LOCAL PRESS
Report on the Money Flow in the Province of Kosovo has not yet been presented (Vecernje Novosti, 10 January 2014)
The parliamentary Committee of Inquiry on how the budget money was spent money in the province of Kosovo from 2000 until 2012 has not yet released any information
The Committee, which questioned how Serbian state budget money was spent in Kosovo from 2000 until 2012 has not presented its report yet, even though the deadline has expired on 15 September last year.
As confirmed by Committee Chair Momir Stojanovic the body’s “report” was completed four months ago, but has not yet received approval of the Parliament Speaker Nebojsa Stefanovica for a session to be scheduled on it.
“Why the report is not yet publicly been presented is not a question for the Committee’s members, as we have finished our work long time ago. We had been working in earnest during the summer and on several occasions we stayed in Kosovo in order to check in the field what has been done with the money from the budget. We stand behind the data we have collected. The data is accurate and many people will not like it if the data is published. By the way, this Committee on money spending in Kosovo is on a good way to experience the fate of most of its predecessors,” which were never completed.
Since establishment of the first parliamentary committee on this same subject, in the early nineties, seven such committees of inquiry have been formed, and only one, dealing with a scandal over stolen babies, completed its work with a unique conclusion of the representatives of the government and the opposition.
Hundred days of work
The current Inquiry Committee for Kosovo was formed in May last year. The deadline for data collection and report writing was 100 days, and the board had 14 members from both ruling and opposition parties.
Vulin: Serbian govt and Kosovo Serbs support compromise (Tanjug, 10 January 2014)
Serbian Minister without Portfolio in charge of Kosovo-Metohija Aleksandar Vulin stated that the Serbian government and Serbs in northern Kosovo-Metohija (KiM) are doing their best to achieve compromise concerning the staging of special sessions of municipal assemblies in the northern part of the province.
Vulin stated that the staging of special sessions in northern Kosovo is a matter regulated by certain laws, and added that representatives of the Serbian government and Serbs from northern Kosovo have done their best and are still doing all they can to reach a compromise so that the municipalities could begin their work.
Vulin told reporters in Kosovska Mitrovica that the appointed Serb representatives are truly legitimate representatives of citizens elected by a majority vote, which is why there is no reason to bring up the issue of their legality.
“Only a person who wants to see political instability in KiM and does not want the Brussels agreement to be implemented will object to the constitution of the municipal assemblies and the Community of Serb municipalities. Such people will always find or make up fresh reasons why some things should not be realised,” he said.
Vulin said that Serbs in KiM need to have legal and legitimate representatives and added that the Brussels agreement needs to be respected. Those who attempt to hinder the constitution of municipal assemblies have to know that they are working to the detriment of these two goals, the minister noted.
When asked whether only the state symbols are posing a problem to the staging of special sessions in northern Kosovo, Vulin recalled that negotiations are currently under way in Brussels and that the negotiating team should be given room to find a solution.
Vulin underscored that the Republic of Serbia and KiM Serbs support a compromise, which they demonstrated by voting in the elections which were not called by the Serbian parliament speaker.
OSCE was the one that carried out the elections and took care that the electoral materials and ballots are status neutral, not the Kosovo Central Electoral Commission, the minister said.
“I do not want municipal assemblies in northern Kosovo and their constitution to be victimised because of Pristina’s internal political issues,” Vulin said and recalled that the preparations for the elections would be in their full swing in Pristina in September 2014.
Serbs in KiM did absolutely nothing contrary to the Brussels agreement and I want to call on them to make sure it stays that way, Vulin said.
Restructured EULEX would deal only with Serbs (Politika, by B. Mitrinović, 10 January 2014)
The EU Rule of Law mission in Kosovo (EULEX) would monitor, mentor and advise northern Kosovo’s police and judiciary, while not dealing with any other part of Kosovo at all, Oliver Ivanovic said.
The European Union is not satisfied with the performance of the EULEX, which spent 700 million euros since its establishment on 26 November 2008.
According to the report of the European Court of Auditors, the money aimed for the mission was wasted, and Brussels has never made a serious effort to make the mission more effective and cheaper.
Pristina press is, in recent days, concerned whether the announced reorganization of EULEX will be carried out at the request of Pristina or at the behest of the EU, and Serbian officials still haven’t reacted at all.
On the occasion of the writings of this newspaper, that EULEX will stop receiving cases of war crimes and corruption because the announced reorganization, the spokesperson of EU High Representative for the Foreign and Security Policy, May Kocijančić told Tanjug yesterday that a review of the impact of EULEX is still ongoing and that after its completion there will be a discussion about the new mandate. “The audit will show what has already been done, what has not, and what still needs to be done,” she explained.
The EU strategy for the transformation of EULEX, to which this daily had access, stated that, as of 14 June, the transformation of EULEX will have three activities: supporting the implementation of agreements between Belgrade and Pristina, monitoring and supervision of the provincial institutions of Kosovo and executive powers in respect of high-profile cases of organized crime, corruption, war crimes and privatization.
