LOCAL PRESS

First day of dialogue in Brussels ends (RTS/Tanjug)

The first day of this week’s round of technical dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina was completed on Monday evening in Brussels by the talks on assets of Serbia’s telecommunications company Telekom in Kosovo and the talks on the same issue will resume on Tuesday too, Radio and Television of Serbia (RTS)reported.It is planned that this round of technical dialogue will last until Thursday, and that the topic of the talks will be the implementation of the agreement on telecommunications. No press statements were given following last night’s round of talks. Work on telecommunications is continuing as part of the technical dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, European Commission spokesperson Maja Kocijancic said Monday. When asked by Tanjug’s correspondent to comment on a statement by Edita Tahiri, the head of the Pristina delegation, that Kosovo would be given an international calling code, Kocijancic noted the EU wanted an agreement on telecommunications, but that work on this was still under way. We want an agreement to be reached this week, but the work is continuing today, she said.

Majstorovic: Three chapters to be opened by end of year (Tanjug)

The deputy head of the Serbian Office for European Integration, Srdjan Majstorovic, said late Monday he expected Serbia to open three more chapters in its EU accession talks by end-2016 – chapters 5, 25 and 26. The opening of those chapters will be substantial, he told a conference held by the Centre for Contemporary Politics and the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung at the Tanjug Press Centre. Chapter 5 deals with public procurements and it is directly related to the rule of law and chapters 23 and 24, he said. Chapters 25 and 26, which deal with education and culture, are highly specific because a limited number of EU rules are introduced into the national legislation, he said. Chapters 25 and 26 will be “opened and preliminarily closed on the same day – hopefully by the end of the year. They will be the first to be temporarily closed by Serbia,” he said.

Miscevic: We promised Constitution amendment and this is a clear plan (Radio Belgrade)

“The amendment of the Constitution in 2017 is something that we had seriously promised and this stands as a clear plan, but not the amendment of the electoral process,” the Head of the Serbian negotiating team for EU negotiations Tanja Miscevic told a panel dubbed “Opening of New Chapters and Next Steps in EU Accession” held at the Tanjug Press Center. According to her, the topic of the amendment of the electoral process is not an issue for Chapter 23 and is not a segment that is a necessary part of the constitutional reform, but is a topic discussed by the decision-makers. “It is very clear what we need and in what direction these constitutional reforms should head,” noted Miscevic. Member of the negotiating team Nebojsa Lazarevic says there are a “bunch” of technical issues over which the Constitution needs to be amended, noting that some of the amendments, according to the Serbian Constitution, require a referendum, and some don’t. “If nothing else, at least one referendum awaits us over the Constitution amendment, so it wouldn’t be bad to connect the famous referendum on EU membership with the referendum on Constitutional amendment,” said Lazarevic.

Nikolic: Bakir must explain why he likened Dodik to Gaddafi (Vecernje Novosti)

Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic says Bakir Izetbegovic should explanation a statement he made comparing Republika Srpska (RS) President Milorad Dodik to Muammar Gaddafi. Nikolic said this for the Belgrade-based Vecernje Novosti newspaper on Tuesday, referring to Izetbegovic – a Bosniak politician who currently chairs the tripartite Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H). In addition, the president said, Izetbegovic should say “when he was being honest – when he said there would be no war in Bosnia-Herzegovina, or when he predicted that Milorad Dodik will be tortured, humiliated, and murdered after a military intervention.”

“Who, according to him (Izetbegovic) will do this? They turned Libya’s residents against Gaddafi. What must happen for the residents of RS to do that to their legitimately elected president? Dodik is using a democratic principle to realize his ideas – which means would Izetbegovic use to realize his intent regarding the murder of a president?,” asked Nikolic. According to him, Sunday’s RS Day referendum “showed the will of the RS citizens and must not see the fate of several referendums held in various Serb lands under various political circumstances – to be held and remain a dead letter.” Nikolic also noted that all relevant political factors in the Serb entity in B&H stood behind the referendum, “and that means an obligation to implement it.”

