LOCAL PRESS

Vucic: New round of dialogue depends on Pristina (Tanjug)

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic has said the resumption of the Brussels dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina is expected once it becomes certain that some progress may be made. He has expressed hope that the pressure from German Chancellor Angela Merkel on politicians in Kosovo and her invitation for a more constructive approach would yield results. Vucic has said that a delegation from Brussels is staying in Belgrade to discuss the ways of solving the problem of implementing the agreement with Pristina, regarding vehicle insurance. I believe everything will be settled by 27 August, said Vucic.

Whose are Serbian monasteries in Kosovo and Metohija! (RTS)

Kosovo’s request for UNESCO membership has not yet arrived in this organization’s Secretariat, but it has been sent through UNMIK, RTS has learned. On the occasion of Kosovo’s intention, Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic has written to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. The letter states that it is obvious that such a request had been submitted with the intention of confirming Kosovo’s statehood, which comes out of the framework of UNMIK’s mandate and the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General. Belgrade responded to Pristina’s request, sent through UNMIK, with a direct letter to the UN Secretary-General. Dacic says that Kosovo’s UNESCO membership is unacceptable for Serbia. Dacic says that Kosovo, as a territory according to the valid and binding UNSCR 1244, in which context it cannot be considered a state as a subject of international law, cannot be qualified for UNESCO admission. “In that sense, any different position towards examining this issue would represent ignoring, i.e. violating the legal rule created under the UN auspices towards preserving international peace and security,” said Dacic. Pristina has several obstacles from the request to membership. From UNMIK, Kosovo’s request must reach the Director General, and then the UNESCO Executive Council, which decides, after voting, whether this request will be on the agenda of the General Conference in November. Serbian Ambassador to UNESCO Darko Tanaskovic says a simple majority of the majority of present members of the Executive Council, i.e. states that voted, is necessary for placing this proposal on the agenda. “The composition of the UNESCO Executive Council is such that 33 out of 58 states have recognized Kosovo, which would imply that, mathematically viewing, this request would have a chance of receiving a majority at the session of the Executive Council,” says Tanaskovic. If such a scenario occurs, two-thirds of the states would have to vote for Kosovo’s membership at the session of the General Assembly. Does Serbia have a mechanism to prevent this? The Serbian Ambassador with UNESCO says that if it receives a sufficient number of votes, there are no legal obstacles for Kosovo’s admission, but that Serbia will do everything it can for this not to occur. “We consider that Kosovo is not a state and that it doesn’t have international legal subjectivity, and in this sense we advocate to prove this matter. We are primarily investing diplomatic means of convincing and explaining to foreign partners, i.e. UNESCO member states that for legal, political and cultural reasons it would be inappropriate for this quasi-state, i.e. entity to become a UNESCO member,” points out Tanaskovic. Even though Pristina’s request has not yet arrived at the right address, many wonder what would happen, in case of admission, with the Serbian property in Kosovo. Professor Tanaskovic explains that the Serbian cultural heritage would not become the Kosovo heritage, it would be listed as Serbian heritage on the territory of Kosovo, as UNESCO member.

Miscevic: A precedent that would inflict damage to UNESCO (RTS)