Former State Secretary at the Serbain Ministry for Kosovo, Oliver Ivanovic said it’s bad that reconfigured the EULEX will have only an advisory role and monitor Kosovo Albanian-led institutions, because Kosovo society is not able to present difficult process, nor it can prosecute ethnically motivated crimes.
“It would be a disaster if the EULEX would be derelict of duty in the field of justice, because the Kosovo justice system is unable to prosecute war crimes, and even fewer are willing to prosecute organized crime and corruption, as they are incorporated into the structures of the government,” Ivanovic said.
He allows the possibility that the EU has a financial problem with this mission, but believes that the institution should not be changed because the cost of the staff.
Among the main problems that the mission costs a lot and did little, Ivanović stated three reasons: the level and quality of EULEX personnel was low, they opted to act with making compromises and did not face the problems that would bring them into trouble with the local Albanain community and third is that the authorities in Kosovo are against corruption research that goes to the very top of government.
One of the objectives of the reformed EULEX would be the application of the Brussels agreement. However, Ivanovic indicates that in the new mandate, EULEX would only deal with Serbs in northern Kosovo.
“This means that EULEX would do briefing and supervision of the police and judiciary in the north. And that would be disastrous, because it would not be engaged in other parts of Kosovo at all, “said Ivanovic, warning that the Kosovo Serbs would not accept that.
“EULEX is already now focusing almost exclusively on the north, counting that there will be less hassle with the Serbs. In this case, it will indeed be a smaller and cheaper mission, they will show that they have some sense and will bother themselves with the Serbs,” Ivanovic said.
Let us remind, the decision on reconfiguration of UNMIK and introduction of EULEX in Kosovo was made after the pressure was made on the Serbian government in November 2008, after which, by an unanimous decision of the UN Security Council, the doors were opened for the EU mission, which has been approved as a status neutral authority.
Former Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic, then in New York, welcomed the report of the UN Secretary General and urged the interim provincial authorities in Pristina not to oppose the will of the international community.
When the interim provincial Kosovo Assembly adopted a resolution calling for the withdrawal of the mission in July last year, the Director of the Office for Kosovo Aleksandar Vulin warned the international community that the moving and departure of EULEX would mean that agreements reached in Brussels would be null and void, since for Serbia it would mean that they could not be implemented.
Minister Vulin has not commented regarding the future mandate of EULEX for the time being.
Trajkovic: The Brussels agreement is a Great Enigma (FoNet, 9 January 2014)
Member of the Unified Serbian List in the interim provincial Kosovo Assembly Rada Trajkovic told FoNet that Belgrade should explain to Kosovo Serbs how will the Community of Serbian municipalities (ZSO) be composed of all Serbian municipalities, if the ones south the Ibar River have accepted to be integrated into the constitutional system of a Kosovo “republic” while municipalities north of the Ibar insist on status neutrality.
“How will that Community function? How will Kosovo Serbs be coordinated with different status positions within Kosovo?” Trajkovic asked.
According to her, if there is a separate Fund for Development of Northern Kosovo established, it is normal to expect that such economic independence will give birth to greater political autonomy.
It does not indicate a unique approach to solving the issue of Kosovo Serbs, Trajkovic pointed out.
She believes that Belgrade has to do more on defining Community Serbian municipalities as a functional body to protect the rights of Serbs throughout Kosovo, including those who are not residents of municipalities with Serbian majorities.
“Only such an approach will ensure the survival of Serbs south of the Ibar and allow our churches and monasteries south of the Ibar to retain their primary role of service to their members, and not to turn into historical monuments and tourist attractions,” Trajkovic warned.
According to her, the stories about different fees for vehicle insurance highlights all the ambiguities of the Brussels agreement and shows that it is necessary “that we became we are of its framework as soon as possible”.
“The Brussels agreement is, for now, a great enigma in the process of solving the Serbian issue in the province of Kosovo,” Trajkovic said and wonders whether the Community of Serbian Municipalities will be defined and recognized in the Constitution of Serbia?
Whether Belgrade will pass a constitutional law on its formation? When the status of Serbs in Kosovo is in concerned, I think that there are efforts to define Northern Kosovo as a separate region, Trajkovic assessed.
The Community Serbian municipalities will not be able to function as an institution with serious authority if it is not a part of Kosovo laws, Trajkovic said and stressed that “all international norms adopted at the EU legally stronger than standards adopted by local institutions in Kosovo”.
“If Brussels makes a decision on the constitution of the Community of Serbian Municipalities in a certain form, Pristina will have to accept that” Trajkovic concluded.
