LOCAL PRESS

Vucic: Pressure on Serbia to grow but we will always be with our people (Tanjug/RTV)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said in Bajina Basta, western Serbia, on Tuesday pressure on Serbia over Kosovo and Metohija and the Republika Srpska (RS) would grow but that Serbia would always be with its people and help it in every way. “Times that will not be easy are ahead of us,” Vucic said in an address to a large group of people in the town square – some of whom had come from Susica, Srebrenica and Bratunac in the RS. “The pressure over Kosovo and Metohija and the RS will grow, and my message to the people of Skelane, Srebrenica, Bratunac, to our people in the RS, is: Serbia will always be with you, always and at all times, and help you economically, as well as in absolutely every way. We cannot and will not leave our people in the lurch – that is also the message to citizens in Kosovo and Metohija and everyone,” he said. He noted that there would be no new Operations Storm or Operations Flash against Serbs. “Serbia is a different country today, and it respects itself and its people,” Vucic said. The Serbs have suffered too much for us to allow that to happen again, he said. “We wish all the best to everyone, and we wish to preserve peace and build the future together. Serbia cannot let all that happened in the 1990s or during WWII happen again,” Vucic said.

Petkovic: Only Serb List candidates have Belgrade’s support (RTS)

The Head of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Petar Petkovic stated that the upcoming local elections in Kosovo and Metohija are another opportunity for the Serb people in the province to show how to defend and protect national interests and to be united, under one flag of the Serb List, to be a barrier to those who would destroy Serbian unity. Petkovic said in a statement that Branimir Stojanovic’s candidacy, “a candidacy of a political opportunist who will run against the Serb List in the local elections in Gracanica, was a direct support to Serbia’s enemies, those who work against the Serbs and Serb unity in Kosovo and Metohija”. “And that is why we once again loudly point out that only the candidates of the Serb List have the support of official Belgrade and the state of Serbia. Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija have repeatedly felt how expensive it cost us when we were not united. That is why the Serb List is the bastion of unity in our southern province, our national pillar and guarantor of our stay and survival in the province,” he underlined. Petkovic believes that “at a time when all Albanian parties are uniting against the Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija, political opportunists are appearing who, for the sake of personal political gain and an appetite for functions, want to weaken their own people and their positions and work directly to our detriment”. “That is why it is more than clear why we need steely unity embodied in the Serb List. As a responsible political organization of national importance, the Serb List offered at these elections a list of as many as six new candidates for mayors of Serb-majority municipalities, because, with new energy and knowledge we want to contribute to a better life of our people in the province, and survival in Kosovo and Metohija,” said Petkovic in a statement. Petkovic says in a statement that “the candidate of the Serb List for the mayor of Gracanica, professor at the Faculty of Medicine Ljiljana Subaric, is a mother of three and a sincere patriot, who decided to put her knowledge and energy in the service of her people”.

“Such a principle is obviously not understood by individuals, because after several years in power, they put their own appetite for functions before the common good,” reads the statement of the Head of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija.

Dacic: We organized Afghanistan peace talks three times in Belgrade (TV Pink/Tanjug)

