LOCAL PRESS

Special court could spoil Thaci’s presidential ambition (Tanjug)

A Special Court for KLA’s war crimes, to be set up, could spoil Hashim Thaci‘s plans to become Kosovo’s President, write local media in Pristina. This would be true if the former leader of the KLA and the former prime minister, who now serves as Kosovo’s foreign minister, were to be indicted. According to the Albanian language daily Kosova Sot, the court could disrupt “the trade” in place between the PDK-LDK coalition. The paper quotes “legal experts and analysts who confirm this.” “If Thaci is on the list of those accused, this will add a new circumstance and more tensions when it comes to his pretensions to become the president of Kosovo,” said law professor Mazlum Baraliu. Legal expert Blerim Burjani said that “this question will depend on the circumstances that the special court can possibly bring.” “The PDK-LDK coalition can function only if Thaci is elected as president next year, otherwise it will end its mandate prematurely,” Burjani said.

Vehicle insurance deal to be implemented as of midnight (Tanjug)

The implementation of the memorandum on vehicle insurance, which representatives of Belgrade and Pristina signed in Brussels, should begin at midnight on Tuesday. The agreement envisages that the vehicles registered in Kosovo will be able to go to central Serbia with the motor third party liability (MTPL) insurance, while the vehicles with the Serbian license plates in Kosovo will just need the insurance cover that is valid in Serbia. The Belgrade-Pristina agreement on vehicle insurance was due to come into force on July 24, one month after it was reached, but the implementation was postponed, and both Belgrade and Pristina blamed the other side for the delay. Until now, citizens of Kosovo have paid around EUR 100 for monthly vehicle insurance when entering central Serbia, while in the other direction, when entering Kosovo, people have had to pay around EUR 40 for two weeks. Kosovo is not a member of the Green Card System so drivers from Kosovo still do not have green cards for their vehicles.

Serbian and Albanian PMs to take part in TV debate (B92)

Serbian and Albanian prime ministers Aleksandar Vucic and Edi Rama will “confront their positions” during a TV debate later this month. The 60-minute broadcast will be staged by the regional production network “Okruzenje“, ran by the Thessaloniki-based NGO Center for Democracy and Reconciliation in Southeastern Europe (CDRSEE) and the European Fund for the Balkans (EFB). The debate will be taped in Vienna, Austria, on August 27, where Vucic and Rama will travel for the Second Conference on the Western Balkans. According to announcements, it will be broadcast “on national televisions of all regional countries: Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska, Serbia with Kosovo, Montenegro, Macedonia, and Albania.”

Serbia’s state broadcaster RTS will show the debate on August 31, while the Tanjug news agency will do the same “immediately after.” Goran Svilanovic, Secretary-General of the Council for Regional Cooperation, will take part. The Vienna summit is a part of the Berlin Initiative established last year by German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The meeting in Vienna will be dedicated to energy, transport, science and education projects, and will also address last year’s initiative to set up the Association of Western Balkans Youth. Aleksandar Vucic has announced he will officially present his initiative to establish a joint remembrance day in the region at the summit. Vucic and Rama met during the past year first in Belgrade and then in Tirana, “breaking the ice between the two countries” in this manner. According to the announcement on Monday, the debate will be “a great opportunity to openly speak about joint interests and problems that prevent their realization.”

REGIONAL PRESS

Sarajevo doesn’t want to solve case of attack on Vucic (Glas Srpske)

