LOCAL PRESS

Latest from the City Election Commission (RTS)

According to the data of the City Election Commission (GIK) from 71.39 percent of processed polling stations, i.e. 67.14 percent of the electoral body, the list around the Serbian Progressive Party won 45.60 percent of the votes (64 mandates). Djilas won 18.71 percent (26 mandates), Sapic won 8.27 percent of the votes (11 mandates), and the SPS-JS list won 6.35 percent of the votes (9 mandates). GIK Chairman Zoran Lukic said that these three lists crossed census, along with the SNS. Below census are left the Initiative Let’s Not Drown Belgrade 3.37 percent, Enough and Dveri won 3.87 percent, while other lists won far less percentage of votes. “Now we need to transport the election material from the GIK headquarters and then we need to verify the mandates,” said Lukic, announcing the next press conference when 100 percent of the election material is processed and the mandates are verified.

Vucic: Fierce campaign; SNS to decide on SPS (TV Pink/Tanjug)

A day after the local elections were held in Belgrade, the leader of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) Aleksandar Vucic, whose list took a convincing victory, has stated that the party will decide on the eventual coalition with the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) in Belgrade, and that his stand is that there should always be a broad political basis. He told TV Pink that the list around the SNS alone has 8-10 councilors more than what is necessary for a majority, but that a broad political basis is a good thing. “There will be more ideas, more people who will control each other, which is good…I believe that the party will accept my idea, but we will see later on whether they will,” he said. Vucic assesses that the election campaign was fierce, that there were no irregularities in the election night, and he said that one NGO registered as irregularity that there was high-intensity commotion at one polling station, which, allegedly, disturbed the public. “There were no irregularities, tearing of posters or fights in the election night,” said Vucic.

He says his political opponents don’t know how to be defeated, because they are in politics over money and not over ideals. They speak about polarization of Serbia, but they don’t understand that they represent an awfully small part of Serbia, which was also demonstrated by these elections, not only in Belgrade, but also in Bor, Arandjelovac and Sevojno, said Vucic. “The one who comes out after being defeated at elections and speaks about fascism, yet he himself registers property worth 250 million Euros and has another 100 million that were made in politics…everybody would like to be ‘persecuted’ this way,” said Vucic. “This is why Jeremic and Jankovic with 30 percent of votes from the past elections fell down to 18 percent, but together with Djilas, Borko Stefanovic,” said Vucic.

He says that many ambassadors congratulated him on victory, including US Ambassador Kyle Scott, who visited yesterday one polling station in Zemun. That is why he told the ambassadors that we will also apply reciprocity and request to attend local elections in their countries.

Convincing victories of SNS in Bor, Arandjelovac and Sevojno (RTS)

SNS had another three more convincing victories at the elections in three municipalities where local elections were organized on Sunday. In all three municipalities, SNS won far more than absolute majority (in two cases, with the SPS) and the party would be able to form governments there. According to uncomplete, but almost complete results announced by Vucic, SNS-SPS bloc won with 60 percent in Bor. There were 43.838 voters in this town and candidates for 35 seats in the local assembly were elected. SNS won in Arandjelovac, western Serbia by winning 59 percent of the votes. There were 37.711 voters there and 41 counselors were elected.

In Sevojno, western Serbia, SNS-SPS ticket won 62 percent. There were 5.882 voters in Sevojno and 15 counselors were elected.

Dacic: I am satisfied; the winner decides on the coalition with SNS (RTS)

With more than six percent of votes, we showed that our coalition, which endured all tests of time, is also surviving in Belgrade where we never enjoyed large support, the leader of the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) Ivica Dacic told the press following the announcement of the preliminary election results. He stressed that these elections were very important for the future of this party, because public opinion polls estimated it would not cross census, and that the coalition showed with this result strength in a situation where it was being decided between the SNS and all others. Dacic said he was ready to continue the coalition with the SNS, but that the winner is the one who decides. He says the achieved result is by one or two percent smaller than at the parliamentary elections, which is disappointing, but he reminds that the goal has been achieved and the party will continue.

Djilas: Elections were irregular and unfair, we are continuing the struggle (Tanjug)

Candidate for mayor of the list “Belgrade Decides, People Win” Dragan Djilas, has stated after the closing of polling stations last night that he still doesn’t have the preliminary results, but that he is convinced that today’s elections were held in a deeply irregular and undemocratic atmosphere with a series of irregularities. “We need to be aware in what kind of country we live in, what kind of struggle is ahead of us,” said Djilas, sending a message to the Serbian President and leader of the Serbian Progressive Party Aleksandar Vucic, whom he accused that he was to be blamed for the fact that Serbia, as he put it, was heading towards fascism. “We will need less time than what you needed to dismiss me,” said Djilas. According to him, today’s elections in Belgrade were the most dishonest and insincere elections in the history of the multi-party system in Serbia. “I don’t know the election results, but I am sure that the majority of Belgraders want to change this authority. Whether this will occur will certainly depend from the fact as to whether all opposition lists crossed census,” said Djilas. “Our wish is for everybody to contribute and to win at the next elections in 2020, and we believe that we will change the authorities even before that, as well as after that in 2022 at the presidential elections,” said Djilas. He claims that prior to the Belgrade elections there was a large buying of votes, that the difficult position of people in Belgrade was used, and that the government transferred several days before elections 208 million Dinars in order to pay aid for 13,900 people with 15,000 Dinars for every person.

