LOCAL PRESS

Dacic: Protest note delivered to Albanian Ambassador to Serbia (RTS)

On the occasion of the unacceptable statement by Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama on unification of Albania and Kosovo, the Serbian Foreign Ministry has delivered a protest note to the Albanian Ambassador to Serbia, sent a letter to the UN Security Council and gave appropriate instructions to all missions and embassies abroad, Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic announced. The Serbian Foreign Ministry states that a letter has been sent to the Chairperson of the UN Security Council with a request for this letter to be circulated as a document of the UN Security Council. “The Albanian Ambassador to Serbia was delivered a protest note that reads that the stands of the Albanian Prime Minister are unacceptable for Serbia, that the statement represents another in a series of provocative statements by senior political representatives of Albania that harm bilateral relations between Serbia and Albania and threaten the overall relations and stability in the region,” said Dacic. At issue is a dangerous call for retailoring international, recognized borders between the states in the region, he said. The statement by the Albanian Prime Minister is contrary to the voiced determination of Serbia and Albania for developing good neighborly relations, mutual understanding and joint future in the EU, reads the statement. “Serbia expects its partners in the international community to support the condemnation of the statement of the Albanian Prime Minister that harm peace and stability in the region,” said Dacic.

Dacic: Decision on Serbian Army’s participation in parade in Moscow in line with the law (Beta)

The decision on participation of the Serbian Army in the military parade in Moscow was made by President Tomislav Nikolic, in accordance with the Constitution and laws of our country and it does not change our attitude towards European integration or obligations in our role of the OSCE presiding country, said First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic. No one from the EU informed us that the common position of the Union is that we should not participate in the parade and I do not know whether this position is generally determined, Dacic stated after the meeting with the OSCE officials in Belgrade. He stressed that the celebration of 70 years of victory over fascism is event of historical importance for Serbia, and that the Serbian Army should participate in all events held on the occasion throughout the world. OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier agreed with Dacic that the decision on the participation of the Serbian Army in the parade in Moscow is a legitimate decision of the Serbian government in the sense of defining its foreign policy.

Dacic and Zannier: Chance to establish lasting peace in Ukraine (RTS/Tanjug)

The present situation in the east of Ukraine and relaxation of tensions should be used for the further implementation of the Minsk Agreement, complete stabilization of the situation, and a permanent solution to the crisis. This is a common assessment presented at a press conference in Belgrade, after consultations of Serbian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic in his role of the OSCE Chairman with OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier, Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson in Ukraine Heidi Tagliavini, and Head of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine Ertugrul Apakan. The situation in Ukraine is showing signs of progress, there has been a decrease in the intensity of the conflict and it is time for all to devote themselves to the political process, Ivica Dacic said, adding that the implementation of the Minsk Agreement is the only viable basis to end the conflict and find a lasting solution. Pointing to the important role of the OSCE Mission in the field, Dacic said that Serbia as a presiding country prepared a decision on the extension of the mandate of the Mission by 12 months, and the possibility of its expansion from 500 to 1,000 people. He said that the technical support for the task, such as armored vehicles and equipment for collecting information in the field, is still necessary. “The conflict in the east of Ukraine has been going on for a year already. During that time, according to different data, there were several thousands of the dead and more than a million people have been displaced. It is time to stop fighting, to apply the long-term solutions by implementing the Minsk Agreement. The Agreement includes a security component, which means a ceasefire, withdrawal of heavy weapons, and the verification of all that, that is, monitoring carried out by the OSCE. It is understood, also, for the political process to commence involving a dialogue on local self-government on the future regime in some areas, on decentralization, possibly constitutional reforms, and eventually the local elections,” Dacic said. In order to encourage the political process, it is essential, as it was pointed out, to form and activate working groups for four areas as soon as possible that will handle the security, political, economic, and humanitarian issues. It was announced that these might be expected to start working next week already. Speaking about the situation in Ukraine, OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier stressed that this is a crucial phase, important for further progress in a positive direction. According to him, Serbia as the OSCE presiding country is fulfilling its role and actively communicating with all parties in the process. He pointed out that there is still a need to promote dialogue, strengthen monitoring, technical and other capacities of the mission, and establish closer co-ordination of activities. Also, he added, the international community and international organizations should continue to be involved, especially in resolving humanitarian issues, but also in relation to the demining of the field.

