LOCAL PRESS 

Vucic: Discussions on election conditions to be held with everyone from the opposition (Beta) 

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said that election conditions would be discussed with all opposition representatives, including those who wanted the talks to be held under the EU auspices and those who didn’t. Answering reporters after a visit to Zajecar he said that I am sure that everyone will want to talk. “Our representatives will talk with everyone who wants to talk, with some without the EU and with some with the EU. Some see this as a possibility to exert pressure on the cabinet and the president. If you think that someone will brought to power through these talks – they won’t, elections will,” Vucic said. He added that natural gas from Bulgaria would begin flowing into Serbia on 30 December and that measuring stations were being checked near Zajecar where the Balkan Stream natural gas pipeline enters Serbia.

Dacic: Opposition needs to table proposals if it wants dialogue (B92/Beta) 

Serbian parliament speaker Ivica Dacic said that if the opposition wanted a dialogue with the authorities on election conditions, it would have to produce concrete proposals. Dacic told B92 TV that the opposition needed to say what it wanted – whether that was changing electoral law, presentation in the media, partisan financing, etc. “We have yet to agree on the format of the dialogue. We have the problem of someone determining who outside the parliament should attend. You cannot call Djilas and Jeremic without inviting the other political parties that participated in the election,” he said. Dacic also said that the opposition could not speak of creating a provisional government because the Aleksandar Vucic-led ruling Serbian Progressive Party and Socialist Party of Serbia had more than 70 percent of the people’s support together.

Fajon: European Parliament has rules (N1) 

Tanja Fajon MEP told N1 on Tuesday that the Serbian authorities can say what they like about the appointment of herself and fellow MEP Vladimir Bilcik to mediate in the dialogue between the ruling coalition and opposition but added that the European Parliament has rules which have to be followed. “The Serbian side is completely free to tell us what they might want to see but the EP has its own internal rules as well,” she said commenting Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic’s dissatisfaction with their appointment. Danas daily reported that Vucic wants her exempted from the dialogue. “The appointment of the European Parliament’s rapporteur on Serbia Vladimir Bilcik and myself as the lead members in the inter-party dialogue by the European Parliament is the result of an internal political decision based on a cross-party compromise”. She said that the commitments accepted by the authorities in the first stage of the dialogue which she helped mediate late in 2019 have to be met before the elections which have been scheduled for April 2022. I am sure that we will find a way to continue our work in the future, she said and added that “the Serbian people deserve our best efforts”.

REGIONAL PRESS 

B&H CEC publishes results for Mostar after processing 98% of polling stations (Oslobodjenje) 

The Central Election Commission of B&H (B&H CEC) processed 98% of polling stations in Mostar and published newest update for local elections in Mostar. President of HDZ City Board Slaven Zeljko stressed that this party will have 14 or 15 councilors and once again warned about numerous irregularities, which HDZ B&H is still registering. “We are obliged to warn about all the irregularities and we call on the competent institutions to react and sanction the perpetrators. Yesterday we submitted the criminal report to the Prosecutor’s Office of B&H”, reads HDZ B&H statement. HDZ B&H also objects recounting of the votes, adding that series of affairs have been produced under the control of the B&H CEC. Zeljko noted that it is still unknown where are the ballots from two of the polling stations, adding that there are too many irregularities.

HNS files lawsuit against B&H CEC with Prosecutor’s Office of B&H (BHT1) 

The Croat People’s Assembly (HNS) of B&H has criticized the moves of the B&H CEC again, claiming that B&H CEC itself has compromised the election process in Mostar. The HNS has therefore filed a lawsuit against the B&H CEC with the Prosecutor’s Office of B&H, stressing that the only way to immediately resolve problems caused by “the unlawful and illegitimate B&H CEC” is through court and independent institutions.

