LOCAL PRESS

Kosovska Mitrovica residents defended the bank (Danas)

The grouping of a large number of Serbs around the Jugobanka branch in the northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica interrupted the two-hour operation of the units of the Kosovo Police Service for combatting economic crime that tried to enter this bank’s premises and confiscate its entire documentation. Jugobanka in Kosovo and Metohija is not part of the Kosovo banking system, it performs payments with the rest of Serbia and has a large number of clients that receive salaries through the bank. “Two bailiffs from the court in the southern part of Kosovska Mitrovica came without announcement, referring to a court order. Without announcement, in a cowboy style, they broke into our premises, so we organized ourselves and defended our jobs and the existence of our families. They requested the complete documentation, but we didn’t give it and we defended ourselves with the help of the residents and our employees. We don’t know what will happen next,” said Ljubisa Popovic, the Executive Director of Jugobanka in Kosovska Mitrovica. According to him, the goal of this operation is to “close down Jugobanka that is operating in the system of the National Bank of Serbia and for the entire north of Kosovo and Metohija to be financially blocked”. Popovic informed the Governor of the National Bank of Serbia Jorgovanka Tabakovic and the Control Sector because the “bailiffs broke into the Serbian payment system, since they wanted to block all financial institutions, citizens and companies that are working through Jugobanka”, as well as the Serbian government Office for Kosovo and Metohija. Danas’ sources in the city administration unofficially state that they had been informed that the problem is that Jugobanka doesn’t have a Kosovo working license and isn’t registered with the Kosovo Central Bank. It is estimated on the ground that yesterday’s operation by the Kosovo Police Service is pressure on Jugobanka to register in the Kosovo banking system, but at the same time additional pressure and intimidation of the Serbs in northern Kosovo and Metohija, because the same scenario was recently applied when the Ilic family was thrown out the house in downtown Kosovska Mitrovica because an Albanian became the owner of the house at a court process in which the Ilic family didn’t take part. Members of the Rosa special units also broke into the Jugobanka branch in Gracanica, Danas was unofficially confirmed. Danas’ sources state that the Kosovo Police Service took away the entire documentation of the Gracanica branch office. Even though these sources speculate that the Pristina authorities also broke into the Jugobanka branch in Strpce, Strpce Mayor in the Kosovo local self-administration Bratislav Nikolic denied that they conducted an operation here.

National Bank of Serbia: Serbia’s payment system safe (RTS)

The Governor of the National Bank of Serbia Jorgovanka Tabakovic told the Wednesday evening news of Radio and Television of Serbia (RTS) that the police raid of inspectors, with the help of the Kosovo Police, of the Jugobanka premises in the northern part of Kosovska Mitorvica cannot be placed under some usual operative risk of preventing or stopping the payment system. “I can agree with the statement issued by the Office for Kosovo and Metohija and say that this cannot be placed under some usual operative risk, because any action of this kind in one part of the territory of the Republic of Serbia has a completely different connotation, especially under circumstances when we are doing our best to normalize relations and establish dialogue,” said Tabakovic.  She adds that this action represents more than an attempt at examination according to what rules is the bank in Kosovska Mitrovica operating, if armed members enter with an order, but unannounced, and ask for a license from a bank that is operating according to the rules of the Republic of Serbia. “I don’t have yet proof that this is a court order, we requested the bank to send us the order and it is not an order but a request for submitting the license, while Jugobanka in Kosovska Mitrovica is operating according to the valid rules regulated by the National Bank of Serbia, as an institution of the state of Serbia, and it absolutely legally operates just as the Jugobanka in Gracanica and Strpce,” says Tabakovic. “Any kind of non-authorized raid of the payment system would imply that money stays in the system of the Republic of Serbia and in the banks in the system of the Republic of Serbia. There is no risk either for the banks in Serbia or for the clients,” concluded Tabakovic. ​

Technical dialogue on vehicle insurance to be held next week (Tanjug)

Belgrade and Pristina expert teams will meet next week in Brussels in order to continue the talks on vehicle insurance, said the spokesperson of the EU Maja Kocijancic. However, the exact date of continuing the dialogue at the level of prime ministers has not been determined yet, she added. “The two parties will discuss the missing elements of the agreement on vehicle insurance,” Kocijancic told the press, but could not say when exactly the dialogue will continue, because, as she put it, preparations are still underway.

