LOCAL PRESS

Thaqi’s candidate not elected Kosovo Assembly speaker (Politika)

The candidate of the Democratic Party of Kosovo Asim Bajrami was not elected yesterday the Kosovo Assembly speaker, because he didn’t receive the necessary majority. The deputies of the Serb (Srpska) list also didn’t vote for Thaqi’s candidate. Bajrami received support from 41 deputies, 61 were against and 11 deputies abstained. The president of the Serb list Aleksandar Jablanovic told Politika said that the Serb deputies had not voted for Bajrami as they knew that Thaqi’s candidate would not have enough votes even if their votes were included. Jablanovic says that the Serb list will not support the post-election bloc gathered around Haradinaj or when it comes to the election of the Assembly speaker or when the government is formed, because “as long as Self-Determination is in the post-election bloc, the Serbs will not support him”.

Serbs to support those who gather majority (Blic)

“According to the Kosovo Constitution and Ahtisaari’s plan, the Serbs must be part of the executive authority in Pristina, but they will not be the tip on the scale that will decide on whether Hashim Thaqi or Ramush Haradinaj will form the government,” the deputy of the Serb (Srpska) Civic Initiative Vladan Kostic tells Blic, and adds: “The person who manages to provide the votes for 61 Kosovo Assembly deputies will receive our support. Naturally, it is not all the same to us whether Haradinaj or Thaqi will be the prime minister, but the Albanians should decide who will be heading the government in Pristina,” said Kostic.

Ceremony for “republic of Ilirida” (Novosti)

A “ceremonial” proclamation of an Albanian so-called “republic of Ilirida” was performed yesterday in the middle of Skopje, where the document on founding was read by the self-proclaimed president, former Macedonian MP and leader of the first Albanian party in independent Macedonia (PDP) – Nevzat Halili. The self-proclaimed “president” of the new state said the decision on declaring Ilirida had been passed based on the U.S. Constitution where it is stated that every man has the right to self-determination. He added that the request for Macedonia to operate as a state with two republics is based on the “example of the former federation between Serbia and Montenegro”. Halili requested Premier Nikola Gruevski “to order the parliament to commence the procedure for the federalization of Macedonia”.

REGIONAL PRESS

Support for Gazprom contract and South Stream (Srna)

The Republika Srpska (RS) President Milorad Dodik has assessed as very successful the talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin who expressed support for the Gazprom Contract and the construction of the South Stream through the RS. “President Putin has, with full understanding for the situation in the RS, supported the contract between Gazprom and our gas company, and all projects that we will implement there”, Dodik said. “Even with Putin’s schedule being extremely busy, we discussed the subjects which are of importance for us, the cooperation with Gazprom and construction of the South Stream, which the Russian President supported”, said Dodik. The RS President thanked Putin for the help which Russia has given to the RS at the Peace Implementation Council and the UN Security Council, which is of key importance for the RS stability. “We must not lose this and allow ourselves into a position where high representatives presenting their reports and we are without any response within the Security Council, because we could then get some kind of a resolution which could pose a problem for our status”, said Dodik. The RS President has stated that Putin informed him on the situation in Ukraine and the desire to establish peace and stability in this area. 

Russia promised the RS government loan of 500 to 700 million euros (Oslobodjenje)

The President of Republika Srpska (RS) Milorad Dodik announced after returning from Russian Federation, the approval of a loan between 500 and 700 million euros given by the Russian government to the RS government. Without specifying when the loan would be operational, Dodik said that RS outlined its conditions, grace period of two years, with interest rates between two and three percent and repayment period of 10 years. “These are our conditions that Russian side neither accepted nor rejected,” said Dodik. He pointed out that Russian state loan should be used for the stabilization of the RS budget and funds of this B&H entity, all that in order of not compromising the amount and regularity of salaries and pension payments, and the reprograming of existing indebtedness. “I do not wish to jeopardize the arrangement with International Monetary Fund, but we are not going to accept being blackmailed” said Dodik. Russian oil company Zarubeznjeft, as the owner of Brod refinery, proposed to us to take the loan and offered to give the guarantees for it because of the debt that they have towards the RS government coming from the obligations in the privatization contract, said the RS Prime Minister Zeljka Cvijanovic. She confirmed that the loan will be paid back by the RS, and the interest will be included in the Zarubeznjeft debt.

Moore: B&H not going forward (Fena)

“B&H, unfortunately, is a country that is not heading forward,” said the Head of the OSCE Mission in B&H Jonathan Moore. He said in Mostar that, while neighboring countries are showing certain progress, B&H continues to be in the “known abyss”. The people in B&H are frustrated and apathetic and don’t expect rhetoric from political leaders as it is “cheap” but results, Moore said in informal talks with journalists. “We hope there will be more results following elections, and less rhetoric since the people in this country really deserves this. B&H deserves a future in the EU and this is a priority for all future political parties and the opposition,” said Moore in Mostar where he met with local political leaders. He stressed the importance of voting and reiterated that democratic mechanisms are the best way of influencing the future of the country, Fena reports. “We also discussed the specific situation in Mostar, i.e. the non-holding of local elections. That situation is unacceptable and political leaders must find solutions and a compromise in regard to this issue. The international community plays an active role in this, but the Office of the High Representative has an advantage over us in this situation. We hope the situation will be somewhat different following these elections so some solution is found and perhaps we can hold local elections in Mostar in 2016,” said Moore.

