LOCAL PRESS

Belgrade and Pristina in Brussels again in about ten days? (Politika)

The new round of the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue may resume in about ten days, Politika has learned in Brussels’ diplomatic circles. Western European countries have launched the initiative for the resumption of the dialogue since they want the two sides to initial officially the already reached agreements before the EU administration’s summer break. Politika learns from diplomatic sources that Aleksandar Vucic and Isa Mustafa completely agreed on telecommunications at the last meeting on 29 June in Brussels. Both sides were also one step away from reaching an agreement on the Union of Serb Municipalities (ZSO), which is defined as a public institution with executive jurisdictions, but the Pristina delegation didn’t accept for the employees in the ZSO to have the status of state officials. Politika learns that not even the long-hour attempts by the EU High Representative Federica Mogherini to convince Mustafa to accept this term for ZSO officials, because it stems from the Brussels agreement, didn’t yield results, because of which she interrupted the talks. In the agreement on telecommunications Serbia will take an area code for Kosovo from the International Telecommunications organization. The permit will include Kosovo with an asterisk and this would mean that this territory received the area code for a geographic territory, and not for a state. All calls from the southern Serbian province towards the rest of Serbia would continue to be tariffed as domestic traffic. After five years Serbia managed to preserve Telekom’s property so that all 23 base stations and seven facilities in Kosovo and Metohija will remain in the jurisdiction of this public company. Telekom will establish a daughter-company that will receive from Pristina a license for fixed and mobile telephony in the southern Serbian province, while prices, when it comes to mobile telephony, will be lower than before. Based on agreement, the license for the Serbian telephone company will be extended until 2017. The Serbian side also ensured for the ZSO to have its own special, guaranteed part in the digital specter for televisions and other media. Both sides accepted exemption of the ZSO from all duties, customs and provincial taxes. Money that will flow into one ZSO cash register will pay for development projects in this part of the province, while part of the funds will pay for the schools and healthcare institutions. According to this agreement, the ZSO will have a president, deputy president, assembly and seven-member executive council. The biggest stumbling block in the agreement of the two sides is the non-readiness of the Albanian delegation to carry into effect item 4 of the Brussels agreement, whereby the ZSO is envisaged to have executive jurisdictions in the fields of economic development, education, urban and rural organization. The Pristina side justifies itself that it cannot accept for the ZSO to have broader jurisdictions from municipalities because this is not according to the current Kosovo laws. However, precisely the Brussels agreement envisages Pristina to amend all laws so the ZSO could operate according to provincial regulations. It will take four months at the most from the moment of the signing of the agreement in Brussels for the ZSO to finally start operating. The Albanian side insisted at the negotiations to propose the location of the ZSO headquarters. The Brussels administration rejected such a possibility, so official Belgrade in agreement with the representatives of Kosovo Serb municipalities will decide where the ZSO center will be located.

Two words from the Union of Serb Municipalities (RTS)

Radio and Television of Serbia (RTS) has learned from diplomatic sources in Kosovo that are close to Brussels that the agreement of the Union of Serb Municipalities (ZSO) was not reached at the last round of the dialogue only over two words. These two words are the state official, i.e. the status and the title of the administration that manages the ZSO. The Serbian side, referring to the Brussels agreement, defended the thesis that the ZSO implements joint jurisdictions of municipalities and more than that. In addition, it performs public functions – strengthening of the local self-administration, and has full control over the local self-administration, education, primary and secondary healthcare, prepares the return of expellees, has jurisdictions in urbanism and inspection. It is also important for the education and healthcare system in the ZSO to be as in the rest of Serbia. RTS has learned that they agreed in Brussels the principles on the formation of the ZSO that would have the right to unlimited financing from the government in Belgrade, which can be financed by the Kosovo government at the same time and have its own sources of income and its budget. It was also agreed that the ZSO will be exempted from all duties, rates and taxes. When it comes to the organizational structure of the ZSO, it would be comprised of five organs: Assembly, speaker and deputy, Council that would include representatives of the Serbian Orthodox Church and mayors, as well as the ZSO executive council or Board that would have seven members for all fields in their jurisdiction.

