LOCAL PRESS

Vucic: I am discussing platform on Kosovo with Nikolic (Tanjug)

At a press conference in the Serbian government, Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic has stated that he has discussed and is discussing the platform for Kosovo and Metohija with Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic. “We have discussed and we will discuss it in the future, we are waiting for the completion of the Brussels agreement, and then we will continue,” said Vucic. Asked about the announcement of the administration in Pristina for Kosovo to become a UNESCO member, he said that Serbia would do its best to prevent this with peaceful and democratic means. “But, Serbia is not powerless as it used to be,” he said. He added that he would not over-estimate this power of Serbia, but would neither under-estimate, and that he could not imagine and that it would be ridiculous for Decani, Banjska, Gracanica to be part of some other and not Serbian heritage. “That would be tragicomic,” said Vucic.

Ban continues to act in line with UNSCR 1244 (Tanjug)
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will continue to act in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 1244, while the matters of UNESCO membership are decided by UNESCO’s General Conference, Eri Kaneko of the Office of the Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General told Tanjug on Tuesday. Kaneko confirmed that Ban had received a letter from Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic regarding Kosovo’s efforts to become a UNESCO member. “The Secretary-General continues to operate within the framework of Security Council resolution 1244 of 1999. The membership of UNESCO is a matter that is decided by UNESCO’s General Conference,” she said. Dacic stated in the letter that Kosovo’s intention to become a UNESCO member-state was unacceptable for Serbia as Kosovo could not be regarded as a sovereign state. The Serbian Foreign Minister pointed out that Serbia had not changed its position regarding the status of its southern province. As a territory under the administration of a UN mission in line with the valid and binding UNSCR 1244 (1999), Kosovo cannot be considered a state as subject to international law, and thereby it cannot qualify for admission to UNESCO, Dacic said in the letter to Ban.

How to prevent Kosovo’s UNESCO membership (RTS)

Together with the announcement of Kosovo’s candidacy in UNESCO, several new topics have also opened. Is UNESCO membership a shortcut for Kosovo for the UN or is it an attempt to create a new cultural identity?

Those who were destroying would now like to protect. Experts claim that the damage inflicted on the cultural heritage in Kosovo and Metohija should not be awarded with UNESCO membership. Journalist from Pristin Zivojin Rakocevic opines that it will be very unfavorable if Belgrade doesn’t draw a line. Kosovo’s admission to UNESCO would be a serious defeat, assesses Rakocevic. In order to avoid such a scenario, Serbia’s chance is to motivate those countries that recognized Kosovo but didn’t establish diplomatic relations, to abstain from voting. “The goal of our commitment would be to motivate states that are very reserved, against Kosovo’s admission, or even opposed, to decide to vote against instead of comfortably abstaining from voting,” stressed the Serbian Ambassador with UNESCO Darko Tanaskovic.

However, Pristina believes it will have the necessary majority for the recommendation in the Executive Council, and then at the General Conference in November. Mathematics is also on their side. Of 58 members of the council, 33 recognized Kosovo. Petrit Selimi, Kosovo Deputy Foreign Minister, noted that Pristina held more than 160 meetings with various delegations. “Even though the battle will be difficult, knowing that the power of Serbian propaganda is quite strong, we believe that Kosovo’s arguments not to be isolated in the domain of education, culture and science are very strong and humane,” said Selimi. If Kosovo would be admitted in UNESCO with a majority, such a move would have to be ratified in the Kosovo Assembly. Former Kosovo MP Rada Trajkovic believes Kosovo cannot achieve membership in a legal manner, even according to the Kosovo Constitution, without Serb MPs. She reminds that, according to Ahtisaari’s plan, Pristina cannot undertake any kind of movements concerning the Serbian religious and historical heritage without the consent of the Serbian Orthodox Church.

Office for Kosovo and Metohija: We are prepared for agreement on insurance (Beta)

The meeting between Belgrade and Pristina representatives on insurance will be held on 5 August in Brussels, the Office for Kosovo and Metohija confirmed. “This will be an opportunity to find, after the sudden unilateral withdrawal of Pristina only six hours before the beginning of implementation, solutions for all technical and any other obstacles that Pristina has in implementing the reached agreement on insurance,” Beta was told at the Office. It further states that Belgrade didn’t request any delay and that it was fully prepared, just as it is now, for the implementation of the agreement to begin any moment. “That is in the interest of all citizens, as we need to remove bureaucratic and financial obstacles for circulation from both sides of the administrative line,” the Office stated.

