LOCAL PRESS

UN Panel: UNMIK to apologize to families of abducted Serbs (RTS/Tanjug/Vesti)

The UN Human Rights Advisory Panel in Kosovo has requested UNMIK to publicly admit responsibility and apologize to the family because it didn’t conduct an efficient investigation in regard to the abduction and disappearance of Dragan Stevanovic and Ivan Majstorovic. In the document into which the Frankfurt-based Vesti had insight into, this Commission requests UNMIK to publicly, through the media, admit responsibility, to apologize to the family and request from the Kosovo authorized organs to undertake all steps towards bringing the perpetrators to justice. UNMIK didn’t conduct an efficient investigation in regard to the abduction and disappearance of Dragan Stevanovic, who was abducted together with Ivan Majstorovic (17) on 19 August 1999 while they were travelling from Kosovo Polje to Podujevo, Tanjug reports. Investigative records show that apart from opening the investigation, UNMIK didn’t undertake one single activity to find Stevanovic, and then the investigation was closed. The document of the UN Central Unit for Criminal Investigation points to the incomprehensible move, which states that a meeting was held on 18 November 2003 with the UNMIK/KFOR captain H.L. from the US Air Force, the deputy head of the War Crimes Unit (V.R.) and officials of UNMIK’s Justice Department (C.F. and P.C.). It was decided at this meeting that, due to time and resource constraints and staff, they continue with the investigation of only certain cases and to remain with only those where there was a big possibility to identify the suspects. For the Stevanovic case it was decided that it doesn’t fulfill the necessary level of evidence, traces, or identification of the suspects. UNMIK Justice Department head Paul Coffey ordered the closing of this case. “The Commission notices with extreme concern that the closing of this case had obviously been a consequence of the general policy conducted by UNMIK’s Justice Department,” reads the UN Advisory Panel in its opinion. “Another major concern is caused by the fact that such a policy was adopted 10 months after the UN Secretary-General noted in his report to the Security Council that the police and judicial system in Kosovo established by UNMIK ‘functions well’ and that it is ‘sustainable’, stresses the UN Advisory Panel. The Commission, Vesti reports, also points to the fact that the order of closing the case was issued by the Justice Department, and not the prosecutor entrusted with the investigation or surveillance over it. The Commission points to the non-explicable role of “the legal advisor of UNMIK/KFOR” who was obviously a military advisor, in the creation and implementation of this policy. The family of Dragan Stevanovic, immediately after his disappearance, informed the Red Cross, KFOR and UNMIK, giving the possible location of disappearance. Together with other families that have been searching for missing, wrote to Bernard Kouchner. “They haven’t reported to us absolutely anything. For 17 years not one information did we receive,” says Dragan’s wife Slavica who is raising their three children. “I am going over this even today, expecting someone to call me. I can’t understand that a person disappears just like that,” adds Slavica. She points out that she received from a certain R.K. the information that her husband was taken to Albania. However, after she had given him money, she never saw him again. “He claimed he was alive. But they never called him for interrogation, and I don’t know whether he really knew something or just wanted to earn money,” says Slavica. She adds that the opinion of the Advisory Panel means to her, but that someone should do something in regard to this. “We can only wait since everybody knows and everybody is acquainted, but in the end nothing,” Dragan’s wife concludes. The Advisory Panel thinks that “this case, just as the other cases of murders, abductions and disappearances that had been previously examined, points to a pattern of superficial and unproductive investigations conducted by the UNMIK police in regard to the murders and disappearances in Kosovo”.

Dacic: Kerry commended Serbia (RTS)

The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic has stated after the meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry in Washington that the US supports the policy of the Serbian government and wish for the good relations with Belgrade. Kerry greeted the progress in the dialogue with Pristina and Serbia’s steps toward the stabilization of the situation in the Balkans, Dacic noted. He said that the talks with Kerry touched upon the chairing over the OSCE and Serbia’s relations with the US. The Serbian Minister has firmly guaranteed that Serbia will be a fair and unbiased mediator in the solving of the crises in the territories covered by the OSCE, while expressing pleasure that the US is supporting the Serbian presidency.

Drecun: Belgrade respects only agreements (Danas)

