LOCAL PRESS

Joksimovic: Good day for Serbia (Tanjug)

Serbian Minister without Portfolio in charge of EU Integrations Jadranka Joksimovic greeted the adoption of a resolution on Serbia’s progress in the European Parliament (EP) and stressed that the adoption of certain amendments could not cast a shadow on the fact that this was a good day for Serbia. The resolution is very well balanced and some open recommendations for the opening of talks on chapters in this year have been given, while Serbia has been supported in its efforts to, through reforms, promote the EU integrations process, said Joksimovic. In the resolution, adopted in Strasbourg, Serbia is commended for its progress in reforms, the development of good neighborly relations and dialogue with Pristina and the European Council is requested to open chapters in the negotiation process as soon as possible. I can tell that everybody has the impression that Serbia is the most serious candidate for membership and that they are supporting our economic reforms, political stabilization, and efforts to strengthen institutions and regional cooperation, said Joksimovic. She, however, said that she could give any specific date for the start of accession chapter talks, since the European Commission president had said that there would be no new members admitted to the EU over the following five years. Honestly speaking, five years would not be enough time for us to meet all the requirements anyway, but in six to seven years, Serbia will be ready, said Joksimovic.

Analysis of harmonization with EU acquis soon (Tanjug)

The first stage of the accession talks between Serbia and the EU, which refers to an analysis of the level of harmonization of Serbia’s legislation with the EU acquis, will be completed by the end of March, Deputy Head of the Serbian government Office for EU integration Srdjan Majstorovic has said. “We expect 2015 to the year when the first chapters of the talks are opened,” he said at a meeting of the working group of the National Convent on the EU on Wednesday, which focused on Chapter 10, which refers to the information society and media.
The screenings for two remaining chapters of the total of 35 remain, and then the European Commission needs to issue a report on the chapters, which will be used to build the negotiating position, he said. After the screening, there will be a process of reviewing its results and the national program for the adoption of the EU acquis, which defines the tempo of the harmonization of Serbia’s legislation with that of the EU.

Albanian migrants were only a prelude (Politika, by Vladimir Vukasovic)

New pressure by the West for recognition of Kosovo

The exodus of Kosovo Albanians towards the EU countries, which they enter illegally in order to seek asylum, has become the reason to increase pressure for independence of Kosovo to receive general recognition. The European Parliament (EP) yesterday adopted the resolution on Kosovo in which it “encourages the remaining five EU member states to recognize Kosovo, because this would enable additional normalization of relations between Belgrade and Pristina”. The EP Rapporteur for Kosovo Ulrike Lunacek noted that even after seven years, Kosovo still feels unwelcome in the EU. She called on the authorities in Kosovo to do more on creating better economic and social conditions for the life of citizens, whereby the number of immigrants to Western Europe would be reduced and the resolution of the issue of visa liberalization would be accelerated. A similar stand, which could be described somewhat ironically with an old catchword “both standards and status”, was taken several days ago by Jennifer Brush, the former charge d’affairs of the US Embassy in Belgrade, presently the UNMIK Deputy Head. This time the standards do no refer to the rights of minorities, primarily Serbs, but to the economic standards of all Kosovo residents: primarily Albanians. Around 100,000 of them, as estimated, have been heading towards the Serbian-Hungarian border over the past several months, trying to reach EU territory and the asylum status. In the broadcast “Freely Serbian”, Brush cites as reason for that the bad economic situation and uncertainty regarding Kosovo’s status. “Perhaps the people are a bit disappointed with political perspectives; perhaps they don’t know whether Kosovo will become a member of the United Nations, the EU… They fought to receive some international status, they fought for the state to be recognized, and they still don’t have that after so many years,” said Brush. Thus, the UNMIK Deputy Head pointed out to the resolution of the issue of Kosovo’s status as a condition for social peace on this territory. When the Serbs went to exodus following the pogrom on 17 March 2004, the West gave up from the then policy “standards before status” and turned to advocating Kosovo’s statehood as a universal solution for all the troubles of its residents, both Serbs and Albanians. “If, let’s say, you take the return of displaced, six years after the war you will see that only several families returned but not because not enough had been done, but because the negotiations on Kosovo’s final status are approaching. The people want to know the outcome of the talks in order to know to what kind of Kosovo they are returning,” reasoned for the Voice of America Seren Jesen-Petersen, the then UNMIK head, in September 2005, claiming that reaching standards is linked to the outcome of the status.