Radiologist Olivera Jovanovic dies from malaria (Novosti)

Radiologist Olivera Jovanovic (53), who has recently returned from the UN peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic, died on Monday evening from consequences of a severe form of malaria. She was admitted to the Clinic for Infective and Tropical Diseases at the Military Medical Academy, where she worked at the Institute for Radiology. The Serbian Defense Ministry announced yesterday that she was admitted in a very serious general state with symptoms and signs of multi-organ failure. The Defense Ministry and the Serbian Army mourn the loss of Olivera Jovanovic, who was decorated for her UN service along with other colleagues. Defense Minister Bratislav Gasic and Chief of Staff of the Serbian Army General Ljubisa Dikovic sent their condolences to the Jovanovic family. Olivera Jovanovic is the first Serbian peacekeeper who succumbed to complications from malaria.

Day of remembrance of the suffering and persecution of Serbs (Radio Serbia)

The day of remembrance of the suffering and persecution of Serbs will be marked with a large gathering at Sremska Raca on 4 August and a series of appropriate events on 5 August, which will be declared a day of mourning in the territories of Serbia and the Republika Ruska (RS). The Organizing Committee, chaired by Minister for Labor, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs Aleksandar Vulin, discussed the activities concerning the organization of the event at its first session. At the joint initiative of the governments of Serbia and the RS, it was decided for 5 August to be the day of remembrance of all the exiled and killed Serbs, reminds Minister Vulin, President of the Organizing Committee. “It will be marked with a large gathering on August 4 at Sremska Raca, in the municipality of Sremska Mitrovica, and a series of appropriate events on August 5, which will be declared a day of mourning in the territories of Serbia and the RS. The action involves both governments, Serbian Orthodox Church and all institutions in our country,” Vulin said after the meeting of the Organizing Committee. Members of the Committee are Serbian Justice Minister Nikola Selakovic, Defense Minister Bratislav Gasic, Interior Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic, Minister of Culture and Information Ivan Tasovac, Minister of Education, Science and Technological Development Srdjan Verbic and Adviser of the Prime Minister Dragutin Matanovic. August 4 will mark 20 years since the Croatian operation Storm. President of the Coalition of Refugee Associations in Serbia Miodrag Linta told Radio Serbia that he feels sad on the eve of the anniversary, especially because two decades since the end of civil war, Croatia behaves as if it participated in a just war, as if the Croats fought the liberation war and were the victims, and that the Serbs were villains and aggressors. However, it is a well-known fact that the Croats expelled over 200,000 and killed more than 2,000 Serbs.

REGIONAL PRESS

Halilovic: Principle agreement reached for coalition in FB&H (Fena)

The second meeting of the negotiating teams of the Party of Democratic Action (SDA) and the Party for B&H (SB&H) was held in Sarajevo. The Secretary General of the SB&H Salem Halilovic said after the meeting that they had reached principle agreement for entering a coalition at the Federation level and that it only remains to prepare the agreement technically for signing. “We have resolved many burning issues between the two parties and what needs to be done in the following mandate period, i.e. in this electoral cycle,” said Halilovic. He says that they primarily discussed the need of adopting the reform agenda that is under procedure, both in the government of the Federation B&H and in parliament and the responsibilities of the Federation parliament and the government on B&H’s EU and NATO path. “One agreement is political that will be signed by party leaders, and the other agreement concerns implementation that will be prepared and drafted in the following days and it will be signed,” said Halilovic. He said he expects the signing of the agreement to take place by mid next week.

RS Council of Peoples without consent on Bosniak veto (Nezavisne)

The RS Council of Peoples didn’t reach consent today on the decision of the RS parliament to organize the referendum on the B&H Court and Prosecution because Bosniak delegates placed a veto, Nezavisne novine reports. The joint commission of the RS Council of Peoples will try to agree on this issue, and if they don’t reach agreement then the RS Constitutional Court will have the final say. Nada Tesanovic, the Chairperson of the RS Council of Peoples, said that three caucuses were against the Bosniak veto: the Serb caucus, the Croat caucus and the Others caucus. The Croat caucus didn’t have a united position since two delegates supported the veto of the Bosniak caucus.

