LOCAL PRESSk

Vucic with Mogherini: Serbia wants to be part of the European family (Tanjug)

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic talked in Belgrade with the EU High Representative Federica Mogherini about all important issues for Serbia that is on the EU path. ‘We talked about all open issue, the dialogue with the Albanians, economic reforms, reforms in the field of rule of law, in a sincere, open and meaningful way,” Vucic told a press conference. “I would point out Serbia’s commitment towards the continuation of the EU path and I am grateful to the support that we are receiving from Ms. Mogherini, but also for the fact that we didn’t have to agree on each issue,” said Vucic.

Mogherini: Opening of first chapters this year (Tanjug/Beta)

The EU High Representative Federica Mogherini said in Belgrade that the EU sees Serbia’s EU future and that it is ready to open the first negotiating chapters this year. “My main message here is not only that Serbia is firmly on the EU path, but also that the EU is ready to open the first chapters this year. That is of mutual importance,” Mogherini told a joint press conference with Vucic. “Rest assure that I am personally ready and that the EU is ready to go miles that are ahead of us together,” she said. Asked to comment her statement in Pristina that Serbia and Kosovo are talking as two sovereign states, Mogherini said this was sincere “colloquial exchange” with students and that she mentioned two sides in the negotiations, but that the EU doesn’t define sides. “I stated explicitly that five EU member states do not recognize Kosovo,” said Mogherini. She thanked Serbia for the way in which it presides over the OSCE as well as on participation in the EU missions throughout the world.

Mogherini meets with Serbian parliament speaker (Tanjug)

Serbian parliament speaker Maja Gojkovic met with the EU High Representative Federica Mogherini and told her that Serbia was devoted to the EU path and that the role of the Serbian parliament was very important in that process. “We are aware that the path towards EU membership is neither easy nor fast, but the MPs are devoted to this,” Gojkovic’s cabinet announced. Gojkovic said that the Serbian parliament had passed many reform laws and continuously works on aligning the legislature with that of the EU. Mogherini agreed that the role of the Serbian parliament was very important in the EU integration process. She pointed out that she counts on the joint work of Serbia and the EU in the coming months and years, assessing that the Serbian leadership was devoted to that goal. Mogherini pointed out that Serbia played an important role on the international scene, having in mind the OSCE Presidency, reads the statement. She also met with the members of the Committee for Foreign Affairs and the Committee for EU Integration.
After Dacic’s coffee with Thaqi, Vucic talked with Mustafa over the phone (Politika)

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic has confirmed that he had talked with Kosovo Prime Minister Isa Mustafa over the phone and that they discussed the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue and problems of the Kosovo Serbs. This communication without a mediator, so far completely unusual for the Belgrade-Pristina relations, was immediately praised by the Brussels officials. The EU High Representative Federica Mogherini assessed in Pristina that at issue was a very positive step. “The very fact that Prime Minister Mustafa has direct contacts with Prime Minister Vucic is a positive step,” said Mogherini, noting that the agreements reached in the dialogue should be implemented and that she believes there will be positive steps in this sense. The day before yesterday was unusual in many respects when it comes to the Belgrade-Pristina relations. Apart from the telephone conversation between Vucic and Mustafa, earlier during the day in the Pristina Swiss Diamond Hotel, Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic and Kosovo Foreign Minister Hashim Thaqi met and had coffee together on the margins of the ministerial conference of the Western Balkan countries. According to Kurir, Dacic “made” Thaqi to speak in Serbian. Commenting the Vucic- Mustafa talks, the Chairperson of the Serbian parliamentary Committee for Kosovo and Metohija Milovan Drecun tells Politika that the Prime Minister is setting a completely new pattern for resolving the Kosovo problem, which is very positive, with perspective and the only one that is sustainable in the long term. “This kind of approach suggests that this problem, which primarily concerns Serbs and Albanians, and not the international community, can be resolved only in direct dialogue. This is above all a politically courageous step, because you know what kind of qualifications followed when we reached the first Brussels agreement. Vucic will not abandon the framework of status neutral talks because this is a red line for us. These are not talks between two states or two statesmen,” explains Drecun. “If we want to build a future, so the generations yet to come do not view each other as some archenemies, we must begin to talk to each other more. That is why we should support the Prime Minister in building a new policy in resolving the Kosovo problem,” concludes Drecun.