Kosovo did declare independence, but, instead of this leading to mass return of displaced, the flight of Kosovo Albanians towards happier regions wasn’t stopped either. Migration from Kosovo started during the pressure of the authority of Slobodan Milosevic in the early 1990s, strengthened with the expulsion during the 1999 conflict and continued regardless of the statehood declaration. For years, unemployment has been torturing around 40 percent of the working age population. The administration of the Western missions in Kosovo became famous, more than with raising standards of the population, with their salaries, which it supplemented with bribery, encouraging corruption noted by the migrants as one of the biggest reasons for inability to stay in Kosovo. It is estimated that presently there are around 800,000 people from Kosovo in Western Europe.

Instead of a plan for Kosovo’s economic recovery, Europe, faced with the latest incursion of Kosovo asylum seekers, only established the line of defense. Germany and Austria, the ultimate goals of most of the people fleeing Kosovo, sent their policemen to help Serbian and Hungarian border guards. Hungary is using the opportunity to tighten even more the anti-immigrant policy, even though this is a country that has the least asylum seekers and immigrants of all EU states, while most of those naturalized are members of its minority in the neighboring countries. Laszlo Toroczkai, the Mayor of Asotthalom, the border place first stricken by the incursion, requests the raising of a wall, as the final fortification of the Fortress of Europe. “I don’t care why illegal immigrants are going to Europe,” Toroczkai says mercilessly.

Somewhat more tactfully voiced, but essentially an identical message came from Germany: “These people have a completely distorted image about Germany, they are imposed with a wrong impression that they are welcome here and that some sort of advantages await them here,” the Interior Minister of Bavaria Joachim Herrmann told Deutsche Welle three weeks ago. Bavaria requested that Kosovo and Albania be assigned the status of a “country of safe origin”, which would certainly destroy any chance for those coming from Kosovo to get approval to stay in the EU.

A different attitude can hardly be expected from Germany, knowing that, according to opinion polls, half of its inhabitants agreed with Thilo Sarrazin, a former high-level politician and Bundesbank board member. Five years ago, he ascertained in his book “Germany is destroying itself”, a bestseller of extraordinary proportions, that most of the Arabs and Turks in Berlin have no productive function except to sell fruits and vegetables, which for Sarrazin, it seems, is a job unworthy of man. According to him, “the Turks are conquering Germany just as the Kosovars conquered Kosovo – with a high birth rate”. It must have been hard for Sarrazin to hear that schools in Kosovo are now being closed, because at least around 5,000 children are heading now towards Hungary and Germany.

The truth is that, as Joachim Herrmann notes, poverty is not the legal basis for approving asylum, though it is not clear why then Germany rejected this status to Kosovo Albanians a little before it supported the bombardment of Yugoslavia over the activities of the army and police in Kosovo. Of course, Herrmann is right when he reminds that Germany – which also refers to Europe in general – helped Kosovo by sending its policemen and soldiers. This cost Europe, just as it now costs Germany and Austria that they are sending their policemen to the Serbian-Hungarian border. Yet, the impression remains that it is easier for the West to help Kosovo Albanians with uniformed troops rather than with economic experts, with military strategy rather than with a financial plan. Even bombs were pulled in defending Kosovo Albanians in 1999, but it seems now Europe and America cannot pull their wallets and take out another Euro, which would be most needed at this moment.

Indeed, Herrmann advocated that the EU increases financial aid for Kosovo. Only he needs to remember this now when the incursion on Hungary is subsiding, so the problem from the perspective of the West is no longer acute. Yet, it is less painful to ask from Serbia to give up Kosovo and also recognize its independence, which is the European solution for all the throes on this territory, than for the EU member states to give up part of their money.

