LOCAL PRESS

Nikolic: Plan for Kosovo is ready; we are not signing independence (Novosti)

“I’m afraid that accepting an independent Kosovo will be a condition for Serbia to become an EU member. Serbia must urgently position itself according to that request, which is becoming increasingly dominant and visible, with a new state platform!” Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic said in an exclusive interview for Vecernje Novosti, assuring us that there is no government that would recognize secession of the southern province.

Based on what do you assert that recognition of Kosovo would be Brussels’ final condition?

“Serbia is requested to sign an agreement with the provisional institutions of self-government in Pristina whereby we would regulate mutual relations. Germany will not give up from this. That request has been hidden until now, but now it represents a dominant opinion in Europe, especially since the formation of the present composition of the European Commission.”

Why do you think that the stamp for secession of Kosovo is hidden behind the agreement with Pristina?

“Pristina claims that Kosovo is an independent state and they have support for this from the countries that recognize it. For Serbia, Kosovo and Metohija is an essential autonomy within Serbia. A final agreement is not in sight with these positions. Who could cede?”

Have you received clear requests to prepare the public for recognition of Kosovo?

“Somebody expected that Serbia would be led by people who will accept independence of Kosovo. Now it is clear that the Serbian government and the President will never engage in such a process. What are we left with? For somebody to topple the government and the President in order to find somebody who will accept everything? If the condition is for Serbia is to accept independence of Kosovo in order to become an EU member, we will not accept that. There is no wealth, money and gold in the world for which I would agree to give up Kosovo.”

Is it because of this stand that the negotiating chapters are not being opened for Serbia?

“The truth is that everything revolves around Kosovo, even though recognition of Kosovo is not a condition for the negotiations. We have fulfilled conditions for opening 34 chapters, but the negotiations are not commencing. Has the Kosovo Chapter 35 been imposed on us so we never become an EU member?”

When will Serbia adopt a new state platform on Kosovo, which you have announced?

“Right after the 1 May holidays, the platform should be on the table of the Prime Minister. The government will state whether the plan is possible to achieve or not. Then the ministers will formally decide whether such or somewhat amended draft will be forwarded to the parliament. I think we must not diverge on this issue.”

What would happen in case of essential divergence?

“The government will continue to conduct the foreign and internal policy as this is its constitutional jurisdiction.”

Do you have an identical stand on Kosovo with the Prime Minister?

“Yes. We do not have different opinions on Kosovo and Metohija.”

What will be the essential idea of the new platform?

“That Serbia will never recognize an independent Kosovo. That Serbia is negotiating in good faith with the Pristina institutions and completing the essential autonomy for Kosovo and Metohija that it needs to regulate with a constitutional law. It will propose autonomy of the Union of Serb Municipalities (ZSO) within the provisional Kosovo institutions, as well as institutional ties with Serbia.”

Will these be Serbia’s final “red lines”?

“That is correct. We must clearly state what the boundaries that we will not cross are. For all of us to stand behind that policy and for everyone to know that this is Serbia!”

Why is this the right moment for the new state plan?

“We see that Pristina is gradually forming its own institutions. They insist on issues that also concern statehood, but eliminate the Serbian influence in Kosovo in view of ownership over property, energy. They are ignoring the agreement on the ZSO. They are launching issues on a ‘Greater Albania’. We cannot wait anymore.”

Are you warning foreign statesmen that the dreams on a “Greater Albania” are being realized?

“For years, I have been assuring all western interlocutors that there is danger from this. All of them have been telling me the EU would never allow this. I asked them – what if Kosovo that you recognized and Albania organize a referendum on unification. How would you prevent that? Now we see West’s soft answer to the aggressive expression of the wish for unification. I doubt the sincerity of those who had claimed that they would not allow the creation of a ‘Greater Albania’.”

How should Serbia position itself to this dangerous project?

“Why not create a Balkan association for preventing the creation of a ‘Greater Albania’ and for it to include Serbia, Montenegro, Greece and Macedonia. These states should state whether they advocate the thesis that there is no secession of state territories. Macedonia and Montenegro would have a difficult time politically to position themselves this way, because they have already recognized Kosovo.”

What if the EU requires from Serbia to introduce sanctions against Russia?

“That may turn out to be a condition for EU membership. In the course of negotiations, we are not obliged to conduct a joint foreign policy. How do we follow a common policy when even the EU member states do not have one? Even regarding the Kosovo issue; and regarding the sanctions against Moscow there is growing disagreement.”

