LOCAL PRESS

Brnabic meets Mogherini, Hahn in Brussels (Beta/B92)

At a joint press conference after the session of the EU-Serbian Stabilization and Accession Council, EU High Representative Federica Mogherini has stated that she is certain in the success of the new phase of the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue. At the conference that was jointly held with Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic and EU Commissioner Johannes Hahn, Mogherini underlined that the course of this new phase needs to remain politically protected in order to guarantee room for agreements. She underlined that she didn’t wish to say when the legally binding Belgrade-Pristina agreement on normalization of relations could be signed, but pointed out that the dialogue is crucial for the establishment of the Community of Serb Municipalities and the implementation of the reached agreements, especially the agreement on energy.

Mogherini and Brnabic stressed that normalization of Belgrade-Pristina relations and regional cooperation are important for progress on Serbia’s EU path, but also pointed to the importance of the internal dialogue on Kosovo that was launched by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.

Brnabic said that Vucic bravely launched the internal dialogue on Kosovo, adding that this is not a political issue on which political parties would be disputing in Serbia, but an issue of national political importance. Brnabic called Pristina to start implementing the agreement on the Community of Serb Municipalities as the key condition for the success of the dialogue and normalization of relations with Belgrade. Mogherini stressed that the key for further success of the dialogue and the new phase is the political will of both sides, and made it clear that the internal dialogue on Kosovo in Serbia was very important, and that this was also important for the EU perspective of both sides, because it leads to regional cooperation, reconciliation and turning to the future by joining the EU.

Vucic: EU requesting binding document for full-fledged membership (Tanjug)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has told journalists in Arandjelovac that the EU will not allow Serbia to become a full-fledged member without the binding document at the end of the normalization of relations with Pristina. “You need to implement normalization of state-affairs, as they say it,” Vucic said, adding that however this is interpreted, this is what the EU expects. “This is not recognition, nobody puts it that way. They are speaking between lines, but not in that way, but this is what I can tell you,” he said. Vucic says he is satisfied with yesterday’s meeting in Brussels, adding that such meetings are important, because a big problem is upcoming and we will not be able to become a EU member without drastic changes in our and all-encompassing relationship towards Kosovo and Metohija.

Stoltenberg: Strong Serbia means more stability in Western Balkans (Tanjug)

A strong and prosperous Serbia means more security and stability in the Western Balkans, and cooperation with NATO ensures greater security to Serbia and its partners in the Western military alliance, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said in Brussels Wednesday.

Addressing a joint press conference with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic after their meeting at the NATO headquarters, Stoltenberg said the NATO-Serbia partnership was progressing very well. It is great to see the partnership is strengthening in various ways, he said, adding that there was no contradiction between military neutrality and Serbia’s strong partnership with NATO.

He also reiterated that a transformation of the Kosovo security forces into an army could only be carried out in line with the constitution. “I asked him that they not only not reduce their presence in Kosovo, but continue it on an unchanged scale,” Vucic told a joint press conference with Stoltenberg after attending a North Atlantic Council meeting at the NATO headquarters.

He said he had spoken about Serbia’s decision to be militarily neutral but continue a mutually beneficial cooperation with NATO. “I thanked Stoltenberg and the NATO member states – and, primarily, the KFOR troops – for maintaining peace and stability in Kosovo. NATO’s role in ensuring safety and security to our people, as well as our holy sites, is of exceptional significance,” Vucic said.

Gojkovic: Elections over amendment of Constitution or pressures on Serbia (Politika)

Serbian parliament speaker Maja Gojkovic has stated that elections are slated when important decisions need to be passed, such as the amendment of the Constitution or pressures on our country. “There are reasons for and against, this should be weighed well and I will be weighing both until Saturday, and I will present my stand at the session of the Main Board,” Gojkovic told Politika. “But in my opinion, elections are slated when important decisions await us, such as the amendment of the Constitution over the EU, when we have immense pressures from the outside on our country, as we have them now,” opines Gojkovic. She points out that this situation is the reason for citizens to be asked at elections whether they are giving support to the policy led by President Vucic and the government, or whether they want to support some, for the time being, outside parliamentary parties that are the loudest in demands for slating elections.