Sutanovac admits poor results (Tanjug)

The leader of the Democratic Party (DS) Dragan Sutanovac admitted after the publication of the preliminary results that the coalition gathered around the DS had very poor election results and that in the coming days party bodies would be discussing personal and shared responsibility.

“The DS has existed for 28 years, today it stumbled. Democracy cannot be imagined without the DS – it has been so in the past, and it will be so in the future,” said Sutanovac.

Dveri: We do not recognize election results (Tanjug)

The Dveri Movement has announced that it does not recognize the outcome of the Belgrade elections that were declared, as it put it, by Aleksandar Vucic. “We still don’t know what exactly our result is, because the City Election Commission (GIK) has not come out with their results, but the results are announced by the ruling parties and NGOs under the control of the authorities,” said Bosko Obradovic. He claims there have been many irregularities and objections at the polling stations. “We are still receiving records from the polling stations, and we are not recognizing the results declared by Vucic until we have insight into the election material and see for ourselves what is our real result,” reads the statement. “After everything, I personally think that Belgrade received both the government and opposition that it wished,” said Obradovic, whose list, together the Enough Movement, didn’t cross census.

CRTA: Irregularities up to eight percent (Danas)

The CRTA monitoring mission announced last night that the number of polling stations where serious irregularities had been established increased and that three of their observers were thrown out from polling stations after they closed, so they weren’t able to attend the counting of votes. Rasa Nedeljkov from CRTA told a press conference that the number of polling stations where irregularities were established has gone from six to eight percent.

REGIONAL PRESS

Political representatives in B&H parliament against possibility of postponement of elections (Nezavisne)

Representatives of political parties in Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) categorically claim that the October elections will not be postponed regardless of whether the amendments to the Law on Elections are adopted.

SDA Vice-president and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Parliament of B&H Sefik Dzaferovic told the daily that postponement of the elections is the worst options, which is why they must adopt necessary amendments. Also, Dzaferovic said SDA expects the OHR to intervene if necessary.

SNSD MP in B&H HoR Lazar Prodanovic also said that SNSD is against postponement of the elections, underlining that the political parties must focus on implementing the decisions of the Constitutional Court of B&H.

SDP MP Sasa Magazinovic said: “There is no reason to wish for postponement of the elections, as we even have good indicators for SDP.”

NDP MP Momcilo Novakovic said there is still time to reach an agreement on the amendments to the Law on Elections, but if the agreement is not reached postponement of the elections could be the best solution, so they can be merged with the local elections in 2020.

Deputy President of HDZ B&H and B&H HoR Speaker Borjana Kristo said that if the elections were postponed, they would need to put several decisions out of force.

Izetbegovic: When it comes to Election Law in B&H, SDA will not repeat same mistakes from past (Hayat)

Bosniak member of B&H Presidency and SDA leader Bakir Izetbegovic asked to comment amendments to the Election Law of B&H and whether the necessary changes can be done by the October elections, said: “In this country, every person living on its territory will have to have the right, both passive and active when it comes to the elections, to put forward their candidacies or to vote for whoever they choose to vote for. I refer to the B&H Presidency. When it comes to the Federation of B&H House of Peoples (HoP), there is a very narrow space for maneuver there. For example, there are 17 representatives of the Croats in the Federation of B&H. Ten of them are chosen to fill the positions in the cantons, that is what the Constitution specifies. Only seven remain for some proportional representation of Croats. That is a very narrow space for maneuver. I represent SDA and we are ready to compromise in that matter, in any way. What we will not do anymore, what we have done in the past, is for us to be the pioneers in those processes. We were always amongst the first ones to propose solutions and then others were reluctant to support them, so that they could score cheap political points before the elections. We suffered political damage in the process of trying to help. This time, SDA will give its opinion last and we will probably accept any compromise that will lead us forward. If that is the increase of the number of delegates, or some other mechanism that will unblock this whole thing, we will accept it. It will probably be the increase of the number of delegates. SDA will not oppose that proposal, but the left-wing parties will also have to actively participate in that process, the so-called civic parties. They will no longer be allowed to score cheap points, standing from the sidelines”, said Izetbegovic. When asked if SDA will support HDZ B&H’s proposal of this matter, Izetbegovic said: “No. HDZ B&H’s proposal was rejected by majority of votes anyway.”

Ambassador Ferguson on issue of Law on Elections (Klix.ba)

UK Ambassador to B&H Edward Ferguson, asked to comment on the recent statement of the UK Foreign Secretary, who according to the journalist clearly stated that he is not satisfied with progress in B&H, stated: “The Foreign Secretary stated that a lot has been achieved after launching of the UK-German initiative in 2014… However, he also stated that progress is smaller than it was expected. It has been considerably late with implementation of a huge number of reforms, economic growth does not increase fast enough to make change in lives of a big number of people…I believe that these things can be achieved through hard work and that is why it is important that elections take place in October and that election results are implemented without problems so that new governments can start to work fast.” Asked if the UK supports HNS’ (Croat People’s Assembly) demands regarding changes to the Law on Elections of B&H and if it pays off in the long run to introduce new forms of discrimination due to long term goals, Ferguson said: “We support efforts of the US and EU in order to make possible the talks among political parties in B&H and finding of a solution which will represent acceptable balance of human and democratic rights of B&H citizens, as well as adequate representation. We cannot and we shall not accept any proposals which lead towards discrimination based on ethnic, religious ground or the place of residence. We do not want new one-sided proposals. It is important that political parties gather and honestly and urgently work on finding of the acceptable solution, respecting and understanding different stances.” Asked if he expects that general elections 2018 will bring changes in B&H and what kind of leaders B&H needs, Ferguson said: “Judging by the current situation, the choice will be big and new political parties have been formed. It is not up to me to say for whom citizens should vote. We are ready to work with all who are willing to develop positive Reform Agenda. Let me reiterate, what the UK Foreign Secretary said few weeks ago – we ask from citizens to resist speeches which lead to divisions and to clearly show that the decision on their vote in October will depend on efforts that leaders exert in building of a better and safer future of this country. It is important to vote. If you do not vote in the elections, you vote for status quo.”