Dacic meets with Albanian ambassador (Beta)

Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic and Albanian Ambassador to Serbia Ilir Bochka agreed at a Sept. 26 meeting in Belgrade that relations between the two states were developing in the right direction. To illustrate the point, the Serbian foreign minister and the Albanian diplomat mentioned the two governments’ upcoming activities, including a joint session in Nis. Dacic underlined the Serbian-Albanian joint initiatives within the Berlin Process, including infrastructure projects like the Nis-Pristina-Durres highway, the opening of the Regional Office for Youth Cooperation and the Western Balkans Institute.

Jeremic ranks second in latest informal UNSC straw poll (B92)

Serbia’s candidate for the position of UN secretary-general has placed second in the fifth round of the informal voting organized at the UN Security Council. This is according to unofficial information on Monday evening European time. Vuk Jeremic finished third in the fourth round organized earlier this month, and was ranked second overall after that round. Portugal’s Antonio Guterres on Monday once again topped the informal straw poll with 12 positive, two negative, and one undecided vote. Jeremic received eight positive, six negative, and one undecided, while Slovakia’s Miroslav Lajcak, who was second in the previous round, today placed third (8-7-0).

Speaking after Monday’s poll, Jeremic said it confirmed his continued ranking at the very top of the candidate list. “This time we are in second place. We continue the campaign from the position of the first-ranked (candidate) in the Eastern European Group, ahead of the final phase where UN Security Council members will have the possibility of announcing the use of their vetoes,” Jeremic said.

Serbia seeks to boost defense cooperation with Iran (B92)

Serbian Defense Minister Zoran Djordjevic on Monday received Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Serbia Majid Fahim Pour. According to the Serbian government website, they spoke about the possibilities for the expansion of cooperation between the two countries in the field of defense. Djordjevic and Pour agreed that there is a mutual interest in improving and intensifying bilateral defense cooperation in order to reach the level of overall political relations, as evidenced by the exchange of visits at the highest level in the recent period. The military medicine and military education are areas in which, in the current conditions, it is possible to develop cooperation with the Iranian side, bearing in mind the restrictions imposed by the UN and the EU on Iran, a Serbian Ministry of Defense’s statement posted on the government website said. The current migrant crisis was also discussed at the meeting, which showed interconnectivity of spatially very remote regions, since the security challenges are intertwined to such an extent that the safety of a region cannot be viewed in isolation from the rest of the world, the statement said, adding: “Serbia has been shown to act as a responsible member of the international community and provide an adequate response to the current crisis by investing extraordinary efforts on the implementation of enhanced border control and prevention of criminal activities of smugglers and traffickers who seek to profit from the misfortune of migrants.”

Chepurin: Medvedev coming to Serbia, date unknown (Tanjug)

There are plans for Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev to come to Serbia, but the exact date of the visit is still unknown, Russian Ambassador to Serbia Aleksandr Chepurin said Monday. Organizing the Medvedev’s visit requires very serious preparations, Chepurin said, adding that Medvedev’s visit was on the agenda but that the exact date had still not been confirmed.

“Solidarity for Kosovo” renovating Serbian schools (Novosti)

Thanks to the donation of the French humanitarian organization “Solidarity for Kosovo” headed by Arnaud Gouillon, the floors of the “Desanka Maksimovic” elementary school in Kosovska Kamenica had been completely renovated. Around 500 Serb pupils attend this school. According to Gouillon, 3.500 Euros were invested in these works since the old floors were worn out.

REGIONAL PRESS

B&H Prosecutor’s Office calls Dodik to give statement in capacity of suspect in ‘Referendum’ case (TV1/RTRS/Nezavisne)

