LOCAL PRESS

Gasic dismissed from office of defense minister (Tanjug)

The Serbian parliament dismissed Bratislav Gasic from office of the minister of defense with 195 votes in favor and none against. The motion for Gasic’s dismissal was put forward by Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, as a result of an insulting comment Gasic had directed at B92 journalist Zlatija Labovic. Vucic also appointed Finance Minister Dusan Vujovic as caretaker defense minister. The parliament meeting lasted a bit more than seven hours, since the MPs of the ruling coalition left the hall during the day in protest after Democratic Party MP Dragan Sutanovac posted a Twit they found insulting to Serbian parliament Speaker Maja Gojkovic. Under the Law on Government, the prime minister has to propose the election of a new minister within 15 days from the day of termination of office of the former minister, and the new minister is to be elected by a majority vote of the total number of members of parliament.

Gojkovic slated the fourth extraordinary session of Parliament for Tuesday, February 9.

Dacic calls for support for accelerating EU integration (Tanjug)
At an informal Amsterdam meeting on the refugee crisis, Dacic asked the foreign ministers of EU member states to approve a report on fulfilment of criteria for opening negotiation Chapter 23, which he said is a prerequisite for achieving the planned dynamics and opening chapters 23 and 24 during the Dutch EU presidency, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
“Not only are the two chapters greatly significant for the reform process, but some of their sections are directly related to the issue of migration,” Dacic said. Serbia’s actions regarding the migrant crisis perhaps best illustrate the maturity of our institutions and our readiness to respect the rule of law, he said. “We continue to work intensively on finalising preparations for opening five more chapters (Chapters 5, 13, 20, 25, 26) and we hope that in 2016 we will obtain your support for opening most, if not all, of them,” Dacic concluded.

Breedlove: Serbia plays important role in preserving stability (Tanjug)

NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe Phillip Breedlove said during a meeting he had with Chief of General Staff of the Serbian Army Ljubisa Dikovic on Friday that Serbia played a very important role in creating and preserving stability in the Western Balkans and Europe. We heartily welcome the important steps you have taken to build relationships with your Balkan neighbors, Breedlove said, adding that NATO fully respected Serbia’s military neutrality, the Serbian Defense Ministry said in a release. The two generals said that the security situation in the region was stable, but certain challenges were there that could lead to undesired developments. Dikovic said they had also discussed the migration crisis, agreeing that only if everyone worked together could events that might compromise our security be prevented, said the release.

Dacic: Romanians are not changing stand on Kosovo (Novosti)

Romania has been exposed to great pressure to change its stand on Kosovo and Metohija to recognize the illegally declared independence, but Bucharest will remain at its position, Ivica Dacic was told by his Romanian colleague Lazar Komanescu at the margins of the Cooperation Process in South-East Europe in Sofia. “We talked and I presented once again Serbia’s arguments that the status neutral dialogue can be the only way for resolving open issues with Pristina. I received assurances that everything is fine for the time being and that Bucharest remains with its decision not to recognize Kosovo,” Dacic told Novosti. He says that Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias didn’t attend the meeting in Sofia even though he had announced his arrival. Greece is also under pressure to change the decision on non-recognizing independence and its officials have been announcing on several occasions that they would support Kosovo’s membership in international organizations.

Djuric on Kosovo presidential elections (Novosti)

The Serb List will decide whether there will be a Serb candidate for the Kosovo president, while the Albanian political elite should be used to the thought that Serbs have the right to have strong impact on decision-making in the province and that they cannot be only political décor that will contribute to creating a false image on the existence of a multi-ethnic society, the Head of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Marko Djuric tells Novosti in an interview.

Asked whether a Serb president would have to defend the ‘Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo’ since he wouldn’t be able to present her/himself as the ‘president of the Autonomous Province of Serbia’, Djuric says: “The Kosovo Serbs are taking part in the political life according to the rules that others had written. That is a coerced step that they were forced to take over the known historical circumstances that we cannot turn around with resignation or boycott. In order to be able to write history pages in Kosovo again, they need to take part in this race even though propositions are particularly inclined to us.”

President Nikolic called for caution in the course of the negotiations on Chapter 35 with the EU so independence of Kosovo would not be “de facto” accepted. Will this chapter be closed without this hanging above our head?

“We have hints in what direction this process of normalization of relations should go, however, not the stand on whether Serbia will be requested to treat Kosovo and Metohija in a different way than as its southern province. In this phase, this process leaves us space to protect state interests with the Brussels negotiations, working on survival and prosperity of the Serb community in Kosovo and Metohija. It is difficult to predict the outcome of this long-lasting negotiating process, since the cards and circumstances in which the process is unfolded are constantly being changed, but not always to our detriment.”

Do you communicate with the Serb representatives who are not on the Serb List and those disappointed in the Brussels agreement?

“I have daily cooperation with my opponents in Kosovo and Metohija and I don’t feel thwarted because of that since the correctness of a political idea is best tested in contact with those who think differently. There too few Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija to allow themselves for disagreement on some political issues to weaken their capacity to fight for their survival and progress.”

Serbia to return healthcare employees to Kosovo? (Danas)

Around 700 healthcare employees from Kosovo and Metohija, who fled and have been living and working in Serbia proper over the past ten years, recently had to fill a survey on whether they would be ready to return to their old jobs. “We received a survey where we need to answer whether we want to return to our old jobs. We didn’t have the opportunity to choose to stay where we have had jobs for so many years. The problem is that we don’t have where to return since our property has been destroyed and here we have families from which we would have to separate,” reads the letter of healthcare employees to Serbian Health Minister Zlatibor Loncar.

The explanation of the Health Ministry is that healthcare institutions on the territory of Kosovo and Metohija had organized the mentioned survey. “After we have been informed that a survey was sent to employees, the Health Ministry organized a meeting with the heads of these institutions, and on this occasion the Ministry was informed that the survey was only for information purposes and has the goal of establishing how many employees are able to return to their previous institutions, where they are registered, since these institutions are preparing a draft of new systematizations, so they need the information on the number of employees they can count on,” the Health Ministry points out. The Ministry points out that the survey doesn’t envisage dismissal of anyone in relation to the voiced stand, i.e. readiness and possibility to return to the home institution in Kosovo and Metohija.