Serbian parliament speaker Ivica Dacic said today that Belgrade organized peace talks between the Afghan authorities and the Taliban three times, which were assessed as successful and both sides were grateful, but that Serbia still suffers the consequences of the US intervention in Afghanistan, which was among the first countries to recognize so-called Kosovo. “As the host of the negotiations, Serbia created a good story for itself in relations with Kabul, both sides were grateful to us, but still as a country that is not directly involved in the conflict, we are suffering the consequences of the US intervention,” said Dacic and stressed that they agreed not to speak publicly about these peace negotiations. “While I was the minister of foreign affairs we organized peace negotiations between the authorities of Afghanistan and the Taliban in Belgrade, they came three times, I was the host. Representatives of the Peace Council and the Taliban and the factions were here, and the president was involved via video link,” Dacic told TV Pink. He added that great powers, when they saw that, said that they would do it in Doha. “We’ve seen the result of their negotiations, including those organized by Moscow and Washington,” said Dacic and stressed that the atmosphere during the talks in Belgrade was fair, and that the joint assessment was that progress had been made, and a truce was declared. He assessed that it cannot be said that the American intervention was successful, because everything is back to square one. He added that it was clear from the beginning that a puppet regime had been installed in Afghanistan. “From Serbia’s standpoint, that puppet regime was among the first five countries to recognize Kosovo. What do Afghanistan and Kosovo have to do with each other – nothing, just like Costa Rica and Kosovo, but these are countries under US domination for whom this was their homework,” Dacic said and added that Serbia was also ready to participate in peacekeeping missions under the auspices of the UN. Dacic assessed that the events in Afghanistan represent a big slap in the face of the West, whose representatives did not expect something like this to happen. He recalled that Afghanistan is a complicated story that goes much deeper than the US intervention, to the Russian one, and neither have succeeded. He assessed that the goal now is to form a government and to respect human rights, especially those of women, which is one of the demands of the UN in order to form a transitional government the organization would participate in. Commenting on a wave of refugees coming from Afghanistan, Dacic said that these are people who worked with US officials and are worried about their families and their position after the Taliban came to power. “America is looking for a territory where they could come without big consequences, Hungarians, Austrians… are not very keen, so they are looking at countries like North Macedonia and there will be others who will accept them,” said Dacic. Dacic added that production of narcotics in Afghanistan has increased, as much as 100 times when it comes to heroin, since the arrival of NATO forces.

Serbian Foreign Ministry condemns relativization of Jasenovac crime (Tanjug/RTS)

The Serbian Foreign Ministry strongly condemns the publication of an article in the Jerusalem Post, titled “This disgraceful mocking of the Holocaust needs to stop now”, by David Goldman, which is full of inaccurate and malicious data. We are shocked at this shameless attempt to revise history and relativize the biggest and most monstrous crime in these lands. Among the myriad of texts created on the wave of historical revisionism and apologetics of the fascist ideology of evil, this one published on 14 August 2021 in the newspaper Jerusalem Post stands out for its ruthlessness. On the pages of a reputable newspaper, the author of the article titled “This disgraceful mocking of the Holocaust needs to stop now” insults the innocent victims of the Jasenovac concentration camp, but also the common sense of Israeli and international readers, claiming that no more than 4,500 victims were killed in the largest concentration camp of the Nazi Independent State of Croatia. Hundreds of thousands of victims of the camp, which was the center of the Ustashe genocide against Serbs, Jews and Roma have been denied and repudiated for a long time, first by revisionists from the margins, followed by the political leadership of the restored Croatian state in the early 1990s who joined this unfortunate endeavor. The most shameless minimization of the number of victims of the Jasenovac camp was insisted on by the former president of Croatia Franjo Tudjman, talking about 30-40,000 people killed, and no one could have guessed that the most respected Israeli newspaper would surpass him in the madness of revisionism. The Republic of Serbia and the Serbian people as a whole have always stood in defense of the truth, preserving the memory of the innocent victims of the Holocaust, strongly opposing any attempt to relativize in any way the scale of the gravest crime in the history of the world. By remembering the six million Jews killed in the monstrous Nazi bloodshed, we also defend the dignity of every Serb victim who suffered from the same evil, and in the area of the Independent State of Croatia from the same hand. We believe that we will continue to have the most sincere ally in the people of Israel, who are dedicated to freedom and truth, in defending the right to remembrance, despite the nefarious attempts at manipulation that we are unfortunately witnessing.