Oliver Ivanovic’s attorney: Prosecutor suffered a debacle (Politika)

The International Panel of the Basic Court in Kosovska Mitrovica decided yesterday to refuse every question of the prosecutor addressed to the witness of the prosecution Mahmut Halimi, a lawyer from southern Mitrovica, in the process that is conducted against Oliver Ivanovic after the first account of the indictment that refers to the events of 14 April 1999 in the southern part of the town, when several Albanians were killed. Following two shorter breaks during which the witness was taken outside the courtroom, the panel headed by Roksana Komsa, decided to refuse every question that refers to the mentioned event, in accordance with the items of the criminal law, because they concluded that the presentation “can be used for the chronology of events and some texts”, but not in the presentation of evidence. Prosecutor Cezari Mihalcuk insisted, among other things, that Halimi, who later on worked with UNMIK and KFOR on this case, to confirm that the investigation “was suspended for political and not legal reasons”. To the obviously futile efforts of the prosecutor, the Komsa reacted: “We will base the sentence pursuant to the evidence that we have and your statement has no reaffirming value, and it is irrelevant for this case.” “The prosecutor suffered a debacle and this will be a warning to him not to bring in further proceedings witnesses who are irrelevant for this case. He tried unfairly to prove Ivanovic’s guilt,” Ivanovic’s attorney Ljubomir Pantovic told journalists during the break.

Informer editor fined for insulting texts about Albanians (Politika)

The editor-in-chief of the Podgorica daily Informer Novak Uskokovic was fined with 3000 Euros because he allowed the publishing of insulting texts about Albanians. Uskokovic said he would appeal this verdict and that he was ready to go all the way to Strasbourg to prove that he was not guilty. Judge Jelena Perovic said that it was undoubtedly determined that the goal of these disputable texts was not objective reporting, but the intention was to insult the Albanians. She referred to the Law on the Media that prescribes that the editor-in-chief is responsible for publishing the content, that the disputable texts were approved by the editorial, of which he is a member.

REGIONAL PRESS

DF: Mandilovic will declare himself an Other, FB&H government and Council of Ministers must be appointed on same date at same hour (Patria)

A session of the Democratic Front (DF) Presidency has concluded, at which three conclusions were reached, the first of which being that the DF stands by all its proposals for candidates for ministers and deputies in the Council of Ministers and the government of FB&H, reports Patria.

Zeljko Komsic, leader of the DF, said that it was decided that they would leave it to the will of all candidates to declare themselves as they wish in terms of national identity. “Milan Mandilovic has decided to declare himself as an Other, which means that the DF in the FB&H government will not have three Serb posts,” said Komsic. The final conclusion of the DF Presidency is that they require that the FB&H government and the Council of Ministers must be appointed on the same day and at the same time, otherwise the DF would not vote for the FB&H government. “Such a condition some negotiators have held from the beginning, and now this is our only condition,” said Komsic, adding that he heard today from Bakir Izetbegovic, vice president of the SDA, but not from Dragan Covic. “Don’t ask me why Covic did not communicate with me, ask him that, but if he does not want to talk to me, it is logical that then I can’t do so with him. It is important to note that we did not influence the decision by Mandilovic to declare that way, because it is everyone’s right to do how they feel,” said Komsic. Otherwise, Komsic believes that technically, by 31 March the FB&H government and Council of Ministers will not be appointed, but that he does not consider it a great problem, because the FB&H budget is proposed and there will be no delays.

Covic: Deadline for formation of authorities 31 March (Srna)

The HDZ B&H leader Dragan Covic said that 31 March is a new deadline for appointing the B&H Council of Ministers and the FB&H government, and that if this process is not completed by then, the HDZ will leave the coalition at the FB&H and B&H levels. “We will make it clear that if we want to go ahead with this coalition that this is the deadline. After that there is no coalition and we can only look for another partner both for the B&H Council of Ministers and the FB&H government,” Covic told the journalists following consultations with the vice president of the SDA Bakir Izetbegovic and the PDP leader Mladen Ivanic. “Invented problems occurred in regard to the national structures that someone had artificially introduced in order to block the process. The HDZ remains with the six ministerial posts, it is not excluded that the name of the candidates can be changed, but five Croats plus one minister from the ranks of the Serb peoples in the FB&H government remain,” said Covic. According to him, the problem can be technically resolved quickly, but the question is if “this is wanted”. “We don’t know what the problem has been for a month now, we want to hear what others suggest both in the Council and the FB&H government,” said Covic.
Dodik: Skrbic could not have been dismissed (Srna)

The Republika Srpska (RS) President Milorad Dodik has said that Ranko Skrbic, who resigned to the position of the ambassador of B&H to Serbia, could not have been dismissed at the Thursday’s meeting of the B&H Presidency because that point was not on the agenda, nor has a B&H foreign minister been appointed that could launch a dismissal procedure.

