LOCAL PRESS
Nikolic: I will slate elections in accordance with the Constitution (Tanjug)
Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic has stated that Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic and First Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic have presented him with a proposal for the dissolution of the parliament, adding that he will call early parliamentary elections in accordance with the Constitution. Nikolic told reporters that he will inform the public about the issue and the date of the elections most probably on Wednesday, stressing that the government has done a lot and accomplished many goals, among which one of the most important ones is the beginning of the EU accession negotiations. After a meeting with Dacic and Vucic in the Presidency, Nikolic said that the government has undergone one reshuffle and it has rightly decided to test its legitimacy. “The individuals, who get elected in the parliamentary elections on a solid basis established by the serving government, will continue to build a European Serbia, a European house safe from crime, which will build up its economy and implement reforms,” Nikolic said, stressing that major tasks are ahead of the new government.
Government proposed dissolution of parliament (RTS)
The Serbian Government sent President Tomislav Nikolic a proposal to dissolve the parliament and call an early election, Tanjug was told at the president’s office. Based on the proposal, Nikolic should call an early parliamentary election no later than 29 January, so the vote could be held on 16 March. Under the law, the government’s term of office comes to an end in the event of the dissolution of the parliament, vote of no confidence, the resignation of the government, and vote of no confidence in the prime minister and his resignation. The government whose term in office ended can carry out only routine tasks, but cannot adopt bills, unless their adoption is linked to a time-frame stipulated by the law or if so required by the needs of the state, interests of defense, or a natural, economic or technical accident.
Selakovic: Belgrade to request data on detention of Oliver Ivanovic (B92)
Serbian Justice Minister Nikola Selakovic has stated that official Belgrade will request all data in regard to the detention of the leader of the SDP Civic Initiative Oliver Ivanovic and charges in the investigation on war crimes. Selakovic told B92 that the special prosecution in Kosovo and Metohija is under the jurisdiction of EULEX that cooperates with Belgrade, and that he will request from them all the data they can give. Belgrade will be interested to the end in hearing the reasons for detaining Ivanovic and what evidence charges him, said Selakovic. He added that he is surprised with the media reports on the occasion of Ivanovic’s arrest since Ivanovic had stated that former UNMIK’s prosecution rejected all charges on the same qualifications.
Vulin: Government requests Ivanovic to be released (Tanjug)
“The Serbian Government requests that the leader of the SDP Civic Initiative Oliver Ivanovic is urgently released in order to defend himself,” Serbian Minister without Portfolio in charge of Kosovo and Metohija Aleksandar Vulin said. He assesses that Ivanovic’s arrest is an attempt at destabilizing northern Kosovo and Metohija and points out that the Serbian Government requests the publication of the indictment against Ivanovic as soon as possible. Ivanovic’s arrest is causing high instability and is launching doubts about everything happening in Kosovo and Metohija and the true intentions of those speaking of the normalization of relations and shedding light on war crimes, said Vulin, adding that the following principle was being applied in Kosovo: if a Kosovo Albanian is arrested for war crimes, that automatically means that a Serb should be arrested, too. The government will not allow Ivanovic’s arrest to be used as a pretext for dark plans, such as the introduction of a provisional administration in northern Kosovska Mitovica, said Vulin.
Office for Kosovo condemns desecration of the church in Laplje Selo (Tanjug)
The Office for Kosovo and Metohija has condemned the desecration of the Serbian Orthodox Church of Sveta Petka in Laplje Selo, near Pristina. The church was desecrated and plundered on the eve of the Christian festival of St. Sava. The Office demands international community representatives to protect Serbian churches and monasteries in Kosovo and Metohija and to immediately find and punish the perpetrators. It is difficult to trust the Kosovo local police, which have done absolutely nothing in any of the cases of the desecration of Serbian sanctities in Kosovo and Metohija except establishing the existing state, the Office’s announcement reads.
