LOCAL PRESS

Omerovic: Prohibition of visits points out that something very suspicious is going on in regard to Oliver Ivanovic’s detention (Politika)

The Chairman of the Serbian parliament’s Committee for Human and Minority Rights Meho Omerovic, who intended to visit today the leader of the SDP Civic Initiative Oliver Ivanovic in detention in Kosovska Mitrovica, received yesterday afternoon from the prison administration a prohibition to do so. Omerovic is shocked with the quotes from the explanation of the Basic Court in Kosovska Mitrovica, whereby the prison administration is informed not to permit his visit to Ivanovic. “I am shocked over several facts. First of all, I don’t understand how someone in Kosovska Mitrovica doesn’t know that I am not a member of the Serbian government. But much more important than that is why someone who performs the function of the Chairman of the parliament Committee for Human Rights cannot visit a Serbian citizen who has been in detention for six months now without an issued indictment,” Omerovic told Politika, stressing that at issue was a basic human incentive to visit Ivanovic and to, primarily, get acquainted with his health condition, but also to point to the necessity and urgency of either issuing an indictment against him or releasing him. The reasons for non-approving the visit are perhaps most obvious in the second item of the elaboration where the court in Kosovska Mitrovica is very concerned that the visit of Mr. Omerovic could leave an impression with witnesses that Ivanovic is still politically active, that he has wide support of various politicians and that he is above the law. It is totally amazing that the authorities in Pristina, this time through a court official, are trying to ignore the fact that Ivanovic is the leader of a political initiative that took part with his name in the elections, won certain mandates and that Ivanovic, if no other, can be proud of having excellent relations, even friendly, with various parties in Serbia, international officials and many members of Kosovo Albanian political parties. Omerovic stresses that especially concerning is the elaboration of the court in Kosovska Mitrovica whereby his visit is prohibited since he, Meho Omerovic, could intimidate witnesses. “Neither do I know who the witnesses are, nor do I have any clue what witnesses are treated in that case,” says Omerovic, wondering in astonishment how he can intimidate witnesses only because he wanted to visit a man who is sitting in prison six months with an issued indictment. Pointing out that all procedures that are in accordance with all agreements between Belgrade and Pristina had been respected, he assesses that this case speaks enough that “something very, very suspicious is going on in regard to Ivanovic’s detention”. “Six months in detention without issuing an indictment and giving such elaborations that are strange to say the least, will additionally deepen mistrust that otherwise does not exist in something that is called the judicial system of Kosovo and Metohija,” said Omerovic. It is interesting what kind of data was necessary for the MP to attach in order to receive the permit: license plate number, driver’s name, ID numbers, the time of crossing Jarinje, the time when Omerovic intends to enter the prison, the time he intends to depart the prison, in what restaurant will he meet Ivanovic’s family. The Serbian parliament stated that Omerovic received through the Office for Kosovo and Metohija the permit from EULEX to enter the territory of the province at the Jarinje crossing, but the prison administration in Kosovska Mitrovica didn’t approve the visit with the explanation that Omerovic is a public figure.

Why there is no mention of Kosovo in Vucic’s speech on the government’s first 100 days (Danas)