Serb member of the Bosnian and Herzegovina (B&H) Presidency Mladen Ivanic believes there is “no will in Sarajevo” to solve the case of an attack on Aleksandar Vucic. The Serbian Prime Minister was assaulted as he attended the Srebrenica commemoration in July. Ivanic stressed that, unless the case is investigated, “it would mean as if nothing had happened.” “It is the obligation of all, especially in the B&H institutions, to insist there are results, and not to let it all end like that,” Ivanic told the Glas Srpske newspaper. As he said, the reason why there have been no results in the investigation so far is “the lack of interest and the political fear of people from the B&H Prosecution to deal with matters in which the Bosniaks (Muslims) are the negative side.” Ivanic then stated that this was evident in relation to war crimes cases, as well as in the investigation of the attack on Vucic. The newspaper writes that the main part of the investigation is being conducted by the Prosecution of B&H in cooperation with security agencies in Sarajevo, while there is a parallel probe launched by the Special Prosecutor’s Office and the Interior Ministry of Republika Srpska (RS) – the Serb entity – and that this happened “when they saw, a few days after the attack, that investigators in Sarajevo were not making desirable progress.” A spokesman for the RS MUP, Milan Salamadija, said that this ministry “did everything that was needed” and sent a report with all the information to the Special Prosecutor’s Office of the RS, who said they were “working to discover the organizers and perpetrators of the attack in Potocari.” The Banja Luka based newspaper also said in its report that security circles in Serbia and the RS share the same opinion – that the case could be resolved “had there been the will to do it.” The article added that Serbia’s Security Information Agency (BIA) stated the Ministry of Security of B&H and the Federation Police received information about the perpetrators and the masterminds, but that even a month later no indictment had been raised. It was also said that all of the attackers came from the Muslim-Croat entity, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FB&H) – “which means the Federal Police should have arrested them while the Prosecution of B&H should have prosecuted them.”

In connection to the case, the B&H SIPA agency on July 21 detained, questioned, and then released Tesanj residents Almir Merdic, Fahir Hadzan, Muja Dizdarevic, and Elvedin Himzic.

Izetbegovic: Too early to remember region’s victims together (Nezavisne)

Bakir Izetbegovic has said that Serbian PM Aleksanda Vucic‘s initiative to establish a joint day of remembrance is “premature and incomplete.” The Bosniak member of the B&H Presidency said that such an initiative “must be preceded by the completion of the process of stabilization and normalization of overall relations in the region.” “Prime Minister Vucic’s initiative can gain momentum only if it means sincerely facing the truth about all crimes, accepting the rulings of international courts and historical facts determined in those rulings, as well as unequivocally condemning those activities that lead to new conflicts in the region – such as the initiative to hold a referendum on secession that is coming from the leadership of Republika Srpska,” said he. Izetbegovic added that without meeting these preconditions, Vucic’s initiative “can only lead to relativizing the character of the war and the volume of crimes committed against Bosniaks, blurring the truth about those crimes, and pardoning those who deny those crimes and the genocide from responsibility.” “Such an initiative would not contribute to the process of reconciliation, but would essentially endanger it and set it back,” Izetbegovic believes. Previously, Croatian PM Zoran Milanovic also rejected the initiative, and was joined by Hashim Thaci in this. Speaking on Tuesday, Aleksandar Vucic said that he would “never give up” on his idea to establish a joint remembrance days for the victims in the former Yugoslavia, adding that he “believes that eventually, even if it takes to the three years,” the region will “reconcile.” Asked what the point of this would be, considering Milanovic’s reaction, Vucic said: “I am certain it will yield results. Because any other option that might be chosen is bad for those countries and for the region.”

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

Sparks fly over media sale in Serbia (BIRN)

The privatization of the state media in Serbia has prompted the opposition Democrats to accuse the ruling party of buying up outlets – hiding behind ‘front’ companies to do so.

                                                                         After privatization of the state-owned media in Serbia started last week, the opposition Democratic Party has accused the ruling Progressive Party of trying to buy up some media outlets, hiding behind “front” companies to do so. The ostensible aim of the privatization process is to remove the influence of the state from the media but the Democratic Party says the Progressive Party aims to buy up media outlets to retain control over the media ahead of local elections next year. Accusations started flying after the company Srbija Danas, as the only bidder, bought the Novi Sad-based city information center, Apolo, which owns the local TV station, for 174,950 euros. Democrats from Novi Sad last week claimed the Progressives were behind the buyer and that the city will now have “a political party organ” instead of an informative center. They also claimed that the Progressive-run Novi Sad authorities will “finance the television through various projects.