Vucic: I don’t know what to expect from Nikolic (Beta)

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic has stated that he doesn’t know what he can expect from the platform on Kosovo that Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic should submit to him after the holidays. He said that President Nikolic has been acquainted with everything that Serbia is requested on the EU path, adding that he is not concealing what he is discussing with the EU and that the “topic is always Kosovo”. Vucic said that he has been discussing with the EU the formation of the Union of Serb Municipalities in Kosovo and the Peace Park in Kosovska Mitrovica. He notes that he had received an invitation to take part in the ministerial conference in Brussels on 18 May and that he will seek support for Serbia and the opening of the negotiating chapters. “A real Serbian offensive is being launched, I am going to Berlin soon and we are fighting in every way for the chapters to open as soon as possible,” Vucic told a press conference.

Serbia will have to let Kosovo join UN (Blic)

If they want to join the EU, Belgrade and Pristina have an obligation to sign another agreement that will allow the admission of Kosovo to the United Nations.

Full membership of Kosovo in the United Nations will enable entry into other international organizations such as the OSCE, the Council of Europe, and finally the European Union,  Western diplomatic sources told Blic, explaining what brings the future agreement, the so-called Brussels 2, which has been recently debated in public. As noted, “the legally binding agreement between Serbia and Kosovo” is nothing new, and its signing is the strategic framework of EU negotiations with Serbia listed as Belgrade’s obligation. Western diplomats point out that Serbia has agreed on this provision automatically when it entered into negotiations with the EU. However, what this document actually means, including Kosovo’s membership in the UN, is not written in the context of negotiations. Our interlocutors explained that Serbia has committed not to block Kosovo’s accession to EU, and a full-fledged status in the United Nations is one of the preconditions that would allow one country to enter the Union. Western sources dismissed Pristina’s allegations that “Brussels 2” is going to be called ‘the peace agreement” and that the two sides would sign it in 2016. These are just wishes of one side, they point out, arguing that the same applies to Pristina’s wish that the agreement contains the provision on “reparations” of Belgrade towards Pristina. “A legally binding agreement must be signed by the end of the EU – Serbia negotiations on accession, whenever it happens,” state Blic’s interlocutors. We remind that the ambition of the Government of Serbia is to finish negotiations by the end of 2018, so that Serbia could enter the EU by the end of 2020 years. Western sources point out that Serbia enabling Kosovo to join the UN “doesn’t mean” formally recognizing Kosovo’s independence. They remind that West and East Germany once did not recognize each other, but they were both in the UN.

Milic: Terrorist attacks not to be allowed in Belgrade (Tanjug)

“Security is at the highest level in Belgrade, and the police will not allow a terrorist act like the one in Zvornik to happen in the Serbian capital,” Belgrade police chief Veselin Milic told reporters, adding that similar precautionary measures have been ordered for the entire country. “Serbian Interior Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic has ordered all precautionary measures for the city of Belgrade and all of Serbia, and we will not allow such tragedies and such terrorist attacks to take place in Belgrade,” Milic said.

Dikovic and Portolano on engagement of Serbian “blue helmets” (Tanjug)

The Chief of the Serbian Army General Staff Ljubisa Dikovic had talks with the Commander of the UN peace mission in Lebanon, General Luciano Portolano about the thitherto engagement of the Serbian members in that multinational operation. Dikovic and Portolano have discussed the current political-security situation in Lebanon and the Near East. The delegation of the Serbian Army has visited the West sector of the UN mission in Lebanon, where 177 Serbian “blue helmets” are deployed.

REGIONAL PRESS

Ivanic: The true battle against terrorism should be led by Bosniaks (Srna)

The Chairman of the B&H Presidency Mladen Ivanic believes that a true and just fight against the Islamic terrorism should be led by the Bosniak people. Ivanic said that the Bosniak politicians have the will to tackle this problem, and some of them are calculating with this issue.

“When Serb or Croat politicians, talk about the Islamic terrorism, than it is considered counterproductive. The real and true fight should be led by the people that suffer the greatest consequences, and those are the Bosniacs,” said Ivanic. He warned that terrorism has become an integral part of life in B&H. “It is a threat that needs to be cut down from the start, and that means two things – political conviction and the security agencies preventing such events,” concluded Ivanic.

Wahhabis under the watchful eye of the police (Nezavisne)

After the terrorist attacks in Zvornik directed by Nerdin Ibric (24), who is associated with the Wahhabis, most police agencies increased preventive measures, which in some cases includes stronger monitoring of settlements that are labeled as Wahhabi strongholds. Interviewees from the police remind of the announced visit of Pope Francis to Sarajevo, which is, as they point out, also one of the reasons why the caution was raised. It is known that more settlements in the Una-Sana Canton (USC), such as Buzim, but also in the Tuzla Canton (TK), such as Gornja Maoca, are labeled as a stronghold of Wahabis. The authorities from the Ministries of Interior of both the Canton assure that they are doing everything in order to keep the population and property safe.