Minister Ljajic announces changes of the Criminal Law: prison for those who recruit the Wahabis (Blic, by Boris Vukovic, 10 January 2014)
Those who recruit adolescents for the Wahabis to go to war shall be sentenced to five years in prison. The young men who go to war shall be sentenced to three years. This is proposal of the changes of the Criminal Law. This has been revealed to the Blic by Rasim Ljajic, the Deputy Prime Minister. – This is a job of the Islamic communities. We have two such communities here and neither of them is doing their job. In other words, they are dealing with everything else except religion. Mirza Ganic is the third young men from Pazar who has been killed but there has been no reaction to that from the Islamic communities. Since they do not want to react, the State has to stop further bloodshed. That is why we have made a proposal of the changes of the Criminal Law and intend to discuss them with our coalition partners very soon – Ljajic says. He hopes that the deputies in the Serbian Parliament shall understand that the matter is urgent and adopt the suggested changes of four articles. – At the moment the law does not stipulate any sanction for those who go to wars or for those who recruit men to go and fight abroad – Ljajic adds. The example of Mirza Ganic (19) of Novi Pazar, the last one in a series of young men who got killed as a Wahabi battling on the side of rebels in Syria indicates how serious the problem with the Islamist radical movements in Serbia is. Before he went to Syria to become a holy warrior of the Jihad, Mirza was quite an ordinary young man who attended the Grammar School in Pazar. He has always been an excellent student and has never shown any inclination towards the radical Islam. That has changed all of a sudden at the beginning of the last year when he started spreading aggression in the mosque because of which he was banned from entering it. He continued spreading his ideas in a mosque in Paris and a few months later he said to travel to study mathematics. Instead he went to Syria and joined the rebels there. Aida Corovic, activist and until recently director of the ‘Urban In’ non-government organization in Novi Pazar says that the young men like Ganic are an example of a profile of individuals that are being recruited for war purposes.- Now we have a situation in which this machinery of recruiting of the Wahabis in mosques cannot be stopped. Young men are leaving and getting killed but people do not want talk about it. The Islamic community also keeps silent’, Corovic says. Mirza Ganic made death threats to both Aida Corovic and Rasim Ljajic. Ivana Kostic, an expert in Orient of the Balkan Center for the Middle East says that it is not realistic to expect that the proposed changes of the law shall improve the situation. – The State should improve cooperation with the Islamic communities and support their educational, infrastructural and all other capacities – Kostic says.
Ganic’s body remains in Syria
The republic of Serbia shall in no way participate in the eventual transport of Mirza Ganic’s body from Syria. His family also cannot afford to pay those costs. So the young man from Pazar shall be probably buried near Aleppo where he was killed two days ago.
He died for Al-Qaeda: The death of Mirza Ganic upsets Sandžak! (Vecernje Novosti, by M. Niciforovic, 9 January 2014)
The death of nineteen-year-old Mirza Ganic in Syria divided Sandzak and there is a fear of new bad news – the Islamic fighter was killed by his comrades in a showdown
The death of nineteen-year-old Mirza Ganic in Syria and disturbing images from Aleppo, upsets the whole Sandzak.
Controversy was immediately developed: whether the disturbing photos should be published or not? Some seek to remove them from Sandzak and Bosniak sites, at least for Ganic family, others say they should be left so it could be seen “haw shahids die smiling.”
Everyone expresses condolences to the family in the Upper Sebečevo near Novi Pazar, which does not announce. Some claim that Mirza foolishly lost his life for someone else’s goals and interests of the great powers, others call him a hero of Sandzak who “died in the path of God, fighting for Islam and Allah will reward him with jannah (paradise).”
Reference is also made that Mirza was killed by the hand of Bashar al-Assad, who he went to fight against, but he was killed by the oppositionists from the Free Syrian Army, who were his allies a week ago.
This fact, as well as that Islamic militants from Sandzak and Bosniaks fight on the side of Al Nusrete, linked to Al Qaeda, concerns Mirza’s countrymen. They fear from new deaths since there are about thirty militants from Sandžak in war in Syria.
In Syria, the Islamic Front and the Free Syrian Army turned against the army of the Islamic State of Iraq and Sama (IDIS), which is linked to the Al Nusra front and Al Qaeda, and whose members are all the mujahidin from the Balkans. Islamic militants from Sandzak, Bosnians, and Albanians are now in great danger. Everyone is against them.
Syrian “opposition” estimates that members of Al Qaeda harm them, that they “hijacked the revolution” from them and that the Americans did not want to intervene because of them, so they decided to eliminate them – emphasizes a Novo Pazar resident who has relation with someone who wages war there.
Eldar Kundakovic (Abu-Bera) from Novi Pazar and Adis Salihovic (Abu-Merdija) from Rozaje were killed in Syria before Ganic.
I FEEL SORRY FOR THE CHILD …
Regardless of the fact that he threatened me, I was upset and sorrowful for the death of Mirza Ganic. I feel sorry for that child, his mother and the family. He is the victim of unfortunate circumstances. People without a soul and to whom his life meant nothing, used him and sent him to Syria as cannon fodder. I’m afraid that our children are yet to be scrambled and that we will, in this and similar ways, irreversibly lose a lot of young people – says Aida Corovic, who received police protection due to Ganic’s threats against her.
REGIONAL PRESS
They want to replace Djukanovic over Mugosa (Beta, 10 January 2014)
Podgorica – In Montenegro, just after the holidays have passed, a political story on possible coalitions on local elections in several municipalities, which are expected in the spring, have continued. The greatest interest is, of course, for new elections in Podgorica, because its outcome could decide whether there will be early parliamentary elections and whether the current ruling coalition could be removed, especially, the main ruling Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS).