B&H court and prosecutor’s office lost public’s trust (Srna)

The B&H Court and Prosecutor’s Office have lost the public’s trust, says a document titled “Legal Foundation for the Planned Referendum in Republika Srpska.” “In addition to the fact that the B7H Court and Prosecutor’s Office are unconstitutional, their work has not convinced the RS’ citizens of their impartiality or dedication to the rule of law,” says the document. It says that there are proofs of prejudice against Serbian victims of war crimes and in favor of the largest Bosniak party. “War crimes must be prosecuted and punished regardless of ethnic groups or political ties of victims and perpetrators. Instead, the B&H judiciary proved a consistent pattern of discrimination against Serbian victims of war crimes and a tendency to act in keeping with the wishes of the Bosniak Party of Democratic Action (SDA),” says the analysis. The equality of Serbs before the law is thus being denied, and reconciliation is being undermined. The document says that the International Crisis Group criticized the B&H Prosecutor’s Office for its failure to prosecute some of the most horrific crimes committed against Serbs. “Even the deputy head of the US Mission, Nicholas M. Hill, recently noticed that ‘it is generally considered that the chief prosecutor of the B&H Prosecutor’s Office is under great influence of Bosniak political forces’ and that ‘there are accusations that the B&H Prosecutor’s Office has too many hard-core followers of the SDA,’” says the document which the RS President Milorad Dodik sent to domestic and foreign representatives in B&H. The document says that one of the former international advisers in the B&H Prosecutor’s Office said in 2012 that many prosecutors are extremely hesitant to prosecute Bosniaks for crimes against Serbs. “This failure to act is seen in results of the B&H Prosecutor’s Office. Of the 7,840 killed Serbian civilians (according to estimates of the ICTY), the B&H Court pronounced final verdicts in cases of killing of only ten Serbs,” says the document. The document cites examples when the B&H Prosecutor’s Office refused to seek justice, such as its refusal to investigate new evidence – 10,000 pages of documents filed by Mirsad Kebo, a former member of the Bosniak SDA and the then FB&H Vice-President. These documents link the Chairman of the B&H House of Representatives, Sefik Dzaferovic, with crimes of the sadistic El Mujahid Division of the B&H Army’s 3rd Corps.
The document also cites the halt of the prosecution of Bosniak commander Naser Oric and other persons, who committed a number of serious war crimes in the area of Srebrenica, despite voluminous evidence and Oric’s open bragging about the atrocities. “The failure to seek justice for 33 Serbian civilians, including women, children and elderly in the village of Cemerno, who were massacred by soldiers of the Army of B&H, despite evidence indicating the perpetrators,” is but one example cited in the document. Obstruction of attempts by the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) to investigate Semsudin Mehmedovic, an SDA member of the BiH House of Representatives, for illegal incarceration and torture of several hundred Serbian civilians in Tesanj, where he was a police chief, was also cited in the document. The document says that the B&H Prosecutor’s Office went so far to prosecute SIPA director Goran Zubac on suspicious charges, while the SDA member of the B&H Presidency triumphed and said “we will probably send him to jail.” The failure to prosecute the commander of the 5th Corps of the B&H Army, Atif Dudakovic, for a number of grave war crimes, despite voluminous evidence against him and earlier promises of the Prosecutor’s Office that they will issue an indictment against him, was also cited in the document. The failure to seek justice for horrible and documented crimes committed against Serbs by El Mujahid Division, such as the killing of 52 Serbs in a prison camp, and other crimes committed against Serbs, was also cited in the document. “An end must be put to these serious violations of justice because of the refusal by the B&H Prosecutor’s Office to do its job regardless of ethnic or political affiliation,” says the document titled “Legal Foundation for the Planned Referendum in Republika Srpska.”

Dodik: Referendum in RS will be held (RTRS)

The RS Presdient Milorad Dodik has stated that the referendum on the B&H Court and Prosecutor will be held in the B&H entity. I have no doubts about that, regardless of the efforts invested by a part of the international community,” said Dodik, stating that the RS will fight against legal violence by the High Representative and for the affirmation of the Dayton Peace Accord. He said that he is not afraid, as he says, of political traitors who are working on the instructions of the international community and sow fear about the holding of a referendum. “I am not afraid. I know what I’m doing. This process must hold. It does not tolerate the discussion of who can be harmed – personally or politically. The referendum is important. If we don’t stand up and stand to defend ourselves through the referendum, in a year or two the RS will be an empty tourist attraction,” said Dodik. Dodik told RTRS that the goal of the referendum is also to show the unsustainability of such a judicial system. “If the goal can be achieved through the realization of four basic fields of comment on the work of the Court and Prosecutor, it thus fulfills the objective. I am not certain that anybody wants that, so I believe in the referendum and it will be held. I have no doubts,” said Dodik.

