LOCAL PRESS

Dikovic, Farina discuss Serbian Army-KFOR cooperation (Beta)

Serbian Army Chief of the General Staff Ljubisa Dikovic and KFOR Commander Salvatore Farina discussed in the “Jug” base near Bujanovac, southern Serbia, cooperation between the Serbian Army and KFOR, at the administrative line between Kosovo and Serbia proper, with a view to preventing any illegal activities. The two generals also discussed other cooperation issues in line with the Military-Technical Agreement of Kumanovo, the Serbian Army announced.

An arduous journey to returning seized in Kosovo and Metohija (Novosti)

The return of property usurped in Kosovo and Metohija is awaited by more than 40,000 citizens. This is the number of Serbian citizens who submitted to the Kosovo Property Agency requests for returning illegally occupied houses, apartments, business facilities and land. So far, only one such request has reached the Kosovo Constitutional Court that ruled in favor of Nadezda Jovanovic on whose property three houses were illegally built. Even though the Property Agency and the Supreme Court had previously passed a decision for the usurped land to be returned to her, this has never been carried out. “The Kosovo Property Agency claims that more than two-thirds of requests of the Serbs have been resolved, but the problem is that these decisions have not been realized. Even when court decisions exist, the usurpers simply don’t leave the occupied property,” explains Igor Popovic, the manager of the team for human rights and property relations in the Office for Kosovo and Metohija. “Most of these cases refer to property in regions south of the Ibar River, especially in urban areas where the largest number of houses and apartments has been usurped. Rastko Brajkovic, advisor at the Office for free legal assistance, says that the journey to returning seized property in Kosovo is an arduous and everlasting one. According to him, in order to realize their rights, the Serbs are forced to respect all procedures regulated by the laws of the so-called republic of Kosovo. “Requests were submitted to the Property Agency up to 2009, and now this is conducted only through courts, regardless of whether they are common pleas or whether the damaged side files criminal charges against the usurper. Once it passes all competent institutions, the case can reach the Kosovo Supreme Court, as was the case with Nadezda Jovanovic. Only then is it possible to address international organizations,” explains Brajkovic. He says that court decisions in Kosovo are different and depend on many factors, including the personality of the judge, but that it is very difficult for the Serbs to achieve their rights to seized property.

Rejected

There are 18,500 lawsuits that have been submitted to Kosovo courts for compensation of destroyed property against KFOR, UNMIK and Kosovo institutions. None of these cases has been resolved in favor of the prosecutor because the courts abided by the principle that lawsuits against international institutions (including Kosovo provisional organs) are unacceptable.

Zoran Stanisic fighting 15 years for his seized property (Novosti)

One of the pioneers of the private sector in Kosovo and Metohija, owner of the once most successful firm in Pristina Zoran Stanisic (60), economist and electrical engineer, has been trying to realize the right to his own property for 15 years. The owner of the once most successful multiethnic firm “Sigma komerc” and family owned, claims for Novosti that the most perfidious form of plundering of Serbian property is ongoing in Kosovo and Metohija. “In an attempt to protect my rights, but also the property in Kosovo and Metohija, I am represented by five European attorneys who say that my court cases are a striking example of the most vulgar institutional bullying that exists in the world. The horrible thing is that everything is occurring before the very eyes of the international community, since all this was “approved” by UNMIK up to 2007, and now EULEX is only observing the legalization and finalization of the ethnic cleansing of the Serbs,” says Stanisic. He claims that, even though aware of the injustice done to the Serbs, international community representatives silently tolerate the seizure of Serbian property in the province. “My firm “Sigma komerc” even today represents an example of the plundering of our century-long property, erasing of strong Christian families, but also the fact that illegally acquired capital of Albanian usurpers has been legalized through the Kosovo institutions. The most terrible thing is that all court cases against the usurper lead towards the ‘instrument’ of the statute of limitation,” says Zoran, who has been conducting for years court lawsuits against UNMIK, Kosovo, but also competent international institutions. While he recalls that he managed to return shortly in 2005 his house and firm where he entered with the help of UNMIK police, which was unthinkable after the March pogrom against the Serbs, Stanisic stressed that he was forced to leave his property two years later when his windows were broken and facilities broken into on several occasions. “Nearly all leading diplomats knew of my case, since I complained to everybody – heads of UNMIK, KFOR, other international organizations… Even though they were telling me I was right, nobody undertook anything in contributing to the return of usurped property, not only mine, but also of other expelled and robbed Serbs from Kosovo and Metohija,” concludes Stanisic, who sends his greatest appreciation to the head of the Russian Office in Pristina Sergey Bazukin, who was the only one interested in Zoran’s safety and that of his 80-year-old mother during the two-year stay in Pristina.