Dacic: Fourth version of British resolution unacceptable as well (Informer)

Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic has stated that the latest fourth draft version of the resolution on Srebrenica is also unacceptable for Serbia, because the text continues not to give up that genocide was committed and because it will not contribute to peace in the region. Dacic points out that the stand is still being imposed that the Serbs committed genocide against the Bosniaks in Srebrenica. Dacic told Informer that it seems that London is trying to convince Moscow to accept the British version of the draft resolution on Srebrenica and recalled that Moscow managed to influence London to also mention in their resolution “crime committed on all sides in the conflict in B&H”. Dacic couldn’t answer whether there will be a vote on this document at the UN Security Council session on 7 July.

Joint border patrols aimed at curbing illegal migrations (Radio Serbia)

Serbian police Director Milorad Veljovic had talks in Belgrade with the police directors of Hungary, Austria and Germany, Karoly Papp, Dieter Romann and Konrad Kogler respectively, on joint activities aimed at curbing illegal migrations. Despite the increased number of migrants, Serbia is a safe country and citizens have no reason to worry, assessed Veljovic. At a meeting held in Belgrade, the police directors of Serbia, Hungary, Austria and Germany agreed to increase activities aimed at the prevention of illegal migrations, especially the arrest of those who smuggle migrants across borders. Emphasis was laid on the importance of joint patrols on Serbia’s borders with Hungary and Macedonia respectively and the introduction of the latest surveillance system, to be especially applied overnight. It was also agreed that, next week, Austrian and German experts should visit the Serbian-Macedonian border. They ought to see the situation in that area for themselves and propose additional police forces from their countries to be engaged in order to prevent the illegal crossing of migrants coming to this part of Europe from the Middle East. Illegal migrants represent a problem of not only the region, so it was emphasized at the meeting that the Czech Republic and Slovakia support the police activities of the four countries and it was also assessed that the Macedonian and Bulgarian police should join them. Veljovic told a press conference held after the meeting that Serbia was a safe country and that police guaranteed safety. He said that the inflow of a large number of migrants brought potential risks. Therefore, the Serbian police, in cooperation with the police of Hungary, Austria and Germany, will form a database of all the migrants. “Citizens should not worry about their safety and it is the police that should provide and guarantee that safety,” said Veljovic.

REGIONAL PRESS

Ivanic: MP’s have abused the House of Representatives (Srna)

The B&H Presidency Chairman Mladen Ivanic told Srna that the letter sent by 25 MPs from the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of B&H to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, in which they express support to the British proposal of a resolution on Srebrenica, represents abuse of the institutional integrity of the House of Representatives. “They could have said that they are sending it on their own behalf and not on behalf of the House of Representatives. This is a clear indication of how one group of people identifies their own views as the views of the B&H, which is completely unacceptable,” said Ivanic. He added that such writing is just an additional argument to his previously stated position, that almost half of B&H does not support that resolution. “When you look at the signatures, you can see that I was right for what I said in my letter to the ambassadors of the UN Security Council regarding the resolution on Srebrenica, that nearly half of the B&H population does not support the resolution. Out of 42 MPs, here you have the signatures of 25 of them, while 17 remaining are not there, of which a large number are from the RS,” said Ivanic. According to him, on the other hand, the incredible arrogance can be seen by those MP’s that have signed the conclusions and that speak about the House of Representatives, although it does not apply to this House, because there was no majority for making of such conclusions.

Ivanic doesn’t want NATO on Serbia’s border (TVBHT1)

The B&H Presidency Chairman Mladen Ivanic says that country is not even close to meeting the requirements for joining NATO. Ivanic told the TVBHT1 that he would not vote in favor of B&H joining NATO, and when asked why, he replied: “Because that would mean that tomorrow NATO units could be on the border of B&H and shoot at Serbia. B&H is not even close to meeting the requirements for NATO.” Ivanic thinks that a prerequisite for stability in the Balkans is good cooperation, and normal and healthy relations between Serbia, Croatia and B&H. Speaking about the upcoming commemorations in Srebrenica, Ivanic said that in the current atmosphere it is not realistic for him to attend, and added he did his human duty ten years ago when it was more difficult. “I do not think I’ll go in this environment because, I repeat, it has turned into a political battle. Do you really think it is realistic that, after everything that happened, some Serb representative should go,” Ivanic asked, and added that Vucic has the right to go, that’s his point of view. Ivanic added that he is yet to decide whether tribute will be paid to the victims in front of the B&H Presidency, by which a procession with their remains will pass on the way to Srebrenica. “I have no intention to ingratiate myself with anyone, I’ll do what I decide is right, and no one can accuse me of not paying tribute to the victims,” said Ivanic. He believes that “Srebrenica should have been kept in the part that pays tribute to those who died the innocent victims… without political abuses”. Ivanic also spoke against competition in resolutions and politicians who promote themselves in the context of the Srebrenica, and against the international battle in the Security Council because, he said, all that sets us back to the past, and it will take time to return to some normal atmosphere turned toward the future.