The B&H Prosecutor’s Office called the Republika Srpska (RS) President Milorad Dodik on Monday to give a statement in the capacity of a suspect in the case related to the referendum on the Day of the RS. B&H Chief Prosecutor Goran Salihovic underlined that Dodik was called to give a statement only now because Dodik just yesterday (Sunday) took full responsibility for the organization of the referendum on the Day of the RS. The Prosecutor’s Office has formed a special team which will work on the ‘Referendum’ case. “B&H Chief Prosecutor Goran Salihovic issued a binding instruction in which he formed a team which will work on the aforementioned case. With this instruction, the ‘Referendum’ case was identified as priority and acting prosecutor will have all necessary prosecutorial resources at his disposal so that he could efficiently work on this case,” reads a press release issued by the Prosecutor’s Office. TV1 recalled that Dodik previously stated that he will not attend any kind of interrogation at the Prosecutor’s Office. RTRS and Nezavisne novine carried separate statements by spokesman for the State Prosecutor’s Office Boris Grubesic who confirmed that Dodik was served with a summons for questioning. It was announced that the Prosecutor’s Office had opened an investigation into the referendum that had previously been banned by the B&H Constitutional Court and that people involved in the organization of the referendum would be questioned. The case was opened 20 days ago and was given a priority status. Failure to comply with B&H Constitutional Court decisions carries a sentence of six months to five years in jail. The Constitutional Court has not yet officially informed the Prosecutor’s Office that its rulings had not been implemented. Court Registrar Zvonko Mijan said on Monday that decisions regarding the status of January 9 as RS Day would be discussed at a hearing scheduled for September 29 and 30. Dodik reacted to the invitation from the Prosecutor’s Office of B&H by saying that the Ottoman times when “the judge indicted you, the judge tried you”. He sent a message to those who want to arrest him that nobody has ever formed a state by arresting political opponents. According to Dodik, those who would like to see him arrested are trying to hide the fact that there are some 100 potential terrorist groups in the Federation of B&H. He added that if someone wants to arrest him, they should also arrest all members of the RS Assembly as well as all citizens of this entity. “But we all know that something like that will never happen,” Dodik stressed.

Preliminary results of RS’ referendum published (RTRS)

Chairman of Republika Srpska (RS) Referendum Commission Sinisa Karan published the first unofficial final results of the RS’ referendum on the RS’ Day on Monday. He explained that 680,116 citizens voted in the referendum on the RS Day, which is 55.77 percent of voters in the RS and added that 677,721 (99.81 percent) voted ‘Yes’, 1,291 (0.19 percent) voted ‘No’, while 2,264 ballots were invalid. According to Karan, the results are valid because more than 50 percent of citizens who are entitled to vote casted their ballots. He stressed that the referendum was successfully carried out in line with the Law on Referendum. The final report on the referendum will be forwarded to the RS National Assembly for adoption, and the results will be published in the RS Official Gazette in term of 30 days. Commenting on the statement of RS Vice President Ramiz Salkic, who said that results of turnout were exaggerated, Karan said it was a blanket statement, because the Commission received no complaints. Karan underlined that their central voters’ list is the most relevant information.

RS opposition: Referendum voter turnout would be insufficient without support of opposition (BN TV)

Now after the referendum on the Republika Srpska (RS) Day, representatives of the opposition parties in the RS summed up the impressions and analyzed the next steps. According to assessments, the claims that this referendum is just a survey and similar activities resulted in a low turnout rate. SDS leader Mladen Bosic told a press conference in Banja Luka on Monday that the opposition parties actually “saved” the referendum day, explaining that voter turnout would have been insufficient without their support. He assessed that RS President Milorad Dodik and SNSD are to blame for the low turnout rate because they organized the referendum only a week before the local elections. In this way, they conveyed a message that the case is about pre-election activities, he added. According to Bosic, the dangerous game between Dodik and Chairman of the B&H Presidency Bakir Izetbegovic has continued. He deems that the situation in B&H could only benefit those who want to “unpack” the Dayton Peace Accords (DPA), for which the RS could be held responsible. He added that he expects various outcomes of this situation, but each of them could be dangerous for the RS. “I would like to ask Dodik – now what? The referendum was held, what happens next? If it is just about amending the law, it could have been done without the referendum. We will see where this goes. We are concerned because we think this could lead to further deterioration of the situation,” Bosic explained. NDP leader Dragan Cavic emphasized that a thorough analysis needs to be carried out after the referendum. He criticized the RS Commission for Referendum for failing to publish the final results on Sunday evening, which raises many issues. Cavic also deems that voter turnout is far below the expectations and that most of the voters are supporters of the opposition. “The highest turnout rate was recorded in almost all municipalities and cities where the opposition holds the power,” he explained. Serb member of the B&H Presidency Mladen Ivanic assessed, however, that voter turnout was not so bad. He deems that everyone is trying to be a winner now, but what matters the most is that fierce rhetoric is reduced.

