KM: After three years, as of this morning, no barricades on the bridge (Beta)
Kosovska Mitrovica – Concrete barricades on the main Ibar Bridge separating the north from the southern part of Kosovska Mitrovica were removed early this morning with several heavy-equipped vehicles.
Citizens, who were woken up by the noise and were present during the removal of the barricades, say that the vehicles that removed barricades had license plates of Cuprija and Krusevac. In the proximity of the bridge, there were members of Italian KFOR, Kosovo Police Service (KPS) and the citizens. There is no official information about who agreed and when it was agreed to remove these barricades that the citizens of northern Kosovo set up in 2011 protesting the intention that this part of the province be integrated into the Kosovo system. During the operation, which lasted till the morning, there were no incidents. Several civilian vehicles have passed across the bridge from the south to the north part of the city. Yesterday’s barricades’ removal was preceded by transportation of prefabricated containers, which were placed near the bridge on the north side. In Kosovska Mitrovica, there is another obstacle in the street that leads to the so-called eastern bridge over the Ibar River.

Russians and Germans in a race for National Electric Company? (FoNet, 18 June 2014)
It is no secret that the Russians are interested in buying the electric company EPS, in which case, the power company Inter Rao would become the owner of one of the most successful Serbian companies
BELGRADE – It is no secret that the Russians are interested in buying the Electric Power Industry of Serbia (EPS) and in the event that such an agreement is achieved, one of the most successful Serbian companies will be owned by Inter Rao power company, Danas writes, citing well-informed sources.
A source, a good connoisseur of opportunities available in the power sector, who wished to remain anonymous, said that a large Russian company Inter Rao and Germany’s RWE have the power to take on EPS, but there is no economic reason for it, and if it comes to acquisition, the reason will be entirely political.
The story that the Russian state giant Inter Rao is interested in the EPS is actual for years. Danas reminds us that an agreement on strategic cooperation between the company and EPS has been signed in 2008.
Foreign capital, when coming to Serbia, aims to buy what is the best and most attractive for sale. EPS is one of the largest, most successful and most valuable companies that Serbia has and that is why both the Russians and Germans want it. Therefore, both make politically moves to acquire that company, the same source said.
EPS is a “family jewel” of our country and it should not be sold, nor should it be allowed that any foreign company, whether German, or Russian, manage it, the source categorically emphasized the need for EPS to build strategic partnerships with foreign companies, but only through joint ventures of constructing new power generating plants.
However, Minister of Mining and Energy of Serbia, Aleksandar Antic, claimed he has no information that any Russian company is interested in buying the Electric Power Industry of Serbia.
As far as I know, it was not a topic of conversation with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Antic said.

REGIONAL PRESS

Albanian flag on Rumija Mountain! (Vecernje Novosti by V. Kadic, 17 June in 2014)
“Mountaineers” from Ulcinj desecrated Orthodox church in Rumija above Bar. Parish priest Jovan Plamenac: Mehmed Bardhi declared it his mountain a long time ago
PODGORICA – Albanians from Ulcinj desecrated  the Holy Trinity church on the Mountain Rumija above the city of Bar, by setting the flag of Albania on top of a local Orthodox church on Sunday! Although the weather was bad at the top, the fog and the rain did not bother the members of Ulcinj mountaineers from “Rumi” society to climb the mountain and desecrate the temple. This infamous campaign was a reminder of days bygone, when almost all Ulcinj was plastered with posters calling for “All on Rumija”!
Photos from Rumija are taken from the Facebook profile of Ilir Lesi, whose profile reads that he serves as Secretary of Ulcinj’s Institute for Scientific Research and Development, and is active in PD “Rumija”. “Picnic” on Rumija was organized through Osrosa, a village in the municipality of Bar, which is inhabited exclusively by Albanians, where “cultural-art” program for “tourists” was also held.
– This is not a problem of the church but the state of Montenegro, Parish priest of Bar, Jovan Plamenac told “Novosti”.