Mother’s abduction

Even though he also filed charges for the abduction of his mother Desanka, stating the names of the abductors, people who were employed in his firm, Stanisic says that the international prosecutor treated her fifteen-day abduction as illegal detention, and declared in 2006 the case to be under the statute of limitation.

Example

“My example is in fact a ‘recipe’ according to which ethnic cleansing was conducted in towns throughout Kosovo. Through influential and rich people a message was sent that there can be no returns,” opines Zoran, noting that his business facilities with entire equipment was occupied by Albanians close to Hashim Thaqi, i.e. that his former Albanian employees Urhan and Albert Fazliu were leading in the usurpation of his firm, and who founded a new firm “Ilir kanon Kosovo” after the expulsion of Serbs in June 1999.

Brazil devoted to diplomatic dialogue in regard to Kosovo (Tanjug)

Newly appointed Brazilian Ambassador to Serbia Sergio Luis Canaes said while presenting letters of credence to Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic Monday that Brazil believed solutions to the Kosovo and Metohija issue should be sought through dialogue and called for further strengthening of cooperation between Brazil and Serbia. Our position on Kosovo and Metohija is well known. We remain devoted to diplomatic dialogue in favor of finding a mutually acceptable solution, in accordance with guidelines laid down by the UN Security Council, said Canaes.
He said that Brazil and Serbia shared a history of excellent relations and Brazil considered Serbia a reliable and important partner in Europe. Ambassador Canaes recalled that Brazil was one of the few countries whose embassies in Belgrade had remained open during the bombing of 1999, a proof of solidarity with the Serbian people. President Nikolic thanked Brazil for its support for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Serbia and for stressing the need of reaching a fair, long-term solution to the Kosovo and Metohija issue. The Serbian President thanked the Brazil government for the solidarity they had shown in the aftermath of the recent flooding in Serbia.
Serbia is interested in intensifying the political dialogue with Brazil at all levels and in promoting all-round cooperation, especially in the economic sphere, Nikolic said.

REGIONAL PRESS

Dodik: We will fight to independence (Novosti)

“The only way for the Serbs in B&H to preserve their national identity is further strengthening of the autonomy of the Republika Srpska (RS) to its complete independence. This B&H that is maintained by force by the international community is impossible, non-functional and tragicomic state and an obstacle to a normal and better life of all its citizens. That is why the struggle for the RS’ independence is our most important task,” the RS President Milorad Dodik tells Novosti in comment to the chronic political and institutional crisis in B&H. “B&H has not fulfilled one single European condition in this year. Its administration spends annually more than billion Marks, while citizens have no benefit from it. Foreigners are managing the judiciary. Islamization of the country is unfolding. Bosniak politicians and foreigners persistently advocate the unitarization of the country and maintain the illusion of the state of B&H. Why should the Serbs stay in such a country?”

What is main cause for this state-of-affairs?

“Catastrophic moves by the international administration in B&H through imposition of decisions and laws of high representatives and the Bosniak wish for absolute domination. B&H is an unrecoverable and unsustainable country. It is an unsuccessful project of the international community. Foreigners imposed to B&H the Constitution, anthem and flag that is flying in the wind like a rag. It is logical that, after 20 years of non-functionality, we depart peacefully and form a confederation of three states that will be open towards the EU.”

But the RS doesn’t have international support for independence?

“We are aware of that, but we must not remain silent. The example of Kosovo says a great deal. It is possible that the world changes the stand on B&H as well. The RS would be far more developed than other regional countries if it could head towards the EU independently.”

Are you satisfied with cooperation with the new government in Belgrade?

“We have excellent cooperation with Prime Minister Vucic, President Nikolic and other Serbian officials. We are following the state policy of Serbia in regard to Kosovo. B&H has not recognized the self-declared independence of Kosovo, because the RS didn’t allow it.”

Macedonia: DPA not to be part of new govt (Utrinski Vesnik)

Democratic Party of Albanians (DPA) will not be part of the ruling coalition in Bulgaria despite the claims of its leader Menduh Thaqi made during the elections campaign, writes Utrinski Vesnik. The decision was made at a sitting of the DPA leadership during the weekend, after the meeting between Thaqi and VMRO-DPMNE leader and mandate-holder Nikola Gruevski.

“DPA is not ready to share the political responsibility of the this government due to the dilemmas around the seriousness of the approach towards the two major issues – the European integration and the rights of the Albanians in Macedonia,” DPA said.

