LOCAL PRESS
Ladsous: No plans for UNMIK’s reduction (RTS)
The Western Balkan region was importing security during the 90s, but today it has become an exporter of security, says Hervé Ladsous, UN Under-Secretary-General and Head of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations. There are no plans for UNMIK’s reduction, Ladsous claims in an interview for Radio and Television of Serbia (RTS).
Why do you need the Western Balkan countries in the UN peacekeeping operations?
“We are constantly looking for new country participants. When I joined the UN team three years ago, 95 percent of our peacekeepers were from the southern hemisphere. That is a misbalance that I’m trying to fix by calling all EU, NATO countries, and, of course, the Western Balkan countries to missions. These are countries with good quality, well-equipped, trained and respected armies. I think there are good reasons for an invitation to the countries of this region.”
What are the advantages of the Serbian Army that may be significant for you and where could it be significant?
“Where the troops will be used is a matter of agreement between us and the country that gives them, but we certainly need a very good quality army. I am not requesting from the Serbian Army major infantry battalions, since we have this from others. What we need are highly skilled officers that you certainly have, I further look for quality engineers, medical teams and especially helicopters, as we need them constantly. One can never have enough helicopters on the ground.”
Who would pay for that?
“The UN reimburses costs to the participating country in a transparent and equitable manner; this includes costs for the people and costs for the equipment.”
Serbia already has one peacekeeping mission on its territory. What will happen to this mission?
“The Security Council will discuss this again next month, as it regularly does. I think it is clear that this is a very important and relevant mandate based on Resolution 1244 and I think the peacekeepers are doing an excellent job in implementing this mandate.”
Thus, you don’t expect the reduction or closure of the UNMIK mission?
“That is a question that I am occasionally asked, but I can responsibly tell you that there are no plans for reducing this mission. There are some adjustments, but the key part of UNMIK operations is now more important than in the past.”
The regional conference on UN peacekeeping is being held in Belgrade. What do you expect from it?
“Symbolically it is very important for this part of the world, where the UN had their largest peacekeeping operation during the 90s, because you were then a region that imported security, but today you have become an importer of security. That is very encouraging. What I expect and what I have heard from many here are expressed ambitions of the Western Balkans to become more engaged in peacekeeping operations. This particularly applies to those who are withdrawing from Afghanistan, and this mission is ending and it is a great thing that Serbia has launched the initiative for this meeting to be held.”
Some of the current missions have a new challenge, especially in West Africa – Ebola. How do you treat this and will peacekeeping troops be used for this purpose?
“Not directly. I was in Liberia a month ago and I clearly said that peacekeepers are not health workers. We established a special mission UNMIL that coordinates all activities on the ground. The job of peacekeepers is to continue to work what their task is – to maintain peace, stability and security in Liberia and Western Sahara. We do not want multi-year efforts to be threatened with this massive crisis that is really tragic. We are there to help maintain order and law if they are threatened in this dramatic context.”
Can the peacekeepers be at risk?
“I think that we have conducted all necessary measures to protect them from health risks. We must say that we need stronger guarantees of some countries, that medical evacuation will be conducted if necessary. We are preparing facilities for the treatment of potentially infected, we have had one case so far, and we are doing everything to provide the peacekeepers what they deserve in such difficult conditions.”
Do you also wear a blue beret?
“Of course, whenever I am in the field I wear it or a blue helmet if circumstances require.”
Dacic briefs EU ambassadors (RTS)
Serbia has taken a serious and responsible approach to the process of accession negotiations with the EU, and consequently expects its efforts to be recognized with the opening of Chapters 32 and 35 as soon as possible, Serbian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ivica Dacic. Dacic held a briefing for ambassadors of the EU member states, officials of the EU institutions and the U.S. Embassy on the most important activities of the Serbian Foreign Ministry last week. He informed them about the results of the visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and future programs and bilateral cooperation agreements between the Republic of Serbia and the Russian Federation. Serbia is firmly committed to the progress towards EU membership, and this was stressed at the joint press conference held by Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic and President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, the Ministry said in a release.
Regarding the visit of Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama to Belgrade, Minister Dacic said that both sides agreed to reschedule the visit for 10 November, which is a clear confirmation of the importance of regional cooperation, the release states. Serbia stands ready to put in efforts to overcome the situation caused by the recent incident during the Serbia – Albania football match in Belgrade, Minister Dacic said.