Why didn’t Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic mention with a single word the government activities in Kosovo and Metohija in his lengthy address on the occasion of the first 100 days of his cabinet’s work? Representatives of the ruling coalition opine that the “culprit” is the political crisis in Pristina, created after the Kosovo early parliamentary elections, because it hampers the implementation of the Brussels agreement. The opposition claims that with the “Kosovo silence” the Prime Minister wishes to cover up the devastating results of his government policy in the southern province. “In the political sense, nothing happened over the past 100 days in Kosovo and Metohija. We are waiting for the resolution of the political crisis and the formation of the new Kosovo government so we can resume with the implementation of the Brussels agreement and form the Union of Serb Municipalities,” the Chairman of the Serbian parliament Committee for Kosovo and Metohija Milovan Drecun and member of the Committee Vladeta Kostic, both deputies of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) are unanimous. Drecun believes that this is the reason why the Prime Minister didn’t mention Kosovo and Metohija in Backo Gradiste and announces that “Kosovo will be once again in the focus of the Serbian government activities as soon as the negotiating process resumes in Brussels”. Kostic, “as a person who resides in Kosovo with his family,” is categorical that the problem with the formation of the new Kosovo government, the resolution of which he doesn’t expect before the Kosovo Constitutional Court delivers an opinion on 18 September, is the only reason why the Serbian Prime Minister didn’t talk about the southern province. “Vucic was silent about Kosovo and Metohija because it is desirable to forget as soon as possible any talk on the Brussels agreement, especially since the Union of Serb Municipalities has not been formed yet. The Democratic Party (DS) supported the Brussels agreement, because it envisaged certain guarantees for the Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija. There is no Union, and now the security of Serbs, and even political leaders of moderate orientation, is threatened. Oliver Ivanovic’s fate is mentioned a little, because this is also a topic that is desirable to forget,” Vladimir Todoric from the DS tells Danas. His former party colleague, now an official of the New Democratic Party (NDS) in establishment, Goran Bogdanovic, points out that the Serbian government was not only silent about Kosovo and Metohija in Backo Gradiste, but that it hasn’t been mentioned very much over the past months. “The Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija are already accustomed to the fact that not only the prime minister, but also those in the government who deal with Kosovo, do not speak about it in a sincere and correct manner. The Serbs do not know what is in the Brussels agreement, they are told what to do in guidelines, the Serbs in the north have started to depart, Serb houses and apartments in the northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica are being sold in secret…One should openly say what is happening in Kosovo and Metohija, without listening to marketing and demagogy that sounds good,” Bogdanovic tells Danas. They blame the media for being “closed for different opinions other than government representatives’” and for forcing only “those who live by Kosovo and not giving space to people who live in Kosovo and Metohija”. The vice president of the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) Slobodan Samardzic opines that “Vucic wouldn’t have anything to hold on had he commenced the Kosovo topic, because the demagogic matrix – we died, we are working, we have promises – couldn’t pass here…” Samardzic points out that “there are no promises for Kosovo and Metohija, moreover, the deadline for the last demand is approaching Vucic – the signing of a binding legal document as de jure recognition of Kosovo during the EU negotiations”. “The negotiating process in Brussels has been going madly only so Vucic could be the chief in this village. The government allowed the foreigners to rule with this state only because it was resolved to surrender Kosovo and Metohija and to make some sort of deal with them. They recognized Kosovo, they didn’t get anything in return and now they continue to blackmail them. Things are worse in Kosovo and Metohija, Belgrade can’t act on the events there, while the Albanians are pushing their strategy of emigration of the north. They are threatening prominent Serbs in order to behead the people. Then they will start to dismantle the Peace Park and the return of the Albanians north of the Ibar River, but nobody will return the Serbs south of the Ibar River,” Samardzic tells Danas.

Kosovo with an asterisk in Berlin (Novosti)

Novosti learns that Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic and the newly appointed Finance Minister Dusan Vujovic have been invited for the conference of the leaders of the Balkan countries in Berlin, organized by German Chancellor Angela Merkel. According to Novosti, it is still unknown which Pristina officials will be travelling to Berlin, but we were confirmed by the German Embassy in Belgrade that Kosovo representatives will be represented in accordance with the Brussels agreement, along with the mandatory footnote on status neutrality. Merkel also invited the leaders of Croatia, B&H, Montenegro, Macedonia, Albania and Slovenia, while representatives from The Netherlands, Austria and France, most probably at the prime minister level, will be observers. The German Chancellor will place four main topics at the one-day summit: good neighborly relations, continuation of EU integration, economic cooperation and relationship of the region towards the new events in Europe, i.e. the Ukrainian crisis and cooperation with Russia.

Gasic: Army modernization is priority (Radio Serbia, by Mladen Bijelic)

“The modernization, improvement of military cooperation and diplomacy through various peace missions, as well as the care for the standard of the employees have been the priorities of the Serbian Army,” Serbian Minister of Defense Bratislav Gasic told International Radio Serbia in summarizing the results of his ministry’s work in the first 100 days of the government’s turn at the office. Minister Gasic reminds that saving the people and their property during the floods was above all other priorities, and in removing the consequences of that disaster all of the Serbian Army’s capacities were on people’s disposal. “We were with our people all the time, which instilled additional confidence in the citizens and boosted their faith that together we can overcome the toughest challenges. That is why in the places where the army was with the people there had not been any major problems,” Gasic underlined. According to him, the modernization of the army is the priority at this moment, because many of its resources are not just technically outdated, but also deteriorated over the past 12 years. “We are working hard on making the members of all our army’s branches, i.e. air force, navy and infantry, be highly trained and disposing with sophisticated and completed technology,” he said. In the previous period the Serbian Army took care of the social status of its employees, thus distributing 800 apartments in the first 100 days of this government’s work.

