LOCAL PRESS

Djuric: Belgrade for a strong Serb community (Tanjug/RTS/Beta)

The Head of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Marko Djuric conveyed to the representatives of the Working Party on Enlargement and Countries Negotiating Accession to the EU Serbia’s wish for all elements of the Brussels agreement to be implemented and for the Serb community in the province to be economically self-sustaining and politically strong. Djuric said he had conveyed his interlocutors that Serbia is ready to present in a transparent way what it finances in Kosovo and Metohija and that it will not give up this financing, Tanjug reports. “I conveyed EU representatives that Serbia wants the elements of the Brussels agreement to be implemented so in several-years we can have a long-term stable Serb community in Kosovo and Metohija,” Djuric told the press. He said he told his interlocutors that “this goal could not be achieved until the issue of property in Kosovo and Metohija, both private and public, and the issue of 247,000 expelled and internally displaced people is resolved”. According to him, Belgrade wants the Brussels dialogue to continue with topics on the issue of property and protection of the Serbian Orthodox Church and cultural heritage. Djuric says it is necessary to reach a comprehensive agreement that would protect the Serbian Orthodox Church since “it is not the same whether some monastery will be renovated by the Serbian Orthodox Church or by some ministry in Pristina”. “We want the Serb List to participate in a government that will be turned towards the dialogue.”  Djuric added that Belgrade’s position is that the dialogue must be continued – but not as a conversation between two countries, as some would like, and not as negotiations prejudging the status of Kosovo, but rather as a dialogue that will lead to the normalization of relations and improvement of living conditions.

Djuric: Without political pressure on Serbs (Beta)

The Head of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Marko Djuric called the Kosovo authorities to have understanding towards the families of those who are on trial for political activities. He talked in Zubin Potok with the families of arrested Serbs and assessed that “it is important there is no political pressure on people who voiced their political stand in the region of the Zubin Potok municipality”. “It is very important for the international organizations that received the mandate to maintain the rule of law not to be perceived by Serbs as a lever of pressure on them,” said Djuric. He said that “the situation in northern Kosovo and Metohija cannot be normal in regard to the rule of law, implementation of laws and general security of citizens and property until courts and prosecutions with a Serb majority are established in accordance with the Brussels agreement”. “There can be no replacement for the existence of judicial institutions that are comprised of Serbs, of people who have been in the judiciary for decades, who know the problems in northern Kosovo and Metohija,” said Djuric. He said that the state would insist on people in northern Kosovo not to be persecuted anymore and exposed to political pressure. “As long as there are people here who are concerned about the fate of their loved ones because they took part in political activities, we cannot have a stable community in northern Kosovo or a normal atmosphere needed to form the institutions which we have started to establish. The situation where tension, concern and feeling of being the victims of injustice are predominant among Kosovo Serbs, can only be overcome if those responsible for the rule of law show understanding for the sensitive circumstances in northern Kosovo,” said Djuric.

Kurti conducting the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue (Danas)

A representative of the Self-Determination Movement, led by Albin Kurti, will be conducting the technical dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina in the future. That is part of the agreement that was signed yesterday between the post-election coalition of opposition parties, led by the candidate for the Kosovo prime minister Ramush Haradinaj, and the Self-Determination Movement. Thus, conditions have been acquired for forming the new Kosovo government and for the election of Isa Mustafa, the leader of the Democratic Alliance of Kosovo, as the assembly speaker. The agreement was supported by the delegates of the Serb (Srpska) list in the Kosovo Assembly. That means the present Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaqi and his Democratic Party of Kosovo will remain in the opposition. Item 5 of the agreement that refers to the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue states that the signatories advocate a good quality dialogue that will be based on well-prepared principles that will be oriented and focused on issues that are in the interest of the Republic of Kosovo, and a dialogue that will be based on reciprocity and respect of territorial integrity and sovereignty. “The signatories of the agreement will always harmonize in regard to issues that will be considered in the dialogue. The dialogue is the responsibility of the government and the government will elect a person from Self-Determination who will conduct the dialogue,” reads the agreement. Even though Serbia is not mentioned anywhere, it is implied that the talks will be conducted between Belgrade and Pristina. However, Kurti told a press conference that the dialogue will be conducted only with the EU and the European Commission, and Kosovo Serbs. “The accent of the agreement is economic development, Kosovo’s integration and social agreement. The dialogue will be conducted only with the EU and EC, as well as with the Kosovo Serbs towards their integration into our society. As of today, great changes are starting in Kosovo. We will not have a Thaqi 3 government, but a new government where the citizens of the Republic will be in the focus of attention. Everything is clear in the agreement,” said Kurti. Journalists asked the future prime minister designate Ramush Haradinaj how a government with the Serb list and Self-Determination will function. “We started on 10 June a joint project with Self-Determination with one goal ‘No to Thaqi 3 government’. We made great progress with this agreement. At the same time, we agreed for ethnic communities to take responsibility as it is written in the Kosovo constitution and to be part of the Kosovo institutions. We welcome the Serb list for being with us. Our interest is their integration,” said Haradinaj.

