STORIES FROM LOCAL PRESS

• Judiciary continues to be controversial (Danas)
• Djuric on resumption of dialogue with Pristina (Novosti)
• UN interested in a convict sentenced by the court of non-existent country (Danas)

STORIES FROM REGIONAL PRESS

• Bosic: Dodik leading Republika Srpska into isolation (Oslobodjenje)
• Djokic: Essential changes in new text of a statement (Srna)
• ICJ to rule on Croatia vs. Serbia genocide claims on Tuesday (Dalje.com)
• Moscow Hopes for Thorough Investigation into failed coup in FYROM (In.mk)

RELEVANT ARTICLES FROM INTERNATIONAL MEDIA SOURCES

• Top UN court to rule in Croatia, Serbia genocide claims (AFP)
• BiH presidency passes statement over reforms, path to EU (Xinhua)
• Montenegro, Bosnia at Loggerheads Over Border (Balkan Insight)
• Russian Crime Gang Suspect Held In Montenegro (RFE/RL)

LOCAL PRESS

Judiciary continues to be controversial (Danas)

Belgrade has largely fulfilled its obligations arising from the Brussels agreement, while Pristina has a lot of work to be able to say that the Brussels agreement has been fully implemented, Danas was told at the Office for Kosovo and Metohija on the occasion of the implementation of the government Plan of the implementation of the agreement on normalization of Belgrade-Pristina relations. The domains where all tasks have not been completely fulfilled are adjustment of legal frameworks, the judiciary and Union of Serb Municipalities. Considering the fact that the opening of the first chapters in the Serbia-EU negotiations depend from the implementation of the Brussels agreement and that the EU Commissioner for Neighborhood Policy Johannes Hahn said that Serbia could have fulfilled a series of its obligations even without Pristina, we asked the competent in the Office for Kosovo and Metohija what exactly did Serbia fulfill from the assumed obligations. Concerning the adjustment of legal frameworks, Danas was told at the Office for Kosovo and Metohija that the working group for amending regulations has met only once, and that the Pristina side hasn’t demonstrated interest to take part in the work of this group, while Brussels hasn’t been convening meetings of this body. “Pristina hasn’t conducted any amendments to the legal system, while Serbia has been adjusting its system with certain dynamics,” the Office stated.

Union of Serb Municipalities

The second item of the Plan refers to the Union of Serb Municipalities. Both sides were tasked with establishing the management team (comprised of representatives of four municipalities in the north and which is established based on the support of the Kosovo authorized body) for the establishment of the union with a list of jobs and tasks determined by the Committee for the implementation. The list of jobs and tasks should include the draft statute. The Office says that the management team with a list of jobs and tasks has been established and that Belgrade drafted the statute, while Pristina didn’t adjust regulations in order to provide conditions for the establishment of the Union of Serb Municipalities.

Police

The next item refers to the police, and Serbia has committed to start closing down premises where its security structures in Kosovo are located, to submit information specifying the number and rank of the employees in the Serbian government in the security sector in Kosovo who expressed interest in joining Kosovo structures, to start necessary internal procedure for cessation of payment of personal income to personnel following their joining equivalent Kosovo structures and presents this to the working group. The Office claims that Belgrade has literally done everything according to this item, while Pristina didn’t integrate all members – 22 police members, as well as firefighters, rescuers and administrative workers.

