LOCAL PRESS
McAllister to Nikolic: I intend to submit balanced reports (RTS/Tanjug)
European Parliament Rapporteur for Serbia David McAllister informed Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic that he intends to submit balanced reports on the Serbia’s progress, while Nikolic noted that it is important to portray problems in an objective manner to make it possible to solve them quickly and efficiently. In a meeting with McAllister, President Nikolic stressed the resolute commitment of the Serbian leadership to creating a modern, orderly state. We are not deviating from the European path, but there are many obstructions by those who do not want Serbia to become part of the European family, or at least do not want this government to lead us to the EU, the Serbian President noted. Expressing hope that the first negotiating chapters will be opened by the end of the year, President Nikolic said that reforms are being implemented and that legal and economic stability is being established, with conditions being created for a soonest possible opening of the first chapters. “We want to build exceptional relations with the West, but we do not want to erode the exceptional relations with the East – Russia in particular – in the process. It is very important that problems are portrayed in an objective and factual manner so that authorities can solve them quickly and efficiently,” President Nikolic said. Serbia has done much, McAllister said, noting that he will invest maximum effort to help the country open the first chapters as soon as possible, the Serbian President’s press office said in a statement. Chapters 23 (judiciary and fundamental rights) and 24 (justice, freedom and security) are fundamental and they will be the first to be opened, McAllister said, adding that he intends to submit balanced reports on Serbia’s progress. He expressed satisfaction with the progress of the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, noting that aligning Serbia’s foreign policy to the EU will be a step-by-step process.
Dacic: Albania must respect OSCE principles instead of worrying about Kosovo (Tanjug)
The OSCE chair, Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic called on Albania to deal with OSCE principles instead of showing concern over the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, which is conducted in Brussels and not in the OSCE. At the winter sitting of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly in Vienna, asked by the Albanian delegation if Serbia will accept membership of Kosovo in the OSCE, Dacic replied that Serbia respected the principle of the preservation of territorial integrity and could defend Serbia’s territorial integrity no less than it defends the Ukrainian one. He said that the issue of the normalization of relations, i.e. the everyday life of people, should be separated from the issue of the status. Kosovo can take part in regional forums and we will not prevent its European path, but as for international organizations, that is not going to happen as that would entail a recognition of independence of Kosovo by Serbia, stressed Dacic.
Drecun: Priority is formation of Union of Serb Municipalities (RTS/Tanjug)
The Chairman of the Serbian parliamentary Committee for Kosovo and Metohija Milovan Drecun told the press in the Serbian parliament that the Committee had requested the government to make priority in the continuation of the negotiations the formation of the Union of Serb Municipalities and resolution of the issues of property and return of displaced. Drecun added that these two conclusions of the Committee, adopted by a majority vote, will be forwarded to the Serbian government. Following a two-hour session of the Committee, Drecun told the press that full support was given to the government and Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic for the reached agreements in the judiciary. According to him, they adopted at the session the report of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija that was presented by its Head Marko Djuric.
“The report is encouraging, perspective, detailed and gives hope that the Office will really do a great job in the following period in order to improve the quality of life of the Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija,” said Drecun. He noted that Serbian Justice Minister Nikola Selakovic informed Committee members about the agreed part of the process of normalization of Belgrade-Pristina relations, which refers to the judiciary. “A good, detailed and very open debate was conducted and we adopted two conclusions that we will send to the Serbian government,” said Drecun.
Djuric presents report to Committee for Kosovo and Metohija (RTS/Radio Serbia/Tanjug)
Despite the fact that in the past six months there were no regular conditions for the functioning of the Serbian institutions in the southern province, the Serbian government was striving to provide the existential condition, health care, life and prosperity in Kosovo and Metohija for its people, the Head of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Marko Djuric said. At the session of the parliamentary Committee for Kosovo and Metohija, where he presented the report on the work of the Office in the past six months, Djuric said that even with difficult international circumstances the government had invested a lot of effort to improve the bad situation of the Serb people in the province. Djuric has noted that the activities of the Office were based on the care for local self-administration institutions – schools, hospitals, and the cooperation with the interim self-administration institutions that are operating under the Pristina authorities. The Office was also focused on the coordination of the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue. According to Djuric, this body had organized the building and reconstruction of housing units by donating the building materials, for the purpose of making the conditions for the return of the expelled people to Kosovo and Metohija. Also financed was the maintenance of seven cemeteries, building of a maternity hospital, and distribution of food packages. “In aiming to help the Serb people in the southern Serbian province, we have financed the associations that assist in the return, as well as the agricultural associations. We had several fairs and cultural events, renovated the road network in several municipalities, as well as the water supply grid, while also working on the protection of the facilities of the Serbian Orthodox Church,” Djuric explained. As one of the most important things, he has pointed to the renovation of the ski lifts on the Mt. Brezovica, i.e. its tourist center, striving to help the development of tourism in that part of Serbia. “There have been many jobs done in the field, and I believe there is no municipality that is not in daily contacts with the representatives of the government and our Office. We try to join them in knocking on the doors of all local and international institutions that might help in enhancing the quality of life for our people there,” Djuric stated. Committee members from the opposition parties have demanded the specific information on how much money was spent, how the projects were realized and under which conditions and they supported the demand by the fact that in the earlier period there were lot of embezzlements of the state finances. On the other hand, the delegates from the ruling coalition have asked the Office to also deal with some other issues, such as the opening of the bureaus in the region of Kosovsko Pomoravlje, opening more maternity wards, and the faster forming of the Union of Serb Municipalities. Minister of Justice Nikola Selakovic has presented the recent agreement of Belgrade and Pristina attained in Brussels, which relates to the functioning of the judiciary in that part of Serbia. “The agreement was fully for the benefit of the Serb people in Kosovo and Metohija, and it is particularly important as Serbia has fought for each and every employee,” Selakovic concluded.