Serb MPs once again to support Isa Mustafa for Kosovo Assembly speaker (Politika)

The leader of the Serb list Aleksandar Jablanovic confirmed for Politika that the Serb MPs will support Isa Mustafa for the Kosovo Assembly speaker, stressing this is a vote to the candidate who has majority in the assembly. Asked whether this means the Serb list is giving a vote to Haradinaj, and that it turned its back to Thaqi, Jablanovic said: “No, we are not giving a vote to Haradinaj, but to the opposition block that has majority in the assembly and with which we had realized cooperation right after the early parliamentary elections.” MP of the Self-Determination Movement Ilir Deda tells Politika that ten Serb MPs, as well as nine MPs of minority communities also support the Albanian political bloc. Deda could not confirm the information that a Self-Determination member will be the main negotiator in the dialogue with Belgrade, but stressed the newly-formed parliamentary commission will examine all past phases of the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, and all agreements so far reached “must be in accord with European achievements, and everything will have to pass the Venice Commission whose member is Kosovo”.

REGIONAL PRESS

Radulj: Revise voter lists (Srna)

Deputy B&H Justice Minister Srdjan Radulj said that registering huge number of deceased citizens for voting outside B&H is a flagrant violation of the Election Law and is proof that individuals are using election fraud to gain unjustified advantage. “This is proof that the B&H Election Law should be revised and that norms should be determined as precisely as possible in order to prevent electoral engineering,” Radulj told Srna. He commended members of the B&H Electoral Commission and their associates who determined irregularities in these registrations, and expressed the conviction that 632 registrations, which were determined to be irregular, is not a final number. Radulj said that voter lists should be revised so that such situations will not be repeated in the future. He called on all citizens to report irregularities in connection with the elections and thus contribute in very real terms to making the elections fully democratic. “Democratic and fair elections are something that makes B&H a part of contemporary political systems, but such behavior jeopardizes the election process and deserves the severest punishment,” Radulj said. He said that distorting the will of B&H citizens by illegal means by anyone must be prevented. “I expect the B&H Prosecutor’s Office to find the perpetrators and punish them in keeping with the law as soon as possible,” Radulj said. He said that the Central Electoral Commission in the past rightfully pointed out shortcomings in the Law, but despite this there was no agreement among MPs on just what changes to the Law to make. “After these elections are over, the Law should be analyzed in full and amendments should be adopted so that the next local elections would not be conducted in keeping with the present law,” Radulj said. The B&H Central Electoral Commission has forwarded to the B&H Prosecutor’s Office irregular registrations for voting outside B&H. On 2 September, the Central Electoral Commission concluded that competent services in the Commission should forward to the B&H Prosecutor’s Office registrations for voting outside B&H where irregularities are determined. These are registrations for voting by dead persons, registrations filed by the same person but with different addresses in one country, and registrations by the same person with different addresses in two or more countries.

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

Kosovo Opposition Hand Serbia Talks to Nationalists (BIRN, by Nektar Zogjani, 10 September 2014) 

Four political parties aspiring to form the new government in Kosovo have handed management of the crucial EU-led talks with Serbia to the nationalistic Levizja Vetevendosja party – well known for its opposition to the dialogue.

A coalition agreement reached between four opposition parties that aim to form a government in Kosovo has assigned management of the EU-led dialogue with Serbia to the nationalist Levizja Vetevendosje [Self-Determination Movement] party.

The agreement was reached on Wednesday between Levizja Vetevendosje and a three-party coalition established after the June general election – the Democratic League of Kosovo, LDK, the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, AAK, and the Initiative for Kosovo.

According to the deal, “the Kosovo Government will appoint a member from Levizja Vetevendosje to run the dialogue [with Serbia].”

The talks between the three-party bloc and Levizja Vetevendosje have been going on for three months.

However, Vetevendosje’s demand to take charge of the dialogue with Serbia delayed the signing of a coalition agreement.