SRS to take part in Kosovo elections (Tanjug)

The Serbian Radical Party (SRS) will take part in the next parliamentary elections organized by the Pristina authorities. The SRS leader Vojislav Seselj is planning on creating the Serbian Patriotic List, which would take part in the elections that he believes will be held in Kosovo, since the Kosovo authorities would probably not allow for the registration of the SRS, he said. He stated that Serbs representatives in institutions in Pristina do not have the trust of the Serb population in Kosovo, and added that this should change soon.

Patriotic bloc of Kosovo and Metohija: By giving control of elections to OSCE, Belgrade admits that Kosovo is not part of Serbia (New Serbian Political Thought)

The upcoming parliamentary elections for the Serbian parliament in Kosovo and Metohija will be held most probably according to the same principle as in 2014. Namely, the government in Belgrade will hand over the implementation and control of elections to the OSCE, whereby Belgrade admits that this is not part of Serbian territory. Up until 2014, all elections, local, presidential and parliamentary, were implemented under the jurisdiction of the Serbian Election Commission. Counting of votes was implemented on the territory of the southern Serbian province and the results were sent to the Republic Election Commission according to the same rules that are valid for other regions in Serbia. Since 2014, Aleksandar Vucic agreed for the Serbs to vote in the same manner done by the Serbs in the Diaspora. The Serbs in the Diaspora vote in consular offices and embassies, while counting of votes is conducted in Serbia. The counting of votes for the Serbs in northern Kosovo was conducted in Raska, and for those from central Kosovo and Kosovo Pomoravlje was conducted in Vranje. As regards the technical conditions for holding elections, everything is in the hands of the Serbs, so that the authorities in Pristina have no way of preventing the holding of elections. In the hands of the Serbs are also election lists, election committees, registered political parties, so that the authorities in Pristina cannot prevent holding of parliamentary elections but only in case Belgrade doesn’t wish to organize elections over EU pressure. After all, all elections up until 2014 were held according to this procedure. UN Security Council Resolution 1244 states that Kosovo and Metohija is part of the state of Serbia, and by conducting elections organized by Belgrade, Serbia is showing that Kosovo and Metohija is its territory. Elections that were held in 2014 were not regular despite the fact that the OSCE organized them. The number of polling stations was reduced from 350 to 80, so this disabled a large part of the Serbs to vote. For example, the number of polling stations in Zubin Potok was reduced from 14 to 2, so if citizens wished to vote they had to travel 50km and more, over which turnout was low. If one bears in mind that these are mostly elderly households, then the low turnout is understandable. That situation favors ruling parties since they possess resources to drive voters. It is difficult to control the counting of votes since opposition parties need to organize caravans for storing ballots for which they do not have conditions.

Recently, the Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija have been organizing a petition, requesting the current government to slate local elections in the southern Serbian province. One should point out that Serbs took part in the local elections slated by the Serbian parliament in the period between 2008 and 2013, but the present Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic has denied them this constitutional right.

REGIONAL PRESS

Izetbegovic invited the representatives of Bosniak parties to a meeting (Klix)

Representatives of Bosniak political parties SDA, SBB, SB&H and A-SDA held a meeting at the hotel Bristol in Sarajevo. The topic of the meeting was the current political situation in B&H. The meeting was attended by the President of SDA Bakir Izetbegovic, Deputy President of SDA Adil Osmanovic, Vice-President of SBB Mirsad Djonlagic, President of SB&H Amer Jerlagic and other representatives of coalition parties. Bosniak unity has been discussed, as well as the current political situation in B&H, threats imposed by the President of Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik in terms of referendums, the Reform Agenda and challenges that the coalition can respond to, possibilities of faster implementation of infrastructure projects in B&H with special emphasis on first roads, i.e. the connection between Bihac, Tuzla, Sarajevo and Mostar, and the protection of B&H property in Serbia, Montenegro and Croatia from the aspect of passive income. Jerlagic said that the next meeting will be held in 15 to 20 days. Until then, operational meetings at lower levels will be held. When asked whether the bringing of charges against the president of SBB and the former minister of security of B&H Fahrudin Radoncic was discussed, too, Jerlagic said that it is an inevitable topic, given the circumstances. “That is an inevitable topic considering the fact that the person in question is the president of a coalition party. Those are matters of concern to the Court of B&H and the Prosecutor’s Office of B&H and it is best not to comment on that,” Jerlagic concluded.

Dodik: Arrest of Radoncic politically motivated (Srna)

The arrest of the leader of the SBB, Fahrudin Radoncic, is politically motivated. The RS President Milorad Dodik has said it is difficult to help the feeling that Radoncic’s arrest is politically motivated, especially when taking the arrest details as well as events, which both preceded and arose from this operation, into account. “His arrest is one more proof that the B&H judiciary, evidently under political control, is eager for public and social control. Otherwise, we could never be seen as democratic society. And rule of law will be studied only on universities,” Dodik said.