Container full of cluster bombs found near Sjenica (RTS)

The teams of the Emergency Situations Sector and the Norwegian People’s Aid found a container with unexploded cluster bombs near the Dubinje military airport in Sjenica. Based on the label it was established that at issue is a container of US manufacturing, which was used during the NATO bombardment of Serbia. After a two-hour procedure and the securing of the location, the crew of Radio and Television of Serbia (RTS) was allowed to record the container that is sunk some 20 centimeters into the ground and deformed by hitting. Members of the Demining Team showed three cluster bombs along the container that most probably fell out at the time of fall. This is additional risk for drawing them out, since they assume there are 199 more in the container. “During survey, we found this container with cluster bombs, complete, which is a unique case so far, so more complex for elimination, for safe removal, i.e. destruction. Our deminers from the Emergency Situations Sector have been here for the second day, and probably for another two to three days,” says the Head of the Civil Defense Directorate Bratislav Rancic. The team for the removal of unexploded ordnance stick to three golden rules: respect procedure, wear protective equipment and minimize the number of people on the ground.

The imperative is safety and not speed. More than one million and six hundred thousand square meters will be examined in the Sjenica municipality. “It is a unique project in the world, considering the fact that the Mine Action Center in cooperation with the Norwegian People’s Aid has been developing a new methodology that should be far more efficient and equally safe as the previous methods,” says the Mine Action Center Director Branislav Jovanovic. So far, eleven million square meters on the territory of Serbia have been cleared from cluster bombs. It is assumed that there are more bombs on another six million square meters.

REGIONAL PRESS

Husic: Organizer will have difficult time to control protests (Oslobodjenje/Fena)

Nearly 15,000 people are at moment in front of the FB&H parliament building, the President of the Miners’ Union Sinan Husic said during the extraordinary session of the House of Peoples of the FB&H parliament in Sarajevo. Husic said that the dissatisfaction of the protesters has intensified after the delegates decided to keep the new draft labor law on today’s agenda. The Association of Independent Trade Unions of B&H finds it increasingly difficult to control the situation outside, said Husic.

Novalic: Labor law is an issue of workers and all citizens (Fena)
The FB&H Prime Minister Fadil Novalic said on the occasion of the proposed labor law, which is currently on the agenda of the extraordinary session of the House of Peoples of the FB&H parliament, that this legislation should not be a political issue because the labor law is not an issue of either position or opposition but question of the future, the question of workers and the issue that concerns all citizens.

Cvijanovic and Novalic agree on framework plan for reform agenda (Srna)

The Republika Srpska (RS) Prime Minister Zeljka Cvijanovic and FB&H Prime Minister Fadil Novalic agreed in Banja Luka a framework action plan for implementation of the reform agenda and agreements reached earlier by the two governments. Cvijanovic said that detailed action plans will be drafted after relevant ministries submit their plans of activities. It was agreed that final versions of various regulations will be drafted at the end of August, that they will be adopted in the first half of September at government sessions and that some things will be adopted at a joint session of the two Governments, which will enable that solutions be harmonized as much as possible, Cvijanovic told reporters after the meeting. According to her, the meeting was marked by efforts to harmonize the building of an integrated business environment. Novalic said that all practical issues they discussed today will lead to improving the economy and growth of employment in B&H. Novalic thanked Cvijanovic for the past good cooperation and for the meeting.

