LOCAL PRESS

Teodosije: A symbol of the struggle for truth and justice (RTS/B92/Tanjug/Beta)

Kosovo Serb politician Oliver Ivanovic was buried today in the Alley of Distinguished Citizens at the New Cemetery in Belgrade. Citizens from all of Serbia arrived to pay respects. The funeral service was served by the Raska-Prizren Bishop Teodosije, and Serbian Patriarch Irinej was also present. Bishop Teodosije said that Oliver Ivanovic fought all his life for justice and freedom of his people in Kosovo and Metohija and for the freedom of the town in which he lived. He stressed that Ivanovic didn’t spare himself in June 1999 when they had to defend Kosovska Mitrovica and other towns, as well as when he spoke about the suffering of the Serb people and sanctities after the war before the representatives of international organizations. “Foreigners and Serbs, and not rarely many Albanians too, listened to him carefully. For him, Kosovo and Metohija was more than territory and politics,” said Teodosije. He said that he never pointed his finger at people but pointed to problems and remained with us as a symbol of the struggle for truth and justice, for the good of every man. Many politicians gathered for the funeral, but none of them delivered eulogies. The Serbian government delegation was headed by Prime Minister Ana Brnabic and the Head of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Marko Djuric. President Aleksandar Vucic will pay his respects to Oliver Ivanovic by laying a wreath at the site of his murder in Kosovska Mitrovica.

Vucic requests that Serbian authorities join Ivanovic murder investigation (Beta/Tanjug)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic talked with the President of the interim institutions in Pristina Hashim Thaci, the President’s cabinet said in a statement. “Two interlocutors agreed that the dialogue between Serbs and Albanians, as well as joint work on calming and stabilizing the situation in Kosovo and Metohija, is crucial for both sides,” the statement said. Vucic and Thaci spoke by phone about the murder of Oliver Ivanovic and shared their regret, agreeing that the detection and apprehension of the perpetrators of this terrible criminal act is crucial to preserving peace and trust among people. President Vucic once again asked from Thaci to accept the involvement of Serbian state authorities in conducting an investigation into the Ivanovic murder in order to solve this gruesome crime in the shortest possible time, the statement concluded.

Brnabic talks about atmosphere of threats preceding murder (B92/Tanjug/Radio Free Europe)

In an interview for Radio Free Europe, Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic pointed out that if Serbia was not allowed to participate in the investigation, it would launch one of its own.

“This is an extremely difficult day for the Republic of Serbia. We also held a session of the Council for National Security. The situation is tough, I hope it will remain calm, but this is definitely a huge blow to both Serbia and to regional stability and security,” Brnabic said late on Tuesday. She reiterated that the government officially demanded Serbia’s participation in the investigation of this crime, and was awaiting the response from competent institutions.

“What is also important is that if we are not allowed to participate in the investigation, we will certainly launch our own,” said Brnabic, adding that she continues to hope for reason and cooperation, and for Serbia being able to participate in the probe. “During a session of the Council for National Security, we consulted the Security Information Agency and the Military Security Agency, and they will work together on this. The only thing that is important at this moment is to find the killers, bring them to justice and make those responsible answer for it,” the prime minister said. Asked whether “a separate investigation, considering that the Serbian Prosecutor’s Office launched an investigation (preliminary investigative proceedings) into Ivanovic’s murder – could be counterproductive for cooperation with Kosovo,” Brnabic replied that finding the criminals was the only important thing. “Does Serbia have a lot of confidence in the institutions in Kosovo and Metohija, that the perpetrators will be found? To be honest, I cannot say that Serbia has full confidence. So many crimes in Kosovo have never been solved. I also regret that nobody’s responded to the so many things that happened over the last ten days,” Brnabic said. “I am thinking about, unfortunately, the government of the Republic of Serbia being unable to, due to all the events of the past, effectively protect its citizens in Kosovo and Metohija. But it is obvious that those who today have control in Kosovo and Metohija cannot protect them, either,” she said. Brnabic added that she was particularly hurt as the Serbian PM – and that this was something she would discuss with Brussels – by “this deafening silence and the threats that the KLA could be reactivated simply because Pristina should fulfill something that was their international contract – establish the court for war crimes.” “But also, ‘we will come to Nis’ and the direct threats to all citizens of the Republic of Serbia. And today it culminated in this murder. This murder is of course felt the hardest by the family of Oliver Ivanovic, but this murder is a most terrible blow to Serbia, to everything Serbia has done in recent years to normalize relations with Pristina,” Brnabic stressed.  She added that this was also a blow to the signing of the Brussels Agreement and its full implementation, as well as the final consolidation of forces through the Serb List in Kosovo, and the ten local self-governments in Kosovo led by the Serb List, as well as the participation in the government Kosovo. “To everything Serbia has done in recent years, to show and finally be established as a stable, predictable, tolerant partner. All of this was shot at,” the prime minister said.

