LOCAL PRESS
Serbia expects assistance and support from Hahn (RTS/Beta)
Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic says that he expects assistance and support from the EU Commissioner for Regional Policy Johannes Hahn, and that he is convinced that they will have good cooperation. The Serbian Prime Minister says he didn’t request from Hahn for the EU to enable the opening of negotiations with Serbia before the end of the year or before any date, Beta reports. “For us the key thing is for Serbia to continue to do its job, and it’s on the EU to estimate when we have fulfilled these conditions, when will we open Chapters 32, 25, 23 and 24,” Vucic told a joint press conference with Hahn at the Serbian government. Vucic pointed out that he wants to see the toughest chapters of the accession talks be opened at the start, adding that Serbia has done a very good job on the expert level. Vucic said he had reiterated in talks with the EU Commissioner Hahn Serbia’s stand on the relationship towards the Ukrainian crisis and Russia, this being that Serbia pursues a policy in the interest of its citizens. “Once again before all of you I wish to say what I had been repeating before everyone and at every place, I speak the same in Moscow, Washington, Brussels, Belgrade and Kosovska Mitrovica or any other place. Everything I said about Serbia’s policy, on its EU path and its relationship towards Russia I also said before Vladimir Putin and Hahn. We don’t have three or two policies,” said Vucic. He repeated that EU is Serbia’s strategic goal, that it respects the territorial integrity of Ukraine but that it will not impose sanctions on Russia. “Mr. Hahn was very kind and did not insist on the issue as much as I did, since I wanted to make the position of Serbia clear, as I did on many occasions before,” Vucic said. The EU commissioner said that he did not address this issue proactively as he has followed very closely the statements, declarations and the attitude of Prime Minister Vucic regarding the Ukrainian crisis, and that “this is another good example why Serbia should finally become a member of the European family”. Hahn said that Vucic made it “crystal clear” today that Serbia’s path is a path towards the European Union. Of course, some changes in the society still need to be made but that it is the reason why “the negotiations take a certain time”, Hahn said. He expressed certainty that in the coming weeks or months, Serbia will open the first chapter in the EU accession talks, adding that usually the first to be opened are Chapters 23 and 24 referring to the rule of law, judiciary and basic rights. “This is actually a new methodology which we started to implement with Serbia and Montenegro. It is our goal to ensure that a new member state joins the EU in its full capacity rather than just formally, Hahn said. The statement by European Commission President Jean Claude Junker at the start of his term of office that there will be no further enlargement of the EU in the coming five years caused concern, but the fact that an Austrian official is appointed as enlargement commissioner indicates that the EU is committed to this process which stands as a great challenge,” Hahn said.
Drecun: Question is how much power Serbia has (B92)
Kosovo’s seat in the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is the defeat of sport from politics, the Chairman of the Serbian parliamentary Committee for Kosovo and Metohija Milovan Drecun. He says this is the result of the lobbying of the Pristina institutions and “million sums”, and asked what Serbia was doing regarding this he responds with the question “how much power Serbia has”. “The question is whether we can allow this. We are opposing this, undertaking very intensive diplomatic activities, but the question is whether we have enough power,” Drecun told B92. He says that it is clear who is more influential in the IOC – Serbia or the group of states headed by the USA. Drecun says Pristina is everywhere “breaking through and trying to show some statehood”. An example for something like that is Edita Tahiri’s statement on alleged recognition of Kosovo passports in Serbia. “Tahiri is monitoring what the regime in Tirana is doing, and then she gives statements that deceive the public. There is no recognition and these are her statements whereby she deceives the public and people around her,” said Drecun. He explained that the story on Kosovo passports “is non-important for him” and that he is not interested in it since at issue is “a non-important piece of paper”. “Serbian citizens who live in Kosovo can receive at the administrative crossings, with an ID issued by the provisional institutions in Pristina, a certificate on identity. With this paper they can leave the country at the border crossing,” said Drecun. He noted that this shows there is no story on the Kosovo passport. “The fact that when someone leaves the country and shows something else, well, let them show whatever they want,” said Drecun.