Ivantsov: Russia continues to support RS (Srna)

The Russian Ambassador to B&H Pyotr Ivantsov said that his country would continue to support the RS in decisions that are in the framework of principles prescribed in the Dayton Peace Accord. Ivantsov said that the RS has the right to find solutions that it considers good for itself. “I hope that we will find the last decision together and we will try to resolve and decide it through dialogue,” said Ivantsov in Banja Luka after a meeting with the RS President.

Mogherini, Hahn: Adopting reform agenda key step to move B&H forward (Oslobodjenje)

Federica Mogherini, the EU High Representative and Johannes Hahn, EU Commissioner for Neighborhood Policy, said in a joint statement that the adoption of the reform agenda is a key step for B&H to advance on the path to EU integration. “B&H authorities, in consultation with the EU and international financial institutions, agreed a concrete set of reforms, identified as an urgent priority for the country. These reforms aim at addressing the legitimate socio-economic concerns expressed by the B&H citizens and their demands for jobs and a better perspective. We expect that the country’s authorities will now fully implement the Reform Agenda without delay. In this regard, the adoption of the Labor legislation will be an important first step,” the Hahn-Mogherini statement reads. It further states that progress in implementing the reform agenda will be necessary for a credible application for membership in the EU. “The EU is ready to further support B&H, including with policy advice and financial support, in the efforts to implement the Reform Agenda and advance the country further on its European path,” the statement reads.

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

EU-mediated agreement between Kosovo and Serbia likely to ensure decentralisation and shared responsibility over disputed assets (IHS Jane’s Intelligence Review, by Dijedon Imeri, 27 July 2015)

The recent round of negotiations between Kosovo and Serbia ended on 30 June without an official resolution, with significant implications for investor confidence and the future of important economic assets

The latest round of European Union-mediated negotiations between Kosovo and Serbia temporarily ended on 30 June without any official agreement. The current negotiations are centred on several issues, including telecommunications and freedom of movement in the ethnically divided town of Mitrovica in Northern Kosovo. However, two contentious points stand out. Firstly, the parties need to reach an agreement that specifies the competencies and degree of autonomy for the pre-agreed Association of Serbian Municipalities in Kosovo (ASMK). Secondly, the two countries need to settle energy-related questions, particularly with regards to the management and control of Gazivoda Lake. The lake, which straddles the border between Kosovo and Serbia, is home to Kosovo’s largest dam, and constitutes its largest reservoir, supplying water to Northern and Central Kosovo.

Key Points

•On 18 July, local media in Kosovo reported that negotiations between Kosovo and Serbia could entail Kosovo losing control over Gazivoda Lake, which is a major supplier of drinking water.

•An agreement is pivotal in ensuring the advancement of Serbia and Kosovo’s EU integration and eventual accession. At the same time, at stake are several economically important assets.

•The EU is likely to push for a compromise deal by year-end, which will include the establishment of a de facto autonomous association of Serb-dominated municipalities in Kosovo.

What is at stake?

The agreement on the establishment of ASMK was reached in Brussels in April 2013, and formally constituted the abolishment of ‘parallel institutions’ in Serb-dominated Northern Kosovo, previously financed by and under the indirect control of Belgrade. This implicit recognition of Kosovo’s statehood was the result of considerable diplomatic pressure from the EU. In practice, however, the old parallel institutions have enjoyed a high level of continuity since most of its old functionaries, who are now members of the local Civic Initiative Srpska party (Gradanska Inicijativa Srpska: GIS), remain loyal to Belgrade. For the government of Serbian prime minister Aleksandar Vucic, it has become imperative to secure substantial autonomy for the Kosovo Serb community and grant the ASMK executive powers that would cover economic planning, education, and health, mirroring the design of Republika Srpska in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This would allow Serbia to exert significant influence over Kosovo in the future, which will prove strategically important in upcoming negotiations relating to the ownership and management of economically vital assets such as the now largely defunct Trepça industrial complex, whose mines still have reserves of over 60 million tonnes of ore. From the perspective of the Albanian-dominated administration in Prishtina, the governance model in Kosovo, as envisaged by the Ahtisaari plan from 2008, already represents a highly decentralised unitary government. The carving of a de facto autonomous Kosovo Serb entity within Kosovo’s borders, as a means of further placating the Serb minority, is seen as a measure that will further weaken the central government’s ability to exercise its influence in Northern Kosovo, safeguard its interests concerning contested assets, and establish a common community. Against this background, Prishtina is adamant that the ASMK should not transformed into a legislative and executive body, but rather confined to decision-making at the municipal level. Prishtina’s fear is that a high degree of autonomy would allow the ASMK an exclusive say on the fate of important assets, of which the most topical one is the hydropower plant and reservoir of Gazivoda Lake. The artificial lake supplies approximately 60% of Kosovo’s drinking water and is considered an important strategic asset for this purpose alone. It is also the site of Kosovo’s largest dam, providing much of the country’s hydro-generated electricity. Serbia has refused to cede complete ownership to Prishtina, claiming it has offered to pool ownership and management with Kosovar authorities. However, even if Prishtina concedes to such an agreement, there is a risk that the management of the lake on the Kosovan side will be the prerogative of the ASMK, depriving Prishtina of direct control over the lake.