Asked if there were indications when the technical dialogue in Brussels could be continued, she said that she had just met with Marko Djuric, to learn about the atmosphere in Brussels after Ivanovic was killed, which happened half an hour before the start of the planned dialogue round.
“At this moment, I sincerely cannot talk about the continuation of the dialogue. It is too early and I am too much under the impression (of Tuesday’s events) to talk about the continuation of the dialogue,” said Brnabic.

Kuburovic: Kosovo organs decide whether Serbia will be part of the investigation (RTV)

Serbian Justice Minister Nela Kuburovic said the Justice Ministry on Tuesday sent EULEX the request of the Prosecution for Organized Crime to deliver the gathered evidence and written records of the investigation of the scene and witness interviews. She stated that Serbia had not yet received any reply from EULEX, to its request to participate in the investigation of the murder of the leader of Oliver Ivanovic. She stresses that EULEX doesn’t decide whether Serbia will be part of the investigation, but the Kosovo organs. “The question is whether there is will for Serbia to take part in the investigation, on which EULEX is not deciding. It only forwards the request to the Kosovo organ that needs to decide whether Serbia will take part in the investigation,” said Kuburovic. She said Belgrade and Pristina had around 3,000 requests concerning civil and criminal proceedings, that these requests had mostly been replied to, but that there was no cooperation regarding war crimes, i.e. that the Kosovo side was not responding to requests of the War Crimes Prosecution. “I hope that we will receive a response in the case of Oliver Ivanovic,” Kuburovic told Radio Television of Vojvodina (RTV).

Rebic: Trace of Serbian police leads to the car used for assassinating Ivanovic (RTS)

Police Director Vladimir Rebic confirmed for Radio and Television of Serbia (RTS) the reports by certain media that a Serb from Austria, who died long time ago, is the owner of the car that was found burned in Kosovska Mitrovica following the murder of Oliver Ivanovic. “This information is correct, we received this from the Austrian police. This car was sold several times and we are trying to find out who was the last buyer of this car,” said Rebic. According to him, Serbian organs have certain information that point to possible perpetrators of the murder of Ivanovic. “The trace leads towards the car that was used in committing the criminal act. We have information about the owner of the car and we are trying to gather more data. In order to avoid endangering the investigation, I am not able to give any more details,” notes Rebic. The police director recalled that Serbia has repeatedly contacted EULEX and UNMIK with the request that Serbian authorities engage in the investigation, but that there has been no answer yet. “I have spoken several times with the head of the EULEX, appealed on them to provide us some information in order to check it in Serbia, but also repeated the request to participate with the Kosovo police in the preliminary and investigative procedure,” Rebic said. He says that he professionally believes that EULEX and UNMIK will respond to Serbia’s requests. “I believe in the Serbian police and the Security-Information Agency (BIA), that, thanks to human and material resources, we will be able to find the perpetrator and the one who gave the order to commit the murder,” Rebic concluded.

