LOCAL PRESS

Vucic at UNSC: Serbs in Kosovo live in ghettos (Blic)

Serbia’s Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic has said that the basic elements for a normal life have not been established in Kosovo to this day. He stressed Serbia is committed to reconciliation between the different peoples living in Kosovo and to providing a better everyday life for all in the province. Belgrade is adamant in its decision not to recognize the forcible, and illegal in terms of international law, secession of the province of Kosovo and its unilateral declaration of independence, but that Belgrade is now no obstacle to talks and the increasingly intensive communication with Pristina, he told the UN Security Council on Thursday.

This is mostly because the Serbian government wants peace and stability, solutions through dialogue and free movement of people, commodities and positive ideas throughout the region, he stressed.

Serbia wants for the Serbs in Kosovo the same thing it wants for the Albanians, a normal life, work, safety, communication and unimpeded movement, he stated. That is why the Serbian government thinks everything Serbia has done in the past two years to spread and promote these views deserves attention, recognition and support, mostly because Serbia’s desire, which is peace and cooperation in the Balkans, is the only way for the region to become an equal part of Europe, by not being different in any way, he remarked.

He called on the international community to take very seriously the conclusions of the Head of the EU Special Investigative Task Force Clint Williamson, which concluded that enough evidence had been gathered to raise indictments against senior paramilitary leaders of the so-called “Kosovo Liberation Army” who were responsible for persecution against the Kosovo Serbs, Roma and other non-Albanians, as well as the Kosovo Albanians themselves.

The Serbian government’s objections to the situation in the Kosovo provincial judiciary gain particular strength after the appearance of serious suspicions of corruption among high-ranking EULEX officials, which include accepting bribery in order to drop dozens of criminal cases against Kosovo Albanians and fabricating evidence in the increasingly nonsensical case against Serbian leader in northern Kosovo Oliver Ivanovic, he underscored.

Commenting on UNMIK Chief Farid Zarif’s report on the situation in Kosovo, he said that Kosovo still lacked the basic prerequisites for normal life, and that now, more than 15 years since the arrival of the international forces there, it was necessary for the Security Council to discuss how to secure the basic conditions needed for normal life, mostly for the Serbs and other non-Albanians. That is why Serbia believes it is still necessary to strengthen UNMIK’s role in the areas where the mission still has a jurisdiction. He emphasized also that the life of the Serbs in all parts of the province of Kosovo demanded attention as well. Serbs in enclaves throughout Kosovo live quietly and modestly and they struggle in modern world ghettos, to the shame of Europe and the world, he added.

Vucic pointed out a number of problems, including the difficulties faced by former members of the Serbian police when joining the provincial Kosovo police. He also pointed to Kosovo Albanians’ attempts to usurp land and build homes without construction permits in order to change the ethnic structure in Serbian-majority parts of Kosovo.

Vucic listed also problems related to security and freedom of movement for the Serbs, adding that they were often not able to celebrate their religious holidays properly and visit the graves of their loved ones, but he also noted an issue within the Ground Safety Zone (GSZ), along the Administrative Boundary Line (ABL) between the province of Kosovo and Serbia proper.

According to Vucic, Pristina has not taken any steps yet to fulfill its obligations in key areas, mostly related to the laws on amnesty, budget and local government. The Serbian government is deeply concerned over the incidents continuously caused by Kosovo Albanians, which are meant to prevent the displaced Serbs’ and other non-Albanians’ from returning to homes from which they were expelled. The situation with regard to the protection of cultural and religious heritage in Kosovo is especially worrying, he noted, listing graffiti by the Islamic State that were sprayed inside the compound of the Visoki Decani monastery as an example, which could not have been done by minors, since very few of them would know Arabic.

Vucic commented also on the incident at the October football match between Serbia and Albania in Belgrade, stressing that the incident was not caused by Serbia, but by Albanian fans. He stated that one could only imagine what would have happened had such a thing occurred in another country, adding that Albania’s Prime Minister Edi Rama visited Belgrade after the match. Vucic concluded his address to the Security Council by saying that Serbia could be counted on as a pillar of stability and, very soon, as a modern and successful country. Belgrade is firmly committed to continuing its active and constructive involvement in the discussions with Pristina on all levels, as well as to the implementation of agreements reached so far, Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic has said.

