LOCAL PRESS

Western diplomats request Pristina to form Union of Serb Municipalities (Novosti)

One of the main requests posed by the diplomats of the leading Western countries before the future government in Pristina is the formation of the Union of Serb Municipalities within the Kosovo system, Novosti learns. Apart from this request, U.S. representatives in Kosovo also conveyed to the Albanian leaders in Pristina the request to establish the court for war crimes committed in Kosovo and Metohija, but also to resolve the issue of usurped property and illegally privatized property. These requests coincide greatly with the prerequisites that the Serb (Srpska) list had already announced as the “minimum” for their participation in the negotiations on government formation. Leposavic Mayor Dragan Jablanovic and member of the team for drafting the statute of the Union of Serb Municipalities, tells Novosti that the draft statute has been completed and that they are waiting for the formation of the government in Kosovo and Metohija so the competencies of the Union could be recognized through the provincial laws. “In talks with the U.S. diplomat in Kosovo Tracy Jacobson, I received assurances that they will support the formation of the Union of Serb Municipalities, the court for war crimes, and the resolution of disputable privatizations,” explains Jablanovic. “The Union will have an assembly composed of delegated deputies from local assemblies, i.e. a council, executive board…all mayors of the municipalities within the Union will be included in one of the bodies. Following the formation of the Union of Serb Municipalities, the local self-governments will continue to have primary competencies that they have now, and the Union will deal with issues of joint importance for the life of Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija.

Gasic visits Serbian peacekeepers in Lebanon (Tanjug)

Serbian Defense Minister Bratislav Gasic visited Serbian troops participating in the UN Multinational Operation in the Republic of Lebanon (UNIFIL), where they are engaged in the monitoring and maintaining the cessation of hostilities, and the normalization of living conditions, the ministry released on Sunday. UNIFIL officials said that members of the Serbian Defense Ministry and Armed Forces are trained in line with the highest standards and able to perform the most challenging tasks, noting that they have earned the trust of both international troops in the UN mission and the local population. Gasic underlined that Serbian peacemakers are the country’s best ambassadors and that Serbian troops are held in high esteem all over the world, which resulted in a growing number of invitations to participate in UN and EU-led peacekeeping missions. “Our aim is to continue increasing the number of Serbian troops in peacekeeping missions in the years ahead. I am proud of the achieved results,” said Gasic. A total of 143 members of the Serbian army are currently deployed to Lebanon, including 141 troops engaged in the East Sector within the Spanish contingent and two staff officers stationed in UNIFIL HQ in Nakura.

Gasic visits Serbian medical team in Cyprus (RTS/Tanjug)

During the visit to members of the Serbian Armed Forces who are participating in the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP), Serbian Defense Minister Bratislav Gasic conferred with Cypriot Defense Minister Christoforos Fokaides concerning the improvement of military-economic cooperation. Gasic and Fokaides agreed that Serbia and Cyprus have always maintained friendly relations based on mutual respect and cooperation, with no open issues.
The ministers agreed that cooperation in the defense sector is well-developed, especially in the military-medical and military-educational sector, and added that the capacities of the Serbian defense industry could serve as a good basis for improvement of military-economic cooperation.
Last year, the two countries’ governments signed a Memorandum on understanding with the aim of improving bilateral economic, commercial and financial cooperation, the Serbian Defense Ministry recalled. Gasic underscored that Cyprus is one of the countries providing unequivocal support to Serbia’s EU path and preservation of its territorial integrity and sovereignty in Kosovo and Metohija. He underscored that Serbia believes the solution to the Cypriot issue needs to be sought in keeping with UN resolutions and that it should come as the result of the two communities’ agreement, states the release. Earlier, Gasic met with Lisa Buttenheim, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General and Head of the UNFICYP, as well as with UNFICYP Force Commander Major General Kristin Lund. One of the topics in the talks covered the current state in the Serbian Armed Forces, and Gasic recalled that members of the Serbian army are participating in eight multinational operations, six of them conducted under the UN mandate and two implemented by the EU mission. The increasing number of invitations for Serbian soldiers to take part in peacekeeping missions points to the huge trust invested in the Serbian Armed Forces and its members, Gasic said. He said that Serbia is trying to maintain good relations with the East and the West alike, states the release. Buttenheim said that members of the Serbian Armed Forces are deployed in the most challenging areas in the tampon zone, and added that she is satisfied with their actions, which points to a good pattern in their training.
The Serbian Armed Forces currently have 46 troops in the UNFICYP mission in Cyprus, including 37 in an infantry platoon.