“Police Director Vladimir Rebic and the National Central Bureau of Interpol in Belgrade, which is part of the Ministry, had sent again requests to EULEX and UNMIK in which they insist on including the Serbian Interior Ministry in the investigation, with the goal of finding the perpetrator of this serious criminal act. The requests seek an urgent response on the manners of including the Serbian police in this investigation, as well as information on all measures and actions thus far undertaken,” Tanjug was told at the Serbian Interior Ministry on Wednesday evening.

US Department of State refers query to 10 January travel warning (Tanjug)

Responding to a query about a recent travel warning issued for Kosovo due to terrorism and about its views on the security situation in Kosovo and Metohija in the wake of the murder of Kosovo Serb politician Oliver Ivanovic, the US Department of State on Wednesday referred Tanjug to the 10 January advisory. We can only refer you to that advisory, the Department of State said.

Bujanovac Mayor Jonuz Musliu dies (RTS/FoNet)

President of the Municipal Assembly of Bujanovac and National Council of Albanians in Serbia Jonuz Musliu has died. He died a hospital in Turkey, where he was receiving treatment, RTS is reporting, citing FoNet. Musliu was the former political commander of the Liberation Army of the Presevo, Medvedja and Bujanovac who later founded the Movement for Democratic Progress (PDP), the report said.

Pajtic supports Djilas (Beta)

Former leader of the Democratic Party (DS) and former prime minister of Vojvodina Bojan Pajtic announced that he would support the list headed by Dragan Djilas at the upcoming Belgrade local elections. “Yesterday’s terrible day showed that things got serious. Everyone should support the strongest candidate. Present a united front. Otherwise there will be neither you, nor us, the opposition. You do not like Djilas? Me neither. Does he stand best chances out of all candidates? Yes, he does. Do we have to stand in the way of the SNS’ evil? Yes, we do. Then support goes to Djilas,” Pajtic wrote.

REGIONAL PRESS

Valentin Inzko bothered by name of RS (EuroBlic)

EuroBlic daily reminded that High Representative Valentin Inzko gave a statement to TV1 in which he disputed both marking of 9 January and name of Republika Srpska (RS) by saying that “the name Republic of Srpska is not fair. On 9 January, the Republic of Serb people of Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) was mentioned. This is something that is being forgotten. In my personal opinion, the decision of the Constitutional Court of B&H is crucial, that holiday is unconstitutional and it presented its stance on this matter on three occasions. However, this does not mean that the RS cannot mark some day of the RS but it cannot do it on January 9”, Inzko said.

Vice President of DNS Darko Banjac reminded Inzko that the name Republika Srpska was included in the Constitution and Dayton Peace Agreement (DPA) just like the Federation of B&H. “I feel sorry for Mr. Inzko because it is obviously kebabs from Sarajevo and atmosphere in which he lives in Sarajevo are affecting him. The milieu surrounding him does not like the RS. I have nothing against Austria, but I would like to ask him if he remembers of the World War II and of what Nazis did in the territory of B&H?”, Banjac told the daily.

President of NDP Dragan Cavic reminded Inzko that it is not up to him to assess what is fair and what is not fair, but his mandate is to implement the DPA. “Inzko’s comments of this kind represent adding of oil on fire, encouragement of extremist stances and new matters for conflicts. He is just repeating ideas of SDA leader Bakir Izetbegovic. He is absolutely wrong if he thinks that he is leading matters towards peace and normal relations in this country. He would be better off leaving than sitting here and talk nonsense”, Cavic added.

Chair of the Presidency of RS Veterans’ Association Dusko Miletic warned that such statements of Inzko irritate Serb people and added that the RS leadership should adequately respond to those. Miletic also claimed that none of past High Representatives has done anything concrete, let alone anything good for Serbs. “We still have not forgotten Inzko’s recent statement in which he compared the RS with the Nazi Independent State of Croatia”, Miletic added and claimed that Inzko works to the detriment of Serb people in B&H.