Crnalic: Indictment against Radoncic is an unbroken record in the legislature, which casts suspicion on the entire process (Dnevni avaz)

Asim Crnalic, the attorney of Fahrudin Radoncic has stated for Dnevni avaz that he has been surprised by the promptness of the Prosecutor’s Office in issuing the indictment against the leader of the Alliance for a Better Future (SBB). As he emphasized, he has not received the indictment yet because it has been submitted to the B&H Court for confirmation. Therefore, it is still unknown whether the Prosecutor’s Office B&H will stand by the same measures against Radoncic, or he will be issued the prohibition measures along with the release. Crnalic has explained that the Court B&H should confirm the indictment within eight days from the date of receiving the indictment, following which both the defense team and the suspect will be familiarized with the charges. “I think that this is an unbroken record in the legislature both in the sense of the time of conducting the investigation and the time of issuing of the indictment, which in itself casts suspicion. I haven’t expected the Prosecutor’s Office to be so diligent” Crnalic said. He believes that the Prosecutor’s Office B&H will provide its statement on the custody along with the issued indictment. “Once we get the indictment, we will see the motions provided by the Prosecutor’s Office B&H. They can also submit a motion for prohibition measures because the indictment has been issued and the investigation has been finalized” Crnalic said. Dragan Barbaric, the attorney from the defense team of Fahrudin Radoncic provided his comment for Dnevni avaz regarding the indictment submitted by the Prosecutor’s Office B&H against the president of the Alliance for a Better Future (SBB). “It is indicative but at the same time confusing that on the same day when Mr. Radoncic submitted his candidature for the member of the Presidency B&H, the indictment was issued against Naser Keljmendi in the trial conducted at Kosovo; and on the same day when the candidature of Mr. Bakir Dautbasic for the position of minister was submitted, Bakir Dautbasic was arrested; and at last, that the indictment was issued against Mr. Radoncic exactly on the date when in 2014 things started to develop in Tuzla along with the massive public rallies and the then straightforward message of Mr. Radoncic, which led to his replacement from the position of the Minister of Security B&H, Barbaric said.

Dodik is not a threat, the threat is superficiality of various interpreters such as Dan Preda (Srna)

Neither the RS is a threat to the B&H’s European path, nor its President Milorad Dodik, but the superficiality of various interpreters of the situation in B&H, such as Cristian Dan Preda, the rapporteur of the European Parliament, said the RS Prime Minister, Zeljka Cvijanovic. “I believe it would be better for Preda to pull his head out of the sand and try to understand what is going on in the Balkans rather than looking for the guilty party for B&H’s failure in RS, its officials, or Russia’s influence,” Cvijanovic told Srna when asked to comment Preda’s statement that the RS President is “an enemy of the B&H’s European path” and that the referendum on the B&H Court and the Prosecutor’s Office is the instrument for blocking B&H’s European path. She pointed out that Preda’s statement that Dodik is an instrument of Russian policy, or his message that Europe is supposedly fighting against Russia in B&H, are total nonsense and the expression of powerlessness to look at the actual reasons that keep B&H in the dark. “Preda’s review about the attitude of Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic towards the RS is equally absurd, which only shows Dan Preda’s political-analytical amateurism, who is giving lectures to those who do not need them,” said Cvijanovic. She noted that the Europeans always blame someone else for their own failures or lack of adequate actions, thus Prada’s statement is more or less part of standard model and vocabulary. “If the EU treated this area adequately, we would then talk about dominant European influence, not Russian or Turkish. If they spent energy to train all levels of government for implementing European reforms, rather than misusing B&H’s European path for remodeling B&H, breaking and harrowing of its Dayton structure and accusing RS of whatever crossed their mind, both we and them would have had a lot to be proud of,” said the RS Prime Minister. According to her, it would be better for Preda to explain how the British referendum on leaving the EU and everything else that is going on in Europe will affect the European path of B&H and other Balkan countries, instead of dealing with the announced referendums in RS, describing them as a threat to the B&H’s European path. “It would be good to tell us whether the EU will finally find a solution to the migrant crisis or the Schengen system will experience a final collapse, thus the walls and fences will become the new European way of life. We would like Preda to explain to us if the European altruism is buried by the statements of some EU member states that they will accept only Christian, not Muslim refugees, and whether the EU, thanks to its inability to defend its external borders, has imported a number of security-threatening individuals and groups for who we will be all bleeding on this European continent,” said Cvijanovic.

Support of United States and Obama to B&H is unquestionable (Novo vrijeme)

B&H Foreign Minister Igor Crnadak stayed for two days in Washington, where, besides attending the National prayer breakfast organized by President Barack Obama, he also attended a series of meetings with officials of the US administration as well. Crnadak said that the National prayer breakfast is spectacular event with a large number of known people, not only from the world of politics, and it is a matter of prestige to appear there. Moreover, he held meetings with high ranking officials of the US administration, the Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland and Charles Kupchan, director of European Affairs on the National Security Council of USA. “Ms. Nuland and I had a good and opened meeting. US sent a very clear message that they stand in the position of support of the reform and especially the efforts and commitment of the Council of Ministers to seriously enter the fight against corruption. When it comes to our application, there have been some precautions in the Washington circles, but the administration assessed it positively and it was said that everything we do after that will be thoroughly and carefully monitored,” stated Crnadak. He concluded that the absolute support of the United States, from President Obama to the rest of the administration, is absolutely unquestionable.

Sebastian Kurz: Austria will support B&H applications for the EU membership (Nezavisne)

Austria will support B&H’s applications for the EU membership, Austrian Minister for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs Sebastian Kurz told a press conference in Sarajevo. He stressed that Austria will support B&H in all the reforms that lie ahead on the road to EU. “Strong historical, economic and cultural ties have long existed between Austria and B&H, and it is our intention that in the Year of Culture 2016, we provide the citizens of our two countries with better, modern mutual understanding,” said today in Sarajevo Sebastian Kurz who is on an official visit to B&H. He assessed positively the reforms in the field of labor made by B&H and expressed the belief that next year will bring even more positive and better results. The Austrian Minister also spoke about the refugee crisis in Europe, and warned that Austria this year will not be able to receive large numbers of refugees, because in the course of 2015, the country received 90,000 refugees. “Unfortunately, a large percentage are not refugees fleeing the armed conflict, many of them are economic migrants seeking a better life. Therefore we have asked Western Balkan countries for the cooperation, in order to reduce the number of refugees especially the number of economic migrants,” said Kurtz, and reminded that the biggest problem is that Greece does not cooperate on the issue of the refugees and that the migrants are being send to the countries that are not the EU members.