It was impossible to receive yesterday at the Serbian government headquarters a concrete answer to the question whether Belgrade respects the Brussels agreement, and based on it, the recently initialed agreement with Pristina on the judiciary, because Serbian Minister for Labor Aleksandar Vulin claims that “Serbia doesn’t recognize any court in Djakovica that issues warrants for alleged war crimes”. The government headquarters unofficially states that only Vulin can explain such statements and why he comments current Kosovo topics even before the relevant government Office for Kosovo and Metohija and relevant ministries. Until the conclusion of this issue, Danas didn’t receive Vulin’s explanation for yesterday’s comment in regard to Interpol’s warrant for former Yugoslav Army general Momir Stojanovic and another 16 Djakovica Serbs. The Basic court in Djakovica charges all of them with war crimes against civilians. We didn’t find out yesterday either in the Office for Kosovo and Metohija or in the Justice Ministry whether and what does Serbia respect when it comes to the Kosovo judiciary, having in mind that its Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic accepted and initialed on 9 February in Brussels for the Serbian judiciary to be integrated into the Kosovo judicial system in northern Kosovo and Metohija as well, in accordance with the applicable Kosovo laws. “Serbia doesn’t recognize the court of the self-declared Kosovo state, but we respect the Brussels agreement and the agreement on the judiciary, because they have a status neutral framework. Belgrade has accepted for practical reasons for the Serbs to take part in the work of the Kosovo courts that it treats as provisional institutions,” the MP of the Serbian Progressive Party and the Chairman of the Serbian parliamentary Committee for Kosovo and Metohija Milovan Drecun tells Danas. Drecun opines that there is no reason over which Vulin, as the Minister in the Serbian government, could not speak in public about Kosovo and Metohija.

Stojanovic will not be tried in Djakovica (Novosti)

Serbia doesn’t recognize the court in Djakovica, but upon UNMIK’s request, if it occurs, it could interrogate Momir Stojanovic who is charged with alleged crimes in Kosovo and Metohija in 1999. Novosti unofficially learns that there is also an option for Stojanovic to be interrogated in Belgrade by EULEX prosecutors if the EU Mission is interested in this. Serbian organs will certainly not send Stojanovic to Djakovica. Nevertheless, no state organ received yesterday any official instruction on the eventual steps they should undertake in the case of general Stojanovic, former head of the Military Security agency and Chairman of the Serbian parliamentary Committee for the Control of Security Services, as well as another 16 Serbs against which Interpol issued a red warrant. It is based on the request of EULEX’s prosecutor for Kosovo over alleged war crimes against the civilians in 1999. The Justice Ministry unofficially tells Novosti that they are not in charge of issues of international warrants, but the Serbian Interior Ministry. Novosti was also told that no request for international legal assistance had arrived at their Ministry, which is under this Ministry’s jurisdiction. The Serbian Prosecution also has no clear idea on what would be Serbia’s obligations after Interpol’s warrant in this concrete case. The Serbian judiciary, including the prosecuting organs, continues not to recognize the decisions of Kosovo courts. They didn’t have similar cases in the past, and the fact that the request was issued by EULEX’s prosecutor would not have to be binding for Serbia, because EULEX’s prosecutors have been integrated into the Kosovo judiciary, which we don’t recognize. Still, even if the warrant is considered to be politically fabricated, it is under UNMIK (Kosovo) on Interpol’s document, and UNMIK, just as EULEX, are missions that Serbia accepted in Kosovo and Metohija, which is possible international leverage for pressures on Belgrade. According to Borislav Stefanovic, former negotiator in the dialogue with Pristina, it would be best to resolve the case in court where Stojanovic would prove his innocence: “Serbia may say that it doesn’t recognize Kosovo courts, but the government, with the Brussels agreement, gave to this same judiciary legitimacy and transferred it to northern Kosovo and Metohija. The Serbian Prosecution can try to clarify the situation through the UN, to attach evidence on Stojanovic’s innocence so the warrant would be withdrawn.” Since the warrant was issued by UNMIK, with whom Belgrade cooperates, Stefanovic says this will be “a noose around Serbia’s neck” and a means of pressure, and the situation is complicated by the fact that Stojanovic is the Chairman of the Serbian parliamentary Committee and he needs to travel by the nature of his work, but now he will be incapable: “Suspicion will arouse why our MP cannot leave the country, so the best thing is to remove all dilemmas.”

Albanians will not stop (Novosti, comment by Toma Fila, attorney)

Even when Oliver Ivanovic was arrested in Kosovska Mitrovica, I warned all prominent Serbs in the southern province to watch themselves. Albanian leaders and part of the international community obviously don’t intend to stop.

Interpol’s red warrant for Momir Stojanovic and another 16 Djakovica residents shows a clear and unambiguous intention to intimidate all Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija; to completely scare them off. General Stojanovic, like General Dikovic, was a defense witness at the trials before the Hague Tribunal. The prosecutors didn’t find anything that could compromise these people as witnesses, nor did they manage to challenge the credibility of their testimonies.

Stojanovic was a security officer in Kosovo and Metohija, and not an operative soldier. All evidence related to the work of the security services in Kosovo during the war activities were completely presented before the Hague Tribunal, and nothing was found there.

Unlike the war in B&H, where security officers were tried, indictments in Kosovo were exclusively raised against the regular army. Stojanovic as a security officer didn’t belong to that chain of commanding.

It also isn’t accidental that all this is launched at a moment when Pristina is under great pressure to found a special court for war crimes, which will also prosecute their war leaders.