Drecun: EU won’t set conditions it knows we won’t fulfill (RTS)

The Chairperson of the Serbian parliamentary Committee for Kosovo and Metohija Milovan Drecun says he believes that the EU will not set conditions before Serbia that it knows in advance the country won’t fulfill. Drecun told journalists in the Serbian parliament that five EU member-states have not recognized Kosovo and that the process of normalization between Belgrade and Pristina has been unfolding within a status-neutral framework – and so it will remain. Commenting on a recent statement made by Kosovo Foreign Minister Hashim Thaqi that recognition of Kosovo will come formally as part of the process of EU integration, Drecun said this was not the road that leads forward or reduces the enormous tensions and abyss. “Thaqi is a man of the past who does not know how to think about the future,” said Drecun, adding that Thaqi now faces the formation of a war crimes court, the great dissatisfaction of Albanians due to the bad economic situation, and is also the leader of the best-organized crime group. Drecun then advised Thaqi to deal with these things instead of destabilizing the already fragile relations with his statements. Drecun also spoke about Serbia’s decision to send its soldiers to the Victory Day parade in Moscow, and noted that he did not know why anyone would be against that. Serbia is a country that carried great burden in the fight against fascism, he said, and added that marking victory over fascism in World War II was one of the greatest accomplishments of modern Europe. “Victory over such evil is best marked with a parade, and if somebody sees Serbia’s anti-European course in that, or is trying to see behavior other than what Serbian officials are saying, that person is clearly either not well-intentioned or is trying to politically abuse the new geo-political situation,” said Drecun, stressing that modern Europe is founded on anti-fascism, and that the EU was created in order for the World War II evil not to be repeated.

Brussels prefers a ‘Greater Albania’ over a ‘Greater Serbia’ (Politika, by Biljana Mitrinovic)

Whenever the Serbs have, over the past decade, been warning the representatives of the EU and US that the secession of Kosovo, on which they worked so wholeheartedly, represents only a transitional phase towards the creation of a ‘Greater Albania’, their response was that ‘this is only a myth’ that has nothing to with the reality and that the Contact Group adopted, back in 2005, certain rules according to which this will be impossible.

Since the draft-proposal of the Kosovo future status, which was composed by Marti Ahtisaari and envisaged Kosovo gradually gaining independence, didn’t have a chance to pass in the UN Security Council due to Russia’s opposition, the Contact Group countries formulated three principles in order to bring the interested parties, namely, the Kosovo institutions and Serbia, to the negotiating table.

These principles specify that Kosovo cannot be returned to the legal status that it had prior to 1999, that it cannot be allowed to unify with another country (having in mind Albania), and that it cannot be divided. Under these conditions, negotiations were conducted in 2006 and 2007 that were mediated by Ahtisaari and later on the Troika composed of the representatives of the EU, Wolfgang Ischinger, of Russia, Aleksandr Botsan-Harchenko, and of US, Frank Wisner. Yet, when the darling of these Western capitals – whose journalists describe with sympathies the Albanian Prime Minister as a “conceptual artist”, stressing his artistic line – started mentioning ‘Greater Albania’, no one from the Western capitals remembered the Contact Group rules.

At one time, the US and EU, when they were establishing the foundations of Kosovo as a country that needs to become sovereign and independent, incorporated into its constitution the clause that states that Kosovo cannot unite with Albania. At the time, the primary interest and official stand read that any kind of unification in the Balkan region would imply expansion of borders.

All senior US officials and the then British prime minister Tony Blair, ever since the NATO bombardment, were stating every day that Kosovo is a “unique case”, that it will not be a precedent and that there is no expansion of borders.

Thereby, this is not the first time that Rama is espousing the idea of a ‘Greater Albania’. A banner with a map of ‘Greater Albania” was spread out on his residence this year, while the Kosovo government was welcomed in Tirana at the joint session with the inscription “One country, one nation, one dream.”