Two thousand participants in protest march “Hijab – My Right, My Choice” (Fena)

A peaceful walk, titled “Protest Walk for Human Rights – Hijab – my right, my choice” was held in Sarajevo, starting in Bascarsija, and was attended by some two thousand people who walked carrying banners from Ferhadija to the Square of the Children of Sarajevo. “We gathered to protest against prejudices, discrimination and marginalization,” said Samira Zunic Velagic, a protest organizer. Muslim women hold up placards in a protest rally against a ban on wearing hijab in Sarajevo. “The ban on wearing hijab in judicial institutions is a serious attack against Muslim honor, personality and identity, a violation… aimed at depriving them of their right to work,” she added. Strongly condemned by B&H’s Muslim political and religious leaders, the ban affects judges and other employees in the judicial sector. “We came here to say that we are not the victims of this scarf. We came to defend our rights. It is our crown, our liberty, our honor,” one of the protesters said.

Party leaders’ meeting (RTCG)

The Parliament of Montenegro party leaders continued parliamentary dialogue for the preparation of fair and free elections. This is the fourth meeting of the presidents of parties with MPs, organized by Parliament Speaker Ranko Krivokapic. Representatives of the DF, as well as the leader of the DEMOS Aleksa Becic do not attend the meeting. Party leaders discussed the proposals of parties to overcome the current political situation, as well as proposals for a cabinet reshuffle. After the last meeting, Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic said that the offer of the DPS was not final and could be developed further. Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic called on all parliamentary opposition parties to join the government and by taking some of its responsibilities, help to strengthen the stability of the country and get a credible government after the elections. Djukanovic said he was ready to open up space in ministries of interior, finance, labor and social welfare and agriculture for the participation of the parliamentary opposition in the Government. Demos, Civic Movement URA and Social Democratic Party (SDP) will further explain their plans for the formation of a transitional government of electoral confidence. The leader of Positive Montenegro, Darko Pajovic presented the road map of his party to overcome the political crisis, which he will deliver to the Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic. He recalled that the Positive’s plan enables opposition to enter the executive branch in order to control it in those areas where there is misuse of state resources for electoral purposes. In addition, the Socialist People’s Party has proposed the formation of a new government with only one vice president from the parties that did not vote in favor of confidence for the Cabinet of Milo Djukanovic.

Elections and referendum on NATO in the same day (RTCG)

The Socialist People’s Party (SNP) has proposed the formation of a new government with only one vice-president from the ranks of the parties that did not vote for Milo Djukanovic’s cabinet in the vote of confidence. This is stated in the Baseline for overcoming the profound social-economic, institutional and political crisis in Montenegro. SNP requires the first next parliamentary elections and the national referendum on NATO membership to be held at the same time, reports Dan and Vijesti. Baseline was submitted to political entities that did not vote for the confidence of the government but have confirmed their participation in the parliamentary dialogue scheduled for today. “It is necessary to adopt a legal act on the formation of a new government of Montenegro in the Parliament. Consequently, we believe that no political agreement on cooperation in the government’ should be signed, but instead a law on the Government should be adopted,” SNP document says. In the new government, according to the SNP, the opposition parties should get the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Health, as well as Ministry of Education and Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration.

Zurof seeks dismissal of Zlatko Hasanbegovic (RTRS)

Simon Wiesenthal Center director Efraim Zurof has urged the government of Croatia to replace controversial Culture Minister Zlatko Hasanbegovic immediately. “The Wiesenthal Center is shocked over the appointment of the fascist Zlatko Hasanbegovic to head the Culture Ministry of Croatia and demands his replacement,” a press release from the Jerusalem headquartered non-governmental organization reported by the Index website, said. The statement reads that the organization was further appalled by the fact that the person holding that office had stated that anti-fascism was only a phrase and who openly admired the Nazi imam.

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

Kosovo’s tough year ahead – five key observations (TransConflict, by Daniel Hamilton, 8 February 2016)

As Kosovo faces a tough year ahead, it is time to reflect upon the robustness of its institutions, the persistence of Vetëvendosje, Hashim Thaçi’s rise to the presidency, the growing gulf between Serbs north and south of the Ibar, and the “rose-tinted glasses” worn by many MEPs.

Kosovo is in crisis – but its institutions are actually proving to be quite robust

When writing about Kosovo, there is often a tendency for international commentators to focus on the negatives: the high unemployment, the political instability and the ongoing ethnic strife.  What is not said often enough is that the country’s institutions, which will only celebrate their eighth birthday on 17th February, are proving themselves to be relatively robust. A key facet of being a successful state is that, when politicians throw visceral verbal barbs at one another and extremist elements threaten the violent overthrow of constitutional order, the country’s institutions hold steady – above politics and beyond interference. Against a backdrop of violent protests on the streets of Pristina at the implementation of the government’s agreement with Serbia over the establishment of the Association of Serb Municipalities (ASM), which included the firebombing of government buildings on Pristina’s Mother Theresa Boulevard and opposition MP’s deployment of teargas canisters on the floor of Parliament in order to stifle debate, the Constitutional Court has acted responsibly and proportionately. While the issue of the ASM remains a matter for intense debate – and the court continues to raise some concerns about its compatibility with certain facets of Kosovo’s constitution – these have been raised in a mature manner that continues to give confidence to both a perennially sceptical Serbia and international community.  This should be noted and celebrated.

Vetëvendosje are not going away

It is hard to imagine a European state with a more cynical and calculating political party system than Kosovo.  The “establishment” political parties, the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) and Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), are controlled by competing business, family and regional interests and give the distinct impression of having little or no ideological basis whatsoever.