“We have reinforced protection activities after the alert from OSA. This will most likely continue in the future, and one of the measures certainly includes the monitoring of specific groups that can be considered radical,” says Ale Siljdedic, spokesman of the Police from USC. According to him, it is necessary to anticipate the potential hazards that might occur during the arrival of Pope Francis, so they are working on this issue too. Gornja Maoca, a village in the municipality of Srebrenik is also under the watchful eye of the police. “Police officers from Modrica, Tesanj, Zepce and Zavidovici pay daily visit to Maoca. There do not stay in Maoca, but they visit daily. And, in regard to the event in Zvornik, it is certain that there will be increased police activity when it comes to areas linked to the Wahhabi movements,” said Izudin Saric, Ministry of Interior spokesman from TK. Some areas of Maglaj, Tesanj, Zepce, Zavidovici and Zenica have also been previously identified as strongholds of Wahhabism and the Ministry of Interior of the Zenica-Doboj Canton (ZDC) argue that in these areas the intensified preventive measures have been enforced too. “When it comes to the part relating to the activity of Wahhabi community, we are exchanging the information with other agencies, and we are trying to control this segment,” said Gojko Vasic, director of the RS Police. On Tuesday afternoon in the area of ​​Ribnik, police have arrested five people, a majority of the arrested are the citizens of Saudi Arabia, after the police stopped the vehicle that was driven by the person for whom a warrant of arrest has been issued on a base of terrorism. Later it was found that the warrant has been lifted by the FB&H Ministry of Interior, so all the arrestees have been released.

Russian Ambassador to B&H: Terrorism a serious threat to B&H (Srna)

The Russian Ambassador to B&H Petr Ivantsov told Srna that the attack in Zvornik confirmed that terrorism poses a serious threat not only globally, but also to B&H, which is why it is essential to take adequate measures to prevent possible occurrence of the events of a similar nature in the future. “We strongly condemn the terrorist attack in Zvornik and extend our condolences to the RS President Milorad Dodik and the family of murdered police officer Dragan Djuric, and wish police officers Zeljko Milovanovic and Stevo Gajic a speedy recovery,” said Ambassador Ivantsov. The Ambassador supported the competent institutions and bodies in combating terrorism, stressing that the general safety situation in B&H is stable with no immediate danger, but that the event in Zvornik showed the necessity of taking adequate measures. Speaking about the cooperation in the sphere of security between the Russian Federation and B&H, Ivantsov stated the cooperation was good and that the contacts in terms of exchange of information existed. “We are in contact with the Ministry of Security of B&H, the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) and the Directorate for Coordination of Police Bodies of B&H. Of course, we are also in contact with the RS Ministry of Interior,” added Ivantsov.

Interview with PDHR David M. Robinson (Dnevni avaz)

Dnevni avaz: The RS Assembly adopted a declaration on the B&H Constitutional Court that you criticized. Is that a breach of the Dayton Agreement, or it could only become one?

David M. Robinson: I think that the latter is closer to the truth. It is a political position that still lacks the force of law. We will wait to see what happens when the B&H Constitutional Court issues a decision. However, several things have surfaced in this case. As far as I remember, it is the authorities of the RS that requested that a reference to the commitment to Dayton be included in the statement on the EU. The RS authorities convinced me when I was in Banja Luka that they supported Dayton as a whole. That shows that there is a significant lack of understanding, because Dayton is not an a la carte menu, from which you take only what you like.

Dnevni avaz: However, does not everybody say that Dayton has been overcome, that it needs to be changed?

David M. Robinson: I don’t think that anybody thought that the Dayton Agreement would remain almost unchanged for 20 years after it was signed. Everybody thought that there would be more progress and that you would be closer to the EU and NATO. But that’s where we are. I am convinced that there must be a certain period of transition. I think that there is a consensus in the country about Euro-Atlantic integration, that the EU is a common goal and that the EU now has a key role in reforms, together with local politicians. But Dayton remains the constitutional framework for this country. You cannot push it aside. It is the law of this country and it must be respected. Yes, changes are necessary. Yes, Europe is the future, but let us make that transition. Local politicians must understand this and start working on it.

Dnevni avaz: The European Union gave up, in fact they decided to postpone the requirement to implement the “Sejdic-Finci” verdict. Will you too give up the five objectives and two conditions that need to be met for the closure of the OHR and close it earlier?