Dodik: Patriotic bloc to have single list for B&H parliament (Oslobodjenje)

Republika Srpska (RS) President and SNSD leader Milorad Dodik stated on Saturday that they want to agree on ‘patriotic bloc’s’ single list for B&H parliament in order to win ten mandates. “In this regard, from the point of the decision making process, we would not depend on will of Sarajevo, but we would have our own”, Dodik told media in Banja Luka. He repeated that SNSD will have its own candidate for the RS President, but did not want to speak of any names. Dodik said that it is necessary to harmonize SNSD’s stance on the RS President candidate, with coalition partners. He announced that the meeting with partners will take place this week.

High expectations from trilateral meeting (Oslobodjenje)

Members of B&H Presidency and Presidents of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic and Croatia Kolinda Grabar- Kitarovic, respectively, will hold a trilateral meeting in Mostar on 6 March. The Presidents will meet Foreign Ministers of three countries, Igor Crnadak, Ivica Dacic and Marija Pejcinovic- Buric. Covic said that the meetings will focus on general issues, adding that expectations are high and his goal is to achieve maximally good relations with the neighbors. Bosniak member of B&H Presidency and SDA leader Bakir Izetbegovic said that although B&H officials have handed over the answered European Commission’s (EC) Questionnaire to EC President Jean-Claude Juncker on Wednesday and many B&H politicians have stated that this was a “historical moment for B&H”, the EU officials have emphasized that the most challenging part of B&H’s EU path begins after this. “We will receive, probably, additional questions and I believe that we will, by the end of this mandate, answer those additional questions. Whether we will get the candidate status by the end of this year? I am not really sure. That process has lasted a bit longer, when we look at our neighboring countries. In any case, that is in the foreseeable future. Within nine or twelve months, we will probably receive our candidate status,” said Izetbegovic. Asked if B&H can expect for its Membership Action Plan (MAP) for NATO to be activated soon, Izetbegovic stated that the activation of MAP will be much easier, than the EU path. “Our NATO path is currently at a standstill, because Serbs in Serbia and Serbs in B&H oppose it. We have strong presence of Russia when it comes to this matter. We have had a sort of a ‘drama’ in Montenegro, resistance of Russia. We can, however, resist against that, we have the laws, you should review the Article 64 of the Law on Defense of B&H, that we all accepted here in B&H, even the ones that protest against joining NATO today. What the politicians say now, what they stated in the past, or will state in the future is not that relevant. The laws are relevant and I do not believe that such force exists, that can resist the will of NATO and the EU”, Izetbegovic stressed.

Ivanic pays three day visit to monasteries in Kosovo (BNTV)

Serb member of the B&H Presidency Mladen Ivanic has begun its three-day visit to monasteries and churches of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo on Sunday. Ivanic visited the Patriarchate of Pec, where he took a tour of the monastery complex and talked to Mother Haritina, who is the Acting Abbess of the Patriarchate of Pec. Mother Haritina explained to Ivanic the situation and problems that this Patriarchate and its clergy face every day. Ivanic also visited the Monastery Visoki Decani, where Ivanic was welcomed by Abbot Sava Manjic. They spoke about the life in this monastery and the problems the clergy there faces. Ivanic will continue its Kosovo visit with the visit to Velika Hoca. He will also visit in Prizren the Cathedral of Saint George, Serbian Orthodox Church Our Lady of Ljevis, Serbian Orthodox Seminary of Prizren and Monastery of the Holy Archangels.

President demands reforms from the government (Hina)