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

Kosovo Parliamentary Candidate Elvis Pista Shot Dead (The Wall Street Journal, 16 June 2014)

Apparent Assassination Follows June 8 Elections

Kosovan police said a parliamentary candidate from Prime Minister Hashim Thaci’s ruling party was shot dead in an apparent assassination as he walked out of a restaurant.

Police said in a statement Sunday that Elvis Pista —a flamboyant politician recognizable for his spiked hair—was shot four times at close range shortly after midnight in the western town of Orahovac, his hometown.

Authorities believe a handgun equipped with a silencer was used.

The killing comes amid heightened tension between political rivals after June 8 parliamentary elections.

Mr. Thaci’s party won the most votes but lacks a coalition partner to form a government. Rival parties have vowed not to govern with Mr. Thaci, citing widespread corruption and mismanagement.

Final results weren’t in from Mr. Pista’s race. Preliminary results showed him leading.

EULEX head: ‘Keep supporting Kosovo’ (Deutsche Welle, 15 June 2014)

The European Union has extended its rule of law and justice mission in Kosovo to June 2016. EULEX chief Bernd Borchardt told DW what that means for the youngest state in Europe.

Deutsche Welle: What will change with the new EULEX mandate after June 14?

Bernd Borchardt: The focus of our executive mandate will change: The current cases that our prosecutors have opened will continue, but we will not open any new cases ourselves. It may, of course, happen that the Kosovars ask us to accept a case, and we can also speak to them, if we want to work on a case. But the qualitative difference is that the decision lies with the competent Kosovo authorities.

Secondly, important institutions in the law, in future, will all be led by Kosovars, no longer by EULEX staff; for example, the public prosecutor for serious crimes and the institute for forensic medicine. The third important change: In the past, EULEX judges were usually in the majority in Kosovo courts. That will change. While there have also been judges’ benches where we were in the minority, in future this will be the rule.

Who will lead the planned special tribunal in Kosovo, which is meant to shed light on alleged war crimes from the time of the Kosovo war – and what is the role of EULEX?

We organize the court, but all the judges will work completely independently – just like the Special Prosecutor’s Office, which investigated the allegations of the so-called Marty report for the court. Dick Marty of the European Parliament had prepared a report on abuses and atrocities from the time of the Kosovo war. (Among other things, Marty accuses some commanders of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) of being involved in the trade in the organs of Serb prisoners in the 2010 report – eds.)

The special court is supposed to work in accordance with Kosovar law to the extent this is applicable. You can not convict someone on the basis of laws that have been adopted after the fact. And this court will not only have a seat in Kosovo, but also outside the country; in particular, to make witness statements easier.

Do you have problems with witness protection?

Witness protection is a big issue here. The classic witness protection program in large countries works by giving witnesses a new identity, if necessary, and then moving them to another part of the country. In a small country like Kosovo that would mean they would be resettled somewhere else to go with a new identity – and there are, in our experience, very few people who are willing to do this. That means you have to protect witnesses differently, and when it comes to really brutal threats, this is difficult. The willingness of people to go abroad to begin a new life completely separated from their families is very low.

Do you have a plan on how to solve this problem in the case of witnesses who will be interviewed because of Dick Marty’s report?

The majority of the witnesses in this area should not come from Kosovo, but from other countries.

When are the first indictments in this special court for war crimes expected? Are there any indications?

To bring charges, you first need a court and this court must be established. To do this, legal proceedings are necessary here in Kosovo, and an agreement with the host state, which will partially host this court, is necessary. Therefore, it is very difficult to say when the court will be operational.

In your experience, are the institutions in Kosovo ready to tackle the big issues facing the country; for example, rampant corruption?

If EU members assumed that Kosovo could solve all the tasks itself, the EULEX mission would go home. But EU countries are firmly convinced that it makes sense to offer more support to Kosovo through their mission.

German diplomat Bernd Borchardt has led the EU rule of law mission EULEX in Kosovo – with more than 2,000 international and Kosovar staff – since February 2013. The mission has monitored, supported and advised the legal institutions of independent Kosovo since 2008, including the judiciary, police and customs authorities.

Russian FM to Visit Serbia on Monday (FNA, 15 June 2014)

TEHRAN – The Russian Foreign Ministry on Sunday announced that the country’s foreign minister would pay a working visit to Serbia June 17.

“During the visit, Sergei Lavrov will meet with President of Serbia Tomislav Nikolic and Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic and hold detailed talks with Minister of Foreign Affairs of Serbia Ivica Dacic,” the Department of Information and Press (DIP) of the Russian Foreign Ministry said, the Voice of Russia reported.

