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Belgrade Media Report 2 April 2015

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STORIES FROM LOCAL PRESS

• Djuric: Against formation of Kosovo army and reduction of KFOR (Radio Serbia)
• Civil protection members not to lose jobs (Radio Belgrade)
• Djuric and diplomats from Latin American countries discussed Kosovo (Tanjug)
• Odalovic: Pristina will have to face crimes (RTS/Tanjug/KiM Radio)
• Pristina’s intention to sue Belgrade for genocide difficult without SC recommendation (Novosti)
• Dacic: CSTO, an important partner of OSCE (Beta)
• Serbian Foreign Ministry: Inappropriate rhetoric and acts must not undermine mutual trust (RTS/Beta)

STORIES FROM REGIONAL PRESS

• Unstable Coalition because of “unconstitutional” departments (Nezavisne)
• Majkic: Transfer of jurisdictions thwarted (Srna)
• State to prosecute the crimes committed on its territory (Srna)
• More than 3,000 jihadists in the heart of the Balkans (Nezavisne)
• Serbia to welcome Montenegrin membership in NATO (RTCG)
• Skype messages show former spy chief Verusevski discussed about Ukraine scenario in FYROM (RTVCG)

RELEVANT ARTICLES FROM INTERNATIONAL MEDIA SOURCES

• Released Serbian nationalist burns Croatian flag in snub to UN court (Reuters)
• Serbia and Croatia seek to calm tensions over flag burning (AP)
• Bosnia Cabinet Confirmed After Six-Month Wait (Reuters)

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LOCAL PRESS

 

Djuric: Against formation of Kosovo army and reduction of KFOR (Radio Serbia)

The Head of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Marko Djuric opposes the announcements on the formation of the Kosovo army and the reduction of KFOR members, pointing out that this would not be in the interest of peace and stability and protection of the Serbs in the province. At the session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Belgrade, Djuric said that reduction of KFOR could only mean destabilization and in the worst case violence against non-Albanians. “Who will, if not KFOR, protect the Visoki Decani Monastery and the Serbs in Gracanica,” wondered Djuric, reiterating that there is no replacement for the international forces. He said that official Belgrade was committed to fulfilling all decrees of the Brussels agreement and that it would continue to offer a hand to all political parties in Pristina, and which especially oppose the formation of the Union of Serb Municipalities.

 

Civil protection members not to lose jobs (Radio Belgrade)

Integration of the Civil Protection in Kosovo into so-called Kosovo armed forces is unacceptable for Serbia, said the Head of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Marko Djuric.

“According to UNSCR 1244 the only armed formations that can be present in Kosovo and Metohija are KFOR and the Serbian Army, along with fulfillment of certain condition. In regard to the Civil Protection, as unarmed formations, its integration into the so-called Kosovo armed forces is unacceptable,” Djuric told the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in the Serbian parliament. The Serbian government takes care that no member of the Civil Protection in the province stays without a job and income. In regard to the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, Djuric commented that the status of the Peace Park in Kosovska Mitrovica, they didn’t agree in Brussels on the removal of this park, but that the final solution will be determined by an agreement between the mayors of the northern and southern parts of Mitrovica, said Djuric.

 

Djuric and diplomats from Latin American countries discussed Kosovo (Tanjug)

The Head of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Marko Djuric informed the diplomatic representatives of several Latin American countries in Serbia about the developments concerning the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina and the situation in Kosovo. Diplomats of Argentina, Cuba, Mexico, Venezuela, and Brazil have confirmed that their countries do not intend to modify the attitude of non-recognition of Kosovo’s independence. Djuric said that Serbia is committed to foster and promote the traditionally friendly relations with the countries of Latin America and expects their further support when it comes to Kosovo.

 

Odalovic: Pristina will have to face crimes (RTS/Tanjug/KiM Radio)

“The Special Court is a painful issue for Kosovo Albanians because it will be the first time for them to face the international tribunal for crimes against Serbs and other non-Albanians during the conflict in Kosovo and Metohija,” the Chairman of the Serbian government Commission for Missing Persons Veljko Odalovic said. He told Radio KiM in Caglavica that Albanians should understand that it is not Kosovo institutions that would be tried, but those responsible for the crimes committed against 3,500 Serbs. It is a crime that a perpetrator needs to be tried for and a crime is something that absolutely must be sanctioned, said Odalovic adding that the Special Court will be one of the instruments to solve the fate of Serbs that went missing in Kosovo. During the war, Kosovo was divided into five areas of responsibility that were managed by members of the so-called KLA, reminded Odalovic, while pointing out that he expects the Special Court to address the issue of command responsibility as well.