David M. Robinson: I don’t think so. The five objectives and two conditions are a legitimate path for this country. There is an element of subjectivity in whether the country has met them or not. What is important to recognize is real progress, and not just the final result. I do not think that it is wise for the international community to merely insist that things are packed up nicely and presented to the EU. This is why we will continue working with the state until it is irreversibly on the road of change. While this happens, we remain in this country.

Dnevni avaz: The state is still not in such a state that you cannot leave us alone?

David M. Robinson: That’s a bit of a paternalistic approach. To leave you on your own? I have been in the US Foreign Service for thirty years and I am surprised to see people in B&H who claim that this country is hopeless, that is a lost cause. But it is not. This is a real country, with capable people who can succeed. You do not need a “fatherly hand” to guide you.  The leaders of this country should be clear about the road they have to take in order to make some very difficult decisions required for the county’s EU path. Difficult things are going to happen, some will be hard to accept for most of the people, but that’s called leadership. Our job is to make the leaders of this country understand how to go about this and be rewarded for it. That is the point of this European initiative. It is an award for things that need to be done.

Dnevni avaz: But, you still have the Bonn powers, you have foreign judges in the Constitutional Court, you have the key levers of power…

David M. Robinson: That is correct and necessary, since institutions here are very young. Let us be realistic. You are getting out of a difficult period, and democracy is difficult. International assistance is a guarantee until the institutions are firmly anchored, not only in law but in the perception of the general public as well. People need to have confidence in the legal system. That is why we are still needed here and I do not know how long this will be the case. Twenty years might be a long time, but it is not too long a time.

Dnevni avaz: Do you follow public debate on BiH judiciary? We hear criticism directed at prosecutors, some judges got arrested… Do we need to change the system?

David M. Robinson: I do not want to go into details. It is important that citizens feel that the process of judicial reform is leading to an honest, transparent judiciary that produces the best possible results. If there is corruption, it must be eradicated. And, there is corruption everywhere, including in B&H. People need to feel that processes are accessible, that decision-makers can be held accountable and responsible for their doings. That is why your work is extremely important. The media should ensure that decisions are available to the public, for better or worse – be they good or bad. That is how democracy works.

Dnevni avaz: You have a lot of experience in the fight against terrorism. How do you comment B&H’s efforts in that respect?

David M. Robinson: I often tell my friends that there is no playing with serious issues. There are no gray areas when it comes to certain topics, and terrorism is one of them. The fight against financing terrorism is part of this. This country has to decide where it stands. Will you be a part of the fight against terrorism or will you be the weakest link? The MONEYVAL issue is disturbing. B&H is perhaps the only country, or at least one of very few, that Moneyval reported to the FATF. Do you really want this? There is no room joking about this. This is not a position in which you want to be. As I said earlier, that the RS wants to take from Dayton only what it likes. We have a similar issue here. You are either in compliance with recognized, efficient and respected international principles of fighting violent terrorism and financing terrorism, or you not. You cannot be „a little pregnant“. You are or you are not. It looks now as if some have decided they do not want these standards. This is the wrong approach! You need to be on the right side. That is why we told the authorities to get this done as quickly as possible.

Dnevni avaz: What about the fight against the departure of volunteers to Iraq and Syria?

David M. Robinson: I know you have very good people in the authorities, who know their jobs, at the state and entity levels. They take this very seriously and I appreciate that. I think they do what is necessary. This is a difficult issue. Foreign fighters are being sourced everywhere. Hundreds left from the USA and European countries. What is important for B&H is that you have to be integrated and connected to work efficiently. The police, the army, the intelligence sector and the public administration must all work together. This is also hard for us in the US to achieve, but it is a key.

Milo Djukanovic: The opposition shamelessly suspects EU officials (RTCG)

Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic assessed that the opposition in Montenegro “shamelessly suspects and criticizes top officials in Brussels”, because, as he said, they affirm our country’s progress in EU integration. Djukanovic did not want to comment on the “Dispatch” affair, stating that it should be left to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, Igor Luksic. He also said that he did not know of such a thing in political practice, saying that such moves by political opponents should not be an obstacle to further European path. Commenting on the allegations of, as he said, “on-duty interpreters and critics” of Brussels’ attitudes, Djukanovic said that this behavior is a logical continuation of their moral and political fall. When asked by DPS deputy Milutin Simovic on which are the most important messages from the meeting that he recently had with top officials of the EU and NATO, he said the attitudes are explicit that the EU remains committed to the idea of a European future for Montenegro. He said that every normal person who wishes good for themselves and their families is looking forward to positive messages from Brussels. Djukanovic said that this shows that Montenegro is on an irreversibly steady path, stating that reassuring message from NATO and EU officials has been sent to our country. “NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that Montenegro is an example of a state that on the basis of their work demonstrates the commitment to integration into the Alliance and its values. By calling our country a champion in regional cooperation, he welcomed the substantial reforms we have achieved, stated that intensified and focused interviews are being conducted successfully, and commended the results,” he said at today’s session of parliament dedicated to the Prime Minister hour. The Prime Minister said that it was repeated that Montenegro is first in line for membership in NATO. “The intensive dialogue with allies will continue in the coming months when we expect Stoltenberg’s visit to our country,” he said, noting that the common opinion is that NATO’s invitation to Montenegro would be a strong impetus for the region.