“The upcoming contacts will allow to carry out a complex synchronization of watches on the basic issues of the bilateral agenda, to assess the implementation of the already set tasks and to set new goals,” DIP said.

“Special attention will be paid to issues of expanding political cooperation in the spirit of the Declaration on Strategic Partnership between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Serbia signed according to the results of a summit in Sochi on May 24, 2013,” it added.

The Russian Ministry expects a “substantial exchange of views on topical international issues, including the pan-European issues and the situation in the Balkans”, according to the DIP.

It said the negotiations would continue on Tuesday, June 17.

Russian Diplomat Visits Serbia Amid Pipeline Uncertainty (BIRN, 16 June 2014)

Russian FM Sergei Lavrov is expected to discuss the current uncertainty over the South Stream gas pipeline project after neighbour Bulgaria suspended construction under EU pressure.

Lavrov on Monday began a two-day visit to Belgrade, where he will meet top officials and press Moscow’s case for the continuation of work on state company Gazprom’s South Stream pipeline, which will take gas from Russia through Serbia to western Europe.

“Such important issues as South Stream, Ukraine and Kosovo will undoubtedly be discussed,” the Russian ambassador to Belgrade, Aleksandr Chepurin, told Serbian daily Politika.

Chepurun said that the pipeline will employ thousands of highly-qualified people in Serbia and provide the country with significant transit and tax payments.

“In my opinion, it is natural that countries that are interested in this project also demonstrate their interest, because it corresponds with the interests of the peoples of Europe,” said the Russian ambassador.

Bulgaria last week ordered work on its section of the pipeline to be suspended amid EU concerns about a Gazprom monopoly, but Serbian officials said they hoped that construction would resume.

“We’re ready to continue the work. But a final decision on South Stream’s fate is being taken by the EU and Russia,” Serbian Minister of Energy Aleksandar Antic said on Monday in comments reported by Russian agency Itar-Tass.

“South Stream is a major infrastructural project in Europe that would benefit Serbia’s economy and energy stability,” Antic added.

Moscow has criticised Bulgaria’s move as an undeclared European sanction against Russia amid the current crisis in relations over Ukraine. But Brussels has argued that Bulgaria didn’t respect EU market rules on the awarding of public contracts to Gazprom.

During his visit to Belgrade, Lavrov will have meetings with Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic and President Tomislav Nikolic to discuss political and economic cooperation.

Trade between Serbia and Russia in 2013 reached $2 billion, 15 per cent more than in 2012, and is continuing to increase, according to the Russian customs agency.

Lavrov will also discuss the reconstruction of the Serbian railway system with the help of an $800 million loan from Russia.

Russian foreign ministry official Aleksandr Lukashevich meanwhile noted Moscow’s role in helping Serbia deal with the recent floods.

Russian rescue and humanitarian teams evacuated around 3,000 people from flooded areas and delivered more than 100 tonnes of aid, according to Itar-Tass.

Lukashevich also stressed Russia’s ‘special relationship’ with Serbia.

“Considering the close historical and spiritual ties between the two nations, Russia puts particular stress on the whole series of events marking the 100th anniversary of the start of World War I and the 70th anniversary of Belgrade’s liberation in World War II,” he said.

Sarajevo sends peace message on WWI centenary (Balkan Insight, 16 June 2014)

A hundred years on from the start of World War I, the city where it all began is putting on a range of events that send a message of peace after a ‘century of wars’.

A hundred years since a historic gunshot was fired in Sarajevo – “which started the 20th century in Europe” – Bosnia’s artists plan to send a symbolic message of peace to the world.

The message will be released from a bridge that stand metres from the spot where a young Serbian nationalist named Gavrilo Princip assassinated the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary.

The Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie, who was also killed, were on a visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina, which then formed part of the Habsburg Empire. Within weeks of the killings, Europe was at war.

Alongside a range of other cultural and scientific events dedicated to the centenary, the performance on the “Latin” or so-called “Princip” bridge will take place at around midnight on June 28.

The “Century of Peace After a Century of Wars”, the creators of the event said, points to the hope of an end to further conflicts in the region and beyond.

“Killings in the world have never stopped since a century of wars started in 1914,” the organizers of the Century of Peace said in their announcement.

“At least 187 million people died because of the wars in the 20th century. It is the obligation of Sarajevo to send a powerful vision of peace to the world on the symbolic date of June 28, 2014,” they added.

Haris Pasovic, the theatre director in charge of the programme, recalled that a century of war in Europe had started with the assassination in Sarajevo and had ended with the war in Bosnia from 1992 to 1995.