Vucic said that Serbia is ready for a continuation of the process because dialogue with the provincial authorities is the only way to make the fundamental wish of the people come true – peace in the Balkans as the basis for its development. Even after an entire century of conflicts, wars, victims, with regards to ethnic Albanians, this government has made a step forward that can most certainly be called historic – this government has chosen dialogue rather than conflict, solutions rather than problems and, most importantly, life rather than death, Vucic said. It is clear to us that dialogue is the only way to that goal and we will do everything to ensure that it is continued in the very way that Serbia has promoted – by adopting solutions that make life for people in the province of Kosovo better, the prime minister said. This, he said, will not keep Serbia from continuing to insist on its position that Kosovo’s self-proclaimed independence is illegal but, probably for the first time in many years, the Serbian government’s position on this issue is no obstacle to life in Kosovo. On the contrary, we are committed to that life, and we put it before all other interests, Vucic said. The fact that Serbia is willing to talk does not mean that it is weak; the fact that we are constructive does not mean that Serbia is pliable; the fact that we believe does not mean that we are naive, Vucic said.

Vucic, however, noted that, for further discussions, Serbia needs a partner on the other side of the table and that, half a year after the elections, the bodies of executive authorities of the interim self-government institutions in Pristina have still not been formed. We expect a government to be formed in the coming days, Vucic noted. Despite the fact that there is still no government in Pristina, Belgrade has so far implemented a series of measures pursuant to the Brussels Agreement, Vucic said.

We have passed amendments to the law on higher education and a new decree on the cadaster to ensure full implementation of agreements reached in the corresponding areas, he said.

Vucic expressed regret over the lack of progress in the implementation of the key part of the Brussels Agreement, which is related to the establishment of a community of Serb municipalities.

UNMIK chief Farid Zarif: Kosovo needs government, talks should continue (Tanjug)

UNMIK Chief Farid Zarif has called on the political leaders in Kosovo to finish forming a new government. He added that the talks between Belgrade and Pristina need new momentum and that the meetings between top officials of the two sides should continue.

The 6-month delay in forming a government in Pristina has caused damage because it led to a delay in institutional reforms and the talks with Belgrade, he said on Thursday, presenting UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon‘s latest quarterly report on the situation in Kosovo to the Security Council.

He welcomed the fact that the technical talks continued during the transition period.

The talks need new momentum and the meetings between top officials should continue as soon as possible, so both sides would be able to fulfil their promises and take advantage of the opportunities presented by the EU and European integration, he stated.

Zarif welcomed the cooperation from the local authorities in northern Kosovo in preparing the municipal budgets for 2015, stressing that it indicated that both sides were aware of how important dialogue is on the local level in order to establish a better government.

It is important to maintain momentum towards the integration of the four northern municipalities and, to that end, create an association of Serb municipalities that is required by the Brussels Agreement, the UNMIK official pointed out.

He commended the security agencies and police in Kosovo on putting a stop to extremism and Kosovo President Atifeta Jahjaga‘s and other politicians’ condemnation of the offensive graffiti that had been sprayed inside the compound of the Visoki Decani monastery.

The corruption accusations against present and former members of EULEX have attracted a lot of media attention, but investigations have been launched regarding the issue, he remarked.

Regardless of different speculations, no room should be allowed for questioning the integrity of the principle of the rule of law and its key importance for progress in Kosovo, Zarif underscored.

The Kosovo parliament should prioritize the adoption of the laws necessary to create a special court for war crimes committed by the Kosovo Liberation Army, he stated.

Protection of the cultural and religious heritage remains an issue, he pointed out.

The issues of the return of internally displaced persons and shedding light on the fate of the people reported missing since the clashes in 1998 and 1999 need to be worked on, he said.

