LOCAL PRESS

Djuric: Pristina not interested in agreement (RTS)

The Head of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Marko Djuric told the morning news of Radio and Television of Serbia (RTS) that Pristina is not interested in reaching agreement and that it seemed at one moment that the talks would be interrupted. “In three years we haven’t seen such behavior by Pristina. Their complete lack of interest in the agreement was visible. The talks continued after the mediator insisted on agreement. At one moment it looked as if Pristina wished to abandon the talks, and they found an excuse not to accept the document in the end,” says Djuric. Asked how he interprets the statement by Isa Mustafa that agreement had been reached on all four “hot” topics, Djuric points out that this is irresponsible in the political sense, but that this is part of Pristina’s tactics. “Thaqi and the Mayor of southern Kosovska Mitrovica Agim Bahtiri said that agreement was reached on the bridge, but we said jokingly that it was possible that the two of them had agreed,” says Djuric, underlining that that there is still no agreement on the bridge and that the negotiations are so delicate that only one word decides the lives of the Serbs in Kosovo. When it comes to the Union of Serb Municipalities (ZSO), Djuric repeats that Serbia can directly invest in the ZSO and to be exempted from taxes during investments, that it can have an executive council and council that would include all influential Kosovo Serbs. Nevertheless, Djuric says that only once the document is signed he will be able to speak about it in more detail. Pristina is not willing to make agreement, they claim that they want some rights for the Serbs, but in practice this is not true, Djuric says. Speaking about telecommunications, Djuric points out that they can be satisfied regarding the course of the talks on this topic. Recalling that the topic of telecommunications has been open for five years now, Djuric points out that the planned agreement is for Kosovo to be a user of Serbia’s geographic code, while Telekom Serbia will receive full license for fixed and mobile telephony. He repeats there will be no international tariffs and that there will be no special dialing code for Kosovo, while a special digital specter will be ensured for the southern province. Djuric concludes that Serbia is prepared to continue with the negotiations and that it has all the papers in front of it, but that the resumption of talks doesn’t depend from the Serbian side, because the talks have not stopped nor failed because of Serbia.

Ljajic: Telekom to receive working license, local calls for Serbia (Tanjug)

Serbian Minister for Telecommunications Rasim Ljajic has stated that Serbia had made a good agreement in the field of telecommunications with Pristina because Telekom will receive a working license in Kosovo and Metohija, while calls between residents in Serbia proper and in the southern province will not be tariffed as international. We expect that agreement on this will be signed the moment when agreement is reached on the Union of Serb Municipalities, Ljajic told Tanjug. He specified that it was agreed to establish an international three-digit number for Kosovo that will be registered in the International Telecommunications Union as a “geographic code”, with which Serbia agreed. Without Serbia’s consent this would be impossible to do because these are the principles and standards of the International Telecommunications Union and because three-digit international codes can have only UN member states, and Kosovo is not a member state, explained Ljajic. He pointed out that in return Telekom will receive a working license for the operation of the mobile telephony that will be valid until 2017 and a license for fixed telephony that will be valid throughout Kosovo and Metohija.

New British resolution on Srebrenica with elements of Russian presented to Vucic (Tanjug/ Blic)

The new, amended version of the British resolution on Srebrenica, with the elements of the Russian resolution, is presented today to Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, this was confirmed to Tanjug by at least two sources. According to Tanjug’s sources, Vucic was presented with the new text of the British resolution upon his arrival to Budapest, where he is to chair the joint session of the two governments with Viktor Orban. In the first variant of the British resolution, resolution condemned the crimes committed against the Bosniaks in Srebrenica, which was designated as genocide. Russian resolution condemns “the most serious crimes that concern the international community as a whole, and which were committed during the conflict in the former Yugoslavia, against persons of different ethnic origin and religion”. Blic has learned that the new text has mitigated the part of the text to which the Prime Minister Vucic objected, and that is related to sexual crimes. The new text of the British resolution now says that the sexual crimes have been committed by all the participants in the conflict, and points out that the notion of genocide must not be negated. According to Blic, Vucic is considering to attend the session of the UN Security Council on July 7, when the resolution on Srebrenica is supposed to be discussed.

