LOCAL PRESS 

Vucic and Botsan-Kharchenko discuss negotiations in Washington and Brussels (Tanjug) 

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Russian Ambassador to Serbia Botsan-Kharchenko discussed all negotiations conducted by the Serbian delegation in Washington and Brussels with representatives of the provisional institutions of self-government in Pristina. Vucic thanked the Russian Federation for its support in the United Nations and other international organizations. The two interlocutors also discussed other current regional issues. Vucic informed Botsan-Kharchenko that Serbia would complete the gas pipeline by the end of the year.

Simic: Pristina’s refusal to form ZSO is threat to survival of Serbs (RTV/TV Prva) 

Pristina’s refusal to form the Community of Serb Municipalities (ZSO) is a direct threat to the survival of Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija, the vice president of the Serb List Igor Simic told TV Prva. He says that Pristina is prolonging what it committed to do in 2013 when it comes to the formation of the ZSO, stressing that participation of Serb political representatives in Kosovo institutions depends on how Pristina authorities treat the Serb people. “From the moment when the Serbs entered the Kosovo institutions the red line has been the protection of the Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija, primarily by political means through institutions. Pristina is now negating the obligations it had assumed through the Brussels agreement. This is a direct threat to the survival of the Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija,” said Simic. “This is not a threat as some in Pristina state, this is well-intentioned advice because Pristina’s obligations stem not only from the Brussels agreement, but also from the decisions of the Kosovo government, and from the Kosovo Assembly, which obliged Kosovo institutions to form the ZSO by a two-thirds majority,” said Simic.

Lajcak cautious about Belgrade-Pristina dialogue process (N1/Pravda) 

European Union envoy for Kosovo Miroslav Lajcak expressed caution about the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue in an interview to Slovak daily Pravda, adding that the EU can’t speed up the process. “The EU is not interested in slowing down the process but it also can’t speed it up,’ he said. Lajcak said that a solution could be found within months, adding that the EU is not imposing an agreement. “The important thing for us is for the agreements between Belgrade and Pristina to bring them closer to the EU and for them to be based on European standards… The final document is intended to stabilize the region,” he said. He said that a normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia would be a big relief for the Western Balkans. “Two years ago we said that there are three big challenges in the region. The Macedonia name dispute is resolved and if we could continue normalizing relations between Kosovo and Serbia and then we could devote our full attention to how Bosnia-Herzegovina should function,” he said. He said that the Union appreciates the good will of the Americans and their efforts but added that it’s important to realize that the process has to be led by the EU as the final destination for both sides. “It’s clear that the US activities are also a reflection of the election calendar but we welcome any help,” he said.

REGIONAL PRESS 

Komsic: There are hidden motives of Belgrade meeting and they threaten European perspective of B&H (ATV)

The recent visit of Serb member of the Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) Presidency Milorad Dodik and HDZ B&H leader Dragan Covic to Belgrade and meeting with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic sparked reactions in Sarajevo. Croat member of the B&H Presidency and DF leader Zeljko Komsic criticized the visit, although he did not respond to the invitation to attend the military exercise in the Pester plateau. Komsic was quoted as saying that there are hidden motives of the meeting and they threaten the European perspective of B&H. Komsic said that he read somewhere that Dodik, Covic and Vucic allegedly talked about European prospects, sarcastically stressing that it is ridiculous that they say this and on the same day SNSD and HDZ B&H rejected the Law on Public Procurements. Komsic stated that he does not trust the statements given by Dodik, Covic and Vucic after the Belgrade meeting. He concluded that their story about the EU path of B&H is meaningless and has some other hidden motives in its background. Komsic stressed that it is hypocritical from participants of Belgrade meeting to say they discussed the EU path, because HDZ B&H and SNSD have been actively blocking the EU path of B&H. DF’s Dzenan Djonlagic underlined that once again state of B&H was humiliated, because Presidency of B&H should be talking with President of Serbia.

SDP’s Becirovic and Our Party’s Cudic on Vucic-Dodik-Covic meeting (Glas Srpske)

SDP’s Denis Becirovic commented the meeting of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic with Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) Presidency member and SNSD leader Milorad Dodik and HDZ B&H leader Dragan Covic which has sparked many negative reactions from Sarajevo. Becirovic stated that earlier “Serb-Croat” agreements failed to destroy and divide the “unconquerable B&H”. According to him, this latest agreement will not manage to harm B&H either. President of the Main Board of Our Party Sabina Cudic said that the meeting represented an attack on sovereignty of B&H. Cudic noted that officials of neighboring countries “want to fully transfer sovereignty of B&H onto its people” and they are doing this with support of “self-proclaimed ethnic leaders from B&H”. Cudic concluded by saying that this is obvious from constant violations of diplomatic and political protocols related to meetings of highest state officials.