According to Minister Gasic, the participation of Serbian Army’s personnel in the peace missions around the world is important on several levels. The further improvement in this kind of cooperation and sort of a “military diplomacy” is held important, because with some countries that is our most intensive military cooperation. “This year we expect around 500 members of our armed forces to be deployed with various missions. Next year, when we complete the base ‘South’ and provide necessary conditions for the modern training, we expect a large number of foreign soldiers to spend some time there, so Serbia will be having significant benefits from it,” the Minister explains. He announces that in the upcoming period the members of the Serbian Army will have joint drills with both the USMC and the Russian Army. Also significant is the cooperation with many countries in view of the education and training of the staff. “A large number of foreign officers are undergoing military education in our country, just like some of our own staff is being schooled abroad,” Gasic stressed.

Still, 100 days of government’s work is certainly too short a period for some more detailed assessment about the results in the functioning of such a big and complex system as the Serbian Army, Minister of Defense Bratislav Gasic concluded in his interview to Radio Serbia.

Investigation against General Zivanovic (RTS)

Serbian War Crimes Prosecutor Vladimir Vukcevic ordered an investigation against General Dragan Zivanovic, former commander of the 125^th motorized brigade, on suspicion that he is responsible for the crimes committed against the civilian Albanian population in four villages in Kosovo and Metohija from 1 April to 15 May 1999. Zivanovic is suspected of failing to take necessary measures and prevent the killing of at least 118 Albanian civilians and the inflicting of grievous bodily harm to 13 civilians, although he knew that attacks will be carried out on the residents of the villages of Cuska, Pavljan, Ljubenic and Zahac. He is also suspected of failing to prevent the destruction of 40 houses, plundering, forceful dislocation, seizure and destruction of the victims’ personal documents, the War Crimes Prosecution at the High Court in Belgrade stated. The Prosecutor is of the opinion that General Zivanovic knew that, while acting on the order and conducting a raid and clearing the villages of Ljubenic, Pavljan, Cuska and Zahac, members of the 177^th Yugoslav Army Squad in Pec will attack the civilian population of Albanian nationality, that they will kill, injure, displace them and destroy their property.
General Zivanovic was superior to Toplica Miladinovic, Milojko Nikolic and Dejan Bulatovic who were sentenced to the maximum imprisonment of 20 years for war crimes in the municipality of Pec in the first-instance proceedings in the Cuska case, while nine members of the 177^th Yugoslav Army Squad faced 106 years in prison in total. The judgment confirmed the Prosecution’s allegations that the mass killings were conducted in the presence of women and children, the youngest victim being just 19, and the oldest 87 years old. Under the judgment, in the killings, rapes, destruction of property and other crimes, the convicts demonstrated extreme ruthlessness, cruelty and removed the evidence by burning the bodies of the civilian victims in order to ensure that the crimes are not discovered, and the victims not identified, it is concluded in the statement.

REGIONAL PRESS

Progressive Club warns of decline in Serbs’ rights in region (Tanjug/Politika)