B&H not placed on “Gray list” (Oslobodjenje)

The Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the Financing of Terrorism (MONEYVAL) of the Council of Europe didn’t place Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) on the “Gray list”. “This is the great news for B&H. Our delegation gave successful arguments and convinced the Committee not to place B&H on a gray list of the countries and it remains what was issued in a public statement by the MONEYVAL, that each country will determine for themselves whether to do the additional checking of financial transactions or not. If they did place us on the gray list, that would be very negative for B&H and it is good that we have this outcome,” said Mladen Cavar, Acting Minister of Security of B&H. MONEYVAL has urged the B&H authorities to adopt a law on prevention of money laundering and financing the terrorist activities and amendments to the B&H Criminal Code, otherwise B&H would be automatically transferred to the “gray list” when it comes to financial transactions from abroad. By June the law was adopted, but not the amendments to the B&H Criminal Code. Amendments were disputed in the B&H House of Peoples of the Parliamentary Assembly by the Serb delegates claiming it to be a transfer of jurisdictions from the entities to the state, which was denied by the Ministry of Justice.

That caused the FATF to ask the MONEYVAL to place B&H in to the process, or so called “Gray list”.

SDSM top officials meet UN official Peter Due (Republika)

The SDSM leader Zoran Zaev, the party’s vice-president Radmila Sekerinska and general secretary Oliver Spasovski met Thursday with the Representative of the UN Secretary-General and Head of the UN Office in Belgrade Peter Due. The current political and security situation in Macedonia was discussed in the meeting. The UN official was interested in the capacities aimed at resolving the political deadlock, underlying the importance of establishing a democratic environment in which all open issues would be solved, the SDSM said in a press release. Zaev elaborated the five topics of discussion intended for negotiations between the opposition and the government based in OSCE/ODIHR recommendations. “It is vital for the citizens of Macedonia and for its democracy to provide guarantee for practical application of a possible agreement,” Zaev said in the meeting. Ban Ki-moon’s representative also showed interest for the inter-ethnic relations in the country. The Euro-Atlantic perspectives are of paramount importance for the future of Macedonia, he noted.

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

Serbia Cuts Pensions, Public Sector Salaries (Novinite, 19 September 2014)

Serbia will cut pensions and public sector salaries as part of a package of economic reform measures.

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic explained in a Thursday interview for state-run TV station RTS that public sector salaries of over RSD 25 000 per month would be cut by 10-10.5% and that the country would adopt progressive pension cuts of 3.1%-10%.

He said that the reform measures were also aimed at fighting the illegal economy, cutting red tape, reducing subsidies for certain state-owned companies and supporting the business sector.

Vucic, as cited by the BGNES news agency, made clear that the measures were to take effect in October, adding that the steps would help strengthen Serbia’s economy and find an exit from the crisis in 2016.

He said that 60.2% of the pensioners would be unaffected by the pension cuts, with those receiving monthly pensions of over RSD 60 000 being hardest-hit.

Serbia’s Prime Minister specified that people receiving salaries of over RSD 100 000 would be subject to 20% tax.

Vucic emphasized that Serbia was far from bankruptcy.

He pointed out that Serbia’s debt had increased from EUR  8 B to EUR 17.67 B in the period 2008-2012, adding that the private sector had been totally annihilated, while money was systematically siphoned off from all of the state-owned companies.

Vucic also underscored that public sector salaries were 40% higher than private sector salaries.

Kosovo assembly fails to elect speaker (Xinhua, 18 September 2014)

PRISTINA — The assembly of Kosovo resumed on Thursday its constitutive session suspended on July 17, but did not manage to conclude the session as it failed to elect the speaker and further extended the political stalemate in Kosovo.

In a short session which lasted less than ten minutes, the candidate of caretaker “Prime Minister’s” PDK party, did not get enough votes for the post. Out of 120 deputies, only 44 voted for Arsim Bajrami, 61 against and 11 abstained. He failed to get 61 necessary votes and the chairwoman Flora Brovina from PDK ended the session, promising a continuation for next week.

Kosovo assembly is embroiled in a stalemate following June 8 elections, since no one of Albanian political parties is willing to join the winning PDK party in the coalition. In contrary, four Albanian political parties LDK-VETEVENDOSJE-AAK-NISMA signed a coalition agreement since in total they have 63 votes, well enough to elect the speaker and form the government. PDK has 37.