Kosovo’s admission to UNESCO would be a precedent that would inflict damage to the further functioning of this organization, which is very important for Serbia over the protection of its cultural heritage, the Head of the Serbian negotiating team with the EU Tanja Miscevic told the morning broadcast of Radio and Television of Serbia (RTS). In regard to Kosovo’s request to become member of UNESCO, Miscevic says that, unfortunately, there is a lot of politics in international organizations and Serbia can conduct strong diplomatic activity, talks and explanation to UNESCO that such a precedent would inflict damage to its further functioning. She pointed out there are several scenarios that are in circulation, but that it will not be simple and easy to pass a decision on possible Kosovo’s membership in UNESCO and that this will probably be discussed for a long period of time. She recalls that Serbia, as member of UNESCO, has already lodged a protest, adding it is unlikely for states that are not UN members to become members of this organization. She says that at issue is a cultural heritage that is not small and that is not only Serbian, but a civilizational achievement that needs to be dealt by UNESCO. Miscevic says that much depends from the position and understanding of states that should pass the decision and that there is a lot of politics in this organization, but politics that is focused on understanding the needs of cultural heritage protection. In regard to the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, she expects progress to be made before September, pointing out that the most important issue in the next rounds of the dialogue will be the principle on which the Union of Serb Municipalities will be based. She noted that it is difficult to engage in talks when there is lack of understanding regarding the basic principles and objectives, and when the other party shows no interest in reaching an agreement. Miscevic pointed to the reopening of the vehicle insurance issue, which was considered to be closed with the signing of a memorandum of understanding on 23 June in Brussels. She says that the technical teams are working on the issues to be put on the table when the negotiations in Brussels resume, adding that the opening of Chapter 35 in Serbia’s EU accession process will depend on the agreement between Belgrade and Pristina.

Stefanovic: Government unable to prevent Kosovo’s admission to UNESCO (Beta)

The caucus whip of the Democratic Party of Serbia Borislav Stefanovic has stated that Serbia would have to launch strong diplomatic activity in regard to Kosovo’s request for UNESCO membership. “I think that the Serbian government doesn’t have the capacity or necessary knowledge, so I’m afraid it will become completely silent, just as in the case of the International Olympic Committee,” Stefanovic told journalists in the Serbian parliament. The deputy of the Socialist Party of Serbia Zvonimir Stevic assessed that Kosovo’s admission to UNESCO “was impermissible for Serbia, government, parliament and diplomacy”. “We will do everything to prevent this,” said Stevic, noting that the Pristina side has been trying to obstruct agreements over the past several months, violating agreements and procrastinating in the process of forming the Union of Serb Municipalities.

Office for Kosovo and Metohija: Pristina obstructing and creating confusion (Tanjug)

The Belgrade authorities are in no way responsible for the delay in the implementation of the agreement on vehicle insurance with Pristina, and are fully prepared for the implementation, and the purpose of Pristina’s claims that say otherwise is to obstruct the process of the normalization of relations and create confusion in the public, regarding the dialogue in Brussels, stated the Office for Kosovo and Metohija. The attempt of the head Albanian negotiator Edita Tahiri to transfer the responsibility for Pristina’s unilateral decision to Belgrade, and her untrue claims of the Serb side asking for the postponement, represent part of the already seen repertoire of misinformation, reads the announcement. The Office has emphasized that the Serbian side and the EU will keep doing everything to enable the implementation of the agreement on insurance, thus helping the normalization of the relations between Belgrade and Pristina.

Dacic: Belgrade will always be with RS (Novosti)

Serbia could again find itself in the foreign policy wedged between the West and Russia, this time after a referendum that is being prepared by the Republika Srpska (RS). Official Moscow publicly, clearly and unequivocally supported the move of Milorad Dodik, that the people should express their opinion in regard to the B&H Court and Prosecution, while Brussels and the Western powers are explicitly against it. Official Belgrade could therefore find itself being pressured by the US and EU to, in some way, affects the decision of brother from the other side of Drina river, to change their mind and give up on their intentions. The Serbian state leadership greets Dodik’s willingness to reconsider his decision on the referendum through a dialogue, but argue that Belgrade will always be with the RS. “Serbia will always defend the interests of the Serb people. Of course that the good relations with the EU, the Russian Federation and the United States are also important to us,” Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic told Novosti .

Milorad Dodik, the RS President, tells Novosti that the referendum on unconstitutional and anti-Serb judicial institutions in B&H is inevitable, if the requirements of Banja Luka are not met.