Selakovic: We will facilitate the position to the Serbs in Kosovo (Danas)
The recent Belgrade-Pristina agreement on the judiciary will be implemented in accordance with the First Agreement on normalization of relations, within the Kosovo legal framework. The issue before whom Serb judges transferred to Kosovo courts will take an oath has still not been agreed, and Belgrade is now working on not having a single Serb judge appointed without the agreement of the Serbian side, Serbian Justice Minister Nikola Selakovic told the members of the Serbian parliamentary Committee for Kosovo and Metohija. Selakovic explained that this agreement “respects UNSCR 1244, based on which Serbia didn’t have the right to courts and prosecutors in Kosovo and Metohija”, and this will also facilitate the position of the Serbs who are now tried in Kosovo “at the justice of God”. “The things that we have to do would have occurred both with us and without us. Someone would have entered those institutions with a Serbian name who would allegedly advocate for the Serb people and would be a cover before the international public, which had already been done,” said Selakovic, noting that the President of the Higher Court in Kosovska Mitrovica Nikola Kabasic and the senior prosecutor Milan Bigovic had taken part in all negotiations along with the officials from Belgrade.
Dikovic: Natasa Kandic doesn’t speak the truth (Politika, by Dorotea Carnic)
Chief of Staff of the Serbian Army, General Ljubisa Dikovic, denied yesterday before the First Municipal Court in Belgrade all allegations by Natasa Kandic, former director of the Humanitarian Law Fund (FHP) on his alleged participation in war crimes. The general submitted to the court several pieces of written evidence based on which he is suing Kandic for libel and seeks damages in the amount of one million Dinar for breach of honor and reputation. The next trial has been scheduled for 19 May when Natasa Kandic will give evidence.
Djuro Cepic, Dikovicev’s attorney, says that each claim that refutes the allegations by the FHP is accompanied by material evidence, including the confirmation of the War Crime Prosecution from 2012 that no proceedings for any criminal offense is conducted against his client. Cepic assesses that it was proved that Dikovic was not even present at the locations mentioned by the FHP.
“General Dikovic was interrogated as a prosecutor. The FHP leaflet writes that he arrested on 25 June 1995, as the commander of the Border battalion, some Muslims who were liquidated later on. That is not correct, because Dikovic submitted his duty in November 1994 so that he was not in Bajina Basta that year, as the HFP notes. We attached the order of dismissal and minutes of the handover,” says attorney Cepic.
He adds that the FHP further notes that Dikovic organized in May 1998 criminals from the Sremska Mitrovica prison to recruit and train them for the crimes in Kosovo and Metohija and that he took some excavator from the coal seam in Belacevac, cattle and sheep, as well as hundreds of cars, whereby he obtained benefit for himself.
“The truth is that General Dikovic assumed only in November the duty of the commander of the 37th brigade that wasn’t even in the region of Kosovo and Metohija in 1998. Already in October of that year, the Kosovo verification mission began to operate and there were no military operations, while this brigade didn’t come to Kosovo and Metohija until March 1999. The FHP noted that two officers were killed on 20 April 1999 because Dikovic ordered them to come to him. These men weren’t even killed on the same day, while they died from the effects of the KLA terrorist forces. Such claims especially insult the honor and reputation of the general. Dikovic claims that at issue are gross untruths. Our goal is not to argue in public, but to determine everything before the court,” points outs General Dikovic’s attorney. He also submitted to the court the confirmation of the War Crimes Prosecution from 2012 that Dikovic is not registered in any evidence. “There is no investigation, either pretrial let alone criminal proceedings. Not a single claim was substantiated by evidence. Such serious accusations can be pronounced only based on a final court judgment and nobody except the court may present such claims. The general pointed out that he will give the entire sum from damages for humanitarian purposes,” said Cepic.