REGIONAL PRESS
Zukorlic: I’m thinking of running for RS presidency (FTV)
The Mufti of Sandzak Muamer Zukorlic said during an interview on FTV, that it was proposed to him to run for the Republika Srpska (RS) president and that he is considering it presently. Zukorlic yesterday evening was a guest together with Serbian Mufti Muhamed Jusufspahic. Jusufspahic said he accepts the reconciliation initiative, but wonders whether it is possible that the Islamic Community of Serbia would be part of the community in B&H. “What is Bosnia and Herzegovina? A new Yugoslavia? Let us make a better framework for all of us and it would be accepted.” Jusufspahic stressed the importance of the fact that in Serbia live not only Bosniak Muslims, but that the country in this sense is the mother of local Muslims. Zukorlic, in response to a question about accepting the hand of reconciliation, said there is no problem with the hand and with acceptance, certainly not personally, but here this is about the destruction of a community.” He said that in this case personal relations are not in question. “I have no problem with anyone, regardless of what they think of me. I am the source of problems for all those who want to treat Muslims discriminatorily,” said Zukorlic. Speaking of mediation by the Turkish Religious Affairs Administration in the aim of resolving the divisions among Muslims in all of Serbia, the two religious leaders stressed how any assistance is welcome, but everyone needs to help us in our way, not in their way. Zukorlic added that no one can determine who will be the mufti of Sandzak or who will be president of the Mesihat of the Islamic Community. “I give a chance, I call. I withdrew from the leadership of the Islamic Community. What more can I do?” said Zukorlic. “I invite all Muslims of Serbia to be free people, to create the Islamic Community in the spirit of faith, without serving other interests,” said Zukorlic.
Macedonia to join NATO when name dispute is settled (Dnevnik)
Macedonia will be invited to join NATO when the Macedonia name dispute is has with Greece is settled in a mutually acceptable way. This is what a report of Secretary General of NATO Anders Fogh Rasmussen says, Dnevnik writes.
INTERNATIONAL PRESS
Serbia’s Government Formally Urges Early Vote (AP, 28 January 2014)
Serbia’s government has formally asked the president to dissolve Parliament and schedule early elections, saying the vote would secure popular support for quicker reform in the troubled Balkan country.
Tuesday’s move means the vote is likely to be held on March 16, when local elections are also due in the capital Belgrade.
The snap vote is expected to cement the populist Serbian Progressive Party’s grip on power. The party is the most popular in the country, but its leader Aleksandar Vucic currently holds the post of deputy prime minister in the coalition government.
Vucic has said he wants to speed up painful reform so Serbia can advance in the EU membership bid.
Serbia to hold early elections to boost ‘legitimacy for reform’ (EurActiv, 28 January 2014)
Serbia will hold early parliamentary elections on 16 March, to coincide with local elections in Belgrade. The EU accession talks, which Serbia started last week, are expected to feature high in the campaign, EurActiv Serbia reports.
Early elections were confirmed last weekend after the ruling Serbian Progressive Party backed the idea.
The Progressive Party, whose leader Aleksandar Vučić is also first deputy prime minister in the current government, opted for early elections only days after Serbia started membership talks with the EU, on 21 January.
Serbia’s strongest party cited the need for legitimacy in carrying out necessary reforms as the main reason for holding the vote.
“Serbia can do better, more and quicker and changes cannot wait,” Vučić told fellow party members on 26 January. “We do not have a second to lose because people live in difficulties, young people do not have jobs,” he said.
Vučić said the leader of Serbia’s Socialist Party, Ivica Dačić, was not a bad prime minister, but that there were certain limitations and an atmosphere in Serb society that prevented carrying out of reforms more quickly.
Directly before the decision was announced to schedule early elections, the minister for Commerce, Saša Radulović, resigned because of the government’s decision to withdraw draft laws on privatisation and labour reform.
Radulović, an independent economist, had conditioned his government participation to the quick adoption of these laws, saying reforms cannot wait. The draft labour act, which envisaged cuts in social benefits and more flexible rules to hire and fire, especially in the public sector, was fiercely criticised by trade unions.