“There is a need for drastic reform of the B&H judiciary. Our arguments are compelling, and we are very grateful to Russia, which openly supported the referendum. Moscow’s stance has to be respected. We are encouraged by this stance of Russia, which has always openly defended the position of the RS and, at the same time, led objective and principled policy towards B&H. Moscow’s support is very important for us and it comes at the right moment, because the RS is unjustifiably being exposed to attacks by the international community for its democratic decision on referendum,” said Dodik, adding he would continue the intensive talks with Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic on the referendum in the RS. “Vucic has expressed his position on this issue. He told me what international officials told him regarding this issue. The RS will never allow itself to create a problem to Serbia. Also, we expect a constructive approach of Belgrade and further support to the RS,” Dodik said.

Platform for Kosovo and Metohija still in the drawer (Novosti)

Serbian ministers have not yet seen the draft platform on Kosovo and Metohija, sent by Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic to Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic in mid-May, Novosti has learned. Thus, two months have passed without even a debate starting on the document that should politically establish the new state strategy towards the southern province. Sources in the Serbian government told Novosti that the first round of talks on Nikolic’s platform could be placed on the agenda at the beginning of September. Namely, the priority for the government is to maintain political stability in the region after Srebrenica, and on the eve of the “celebration” of Operation “Storm”. As regards the Kosovo agenda, the most important thing for Belgrade in this phase is to reach in Brussels a compromise with Pristina on the formation of the Union of Serb Municipalities, as well as to achieve prerequisites for opening the first negotiating chapters in EU integration. President Nikolic’s cabinet didn’t issue any concrete information on whether consultations between the Prime Minister and the President on the draft platform are underway. It only confirmed that they are in constant contact concerning all important state issues. The Head of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Marko Djuric told Novosti that he would let the President and Prime Minister inform the public on this document, but stressed that the state leadership has the same position on the largest number of issues.

REGIONAL PRESS

Dodik: Negotiations on judiciary possible until constitutional court’s ruling (Glas Srpske/Srna)

The RS President Milorad Dodik said that there is room for talks on resolving the disputed issues regarding the judiciary at the B&H level until the RS Constitutional Court’s ruling, and added that after that, referendum is the only way to go. Even though he clearly specified four questions as conditions to start negotiations, Dodik said that no contacts have yet been made with those who are challenging the referendum. “It is obvious that they waited to see how the RS Council of Peoples will react, that is, the Bosniak representatives in this institution. After their decision to put a veto, the situation is now much clearer regarding a procedure,” Dodik told Glas Srpske. Asked how long RS will wait for an offer for talks on a resolution of the disputed issues, Dodik said that there are procedures. “Because of the Bosniak veto, it is obvious that the RS Constitutional Court will bring a final decision on a referendum. As soon as the decision becomes final, which will be confirmed by the RS Constitutional Court, a referendum will be held on the first Sunday upon the expiry of 50 days,” Dodik said. Regarding the support for the referendum which came from Russia, Dodik said that Russians have been challenging the violence conducted by the high representatives for many years. “It was the decision of the RS parliament to call a referendum, and this is not something that happened suddenly nor is this someone’s whim. This is the issue of a persistent political struggle for the rights of RS which were earlier gained and then seized by the violence of the high representatives,” Dodik said. The RS President says that the High Representative has no means other than threat. “I call upon the High Representative to cite an Article of the Constitution and the Dayton Agreement which is being violated by this referendum. Of course, there is no such an Article since the judiciary belongs to the Entities and he knows it perfectly well. The only thing he can do is to defend his violence by a new violence he has been threatening with as of late,” Dodik said. Recollecting that four years ago RS emphasized four crucial issues in connection with the judiciary at the B&H level which should be harmonised with the Constitution and the Dayton Agreement, Dodik said that these problems have not yet been resolved even though RS agreed with EU officials the opening of a structured dialogue on judicial reform. Dodik said that this is why the RS Parliament brought a decision to call a referendum on laws imposed by the high representatives, particularly the laws on the B&H Court and Prosecutor’s Office. “The objective of a referendum is to have this finally done, to bring things in line with the Constitution and the Dayton Agreement, and to provide for the Entities’ agreement on a B&H judiciary. We are ready to discuss this, but we are not ready to accept a degradation of RS’s judiciary and a belittling of crimes against Serbs,” Dodik said.