REGIONAL PRESS

B&H Prosecutor: Order not to conduct investigations against Dzaferovic, Mahmuljin issued (Srna)

The B&H Prosecutor today issued an order not to conduct an investigation against Sefik Dzaferovic, chair of the House of Representatives of the B&H Parliamentary Assembly, for alleged war crimes, the institution’s spokesman Boris Grubesic confirmed to Srna. Grubesic said that the acting prosecutor, on the basis of analysis of materials submitted by Mirsad Kebo, former Vice-President of FB&H, made such a decision. The B&H Prosecutor made the same decision for Sakib Mahmuljin, former commander of the Third Corps of the B&H Army, providing that, as Grubesic explained, the case was not in connection with the application by former FB&H VP Kebo brought to the judicial institution. Former FB&H VP Mirsad Kebo on several occasions handed over to prosecutors more than 8,000 pages of documents connected with crimes committed against Serbs in Vozuca near Zavidovici. At the beginning of February he forwarded 3,000 new documents to the B&H Prosecutor, among them evidence of war crimes committed against Serbs by members of the Fifth Corps of the so-called Army of B&H in the area of central B&H, part of Krajina and the Gorazde area.

Dodik: Information on withdrawal of Russian optima group is false (Srna)

The Republika Srpska (RS) President Milorad Dodik and the director general of the Russian Zarubezhneft Company, Sergey Kudryashov, rejected media speculation on the withdrawal of Optima Group from the Brod Oil Refinery and the RS, calling it false and senseless. Optima Group continues doing business in the RS and this has never been called into question, says a press release from the office of the RS President. Dodik and Kudryashov spoke in Banja Luka about ways to enhance production and business of Optima Group, which is owned by Zarubezhneft, in the RS.

Dodik-Ferguson: RS must be visible in B&H’s European path (Oslobodjenje)

Milorad Dodik, the RS President, spoke yesterday with Edward Ferguson, Britain’s ambassador to B&H, about the recently adopted European initiative for B&H. “Dodik reiterated that the RS must be visible on the path to the EU in accordance with its responsibilities and in the realization of the initiative,” the President’s office said in a statement. The RS President informed Ambassador Ferguson that the set of reform laws is already in adoption procedure in the RS National Assembly and that he is presenting a practical response to the suggestions that came through the European initiative. At the meeting in Banja Luka, they also discussed current issues in the RS and B&H. Prime Minister Cvijanovic also talked yesterday with the Ambassador of the UK to B&H, Mr. Edward Ferguson. The interlocutors discussed the current political and economic affairs in the RS and B&H, with the emphasis on the Government formation process. The Prime Minister acquainted Ambassador Ferguson with the set of reform laws adopted by the National Assembly of the RS aimed at unburdening the economy as well as a subsequent set of reform laws to be introduced soon. ​

Russian Ambassador to B&H: Resolutions must mention all tragedies and all victims (Srna)

The Russian Ambassador to B&H Peter Ivantsov said in East Sarajevo that every resolution concerning B&H, including resolutions on Srebrenica, must be balanced and must mention all tragedies and all victims of the B&H civil war. “They must contribute to reconciliation and understanding among the peoples living in B&H,” Ivantsov said commenting on the announcements that a resolution concerning Srebrenica will be proposed to the UN Security Council. He stressed that a tragedy occurred in Srebrenica and that all those who committed crimes must be brought to justice, but that unfortunately, Srebrenica was not the only tragedy during the horrific events in the B&H civil war and that there were tragedies on all sides. “All victims and all those killed during the unfortunate events in B&H from 1992 to 1995 must be mentioned and they should never be forgotten,” Ivantsov said. Supported by Holland and the US, Great Britain will submit to the UN Security Council a resolution on B&H concerning Srebrenica.

France: Montenegro not yet ready to join NATO (Tanjug’s Podgorica correspondent)