President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic called for a wide range of reforms to kick-start the national economy and welcomed the appointment of the new emergency administration for the indebted Agrokor food and retail conglomerate. “I must say I am deeply concerned about the fact that Croatia is stagnating. We could see that from the recently published data on GDP growth. GDP is slowing down, which is really worrying. I am not saying that Croatia is backsliding but it is obviously standing still while others are making progress,” the president told Croatian Radio in an interview. The President emphasized that this year was definitely the year to implement the necessary reforms, adding that everyone should give constructive support to the government and all economic entities in that regard. She praised the efforts made last year regarding the tax reform, but noted that the positive effects of those efforts were not felt any more. “The reform of the tax system should definitely continue,” she said. Grabar-Kitarovic said that one of the biggest problems was the lack of capacity of state administration to implement the reforms. “Resistance to change is a big problem in Croatia. I am not the only one to notice this. Foreign investors, the Institute of Economics and all other institutes that study public opinion and the market will also tell you this,” the President said, warning of slowness in decision making as well. She said it was necessary to continue the reforms of the judicial system, state administration and the labor market, calling for “courageous and determined decisions” to that end. Workers should have greater job security, but should also have a chance to pursue dual, life-long learning and retraining, the president said. Speaking about other topics, she said that ideological issues should not be on the front burner of the political agenda, and that issues concerning living standards should be given priority. The president said that the recommendations recently made by the task force set up last year to provide guidance on how to treat insignia of undemocratic regimes in the 20th century, reflected the complexity of ideological issues, suggesting that those issues should be discussed within expert circles rather than being given priority on the political scene. “Having in mind messages from my meetings with ordinary citizens, I can say that they are concerned about making ends meet and what their life in Croatia will look like in the future,” she said. She also highlighted the demographic revival as a top priority issue. The President said that political office-holders should tackle economic issues such as job creation, attraction of investments, social welfare issues and problems facing citizens with frozen bank accounts. Asked whether a final decision on the purchase of fighter jets has been made, given media speculation that Croatia has picked Israel out of four bidders, the president said she would convene a Defence Council meeting on this topic as soon as the defence minister and prime minister reached the decision. She said it was essential to renew the Croatian Air Force fleet so that safe fighter jets could protect Croatia’s skies, recalling that political consensus had been reached on this matter. Concerning the 12-13 February visit of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic to Croatia, Grabar-Kitarovic said the visit was a step forward in bilateral relations. She believes that the Serbian president, with his best intention in mind, brought to Zagreb the files about three persons who had gone missing in the 1991-1995 Homeland War. However, it was later established that the three persons were already identified. “As President and a mother, I was disappointed, because I really wanted that visit to help shed light on the fate of at least one missing person. However, I will not be discouraged by that and we will see this process going on,” she said.

Historical Commission’s Chairman satisfied with issued recommendations (Hina)

The president of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts (HAZU) Zvonko Kusic, who chaired the council for dealing with the consequences of the rule of undemocratic regimes that recently adopted guidelines for how to treat insignia of totalitarian systems in the 20th century, has said that the document the council has produced “is not ideal but is realistic”. Kusic says that the council “has made a great success”. It managed to produce a document in a cool-headed manner and free of ideologies as much as possible, Kusic said, describing the document as free of emotions and being reduced to the facts. Criticisms coming both from the left-side and right-side of the political spectrum against the council and its recommendations is interpreted by the academician as “commendation” to the council, composed of 17 experts from different scientific fields and of different political inclinations. One of the conclusions of the council is that the salute “For the homeland ready”, which was used by the Ustasha regime in the 1941-1945 Nazi-style Independent State of Croatia, should be banned as the salute was in contravention with Croatia’s Constitution. However, the salute can be used only for commemorative purposes when fallen members of the Croatian Defense Forces (HOS), the armed wing of the Croatian Party of Rights (HSP) during the 1991-1995 Homeland War, are remembered. And the use of that salute should be approved by relevant authorities in such cases. Kusic, who declined to give his private opinion on the matter, highlighted the council’s conclusion that insignia such as Communist Red Star could be treated as disputable if they are associated with the Communist regime’s crimes and the aggression against Croatia in the 1990s. Elaborating the exceptions for the use of the above-mentioned salute, Kusic said that HOS members stood up to defend Croatia during the aggression and they gave their lives for the defense of their homeland, adding that this tipped the balance for the approval of the exceptions. “It is interesting that the 17-member council unanimously decided for the exception and none of those 17 members challenged this decision.”

He also said that, for the first time in the history, this document declares Communist symbols disputable. Kusic said that communist crimes had often been concealed and had not been condemned to the extent to which Fascist crimes were. However, the document puts Communist symbols into the category of disputable ones, he recalls. Kusic praised Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic for having initiated the process of the establishment of the council tasked with the job of giving guidelines on how to treat symbols and insignia of undemocratic regimes.

Latest poll: HDZ losing ground but still well ahead of SDP (HRT)

Despite the fact that the HDZ has the lowest rating since the elections – 28.9% – they are still well ahead of the Social Democrats, who are currently polling at 20.8%. The gains that Zivi zid has been making over the past few months, appear to have dwindled. The small, activist party is down by 1 percentage point from February to 10.9%. Most, the Bridge party, remains in fourth place with 7.1% support. The hardline conservatives of the Independents for Croatia party have made the biggest gains and are now flush with the Peasant’s Party with 2 and a half percent support. Most leader Bozo Petrov, whose party is currently polling in fourth place, says he is not concerned about the latest numbers. “Regardless of what the polls say, as we tour the country, we see that people recognize our party and the policies for which it stands. People are becoming increasingly aware that Most is the only political party that was twice willing to be accountable for what happens to the country and was twice willing to give up its position of power in the interest of a fairer and just Croatia,” Petrov said.

Draginja Vuksanovic to be presidential candidate of SDP (CDM)

The main committee of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) has selected Draginja Vuksanovic as the party’s presidential nominee. However, according to CDM, SDP members haven’t unanimously agreed on their presidential nominee. Some of the party’s members believe a single nominee may inflict harm on the party itself, whereas others claim their leader, Ranko Krivokapic, should run for president. According to source close to CDM, it seems that lately Draginja Vuksanovic and Ranko Krivokapic have different political views and some party members claim Vuksanovic would be a better leader than Krivokapic. As for the Democrats, CDM learns that they have been carefully monitoring the situation since „they are angry with numerous Krivokapic’s actions“.