Dodik: Russian support for referendum is “logical” (RTRS)

Milorad Dodik says it is “logical” that Russia has supported the Republika Srpska’s intention to hold a referendum on the state-level justice system in B&H. The reason Moscow’s stance is logical, the President of Republika Srpska (RS) told the RS public broadcaster RTRS, is that it had insight from the start into what was happening because of the high representative’s imposed decisions. Russia never supported such legal violence perpetrated by the international community, he said, and added that country was the only one that remained consisted in implementing and respecting the Dayton Agreement, the signing of which it witnessed. Dodik thanked Russia for this support, and noted that the referendum will be “unavoidable” if the demands of the RS are not fulfilled. “The support of Moscow, which openly sided with the RS, is very important and comes at the right time, because the RS has been unjustifiably subjected to international community’s attacks because of the democratic decision it made on the referendum,” said Dodik. He added the decision was “not about taking up arms” but about using a democratic right for citizens to declare themselves in a referendum. “Moscow’s position must be respected! Such positions of Russia, which has always openly defended RS’ stance, and at the same time has had an unbiased and principled policy toward B&H, encourage us,” Dodik stressed, and added: “It means a lot, because it says that those who guaranteed the Dayton Agreement, who were witnesses to it, know absolutely best in what way it was made.” According to him, the arguments of “all those who claim that Dayton is being violated” by the plan to hold the referendum failed, “because Russia has remained the whole time the only one consistent in its respect of Dayton”. Dodik”s comments came after a Russian Foreign Ministry official said late last week that “weak efficiency of the justice system in B&H and its bias has compelled the RS to resort to a referendum”.  According to Aleksandr Bikantov, quoted by the Russian media, “political forces in B&H and the international community are also acknowledging the inefficiency of the justice system”.  He noted that the violation of legitimate rights of Serbs as one of the constituent nations in B&H is not met with adequate reaction of judiciary bodies on the national level. “This is why the RS is compelled to resort to democratic instruments at its disposal so as to ensure realization of its legal interests,” Bikantov said. He noted that the existing problems in B&H, including the shortcomings in the work of the judiciary should be tackled within “equal dialogue of all participants in the internal political process in keeping with the Dayton Treaty”. Otherwise, avoiding talks with the RS concerning critical matters and unilateral intervention of the High Representative in Bosnia will only destabilize the situation in the country, Bikantov warned.

B&H Security Minister: Information on 4,000 IS members in B&H false (Nezavisne)

B&H Security Minister Dragan Mektic dismissed claims which appeared in Croatian media that there are 4,000 members of the Islamic State in B&H. He said that there are “little more than 4,000 people who propagate radical Islamism in their opinions and pose a potential threat”. But when it comes to Islamic State, there are 300 Bosnian citizens who are members of this terrorist organization, and they are currently in the battlefields in Iraq and Syria, Mektic said. He said 50 people returned to B&H from those countries, and criminal proceeding has been launched against all of them for whom there are evidence that they participated in war. “We have launched proceeding against 14 people we have evidence they were fighting there. Rest of them, against whom there were no firm evidence, we have put under surveillance,” the Minister said. Croatian media several days ago published information, based allegedly on the information by Croatian security services, that there are 4,000 potential terrorists and IS members in B&H.

Ivanic: Vucic-Izetbegovic conversation the biggest event (Oslobodjenje)

The sincere conversation Bakir Izetbegovic and Aleksandar Vucic had in Belgrade was “the biggest event, creating room for true reconciliation”. That is what Serb member of the B&H Presidency Mladen Ivanic told Oslobodjenje. That conversation, according to Ivanic, occurred “far beyond the reach of cameras and journalists” and is “opening up space not yet a guarantee, if things continue like this, that genuine reconciliation, especially between Serbs and Bosniaks, could take place”.  Ivanic, however, did not want to speak about the details of this conversation.  He also described Wednesday’s visit of the B&H Presidency to Belgrade as very pleasant.