Izetbegovic: It is not coincidence Vucic invited only two leaders from B&H (ATV)

The recent visit of Serb member of the B&H Presidency Milorad Dodik and HDZ B&H leader Dragan Covic to Belgrade and meeting with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic sparked reactions in Sarajevo, and the biggest criticism came from SDA leader Bakir Izetbegovic. Izetbegovic said that it is not coincidence Vucic invited only two leaders from B&H. Commenting the abovementioned meeting, Izetbegovic said that the visit to Serbia, as well as the recent visit of the leader of SNSD to Croatia represents Serb-Croat alliance with assistance of Zagreb and Belgrade. He emphasized that B&H “tripod” cannot stand on two legs. “They should not be doing it and all three sides should always be included in all talks” explained leader of SDA, adding that it is also necessary to respect B&H, its structure and hierarchy. He also said that the fact this type of meetings occurs ahead of marking of the 25th anniversary of DPA is not coincidence. Izetbegovic commented on Tuesday that everything was planned by Covic and that a representative of Bosniaks should have also attended the meeting in Belgrade. He stated that Dodik and Covic want to convince regional leaders that Bosniaks will overpower Croats and Serbs, and that therefore a third factor is necessary in order to explain in these relations that both Dodik and Covic have mechanisms of blockade in institutions so that nobody can impose anything on them. Izetbegovic concluded that this is nothing but a nonsense. Izetbegovic saidthat if the Croat side thinks it should have legitimate representatives, then “they cannot have ‘the brake pedals’ that they have now”.

Covic: Visit to Belgrade was very transparent (O kanal)

Commenting on his meeting with SNSD leader Milorad Dodik and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in Belgrade on Monday, HDZ B&H leader Dragan Covic said that they had a rather long friendly meeting with a working dinner. He added: “We have exchanged the opinions about the situation with regard to European integration in B&H and regional topics.” Asked to comment on negative reactions from Sarajevo and claims that Serb-Croat alliance is on the scene, Covic said that he would not comment such judgments because they are usual ones. He reminded that he announced his visit to Belgrade as early as last week and that the whole visit was very transparent. Covic stated that his visit to Belgrade was agreed upon at the meeting of B&H HoP Collegium that was attended by Deputy HoP speakers Bakir Izetbegovic and Nikola Spiric. He said that Izetbegovic’s comments on the meeting he and Dodik held with Vucic in Belgrade are therefore unfair.  Commenting on Izetbegovic’s reaction, Covic said that the meeting was friendly and that it did not in any way damage relations among peoples in B&H. “You should now that at the Collegium, attended by Mr. Izetbegovic, Mr. Spiric, we jointly made decision and agreed that I visit Belgrade. And, it is right to comment after that”. Covic stressed that the most important thing is to have good neighbors, since the three neighbors of B&H are the basis for the internal stability of B&H. ˝If we underestimate this, then we have serious issues,” said Covic. He did not wish to comment on the reactions to his visit. “Everyone has the right to their opinion, but those of us who have the opportunity to create communication for more reasons with this surrounding, it is something we need to do regularly and not wait for one or two years to fulfill holes in communication. In places where you do not have communication, you have some other kind and you have an issue,” said Covic.

Covic: We had friendly dinner in Belgrade, discussing EU integration and regional issues (Dnevni avaz)