First, the felling of Podgorica Mayor Miomir Mugosa (DPS), and then the departure of Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic (DPS leader), simply put, is what the strategy of the opposition for the next election comes down to, and such is also the logic of the junior ruling coalition partner, the Social Democratic Party (SDP), as well.
The SDP, which is the junior coalition partner of the DPS, announced that the party seeks the “best model” of cooperation with all parties, and that, as stated, DPS could no longer rule in the capital with the support of smaller parties.
The target of SDP has long been Podgorica Mayor Mugoša who, according to the party’s opinion, rules arbitrarily and with the help of “political corruption”.
The SDP, and especially the opposition, hope that the loss of Podgoric by DPS would pave the way to a different political arrangement at the state level. According to the SDP announcement, during preparation for the local elections, especially in Podgorica, the formation of a so-called ‘nation-building block of parties’ will be worked on.
According to the explanations, in addition to the SDP, the Positive Montenegro party (PCG), and perhaps some other opposition parties, would also be in this block.
One of the conditions that SDP has set for potential new members of the political alliance is that future members accept the accession of Montenegro to NATO. This way, however, the doors to wider coalition cooperation are, largely, closed in advance, as main opposition parties in Montenegro, including the Socialist People’s Party and the New Serbian Democracy, oppose the imposition of Euro-Atlantic integration on the country.
Political analysts say that the so-called nation building block in Montenegro is not possible without the DPS. Analyst Srdjan Vukadinovic in today’s issue of the journal “Pobjeda” said that the SDP is “in a panic looking for a possibility to ensure its survival” in power and with that this motive of the party brought about the idea of a “new nation-building block”.
But, judging by the statements of its officials, the DPS is “fed up” with a perennial coalition with the SDP, and the main political parties are, for now, seeking new allies. DPS leader Djukanovic recently openly said that DPS will, in the next parliamentary elections, “whenever they come,” appear “in a different political arrangement.”
This primarily seems to mean that there will be no pre-election coalition with the SDP. Who could be a new political partner for DPS is still uncertain. Djukanovic, during his recent visit to Belgrade, called on pro-Serbian parties in Montenegro to accept the positions of the government.
The Montenegrin opposition, regardless of the calls and signals from the ruling coalition, however, is the mostly preoccupied with the idea of dislodging the current government, including both of its actors, DPS and SDP, which have ruled the country for nearly two decades.
However, the opposition is divided. The opposition Socialist People’s Party (SNP) has recently called on the rest of the opposition to at least agree on cooperation in the form of “non-aggression”, on the eve of the upcoming local elections, if they cannot make an agreement on a joint electoral appearance.
The opposition Democratic Front, consisting of the New Serbian Democracy and the Movement for Change, however, answered that they will not “blackmail or re-educate” anyone, but that they also don’t want to cooperate with SNP.
The Montenegrin political scene is, with no doubt, before the new tidying. Who will stay, with whom and how, and who might disappear are likely to be known after the local elections, especially in Podgorica, which will, as announced, be held before May this year.
INTERNATIONAL PRESS
Balkan politics: Serbian shenanigans (The Economist, 10 January 2014)
The politicians fight each other, instead of celebrating EU accession talks
WERE Shakespeare living today, he might find a source of inspiration in Serbia. Old enemies shake hands, former friends stab each other in the back, unnatural political alliances are hatched and jail beckons many who recently prospered. In such a fevered atmosphere this month promises to be crucial. Both main political parties are holding meetings that will set the year’s agenda—and should end speculation about early elections.
It ought to be a time of quiet satisfaction. On January 21st Serbia will formally begin accession talks with the European Union—no mean achievement. One reason Serbia has got so far is the good progress in EU-sponsored talks with Kosovo, which declared independence from Serbia in 2008. For this, Ivica Dacic and Hashim Thaci, the two prime ministers, have been nominated for a Nobel peace prize by some American congressmen. But few are celebrating in Serbia, distracted by a virtual war that has been raging at the top level of politics.
Every day the news is dominated by the question of if and when there will be an election. The previous one, in 2012, saw the triumph of the new Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) led by Tomislav Nikolic, who is now the country’s president. Despite denials, he is engaged in a bitter conflict with Aleksandar Vucic, the deputy prime minister and current SNS leader.
At the party conference on January 25th Mr Vucic will purge the party of Nikolic supporters. Then he hopes to call an election and, on winning, place his own loyalists in positions of power. “He wants fast reforms, but they will be painful,” says Braca Grubacic, a senior SNS member. With a 69% approval rating, there is little doubt that Mr Vucic would lead the SNS to another victory in an early vote.
One of his goals is to tackle loss-making, debt-crippled, state-subsidised companies that serve in many cases as a substitute social service to keep as many as 60,000 workers off the unemployment rolls. They and their directors, mostly political appointees, says Mr Grubacic, are fortunate, “like pigs lying in warm mud.” The problem is that, in a stagnating economy, the money to keep these enterprises going has run out.