The daily noted that the attempt to dispute the name of the RS is nothing new, only the initiator changed. The daily explained that it published an article on January 28, 2017 saying that Izetbegovic prepared a motion to file it with the Constitutional Court of B&H with the intention to dispute the Law on the RS Day but also the very name of the RS. The daily noted that, in Izetbegovic’s opinion, the RS’ name should be ‘Republic of Serbs, Bosniaks and Croats’ but Izetbegovic later denied those claims. “However, his staff in the RS still signed a motion on the Law on the RS Day several days ago”, the daily concluded.

B&H HoR discusses proposals on changes to Law on Elections (TV1)

B&H House of Representatives (HoR) held a session on changes to the Law on Elections of B&H. The proposal of HDZ B&H was discussed in an urgent procedure, but SDA opposed this proposal because, in their opinion, it deepens divisions which already exist in B&H.

Hazim Rancic (SDA) said that the law contains a number of discriminatory provisions and he added that the Federation of B&H Constitution stipulates that one Bosniak, Serb and Croat shall be elected from each of the cantons if they were elected in the cantonal assembly.

HDZ B&H reiterated that the goal of its proposal is to implement the decision of B&H Constitutional Court and reminded of the general principle of democracy according to which one people should not elect other people’s representatives. Nikola Lovrinovic (HDZ B&H) said that “they (SDA) did not even propose solutions for election of B&H Presidency members”.

SNSD expressed their support to HDZ B&H’s proposal. Stasa Kosarac (SNSD) announced that SNSD will support HDZ B&H’s proposal because SNSD deems this proposal is better than the proposal of SDA.

MPs of the Alliance for Changes (SzP) stated that none of the proposals solved the issue of constituent status of peoples. SDP noted that they are not even sure if the ruling parties really want to change the Law on Elections of B&H. Sasa Magazinovic (SDP) said that the ruling parties actually want to enter the election race with unsolved issues so that the Central Election Commission (CEC) of B&H will decide on winners instead of voters.

B&H will be blocked if decision of Constitutional Court is not implemented (Vecernji list)

Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe (PACE) will discuss on Monday a Proposal of Resolution on Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H), which was made on basis of a report of the Monitoring Team for B&H. According to Vecernji list daily, the report paints a lot more realistic picture about the situation in B&H than reports prepared by other international institutions and certain embassies and missions. Namely, daily reads the Monitoring Mission was right in concluding that leaderships of the three peoples have completely different views regarding future of the country, with Bosniak parties seeing B&H as a centralized country with domination of the biggest in number people, with Serb parties, foremost SNSD, advocating the secession of Republika Srpska and with the Croat parties becoming more vocal in advocating the third entity. Daily further reports that the Proposal of Resolution reads that the Assembly (PACE) believes that decision of the Constitutional Court of B&H from December 1, 2016 regarding composition of the Federation of B&H House of Peoples, so-called ‘Ljubic’ motion, must be implemented before the 2018 general elections, and in case it does not happen, there is a serious risk that formation of authorities could be blocked at the Federation of B&H and state level. The Proposal also noticed that the elections in 2014 were in the breach of the European Convention on Human Rights for the second time in a row following the ruling in the case ‘Sejdic and Finci vs. B&H’ from 2009.

Dodik: I am against this kind of B&H (Srna)

RS President Milorad Dodik said that he does not oppose Dayton B&H, but he does oppose this B&H because “it is not Dayton B&H, it is no kind of B&H”. He assessed that “this is going nowhere, it will collapse. My role is to avoid any kind of violence here, but ‘this’ has failed. B&H cannot be kept together by glue called several ambitious ambassadors who live in Sarajevo”. Dodik added that he is willing to remove foreigners from agreements based on consent reached by Serbs, Bosniaks and Croats. Dodik also claimed that foreign ambassadors are interfering with internal issues of B&H and have brought nothing good by doing that.