Ristic submits initiative for assessment of constitutionality of the government decree (N1/NSPM/Danas)

Slavisa Ristic, Serbian MP from the Movement for Serbia’s Rescue – New Serbia, has announced that he had submitted an initiative for assessing the constitutionality of the Serbian government decree on the realization of rights to special pensions for employees in the judicial bodies and the Administration for the enforcement of criminal sanctions in Kosovo. Ristic assessed the decree as unconstitutional and that it represents an award for the betrayal committed because they accepted to work in Kosovo legal frameworks. “The so-called special pensions, which with judges and prosecutors were awarded in the region of Kosovo and Metohija, because they accepted the act of treason committed together with the leaders of our country, with the President and the Prime Minister, such special pensions are neither defined by the Serbian Constitution nor the Law on pensions…Unfortunately, it is defined by this decree that violates the Constitution and laws of the Republic of Serbia,” said Ristic.

Ten opposition parties submit request to parliament for OSCE presence at elections (Tanjug)

The Movement of Free Citizens (PSG) submitted to Serbian parliament speaker Maja Gojkovic a joint request of ten opposition parties whereby they request that an OSCE monitoring mission is invited for the upcoming Belgrade and possible parliamentary elections. The request was signed by the following: Beli – Only Strong, the Democratic Party, the Don’t Drown (Give) Belgrade, the Left of Serbia, the People’s Party, the New Party, the It’s Enough Movement, the Movement for Turnover, the Movement of Free Citizens, and the Social-Democrat Party.

No dialogue in media darkness (NIN, by Bosko Obradovic, 16 November 2017)

Ever since the break-up of the Serbian Radical Party (SRS) and the creation of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), and especially from the moment of the Brussels congratulations to Tomislav Nikolic on winning the 2012 presidential elections three hours before polls closed – Vucic’s obligations towards the West, to which he owes his coming to power, have been ongoing. The false dialogue on Kosovo and Metohija that was launched by Vucic immediately after taking the office of the president, is a sure sign that time has expired – the given promises must be fulfilled completely and as soon as possible.

In a country where media and parliamentary darkness reign, where there is not a single political TV broadcast with national frequency where the authorities and the opposition are contending – it is rude to speak of some internal dialogue. In a political system where one man is the president of the state, the president of the largest ruling party, until recently the coordinator of all secret security services as well, while in his spare time he also performs the job of the prime minister – who can believe in Vucic’s sincere intentions to conduct dialogue on anything with anyone? Vucic is not a man of dialogue, but a fanatic of monologue and propaganda. Ever since he has been in power, he has just remained a minister of information.

What about the SNS promise in 2012 that, once in power, they will annul all agreements on Kosovo and Metohija that Borko Stefanovic signed during the time of Boris Tadic? Who did – instead – the SNS and Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) ask four years ago to go even further than Tadic and sign the anti-constitutional Brussels agreements? Why is the Constitutional Court silent about this?

At a moment when the regime media has been lying us that we have never lived better – why don’t we launch an internal dialogue on that? Why wasn’t there dialogue on fair election conditions, or on equal media treatment of all election participants? Why hasn’t Vucic attended for six years now one single TV live duel with someone from the opposition – when he is such a great lover of dialogue? Why has the parliament been avoiding a session on Kosovo and Metohija for more than one year, while opposition leaders are being excluded from its work? There are also other brilliant topics for dialogue: disastrous subsidies to foreign firms and cheap labor …crime and corruption in the SNS leadership, but these topics are not being included on the agenda.

The real dialogue on Kosovo and Metohija should be conducted before the eyes of the public: in parliament and on Radio and Television of Serbia (RTS), but we don’t have that. Because everything is a pure farce and an attempt at having an alibi for betraying Kosovo and Metohija and dragging other accomplices into this shameful act. Vucic’s sofa will be most probably visited by Cedomir Jovanovic, Nenad Canak and Vojislav Seselj, as well as representatives of the false, Vucic’s, opposition, as well as some from the ranks of the civil opposition at the order of the West, but Dveri will not take part in that.