Jelko Kacin: Dispatch attempts to delay the accession to NATO (Pobjeda)

Former member of the European Parliament Jelko Kacin considers the background affair “Dispatch” as an attempt to postpone the invitation to Montenegro to join NATO. He also said that this is not something that happens only in Montenegro. “Montenegro is not the first or the last state where something like that happened. It is obvious that in these more demanding, the final stages of Montenegro’s integration into NATO, such cases happen, because we have similar examples in other European countries,” he told Pobjeda. As a rule, he said, it is proved that people responsible for the publication of such dispatch are usually individuals employed in institutions that do approve the integration of the country into NATO. Commenting on Montenegro’s progress in EU integration, Kacin said that the state must continue to work.

Asked whether NATO invitation could further accelerate European integration, Kacin said that there certainly is a parallel process. “The decision to call Montenegro, it is clear, will not be made in the next seven months. I expect that the decision will be known a few days before the December Ministerial Council of NATO.’’ he said. Kacin added that it is necessary to actively work in this direction and through relations with the neighbors to show great commitment to Euro-Atlantic integration.

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

Press Freedom Declining in Balkans, Report Says (BIRN, by Gjegj Erebara, 29 April 2015)

The situation for the press has worsened in the Balkans over the last few years with Macedonia, Serbia and Greece seeing the sharpest drops, the US watchdog’s new report says. The 2014 report from the US-based watchdog Freedom House has underlined a global decline in freedom of the press, blaming it on harsher laws and increased violence against journalists. The report classified the Western Balkans as a region that saw a sharp deterioration in terms of freedom of the press. Freedom House gives each of the 199 countries and territories a total press freedom score ranging from 0 (best) to 100 (worst) on the basis of 23 questions divided into three sub-categories. “A number of countries in the Western Balkans continued to exhibit a worrying pattern of press freedom violations in 2014,” the report says. “These media environments feature several common problems: the use of defamation and insult laws by politicians and businesspeople to suppress critical reporting; pro-government bias at public broadcasters; editorial pressure from political leaders and private owners that leads to self-censorship; harassment, threats, and attacks on journalists that go unpunished; and opaque ownership structures,” the report added. Macedonia’s score has declined 10 points in the past five years, making it the worst performer in the region, according to the Freedom House. It expressed special concern about the issue of the journalist Tomislav Kezarovski who was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison for having revealed the identity of a protected witness in a murder case. In 2014, Macedonia scored 58 points, the lowest in the Balkans. “Several opposition-oriented outlets have been forced to close during this period,” Freedom House noted. In Serbia during 2014, the government of Aleksandar Vučić sought to curb reporting on the floods that hit the country in May and directed increasingly hostile rhetoric and harassment at independent journalists; such pressure allegedly motivated broadcasters to cancel major political talk shows. Serbia scored 40 for last year, four points lower than in 2013. Press freedom in Montenegro has also deteriorated since Milo Đukanović returned to the premiership in 2012, with independent outlets such as Vjesti, Dan, and Monitor suffering lawsuits and unprosecuted physical attacks as well as hostile government rhetoric. Montenegro scored 39 points in 2014. Albania, Kosovo, Croatia and Romania did not improve or deteriorate during 2014, but Albania and Kosovo already have very low scores. For Albania, the report underlines that media ownership is obscured by the use of proxies, which circumvents legal barriers erected against the over-concentration of ownership. “Most media outlets rely on financial support from owners and a few major advertisers, and self-censorship to suit their business or political interests is common. Journalists, outlets, and advertisers can face repercussions for negative coverage about the authorities, including tax inspections and loss of state business,” it says. All the Balkan countries except Greece are classified as partly free in the freedom of the media index. Italy is also considered partly free, the only EU member state with such status. Italy owes its low ranking to the system of permits for work among journalists, licenses issued by the Order of the Journalists, a state-approved organization that was created during the Fascist era in the 1930s. Although Greece still has the status of a country with a free media, it has shown the biggest decline in the world in the index for 2014. “Greece’s score declined from 46 to 51 because of further government and partisan interference in the media, as seen in restrictive legislative changes to the broadcast market, the creation of a monopoly on digital transmissions through a flawed tender, and politically biased news coverage surrounding elections. “Greece has fallen by 21 points since 2010, as existing structural problems were exacerbated by the economic crisis and related political pressures,” the report says. Bulgaria has the best score in the region for 2014 although freedom of the press has declined there in the past few years as well.