Afghan refugee wave to reach Serbia only in a couple of months (Beta)

The executive director of the Asylum Protection Center Rados Djurovic said on Monday that the consequences of the latest crisis in Afghanistan, i.e., a new migration wave, might not be felt in the Balkans and Serbia in the next couple of months. “The situation in Afghanistan is difficult, and Afghan refugees are largely fleeing to Iran and Turkey at this point. Iran suits them best because of linguistic and cultural similarities. We are talking about thousands for the time being, and the situation is under control,” Djurovic said in a comment for Beta. As he explained, roads were closed during the war, and the situation might get complicated if the Taliban allowed a massive outflow of people who do not want to live by Sharia law. Djurovic underlined that the Afghan refugee wave was unlikely to reach the Balkans and Serbia any time soon, and that the region might feel the consequences of the Afghan crisis only if Turkey allowed massive departures. “The position of Serbia is difficult because it is the first state next to the ‘promised land’ and we can’t just let those people pass through. Croatia, Hungary and Romania often send refugees back, and some have installed physical barriers along their borders,” Djurovic said, adding that he didn’t expect a large[1]scale migrant crisis similar to that in 2015, because Serbia is now part of a connected EU system that serves to slow down the migration process.

REGIONAL PRESS

B&H Presidency holds extraordinary session, calling on HR to get involved in resolving current situation regarding fires that are raging in B&H (Nova BH) 

An extraordinary session of the Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) Presidency was held on Monday. The extraordinary session of the Presidency of B&H was attended by B&H Presidency Chairman Zeljko Komsic and member of the B&H Presidency Sefik Dzaferovic, while member of the B&H Presidency Milorad Dodik failed to attend it. The Presidency of B&H asked the Ministry of Security of B&H to examine in future situations the possibility of engaging aircrafts from neighboring countries, such as Croatian Canadairs, in extinguishing fires in B&H. The B&H Presidency also asked High Representative (HR) Christian Schmidt to get involved in resolving the current situation regarding the fires that are raging in B&H and to make sure both military and civilian aircrafts are made available to all affected areas.

OHR: HR expects relevant domestic authorities to act within the scope of their responsibilities and address pressing needs of local communities in wildfire-affected areas (Nova BH) 

The Office of the HR (OHR) stated in a press release that the HR is following the situation closely and has requested detailed information from relevant agencies in order to be able to assess the gravity of the situation. Schmidt called on all competent institutions in B&H to get involved in solving the problem with the fires and to make available everything that is necessary to protect property and the lives of people. The OHR’s press release reads: “The HR views this as an obligation for all to engage responsibly and do the right thing in order to be able to provide citizens with the appropriate assistance, whether domestic or international. The HR expects relevant domestic authorities to act within the scope of their responsibilities and address the pressing needs of local communities in areas affected by wildfires.”

Kovacevic: Two B&H Presidency members show that they are afraid of Serb unity (Srna/ATV) 

Advisor for interior policy of Serb member of the B&H Presidency Radovan Kovacevic told Srna on Monday that two members of the B&H Presidency Zeljko Komsic and Sefik Dzaferovic confirmed that they are afraid of Serb unity and this was proven through their lies and manipulations. He added that they falsely accused Serb member of the B&H Presidency Milorad Dodik of the issues caused with extinguishing of fires in the Federation of B&H (FB&H), even though this is handled by entity authorities. Kovacevic said that Komsic and Dzaferovic tried to create a fake humanitarian catastrophe with the goal of portraying Serbs and Republika Srpska (RS) as the ones responsible for their own incapacities in the FB&H. Kovacevic assessed that it is “a tragicomedy” that Komsic and Dzaferovic are trying to blame Dodik for the wildfires. Kovacevic sad that Komsic and Dzaferovic’s appeals to Christian Schmidt to do something about the wildfires are ridiculous and tragic. “That is so unserious, they could also ask him to arrange a tourist visit for them, so that we all may take some rest from them,” said Kovacevic. Kovacevic commented the latest session of B&H Presidency, noting that Komsic and Dzaferovic have finally shown that the know how to convene a session in line with the Rules of Procedure, but also proved that the last week’s session was not actually held as they claimed. They also showed the public that without representatives of Serbs form the RS, joint state institutions can only pass non-binding conclusions, and not binding decisions.