The new election agenda primarily serves the interest of the ruling Progressive Party, whose popularity is growing. The Socialist Party of Serbia, the smaller partner in the current coalition stands to lose the most from the elections and was against holding an early vote, claiming it could slow down reforms.
Prime Minister Dačić stated on Sunday (26 January) that he nevertheless backed the decision to hold an early vote. “I never thought of obstructing this decision,” Dačić said. “We should do our maximum for the early elections not to jeopardize the reforms in Serbia, the negotiations with the EU and the dialogue with Kosovo,” he added.
Vučić to take over as Prime Minister
While the Socialists face an uncertain outcome, the elections will give the Progressive Party an opportunity to strengthen its political domination.
Over the past weeks and months, officials repeatedly stated in public that the Progressive Party should hold the prime minister’s office. Vučić has a unique opportunity to win the majority that would enable him to form a government with the support of only a few junior partners.
The Serbian Progressive Party, which has taken steps towards solving cases of crime and corruption and whose rating is just over 40%, has taken power at the local level in all major cities, including the transitional administration in Belgrade. The party has control over most of the media and the opposition is disorganised and currently harmless to Vučić and his partners.
However, Vučić pointed out that the decision on the elections was not made in order for the Progressive Party to win absolute power, and stressed that he could have become prime minister without the election, since Prime Minister Dačić offered him the position.
The decision to hold early elections represents a huge risk, Vučić warned, predicting a difficult campaign that will provide an opportunity for the opposition to unite against the Progressive Party.
The biggest opposition party, the Democratic Party, which is in deep crisis, believes the decision to hold early elections reflects the government’s inability to reform, and said it was ready for the campaign.
EU as the topic in the campaign
Serbia’s EU membership talks will certainly feature high among the topics in the election campaign.
The European integration process has huge importance in the public opnion, especially for pro-European voters.
Ruling parties will be able to claim that EU talks started during their mandate, and that many reforms were carried out to enable the start of negotiations.
Moreover, the economy is still on its feet: although the crisis is serious, the state is still able to pay pensions and salaries to the army and of employees in the public sector. As long as this can lasts, no major social unrest is expected.
The conservative Democratic Party of Serbia is against the EU integration process. Its leader Vojislav Koštunica said he expected the early elections to determine whether Serbia will remain a free country, or “a puppet state of the European Union”.
Parliamentary elections have been held five times since the fall of the regime of Slobodan Milošević. Early elections were held in 2000, 2003 and 2008, and regular votes were held in 2007 and 2012.
Serbian ruling party agreed to seek an early parliamentary election (World Bulletin, 26 January 2014)
The leadership of Serbia’s dominant Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) agreed on Sunday to seek an early parliamentary election, aiming to capitalise on a surge in popularity to cement its grip on power and push through economic reforms.
After a meeting in Belgrade, SNS leader and Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic told reporters the party’s presidency had endorsed his proposal.
“Our bid is based on the fact that Serbia could do faster, more and better and that changes cannot wait,” he said.
The SNS, the largest party in the ruling coalition, wants an even stronger mandate to help speed up reforms it says are essential to Serbia’s recovery from a decade of war and isolation in the 1990s.
Tension within the coalition over the pace and depth of reform saw Economy Minister Sasa Radulovic, a non-party member of the cabinet, resign on Saturday due to resistance from unions and some in government to measures aimed at liberalising the labour market and cutting loose dozens of loss-making state firms.
The Balkan country must also speed up reforms to make a precautionary loan deal with the International Monetary Fund in talks set to begin on Feb. 26.
The SNS is riding high in opinion polls, mainly due to Vucic’s popularity and an anti-graft campaign he has been waging. An SNS election victory would almost certainly see him as prime minister and could force the Socialists of Prime Minister Ivica Dacic into opposition.
The state-run RTS TV reported that Dacic is expected to convene his cabinet on Monday and propose to the president he dismiss government and schedule elections for March 16, to coincide with the municipal vote in the capital Belgrade.
On Saturday, Dacic said the election should not be an obstacle for Serbia’s bid to join the European Union. “Serbia’s strategy is based on reforms, better living standards for its people and EU membership,” he said in a statement.
