LOCAL PRESS
Dacic: If things go wrong with Kosovo, then things will also go wrong with the negotiations (B92)
“We should be aware that we do not live in an ideal world but in a world with imposed rules and if anything goes wrong regarding relations with Kosovo and Metohija, then things will also go wrong with the negotiations,” Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic told the morning B92 radio broadcast. He said that we should be aware that the negotiations with the EU are not commencing because Serbia had made drastic reforms, but precisely over its progress regarding relations with Pristina. Asked whether he was worried with many open issues that concern the public prior to his departure to Brussels, like the one on possible early parliamentary elections, the Serbian Prime Minister said that internal political issues were less intense than the commencement of EU negotiations. “The Serbian delegation is travelling to Brussels today and tomorrow is an historical day for us since we will be able to say for the first time that something will happen, and not just keep announcing that something will happen. We managed to come to an end of a difficult beginning, to receive that start date,” said Dacic. According to him, the first inter-governmental conference marks the beginning of the negotiations. It consists of the EU and Serbia presenting their negotiating framework. “As I have been announcing, our delegation will be at the highest level – Serbian First Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic and I will be present, and on the other side Greek Foreign Minister and Stefan Fule, on behalf of the EU will be present,” said Dacic. Asked whether Serbian Minister without Portfolio in charge of the EU Branko Ruzic will also be part of the Serbian delegation, Dacic confirmed, as well as Serbian Foreign Minister Ivan Mrkic and Tanja Miscevic. “The important thing is that the government has adopted the document that is Serbia’s introductory statement, and it will be presented tomorrow. That document contains Serbia’s stand on Serbia’s negotiating framework and our view on the entire course of the negotiations,” the Prime Minister pointed out. Asked about Serbia’s stand, Dacic says this is a document that doesn’t only concern Kosovo because this is not the only thing discussed, but also concerns the entire concept of our society. We consider the EU to be our final goal but also the means with whose assistance we are supposed to build our entire system, democracy, market economy, social justice, rights…” said the Prime Minister, recalling that the entire association process with the EU commenced in 1970 when the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Europe signed the trade agreement. “Now, after so many years, after trotting behind neighbors, we are beginning a new era. This is a historical day in that sense. I am proud, without false modesty, with the result that we achieved. All other issues are internal that should not burden us now,” said Dacic. According to him, our goal is for Serbia to be ready to become an EU member by 2018, and to really become an EU member by 2020 with the new budget period. Responding to the question that the negotiations with the EU are commencing in an atmosphere when the Serb councilor was killed in Kosovo, when Krstimir Pantic withdrew his candidacy for the mayor of northern Mitrovica, and when early parliamentary elections are mentioned more often, Dacic says the government must do its work. “We can’t wait for the parties to decide on the elections, we can’t have everything stop. I support continuation of reforms than elections. I think lots of work is ahead of us. The second inter-governmental conference is scheduled for 25 June when we will have a new “check-up” of what will be done by that time,” said Dacic. “Perhaps I will take part in that conference if I remain the Prime Minister, but I might not even if I remain the Prime Minister since this process must continue at all working levels,” said Dacic, adding that the screening on Chapter 35 regarding Kosovo is on 22 February. Asked whether we know what is really written in that chapter, the Prime Minister says it has a title and it defines what is screened, what has been done, and what needs to be done. “That chapter is not a replacement for dialogue, in the sense that we acceot with this chapter things that we haven’t so far accepted,” said the Prime Minister. Commenting the withdrawal of Krstimir Pantic from the mayoral post, i.e. the man that was on the Serbian (Srpska) list in which the Serbian Government invested all of its power and hopes, Dacic says that Pantic’s withdrawal isn’t good, but that one should have in mind that the politicial atmosphere in Kosovo is such that it is good that these elections were held at all. “This can’t slow down the implementation of the agreement. The Union of Serb Municipalities isn’t formed by mayors but by municipal assemblies. There will be new mayoral elections, but the main topic concerning Kosovo is the formation of the Union of Serb Municipalities, and in order for the municipal assemblies to do so they need the statute and before that to pass a decision on whether they wish this,” said Dacic. Commenting the statement on how can this be done in an atmosphere when a councilor was killed in front of his house, the Prime Minister recalled that Serbia couldn’t be responsible for safety in Kosovo because it doesn’t have one single policeman there, that Kosovo is far from an ideal of democracy, and that half of the Serbs opposed the elections. “Therefore, what we have done is on the verge of the impossible,” said Dacic.