Stojanovic: We are waiting for an agreement on the Union of Serb Municipalities (Radio Serbia)

The talks in Brussels on Monday were very difficult, another step forward has been taken and now it is important that those who are playing a very important role in the Western Balkans, namely the international community and the EU above all, exert additional pressure on Pristina in order to finalize the agreement, Kosovo Deputy Prime Minister Branimir Stojanovic tells Radio Serbia. Stojanovic believes there is a clear idea what the Union of Serb Municipalities (ZSO) should look like. However, he adds, Kosovo Albanian political representatives do not want to admit that that is so. The good thing is that progress has been made, but when it comes to the very method the issue was discussed, that is something we have come across before. We have seen obstruction from the Kosovo Albanian side and from the Serbian side a good plan how to try to reach agreement and I believe the result will be equally good, said Stojanovic. Although no document has been signed, the position is better and the stands brought somewhat closer. Therefore I believe that, during some of the next meetings, a formal agreement on some topics discussed will be reached. Stojanovic believes that the outcome of this round of talks will not destabilize the situation in Kosovo and Metohija. The bad situation in the field is when one does not have dialogue, whereas dialogue instills hope and trust among Serbs in the southern Serbian province. The representatives of the Serb List will continue, in the forthcoming period, to fight for Serb interests in Kosovo and Metohija everywhere and at every moment. We are working everyday on the improvement of lives of our people and we will try to increase our presence in the field, to encourage people to withstand these difficult times. I am certain better days are coming and that, after the formation of the ZSO and a higher political unity, the situation will be better, says Stojanovic. The increasingly frequent attacks on Serb returnee families in Metohija are, according to Stojanovic, considerably resulted from the fact that, today, no Serbs are employed in the Kosovo police service in that territory. It is our obligation to stay by our people and we will do everything to have some things changed systematically and employ Serbs in the Kosovo police. The fact is that there are no Serb policemen and, consequently, there are so many attacks mounted on Serbs, while the perpetrators are not being arrested or punished. We must exert pressure on all the relevant factors to do their job, which we are going to do through all the mechanisms we have created and I expect that to yield certain results, concludes Stojanovic.

Milorad Dodik has to depart from the political life; Serbia should distance itself (Danas)

The Republika Srpska (RS) President Milorad Dodik has to depart from the political life, while Serbia should distance itself from his politics and him personally as soon as possible.

Frequent joint session of the two governments and consultations with top Serbian officials, which Dodik often practiced, should not be the practice in future, diplomatic sources from Brussels and Berlin told Danas. As Danas had been told, the EU sees Dodik as an obstacle to the normalization of relations in Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) and the strengthening of central authority in that country, and therefore the continuation of Belgrade’s flirting with him, could affect the EU member states in their assessment of Serbia’s constructiveness when it comes to resolving the issue of B&H. Exactly that could be an additional condition for the continuation of the European integration. The deflection of Serbia from Dodik, according to our interlocutor, has long been one of the tasks in front of Belgrade, but no government has been able to actually implement it. As expected, the arrival German Chancellor Angela Merkel to Belgrade, July 8, could help Serbia’s state leadership to understand what is expected of them. Franz-Lothar Altmann, board member of the Association of South East Europe in Munich and professor of international relations at the University of Bucharest, tells Danas that at the EU there is a very negative attitude towards the RS and Dodik especially for their blocking of the policy which is considered to represent a constructive effort of establishing a functioning state in B&H. “The latest decision of Banja Luka to reject the British-German initiative provoked widespread criticism in the EU. As a matter of fact, there is more understanding why the official Belgrade so openly supports Mr. Dodik in that many aspects. Acceptance of Dodik’s offer to build a monument for Gavrilo Princip in Belgrade, and celebrate Princip as a hero, although, his murder of the Austrian heir to the throne constitute the trigger for World War I, only caused the bitter comments in the western press. That was certainly the sending of a wrong signal to Brussels,” said Altmann. “The German-British initiative is directed towards achieving the functionality of B&H and towards the further steps regarding the EU integrations. Serbia is expected not to encourage Dodik in his striving to maintain the status quo. However, for Belgrade the most important thing is that the normalization of relations with Pristina records a positive result. As long as that is the case, Belgrade’s relations with the EU will not be burdened by other issues,” Danas’ interlocutor points out. Ivica Dacic, Serbia’s Foreign Minister, has recently denied that there are pressures of Germany and other Western countries on Belgrade to weaken its ties with the RS and support the constitutional reform in B&H. Asked whether the Serbian would weaken its ties with the RS and support of constitutional reform in B&H, he said that no one has asked us to do that. “We will continue to have special relations with the RS, and we will support everything that all three peoples and two entities in B&H agree on,” said Dacic.