Placing Stojanovic and the Djakovica residents on Interpol’s warrant means that they now can’t leave the state, because they would be immediately arrested. But, the state of Serbia should not extradite them to the non-recognized Kosovo, nor does it have the obligation to do so.

Either legal or moral.

Blair in Belgrade – for a cup of coffee without sugar (New Serbian Political Thought, by Mihailo Medenica, 26 February 2015)

Zorana Mihajlovic nicely explained that Tony Blair didn’t hold any lecture for the ministers, and that tortured guardian of ‘Belgrade on the Water’ during the winter period Sinisa Mali, but that this was simply a chat over coffee, and that most importantly – this didn’t cost Serbia one single dinar!

He probably dropped by a gas station and bought 100 grams of coffee, so they drank his, while it also makes me happy that coffee-drinking with him is not at the expense of the taxpayers, but only at the expense of those on whose graves exhibit 1999 as the year of death. Somewhere between March and June. And all those subsequent graves in the province of Kosovo-Metohija, which are still fresh, while the old ones are desecrated and plowed over…

And, of course, there wasn’t anything secret about the ‘coffee’ at all – since the man otherwise has the habit of backdoor comings and goings, he does that also at home, and often through those little pet doors as well.

A humble and sweet man, enters and exists through the small door, leaving behind him a trail of muddy residue…

Joking aside, Serbia is neither heavenly nor earthly, but sad and degraded, and as such it cannot go either down or up, but is where it is – in the air, as unwashed torn underpants left on a stick as a white flag…

Allow me to be crucified by this Serbia, to which I do not belong (the first or second, I don’t know how they divide and classify us anymore), but in the house of the deceased there is no room for the executioner!

That is the famous red line of national interests, for us distant and unattainable, and red precisely from the blood that this same Blair has on his hands! Up to his elbows! Serbian, Albanian, Iraqi, Libyan…

Regardless of whose is it, it is equally red, he and those like him have equally done misery to mankind that there is no valid reason enough not to scorn them!

Coffee is always drunk with friends, and if these are our friends today – then Serbia doesn’t need a bigger enemy than itself!!!

Gentlemen, do you remember that you prosecuted and adjudicated him during that very 1999 at some pathetical and designed trials?!

Did he serve this sentence in the meantime in your virtual cell, or did you subsequently accept some defense arguments into which you didn’t have insight the other day, in national ecstasy and hysteria?!

Did you let him know, while sipping coffee, and laughing as an adulator, that he was actually arrested as a war criminal (your qualification, remember) and that he has the right to one call, attorney and security to the airport when he gets bored in prison?!

Did you turn your cups upside down in the end so that he can look your fortune?!

Do you know what he saw: a bunch of fools, a pile of mats, wretched adulators who bore him while he tries to drink his coffee in peace, remembering the good ol’ days, when you were spitting in the sky believing you will hit one of the bombers or at least get the pilot’s “windshield” dirty…

They say that only a fool never changes mind, which is, I believe, absolutely true. Equally as true is that only fools too often change mind…

It’s nice and commendable that you have changed your mind about Blair, but believe me, he didn’t change his about you!

For him, you are the same Serbs about whom he said: “The war against the Serbs is not only a military conflict! That is a battle between good and evil, between civilization and barbarism”!

For him, you were just another well-paid gig! Because of you, Serbia is only a torn wedding tent under which every ragtag is welcome to present his/her talent in you adaptation of the TV talent show “Your face sounds familiar”!

His sounds too familiar, this you dared to forget before you, as a good host, started making the coffee…

REGIONAL PRESS

Confirmed candidates for ministers in the Council of Ministers (RTRS)

At the meeting of the party leaders there was a discussion about the composition of the new Council of Ministers, between the SDS Mladen Bosic, PDP Mladen Ivanic, NDP Dragan Cavic and the Chairman of the Council of Ministers Denis Zvizdic. They have officially confirmed candidates for ministerial positions. The candidate for Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations is Mirko Sarovic, for the Minister of Foreign Affairs Igor Crnadak and for the Minister of Security Dragan Mektic, RTRS reports. The candidates for the substitute chair are also confirmed: candidate for the Deputy Minister of civil affairs NDP’s Djordje Milicevic, Deputy Defense Minister SDS Boris Jerinic and the candidate for the Deputy Minister for human rights also SDS member Predrag Jovic. Chairman of the Council of Ministers Denis Zvizdic said that he is confident that by the 11th of March the Council of Ministers will be formed. “I am sure that the process of forming the Council of Ministers will be completed by March 11, otherwise it would be difficult to explain to citizens why the process is so delayed,” Zvizdic told reporters in Banja Luka today.

Husein ef. Kavazovic: Some are trying to use religion and do what they are doing (Oslobodjenje)

Being the grand Mufti of Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H), he is the new spiritual leader and the head of Islamic Community from September 2012. Since then, its Constitution was changed and for the first time women were called to participate actively in the elections for the Community bodies. Furthermore, Riyasat of ICB&H and reis-ul ulema itself were extensively helping flooded area and people hit by these misfortunes, trying to share both good and bad with the whole nation. Upon hearing the news on the Pope’s Francis visit to Bosnia, Husein Ef. Kavazovic did not hesitate and he paid a visit to cardinal Puljic, offering help in organizing the Pope’s arrival.