Dodik also announced that, in case he is elected a member of B&H Presidency, he will take the oath in Banja Luka, go to work in Istocno Sarajevo and reduce the number of soldiers of the Armed Forces of B&H down to 3,500. He added that these are only some of possible measures and said that he will officially confirm his possible candidacy on May 18. Dodik noted that neither DF leader Zeljko Komsic nor some other politicians who wish to become a member of B&H Presidency are interesting to him and he added that he does not want to speculate on who might be elected B&H Presidency member. Dodik noted that nobody should impose their own member of B&H Presidency to other peoples and added: “If the Constitution reads that a Croat should be elected, then a Croat should be elected by Croats. Bosniaks cannot elect a Croat”. Dodik noted that it would be the best if a solution for the Law on Elections of B&H was found so that “elections can enter a legitimate stage”. Finally, he noted that the RS will elect both the assembly and government before the New Year and it does not want to be a collateral damage in case the Federation of B&H is unable to do so.

Croatian President Grabar-Kitarovic visits B&H, reactions (Hayat/BHT1/FTV)

Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic met in Sarajevo on Wednesday with B&H Presidency members, within her two-day official visit to B&H. Several topics were launched at the meeting but the issue of amending the Election Law of B&H was the main one. Addressing the joint press conference after the meeting, the Croatian President stressed that Croatia is B&H’s biggest friend and that it does not interfere with B&H’s internal organization. Grabar-Kitarovic assessed that B&H has to find a solution to the issue of the Election Law of B&H alone. She explained that Croatia has never interfered with elements of the electoral legislation but this country and its leaders only want to help B&H resolve its problems – certainly not to impose solutions. She said that political and legitimate representatives of the three constituent peoples and citizens in B&H are those who have to find solutions. The construction of the Peljesac Bridge was also one of the topics discussed at the meeting. Grabar-Kitarovic noted that this project would be suitable for both B&H and Croatia, adding that this issue is not directed against B&H or against further development of Neum. “The issue of the Peljesac Bridge represents an issue of connecting the Croatian territory and connecting the territory of the EU. For Croatia, this issue also represents development of Peljesac Peninsula and surrounding islands in Croatia. Finally, the issue of the Peljesac Bridge will also lead to disburdening of traffic through Neum and ensuring for Neum to be a beautiful tourist city – not only a transit center”, the Croatian President concluded. Grabar – Kitarovic informed members of B&H Presidency that Prime Minister of Croatia Andrej Plenkovic received the European Commission’s letter reading that there are not legal obstacles that could affect beginning of construction of Peljesac Bridge.

Bosniak member of the B&H Presidency Bakir Izetbegovic has made it clear that, as far as he is concerned, construction of the Peljesac Bridge remains an open issue between Croatia and B&H. Izetbegovic on Wednesday presented Grabar-Kitarovic with a letter from the EU Agency for Regional and Urban Policy which, according to Izetbegovic, asks for the issue of construction of the Peljesac Bridge to be solved. “I presented President Grabar-Kitarovic with that translated letter and asked her to make sure Croatia acts on it. We were not familiar with the content of that letter up until yesterday (Tuesday). We knew that there was some communication, but we were not familiar with those things,” Izetbegovic said. Izetbegovic stated that the visit solved some dilemmas, and added that they had open talks. However, he said that Croatia has to honor the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Grabar-Kitarovic said that Croatia is a friend of B&H which wishes nothing but well to B&H on its way towards the membership in the EU and activation of the MAP. However, Grabar-Kitarovic said that it is her duty to protect rights of Croats in B&H. She also noted that Croats in B&H are the constituent people and they have never been a minority. Grabar-Kitarovic noted that changes to the Law on Elections of B&H are crucial and added: “I do not want to see the international institutions and international community write your election legislation. I want you to do it yourself and that is the point of my international engagement within the EU, NATO and third countries”.

Serb member of B&H Presidency Mladen Ivanic assessed Kitarovic’s visit to B&H as positive thing in sense of improvement of communication among the two countries. He underlined that communication is of key importance for resolving of open issues and disputes that have been undermining relations between B&H and Croatia. Ivanic stressed that recent tensions in relations between B&H and Croatia are rather consequence of internal developments in B&H. He added that Kitarovic’s visit will not resolve some of these issues.