Kostic calls for international reaction (Tanjug)
Serbian MP from Kosovo and Metohija Vladeta Kostic called on the international community on Tuesday to take all measures necessary to prevent the spread of anti-Serb violence in the province. “Due to the increasingly frequent incidents in Kosovo and Metohija, I call on EULEX, KFOR and UNMIK officials to react urgently and take all measures necessary to prevent the spread of violence and find the vandals who have assumed the right to attack the property of returnees. The intimidation against Serb returnees and the threats to their lives are continuing, but have prompted no reaction from those who are responsible for their security, Kostic said in a statement to Tanjug. Kostic particularly urged the Kosovo police and the Pristina institutions to protect the lives and the property of all in Kosovo, in particular the Metohija Serbs because, he said, the situation is apparently becoming increasingly alarming every day. “Such and similar events are certainly not conducive to calming the situation in the region and are detrimental to all, irrespective of ethnicity,” Kostic said, commenting on the most recent incidents in the province, which targeted Serbs and Serb-owned property.
U.S: Embassy welcomes joint statement by Vucic and Rama (Tanjug)
The United States Embassy in Belgrade welcomed Tuesday the willingness of Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic and his Albanian counterpart Edi Rama to solve problems through dialogue. “We welcome the joint statement of Prime Ministers Aleksandar Vucic and Edi Rama that re-committed the governments of Serbia and of Albania to preserving stability in the region,” said Press Attache at the US Embassy Steven Stark. “We fully support the decision of the two prime ministers to reschedule the visit and to continue to solve problems through dialogue,” Stark said in a written statement to Tanjug.
REGIONAL PRESS
SNSD claims its coalition has majority (Beta)
The Vice-president of the SNSD Igor Radojicic has said that the ruling coalition has a majority to form a new government in the Republika Srpska (RS). He said that the coalition made up of the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD), the Democratic People’s Alliance (DNS) and the Socialists (SP) should have 44 parliamentary seats in the RS parliament. He added that according to unofficial and incomplete data of the B&H Central Election Commission, that number is 43. “We believe that the National Assembly, the government and the Council of the Peoples of the RS can and should be constituted by the end of this year,” he said at a press conference. Radojicic also claims that the party leader and SNSD candidate for RS president, incumbent Milorad Dodik, was reelected in the voting earlier this month, and that there was not even a theoretical possibility that the result could change. He added that the priority of the entity’s new authorities will be to solve economic problems and fight against crime and corruption. According to Radojicic the SNSD wants a broader coalition in the RS parliament, and is interested in talking to non-partisan figures, as well as ‘quality people from the opposition ranks – except from the current leadership of the SDS. “We are also interested in reciprocal representation of the two entities’ governments and establishment of the B&H Council,” said Radojicic. He further noted that the party was yet to start talks on personnel solutions for individual positions, and that on the state-level, the principle of rotation must be respected. According to him, there is a clear majority in the B&H parliament to form the next Council of Ministers, consisting of the SNSD, the Party of Democratic Action (SDA), and the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ B&H). Radojicic called on the SDA and the HDZ to begin talks with his party on this subject, adding that the SNSD was interested in participating in the federal government. “We are interested in talking with the winning parties in the Federation of B&H about a symmetrical forming of authorities in both entities and in the Council of Ministers, because in this way everything would be done very quickly. Anything else would represent adventures, with the potential of causing a new political crisis,” Radojicic concluded.