Kosovo Serbs preparing to file charges against Dacic (Beta)
Representatives of the opposition parties in northern Kosovo requested the Serbian Constitutional Court to pass as soon as possible the decision on the constitutionality of the dissolving of four municipalities in northern Kosovo and announced criminal charges against Ivica Dacic over the signing of the Brussels agreement. “We are requesting the Serbian Constitutional Court to perform its function and respond to our appeal on what legal basis are provisional councils organized and why there are still in power even though their mandate had expired two times,” the deputy president of the provisional Kosovo Assembly Dobrosav Dobric told a press conference in Belgrade. This assembly is mostly comprised of deputies of four dissolved assemblies of the northern Kosovo municipalities, but the Serbian government doesn’t recognize them. Dobric announced that at some of the following sessions of the Kosovo Assembly they will launch a petition for filing criminal charges against Dacic for, as he put it, “national high treason” committed by signing the Brussels agreement on 19 April 2013 in Brussels. The representatives of the Kosovo Assembly requested the Serbian parliament speaker Maja Gojkovic to slate elections for four northern Kosovo municipalities. “We wonder what her role is and why isn’t she proceeding in accordance with the law,” said Dobric. Member of the Presidency of the Kosovo Assembly Radenko Nedeljkovic noted that the Serbian Interior Ministry has completely withdrew from Kosovo and added that this will also be done soon by the Ministry for State Administration and Local Self-Administration, and the Justice Ministry.
Attempts of Kosovo authorities to illegally privatize Brezovica ski center (Novosti)
Following numerous illegal privatizations and plundering of Serbian property, the technical government in Pristina has hastily tried to usurp illegally the ski center on Mt. Brezovica. Without the consent and permit of the Serbian side, underway is an attempt of privatization, while Kosovo Serb representatives point out that the examination of the French-Andorran company, which is interested in the concession of this ski center, has official commenced. Novosti has learned that Kosovo businessman Bexhet Pacoli most probably stands behind this company. “Almost two years ago an inter-ministerial group (comprised of several ministers from the government of Hashim Thaqi) launched, without our permission and consent, the privatization of the ski center. The tender was announced through the American Deloitte firm that deals with consulting and services and four firms registered for the tender, including the Serbian MK grupa firm. Following the conducted procedure, only the French-Andorran corporation remained and it should allegedly invest around 400 million Euros in Brezovica,” the Director of the Brezovica ski center Sladjan Nikolcevic says. “We hope to receive assistance from the Serb MPs in the Kosovo Assembly, the mayor of the Strpce municipality, who is the only one who has the right to veto, but we also expect the international community to react and prevent illegal privatization in Kosovo and Metohija,” says Nikolcevic. He notes that the ski center was established as a dependent public company by the Serbian government, i.e. the Ineks inter-eksport Belgrade company that invested 85 percent of capital and the Skijalista Srbije (Ski Resorts of Serbia) that has, although with less invested capital, the majority stake, i.e. 51 percent of the management of the company. The ski center owns 300 acres of land on Mt. Brezovica and in Strpce, three hotels, four restaurants, five ropeways and the same number of ski lifts, as well as the auxiliary machinery, and there are 178 employees. In April this year, the Serbian government, i.e. the Economy Ministry set aside 12 million Dinars for the ski center, while the Office for Kosovo and Metohija provided 18 million Dinars for the reconstruction.
Sertic: Citizens support reforms in Serbia (Tanjug)
Serbian Economy Minister Zeljko Sertic has said at a conference dedicated to Serbia’s EU integration that painful cuts and reforms lie ahead, but that he has no doubt that Serbian citizens realize how necessary they are. Citizens are aware that there is a backlog of problems from the past, and that tough measures are needed to resolve them, Sertic said at a conference titled “Serbia and EU -state of play” that was held at the European Parliament on Wednesday evening.
Sertic pointed to a high budget deficit of 7-8 percent of GDP and an excess of 30 percent in the number of public sector employees as the main challenges facing Serbia. We have let problems pile up for years and we have initiated serious reforms only recently, as of this year, Sertic said at the meeting that was organized by Head of the EP delegation for relations with Serbia Eduard Kukan. Sertic underscored that, despite the difficult situation, citizens are willing to contribute to reforms and presented the results of a recent survey, showing that 64 percent of citizens back the government measures aimed at ensuring Serbia’s economic recovery. Opening the conference, Kukan said that this is a specific year for both Serbia and the EU, as in the first half of 2014, the Serbian and EU elections were held, noting that the opening of the accession talks poses new challenges to Serbia. We expect the commitment to reforms and the rule of law, and words that you will often hear from Brussels from now on will be results, results, results, Kukan said. The MEPs who took part in the conference were mostly interested in Serbi’’s relations with Russia, and Charles Tannock, an MEP from the UK, noted that the recent joint exercise of the Serbian and Russian armed forces is a bad signal from Belgrade, and criticized Serbia’s leaning on Russia in economic terms. Sertic replied that the Serbian military is also holding regular exercises with many NATO member states as part of the Partnership for Peace program, and that Serbia has no special treatment in trade relations with Russia. We have a big trade deficit with Moscow, and our companies wishing to export anything to the Russian market have to go through the same complicated procedure as firms from the EU, he said.