Goran Danilovic presidential candidate (MINA)

The leader of the United Montenegro Goran Danilovic will be the candidate of that party in the presidential elections in Montenegro, it was announced at the party’s press conference in Podgorica. The presidential elections in Montenegro will be held on 15 April. Applications may be submitted by 26 March. Approximately eight thousand signatures of support are required for candidacy. So far, only the president of the Justice and Reconciliation Party in Montenegro, Hazbija Kalac, submitted his application for presidential elections.

Secret plans of DF revealed (CDM)

The New Serbian Democracy (NOVA) leader and Democratic Front (DF) official, Andrija Mandic, was allegedly preparing possible scenario after the local elections in Berane on 6th March, where in Serbia he was supposed to meet with people close to former police minister Andrija Jovicevic. According to information of CDM, the DF wants Jovicevic to run for the country’s presidency. In case the DF loses the elections in Berane on Tuesday, they will be ready for relevant actions, according to DF’s sources. Asked what does that mean, the response was the following: “Expect the unexpected.” Andrija Mandic then went to Serbia. After he illegally crossed the Montenegrin border, he was detained by Serbian police and returned to Montenegro.

Meanwhile, NOVA has stated that Mandic wasn’t trying to escape but that he was supposed to meet with the activists in villages near Montenegro, Serbia and the Republika Srpska border. At the press conference, Mandic confirmed that he has never planned to run away from Montenegro.

Rally to defend Macedonia’s name held in Skopje (MIA)

Peaceful rally for defense of country’s name was held Sunday in Macedonia Square in Skopje organized by ‘We Are Macedonia’ movement. “We demand to break off the negotiations led by UN mediator Matthew Nimetz and to address the UN General Assembly as the only international organization in which the Republic of Macedonia is an equal member with all the countries that recognize it under its constitutional name. To end the use of the reference and a resolution in the UN General Assembly to be adopted that would guarantee the free admission to international organizations under the constitutional name of the Republic of Macedonia, actress Kamka Tocinovski, supporter of the movement, said. “We demand the organization of early parliamentary elections that will allow the Macedonians in diaspora to be represented according to the principle of proportionality,” said actor Straso Milosevski, who read a letter addressed to the government and the opposition, which was signed by two hundred prominent figures.

Similar rallies to defend country’s name and identity are being held Sunday in Netherlands, Sweden, USA, Australia, New Zealand and Great Britain.

VMRO-DPMNE, DUI leaders meet (MIA)

The leaders of VMRO-DPMNE and DUI Hristijan Mickoski and Ali Ahmeti respectively met Saturday and discussed current political developments. After the meeting they told reporters that the meeting was constructive and that they agreed to continue the communication. Mickoski said that VMRO-DPMNE is oriented towards the EU and NATO integration and will contribute to more quality reforms. In regard to the Law on Use of Languages, Mickoski said that they did not negotiate, but they only discussed the positions. He reiterated the party’s position that conditions have not been created yet for their return in the parliament. Due to mathematical and political reasons we cannot participate in the work of the parliament. Mathematical reason is that 12% of our MPs are held in custody so we cannot participate in the work of the parliament with our full capacity. Political reason refers to serious violation of democratic environment in Macedonia, Mickoski said. Asked about the Law on the Use of Languages, Ahmeti told reporters that the meeting was not intended for negotiations but for congratulations. He said that country’s stability and progress in implementing the reforms is in the interest of both parties. We exchanged opinions in a very constructive manner and also about the necessary reforms that we must complete in the country. We also discussed the political processes in the country. The interest of both parties is our country to be as stable as possible, Ahmeti said. This is first official meeting of leaders of two political parties after Mickoski becomes VMRO-DPMNE leader.

Juncker: No EU pressure to resolve name issue (MIA)

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker after returning from his Western Balkan tour, said that the European Union is not putting pressure on Macedonia and Greece in order to find solution to the name issue. “Pressure is not an instrument we should use. We are encouraging the Greeks and FYROM to find themselves an agreement as far as the name is concerned. They are in a negotiation process, we don’t have to interfere,” Juncker said.

He refused to respond to question of journalist whether Greece’s request for Macedonia to change its Constitution is justified.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA SOURCES

Serbian FM: We will never join anti-Russia sanctions to be part of EU (RT, 2 March 2018)

Serbia cherishes its political neutrality, staying away from global confrontations – but how is that going to go along with its EU membership aspirations? We talked about it with Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic in Belgrade.

Sophie Shevardnadze: Foreign Minister Dacic, it’s great to have you on our programme one more time. It’s been a couple of years already. Lots to talk about. President Vucic wants Serbia to join the EU but he also says there’s no way he will allow Serbia-Russia’s relations to go sour. You know, EU-Russian relations are right now not at its best and we don’t know when they become better. So seeing how all other EU members fall in line regarding sanctions against Russia, why do you think you’ll be able to defy Brussels when the time comes?