Jolevski: Macedonian troops take part in numerous peacekeeping missions (Republika)
The region has trained soldiers and officers with enormous experience and that is why we work on ways how to jointly or individually strengthen our participation in UN-led peacekeeping operations, said Defense Minister Zoran Jolevski at the opening of a regional conference over increased participation of Western Balkan states in UN operations, held in Belgrade. “The Macedonian Army (ARM) has troops that were deployed in missions in Afghanistan, Iraq, B&H and Lebanon. Our goal is to protect peace and security in global terms. Therefore, we are mulling the options over our future participation in UN-led peacekeeping operations”, said Jolevski. He stressed that global security and prosperity depend on the effective multilateral system. “In this regard, the UN represent one of the main stakeholders at the international security scene”, added Jolevski. The Defense Minister also referred to Macedonia’s prior participation in peacekeeping operations as a confirmation of the country’s active contribution in the establishment of global peace and democracy. Serbia’s First Deputy Prime Minister Ivica Dacic and UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Herve Ladsous, said peacekeeping missions were the organization’s main activity in the maintenance of peace and security. According to them, the Western Balkans has swiftly transformed from beneficiary to contributor of global peace and security. The conference brings together 120 senior government representatives of the Western Balkans, i.e. Macedonia, Serbia, Albania, B&H, Croatia and Montenegro, partner countries among which are the US, Germany, France, Norway, China, Russia and international organizations such as the UN, EU and NATO. The event is organized by the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) and the International Peace Institute (IPI), in cooperation with the Government of the Republic of Serbia and with the support of the United Nations Office in Belgrade (UNOB) and UNDP/SEESAC. The conference is to encourage increased national contributions and regional cooperation within the Western Balkans through joint deployments to UN peacekeeping operations.
INTERNATIONAL PRESS
UEFA official says Serbia and Albania will be ‘fined severely,’ but likely not expelled from Euro 2016 (The Washington Post, by Marissa Payne, 20 October 2014)
Both the Albanian and Serbian national soccer teams will be “fined severely” for their actions that led to the abandonment of their Euro 2016 qualifying match, a UEFA disciplinary committee member said (via Goal.com). Rudolf Repka, who also serves as the general secretary of the Czech Republic’s national team, said UEFA will probably not, however, disqualify either team from the Euro 2016 tournament.
“I believe neither Serbia nor Albania will be punished in the most extreme way, but both FA’s will be fined severely and the suspended match will most likely be played again, at a neutral venue behind closed doors,” Repka told the Czech paper Kurir (via Goal.com).
Repka noted that while the decision on the abandoned match will come down Thursday, the fine amounts will not be known until mid-November.
“[I]t is very complicated matter,” Repka said. “[T]o make a decision on fines we need more time.”
The Albanian and Serbian teams clashed last week in Belgrade and forced the referee to end the match prematurely when fights broke out on the field after both Serbian and Albanian fans engaged in nationalistic activity. Most notably, one or a group of Albanian fans, who under UEFA guidelines were not being let into the stadium, flew a drone over the pitch holding a pro-Albania banner that alluded to the conflict with Kosovo.
Prior to that, the all-Serbian audience in the stadium was reportedly chanting taunts toward Albanian players, as well as burning flags.
Each side has blamed the other for the escalation that caused the match to be suspended, while many onlookers wondered why such a match, given the underlying political tensions, was allowed to occur in the first place. UEFA has since defended its original decision, noting the two countries, whose diplomatic relations have soured since the match fell apart last Tuesday, were fine at the time of scheduling.
Dispatch: The One Muslim Country That Loves America Is Developing an Extremist Problem (Foreign Policy, by Valerie Hopkins, 16 October 2014)
Kosovars are traveling to the Middle East to fight the same U.S.-led forces that once helped secure their country’s freedom
Musli Musliu’s Facebook page looks much like any other 20-something’s profile: He posts selfies along with videos uploaded from YouTube, and he has an app for playing Texas Hold ‘Em with his friends. But his profile is not actually one of a typical millennial. The videos Musli posts call for jihad, urging his friends to join the fight against the enemies of Islam. One photo shows a man with a balaclava covering his face. In another, a man holds an assault rifle with a bullet belt wrapped like a scarf around his neck.
His family says that the photos were likely taken in the Middle East, where Musli and his brother, Valon, both natives of Kosovo, traveled to join militant groups. In April, Musli called home to inform his family that Valon had been killed during the Islamic State’s campaign in Fallujah. Valon, who would have been 22 now, studied in a madrasa, or Islamic high school, in Kosovo’s capital, Pristina, before moving to Egypt to study at Al-Azhar University. (The family did not discuss Musli’s background.) Eight months after leaving for the Middle East, Valon came home to visit his family, who tried to talk him out of going back.