REGIONAL PRESS
Inzko: “Gorazdify” all of B&H (Oslobodjenje)
Valentin Inzko, the High Representative in B&H, during his visit to Bosnian-Podrinje Canton (BPK) met with Emir Okovic, Prime Minister of the Canton, as well as ministers in the government and mayors of municipalities in the canton, with whom he discussed the current situation with a focus on economic development. Emphasis was placed on the issue of allocating public revenue, which was initiated by individual cantons in the Federation. “Under the High Representative’s mandate, we used the opportunity to point to the question of allocating public revenue and certain priorities when it comes to BPK and its local communities – primarily development of industrial zones and finding incentives for our business people. We believe that the number of residents is not a basic and the only parameter, and we must be aware that there are some cantons that are in an unfavorable position. At the very start we were much more destroyed and devastated compared to other cantons,” said Prime Minister Okovic. It was also stressed that there are positive trends in the sense of the import-export balance, which requires that every canton have minimum funds to respect constitutional responsibilities. High Representative Inzko expressed his satisfaction over the visit to the canton, which was the first in the Federation to form a government after the general elections. “This is a fantastic example of how a small area that had a difficult past can be successful, certainly that this is an area that is not the best connected infrastructure-wise with large centers, and is recognized not just in the country, but in Europe. In this sense, it would be great when all of B&H is ‘Gorazdified’ and when there are many such areas,” said Inzko. During his visit, the High Representative met with business representatives from Gorazde and with the leadership of the cantonal assembly, the BPK government said in a statement.
Incomplete agreement – talks to resume on Sunday (Srna)
The Deputy SDA leader Bakir Izetbegovic said that eight of the ten steps needed for the formation of the B&H Council of Ministers were agreed at a meeting of representatives of six political parties yesterday and that those talks will resume on Sunday, February 22. Izetbegovic told reporters that two remaining steps – appointment of one minister and one deputy minister – need to be taken. The HDZ B&H leader Dragan Covic said that the spirit of the meeting indicates the possibility for a quick formation of the B&H Council of Ministers, and that he hopes that an agreement will be reached at a meeting on Sunday which will start at 16:00. The SDS leader Mladen Bosic said that he does not see why an agreement would not be reached on Sunday, since at the moment there is not a single issue that seems to be impossible to resolve. The DF leader Zeljko Komsic said that the B&H Council of Ministers should be formed as soon as possible and that B&H should take this opportunity as the EU is lenient towards it.
EU sets more demanding conditions for B&H (Srna/TV N1)
The Republika Srpska (RS) President Milorad Dodik said that, with the new approach of the EU, the conditions set before Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) on its road to the EU are more demanding, even though this is not so presented in public. “Earlier, we had only two issues to resolve in order to get the candidate status – coordination mechanism and the Sejdic-Finci decision. I say that the conditions we now face on our path to Europe are more difficult. We have this serious condition whereby the European Commission is to make an assessment on the progress relating to economic reforms,” Dodik stressed. The RS President told TV N1 on Wednesday evening that Croatia no longer hides its desire to assist the Croat component in B&H, which overall creates more difficult conditions than they were a year or two ago. Dodik said that Europe does not look the same as it did ten years ago, emphasizing that he much more believes in the possibility of the RS continuing its independent existence, before B&H ever joins the EU. “There are many problems there. Europe will face the problem of its own survival as a community. You have Greece, Spain, and many other processes taking place. On the other hand, the B&H proves itself unsuccessful relating to many issues,” said Dodik. Speaking about the South Stream project, he said it is not dead yet. “I don’t know why people keep saying there is no South Stream. There will be one. A top ranking figure from Russia told me so,” said Dodik. He told TV N1 that in the previous years he could not convince Russia to make a deal on South Stream with the RS because the Russians asked that they do it with the B&H Council of Ministers. “We wasted two or three years because of that. When we came to the Council of Ministers, they rejected both us and the Russians. When the SDP was in power, we agreed some 20 measures. Has there been any success in finishing them? No. Who obstructed it? Not me, for sure,” said Dodik. He said that the Federation representatives in the Council of Ministers had not backed him on any important issue he tried to solve. “We were chasing after South Stream, but when TAP (Trans Adriatic Pipeline) from Albania showed up, I thought that the Council of Ministers also needed to do its job and give its approval,” said Dodik. He pointed out that the RS never does anything against the Federation of B&H and that he abandoned hope of positive outcomes of the two entities’ cooperation after his efforts had been obstructed several times. “When we started to solve problems together, we agreed with the governments of Italy and Serbia that FB&H and RS have 12 percent share each in the distribution of funds from the global project. Then suddenly the Federation started challenging this and we got nothing. Why should we stay here if we don’t get anything? Our economy would be far more successful if it wasn’t for the limitations we have; 300 million marks is given for drinking water imports from the neighboring countries,” said Dodik, underlining that he would continue to nurture good relations with Russia and that he saw no problem in having dialogue with Turkey on all important matters.