Grabar-Kitarovic also held a meeting with High Representative Valentin Inzko. Inzko told media after the meeting that they discussed various topics, including the changes to the Law on Elections of B&H. “As for the Law on Elections, we informed the President that the European community and America, as well as the OHR, are leaders in talks with parties. The man who wrote the Law on Elections is also from the OHR, from Belgium. He will continue talks the next week, we are also involved,” said Inzko.

The Bosniak Movement organized a protest in Sarajevo on Wednesday on the occasion of the visit of Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic with the goal to express their dissatisfaction with her rhetoric and stance towards B&H. The Movement stated that Grabar-Kitarovic is welcome in B&H “but without (late Croatian President Franjo) Tudjman’s politics”. President of the Bosniak Movement Sejfudin Tokic said that the visit and some previous announcements indicate that there are attempts to exert pressure through election procedures in order to get exclusive election units and exclusive areas for Croats, which would actually result in division of the state of B&H. Tokic added that this is the agenda which Tudjman and (late Serbian President Slobodan) Milosevic tried to implement and noted that this is something (HDZ B&H leader) Dragan Covic and (SNSD leader) Milorad Dodik are currently working on.

Interior Minister begins three-day visit to the US (HRT)

Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic is on an official three-day visit to the United States of America, where he is scheduled to hold a series of meetings with top US political officials and members of the FBI and DEA. According to the Croatian Interior Ministry, the goal of the visit is to further develop and strengthen the two countries already strong bilateral relations.

During his stay in Washington DC, Minister Bozinovic is scheduled to meet with the Attorney General of the United States Jeff Sessions. Bozinovic is also due to meet with the Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, A. Wess Mitchell. The Croatian Interior Minister will also travel to Capitol Hill, where he will meet with Senator Ron Johnson in the Senate. Johnson, a member of the Committee on Foreign Relations, is the chair of the Subcommittee on Europe and Regional Security Cooperation. Also planned is a visit to the FBI, where Minister Bozinovic will be received by Director Christopher A. Wray, with whom he will visit the Terrorism Screening Center. Bozinovic will also visit the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) where he will meet with the agency’s acting administrator Robert W. Patterson.

Presidential elections to be called on Friday: Brajovic expects tensions in campaign (CDM)

Parliament speaker Ivan Brajovic will call presidential election on Friday. CDM unofficially learns that it will be scheduled for 15 April. Brajovic had consultations with the leaders of political parties. Only party leaders from the ruling majority came to the meeting with Brajovic, whereas the meeting was boycotted by opposition party leaders. “All relevant entities attended the meeting. We will lead a positive campaign. The absence of the opposition shows a lack of accountability towards the citizens of Montenegro. It is normal to expect tensions in the campaign, but I believe that citizens will know how to differ lies and the truth,” Brajovic said.

The meeting with Brajovic was attended by these party leaders: Milo Djukanovic (DPS), Mehmet Zenka (DUA), Andrija Popovic (LP), Djerdj Camaj (AA), Nazif Cungu (Forca), Marija Vucinovic (HGI) and Rafet Husovic (BS) . They pointed out the fact that the parliament of Montenegro, through the adopted laws and the implementation of the OSCE recommendations, further improved the electoral conditions, and therefore the environment in which the elections will take place. It was estimated that the meeting is another indicator of the responsibility and mature approach of relevant political subjects to issues of interest to the state and its citizens. It was also noted that in the past year after the parliamentary elections, the state strengthened the legal and political system that threatened to be shaken by some internal and external entities. As CDM earlier reported, representatives of SNP, URA, the Democrats, DF, United Montenegro, SDP and Demos did not attend Brajovic’s consultations on presidential elections. As CDM learns, Democrats and DF met ODIHR representatives. During the meeting with the representatives of the ODIHR, Brajovic said that Montenegrin Parliament will remain open for future suggestions and recommendations of ODHIR, in order to achieve the highest level of confidence of all parties in the electoral process in Montenegro. Brajovic noted that the commitment of political entities and institutions was necessary in the preparations for the upcoming elections.