Referendum necessary, revoked competencies to be eventually reinstated (Srna)

It is necessary to hold a referendum on the B&H Court and Prosecutor’s in the RS and that both the government and its opposition work together on the reinstatement of revoked competences. It is essential that the RS’ institutions resist the pressures exerted by the international community, said political analyst Gostimir Popovic told Srna. Popovic stressed that the time has finally come to reinstate revoked competences which the RS is entitled to, and its institutions need to be assiduous about it. “When we talk about illegitimately revoked competences, it is not five to noon but is five past noon, and it is high time to reinstate them at an accelerated pace. A referendum on the B&H Court and Prosecutor’s Office that are illegitimate and imposed institutions may be a first step, but the 7-mile-long journey starts with the first step,” said Popovic. Stating that both the government and its opposition carry a certain degree of sins from the past, which should be left aside, Popovic said that their unity is necessary to decide on key issues and to work in the interest of the people, given that the citizens and organizations in the RS required them to do so. “It is necessary to actually hold a referendum in early September. If the Scots have the right to a referendum, the Swiss hold a referendum on whether a two-mile-long road should be paved, the Greeks hold a referendum on the EU – the RS has the right to declare itself,” said Popovic. He stressed that RS’ institutions have a huge task to resist the pressures exerted by the international community and to do what their people require of them. “The pressures exerted by the US Embassy and the current Ambassador Maureen Cormack are really grand. It would be better for her to raise environmental awareness, because it seems it is the only thing she knows to do. She has no idea what a referendum means and who is entitled to it,” said Popovic. He concluded that the Office of the High Representative is expected to exert some pressures, given that so far the Office has done everything beyond its job description.

Merkel confirms visit to Sarajevo on 9 July, Mogherini on 10 and 11 July (Srna)

The B&H Foreign Ministry confirmed that German Chancellor Angela Merkel will visit the capital of B&H on 9 July. Foreign Minister Igor Crnadak said this is one of the most important visits to B&H since the current government is formed. “It is a country that has played a key role in the so-called new European approach to B&H. At the same time, Germany is one of the strongest and most influential European countries. I expect this visit to be support for our efforts to enter into reforms and above all, to work seriously to solve the economic and social problems,” said Crnadak. He added that he hopes this government will be remembered by improving lives of all citizens in every corner of B&H. The EU High Representative Federica Mogherini will also visit B&H on 10 and 11 July, EU Delegation spokesperson Andy McGuffie confirmed for Srna. He said Mogherini will meet B&H officials to discuss the reform process in the context of the B&H European perspective, as well as other issues. “She should also sign a framework agreement on the participation of B&H in the operations within the Common foreign and security policy,” said McGuffie. He added Mogherini will attend commemoration in Srebrenica on 11 July on behalf of the EU.

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

Serbia receives assistance to stem illegal migrant flows (EurActiv/Reuters, 3 July 2015)