Vucic: Goal to complete EU accession-related work by 2018 (Beta)
Serbia’s goal is to complete all EU-accession-related work by 2018, Serbian First Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said, adding he expects the country to become a full-fledged EU member in 2020. “Our goal is to finish everything that is up to us by 2018, after which the decision on our accession to the EU in 2020 will no longer depend on us,” Vucic told reporters in the Serbian government building. “Tuesday, 21 January – the date of the first Serbia-EU intergovernmental conference in Brussels – is an important, big day for Serbia,” Vucic said. According to him, agreement must be reached at Monday’s government session on some issues related to Serbia’s negotiating framework to ensure a unanimous government approach to the talks with the partners in Brussels. “The issues are particularly related to Chapter 35, which deals with Kosovo, with a referendum on EU accession – which could be held in 2019 – also among the matters to be ironed out,” said Vucic. Speaking about the negotiating framework, he said it was still unknown what Chapter 35 will look like, and added that some things can come up, and everything won’t be easy. He also confirmed that Minister without Portfolio in charge of EU integration Branko Ruzic would travel to Brussels tomorrow. Asked whether this minister would also keep his job, Vucic sad that he does not concern himself with speculations.
Screening for Chapter 35 – a day after the inter-governmental coneference (Tanjug)
A day after the first inter-governmental conference in Brussels, which officially opens the accession talks between Serbia and the EU, a meeting dedicated to Chapter 35 will be held on 22 January to discuss the summary of the issues relating to the normalization of relations between Belgrade and Pristina. Serbian Minister without Portfolio in charge of Kosovo and Metohija Aleksandar Vulin has told Tanjug that the screening of Chapter 35 will be somewhat unknown to both sides, since that chapter has not been present as such in the negotiations with any other candidate country. Vulin has emphasized the significance of the fact that Chapter 35 will be discussed by the EU and Serbia, so there is no third side that might hinder the progress of the talks. “Since the Brussels agreement is tripartite, our fear was that a third side could abuse our position and consciously slow down our EU path. This way, we are directly negotiating with the EU and the responsibility is with the EU and Serbia,” explains Vulin. Chapter 35 will be the fourth chapter that is screened, i.e. an analytical review of harmonizing the national legislature with the EU acquis. Screenings in all chapters, including Chapter 35, are carried out in two stages – explanatory, in which representatives of the European Commission explain the acquis in the given field, and bilateral, in which Serbian representatives provide a review of the actual state-of-affairs, i.e. Serbia’s present harmonization. It is usual practice to make a break between the explanatory and bilateral screenings, which lasts between several weeks and months, but this practice will not be applied on Chapter 35. Namely, screening in Chapter 35 will be the only chapter where both screenings will be held in one day, meaning that Brussels and Belgrade will present their views of the negotiations within that chapter, explains Vulin. “I am certain we will be up to the task. Both the EU and Serbia will state opinions and requests,” said Vulin, adding he expects the talks will be focused on the problem of normalization of Belgrade-Pristina relations, respect of the Brussels agreement and the Action Plan for its implementation. So far, the explanatory and bilateral screenings were held in Chapters 23 (justice and fundamental rights), 24 (justice, freedom and security) and 32 (financial control). According to the defined plan, screenings within Serbia’s accession talks will last unitl March 2015 and Greece, Italy and Latvia will preside over the EU in this period.