Private sector to take cost of Serbia’s bad loans – central bank (Reuters, 29 April 2015)

BELGRADE – The private sector should bear the cost of resolving Serbia’s problem of non-performing loans, the Balkan country’s central bank said on Wednesday after a two-day conference with officials from the IMF, World Bank and EBRD. Bad loans account for 23 percent of total lending in Serbia, where foreign banks account for 75 percent of the market. Under a 1.2 billion euro loan deal with the International Monetary Fund approved in February, Serbia agreed to draw up a strategy to resolve the problem in order to maintain financial stability. So far, four banks have gone bankrupt under the weight of bad loans, at a cost of 800 million euros to the state. “It was concluded that NPL resolution must be financed by the private sector, whereas the public sector must provide support through regulatory incentives,” the central bank said in the statement. “Developing the NPL market is one of the priorities, with foreign investors already showing interest,” it said.

(Reporting by Ivana Sekularac; Editing by Matt Robinson)

Bosnia Mulls Ways to Stop More Terror Attacks (BIRN, by Elvira M. Jukic, 30 April 2015)

As the victim of Monday’s terror attack in Zvornik was laid to rest, Bosnian leaders and experts are mulling ways to improve security and prevent such attacks in future. Family members, as well as hundreds of citizens and officials gathered on Wednesday in the village of Karakaj near Zvornik to bury Dragan Djuric, a Bosnian Serb policeman killed on Monday in an attack on the police station in the eastern town of Zvornik. As Djuric was laid to rest with the highest police honours, and as other two policemen wounded in the attack recovered in hospital, Bosnia’s judicial, intelligence and police agencies worked around the clock to uncover details about the attack and the motives of the culprit, Nerdin Ibric. According to some family members, Ibric – who was killed in the shoot-out with police – recently fell under the influence of religious radicals who had fought with Islamic militants in the war in Syria. Joint teams from the State Investigation and Protection Agency, SIPA and local and entity police have raided a number of locations and arrested two persons believed to be linked to the attack. While ethnic and political tensions triggered by the attack slowly lessen, concerns about security in Bosnia remain high. Local institutions and international experts ponder different approaches towards improving security arrangements in the country. Senior officials from Serbia and Bosnia’s Serb-dominated entity of Republika Srpska met in Belgrade on Wednesday to discuss the repercussions of the attack. Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic and Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, the RS President, Milorad Dodik, as well as the Serbian and RS interior ministers agreed that Serbia and Republika Srpska should cooperate more closely on security to prevent similar attacks. “Republika Srpska will cooperate with everyone in the region because the fight against terrorism cannot be isolated,” Dodik said. “The fight against terrorism is a priority of Republika Srpska but it has to be a priority for the rest of Bosnia and Herzegovina. There is not enough will among the Bosniak [Muslim] elite to stand against this phenomenon,” he complained. Shortly after the attack, Dodik indicated that the RS might withdraw from state security agencies and establish parallel structures. In Belgrade, he said again that Bosnia’s security system was inefficient and that the RS would develop its own new strategies in that sector. Bosniak leaders have condemned the attack unreservedly. The Islamic Community, the Bosniak member of the state Presidency and the chief of the largest Bosniak Party of Democratic Action, SDA Bakir Izetbegovic, all condemned the Zvornik attack in the strongest terms. However, local and international experts say the terrorist threat has been ignored for too long in Bosnia and that actions, not words, are required. “The threat was not taken seriously,” the headline in the Mostar daily newspaper Dnevni List said. “Returnees from Syria represent big threat to Bosnia,” read an article in the Sarajevo daily Dnevni Avaz, which also carried out an interview with Magnus Ranstorp, a Swedish academic considered a leading expert in Islamic radicalism and terrorism. “We have to take into account that the Balkans is practically on the junction of the roads for [Islamic] foreign fighters,” he said. Although Bosnia is almost half Muslim in demographic terms – Bosniaks are by far the largest single community – local and international security experts say the number of Bosnians fighting alongside Islamist militant groups is no greater than any other European country of its size. However, the combination of a divided and impoverished society, an inefficient police and judiciary and growing ethnic, political, economic and social tensions have clearly created conditions for radical ideas and terrorist activities to grow. The European Union on Wednesday said it would provide 10 million euro to counter Islamist radicalization in northern and central Africa and stem the flow of foreign fighters between North Africa, the Middle East and the Western Balkans. “Foreign terrorist fighters joining the ranks of Islamic State and other militias in the Middle East are a growing threat to many countries, inside and outside the EU,” it said.