The EU path not just for membership but for benefit for all (Srna/BHT1)
The RS Prime Minister Zeljka Cvijanovic says she wants to see B&H move closer to the EU not only because of membership but because that path will benefit the whole society. “We shouldn’t aspire to the EU just because membership is our goal but because that is good for us. Membership is a long-term thing, but on candidate status we should work now in order to get to it,” Cvijanovic told BHT1. Candidate status, she said, is a predictable story that means a lot in terms of the country’s earnestness and offers a whole set of institutional settings that B&H as a potential candidate does not have at this point when it comes to support and funds. Cvijanovic wants to see some significant steps made towards the EU in the course of this year. She points out that what is collectively called the EU accession process is a long and hard process and that it involves a lot of things. “Let’s be realistic and ask ourselves is the current Europe which we hope to join the same as it was when it accepted the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the Baltic region? It’s not the same Europe any more. Look at the situation in some member states, do they have an answer to the crisis in Greece, or the difficult situation in Ukraine?” asked Cvijanovic. It’s not the same Europe, she went on to explain, because some other critical points have occurred, but the B&H must go on dealing with the necessary reforms because membership of the EU is its goal. When it comes to NATO, the PM believes that demilitarization of the country would be the right solution. “Security risks are something we need to grapple with boldly in B&H,” she said. A blind eye is turned to some facts including the issues of radicalism and attacks perpetrated by the people established to hold B&H passports, she emphasized. “Why haven’t we activated the Membership Action Plan? Because we couldn’t we agree on the locations. When we agreed the locations, the problem emerged as to who those properties should be registered to,” said Cvijanovic. An agreement on those issues was indeed reached and about to be implemented, but it was overthrown, she explained. “The security talk does not only entail being a member of NATO or not. There is a view in RS that, if things are going in that direction in Serbia, then that should be guidance for the RS too. That’s a legitimately expressed opinion and if Serbia pursues neutrality then we will too,” explained Cvijanovic. There is some heavy heritage and not enough political will has been invested to approach the NATO issue in an open and honest manner, she said. When asked how the RS and B&H could be pushed forward, Cvijanovic pointed out that the best way would be to reform the country and identify its weaknesses and get to grips with the problems. “What this country needs is for us to send a good message to ourselves. Also, the foreigners who are earning some good salaries here should send a good message,” said the prime minister. She believes that the good potential that this country has should be presented to Europe in a better way. Only 30 percent of RS’ hydropower potential is used and the remaining 70 percent is up for investments. Commenting on the EU’s new approach, Cvijanovic recalled that back when she was a minister and when international representatives were pushing for the transfer of competences to the state level, she advocated focusing on socio-economic issues, and bringing uniform solutions in accordance with the constitutional competences.
Another person arrested in Zenica (Srna)
As part of the Damascus operation, the B&H State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) arrested in in Zenica another person whose initials are M.T. /67/ on suspicion of financing terrorist activities. SIPA announced that a search of premises used by this person is in progress.
The person will be brought to SIPA premises for questioning, after which he will be surrendered to the B&H Prosecutor’s Office. SIPA earlier arrested six persons in the Damascus operation and searched buildings in six locations in Sarajevo, Maglaj, Buzim and Velika Kladusa for their links to terrorism. Three persons were arrested in the area of Sarajevo, and another three were arrested in Maglaj and Buzim. SIPA surrendered three persons arrested in the area of Sarajevo to the B&H Prosecutor’s Office and the remaining three persons are still being questioned. These persons are suspected of financing terrorist activities, publicly instigating to terrorist acts, recruitment for terrorist acts, organizing a terrorist group, and of illegal participation in foreign military and para-police formations. They were arrested in the continuation of the Damascus operation, the aim of which is to find and seize items that can serve as evidence. At SIPA’s proposal, the B&H Court and Prosecutor’s Office issued orders for the searches and arrests.
Close cooperation between SIPA and the B&H Intelligence-Security Agency was achieved in this operation, and in the latest arrests, cooperation was achieved with the B&H Border Police.