Djuric : Pantic’s act shall not affect the formation of the Union of Serb Municipalities (Tanjug)
Advisor to the President of Serbia Marko Djuric said that the refusal of Krstimir Pantic to assume the position of North Mitrovica’s mayor, did not help Serbia’s efforts, but it will not affect the formation of the Union of Serb Municipalities. “Serbia will not give up from it, because the realization of national interests is above any individual political act,” Djuric told RTS and announced the first concrete steps toward the establishment of the Union soon. He pointed out that “the goals of the Serbian state policy in Kosovo have not changed,” and that one has to count that there will be obstacles appearing on the path to creation the Union of Serbian municipalities and that the state’s duty is to persevere before the obstacles such as Pantic’s decision. Djuric said that the killing of member of the Kosovska Mitrovica Assembly, Dimitrije Janicijevic, contributes to the destabilization of Kosovo and Metohija, and that Serbia provides full support to conducting the investigation in order to find the perpetrator of this horrible crime. Speaking of the possible calling of early parliamentary elections and whether it will affect the pace of implementation of the Brussels agreement, Djuric was “fully convinced that since this is a key national issue, domestic politics will not affect.” “I recognize the kind of responsibility with the office holders that the question of state policy will not depend on internal developments. So far, the dialogue proceeded, regardless of difficulties,” Duric said. Djuric said that at the new meeting between Ivica Dacic and Hashim Thaqi on 27 January, especially the judiciary but also the formation of the Union of Serb Municipalities be discussed. “Our wish is that we talk to the representatives of Pristina on the further steps in the dialogue on time, because our ambitions have not been met only with holding the local elections. Our people must fully take part in all political processes in the province and must be proportionally represented at the provincial institutions,” Duric said.
Manzo: No one asks Serbia to recognize Kosovo (RTS)
The Italian Ambassador to Serbia Giuseppe Manzo told RTS that Chapter 35 doesn’t require Serbia’s recognition of Kosovo’s independence, but only establishment of the link between normalization of Belgrade-Pristina relations and the EU integration process. “That is in line with things on which the EU agrees – to link regional cooperation and integration of West Balkans. We see Serbia in regional cooperation as the leader that can show the way to others. Your government has already done a great part of the job. You can’t always predict all difficulties, but your negotiating team is well prepared for the chapters on the judiciary, justice and internal politics and I think that the opening of these chapters is good for Serbia,” Manzo said.
Davenport: I expect Serbian citizens to feel changes in the course of negotiations (RTS)
“The first inter-governmental conference between Serbia and the EU in Brussels on Tuesday is a great opportunity for Serbia to present its plans on how to respond to the challenges ahead,” the Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia Michael Davenport has said. The conference will mark the start of the accession talks with the EU and the people of Serbia will feel changes in the course of the talks, he told Radio and Television of Serbia (RTS). “Chapters 23 and 24 are undoubtedly the most important areas in the talks with the EU because they are the hardest based on previous experience. As for the reforms of the judiciary and government administration and battle against corruption, the EU will continue to review these areas over the next year. The EU wants to see real progress, even during the talks, when it comes to the judiciary reform,” Davenport stated, pointing out court inefficiency as a particular problem. He stressed the importance of law implementation, explaining that reforms would not be possible without that. “It is up to the EU and the Serbian government to decide how the country’s legislation will be harmonized with that of the EU. As for monitoring the implementation of laws, Serbia has its own institutions for that, like the parliament, courts and ombudsman,” Davenport stated.
Framework contains 31 points (Novosti)
A day before the start of Serbia’s membership negotiations with the EU, a session of the Foreign Affairs Council of the EU begins in Brussels. In fact, the inter-governmental Conference between Serbia and the EU on Tuesday will be taking place on the sidelines of this gathering.