Many are run not by SNS members but by members of the Democratic Party (DS), which was in power until 2012, or by Mr Dacic’s small Socialist Party, which was in coalition with DS before switching to the SNS (enabling Mr Dacic to grab the premiership). In the Balkans political patronage means power, money and votes. So Mr Dacic is against an early election that would almost certainly see him replaced by Mr Vucic. The DS, which holds its own party meeting on January 18th, is also keen to avoid an election, after being humiliated in three local polls in December.
Dragan Djilas, leader of the DS, is fighting attempts by a former president, Boris Tadic, and by an ex-defence minister to take over his party. All this is ill-timed, says an official who is resigned to many years of opposition. Now he says, fighting to lead the party “is like fighting for a cabin on the Titanic.” Since the DS lost power in 2012, some 57 senior party members have been arrested for corruption during their time in office.
Do Serbian Pupils Know the Score? (Transitions Online, by Uffe Andersen 9 January 2014)
The country’s students get high marks in class, but poor results on international tests raise doubts about what they’re learning
Q: Helen goes for a ride on her new bicycle. First, she rides four kilometers, which takes 10 minutes. Then, in five minutes she goes two kilometers. Did Helen go faster on the first trip, faster on the second trip, or equally fast? Or is it impossible to tell from the facts provided?
This is one of the problems more than 500,000 15-year-olds from around the world were asked to solve on the 2012 Program for International Student Assessment test, known as PISA. In the test’s six-point scale of difficulty, it was rated a two: answering correctly represented the minimum level to be considered “functionally numerate.” When Serbia’s PISA results were announced last month, questions like that of Helen’s cycling speed were the cause of much worry and puzzlement.
Forty percent of the 5,000 Serbian pupils who took the test were rated functionally innumerate. About one-third were rated functionally illiterate in reading. Of the 65 countries whose pupils were tested in three categories, Serbia ranked 43rd in math, 44th in reading, and 46th in science. While Serbian students scored two to seven points better on the triennial test than did their predecessors in 2009, the country’s overall ranking dropped one spot.
The poor showing received much media attention, with embarrassed educators and politicians promising better scores next time. But some education experts say the results themselves are only part of the problem. More worrying to them is what they say PISA reveals about how Serbia assesses its own students’ academic achievement.
By domestic standards, Serbian students perform exceedingly well. No less than one in seven is annually awarded the country’s highest honor in primary education: a “Vuk diploma,” named for the 19th-century linguist and folklorist Vuk Karadzic Stefanovic, the father of the modern Serbian alphabet. It is given to pupils who maintain straight A’s from fifth through eight grades and succeed in local and national academic competitions.
According to state figures, 35 percent of eighth-graders earned A’s in Serbian – reading, writing, and related subjects – in the 2012-2013 school year, and 27.4 percent got top marks in math.
Serbian schools, then, would seem to be producing excellent results. To those who view PISA as a truer indicator, the difference lies in the essentially opposite skills the international test and the classroom marks measure. It has led some to call for doing away with the prestigious Vuk diploma, which critics contend fosters an educational culture of cramming and grade inflation.
PISA is intended to show how well-equipped young people are for higher education and professional lives – or simply to live in modern society. Aleksandar Baucal, a psychology professor at the University of Belgrade and a member of the team that administers the test in Serbia, likens the bicycle question to situations people deal with daily, in shops, for example: if a liter of milk costs 90 euro cents and two liters is 1.80 euros, is one a better deal?
According to Baucal, 35 percent of Serbian pupils got the answer about Helen wrong – meaning they’d have trouble choosing the most economical milk purchase or solving similar problems in everyday life. Serbian schooling “hasn’t prepared them properly,” he said. “They are unable to recognize situations in life in which their knowledge can be useful, and to combine and creatively apply what they know.”
And the 77 percent of primary-school students who, based on their marks, are rated “excellent” or “very good” pupils, according to Serbia’s Institute for Education Quality and Evaluation? They are excellent or very good, the critics say – at doing what is asked of them. The problem is what the schools are asking.
In this view, studying, as practiced in Serbian schools, means cramming without understanding. Ivan Ivic, a retired psychology professor, spent his career in education and co-authored a 233-page strategy for schools through 2020 for the Education Ministry. The rote learning that predominates in primary and secondary education gives students “a short-lived, superficial knowledge that can seldom be used outside the specific school context,” he said.
Within that context, though, students earn high marks for providing exactly what is demanded, which “makes pupils feel it’s not important to develop their knowledge and skills,” Baucal said. “If that’s the approach to knowledge and learning nurtured in our schools, then the results of PISA shouldn’t be a surprise.”
Thus do many Serbian students end up “functionally illiterate” for today’s world – and the country itself illiterate for today’s economy, according to Ivic. That carries “huge long-term consequences for Serbia and its development, and for young people’s perspectives in a globalized world,” he said.