REGIONAL PRESS
Suljagic: First to appoint the Council of Ministers, then FB&H government (Oslobodjenje)
“The Democratic Front (DF) will not be part of any majority that will not first appoint a Council of Ministers of B&H, and then the Federation government,” said Emir Suljagic, member of the DF Presidency. “We remain committed to the Alliance for Change, and we will remain consistent with the fact that we are forming a government with them at the state level,” said Suljagic, appearing on television N1. Commenting on the agreement signed by the leaders of the three parties – Bakir Izetbegovic (Party of Democratic Action), Dragan Covic (Croatian Democratic Union), and Zeljko Komsic (DF), Suljagic said that it was very good that “finally the possibilities that the peoples would become electoral units and there is majority legitimacy within the peoples have been removed from the agenda.” To a reporter’s question of whether the Federal parties signatory to this agreement are truly prepared to implement what they signed, Suljagic said that he “has no lie detector.” “If there is a will, some issues are very easy to implement, like cuts in public spending by placing an 18 month moratorium on further employment, reducing supplies, etc. I underline, we in the DF will not be anyone’s hostages, and we will very easily leave any government for which we determine that the signed agreement is not being respected,” said DF Presidency member Emir Suljagic.
Nijaz Skenderagic candidate for President of SDP (Oslobodjenje)
Today, before the session of SDP Presidency, the public learned the names of candidates which were submitted by municipal organizations. The daily Oslobodjenje announced that Mahmut Alagic and Selim Beslagic, members of the party’s Managing Board, were already nominated, as were Nermin Niksic, the General Secretary, Zukan Helez, the Federal Minister, Svetozar Pudaric, the Managing Board President, Jasmin Imamovic, Mayor of Tuzla, and Denis Becirovic, the former Vice President of SDP. Some of SDP’s Organizational Board Members also nominated Nijaz Skenderagic, the one-time famous SDP member, who withdrew from party functions due to disagreements with the policies of long-time leader, Zlatko Lagumdzija.
“I am honored to a nominee, Skenderbegic stated yesterday, and noted that he will decide on accepting it after consulting with his business partners”. All nominees must decide on accepting or declining their nomination by 25 November.
Indictments raised against three persons for genocide in Srebrenica (Oslobodjenje)
The Prosecution Office in B&H stated today that the Prosecutor of the Special Department for War Crimes of the Prosecution in B&H, raised indictments against: Dragomir Vasic, known as “Vaske”, born on October 30 1960 in Tuzla, Danilo Zojic, known as “Daco”, born on August 29 1958 in Kalesija, Radomir Pantic, born on January 6 1964 in Vlasenica. As high officials of police structures of the Republika Srpska (RS), that is, Vasic as the Commander of the Police Forces Headquarters in Zvornik and Chief of the Police Station in Zvornik, Zojic as Commander of the Special Police Units of the Zvornik Police, and Pantic as Commander Zvornik Police, the accused Vasic is accused of participating in joint criminal enterprise, while Zojic and Pantic assisted in and supported genocide – as part of which approximately than 40, 000 people were also displaced, mostly women, children and the elderly of Bosniak nationality – when approximately 8000 men and boys of Bosniak nationality were killed in mass executions, all from the Protectorate in Srebrenica. With this they committed the criminal act of genocide from Article 171 of the Criminal Code of B&H. They are accused of participating in planning and committing genocide in Srebrenica, in such a manner where they secured and ordered the use of forces and technical capabilities of police forces, to imprison and forcibly separate of Bosniak men and boys from everyone else, after the fall of Srebrenica in 1995, as well as for imprisonment and holding them imprisoned, and transporting them to locations where mass executions were carried out, as well as committing executions of several thousand Bosniak victims in localities of Kozluk, Branjevo, Pilica and others. Also, they are accused of burying the victims’ bodies in mass graves, and later of excavating the bodies and relocating them in secondary mass graves so as to hide the criminal acts. The accused Vasic is accused of committing, while Zoljic and Pantic are accused of assisting and supporting the partial extermination of a group of Bosniaks from Srebrenica, as a national, religious and ethnic group, whereby they committed the criminal act of genocide, as is stated in Article 171, point a) and b), of the Criminal Code of B&H. This indictment is one of the most comprehensive indictments coming from the Prosecution Offices of B&H in relation to the Srebrenica genocide. Along with the indictments, the Prosecution has requested that 137 witnesses be interviewed – more than 20 of them are protected witnesses. Their testimonies will work toward proving the accused’s guilt. Also, the Prosecution has supplied several hundred samples of material evidence.