Joksimovic: There is political consensus on joining EU (Tanjug)

The existence of a political consensus regarding European integrations is the most important, Serbian Minister without Portfolio for EU Integrations Jadranka Joksimovic said. At the second plenary session of the National convent on the EU, Joksimovic said that the consensus on EU integrations is being affirmed in the parliament, where all parties are pro-European, with the civil society also involved in the process. Speaking about forthcoming steps in the EU integration process, Joksimovic said that she expects the first chapters in the accession process to be opened, adding that, due to a number of political circumstances, there is a request that the toughest political chapters – Chapters 23, 24 and 35 – be opened first. Commenting on Chapter 35, which deals with Kosovo, Joksimovic said that Serbia is striving to achieve visible progress, and that Pristina, too – not just Belgrade – has obligations in the implementation of the Brussels agreement. Discouraging statements that should not be made in a blackmailing fashion have been coming from the region lately, she said. “We will be constructive and we will in no way increase the burden on the negotiation process between Belgrade and Pristina, which is not simple at all,” she said.

REGIONAL PRESS

Life sentence to Tolimir confirmed (RTRS)

The ICTY confirmed a life sentence delivered to retired General of the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS) Zdravko Tolimir (64), whereby the first-instance verdict for Tolimir, pronounced in December 2012 has been confirmed. The Appeals Chamber presided by US judge Theodor Meron partially accepted seven counts of Tolimir’s appeal, repealing the parts of the verdict which sentenced him for genocide in Zepa, the agency said, and added that Meron stated that “Tolimir’s responsibility does not justify reconsideration of the sentence.”

Izetbegovic: SDA still has no defined position on coordination mechanism issue (Oslobodjenje)

The vice president of the Party of Democratic Action (SDA) Bakir Izetbegovic said in Sarajevo that the party still has no defined stance on the coordination mechanism, but that it is focused on forming such a mechanism that would be permeable and accelerate processes. Izetbegovic commented before the start of a SDA presidency session, stressing that proposals thus far offered a mechanism that would slow down B&H’s European path, because it would form a body that would vote by consensus. “I think this is not the right path and we will have to return to the idea of a coordination mechanism that will really efficiently and quickly coordinate, not taking responsibilities from anyone. The cantons, entities, and state have their part of the work, the problem is in the responsibilities that are allocated among these levels, and here it is necessary to find a solution. I think that a cumbersome and complicated mechanism should not be created, full of the possibility for blockade,” believes Izetbegovic. He announced that on Friday, the SDA members will hold a meeting dedicated to the topic, after which the party will come forward with a defined stance.
Dodik: Zukorlic is a religious fanatic (Srna/Beta)

The Republika Srpska (RS) President Milorad Dodik has stated that the Sandzak Mufti Muamer Zukorlic is a passionate religious fanatic who is trying to build a political career. Dodik said that he saw no reason why Zukorlic was interfering in the events in B&H. Commenting the statements published on the website Sandzak press in Novi Pazar, according to which Zukorlic said that “he would respond to Dodik when he comes to Bijeljina in a way that he would not be able to speak again”, Dodik called Zukorlic to come to Banja Luka and to speak up. Zukorlic allegedly said this several days ago in Malme at the establishment of the Bosniak national foundation, reacting to the statement of one of the speakers at the gathering who accused Dodik of breaking up B&H. Dodik said that he stood behind every statement he had made in regard to B&H. “B&H wants to build itself by force and now we also see the mufti, Mladen Bosic and Mladen Ivanic and others in this function. According to them we are the opposition, the disturbing factor and I am glad for this since we are not traitors,” said Dodik. He says that he will never allow for the role of the RS to be reduced and the role of B&H to be increased. “I don’t believe in B&H, because it is a failed international, political and legal project,” said Dodik.

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

Kosovo Offers Deal on Serb-Language Diplomas (BIRN, by Una Hajdari, 9 April 2015)