Once magnet for foreign mujahedeen, Bosnia now exports them (AFP, by Rusmir Smajilhodzic, 30 April 2015)

SARAJEVO: A magnet for foreign jihadis during its 1990s war, Bosnia is now grappling with the threat from homegrown extremists wooed by the conflicts in Iraq and Syria. While most Bosnian Muslims are moderates, a few thousand have adopted the ultraconservative Salafist brand of Sunni Islam introduced by the fighters who flocked to Bosnia from North Africa, the Middle East and Asia during the 1992-1995 conflict between Serbs, Muslims and Croats. Most of those foreign fighters, or “mujahedeen,” left Bosnia when the war ended. But the seed had already been sown. Twenty years on, the radical preachers giving fiery sermons in “mesdzids,” or improvised prayer halls, are no longer foreigners. Those taking up arms are also local men. On Monday, a gunman shouting “Allahu Akbar” opened fire on a police station in the eastern town of Zvornik, killing one officer and wounding two others before being killed in a shootout. The assailant, identified as 24-year-old Nerdin Ibric from a village near the northeastern town of Zvornik, was suspected of links to radical Islamist groups. Another man, said to have traveled to Syria, was arrested Tuesday over the attack. Suspected Islamist extremists had made their presence felt before in the Balkan country. In October 2011, a gunman opened fire on the U.S. Embassy in Sarajevo, wounding a policeman before being injured himself and arrested. In June of the previous year, a man set off an explosive device at a police station in the central town of Bugojno, killing one officer and wounding six others in what the government called a “terrorist act.” Would-be jihadis are suspected of being recruited by radical preachers, operating through a network of informal prayer rooms. “There is no doubt that the recruitment process is possible due to the existence of a network of such places of worship,” Esad Hecimovic, a local journalist who has reported extensively on the subject told AFP. Hard-liners, whose numbers are estimated by the authorities at around 3,000 followers, represent just a fraction of Bosnian Muslims, who make up around 40 percent of the population of 3.8 million. But their ranks are suspecting of supplying scores of fighters to the wars in the Middle East. Reacting to the attack on the police station in Zvornik Security Minister Dragan Mektic warned terrorism had become “a serious problem.” “We need to use all our capacity to stop this terrorism that has been spreading in Bosnia,” he said. “Either we defeat terrorism or it will defeat us.” Some 150 Bosnians are believed to have joined jihadi groups in Iraq and Syria, while some 50 others have already been and returned from the battlefield, according to the intelligence services. Two men arrested at Sarajevo airport in February were charged with attempting to join ISIS, which has sown terror throughout the Middle East and North Africa. “Those who return to the country are very dangerous. They are of course under surveillance but the danger is that they start to recruit others,” said Jasmin Ahic, a professor at the Sarajevo University Faculty of Criminology. To prevent their departure, parliament last year introduced sentences of up to 20 years in prison for jihadis and their recruiters. In January, a radical imam in the northwestern town of Buzim was the first person to go on trial accused of recruiting people for jihad. Husein Bosnic, a former member of a mujahedeen unit in Bosnia’s war, replaced Nusret Imamovic as leader of the country’s Salafists after Imamovic left for Syria in late 2013, according to intelligence sources and the U.S. State Department. Imamovic, who is named on a State Department terrorist list, is believed to be the third-in-command of Al-Qaeda’s Syria affiliate the Nusra Front. Testifying at Bosnic’s trial in Sarajevo, the relatives of several youths who traveled to Syria or Iraq, some of whom have died in fighting, said their kin attended his sermons. The prosecution accused the sheikh of receiving “significant” funding from unnamed backers in Arab states. Bosnia’s Balkans neighbors Albania, Serbia and Kosovo have also swooped on jihadi networks in recent weeks. Fifteen men went on trial in Serbia and Albania in March accused of recruiting and financing volunteers for the war in Syria. “For the first time in the region, people who call on others, in a very sophisticated way, to go to foreign battlefields and commit crimes, are being tried,” Ahic said. “What will come out of these trials has yet to be seen.”