I have to admit that not only the public in B&H, but in region and the whole world as well, was quite surprised by precision and clarity of your condemnation of Charlie Hebdo shootings in Paris. That was a human, honest reaction and given the institution you represent, it was bold as well. Tell us how we can differentiate killers and terrorists from the religion’s cape they are hiding under?

“That is certainly the most frequent question among the Muslims today and in the Muslim world in general. The conviction of the crimes, of the terrorist attacks that happened in France, is not questionable at all since it is important to condemn all crimes. Crimes should be condemned since they are crimes. We can make a comparison; let’s say, with crimes committed upon B&H Muslims, the killings of our children by Scorpions that we all saw on the video footage. In a same manner, this is also a crime, where innocent people were killed in Paris. There is no ‘but’ when crimes are being discussed. And now the basic question: we have to differentiate crimes from faith. We know what Islam teaches us, we know the verse from Kuran: who kills one man, he kills the whole world. So we have to ask ourselves, what more we can do in order to isolate the criminals and to stop the crimes. Obviously, some are trying to use religion and do what they are doing under its cape. Can we stop that? I believe that the ullama has its role, and that is to speak on crimes more openly. The phenomenon of evil needs no explanations, since it exists from the beginnings of humanity. The phenomena of evil came to existence since the first dialogue of the devil and Allah and there are the beginnings of all evil. The religion has nothing do to with it, since the people who interpret it are to blame and the lack of clarity in our own articulations and that is where I think we can do more.”

B&H Muslims still remember the experience of death, terror and aggression. However, Muslim intellectuals from our country started talking about the consequences of growing extremism. How Islamic Community could take more active role Islamic values as the opportunity for dialogue that will overcome the clash of civilizations?

“Islamic community can do what is appropriate on its mission of doing the good deeds and advert the evil ones. Islamic community should be determined and speak openly about it and it is doing whatever it can.”

The attacker on American Embassy in 2011 and people such as Bilal Bosnic and preachers alike who promote going to fight with ISIS in Syria belong to the same group of people. What is the attitude of Islamic Community towards these “preachers”?

“All those who are breaking basic principles of Islam and who incite on violence and those who are violent cannot stand equally with our imams and Islamic Community. And we cannot accept the preaching for exclusion, radical point of views and calls on violence. And that is what we have to condemn. Islamic community needs to enhance its activities to protect the people from hate speech, from hatred towards different and that is a fact.”

What happens when our children are being called to fight for Islam?

“We have a state here and the state needs to stop that. Islamic community is there to condemn it and the state to prevent it. We have to clarify and indicate what is wrong. Islamic community needs to speak out and the state needs to do its work. How much it will succeed, remains open but the state need to be more decisive about it.”

B&H and FYROM propose Joint Balkan Armed Forces (Dnevnik.ba)

At a meeting between the military chiefs of B&H and FYROM, discussions were held on the formation of a joint military force for Balkan countries, for the purpose of cooperating in the event of natural disasters and other catastrophes. The B&H and FYROM armed forces have discussed the possibility of establishing a joint “Balkan Armed Forces” which would intervene in the event of natural disasters. A delegation from the FYROM military, headed by Chief of General Staff Lieutenant General Goranco Koteski, met with B&H Defense Secretary Zekerijah Osmic and Lieutenant General Anto Jelec to discuss bilateral military cooperation between the two countries, as well as regional cooperation with other countries in the region, as well as peacekeeping missions. During the course of the meeting, the Bosnian Defense Ministry reported in a statement, Lieutenant General Koteski “put forward his suggestion of the establishment of joint Balkan armed forces, which would act together to deal with natural catastrophes, which the B&H Defense Ministry completely supports”. “Lieutenant General Jelec and Lieutenant General Koteski talked about the bilateral and regional cooperation of the armed forces of the two countries thus far, and about further plans for progress in this cooperation in the future, said the Ministry, “with a stress on the importance of regional security initiatives as the key format of cooperation, which is of great importance not only to B&H and FYROM, but for the region as a whole, particularly during the course of natural and other disasters and catastrophes.” In May 2014 the Balkan countries of Croatia, Serbia and B&H were hit by flooding after the heaviest rainfall recorded in 120 years as a result of cyclone Tamara. Tens of thousands of people were evacuated from their homes, and at least 80 people lost their lives. In order to assist, FYROM sent Serbia and B&H 75 specialists from its Defense and Internal Affairs Ministries, as well as pumps and other equipment to help with the relief effort.