A deal by which Kosovo will accept diplomas issued by the Serbian university in the north as valid may help Kosovo’s ethnic minorities get more jobs – and solve a long-running dispute over higher education. The Kosovo government has put forward a landmark proposal that will make it easier for Kosovo Serbs and members of other minority groups to apply for jobs in public institutions. The deal involves Kosovo accepting the validity of diplomas issued by the country’s Serbian-language university in the Serb-run far north of the country. Formerly part of the bi-lingual University of Pristina, the country’s public university during Yugoslavia, Serbian language faculties moved from Pristina to the northern, Serb-run half of the divided town of Mitrovica in 1999. Since then, while study programs in Pristina were overseen by the Ministry of Education of Kosovo, Serbian-language programs continued in Mitrovica, using the Republic of Serbia’s higher educational program. The draft document put forward during a government meeting by Education Minister Arsim Bajrami takes a “practical and constructive approach” to solving the problem. “The current status quo in relation to the University of North Mitrovica obstructs the employment opportunities offered to those who have graduated from that university,” the proposal says. While the university in Mitrovica has for 15 years catered to the needs of the Serbian community, the Kosovo Ministry of Education has refused to accept its diplomas as valid because the university has refused to integrate its curriculum into the national one. As a result, graduates from the university in the north have not been able to apply for jobs in public institutions of Kosovo on the basis of the qualifications they gained. Under the proposal, a commission will be formed that will issue “certificates to individual graduates that will be used in their job application process”. The university in the north is only one example of the Serbian-run “parallel” education, administrative and political system that has functioned since the end of the conflict. The system has continued to function within a framework that existed during the 1990s in Kosovo, when Kosovo was governed a province of Serbia. Although the law already allows for the existence of an educational system for the Serbian community, based on the curriculum of the Ministry of Education of Serbia, it must be approved by Kosovo’s own Education Ministry – which has never occurred. Even the name of the university is a point of contention. Both higher educational bodies in Pristina and Mitrovica claim to be “The University of Pristina”. The one in the north refers to itself to as “The University of Pristina with a temporary seat in Kosovska Mitrovica.” Both issue diplomas that are valid throughout Europe, but which are not accepted by their respective ministries. The commission, once it is formed, will cooperate with the university in the north in approving the validity of the individual diplomas. The applicant will then obtain a certificate, “to be used for the purpose of applying for jobs in Kosovo public institutions”. The Association of Serbian Municipalities, a political formation designed to integrate the Serbian municipalities into Kosovo while granting them wide autonomy, is expected to be formed this year. The certificates will therefore make it easier for Kosovo Serbs to apply for jobs in the institutions that will be formed, as they become integrated into the Kosovo system. The draft proposal, which has yet to go through parliament, also foresees the creation of a commission that will deal with the accreditation process for the university. This might prove to be “a long and difficult process,” but will ensure that the university in the north becomes part of the Kosovo system, acting as an “autonomous public university” with its rights and independence in decision-making guaranteed. Kosovo and Serbia reached an agreement on the mutual acceptance of diplomas in 2011 during the EU-led technical dialogue between the two countries. However, the agreement was never fully implemented.

IMF to conduct Serbia review in first week of May: government official (Reuters, 8 April 2015)

BELGRADE: The International Monetary Fund will review the implementation of its 1.2 billion euro ($1.3 billion) loan deal with Serbia in the first week of May, a senior government official said on Wednesday. In February, the IMF signed off on a precautionary loan deal with Serbia after it pledged to reform the public sector and cut the consolidated deficit to around 6 percent of national output in 2015 from over 7 percent last year. The government has already cut pensions and public sector wages in late 2014. “The IMF visit is expected in the first week of May and is the first of their regular checks of the agreement with the fund,” the senior official said, declining to be named. Daehaeng Kim, the head of IMF mission to Serbia, told Belgrade’s N1 TV that experts would start checking Serbian finances between May 4 and May 12. The report also quoted Kim as saying that Serbia was showing signs of recovery. “It is true there are signs of recovery, that results are better than expected, but we still need to make a serious analysis to see … are they sustainable,” he said. Last month, Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said the budget deficit at the end of the first quarter would be half that agreed with the IMF, and that there could be a gradual increase in public sector wages and pensions. The wage cuts have caused Vucic’s government to face strikes of schoolteachers and workers from some state enterprises. Economists have warned that the improvement of Serbia’s budget deficit in the first quarter may be temporary due to one-off dividend payments by public enterprises, less capital investment and improved collection of value-added tax.