“We discussed this with him, and so did our uncles,” Selman, another brother, said in an interview in his village of Tushile, about 30 miles from Pristina. “We explained to him that there are manipulative people out there, and that it is usually the innocent ones who suffer.”
The family has not received any notification of Musli’s death, but they are nervous, because as of late September, they had not heard from him in three months.
Valon and Musli are two of the 150 Kosovo Albanians — the ethnic majority in the Balkan country of nearly 2 million, where Islam is the dominant religion — who, according to the Kosovo officials, have traveled to Iraq or Syria to fight alongside various groups. Forty have reportedly died. Fifteen years ago, Kosovo was embroiled in its own war: Led by the United States, NATO waged a bombing campaign that paved the way for Kosovo to declare independence from Serbia in 2008.
Now a collection of young Kosovars are in the Middle East, and some of them are opposing the very forces that helped secure their country’s sovereignty.
Now a collection of young Kosovars are in the Middle East, and some of them are opposing the very forces that helped secure their country’s sovereignty.
The government has moved to stem the migration of potential fighters: In recent weeks, Kosovo police have arrested dozens of people suspected of having fought in Iraq and Syria or of inciting terrorism, including 14 imams. Still, the flight of extremist volunteers is seen by some as an embarrassment for a country that is still trying to find its footing on the international stage — and one that largely owes its freedom to Western intervention.
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For many years after the NATO bombing, extremist Islam was not a concern in Kosovo. “We spent 15 years worried about all of the unlicensed drivers causing car accidents,” says a senior Kosovo intelligence official, speaking on condition of anonymity, describing the need to build even basic public services from the ground up. But as Kosovo emerged from war in the 2000s, several foreign, conservative Islamic aid organizations established schools and funded the construction of mosques in the country. Then, around the time the war in Syria began, radical Islam became a cause for real worry, according to the intelligence official.
From the start, this concern was focused on mosques and, before long, the worry became that some religious leaders might be influencing Kosovars to go fight in Syria. In 2012, for example, Enes Goga, a Kosovar imam, delivered a fiery sermon about Syria, with quotes from the Prophet Muhammed. “I command you to go to the Sham lands because it’s a chosen land from Allah and in that land live all the great believers of Allah,” Goga said, referencing Muhammed. “Allah’s angels have spread their wings above the lands of Sham.”
“Though he did not explicitly order people to take up arms,” says local journalist Artan Haraqija, who has received death threats for his reports about the Islamic community in Kosovo, “to me [it] is a clear call for anyone to join the fighters in Syria.”
Names began emerging around the same time: In September 2012, a Kosovar named Naman Demolli, who had served in the guerilla Kosovo Liberation Army in the war against Serbia, died in Syria. Later, in March 2014, a German-born Kosovar, Blerim Heta, who went to fight with extremist rebels in Syria in August 2013, allegedly killed 52 people in a suicide attack in Baghdad, where he was known as Abu Al Khabab Kosovo, according to the news portal Balkan Insight.
In June 2014, footage appeared online of Lavdrim Muhaxheri, a Kosovo Albanian fighting with the Islamic State, giving an impassioned speech in Arabic before a cheering crowd in what is purported to be Fallujah. He vowed to conquer Jerusalem, Rome, and Andalusia before ripping up his Kosovo passport and piercing it with a saber. The following month, Muhaxheri uploaded gruesome images on Facebook allegedly depicting him preparing to decapitate a Syrian teenager. Another photo showed him holding the severed head.
In September, the U.S. government included Muhaxheri, who for a time was thought to be dead, on its list of “specially designated global terrorists,” a distinction that comes with financial sanctions. Muhaxheri reportedly has a history with Americans: He once worked at the U.S. military base in Kosovo, Camp Bondsteel, where 800 American service members are deployed on active duty. He later worked as a contractor for two years in Afghanistan, according to local media reports.
Many Muslim leaders have been outspoken in denouncing those who have joined extremist groups in the Middle East. The Kosovo Islamic Community, an independent religious organization, has called for Kosovar fighters in Syria “to go back to their families and the country as soon as possible.” The organization has also criticized groups that have recruited in Kosovo.
Meanwhile, the government, which remains intensely loyal to Western countries, has sought to weed out alleged supporters of radical groups. In an op-ed in the Guardian on Sept. 30, Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci vowed to “crush any cells that believe, wrongfully, that they can find cover in Kosovo.”