Incidents that took place in the region after the Serbia vs. Albania football match demonstrated that authorities and citizens must conduct themselves in a responsible manner to avoid losing the momentum towards stronger regional cooperation, he also said.

Despite the incidents, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has paid a visit to Belgrade, and it is a step in a good direction, Zarif said.

Vucic, Thaci discuss resumption of dialogue (RTS)

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic says he had an informal meeting with Kosovo Prime Minister Hasim Thaci at the UN headquarters in New York on Thursday. According to him, they discussed the resumption of the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, adding that they agreed that the dialogue should be continued as soon as possible.

“We discussed when, how and in what way the dialogue should be continued. We both expressed the wish that it should happen as soon as possible. Our opinions differ regarding the secession of Kosovo, but I think that it is important that we have to think about the stability of the entire region, and that it is better that we resolve all problems through dialogue, rather than in another way,” Vucic told the RTS late Thursday.

REGIONAL PRESS

KFOR Commander Visits Macedonia (Kanal 5/Sitel/Telma/MTV1)

Macedonian Defense Minister Zoran Jolevski and Army Chief of General Staff, Lieutenant General Goranco Koteski, held separate meetings on Thursday with KFOR Commander, Major General Francesco Paolo Figliuolo, who paid a visit to Skopje. During his meeting with Figliuolo, Jolevski highlighted his country’s support for the KFOR mission as well as the country’s role in the security and stability of the region. Figliuolo’s meeting with Koteski saw talks on the opportunities to advance the cooperation with the KFOR forces, the security situation in the region as well as exchange of information with Macedonian Army. Koteski was briefed by Figliuolo on the security situation in KFOR’s responsibility zone as well as on the activities and future plans.

FB&H House of Representatives: Members of the 14 Commissions and 12 Committees (Oslobodjenje)

At the inaugural session of the House of Representatives in the Entity Federation (FB&H) Parliament elected the working bodies, but without the representatives of the party SBB. The decision on the selection of the President, Vice-President and the members of the working bodies, 14 commissions and 12 committees, was sent for publication in the Official Gazette of FB&H, where the open vacancies in the working bodies are those that were given to SBB.

The members of this party voted against the decision on the choice of working bodies, because they think that places were distributed unequally. The SBB is the second largest party in the new convocation of the House of Representatives and 45 positions belong to them, including four for the president and the same number for the deputies. Head of the SBB Caucus Nasir Beganovic said earlier that the new parliamentary majority outvoted SBB and awarded them with the positions in less important commissions and committees, and until this has been corrected, they will not place their representatives in to the working bodies.

SDA, DF and the HDZ assume their positions in ZDK: Galijasevic or Plancic will lead the Government (Oslobodjenje)

Representatives of the SDA, DF and HDZ-B&H late last night discussed cooperation and future activities of the parliamentary majority in the Zenica-Doboj Canton (ZDK).

Three parties should share power in most cantons and at the federal level. In the region of ZDK they have 18 out of 35 member votes (11 SDA, five DF, and two HDZ-B&H) in the cantonal Assembly. Thus, a narrow majority would not bring stability, it is expected that some of the smaller parties would join them, the SDA and (or) SB&H, with two representatives or BPS with one representative.

When it comes to the prime minister, it is certain that the position will be reserved for the SDA, and it would be one of the two candidates – Miralem Galijasevic who served two terms and successfully performed this function or Plancic Ibrahim, head of the Club of the SDA in the Assembly of Zenica-Doboj Canton, the man who received the most votes of any single candidate for the Cantonal Assembly.

Continuation of the inaugural session of the Assembly, it is certain, it will not happen until the end of this week, but probably early next week.

In the new convocation of the Cantonal Assembly SDA has eleven, SBB eight, DF five, SDP four and SB&H, SDA and HDZ B&H have two positions, while BPS has one.

Slovenian President Pahor: To accept the B&H in NATO and prevent the Russian influence (Osobodjenje)

Slovenian president Borut Pahor said on Thursday that NATO should speed up the process of receiving the Balkans countries in to the membership, especially Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H), in order to prevent the spread of Russian influence in the region.