What is the hurry? If only Vucic is in a hurry in Serbia to finish with Kosovo and Metohija – then it is clear that he is working for the interests of the EU, US and NATO who are actually in a hurry. If Vucic’s task is to finish with Kosovo – then it is not our obligation as well! Let him pay from his pocket his debts towards those who brought him to power, and not through the backs of Serbian citizens.

The Serbian Movement Dveri has recently submitted to the parliament a draft resolution on preservation of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia, which contains stands from which our relation towards Kosovo and Metohija is clearly seen.

The Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija is an integral and inalienable part of Serbia, which is presently under occupation, about which the international public needs to be notified without delay. No Serbian citizen who holds a public post is entitled to sign the legally binding document whereby she/he will legally alienate Kosovo and Metohija as part of the territory of Serbia. We need to cease negotiations in Brussels, annul all Brussels agreements and return the topic of Kosovo and Metohija to the United Nations Security Council, where we have allies in Russia and China. The Serbian government should undertake all activities towards physical return and stay of the Serbian civilian and military personnel to the territory of Kosovo and Metohija, according to the content of UNSCR 1244. We need to renew the work of the Ministry for Kosovo and Metohija that will perform in the Serbian government all state administration affairs related to the functioning of Serbian state bodies and institutions on this territory, assistance to the Serbs, as well as return of displaced to Kosovo and Metohija.

REGIONAL PRESS

Sessions of B&H HoR and B&H CoM postponed due to absence of SzP’s representatives and ministers following Izetbegovic’s statements on Kosovo (TV1)

The sessions of B&H House of Representatives (HoR) and B&H Council of Ministers (CoM) were scheduled to take place on Wednesday but they have been postponed due to absence of representatives and ministers from Alliance for Changes (SzP). Namely, SzP’s representatives and ministers did not attend the sessions due to having a meeting with Serb member of B&H Presidency Mladen Ivanic (PDP), organized in Banja Luka on the occasion of Bosniak member of B&H Presidency and SDA leader Bakir Izetbegovic’s controversial interview for Deutsche Welle.

Speaker of B&H HoR Borjana Kristo (HDZ B&H) confirmed that the HoR’s session has been postponed due to the fact that representatives from SzP announced their absence, as well as due to sudden absence of members of SNSD Caucus. “Perhaps this is a good chance to see whether this is turning into a crisis or there is willingness to build trust and preserve dignity of B&H Parliament”, Kristo assessed.

Deputy Speaker of B&H HoR Mladen Bosic (SDS) explained that SzP’s representatives and ministers did not leave work in B&H institutions but rather attended a meeting aimed towards calming tensions down. According to Bosic, Izetbegovic made statements that can be seen as warmongering.

SNSD’s representative in B&H HoR Stasa Kosarac said that each Caucus in the Parliament has the right to attend or not to attend the sessions. Kosarac stressed that this situation does not represent a potential blockade of the Parliament.

Independent Bloc’s representative in B&H HoR Sadik Ahmetovic noted that B&H has entered an institutional crisis.

SDP B&H’s representative in B&H HoR Denis Becirovic assessed that there was a way for decision-making in the HoR to take place on Wednesday, instead of postponing the whole session. “Not attending the HoR’s session is anti-Dayton behavior”, Becirovic asserted.

DF issued a statement noting that such behavior of Serb representatives and ministers is anti-Dayton and counterproductive, and the only place for solving possible issues are B&H institutions. DF assessed that parties from the RS have a servile attitude towards Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.