Kosovo’s proportional representation voting system means that, while not impossible, it is very difficult for a government to be formed without the two parties cutting some kind of a deal.  This is precisely what happened in December 2014 when, after six months of haggling, a deal was reached that saw the “winner” of the election, the PDK’s Hashim Thaçi surrender the Prime Minister’s office to the LDK’s Isa Mustafa in exchange for their support for his 2016 bid – a post that is awarded by Parliament.  After cutting a deal with a small breakaway party from the PDK and the numerous ethnic minority parties that are guaranteed twenty seats in the National Assembly (ten for Serbs, four for Roma, Ashkali and Egyptians, three for Bosniaks, two for Turks and one for Gorani), the PDK and LDK shared the spoils of ministerial office. It’s not the fault of the LDK and PDK that the electoral system is structured in such a way; but perceptions of cronyism and corruption are. Many international observers have sought to paint the recent rise of the nationalist Vetëvendosje (“self-determination”) as a response to anger at the Kosovo government “capitulating” to Serbia on the issue of the creation of the Association of Serb Municipalities, which has been painted as a back-door power-grab by Belgrade, the “surrender” of Kosovar land to Montenegro during negotiations over the demarcation of the state border and the formation of a special court to prosecute ethnic Albanians guilty of war crimes in the 1999 conflict.  While it is clear that these issues have provided the kindling and the spark for recent protests inside and outside Parliament; they are not the fuel that has turned them into an inferno.

Instead, the responsibility lies with the failure of the government to make real progress in tackling the country’s endemic economic problems. “The young Europeans,” is a marketing line that is often used by the country – a hint at Kosovo’s status as the newest independent European state and the fact more than 50% of the population is under the age of 18 – but this is very much a double-edged sword.  A young population can only be expected to thrive where they find employment – and there is little to be found.  In the case of Spain and Portugal, many young people moved broad to find work during the recent economic crises to face their countries – yet Kosovars often find themselves hemmed-in by inflexible visa regimes.   Instead, the hopefulness and energy of the 2008 independence movement has partly given way to despondence and distrust of both the Kosovo government and the promises of international organisations.

Riding on a wave of anti-government and anti-corruption rhetoric, Vetëvendosje’s Shpend Ahmeti was elected Mayor of Pristina at the end of 2014, unseating the now-Prime Minister Isa Mustafa.   For the LDK to lose the mayoralty of the country’s largest, best educated and most cosmopolitan city was a tremendous shock.  It has not been a bad experiment, though.  While many – myself included – were suspicious of how Ahmeti may behave in office, he has largely gotten to grips with the city’s corrupt planning system and invested heavily in public spaces.  The city feels cleaner and more prosperous. The success of Ahmeti’s spell in City Hall has allowed Vetëvendosje, whose previous public image was largely that of its leader Albin Kurti leading street protests and throwing rhetorical flame-throwers at the political class, to take on an air of mild respectability.   This is, of course, not helped by the spectacle of Vetëvendosje MPs deploying tear-gas canisters on the floor of Parliament in order to stifle debate – but, as Kurti and Ahmeti argue, there is space in their party for a Yin and a Yang. As long as the economy remains stable and the political system remains a den of cronyism, Vetëvendosje’s progress towards the political mainstream will only continue.

Hashim Thaçi is still likely become President

There have been some rumblings recently that Hashim Thaçi, the country’s former Prime Minister, and current Foreign Minister, may be at risk of losing on his long-held ambition of becoming President when the vote takes place later this year.  I do not yet share this view.

While he should be concerned by the public declaration by a number of LDK MPs that they intend to renege upon their party’s deal with the PDK to install Mustafa as Prime Minister in exchange for supporting Thaçi for the presidency, the numbers continue to stack up in his favour.

To secure the Presidency, he requires the support of either two thirds of MPs or, after three rounds of voting, a simple majority – 61 votes.   Assuming he can carry his own 34 MPs, two thirds of PDK members (18 MPs) and three quarters of the minority representatives (15 MPs), he will take the post with an absolute majority of 66 votes. Fundamentally, the LDK have little incentive to stop Thaçi becoming President.  The job itself is very much ceremonial in nature, unlike Isa Mustafa’s current, influential post as Prime Minister.  If the party was to renege upon their deal with Thaçi and the PDK, the most likely outcome would be fresh elections – a high-risk political manoeuvre that could risk leaving the LDK empty-handed afterwards. Finally, what is rarely said and never acknowledged by either Thaçi himself or the ethnic minority parties is the ease with which they have been able to cooperate with one another.   As Prime Minister, Thaçi worked relatively harmoniously with his Serb and Turkish Cabinet minister; apparently leaving them alone to run their own portfolios without much interference.  The ten Serbian MPs, in particular, may not be particular Thaçi fans but it is hard to see them backing a rival, Vetëvendosje-backed nominee.

The gulf between Serbs north and south of the Ibar is growing

On 21st January, the former “leader” of the Serbian community in North Kosovo – an area physically divided from the rest of the country and home to vast ethnic Serb population – was jailed for nine years for his involvement in war crimes during the 1999 war. The ruling has been widely greeted with derision in the north of the country, with street protests in the ethnically divided city of North Mitrovica and angry denunciations from leading politicians in Belgrade – some of whom have advocated the suspension of dialogue with Pristina. What has been notable, however, is the relative silence of the Serbian community living south of the Ibar River.  While the sympathies of the Serbian community outside of the north will undoubtedly still lie with Ivanović, there is more than simply anecdotal evidence to suggest that these communities are beginning to develop some kind of acceptance of and accommodation within the Republic of Kosovo system. The 2013 local elections saw the election of mayors in a number of newly-drawn, majority Serb-populated local government areas south of the Ibar; namely, Štrpce, Klokot-Vrbovac, Gračanica, Novo Brdo, Ranilug and Parteš.   With the drawing of these municipalities done in such a way as to ensure the election of ethnic Serbs to the mayoralty, this has provided a formal mechanism by which Serbs have had some latitude over local spending decisions within the Kosovo government framework.   When completed, the intention is that the Association of Serb Municipalities (ASM) will reinforce the ability of ethnic Serb areas to pursue their own health, education and cultural policies. There is a degree of realpolitik here. Many ethnic Serbs south of the Ibar still remain aggrieved about being separated from Kosovo, yet have a basic choice – participate in elections in areas specially drawn to elect Serbs or see another community win the mayoralty with 200 votes; accept a degree of self-governance within the Kosovo state or risk seeing their concerns swamped in a 95% ethnic Albanian state. The same concerns simply do not exist north of the Ibar.  In the city of North Mitrovica and surrounding towns of Zubin Potok, Leposavić and Zvečan, Serbs make up more than 90% of the population.  There is simply no inducement to engage with the Republic of Kosovo state, regardless of the efforts made by both the European Union and Pristina in this respect.  In the minds of local Serbs, the ASM will make little practical difference; largely because their present governance arrangements afford more flexibility than the proposed changes. For all the talk of Serbian unity in some nationalist corners, ethnic Serbs are probably the single most divided community in Kosovo at present.