Judiciary

In the judiciary domain it was necessary to form the Working group that will develop details of the plan for integration of Serbian judicial organs into Kosovo structures, as well as for establishing any new structure that the Agreement requires, including basic courts and public prosecution offices in Serb majority municipalities that will be implemented as part of the Kosovo legal framework and with EULEX’s support. Serbia should submit information on the number of its personnel employed in the judicial organs in Kosovo who expressed interest in joining Kosovo structures, immediately after the law on amnesty is adopted. The expectation was that integration of judicial organs will be completed by the end of 2013 and that all Serbian courts in Kosovo will be closed down, new bodies established, and personnel integrated into the Kosovo system. However, the Office for Kosovo and Metohija stated that the working group has not been meeting over the non-existence of the government in Pristina and the political vacuum over the period of several months. “At previous meetings, Pristina was trying to interpret agreements in a different way and to impose stands that would change the agreement, which created a legal vacuum and lack of legal mechanisms in northern Kosovo and Metohija. The structure in courts and prosecutions should reflect the ethnic image in the north, for judges and prosecutors to be people who live and work in this region and enjoy the trust of fellow citizens,” states the Office.

When it comes to the local elections, everything has been realized. The Office claims even more than that. “Let us be completely clear and open, Serbia’s decision for Serbs to take part in the parliamentary elections in the province transcends and surpasses by its significance the entire Brussels agreement and this is not discussed enough and understood much in the public. If the Brussels agreement was only about the local elections for the four municipalities in the north and about integration of several hundreds of employees of the Serbian Interior Ministry and judiciary, which has not been implemented, our decision to enter parliament elections and provincial institutions, actually means entrance into the entire system in Kosovo and Metohija and the consequences of this decision are much more long-term and far-reaching than the decision to approach the Brussels agreement,” concludes the Office. The transparency of financing has also been fulfilled, which is the obligation from the sixth item.

Djuric on resumption of dialogue with Pristina (Novosti)

“The Serbian side sees the resumption of the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue on 9 February as an opportunity to launch important topics such as the Union of Serb Municipalities and its statute, but also to overview unresolved and non-implemented points from the first Brussels agreement whose elements should be clarified. Our wish is to also launch topics that had not been put on the table in the past and I am sure this meeting will be used for talks on these issues and the dynamics of the resumption of the dialogue,” the Head of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Marko Djuric responds to Novosti’s question whether Belgrade will have an opportunity to open the issue of property in Kosovo and Metohija, including Trepca, on 9 February at the first meeting of the new negotiating troika Mogherini-Vucic-Mustafa.

Belgrade would like to resolve Trepca in Brussels, while the Kosovo minister for EU integration says this issue is for the international court…

“It seems at moments they can’t agree themselves how to resolve this issue. One day one official says that Trepca has been resolved and that it is their property, another day another official says they will not even discuss this, while a third one mentions arbitrage. If we want full normalization of relations we must be aware that we must resolve property issues not only because of the political atmosphere but also because of the economic atmosphere. We are completely prepared for this discussion.”

Is Brussels acquainted with the draft statute of the Union of Serb Municipalities prepared by the Management Team for the formation of the Union, and is their understanding for it since the Albanian side drafted its own proposal?

“We are prepared to discuss the elements of the Statute, and I think that everybody is more or less acquainted with our view of the Union. We need to reach the final form of the regulation of the Union through dialogue. We expect the mediator to stay unbiased, and Pristina to be ready for compromise in the interest of the general circumstances in the southern province. The Union will not be to the detriment of the Albanians, but will be to the benefit to whole of Kosovo and Metohija. The sooner they realize this, the better. The dialogue has been designed in such a way to find a solution, before the final drafts, that would be acceptable for both sides so not to raise political tensions. We are aware that we need to be cautious in the talks in an atmosphere where we have unrest on the streets. Nobody should be trying to use the protests caused by internal political relations as an excuse for lack of readiness for a compromise and reaching a solution in the talks in Brussels.”

Isn’t your assumption that the Union will be formed in three months too optimistic, and is this enough time for reaching compromise?

“This is not my assumption, but an obligation taken over by Mustafa and Thaqi with their signature on the coalition agreement with the Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija. We will see how much they are devoted to normalization of relations through this issue as well.”

What moment in the negotiations with the EU will be “critical” and when will the state leadership present the new platform for Kosovo and Metohija in order to prevent from placing our state before a fait accompli of recognizing Kosovo?