“The European Union’s mistake in regard to Ukraine, when its acceptance was conditioned, shouldn’t be repeated with the Western Balkans. B&H, Montenegro and Macedonia are the candidates for the NATO membership – we call upon our allies to realize the importance of accepting at least Bosnia and Herzegovina as the bulwark for the spread of Russian influence and give the guarantees to its national integrity, “said Pahor in an interview for the Slovenian television.

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

Russia indignant at anti-Serb actions in Kosovo — UN ambassador (ITAR-TASS, 5 December 2014)

According to Russia’s Vitaly Churkin, violence against Serbs and profanation of Orthodox monasteries in the region are a clear evidence of persisting ethnic strife in the Kosovo-Albanian society

Russia’s Ambassador to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin said on Thursday that Russia is indignant at the wave of anti-Serb actions in Kosovo after a disrupted football match between Serbia and Albania.

According to him, violence against Serbs, along with profanation of Orthodox monasteries in the region have become “a clear evidence of persisting ethnic strife in the Kosovo-Albanian society.”

“The wave of anti-Serb actions that swept Kosovo after the Serbia-Albania football match on October 14 causes indignation. Pristina has traditionally limited itself to formal condemnation of the ant-Serb rioting. Meanwhile, Serb houses in the region continue to burn, and those responsible have not been brought to justice,” the Russian diplomat told the UN Security Council meeting.

The Serbia-Albania European Championship qualifier was stopped after football fans started to hurl crackers on the field. A radio-controlled helicopter carrying the map of the “Great Albania” flew over the stadium. Serb team’s quarter-back Stefan Mitrovic tore the flag off the drone, causing outrage of the Albanian football players.

Kosovo Serbs interests should be counted

Russia believes that interests of Serbian and other non-Albanian communities in the unrecognized republic of Kosovo should be taken into account when forming new local authorities, Vitaly Churkin.

“A protracted political crisis is obvious, as it was provoked by the incapability of local elite created by the notorious Kosovo Liberation Army to come to agreement without foreign recommendations. We believe that views and approaches of Serbian and other non-Albanian communities in the unrecognized republic should be fully taken into account when shaping new authorities,” the diplomat said. The Russian ambassador called for “soonest creation of a community of Serbian Kosovo municipalities in line with the Brussels deals.”

For many years of efforts taken for Kosovo settlement the self-proclaimed republic “did not show any progress in its judicial system, counteraction to corruption, organized crime, including drug and human trafficking, restrictions on the freedom of speech and political impact on the court system.”

Europe’s hope to gas Russia fails (Pravda.Ru, 5 December 2014)

Russia cannot continue implementation of the South Stream gas pipeline project in current conditions, the Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a press conference in Ankara following negotiations with Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan. “Taking into account the fact that we still have not received Bulgaria’s permission, we think that Russia is unable to continue implementation of this project in such conditions, – Putin said. – We cannot start the construction in the sea until we have Bulgaria’s permission to begin construction in the sea. It would be absurd to reach the Bulgarian coast and to stop then”. Economist and lecturer at the Institute of Natural Monopolies Research (Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, or RANEPA) Vladislav Ginko commented Putin’s statement as to reconsidering Russia’s participation in the project.

“It should be noted that the new project “Sea Gas Pipeline” to Turkey which in terms of gas volumes is approximately comparable to gas volumes that would supposedly be pumped through the South Stream which is now closed. In other words, it is the matter of 62 billion cubic meters of gas per year, of which 17 will go to Turkey and the rest – by transit to Southern Europe. As for the capacity, it is the same but we receive an opportunity to supply the same supposed fuel volumes to Europe via another way. We can drop the South Stream project exactly due to the fact that we concluded long-term contracts for decades to come towards Asia. It doesn’t mean that we refuse to supply Europe, we just receive an opportunity of freedom of choice. Indeed if Europe creates obstacles then we just refuse to do it,” Vladislav Ginko said in the interview.