The office of French President Francois Hollande has confirmed his view that Montenegro does not fulfill conditions for the NATO membership. This is also true of other candidate-countries, it was said in Paris. Previously Hollande’s statement about halting the enlargement of the alliance at present time caused misgivings “in the Montenegrin public” about whether he had in mind those countries that are in the accession process. Podgorica-based Vijesti TV asked for clarification and in response his office explained that no candidate country, Montenegro included, is ready to receive an invitation to join the NATO. “Montenegro, as indicated in the last NATO progress report, must continue reforms in the areas that are examined in the context of annual national plans, especially when it comes to the modernization of armed forces and the reform of security forces. Based on the conclusions from the summit in Wales, the candidacy of Montenegro will be reviewed in the last quarter of 2015,” said the press service of the French president. Montenegro’s National Coordinator for the NATO Vesko Garcevic commented to say that the statement “contains nothing Montenegro is not already aware of”. “We are listening and monitoring what our allies in the NATO think… and continue our activities on the implementation of the plans, so that by the end of the year we get the invitation for the NATO,” he told the Dnevne Novine daily. If Montenegro does receive the invitation by the end of the year, it would be “a great recognition, incentive, both politically and economically and, most importantly, it will open the door for entry into a collective security system” – this was the message sent from a meeting yesterday in Podgorica by representatives of the government, parliament, party leaders and ambassadors of the NATO countries. The gathering, organized by the Atlantic Council of Montenegro, said that in case there is no invitation to join – “the NATO will remain a long-term goal of the country, regardless of the voices against it both inside and outside”. The meeting also concluded that the NATO is “the best framework for Montenegro to continue reforms and create a society in which all citizens and political leaders, those who now support Montenegro’s membership in the alliance, but also those who currently oppose it, will perceive and appreciate all the benefits that this alliance brings to a country like Montenegro”.

B&H jihadist recruitment center (RTCG/Taggespiegel)

After visiting the Brcko District and the village of Gornja Maoca, German journalists from the daily Taggespiegel estimated that B&H is the largest recruitment center of Islamic state (IS) in the whole of Europe. “As soon as we were spotted, they started removing the black flags of the Islamic state. There was a chalk drawn symbol of IS on one of the walls, but the children immediately ran out of the house and started wiping the symbol,” wrote the German journalists in the paper. Journalists from Berlin newspapers decided to visit the village of Gornja Maoca which is considered the main “training camp” for fighters who want to join jihadists in Syria and Iraq. After the visit, they said that Bosnia and Herzegovina is the largest recruitment center of IS throughout Europe, and not only for Bosniaks from this area, but also for those with the German and Austrian citizenships. “Following muddy roads we came to the village in the hills of northeastern Bosnia. Plate with the name of the village does not exist. There is no mobile phone signal, but the local population doesn’t even need it. They already knew we are here,” wrote German journalists. Upon arrival, the Germans were immediately approached by Edis Bosnic, who is regarded as the “alpha and omega of the Wahhabi movement “in Gornja Maoca. “If you are looking for the terrorists, you will not find them here. We live a peaceful life in accordance with the rules of Islam and the last thing we need are journalists. I have a wife, two children, and my dream to become famous has disappeared a long time ago,” said Bosnic. “Bosnic said that he does not support violence although his tweeter profile claims the opposite. There, it is clear that his opinion about IS not negative at all,” said Taggespegel’s journalists.

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

EU, NATO Officials Raise Concerns over Macedonia’s Political Tensions (Novinite, 12 March 2015)

A number of Western officials have voiced their concern over the recent developments in Macedonia which include a tense political battle between the government and the opposition.

Meeting with Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Wednesday that “progress on reforms on effective democratic dialogue, widespread confidence in the rule of law and freedom of media”, according to a press statement.

Stoltenberg encouraged political forces to act responsibly and to focus on reforms to meet the requirements of the Euro-Atlantic agenda set by Skopje. For his part Gruevski told the head of NATO that his county would “withstand pressure”. The two were referring to a recent scandal involving opposition leader Zoran Zaev and his socialists from the SDSM party, which are maintaining – and showing what they describe as “evidence” – that the executive is applying pressure on the judiciary and the media outlets. In turn Gruevski accused Zaev earlier this year of trying to stage a coup d’etat inspired or assisted by foreign intelligence services. This week Macedonia’s Interior Ministry also accused the opposition leader, who is also the mayor of Strumica, of being involved in an alleged bribe scheme. The confrontation is already yielding is results, and there have been recent reports of Gruevski’s isolation from contacts with EU leaders. EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker denied him a meeting in February, and there contacts with EU institutions have silently been reduced in the past weeks. On Wednesday, the European Parliament also voiced its concern over the deteriorating situation in the “Western Balkans”, meaning a deepening political polarization. Alongside Kosovo, Montenegro and Serbia, it also warns of negative developments in Macedonia in its March 11 statement, urging constructive political cooperation. MEPs believe the European Council should set a date to launch negotiations with Skopje on its EU membership as soon as possible to avoid the undermining of trust in the EU’s enlargement policy. Bulgarian MEPs (including EPP and PES members) also announced Wednesday that the political situation in Macedonia needs to normalize swiftly.

