not been pushed down the throats of every damned foreigner who dares not say, for example, to Northern Ireland’s Catholic Republican Army (IRA) supporters and those in Northern Ireland of Catholic faith: "Just pack up your belongings and move across the border to the Southern Republic of Ireland; the map will be much tidier and all you Catholics can be in one place and all we Protestants in another with England Wales and Scotland". That is never proposed – not even thought of - for the British problem (and ask similar questions about the Basques, perhaps) – because it would be inhumane. So – push the point deeper down their throats – "Why from the start did you treat the Muslims of Bosnia as inhuman and entitled not to humanity but the reverse. Why did you say to the Muslims of Bosnia "Bad luck that you cannot answer to the question "where is your home?".

One last point that I, as a UK "Brit", can make more easily than others. It is well known, and accepted by many scholars, that Great Britain did not halt Serb aggression against Bosnia because policy makers in Whitehall wanted Serbia and its proxies in Bosnia to prevail.&nbsp;Britain, for the most part, led an international 'consensus' which, between the summer of 1991 and 1995, benefited the Serb regimes in Belgrade and Pale, respectively, at the expense of the interests of the Bosnian government and other proponents of a multi-cultural society in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Bosnia was entitled to the laurels of victory not for what happened in an unequal battle of military hardware but because it was attacked without justification by a criminal state and criminal quasi state.&nbsp;Bosnia must tell the world that and force the world to say it back to Bosnia. Bosnia will finally be the victor and justice can start to be done.

How would any of those Muslims who were forced out answer the question, "Where is your home?"

Nice: Bosnia had the right to a laurel wreath as a sign of victory

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BiH registers 575 new coronavirus cases and 56 deaths

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Germany says any Russian aggression to be met with tough response

NATO chief thanks Turkish president for ‘active support’ amid Russia-Ukraine row

Putin says Russia, France share concern about security situation in Europe

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Three climbers dead in Greece

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Radončić and Konaković: Defense of BiH has no alternative, we will not form a coalition with SDA, there will be no third entity

Radončić: The pro-Bosnian delegation was united, we protected a multiethnic, democratic BiH

Why doesn't anyone in the Federation respect American sanctions against Alispahić?

Former Hague tribunal prosecutor Geoffrey Nice for "Dnevni avaz" (Part II): What BiH must tell the world

News

Defense minister: Ukraine to hold military drill amid Russia-Belarus joint exercises

Due to the illegal shed, Forto and Mandić are stopping the construction of the road section worth 23.5 million KM

BiH registers 575 new coronavirus cases and 56 deaths

Brussels: BiH has made a significant step forward in migration management

Plenković: We should give chance to the talks with Bosniak parties about the election law

Germany says any Russian aggression to be met with tough response

NATO chief thanks Turkish president for ‘active support’ amid Russia-Ukraine row

Putin says Russia, France share concern about security situation in Europe

Negotiations continue on Thursday: Radončić and Konaković spoke with Čović

Three climbers dead in Greece

Nine dead as hundred avalanches roll over Austria

US adds 467,000 jobs in January, but unemployment rises to 4%

Radončić and Konaković: Defense of BiH has no alternative, we will not form a coalition with SDA, there will be no third entity

Radončić: The pro-Bosnian delegation was united, we protected a multiethnic, democratic BiH

Why doesn't anyone in the Federation respect American sanctions against Alispahić?

Former Hague tribunal prosecutor Geoffrey Nice for "Dnevni avaz" (Part II): What BiH must tell the world