In previous six years, a decline in the political rights of the Serb people in the region has been noted, and this trend has been particularly marked in the last two years, reads a regular report by the Progressive Club. “This is a consequence of the economic crisis, but also the political circumstances in Serbia and problems facing the Serbian society,” President of the Progressive Club Cedomir Antic said when presenting the report. Serbia is neglecting Serbs in the region, Antic said, and noted to illustrate his point that this is the first time since 1991 that Belgrade does not have a ministry, office or agency dealing with the position of Serbs outside Serbia. The Progressive Club examined the position of Serbs in B&H, Montenegro and Croatia, and analyzed for the first time the rights of Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija, the southern province of Serbia, as stipulated in UN SC Resolution 1244. There has been no decline in the rights of Serbs in B&H last year, but their exercise has been at risk, Antic said. He noted that protests in B&H were officially explained by the difficult economic position that citizens are in, but they in fact had underlying political objectives, while those who led them “wanted to establish a unitary state with the Great Bosniak hegemony”. These protests were planned in certain circles in the EU and USA, but they were refused in the Republika Ruska (RS), where people have a low living standard, as well as in other parts of B&H, but are satisfied with the fact that they have their own state, Antic said. In the previous year, Serbia did not implement either the agreement on special ties in an adequate way or the systemic policy for protection of the Serb entity in B&H, the president of the Progressive Club notes. The leftist government in Croatia did not meet Serbia’s expectations, as “the division in the Croatian society finds a subtle method of reconciliation in the joint negative stance toward the Serb people,” he noted. The “Ku Klux Klan” approach to Serbs’ right to use the Cyrillic script is in force in Croatia, Antic said, cautioning that Serbia must not show the understanding for the chauvinism that has been encouraged in Croatia in the last 20 years. When it comes to the position of Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija, Antic noted that the Brussels agreement gave Serbs certain rights without a change in the Kosovo constitution, but that the fact that the only guarantee for implementation of the rights is the EU’s will gives a cause for concern given that a change in the Brussels administration can lead to a different interpretation of these rights, he noted. “We do not believe that in such circumstances the respect of Serbs’ rights in Kosovo and Metohija could be improved in the foreseeable future,” Antic said. Igor Vujovic, a member of the Progressive Club, spoke about the political deprivation of Serbs in Montenegro, pointing to the irregularities in the last presidential and local elections, and underscored that Serbs were the biggest victims as their representatives are in the opposition in Podgorica. Vujovic also noted the problems related to the financing of the Serb National Council in Montenegro, and a discriminatory bill on national symbols which prohibits the use of non-Montenegrin symbols on many occasions. The report also warns that Albania is carrying out a continued policy aimed at the assimilation and infringement of Serbs’ rights. In Hungary, although the government led by Viktor Orban was not conducive to rights of national minorities, it is the first time that Serbs have their representative in the parliament in the capacity of spokesperson without the right to vote. In Slovenia, Serbs still do not have the status of a national minority, but the country started resolving the issue of those who were erased from the register. Romania is the only state in the region in which members of minorities have all the rights guaranteed by the Constitution, but Serbs in that country are facing the assimilation and their number is on the decline, reads the report by the Progressive Club, a non-governmental organization dealing with the problems and rights of Serbs in the region.

DF: Instead of a donors’ conference, B&H received new loans (Oslobodjenje/Fena)

The Democratic Front (DF) – Zeljko Komsic argued in a statement that B&H Foreign Minister Zlatko Lagumdzija and the Chairman of the B&H Presidency Bakir Izetbegovic went to the Brussels donors’ conference and returned with loans. “This wasn’t a donors’ conference, but a debt slavery conference,” the statement from the DF reads, with the claim that Lagumdzija’s and Izetbegovic’s statements, given after their return from the Brussels conference, that B&H received all it sought, were untrue, and that such statements were mutually agreed upon. “According to official data from the European Commission, of the 1.6 billion KM in announced quasi-donations, around 80 percent is loans, while only 20 percent is grants or debt-free funds. In other words, Lagumdzija and Izetbegovic indebted B&H for a record 1.3 billion KM. The purpose of the presentation that Lagumdzija and Izetbegovic gave was to rescue from impending defeat in the elections on the backs of the people of B&H,” the DF said in a statement. They consider that two months after the catastrophic floods, thousands of B&H residents are homeless and jobless, and the political leadership treats this question as ‘yesterday’s news’, trying even to profit off it. “B&H will not get any serious help to recover from the floods as long as these people are in power, and the DF-Zeljko Komsic will return credibility to the country and confidence in those who administer it. Only then will there be an opportunity for a new beginning,” the party statement reads.

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

Century after start of WWI, Serbia strives to ‘be a part of the solution’ (CNN, by Mick Krever, 5 August 2014)

Ceremonies are taking place across Europe to mark 100 years since the outbreak of World War I

Fifty heads of state gathered in Belgium to remember the German invasion, and Britain’s declaration of war on Germany.

It was also supposed to be “the war to end all wars,” but a hundred years later, tensions in Europe are ratcheting up yet again, particularly between Russia and the West.

One country that is close to both sides is Serbia: a traditional ally of the Kremlin that is also looking to join the European Union.

“No one needs any more crisis in the heart of Europe,” Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic told CNN’s Fred Pleitgen, in for Christiane Amanpour, on Monday. “No one needs any more problems, any more clashes, any more fights.”

“And we are doing our best to be a pillar of that stability in this region. We do our best to improve our economy. We do our best to be a modern state.”