SzP reaches common stances on Izetbegovic’s interview for DW by guaranteeing B&H cannot recognize Kosovo as independent and condemning warmongering rhetoric (TV1)

Serb member of B&H Presidency Mladen Ivanic (PDP) held a meeting with Alliance for Changes (SzP)’s ministers in B&H Council of Ministers (CoM) and representatives in B&H House of Representatives (HoR) in Banja Luka on Wednesday to consult with them about the current political situation. The meeting was held on the occasion of the controversial interview that Bosniak member of B&H Presidency and SDA leader Bakir Izetbegovic gave for DW where he said that B&H should have recognized Kosovo as independent a long time ago, as well as that he is ready for defending B&H’s territorial integrity even in war. Ivanic and SzP’s ministers as well as representatives reached common stances with regard to this newly-emerged situation and announced the intention to send their stances to Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic. According to one of these stances, SzP guarantees there is no chance that B&H can recognize Kosovo as independent. SzP also condemned warmongering rhetoric, insisting on peace and stability. Ivanic stated that Kosovo will not be recognized as independent as long as SzP is in B&H institutions. According to Ivanic, “some people can have their wishes” but SzP guarantees the wish for B&H to recognize Kosovo cannot come true. In Ivanic’s opinion, one should not pay too much attention to Izetbegovic’s statements. “It is out of question for me to withdraw from the institutions just because of a statement of one man. I will do that if someone makes an unconstitutional decision that is contrary to our interests. There is no decision here, nor is there a chance to make one”, Ivanic stressed.  Representatives of SzP concluded that B&H is getting into a deep crisis and, if the situation gets even worse, they would not rule out the possibility of organizing consultations with Republika Srpska (RS) President Milorad Dodik.

Commenting on the current situation, Dodik stated: “Since nobody from SzP has done that, it is good that Ivanic condemned the threats with a war that we heard the other day. It is just not good to behave as if the threats came from an ordinary citizen”. He argued that Izetbegovic is a member of the B&H Presidency, the post from which “he pointed the weapons towards the RS”.

Islamic Community in B&H condemns warmongering rhetoric created in political centers of neighboring countries (TV1)

Islamic Community in B&H issued a statement on Wednesday condemning warmongering rhetoric that is created in political centers of neighboring countries and that threatens to undermine already weak process of restoring mutual trust in the region. They called on political and media actors in B&H and the region to show responsibility for the sake of common future. Islamic Community warned members of this community, as well as other citizens not to fall for fake news, political spinning and propaganda. According to them B&H, people that were the biggest victim of conflicts cannot allow to be deprived of freely reflecting and articulating their political interests due to threats with a war or survival of the state.

Radoncic asks Covic to speak to Izetbegovic about finding new coalition partner to replace SBB B&H (BHT1)

HDZ B&H leader Dragan Covic and SBB B&H leader Fahrudin Radoncic held a meeting in Mostar on Wednesday in order to discuss the current political situation in the Federation of B&H. On this occasion, Covic was told that he and SDA leader Bakir Izetbegovic should find another partner in the ruling authority in the Federation of B&H – instead of SBB B&H. Radoncic explained his suggestion saying that he does not communicate with Izetbegovic at all. He stressed that Izetbegovic is the one who wants SBB B&H out of the ruling authority at the level of the Federation of B&H. SBB B&H will offer all of its seats but they have no intention of making any kind of sudden moves, for the sake of political stability, Radoncic said.

Plenkovic: Position of Croat minority in Serbia priority (Hina)

Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic on Wednesday met with representatives of the Croat minority in Serbia and discussed the position and status of Croats and projects being implemented with support from Croatia, for which funding in 2017 has been increased by about 70%, a press release from the prime minister’s office said. He stressed that the position of the Croat national minority in Serbia was a priority issue for the Croatian government, Hina reports. The statement reads that this especially refers to ensuring representation of Croat minority representatives in all representative bodies, from the local level through the provincial to the Serbian parliament.

Plenkovic received the leader of the Democratic Association of Croats in Vojvodina and Serbian MP Tomislav Ziganov and the leader of the Croatian National Council Slaven Bacic, while the meeting was also attended by the Croatian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign and EU Affairs Marija Pejcinovic Buric.