The B&H Prosecution’s public statement reported that as part of the thorough investigation conducted for this case, the Prosecution had successfully cooperated with the ICTY Prosecution.
The indictment has been submitted to the B&H Court for confirmation.
Goran Saric acquitted (Oslobodjenje)
After a hearing, the B&H Appellate Division of the Court announced the second instance verdict finding for the accused Goran Saric where he was acquitted of charges of committing crimes against humanity. Defendant Goran Saric was acquitted of charges that, since the beginning of June 1992 until the end of July 1992, he was a part of a widespread and systematic attack by the RS Army police and paramilitaries, against the Bosniak civilian population of Sarajevo Center Municipality, of his knowledge of the attack and his actions as a part of this attack.
He was accused that as a Chief of the newly formed unit for the area of Serb municipality Center, which was located within a former Psychiatric Hospital Jagomir in Sarajevo, together with members of the Kosevo Brigade and paramilitaries, he persecuted Bosniak population on ethnic and religious grounds and for the murder, imprisonment and forcible transfer of population, said the statement of the Court. By the previous Verdict of the B&H Court announced 28 August 2013, defendant Goran Saric was found guilty of having committed the criminal offense of Crimes against Humanity. In this regard, he was sentenced to a prison term of 14 years.
Successful negotiations between Energoinvest and Gazprom: Secured supply of Gas for B&H in 2015 (Oslobodjenje)
After successful negotiations with the Russian partner Gazprom, Energoinvest Sarajevo announced today that it has secured supply of gas for Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) in 2015.
The Assistant Director of Energoinvest Mehmed Koldzo with representatives of Russia’s Gazprom in St Petersburg signed an annex to the contract, which refers to the uninterrupted gas supplies to B&H for 2015. In this Annex Gazprom guarantees the delivery of required quantity of gas over the next year, under the same conditions as it was agreed in 2014. “The signing the annex to the agreement confirmed the decades-long successful cooperation of our company with a Russian partner, and we expect that this successful cooperation will continue in the future” – was said by the press statement from Energoinvest Department of Public Relations.
Ambassadors of the EU Political and Security Committee visiting B&H (Dnevni avaz)
Ambassadors, from the 28 EU member states, of the EU Political and Security Committee, presided by Walter Stevens, will visit Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) on 20 and 21 November.
The Committee is a preparatory body of the Council of the European Union, and its functions entail monitoring the international situation and supplying support in defining politics within the Common Foreign and Security Policy, including the Common Security and Defense Policy.
As was stated by the Delegation of the European Union in B&H, the Committee plays a central role in shaping and defining EU foreign politics. Furthermore, the Committee leads political dialogues and maintains privileged contacts with the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and special EU representatives. During their visit, the Ambassadors of the Political and Security Committee will meet with the commander of the EUFOR-Althea operation, General Adrian Bradshaw, commander of EUFOR, Major General Dieter Heidecker, members of the B&H Presidency, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Zlatko Lagumdzija, and leaders of the leading political parties in B&H. On 21 November, the Ambassadors will visit a munitions depot of the Army of B&H, the Labor and Education Fair in Zenica “Learn, Research, and Connect” which has been organized as part of the Compact for Growth and Jobs.
At the end of their visit, the Ambassadors will participate in the official opening of a school in Maglaj – a school that was restored as part of the European Union Floods Recovery Program.
INTERNATIONAL PRESS
2 major parties reach agreement to end political stalemate in Kosovo (Xinhua, 20 November 2014)
Two biggest political parties in Kosovo reached late Wednesday aprincipal agreement to form government and end five months deadlock following earlygeneral elections in June.
The agreement between Kosovo Democratic Party (PDK) of outgoing Prime MinisterHashim Thaqi and Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) was reached in a meetingfacilitated by “President” of Kosovo Atifete Jahjaga, and in the presence of U.S.Ambassador to Kosovo Tracey Ann Jacobson.