Wilhelm: Merkel will not bring new conditions (B92)

The outgoing German Ambassador to Serbia Heinz Wilhelm believes that German Chancellor Angela Merkel will not visit Belgrade bearing new conditions for Serbia. The normalization of the relations between Belgrade and Pristina is crucial and without it there is no opening or closing of the Chapter 35 and therefore no progress. I am fairly certain that there are no new conditions, Wilhelm told TV B92. He stressed that Chancellor’s visit is a good thing because she would not be visiting if she thought the country was not making progress. When asked to comment the speculations that Germany plans to reestablish the visa system for Serbia, Wilhelm said that it is impossible because one cannot take part in pre accession talks with a country and at the same time have visas reintroduced for its citizens. Compared to three years ago when I arrived, the situation is much better now. Positive changes are visible – the pre accession talks started which is a historic breakthrough, the dialogue, the Brussels agreement. I think Serbia is now a constructive member in the region, said Wilhelm.

Sevim Dagdelen: Germany must not continue supporting greater-Albanian nationalism of KLA (Politika/Novosti/Tanjug)

Speaking at the Bundestag session when the request for the German government and NATO to allocate another 45 million Euros for the German contingency of KFOR in Kosovo was being reviewed, German MP Sevim Dagdelen from the far left German party has stated that in the 16 years of Bundeswehr’s presence in Kosovo none of the goals has been reached. “The entire Kosovo Government is comprised of former UCK members. Hiding behind the mask of the tenks, this renewed terrorist organization terrorizes the neighboring countries, such as Macedonia. UCK members who have recently died in Macedonia were buried as heroes in Kosovo, at the cemetery for marthyrs, in the attendance of high-level officials”, Dagdelen said, adding that Kosovo has become a region in Europe that provides large number of ISIS fighters.

She added they are being recruited in front of NATO’s eyes and the army members we have deployed over there. “I think that Germany cannot continue to support the Great Albania’s nationalism, UCK and terrorist centers which terrorize and harm Kosovo, the region and the Near East. Kosovo has turned into a weapons storage in Europe; its system is deeply corrupted, while hundreds of thousands of Serbian, Roma and other minorities are forced to leave the region”, Dagdelen stressed. She also referred to the statement of former German Chancellor, Gerhard Schroeder, who had said bomb attacks of Yugoslavia were illegal. Dagdelen’s address was interrupted with several rounds of applause by the leftist party, which has 64 out of the total 631 German Bundestag MPs.