President says not criticizing government, we are all responsible for situation in the country (Hina)

President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic said on Wednesday that it would be irresponsible of her, halfway into her term, to think about her next presidential term, and expressed dissatisfaction that her latest statements had been interpreted as an attempt to criticize the government and position herself on the political scene, since, she underlined, everyone was responsible for the situation in the country, including herself

Grabar Kitarovic slams corruption within the judiciary (HRT)

In yet another speech criticizing the current state of affairs in the country, President Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic slammed the judiciary this time. Speaking at the Fires in Croatia, Defense and Prevention conference, President Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic commented on the state of the Croatian judiciary. The President said: “It is a discouraging fact that corruption exists in the Croatian judiciary and sadly it is present in other segments of the state administration and I believe that one of the basic preconditions for the eradicating of corruption in Croatia is the introduction of a comprehensive e-government system which will enable the close monitoring of what has someone been doing, when, how long have they been working on a case, what the elements of a certain program are and so on. In modern countries there already exist computer systems that are able to compare different cases and detect possible corruptive elements.”

DF to require Stankovic’s dismissal (MINA)

Democratic Front (DF) MPs will ask the caucus to initiate dismissal of supreme state prosecutor Ivica Stankovic, the alliance presidency decided. Members of the Front passed the decision after the Special State Prosecutor’s Office had issued and submitted to the High Court an indictment against Movement for Changes (PzP) leader Nebojsa Medojevic and members of his group on charges of creating a criminal organization and money laundering.

DF official Andrija Mandic said that the alliance had called on the supreme prosecutor Stankovic to do his job on multiple occasion. “Since it did not happen, we decided to put 18 signatures, if the caucus supports us, on the initiative for Stankovic’s dismissal,” Mandic told reporters in front of the High Court. Asked if he expected the opposition to support DF’s initiative, Mandic replied that they would talk about that after the initiative was launched.

“First our caucus should make the decision and then we will decide on further steps,” he said.

Darmanovic: Moscow protects Shishmakov, Popov and Nikic (Radio CG)

Russian citizens Shishmakov and Popov, as well as Montenegrin citizen Ananije Nikic, enjoy Moscow’s protection, foreign minister Srdjan Darmanovic told the Radio Montenegro.

The latest statements by Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov only prove that renewal of relations with Moscow is not easy, Darmanovic said. “The court in Montenegro which is considering the case will decide whether those statements are true. As far as we are concerned, we know what happened. Whether it will be proved before the court and to what extent that is another matter. Regarding the truthfulness of these statements, we can say that they are as accurate as the claims that there were never any Russian soldiers in the Crimea,” Darmanovic said. He also believes that Russian citizens Shishmakov and Popov, as well as Montenegrin citizen Ananije Nikic, enjoy the protection of Moscow. “First, they were evacuated from Belgrade, and then our prosecutor was not allowed to go to Moscow to question them. So there is a significant obstruction of justice, including granting political asylum to Nikic,” said Darmanovic. According to him, it is clear that there is a certain fear that Shishmakov, Popov and Nikic might say certain things about what happened in Montenegro in October 2016, on Election Day.

Montenegro deserves to enter the EU as soon as possible (CDM)

Montenegro deserves to enter the EU as soon as possible, President Filip Vujanovic told his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Vujanovic is participating at the annual United Nations Conference on Climate Change in Bonn. “I had a very open, long, constructive and warm-hearted meeting with the president of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier. I was able to express my appreciation to Germany for supporting Montenegro’s accession to NATO and the conviction that Montenegro will be a reliable NATO member, and a partner to all NATO countries,” Vujanovic said. The German President said that Montenegro was a good example for the region.

The session for the Law for languages will be set by Grubi next Wednesday on the Day of the Albanian alphabet (Meta)

From this point, the draft law for the use of languages should be sent to the Commission for European Affairs. I will set the session of the Commission for the 22nd of November, the day of the Albanian alphabet, and we expect the whole procedure to be over and the law to be voted by the end of this year. This will close the last issue of the Ohrid Framework Agreement i.e. its normative part – said DUI’s MP, Artan Grubi, the President of the Parliamentary Commission for European Affairs during the press conference that occurred as soon as the MPs with majority of votes have voted the proposed law for the use of languages at its first reading. As was explained by Grubi, for solving the issue with the complete use of the Albanian language as the Albanian parties are demanding, a complete constitutional intervention will be needed, for which Grubi said it cannot be accomplished at the moment. He expressed his hopes that VMRO-DPMNE’s MPs will change their opinions and in the end, they will vote in favor of this law.