FORECAST

The recent negotiations did achieve some success, notably on telecommunications, paving the way for Kosovo to obtain its own country code and Serbia being granted a landline and mobile licence in the country. However, no agreement has been signed because of Kosovo’s insistence that all four agreements be signed as part of a package deal. The EU is likely to push for a comprehensive agreement before year-end in order to speed up the opening of the first negotiation chapters for EU accession with Serbia. Most likely, the resolution of the ASMK question will involve some extensive power sharing between Kosovo Serbs and Prishtina. An agreement that requires the ASMK’s approval to resolve the future of economic assets, such as Gazivoda, in conjunction with Kosovo Serb parties’ increasing importance in government formations, will serve to facilitate an uneven relationship that will allow the Serb community to wield considerable influence over the central government. This is likely to result in large-scale protests by a large number of Albanians who will view such an agreement as compromising Kosovo’s territorial sovereignty; such protests could easily turn violent and are most likely to be centred in Prishtina and Mitrovica. Similarly, a large proportion of the Kosovo Serb community view the creation of the ASMK as the cementation of their partition from Serbia, which is likely to provoke violent protests in several northern municipalities, including the erection of barricades to block trade and the transportation of security personnel. However, an agreement between Prishtina and Belgrade would ensure that such protests would be short-lived because of the GIS’s influence in the region. The nature of the agreement will have a considerable impact on investor confidence in Kosovo. If the agreement resembles the architecture of the Bosnian state, it is likely to give rise to conflicting commercial legislation and act as a deterrence to investment. However, if the agreement ensures a common market and facilitates fruitful co-operation concerning assets situated in the north, the established security of steady power and water supply will remove a major barrier to investment.

Serbia’s economic measures show impressive results: PM (Xinhua, 29 July 2015)

BELGRADE — Economic data from the second quarter of 2015 show Serbia is on the right track in stabilizing its economy, Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said at a press conference on Wednesday. Commenting on the economic parameters, Vucic said that the results are above prediction and announced a slight increase in pensions and salaries in the public sectors that were cut down by 10 percent this year as a part of the measures of the fiscal consolidation agreed with the International Monetary Fund. He said Serbia owes these results to the fact the that the collection of taxes is 55 million U.S. dollars higher, excise taxes 50.5 million dollars higher, and non-tax revenues 10.1 million dollars higher, compared to the same period last year. Vucic explained that the country is making faster progress than the conditions of the 1.2 billion dollars’ worth Stand-By Arrangement with IMF demand, stressing that the tax collection is more efficient while, two state-run companies, Airport Nikola Tesla and Air Serbia, have seven times higher incomes than in the same period last year. According to him, the country’s economic recovery intensifies, and according to the data from the second quarter of 2015 the growth of GDP at the end of the year can be predicted at 0.5 percent to 1 percent. “If everything goes according to plan, and every month we achieve better results than projected by the IMF, the deficit of the state budget would revolve around 2.87 percent of GDP”, Vucic said, announcing that the budget deficit, at present moment sums up to 25 billion dinars (229 million U.S. dollars). Serbia will soon introduce a law on property origin that will according to Vucic improve tax collection even more by preventing tax evasion, and the budget inflow will allow incomes of pensioners, teachers, policeman, doctors, soldiers and other employees in the public sector to keep on growing in 2016. However, according to him, indebtedness of the local governments is still a major problem and a burden for central budget, and those irresponsible authorities at local level should suffer political consequences no matter from which party they were elected to the function.