REGIONAL PRESS

Justice falls under entities’ competencies (Srna)

The Republika Srpska (RS) President Milorad Dodik has told Srna that in accordance with the Dayton Peace Agreement the justice falls under entities’ competencies and it is untrue that the justice has always been under B&H’s competencies. “According to the decision by the High Representative, which was both unconstitutional and anti-Dayton, B&H has unlawfully got the Court and the Prosecutor’s Office, and the B&H Constitutional Court is not the Constitution legislator,” Dodik told Srna when asked to comment on the statement of the US Embassy in B&H that “the state judicial institutions are stipulated in the Dayton Peace Agreement and confirmed by the B&H Constitutional Court, and that such competencies have always belonged to the state”. Dodik stressed that the RS strongly advocates an independent judiciary, which is the foundation of democracy. “In order to have judiciary independent, the judiciary must be based on the Constitution and the laws. The Court of B&H and The Prosecutor’s Office of B&H do not exist in the Constitution and as such, these institutions lack either the legality or legitimacy. It is pointless to prove that, along with aforementioned, they are not independent,” the RS President stressed. He has stated that the RS remains strongly committed to strict compliance with the Dayton Peace Agreement, which, among other things, defines this field too.

Physical confrontation in the SDA after the B&H House of Representatives session (Klix.ba)

After the end of the session of B&H House of Representatives, physical confrontation happened today in the SDA Councilmen Club. Sadik Ahmetovic confirmed for Klix.ba that he was attacked in the premises of the SDA by head of the SDA Club and SDA Vice President Asim Sarajlic. Ahmetovic planned to submit the initiative for the reform agenda to be submitted to representatives, adopted by B&H Council of Ministers. According to him, it is unacceptable that neither the MPs nor the citizens are familiar with the reforms that lie ahead. However, a similar initiative was submitted before him by Nikola Spiric from SNSD. Ahmetovic, as he says, has taken specific steps for this initiative to be adopted because it was almost identical to his, and he felt that it is in the interest of B&H citizens to know the content of the reform agenda. After the session of the House of Representatives of B&H Parliamentary Assembly ended, SDA delegates continued discussion in the premises of the SDA Club. Head of the Club Asim Sarajlic allegedly resented Ahmetovic the submission of the initiative and the support to Nikola Spiric. “He said it is not good that the SDA MPs vote differently. I told him that I would always vote in the interest of the people. Then, some other political issues opened. We discussed party policy, privatization of some enterprises such as BH Telecom and power company Elektroprivreda B&H, and the possible participation of individuals from the SDA in the privatization of these companies,” said Ahmetovic. The discussion opened the issue of the last congress of the party and all events related to the congress. “I openly said I was humiliated by the President of SDA, Bakir Izetbegovic. Before the Main Board session, I sent him a message asking him not to propose me for any of the lists because I knew that, within this structure, I do not have any chance. But he did, thus humiliating me and my work within the SDA,” explains Ahmetovic. “When I mentioned Mr. Izetbegovic and some other names, Asim Sarajlic jumped, came up to me and grabbed me by the throat. He told me not to talk about President Izetbegovic. I told him to let me go, and Semsudin Mehmedovic also reacted,” Ahmetovic said. Asim Sarajlic was not available for comment on the alleged incident.

House of Representatives refuses to debate Srebrenica resolution (Oslobodjenje)

Denis Becirovic, delegate from the Social Democratic Party to the House of Representatives of B&H, sought at the start of the session for delegates to debate the resolution on Srebrenica that the UN Security Council will consider, but the proposal was not accepted. Twenty-two delegates voted for the proposal, 11 voted against, while four abstained. Without the sufficient entity majority from Republika Srpska (RS), the proposal was sent to the collegium of the House for reconciliation. In this way, Becirovic sought for delegates to express their understanding to Great Britain, which prepared the resolution to condemn the genocide at Srebrenica. He criticized Milorad Dodik (SNSD), President of the RS, and Mladen Ivanic (PDP), Chair of the B&H Presidency, who sought from the Security Council a decision not to debate the resolution. He proposed that the House of Representatives consider that recognition of the genocide represents a basis for reconciliation in B&H and the region, and that those who supported yesterday’s conclusion sign it and send it to the UN and other countries that are making efforts to adopt this resolution. He recalled that the genocide at Srebrenica is the only such crime in Europe after the Second World War, in which more than 8,000 men and boys were brutally killed. Nikola Spiric, delegate from the SNSD, believes that good neighborly relations should not be disturbed with such proposals, considering that these debates will not contribute to the progress of the population. “Becirovic complains to Ivanic and asks him to do this,” said Spiric, expressing the view that Bakir Izetbegovic, member of the B&H Presidency, certainly would not have cancelled the announced visit of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, president of Turkey, like he cancelled that of Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic. Therefore, he concluded that all this undermines good neighborly relations, adding that such a hot situation should be calmed, not aggravated.