The Serbian government has expressed its ambition to complete membership negotiations in 2018, and for the country to become a member in 2020. The greatest political challenge in this process will be normalization of relations between Belgrade and Pristina. The EU is keeping the content of the negotiating framework secret until the last moment, but Novosti said it had seen the documents ahead of their presentation on Tuesday. According to the daily, the framework seeks a comprehensive normalization between Serbia and Kosovo and the signing of a legally binding document at the end of that process. The EU stance toward accession negotiations is determined on the basis of three documents, which will be presented tomorrow at the inter-governmental Conference. The EU position for the opening of negotiations includes political determinants, context and engagement. Among other things, it points out that this will be a historic event, and that Serbia has achieved the necessary degree of compliance with the membership criteria, especially fulfilling a key priority of taking steps towards a visible and sustainable improvement of relations with Kosovo. The document features the name of the province along with an asterisk. The document seeks achievement of comprehensive normalization between Serbia and Kosovo and the signing of a legally binding document at the end of that process. The second document contains the negotiating framework itself, which includes principles for conducting the talks, the subject of negotiations and negotiating procedures. Among other things it stressed that the EU expects Serbia to continue to work in full compliance with the criteria and conditions, to fully complete reforms, particularly related to the judiciary, fight against corruption and organized crime, reform of public administration, and to ensure independence of key institutions, media freedom, anti-discrimination and protection of minority groups. Progress will be evaluated on the basis of the Copenhagen criteria, which require stability of institutions guaranteeing the rule of law, the existence of a functioning market economy and the ability to meet obligations stemming from the membership, and also based on the conditions from the Stabilization and Association process and, ultimately, achievement of normalization of relations with Kosovo. Serbia must in good faith implement agreements reached so far in the dialogue and fully respect principles of active regional cooperation, the daily quoted the document. It also pointed out that a new principle will apply, based on which one of the first chapters to be opened will relate to the judiciary and fundamental rights, justice, freedom and security – but, in the case of Serbia, also Chapter 35, which refers to normalization of relations with Kosovo. EU member-states that do not recognize the Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence succeeded during the last Council of Ministers to have the Kosovo issue solved only in the framework of this chapter. “After the changes to the draft negotiating framework, the issue of relations with Kosovo are no longer horizontally connected with the entire process of membership negotiations,” Novosti quoted Slovak Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak as having said. Organization of the negotiations, which determines participants, the pace and place of meetings, preparation of documents and the number and title of negotiating chapters, is the third document that will guide the two sides in the talks. “Politically, Kosovo will not be a hindrance in other chapters, but it is clear that, technically, it will often show up when it comes to statistics and other relevant data. Belgrade and Pristina will also have to have an approach not to impede each other on the way to the EU.”
Kosovo Serbs to vote for Serbian parliament (Novosti)
If early parliamentary elections are slated at the republican level, the Kosovo Serbs will also be able to go to the polls. The Belgrade authorities are certain in that, but there is a big dilemma as to how this process will be viewed by Brussels and Pristina. The key issue is whether the participation will be subsumed under “the Serbian Diaspora” or whether the ballots will be treated as those from Serbia proper? “If President Tomislav Nikolic slates them, it is undisputed that the Kosovo Serbs will be able to vote in these elections, “Minister Vulin says. The Chair of the Serbian parliament Committee for Kosovo and Metohija Milovan Drecun tells Novosti that the right of the Kosovo Serbs to take part in the elections should not be brought into question, because they are Serbian citizens with Serbian documents: “I believe the EU will also advocate for the Serbs in Kosovo to unhinderly vote. Pristina may interpret this as it wishes. The Serbs in Kosovo are not and cannot be the Diaspora. These qualifications do not stand.” However, former minister for Kosovo and Metohija Slobodan Samardzic claims the Serbs will be enabled to vote as our citizens who, let’s say live in Hungary, Germany or some other country. “A hypocritical game will be most probably played in which the Serbs will be able to vote but in some sort of consular offices, just like the Diaspora,” says Samardzic. Oliver Ivanovic, the leader of the SDP list, expects that Pristina will try to prevent the holding of Serbian parliamentary elections in Kosovo and Metohija, but warns this would cause a major revolt: “In the end they will probably insist on the presence of the OSCE, so they would show that the ‘Diaspora’ is voting.” Ivanovic doesn’t exclude that Pristina will request that Albanians in Serbia’s south are enabled to vote for the Kosovo Assembly elections in the fall.
The oath signed by the councilors of Zubin Potok, Leposavic, Kosovska Mitrovica and Zvecan have been archived in Pristina with taped over symbols of Kosovo’s “statehood.” The employees in the administration have been trying to unsuccessfully remove the stickers but it was impossible over strong glue. Finally, they were forced to archive the oaths of Serb councilors as status-neutral.
Washington: Elections are Serbia’s internal issue (Tanjug)
The U.S. considers that elections are Serbia’s internal issue on which its citizens should decide, Tanjug was told at the State Department. Tanjug’s interlocutor didn’t wish to say whether early parliamentary elections were necessary at present from the point of view of the U.S. American officials point out that politicians in Belgrade will have the final say on the elections.
REGIONAL PRESS
Coalition of associations of refugees condemns pressure on Serbs in Croatia (Beta)
The coalition of associations of refugees most harshly condemned “violent and indecent” behavior of Croatian officers in consulates in Belgrade and Subotica and certain police stations in Croatia, because they are exerting pressure on refugees and expelled Serbs to cancel residence and Croatian IDs. The statement of the coalition of association, sent to Beta by the chairperson Miodrag Linta, reads that this way the mentioned Croatian officers are preventing refugees and expelled Serbs to register temporary departure from Croatia and keep Croatian IDs in the next five years.