Dacic Aims to Ease Serbia-Croatia Tensions in Zagreb (BIRN, by Sven Milekic, 11 March 2015)

Serbia’s Foreign Minister, Ivica Dacic, is in Zagreb on a mission to iron out differences with Croatia – which need to be cleared up before Serbia can open EU membership talks.

Dacic visited Zagreb on Wednesday for meetings on key issues troubling relations between the two countries, starting with people missing from 1990s war, Serbia’s law on prosecuting war crimes and the status of a Croatian war veteran, Veljko Maric. Serbian police arrested Maric on the Serbian border in April 2010 on the basis of a Serbian law on prosecution of war crimes, which gives Serbian courts universal jurisdiction to try all crimes committed in the 1990s wars in former Yugoslavia. He was jailed for 12 years in March 2012. An additional problem is the border between two neighbouring countries on the Danube river. Serbia has to resolve all outstanding disputes with its neighbours before it can start EU accession talks. After the meeting between the two foreign ministers, Pusic said they were close to solving the dispute over missing persons from the wars of the 1990s by forming a joint list of missing persons drawn up to the highest international standards. “In the past, all sorts of things happened… and therefore what is needed now is to clear all data and bring to light everything in order to resolve it as soon as possible,” she said. “Today it has been shown that there is a rational interest for this problem to be solved,” she added. Regarding the controversial Serbian law on prosecuting war crimes and the case of Veljko Maric’s jail term in Serbia in particular, Pusic stated that the law would have to comply with the EU acquis, while the Maric case could be resolved soon. Dacic agreed that more dialogue was needed. “Resolving outstanding issues is of particular importance for the stability of the entire region. We want a greater degree of dialogue,” he said. However, Dacic defended the controversial law on war crimes, claiming it had received “the highest reviews from those dealing with war crime investigations”. He added that the law had enabled the authorities to arrest 170 people for war crimes, “only two of them Croats, while the rest were Serbs”. Speaking more generally, the Serbian minister said it was “up to us to choose whether to live in quarrels and hatred, or to articulate our interests. “Both of us are for cooperation,” he concluded. Ahead of her meeting with Dacic, Pusic pledged that Croatia will not use misunderstandings with Serbia to block its EU talks, saying Croatia had an interest in Serbia joining the EU. Pusic has also said that the issue of Maric’s jail term in Serbia could be resolved by an exchange of prisoners between the two countries. However, striking a different note, Croatian Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic warned Serbia in February that Croatia might block Serbia’s EU path if Belgrade did not revoke or amend the controversial war crimes law. Dacic was due to meet Milanovic on Wednesday as well as Croatia’s new centre-right President, Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic.

Serbian central bank to consider rate cut on IMF, inflation: Reuters poll (Reuters, by Aleksandar Vasovic, 10 March 2015)

BELGRADE – Near-zero inflation, an economy in contraction and the safety net of an IMF loan deal may give Serbia’s central bank cause to cut interest rates for the first time since November when it meets on Thursday. Seven of 14 bankers and analysts polled by Reuters this week and last predicted the bank would cut its benchmark rate, the highest in the region, by between 25 and 50 basis points, trying to ward off deflation and prop up an economy forecast to contract for a second year running. Seven others, however, said the rate would remain at 8 percent, citing a shallow currency market and an overnight interest rate on dinar deposits that remains higher than the benchmark at 8.05 percent. “I don’t see the central bank cutting the rate … until the market is consolidated,” said Branko Srdanovic of the Belgrade-based consultancy Associates Treasury Solutions. “More dinars on offer would lead to lower interest rates on the … market, and only then will the central bank have the scope to cut rates,” said a dealer, who declined to be named. The bank, however, will weigh that against annual inflation at a record low of 0.1 percent in January, monthly deflation of 0.2 percent, and an economy forecast to contract 0.5 percent this year having shrunk 1.8 percent in 2014. Serbia also secured a 1.2 billion euro ($1.3 billion) precautionary loan deal with the International Monetary Fund in February, which has helped to stabilize the dinar and provides an anchor for tough public sector spending cuts promised by the government and aimed at reaping 1.3 billion euros by 2017. The IMF said it saw scope for the central bank to cut rates in order to boost lending. “Deflation, negative growth and the IMF’s position about rate lowering have led us to forecast the rate cut,” the trading department of Erste Bank’s Serbian arm said in an email. Serbia’s dinar, kept in managed float by the central bank, has lost around 1 percent versus the euro this year. Median forecasts from dealers and traders polled by Reuters put the dinar at 121 per euro in March and 121.43 in April.