‘As you know, Serbian guy triggered that First World War, Gavrilo Princip,” Prime Minister Vucic said. “That’s the reason that … we are striving for peace … not to cause any more problems; not to be a part of the problem, but to be a part of the solution; to be a part of creating a modern state, to creating the best possible environment in the whole region.”

Serbia Investigates General Over Kosovo War Crimes (BIRN, by Gordana Andric, 5 August 2014)

War crimes prosecutors are investigating retired Yugoslav Army general Dragan Zivanovic on suspicion that he did not prevent the murders of 118 ethnic Albanian civilians in Kosovo in 1999.

The Serbian war crimes prosecution said on Tuesday that it was launching the probe to establish whether Zivanovic, the former commander of the Yugoslav Army’s 125th Brigade, was responsible for war crimes against ethnic Albanians in the Kosovo villages Cuska, Pavljan, Ljubenic and Zahac in April and May 1999.

Zivanovic allegedly did nothing to prevent the murders of at least 118 civilians and the destruction of Albanian homes and property in the four villages.

The prosecution’s investigation order said that Zivanovic gave the Yugoslav Army’s 177th Intervention Squad the command to “search and clean up” the villages.

It alleged that Zivanovic knew that members of the squad would attack and kill civilians, drive people from their homes and destroy the villages.

In February this year, nine former members of the Yugoslav Army’s 177th intervention squad were convicted of killing over 100 Albanian civilians during the attacks on the four villages.

The judge, Snezana Nikolic Garotic, said that the man expelled civilians from their houses, killing men and forcing women and children to leave the villages.

“The bodies of those killed were set on fire so their remains could never be found, while their houses were burned so those expelled could not come back,” the judge added.

Zivanovic was the superior officer to three of the convicted men, Toplica Miladinovic, Milojko Nikolic and Dejan Bulatovic. All three were jailed for 20 years.

The judge said that the fighters were not paramilitaries, as was suggested by the prosecution at the beginning of the trial, but regular members of the Yugoslav Army who all had military ID cards and received salaries from the army.

When the spoils of war are human organs (The Washington Times, by James Bovard, 4 August 2014)

Bill Clinton’s Kosovo ‘freedom fighters’ trafficked in body parts

Former President Bill Clinton continues to be feted around the world as a progressive champion of human rights. However, a European Union task force last week confirmed that the ruthless cabal he empowered by bombing Serbia in 1999 has committed atrocities that include murdering individuals to extract and sell their kidneys, livers and other body parts.

Clint Williamson, the chief prosecutor of a special European Union task force, declared that senior members of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) had engaged in “unlawful killings, abductions, enforced disappearances, illegal detentions in camps in Kosovo and Albania, sexual violence, forced displacements of individuals from their homes and communities, and desecration and destruction of churches and other religious sites.”

A special war-crimes tribunal is planned for next year. The New York Times reported that the trials may be stymied by cover-ups and stonewalling: “Past investigations of reports of organ trafficking in Kosovo have been undermined by witnesses’ fears of testifying in a small country where clan ties run deep and former members of the KLA are still feted as heroes. Former leaders of the KLA occupy high posts in the government.” American politicians have almost entirely ignored the growing scandal. Vice President Joe Biden hailed former KLA leader and Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci in 2010 as “the George Washington of Kosovo.” A few months later, a Council of Europe investigative report tagged Mr. Thaci as an accomplice to the body-trafficking operation.

The latest allegations might cause some Americans to rethink their approval of the 78-day bombing campaign against Serbia killed up to 1,500 civilians. In early June 1999, The Washington Post reported that “some presidential aides and friends are describing [bombing] Kosovo in Churchillian tones, as Clinton’s ‘finest hour.’” Clinton administration officials justified killing civilians because the Serbs were allegedly committing genocide in Kosovo. After the bombing ended, no evidence of genocide was found, but Mr. Clinton and Britain’s Tony Blair continued boasting as if their war stopped a new Hitler in his tracks.

The KLA’s savage nature was well-known before the Clinton administration formally christened them “freedom fighters” in 1999. The prior year, the State Department condemned “terrorist action by the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army.” The KLA was heavily involved in drug trafficking and had close to ties to Osama bin Laden. Arming the KLA helped Mr. Clinton portray himself as a crusader against injustice and shift public attention after his impeachment trial. Mr. Clinton was aided by many congressmen anxious to portray U.S. bombing as an engine of righteousness. Sen. Joe Lieberman whooped that the United States and the KLA “stand for the same values and principles. Fighting for the KLA is fighting for human rights and American values.”