HDZ B&H leader Dragan Covic spoke about the recent meeting with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic which he attended with SNSD leader Milorad Dodik. Covic noted that the ‘working dinner’ was held in a friendly atmosphere, during which Dodik and he informed Vucic about current developments in B&H, most notably regarding the European integration process. Covic said that they discussed the recent reports of the European Commission “which were rather gray”. “I also informed him with the idea for obtaining of status of EU candidate by the summer, which would be magnificent and the traps hiding behind that, because we were saying that same thing on several occasions even in 2018…As well as conditions placed before us, those famous 14, out of which we already fulfilled five or six”, said Covic. He noted that he also informed Vucic about the upcoming elections and plans, after which they mostly discussed regional issues with accent on economy and consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic. “Naturally we talked about the path of Mr. Vucic and talks he has at world destinations, in Washington, Paris… Because he has possibility to talk to presidents of China, Russia, Turkey. To see how much of a good vice about us he can carry outside in order to facilitate our EU path. Naturally, we also got informed about the assistance coming from the EU, we are talking about the billions,” said Covic. He noted they did not discuss the initiative about ‘Mini Schengen’, noting that he deems that this initiative has good economic and infrastructural side, but it is necessary to additionally explain the political side of the initiative. Covic said that he does not known why SDA leader Bakir Izetbegovic was not invited and added that this was a friendly meeting and he accepted invitation as such. At the same time, Covic argues that during the session of B&H House of Peoples’ Collegium, Izetbegovic was informed about his trip to Belgrade and there was no secrecy involved. As for Izetbegovic’s statement about “Bosnian tripod not being able to function on two legs”, Covic said that he agrees if this is a reference to B&H Constitution, in which case he agrees with Izetbegovic and hopes this will reflect to their efforts to have legitimate representative of three constituent peoples, which would result in long-term stability of B&H and much brighter European future. Covic noted that the issue of ‘tripod’ is reflected in the talks regarding the changes of Election Law, adding that it is important for representatives of three people to talk. He noted that they signed the agreement on Mostar, adding that he hopes that Izetbegovic will accept the reality and complete this issue by end of year. According to Covic the partners from international institutions witnessed their agreement, when they said they will put the issue of Federation of B&H (FB&H) government and other issues, aside to complete the issue of Election Law, adding that he deems that issue of FB&H government is being used as alibi to avoid changes to Election Law. “If today you do not want to talk about the implementation of agreement that you signed two- three months ago, so who trusts you, why would anyone be establishing the government? That is my question now,” ends Covic.

Struggle over power in a new govt: Who will be in Krivokapic’s cabinet? (CdM)

Talks on the armchairs (positions) in a new government that is supposed to be set up by the prime minister-designate Zdravko Krivokapic are ongoing. Many would like to enter the new govt, some are even declaring themselves as experts that Montenegro has never had before.

According to sources of CdM, the new finance minister might be MP Aleksandar Damjanovic. The media earlier announced that Ivan Radenovic and Milojko Spajic might take on this position as well. Public administration sector should be run by a person from NGO sector. As for the future defense minister, CDM sources say this department might be run by Zoran Miljanic of the CIVIS, while the science department might be taken over by the professor from the University of Donja Gorica, Filip Ivanovic, or the MP of the Movement for Changes, Branka Bosnjak. One of the candidates for the education department is the professor at the Faculty of Philology, Rajka Glusica of the civic URA movement, but the Democratic Front has allegedly also been interested in this position. Marko Begovic is being mentioned as the future sports minister. The security sector seems to be the most interesting for all the constituents of the new government, but the DF and the bloc Black on White are “fighting” over it the most. Although the leader of the Movement for Changes, Nebojsa Medojevic, wishes to run the National Security Agency, CDM sources claim that Medojević will be running only the economy department if he’s to take part in a new govt. Some sources also say that Milos Vukovic of the Fidelity Consulting may be the new economy minister. In addition, there are three candidates for the position of health minister: Srdjan Pavicevic, Vladimir Dobricanin and Vuk Kadic. The leader of the Socialist People’s Party, SNP, Vladimir Jokovic, is likely to take up the post of the deputy prime minister. Dragan Ivanovic, deputy leader of the SNP and chairman of the party caucus, aspires to run the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Ivanovic used to work in the security sector within the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Montenegro. Strahinja Bulajic of the DF is a candidate for the vice-president of the parliament. Vijesti daily has said it is most likely that Bozena Jelusic of the civic URA movement will become the vice-president of the parliament as well.

Zenka: There’s no way we are going to enter the new government (Pobjeda)

There’s no way that the Democratic Union of Albanians will enter the new government, said to Pobjeda president of that party. “We received the invitation from the prime minister-designate, but DUA doesn’t see itself in coalition with parties that have different programs, that deeply collide with our program principles and guidelines. People change overnight. I won’t, and those who want to fly over, well, happy journey to them,” Mehmet Zenka said. Genci Nimanbegu, one of the leaders of the coalition ‘Albanian list’, said that his coalition had accepted the invitation but “that doesn’t mean we accepted to take part in the government”. “Will we enter the government depends on the meeting we are going to have, their program and other factors,” Nimanbegu said. Bosniak Party will decide whether it will start talks with Zdravko Krivokapic at the session of the Main Committee, which will be held on Sunday, 18 October, said Adel Omeragic, BP spokesman. Krivokapic sent an official invitation to minority parties after he was proposed as prime minister designate.