Remains of 16 Kosovo Albanians from Rudnica transported to Merdare (Tanjug)

The bodies of 16 Kosovo Albanians, recovered at Rudnica, near Raska, were transported on Friday to the Merdare administrative crossing to be handed over to EULEX officials. “This is the final stage of the works conducted at the site for more than a year, at the instruction of Serbia’s War Crimes Prosecutor’s Office,” chairman of the Serbian government’s commission on missing persons Veljko Odalovic said. Another 24 human remains recovered at the site have been identified and will soon be prepared for the handover at the administrative crossing, in line with the procedure, he added. Odalovic underlined that great efforts, as well as material and human resources were employed, and that Serbia invested substantial funds in resolving this humanitarian issue. In this way Serbia has proved to be a responsible state, he stressed. “Families have the right to know what happened to their loved ones and who is responsible for the crimes. Nothing will be omitted. Everything was done in a transparent and professional manner,” said Odalovic. He recalled that 46 bodies were exhumed from the Rudnica 1 site, noting that “there will probably be some more” and added that nothing was found at two other sites. The identification of the bodies was conducted in Tuzla, he said, adding that the remains are handed over based on the certificates issued by the International Commission on Missing Persons. Chairman of the Pristina commission on missing persons Prenk Gjetaj confirmed that human remains were found only at the site Rudnica 1, but pointed to suspicions that more mass graves may exist in the area. Deputy War Crimes Prosecutor Dragoljub Stankovic confirmed that the information regarding the existence of mass graves at other sites is being verified. “The investigation will establish the circumstances surrounding the death of these people, whether it was a war crime or not, and how the bodies were transported here from the original location. Of course, if this is found to be a war crime, we will take action to identify the perpetrators and bring them to justice,” said Stankovic.

Ivanovic: EULEX needs “big fish” among the Serbs (Danas)

“My detention is a sanction measure, and not a security measure. The only goal is intimidation of the remaining Serbs, primarily those who are already on some public and secret warrants. They interrogated witnesses even though my lawyers and I had no clue who they were, meaning that we couldn’t have influenced them. Escape as the reason for extending detention is complete nonsense, the more so since the Serbian government has given guarantees that I will be available at any moment. These guarantees were sufficiently credible for the ICTY and for indicted Serbs of incomparably greater political significance, but not here. They want to demonstrate force, to break me morally and physically, to test the reactions of the Serbs in northern Kosovo and Metohija and to send a message: ‘This is what will happen to anyone who has his/her own opinion and doesn’t fit into the formed trend’,” the leader of the civic initiative “Serbia, Democracy, Justice” (SDP) Oliver Ivanovic tells Danas.

You claim that a “political process” is being conducted against you and that your “enemies are secret and powerful”. Do you know the reason for this and who stands behind this process?

“The main reason is that EULEX hasn’t managed to impose itself. From the very beginning of the mission it was torn over various instructions, political limitations, and changes in its performance. For example, EULEX obeys the Kosovo Constitution but holds the neutral stance. It inherited the weakness of all international missions in Kosovo, i.e. their efficiency depends on the situation and relations with the local population, which is composed 90 percent of Kosovo Albanians, which means neglecting or minimizing the Serbs, making false reports that will not be disputed by the majority, which has been going on since 1999 to this day, with honorable exceptions. The doctrine of creating an ethnic balance in the arrests and indictments only now comes to light. Ever since 2001, the Albanians have been demanding the departure of EULEX or its reduction to an advisory international mission, along with absolute ceding of executive powers. Instead, there appeared Dick Marty’s report, a special prosecution, and a special court with headquarters most probably in The Hague, while the KLA is mentioned in announcements. EULEX received an extension of the mandate for two more years, and maybe even longer. The trail to the Drenica group started, there are also arrests over criminal activities with the Schengen visas, several corruption affairs have been announced, and three mayors have been charged or indicted. That is why charges that EULEX is anti-Albanian, which will follow soon, needs to be minimized by arresting the ‘big fish among the Serbs’. Here I fit in perfectly – a complete change in the generations in politics among the Kosovo Serbs occurred after 2012, while there is already a story for me that could be heated up. My eventual indictment would take another 15 to 20 arrests; this can already be seen from the cases. That is disappointment, since we expected the foreigners to demonstrate standards that they are applying in their countries. We underestimated them a bit.”