After the bombing ended, Mr. Clinton assured the Serbian people that the United States and NATO agreed to be peacekeepers only “with the understanding that they would protect Serbs as well as ethnic Albanians and that they would leave when peace took hold.” In the subsequent months and years, American and NATO forces stood by as the KLA resumed its ethnic cleansing, slaughtering Serb civilians, bombing Serbian churches and oppressing any non-Muslims. Almost a quarter-million Serbs, Gypsies, Jews, and other minorities fled Kosovo after Mr. Clinton promised to protect them. By 2003, almost 70 percent of the Serbs living in Kosovo in 1999 had fled, and Kosovo was 95 percent ethnic Albanian.

In 2009, Mr. Clinton visited Kosovo’s capital, Pristina, for the unveiling of an 11-foot-tall statue of himself. The allegations of the KLA’s involvement in organ trafficking were already swirling, but Mr. Clinton overlooked the grisly record of his hosts. Instead, he stood on Bill Clinton Boulevard and lapped up adulation from supporters of one of the most brutal regimes in Europe. A commentator in the United Kingdom’s The Guardian newspaper noted that the statue showed Mr. Clinton “with a left hand raised, a typical gesture of a leader greeting the masses. In his right hand he is holding documents engraved with the date when NATO started the bombardment of Serbia, 24 March 1999.”

Shortly after the end of the 1999 bombing campaign, Mr. Clinton enunciated what his aides labeled the Clinton doctrine: “Whether within or beyond the borders of a country, if the world community has the power to stop it, we ought to stop genocide and ethnic cleansing.” In reality, the Clinton doctrine was that presidents are entitled to commence bombing regardless of whether their accusations against foreigners are true. As long as the U.S. government promises great benefits from bombing abroad, presidents can usually attack whom they please.

Mr. Clinton’s war on Serbia was a Pandora’s box from which the world still suffers. Because politicians and most of the media portrayed the war against Serbia as a moral triumph, it was easier for the Bush administration to justify attacking Iraq and for the Obama administration to bomb Libya. Both interventions sowed chaos that continues to curse the purported beneficiaries.

Unfortunately, Bill Clinton will never be held liable for killing innocent Serbs or for helping body-snatchers take over a nation the size of Connecticut. Mr. Clinton is reportedly being paid up to $500,000 for each speech he gives nowadays. Perhaps some of the well-heeled attendees could brandish artificial arms and legs in the air to showcase Mr. Clinton’s actual legacy.

James Bovard is the author of “Attention Deficit Democracy” (Palgrave, 2006) and “Lost Rights” (St. Martin’s, 1994).

Serbian PM Promises Revival Through Austerity (BIRN, by Gordana Andric, 4 August 2014)

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic pledged that the government will introduce tough measures aimed at reviving the country’s crumbling economy within two years.

Gordana Andric

Marking 100 days since his government came to office, Vucic said on Sunday that Serbia will introduce new austerity measures that will help the country avoid bankruptcy and breathe new life into its economy with two years.

“If we continue behaving like we used to, we’ll be bankrupt within next six months… The measures will not be painless,” Vucic warned in an interview with B92 television.

He said that the government would cancel the so-called ‘solidarity tax’ in September. The tax, introduced in January, imposed 20 to 25 per cent cuts in public sector earnings higher than 60,000 dinars (517 euro) a month.

Instead the government is planning to introduce across-the-board cuts in public sector wages and pensions. Vucic did not say by what percentage salaries and pensions will be reduced, but only stated that it will not be by as much as 15 per cent.

“I can say that pensioners will not be brought to the brink of collapse,” he said.

He added that pay and pensions rises could only be expected after Serbia shows a productivity increase of three per cent and its GDP starts to grow.

One of the steps supposed to help the country get back on its feet is a one-billion-euro loan from the United Arab Emirates that Serbia received recently. According to Vucic, the money will be spent to prop up the budget, pay salaries and pensions and repay loans.

The authorities are also planning to privatise some state-owned companies and establish strategic partnership agreements in order to raise funds, while also addressing the issue of debt-laden public companies that, according to the Serbian Fiscal Council, are costing the country about a billion euro annually.