Police chiefs from Germany, Austria and Hungary have agreed to help Serbia crack down on waves of illegal migrants transiting its territory heading for the European Union. Meanwhile, Budapest said it will forge ahead with plans to erect a fence at its border with Serbia. Tens of thousands of migrants from the Middle East and Africa are using the Balkan route to enter the EU, passing from Greece into Macedonia and then Serbia on their way to Hungary, which is in the EU’s passport-free Schengen zone. Once there, they can move freely across most internal EU borders. Hungary, which has registered more than 67,000 illegal immigrants so far this year, announced last month it would build a four-metre-high fence along a 175-km stretch of its border with Serbia. The U.N. refugee agency condemned the plan. After meeting his counterparts from Hungary, Austria and Germany in Belgrade, Milorad Veljovic, the director of Serbian police, said German and Austrian officers would inspect Serbia’s border with its southern neighbour Macedonia to determine the manpower and equipment needs to stem the flow of migrants. “Colleagues from Hungary … and vehicles with thermal vision equipment are already on Serbia’s border with Macedonia … and a joint database of migrants will be formed,” the Belgrade-based Beta news agency quoted Veljovic as saying. Serbia is not a member of the EU, but more than 34,000 migrants have sought asylum in the former Yugoslav republic so far this year, most of them having crossed from Macedonia and Bulgaria. It is not known how many people in total have entered Serbia illegally. “Joint patrols with Hungarian policemen that started on Tuesday are yielding results as hundreds of migrants have been stopped (at the border with Macedonia),” Beta quoted Hungarian police chief Karoly Papp as saying after the meeting. Veljovic said Austria would deploy 80 policemen to take part in joint border patrols along Serbia’s border with Macedonia. The comments could not be immediately confirmed. The meeting came a day after Serbia’s Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic and his Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orban said they had agreed to step up efforts to curb the influx of illegal migrants.

Fence to be built within weeks

Meanwhile, Hungary announced it would building a four-metre fence along its border with Serbia within weeks to stem the flow of illegal migrants, Orban’s chief of staff said on Thursday (2 July). Janos Lazar said the 175 km Cold War-style fence, plans for which were first announced last month, would be a temporary measure and was not directed in any way against Hungary’s southern neighbour. “Hungary needs Serbia as an ally, we want to keep this alliance and strengthen it,” Lazar told a news conference. “We will raise this barrier on the border on a temporary basis in the hope that Europe manages to find a definitive solution to this issue soon,” he said. Critics say erecting a fence at the border will only shift the problem from Hungary to Macedonia, where growing numbers of migrants are now being stationed. The European Commission said it was aware of the problem. On Tuesday (30 June), it offered to help set up temporary centres for the Hungarian government to process asylum requests and the return of illegal immigrants.

Background

Hungary announced plans in June to build a fence at the border with Serbia, angering Belgrade and drawing criticism from the European Union and the United Nations’ refugee agency.

The fence is estimated to cost 5 to 10 billion forints (€16-€32 million). The EU has seen a sharp rise in the number of Kosovo citizens smuggling themselves into the bloc via Serbia to Hungary. So far this year, almost 70,000 migrants have crossed into Hungary illegally, mostly over the border with Serbia. Orban, under pressure to stem a loss of public support to the far-right Jobbik party, has said Hungary’s borders should be defended by all means. His government has put up billboards telling migrants to respect the country’s laws. Hungary has also said it could suspend the application of EU asylym rules in order to protect its interests. The Hungarian Parliament plans to vote on Friday whether a planned tightening of asylum rules can be decided on a fast-track basis, before the summer recess. The EU faces an acute migrant crisis, highlighted by the drowning of hundreds of people trying to reach its shores by crossing the Mediterranean, and is struggling to find ways of shouldering the burden between its 28 member states.

20 years after Bosnia war, Russia and West at odds over ‘genocide’ commemoration (haaretz.com, by Edith M. Lederer, 2 July 2015)

World commemorates 20th anniversary of Srebrenica massacre, worst mass killings since World War II, amid intense opposition from Bosnian Serbs to any mention of ‘genocide.’