REGIONAL PRESS

Vucic: Serbia will not interfere with elections in RS (Danas)

“Serbia will not be interfering with the electoral process in the Republika Srpska (RS) and will not express support to either side,” Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic told Danas. At the same time, the RS President Milorad Dodik has pointed he does not count with the support of official Belgrade. “In that respect, the position of the Serbian government is neutral. I expect the support of the people, that is, of the voters. I think that we have done everything to stabilize RS and the people appreciate that. I did not even consider inviting any Serbian leaders to the campaign events, but I think that they made it very clear that they do not want to interfere in any way with the electoral process in RS and that they would not accept such an invitation. We are perfectly content with the neutrality of the Serbian state leadership regarding the elections in B&H,” said Dodik.

Inzko: Elections can empower citizens in demands for reforms (Fena/Srna)

The general elections in October offer B&H citizens a chance to secure systematic and positive changes, High Representative Valentin Inzko said at an international conference in Maribor. “During the post-war recovery in B&H significant results were achieved, but far from being all over. Now these results could even be cancelled,” said Inzko. He said citizens responded to the growing financial and political crisis with bravery, dignity, and an exceptional degree of energy, and stressed that civil society, through civic demonstrations, plena, and examples of open and independent journalism, resolved obvious disadvantages – in terms of competence and ethics – in political life. Pointing to the fact that “B&H is not made up of a few political leaders, but rather four million well-educated and currently very disillusioned citizens,” the High Representative noted that citizens must be seriously consulted in a substantive sense. “Elections will be part of these discussions, but after the elections dialogue should be held with citizens as well,” concluded the High Representative. As the OHR said in a statement, the High Representative participated in the annual conference of the European Society for the Study of Ethical Issues, Societas Ethica.

Cooperation between UNDP and FB&H Environmental Protection Fund (Fena)

Representatives of the Environmental Protection Fund of the Federation of B&H and the UNDP signed the Agreement on co-financing of the project “Green Economic Development”, amounting to 3.78 million BAM. UNDP Resident Representative in B&H Yuri Afanasiev said that this cooperation was planned before the floods hit FB&H but that after that, together with representatives of the Fund and &the FB&H Prime Minister Nermin Niksic they agreed that part of the funds planned for cooperation get redirected to rehabilitate the consequences of floods. “The original goal of the cooperation was focused on activities in the field of energy efficiency and green economic development, but after the floods we have selected nine buildings in three cantons that will be renewed so that they will be even better than they were before the devastation, and most of them are educational institutions,” said Afanasiev. He thanked the EU, which has provided a significant portion of the funds, as well as the Director of the Environmental Protection Fund of FB&H Safet Harbinja on cooperation, for which he said it could serve as an example to other institutions. Harbinja said that for three years now since they have cooperated with UNDP, thanks to which they have established a database which at the end of the year will contain 550 buildings. “This year we decided to focus our activities on the flooded areas so that in the future we would have facilities that will consume less energy and therefore demand less budget fund,” said Harbinja. He thanked Afanasiev and his team, which was on the ground and has made a large contribution to the preparation of the project documentation and assessment of the damage. The UNDP and the EU secured 2.32 million BAM for rehabilitation of these nine buildings and the FB&H Environmental Protection Fund secured 1.55 million BAM.