Vucic announced that Serbia will launch an international tender next year for the sell-off of Serbian Telecom, one of the few state-owned companies that is operating at a profit. The country hopes to earn between 1.5 and two billion euro from the sale.

But he also said that the state in not planning to sell the country’s power producer, Electric Power Industry of Serbia, EPS.

The government is however working to find a buyer or a partner for the Smederevo steel mill, he said adding that several companies have shown interest in buying it, including India’s Arcelor Mittal, one of the world’s largest steel producers, US company Esmark and Russia’s Red October.

In the interview with B92, the Serbian premier said that his “mission” is to create conditions for a normal economy and better living standards in the country, although he is aware that some of the measures will not be popular.

“If we fail, we’ll show that we have missed another chance. I do not want to miss the opportunities, I want my children to live in this country, to go to school here and to stay here,” said Vucic, adding that politicians who introduce difficult reforms will never be popular.

Trade unions have already protested against recent changes to labour legislation, claiming that workers’ rights are being undermined by his government.

Vucic also said that once his mission was fulfilled, he could quit the political scene altogether.

“I have no intention of being involved in politics when I stop being prime minister,” he insisted.

Serbia ‘isn’t neutral over Ukraine’

Prime Minister Vucic stated that Serbia’s position on the conflict between Ukraine and Russia was not a neutral one, but that Serbia was following its own interests.

Belgrade has aligned its foreign policy with Brussels to a large extent and the country is heading towards the EU, but it will not impose sanctions on Russia as the European bloc has done after the Kremlin annexed Crimea, he said.

He explained that the decision was not only based only Belgrade’s traditional friendship with Moscow, but also on economic interests.

“Crimea is a part of Ukraine. But we cannot impose sanctions on Russia, I never hide that,” said Vucic.

“I wasn’t afraid to say that to Angela Merkel, nor I was afraid to tell Putin and Medvedev that we are on the road to the EU,” he said.

He added that Western countries want Serbia to bring its position closer the EU’s line on Russia, but said that he hoped that Europe would show understanding for Belgrade’s attitude towards Moscow and this would not endanger the EU integration process.

He said that if the EU poses an ultimatum however, the issue would have to be discussed in parliament, not just within the government.

Opinion: A defining war for Serbia (Montreal Gazette, by H. E. Mihailo Papazoglu, 4 August 2014)

Like Canada, Serbia emerged from the First World War with a different perception of itself and its place in the world

A little more than 100 years ago, the first shells of the First World War began to fall on the neighbourhoods around Serbia’s Danube and Sava rivers. Dušan Ðonovi, a 16-year-old Serbian Army volunteer, became the first victim of that war. The last victim was a Canadian, George Lawrence Price. The 26-year-old from Falmouth, N.S., was fatally shot by a German sniper at 10:58 a.m. on Nov. 11, 1918, in Belgium. He died just two minutes before the armistice ceasefire that ended the war began at 11 a.m.

Canada, Serbia and their First World War allies — the United Kingdom, France, Russia, the United States, Italy, Greece, Romania and Belgium — were all on the same side of history.

In fact, a Serb triggered the war, the country was an important battleground for the conflict, and the price the country paid was overwhelming: My country’s military and civilian death toll was 1.25 million, 28 per cent of the total population.

The fatal shooting of Austria’s Crown Prince Franz Ferdinand and his wife on June 28, 1914, in Sarajevo was the trigger for the war, one of the deadliest conflicts in history.

To some, the shooter, Gavrilo Princip, was a terrorist. But to many of his countrymen, he was a freedom fighter. At the time Bosnia and Hercegovina was occupied by the Austro-Hungarian Empire, after having endured 400 years under Turkish Ottoman occupation. Its people of some dozen different nationalities shared a dream of freedom.

After the assassination, Austria-Hungary delivered an ultimatum to Serbia. An empire of 52 million people gave a 48-hour ultimatum to a nation of 5 million. There was nowhere to hide. The declaration of war was sent by an urgent telegraph message.

The Serbs fought for one year on their soil on their frontiers, mostly alone. The first allied victory took place in Serbia, in the mountains of Cer. The second one took place in Kolubara — almost like the battle of Vimy Ridge. This success drew worldwide attention to Serbia and won the Serbs sympathy of both neutral and Allied countries, as it marked their first victory over the Central Powers.