“Thaci and Mustafa (LDK leader) agreed in principle to form a coalition between PDK andLDK, to build institutions,” Jahjaga said in a statement. According to her the meetingoccurred in the request of both respective leaders.
“Both political leaders stressed their commitment for concluding quickly the process offorming institutions in accordance with the Constitution, the decisions of theConstitutional Court and constitutional principles which preserve multi-ethnic characterof Kosovo,” said Jahjaga.
PDK won early June elections by gaining 37 out of 120 seats in the Kosovo Assembly, butsignificantly short of the needed 61 seats to form government.
LDK, which has 30 seats initially in June reached an agreement with other minor Albanianpolitical parties to form government, but did not succeed as the Constitutional Courtsanctioned that only the winning party (PDK) is eligible to nominate the speaker of theAssembly. It effectively diminished the opposition block’s hopes to elect the speaker andform government.
In a press statement, LDK announced that it would take the post of “prime minister” andthat the Ministries will be divided almost equally with PDK.
“Based on the agreement, the position of the “prime minister” will belong to the LDK.Division of the ministries will be decided over the coming days,” said LDK.
‘Blackmail’: EU trying to force Serbia into Russia sanctions club, says senior MP (RT, 20 November 2014)
The EU’s attempts to coerce Serbia into joining anti-Russian sanctions are nothing but blackmail, says the head of the State Duma Foreign Affairs Committee.
“Presently the European Union is trying to force Serbia, which is not an EU member, to join their sanctions program. They are practically blackmailing Serbia: either it joins the sanctions against Russia or [the bloc] won’t see it as a country with a chance of joining the EU,” MP Aleksey Pushkov (United Russia) told reporters at a Thursday press conference in Moscow.
“The problem for Serbia is that in any case it has no prospects for joining the EU anytime soon. Even if they join the anti-Russian sanctions now, they would simply succumb to blackmailers and no one would accept them in the EU in one year for doing this,” he added.
The comments came after EU’s Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn said that Serbia would have to join EU sanctions against Moscow if it wants to be part of the European Union.
“Serbia has taken a legislative commitment within the EU accession negotiations to bring its positions in line with those of the EU. Harmonization includes the tough issues as well, like the tough issue of sanctions against Russia. We are expecting of Serbia to hold on to these commitments,” RIA Novosti quoted Hahn as saying.
This was a radical change of position as just days earlier, after a meeting with Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic, Hahn assured the press that the EU was not asking Serbia to impose sanctions against Russia. Back then, the commissioner acknowledged that such decisions were a sovereign matter of the Serbian government and the sanctions and Serbian membership in the EU were in no way connected.
Serbian Ambassador to Moscow Slavenko Terzić told Interfax on Thursday that for the moment his country had no intention of joining the sanctions, but in future the question could be raised at the Serbia-EU talks. “It is possible that Serbia would gradually begin to coordinate its position on various international issues with the one of the EU, but today our country is not ready to join the anti-Russian sanctions for many reasons, including because of the fact that Serbia and Russia are strategic allies,” the diplomat noted.
Serbia reaches loan agreement with IMF (The Associated Press, 20 November 2014)
BELGRADE, SERBIA — The Serbian prime minister says his government has secured an agreement with the International Monetary Fund on a standby loan after promising to slash public spending and rein in debt.
The three-year deal was reached Thursday after Serbia agreed to narrow the budget deficit from 8 percent to 3 percent of economic output by 2017 by cutting public wages and pensions and reducing subsidies to unprofitable state companies.
Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic says the agreement “is great news for Serbia” after years of avoiding economic reforms.
In 2012, the IMF froze its program with Serbia after the former government, facing elections, provided subsidies to loss-making state enterprises and failed to meet fiscal targets set by the lender.
Serb’s release by UN court frees nationalist genie, Croat leader warns (Reuters, 19 November 2014)
ZAGREB – Croatia’s president urged neighbouring Serbia on Wednesday to “stop the escalation of nationalism and hatred” following the release of a hardline Serbian nationalist leader from a United Nations war crimes court.
The Hague-based tribunal released Vojislav Seselj, who suffers from cancer, on grounds of ill health before it reached a verdict in his trial for atrocities in Croatia and Bosnia. He was released without conditions after 12 years in detention.
Since his return to Serbia last Wednesday, Seselj has been hailed as a hero by a rally of 5,000 supporters and said he still believes in the ‘Greater Serbia’ ideology that fuelled the wars in Bosnia, Croatia and Kosovo two decades ago.