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

Cyprus and Serbia set to enhance ties (Famagusta Gazette, 23 August, 2014)
Cyprus and Serbia have expressed readiness to enhance their relations in defence, economic, trade and financial sectors.
The two sides acknowledged at the same time the support Nicosia affords Serbia in its European Union accession course and Belgrade`s long standing solidarity with efforts to find a negotiated settlement that would reunite Cyprus.
The Cypriot Minister of Defence Christoforos Fokaides met his Serbian counterpart Bratislav Gašiæ, on Friday during his one-day visit to inspect the Serbian military contingent participating in United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP).
“Our people maintain a longstanding and traditional friendship, a fact which was demonstrated throughout the significant moments in our modern history. Our relations are based on strong historical ties of mutual trust and respect and joint interests. The common values that we share, define our course on a large array of issues of regional and international interest, with the aim at all times to promote peace, security and international law,” Fokaides said after the meeting, according to an official press release.
Serbia’s solidarity with the Republic of Cyprus, he pointed out, “is concretely expressed through the support provided to the ongoing efforts, to reach a just, viable and functional solution to the Cyprus problem, as well as through the invaluable participation in UNFICYP.”
He noted that with the recent assumption of Serbia’s accession negotiations to the EU, the country has entered a new era. Cyprus, he stressed, according to an official press release, strongly supports the European course of Serbia, encourages the alignment of Serbia to EU standards and hopes that accession to the European Union family will materialize as soon as possible.
“The excellent climate between our two countries was confirmed once again at todays’ meeting, whilst the joint conviction was expressed that our relations will be enhanced and strengthened even further. I would like to express on behalf of the Republic of Cyprus, our sincere appreciation and heartfelt gratitude towards the Republic of Serbia and its people, for their enduring support and close cooperation,” he concluded.
Expressing pleasure at his visit, Gašiæ said “Our political relations have always been friendly without open questions, whilst they have been grounded on mutual respect and cooperation.
Therefore my visit and call to my counterpart, to visit Serbia next year, constitutes proof that our relations will remain like this in the future.”
He recalled that the two governments have signed the Memorandum of Understanding and that by the end of this year, a new summit in Nicosia is expected to be organized. “In this framework, besides our bilateral cooperation, we will also improve our economic, trade and financial cooperation,” he added.
“My wish is that in the field of defence we will follow overall good relations. There is space for that. Namely, based on the existing results concerning our cooperation in military medicine and training, there is a possibility to improve military, economic, trade and financial cooperation,” the Serbian Minister said.
To this end, he explained, “we can also identify expert delegations from our two countries, which could be exchanged until the end of this year.”
He also noted that Cyprus and Serbia are partners and friends and most citizens of my country, would underline that we are brothers, since we assisted each other on many occasions in troubled times. “Therefore it is evident that we accomplished strategic goals in foreign policy together,” he said.
“The Republic of Cyprus is among the countries, which undoubtedly support Serbia on its path to EU membership. I can also highlight the support of Cyprus, when we speak about the preservation of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Serbia in Kosovo and Metohija. On the other hand, Serbia maintains a principled position as concerns the Cyprus question, because we consider that the solution of this issue must be based on the Resolutions of the United Nations Security Council,” he added.
In order to achieve this solution, agreement should be reached between the two communities.
Furthermore, the Minister referred to the members of the Serbian Armed Forces who have been contributing to the stability in Cyprus, saying that today 46 members of the Serbian Armed Forces are serving in UNFICYP. Thus, we contribute not just towards the preservation of peace, but also to the enhancement of security in the region and globally, he said.
Serbia Promises EU not to Get Rich off Russia’s Food Bans (Reuters, 22 August 2014)
Serbia said on Friday it would not subsidize exports to Russia, after the European Union urged the Balkan country — a candidate for accession to the bloc — not to exploit the Kremlin’s ban on Western food imports.
Serbian food producers hope to take advantage of the trade row but the West-Russia stand-off over Ukraine has put Serbian authorities in a tight spot, caught between their ambition to join the EU and economic and political ties with Russia.
Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said he had received an aide-memoire this week from an EU official in Belgrade calling on Serbia to refrain from boosting exports to Russia, as a matter of solidarity with the bloc.
Vucic told a news conference Serbia had not planned to subsidize exporters to Russia but also would not join the Western sanctions on Moscow.
As an EU candidate, Serbia is under pressure to bring its foreign policy into line with that of the 28-member bloc, which wants to make sure Russia feels the effects of the embargo.