Montenegro and Serbia fostering good neighborly relations (CDM)

Montenegro and Serbia are fostering friendly and good neighborly relations, and both countries see room for their further improvement, particularly in terms of economy, PM Dusko Markovic and the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia Ivica Dacic agreed at yesterday’s meeting. Dacic is in an official visit to Montenegro.

The officials emphasized that the high quality connection with the highway and the reconstruction of the entire Belgrade-Bar railway were priorities for both countries when it comes to infrastructure development. It is a common view that Montenegro and the Republic of Serbia support each other in the process of European integration, that they support the European perspective of the Western Balkan region, but that both countries firmly believe that the only correct approach to European integration processes is the principle of regatta, ie the evaluation of the results of each state separately. Markovic and Dacic assessed that the forthcoming official visit of Serbian PM Ana Brnabic to Montenegro would present an additional impetus for improving relations and cooperation.

Ivanov did not sign the decree on the Law on Languages (Meta)

The President of the Republic of Macedonia, Gjorge Ivanov, announced that he had not signed the decree on the Law on Languages, because he founds it unconstitutional. “Having in mind my observations on the non-compliance of the Law on the Use of Languages ​​with the Constitution, as well as the statements made by the expert and the wider public on the illegality of this Law, and based on Article 75 of the Constitution of the Republic of Macedonia, I made a decision not to sign the promulgation of the Law on the Use of Languages. I have sent a letter to the Parliament of the Republic of Macedonia, informing them that I will not sign it” said Ivanov.

“On January 11, 2018, the Parliament of the Republic of Macedonia passed the Law on the Use of Languages, without a public debate, without a scientific debate, without the involvement of the academic and expert public and without the opposition. In the last year’s address, I emphasized that this law was adopted without a European directive that requires the harmonization of the Macedonian legislation with the legislation of the European Union. With this law, the Republic of Macedonia will become perhaps the only European state that sets itself the conditions for membership in the Union that no one wants. For the absurd to be bigger, even the indications of the representatives of the European Union were not respected and were ignored” said Ivanov. According to the President, the law favors the Albanian language and introduces an expensive parallelism in state power, which will bring blockade and dysfunction.

“This law introduces very expensive parallelism in all organs of state power leading to their complete blockade and dysfunction. In the case of blockade, there is a danger that the issue of constitutional redefinition and endangering of the unitary, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Macedonia will be opened up. Instead of dialogue and coexistence aimed to build a multiethnic society through just and generally accepted laws, we are bringing an unjust and repressive law that only favors the Albanian language – Ivanov said.

Russian MFA: Edi Rama continues to push the great Albanian ambitions (Meta)

“We have taken note of a statement made on January 14 by Prime Minister of Albania Edi Rama regarding the involvement of the ruling Socialist Party of Albania (SPA) in the creation of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) and in the battle for Kosovo in the neighboring Serbia, as well as the SPA’s decisive contribution to the adoption of the Law on the Use of Languages by the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia. This law makes Albanian the country’s second official language along with Macedonian. These statements confirm Mr. Rama’s intention to continue to promote the notorious Tirana Platform, which he helped to draft. The implementation of this document would erode the constitutional foundations of the Macedonian state and the Ohrid Framework Agreement and would consequently provoke new ethnic clashes in the Balkans. These new developments are fully in accord with the widespread Greater Albania ambitions, which endanger the territorial integrity of several countries in the region. We attach much significance to the issue of languages and believe that such decisions must only be taken on the basis of agreement between all branches of power in any country and a broad consensus in its society” reads the statement by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA SOURCES

Bulgarian presidency – Priorities and expectations (European Western Balkans, by Katarina Anđelković, 18 January 2018)

“United we stand strong” is the motto of Bulgarian first EU Presidency, which reflects the idea of the European project and attempts to bring the core EU values back to the hotspot. However, all the ambitious performances and pledges notwithstanding, the manifold challenges the EU member state faces will most probably becloud the initial optimism.