Western nations and Russia may be dueling over whether the UN Security Council should call the Srebrenica massacre during the Bosnian war an act of genocide but at Wednesday’s General Assembly commemoration of the 20th anniversary of Europe’s worst mass killing since World War II there was no doubt. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called the killing of more than 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys genocide. So did Serge Brammertz, the prosecutor of the UN tribunal prosecuting the perpetrators, and U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power who was in Bosnia as a freelance journalist at the time of the mass killings in July 1995. But it was Abisada Dudic who brought tears to some, including Rabbi Arthur Schneier, a Holocaust survivor, when she described fleeing her home near Srebrenica as a child with memories of “fear, bloodshed and fire,” and her family’s hope that remains of loved ones will be found including an uncle last seen running into the forest to escape the Srebrenica slaughter. “Calling what happened in Srebrenica by any name other than genocide, be it massacre, tragedy, catastrophe, whatever else, not only thwarts the possibility of reconciliation, it bolsters those denying the genocide and leading the secession efforts” by Bosnian Serbs, Dudic said. “It trivializes the pain and suffering of genocide victims. It re-victimizes the survivors, and it minimizes the enormity of the crime.” Bosnia’s UN Ambassador Mirsada Colakovic, who presided over the commemoration, called denial “the last stage of genocide.” It’s “a kind of double-killing in which the victims are first murdered, then the memory of the horrible deeds themselves is being destroyed,” she said. The commemoration took place against a backdrop of intense opposition from Bosnian Serbs and Serbia to any mention of genocide in a UN Security Council resolution marking the 20th anniversary of the Srebrencia killings. Serbia’s Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic has called it “a big horrific crime” but refuses to call it a genocide. Britain has circulated a draft resolution that “condemns in the strongest terms the genocide in Srebrenica.” It recalls that the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal in 2004 and the International Court of Justice in 2007 both determined that the mass killings were acts of genocide. Britain’s UN Ambassador Matthew Rycroft, a former envoy to Bosnia, told the packed chamber that the UN’s failure to protect innocent civilians in what had been designated as a UN safe area “still haunts this organization.” He said the resolution that the Security Council will consider next week doesn’t seek “to bring up painful divisions nor point the finger of blame.” It will commemorate the victims, show solidarity with survivors, and call for reconciliation, Rycroft said. Russia, which has close religious ties to Serbia, has circulated a rival draft resolution which doesn’t mention either Srebrenica or genocide. Russia’s deputy UN ambassador Petr Iliichev on Tuesday called the British draft “divisive,” saying it focuses on “only one part of the conflict.” The Russian draft, he said, is “more general, more reconciling.”

Macedonian central bank sees no new steps to protect banks from Greek impact (Reuters, 3 July 2015)

The Balkan country on Sunday ordered its banks to pull their money from Greek banks and took steps to limit the outflow of capital to Greece. SKOPJE: Macedonia’s central bank has no plans for further preventive measure to limit the outflow of capital to Greece, its governor said on Friday. “The two local Greek-owned banks are well capitalised, have a high liquidity and can operate without support from parent banks. The situation is stable and we plan no further measures,” Dimitar Bogov told Reuters. The two banks, Stopanska Banka and Alfa Banka, hold 22 percent of banking assets in Macedonia. The Balkan country on Sunday ordered its banks to pull their money from Greek banks and took steps to limit the outflow of capital to Greece, which faces the risk of financial meltdown after the collapse of talks with its creditors.

PM: ČR to support Montenegro in NATO bid (ČTK, 3 July 2015)

Prague – The Czech Republic will be striving for Montenegro to receive an invitation to NATO this year, Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka (Social Democrats, CSSD) said after a meeting with his Montenegrin counterpart Milo Dukanovic Thursday. Sobotka said Montenegro should be the first new country to join NATO. He also said he regretted that NATO had not yet decided on Montenegro’s accession. “It is possible that Montenegro will receive an invitation by the end of the year. Czech diplomacy will be tabling this issue,” Sobotka said. Dukanovic thanked the Czech Republic for support. The creation of a “stability zone” in the traditionally turbulent Western Balkans is important for Europe, among others, because of the inflow of immigrants using the Balkan route, Dukanovic said. Both prime ministers also discussed economic cooperation. Dukanovic pointed out that energy industry, transport and tourism had been selected as major cooperation areas in the past. “Bilateral trade turnover has tripled in the past five years,” Sobotka said. Czech firms participate in the construction of two small water power plants in Montenegro. Skoda Praha recently won a tender for supplying the second block of the thermal power plant in Pljevlje for 350 million euros. Dukanovic told reporters that Montenegro would sign a contract with Skoda Praha in late July. He added that he had talked with Sobotka about the projects to modernise railways in Montenegro and repairs of the railway station in Podgorica. The prime ministers also touched upon tourism. “We are trying to improve conditions to facilitate the arrival of Czech tourists,” Dukanovic said. Some 50,000 Czechs annually visit Montenegro, Sobotka added. Dukanovic will attend a seminar on business and investment opportunities in Montenegro held at the Industry and Trade Ministry in Prague. “Montenegro is ready and at the moment, it is the main candidate for entry to NATO,” Stech said. “Nevertheless, is has an approach similar to that the Czech Republic has to entering the euro zone,” he added. “This is no speed race as one has to fulfil all the criteria thoroughly and well,” Stech said. Dukanovic stressed that within the region, Montenegro concentrated on its stability.

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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.