“That is a matter of political assessment to be made by the prime minister and the president of the republic.”

UN interested in a convict sentenced by the court of non-existent country (Danas)

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has asked the Serbian government to officially comment on the “case” of Duro Kljajic (63), probably the only convict who is serving a sentence in Serbia convicted by a court of a non-existent country – the Republika Srpska Krajina (RSK), said lawyer Milan Jovanovic, Kljajic’s representative and Nis Centre for Human Rights associate. The Centre for Human Rights, in December last year, addressed the UN High Commissioner of Human Rights, under whose office the Working Group on arbitrary detention operates and which has accepted to take into the procedure the case of Duro Kljajic, has asked the Serbian government to officially comment on the case. Permanent Representative of the Republic of Serbia to the UN in Geneva in next few days will be supplied with the Centre’s presentment on the case, after which the Serbian government will have 60 days to respond to it.

“After the Working group requests such a declaration, governments respond differently. Some immediately and on their own initiative work to solve the problem, some do not react at all, while some provide answers with different content. In any case, this working group, after the deadline for government’s reply has passed, is entitled to give its opinion whether in a given case there is a violation of law, as well as recommendations on how to resolve it,” says Jovanovic.

Jovanovic and the Centre have addressed the UN, and previously the International Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, after, as they said, it turned out that, “no one in Serbia is competent” to decide on Kljajic’s request that the conviction by the RSK is to be declared illegal to execute and outdated. Last year, the High Court in Sremska Mitrovica refused twice to rule on such a request, although they had previously “acknowledged the territorial jurisdiction” because the decision concerns his amnesty.

In January 1996 he was sentenced to ten years in prison for the crime of the murder committed during the war, which is not qualified as a war crime. This ruling of the District Court in Beli Manastir in the RSK, the self-proclaimed state on the territory of Croatia, has never been recognized by Serbia or any other country. A few months later, under the UN administration, the peaceful reintegration of Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Srem into the Croatian legal system has been conducted, following Kljajic’s transfer from prison in Beli Manastir to Sremska Mitrovica prison, where he remained until January 2000, when he did not return from leave of absence. In November 2011 he was arrested again. Kljajic has less than three years till the end of his sentence.

REGIONAL PRESS

Bosic: Dodik leading Republika Srpska into isolation (Oslobodjenje)

Mladen Bosic, SDS leader, said that Milorad Dodik, President of Republika Srpska (RS), is leading Srpska into isolation. “Until yesterday, Milorad Dodik claimed he would not accept any statement (on European integration) by the Bosnia and Herzegovina Presidency, which in comparison to the original also has not change in accordance with his demands, which can be seen when the two documents are looked at,” said Bosic. He added that Dodik “with his imagined stories about betrayal of Republika Srpska is trying to avoid responsibility for its economic collapse”, a statement from the SDS reads. Bosic claims that “Dodik and the SNSD played a major role in forming the B&H Court and Prosecutor’s office, and they did nothing to process war crimes committed against Serb soldiers and civilians”, just as they did nothing in processing major scandals, which, as he says, sit in the drawers of judicial organs. “Dodik’s biggest problem is the fear of losing seats in government and attempts to establish a system of accountability where everyone who is guilty of any criminal offense is prosecuted,” Bosic said.

Djokic: Essential changes in new text of a statement (Srna)

The president of the Socialist Party (SP), Petar Djokic, feels that essential changes were made to text of a statement on Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) EU integration, which are the result of determination of the SP and its coalition partners. “They are the result of a firm position of the SP and our partners, the SNSD and the DNS, since we insisted that these changes be made, which was accepted by the German and British Foreign Ministers as well,” Djokic told Srna. He says that it is very important that the first version of the statement was changed. “The executive board of our party will review text of the new statement, and I believe that now there is much more room to accept and sign it,” Djokic said. The B&H Presidency adopted the first version of a statement on commitment of B&H political party leaders to undertake necessary reforms in the process of accession to the EU on December 31, 2014, but the leaders of the SNSD, DNS and the SP requested that the statement respects the constitutional order of B&H, that it clearly stipulates jurisdictions and that it cannot be a foundation for transferring jurisdictions from the Entities to B&H. After these objections were made, the B&H Presidency adopted a new statement on B&H’s commitment to reforms on the road to the EU.