 

Pristina’s intention to sue Belgrade for genocide difficult without SC recommendation (Novosti)

Since Kosovo is not a UN member, it could file the lawsuit against Serbia for genocide before the International Court of Justice only by the recommendation of the UN Security Council. However, even if they would succeed, experts opine that the Court would almost certainly declare itself incompetent. Associate professor at the Law Faculty Bojan Milisavljevic tells Novosti that Kosovo cannot file a lawsuit against Serbia for several reasons. The first one is that Kosovo didn’t ratify the Convention on genocide, without which they cannot initiate a lawsuit for breach of rights under that Convention. In case of the ratification in the following period, the next obstacle would be the fact that Pristina talks about alleged crimes committed in 1999, while Kosovo self-declared independence in 2008. “Even if the Court would treat Kosovo as a state, the problem would be temporal jurisdiction, because Kosovo was not a UN member at the time when the disputable events occurred in Kosovo, nor did it accept the Court Statute,” says Milisavljevic. However, there had been cases before the International Court of Justice where the parties to the dispute were not UN members at that moment (Germany, Switzerland), but accepted part of the UN Charter that referred to the Court Statute. However, Milisavljevic says that something like that is feasible only by special permission of the UN Security Council: “If Pristina would succeed to address the Court this way, then the judges would decide whether they have competency for the case, while there is competency only if the respondent agrees to enter the dispute, which, logically, Serbia will not do.” The risk of Pristina taking Serbia to the dock, without Belgrade’s approval, with the assistance of some jointly signed agreements, in Milisavljevic’s opinion is excluded since Serbia, ratifying the Convention on genocide, placed reservations on Article 9 of this document that envisages the binding competency of the International Court of Justice. This actually means that the respondent must agree with the initiation of the process.

 

Dacic: CSTO, an important partner of OSCE (Beta)

In his capacity of the OSCE Chairman, Serbian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic took part in a session of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Member States of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, on Thursday. He underlined that the OSCE is participating in a CSTO session for the first time, expressing his pleasure that this happened at the time of Serbia’s OSCE presidency, bearing in mind that Serbia is very much interested in the CSTO. The CSTO is an important partner of the OSCE, and the two organizations share a number of similar goals, Dacic said. He added that the OSCE appreciates the experience the CSTO gained by working in Central Asia, particularly in the field of combating transnational security threats. The two organizations could establish closer contacts with regards to the issues involving the long-term development of the region, including the challenges relating to Afghanistan, he said. As a presiding country in the year marking 40 years since the adoption of the Helsinki Final Act, Serbia will do everything in its power to promote a debate on resolving the existing standstill concerning European security.

 

Serbian Foreign Ministry: Inappropriate rhetoric and acts must not undermine mutual trust (RTS/Beta)

The Serbian Foreign Ministry has announced that further development of bilateral cooperation with Croatia and the building of mutual trust must not be put in jeopardy to the inappropriate rhetoric and acts of individuals. Serbia will not be withdrawing diplomatic representatives from Croatia and we are resolved to develop good neighborly relations and to solve open-ended issues through constructive dialogue, with the full respect for the interests of either country, the announcement reads. Reacting to the severe criticism from Zagreb on the occasion of the incident in Belgrade when Serbian Radical Party leader Vojislav Seselj burnt the Croatian flag, the Ministry stresses that Serbia’s competent authorities immediately took measures in line with the law. In the past years, Serbia has had reason for discontent due to the statements and acts of some Croatian individuals and institutions, but that has not influenced its resolve to develop good neighborly relations with Croatia, the Ministry emphasizes.

 

REGIONAL PRESS

 

Unstable Coalition because of “unconstitutional” departments (Nezavisne)