Analyzing university degrees in 2010, Ivic detected a dismal disconnect between what the education system provides and what the economy needs. Some 13 percent of graduates received various and often vaguely defined management degrees, far exceeding the output in “professional profiles that, because of the economic structure of Serbia, are more needed by the country,” he said.
As a particularly glaring example, Ivic cited food production, an area Serbian politicians have uniformly declared key to the country’s ability to compete in the European marketplace and boost employment. (“Our country is Europe’s green garden, and we must make use of that,” Prime Minister Ivica Dacic recently stated.) Just 1.6 percent of 2010 degrees were awarded by agricultural faculties.
A CLOSED LOOP
Primary and secondary schools, however, are not judged on what students do after they leave. They gain status based on how many of their pupils are vukovci, recipients of Vuk diplomas, Ivic said – and they deliver grades accordingly. Teachers come under pressure to give high marks, from colleagues and administrators as well as from parents and pupils, who view all those A’s as tickets to future academic opportunities.
Within a school’s “closed system” of parents, students, and teachers, “everything is all right,” Ivic said. “The problem comes when leaving that system – when there’s a PISA or similar national test, and knowledge and abilities must be presented to the outside world.”
With the cramming model so entrenched, improvement requires change on a “systemic level,” said Dragica Pavlovic-Babic, the national PISA coordinator for Serbia. Policies and tests should be crafted to “demand abilities, not just reproduction of knowledge,” she said, and thus force “the entire teaching process to change focus.”
In Macedonia, where grades and standardized test scores also paint different pictures of student achievement, media reported late last month on steps aimed at fostering such a classroom shift. As of February, teachers who give grades that diverge widely from students’ test results will see their wages cut; instructors whose marks track with exam scores will get raises.
For some Serbian educators systemic change should start with abandoning the Vuk diploma, a notion floated recently by an association of Belgrade high schools. In a September letter to Education Minister Tomislav Jovanovic, the group said the award has “turned into the opposite of its intention, and as such harms the system of values in school.”
The letter followed a debate that simmered through the summer after the diploma gained outsized importance in determining sought-after secondary school placements – the result of the normal primary school final exam being scrapped because test questions were leaked.
Supporters of the idea say the award encourages rote learning and marked-up grades that do not reflect students’ true abilities. Pupils, vukovci included, would attain “a better quality of knowledge by learning through understanding, solving concrete problematic situations, applying knowledge,” Pavlovic-Babic said.
The proposal also generated much opposition. Belgrade daily Vecernje novosti quoted Desanka Radunovic, head of state-appointed policy body the National Education Council, as saying that abandoning the Vuk diploma “attacks the form and not the core” of the grading problem. Jovanovic told Serbian media he was “willing to discuss” the idea but cautioned against dropping the traditional honor too quickly.
“The Vuk diploma is a symbol representing more than its name implies. One shouldn’t make a decision on this overnight,” the minister said, adding that he would pursue efforts to “have children’s work properly evaluated, without the diploma being an issue.”
IN PRAISE OF CRAMMING
According to Pavlovic-Babic, students would see an immediate benefit from a shift in studying strategy. “Cramming bent over a book at home, memorizing [material] letter by letter, is hard and boring,” she said. Pupils could learn more in less time “by exchanging exhausting and ineffective ways of learning for effective ones.”
Cramming has its defenders, though. Aleksandar Lipkovski, president of the Mathematical Society of Serbia, dismissed as a “slogan” the notion that pupils can “study less and learn more.”
“A good education must include a certain amount of cramming,” he said. “To learn more, people must study more. The result is always proportional to the invested effort.”
Not only pedagogues share his view. Minja Jovanovic (no relation to the education minister) graduated from the University of Belgrade’s medical school last year and returned to her hometown of Smederevo, where she is interning at a local hospital. She has changed her formerly dim view of the learning-by-memorization that characterized her earlier schooling.
“I used to think that we were just cramming, but when I started university I realized that we do need that base of facts that we learn by heart,” she said. “At first it seems quite meaningless; only later, thanks to what you’ve crammed, are you able to connect things and start thinking for yourself.”
Jovanovic herself earned a Vuk diploma, which she recalled as “a great satisfaction. It was a reward and recognition for having spent all that energy through the years.” She believes the award motivates students to work harder. Parents of vukovci “are eager to attend the special parental meeting” where winners are honored, she added, “and to see their child’s photo at the school entrance,” where the recipients are often showcased as good examples for their fellow students.
The key problem in Serbian education, according to Lipkovski, isn’t the style of teaching or studying but the shift in ethics and values that have accompanied the transition from Yugoslavia’s one-party system to competing, and corrupting, political and social interests.
“A good education used to be available to all, and everyone knew that if he studied hard, success in life and in work would be guaranteed,” the mathematician said. Today, he maintained, young people believe a guaranteed job lies in “joining the party in power,” dampening their interest in a quality education.
Grade inflation and mass bestowing of Vuk diplomas are part of that moral devaluation, Lipkovski added, putting the blame largely on “parents who, at any price, want their children to have high marks, against all the criteria of real values.” But he also decries reliance on international mechanisms like PISA.