SDA: RS Day referendum is illegal and illegitimate, RS artificially increased turnout (Oslobodjenje)

SDA issued a press release on Monday according to which the Republika Srpska (RS) Day referendum, “more precisely a poll” did not have legality, and clearly it will not have legitimacy either. The party stated that terribly low turnout has been artificially increased so they could paint a picture of mass support to the “adventure that undermines the Dayton Agreement” to the public. SDA believes that organizers of the referendum, faced with low turnout, used all the imaginable mechanisms of deceit to reach the 51 percent necessary to give the referendum legitimacy.

HR Inzko: RS has chosen wrong path (Dnevni avaz)

The Office of the High Representative (OHR) issued a press statement saying that the authorities of Republika Srpska (RS) will have to implement the decision of the Constitutional Court (CC) of B&H from November 2015 as soon as possible by harmonizing the Law on Holidays of the RS with the decision of B&H CC. “The international community retains instruments for securing implementation of the Peace Accords. I will consult a wider international community in the upcoming period of time on future steps and I will also inform the United Nations Security Council on this matter”, High Representative Valentin Inzko stated. Inzko said that the RS has chosen a wrong path, noting that referendum is worthless. Inzko stressed that authorities in the RS violated the rule of law and are leading the RS and its citizens to isolation.

Wigemark: We are ready to react if threat to security and peace in B&H emerges at any moment (Dnevni avaz)

Head of the EU Delegation to B&H and EU Special Representative Lars-Gunnar Wigemark stated in an interview for the daily that the referendum in Republika Srpska (RS) means big distraction of attention ahead of the local elections in B&H and he called on everyone in B&H to focus on real problems, which are unemployment, education, social issues, and corruption. “…because all those problems were neglected because of the referendum, and all because of one issue and one entity holiday,” stressed Wigemark. Asked if this may have effect on B&H’s progress on European road, he replied he does not believe that the issue of referendum will have effect on the fact that B&H wants to become a member state of the EU. But, he continued, if politicians are paying more attention to such issues, then it can be concluded they prefer dealing with issues such as referendum rather than with true problems. As for a possible reaction by the international community regarding the violation of the Constitution of B&H and decisions of the Constitutional Court of B&H, he said that the IC has a responsibility to preserve the Dayton Peace Agreement. “There are the Peace Implementation Council and the High Representative in B&H, who should be dealing with this issue. As for the EU, we always give priority to the agreement within the state rather than to intervention from aside. If B&H wants to become a credible candidate for membership in the EU, then it must learn to cope with such problems. There is a tendency to create problems, in order to call for international intervention, and I think that is not going to happen, we cannot be firefighters who will be coming and extinguish fire. But, we are ready to react if a threat to security and peace in B&H emerges at any moment,” Wigemark underlined. Asked if he expects that to happen, he replied: “We cannot respond to each provocation, sometimes it seems to us as if some individuals in B&H provoke the international community and the EU to react in certain manner, but as far as we are concerned we will not do that. We want to see dialogue of politicians in B&H and I deem that they can solve such problems, only they have to be more honest and talk more”. Asked to comment the announcement by High Representative Valentin Inzko for a possibility of the PIC discussing removal of RS President Milorad Dodik, Wigemark first noted that the whole referendum was apparently used in political purposes ahead of the local elections. “…but I think that those who reacted to the referendum used it for their political purposes. Therefore, I think that we should all calm down and find acceptable solution, and dedicate to more important issues in B&H. Of course I cannot comment announcements by the High Representative and the Peace Implementation Council, but if they agree, they have a possibility to implement their decisions. But, that would cause deepening of crisis in B&H, which is not good for European road. The rule of law must certainly be respected, but one should be realistic about this issue and not exaggerate, but think about overall progress of the country. The last thing this country needs is new conflicts, because you took some very important steps recently and it is important to keep that temp and not let these issues to disturb that tempo. I think that B&H should become part of a bigger entity, and name of that entity is the European Union,” Wigemark concluded. Speaking about decisions of the Constitutional Court of B&H, he stressed that there are always mechanisms making sure that the CC’s decisions are respected, adding that there is a big number of unimplemented CC’s decisions now. He deems it is equally unacceptable as referendum that local elections in Mostar will not be held. “We cannot group decisions of the Constitutional Court of B&H on importance basis, because they are all important. The rule of law is important and rulings of all courts in B&H must be respected, for now we have a lot of political interference there. Such issues must be solved through dialogue, opinions of others must be respected,” he emphasized, adding that ordinary people are not interested in matters such as referendum in the RS.