Chinese Embassy to B&H: Chinese authorities do not accept Schmidt’s legitimacy as new HR (Dnevni avaz) 

B&H Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed to the daily that the Chinese Embassy to B&H submitted a diplomatic note, which reads that Chinese authorities do not accept legitimacy of Christian Schmidt as the new HR. The daily reads that this is the essence of the memo that was sent from the Chinese Embassy to the OHR and B&H Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Dzaferovic in Buzim: Ideological and political followers of those who are the main organizers of genocide, interfere with our progress towards EU and NATO membership (Oslobodjenje) 

Addressing the manifestation ‘Freedom Days of Knights’ City of Buzim’, member of the B&H Presidency Sefik Dzaferovic said that “freedom, honor, pride and homeland are the most important words here”, adding that white tombstones of fallen veterans are the clear testimony of fight for B&H, freedom and dignity. Dzaferovic stressed that unfortunately there are still those who rudely attack the sovereignty and territorial integrity of B&H, questioning its sustainability, threaten with divisions, undermine its institutions and international subjectivity, trying to annul the progress that was achieved. “Ideological and political followers of those who are the main organizers of genocide, interfere with our progress towards reaching of full stability, prosperity and membership in EU and NATO. It is especially necessary to underline here the increasingly aggressive genocide denial and glorification of war criminals and shameful awarding them by the side of legal state institutions in the entity of the RS,” said Dzaferovic. He concluded that it is necessary to put aside ideological divisions, partisan or personal interests, because interest of the state is above all individual ones.

Grlic Radman: Everyone who is responsible should work on changes to Law on Elections (Vecernji list) 

Vecernji list carries an interview with Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlic–Radman who was asked, among other issues, to comment on Croatia providing its Canadair firefighting aircrafts to firefighting efforts in B&H. Grlic-Radman replied by saying had it not been the airplanes sent by the Croatian Government, it is a question if the fires in the Tomislavgrad area that were getting closer to people’s houses would have been contained. Asked to comment on the daily’s remark that the hot summer, wildfires and other political events in B&H have put the electoral and constitutional reform (in B&H) in the back seat, and what his expectations in that sense are, the Croatian FM said everyone who is responsible should work on changes to the Law on Elections (of B&H) “whose change is the only guarantee of stability of B&H through equality of three constituent peoples as well as citizens”. “In essence it means that legitimate political representatives can be elected. Changes to the law in that direction can contribute to stability and functionality of B&H the strongest. Maybe these fires best show how the support from the central authorities is missing,” added Grlic-Radman.

Plenkovic talks to Slovenian counterpart Jansa on the phone (HRT) 

The events in Afghanistan were one of the topics of conversation between Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa. “I had a telephone conversation with Janez Jansa about the situation in Afghanistan, migration and preparations for the Strategic Forum in Bled. We have considered further steps regarding Croatia’s plans to join the Schengen area and the Eurozone in 2022 and 2023, which Slovenia supports,” announced Plenkovic on his Twitter profile.

Foreign Ministry confirms eight Croats have been evacuated from Afghanistan (Hina) 

A total of eight Croatian citizens have been evacuated from Afghanistan, the Croatian Foreign Ministry said in a press release on Monday, adding that the return of other Croatians from Kabul is expected later today and over the next few days. Earlier on Monday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted that Ukrainian aircraft, stationed in Afghanistan, took the nationals of Ukraine, the Netherlands, Croatia, Belarus, and Afghanistan out of Kabul. However, he did not specify the number of passengers on board the aircraft, and the Croatian Foreign Ministry confirmed that the Ukrainian plane had evacuated one Croat national. “The Croatian Foreign and European Affairs is using this opportunity to thank the Ukrainian authorities for enabling the return of the Croatian citizen, as well as the European Union and international partners who are helping in the return of the remaining Croatian citizens from Afghanistan,” reads the press release. There were approximately 30 Croatian citizens in Afghanistan, mostly employees of foreign organizations. The Taliban declared the end of the war and took over Afghanistan’s capital on Sunday after the government collapsed. Foreign countries, led by the United States, have started evacuating their citizens from Kabul.