Ivica Dacic: We live at a time of anti-Russia hysteria in the world. When I was in the White House and talked to the National Security Adviser McMaster he literally said that the American influence is good and the Russian influence is harmful. In case of Serbia it didn’t prove to be true in the past, seeing how over the past few decades many principles of the international law have been violated in the example of Serbia. First of all, the borders of Serbia have been changed by recognition of the unilaterally declared independence of Kosovo. Serbia belongs to Europe geographically, politically and historically and it’s only logical that our interest in becoming the member of the European Union is based on, I would say, our personal experience. I held different positions in government – as Prime Minister and as the Minister of Foreign Affairs – and I’ve never heard anyone from the Russian side speaking negatively of our wish to join the EU. The only thing that Russia expects is that it will not result in an anti-Russian position which Serbia is not at all interested in doing. But one of the conditions is to harmonize our foreign policy with that of the European Union and that’s where Russia comes in. Joining the sanctions against the Russian Federation – there are some countries which pose this question at each meeting. You probably know which countries I’m referring to. They always criticise Serbia for not joining the sanctions against the Russian Federation. We’re surely not going to join the sanctions and in that sense we shall continue to develop good relations with the Russian Federation.

SS: Mr. Lavrov has awarded you with the Order of Friendship, which is a very high award from the Russian government. In a piece that you actually co-authored with Lavrov you’ve denounced the “either with us or against us” approach to the Serbian foreign policy. But the way people see it is that if you’re not part of any camp then you’re not anyone’s friend really…

ID: It’s not our position that we’re not on anyone’s side. We would like to be members of the EU but on the other hand we have good bilateral relations with the Russian Federation. And we have no intention to impede those relations just to become an EU member. On the other hand, all those who love Serbia have to take care of our national interests as well. Pursuing anti-Russian policies would be to our detriment. So we’re not sitting on two chairs, we have our own chair.

SS: That’s exactly what the representative of the US State Department official Hoyt Brian Yee said: “You can’t be sitting on two chairs, you’d better choose”. Do you feel like America puts pressure on you at some point?

ID: Well, he resigned, so I don’t have a response to his claims. I’m more into the view that Serbia should seek common ground with the Western interests in a sense that they should take an impartial stance towards us. We’ve had good relations with the United States and the UK. We were allies in wars but during the crisis of 1990s they practically diverted a lot from us, which resulted in their airstrikes against us. And then there was this operation ‘Storm’ in Croatia as well. Not to mention the unilateral declaration of independence by Kosovo. So in that sense it’s necessary for the Western countries to understand that there would be no peace in the region without searching for a common solution, without searching for something that is acceptable to all. And speaking about the relations between Russia and the US, we hope that there will be some sort of a warm-up in these relations. I was Chairman of the OSCE in 2015, it was the 40th anniversary of the OSCE. I read a statement then written in 1975 by then-president of Yugoslavia and the statement that was read in Helsinki – with a little adjustment for the times that’s exactly the statement that I could have made today. He was calling for detente, alleviation of tension between the blocs. Even Henry Kissinger recently said that he hoped there would be some warm-up in the relations between the United States and the Russian Federation because the next phase, if we go on like this, would be war. And no one should be stupid enough to enter a war that would lead to total destruction.

SS: But Foreign Minister, you know, the best way to have a detente right now between America and Russia is to find a common ground for something. And I know that Lavrov has said that US and Russia could become part of the Kosovo-Serbia negotiations. Do you think an international mediation could help here?

ID: We’ve never heard from the US that they would like to take part in those negotiations. That’s what the Albanians from Kosovo are saying. They are actually seeking the involvement of the US in addition to the EU. On the other hand, we have to keep in mind that those proposals are put forward, we have to acknowledge them. In that case we would like to invite the Russian Federation to join as well. In the talks that President Vucic had with President Putin and with Foreign Minister Lavrov and myself Russia has expressed readiness to join the process. But actually we don’t feel it’s necessary to expand this story right now.

SS: I know that President Vucic supports dialogue with Kosovo, but in Davos he said that Serbia isn’t going to recognise Kosovo’s independence unless it gets something in return. What kind of concessions are you looking here for?

ID: It’s been 10 years after the unilateral declaration of independence of Kosovo, and it’s still an experiment. Regardless of the fact that Kosovo has been recognised by some states Kosovo hasn’t completed its independence run, it hasn’t become a UN member and member of other organisations. There are a lot of countries that do not recognise it like Russia, China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Brasil, Argentina, Mexico, Ethiopia, South Africa, Spain. Five EU members haven’t recognised Kosovo. Also over the past few months we’ve managed to have some of the countries revoke their recognition. It means that the process is still alive, it’s not over yet. No one can have a secession without an agreement with the country from which they wish to secede. In that sense we’re for a dialogue. Some European countries say that Serbia has to, that Serbia must recognise Kosovo’s independence. But that’s not a compromise. Serbia will never recognise the unilaterally declared independence of Kosovo. When the countries which advise us to do so, when they do that themselves, there are some other standards.

SS: From the tone of President Vucic people gather that there may be some compromise. For instance, I know that Serbs who live in Kosovo have enjoyed a de-facto independence and have always been supported by Belgrade – now Belgrade wants them to integrate with Kosovars. What if, as an option, Serbia annexes the northern part of Kosovo populated by Serbs in exchange for recognising Kosovo’s independence? Would that be a working compromise?