“This way, the citizens of Novi Sad will indirectly finance the demagogy of the Serbian Progressive Party,” the Democratic Party said in a statement. “What makes this sale suspicious is that the firm Srbija Danas was founded in March last year with a registered capital of only 50,000 dinars (416 euros),” the statement added. The Progressive Party answered that the sale was done in accordance with the law and was transparent. The party stated that the opposition should “start doing something useful instead of deceiving the public with hypocritical and malicious statements in order to get a few political points”. Meanwhile, another privatization has drawn public attention after a consortium led by Dragan Milosevic, a businessman from Nis, tried to buy up the local TV station, NTV. The offer was rejected on Monday as incomplete – but some media outlets drew attention to the fact that Milosevic had been best man to Bratislav Gasic, the Defence Minister and the Progressive’s vice-president. Serbia recently postponed the deadline for the privatizations of around 70 publicly owned media outlets from July 1 to October 31. The government says media privatization is an important part of the pre-accession process with the European Union that will enable Belgrade to open Chapters 23 and 24 of the negotiations, on the judiciary, human rights and the media. The decision to withdraw from media ownership was made under the explanation it would bring Serbia closer to the EU standards. The privatization process has drawn different reactions from Serbian journalists. Some believe it will allow the media to work more independently and without meddling by politicians. Others say the only likely change will be that political influence gives way to the influence of tycoons close to politics. Vukasin Obradovic, president of the Independent Association of Serbian Journalists, said that any suspicious sales of media outlets needed investigating. “We should work on unveiling these influences and stop these kinds of sales,” he said. “It has become common practice for political parties to influence the media,” Obradovic told BIRN on Monday. However, Nino Brajovic, secretary general of the Journalist’ Association of Serbia, said the sale of the television station in Novi Sad did not raise special concerns. “There are not many interested investors (in these outlets)… the sale of Novosadska television does not look suspicious because there was only one bidder,” Brajovic told BIRN on Monday.

Roma: Discriminated in Serbia, unwanted in Germany (DW)

Germany regards Balkan states, like Serbia, as “safe countries of origin.” It makes no difference that the Roma live on the fringes of society and are discriminated against. These past weeks, it’s all about Dragan. The media report about people like him – and politicians express disgust – because Dragan and the likes of him allegedly take advantage of the generosity of Germany’s welfare system. Seated on a bench in front of the reception facility for asylum seekers in the leafy Bonn neighborhood of Muffendorf, the young Roma from Sabac in Serbia says “problems” took him so far from home. “I heard you can get asylum here, and get your life back on track.”

Bleak prospects Dragan, who asked not to see his real name in print, came to Germany with his wife and three children. He’s waiting for a hearing with the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF), where he will be granted a few hours to explain why he is seeking refuge in Germany. Dragan will speak of hardship in his native country, suspicious glances when he is seeking work and the provocation and abuse he suffers daily. “I will tell the truth, and then we’ll see,” he says. The outcome is not likely to be what Dragan is hoping for. He comes from a so-called safe country of origin, and he is young and healthy. Germany only grants people from the Balkans temporary shelter if they are seriously ill, BAMF President Manfred Schmidt told DW. Only one or two of 1,000 applicants are granted asylum status. The Berlin government argues that political persecution doesn’t exist in Serbia, Macedonian and Bosnia, just like in Albania, Kosovo and Montenegro, which are about to be added to the list of safe countries of origin. Not everyone agrees. It’s true, you can’t charge these countries with politically persecuting the Roma, says law professor Norman Paech. “But the accumulated sordid situations these people experience does add up to cumulative persecution,” Paech told DW. Germany, he says, disregards EU guidelines that define persecution more broadly than just an act by the state. More than 90 percent of all asylum seekers from Serbia are Roma – a sad record for the region. According to official figures, 155,000 Roma live in Serbia. But the figure is misleading. The Roma National Council says many hush up their nationality for fear of discrimination. According to estimates, as many as 500,000 Roma live in Serbia. Many live in slums, often without running water, electricity or health care. Their children rarely go to school, and less than one percent of Roma in Serbia have an academic degree.