The terms of the agreement have clearly unsettled Kosovo’s foreign allies. The EU Special Representative in Kosovo and the heads of mission of the EU member states issued a joined statement emphasising the importance of the dialogue.
“We reiterate the great importance of a constructive and result-oriented continuation of the EU-facilitated dialogue at the political and technical levels, leading to a comprehensive normalisation of relations with Serbia,” they said in a statement.

Levizja Vetevendosje is well known for organising noisy protests against dialogue with Serbia, castigating agreements reached in the talks, mediated by the European Union, as a sellouts.

The party maintains that Serbia must first recognise the independence of Kosovo, proclaimed in 2008, before any talks on normalisation of relations continue.

This agreement comes only two days before the constituent session of the assembly, when a new speaker may be elected. The Constitutional Court of Kosovo earlier annulled the election of a candidate put forward by the three-party bloc.

Three months on from the general election, the election of the speaker is a matter of urgency in order to proceed with the election of a new government.

The court gave the chance to elect a speaker to the largest parliamentary party, the Democratic Party of Kosovo, PDK. But it is not clear whether the PDK can muster the 61 needed votes it needs to do so.

The opposition coalition parties have made it clear that they will not vote for a PDK candidate and will again nominate their own candidate for the post of the speaker. Thus, the political deadlock created after June 8 elections, could continue.

Croatia ‘Proposed Population Swap’ With Serbia, Says Seselj (BIRN, by Marija Ristic, 10 September 2014)

Wartime Croatian President Franjo Tudjman, not Serbian politicians, proposed that the two republics exchange part of their populations, Serb nationalist leader Vojislav Seselj told the Hague Tribunal.

Seselj, the head of the Serbian Radical Party, told the trial of Croatian Serb leader Goran Hadzic at the Hague Tribunal on Wednesday that Zagreb’s wartime president Tudjman was the man behind the idea of “humane resettlement” – an exchange of populations between Serbia and Croatia.

“Tudjman advocating the idea first, then after that it was accepted by [Serb leader Dobrica] Cosic. All the time it was a civilized idea to exchange populations, but this proposal was coming mostly from the Croatian side,” Seselj told the UN-backed court.

“I only started advocating that idea in 1992, when around 300,000 refugees came to Serbia. When Serbia was swamped with refugees, I suggested a population exchange as one of the solutions,” he explained.

The Serbian Radical Party chief was testifying in Hadzic’s defence but is himself also on trial in The Hague for alleged war crimes in the former Yugoslavia.

According to the indictment, Hadzic and Seselj were part of a joint criminal enterprise seeking the “permanent removal of the Croat and other non-Serb population from large parts of the Republic of Croatia” during the war. As a result of this, thousands of Croats fled Serb-controlled areas.

But during the trial, Hadzic and many of his defence witnesses claimed that Croats left by themselves. Some also said that this happened as a result of a settlement agreed with Croat forces.

During Wednesday’s session Seselj confirmed that President Slobodan Milosevic supported the idea of having volunteers from the Serbian Radical Party fighting as part of the Yugoslav army.

“He gave us a whole military barracks for training… If he was against this, he would have prevented us,” Seselj said.

“Serbia was supporting and financing the whole army system, and Milosevic was representing the Serbian regime as president,” he added.

The indictment alleges that Hadzic and Seselj worked with various other Serb forces, including the Yugoslav People’s Army to achieve their goals in Croatia.

Speaking about the connections between Hadzic and the notorious paramilitary leader Zeljko Raznatovic, alias Arkan, Seselj said that the two men’s contacts were initiated by Arkan, not Hadzic.

“I know there were a lot of photos of them together. But Arkan was having pictures taken with everyone, and no one could say or do anything against him,” Seselj explained.

“He used to come to government sessions, just came in and sat down and no one could do anything,” he added.

According to the indictment against Hadzic, Arkan was also part of the joint criminal enterprise, and his paramilitary unit coordinated its military actions with the Croatian Serb leader.

Hadzic however has denied having any power or command over Arkan. The paramilitary boss never faced trial despite being indicted by the Hague Tribunal because he was killed in 2000 in Belgrade.

Seselj has been on trial for war crimes since 2003, when he voluntarily surrendered to the UN-backed court in The Hague. His verdict was scheduled for October last year, but it was postponed after one of the judges in the trial was removed for alleged bias. It is still not clear when it will be delivered.

The trial of Hadzic continues on Thursday.

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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.