– It has been a while since they claim this part as Albanian, and now they demonstrate it in this manner. We learn that behind this is the Democratic Alliance, led by Mehmed Bardhi, and that hikers are only formal organizers of the “trip”. This Albanian politician claimed long time ago that Rumija is an Albanian mountain. If what happened is an attempt of conquering the territory of Montenegro, in accordance with Bardhi’s theory, and obviously it is, then Montenegro should really be asking itself if it is actually a State at all and to appropriately respond to this question.

Attacked before
Albanians have repeatedly boarded up and desecrated the church in Rumija. The last time was in early August 2012, when graffiti “Ethnic Albania “and” Albanian National Army” in Albanian language was written on it.
Father Jovan calls upon the authorities of Montenegro to the consistent application of the Law on the use of national symbols and the Law on Offences, as is applicable in other cases.

It looks like the call “All on Rumija” corresponds to that  battle cry after the Second World War: “All on Cross” – our source says. – If they really wanted to be on Rumija just like everyone else, they had the opportunity to join us a week ago, when a number of citizens of Bar and other parts of Montenegro climbed the sacred mountain, in accordance with centuries-old tradition, on the day of the Holy Trinity, on which the church is dedicated. However, it is obvious that the motives of staying on Rumija were quite different: to some (Bardhi’s followers), the aim is to win the territory of Montenegro, and to others, respect and affirmation of tradition and inter-confessional harmony.

Vojislav Stanimirovic: Serbs to decide on mayor (Vecernje Novosti, by Jurica Kerbler, 17 June 2014)
SDSS President speaks in favour of “Novosti” after the first round of elections in Vukovar; Stanimirovic: We are one hundred percent better off.
Who will become the mayor of Vukovar depends on local Croatian Serbs – SDSS President Vojislav Stanimirovic assesses for “Novosti” after the first round of elections in Vukovar, in neighbouring Croatia.
A decision on what we will recommend to our voters has not been made yet, but the question is, how long we will continue like this. Everything that is going on, particularly the ratio of power in the city council, indicates that people of Vukovar could once again vote in six months. Therefore we should, before we decide, make some major deals with Zeljko Sabo and SDP – Stanimirovic believes.

Joining of HDZ member Ivan Penava and independent candidate Zeljko Sheba in the second round of the elections for the mayor of Vukovar did not surprise anyone. Far greater mystery is a second round on June 29, when voices of the local Serbs will obviously adjudicate.

– We did not expect our candidate for the mayor, Dragan Crnogorac, to get into the second round, because that would have been unrealistic. First of all, we had a need to have a joint candidate of Serbian parties and to hope for the best for the city council. That has been achieved and compared to the previous local elections, we are better off by one hundred – Stanimirovic said.

BUSES
STANIMIROVIC said that despite announcements by the right bloc that buses loaded with Serbs from Serbia will come to vote in elections in Vukovar, no-one came. “The buses came from within Croatia, but with the majority Croats living outside of Vukovar. Buses coming from Serbia is an hollow story, “Stanimirovic concludes.
Serbs will have five seats in the city council, as well as the SDP, while HDZ won ten of the seats, and HDSSB, which remains to be led from Mostar prison by Branimir Glavas, one seat. At the last elections, SDSS candidates won 1,400 votes, and this time, three Serbian parties united in a coalition, won 2,800 votes. Stanimirovic regrets those votes that went to smaller parties with Serbian prefixes, because in this way, another seat has been lost, since 730 votes just went up to the air.

The first man of the SDSS is pleased that in this campaign issues that led to the division of the city on the Danube have not prevailed:
These elections truly occurred in a democratic atmosphere and there was no rhetoric that mobilized the rightwing of the electorate. Yet, it should be borne in mind that, the parties making up this wing gathered around them all center-right parties and the rightwing, and now, with such support, the HDSSB won one mandate – Stanimirovic emphasizes.

He says that Ivan Penava from the HDZ achieved the goal and won 6,500 votes, and his list received 600 votes less. Sabo won 1,500 votes less than Penava, and if the votes of all Serbs would go to him, the old mayor would once again remain at the helm.
– But, it would be a thick and heavy victory but also the uncertainty which brings agony for the city.