Those are facts shown in official Serb documents, and recognized by critics in the NGOs.

This Roma settlement in Belgrade was demolished in 2012 “The Roma in Serbia are seen as and treated like an inferior race,” says Serb sociologist Dario Hajric, adding that Roma are described as filthy and dumb, as rapists and pedophiles. “Most people don’t want Roma neighbours, friends, colleagues or family members,” Hajric says. This attitude, he explains occasionally leads to attacks on the Roma or their ramshackle communities. There are plenty of examples of this kind of racism. DW editors have deleted user comments on DW’s Serbian-language page because the posts unabashedly called Roma “gypsy” scum and liars who produce countless children to get more social welfare. The Belgrade government supplies ammunition for such racist remarks, Hajric points out. The powers that be aim for a pro-European image, but call thousands of citizens “professional false asylum-seekers.” The Roma just “want German money,” Serb Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic recently told Süddeutsche Zeitung in an interview. Asked why the Roma of all people have such a hard time, Vucic said: “For historic reasons, Roma are traditionally very poor.” German politicians also do their bit to add to the mood, says Lina Hüffelmann, who advises asylum seekers for the city of Cologne’s refugee council. With their statements, democratically-elected politicians make anti-Roma sentiments socially acceptable, she says. “This is not just about the Christian Social Union (CSU); people on the far right fringes and increasingly from the middle of society are raising their voices to join in,” she says. All of this has an influence on the decisions taken by BAMF staff members, Hüffelmann warns, and recounts cases where even before the applicant’s asylum hearing had taken place, officials had on their desks fully completed rejections. Does Dragan know what German politicians think about him, about the Roma? The young man smiles nervously and nods. In Germany, his family will receive 143 euros ($157) per month per person – but he says that’s not why he came. “Perhaps some people come because of the money, but many flee from actual problems.” He gives the impression of a man who knows that he will not be granted asylum. In three or four months, Dragan will be back in Sabac. While politicians are working on speeding things up, that’s currently how long average asylum procedures take for applicants from safe countries of origin.

Serbia struggling with refugee bottleneck (Ukraine Today)

Some Belgrade residents are voluntarily helping the homeless migrants. Increasing numbers of refugees fleeing Middle-East states have flooded into Serbia during the first half of 2015. According to the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the number of such refugees, most of whom come from Syria, has increased significantly in 2015. “In 2014, for the whole 12 months, there were 16,490 registered intentions to seek asylum by the refugees. This year, from the 1st of January to 31st of July, 66,476 refugees registered their intent to seek asylum in Serbia,” said Mirjana Milenkovski, UNHCR spokesperson in Serbia. A majority chooses to not stay in Serbia but try to head to Hungary, in Europe’s Schengen Area, and from there on to west or north European states. In Serbia’s capital, Belgrade, many of the refugees stay temporarily in public parks. The government provides water and temporary toilets to aid the refugees, but living conditions remain rough, as temperatures remain above 30 degrees Celsius. Some Belgrade residents are voluntarily cleaning up rubbish in the parks, providing the refugees with information and raising money for their daily necessities. “I would want someone to help me if I was in the same situation. And, you can’t blame these people for running away from where bombs are falling on their heads. So, I think we all as citizens, and … after what happened in the floods last year and people helped us, we need to help them,” said Nenad Popovic, one of the volunteers. Serbia’s government has said it will keep the border open to refugees. And, with UNHCR assistance, it is expanding the country’s refugee centers to accommodate the growing influx.