LOCAL PRESS

Djuric: Trepca – basis for Kosovo’s economic development (Tanjug)

The Head of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Marko Djuric wished on Wednesday all the best for Miners’ Day to the miners and management of the Trepca mining complex, underscoring that Trepca’s development is a basis for economic growth and overall progress of Serbia’s southern province. Djuric voiced deep respect for their hard work, stressing that they are true heroes who spend their working life in the most difficult conditions. “Citizens of the Republic of Serbia and our province take great pride in miners. Honorable and modest men, truly committed to their work are our greatest value,” Djuric said. He noted that the state of Serbia is determined and capable of preserving and valuing its natural resources, while at the same time protecting workers’ rights.

On Wednesday, miners celebrated their day across Serbia. Miners’ Day was established in remembrance of the major miners’ strike that broke out on 6 August 1903 in the Senje coal mine, the first and oldest one in Serbia that is now part of the Rembas mines. The immediate cause of the strike, 50 years since the start of coal exploitation in that mine, was the dismissal of three labor activists. During the nine-day strike, the miners managed to ensure that the two fired workers return to their job, shorter working hours and free fuel for safety lamps, for which they previously had to pay.

Zorana Mihajlovic on first 100 days of government (Radio Serbia, by Mladen Bijelic)

Serbian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Construction, Traffic and Infrastructure Zorana Mihajlovic has praised the government’s work in the past 100 days and pointed that this government has passed more laws in a month than any other in the past 12 years. She also told the International Radio Serbia that it has effectively laid the foundation for the more substantial reforms in the various social and economic sectors. Mihajlovic says that coming next is the adoption of the law on planning and construction, whose main novelty is that the construction permits must be issued in 28 days. That way, the deadline will be shorter, and much unnecessary bureaucracy eliminated, which should help the potential investors, especially the foreign ones who are deciding on where to direct their capital and realize their investments. “We are also looking at finishing the bridge between Zemun and Borca, and by the end of the next year the works on the Corridor 11 should be completed, too. So, while there are upcoming infrastructural projects, personally I am not satisfied with the pace of realization on some of them, hence mine incessant pressing for the faster and better effort, to meet the set deadlines,” Mihajlovic pointed.

She has emphasized that the energy sector suffered great damage in the May floods, and it cannot be mitigated in a month or two. Instead, the state and the citizens will be feeling and working on those consequences over the next two years! According to her, the continual energy crisis in the region is additionally aggravated by the political tensions, so the problems are possible in the gas supply, due to the political crisis between Russia, Ukraine and the EU.

In comment to the announced increase in the electricity prices in Serbia, Mihajlovic explains that for the two years already it has not been in the direct domain of the government. “Before deciding on the demand for price increase, the Energy Agency should first analyze the expenses within the system, and then the regulatory state body assesses if the more rational moves may be made in the system, on order to avoid the unpopular solution. There are numerous changes and enhancements that can be made within the Electric Power Industry, and not just in regards of the personnel, but also in organization. It would make this cumbersome system more efficient and able to accomplish the same, or even better, results with fewer expenses. After all, that is what Prime Minister Vucic has announced,” Zorana Mihajlovic concluded.

She also stressed that all the ministers in Vucic’s cabinet are exerting maximum efforts, not just in passing the new solutions, but also in solving the daily problems in the field. “We showed it during the floods, wishing to motivate others through our presence in the field, so that all other state services and clerks would give full contribution. Thus, although I am rather satisfied with the improvements made in my sector, I always think things could be even better. That is what I also ask from others and what pushes me forward,” Mihajlovic underlined.

Simic: Opening of chapters brought into question? (RTS)

Political science professor Predrag Simic assesses that Serbia, if it refuses the requests regarding the stand towards Russia, could stay without the opening of the first chapters in the EU negotiations, at least until the end of this year. Asked about the opinion presented by the British expert for the Balkans James Ker-Lindsay that Serbia’s neutral policy will be seen increasingly more as a bad intention, Simic said that “if we fail to do what we are requested, we will hardly open the first chapters”. Simic told the morning broadcast of Radio and Television of Serbia (RTS) that the construction of the South Stream, which is an important not only economic, but also political project, will remain “only a dead letter” for a long time. “We will feel the consequences through the South Stream as well… and we can also stay without the opening of the first chapters, at least until the end of the year,” said Simic. He also assessed that Washington “was using the tensions with Russia in order to return its European allies, which are looking towards Moscow too much over their own crisis, to the Euro-Atlantic flock”. Simic noted that Washington was presently most concerned with the trade between Berlin and Moscow.

REGIONAL PRESS

B&H Armed Forces to complete Ammunition Transportation Safety Course (Fena)

Members of B&H Armed Forces recently completed an ammunition transportation safety course delivered by B&H Armed Forces and EUFOR personnel in Rajlovac. The instructors trained personnel in the safe packaging, labeling and handling of ammunition during transportation. The course was conducted by a combined team of B&H Armed Forces and a EUFOR mobile training team, led by the Swiss Armed Forces. The course formed part of EUFOR’s ongoing capacity building and training program. One of EUFOR’s major objectives is to help B&H authorities to solve the issue of surplus ammunition and weapons, and training B&H Armed Forces to develop their own professionals is a key part of this.