The EU opened accession talks with Serbia on Jan. 21, a process that should help drive change in the largest country to emerge from the former federal Yugoslavia. Serbia is unlikely to join before 2020.
Nikolic Envoy Urges Serbs in Montenegro to Unite (BIRN, by Dusica Tomovic, 28 January 2014)
Envoy of Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic on Monday called on the Serbian community in Montenegro to work together to ‘restore Serbia’s name’, tarnished by the wars of the 1990s.
Conveying the greetings of the President of Serbia on the Serbian Orthodox holiday of St Sava, Stanislav Pak-Stankovic said that Serbia would never forget the Serbs in Montenegro.
“Serbia is your mother and together we will restore the reputation of Serbia’s name,” Pak-Stankovic said, recalling the complex history of the Serbs in the country.
Pak-Stankovic noted that while the majority of the population of Montenegro once identified as Serbs, a majority now believes they are members of the Montenegrin nation while still speaking the Serbian language.
According to the 2011 census, Serbs make up 29 per cent of the population of Montenegro, which makes them easily the largest minority in the country.
“Unfortunately, events during the Nineties have led to the Serbian people being anathematised around the world, not only in Montenegro,” Pak-Stankovi said, recalling the bloody wars of the ex-Yugoslavia.
Outstanding issues for the Serbian community include resolution of the its constitutional status in Montenegro, use of the Serbian language in schools, and the rights of the Serbian Orthodox Church.
Another issue is joint nationality. Since Montenegro declared independence from the former State Union with Serbia in 2006, it has not allowed people to hold both Serbian and Montenegrin passports.
Hagel, Serbia’s Defense Minister Discuss Enhanced Defense Cooperation (American Forces Press Service, 27 January 2014)
WASHINGTON – Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel met at the Pentagon today with Serbia’s Minister of Defense Nebojsa Rodic for discussions that included opportunities for broadening defense cooperation.
“Secretary Hagel was pleased to join Minister Rodic in signing a General Security of Military Information Agreement, which will ensure protection of military information and enable further military-to-military cooperation,” Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby said in a statement issued after the meeting.
Kirby said Hagel “welcomed Serbia’s contribution to peacekeeping efforts and its leadership on the Balkans Medical Task Force,” and added that “Serbia’s decision to host bilateral and multinational exercises further demonstrates our growing defense relationship.”
In addition, Kirby said “the leaders discussed regional security concerns in the Balkans, and ways to build upon the positive momentum of the Serbia-Kosovo dialogue.”
Kirby said Hagel praised the progress Serbia and Kosovo have made in normalizing relations, and highlighted the positive influence Minister Rodic has had in securing regional cooperation.
Ratko Mladic condemns war crimes tribunal as satanic (Telegraph, by Colin Freeman, 28 January 2014)
Ratko Mladic appears at Radovan Karadic trial as both accused of masterminding the slaughter in the Bosnian town of Srebrenica
Ratko Mladic, the former Bosnian Serb commander, lashed out at the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal as a “satanic court”, during an appearance at the trial of his former leader Radovan Karadic.
“I do not recognise this hate court. It is a satanic court,” Mladic told the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague, nevertheless then taking the oath to testify in the trial of his political alter-ego Radovan Karadzic.
The Hague war crimes tribunal is seeing the unusual spectacle of Radovan Karadzic, the Bosnian Serb leader, try to clear his name over the 1995 Srebrenica massacre by calling evidence from General Ratko Mladic, the so-called “Butcher of Bosnia“.
The pair are both accused of masterminding the slaughter in the Bosnian town, during which Bosnian Serb forces under Mladic’s command massacred some 7,000 Bosnian Muslims sheltering a United Nations safe haven. It was Europe’s worst single atrocity since World War II, and brought a crisis of credibility for the UN, whose Dutch peacekeepers had guaranteed the Muslims’ safety.
But Karadzic, 68, now claims to have had nothing to do with the massacre, and has called Mladic, 71, as a defence witness to testify that the two never discussed it in any way beforehand.