Bulgaria stepped out with four priorities for its Presidency of the Council of the European Union:

• Economic growth and social cohesion, including the debate on the new Multiannual Financial Framework, future Cohesion, and Common Agricultural Policy, and a deeper Economic and the Monetary Union
• European perspective and connectivity of the Western Balkans, reflecting the Bulgarian Presidency’s ambition to be a Balkan Presidency.
• Security and stability of Europe, thus focusing on migration, security of EU citizens, cybersecurity, and consolidation of the Union’s role as a strong global actor on the international scene.
  The current Bulgarian Presidency will attempt to play “a pro-active role for the practical implementation of the Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) for reinforcing European security and defence”, according to its Programme.
• Digital economy and skills needed for the future, focusing on completing the EU digital single market and development of digital economy and skills and competencies.

Focus on the Western Balkans

The Western Balkans in placed very high on the agenda of the current Presidency. Already in 2017, Bulgarian officials stepped out with pledges and proposals on how to help the countries in the region advance in their individual accession processes. “Delivering a tangible European perspective for the Western Balkans including a dialogue, based on fulfilment of the conditions and the principle of own merit, political will and decisive reforms by these countries, is key not only for the region but for the European Union as a whole”, the Programme says.

A key priority of the current Presidency will be the EU Enlargement Policy, which is continuously seen as the “most effective instrument for guaranteeing peace, stability, and prosperity in the Western Balkans”. Bulgarian officials both in Bulgaria and in the EU have so far reiterated their willingness to promote and facilitate the efforts the countries in the region have so far made and will have to make in the foreseeable future. Lilyana Pavlova, the minister responsible for Bulgaria’s EU presidency, told Reuters that the “integration is a natural process“, which “needs to continue and now is the time if we don’t want to miss the moment“. “The peace, the calm, the stability and the future of Europe pass through the Western Balkans. The European project will not be complete without them,” said Pavlova.

Bulgarian Foreign Minister, Ekaterina Zaharieva called on all the Western Balkan countries to show “reform hunger rather than reform fatigue, EUobserver reports. In return, the EU shall “show that if and when they’re ready with the pre-accession conditions, the door will be open,” she added. In addition, of major importance for the Presidency will be the deepening of regional cooperation and developing good neighbourly relations with the emphasis on connectivity. Bulgaria aims to push for more projects to provide connectivity (e.g. transportation, energy, education, lower roaming charges, etc.). However, most of the attention has been drawn towards the EU-Western Balkans Summit due to take place on 17 May 2017, which is seen as a centre-piece of the Bulgarian Presidency. Fifteen years after the Thessaloniki Summit, the Summit in Sofia shall demonstrate to the WB leaders that the EU indeed is in favour to the enlargement in the Western Balkans.

The efforts shook by Bulgaria’s internal politics

“If the Summit is to become a success it needs to kick-start a new process of strengthening incentives for successful reforms while being strict and clear on red lines (e.g. in terms of media freedoms, rule of law, widespread democracy and reform faking practices),” notes Vedran Džihić, Senior Researcher at the Austrian Institute for International Affairs. However, Bulgaria certainly cannot be a role model which the countries of the region shall follow, as it itself is faced with some of the issues the candidates cope with – shortcomings in the rule of law, an independent judiciary, media freedoms and a widespread corruption. The official ceremony marking the beginning of Bulgarian presidency took place amid protests of thousands of people against plans to expand a ski resort in one of the country’s national parks. The outburst was also directed to Bulgaria’s chronic corruption problems. According to Transparency International (TI), Bulgaria is one of the most corrupt countries in the EU. “Corruption remains the universal explanation for all the problems in Bulgaria,” said Anthony Galabov, a political scientist who works with TI, as reported by EUobserver.

He added that corruption was “developed in a network”, which makes it “very difficult to have an idea of its scale.” It remains thus to be seen whether Bulgaria will fulfil its pledges while battling its domestic problems.

Publication of this article has been supported by the Balkan Trust for Democracy of the German Marshall Fund of the United States