HDZ and Bridge close to hammering out deal (Hina)

Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) leader Andrej Plenkovic and his counterpart from the Bridge party, Bozo Petrov, on Monday evening said that harmonizing of the two parties’ views on the seven demands set out by Bridge was nearing completion, and they had started discussing topics important for the new government’s agenda. “We have made progress on the seven points presented by Bridge in the run-up to the election, and I think that we are close to agreement on all issues, depending on the road-map for their implementation,” Plenkovic said in the HDZ headquarters in Zagreb after the six-hour-long third round of negotiations between the two potential future partners in Croatia’s new government. “The developments give rise to optimism, and I am glad that we are close to hammering out agreement on Bridge’s seven-point election program, however, there are details that will be elaborated in the coming days. We have approached topics pertaining to the next government’s agenda,” Petrov said. He added that the HDZ had also outlined in brief its views on the make-up of the new cabinet. The negotiations between the two parties are to continue this week. Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic is to start consultations on Wednesday with parliamentary parties and elected minority representatives on who will be tasked with the role of Prime Minister-Designate, after the State Election Commission (DIP) on Monday established the official results of the September 11 early parliamentary election. Under the constitution, the president can entrust the candidate supported by an absolute majority of deputies in the 151-seat parliament with the task of PM-designate. Thus, the PM-Designate hopeful should corroborate his/her candidacy with at least 76 signatures of elected deputies. The HDZ was the relative winner of the snap election, winning 61 seats. The Social Democratic Party-led People’s Coalition won 54 seats, the Bridge party 13, while the Human Shield party won eight, IDS/PGS three, a coalition led by Zagreb Mayor Milan Bandic’s party two and the regional HDSSB party one seat. One seat was won by independent MP Zeljko Glasnovic in the constituency for Croats living outside Croatia. Eight seats are allotted to MPs representing ethnic minorities. Three are allocated to the Serb minority which will be represented by SDSS party members Milorad Pupovac, Mile Horvat and Boris Miletic. Furio Radin was elected representative of the Italian minority and Robert Jankovics of ethnic Hungarians. Ethnic Roma representative Veljko Kajtazi will represent the Roma and 11 other minorities, Vladimir Bilek will represent the Czech and Slovak communities, while Ermina Lekaj Prljaskaj will represent the ethnic Albanian community plus another four minorities (Bosniak, Montenegrin, Slovenian and Macedonian). The new, ninth parliament is due to hold its inaugural session by 15 October.

Croatia considers RS referendum unacceptable (Hina)

The Croatian Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs said on Monday that Croatia, as a signatory to the General Framework Agreement for Peace in B&H, considered Sunday’s referendum in Republika Srpska (RS) unacceptable and in violation of a ruling by the B&H Constitutional Court. “It is an irresponsible act with the potential of destabilizing B&H and the wider area of southeastern Europe,” the ministry said in a statement, adding that Croatia supported the territorial integrity and sovereignty of B&H in which all three peoples are constitutional and equal. “Based on its own constitution, Croatia guarantees and will guarantee special care and protection for the Croats in B&H,” the statement said. Croatia said it strongly supported and assisted B&H on its path to European Union membership. “That is the best guarantee to achieve lasting stability and prosperity in B&H,” the statement said.