ICJ to rule on Croatia vs. Serbia genocide claims on Tuesday (Dalje.com)

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) will deliver its judgment on the Croatia vs. Serbia case regarding their genocide lawsuits on Tuesday, 3 February. The long-standing process of Croatia’s action against Serbia over war crimes committed during the 1991-1995 Homeland Defense War began on 2 July 1999 when Croatia launched proceedings before the Hague-based court for violations of the UN’s Genocide Convention against the then Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) consisting of Serbia and Montenegro, accusing its eastern neighbor of ethnic cleansing which resulted in the displacement, killing, torture and unlawful detention of many Croatian citizens as well as widespread property destruction. Croatia asks in the lawsuit that the ICJ find that Serbia violated its legal obligations under the Convention and that it has the obligation to pay war reparations to Croatia and its citizens for the damage caused to their property, economy and environment in an amount to be determined by the court. In November 2008 the ICJ declared its jurisdiction over the case. Serbia submitted its counter-suit in 2010, claiming that Croatia had committed genocide during the war and demanding that Croatia punish the perpetrators of the genocide, compensate Croatian Serbs for the damage done to them, create conditions for the return and normal life of Serb refugees, and abolish two national holidays, Victory and Homeland Thanksgiving Day and Croatian Defenders’ Day.

Moscow Hopes for Thorough Investigation into failed coup in FYROM (Tass/In.mk)

The FYROM’s leadership said leader of the biggest opposition party Social Democratic Union and foreign intelligence services were involved in a failed coup, TASS reports.

Moscow hopes for a thorough investigation into the failed attempted of coup in FYROM, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. On January 31, FYROM’s law enforcement authorities reported they prevented an attempt of a coup. The country’s leadership said leader of the biggest opposing Social Democratic Union and foreign intelligence services were involved in the failed attempt. “We express hope for a thorough investigation into it in the interests of stability and security in Macedonia,” the foreign ministry said. “We are calling on all political forces of that country to act in compliance with the constitution-based democratic institutions, to solve the problems by means of a dialogue. Aggravation of the situation in friendly Macedonia may cause dangerous escalation of ethnic conflicts in the country.” “This situation proves once again the importance of Russia’s suggestion the OSCE should adopt a document banning anti-constitutional coups,” the foreign ministry said. Ministry of Internal Affairs of the FYROM published a statement that the FYROM’s chief opposition leader was charged by police on Saturday (31 January) with conspiring with a foreign intelligence service to topple the government. Zoran Zaev, leader of the Social Democrats, denied the charges, saying authorities were trying in vain to prevent the publication of what he says is incendiary evidence of criminal wrongdoing by the conservative government of Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski. The European External Action Service has made a statement on the latest developments in FYROM, related to the charges of espionage and attempt to violate the constitutional regime in the country and urges respect of the defendants’ rights. Maja Kocijancic, the Spokesperson to the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton, underscored that Brussels has been informed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs about details regarding accusations against four persons including Zoran Zaev, Zoran Verusevski and his wife. The accusations refer to alleged espionage and violent threats against government officials. “These are very serious charges and we recall the inalienable right for an independent and transparent investigation in case of any alleged wrongdoing, with full respect of the rights of the defendants in accordance with the law and international standards, including the principle of presumption of innocence”, the statement reads.

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

Top UN court to rule in Croatia, Serbia genocide claims (AFP, 1 February 2015)

The Hague: The UN`s highest International Court of Justice on Tuesday hands down its ruling in a long-running genocide case that could reopen old wounds between former foes Croatia and Serbia.