Dacic urges Macedonia to maintain stability, says OSCE is prepared to help (MIA)
For OSCE, the issue of stability in the region and Macedonia is of paramount importance and all available capacities need to be used to this end, stated the current OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic at Wednesday’s joint press conference with Macedonian Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikola Poposki, MIA reports. “OSCE is an organization dealing with three dimensions – political-military and security, the second one is economic and the last one refers to issues on human rights and democratic institutions, issues on national minorities, discrimination, etc. It is crucial to see what has been done and what needs to be done in view of the implementation of the Ohrid Accord. OSCE is prepared to offer its good will to mediate, especially in terms of these political issues, if naturally there is such an issue, and if there is a need for such a thing in the host country,” Dacic said at a press conference after a meeting with PM Nikola Gruevski. According to him, the issue of European and regional security is vital, especially in our region and in this part of Europe, including the issue of stability in Macedonia. “Utmost efforts should be made to solve all the problems that could additionally complicate matters. Understandably, problems that are major and that hinder EU integration processes should be also settled. We need to deal with these matters openly and the international community has to take a more active stance,” noted Dacic. If the European perspective is missing from the agenda of a country, then it stops being encouraging, according to him. Therefore, he added, OSCE will keep on making steps, which will be considered solely as assistance for the countries where the organization has deployed missions. Answering a journalist question regarding the wire-tapping scandal, he said it was important to find out the whole truth and to discuss the issue openly in the country. “I have no information that might clarify the legal circumstances of the issue. Speaking in my capacity as OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, it is important to find out the whole truth and the issue to be openly discussed in your country by your bodies. Such activities could bring about some instability that must be prevented and it is your responsibility on how to act in such a situation. For me, the key question is how some of the state top officials can be wire-tapped. Is it authorized or unauthorized… If it is unauthorized, everyone knows what needs to be done. It is another question regarding the objectives and I wouldn’t like to go any deeper,” stated Dacic. Also, he responded affirmatively when asked whether this case and the current situation in Macedonia were covered by OSCE’s mandate. “Everything falls in the domain of OSCE activities because it is in relation to the rule of law and human rights and liberties. If needs be, OSCE is prepared to mediate in order the best solutions to be found,” Dacic stressed. FM Poposki expressed satisfaction with regional cooperation being high on the agenda of Serbia’s OSCE chairmanship, especially considering the fact that Serbia was familiar with the situation in the region. Expressing support to OSCE projects on the strengthening of regional cooperation, Poposki said they discussed the issue with fighters going abroad, the Ukraine crisis and OSCE’s role in Macedonia. “We appreciate the role of OSCE in Macedonia and its support to reform processes in several areas in relation to, amongst other things, our EU integration bid. We’ve also discussed further steps set to be made in this cooperation with OSCE in all the areas covered by its mandate,” said Poposki adding that Macedonia had excellent cooperation with all OSCE institutions, including ODIHR, the representative for the freedom of media, the high commissioner for national minorities, etc.
During his visit to Macedonia, Dacic also met with President Gjorge Ivanov, Deputy PM Musa Xhaferi and Education and Science Minister Abdilaqim Ademi.
INTERNATIONAL PRESS
Kosovo Serb Politician ‘Seen with Mitrovica Killers’ (BIRN, by Una Hajdari, 18 February 2015)
A prosecution witness said he saw Kosovo Serb political party leader Oliver Ivanovic with a group of paramilitary policemen who executed four ethnic Albanians in Mitrovica in April 1999.
Witness Shefki Kasumi told the court in Mitrovica on Wednesday that he saw Ivanovic with a group of paramilitary policemen who killed four of the nine Albanians he was with on April 14, 1999. Kasumi said was in the same house as Isa Mustafa, the main prosecution witness in the case, when Yugoslav Army soldiers entered their house at around 10am and threw them out.
“That day, army regulars kicked threw us out of the house. They separated us from the women and children, and backed us up against the wall, and searched us for weapons,” Kasumi said.
The soldiers said they were taking them to the police station in northern Mitrovica, he continued. On the way, he said he noticed Ivanovic, who was wearing a blue camouflage uniform, which was usually worn by police. “Ivanovic wasn’t masked. When he saw us, he pulled down his mask,” the witness said. They were then handed over to the policemen and told to line up, “which is when the executions started… They were taking us inside a house, one at a time, and we heard shots,” said Kasumi. “When my turn came, one of the policemen who had a higher rank came in and started yelling,” he said. The higher-ranking officer then ordered the others to stop the shootings. One of the policemen said “just this one” – referring to the witness – but the other senior officer said “no, not a single one more”, Kasumi testified. “Five of us survived,” he said. A former Serbian government official and head of a Kosovo Serb political party called Freedom, Democracy, Justice, Ivanovic is accused of war crimes by ordering the murder of ethnic Albanians in Mitrovica on April 14, 1999 during the NATO bombing, when he was allegedly the leader of a paramilitary police unit. He is also accused, along with another person, of inciting the killing of ethnic Albanians during unrest that erupted after the war on February 3, 2000, when many Albanians were driven from their homes. Four other defendants, Dragoljub Delibasic, Aleksandar Lazovic, and father and son Ilija and Nebojsa Vujacic, also face charges of murder or attempted murder. All of them have pleaded not guilty.