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

Hungary: Fence on Serbia Border Forced Step to Stop Migrants (AP, by Pablo Gorondi, 1 July 2015)

BUDAPEST, Hungary — Hungary’s prime minister says the fence his country wants to build on the Serbian border to stem the flow of illegal migrants is a “forced measure” not aimed at its southern neighbor. Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who took part Wednesday with Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic in a joint government meeting, said he believed the issue of large-scale migration toward Europe would be an enduring problem. Vucic said the fence was “not pleasant” for Serbia and that controls would be increased at Serbia’s border with Macedonia, where many of the migrants and refugees enter his country. Hungary says that police have detained more than 67,000 illegal immigrants this year, nearly all arriving from Serbia, including an average of more than 1,000 people a day over the past week.

Bosnian Serb Leader Plans Poll Challenging State Court (BIRN, by Katarina Panic, Elvira M. Jukic, Srecko Latal, 30 June 2015)

The president of Bosnia’s Serb-dominated entity Republika Srpska proposed a referendum challenging the state-level court’s authority but faces resistance from the Serb opposition and the international community. Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik proposed on Tuesday that a referendum challenging the authority of the state-level judiciary and Bosnia’s top international official, the High Representative, should take place at the beginning of September. “The referendum question should be: do you support the anti-constitutional and unauthorised laws imposed by the High Representative of the international community in Bosnia and Herzegovina, especially the laws imposed related to the court and the prosecutor’s office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as the implementation of their decisions on Republika Srpska’s territory?” Dodik told journalists in Banja Luka. “Of course, we expect a big ‘no’,” he added. Dodik launched the referendum idea after complaining that Bosnia’s state-level judiciary has done nothing to push forward the case against the Bosniak wartime commander in Srebrenica, Naser Oric, who was extradited to Sarajevo last week. Dodik and other Bosnian Serb politicians have complained that state persecution has been focusing too much on the war crimes committed by Bosnian Serbs and ignoring those committed by other ethnic groups. If held, the referendum would be seen as the first step in the break-up of Bosnia and Herzegovina and would deepen the country’s political crisis. However the entire opposition bloc in Republika Srpska, led by the Serb Democratic Party, opposes Dodik’s idea. The idea was also criticised by the US embassy in Sarajevo, which noted that the state-level judiciary was part of the Dayton Peace Agreement that ended the war. “No entity can hold a referendum on competencies that belong to the State,” the embassy said in a written statement for BIRN. “An independent judiciary is the cornerstone of any democracy, and should be respected by all,” it said. Dodik launched a similar referendum initiative in 2011 but backed down after facing imminent sanctions from the international community. He said on Tuesday that he would ask for a special session of the Republika Srpska National Assembly to reactivate the referendum issue. Sanctions were averted at the last moment in 2011 when EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton flew to Bosnia and negotiated a solution with Dodik, which included the launch of the so-called ‘structured dialogue’ on the reform of Bosnia’s judiciary. Dodik told media on Tuesday however that this agreement had proved to be “a hoax”. But unlike in 2011, when Dodik had strong support in the Republika Srpska National Assembly, which requires a simple majority for the adoption of a referendum initiative, Dodik’s position today is much weaker. His ruling coalition is struggling to maintain control over the entity and has lost power on the state level. The Serb Democratic Party said on Tuesday that Dodik and his party had “abused” the referendum issue. “There is no clear plan as to what will they do after the referendum. There is no information about which countries will support Republika Srpska in such an activity,” the party said in a statement. The Bosnian Serb chairman of Bosnia’s tripartite Presidency and the leader of the second-strongest Serb opposition party, the Party of Democratic Progress, Mladen Ivanic, said Dodik appeared to be serious about the referendum idea but accused him of “short-term politics”. Sefik Dzaferovic, the Bosniak speaker of the state House of Representatives and a senior leader of the Party of Democratic Action, told BIRN meanwhile that the initiative was undermining the constitutional order and threatening stability. “This all is about questions that address the sovereignty of Bosnia and Herzegovina and no one has the right to undermine [its] sovereignty,” Dzaferovic said. “This can lead to instability in the political situation and we need the opposite, reforms and integration,” he added.