“We won’t stop production or exports, but we won’t introduce new subsidies either,” Vucic said. “We will behave in line with the recommendation we received, but we will not introduce sanctions against Russia.”
“Our strategic path is the path to the EU, and because of Serbia and its citizens we must preserve good, friendly relations with Russia,” Vucic told reporters.
Some Serbian producers, particularly fruit farmers, have reported a spike in demand from Russia, but capacity is limited.
In 2013, just 7.2 percent, or about $65 million of Serbia’s total exports, went to Russia.
Russia this month banned all meat, fish, dairy, fruit and vegetable imports from the United States, the EU, Norway, Canada and Australia for one year in retaliation against Western sanctions on Moscow.
The West accuses the Kremlin of fomenting a pro-Russian separatist insurgency in Ukraine, a charge Moscow denies.
On Aug. 15, the EU said it expected candidate countries such as Serbia to “refrain from measures which are aimed at exploiting new trading opportunities arising from the introduction of these [Russian] measures”.
The bloc welcomed Vucic’s remarks on Friday.
“We welcome the attention the Serbian government pays to this issue and we appreciate the constructive approach as announced by the Prime Minister Vucic,” EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fule’s spokesman, Peter Stano, said.
Russia allows dairy imports from two Serbian firms (Reuters, 23 August 2014)
Russia has lifted a ban on dairy imports from two firms in Serbia, the government’s food health service said on Saturday, in an apparent attempt to woo the European Union membership candidate amid Moscow’s standoff with the West.
Earlier this month, Russia introduced a one-year embargo on meat, fish, dairy, fruit and vegetables from the United States, the EU, Canada, Australia and Norway, in retaliation for Western economic sanctions over the Ukraine conflict.
Moscow has been searching for new suppliers and has asked several countries, such as Brazil, to increase exports of food to Russia to offset the impact of the sanctions.
The veterinary and phytosanitary service Rosselkhoznadzor said on Saturday that it has included two Serbian firms in the list of the companies which are allowed to sell dairy produce to Russia and its Customs Union with Belarus and Kazakhstan.
It said the firms had previously been banned for unspecified breaches of food regulations on a recent, unspecified date.
The service has lifted the ban just as the EU has asked new candidates, including Serbia, not to exploit the Kremlin’s ban on Western food imports.
“Why now? Maybe the Serbs want to use the current situation and get into the (Russian) market as far as it can get,” a spokesman for the service told Reuters.
Some Serbian food producers, particularly fruit farmers, have reported a spike in demand from Russia, but capacity is limited. In 2013, just 7.2 percent of Serbia’s total exports worth some $65 million, went to Russia.
(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin; Editing by Stephen Powell)
Serbia Wants EU Membership and Russia’s Friendship: Rebuffs EU Demand For Sanctions on Russia (International Business News, by Kalyan Kumar, 25 August 2014)
Serbia has openly defied the diktat of the European Union to enforce sanctions against Russia and cut down food exports to that country.
Making Serbia’s stand clear, Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic ruled out any kind of sanctions on Russia. Associated Press reported that the Slavic country wanted to leverage the market opportunity stemming from Russia’s counter sanctions against the West by exporting more food into the Russian market.
Despite the talks with EU for a membership, Serbia increased food sales to Russia by 68 per cent in the first half of 2014, says the data from the Chamber of Commerce in Belgrade, reported Bloomberg.
EU Warning
Serbia approached the EU for a membership in January this year and the request is pending. The EU foreign ministers last week sounded out to all EU aspirants to refrain doing trade with Russia and adopting such measures in exploiting the new trading opportunities conditioned by the introduction of  trade curbs and sanctions imposed by the EU.
However, Prime Minister Alexander Vucic is unperturbed. He said his government would abide by the demands of EU in not subsidizing exports to Russia. At the same time, he will not stop Serbian companies from making deals with Russia.  Serbia hopes to take advantage of the situation and is looking to increase food exports to Russia from the current value of $170 million to $300 million.
Energy Concerns
On the Ukraine issue, Serbia has made clear that it respects Ukraine’s territorial integrity and condemns Russia’s annexation of Crimea. But imposing sanctions against Russia would be disastrous for the economy, because Serbia’s energy needs are heavily met by the supplies from Russia’s Gazprom.
Though Serbia’s strategic goal is to become a member of the European Union, Serbia will not like to sacrifice its good relations with the Russian Federation. The Serbian Prime Minister asserted that friendly relations with Russia are in the best interests of his country.
Playing Two Pianos
In a report the Economist magazine compared Serbia’s stand as playing two pianos at a time. On the one side of Serbia is Angela Merkel, Germany’s chancellor and at the other end is Vladimir Putin.
The US and the EU slapped sanctions on Russia in the aftermath of the Ukranian crisis and MH17plane tragedy. As a result, the banks and major industries of Russia are facing an economic blockade from the west. Russia too responded with its own sanctions prohibiting import of food products from its western rivals