(Editing by Ruth Pitchford)

Former Yugoslav foes join forces in seeking tombstone protection (Reuters, by Daria Sito-Sucic, 10 March 2015)

SARAJEVO – Four former Yugoslav republics, torn apart by war in the 1990s, expect success in their unprecedented joint bid to win United Nations protection for thousands of medieval tombstones that are part of their shared heritage, a minister said on Tuesday.

Known as “Stecci”, the tombstones date to the 12th century and are revered in the Balkans for their unique decorative symbols and carvings, often linked to the medieval Kingdom of Bosnia. Around 60,000 have been found in Bosnia, and nearly 10,000 in neighboring Serbia, Croatia and Montenegro. “We expect UNESCO to add Stecci to the World Heritage list and place them under its protection,” Bosnian Civil Affairs Minister Sredoje Novic said. Novic was speaking at a ceremony marking the completion of the formal nomination process, submitted to UNESCO at the end of January after five years of joint work between the four states. The nomination file has passed preliminary technical screening by U.N. experts and is expected to be evaluated by mid-2016, said Dubravko Lovrenovic, a Bosnian history professor and leader of the project. Each of the countries has its own cultural and historic monuments on the U.N. list of protected heritage and each has nominated more, but the Stecci nomination represents the first joint bid since the states went their separate ways with the collapse of socialist Yugoslavia. “We succeeded in showing that the South Slavic Balkans is not only the area of rivalries and destruction but also of great syntheses,” said Lovrenovic. He called for international help in setting up an institution to take charge of managing and preserving Stecci.

Mladic Witness Blames ‘Criminals’ for Sanski Most Killings (BIRN, 12 March 2015)

A defence witness told the trial of Ratko Mladic that criminals from outside the area committed crimes against Bosniaks and Croats in 1992 in Sanski Most, not the Bosnian Serb Army

Witness Tomislav Delic, a former Bosnian Serb soldier, told the Hague Tribunal on Wednesday that mass killings in the villages of Hrustovo and Vrhpolje in the Sanski Most municipality were carried out by “people from outside Sanski Most”. He added that Bosniak homes in the village of Mahala were looted by “criminals who wore the uniforms of the Serb Defence Forces”. He also suggested that the crimes against Bosniaks were committed in revenge for crimes against Serbs in World War II. Former Bosnian Serb army commander Ratko Mladicis on trial for the persecution of Muslims and Croats, which reached the scale of genocide in several municipalities, Sanski Most among them. According to the indictment against Mladic, Serb forces killed 22 civilians in a garage in Hrustovo in May 1992 and several civilians in nearby Vrhpolje on the same day. Mladic is also on trial for genocide in Srebrenica, terrorising the population of Sarajevo and taking UN peacekeepers hostage. The prosecutor suggested that Delic was involved in ordering the killing of seven Croats in the village of Skrljevita in November 1992, saying that the killer, Danilusko Kajtez, had accused him. But Delic denied this: “It is not true… I could not give orders… Kajtez would do anything to get out of prison,” he said. Asked if he used the crime to expel terrified Croats from their village and loot their property, Delic said this was also not true, and that he actually defended a Croat from Kajtez. Asked if Croats did leave their homes, he replied: “Almost all of them”. Kajtez was sentenced to 12 years in prison by the Bosnian court for crimes in Sanski Most.