In addition to the recent arrests, the government has also shut down 14 Islamic NGOs and is investigating whether any of the organizations have ties to radical Islamic groups.
In addition to the recent arrests, the government has also shut down 14 Islamic NGOs and is investigating whether any of the organizations have ties to radical Islamic groups.
“We are paying back our allies,” says the senior intelligence official. He notes that the Kosovo Intelligence Agency, the country’s equivalent of the CIA, does not oppose the United States targeting Kosovo citizens fighting for the Islamic State; at least eight Kosovars were reportedly killed in a U.S. drone strike in September. “They freed us, and now we are responding to their call,” the official says, referencing the recent domestic efforts to stem the flow of fighters.
Between three and six Kosovars have returned from Iraq and Syria each month on average over the past few months, according to the Kosovo Intelligence Agency. But the intelligence official is optimistic that the recent arrests, coupled with active warrants for 30 believed still to be fighting in Syria, will help restrict the migration of radical extremists to the region.
Yet some people are concerned that the arrests could backfire and radicalize more people.
“Kosovo needs a more proactive approach,” says Abit Hoxha, a security analyst with the Kosovo Center for Security Studies. “Arresting these people and accusing them without having done anything [to improve governance] will become a boomerang.”
A young Kosovar from Kacanik, Muhaxheri’s hometown, agrees. “People are dismayed because this is unjust,” the 24-year-old says after Friday prayer. “This worsens the situation. Wouldn’t you be annoyed if your brother were arrested? We Muslims are all brothers.”
Some Kosovars are frustrated that the government is not addressing the root causes of extremism: poverty, a poor education system, and a dysfunctional government. “Our education system is inadequate, and it leaves people susceptible to religious propaganda,” Hoxha says.
Kosovo’s unemployment rate is 45 percent, according to the World Bank; among youth, it soars to 60 percent. Half the country’s population is under the age of 25. Those who do have a job earn on average $470 per month.
Muhamet, the eldest brother in the Musliu family, says Kosovo’s dire economic straits are partially to blame for his brother’s death. “Kosovo is turning upside down,” he says. “If my brothers had a job here, perhaps they would have not thought of going there.”
“But the state,” he adds, “did not care.”
US Praises Macedonian Law to Jail Militants (BIRN, by Sinisa Jakov Marusic, 20 October 2014)
Increased jail terms for Macedonians who fight alongside foreign paramilitary groups will aid the global battle against terrorism if the law is properly implemented, a US diplomat said.
During a visit to Skopje on Monday, United States diplomat Robert Bradtke praised Macedonia’s role as US ally in the fight against terrorism, and said that the new law, if implemented correctly, would help to deter people from joining armed militant groups.
“I very much welcome what the [Macedonian Justice] Minister [Adnan Jashari] said about the new law and more importantly about how the law is going to be implemented because it is one thing to have a law in the books and it’s another thing to see how that law is put into practice, that it’s done fairly, in an open and transparent way,” Bradtke told media.
Jashari said meanwhile that his country was working closely with other Balkan states on joint preventive measures.
“The goal of these measures is to protect the modest image of the faith, particularly of Islam,” Jashari said.
After at least ten Macedonian Albanians who joined paramilitary organizations in Syria and Iraq were reported to have been killed over the course of the past year, a law was adopted in September that envisages jail for militants in order to deter others from going to fight.
The law envisages a minimum jail of five years if a person is caught participating in a foreign paramilitary group. The same minimum sentence is envisaged for those found guilty of indirect support of such actions.
Those found soliciting and recruiting militants will have to serve a minimum of four years in jail.
“This is an issue that both the US and Macedonia are really concerned about. These are fighters who come from more than 80 countries, including the US, in Syria and Iraq, and they are there participating and fighting with foreign terrorist organizations such as ISIL and al Nusra,” Bradtke said.
Stressing that he sees Macedonia as an “excellent” partner in this area, the US diplomat who is in charge of tackling this problem said that he would also speak to the Macedonian Prime Minister on the issue.
“We are also concerned about these fighters and the potential they have when they return to our own countries and to other countries,” Bradtke said.