The correspondent also asked the expert to comment the statement of a Bulgarian political analyst Ognyan Minchev who recently said “Putin’s refusal to build South Stream means that the EU has protected its rights and interests and complied with the Third Energy Package, which includes compliance with laws of competition in the EU.”

“Russia complied with the Third Energy Package, those companies that would participate in the South Stream are joint ventures, i.e. foreign partners also take part in it, there is no monopoly here. Moreover, we exhibited an extreme flexibility and were willing to compromise, make other participants partners on the project. But Bulgaria that at first supported this project then started to slow it down.”

The correspondent also asked the economist, why Sofia yielded to pressure from EU and sacrificed own national interests, though benefits from the South Stream for this country are obvious.

“Bulgaria most likely didn’t expect Russia to make such a quick and tough decision as to the South Stream. Yet again Europe overestimated a seeming dependence of Russia on gas supplies. Gas supplies to Europe are important for Russia but they are not decisive, it helps to remember that revenue from sale of all natural gas is four times lower than revenue from oil sales. Therefore, Europeans who strived to pretend that Russia would agree to anything to implement the South Stream were mistaken.”

The Pravda.Ru correspondent followed up and asked the expert, if Russia would lose something conceding on the gas price with Turkey, if the new project was commercially not very profitable for the Russian Federation?

“I’m absolutely calm in this regard, Gazprom will never go toward concluding unprofitable contracts. Gazprom is a market company, it focuses on capitalization that is formed on the stock market, Gazprom’s shareholders are not only the state, but also private investors exerting great influence on Gazprom for it to be an efficient company,” Vladislav Ginko said.

The expert answered as follows to a completely reasonable question of the correspondent, if Bulgaria would lose its money if the project were closed:

“We are ready to negotiate with those who actually make decisions in Europe, I think if guarantees are provided that the project will not be suspended by European countries at any moment, the South Stream project will be resumed. We pursue our own policy based on our interests and currently we see no point in implementing the South Stream project. Therefore, we completely withdraw from the project. Bulgaria undoubtedly suffers losses. It is the multiplicative effect. It is not only a loss of 400 mln. Euro, Bulgarian companies involved in construction that already invested in the project will suffer too. Bulgaria will lose several thousand jobs. But Bulgaria together with Brussels have not fully calculated Russia’s determination to protect own interests.”

Bosnia Says It Arrested 15 Involved in 1993 Massacre (The New York Times, by Rick Lymandec, 5 December 2014)

WARSAW — After more than two decades, during which the torture and murder of about 20 people at a remote rail depot in Bosnia and Herzegovina remained a stubborn reminder of the unresolved crimes of the conflict in the former Yugoslavia, prosecutors on Friday arrested 15 people they said were involved in the massacre.

Particularly noteworthy was the way the arrests were made: as a cooperative effort by law-enforcement officials in Serbia and neighboring Bosnia, former wartime enemies still struggling through the aftermath of a bloody conflict.

“After 21 years, in a mutual action of the prosecutors’ offices in Bosnia and Serbia, as well as mutual action by police in both countries, a great step forward has been made,” Bruno Vekaric, the Serbian deputy war crimes prosecutor, said in an interview on Friday. “We are finally able, after a long period of terrible silence, to bring this to justice.”

In early morning raids on Friday, the police in both countries took five Serbs and 10 Bosnian Serbs into custody, among them Luka Dragicevic, the Bosnian Serb general who was in charge of military operations in the area at the time, and Gojko Lukic, the brother of Milan Lukic, the Bosnian Serb warlord who was long suspected of masterminding ethnic cleansing operations and who is now in jail.

Several members of the Bosnian Serb militia were also captured, and prosecutors said they hoped to persuade the men to identify the superiors who approved the operation. The arrests were first reported by The Associated Press.

The circumstances of the massacre that began at the Strpci rail depot on Feb. 27, 1993, were so unsettling that they have become among the most notorious war crimes of that era.