Tony Blair advising Serbian government 16 years after bombing of Belgrade (The Guardian, 18 February 2015)
Blair will counsel Serbian PM Aleksandar Vucic, once his outspoken critic, under deal believed to be funded by United Arab Emirates
Tony Blair has added Serbia to the list of countries he is paid to advise, despite his role as the chief proponent of the bombing of Belgrade in 1999. Blair will counsel the Serbian prime minister, Aleksandar Vucic, who was information minister during the war and was once such an outspoken critic of the British politician that he was listed as an editor of a book titled English Gay Fart Tony Blair. Now Vucic and Blair find themselves on the same side, under a contract sealed by Blair’s private consultancy to set up a “delivery unit” paid for, according to Serbian official sources, by the United Arab Emirates. It is likely to infuriate not just Serbs who resent Blair’s role in the bombing campaign against the former Yugoslavia, but also opponents of his expanding business interests in the Middle East. Critics say personal concerns, including financial ties to Abu Dhabi, the UAE capital, are undermining his posting as official envoy in the Middle East for the Quartet – the UN, US, Russia and EU. Two senior Serbian officials have said Abu Dhabi is funding Tony Blair Associates’ latest advisory role with their government. Blair and his team have made regular visits to Belgrade in recent months, Serbian government sources say, including for a lecture by the former Downing Street head of press Alastair Campbell at the end of January. Rival Serbian politicians say Blair is a “bizarre” choice of adviser to Vucic, given the previous fierce criticism. “How can you say such things about someone and now present him as a key factor in making our government more efficient?” asked Borko Stefanovic, leader of the largest opposition group in parliament. The colourfully titled book, published in 2005 with Vucic listed as an editor, was written by Vojislav Seselj, a politician and suspected war criminal, when both were senior members of the Serbian Radical party. Vucic has since tried to distance himself from his past, breaking away from the Radicals with Tomislav Nikolic, now Serbia’s president, in 2008 to form the Progressive party, which has cast itself as pro-European. Balkan insiders say they may be counting on domestic political fallout being outweighed by the boost that Blair’s credentials could bring to their campaign for membership of the European Union, or on improvements his team could bring to their governing skills. Blair himself may also face political fallout from the deal, because of links between Abu Dhabi, Serbia and a controversial Palestinian exile, Mohammed Dahlan, which are likely to make the deal extremely unpopular among officials in the West Bank. An arch-rival of President Mahmoud Abbas, Dahlan has made no secret of his desire to become the next Palestinian leader. He is currently living in Abu Dhabi and serving as economic and security adviser to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. He played a pivotal role in negotiating billions of euros worth of promised investment in Serbia through a series of state-level agreements. As a result, he, six family members and six political supporters were awarded Serbian citizenship in 2013 and 2014, the Guardian and the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) revealed this month. Palestinian officials have been angered by Abu Dhabi’s refusals to hand over Dahlan and its alleged bankrolling of his campaign to unseat Abbas, pouring money into refugee camps and Gaza to win over his supporters. Nimar Hamad, Abbas’s political adviser, told BIRN from the presidential complex in Ramallah that relations with Abu Dhabi were “very poor”. He added: “It began when Prince Mohammed Bin Zayed asked not to take any measures against Mohammed Dahlan.” Chris Doyle, director of the Council for Arab-British Understanding, said Blair needed to decide between pursuing his business interests and his post as Quartet envoy. “There is no clear division between Blair’s diplomatic dealings and business dealings in the Middle East,” he said. “In his role as Middle East envoy, his relationship with Abbas is crucial in building the Palestinian economy and administration. [His ties] with Abu Dhabi could undermine this.” A senior Serbian minister, who asked to remain anonymous, confirmed that Tony Blair Associates’ work, including the recent Alastair Campbell lecture, was covered by Abu Dhabi but said the exact nature of the deal was a closely guarded secret. “No one told us any details since it’s all been agreed in very close circle,” the minister said. “There were some people giving some lectures, but to be honest I don’t see any point in the project. They haven’t told us anything we don’t already know.” Another source from the prime minister’s office said Abu Dhabi was footing the bill for the project, but said he had no further details. “I just know that people came and they told us that it was paid by Abu Dhabi.” Blair has already drawn fire for his business ties with Abu Dhabi, including a contract worth more than £1m a year advising the emirate’s sovereign wealth fund Mubadala. When asked whether Blair remained an “honest broker” in the peace process, Abbas told BIRN in an exclusive interview: “Tony Blair was nominated by the Quartet committee as the Middle East envoy and we accept that as the Quartet’s decision.” But he added that he had “lost hope” in the current round of the negotiations. He is close to the crown prince, who shares Blair’s concerns about the Muslim Brotherhood and is believed to be behind the UAE’s more forceful role in the region, including unilateral bombing raids on eastern Libyan. A spokeswoman for Tony Blair Associates refused to confirm or deny that Abu Dhabi was funding the project, but said it would not affect Blair’s work for the Quartet in the Middle East. “This project was directly negotiated and agreed between Serbia and TBA (Tony Blair Associates) following meetings between Tony Blair and the Serbia prime minister and was not part of any wider agreement,” she said in a statement. “The work of the delivery unit has no bearing on Tony Blair’s role in the Middle East for the Palestinian economy.” Blair’s office told reporters last July that there was “no project in, or contract with, Serbia”, following a visit by the former prime minister to Belgrade. Blair’s spokeswoman said the Serbian deal had not been signed at the time of the denial. She refused to say when the contract was agreed. Blair does not publish his earnings, but the Financial Times put his income for 2011 at around £20m. He is paid up to $300,000 (£195,000) a session on the lecture circuit, aides have said. In the past he has advised countries as diverse as Rwanda, Albania, Mongolia and Kuwait. His Africa Governance Initiative has worked with the governments of Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea, Nigeria, Ethiopia and Senegal on a non-profit basis. He stoked controversy by advising the autocratic ruler of Kazakhstan on how to manage the fallout from a massacre of civilians by police, and by consulting on a pipeline project initiated by Azerbaijan’s president.