Reorganization of the Federation ministries, with a tendency of abolition, separation and merger of certain departments, will undoubtedly be the biggest test for the new government of FB&H, which would fundamentally have to stagger the parliamentary majority and dysfunctional relationships between partners. As the HDZ B&H confirmed, during the negotiations on the formation of government the constitutional modifications were also discussed, of which there is not even a minimum of consensus between the HDZ and the DF, so this process and the survival of the new Federation majority will largely depend on the SDA. Namely, the HDZ is insisting on the abolition of two Federation ministries, the education and science and culture and sport, considering that these departments must be returned to the exclusive jurisdiction of the cantons. In this regard Nikola Lovrinovic, Deputy-President of HDZ, says that these are well-known requests of his party. “These two ministries are unconstitutional, and as far as I know, the SDA’s stance is that for them abolition of these ministries is acceptable. However, I did not participate in the final negotiations, so I’m not familiar with the end result,’ said Lovrinovic. He points out that the Ministry of Culture and Sports and the Ministry of Education and Science “must disappear because they are unconstitutional, according to the decision of the Constitutional Court of the FB&H”. “But if we are closing those two ministries, then we must introduce two new to get to the number 16 plus the Prime-Minister,” says Lovrinovic. The DF vehemently opposed such possible developments. The DF member of the Presidency Emir Suljagic, following a recent interview with Dragan Covic wrote the comment on this subject: “Strategic partners at work. This is a de facto change of the Constitution and the introduction of a third entity. If such an agreement exists and if the SDA has agreed to this, they can certainly count us out.” Reuf Bajrovic, one of the key figures in the DF and the new Minister of Energy, Industry and Mining, the department which the HDZ wants to split into two departments, briefly said to Nezavisne that the abolitions and the separations are out of the question. “They can’t count on DF’s support,” said Bajrovic. Asked to comment DF’s attitude, Lovrinovic replies that it is DF’s problem. “We have not signed any agreement with the DF,” he concludes. So, the key to the whole story, and possibly even the stability and survival of the coalition, is in the hands of the SDA. Over the past few days Nezavisne tried to get in contact with several officials from the party that participated in the negotiations on the government formation. Most of them, such as Hakida Genjac, President of the Main Board of the SDA, or Sefik Dzaferovic, one of the Vice-Presidents, stated that neither one of them was present during the part of negotiations regarding the ministries. By all accounts the final answer on what will happen in the FB&H government and whether there will be a reorganization of the departments will have to wait a while longer. It is quite certain that the leaders of the SDA and HDZ, Bakir Izetbegovic and Dragan Covic, as members of the Presidency and colleagues in the Collective Head of State, led closed conversations and possibly reached a certain consensus on the reorganization of the government, which is still unknown to the general public.

 

Majkic: Transfer of jurisdictions thwarted (Srna)

The SNSD deputy in the House of Representatives and member of the Joint Defense and Security Committee of the B&H Parliamentary Assembly Dusanka Majkic says that the failure to adopt the draft law on amendments to the state Criminal Code has prevented the transfer of jurisdictions from the Republika Srpska (RS) to B&H concerning the prevention of money laundering. She has told Srna that the draft law, which was discussed by the state parliament in the first half of 2014 and officially overturned by the House of Peoples on 30 March, envisaged the transfer of the RS’s genuine jurisdictions regarding the fight against money laundering. “If the draft law had been adopted, the RS Interior Ministry would have been stripped of power in the activities aimed against money laundering, which the Serb representatives in the B&H Parliament prevented from happening,” Majkic told Srna. According to her, changes made to some articles of the valid law preserved the entity jurisdictions and met the requirements of Moneyval (the Council of Europe’s Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the Financing of Terrorism) when it comes to the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing. “The RS and B&H have met the Moneyval’s conditions when it comes to fighting money laundering and terrorist financing, while the Federation of B&H has yet to do its part of the job, whereby all the requirements set by Moneyval to B&H would be met,” Majkic stated. The issue of fighting money laundering is regulated by RS laws in accordance with European directives, she recalled.

“The RS has also concretely implemented the legal provisions concerning money laundering by confiscating a large amount of money on such grounds in the case of the Bijeljina sugar factory,” added Majkic. On Monday the House of Peoples of the B&H Parliamentary Assembly definitely quashed the draft law on amendments to the B&H Criminal Code, after the House collegiums failed to reach an agreement. The draft law, which was taken over from the previous parliament, had envisaged a transfer of jurisdictions from the RS to the state level. In order to avoid the danger of Moneyval placing B&H on the “black list,” the House of Representatives and House of Peoples recently adopted legal solutions on an urgent basis concerning the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing.