VMRO-DPMNE accused Zoran Zaev of being an audacious hypocrite about the care for the Macedonian language (Meta)

It’s an act of an audacious hypocrisy when on the same day when SDSM’s MPs votes for the need of unconstitutional law for billingualaty on the whole territory, Zoran Zaev is talking about the false care for the Macedonian language, said VMRO-DPMNE as a reaction to Prime Minister Zaev’s speech about the promotion of the Macedonian language. “If Zoran Zaev truly cared for the perseverance of the Macedonian language as a strong identity feature of the Macedonian nation we call on publicly SDS’s parliamentary majority to vote against this unconstitutional law for bilingualism of the state and not to ratify the Agreement with Bulgaria with which he has publicly denounced the Macedonian language. With the Law for bilingualism, SDS, apart from that it is unconstitutional and far from the law, it degrades the Macedonian language, its use and it is destroying it in several stages,” said the party’s press release. According to VMRO-DPMNE, Zaev’s care for the Macedonian language is only a smokescreen for selling out the state and national interests.

UN mediator Nimetz expected to set date for New York meeting (MIA)

UN name mediator Matthew Nimetz is expected to schedule a meeting in New York between the name negotiators of Macedonia and Greece, Prime Minister Zoran Zaev said Wednesday commenting on the postponement of name talks that were initially slated to take place early next week. “The meeting is conceived in such a way allowing the UN envoy, Matthew Nimetz, who is the organizer, to meet with the negotiating teams. It isn’t planned at any political level, be it ministers, premiers, heads of states, etc. Therefore, we expect him to confirm a final date,” Zaev told reporters. A meeting of the name representatives of Greece and Macedonia with UN name envoy Matthew Nimetz, which should have taken place on November 20 or 21, has been postponed and rescheduled for December, diplomatic sources engaged in the name talks told MIA earlier in the day. No details have been provided yet over the reasons for postponing it.

At the meeting, scheduled after a prolonged hiatus, Nimetz was supposed to put forward a concrete proposal for resolving the name dispute, Greek media reported.

Mogherini urges for justice reform implementation (ADN)

The EU High Representative Federica Mogherini urges to the Albanian authorities to proceed with justice reform and vetting implementation. During a joint press conference on Wednesday with Albania’s Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Ditmir Bushati she stressed that EU will continue to provide its support for these important reforms. “Albania should fulfill the conditions for the opening of accession talks by setting up an uncorrupted justice system. EU will continue to support the justice reform implementation. We also have high expectations in relation to the vetting process in Albania,” said Mogherini. Meantime, in response to the journalists’ interest for her opinion on Tahiri issue she refused to make any comment on the justice system activity saying shortly that clear results are needed in the fight against narcotics cultivation and drugs smuggling.

Albania, progress in opening of accession negotiations (ADN)

The Stabilization and Association Committee recognizes Albania’s progress towards meeting the political criteria for membership and the continued overall sustained progress in the five key priorities for opening of accession’ negotiations. This fact was underlined during the 9th meeting of the Stabilization and Association Committee (SAC) between Albania and the European Union (EU) that took place on November 15 in Brussels. The 2016 Report of the Commission on Albania, which recognized the country’s progress towards meeting the political criteria for membership and continued overall sustained progress in the five key priorities for opening of accession’ negotiations was examined by SAC during this meeting. The Council also noted that the 2016 Communication by the Commission on the EU Enlargement Strategy on the basis of progress in meeting key priorities and depending on the implementation of judicial reform and the re-assessment of judges and prosecutors in particular, recommended the opening of accession negotiations with Albania. From this moment on, Albania has made further significant progress.