“It was really a sincere and warm welcome, not because (the weather) was hot, it really was a warm welcome, in which Belgrade clearly wanted to show, to make an effort to be a good host,” said Ivanic. Presumably, he continued, there are two reasons for it – “to cover that negative image in relations after the events (attack on Vucic) in Potocari, and in a way I suppose there was also that desire to show a somewhat different picture, compared to those events in terms of the organization, the welcome”. “And Belgrade really is a remarkable host, Mr. Vucic in particular. I would not even assign importance to occasional comments, such as, why the Presidency went at the invitation of the prime minister and things like that,” said Ivanic.  He considers it extremely important that the visit took place, and noting all the important topics regarding cooperation possibilities between the two countries, told the paper that “his relationship with the RS President Milorad Dodik was also discussed, and that the Serbian Prime Minister said it very clearly he has no intention of interfering in the internal affairs of the RS”. “And he does not do it,” Ivanic, who heads an opposition party in the Serb entity in Bosnia, said. Speaking about the announced referendum in the RS on the work of judicial institutions of B&H, Ivanic said: “Dodik is a serious politician, regardless of the fact that I disagree with him, he has too much adventurism in him, but will certainly think twice. He has received clear messages, and there’s also time.”

B&H Presidency adopts border agreement with Montenegro (Nezavisne)

The B&H Presidency has accepted the agreement on demarcation with Montenegro. This will enable representatives of the two states to sign document on 27 August in Vienna, at the summit of the regional countries and the EU. Media in Podgorica report, citing diplomatic sources, that the B&H Presidency has adopted the agreement. This is the first agreement on the demarcation between the countries of former Yugoslavia. Foreign ministers of Montenegro and B&H announced in early July that the agreement will be signed at the Vienna conference. Montenegro and B&H drafted border agreement, but its signing had been delayed due to a dispute regarding Sutorina region. The dispute was solved when B&H Parliament rejected the proposal to claim this territory which belongs to Montenegro.

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

Serbia’s Walking A Fine Line (Global Risk Insights, by Lili Bayer, 27 July 2015)

Western governments and businesses are investing in Serbia as the country’s government moves to implement reforms and makes significant progress in resolving outstanding disputes with Kosovo. Nevertheless, internal economic problems, the impact of the Greek crisis, and the lack of serious prospects for European Union membership in the near to medium term could present a challenge to both the country’s economic recovery and its relationship with the US and EU.

Belgrade’s Balancing Act

The US and EU regard Serbia as a strategic linchpin in the Balkans. To many Western governments a stable, prosperous and Western-oriented Serbia is deemed necessary to preserve stability in the region and resolve regional quagmires: from the conflict between Serbia and Kosovo, to managing a growing migration crisis. At the same time, the crisis in Ukraine has heightened the desire of Western governments to undermine Russia’s influence in Serbia. Moreover, Serbia could play a role in the EU’s energy diversification strategy as a transit state for natural gas flowing to Central Europe. Serbia’s leadership has taken significant political steps to move closer to the West. The European Union has facilitated high-level talks between the leaders of Serbia and Kosovo, with only a few outstanding issues regarding telecommunications, energy, the formation of the Association of Serbian Municipalities and movement within divided Mitrovica still up for negotiation. An agreement between Serbia and Kosovo is a pre-requisite for Serbia to pursue EU integration. Serbia’s leadership has also worked to boost ties with the US. On October 16, 2014, thousands of Serbian soldiers marched in Belgrade with the guest of honour, Russian President Vladimir Putin, looking on. On the surface it appeared that Serbia’s government was reaffirming the country’s historic ties to Russia. In the background, however, the battle for influence in Serbia was underway. The night before, Serbian Prime Minister Vucic talked on the phone with US Vice President Joe Biden. In a pattern to be repeated over the following months the Serbian side has come to couple major diplomatic contact with the Kremlin with parallel discussions with the White House: Prime Minister Vucic’s June visit to Washington, DC came nearly two weeks after Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov visited Belgrade. On July 14, US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, Victoria Nuland, visited Belgrade and reaffirmed America’s public commitment to supporting Serbia’s aspirations towards EU membership.