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

Just a phone call away, Serbia and Kosovo forego foreign mediators (Reuters, by Fatos Bytyci and Ivana Sekularac, 26 March 2015)

PRISTINA/BELGRADE – The leaders of Serbia and its former southern province Kosovo have spoken by phone in the first direct talks without foreign mediators since a 1998-99 war, both countries said on Thursday. The telephone call late on Wednesday coincided with the first visit to Pristina and Belgrade by Federica Mogherini since taking over as the European Union’s foreign policy chief, with Serbia impatient to start accession talks with the bloc. “I have to have talks, and some of my talks are not popular,” said Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic. Neither side divulged much on the substance of the telephone call, though Vucic said he and Kosovo Prime Minister Isa Mustafa had touched on the issue of ethnic Serbs living in majority-Albanian Kosovo, which declared independence in 2008. Mustafa said Vucic had initiated the call. Vucic did not confirm this. Serbia does not recognize Kosovo as sovereign, but previously fraught relations have relaxed over the past several years at the prodding of the EU, which both countries one day want to join. Previously, talks have always been mediated by the EU, United Nations or foreign powers. The EU has taken the lead since Kosovo’s declaration of independence. Serbia’s hopes of opening the first chapter in EU accession talks hinge on implementation of a landmark, EU-brokered deal in 2013 to regulate relations with Kosovo but which is still unfulfilled. “Just the fact that there is a direct contact without necessarily the facilitation of Brussels is a new result of the dialogue itself,” Mogherini said in Pristina. The foreign policy chief was due in Belgrade on Friday. Twenty-three of the EU’s 28 members recognize Kosovo as independent, among more than a 100 states worldwide. “We agreed that for urgent issues we might have on the ground we can communicate directly to find solutions,” Mustafa said.

(Reporting by Fatos Bytyci in Pristina and Ivana Sekularac in Belgrade)
Don’t leave Serbia to Russia and China (EUObserver, by Henrik von Homeyer, 27 March 2015)

For a variety of good reasons, European leaders are focusing their attention on the war in Ukraine. At the same time, the Western Balkans, where Europe’s last war was staged, have fallen to the bottom of the European agenda, as have discussions on EU enlargement.

This neglect could result, yet again, in the destabilisation of the Western Balkans. China and especially Russia are keen to jump into the vacuum left behind by the EU – and their interests don’t necessarily align with those of the EU. Serbia is particularly receptive to these efforts, given the country’s self-perception as a bridge between the east and the west. EU leaders need to ask themselves if they can afford to neglect Serbia for at least another five years. And when asking this question, they should keep in mind that Serbia has undergone a remarkable transformation from the “reluctant Europeaniser” to “the best pupil in class,” as former Austrian chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer put it. Crucial to this process has been the new centre-right government under Aleksander Vucic, formed in 2009 after Vucic and the current Serbian president Tomislav Nikolic split from the Serbian ultranationalists. Vucic’s conservative, pro-European party has fought corruption, implemented harsh economic reforms and, above all, pushed for the normalising of relations with Kosovo. Today, you will find only pro-European parties in the Serbian parliament – unthinkable just a few years back.

Enlargement fatigue

Instead of rewarding Serbia’s efforts, European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker, as one of his first actions in office, halted EU enlargement until at least 2020. Although, realistically speaking, Serbia’s accession to the EU before 2020 would have come as a surprise, Juncker has sent a clear message: EU enlargement – and the accession of Serbia, in particular – is not a high priority for the new commission. The halt was arguably Juncker’s first major mistake in office. The EU now risks losing its strongest leverage – the conditionality of the EU-accession negotiations – over Serbia’s future development. If the EU fails to wake up and demonstrate stronger commitment to the region, Serbia may begin looking for alternative paths.

Chinese island in the European ocean

One path could lead to Beijing. The Chinese government considers the Balkans a central node in its long-term strategy to speed up east-west trade and to ensure greater access to the western European market. The Chinese Development Bank and other Chinese banks are concentrating on making large investments in Serbia’s weak infrastructure, one result of which is the China-Serbia friendship bridge that stretches across the Danube. This new partnership between China and Serbia doesn’t stop at economic co-operation. It also includes close political partnership.