Croatia, Russia underline imperative of B&H’s survival (Hina)

Croatian Foreign Minister Miro Kovac and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on Monday underlined the importance of strengthening Croatian-Russian economic relations and, concerning the situation in B&H, the imperative of its survival, the Foreign Ministry said in a press release. The two ministers spoke on the phone and agreed to meet soon, the holding of bilateral consultations, and a session of the inter-governmental commission for economic and trade relations. Kovac and Lavrov also discussed the situation in B&H, whose Serb entity held a successful referendum on the entity’s day, although the Constitutional Court had banned it, amid fears that it could lead to a referendum on the entity’s separation from B&H. “They underlined as imperatives the survival and stability of B&H based on the implementation of the Dayton peace agreement and the full respect of the constitutionality and equality of all three constituent peoples, Croats, Bosniaks and Serbs,” the press release said.

No boycott: Every entity which submitted candidates list must run in the elections (CDM)

By the agreement on fair and free elections on the basis of which the government of electoral trust was formed, the signatories are obliged to recognize the results of general elections scheduled for 16 October. However, despite the fact that they signed the agreement, the opposition parties participating in the government have repeatedly mentioned the possibility of elections boycott. SNP leader and one of the Key coalition (SNP, Demos, URA) leaders, Srdjan Milic, raised the issue of participation in the elections again, when he yesterday said that the question whether general elections will be held on 16 October at all remains open. CDM asked the State Election Commission (DIK) whether the 2016 party list was determined and whether it is possible for certain parties and coalitions from the list to withdraw from the race now. DIK stated that the final party list was defined and that all those included in it must run in the elections. The commission explains that section 40, Paragraph 1 of the election law stipulates that an entity may withdraw its candidates list until the date of determining the general party list. The specified provision of the law implies that, after determining general party list, the applicant may not withdraw its candidates list,” DIK stated.

Imported Protesters: Colorful Revolution Protest for SPO with Little Support (Telegraf.mk)

After a several-month break, the Colourful Revolution once again set off the protests. If the first reason to go out on protest was the postponement of the elections, then the abolition of the president Ivanov, the latest reason on the opposition supporters is the Special Public Prosecutor’s Office. ”

Colorful “felt responsible to defend the special prosecutor Katica Janeva after she became the subject of ridicule in public with her scandalous interview on MTV, as well as the report presented to the Parliament. Monday’s protest in front of the Parliament gathered roughly a few thousand people, most of them from other cities. The opposition had to “import” protesters from other cities so it appears that there are many people. Buses with license plates from other cities were parked near the Olympic pool and waited the protest to end in order to get the protesters home. During the protest the “colorful” have not forgotten the old habits to paint and destroy public facilities. This time they painted the boulevard in front of the Parliament and made graffiti “Your time is up, now is the time of SPO,” Janeva is my hero” and others. They urged lawmakers to adopt all the legislation required by Janeva and cease the obstruction to her work. The Protest finished with torches after which the protesters peacefully dispersed.

SDSM leader is using ‘Colorful Revolution’ protests to pave way for another election postponement (Telegraf.mk)

The Colorful Revolutionaries are being put into action again so they can work in behalf of SDSM. Monday’s scheduled protest of opposition supporters is aimed at exerting pressure for a new postponement of elections, experts deem. According to them, the ‘Colorful Revolution’ protest is intended to pave the way for a new, third postponement of elections. Zaev is aware that election date is drawing near and that SDSM’s ratings are not hiking, so he is willing to take the same path as before in order to get elections postponed. Macedonia was first supposed to hold elections on April 24, then on June 5, but both times elections were postponed upon Zaev’s request and due to pressure from US and EU ambassadors. During the pre-electoral period, SDSM ministers were part of the Government in charge of organizing elections. The situation at present is the same.