Structural and Regional Hurdles

For Western businesses, Serbia has much to offer: the country boasts an educated workforce, proximity to major European markets, a low corporate tax rate, and incentives for foreign investors. Foreign investment over the past years has centered on banking and insurance, manufacturing, wholesale, retail and repair of motor vehicles, and real estate. Nevertheless, Serbia’s economy is suffering from structural problems that have limited its competitiveness and growth potential. Floods and an unfavourable external environment in 2014 exacerbated existing structural weaknesses, with the country’s GDP contracting by 1.8%. Serbia’s leadership thus sought aid from the International Monetary Fund, which in February 2015 approved a three-year, EUR 1.2 billion Stand-By Arrangement. This aid was to be accompanied by a reform program which includes cuts to mandatory public spending, the privatization of over 500 state-owned enterprises, and efforts to address Serbia’s high non-performing loans (NPL) rate. However, six months following the IMF’s approval of the Stand-By Arrangement Serbia has yet to fully implement promised reforms. The IMF indicated that credit growth remains sluggish and NPLs continue to pose a challenge in its June 2015 review of Serbia’s progress. Another risk currently facing the Serbian economy is potential spillover from the Greek crisis. Greek-owned banks constitute 14.1% of total banking sector assets in Serbia. Serbia’s Greek-owned banks do have sufficient liquidity and capital buffers, but concerns over the situation in Greece could lead to large-scale deposit withdrawals. Corruption is also undermining efforts to promote growth and investment. Corruption in public procurement contracts remains a significant challenge, while corrupt practices in state-owned enterprises are also common. Serbia’s judicial system reportedly has a backlog of over 2 million cases, while investigations into allegedly corrupt privatization deals have stalled.

Serbia’s Inclusion in EU on Hold

As the European Union works to address its own internal challenges, from the Greek crisis to divisions among member states over issues like migration, EU leaders do not intend to approve new membership in the near to medium term. Serbia is strategically important to the EU, and thus the organization does spend significant political and financial resources to boost its relationship with the country: Serbia receives financial assistance from the EU for projects in areas such as energy, infrastructure, agriculture, and competitiveness. Nevertheless, with the future of EU enlargement plans becoming more and more uncertain, the EU’s leverage in Serbia may decline. While the IMF will continue pressing Serbia to comply with pledged reforms, a reduction in the EU’s influence in Serbia could lessen pressure on the Serbian leadership to implement a specific range of reforms, especially with regards to corruption. This will in turn undermine Serbia’s efforts to attract more foreign investment and boost the competitiveness of its economy. On the political front, without the credible promise of EU membership and the economic benefits that membership brings, there is a risk that Serbia’s negotiations with Kosovo lose momentum, and that Belgrade refocuses its efforts away from impressing Brussels towards working more closely with the Kremlin. Serbia’s government has adopted a wide variety of measures in order to improve the country’s competitiveness with an eye towards EU integration, but continued economic challenges, the impact of the Greek crisis, domestic corruption, and uncertainty over the future of EU expansion could ultimately undermine efforts both to transform Serbia’s economy and boost ties between Serbia and the West.

Albania won’t block Macedonia’s NATO accession: PM (Xinhua, 27 July 2015)

TIRANA — Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has said that his country will not use any veto against Macedonia’s bid for NATO membership, Albanian Daily News reported Monday. Rama underlined the importance of the Ohrid agreement — a 2001 peace agreement signed between the Republic of Macedonia and ethnic Albanian representatives — for pursuing integration. “The last document in the Wales Summit had been agreed by all NATO members. It underlines the need of Macedonia to implement the Ohrid agreement as a basis for coexistence, harmony, peace and cooperation between Albanians and Macedonians, as well as a basis for strengthening Macedonia in order for it to be stable and to develop,” he said. The prime minister also called for “a transparent and independent” investigation into a gunbattle between police and local insurgents that happened earlier this year in Kumanovo, a northern Macedonian city situated 20 km from the country’s capital Skopje.In an operation by Macedonian police and armed forces on May 9, eight policemen and 10 armed insurgents were killed, while 37 officers were wounded. The shootout ended the next day with a full suppression of the insurgents, of whom 28 men were arrested and charged with terrorism.