ID: We have our own proposals on how the compromise could look like. But the Albanians in Prishtina don’t consider it necessary to even enter a compromise. They don’t want to discuss, they just want to discuss that Belgrade should recognise their independence. That’s unacceptable for us. We can have discussions on all other issues, we have an internal dialogue on how to arrange the relations. But Albanians obviously think it’s enough to have recognition from some Western countries and that would make it a fait accompli. They’re wrong there. They have a false list of countries that have recognised them. They speak of 116 countries that recognised them. I’m sure it’s in the interest of all to actually find a compromise. But if they don’t want a compromise we shall continue our struggle.

SS: What does the Serbian compromise look like? What is your proposal of a compromise? What would that be?  

ID: It’s not in the media that it should be discussed. I mean, with due respect to all I wouldn’t like to engage in this publicly. We could discuss these several times. I gave my own proposals and we didn’t come to a point that they would actually listen to our proposals.

SS: Maybe they will listen to the media, if you say right now what you plan is!

ID: It would be easier if I had to negotiate with you. They won’t listen to us at all. They just say ‘we’re independent and you have to recognise us’.

SS: You keep bringing up the fact that some countries have recognised Kosovo, others haven’t. Lately Barbados has said ‘yes’ to Kosovo’s independence, then Surinam has revoked their recognition. Do these things really matter? We’re looking from the outside, we can’t really figure out, does this really change anything in the Kosovo-Serbian issue? Countries recognising, revoking …

ID: There’s a huge difference between explanations given by the countries that recognise Kosovo and those that are actually revoking their recognition. Some say that they have general legal principles. But essentially it’s not correct. From the point of view of the international law it’s absolutely unacceptable. The Albanians in Kosovo aren’t a nation. They are an Albanian national minority because the Albanian people have their own state – that’s Albania. Is there any other nation that have two states? And they say that they need one president now…

SS: How do you feel about that?

ID: They are just speaking out their mind. They are saying what they are also thinking. For them the purpose is greater Albania regardless of who will suffer the consequences and who will be blamed for that. But that’s their goal – unification of all Albanians.

SS: Would you be against it?

ID: They can create Albania if they want to but on the territory of other states. Surely, not on our territory. We want dialogue, we want dialogue to be successful, we want to reach a solution that is in the interest of all. But imposing a solution that we have to recognise Kosovo, giving ultimatums – that’s something that doesn’t work with the Serbian people. Somebody in the international community may be interpreting our wish to have a dialogue as a weakness. Maybe Vucic should also say that Republika Srpska in Bosnia should also have one president with Serbia. Maybe they would have respected us more if we said that. But we are suppressing the wish of Republika Srpska to unify with Serbia because we respect the provisions of the Dayton Agreement. Nevertheless, we are often criticised by the Western countries. Rama and other Albanian politicians are viewed as good guys. But there’s one problem. I’ve showed the map which shows all the terrorists coming from Bosnia and Herzegovina, I’ve showed it to Rex Tillerson, all the terroristswho fought in Kosovo and in Bosnia as Islamist fundamentalists. So they are not going to go after us now. Instead, they are going to turn their guns and kill them now. If the West doesn’t understand that now, it may be too late.

SS: So, Foreign Minister, from this talk I understand that neither Serbian government nor Serbian people are willing to recognise Kosovo’s independence, a compromise is something very vague because, as you say, Albanians aren’t listening. But that’s the main stumbling point of your accession to the European Union. I know that German Foreign Minister has said that Serbia will have to recognise Kosovo to join the EU. How do you go from here?   

ID: Serbia and Yugoslavia in the past welcomed the reunification of Germany. And it’s not appropriate for Foreign Minister Gabriel to make a statement like that. He also said that he didn’t say that. And If he didn’t then I apologise to him. EU doesn’t have a common position on Kosovo. They criticise us for not accepting the common European foreign policy on Russia. So why don’t they figure out a common foreign policy regarding Kosovo? These are positions stated by those who recognise Kosovo. It is my opinion that there’s no price for Serbian recognition of Kosovo. If anyone thinks that for the sake of joining the EU Serbia would recognise Kosovo under the conditions that they impose right now and not on the basis of dialogue and compromise, they are very wrong. We want a compromise. But the solution proposed by Kosovo Albanians is a not a real solution.

SS: I understand your arguments, and they are very logical. But the fact is that they demand this of you. Maybe not the German Foreign Minister himself, but the EU in general. That’s one the demands that you have to recognise their independence. What’s more important for Serbia – the accession to the EU by 2025 or recognising the independence?

ID: No one has officially said this to us. EU cannot really stand by a position like that when it has five members that do not even recognise Kosovo. We cannot expect Spain to be more Serbian-oriented than the Serbs themselves. No one can demand those things of Serbia. It’s humiliating us. Serbia seeks good relations when it joins the EU. But what they are telling us, they should be telling Prishtina as well. They should tell them that there’s no European perspective, no path to Europe unless you reach an agreement with Belgrade. They tell us that there’s no such perspective – they should tell this to the other side as well, say that there will be no European path to them unless they reach a compromise. And so we’ll see if there are really double standards in their behaviour. I know an answer, I can tell you this immediately right now – yes, there are double standards. But we’re not going to fall for that. This is my opinion. Maybe there will be some other government in Serbia that will accept it, but I think this is not going to happen in our generation.

SS: But see what’s happening from the other side – EU wants to see Kosovo as a member, Kosovars want to join the EU. How would Serbia feel about that if Kosovo got an EU membership? 