DPS: According to Krivokapic, Montenegro is a Serbian state (CdM)

Zdravko Krivokapic, prime minister-designate, has discriminated once again citizens who claim not to be Serbs (over 70% of citizens), DPS said. Alluding to who made Montenegro a Serbian state, Krivokapic returns to his ideological matrix, which he abandoned only for a short while. “Krivokapic is free to bow to the clergy of the Serbian Orthodox Church, and take photos with flags of the Republic of Serbia, he is free to express his Serbian affinities at private parties, but when he is acting as prime minister-designate then he must respect Montenegrin citizens and the Constitution, which stipulates that our country is civil, not Serbian,” the statement says.

Mass VMRO protests against “Zaev’s corruption and the economic hardship” (Republika)

Hundreds of cars joined the three drive – through protests call for by the VMRO-DPMNE party in Skopje, Prilep and Ohrid this afternoon. Protesters decked their cars with Macedonian and EU flags, as well as stickers and signs aimed at the high-level corruption cases involving the Zaev government. One of them had the Prime Minister with donkey ears – a reference to the major scandal involving his political ally managing education funds made available by the European Union. The sign was put on the door of the Energy Regulatory Committee – which is led by a Zaev loyalist and recently hiked energy prices by 7.4 percent – after an election during which Zaev insisted that electricity prices will remain low. VMRO-DPMNE is protesting to demand the reversal of the energy price hike and to demand that the Committee head Marko Bislimoski resigns. The Committee needs to be staffed by actual experts, not by people who operate on orders from Zoran Zaev and his government, said Vladimir Neloski from VMRO who spoke in front of the Committee office. He called on the Government to put an end to corrupt payments such as the ones now widely reported in the management of EU education funds, and to divert such spending to help citizens who are hit by the growing economic crisis.

Protesters in Prilep called for the immediate release of Jane Cento, great-grandson of Macedonia’s first post-war President Metodija Andonov Cento. Jane Cento was sentenced to 15 years in prison in a highly politicized trial over the April 2017 incident in the parliament.

VMRO proposes a serious electoral reform (Republika/Kanal 5 TV)

The municipal elections planned for 2021 should be held in a different format, with a single round, first-past-the-post model, VMRO-DPMNE President Hristijan Mickoski said. This would be a safer and more economical model, he added during his Kanal 5 TV interview. Under the current model, the municipal councils seats are divided under a proportional model depending on the number of votes a party list gets, but electing a mayor most often requires a second round of voting, held two weeks after the first round. This reform would save us millions that can be of use to families who don’t have computers and their children struggle to attend online teaching, Mickoski said. He added that the model could extend to the general elections, with a mixed system under which half of the seats would be distributed through a proportional model in one electoral district, and the other half – from 60 separate districts that would send one representative to Parliament. This is similar to the model that was used for the 1998 elections, and would provide representation both for smaller parties, through the proportional model in a single district, but would also allow for representatives who are personally accountable to their voters.

Mickoski asks the government to answer if it’s true that Bulgaria wants a new treaty, with constitutional redefinition of the Macedonian nation? (Republika)

Speaking about the veto threat from Bulgaria aimed at the opening of EU accession talks, VMRO-DPMNE President Hristijan Mickoski said that Macedonia can’t allow politicians from the current Government to give away the Macedonian nation and destroy the modern Macedonian state just to save their political careers. Mickoski informed the public that a new Bulgarian request is to prepare a new treaty that would define the Macedonian nation and language along Bulgarian lines. Bulgaria demands serious concessions from Macedonia, on issues of history and national identity, before it will allow the opening of EU accession talks.

What Bulgaria wants was promised by Zaev even before the 2016 elections. This promise now endangers our chances for a European perspective and created a problem that can’t be ignored, Mickoski said during an interview with Kanal 5. He added that during multiple meetings with Bulgarian politicians, this issue has been raised – that Zaev made promises he is now trying to get out of. Prime Minister Zaev recently dispatched his Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani to Sofia. After the visit, Zaev said that the meeting Osmani had with Bulgarian Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva “did not go well”. I will reveal an exclusive report. Let’s ask Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani, is it true that his counterpart ask him to practically sign a new treaty, similar to the Prespa treaty, that will include constitutional amendments that will define the existence of the Macedonian nation as something that began in 1945, and that we were something else before 1945. Is this true, that this is the current condition before we continue our accession talks, Mickoski said. Bulgarian politicians insist that the Macedonians are actually Bulgarians who adopted a new identity after the Second World War – an identity which many Bulgarian scholars describe as “artificial”. Such statements are contained in the memorandum Bulgaria sent to the European Union in which that country detailed its positions on the Macedonian national identity and language.