First of all, conditions and agreement on how the city can function in the future must be created, rather than constantly be threatened by early elections – Stanimirovic says.

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

Serbs in tense Kosovo town remove roadblock (Associated Press, 18 June 2014)

PRISTINA, Kosovo — NATO in Kosovo says minority Serbs have used trucks and bulldozers to dismantle a roadblock in the tense city of Mitrovica put up almost three years ago to stop ethnic Albanians authorities from extending authority over the Serb-run north.

The spokesman for the force, Col. Angelo Morcella said the Serbs decided on their own to remove the roadblock, a mound of earth reinforced with concrete barriers on the main bridge over the river Ibar.

He added that the act early Wednesday followed several meetings between the top NATO commander in Kosovo, Italian Maj. Gen. Salvatore Farina, and Kosovo Serb leaders.

Serbia rejects Kosovo’s 2008 secession but the European Union has conditioned Belgrade’s eventual membership in the bloc on settling its dispute with Kosovo’s ethnic Albanians.

Russia’s Lavrov voices support for Serbia’s efforts to join EU (Xinhua, 18 June 2014)

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has voiced his support to Serbia’s on-going EU integration efforts and announced all economic projects such as the South Stream gas pipeline will be continued as planned.

Sergey Lavrov wrapped up his two-day visit to Serbia on Tuesday where he has held separate meetings with Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic, Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic and Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic.

After meeting with Ivica Dacic, Lavrov said at a press conference that Russia respects Serbia’s position towards the EU membership as it “promotes an idea of mutual economic, humanitarian and cultural space,” instead of creating new divisions in Europe.

“We confirmed all our contracts and agreements concerning the South Stream, and agreed that it is necessary to finish this great project as it is the only way to supply South-East Europe with gas,” Lavrov said at the Palace Serbia in Belgrade.

Pipeline South Stream to be constructed by Russian state-owned company Gazprom will stretch from Russia across the Black Sea to Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary, Slovenia and Italy.

However, the project was suspended in Bulgaria in the beginning of June as this EU member country received complaints from US and the EU the construction of the pipeline would endanger European energy supplies.

“I believe that this suspension is only temporary, there is no change of plans,” Lavrov said at the press conference.

Serbia: Russian foreign minister discussed South Stream with Serbian govt (FOCUS News Agency, 18 June 2014)

Belgrade. South Stream gas pipeline project was a front-burner issue for discussion between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and the Serbian state officials in Belgrade, Radio Free Europe reported.

The suspicions over the launching of the construction works on the project raised after Bulgaria announced that it terminated the work on the project on its territory.

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said that Belgrade had not made an official decision on the project’s construction yet.

Russia and Serbia have confirmed their commitments to the construction of the South Stream natural gas pipeline and the necessity to implement the project, the Russian foreign minister said on Tuesday, ITAR-TASS reported.

“We have confirmed our agreements on the South Stream and the need to implement the project,” Lavrov said, following the talks with his Serbian counterpart Ivica Dacic. “It (the project) is the only systematically feasible solution for the provision of the southeast of Europe (with natural gas),” he added.

The foreign minister also discussed Serbia’s possible accession to the European Union. Russia respects Serbia’s talks on the terms of its accession to the EU, Lavrov said.

“We respect Serbia’s negotiations with the European Union over the possibility of the country’s accession to the EU,” Lavrov said. “This position of ours proceeds from the impermissibility of creating new division lines in Europe and advances the idea of a new economic space. Russia is for it,” Lavrov added.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov expressed certainty that the suspension of the work on the South Stream gas pipeline project was only temporary, since it was the only solution to the problem around the gas deliveries to Southeast Europe, RIA Novosti reported.

“I have no suspicions that the freezing is temporary. I will stress it for yet another time – South Stream is the only systematically feasible solution for the provision of the southeast of Europe (with natural gas),” the Russian minister said speaking at a press conference after the meeting with his Serbian counterpart Ivica Dacic in Belgrade.

Lavrov added that Moscow and Belgrade have confirmed all existing agreements under the South Stream project and the need of its realisation.