The first sentence in the case “Putsch” – 3 years for illegal wiretapping and spying (MIA)

The first sentence in the case “Putsch” reveal details about the operation of the criminal group led by Zoran Verushevski. Zvonko Kostovski yesterday received prison sentence of 3 years for illegal wiretapping and spying and confessed how he has collaborated with foreign services, how Verushevski coordinated the suspects, who had been the target of illegal surveillance ordered by former scout, reported Sitel. In ruling that Sitel received using the right of free access to information that states that the employee works in the Ministry of Interior that yesterday was sentenced began during 2010. Through the second employee in the Ministry of Interior Affairs, he came into contact with Zoran Verushevski and on his order misused technical capacities of the Ministry of Interior entering telephone numbers of more politicians and other public figures. At this verdict can be seen the initials of some of intercepted people. Among them can be recognized first letters of the names of the Prime Minister, Minister Jankuloska, head of AIC Mijalkov and other initials are indicative as BC Branko Crvenkovski and Radmila Sekerinska.

Then the recorded conversations the convicted gave to his colleague at MIA which in turn has delivered them to Verushevski. The ultimate destinations were foreign secret services.

Kostovski received three years in prison with agreement with public prosecution, which was subsequently verified by the judge prior procedure in Skopje Criminal Court. This proves the claim that behind wiretapping stands foreign country that has engaged the suspects led by Verushevski. The cooperation of the former scout with the leader of SDSM was proven with the letter in which they agree on details for the so-called “Putsch”.

Strong blow from Gruevski over the destructive scenario of Zaev (MIA)

Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski as a house of cards smashed the structures and manipulation of the opposition leader. His appearance, which was clear, confident, based on the evidence, with facts, and arguments, analysts have already declared as one of his best speeches. Gruevski gave strong blow on the overall destructive scenario of Zaev for destabilizing the country. Responding to more than 25 questions from journalists and accurately explaining all topics and posts, Prime Minister again confirmed that he runs stable policy and gave set back to the destructive opposition, which has increasingly lost the support of the citizens. The public after the address by Prime Minister even more massively supports VMRO-DPMNE and proportionally grows the anger towards the opposition cooperation with the foreign offices. The truth came to light. The strong evidence showed to the public what is the behavior of family Verushevski and how they acted against the FYROM interests. The public is astonished. They communicated among themselves with codes other than ordinary communication at any normal family. They tried to destroy files from computer materials with ax and in panic, throw mobile phones through window during police action. Such behavior is not appropriate for people who want to prove to someone that they are not guilty. “Whether the person Z.V. and his family have or not certain illegal activities, indicate their panic reactions i.e. attempt to break the computer with ax, throwing mobile phones through the window and their involvement after MIA collected evidence submitted to the public prosecutor and will be presented to the court in future proceedings. Whether if any of you is innocent and have a police search in your home for a case would destroy the computer with ax, will throw the mobile phone through the window, whether normal person will communicate with his wife and children by using numbers instead of letters, codes that each of them knows how to decipher them and turn them into text”, said Gruevski. In his speech, Gruevski de-masked foreign services and domestic agents that Verushevski developed in Macedonia for the opposition to work for foreigners. It is proved that the FYROM and its citizens has been the target of highly trained professionals with highly sophisticated equipment, aided by domestic element. Through precise facts and evidence presented by the Prime Minister, citizens realized that Zaev ordinary puppet of foreigners, he does not understands the game played against FYROM, he has no capacity and looks like kamikaze that agreed to work for them. In the addressing, the analysts say Gruevski is in a great offensive action and that besides what the opposition did, they dragged down especially having in mind the fact that citizens do not accept the style of Zaev’s game. Many wonder how all this might end, and the Prime Minister gave the answer to that question. “The citizens will give their response to this question through the confidence and they will give it to all us of the political scene. Time and citizens are keys i.e. their determination whether they want to be dragged into this destructive scenario prepared and packed by side structures or will focus on the real problems and towards those who would offer better solutions to the problems of citizens, better program results. Otherwise, this recipe for destroying the state through created materials in cooperation with foreign services with guidance introductions, our opposition should patent it”, Gruevski said. Zaev’s attempt to set Gruevski failed that he is responsible for wiretapping. It was clearly seen that Zaev is one of the main characters in this whole operation of foreign services. Prime Minister with facts, evidence, arguments, and details sank Zoran Zaev’s ship.

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

Kerry welcomes Serbia’s cooperation regarding Ukraine (USA Today, 27 February 2015)

Serbia assumes leadership of Organization for Security Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)

US Secretary of State John Kerry praised his Serbian counterpart’s cooperation on Ukraine, following meetings in Washington on Thursday. Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic recently became chairman of the Organization for Security Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), one of the groups monitoring the implementation of the Minsk peace deal to end the war in eastern Ukraine. US Secretary of State, John Kerry: “Under the chairmanship of Foreign Minister Dacic, we will all be looking for accountability in the process of trying to stabilize Ukraine, the Eastern part of Ukraine, the OSCE observation observer status is absolutely critical to our ability to know which side, both sides, are adhering to the agreements so we welcome the assumption of this responsibility.” Serbia, which has close historic ties to Russia has made entering the EU as its major foreign policy goal in the coming years. That choice has irked Moscow, which was also disappointed when a major gas pipeline project to have through Serbia was shelved after objections from Brussels.