Dodik adheres to earlier position on Sejdic-Finci (Srna)
The RS President and the SNSD leader Milorad Dodik has stated that at the meeting with the EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fule, Serb representatives will adhere to their earlier stand on implementing the Sejdic-Finci ruling. He reiterated that the stand of the Serb side is for one member of the B&H Presidency to be elected directly from the RS and for politicians from the Federation to agree on the model of electing two members of the B&H Presidency. “We came to see whether this model has been finalized and when it will be finalized and whether it will be finalized at all,” Dodik said after the meeting with the EU Special Representative in B&H Peter Sorensen.
US call for name issue solving (Utrinski Vesnik)
The international community once again warned Skopje and Athens that it is tired from hearing excuses for the unsolved name dispute, Utrinski Vesnik writes. The message this time comes from U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry who met with Greek Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos. At the meeting, Kerry outlined that continuation of the dispute is a burden for both parties. According to Greek media the U.S. Secretary of State showed understanding of the Greek position in the dispute, but underlined that non-solving the issue creates further problems.
INTERNATIONAL PRESS
MEPs see progress after Serbia-Kosovo agreement (New Europe, 19 January 2014)
On 16 January, Members of the European parliament hailed the progress made by Serbia and Kosovo in 2013 on their path to the European Union, in particular their historic agreement reached in April.
MEPs called for more transparency in communicating its outcome and for civil societies and parliaments to be involved in its implementation.
MEPs also welcomed the European Council decision to launch accession talks with Serbia and the start of negotiations with Kosovo on the stabilisation and association agreement, the European Parliament said in a press release.
“Serbia has turned from a regional maverick into an integration leader. By signing the April agreement it opened the way to the full normalization of relations with Kosovo. Belgrade has been proactively fighting corruption. I look forward to the first EU-Serbia Intergovernmental conference, which will mark the opening of accession talks,” Slovenian MEP Jelko Kacin, the rapporteur for Serbia.
MEPs say the intergovernmental conference on 21 January, which will formally launch the accession negotiations, is a historic step and demonstrates the EU’s commitment to Serbia’s accession. Serbia should keep up with the reforms which are the key indicator of a successful integration process and meet Serbian citizens’ expectations for a smooth accession, MEPs stress. They also appreciate Serbia’s constructive approach to relations with its neighbours. The resolution was passed by 528 votes to 43, with 51 abstentions.
“The huge majority in favour of my report sends a strong signal that the future of independent Kosovo lies in its integration into the EU. My report urges the remaining five EU countries to recognize Kosovo without delay. The positive impact of the EU on Kosovo is repeatedly weakened by this disagreement within the EU,” said Austrian MEP Ulrike Lunacek, the rapporteur for Kosovo.
The first ever country-wide local elections, held in November and December last year, were a huge step forward for democracy in Kosovo, MEPs say. They also stress that the April agreement between Serbia and Kosovo reinforces the responsibility of both parties to bring forward the reforms needed on the path of EU integration. Any transfer of responsibilities from EULEX, the EU’s rule of law mission in Kosovo, must be gradual and based on real progress and should involve Kosovar civil society, MEPs add. The resolution was passed by 485 votes to 94, with 40 abstentions.
Bosniak NGOs ask Croatian president to take action against his adviser (Dalje, 18 January 2014)
A dozen Bosniak organisations operating in Bosnia and Herzegovina and abroad have called on Croatian President Ivo Josipovic to state his position on the actions by his adviser, Dejan Jovic, who they claim denies that genocide was committed against Bosniaks during the 1992-1995 war in Bosnia and Herzegovina and downplays the responsibility of the Serbian policy of territorial expansion for the war in the former Yugoslavia.
In a letter to Josipovic, which was carried by Bosnian media on Saturday, 12 Bosnian organizations attacked Jovic over his review of David Gibbs’ book entitled “First Do No Harm: Humanitarian Intervention and the Destruction of Yugoslavia”, first published in 2009.