Greek crisis worries Balkan bankers (New Europe, 1 July 2015)

It’s not just the Greeks who are suffering from the crisis in Greece and the government’s decision to shut down banks. Millions of people in Albania, Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) are also worried because they have deposits in Greek-owned local banks, reports Reuters. In Bulgaria, for instance, Greek-owned banks make up a fifth of the Bulgarian banking system. These include Bulgaria’s fourth largest lender United Bulgarian Bank, owned by National Bank of Greece, and Postbank, Bulgaria’s fifth largest lender, controlled by Greek Eurobank. Number 9 bank Piraeus Bank Bulgaria is controlled by Piraeus Bank of Greece and Alpha Bank is a direct bank unit of Greece’s Alpha Bank, according to Reuters. Bulgaria’s central bank issued a statement on June 29 assuring that measures are in place to insulate Greek-owned banks from contagion. It also said they are financially independent from their parents, they hold no Greek government securities, and have a capital adequacy and liquidity level higher than the average for banks in Bulgaria. “Any action by the Greek government and the central bank to impose measures in the Greek financial system have no legal force in Bulgaria and can in no way affect the smooth functioning and stability of the Bulgarian banking system,” the central bank said. As regards Romania, there are four banks with Greek majority capital operating: Alpha Bank Romania, Piraeus Bank, Bancpost, controlled by Eurobank Ergasias, and Banca Romaneasca, controlled by National Bank of Greece. Together they account for 12% of total banking assets in Romania. Romania’s central bank has assured that the Greek subsidiaries in Romania are well capitalised. Piraeus Bank Romania said in a statement on June 29: “Piraeus Bank Romania is a local subsidiary, a Romanian bank with Greek capital. All operations are localised and integrated into the Romanian banking market policies, regulated by the Romanian central bank… There are no capital control policies enforced, banks are not closed, nor are operations limited.” In Albania, there are three Greek-owned banks in Albania: subsidiaries of National Bank of Greece, Piraeus Tirana Bank, and Alpha Bank. Their share of the total assets of the banking sector in Albania is 15.9%. Albania’s Association of Banks said developments in Greece did not affect the stability and normal functioning of the Albanian banks, which operate “at high levels of capital adequacy and liquidity”. In FYROM, there are two Greek-owned banks which together hold more than 20% of total banking sector assets. They are Alpha Bank AD Skopje, a subsidiary of Alpha Bank, and Stopanska Banka AD Skopje, owned by National Bank of Greece. On June 28, the central bank ordered lenders to take their deposits from Greek banks. According to Reuters, one unnamed central bank official said Greek-owned banks were required several months ago to provide daily reports on transactions with their parent banks. Reuters reports that worst-case scenario, with Greek-owned banks collapsing under the weight of deposit withdrawals, is that the FYROM government would need to find €250m to fully recapitalise the banks. In Serbia, there are four Greek-owned banks that hold around $4bn worth of assets. This is 14% of total banking assets. They are Alpha Bank, EUROBANK EFG, Piraeus Bank and Vojvodjanska Banka, part of the National Bank of Greece group. In a written answer to Reuters questions, Serbia’s central bank said it had in place “an elevated level of monitoring of businesses of four Greek-owned banks, especially their liquidity, their relations with parents groups and events in international markets related to Greek banks and their subsidiaries”.

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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.