“The bad PISA results show that our school system hasn’t yet adapted to modern trends, with their pragmatic approach” of teaching to the test, he said. “Thank God our system hasn’t adapted!”
Some PISA advocates, like Baucal, also see a larger societal shadow over the pedagogical debate. He praised elements of the education strategy co-authored by Ivan Ivic, which cites as a major problem grading that is “indiscriminate and non-objective” and merely reflects students’ ability to regurgitate lessons. The document has been finished for nearly a year, but the Education Ministry has yet to act on its recommendations. Baucal suggested the delay might be due to Serbia lacking a consensus, “a common story,” about what it wants from education, which he terms the best tool Serbia has “to secure ourselves a better place in the world.”
“Our political elite,” Ivic said, “doesn’t realize that education is a basic development resource and not simply an expense.”
Uffe Andersen is a freelance journalist in Smederevo, Serbia.
Macedonia Union Slates Grading Public Servants (BIRN, by Sinisa Jakov Marusic, 10 January 2014)
The Union of Public Servants and the main opposition party have condemned a government plan to grade public servants, saying it is open to abuse and political manipulation.
A major public service union said proposals to annually rank each civil servant from 1 to 5, whereby 1 means the sack and 5 means a pay rise, is unacceptable and opens the door to all sorts of possible misuse and harrassment.
“This creates space for pressure against workers in the administration,” said Pece Gruevski, head of UPOZ, a union representing civil servants, staff in courts and staff in the health sector.
The disputed plan is contained in the draft Law on Public Servants, which is currently having its first reading in parliament.
The bill is likely to pass as it has the backing of the main ruling VMRO DPMNE party.
According to Gruevski, the proposed methodology of grading is arbitrary, depending in large part on the good will of the worker’s immediate supervisor and to a smaller degree on the grades of the worker’s colleagues.
The bill also envisages workers getting grade 2, described in the law as “partially satisfactory”, for two consecutive years, getting the sack.
The main opposition Social Democrats, SDSM, said the grading was being introduced to frighten public servants and discriminate against them on the basis of their political affiliation.
The government message to public servants was that “you will remain silent because we have a law that allows us to sack you”, a SDSM legislator, Jani Makraduli, told the parliamentary debate.
An OSCE survey published in 2011, carried out by the Macedonian Centre for International Cooperation, MCMS, an NGO, said some 90 per cent of Macedonians believe discrimination based on political affiliation is widespread.
The most common places where people said they had experienced such discrimination were state institutions such as police stations, health centres, educational establishments, during employment, or in the provision of services.
The ruling VMRO DPMNE party has defended the bill.
“Such a law is one of the most reform-oriented moves that any government can make,” VMRO DPMNE legislator Aleksandar Nikolovski said.
He added that the bill was aimed at fighting “the complacency that, by definition, the public administration feels”.
The bill is supported by the Association of Worker’s Unions, the SSM, which is seen as closer to the government.
Its head, Zivko Mitrevski, appeared recently at a joint press conference with the Information Society and Administration Minister, Ivo Ivanovski, to praise the bill.
“We have additional remarks [about the bill]. But negotiations about them will continue,” Mitrevski told the press conference.
Montenegro: Tough Choices Face Divided Society (BIRN, Dusica Tomovic, 10 January 2014)
Local elections, exacting EU chapters and bridging the deficit will be among the main challenge in the coming year.
Montenegro began 2013 with budget cuts and new taxes, the collapse of the aluminum plant company KAP and with an even bigger chasm between the government on one side and the opposition and the civil sector on the other.
The coming year is likely to bring much the same unwelcome surprises, and more, to people’s everyday lives.
While 2014 will hardly be as eventful as 2013, it will certainly test some of the reforms launched in the previous period.
New policy options are also on hand to tackle the troubled economy and to further EU talks.
Altogether, Montenegrin politics, often involving issues that seem incomprehensible and trivial to outsiders, are expected to be no less lively than in the forthcoming period than they were in the recent past.
Elections test:
After the debacle in local elections in three municipalities in 2013, the opposition have a major new test ahead of them in spring in local elections in more than 10 municipalities, including the capital, Podgorica.
The results will certainly impact on all sides – on the opposition and its hopes of collective action, but also on relations inside the ruling coalition of the Democratic Party of Socialists, DPS, and the Social Democratic Party, SDP.
Local elections will be an indicator of the public mood ahead of possible early parliamentary elections that year.
Together or separately, the opposition has to come up with some new solutions to the problems in Montenegrin society.
The local elections will test the strength of the ruling coalition also, in which the smaller party, the SDP, has already announced it will run independently.
This followed serious disagreements within the coalition about the situation in security sector and about the economic measures proposed by the cabinet of Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic.
EU chapters:
At the end of 2013 Montenegro started its second phase in its EU accession negotiations, opening negotiations in two of the most difficult chapters, 23, on Judiciary and Fundamental Rights, and 24, on Justice, Freedom and Security.
These chapters broadly aim to enhance the fight against organised crime and corruption and will be the last that Montenegro closes before it obtains EU membership.