The authors of the letter said that in his book Gibbs openly denies that genocide was committed against Bosniaks in the Srebrenica area of eastern Bosnia in 1995, quoting him as saying that the Bosnian authorities shelled their own citizens in besieged Sarajevo.
Portraying Gibbs as “a neo-communist proponent of conspiracy theories who regards Slobodan Milosevic as a champion against NATO expansion and not as a butcher of the Balkans responsible for the deaths of thousands and persecution of millions of people in the former Yugoslavia,” the signatories of the letter said Croatian presidential adviser Jovic wrote a “totally uncritical review” of the book, praising it for challenging the conventional interpretations of the war.
“Dejan Jovic is not quite sure either about who was defending themselves in the Homeland War in Croatia and who the attackers were, as can be seen in his book ‘Yugoslavia – A State That Withered Away’,” the letter said, adding that the fact that such a person “sits in the Office of the Croatian President directly affects the international reputation of Croatia.”
The signatory organisations said that they would notify “all their friends in the world” of this and asked the President of Croatia to state his position on Jovic’s views and to “take appropriate steps”.
Bosnia Census Problems Raised at IWPR Event (IWPR, by Velma Saric, 18 January 2014)
Experts say the process was manipulated to suit political ends and stir ethnic tensions
The final results of Bosnia’s 2013 census will be devalued by the overt politicisation of the process as well as numerous irregularities in way it was conducted, according to participants in an IWPR roundtable in Sarajevo last month.
The December 20 roundtable was held shortly after IWPR published a special report called Bosnian Census Risks Deepening Ethnic Rifts [2] on the first census to be held in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) since 1991.
The census took place in BiH’s two entities, the Federation and Republika Srpska (RS). The population of the Federation is mainly but not exclusively Bosniak and Croat, while RS is predominantly Serb, but again not wholly so.
As well as detailing where individuals lived, the census form also invited them to say which ethnic group they identified with and quizzed them on the closely-related questions of mother tongue and religion.
Data from the census will start being released in July this year.
The panelists in IWRR’s round-table discussion pointed to the emphasis placed on ethnicity and religion in the census, instead of people’s economic welbeing and educational level
Azra Hadziahmetovic, a University of Sarajevo economics professor and a member of the House of Representatives, the lower house of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH, said it was only to be expected “that the census would become a political issue, given all that had happened in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the recent past”.
She noted that while all current and potential members of the European Union have to use the same basic standards and methodology when holding a census, “Bosnia’s politicians made a mistake by adding questions about ethnicity, which were not obligatory at all”.
“I think that adding an ethnic component to the census was regrettable,” she continued. “In my view, it would have been much more important to use the census as an opportunity to get a social picture of our entire population, or to better understand the numerous migrations that took place in this country over the last two decades.”
Hadziahmetovic said that, ahead of the census, civil society groups focused on “advancing or opposing the ethnic component of the census, instead of calling for a more comprehensive demographic approach”.
Vehid Sehic, who heads the Forum of Citizens in Tuzla, said it had been clear from the outset that the census was being used as a tool to deepen ethnic divides.
“Take the example of one Bosniak civil society activist who said that the census shows that 53 per cent of the population are Bosniaks, and that this fact will change the situation on the ground significantly,” he continued. “What did he mean by that? That Bosnia will become a Bosniak state? That the others will be stripped off of their constitutional rights? This is a very dangerous statement and it is anti-constitutional.”
Sehic pointed out that he did not consider himself to be a member of any of the “holy trinity” of ethnicities – Bosniak, Croat and Serb. That, he said, “is a very awkward position to be in”.
“As someone who refuses to declare his ethnicity, I don’t have equal rights with those who do,” he said. “And I will not have these rights as long as the constitution prevents me from having them, from having full rights as an individual, as a citizen of this country.”
The constitution explicitly restricts membership of the three-person presidency and the 15-seat House of Peoples, a senate-style upper chamber, to these three ethnic groups. In 2009, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that these exclusive provisions were discriminatory, although politicians have yet to agree on a way to act on that decision.
Dalio Sijah, an activist with Popis Monitor, a body set up by local NGOs to observe the census, went on to note numerous problems reported during the census. Some of these were technical, but most were related to various attempts to manipulate the numbers of different ethnic groups.