Krivokapic, Abazovic and Becic to be ready to take responsibility (CdM) 

If Prime Minister Zdravko Krivokapic, Deputy Prime Minister Dritan Abazovic and Montenegrin Parliament Speaker Aleksa Becic decide to enthrone Joanikije by police, on the usurped throne of St. Peter of Cetinje, they should be ready and take responsibility for the consequences of their miserable anti-Montenegrin policy, said the President of the Civic Initiative Council on May 21. Miodrag Zivkovic, executive coordinator of GI May 21 Ljubomir Filipovic and program coordinator of that initiative Rade Bojovic. “Irresponsible, populist and servile statements and attitudes of the highest representatives of the executive and parliamentary authorities, where the enthronement of (Serbian President Aleksandar) Vucic‘s bishop Joanikije in the usurped Cetinje monastery is defended at all costs, represent a dangerous and unacceptable provocation,” Zivkovic, Filipovic and Bojovic point out. According to them, the highest representatives of the authorities instead of awakening from clerical insanity and submission to the Belgrade church, and asking that the enthronement of Joanikije not be carried out in Cetinje, Krivokapic, Becic and Abazovic are pushing Montenegro into additional intolerance and discord.

“If the troika decides to enthrone Joanikije on the usurped throne of St. Peter of Cetinje, let them be ready and take responsibility for the consequences of their miserable anti-Montenegrin policy,” Zivkovic, Filipovic and Bojovic said in a joint statement. They remind Krivokapic, Abazovic and Becic that everything they are doing at the moment, aside from kissing the skirts of Greater Serbia priests in Montenegro and uttering subservient nonsense, is on the path of heating up national intolerance and discord through abuse of state positions and powers. “At the same time, let them not expect that progressive, pro-Western and patriotic Montenegro will sit idly by and watch the continuation of the desecration of the Cetinje Monastery. It turns out that there is little clergy of the Belgrade church that has usurped the most important Montenegrin shrine for decades, but they would also like to falsely enthrone Vucic’s bishop as the Montenegrin metropolitan. That is why unequivocal, non-violent and democratic resistance is our first-class task. Everyone to Cetinje,” they conclude in GI May 21.

DUI party splits in its main stronghold of Kicevo, warns that a Macedonian could be elected Mayor instead of an Albanian (Republika) 

The DUI party faces a split in its main power base of Kicevo. The party is nominating Fatmir Dehari, a former terrorist commander in the UCK paramilitary group, for another term as Mayor, but another candidate, supported by a rival party faction, is threatening to split the vote. Fatmir Limani is the rival candidate – the son of a man killed when he fired on the police during an attempt to demolish his unlawfully built house – which he is now using as a similar claim to fame like Dehari does. Limani is also a relative of DUI party leader Ali Ahmeti, but his candidacy is opposed by the party, whose officials warn that if he advances to the second round, it’s possible that the split will lead to an ethnic Macedonian candidate winning the race. Former Deputy Prime Minister Musa Xhaferi openly supports Limani’s candidacy, while Ahmeti remains supportive of Dehari. Kicevo was gerrymandered in 2004 to make the city majority Albanian, as part of a controversial and strongly protested law. Macedonians have the numbers to see a candidate advance to the second round, and have in the past united over a single candidate, but in the past elections the SDSM party was supportive of the DUI candidate, despite his paramilitary past.

Unable to withdraw its own citizens from Kabul, Macedonia offers to accept Afghan asylum seekers (Republika) 