The next year the Serbs had their share of defeats. Belgrade, the capital, was the last stand for more than 2,600 Serbian Army soldiers who defended it. They were aware of the fact that their names had already been erased from the list of the living by Serbian Army headquarters; they were left behind as an ultimate sacrifice. But not to be forgotten — ask any kid in Serbia today about this incident.

Once again the Serbs survived barely enough to align in trenches of the so-called Salonica Front in Greece, an experience similar to what the Canadians endured at Passchendaele. For those three years of war in exile Serbian soldiers lost a country, but saved the state and the statehood. The population was left to occupiers — but they saved the nation. They never lost faith. Finally, along with our allies, in 1918 we were free.

And what was Gavrilo Princip doing at that time? He was imprisoned in the dungeon of the fortress in Theresienstadt (Terezin in today’s Czech Republic). Gavrilo officially died from tuberculosis, with his arm and shoulder amputated. An underage self-proclaimed freedom fighter, he never got to see the Armistice in 1918 and the liberation he gave his life for. He died six months earlier and was secretly buried, so that his body would never be found.

Serbia and Canada fought on the same side of history, for a just cause. The aftermath of the First World War led Canada to full independence and Serbia to full self-confidence in the international arena of that time. Serbia, along with others, paid a high price in human lives during the war — never to recover, some say. Collective memory of the First World War has become a cornerstone of our respective nations’ identities.

History made Serbia and Canada allies in both world wars. Modern world and globalization made us neighbours. Let’s make the future seal this partnership.

Mihailo Papazoglu is the Serbian ambassador to Canada

Opinion: A century ago today the Austro-Hungarian Empire declared war on Serbia and Europe was dragged to catastrophe (Wales Online, by David Williamson, 28 July 2014)

Winston Churchill wrote to his wife 100 years ago today and asked what madness had struck Christendom

One hundred years ago the course of European history swerved towards catastrophe when Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia and the inferno remembered as World War I caught light.

If the initial spark for the conflict that would set Europe ablaze and lead to more than 16 million deaths was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, this was the moment when hopes of peace collapsed.

The declaration of war put Germany and Russia on a fatal collision course. Europe’s tangled web of alliances became trip-wires that detonated a disaster for civilisation that shattered ideas that the continent and humanity were on a march towards ever greater enlightenment and prosperity.

Austria-Hungary was alarmed by Serbia’s nationalistic ambitions and five days earlier had delivered an ultimatum. The empire demanded that the Serbs stamp out anti-Austrian propaganda; Austria-Hungary also insisted that it be able to investigate the assassination of the archduke.

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When Serbia failed to agree to every single demand Austria-Hungary cut off diplomatic links and prepared for warfare. Would Russia enter a war to defend its Serbian ally and protect its interests in the Balkans?

The consequences of a conflict that pitted Germany and Russia against one another were awful to contemplate, but the carnage that would result if France and Britain were also dragged into a war was an even graver nightmare.

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A century ago today, under pressure from Germany, Austria-Hungary declared war.

At midnight that night, Winston Churchill, then First Lord of the Admiralty, wrote his wife a letter describing his storm of emotions.

He said: “My darling one and beautiful, Everything tends towards catastrophe and collapse. I am geared up and happy. It is not horrible to be built like that?

“The preparations have a hideous fascination for me. I pray to God to forgive me for such fearful moods of levity.

“Yet I would do my best for peace, and nothing would induce me wrongfully to strike the blow.”

Aware of the enormity of the conflict that was about to engulf much of the world, he wrote: “I cannot feel that we in this island are in any serious degree responsible for the wave of madness [which] has struck Christendom.”

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Churchill then described a “darling cygnet” he had seen on the lake at St James’ Park, describing it as “grey, fluffy, precious & unique”.

The sailors, he said, were “thrilled and confident,” adding: “Everything is ready as it never has been before. And we are awake to the tips of our fingers.”

The next day, on July 29, Austrian artillery bombarded Belgrade, and the day after that the Russia Tsar authorized his Army’s partial mobilization.

On August 1, Germany declared war on Russia. It declared war on France on August 3 and Belgium on August 4.

Britain’s declaration of war against Germany came on the same day.

The threat of such a continent-crossing war had loomed at various times in recent years. In both Germany and Russia, generals had pushed their country’s governments in a hard-line direction.

But the stumble towards destruction remains perhaps the boldest demonstration of what happens when diplomacy fails and the lure of violence wins.

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