EU Must Hold Gruevski to Account Over Reforms (Balkan Insight, by Erwan Fouéré, 24 July 2015)

The government’s continued culture of denial when it comes to the wiretapping allegations gives little reason to hope that it will respect the July 15 agreement

Six months have passed since the leader of the main opposition party in Macedonia revealed evidence of alleged corruption on the part of the government of Nikola Gruevski in terms of a vast wiretapping operation. The extent of the alleged corruption and abuse of power revealed in these phone conversations, released in successive press briefings since February, has arguably surpassed anything seen in the Balkans since the breakup of former Yugoslavia. The Macedonian Prime Minister continues to claim that the tapes were “created” and that those responsible for the wiretapping operation are “foreign intelligence services”, which he has, however, refused to identify. On the other hand, the Special Report drawn up at the request of the European Commission and made public on 19 June makes clear that the wiretapping operation was a homegrown affair. “The making of these recordings is generally acknowledged to have been illegal, to have taken place over a number of years and not to have been part of any legitimate court-sanctioned operations,” it said. “The recordings are also of a quality, scale and number to be generally acknowledged to have been made inside the national intelligence service’s facilities,” it added. The findings of the report, by a group of senior rule of law experts led by a highly respected former Director in the European Commission, Reinhard Priebe, point to several serious violations perpetrated by government ministers as well as senior officials from the ruling party, VMRO-DPMNE. Yet, despite the force of the accusations, people close to the government continue to reject the report’s findings and even question the integrity of the report’s authors, while the government itself has refrained from comment except to repeat its claim that the tapes were “created”. The pro-government media barely refer to the wiretapping claims and have deliberately refrained from airing the contents of the conversations. At the same time, these same media outlets have pointed a finger at the leader of the opposition as the true villain of the piece. The government has accused him of fomenting a coup. The government has, however, at least formally, backed the list of urgent priority reforms prepared by the European Commission, which include those put forward in the Priebe Report. These all form part of the agreement, signed on July 15 in the presence of European Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn, by the leaders of the four leading political parties, including the Prime Minister. Many of these reforms, such as those relating to political interference in the judiciary, have already been mentioned in the European Commission’s annual Progress Reports. But the Prime Minister, although he has has now committed his government to fully implementing the July 15 agreement, including all the reforms, has made similar commitments in the past without any follow-up. What is the guarantee that this time it will be any different? So long as he and his party continue to deny any involvement in the wiretapping operations, despite all the evidence contained in the Priebe Report, and while they refuse to accept responsibility for any of the alleged violations of the rule of law, there is little hope that the agreement brokered by the EU will be respected. Judging by experience over the past nine years of this government, the public will be subjected to continued manipulation of the truth, similar to the worst practices of authoritarian regimes such as Belarus and Russia. The only option will be a rigorous, on-the-spot permanent monitoring by the EU, with the OSCE and the Council of Europe, as well as civil society organizations, with targeted projects supported by the international community and directed at all sectors of society. This should include monitoring of the media to counter the inevitable manipulation and distortion by both the governing party and by government-supported media of the messages conveyed by the EU. The excellent “media fact checking service,” a project financed by USAID, is one example of what should be done. The EU should deploy the same resources it has used to counter Russian propaganda in relation to events in Ukraine; these include actions to strengthen the overall media environment, including support for independent media and increasing awareness of disinformation activities.  This week, another journalist, owner of an internet portal critical of government, was set upon outside his home in Skopje and beaten up. So long as the governing party continues to effectively encourage a culture of violence and revenge and discredits the many voices across the country clamoring for change and for respect of their fundamental rights, Macedonia will not escape from its current nightmare. Without a change of attitude and a change of behaviour from this government in both word and deed, there is no hope of a free and fair electoral process next year, nor any other year.