Serbia’s IMF package set to boost privatisation (Financial Times, by Andrew MacDowall, 26 February 2015)

Three years after its last International Monetary Fund (IMF) deal was suspended over its budgetary profligacy, Serbia at last has a new €1.2bn package from the Fund, intended to stiffen resolve for a wave of privatisation and fiscal consolidation. That is likely to prove the hard part, and investors are awaiting full details of promised reforms. Nevertheless, the Serbian government has repeatedly avowed its determination, and some of the assets coming up for sale should attract international interest. The IMF’s executive board approved the three-year precautionary stand-by arrangement (SBA) on February 23, announcing that the programme had three main aims: fiscal consolidation, strengthening the financial sector, and boosting competitiveness and growth through structural reforms. This from a statement by David Lipton, the Fund’s first deputy managing director: “The Serbian economy faces serious fiscal imbalances and entrenched structural weaknesses, in the context of slower growth and adverse regional spillovers. The authorities’ Fund-supported program offers an opportunity to restore public debt sustainability, rebalance macroeconomic policies, enhance financial sector resilience, and improve competitiveness and medium-term growth potential.” Last year, Serbia posted Europe’s largest consolidated budget deficit, at 6.6 per cent of GDP (the consolidated figure was probably even larger), while debt topped 70 percent, well above a theoretical legal limit of 45 per cent. Serbia’s last IMF deal, a €1bn SBA, was suspended in February 2012 due to fast-and-loose fiscal policy under a previous government; the current administration says that is picking up the pieces. The IMF praised the government’s reforms last year, including to labour and pensions laws, and its ownership of budgetary retrenchment. While some feel that this has not yet been as far-reaching as hoped, the Fund endorsed a target of starting to reduce the debt-to-GDP ratio by 2017, and issued the usual calls for “improving the public financial management framework”. Like many countries in the region, Serbia has seen the non-performing loan ratio grow in recent years, and the Fund welcomed the government’s commitment to designing and a policy to address this. It stated the squeeze put on the economy by fiscal tightening could be offset by monetary easing, a path that the central bank has already been taking as inflationary pressures have eased. Exchange-rate flexibility also benefits the country, Lipton added – though the dinar’s weakness has been a concern to some in recent years. Upbeat though the IMF’s comments were, investors will be keen to see a clearer roadmap for the Funds three goals of consolidation, fiscal stabilisation and reform. “The IMF confirming the precautionary deal is a positive in the near-term, especially in offsetting the EUR/RSD upside pressures,” Ivana Kovacic, an analyst at Hypo Alpe Adria, told beyondbrics. “However, we think the IMF will want the sovereign to walk the walk and not just talk the talk. In our view, securing the deal was ‘the easier’ step. The challenge will be to maintain the deal for the next three years and seriously embark on all the needed consolidation measures. In that respect, we are waiting for the IMF’s Article IV consultation release to see all the austerity measures the Fund will want to see.” Significantly, the Fund’s statement emphasises the importance of restructuring state-owned enterprises both to reduce pressure on the budget, and as a structural reform measure. The government has prepared a list of more than 500 companies it aims to privatise, and in November Economy Minister Zeljko Sertic told beyondbrics that the programme was on track and attracting substantial international interest. Kovacic says that this process is “so far not going as smoothly as planned”. “We are sceptical about the sovereign’s plan to finalize the SOEs restructuring in this year, bearing in mind sensitive aspects of it (such as optimising the number of employees) and hence, see risks stemming from this.” Some in Serbia are concerned that the public sector lay-offs likely to result from privatisation and restructuring could lead to protests of the sort that have been seen across South Eastern Europe in recent years. But Milan Parivodic, a former minister in economic portfolios who now acts as a consultant to investors in Serbia says that small-scale demonstrations that have cropped up are unlikely to snowball. Parivodic told beyondbrics that Sertic had reassured him that privatisations would go ahead. “The government as every interest in furthering privatisation in one way or another,” Parivodic said. “Serbia is simply not in the position to prolong this process, it has to be completed, the government is determined to make it happen and I understand that the IMF has recognised this intention by confirming the loan.” Telco Telekom Srbija and pharmaceutical company Galenika are expected to be among the more attractive assets on the block, while Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic has been drumming up Chinese interest in engine and tractor manufacturers. Other assets are expected to be rather less appealing. “There could be interest from European, American, Chinese or Indian investors, but Russia is too consumed with its own turmoil,” Parivodic said. “The upsides are that Serbia offers tariff-free access a huge market of hundreds of millions of people, primarily in the EU, but also Russia, EFTA, and Turkey, as well as regional markets. The skilled labour force is also very important. Risks are mainly from red tape.” Serbs and investors alike are now awaiting the government’s next steps.