 

State to prosecute the crimes committed on its territory (Srna)

A memorial service was held Wednesday at the Orthodox cemetery in Mrkonjic Grad where flowers were laid at the commemorative tablet at the mass grave to mark 19 years since the opening of the mass grave. The exhumation of bodies started on April 1, 1996, allowing the pathologists to conclude that the victims had been tortured and killed in a savage way. The laying of wreaths and commemoration at the St Mark chapel was attended by Nedeljko Mitrovic, the Head of the Association of Detained and Fallen Veterans and Missing Civilians of the RS, who recalled that no one has yet answered for those crimes. “This must be the result of the continuation of the Muslim-Croat coalition and they definitely help each other in the sector which carries political and other significance. The FB&H component in the B&H Prosecutor’s Office is putting this off as much as possible, just like it puts off many similar cases that occurred at the beginning of the 1990s war, and particularly those that happened towards the end of the war,” said Mitrovic. When asked for comment on unofficial information presented by some media that the B&H Prosecutor’s Office had deferred the Mrkonjic Grad crimes case to the Croatian judiciary, Mitrovic said it was unacceptable. “That’s unacceptable. B&H has its own court and its prosecutor’s office and it would be logical for the state to prosecute the crimes committed on its territory by exchanging information, evidence and procedures with the Croatian judiciary. This is one of the rare cases in which things are happening in this way and in this place which is the epitome of a horrendous crime, which has the elements of both genocide and urbicide,” said Mitrovic. He said that the association he is in charge of should put up a fierce fight against such intentions, as an NGO representing the victims. The victims’ families resent this and say it is appalling that these crimes have not been prosecuted yet. Mira Djuza found the earthly remains of her brother in the mass grave in 1996 and says the scene was dreadful. “On February 4, 1996, while we were returning from exile, we came here to the cemetery first. We saw a pole and a rope attached to it, and down on the ground next to it we saw all the objects that our people were tortured with, blowtorches, etc. There were also two tree trunks that had an iron hook in the middle, it was horrifying. A pathologist explained to me that the hook was used on a victim’s throat and then the executors would beat them with iron rods in the head. Many were killed like that,” Djuza said. “This should be talked about and these crimes must never be forgotten.” Ljilja Crncevic found in the mass grave the remains of her brother, father and uncle.

“Only Serbs get convicted. But what about those who did this in Mrkonjic Grad, why does no one talk about this? In these times of injustice it is hard to get justice for the victims that lost their lives in the most horrific ways,” said Crncevic.

 

More than 3,000 jihadists in the heart of the Balkans (Nezavisne)

It is estimated that around 3,000 Salafist is located in the heart of the Balkans, close to the border area between ​​B&H and Croatia, not counting those who are already fighting in “the holy war” in Syria and Iraq. This fact is especially worrying Italian authorities because of geographical proximity. Last week the Italian special units launched a counterterrorism operation called “Balkan Connection”, which aims to break Islamist cell that is located in the north of Italy, reports Breitbart News Network. “Italy is following closely developments in the country,” says Ruggero Corrias, Italian Ambassador in B&H. “When we talk about the threat of foreign jihadists, B&H is no exception,” says Corrias and adds: “Geographical proximity, fragile rule of law and a deep economic crisis are elements for which we must be vigilant in B&H,” said Corrias. Breitbart points out the example from the village of Osve, which is located in the hills of central Bosnia. Hamdo Fojnica, whose son Emrah was killed in Iraq, says this about it: “I’m not happy that I lost my son, but his death is Allah’s will. It’s terrible to lose a child, but if Allah decides that his two brothers should go to Syria I cannot say no.” In Upper Maoca, another Salafi sanctuary in B&H, in February the flag of the Islamic state was displayed, which soon disappeared. In this village there are followers of Nusret Imamovic, one of those who is labeled as “global terrorist” and who is on the US list. Upper Maoca is also the place from where Mevlid Jasarevic set out the march on the US Embassy in Sarajevo. He has since been sentenced to 18 years in prison. “These people have announced that they will conquer Rome and it is very possible they will,” said Esad Hecimovic, journalist and expert on Islamic extremism, adding: “You do not realize that the real danger is closer than Libya. The threats do not apply only to B&H, but also to Italy and the whole Europe,” says Esad. The area of ​​Velika Kladusa in western B&H is another haven for extremists. This is where the Islamists Bilal Bosnic has preached, who is since last September in prison for incitement and recruitment to jihad. Not far from Bosnic house there is a remote village Bosanska Bojna, where Bosnic has purchased the land to build Salafi center for prayer. According to Sarajevo prosecution, in the past two years Bosnic has received more than $ 200,000 from a mysterious donor from Qatar.