In 2014 alone, Belgrade signed 13 agreements and memoranda with Beijing regarding finance, infrastructure, telecommunications and transport. In 2009, the pair signed a strategic partnership agreement that ensured the territorial integrity of both countries and supported, de facto, Serbia’s stance on Kosovo vis-a-vis China’s separatist region. Serbia went as far as agreeing not to join any international initiative or fora that criticises China’s human-rights policy. In 2010, Serbia even criticised the awarding of the Nobel Prize to the jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo, a move that contrasts sharply with the EU’s stance on human-rights policies in China.

Free trade with Russia

A more natural alternative for Serbia – and one even more alarming, in light of the situation in Ukraine – is Russia. There are many reasons: the two countries share historic and cultural ties, Russia supports Serbia’s position on Kosovo in the United Nations Security Council, and the pair maintain close economic cooperation, especially in the energy sector. In 2013, Serbia and Russia signed a strategic partnership agreement that deepened economic and political cooperation, including coordination in international organisations. Serbia was the only EU-candidate country that failed to support the sanctions on Russia and that abstained from the UN statement condemning Russia’s annexation of Crimea. Serbia is also the only country outside of the Russian-led Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) to have signed a free-trade agreement with Russia, in 2009. In October 2014, the special relationship was again brought to the fore when Russian president Vladimir Putin attended the first Serbian military parade since 1986.

Indeed, if Russia wants to ramp up pressure on Europe, then the Balkans – Serbia in particular – will likely become a hotspot. The Serbian energy sector is especially vulnerable to Russian interests, since Gazprom Neft and Lukoil hold the majority of shares in Serbia’s local oil monopoly Naftna Industrija Srbije and the state-owned Beopetrol. It’s telling that following the cancellation of the long-awaited South Stream project – which had promised €2.5 billion in Russian investments – Vucic blamed the Ukrainian conflict and the clash between the great powers, instead of the Russian government, for Serbia’s economic loss. EU and European leaders have long eyed the Russian-Serbian relationship with suspicion, but, as the political scientist Ivan Krastev points out, “none of the projects designed to make the region less dependent on Russia have been completed.”

European democracy

Problematic as the situation may appear, the EU remains Serbia’s largest investor and trading partner, dwarfing Chinese and Russian investment and trade. For now, the EU’s conditionality is the strongest transformative force in the region. Serbia may be looking at possible partners to the east, but the country has shown no signs of leaving its European path. The EU opened formal accession negotiations in January 2014, but since then, no accession chapters have been opened.

Given the alternative paths to China and Russia, the poor economic conditions in Serbia and growing concerns over the freedom of the Serbian media, what the country needs right now, in order to become a successful European democracy, is a positive signal from the EU. Any further delay means giving up the strong hold of conditionality. The Serbian people need a clear sign that their future lies with the EU – and the opening of the accession chapters would be just that.

Henrik von Homeyer is a research assistant with the The Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi) in Berlin

64-year old Bosnian war crime suspect Dusko Dabetic caught in Antalya, Turkey (Daily Sabah/Anadolu Agency, 26 March 2015)

Turkish police have detained Dusko Dabetic, a Serb wanted by Bosnia-Herzegovina for war crimes during the Bosnian War, in the southern city of Antalya. Dabetic, 64, was on vacation at a five-star hotel in the popular summer resort city. The police did not release details on the arrest, such as when and where he arrived from. Anadolu Agency reported that Dabetic had been under police surveillance since he was first accommodated at the hotel before anti-terror units stormed the place and arrested him. Dabetic is currently being held in a Turkish prison ahead of his deportation to Bosnia-Herzegovina. The Sarajevo-born Serb was wanted by Interpol on charges of war crimes against civilians. A Sarajevo court had issued an international arrest warrant for Dabetic in September 2012. The International Red Cross says that at least 312,000 people, including 200,000 Bosnians, were killed during the Bosnian War, which took place between 1992 and 1995. A total of 8,400 people still remain missing after the war, according to the Institute for Missing Persons in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Former Serbian Party leader Radovan Karadzic, Serb army commander Ratko Mladic, chief of general staff Ljubisa Beara, head of security Dragan Nikoli and police director Ljubomir Borovcanin were among those found guilty of war crimes committed in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre. Between 1,000 and 1,500 Bosniak men were captured by Serb forces on 13 July, 1995, locked in a warehouse belonging to the Agricultural Cooperative in the Bosnian Serb village of Kravica and killed by troops using automatic weapons and grenades. About 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys were eventually killed after the Bosnian Serb army attacked Srebrenica – designated a U.N. “safe area” – in July 1995, despite the presence of Dutch troops tasked with acting as U.N. peacekeepers.