It is believed that the Balkans is one of the recruiting grounds for radical Islamist militants for Syria and Iraq. Authorities in several of Macedonia’s neighbouring countries have already undertaken several raids on suspected recruiters.
Montenegro under pressure (Inside Europe, by Dr Matthias Menke, 19 October 2014)
The European Commission’s progress report on Montenegro for 2014 marks a new departure in the EU’s attitude towards Montenegrin accession. For the first time, there has been explicit recognition from most senior diplomatic circles that Montenegro is not the poster child of European enlargement it has claimed to be.
European diplomats are increasingly impatient with the Montenegrin government. Recent media reports suggest they are also concerned that “Prime Minister Milo Djukanović has been running the country as though it were a family business” is extremely worrying, so much so that it was reported that the safeguard clause freezing accession negotiations was very nearly invoked. It seems clear that there is growing frustration within the EU at Montenegro’s sclerotic progress and what quite frankly can only be interpreted as window-dressing: doing the very minimum possible at the last minute in order to receive a good scorecard. We had further proof of this when after more than a year of procrastination, the government finally appointed a Superior State Prosecutor just one day before the publication of the Progress Report.
Enlargement and Neighbourhood Policy Commissioner Stefan Füle himself said that “the degree to which […] rule of law related reforms produce results will determine the overall pace of the accession negotiations. If no tangible progress is made, negotiations would have to slow down”. This is pretty strong language from the European Commissioner – the strongest we have seen in relation to Montenegro’s EU accession in a long time – and for the first time opening the prospect of putting the brake on Montenegrin accession.
And almost right on cue, Djukanović’s reaction to the progress report confirms European diplomats’ worst fears. In a fit of pique he has threatened to withdraw Montenegro entirely from the EU accession procedure, a suggestion that has been roundly condemned by Montenegrin NGOs. Some in Montenegro see in Djukanović’s reaction the incompatibility of preserving his personal fiefdom with deeper EU integration. As Daliborka Uljarević from the Centre for Civic Education says, “this is, above all, the fear of loss of the monopoly on power that the Prime Minister […] has. The Europeanisation process […] leads to rules in which the existing governing structures are difficult to manage and which will have to ensure equal access to all other interested parties”. Commissioner Füle also raises concerns over Montenegro’s judicial system, saying that “citizens deserve to be able to rely on the swift, efficient and impartial administration of justice” – the clear implication being that they currently cannot. Sadly, we can confirm that impartial justice is far from a reality in Montenegro, and the politicisation of the judicial process remains a real problem. That is why the Central European Aluminium Company (CEAC) has had to initiate several international arbitration proceedings against the government of Montenegro for breach of the KAP settlement agreement, and the foreign investments protection treaty between Cyprus and Montenegro, unable to find justice within the Montenegrin system. And CEAC is not the only aggrieved foreign investor from EU with claims pending against the Montenegrin government in international courts, which serves to underline how deeply broken the legal system is. The progress report explicitly talks to the grave risk to the Montenegrin economy that the unresolved KAP dispute represents: “The sale of KAP remains on hold until the bankruptcy administrator can transfer the property free of litigation, with risks of a new round of contingent liabilities for the public finances”. Indeed, the cumulative value of the many international arbitration cases pending against the state of Montenegro from foreign investors now exceeds €1bn. This represents almost a third of the country’s GDP of €3.4bn. If the State of Montenegro is found against in these proceedings, as is likely, this would seriously endanger the Montenegrin economy. Through its contempt for the rule of law and international investors’ rights, Djukanovic’s government is wilfully imperilling the wellbeing of its own citizens. While we have always stated that we support Montenegro’s eventual EU membership, it cannot be at any cost, and Stefan Füle rightly recognises this. The hard facts on the ground demonstrate that extremely serious issues of the rule of law and investor protection persist. We are extremely encouraged that the European Commission recognises how serious these are. Now, there is clear pressure on the Montenegrin government from the European Commission itself to implement meaningful reforms, to resolve the KAP dispute and to bring to a satisfactory resolution the multiple cases against it from foreign direct investors like CEAC.
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Media summaries are produced for the internal use of the United Nations Office in Belgrade, UNMIK and UNHQ. The contents do not represent anything other than a selection of articles likely to be of interest to a United Nations readership.