Dutch Court Rejects Prosecuting Srebrenica Peacekeepers (BIRN, by Denis Dzidic, 29 April 2015)

A Dutch military appeals court ruled that commanders of the UN peacekeeping mission in Srebrenica cannot be prosecuted for allowing Bosniaks to be killed by Bosnian Serb forces in 1995. The military court in Arnhem ruled on Wednesday that the commander of the Dutch UN battalion Thomas Karremans, his assistant Robert Franken and officer Berend Oosterveen cannot be held responsible for not safeguarding Bosniak civilians who took refuge at their headquarters in Potocari near Srebrenica, which was supposed to protected by the UN, but instead handing them over to Bosnian Serb forces. The court made the ruling after Hasan Nuhanovic, a Srebrenica survivor and former translator for the UN peacekeepers, and the family of Rizo Mustafic, who was killed by Serb forces, appealed against a decision not to charge the three former ’Dutchbat’ peacekeepers with war crimes. Nuhanovic’s lawyer Liesbeth Zegveld called the decision a “sad day for judicial control of military operations”. “If this case does not call for a full investigation, then perhaps it would be better to abolish criminal law for our military forces. What everyone knew – that the Bosnian Serbs were out to get the Muslim men – the Dutchbat leadership did not know, according to the appeals court”, said Zegveld. Bosnian Serb forces overran Srebrenica in July 1995, when Nuhanovic’s relatives and Rizo Mustafic, along with several hundred others, sought refuge inside the Dutch peacekeepers’ base in nearby Potocari. Instead of finding safety however, they were handed to the Serbs by Dutch soldiers and subsequently killed. In total, Serb forces executed more than 7,000 Bosniak men and boys from Srebrenica in massacres which have been defined as genocide by international court rulings. Zegveld argued that according to the appeals court decision, the Dutch peacekeepers were within their rights to send the Bosniak men into the hands of Bosnian Serb troops. “The family of Mustafic and Nuhanović were terrified on July 13, 1995, but Dutchbat did not have to fear for their fates and was allowed to send them off the [UN] compound, according to the appeals court,” she said. Zegveld also said that according to the appeals court decision, “the events in question happened too long ago”. She said this was unfair because “we continue to prosecute criminals from the Second World War”. She said that she plans to take the case to the European Court of Human Rights. Last year the district court in The Hague found the Netherlands guilty of failing to protect around 300 Bosniaks who were trying to escape from Serb forces by hiding in the Dutch battalion’s compound in Potocari.

Montenegro MPs Block Resort Plan for Old Fort (BIRN, by Dusica Tomovic, 30 April 2015)

A plan to offer the Mamula fort on a long-term lease to a Swiss company to turn into a hotel has failed to win the support of a parliamentary committee in Montenegro. A parliamentary committee on Wednesday refused to support government plans to lease out the island of Lastavica and the Mamula fort in Boka Bay, which opposition parties have slated as a corrupt deal. The proposal to offer the Austro-Hungarian fortress to a private firm to turn into a luxury tourist complex received the support of the ruling Democratic Party of Socialists. However, the opposition, which at the session on Wednesday had a majority, voted against the idea. Opposition MP Nebojsa Medojevic accused the government of “donating part of the territory of Montenegro” to foreigners to build private villas. “Such a deal contains all the elements of corruption and proclaiming every foreigner a ‘strategic investor’ has already cost us a lot,” Medojevic said. After nine months of negotiations, the Tourism Minister, Branimir Gvozdenovic, and the Swiss-based Orascom company in February signed a contract for the long-term lease of the island, including the fort. The contract was for a 49-year lease and included an obligation for Orascom to invest 15 million euro. The Swiss company plans to reconstuct Mamula fort into a five-star hotel with 23 rooms, a spa, marina, heliport, swimming pool and casino. Under Montenegrin law, however, such contracts must obtain prior approval in parliament. The fort on Lastavica island, located at the entrance of the Bay of Kotor, near the coastal resort of Herceg Novi, was built by Austria-Hungary in the 19th century. It was used mainly as a prison during both World Wars. For years, the fort served as a memorial monument, attracting thousands of visitors every summer. The opposition has accused the government of treating the nation’s cultural heritage as market goods. An influential watchdog, MANS, welcomed the committee’s decision, saying that if the   agreement was adopted in the form in which it was signed, the state would get only 48,000 euro a year in income from the lease, which was too little. “That is far less than the lease amount that the state is asking for a local beach in Budva,” MANS commented. Some environmental organizations and an association of citizens also criticized the plan to rent out the historic monument. The Association of Boka said that no one was against the reconstruction of the memorial complex, where more than 2,000 locals were detained during WWII, but the fort deserved better than being turned into a hotel with a casino.
Last summer, thousands of people from Montenegro’s coastal areas protested for several days, after the plan to rent out the fort was first revealed.