Oliver Spasovski and Frosina Remenski, acting as additional deputy ministers, are part of the Government and they are not expected to step down if there is another postponement. Monday’s protest by the ‘Colorful Revolutionaries’ will be held in support of the Special Public Prosecutor’s Office (SPO), which is the subject of public ridicule lately due to Katica Janeva‘s interview on MTV, in which she could not even read the pre-prepared answers. Janeva’s incompetence shone through even at the debate of the Committee on Political System in Parliament, where she had to present SPO’s work report. In an interview for Telegraf.mk, Professor Tanja Karakamiseva pointed out that there is no other institution in the country with smaller rating than the SPO and that the report should not be approved by Parliament. “Lack of basic knowledge about the legal and political system of the country that has been demonstrated on the part of Janeva in several occasions as well as her lack of consistency in thought and speech is more serious than it seems. A public official cannot “refrain from comments” when he or she has to elaborate the costs before the parliament.” Karakamiseva said. Further proof that Zaev is trying to postpone elections so he can avoid electoral defeat is the letter he sent to the foreign ambassadors in which he clearly mentions election postponement.

Zaev is demanding from the Constitutional Court to present its stance on the initiative in regards to the constitutionality of the SPO, while Janeva is also putting forth demands of her own. She wants an extension of SPO’s work and investigation deadlines, as well as amendments to laws on witnesses and privacy. VMRO-DPMNE Leader Nikola Gruevski, said that Janeva’s requests have been fulfilled and that there is no need for the number of requests to increase. “Zaev’s letter worries me, it is nothing more than an alibi to avoid elections. Elections should be held, the will of the citizens should be respected, and we should not all be hostages of his moves”, Gruevski said.

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

Deal-making and dirty tricks: inside the race for UN secretary general (The Guardian, by Julian Borger, 26 September 2016)

Geopolitical struggle and Balkan intrigue mean there is no clear favorite to succeed Ban Ki-moon in the world’s top diplomatic job

Hacked emails, bogus Twitter accounts, smear allegations and backroom deals. Welcome to the race for the international community’s top diplomatic job – United Nations secretary general.

The eventual winner of the contest will ascend to become a secular saint, an ambassador of peace and voice of the poor and downtrodden. But the road to such a lofty position is paved with landmines and booby traps. On Monday, the UN Security Council will hold the fifth of a series of straw polls aimed at picking a winner from the remaining nine contenders in the race, in which the 15 council members will cast secret ballots. The clear leader to date has been António Guterres, the former Portuguese prime minister and UN high commissioner for refugees. He has been a clear front runner in the past three Security Council meetings and in the latest, on 9 September, he received 12 encourage votes and only two discouraging him (members’ ballots can encourage, discourage or express no opinion about a candidate). Guterres benefited from an early selection process that was unprecedentedly open by UN standards. Each contender had to present a personal manifesto before the 193 countries in the general assembly, and Guterres won points for his humor, charisma and mastery of his brief. But his route to the secretary generalship could still be blocked by a veto from one of the five permanent council members, most plausibly Russia. Moscow argues it is the turn of an eastern European to provide the UN leadership, and may balk at the former leader of a western European NATO member state taking the helm. The incumbent Ban Ki-moon is from a US treaty ally, South Korea, and was Washington’s preferred candidate 10 years ago. Last week, a Twitter account in Guterres’ name claimed to have secured Moscow’s support, triggering speculation the race could be abruptly over. But the account turned out to be a fake. In second place is Slovakia’s foreign minister, Miroslav Lajcak, who enjoyed a surprise surge from second last after his country’s pro-Russia Prime Minister, Robert Fico, visited Moscow four days before the third poll and made a point of highlighting his criticisms of EU sanctions on Russia over Crimea. For that reason, Lajcak may face a veto from one or more of the western members of the permanent five. Third-placed Vuk Jeremic, the former Serbian foreign minister, will almost certainly be vetoed by the US, diplomats say. Washington has not forgiven Jeremic for his opposition to Kosovan independence, amid its perception that he used his time as president of the general assembly as a platform for nationalist rhetoric. The threat of vetoes, however, will only become decisive in the next round, when the permanent five will cast colored ballots. Any candidate who receives a colored ballot among their discourage votes will know they have hit a stone wall. In the ballots so far, the hope that a strong field of women contenders would produce the United Nations’ first female secretary general looks to have been rebuffed. In the latest poll, the first three spots were taken by men. Helen Clark, the former New Zealand prime minister and head of the UN Development Programme, is one of several highly qualified women in the race who did far worse than expected in the polls, but she played down the role of sexism. “If you’re asking whether women are being discriminated against – no,” Clark told the Guardian. “There are a lot of factors swirling around. There is east-west, there is north-south, there’s the style of what’s wanted in the job. Do they want strong leadership? Do they want malleable? It’s all cross-cutting and we don’t know what will come in the wash.” Natalie Samarasinghe, the head of the United Nations Association – UK, who campaigned for a more transparent selection process this year, thinks gender has played a role, albeit a secondary one. “Highly qualified and experienced women have done less well than men with comparatively sparse CVs,” Samarasinghe said. “I have no doubt that sexism is a factor. But I don’t think it’s the whole story. Power politics matters more. What we are seeing is a battle between P5 [permanent five] members to assert themselves, in which the candidates may ultimately matter less than who is seen to get their way and who can extract the most for giving way.” Ultimately, competition and deal-making among the major powers will decide the winner. The ups and downs of the straw polls are an outward sign of what is going on behind closed doors but do not tell the whole story. The most consequential rivalry in the race this week, for example, will be played out thousands of miles from UN headquarters, in the Bulgarian capital, Sofia. After Bulgaria’s official nominee, Irina Bokova, the head of the UN education and culture organization, UNESCO, performed below expectations in the security council ballots, a behind-the-scenes campaign began to replace her with her fellow countrywoman, Kristalina Georgieva, the EU budget commissioner, who was defeated in the initial struggle to win the nomination. The appearance of a series of articles attacking Bokova, in the British press and elsewhere, led Bokova to complain of an “undignified” smear campaign. Conservative and rightwing European leaders also began talking up Georgieva, culminating in an attempt by Angela Merkel to persuade Vladmir Putin to accept her at the G20 meeting in China earlier this month. The German overture backfired, drawing a backlash from Moscow, while also infuriating France, who objected to Merkel trying into muscle into what Paris saw as a prerogative of the Security Council. Georgieva has also been on the receiving end of dirty tricks. On 9 September, the email account of one her staff members was hacked and emails purporting to be from one of her top aides were sent out to the rest of her office, instructing them to attack Bokova. Her camp saw it as an attempt to discredit Georgieva.