 

Serbia to welcome Montenegrin membership in NATO (RTCG)

The Head of the Parliament of Montenegro’s permanent delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly Mr. Mevludin Nuhodzic and a member of Delegation Mr. Borislav Banovic are taking part in the 88th Rose-Roth seminar, which is being held in Belgrade, from 21 March to 2 April. The seminar covers topics such as: Serbia in Euro-Atlantic community, regional cooperation and Euro-Atlantic integration in the Western Balkans, foreign fighters in the Middle East and North Africa, fight against corruption and organized in the Western Balkans, reforms with regard to managing the defense sector and integrity, as well as the future of Brussels’ dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina. Serbia will be among the first countries to congratulate Montenegro its membership in the Alliance, announced the State Secretary of the Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Roksanda Nincic. “To the question of representatives of Montenegrin delegation in the context of Euro-Atlantic integration of Montenegro, Ambassador Nincic pointed out that Serbia will be among the first to congratulate Montenegro membership in NATO in terms of the continuation of further cooperation between the two countries recognized potential for its further strengthening and deepening,” the Montenegrin parliament announced.

 

Skype messages show former spy chief Verusevski discussed about Ukraine scenario in FYROM (RTVCG)

Additional details from the investigation over Zoran Verusevski, the former head of the UBK State Security agency, reveal that he was discussing the possibility of a Ukrainian style protests that would bring down the Government in FYROM and bring the opposition SDSM party in power. Verusevski, who held high positions in the security services appointed by SDSM, is charged, together with SDSM leader Zoran Zaev and several others, of trying to blackmail the Government to bring SDSM into the ruling coalition, and also of cooperating with foreign intelligence agencies. Police confiscated Verusevski’s computers and other electronic devices when he was arrested in mid-January and since, several leaks from the investigation revealed details about his correspondence with Zaev and with Gjorgji Lazarevski, another former high ranking UBK official who is also charged. Zaev confirmed some of the leaks as authentic. Several media outlets reported on Saturday about a cache of Skype messages exchanged between Verusevski and Lazarevski, in which the two former security officials are mentioning Ukraine, as a political disturbance scenario that they could develop in FYROM. The two are charged with recruiting an UBK surveillance system technician Zvonko Kostovski to wiretap phones from leading Government and opposition officials, and of preparing English language reports they then gave to a foreign intelligence service, which paid them substantially. Verusevski is charged with joining forces with Zaev, and planning to use the cache of information his rogue spy ring has gathered in an attempt to pressure VMRO-DPMNE leader and Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski into bringing SDSM to the Government. Gruevski responded by asking the Public Prosecutor’s office to investigate the case, and currently Zaev and Verusevski are charged, while Zaev is holding press conferences at which he is presenting audio files he claims prove corruption and election irregularities perpetrated by VMRO-DPMNE officials. VMRO­DPMNE insists that the material is taken out of context and fabricated. Verusevski had a daylong hearing at the Prosecutor’s office on Friday, with the entirety of the evidence gathered against him presented, likely for the first time. Zvonko Kostovski was already sentenced to three years in prison, in exchange for his confession, the details of which were likely presented before Verusevski on Friday as well. The fear that political and inter-­ethnic tensions could appear as result of the political situation was often discussed by commentators on both sides. The FYROM experienced an armed insurgency by ethnic Albanian rebels in 2001, which ended with international mediation and a political agreement.

 

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

 

Released Serbian nationalist burns Croatian flag in snub to UN court (Reuters, by Matt Robinson, 1 April 2015)

BELGRADE – A Serbian ultra-nationalist freed on compassionate grounds by a United Nations war crimes court, then ordered to return for violating the terms of his release, thumbed his nose at the court on Wednesday by setting fire to a Croatian flag. Vojislav Seselj, who has cancer and was freed in November, repeated that he would not voluntarily return to the tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague, which revoked his release order on Monday. “When they come to arrest me, I’ll sit on the ground and they can carry me to the airport in their heroic arms,” the Serbian daily Blic quoted the 60-year-old firebrand as saying as he set light to a Croatian flag on the steps of Belgrade’s main courthouse. The performance will only increase the pressure on Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, a former protege of Seselj’s who broke with his party in 2008 to steer a more pro-Western course, to arrest him and return him to The Hague. The Tanjug state news agency, citing a spokeswoman, reported that prosecutors had lodged criminal charges against Seselj for the flag-burning. Though his Radical Party appears a spent force, Seselj’s re-appearance in public life has proven a headache for Vucic’s conservative government and triggered sometimes angry exchanges between Croatia, now a European Union member, and its former enemy Serbia, which wants to join.