After the meeting none of the blocks indicated concessions from their positions. PDK MP Xhavit Haliti said that the situation requires a consultation between political leaders but with little signs of compromise. “We will attend the session again but we won’t change the candidate for the speaker of the assembly,” said Haliti.

PDK deputy leader Hajredin Kuqi expressed regret for the fact that their candidate didn’t get enough votes, but insisted that the party will be constructive in the future.

The coalition blamed PDK and the chairwoman Brovina for preventing them from establishing institutions, since they have enough votes to do so. The leader of LDK, Isa Mustafa, which is the candidate of the coalition for the speaker of the assembly urged the chairwoman Brovina to call the next meeting as soon as possible. He added that “today’s session proved that PDK cannot elect the speaker”.

The other member of the coalition, Ramush Haradinaj, leader of AAK, said that the block will act if Brovina hesitates to call soon the constitutive session.

Kosovo leader Atifete Jahjaga reacted to the failure of constitutive session on the second time. In the afternoon she invited for consultations the leaders of political parties represented in the assembly. Her office confirmed that Jahjaga met in separate meetings all major leaders, though no positive outcome is reported from the meeting.

In the first constitutive session on July 17 in a controversial procedure the candidate of the coalition, Isa Mustafa, was elected the speaker of the assembly. But, on Aug. 26, the Constitutional Court ruled that his election was non-constitutional and forced the assembly to repeat the election of the speaker and that only the winning party is entitled to nominate the candidate.

OSCE Condemns Death Threats Against Kosovar Journalist (RFE/RL, 18 September 2014)

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe has condemned a series of death threats against Artan Haraqija, an RFE/RL journalist who has been reporting on radical Islamic groups in Kosovo.

Jean-Claude Schlumberger, the OSCE mission chief in Kosovo, called on September 18 for authorities in Pristina to bring to justice those who have threatened Haraqija and other journalists in Kosovo.

Haraqija, who also works for the Indeksonline website, received the latest in a series of death threats after appearing on a Kosovar TV program called “Rubikon” on September 16.

Haraqija worked on a joint report about Kosovo’s radical Muslims with “GazetaExpress” journalist Visar Duriqi, who also has received death threats for his work.

On September 17, police arrested 15 Muslim leaders across Kosovo for allegedly recruiting fighters for Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State militant group.

Germany revises asylum rules, Balkans excluded (Deutsche Welle, 19 September 2014)

Germany’s Bundesrat upper house of parliament has endorsed asylum law changes. Former war-torn Serbia, Macedonia and Bosnia have been declared safe, making it easier for German authorities to send back asylum-seekers.

The assembly representing Germany’s 16 regional states on Friday narrowly backed asylum law changes already passed by the lower house, the Bundestag. For those awaiting or granted asylum, bars on work and residency are to be relaxed.

The compromise package between both houses emerged early on Friday when the southern state of Baden-Wurttemberg, comprising Social Democrats and Greens, said “yes” on the condition that persons seeking asylum be treated better within Germany.

The past practice whereby a local authority did not allow an applicant to travel outside the municipality is to be lifted after three months. Residency confinement will, however, apply to persons who use narcotics or are convicted of crimes.

Decades of heavily-restricted access by asylum-seekers to Germany’s labor market are to be eased: For the first 3 months an absolute ban will apply. Those who have had to wait 4 years to take up work will be able to do so after 15 months.

Balkans excluded

German will, however, in future apply its “safe country of origin” concept to three Balkan states, barring asylum to applicants, often from the impoverished Roma minority.

That concept has been controversial since its introduction in 1993. German human rights groups and churches argue that Roma face discrimination and that the “safe” declaration breaches each applicant’s entitlement to an individual case examination.

Safe country status already applies to all 28 nations of the European Union as well as Senegal and Ghana.

Focus on Syria

In reactions, Gerda Hasselfeldt, who leads conservative Bavarian Bundestag parliamentarians, said it had become important to focus on crisis regions.

“Whoever manages to emerge alive from Aleppo needs our help more than economic refugees from the Balkan region,” Hasselfeldt said.

Package opposed

Other Social Democrat-Green regional governments such as Rhineland Palatinate refused to adopt a safe classification for the three Balkans states. The move had also been opposed by opposition Greens and Left party parliamentarians in the Bundestag.

The Greens party premier of Baden-Wurttemberg Winfried Kretschmann said his regional government finally decided to vote yes” in Friday’s Bundestag ballot because the compromise substantially improved refugee conditions in Germany.

During negotiations, municipalities required to house asylum-seekers had pressed for better funding.

Jump in asylum numbers

For the last two years, Germany has attracted more asylum requests than any other country in the EU. In 2013 requests jumped 64 percent to 127,023.

Last year, the number of first-time applicants from Serbia, Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina reached 21,000.

The conflict in Syria has prompted a threefold increase in Syrian asylum requests since the start of this year. The number of those from Iraq has doubled.