Opening the chapters is not the issue per se. More serious obstacles might occur once they are opened, as the EU has said its main focus will then be on continuous implementation of EU standards.
The year ahead is expected to see tough EU demands for a more efficient fight against organized crime and corruption, issues that have been routinely highlighted by international sources as problem areas.
The more immediate concern is for Montenegro to enhance its weak administrative capacities for transposing and implementing a mass of EU legislation.
The cumbersome public administration needs substantial reform, as the most recent European Commission progress report made clear.
The budget for 2014, meanwhile, envisages spending less money on salaries in the public sector. This either means wage cuts, or reducing the size of the administration.
Thus, in the context of managing public expenditure, the government will have to demonstrate considerable skills in mobilizing and enhancing its administrative capacities to the largest possible extent.
NATO dilemma:
Although in 2103 the government said that Montenegro was now ready to join NATO, and would be the club’s next new member, it is unlikely that this will happen in 2014 at the NATO summit in London.
Joining NATO, like joining the EU, requires comprehensive reforms, not only in the field of defence, and a big obstacle remains low levels of public support.
A recent poll showed only 38 per cent of the population backed membership of NATO, which was 6 per cent more than in a poll in March but still less than half the population. In the poll, 45 per cent were still against.
Intensified cooperation with the Atlantic alliance since 2006, when Montenegro joined the NATO Partnership for Peace programme, has meanwhile resulted in fundamental reforms to the armed forces, involving cuts in military personnel and in the quantity of weapons.
Ahead of possible full membership, NATO officials have urged Montenegro to try to increase public support as a key criterion for accession to the alliance. During 2013, the government was reminded that NATO would not invite it to join the alliance if at least half of the population continued to oppose membership.
Budget deficit:
Meanwhile, the main challenges ahead for Montenegro concern its economy, starting with growing public debt, a high budget deficit and decreased inflow of Foreign Direct Investments, FDI.
According to numerous analyzes, the problem of the public debt, which stands at 70 per cent of GDP, will be the major problem in 2014 and the government is expected to introduce further economic restructuring and savings.
The projected budget for the next year has been set at 1.49 billion euro, which is thus pegged at the same size at 2013.
It is already certain that the introduction of new fiscal measures to ensure the sustainability of the financial system will continue in 2014.
The government has already announced a new tax on mobile phone users, on top of previously introduced crisis taxes on SIM cards, cable TV and electricity meters.
To overcome its budget deficit problems, the government plans to borrow 147 million euro from commercial banks in 2014.
In the coming year the high unemployment rate will be another serious issue for government.
At the end of this year again it was over 15 per cent. An announced pledge to create 40,000 new jobs in 2013 has not been achieved and announced strategic foreign investments, such as the Adriatic-Ionian pipeline and the underwater electric cable between Italy and Montenegro, will not start in 2014.
One of the causes of an increased public debt in 2013 was the activation of bank guarantees for loans to one of Montenegro’s largest producers, the Podgorica Aluminum Plant, KAP
The factory, managed by the Russian Central European Aluminum Companies, CEAC, employs more than 1,000 people but is a huge strain on the public budget.
Its generous subsidies in electric energy were one of the causes of increases in electricity prices in the past.
On the other hand, the government issued a 130-million euro bank guarantee for the factory in order to keep it working.
When part of the guarantee was activated in 2013, the state budget ran short by more than 20 million euro and in next two years government needs to find additional 102 million euro to pay KAP’s debts.
Meanwhile, KAP has declared bankruptcy, and the government hopes to find a new strategic partner for it in 2014 – and also to deal with the 100-million-euro lawsuit filed by CEAC, owned by Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska.
The government says it is moderately optimist when it comes to the coming year, however, especially because the expected start to major projects in tourism and the announced start of construction of a highway.
After selecting a Chinese consortium to build it, long-delayed construction of a highway that will connect coastal and northern Montenegro to Serbia starts in February.
It will cost more than 2 billion euro and the government is currently holding negotiations with Chinese investors about greater involvement of domestic construction companies in this strategic project.
Bosnian war victims criticize celebration by Bosnian Serb leaders (Associated Press, January 9, 2014)
BANJA LUKA, Bosnia-Herzegovina – Bosnian Serbs have the celebrated the 22nd anniversary of the day they proclaimed independence, angering relatives of the many Muslim Bosniaks who died during the war that followed.
In 1992, Bosnia’s Serbs rebelled against the majority in Bosnia who opted for independence. They preferred to stay in Serb-dominated Yugoslavia, while Muslim Bosniaks and the republic’s Catholic Croats wanted Bosnia to be an independent state. The subsequent war over this took more than 100,000 lives.
Many of those fatalities were ethnic Bosniak victims of Serb ethnic killings, and since the war ended many mass graves have been found.
During Thursday’s celebration, many relatives of those victims sent Bosnian Serb leaders postcards with photos of those mass graves and a message about their region: “Don’t forget, these are her foundations.”
After the war, Bosnia remained independent but divided into two autonomous regions: one for the Christian Orthodox Serbs and the other shared by Bosniaks and Croats.