Jihad ‘Made in Kosovo’ (DW, 25 August 2014)

Over the span of two days, 43 Islamic extremists were arrested in Kosovo. Dozens more are under watch, both at home and in the Middle East. As fears of terror attacks grow, Kosovo is clamping down.

The act that triggered the largest police action in Kosovo since the war in 1999 was terrible and barbaric. The Kosovar jihadist Lavdrim Muhaxeri posted before and after photos of the beheading of a 19-year-old in Syria, where the jihadist is currently fighting for the Islamic State (IS). Those images were published in nearly every Kosovo newspaper and Internet portal and sparked outrage and deep shock among Kosovars.

The president of Europe’s youngest nation, Atifete Jahjaga, immediately announced her response. “Kosovo will be no safe haven for terrorists,” she said.

Fear of terrorist attacks

An exact count of the number of Kosovar extremists and terrorists in Syria and Iraq does not exist. The Kosovo police estimate the number could be between 100 and 200. It is only known officially that in the last few weeks at least 16 bodies from Iraq and Syria were returned to Kosovo. It is also alleged that there could be a few hundred radical extremists within Kosovo.

“Over the last few weeks, we have arrested 43 suspected extremists. We are in the middle of the investigation, but there are more arrests expected to be made in the next few days,” Kosovo police spokesperson Baki Kelani told DW.

Kosovo media report that at least 56 further suspects will be arrested shortly.

“The security situation in Kosovo is stable,” Kelani said, adding that the danger posed by terrorists can never be fully ruled out. “The police and other security structures in Kosovo are in the position to ensure order and security in the country.”

There is growing fear in Kosovo and Albania of possible attacks by radical Islamists and terrorists. According to Kosovar media, there were threats of a possible Islamist terrorist attack during the film festival “Dokufest,” which ran for ten days in late August in the city of Priyren, home to a military base for 700 German soldiers.

Uninvited “guests”

Islam has more than 500 years of history in Kosovo. More than 90 percent of the 1.8 million residents of the country are Muslim – nearly all of them Sunni. Prior to the 1999 war in Kosovo, there were 560 mosques; today there are nearly 700 Muslim houses of worship.

The Islamic community of Kosovo (Bashkesia Islame e Kosoves – BIK) is very well organized. “With full responsibility I say, ‘We have all mosques and imams under control,'” said the the chairman of BIK, Naim Trnava, in an interview with DW.

Still, he says, there are many “guests” coming in from the outside because the country’s border is very open.

“After the war, anyone could come and go as he pleased. This is the reason a part of our youth have been indoctrinated,” Trnava said.

Analyst Haki Abayi, chairman of the Rockefeller Brothers Foundation in Prishtina, believes the difficult economic situation has made youth particularly vulnerable to radical Islamic propaganda. The unemployment rate in Kosovo is estimated to be 40 percent, and many people live in poverty, without prospects of improving their situation.

Foreign influence

The unemployment situation leaves many vulnerable to Arab countries’ influence. Since the Kosovo war in 1998-9, Arab countries have established and funded many NGOs in Kosovo. According to recent media reports, the newly-estabished organizations have received more than 25 million euros ($33 million) of financial assistance from Libya, Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia alone. Security agencies believe, however, that these organizations could be funding radical extremist groups.

Kosovo police arrest a man alleged to have fought for Islamists in Syria and Iraq

Moreover, in Kosovo there were, until a short while ago, four so-called houses of worship – privately-rented houses – that served as places of prayer. Islamic community chairman Trnava believes radical groups and their supporters assembled there. This is likely the reason police recently closed one of these houses in Prishtina.

That closure is part of the “uncompromising fight” the government of Kosovo has declared against all extremists.