Serbia begins NATO partnership (SETimes, 26 February 2015)

Two months after Serbia agreed to a ground-breaking partnership with NATO, the deal is ready for launch.

According to US Ambassador to Serbia Michael Kirby, the two-year Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP) approved January 15th will take effect in March. The accord is the highest level of co-operation offered by the 28-state military alliance to non-members. “Serbia maintains a good and serious army, and it is logical that it wishes to co-operate with its peers, improve and enhance its military, and this is the reason why NATO is a good option as a potential partner,” Kirby said February 18th during a lecture on the Partnership for Peace programme at the Novi Sad Faculty of Economics. The agreement is “in accordance with the commitment of Serbia to actively participate in the Partnership for Peace, as well as with the policy of military neutrality,” said Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic. “The adoption of the IPAP is a significant step forward in our relations with NATO and it will create conditions for a regular and structured dialogue, including dialogue at the political level,” he added. Under the Partnership for Peace programme, which Serbia joined in 2006, Belgrade’s relationship with NATO was limited to the defence ministry. The IPAP now raises Serbia’s co-operation with NATO to the government level. The second chapter of the IPAP, “which is related to defence and military issues … shall be implemented in accordance with the decisions of Serbian government, which is also a partner in this co-operation with NATO,” the Defence Ministry said in a statement to SETimes. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg also noted that the IPAP would strengthen mutual understanding with Serbia. “The new agreement concluded on [January 15th] will allow us to enhance our co-operation on issues of common interest and to our mutual benefit,” Stoltenberg said. “For instance, in working together to promote stability and security, in addressing the security challenges that we face today, and through NATO’s provision of defence and security sector reform expertise.” The implementation of the accord next month has other benefits for Serbia. There are still many incomplete structural reforms to Serbia’s security system that are important for integration with the EU, said Jelena Milic, the head of the Centre for Euro-Atlantic Studies in Belgrade. “Co-operation with NATO can significantly speed up and improve these reforms,” Milic told SETimes. For NATO, the IPAP means an opportunity to work together with the Serbian government on a variety of political and military issues, from institutional reforms and emergency planning, to counter-terrorism and defence against chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) agents. An important priority will be working together to further promote transparent democratic control over the armed forces. The IPAP also calls for Serbia to improve public access to information on the benefits of co-operation. “Ministries must be more transparent in promoting the significant innovations that the IPAP has brought,” Milic said. According to a survey published last month by New Serbian Political Thought, just 9.4 percent of Serbian citizens support NATO membership. But as Atlantic Council of Serbia chief Vladan Zivulovic noted, “Public opinion can be easily changed if the media and government stand behind their ideas about Atlantic integration.” “In today’s tightening relations between the West and the East, the adoption of the IPAP is a very important and clear sign that Serbia is moving toward Western orientation,” Aleksandra Joksimovic, the president of the Centre for Foreign Policy in Belgrade, told SETimes. In December, Serbia assumed the chairmanship of NATO’S Southeast Europe Security Steering Group (SEEGROUP). The military neutrality declared in 2007 has kept the country from seeking full membership in NATO.

Bosnia judge detained on suspicion of taking bribe (Jurist, by Steven Wildberger, 26 February 2015)

Bosnian State Court [official website] Judge Azra Miletic was detained by police on Wednesday on suspicion of taking a bribe from former police commissioner Ramo Brkic. The former commissioner was originally sentenced to 11 years [CIN report, in Croatian] in prison for drug dealing and corruption. The appeals court quashed verdicts [Dnevni avaz report, in Croatian] on five counts against Brkic, upholding only one guilty verdict for abuse of office and sentencing him to a year in prison. Miletic was arrested by the State Investigation and Protection Agency on orders from the Prosecutor of the Special Department for Organized Crime, Economic Crime and Corruption [official websites]. The court released a statement [text] urging that Miletic’s arrest is proof that no one is above the law. Bosnia’s recent efforts against organized crime relate to their interest in joining the EU, which has expressed concern over the state’s reputation for rampant corruption. Bosnia’s pervasive corruption stems from the 1990s Bosnian Civil War, a conflict from which the region is still recovering [JURIST op-ed]. Last month the war crimes division of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina indicted Dragomir Vasic [JURIST report] on charges of genocide stemming from the conflict. In December police in Bosnia and Serbia, as part of a joint investigation and operation, arrested 15 individuals [JURIST report] accused of perpetrating the 1993 Strpci massacre during the height of the Balkan conflict. The month before, Bosnian police arrested 12 men [JURIST report] suspected of war crimes during the civil war.