DECADE OF DELAY

It has also sharpened widespread criticism of the U.N. tribunal, which has yet to reach a verdict, 12 years after Seselj handed himself in, after years of stalling tactics by the defendant and the replacement of one of the three judges. Croatia handed a protest note to the Serbian embassy in the capital Zagreb and said it was recalling its own ambassador from Serbia for consultations. “Vojislav Seselj, an indicted war criminal, is using hate speech and bellicose rhetoric and symbols to try to influence the region, especially relations between Serbia and Croatia,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. “European values imply good neighbourly relations … a key condition for Serbia’s success in its EU membership talks.” Seselj is charged in The Hague with inciting murder and ethnic persecution during wars in Bosnia and Croatia as Yugoslavia fell apart. The tribunal said it had revoked Seselj’s release order because he had repeatedly said he would not go back voluntarily. The government has said it will consider how to respond. Vucic, who has accused the tribunal of trying to destabilise his government, on Tuesday appeared to rule out using force, saying Seselj would not be arrested in “a raid”. (Editing by Kevin Liffey)

 

Serbia and Croatia seek to calm tensions over flag burning (AP, by Dusan Stojanovic, 2 April 2015)

BELGRADE, Serbia — Serbian and Croatian officials on Thursday sought to defuse tensions that soared after a Serb far-right leader burned a Croatian flag while defying orders to return to a U.N. war crimes tribunal. After Vojislav Seselj set the Croatian flag on fire on Wednesday in Belgrade, Croatia recalled its ambassador to Zagreb for consultations and nationalist politicians in both countries exchanged harsh words. It triggered the worst political crisis since the two former Balkan foes fought in the 1990s wars. Croatian Foreign Minister Vesna Pusic said Thursday that “Croatia wants to calm down passions” and “focus on the future, economic, political and security.” Her Serbian counterpart Ivica Dacic said that “the strengthening of trust between the two states must not be jeopardized by inappropriate rhetoric of individuals.” Relations between Serbia and Croatia are crucial for the stability in the Balkans which is still reeling from the bloody breakup of former Yugoslavia. Serbia needs support from EU-member Croatia in its effort to join the 28-nation bloc. Judges at the U.N. tribunal in The Hague, ruled Monday that Seselj had breached conditions of his provisional release on health grounds, and ordered him to return to its cellblock. Among other charges, Seselj is accused of recruiting notorious Serb paramilitary forces during the wars in Croatia and Bosnia. He has refused to go back voluntarily after spending 12 years in custody in The Hague for his long-running trial. Croatia has demanded that Seselj be sent back to custody after his frequent nationalist outburst against Croatia, including saying in an interview he would go to the neighboring country “only on a tank and fully armed.” “I can’t wait for the European Union to abort talks with Serbia over my behavior,” Seselj said Thursday. “It is my goal that Serbia should never become a member of the European Union.”

 

Bosnia Cabinet Confirmed After Six-Month Wait (Reuters, 31 March 2015)

SARAJEVO, BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA— Bosnia’s national parliament on Tuesday approved a long-awaited central cabinet that the European Union expects to pursue economic reforms to revive a stalled bid to join the bloc. The nine-member Council of Ministers from six parties in the ruling coalition was confirmed nearly six months after Bosnians voted in a general election. Bickering over division of power and jobs has slowed the formation of governments at various levels of Bosnia’s highly decentralized and unwieldy power-sharing system created after a 1992-95 war. Lawmakers in the 42-seat national parliament backed the government headed by Prime Minister Denis Zvizdic, a former architecture professor. Twenty-six voted in favor, seven against and one abstained. Deputies of two Bosnian Serb parties boycotted the session after their request to discuss charges against the speaker of the chamber was dismissed. For the first time in a decade, the party of Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik, president of Bosnia’s autonomous Serb Republic, finds itself left out of the central government. A bloc of smaller Bosnian Serb parties entered instead. Dodik, who frequently questions Bosnia’s viability as a state, has previously stood accused of blocking progress at the national level. In February, Bosnian lawmakers backed a written commitment to pursue economic reform and address political divisions in accordance with a new initiative launched by Germany and Britain and adopted by the European Union, designed to shake the country out of years of stagnation. The declaration was a condition for the EU’s endorsement of a pre-accession pact with Bosnia, originally signed in 2008. The exact reform path has yet to be defined.

 

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Media summaries are produced for the internal use of the United Nations Office in Belgrade, UNMIK and UNHQ. The contents do not represent anything other than a selection of articles likely to be of interest to a United Nations readership.

 

 

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