“In Kosovo there will be no place for extremism, radicalism, and terrorism. Kosovo is a free and independent country that will, with the help of the European Union and the USA, continue to fight for good and against evil,” Prime Minister Hashim Thaci told DW.
Bosnia Salafi Leader ‘Appeals to Youths to Join Isis’ (International Business Times UK, by Gianluca Mezzofiore, 25 August 2014)
The leader of the Salafi movement in Bosnia Herzegovina, one of the largest Islamist communities in the country, has called on young Muslims to join the ranks of Isis (known as the Islamic State) in Iraq and Syria.
Bilal Bosnic was filmed in the area of Cazinska Krajina in northwestern Bosnia preaching beneath an Isis black flag that “the truth and the Islamic State survive despite so many attacks of those who are confused and those who fight against the truth”. He then urged fellow Muslims to join the jihadists fighting to establish a caliphate between Syria and Iraq.
But when interviewed by the Avaz news site, the cleric retracted his comments, claiming that journalists misinterpreted his words.
Hundreds of Muslims from Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Bosnia are reported to have gone to pursue jihad in Syria and Iraq.
At the end of July, a leading Albanian jihadist fighting in Syria posted photos of himself on social media in which he beheads a young man who he claims was a spy. A recent IS video showed a Kosovo jihadist along with other Balkans fighters destroying their passports after vowing to extend the caliphate to Rome and Spain.
Salafism was imported in Bosnia during the 1992-1995 Bosnian War with Saudi financing. A fringe and marginalised movement, it is nonetheless very vocal and organised, with websites, Facebook pages and public gatherings.
Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims) have become increasingly frustrated in the country for economic, social and political reasons. Radical Islamists have exploited the frustration among the youths to foster the appeal of Sharia law.
The other leader of Bosnia’s Wahhabi community, Nusret Imamovic, was reported as saying to a crowd of 500 people in Tuzla earlier this week: “Unlike secularism and democracy, we say there is only one truth – law of Allah and Shari’a,” according to Radio Free Liberty/Radio Europe. He was joined by Bosnic who criticised democracy with harsh words.
Many Bosniak fighters reportedly joined the al-Qaeda affiliated al-Nusra front in Syria in the struggle against Assad. In June, Bosnia passed a law to ban their citizens fighting in foreign wars. Joining jihad now constitutes criminal offence in the country with 10 years in jail, and Kosovo is reported to planning to implement the same.
According to some estimates, about 50 young men travelled to Syria from Bosnia and 32 have already come back.
The Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG) called Islamism and nationalism in Bosnia “a dangerous tango”, although Wahhabist movements in the country are still “small and fragmented”.
Vukovar Battle Anniversary Highlights Croatia Divisions (BIRN, by Josip Ivanovic, 25 August 2014)
As Croatian war veterans commemorate victims of the longest battle of the 1991-95 conflict, ethnic tensions in war-traumatised Vukovar remain troubled after a campaign to limit Serb minority rights.
The official commemoration on Monday of the 23rd anniversary of the start of the 87-day long battle of Vukovar, which saw the Yugoslav Army and Serbian paramilitaries lay siege to the Croatian city and shell it to rubble, comes after more than a year of tensions, protests and political disputes.
A campaign for a referendum aimed at limiting ethnic minorities’ rights was launched in November last year by the Headquarters for the Defence of Croatian Vukovar, a group led by war veterans angered by the installation of bilingual signs on official buildings in Croatian Latin and Serbian Cyrillic in the city.
The Headquarters also led street protests last year which saw some veterans smashing the bilingual signs as soon as they were installed – rallies which caused unease among Vukovar’s Serb minority, who make up more than a third of the local population.
Croatia’s constitutional court this month vetoed the referendum because the proposed changes would undermine constitutionally guaranteed human rights, but the Headquarters says it will now take its case to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.“Sometimes too many rights can be a bad thing,” the campaign group’s legal specialist Vladimir Iljkic told BIRN. “For example, when you give a child the right to be in charge of something. A balance needs to be found.”
The Headquarters argues that even 23 years after the siege, the situation in Vukovar remains too emotionally sensitive for the introduction of Serbian script on official buildings. The move was just “an unsuccessful demographic experiment” by the government, Iljkic said.
He also denied that the Headqurters’ campaign had any negative influence on inter-ethnic relations in the city.
“Residents of Vukovar, both Serbs and Croats, showed great maturity when the government with its unreasonable politics interrupted the hard-won peace [by insisting on installing the bilingual signs],” he said.
But Croatia’s veterans minister Predrag Matic expressed concern that the dispute had raised ethnic tensions in Vukovar, saying that all sides had suffered as a result.
Such divisions “cannot bring any good”, he said on Sunday at a commemoration at the memorial cemetery in Vukovar for those who died during what Croatia calls the ‘Homeland War’.
Biljana Gaca, a 24-year old peace activist in Vukovar, insisted however that the majority of locals are not prejudiced, and argued that the campaign for the referendum was not launched by ordinary people, but “by political elites who took advantage of strong emotions” for their own ends.
“The residents of Vukovar would work together perfectly, as they did in a multicultural environment before the [1991-95] war, if it wasn’t for the external elements that examine us as if we were some kind of fishes inside an aquarium,” she said.
But Slobodan Jakovljevic, the president of a local Serb victims’ association, Against Oblivion, said he believed that the anti-Cyrillic campaign had stirred up problems and caused inter-ethnic relations to deteriorate.
“The Headquarters makes this poor life in Vukovar even harder for people who desperately want to live a normal life,” he told BIRN.