Bosniak veto on referendum in RS goes to RS Constitutional Court (Srna)

The Joint Commission and the Council of Peoples of the RS parliament didn’t reach agreement on the Bosniak veto on decision of the RS parliament on referendum in the RS on the B&H Court and Prosecution, so it will be introduced to the RS Constitutional Court. The Chairperson of the Joint Commission Nada Tesanovic pointed out that two Bosniaks supported the Bosniak veto while other six members were against. The Bosniaks remained with their stands that the decision on the referendum threatens the interests of not only the Bosniaks, but other RS citizens, and also pointed out that the referendum question is anti-constitutional because the RS doesn’t have authority to decide on the B&H Court and Prosecution because this is in the jurisdiction of B&H. The Vice President of the RS parliament Nenad Stevandic said that the referendum successfully conquered political and democratic battles and that now follows the legal battle and the negotiating process in order to hold it. Duska Savic from the SNSD said she would respect the decision of the Constitutional Court, adding that if four conditions set by the RS are fulfilled there will be no need to organize a referendum.

Initiative for B&H supreme court without support (Nezavisne)

The Social-Democrat Party (SDP) MP Denis Becirovic in the House of Representatives of the B&H parliamentary assembly launched the initiative for the formation of the B&H supreme court, noting that legal framing of the state implies a completed judicial authority. “Only with one supreme court on the top of the hierarchy pyramid can we achieve legal and constitutional principles of separation of authority, legal state, social state and principle of preservation of legal unity. One supreme court is imminent to statehood,” said Becirovic. He added that the B&H Constitution doesn’t ban the establishment of one supreme court for B&H, and that there is a quite realistic possibility of developing a different judicial practice in the entities and the Brcko District. “This is an unconstitutional initiative because the B&H Constitution and the Dayton Peace Accord do not envisage this form of activity. European practice cannot be an argument in a state that, just as any other, has its own constitution and system, and abides by them. Everything else is demagogy,” lawyer Slobodan Radulj tells Nezavisne. MP Sefik Dzaferovic says that the SDA caucus in the House of Representatives of the B&H parliamentary assembly will determine further action towards this initiative. “The supreme court is necessary for this country because this would be in the interest of all citizens and entire B&H towards equal standards and protection of human rights. However, the question is whether this initiative is leading in that direction or in the direction of some kind of unnecessary politization. We also need the procedure and consent of all in B&H that is obviously lacking at this moment,” commented Dzaferovic. The Serb Democratic Party (SDS) caucus whip Aleksandra Pandurevic opines that this kind of activity should be ignored because its purpose is political marketing. “Mr. Becirovic’s initiatives serve for the purpose of promotion for the SDP September elections, and unfortunately he is doing this through the B&H parliament. He knows that something like this will not receive support, but this is not his goal. I call him to demonstrate his Social-Democrat patriotism in combatting crime and corruption,” Pandurevic told Nezavisne. “The reform of the judicial system, if there is one, must derive from a debate and consent of all entities and nations. Nothing else is implementable and this had been demonstrated many times before with all similar attempts,” MP of the Association of Independent Social-Democratis (SNSD) Nikola Spiric says.

The Office of the High Representative briefly commented that this is a topic that needs to be discussed in the place where it had been opened, i.e. where the initiative had been submitted.

Becirovic notes that without one supreme court it will not be possible to ensure efficient and united application of state regulations that will introduce EU laws into national legislature, noting that one of the main EU membership criteria is the obligation of establishing a supreme court in B&H. “All international representatives demand the establishment of a judicial instance that would be a match to a supreme court,” he said.

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

Serbia sees 2015 general budget deficit at 2.75 pct of GDP (Reuters, 29 July 2015)

Serbia’s general budget deficit will come in at 2.75 percent of national output for 2015, less than the 4.75 percent originally planned, Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said on Wednesday. Vucic did not give a figure for the consolidated budget shortfall, which includes spending of local authorities and some state enterprises and which was planned at 6 percent of gross domestic product for the year.