Even while dozens of Macedonian citizens remain stranded in Kabul, the PM Zoran Zaev Government announced it will admit Afghan refugees and asylum seekers. Macedonia withdrew its troops in July, but the number of Macedonians who work for private contractors in Afghanistan and have not evacuated yet is estimated at almost a 100.  Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani said that 25 Macedonian citizens who worked in Afghanistan are being evacuated from the country from the Kabul airport using an American plane. Additional 25 will be evacuated as soon as possible. There are about 50 citizens who were at the Kabul airport this morning. Of them, 25 are at the army terminal and are registered to take the next flight organized by the American Army to Doha, Qatar. The rest will await the next flight. We are informed about another group of 25 more, who are close to the airport, in an American military base. They are safe and await transfer to the airport. We don’t know about other citizens in Afghanistan, and have no reports that any of them is being threatened. We will continue to closely monitor the situation, Osmani said. Despite its failure to organize an evacuation of its own citizens, Macedonia quickly accepted the US request to house a still unclear number of asylum seekers, who will presumably be examined for future relocation to the US or elsewhere. When asked, Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani would not specify the number of Afghan refugees Macedonia has agreed to receive. Prime Minister Zoran Zaev said that, in talks with the United States, he agreed to accept civilians from Afghanistan, until their eligibility to claim asylum in the US or elsewhere are determined. Zaev later said that the UN asked that six wives and children of their employees are admitted to Macedonia, as the central Asian country is being again taken over by the Islamist Taliban group. According to Osmani, it’s still not clear when these six persons will arrive, and how many more will follow. “The country will be open to Afghan civilians, mainly those who worked in major international organizations,” Osmani said. Macedonia was on the main Balkan migrant route, during the 2015/16 crisis, and was the key country in closing the route. Very few of the Afghan, Syrian and other migrants who crossed then, or since, remained in Macedonia – almost all of them opting to continue toward the core EU member states.

Albania: Protesters criticized Rama for being part of the Open Balkans project (ADN) 

Protesters gathered in front of the Albanian government to denounce Prime Minister Edi Rama for his promotion of the Open Balkans project – which would put Albania, Serbia and Macedonia in a even more integrated common market. The protesters carried pictures of Rama with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, and demanded that Rama denounces Vucic’s nationalist past and his involvement in war crimes. Albanians, especially in Kosovo, are wary of the initiative as they fear that Serbia will end up dominating the proposed common market. Some in Serbia are also concerned of bringing all Albanians in the region in the project, given the past between the two nations.

Preparations are being made to receive the Afghan nationals (Radio Tirana) 

Tirana and Durres are the two cities where Afghan citizens will be settled, who are leaving their country and are expected to take refuge in Albania, as their lives are endangered in Afghanistan as a result of their cooperation with the United States of America. The data show that the first contingent of newcomers is about 350 people, mostly women and intellectuals, and is expected to arrive in Albania within a few days with US military aircrafts. According to the agreement reached between Albania and the United States of America, not every person who wants to come can be accommodated in our country, but it is specified that only those who have been collaborators of the NATO-US alliance will be accepted. The institutions that are dealing with the accommodation of Afghans in Albania, have already determined their territory, their new location, but everything is kept secret. The American authorities addressed two requests to the Albanian government for the temporary shelter of Afghan intellectuals, who are the first on the lists for execution by the Afghan Taliban and consequently the most endangered. This is not the first time that Albania has become host to people persecuted by totalitarian regimes, as a few years ago hundreds of Iranian mujahedeen took refuge in Albania, in a camp near Manza, in Durres, as well as some facilities in the Mezez area. in Tirana. It is expected that the same strategy will be followed for the sheltering of Afghans, a process that is expected to be implemented in temporary camps with the support of various migration organizations.

Xhacka: Albania is ready to receive the Afghan citizens, in collaboration with allies (Radio Tirana) 

The Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Olta Xhacka stated that Albania is ready to host hundreds of Afghans, whose lives are threatened by the deteriorating security situation. Sharing a Twitter post by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Xhacka stressed that we stand side by side with our allies, ready to guarantee their security and well-being. “Albania is ready to host hundreds of Afghans, whose lives are threatened by the deteriorating security situation. “We stand side by side with our allies, ready to guarantee their security and well-being,” said Xhacka.

The US State Department issued a joint statement to the international community on the situation in Afghanistan. Through a Twitter post, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stressed that, wishing to leave must be allowed to do so. “Roads, airports and border crossings must be kept open and calm should be maintained.” Albania was among the first countries to respond to US requests for some countries in Europe to temporarily shelter Afghans threatened by the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. Such a thing was officially acknowledged by Prime Minister Edi Rama, who stated that Albania had a moral obligation to respond positively to the US request.