This article was reported in partnership with the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, which is partly funded by Austrian Development Cooperation (ADC). The content does not reflect the views of the ADC.
Failed Kosovo project: people leaving, but NATO demands met (RT, 18 February 2015)
Although the EU and NATO have delivered nothing to Kosovo in the way of prosperity, being there still meets the criteria of allowing expansion further east, Serbian affairs commentator Marko Gasic told RT.
February 17 marked seven years since Kosovo declared independence from Serbia. However because of high unemployment and poverty thousands of Kosovans look for a better life elsewhere making their way to European countries. Berlin, Vienna and Geneva have plans deport those who recently arrived, and are asking the Kosovo government to cover the expense. Hungary also wants tougher controls to stop the flow of illegal migrant from Kosovo.
RT: Do you think we will see mass deportations in the coming months?
Marko Gasic: Well I expect something of that order, yes. But the key thing here is that the population of Kosovo appears to be voting with their feet and leaving the failed Kosovo project. It is clearly a failure economically and in every sense. And this is what created the crisis. There is of course another school of thought that suggests that the leadership in Kosovo perhaps is helping this crisis to occur in order to give the EU a choice between billions of euro of aid going to Kosovo, or half a million refugees going to the EU. So everything is possible…We had scenarios in the past of crises in Kosovo which have been manufactured. But the main thing is that the ordinary person seems to have no future in a place which is riddled with corruption, crime from drug trafficking, from forced prostitution, organ trading. There is nothing of a viable industry in Kosovo at the moment which is the situation that the people are reacting to.
RT: The number of immigrants from Kosovo skyrocketed by 86 percent last month. The problem of immigration is nothing new, but why the sudden surge?
MG: Well that’s an interesting thing. As I said, there are elements here of almost programming that these people are suddenly leaving, and it does indicate the degree of organization on somebody’s part. So that goes back to the question who might be involved in creating this scenario. But whoever is behind it, the fact is, in practice it can be a very big headache for the EU, because of course we have the pan-European far-right already concerned with legal migrant flows within the EU, and are now faced with the illegal migrant flow from without the EU. So clearly Europe and the EU will not want to take the domestic consequences of what’s going on and will want to pass this headache back outside the EU, further south perhaps towards Serbia which may have been the plan all along.
RT: The US and the EU were both very vocal supporters of Kosovo’s independence. Why are they turning their backs when the independent region is in need of them again?
MG: The EU together with NATO has attempted to manage the Kosovo project and has utterly failed to do so. If Kosovo had been under Serbian control, the Serbians would be to blame for these consequences; we would be hearing all sorts of accusations. But the fact is that Kosovo is now under NATO control and aided and abetted by the EU. And in 16 years the EU and NATO have delivered nothing to Kosovo in the way of prosperity. It has been a complete failure on all counts. Even the EU itself is now accused to be part of the corrupt society that they have helped to create in Kosovo. So clearly this is not something that the EU wants to see blowback from the failure of its policies, externally back into the EU. But from NATO’S point of view Kosovo still meets the main reason why the whole crisis began 16 years ago which was the ability of NATO to relocate from Germany in force into the biggest military base since Vietnam, that’s Camp Bondsteel sitting there in the heart of Kosovo which doesn’t require anybody’s permission as it continues its encirclement of strategic targets further east. So Kosovo still fulfills NATO’s demands for its function even if doesn’t fulfill any demands of the population, and any demands for what economic prosperity should involve.
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.
Hahn Tells Macedonia to Investigate Surveillance Claims (BIRN, by Goran Rizaov, 18 February 2015)
The EU Commissioner for Enlargement, Johannes Hahn, said opposition claims of mass surveillance need to be investigated properly.
On his first visit to Macedonia, the EU Commissioner for Neighbourhood policy and Enlargement negotiations, Johannes Hahn expressed said opposition claims about government surveillance of thousands of citizens need investigating.