MEPs are guilty of looking at Kosovo with “rose-tinted glasses”

This week, the European Parliament rubber-stamped the latest in a round of reports examining the progress that Kosovo is making towards European Union accession.

It has long been my view that many Members of the European Parliament – well-intentioned though they are – have allowed their innate passion for EU expansion and sympathy towards the significant political, social and economic challenges the country faces to cloud their perceptions of the true situation in the country.  If ever the phrase “rose tinted glasses” was meant to be used; it was for Wednesday’s debate.

While MEPs, led by the Austrian Green Ulrike Lunacek, were right to praise the progress that has been made on reaching theoretical agreements on the establishment Association of Serb Municipalities, telecoms, vehicular insurance, mutual recognition of diplomas and the “normalisation” of the situation in the ethnically-divided city of Mitrovica, little attention was actually paid to the implementation of these accords.   Yes, Serbia has lifted its preposterous objection to Kosovo receiving its own international dialling code and yes, Kosovo has agreed that it will finally end its discriminatory policy of rejecting diplomas from the Serb university in North Mitrovica – but other than that, progress has been relatively meagre.

The report also makes a rather opaque reference to the “progress has been made regarding the judiciary” and problems that exist in relation to the “slow administration of justice and the significant backlog of cases”.  To describe the administration of justice in Kosovo as “slow” is as euphemistic as describing Waiting for Godot as a play about an irksome traffic delay.  The EU needs to recognise that Kosovo’s judicial and courts system are in crisis.  The last figures I have suggest that, in the first half of 2014, 693,975 cases were in process in courts (in a country with a population of less than 2 million!), with 455,699 having been inherited from the previous year.

It would be unfair to blame the Republic of Kosovo for this.  After all, the legal system Kosovo was handed when it declared independence in 2008 forces judges to simultaneously adjudicate verdicts on the basis of the legal systems of present-day Kosovo and, in the case of historic offences, the now-defunct legal codes of Serbia and Montenegro (2003-2006), the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1992-2003) and the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (before 1992).   Increased financial and technical support is clearly required to help unlock this logjam.

Finally, the near-comical status Kosovo’s National Assembly has taken on in recent times was largely glossed over.   While, as I have already mentioned, Vetëvendosje MPs bear the sole responsibility for the violent and unacceptable scenes that have been witnessed on the floor of the Parliament, it is not enough for a European Parliament report examining the state of Kosovo’s institutions to “call on all political actors to resume political dialogue in order to break the deadlock and find a viable solution that restores the normal functioning” of the body.   The EU is often relatively effective at adopting a “carrot and stick” approach to states aspiring to membership.  In this case, the stick – such as an explicit rejection of the proposed visa-free regime unless the political climate improves – seems strangely absent.

Kosovo has made considerable progress in recent years but the rose-tinted approach adopted by so many MEPs is neither honest nor helpful in achieving real reforms on the ground.   This needs to change.

Daniel Hamilton is a Senior Director at FTI Consulting, a global business advisory firm and a former Conservative Party parliamentary candidate in the UK.  He writes in a personal capacity.

The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of TransConflict.

Kumanovo Gunmen Face Trial in Macedonia (BIRN, by Sase Dimovski, 8 February 2016)

Twenty-nine ethnic Albanians accused of involvement in a shootout that left 18 dead in Kumanovo face terrorism charges at a trial that starts on Tuesday in Skopje. The 29 men, accused of being part of or aiding an armed group that took on the police in the northern town of Kumanovo on May 9-10 last year, face sentences of eight years to life if found guilty. The prosecution charges the ethnic Albanian men from both Macedonia and Kosovo with attacking the Macedonian police, “participating in a terrorist association” and “terrorism.” The outcome of the two-day armed clash in the ethnically mixed town was eight dead and 50 injured policemen. Ten gunmen were also killed. The defendants have been in detention since May 10 and have now spent almost nine months behind bars in prisons in Bitola and Prilep. Seventeen of the defendants are not from Macedonia but Kosovo – Sami Ushkini–Morina, Andi Krasniqi–Malisheva, Deme Shehu, Fadil Elshani, Esat Kagedzoli, Ardijan Bujari, Shefket Kalaci, Hajrush Avdija, Betim Kabashi, Genci Sefa, Landrit Rustemaj, Mirsat Kerimi, Valdet Sekaj, Bajram Elshani, Lirim Krasnici, Fatimir Recica and Bek Bajra. One suspect, Enver Hoxha-Klein, has both Kosovo and German citizenship. The remaining ten, Kenan Iseni, Fadil Fejzulahi, Irfan Ljutfiu, Lirim Demiri, Nasuf Bekiri, Nedzbedin Lika, Sevdailj Miftari, Fejzula Rushitovski, Besnik Ajdini and Arsim Bajrami, are Macedonian while the eleventh, Rufki Dogani, resides in Kosovo but was born in Macedonia.
Attack on the police station:
The prosecution says the group led by Mirsad Nrecaj and Beg Rizaj – both now dead – devised a plan to form a terrorist group for which purposes they acquired cash, weapons, ammunition and medical materials. According to the prosecution, the group initially attacked and robbed a police station in the mountainous village of Goshince, near the Kosovo border on April 21 and 22. The group stole a considerable quantity of weapons from the police station, which they used three weeks later for the terror attack on the police in Kumanovo. “The deceased Nrecaj and Rizaj, together with Zekaj Valdet, Deme Shehu and other unidentified persons, armed with automatic rifles and masked, crossed the Kosovo-Macedonia border in April 21, 2015. “They were intercepted by Nasuf Bekiri, Fejzula Rushitoski and Sulejman Osman, and, around 2.30am, attacked the police station [in Goshince], overcame and tied up four police officers, after which they searched the station and took the weapons,” the prosecution charge reads. The prosecution says the group took “65 automatic rifles, three machine guns, two sniper rifles, 49 guns, 15,600 pieces of ammunition of 7.62 caliber as well as over 1,700 pieces of ammunition of other calibers. They also took binoculars, radio communication devices, cameras, a flair gun with ammunition, handcuffs and other equipment from the police station.” According to the prosecution, the group put the weapons in vehicles and left, while Sulejman Osman hid some of them at a location inside the border village of Brest. The prosecution claims that the group, following a previously devised plan, infiltrated Macedonia once more between May 2 and 8.
The battle in Kumanovo:
On entry to Macedonia, the group was initially sheltered in the village of Otlja, near Kumanovo, in a house belonging to one of the defendants, Kenan Iseni, the prosecution says.