The outcome of this bitter struggle will be decided after Monday’s ballot by the Bulgarian Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov. A fortnight ago, government officials briefed journalists in Sofia that Borisov was about to swing his support behind Georgieva. However, soon afterwards he changed his mind and said he would wait to see how Bokova did in the fifth ballot on Monday before making up his mind. Since then, Russian officials have been canvassing votes for Bokova as a way of keeping Georgieva out of the race. “If Russia can get her to 10 ‘encourages’ it would be hard for Borisov to defenestrate her. If she stays at seven or eight, she is not safe,” said Richard Gowan, an expert on the UN at the European Council for Foreign Relations. Even if Georgieva did make a late entrance into the race, she could still face a veto from Russia. She is after all a member of a European commission, currently enforcing sanctions on Moscow. The permanent five’s potential vetoes in the secretary general contest are bargaining chips on a table on which rivalry in Syria, Ukraine and other conflicts is being brokered. The poisonous atmosphere in the council could make for a protracted struggle to which the most qualified candidates fall victim, opening the way for a more obscure contender. Alternatively, Gowan argues, the permanent five might momentarily bury their differences to protect their shared privilege, as failure to do so would open the way for the wider UN membership in the general assembly to play a greater role in resolving Security Council deadlock. “For all the geopolitical difference, the logic of P5 control means they could still do a deal. The P5 is a little unnerved by how much all the transparency stuff has shaped the contest,” he said. “Their view is that the general assembly has had its fun and should now get back in its box.” The cross currents of geopolitical struggle and Balkan political intrigue, mean that nothing is decided until the last moment. For that reason, candidates with indifferent results in past ballots are staying in the race, at least until the colored ballots in October. “The band’s still playing,” Clark said. “Anything can come out of this.”

• This article was amended on 26 September 2016 to make clear that Vuk Jeremic is no longer the Serbian foreign minister.