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

Serbia Restarts Body Hunt at Kosovo Mass Grave (BIRN, by Gordana Andric, 7 August 2014)

The authorities are restarting the search for the remains of Kosovo Albanian victims at a mass grave at the Rudnica quarry in southern Serbia, where 45 bodies have already been exhumed.

The Serbian war crimes prosecutor’s office said it was resuming the search at two locations at the Rudnica quarry on Thursday for the remains of Albanians suspected to have been killed by Belgrade’s forces during the 1998-99 conflict in Kosovo.

So far, the bodies of 45 victims have been found buried at the quarry near the southern town of Raska, close to the Serbia-Kosovo border.

Searches at the quarry first started in 2007, and were followed by exhumations in 2010, 2011 and 2013.

Prenk Gjetaj, the head of the Kosovo government’s missing persons commission, has said that the authorities believe that the corpses are those of Kosovo Albanians who went missing during the conflict in Rrezalla, a village in the Skenderaj/Srbice area.

The process of identifying the remains is continuing, according to the authorities, but the names of the victims will not be made public until relatives have been informed.

The area was first probed after the Serbian war crimes prosecution, in cooperation with the EU rule-of-law mission in Kosovo, announced that there could be a mass grave near Raska containing the bodies of at least 250 Albanians, although nothing was found until last year.

There are still around 1,700 people listed as missing as a result of the Kosovo conflict.

Russia’s Centrgaz to Build 30 Km of Serbia’s South Stream Section by Year-End (RIA Novosti, by Sergey Guneev, 6 August 2014)
BELGRADE – Russia’s Centrgaz, a subsidiary of gas giant Gazprom, expects that the first 30 kilometer-long section of the South Stream pipeline is to be laid by the end of this year, the Serbian president and Centrgaz CEO said in a statement on Wednesday.
“The South Stream project is of great importance for the Republic of Serbia and offers a huge chance to develop its economy and strengthen Serbia’s position in the region and in Europe,” Serbia’s leader Tomislav Nikolic said after talks with Centrgaz CEO Stanislav Anikeev in Belgrade.
In early July, Centrgaz won a tender to become the main building contractor for the Serbian section of the South Stream gas pipeline. Four companies took part in the tender, which started in March 2014. The deal is worth around $2.9 billion.
The mainstream Serbian section of the gas pipeline will have branches to Croatia and the Republika Srpska, a political entity in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The length of the main pipeline will be 422 kilometers and the length of the branches will be 158 kilometers.
The South Stream pipeline, expected to carry Russian gas across the Black Sea to Southern and Central European countries, is aimed at diversification of export routes for Russian gas.
The project stalled when the European Commission expressed concern that Russia’s bilateral agreements with European transit countries, namely Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary and Slovenia, violate the EU Third Energy Package. According to these legislative proposals, the pipelines in the EU cannot belong to the natural gas extractors.

Chinese-built bridge in Serbia to open this year (Xinhua, 6 August 2014)

BELGRADE — The Bridge over the Danube in Serbian capital, Belgrade, built by Chinese company CRBC would be open in December this year, Serbian Minister of Infrastructure Zorana Mihajlovic announced after inspecting the work progress with the Chinese ambassador to Serbia Li Manchang on Wednesday.

Li Manchang and Zorana Mihajlovic toured the building site on Wednesday to determine that works at the popularly called “Chinese bridge” that ought to connect Belgrade’s municipalities of Zemun and Borca are going just as planned.

“Construction progresses as planed and Serbian government expects that the bridge will be open by the end of December,” Mihajlovic said, adding that the subcontractors announced possibility of even finishing before deadline.

Once finished, the bridge will significantly influence reducing jams in Serbian capital by redirecting cargo transport from the city’s centre, on a detour towards the main highway.

She said that the connections of the future bridge with local roads will be finished during next year in a total length of 21 kilometers.

The bridge over the Danube presents the second bridge over the European Union’s longest river on its flow through the Serbian capital.

Once finished, the new six-lane bridge will be 1.5 kilometers long, 30-meter wide and will overarch the Danube at an altitude of 23 meters.

Li said that the bridge over the Danube, popularly called “Chinese bridge” is just one of the many large infrastructural projects between Serbia and China, and expressed his confidence that the construction will meet the deadlines.

He added that that he hopes that many more large projects will be realized by Chinese companies in Serbia.