Tegeltija: Reconstruction of ‘Lipa’ camp will be conducted in next three to four months (O Kanal) 

O Kanal carried an interview with Chairman of the B&H Council of Ministers (B&H CoM) Zoran Tegeltija. The Chairman was asked to comment on the current situation with migrants in B&H and possible solutions for their accommodation during winter. Asked how the migrant crisis could be solved and how state-level authorities, primarily the B&H CoM and the B&H Security Ministry, can help with that, Tegeltija emphasized that B&H cannot solve the crisis on its own. “The migrant crisis is a global, international issue and B&H carries a large burden over it, which we did not deserve in any way. In making some other decisions, they created a situation in B&H in which this country has too many migrants in comparison to its total area and number of citizens”, Tegeltija stressed. This was mostly created by representatives of the international community (IC) and those that created this migrant crisis, Tegeltija points out. He compared the situation in B&H with other countries and said there is twice as many migrants in B&H than in some bigger, more developed countries. He emphasized that the biggest problems are created during winter and such situation is currently reported in Lipa village, near Bihac. Tegeltija noted that the IC representatives led all negotiations with the Una-Sana Canton (USC) and Bihac authorities in regards to ‘Lipa’ camp. He points that problem was created when the USC authorities decided to back down from the agreement. “The international community and the EU invested around 3.5 million Euros so that reception center ‘BIRA’ could be temporarily opened, so that it would stay open for four months, which is time needed to complete the reconstruction of ‘Lipa’ camp”, Tegeltija explains. The final result, he says, would be to permanently close down ‘BIRA’ center.

Becic and Krivokapic signed decision on dismissal of Dragutin Dakic, forwarded it to Djukanovic (CdM) 

Montenegrin parliament speaker Aleksa Becic and Prime Minister Zdravko Krivokapic signed the decision on the dismissal of Major General Dragutin Dakic, Chief-of-General Staff of the Montenegrin Army. “The decision on the dismissal has been sent to the President of the Council – Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic for further procedure,” Becic wrote on Twitter.

VMRO and the Albanian opposition parties submit amendments to the census law (Republika) 

Opposition parties submitted four dozen amendments to the census law that is being pushed by the Zaev regime. Within the opposition, VMRO-DPMNE is strongly critical of the proposal, while the Alliance of Albanians and Alternative largely support it. The main issue, according to VMRO, is that the law will allow that long term emigrants from Macedonia are counted as residents. This is a key demand of the Albanian parties, who want to have ethnic Albanian emigrants counted in the census. VMRO submitted 26 amendments. Party coordinator Nikola Micevski said that the amendments will reduce room for abuse of the process, including with the taking of fingerprints of citizens. “This will be an easy way to ensure to separate the residents from the actual citizens of the Republic of Macedonia”, Micevski said. SDSM officials reject the proposal that fingerprint devices are used by the census teams, although different Government officials made different statements about the issue. Alternative and the Alliance of Albanians proposed that a special committee is formed to conduct the census, since there is a lack of ethnic Albanians in managing positions in the State Statistics Bureau.

Year-end press conference of Prime Minister Edi Rama (Radio Tirana) 

Edi Rama has made a general analysis of the work of the government during 2020, starting from the Justice Reform, reconstruction and managing the pandemic situation of Covida-19. The head of the government clarified that the anti-COVID vaccination in Albania will start in mid-January. Rama said that he was talking to three companies, where the most advanced talks are with Pfizer, AstraZeneca and finally with Moderna. Rama focused on the Justice Reform where he informed that so far 202 judges and prosecutors have been discharged due to the fact that they did not pass the vetting process and 118 judges have been confirmed. The head of government says that they will definitely be brought before justice. Debates over Greece’s 12-mile maritime expansion, Prime Minister Rama says, have been initiated by the Presidency and the opposition. Meanwhile, the head of government at the press conference where he made a briefing of 2020 achievements, added that Albania has become a safer country, where fewer murders were registered than a year ago. The head of the government focused both in economic and health terms in managing the COVID pandemic situation.