Zagreb in 1999 dragged Belgrade before the ICJ on genocide charges relating to Croatia`s war of independence that raged in 1991-95 following the collapse of the former Yugoslavia. During hearings last year, Croatia`s lawyers said many Serbian political leaders were “in denial” over alleged genocide, an attitude “that persists today.” Belgrade was accused of ethnic cleansing as a “form of genocide” at the time, leading to large numbers of Croats being displaced, killed or tortured and their property being destroyed. Some 20,000 people died in the conflict, one of several to shake the Balkans in the 1990s. Zagreb also wants judges to order Belgrade to pay compensation for damage “to persons and properties as well as to the Croatian economy and environment… a sum to be determined by the court.”Belgrade responded with a countersuit in 2010, saying some 200,000 ethnic Serbs were forced to flee when Croatia launched a military operation to retake its territory. Following Zagreb`s counter-offensive, called Operation Storm, ethnic Serb numbers in the area dwindled from 12 percent to four percent. Belgrade was also outraged in 2012 when Operation Storm`s Croatian military commander, Ante Gotovina, was acquitted on appeal before the Hague-based International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Serbia added “the irony is that Croatia… which with its forceful separatism, triggered an avalanche of the horrid civil war in the former Yugoslavia, is accusing someone else of genocide.” So far the ICJ, which rules in disputes between states, has recognised only one genocide case since opening its doors in 1946. Genocide is the most serious of international crimes but also the hardest to prove. In 2007 it ruled that genocide took place in 1995, at Srebrenica in neighbouring Bosnia, when almost 8,000 Muslim men and boys were slaughtered and their bodies dumped in mass graves by Bosnian Serb troops that overran a UN-protected enclave.Both Belgrade and Zagreb said it would accept the verdict in the 15-year-old case. In Zagreb, Justice Minister Orsat Miljenic did not want speculate, but has said before that Croatia`s main goal was to “present what happened in the war and that was aggression against Croatia.” “We all know Serbia was leading it all (war) and we believe this (the ICJ) was the place where such things could have been presented. “Expectations were already met through that.” Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said the verdict would represent “the end of a historical cycle that lasted for years, decades.”Flights between Zagreb and Belgrade resumed in December for the first time since the war broke out in 1991, but experts say a normalisation of relations between the former foes could still take some time. Recent pronouncements by Serbian ultranationalist Vojislav Seselj, who was temporarily released in mid-November by the Yugoslav war crimes court (ICTY) has further heightened tensions between the two neighbours. Seselj is awaiting a verdict by the ICTY`s judges on war crimes and crimes against humanity charges for his role in the 1990s Balkan conflict and has been temporarily freed for cancer treatment ahead of the ruling. Tuesday`s judgement “might open some old wounds, depending on the verdict,” said Aaron Matta, senior researcher at the Hague Institute for Global Justice. If the ruling goes neither way “it could be the best outcome,” Matta told AFP, adding “nonetheless it shows that there are tensions” between the two countries.

BiH presidency passes statement over reforms, path to EU (Xinhua, 31 January 2015)