ID: Kosovo cannot become a member of the EU. Let me point out that you should be reading carefully what the documents of the European Union says. They have an agreement of association with Kosovo but this is, so to speak, a mini-agreement, so they agreed with Kosovo not as a state, but as a territory, with this special way of marking it exactly for the reason that there are five members that haven’t recognised Kosovo yet. This agreement hasn’t been ratified by all countries but was recognised by the European parliament. We should be very clear on that. If there’s no agreement in the union, if we don’t reach a compromise, it is very difficult for Kosovo to become part of the EU. And they should be told so. Someone should be telling them that. In this sense some feel that this case was finished in 2008. No, it hasn’t been finished. If that was the case, why would they be pressuring us now? Why is that important for them what we have to say? Obviously, this affair isn’t over yet.

SS: Ok, let’s pretend that Kosovo issue is not vital for Serbia joining the EU. Let’s just talk about the EU criteria that have been put forward for Serbia to join the union. I know that Vucic said that they are so harsh that it’s almost like climbing Mount Everest. Could it be a European plan to make it so hard for Serbia to enter the EU that you won’t enter?

ID: When he said that he was referring to Kosovo. And the fact that the EU, regardless of the lack of a unified position, probably most of its members would like Serbia to recognise Kosovo … We’re for a compromise and the Albanians don’t want to discuss it at all. That is why it is difficult. It’s difficult because only one side is exposed to pressure. In that sense Vucic said that there were great obstacles before us but that has been known to happen to someone who climbs the Himalayas and Mount Everest.

SS: But I’m talking more about the criteria for Western Balkans to join the EU, more like economic and financial criteria that has been put forward and dubbed very tough. Why are they so tough? Last time when EU offered Western Balkans to become part of the union, only one state – Croatia – became a member. None of other Western Balkan states have become part …

ID: Frankly speaking, joining the EU is a complex process which should imply progress and reforms in all segments There’s 35 chapters. But as far as Serbia is concerned, I have to be very frank, they are not very really interested in how much progress Serbia has made. They are more interested in how much progress was made regarding Kosovo. So even the dialogue was burdened with political connotations and that’s what really bothers us. The only thing that they are going to consider is whether or not we’re going to accept some sort of concessions in dialogue with Prishtina.

SS: Yeah, because the EU strategy also says that “none of the Western Balkan states can be considered a functioning market economy”. I mean, Serbia has just completed a 3-year IMF programme with flying colours, the economic results exceeded expectations – if you’re not a market economy, then what are you?

ID: There were some proposals to form a joint market in the Balkan region. But many in our region are allergic to proposals aimed at unity because that reminds them of former Yugoslavia. For example, Kosovo, Montenegro and some other states were not willing to accept such proposals like that because they see them as something where Serbia would be dominant because Serbia by size is bigger than many others combined together. It would be as if someone in the EU says ‘we don’t want a common European market because Germany would be dominant there’. There are many obstacles that are not related to Kosovo. We should be working on those, of course, strengthening bilateral relations, searching for resolution of disputes between the former Yugoslavian countries and, of course, encourage  economic development.

SS: Then there is also Serbian people and how they feel about joining the EU. For instance, I have a survey from the Regional Cooperation Council which says that only 17% of Serbs believe that their country will be part of the EU by 2025. And 33% say Serbia will probably never even join. There’s a joke that I read: what is the difference between optimists and pessimists? An optimist thinks that by 2025 Albania will join the EU when Serbia is the EU president, and a pessimist thinks that Serbia will join the EU when Albania is the EU president. Why is there such a discrepancy between what the government wants and what the people want? Why such disenchantment from the people of Serbia?

ID: I think it’s a reaction to the permanent switch of the terms both in internal and external politics. When you talk about the internal politics different politicians give promises usually on the eve of the elections and then nothing happens. On the other hand the EU often gave, so to speak, moving targets – they tell you to do something and then they tell you to do something else. The way the EU citizens are tired of enlargement, the same way the citizens in Western Balkans are tired of reforms. In that sense, perhaps it’s realistic for Serbia and Montenegro to become EU members in 2025 if we conclude negotiations. But other countries are not in that package. Perhaps not all of them will enter at the same time. They call it the ‘regatta principle’.

SS: I have one last question about China if you don’t mind. I know that China has been heavily investing in Serbia over the last couple of years. And that leaves many in the EU worried. Maybe that’s why they want Western Balkan states to become part of the EU by 2025. Will you be willing to give up all those Chinese contracts for EU membership because they do not conform to the EU norms and standards?

ID: Some countries in the European Union are jealous and opposed to the strengthening of our economic cooperation with China, or Russia, for that matter. But that doesn’t mean that  the same is true when they are involved with China. Look at it, Angela Merkel goes to China and brings along businesspeople and then signs a lot of contracts in China. North and Central Europeans agree to the Russian project North Stream 2. That’s ok when they do it. And when we want to do the South Stream gas pipe then it’s not ok. We are not going to violate any standards, any principles regarding regulating the economic deals. But with China and Russia we are strategic partners, we have agreements. We have such agreements with France as well. We shall surely continue that cooperation. So far Russia is a bigger investor than China. And we like that, we welcome that, we are happy, as we are happy to welcome any other country which isn’t coming to us by military airplanes.

SS: Foreign Minister, thank you very much for this interview. I wish you all the best of luck with everything and I hope we’ll see you soon.