Serbia Finds Evidence Against Drug Lord (Prensa Latina, 4 August 2014)

Belgrade – Serbian Interior Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic stated on Monday that the police have found certain evidence in the investigation against Dragoslav Kosmajac, labelled as the biggest drug lord in Serbia.
In the investigation, the police began by looking into Kosmajac’s property and are now conducting further proceedings thereon, Stefanovic said in a programme broadcast by the Belgrade based Television, adding that in the interest of further investigative proceedings, he cannot disclose any specific details at this point.
Serbian Interior Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic said Monday that the police were now working most intensively in fighting organized crime.
Stefanovic told a TV chain that the Interior Ministry had decided that “until we are ready to file specific criminal charges, we will not go out in public with any directions of an investigation.”
Working groups have been formed to deal with the cases of Dragoslav Kosmajac, suspected of being the biggest drug trafficker in the country, and Darko Saric, who is standing trial under the charge that he tried to smuggle about two tons of cocaine from South America.
Bosnia, Serbia and Croatia see new round of floods (Deutsche Welle/AFP/AP, 7 August 2014)

One person has been killed and another is missing after heavy rains brought a new wave of flooding to Serbia, Bosnia and Croatia this week. Just three months ago, historic floods killed almost 80 people.

Torrential rain in the western Serbian town of Banja Koviljaca led to a 65-year-old man’s drowning after his house flooded, the Beta news agency reported on Wednesday, quoting local police. The waters also damaged several local roads, as well as dozens of houses and a hospital, the agency reported. In neighboring Bosnia (pictured), hundreds of households flooded in several regions, mostly the same ones hit in May.

“Streams and rivers have very quickly turned into torrents which carried all in front of them,” a member of the civil protection center told Bosnian national television on Wednesday.

Police said one person remained missing in Banja Luka, where authorities declared a state of emergency. In the region of Gracanica, near Tuzla, authorities evacuated about 200 homes in several affected villages.

In the northern village of Donji Hrgovi, homes had flooded within a few minutes overnight Tuesday. Residents escaped before the roads and bridges became impassable.

The floods have also hit Croatia, albeit to a lesser extent.

No reprieve

Flooding in Balkans triggers landslides, disturbs minefields:In May#, the Balkans saw their worst floods in over a century, affecting almost 2 million people in Serbia, Bosnia and Croatia. The flooding washed into 40 percent of Bosnia, wrecking the main agriculture industry, wiping out infrastructure and forcing almost a quarter of the population of 4 million to leave their homes.

Hundreds of thousands of people evacuated, and many of them ended up homeless. More than 50 people died, mostly in Serbia and Bosnia.

Forecasters say this time around the rain will continue to fall until at least Thursday.

A city where a multi-ethnic Bosnia seems possible (The Irish Times, 7 August 2014)
Brcko’s experiment in post-conflict governance has an uncertain future
“Put Your Hands Together Against Racism”, reads a colourful poster in the reception hall of the Omladinski centre, on the outskirts of Brcko, a small city in north-east Bosnia.
In Communist times, the centre was part of a sprawling Yugoslav National Army camp. Now it is a hub for Brcko’s young people. Photos of girls and boys in witches’ hats and Spiderman masks at a Halloween party smile down from the walls.
In ethnically divided Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brcko is a rarity — an avowedly mixed city. Among the half dozen participants at the afterschool German class at the Omladinski centre are Croats, Serbs and Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims). “We are hanging out and that is good,” says 17-year-old Dunja Bjelos, taking a break from conjugating strong verbs. Her parents came to Brcko from Sarajevo; now she dreams of becoming a doctor.
The regular German lessons are run by Svitac, a multi-ethnic youth arts organization based in Brcko. Svitac is among a number of non-governmental organisations working to encourage reconciliation and inter-ethnic co-operation in a city that witnessed some of the fiercest fighting during Bosnia’s brutal war.
“We are trying to unite the three nationalities and to get young people to forget who they are, just be equal, and happy doing things together,” says Edina Vosanovic, a local co-ordinator at Svitac. “When we call them together in one place you forget who is a Serb, a Croat or a Muslim, it really doesn’t matter.”
Svitac was founded in 1999. That year the self-governing “District” of Brcko was established. Since then, everything from Brcko’s courts and its police to welfare and health services has been under direct local control in a novel experiment in post-conflict governance in the Balkans.
The effects of this unusual regime have been most striking when it comes to education. Having a standalone system has allowed Brcko to go further in promoting integration than anywhere else in Bosnia. While many children in the Bosniak and Croat-dominated Federation and Republika Srpska are educated separately, in Brcko, pupils are mixed — and so are their teachers.
All students study a common curriculum and are taught only religion and “mother tongue” separately. “I have friends who are Bosnian and Serbs and I can only be good to them,” says Stefan Savcic, a long-haired 21-year-old with a passion for the “Yugorock” guitar music popular under Communism.
Savcic’s Serb parents moved to Brcko during the war that raged between 1992 and 1995. The scars of that conflict remain. Earlier this year a museum opened dedicated to Bosniaks and Croats imprisoned in a Serb camp at the city’s port. After the District was established in 1999, thousands of mainly Bosniaks and Croats returned to the city as international aid poured in.
Savcic still remembers his parents talking to him the night before his Serbian primary school became mixed. “My parents just said, ‘son, the people will come with different names but they are just like us. Don’t listen to what other people say about them’,” Savèiæ says he walks through an open-air market sandwiched between a Serbian Orthodox Church and a large, new mosque in the centre of Brcko.

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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.