On Tuesday, he congratulated the “Serb liberators of Vukovar”, further angering Croats on the anniversary of the eastern Croatian town’s brutal capture in 1991 by the Yugoslav army and Serb rebels including Seselj’s militia.
“This is scandalous and terrible,” Croatian president Ivo Josipovic said on Wednesday after a book promotion in Zagreb. “This is calling the genie of nationalism, aggression and atrocity back from the bottle.”
He said he expected Serbia, which has started talks to join the European Union, and its legal system “to prevent the escalation of nationalism and hatred”.
But Josipovic said he held the Hague tribunal responsible for departing from its previous practice, under which those provisionally released were strictly banned from making public appearances or political activity.
“Unfortunately, for some reason the tribunal was too lenient, or it just failed to do what was necessary,” he said.
Croatia’s Justice Minister Orsat Miljenic also criticised the decision to free Seselj. “This creature should be where he had been until recently, in jail,” he said.
“I am no medical expert but it seems to me that someone who is able to make such public appearances is surely able to wait for the end of his trial in custody.”
Miljenic said last week that Croatia would make trying all war crimes suspects a condition for progress in Serbia’s EU accession talks although no further details have given.
Leading his own defence, Seselj repeatedly obstructed his trial, and the verdict was delayed further when one of the judges was replaced. Seselj has said that if a verdict is ever reached, he will not return to the court voluntarily. (Reporting by Zoran Radosavljevic; Editing by Catherine Evans)
Russia may impose ban on imports from Bosnia over threefold growth (ITAR-TASS, 19 November 2014)
Bosnia and Herzegovina does not make part of the European Union, so it does not fall under Russia’s food embargo introduced in response to Western sanctions
MOSCOW – Russia’s agricultural watchdog (Rosselkhoznadzor) may ban imports of vegetables and fruits from Bosnia and Herzegovina if it does not receive an explanation why fruit imports from that country sharply increased recently, the watchdog said in a statement Wednesday.
Rosselkhoznadzor is concerned over a three-time growth of the volume and sudden expansion of the range of supplied quarantined products from Bosnia and Herzegovina to Russia. The amount of apples imported to Russia grew 100-fold over the first nine months of 2014 on the same period last year, it said.
Rosselkhoznadzor representatives held talks with the Bosnian side in Moscow and demanded that Bosnia provide documents within a week to prove authenticity of a number of phyto-sanitary certificates accompanying products delivered to Russia. The second demand is to notify Russia within a week of the range and volumes of vegetables and fruits grown in 2014 in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“In case the presented information is insufficient or wrong, Rosselkhoznadzor does not rule out that it could impose restrictive measures regarding deliveries of vegetables and fruits from Bosnia and Herzegovina to the Russian market,” the watchdog said.
Bosnia and Herzegovina does not make part of the European Union, so it does not fall under Russia’s food embargo introduced in response to Western sanctions.
Rosselkhoznadzor earlier demanded confirmation for the authenticity of veterinary certificates in line with which foodstuffs are supplied to Russia from Macedonia, Montenegro and Albania – countries that are not EU members either. The agricultural watchdog explained the measure by the risk that re-exports of banned goods to Russia may be carried out via those countries.
The West, inspired by the United States, subjected Russian officials and companies to the first batch of sanctions, including visa bans and asset freezes, after Russia incorporated Crimea in mid-March after a coup in Ukraine in February.
New, sectoral, penalties against Russia were announced in late July over Moscow’s position on Ukrainian events, in particular, what the West claimed was Russia’s alleged involvement in hostilities in Ukraine’s embattled southeast.
Russia responded with imposing on August 6 a one-year ban on imports of beef, pork, poultry, fish, cheeses, fruit, vegetables and dairy products from Australia, Canada, the EU, the United States and Norway.
The list of products whose imports Russia banned as part of its response to Western nations includes cattle meat (fresh, chilled and refrigerated), pork (fresh, chilled and refrigerated), poultry meat and all poultry edible by-products, salted meat, pickled meat, dried meat, smoked meat, fish, clams and other water invertebrates, milk and dairy products, vegetables, edible roots and tuber crops.
The list also contains fruit and nuts, sausage and analogous meat products, meat by-products or blood, as well as products made of them, ready-to-eat products including cheeses and cottage-cheese based on vegetable fats.
Moscow has repeatedly dismissed Western allegations that it could in any way be involved in hostilities in the southeast of Ukraine.