UN Appeals Judges Uphold Bosnian Serb’s Genocide Conviction (AP, by Mike Corder, 8 April 2015)

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — United Nations appeals judges on Wednesday upheld most of a Bosnian Serb army general’s convictions and his life sentence for involvement in the 1995 Srebrenica genocide. Gen. Zdravko Tolimir smiled and repeatedly crossed himself as Yugoslav war crimes tribunal President Judge Theodor Meron told him that his life sentence was confirmed on appeal. Tolimir was convicted in December 2012 of genocide and other crimes in the 1995 massacre by Bosnian Serb forces of some 8,000 Muslim men in Srebrenica, eastern Bosnia – Europe’s worst mass killing since World War II. Tolimir was a trusted aide of former Bosnian Serb military leader Ratko Mladic. Witnesses at trial called him Mladic’s “right hand. His eyes and ears,” judges said in their original judgment. Mladic is on trial at the same UN tribunal for allegedly masterminding Serb atrocities throughout the 1992-95 Bosnian war, including the Srebrenica massacre. Meron overturned elements of Tolimir’s genocide conviction linked to forcibly transferring Muslims out of the town of Zepa near Srebrenica as well as parts of his convictions for murder and extermination linked to specific small-scale killings. But he stressed that most of his convictions remained in place. “In light of these genocide convictions alone, the appeals chamber considers that Tolimir’s responsibility does not warrant a revision of his sentence,” Meron said. Munira Subasic, president of the Association of Mothers of Srebrenica and Zepa, said she was unhappy with the parts of the conviction that were overturned but happy Tolimir’s sentence was upheld and that the tribunal again underscored that Bosnian Serb forces were responsible for genocide in Srebrenica. “I am satisfied firstly because he got life,” she said outside court.

Macedonia Tapes Suggest Govt Meddling With Lustration (BIRN, by Sinisa Jakov Marusic, 8 April 2015)

The opposition released new covert tapes allegedly proving that a judge was named a secret police collaborator for political reasons and revealing government meddling in the lustration process. The opposition Social Democrats presented a new batch of covertly-recorded tapes on Wednesday that they said proved that the ruling VMRO DPMNE party has been misusing the work of the country’s controversial state office for rooting out former secret police collaborators to discredit opponents. One of the most revealing tapes of wiretapped conversations, according to the opposition, contains what appears to be the voice of VMRO DPMNE legislator and former Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki commissioning a politically-motivated lustration of a judge who is working in the town of Kicevo. The tape allegedly features Milososki calling the head of the lustration commission, Tome Adziev, asking him to name judge Dragi Dineski from Kicevo as an informant, which would render him unfit to work as a judge or in any state institution. “He is making a lot of trouble for us. Do it as soon as possible,” the voice alleged to be that of Milososki is heard as saying, to which Adziev replies: “We will process him.” The two are also allegedly heard discussing how Milososki has found a person who will file a lustration request against the judge, to obtain the legal prerequisite for launching the procedure. Macedonia is following in the steps of many former Communist states that have brought in lustration laws as a way to address past injustices stemming from politically-motivated prosecutions. But ever since the commission started work in 2009, it has been marred by controversy. The opposition argues that it has been misused to target government critics and in December 2012, it removed two of its members from the commission in protest. Adziev has denied such allegations on many occasions. Two more tapes related to lustration were also aired on Wednesday, which the opposition said proves that the government has meddled in the work of the lustration body. One tape features a voice alleged to be that of Interior Minister Gordana Jankuloska in what seems to be a conversation about the regular summoning of lustration commission members for briefings. The opposition said that another tape features the voices of Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski and Jankuloska having a conversation in which the PM seems to admit that his cabinet chief Martin Protugjer has been working together with Adziev in formulating the commission’s conclusions. The new tapes were released at the Social Democrats’ press conference in the town of Bitola as part of their weeks-long campaign to highlight alleged illegal surveillance. The opposition party accuses Gruevski and his cousin, the secret police chief Saso Mijalkov, of orchestrating the illegal surveillance of over 20,000 people over four or more years in Macedonia. The opposition started releasing its series of tapes of wiretapped telephone conversations that point to alleged government wrongdoings in February. Gruevski has rejected all the allegations against him and accused unnamed “foreign centres” of conspiring with the opposition to destabilise the country. The last press conference in Bitola also saw the release of tapes that allege more evidence of government electoral fraud, pressure on private companies and on employees to vote for the ruling party on pain of sacking, and requests for party employment in the public sector. In one conversation, Interior Minister Jankuloska appears to oppose the promotion of professor Frosina Remenski to a higher ranking position at Bitola State University “because she is a ‘Commie’ [a derogatory term used for the Macedonian centre left opposition]” Apparently exerting pressure on university’s dean, Jankuloska’s voice is heard saying that she would rather have a donkey given the position than see Remenski promoted.

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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.