The next day, using three vehicles, the group was transported to the Kumanovo suburb of Divo Naselje, scene of the bloody shootout, where they were accommodated in the home of the defendant, Fadil Fejzulahu. On the morning of the critical day, May 9, when the fighting begun, a special police unit acting on a court order tried to search a house in the same street where the group was stationed, seeking the weapons stolen from the police station in Goshince. The prosecution says that the bloodshed began when the group detonated a bomb in the direction of the special police that injured several people. They then opened fire from automatic and sniper weapons at the police. The shootout lasted during the entire day on May 9 and continued on May 10. By the end, eight police officers had lost their lives and 50 were wounded. Ten of the gunmen were also killed. By their actions, the defendants “created fear among the population, took human lives and destroyed property”, the prosecution says, concluding that they committed two criminal acts – “terrorism” and “participation in a terrorist organization.” The ten gunmen killed in the shootout were identified as Mirsad Nrecaj, Beg Rizaj, Samid Kastrioti, Valon Kabashi, Vatlum Vishesela, Xhafer Zumeraj, Nusret Kaljoshi, Arben Rexhaj, Turgaj Gashi and Rushiti Husen. All were Kosovo citizens. The prosecution has proposed that the court call 49 police officers who took part in the fighting as protected witnesses. Their identities will not be revealed. The spouses of some of killed police officers are also expected to appear before the court as an aggrieved party. The prosecution has also insisted on all the defendants being kept in custody, noting that some have residence permits in and family, logistical and financial ties to Germany, and could escape if released. Judges Verka Petovska and Goran Boshevski will preside at the trial. Unusually for Macedonia, the prosecution act is signed and represented in court by not one but two prosecutors, Naum Panovski and Vilma Ruskovska. Police will maintain a heavy presence at the Criminal Court in Skopje during the trial. At least three security officers will guard each of the defendants during their stay in the courtroom. The defence lawyer representing eight of the defendants, Naser Raufi, as well as other defence lawyers, have asked for the relatives of the defendants to be allowed in court during the trial. At a pre-trial session in the Skopje court in December, all 29 defendants denied charges of terrorism and said the bloody shootout occurred as they defended themselves from the police. Their lawyers have accused the police of interrogating their clients inhumanely, and claim officers beat them for days without allowing them medical assistance. Naser Raufi said that he had “not seen any evidence for the crime” with which his clients are charged.

Evidence kept in boxes and folders:
The evidence of the prosecution before the court is held in more than ten boxes and folders.
They contain records of telephone conversations between the defendants and people employed in Macedonian state institutions and private companies, such as the Tetovo State University, the Tetovo Medical Centre, the State Pension Fund and Stopanska Bank from Skopje. The prosecution says the records were procured from Macedonian telecom operators on a judge’s warrant. The evidence also includes video and photographic documentation from the scene of the shootout that more or less destroyed several houses in Kumanovo. The evidence also includes forensic data of the blood collected from the spot, ammunition shells and weapons and other biological traces. Medical documentation on all those killed and injured in the clashes are kept in separate boxes, including those of the wounded police officers who are due to appear as protected witnesses. The police initially reported up to 22 dead in the shootout but later revised the number down to 18, having miscalculated the number of killed gunmen. Other evidence of the prosecution includes forensics data on the weapons used by the group, which should confirm that they originated from the robbed police station. The list of evidence, which the defence lawyers have been allowed to inspect before the trial, further includes many classified data that had to be de-classified for use in court.
A case with vast implications:
In 2001, Macedonia went through a short-lived armed conflict between Albanian insurgents and the security forces. The conflict ended the same year with the signing of an internationally brokered peace accord that guaranteed greater rights to Albanians who make up a quarter of the country’s 2.1 million people. The shootout in Kumanovo came against a backdrop of a deep political crisis in Macedonia, revolving around opposition claims that Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski ordered the illegal surveillance of some 20,000 people. Some have accused the authorities of actually plotting the violence in order to distract attention from the ongoing crisis. Days after the carnage, Interior Minister Gordana Jankuloska and secret police chief Saso Mijalkov resigned. However, in their resignation notes submitted to parliament, they insisted that their departure was not related to the events in Kumanovo. Suspicions expressed then by opposition leaders and some political observers that the shootout was a political set-up to divert attention from the crisis buffeting Gruevski’s government remain unresolved. The defence now wants evidence brought before the court to include recordings made by intelligence services of other countries as well as Macedonia’s that allegedly show the group was paid by the authorities €2 million to carry out the operation in Macedonia. Several EU countries including Germany last year supported local calls for an international inquiry into the clashes.