The artistic performance will focus on hopes of a better future, he explained. “From the Latin Bridge, where the bullet… was fired, we are sending a different kind of message this time,” Pasovic said.

The event will pay tribute to millions of victims of the devastating wars that occurred in the 20th century and tell a story of how terrible wars are and how much the world needs peace.

The musical and stage performance will not delve into modern politics, nor will it refer to the concrete events of 1914, however.

“I believe the message of love from Sarajevo can be a significant statement of citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina, but also of the region,” Pasovic declared.

Many events, one message:

Some events related to the marking of the centenary of the outbreak of war have already started in Sarajevo.

One was the Peace Event Sarajevo 2014, an international gathering of thousands of peace activists and young people from many countries.

Workshops, seminars and round tables have also been organized on different topics related to peace and reconciliation and on dealing with the past.

The statement of the participants of a peace conference in Sarajevo held in early June was that more energy needed to be invested in combating the threat of war, with a wish for conflicts to be solved out in a more peaceful way in future.

The City of Sarajevo has announced other exhibitions and events to mark the centenary, such as the Making Peace Exhibition.

This aims to teach the public about the key elements that are needed to create a “sustainable peace”.

The French ambassador to Bosnia, Roland Gilles, recently announced other events dedicated to the beginning of the World War I, which will be implemented by the Sarajevo, Heart of Europe Foundation

“For almost three years, the Foundation, formed by France and the City of Sarajevo – which many European countries have joined – has prepared cultural events carrying the message of reconciliation and peace for this symbolic year of the centenary of World War I,” he said.

Sarajevo, Heart of Europe is organizing a cultural programme that will include cultural, educational, artistic and sporting events in the capital, which will be supported by European institutions.

One event planned for June 22 is the international cycling race, sponsored by Tour de France, which will muster cyclists from more than 20 countries. The route forms a circle of some 140 kilometres around the city and its outskirts.

An interdisciplinary conference on events, narratives and memories of 1914, entitled Long Shots of Sarajevo, from June 23 to 29, is to deal with the events of a hundred years ago.

A theatre play by the French philosopher and writer Bernard-Henri Levy, named Hotel Europe, is set to premiere on June 27 in the Sarajevo National Theatre.

The central cultural event, however, will be the concert of the Vienna Philharmonic in the City Hall.

This historic and iconic building finally re-opened in May after two decades of restoration following the fire that destroyed it during the war in 1992.

Can Bosnia send a ‘peace’ message?

While no one questions the sincerity of those organizing the commemorations in Sarajevo, some question whether it is appropriate for Bosnia as a whole to send messages of peace to the world, given its bitterly divided politics.

While war has not returned since 1995, the Balkan country remains hostage to the quarrels of its embittered and entrenched Bosniak, Serbian and Croatian politicians.

International Law professor Zarije Seizovic told Balkan Insight that while Sarajevo as a city could send a message of peace and tolerance, the same could not be said for the country.

“Sarajevo cannot send that message [of peace] as a representative of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” he said. “Bosnia and Herzegovina as a whole… simply does not have the mandate to send a message of peace,” he added.

Bosnia’s great problem, he argued, was that little had moved on politically since the Dayton Peace Accords were signed, ending the 1992-5 war.

In the light of that, cultural events pointing to a message of peace in general appeared cosmetic and superficial.

“Changes for the better can only happen if elections bring a completely new political elite at all levels of government – people who don’t carry the burdens of the old regimes,” Seizovic noted.

“But Bosnia and Herzegovina as a ‘political community’ does not seem sufficiently mature to take up and carry on that process”, he concluded.

Albanian police hit with grenades during cannabis crackdown (The Guardian, 16 June 2014)

Police try to enter Lazarat village where authorities believe gangs produce about 900 metric tonnes of marijuana a year

Authorities say suspected gang members have fired rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and machine guns at hundreds of police officers who tried to enter a lawless village in southern Albania as part of a crackdown on marijuana production.

Police said nobody was hurt in the pre-dawn attack on Monday outside Lazarat, where authorities believe gangs produce about 900 metric tonnes of cannabis a year. The drug production is estimated to be worth about €4.5bn (£3.6bn) – roughly half the country’s GDP.

They said around 500 lightly armed police, including special forces officers, surrounded the village overnight after a smaller force was repelled over the weekend by small arms fire that injured one villager.

Police said they would continue the crackdown on drug producers and “liberate Lazarat from criminals”.

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Media summaries are produced for the internal use of the United Nations Office in Belgrade, UNMIK and UNHQ. The contents do not represent anything other than a selection of articles likely to be of interest to a United Nations readership.