SARAJEVO — Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) signed a statement on Friday, putting membership of EU as a strategic aim for the country. The statement will be passed to leaders of political parties in BiH. After reply from parties, the statement was supposed to be adopted in both houses of Parliamentary Assembly of BiH. The statement includes three points. First one refers to obligation to adopt mechanism of coordination between all levels of governments in BiH, in issues related to reforms necessary for process of integration into European Union. “Institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, according to constitutional competences, will include in their working programs reforms necessary for joining EU as a priority,” it said. The statement was agreed by all the three members of Presidency of BiH, Mladen Ivanic, Dragan Covic and Bakir Izetbegovic. The second point refers on concrete measures, such as socio-economic policies, measures for further building of market economy, strengthening rule of law, process of reconciliation and strengthening administrative capabilities. Third point refers to later phase in which BiH will change its constitution so as to finally apply a decision by the European Court of Human Rights. The so-called case of “Sejdic and Finci” ruling involved Dervo Sejdic, a prominent Bosnian Roma and vice president of NGO Kali Sara Roma Information Center, and Jacob Finci, a prominent Bosnian Jew and Bosnia’s ambassador to Switzerland, who launched an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights on the basis that BiH’s Constitution violates the European Convention on Human Rights. Under the Constitution of BiH, the presidency, which consists of three members, can only come from three constituent peoples: one Bosniak and one Croat elected from the Federation of BiH and one Serb elected from RS. The European Court of Human Rights passed a ruling in favor of Sejdic and Finci in September 2009. The European Union has made the adoption of the ruling as a precondition for BiH to join the bloc.

Montenegro, Bosnia at Loggerheads Over Border (Balkan Insight, 2 February 2015)

Montenegro and Bosnia are no closer to overcoming a border dispute over the Sutorina area, in the hinterland of the Adriatic, to which both countries lay claim. Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina are no closer to settling a row over their borders in the Sutorina area. As far as Montenegro is concerned, the Sutorina issue should be removed from discussion as soon as possible, the Foreign Minister, Igor Lukcic, told a parliamentary hearing on Friday. “Our position is clear and I do not see that anything can change it,” Luksic said. The opposition had demanded an urgent parliamentary hearing of the Foreign Minister and of Interior Minister Rasko Konjevic, urging the government to deal more toughly with the dispute. Montenegrin officials say that while the Sutorina dispute poses no danger to the European path of Montenegro, it may well endanger Bosnia’s own path. Ministers have recalled that the demarcation process between the two countries was completed last year. Some Bosnian politicians think differently, however. Denis Becirovic, the MP who proposed a resolution on Sutorina to the Bosnian Parliament this month, on Friday said that the facts about this issue needed to be determined. “The task of the elected officials of this country is to take care of the interests of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” he said. “We will stand up for the country and its borders – solely in a peaceful and democratic manner, using legal instruments. “We respect the independence of Montenegro, but we also respect the principle ‘Theirs we don’t want, ours we don’t give’,” he added, referring to a phrase of Yugoslavia’s former leader, Josip Tito. The Sutorina border dispute dates back to the time when both countries were republics in Yugoslavia. The issue was revived after several Bosnian intellectuals and NGOs presented documentation that they said proved that the area had belonged to Bosnia until shortly after the Second World War. The area in dispute comprises 75 square kilometers and includes five villages and the river Sutorina. If it was given to Bosnia, it would give the largely landlocked country a second access point to the Adriatic Sea, aside from small stretch of coast around Neum of around 24 kilometers. Referring to Bosnian calls for for international arbitration over Sutorina, Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic recently said Bosnian attempts to revise border issues would get nowhere – but were damaging the image of the region. Two week ago, the President of Montenegro, Filip Vujanovic, refused to sign the appointment of a new ambassador to Sarajevo because of the row.

Russian Crime Gang Suspect Held In Montenegro (RFE/RL, 2 February 2015)

A an alleged member of a criminal ring that is suspected of involvement in at least 40 murders across Russia has been detained in Montenegro. Russian Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin said on February 2 that Ivan Bagayev, aka Tolik, a native of North Ossetia in the Russian North Caucasus, is expected to be extradited to Russia soon. Bagayev used a forged Ukrainian passport at the moment of arrest by Montenegrin police, Markin says. Markin said Bagayev is suspected of supplying arms, ammunition, and vehicles for a criminal group allegedly led by Aslan Gagiyev, and of involvement in several murders in North Ossetia in 2008.

Authorities say Gagiyev’s gang was established in 2004 and includes about 50 people.

Markin said that 15 members are in custody in Russia, and that Moscow is seeking the extradition of three who were detained abroad, including Gagiyev.