Serbia “sees no reason” to halt South Stream gas pipeline construction in Europe, according to Serbia’s Foreign Minister, RIA Novosti reported.

“If Nord Stream was built in Europe, I see no reason why South Stream cannot be built as well,” First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of the country Ivica Daèiæ said on Tuesday at a press conference after talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

As for another gas pipeline in Serbia, which would connect the Serbian city of Niš to the Bulgarian cities of Dimitrovgrad and Sofia, “it is a separate project, which has nothing to do with South Stream, and its construction has not yet begun,” according to the minister.

The Niš-Dimitrovgrad-Sofia pipeline is funded by the EU. Serbia and Bulgaria signed the agreement on the construction of the pipeline in 2012, and its price is estimated at 120 million euros (approximately $ 162.5 million). The pipeline is 180 kilometers long, with a capacity of 1.8 billion cubic meters.

Bosnia: 54 Suspected of Corruption in Tax Office (Associated Press, 18 June 2014)

Bosnian police detain 54 suspected of corruption in tax offices, including former director

Bosnian prosecutors say police have detained 54 people — including some 30 customs and taxation officers — on suspicion of corruption and organized crime.

Prosecution spokesman Boris Grubesic said Wednesday that the former director of the Indirect Taxation Authority is among the detained and that the suspects are also under investigation for customs and tax evasion, money laundering and abuse of office.

He said the suspects allegedly made millions and their assets are also being inspected for possible confiscation.

The head of the workers union of the Indirect Taxation Authority, Mehmedalija Osmic, told media the operation will allow the institution to function normally and that it is a victory of “justice and of honest people in Bosnia.”

Transparency International lists Bosnia among the most corrupt countries in Europe.

Macedonia Awaits Verdict in Ethnically-Charged Murder Trial (BIRN, by Sinisa Jakov Marusic, 18 June 2014)

A group of alleged Albanian extremists are on trial for the killing of five Macedonians near Skopje in a case that has raised ethnic tensions and sparked violent protests.

The criminal court in Skopje on Wednesday is expected to deliver its verdict in the high-profile murder case which has been dubbed ‘Monster’ by the police, amid fears that the outcome could lead to further unrest.

Agim Ismailovic, Fejzi Aziri, Rami Sejdi, Haki Aziri and Sami Ljuta are on trial for alleged terrorism. The two other suspects in the case, Alil Demiri and Afrim Ismailovic, are in prison in Kosovo, where they are serving jail terms for the illegal possession of weapons.

According to the charges, the two fugitives, Alil Demiri and Afrim Ismailovic, killed five Macedonians with automatic rifles near Skopje during Orthodox Easter in 2012, while the other five men provided logistical support.

The prosecution has demanded life sentences for the men.

Prosecutor Gordana Geskovska told the court at the beginning of this month that the murder was an act of terror carried out in order to provoke ethnic strife between the Macedonian majority and the large Albanian minority.

Neskoska said that message delivered by the killers was: “We shoot on Maundy Thursday so that you will have a bloody Easter. We shoot at young males in order to destroy your faith and nation and the future of the country.”

The defence has called for the group’s acquittal.

Defence lawyer Naser Raufi told the court in his closing arguments on Thursday that the seven accused had nothing to do with the murder. He dismissed prosecution claims that the defendants were terrorists and raised doubts about the forensic material presented by the prosecution.

“How can the prosecution tell who used which weapons? There is no ‘paraffin glove’ [a method that investigates traces of gunfire gases on the hands of the suspects], no weapons, no DNA. Was the prosecutor psychic? Nobody saw the murder,” Raufi said.

The defendants in their closing statements to the court also said they were innocent.

“I refute the accusations. I don’t feel guilty. When we were detained by the police we were beaten and molested… I swear to god that I have not committed such a criminal act,” said Agim Ismailovic.

“For me this is a completely staged case right from the start. I completely reject any guilt over the murder… The prosecution did not offer a single piece of evidence that we are a terrorist group and that we wanted to kill the young Macedonians,” said Fejzi Aziri.