The Macedonian village that has become a people-smuggling hub (DW, by Nemanja Rujevic, 8 February 2016)

People smugglers in the Balkans are doing a roaring trade. The village of Lojane in Macedonia is a good example of how the complex network of smugglers, helpers and corrupt policemen works, says DW’s Nemanja Rujevic.

The small village of Lojane doesn’t have a sign bearing the place name. The center of town here is at the crossing of the only two sealed roads in the area, and is marked by one shop and two teahouses. Towering above everything is the ivory-colored minaret of the local mosque. The only thing that breaks the silence is the crow of a rooster, keen to show his manliness. “There’s nothing to do here,” a strongly built man tells DW, as he waits outside one of the teahouses. That’s perhaps one of the reasons why this village – situated close to the Macedonia-Serbia border – has become a center for people smuggling, he says. Illegal migrants are brought here to stay the night before they are ferried on to western Europe. Here, a bed for the night costs 10 euros ($11.14) – or you can sleep in a stable for half that price. “Look, it is not how the media describes it,” the man adds. “At the moment we just have a few Moroccans, and that’s about it.”

“The people that offer their place for overnight stays do it because otherwise they wouldn’t have anything to eat. The crop this year was hopeless because of the drought.”

A forgotten frontier

You don’t have to be too observant to notice that the whole area here is very poor and receives little attention from the Macedonian authorities. The houses are simple and the unsealed streets are so muddy you often need a tractor to get around. Only Albanians live here, as is the case on the other side of the Serbian border, too. You do see the occasional shiny BMW or Audi, and there are large, kitsch villas gleaming on some of the hills. But this wealth does not come from doing business in Lojane – it originates from Switzerland, Austria or Germany. Around 40 percent of the 3,000 inhabitants of Lojane work somewhere else in Europe. “My brother is also in Switzerland,” says the president of the local village community, Selami Memeti. He answers the phone with a greeting in German, but that’s all he can manage before he reverts back to Albanian. “I swear it, the people here in the Balkans are much smarter than people in the West,” Memeti says. “But in the West they are better organized and like to work. We just like racketeering.” The power brokers in the Macedonian capital, Skopje, steal from the population, according to Memeti. That’s why his neighbors here in the north of the country are so poor, he says. Dozens of them are now in jail because they looked after migrants or helped them across the border. “I understand that this should be illegal. But it is the common folk who are arrested, while high-level, organized crime just continues,” he explains. The big bosses behind people smuggling in this area are not Albanians but come from the same countries as the refugees and migrants themselves, according to Memeti. It is a claim that is backed up by those at the Greek-Macedonian border too. They speak of a network that stretches from Thessaloniki to Scandinavia. A stream of migrants has been passing through Lojane for the last 10 years. It started when Afghans started to make their way through. Things in the town then reached a climax a few months back, when Serbia was still in official control of the border and the path through the Balkans was not yet as well-trodden as it is now. “We had over 1,000 migrants here,” says Memeti. “They were walking around the village freely and hanging out in the teahouses. The locals never had a problem with them, but they were constantly fighting with each other and with the people smugglers. There were knife fights and bad injuries.”

‘Fragile democracies’

At the moment, the Macedonian authorities appear to be doing little to solve the problem. Most of the time, they leave the people smugglers and the illegal migrants who have made it into the country in peace. The “Vecer” newspaper – one of Macedonia’s most widely read – wrote recently of the migrants passing through the country: “They are like ghosts, like invisible beings. The authorities know that they are there, but don’t want to admit it publicly.” A government insider, who doesn’t want to be named, told DW that a number of leading politicians and top-ranking police officers were involved in people smuggling in Macedonia. “Raids in villages like Lojane are very rare and only happen after a report in the Western media,” the man says. “Macedonia tries to appear serious about fighting the people smugglers when speaking to the EU.” It’s widely known that locals assisting the people smugglers often receive their money via direct bank transfer, he says, but no-one does anything about it. According to him, the same thing happens in Greece or Serbia – he says the people-smuggling route is only possible at all because of these “countries with a fragile democracy.” Since November, business has been booming: Syrians, Iraqis and Afghans are let through at the borders of Macedonia and other countries on the way to western Europe, while others have a harder task, as they are considered just economic refugees. That means those from North Africa or Pakistan have only two ways of getting through. They either need to get fake travel documents in Athens, or try to move between countries at uncontrolled parts of the various borders – with or without the help of a smuggler. The people smugglers look for potential customers in refugee camps or at gas stations in Greece: places where the migrants wait. They often tell their potential clients about the supposed brutality of local police in Macedonia. This Greek hotel on the border serves as a meeting place for refugees wanting to cross into Macedonia. “Actually, the police are pretty okay,” reports a young Algerian man who is traveling with a large group of his countrymen. “When they see us they just say: ‘Stop police, no problem.’ And then they throw us out.” “They have got us three times,” he explains. He’s already received many offers from people smugglers but wants to try to get through himself. They offer to transport him through Macedonia for 800 euros. But for the moment, he wants to try his luck himself. If it doesn’t work out, he might use a smuggler, he says.

Worried about their daughters

A call to prayer rings out from the mosque in Lojane but no-one in the teahouse moves. It seems religion isn’t a big deal here. Community leader Selami Memeti lights up another cigarette and throws the empty packet on the table. His yellowing moustache gives him away as a chain-smoker. “The migrants stay here a day, a week or sometimes longer – but in the end every one of them manages to get through somehow,” he says. “The police accept bribes. That is completely normal here and in Serbia.” Memeti has heard of Hungary’s donation to Macedonia of barbed wire, which is now being set up along the border to Greece. He believes that his country could seal up its borders completely if told to do so by Brussels. If this happened, though, Memeti fears the illegal flow of migrants would intensify. “Then it would be full here.” That means the residents of Lojane would have to buy more mattresses to help house their guests. Despite the possible income this could bring to the region, it’s something that Memeti would like to avoid. “Who knows how long it has been since these people washed, and whether they are carrying diseases. And we are also worried about our daughters.” After all, he says, he read about what happened on New Year’s Eve in Cologne.

* * *

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.