Jakovljevic’s father was one of the first civilian casualties of the conflict in Vukovar, murdered at his house on June 29, 1991. He said that Serb civilian casualties were being ignored and war crimes committed in the area by both sides had not been adequately prosecuted.
“So far, we gathered 64 cases of civilians who were killed or went missing in the area [Syrmia, Slavonia and Baranja] before the battle of Vukovar. Many other cases of murder or disappearance were recorded during the battle. Still there was not a single conviction in these cases when the victims were Serbs,” he said.
Veselinka Kastratovic, a trial monitor at the Centre for Peace, Non-Violence and Human Rights, an NGO in Osijek, also assessed the prosecution of war crimes in Vukovar as inadequate.
She said that 68 Vukovar war crimes trials had been opened, but many more remained unprosecuted.
“Field research conducted in the Vukovar municipality proved that there are a lot of unrevealed war crimes in almost every settlement in the area. Both Croats and Serbs were killed even before the battle of Vukovar, in late spring and early summer 1991,” she said.
She cited the killings of Croatian civilians by Serb forces in nearby villages like Bogdanovci, which remain uninvestigated 23 years later.
“On the day when Bogdanovci was captured by Serb forces and on the following day, civilians were killed in basements or executed on the streets. In Bogdanovci, several mass graves were discovered containing the bodies of civilians and Croatian soldiers,” she said.
As Croatians in Vukovar commemorate the anniversary of the start of the battle that saw the city destroyed, allegations about flawed justice, discrimination and political insensitivity mean that the legacy of the violence of 1991 will continue to cast a shadow over everyday life in the city for some time to come.
Macedonia goes neo-classical – or is it just going kitsch? (Christian Science Monitor, by Kit Gillet, 24 August 2014)
Some say Macedonia’s ‘branding’ blitz, which has sown the country with statues and colonnades, alienates its Albanian population by glossing over their role in its history
Skopje, Macedonia — Walking along the bank of the River Vardar, Sashko Nikoleski points to some of the scores of new statues and neoclassical buildings that are now crammed into the Macedonian capital.
“I love these new statues. It’s our history and heritage,” he says.
Since 2010, the small republic of Macedonia, population 2.1 million, has been busy working on a redevelopment project that is literally remaking the heart of its capital. The plan is to turn the city from a forgotten corner of Europe into a cultural center that harks back to the glory days of Alexander the Great.
Over the last four years, towering new statues and imposing civic and governmental buildings have gone up, many featuring huge colonnades and other neoclassical touches. Center stage goes to a 72-feet-high statue of Alexander the Great, encircled by warriors and a fountain that performs a nightly light show. Across the Vardar, a statue of Philip of Macedonia, arm raised, stares back across the river. A €12 million ($16 million) Ferris wheel, reminiscent of the London Eye, is due to follow.
The project, named Skopje 2014 and set to be completed later this year, has been controversial from the start. Greece believes its northern neighbor is trying to usurp its history. In Macedonia, many view the project’s aesthetic as kitsch and wasteful in a country where 30 percent of people live below the poverty line. And perhaps most troubling of all, Macedonia’s ethnic Albanian population feels their contribution to Macedonian history is being brushed aside.
“Skopje 2014 is very divisive on ethnic and nationalistic lines, but also among most Macedonians,” says Saso Ordanoski, a political analyst and professor at the South East European University in Skopje. “There is a whole complexity to our nation identity, and this project is part of a populist kind of dream of Macedonia being one of the oldest nations.”
What’s in a name?
Since gaining independence in 1991, Macedonia has struggled with its identity, right down to its choice of names. Greece has long claimed the name Macedonia as its own, referring to an area of northern Greece. So the country is officially the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM).
Some have seen Skopje 2014 as a way to confound Greece, as well as to try to bring more attention and tourists to the country by linking it strongly to Alexander the Great and other ancient warriors.
But Macedonia’s myth-building may have a downside. “The feared consequence of Skopje 2014 is that its product will render ‘Macedonia‘ a negative brand, at best recognized as kitsch, at worst recognized as essentially inauthentic and counterfeit,” wrote University of Virginia anthropologist Andrew Graan in a recent report.
Another major concern is cost: While officials say the budget is €200 million ($267 million), critics like Mr. Ordanoski claim that overall costs are likely to exceed €500 million ($668 million).
Ethnic tensions
The project has also contributed to simmering tensions between the Macedonian and ethnic Albanian populations. Last December, ethnic Albanians damaged a recently completed statue of Czar Dusan, an medieval ruler who Albanians see an oppressor. Many ethnic Albanians, who make up a quarter of the population, object to the single national narrative being promoted by the project and its lack of Albanian representatives.
“We don’t like any of this. We feel we are being pushed aside, like we are second class citizens,” says Jeton Iseni, an ethnically Albanian student, sitting among the new statues.
In late May, six people were injured and 27 arrested in riots apparently triggered by the arrest of an ethnic Albanian Muslim for killing a bike thief of the majority Orthodox Christian population. In July, police clashed with protestors following the conviction of six ethnic Albanians over the deaths of five Christian fishermen back in 2012.
As Skopje 2014 nears completion, it continues to divide Macedonia over its cultural legacy and role in society. “The new area is just about making money – it isn’t anything about culture,” says one older merchant in the Old Bazaar, the heart of the former Ottoman city, dismissing the new development. “That is one thing, this is another.”
Mr. Nikoleski disagrees. “Skopje 2014 will be great for Macedonia,” he says. “With cheap flights and this new development more and more people will visit here and see our own culture.”