The corpses of Filip Slavkovski, Aleksandar Nakjevski, Cvetanco Acevski and Kire Trickovski, all aged between 18 and 20, were discovered on April 12, 2012. Their bodies had been lined up and appeared to have been executed.

The body of 45-year-old Borce Stevkovski was found a short distance away from the others.

News of the murder raised ethnic tensions, after groups of ethnic Macedonians staged protests, some of which turned violent, blaming the killings on members of the country’s large Albanian minority community.

During a recent visit to Macedonia, the OSCE’s High Commissioner on National Minorities, Astrid Thors, said she was worried that the trial could spark further tension.

“We will recommend to political leaders to make a joint call for restraint and for calm in order to avoid any disturbances,” Thors said.

But in the days before the verdict, no senior political leader has made any appeal for calm.

In 2001, Macedonia went through a brief armed conflict between ethnic Albanian insurgents and the security forces. The conflict ended the same year with the signing of a peace deal that increased Albanian rights.

Albanians make up a quarter of the country’s 2.1 million population.

Heated NATO Debate Predicted in Montenegro Parliament (BIRN, by Dusica Tomovic, 18 June 2014)

Parliamentarians are too due to discuss all details of NATO’s future presence in the country this week, with government and opposition parties ranged against each other on what remains a divisive issue.

Montenegro’s parliament is to debate a law on the status of NATO forces in an emergency plenary session this week, starting June 18.

A highly sensitive issue among many Montenegrins – NATO bombed the country back in the Kosovo conflict of 1999 – the agenda will include the physical presence of NATO soldiers on the country’s soil, military exercises and the different benefits NATO soldiers will enjoy.

The document offered to parliament reads that NATO will have its own small headquarters in Montenegro and that the country will be able to host larger military exercises.

The biggest sticking point that the agreement relieves NATO troops of any criminal liability in Montenegro; they may be held liable for crimes committed in the country only in the courts of their own countries.

The ruling coalition, led by Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic, which proposed the document, is likely to have enough votes to push it through parliament.

However, opposition parties, claiming the support of more than half of the population on this issue, are determined to put up tough resistance.

The Djukanovic government claims 46 per cent of Montenegrins support NATO membership but opposition parties and NGOs believe the real figure is much lower, at around 35 per cent.

Despite consistent efforts on the part of the government, public support for NATO membership remains low, according to opinion polls.

An activist from the Movement for Military Neutrality, an anti-NATO campaign group, Marko Milacic, told BIRN that he expected a heated debate in parliament and strong resistance from opposition parties, because “it is the least that the Montenegrin public deserves.

“This is sad and shameful. Djukanovic’s team are pushing us into NATO against the will of most citizens,” Milacic said.

He described the new agreement with NATO as yet another addition to SOFA agreement signed by Montenegro in 2007, which regulates the status of US troops in a similar way.

SOFA is a military agreement between the United States and partner countries that guarantees special status to US forces, including exemption from prosecution in the states that sign the agreement.

Aleksandar Dedovic, a military analyst, says the course of the parliamentary debate would be an important test run for a possible final decision on NATO membership – and a challenge for MPs who have been delaying serious discussion of this hot topic for years.

“Apart from a few rare statements of individuals, there’s been a lack of any serious and open debate in the assembly since 2006,” Dedovic told BIRN.

Bad memories of 1999 remain fresh among many of the public.

“Never in a criminal organization called NATO”, “Djukanovic, do you remember the children killed in 1999?” and “The people said ‘NO’”, were only some of the hostile comments posted on the website of the Montenegrin daily newspaper Vijesti on the eve of the parliamentary session.

However, the government is determined to change people’s minds. Podgorica has been pushing to join the Western alliance almost since it became independent of Serbia in 2006. It received a NATO Membership Action Plan in 2009, which is regarded as a final step before joining the alliance.

Prime Minister Dukanovic continues to hope that a membership invitation will be on the table at the NATO summit in Wales, Britain, this September.

It is not yet clear what NATO leaders will offer Montenegro when they meet in Wales, however. It could be anything from a diplomatic demurral to a concrete offer to become the alliance’s 29th member.