Popis Monitor received over 1,000 calls during the census, as well as 250 reports of irregularities submitted via its website. Over 100 of these alleged that census-takers prompted respondents on how to identify themselves.
Panelist Darko Brkan, from the Zasto ne? (Why Not?) association, said that Bosnian institutions were slow to react to cases of blatant violation of the census law – if they reacted at all.
“Papers containing census data collected from individuals were left unsecured and unattended for as much as 20 days,” he said. “And then, despite this, Eurostat [the statistical office of the European Union] representatives came to Bosnia and said that a great job had been done here.”
Another cause for concern was the fact that the process was decentralised, he added.
“It was the municipalities that chose and trained the census-takers, and of course this opened up great scope for manipulation,” Brkan explained.
The panel concluded that the combination of these factors meant that the end product would be of little practical benefit to Bosnian society.
Hadziahmetovic warned that because of the many irregularities and controversies surrounding the whole process, “the results of this census will be almost unusable, and will be of no relevance for shaping economic or social policy in this country.
“The only thing we can do is learn from the mistakes that we have made this time, and maybe do a better job next time we hold a census.”
Critical Macedonian Weekly Faces ‘Draconian’ Fine (BIRN, by Sinisa Jakov Marusic, 20 January 2014)
Macedonia’s oldest political weekly, Fokus, said it was again under threat of closure after a court ordered it to pay a fine for libelling Macedonia’s secret police chief.
Fokus, a critical weekly that already shut down for few months last year after the tragic death of its founder and owner, journalist Nikola Mladenov, said it suspected that the aim of the authorities was to force its permanent closure through a “draconian” punishment.
“With these court criteria… we might as well close Fokus. Or perhaps that is exactly their goal,” said editor-in-chief Jadranka Kostova.
Last week, judge Jovanka Spirovska-Paneva from Skopje Court 2, ordered Fokus to pay a total of around 9,000 euro for libelling the head of the country’s Security and Counterintelligence Directorate, UBK, Saso Mijalkov.
But Kostova said that the last remaining weekly that is critical of the government of Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski was already on the brink of financial ruin, mainly because of a series of law suits against it.
The weekly was fined for publishing a statement in which the former Macedonian ambassador to Prague, Igor Ilievski, accused Mijalkov last year of masterminding his ousting from the post in order to protect his shady businesses in the Czech Republic.
Ilievski, whose whereabouts since last year are unknown, told Fokus via the internet that “the main reason why I ran away from the Czech Republic was the coordinated activity of the chief of the Macedonian secret police, Saso Mijalkov, with his ‘friends’ who are very well organised in the Czech Republic”.
The weekly insisted that a statement from a relevant source was no basis for a libel conviction and that Mijalkov, who did not appear in court, could at least have presented a medical report on the supposed emotional pain that the article caused him.
Kostova along with a colleague were ordered to pay some 6,000 euro in damages and an additional 3,000 euro for the plaintiff’s court expenses.
The Journalists’ Association of Macedonia, ZNM, and the Independent Journalists’ Trade Union, SSNM, have condemned the sentence, calling it “draconian” and disproportionate in terms of journalists’ wages in Macedonia, where reporters get monthly salaries of just a few hundred euro.
SSNM said in a press release that the swift and harsh verdict was a form of “repression” and an “illustration of the tendency to suffocate freedom of expression in Macedonia”.
ZNM said that the verdict “frightens and discourages journalists from informing about and investigating the responsibility of state officials, which is one of the main journalistic principles across the world”.
Both organisations said they hoped that an appeals court would annul the ruling.
Last year, the three-month-long closure of the newspaper added to concerns about media freedom in Macedonia, following the closure of most media outlets that were critical of the Gruevski government.
The government however insists it is not cracking down on critical media outlets.
The Fokus weekly, and the daily with the same name, closed temporarily following the death of its owner and publisher, Mladenov, in a car crash in March 2012 which some still suspect it may have not been accidental.
Fokus shut for financial reasons, under pressure from several connected libel cases whose plaintiffs together demanded up to 100,000 euro from the weekly and the daily.
But the weekly re-launched in July under the leadership of Mladenov’s long-term associate, Jadranka Kostova, and retained its critical course.
While some plaintiffs withdrew their lawsuits after Mladenov’s death, others, like Mijalkov, did not, making the future of the newspaper uncertain.