SAC noted Albania’s continued commitment to the reform agenda and underlined that justice reform, along with other key priorities, remains essential to Albania’s European integration process and may have a transformative effect on other reforms as well. In this context SAC congratulated the establishment of responsible institutions for vetting process while stressing that this important success constitutes a forward step in the implementation of the justice reform.

SAC also welcomed the deployment of the International Monitoring Operation (IMO), which has started the work under the leadership of the European Commission (EC). The positive results achieved in the fight against cannabis cultivation were also praised by SCA.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA SOURCES

Kommersant: Serbia moves towards NATO to duck “pro-Russia” suspicions (TASS, 15 November 2017)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has met with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Brussels as US-Serbian military exercises began near Belgrade. According to Kommersant, sources close to Serbia’s leadership say Belgrade is trying to absolve itself of any suspicions that it has “pro-Russia” leanings, a favorite topic in the expert community.

According to the paper’s Western diplomatic sources, the main topics of yesterday’s talks between Vucic and Stoltenberg included “the interaction between Serbia and NATO, the situation in the region and relations between Belgrade and Moscow.” According to Kommersant, the meeting took place shortly after Russia’s Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu had visited Belgrade. The key point of that visit was the contribution of six Mikoyan MiG-29 fighters to the Serbian Air Force, as part of a large package of Russian military aid to Serbia. Although the Russian planes that were transferred to Belgrade are not new, the act was seen by the West as evidence of expanding military cooperation between Serbia and Russia, which is accompanied by increased political interaction between the countries, the newspaper wrote. According to Kommersant, Serbian experts believe that NATO has not turned a blind eye to recent cooperation between Belgrade and Moscow, with the alliance pushing to build up its sway in the Balkans. Up till now, Belgrade has been shelving NATO membership plans, Kommersant wrote. At the same time, the paper’s sources close to the Serbian leadership say that Belgrade intends to continue maintaining a balance between Russia and the West and, therefore, will try to buck any allegations about the recent bias in its policy towards Moscow. The meeting by the Serbian president with the NATO Secretary General and the exercises with the US Special Forces serve this purpose.

In turn, Stoltenberg made it clear that Brussels is quite happy with such a policy. At a Q&A session with reporters, he noted that Serbia acts independently on how to build its relations with Russia.

World Bank revises down growth for six Western Balkan states (Reuters, 16 November 2017)

BELGRADE – The World Bank revised down 2017 economic growth forecast for the Western Balkan region to 2.6 percent from the previous projection of 3.2 percent and warned fiscal discipline will be key to stable growth in the future. The bank said it expected the region which comprises Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia to grow 3.3 percent in 2018 and 3.6 on the back of increase investment and consumption. “Domestically, the main risk is policy uncertainty or policy reversals that could affect investment and growth,” the bank said in its biannual report on the regional economic outlook. “Stronger EU growth is likely to be accompanied by an unwinding of the European Central Bank’s quantitative easing, which will push up global interest rates and Western Balkan borrowing costs.” Before the 2008 global financial crisis, the Balkan states were flooded with cheap capital that fueled average growth of 5-7 percent a year. The International Monetary Fund and other international organizations have called for structural reforms, including reductions in the public sector, pension reforms and privatizations to tackle a sharp rise in budget deficits and the high unemployment. In its report the World Bank said growth of jobs and relatively low inflation rate helped reduce poverty in the region. But the Bank warned fiscal discipline is necessary to achieve higher growth rates. All countries except for Serbia project budget deficits to be higher in 2017 than in 2016, mainly due to a lack of structural reforms. “All Western Balkan countries can improve the quality of their fiscal policy by reallocating spending from a multitude of untargeted social benefits to productivity-enhancing investment,” the bank said. The Bank said the six countries need much higher growth rates to catch up with their Western European peers. All six are at different stages of the EU accession process. ”At current growth rates it would take about six decades for average per capita Western Balkan income to converge to the (EU) average. “With faster growth of 5 to 6 percent convergence could be achieved in just two decades,” it said.

Editing by Toby Chopra