“The investigation should be conducted in full respect of the principles of due process – impartiality, presumption of innocence, transparency, separation of powers and judicial independence”, Hahn said on Wednesday. He said the media needed complete freedom to report on issues of public interest. In meetings with President Gjorge Ivanov, Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, Foreign Minister Poposki and opposition leader Zoran Zaev, Hahn expressed the EU’s concern at the overall political situation. He urged politicians “to engage in constructive dialogue, within the parliament, focusing on the strategic priorities of the country and all its citizens. “All leaders must cooperate in good faith to overcome the current impasse, which is not beneficial to the country’s reform efforts”, Hahn’s statement said. The Commissioner added that fundamental rights and freedom of the media are at the heart of the EU accession process and non-negotiable. On February 9, the opposition Social Democrat leader, Zoran Zaev, accused Prime Minister Gruevski and the secret police chief, Saso Mijalkov, of conducting the illegal surveillance of more than 20,000 people. Zaev claimed that “all socially important people have been eavesdropped”. He claimed that the Prime Minister had been receiving daily reports on his political opponents prepared by the secret services. The wire tapping, according to the opposition, included Gruevski’s own associates, senior politicians, opposition leaders, NGO activists, journalists, businessmen, academics, religious leaders, members of the judiciary and others. At Zaev’s press conference 11 recorded conversations were published as part of the “first batch”, while at a second, held on February 15, another five recordings were published. These involved discussions between top state officials, judges and a pro-government news editor about the appointment of judges as well as court cases and prosecutors’ work. The main ruling party VMRO DPMNE has dismissed the allegations as nonsensical and called Zaev “a puppet of foreign services”. In a press release on February 10, the ruling party claimed the alleged wiretapping affair was part of a “created scenario in the interest of a third party that does not want any good for Macedonia”. The party called on Macedonian institutions to “determine all the facts and circumstances, as well as motifs and goals of the inspirers, supporters and executors of this scenario”. Ten days before Zaev started publishing his damning allegations, police ordered him to remain in the country and confiscated his passport. Hours before, Prime Minister Gruevski used an address aired on all main TV stations to accuse Zaev of attempting a coup. Together with three other suspects, he has since been charged with “espionage and violence against top state officials”. Among the other suspects are Zoran Verushevski, a former secret police chief, who was arrested in mid-January and placed in custody. The other two suspects are employees in the police and are also detained. For months, Zaev has repeatedly threatened to detonate a so-called political “bomb”, which he said would force Gruevski to resign. After being charged with espionage, Zaev said it would not prevent him from publishing evidence that he said was obtained from domestic secret services, not from foreign intelligence. His opposition party said it would continue releasing recordings that would unmask the real nature of Gruevski’s regime.
Bosnia Inches Closer to Forming State Govt (BIRN, by Srecko Latal, 19 February 2015)
After four months of delay on the formation of new governments since the elections, party leaders indicated a deal might be ready as soon as next Monday.
Leaders of the six parties in the ruling coalition at state level in Bosnia have reported progress in talks on establishing a new Council of Ministers – in effect a state government. Bakir Izetbegovic and Zeljko Komsic, from the [Bosniak] Party of Democratic Action, SDA and the Democratic Front, DF, Dragan Covic from the Croatian Democratic Union, HDZ, as well as Mladen Bosic, Mladen Ivanic and Krsto Jandric from the [Serbian] Serbian Democratic Party, SDS, the Party of Democratic Progress, PDP, and Peoples’ Democratic Movement, NDP, met in Sarajevo on Wednesday. The six parties have to agree on sharing positions in the Council of Ministers, which is made up of a chairman, nine ministers and nine deputy ministers. Late on Wednesday, party leaders reported agreements on all but one ministerial and one deputy ministerial position. They will meet again on Sunday. “I believe that on… Monday we will announce a new Council of Ministers. The job does not end there, because we also have to establish a government for the Federation [entity],” Komsic said after the meeting. He said a speedy agreement on a new state government was important also because of the expected arrival of Federica Mogherini, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, who is due in Sarajevo on Monday.
She is coming to Sarajevo to push Bosnian leaders to adopt a declaration pledging their continued commitment to European integration. Once the declaration is adopted, it will set in motion the new EU initiative for Bosnia and activate the long-stalled Stabilization and Association Agreement, SAA. Once the SAA is activated, local leaders are expected to initiate a set of economic and social reforms, which the EU has pledged to support. Adoption of the declaration and the formation of new governments at the state level, in the Bosniak-Croat Federation entity and in eight out of ten of the Federation’s cantons have all been delayed by months of political quarrels. The legal deadline for Bosnia’s Premier-designate, Denis Zvizdic, from the SDA, to name his government expires on March 11. After that, Bosnia’s three-member Presidency will have to name a new premier-designate. Party leaders face another important deadline in March by when they have to adopt budgets at state level and in the Federation entity, as temporary financing arrangements are then due to expire.
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