Gruevski Has Made a Nightmare out of Macedonia (Balkan Insight, by Erwan Fouéré, 27 February 2015)

A government that conducts spying operations on this scale has not only lost credibility; it has lost the right to govern. For the past few weeks, Macedonia has been rocked by revelations of massive wiretapping of its citizens, over a period spanning several years. The surveillance operation covered over 20,000 people – including ministers, judges, business people, journalists and even foreign diplomats – in a country of only 2 million. The fact that the government seemed to be spying on its own ministers speaks volumes about the nature of the regime. The wiretapped conversations, in voices that are clearly identifiable, provide vivid examples of alleged corruption in every sector and level of government. The Prime Minister, Nikola Gruevski, has tried to lay blame for the wiretapping on foreign intelligence services – which he has refused to identify – and has accused the opposition leader, Zoran Zaev, of plotting a coup. Zaev is charged with espionage and has had his passport removed. This is not the first time that the government has invoked espionage as a convenient excuse for locking up those it considers undesirable. It begs the question why the Prime Minister is obsessed with foreign intelligence services, as if spies were lurking at every street corner in Macedonia, when all he can offer of any, admittedly dubious, strategic value are oversized statues of Alexander The Great. It does not require much imagination to point to the Prime Minister together with the chief of the state security, Saso Mijalkov, as the likely masterminds of this vast exercise in wiretapping. A sinister figure, who is also the Prime Minister’s cousin, Mijalkov is always seen shadowing the Prime Minister and wields powers beyond any judicial control or parliamentary oversight. He is seen as the alter ego of the Prime Minister and as the power behind the ruling Internal Revolutionary Organisation – Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity, VMRO-DPMNE, which Gruevski leads. This is a government which, over the nine years that it has been in power, has strengthened its repressive grip over the country. Its ethno-nationalist and populist brand of politics, a throwback to the era of Slobodan Milosevic, has resulted in the re-emergence of deep tensions in a country that already witnessed a bloody ethnic conflict in 2001. After peace was restored following the Ohrid Framework Agreement, brokered in August 2001, reforms were pursued in the succeeding years in line with the objective of joining the EU. The international community hailed Macedonia as a success story in terms of multi-ethnic cooperation in the Balkan region, so much so that the EU granted it candidate status in 2005. All of that changed with the election in 2006 of the current Prime Minister and his VMRO-DPMNE party. Since then, Macedonia has lurched from one crisis to another, with periodic flare-ups of inter-ethnic violence and growing polarization in society. The early parliamentary elections of June 2008 saw outbreaks of violence with one fatality and many injuries. In December 2012, violence erupted in parliament itself, with the forcible eviction from the chamber of all the opposition MPs together with journalists present. Following the last parliamentary elections of 2014, which were marred by intimidation and other serious irregularities, which the OSCE election observation report highlighted, the opposition decided to boycott parliament, a boycott that continues to this day. The Prime Minister has failed to resolve the ongoing parliamentary crisis and restore some semblance of political dialogue. On the contrary, he has pursued a ruthless campaign against all those who openly criticize him, with many languishing in prison, often on fabricated charges, as revealed in the wiretapped transcripts. The ruling party does not tolerate any minority or dissenting views, and uses fear and intimidation to exercise its repressive authority over society. It has the worst media freedom record in the Balkan region; the latest Reporters Without Borders index ranks it in 123rd place, just above Angola, a drop of almost 90 places from 2009, when it was ranked 34th.

Civil society organisations that speak out in defense of human rights and greater tolerance in society have also been the target of vitriolic government attacks. As if that was not enough, incidences of hate speech, incitement to violence and homophobic sentiments are a common feature of the popular TV talk shows that are periodically graced with the presence of the Prime Minister and even the President. The government, meanwhile, tries to burnish its business-friendly image with glitzy advertisements on CNN and vaunts its high rating on the World Bank Doing Business Index. Under this veneer of normality, however, lies a corrupt system of public tendering for contracts. This latest scandal shows the deep-seated corrupt and evil nature of the regime. Regardless of who is behind the wiretapping, the transcripts provide ample evidence of a ruling party that deliberately ignores the institutional process and separation of powers, operates by its own rules and violates all basic standards of democracy and even of decency. The coarse and even profane language used by party officials in some of the released taped conversations would not be out of place in a Banana Republic. A government that conducts a spying operation on such an industrial scale on its own people and even on members of its own party has lost all credibility and indeed any legitimacy to remain as a government. That one man and his party can turn a success story into such a nightmare underlines the fragility of Macedonia as a functioning state. It is high time the international community, in particular the EU, paid more attention to what is happening. Merely calling for institutions to function as we expect them to is not enough, when faced with such a regime. It should offer support to those citizens who are courageous enough to continue the fight for dignity and basic human rights, despite extensive harassment, intimidation and even imprisonment. They are the only hope for preserving the soul of Macedonia from further erosion by a discredited regime, which has put its own narrow party interests ahead of the interests of the country and its citizens.

Erwan Fouéré is Associate Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for European Policy Studies, and was the EU Special Representative in Macedonia from 2005 to 2011.