A train running between Belgrade, the Serbian capital, and Bar, on the Mediterranean coast in adjacent Montenegro, passed briefly through Bosnian territory. There, at the Strpci depot, Bosnian Serb militia members halted the train and took off 19 Serbian citizens whose names identified them as ethnically non-Serbian — 18 Bosnian Muslims and a Croat. In a statement on Friday, the Bosnian prosecutor’s office gave a higher number, saying there were “at least 20” victims, including one “of Afro-Asian origin.”

The men were beaten and marched off, then stripped, tortured and shot in a burned-out house along the Drina River.

The fact that the killings had never been fully investigated and that only one low-level soldier had been convicted in the massacre, have been persistent political issues in both countries, frequently cited as a sign that the region was not yet fully addressing the war crimes committed during the conflict.

“Many war criminals are still influential in business, politics, police and the army,” Bosnia’s chief prosecutor, Goran Salihovic, told The Associated Press.

Alisa Dogramadzieva contributed reporting from Belgrade, Serbia.

Serb Cross Above Sarajevo Torn Down (BIRN, by Denis Dzidic, 5 December 2014)

A huge makeshift cross erected above Sarajevo to commemorate Serb victims in the city in the 1990s has been taken down by unknown assailants after it caused anger among Bosniaks

East Sarajevo police confirmed on Friday that the cross had been taken down, but said that since there was no approval for its erection in the first place, no criminal offence has been committed.

The cross was erected in September this year by unknown persons under cover of darkness, and sparked furious comments by Bosniak victims and politicians who claimed it was unacceptable to have a memorial on a position from which Bosnian Serb forces attacked the city during the 1992-95 war.

The cross caused anger because it was installed in Zlatiste, an area on Mount Trebovic from which Serb forces shelled the Bosnian capital during the 1992-95 war. Zlatiste is now under the control of Bosnia’s Serb-led entity, Republika Srpska.

Sarajevo-based newspaper Daily Avaz said it had received a call from a man called Mirza Hatic who claimed that he was responsible for the removal of the cross.

“I said I would bring it down. The Republika Srpska police sometimes guard it and sometimes not. Me and a friend brought it down. It was a little past midnight,” Hatic told the newspaper.

“I am proud of what I did and I would do it again if they put it somewhere else,” he said.

The president of the Bosnian Serb Association of Prison Camp Inmates, Branislav Dukic, told BIRN earlier this year that the erection of the temporary cross was a result of frustration after years of waiting for Serb victims in Sarajevo to be commemorated. Dukic said that he would continue to promote the idea of building a permanent memorial on Zlatiste.

“I will not back down from the idea of a cross memorial, and if we can’t write the names of each victim, we will at least name all the [detention] camps in Sarajevo, and there were 126 of them,” said Dukic.

Republika Srpska Bans Macedonian Meat Products (BIRN, by Meri Jordanovska, Sinisa Jakov Marusic5 December 2014)

Bosnia’s Serb-led entity Republika Srpska has banned products from Macedonian meat company Pekabesko because it allegedly found carcinogenic substances in them.

Macedonian officials and Pekabesko reacted with surprise after the Republika Srpska agriculture ministry said on Friday that it had banned the trade and import of all the company’s meat products.

The Macedonian Food Safety Agency said that it had not heard about the ban.

“We will take a look at it and issue a press release during the day,” the head of the Food Safety Agency, Zoran Popovski, told BIRN on Friday.

Pekabesko officials also told BIRN they were “surprised” and had “no information” about the Republika Srpska decision.

The Republika Srpska ministry said that it had declared all Pekabesko products “unhealthy” after testing showed “higher than normal levels of additives, especially phosphates and sodium nitrates” which “have a proven carcinogenic influence”.

The ministry said it has banned all trade in Pekabesko products and that it had alerted the Bosnian food and veterinary office and the border inspectorate to its concerns.

Pekabesko is one of the leading producers of meat and dairy delicatessen products in Macedonia and enjoys a good reputation at home.

On its website, Pekabesko says it uses internationally recognised BRC and HACCP safety standards “for the production and sale of safe and healthy food”.

So far there are no estimates of the financial impact that the Republika Srpska ban could have on Pekabesko.

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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.