ISIS poses threat to Balkans, ministers say (Balkan Insight, 30 July 2015)

The interior ministers of Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia said that ISIS was a real threat which could be fought only by cooperation between regional security services

Interior ministers from the three Balkan countries held a meeting in Podgorica on Tuesday to discuss the threat from radical Islamist movements in the region and ways to prevent it through joint efforts. “We have agreed that we will not allow terrorism to spread across the region and that we are ready to destroy it,” Bosnian Interior Minister Dragan Mektic told reporters. Countries in the region have raised security levels and introduced new precautions to counter the threat of attacks by ISIS. This measures were introduced after ISIS on June 5 released a video urging its supporters in the Balkans to kill “unbelievers” in their home countries. Mektic said Bosnia and Herzegovina was not a centre for militant training and recruitment and that rumours about 4,000 Bosnian citizens being involved with ISIS were not true. He said however that some 300 people from his country are currently fighting in Syria and Iraq. Fifty Bosnian citizens have returned from the Middle East battlefields, while 30 were killed there, he added. Mektic said that members of the hardline Wahhabi movement were also a real threat to regional security and that some of them could be recruited for foreign war zones. Serbian Interior Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic told a joint press conference that radical Islamism was a new phenomenon in the region and that police and governments “must ensure … that citizens feel stability and security”. “We have close cooperation with the Montenegrin police,” Stefanovic said, adding that “in many cases the two police force work as a single one”. Asked about the attack on Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic in at the 20th anniversary commemoration of the Srebrenica massacres on July 11, Bosnian minister Mektic said that police have identified 20 people that were involved in the incident. “Our services have identified close to 20 people about whom there is strong evidence of involvement in the attack on the Prime Minister Vucic,” Mektic said. He said that Bosnian police have asked their Serbian colleagues to help since some of the suspects are Serbian citizens. Vucic was attacked as he passed through the crowd of mourners, some of whom threw stones and water bottles at him before he was hustled away by security officers.

Macedonia MPs Stay Silent on Bugging at Spy HQ (BIRN, by Sinisa Jakov Marusic, 29 July 2015)

Macedonia’s illegal mass surveillance scandal, which is at the centre of the country’s political crisis, was not discussed when MPs visited the headquarters of the country’s secret police

A group of Macedonian legislators from the parliamentary commission responsible for oversight of the secret police spent two hours at their headquarters on Tuesday but did not raise the illegal surveillance issue. The MPs had a lengthy conversation with the new head of the secret police, Ljupco Andonovski, but did not inspect the premises or get any information about the technical equipment used there. “We got a detailed description of their work and we think that the meeting was productive… We will have more meetings in the future,” said Antonio Milososki, a legislator from the ruling VMRO DPMNE party and a former foreign minister. Regarding the illegal surveillance scandal, Milososki said that it might be tackled during some future visit. Macedonia’s opposition alleged that Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski masterminded the surveillance of over 20,000 people and has released secretly-recorded official conversations that point to corruption, electoral fraud and misuse of office. The former head of the commission and head of the opposition New Social Democrats, Tito Petkovski, said that the parliamentary commission was just putting on a show after criticism from Brussels over the surveillance scandal. “They are trying to simulate some activities… but it has nothing to do with real parliamentary control over the work of security services,” Petkovski said. After the EU brokered a deal to end the political crisis by holding early elections next April, the European Commission sent a report detailing urgent reforms to the Macedonian government, part of which strongly criticised the secret police for overstepping their authority. The European Commission said the security service appeared “to have been operating outside its legal mandate on behalf of the government to control top officials in the public administration, prosecutors, judges and political opponents with a consequent interference in the independence of the judiciary and other relevant national institutions”. The report also said there was no effective parliamentary supervision of the secret police’s work as legislators were never given clearance to visit their headquarters. The commission overseeing the secret police – which was intended to be dominated by opposition legislators – was formed in June, some 14 months after parliament was constituted last year. With nearly all opposition MPs still boycotting parliament, the commission is chaired by an MP from the ruling party, Pavle Sazdov.