LOCAL PRESS

“If the Community of Serbian municipalities gets formed there will be most violent unrests and blockades” (Tanjug)

Self-Determination Movement threatens with, so far, most violent unrests and blockades of all institutions in Kosovo, if Pristina agree to form the Community of Serbian municipalities. The Secretary-General of this parliamentary opposition movement Dardan Molliqaj stated in a television appearance that this would be the most radical protests that is ever seen where the only missing element would be a war. “Only a war will be missing. All public and private institutions will be blocked. Nothing will function in Kosovo,” that is a plan of Self-Determination Movement in the case that the establishment of the Community of Serbian municipalities is agree “said Molliqaj. It will be the most radical operation of Self-Determination Movement, the one that hasn’t been seen in Kosovo. Molliqaj said that the movement is ready to block everything that functions on Kosovo – not only public institutions, but also the lives of citizens.

Pristina: Signing of law on special war crimes court delayed (Tanjug)

The signing of a law that should enable for the formation of a special court for war crimes has been delayed in Kosovo. Kosovo President Atifete Jahjaga should have signed the law by midnight on Tuesday, but several opposition parties during the day asked the Constitutional Court “to appraise its constitutionality.” The Self-Determination, the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, and the Initiative for Kosovo waited until the last moment to file the request, claiming the law would “endanger Kosovo’s sovereignty”. The legislation in question was passed in the assembly in Pristina earlier this month. The court should deal with alleged war crimes committed by the ethnic Albanian KLA (“Kosovo Liberation Army”). The Constitutional Court now has 60 days to rule in the case. Albanian language media in Pristina are reporting on Tuesday that the decision will be made “on September 11, or on October 11 at the latest.” The same outlets quoted constitutional law experts who said they were “skeptical” that the court would rule to prevent the formation of the court. But the opposition is hopeful that the court will be making decisions “in line with the Constitution, now that Enver Hasani is no longer at its helm.” In case the court rules that procedures were violated during the voting in the assembly, or that the war crimes court would “violate or endanger Kosovo’s sovereignty” – it will not be possible to put “this issue” on assembly’s agenda once again. Assembly’s legal expert Driton Lajci told RTK that procedures had been followed to the letter and accused the opposition of “wanting to politicize the issue.” He added that “neither the government nor Kosovo Assembly President Kadri Veseli are happy that the law passed, but it is an obligation that should have been implemented.” Earlier, EU’s special representative in Kosovo Samuel Zbogar announced that first indictments should be raised in January, while media in Pristina said the future court’s chief prosecutor will be American David Schwendiman, who has been for a year heading an EU investigative task force set up to look into the allegations from the Marty Report.

Former Council of Europe rapporteur Dick Marty in 2010 published a report linking the KLA with a number of crimes, including unlawful detention in Albania and removal of vital organs from kidnapped Serb and other civilians.

Dacic: UN refuses to forward Pristina’s bid to join UNESCO (Blic)

Ivica Dacic has confirmed that the United Nations on Tuesday “did not accept to forward to UNESCO Kosovo’s request to join” the latter organization. The foreign minister said this in a statement for the Belgrade-based daily Blic. Dacic explained that this means UN’s proposal to discuss Kosovo’s request will not arrive at UNESCO, but warned this was “only the first step, it can now be expected that Kosovo will, with its request to join, turn directly to UNESCO.” The newspaper writes that “the diplomatic battle is definitely not over, as a third country could launch the request in front of the Executive Board of UNESCO on behalf of Kosovo.” Medieval Orthodox Serbian monasteries that are listed by UNESCO – Visoki Decani, Gracanica, as well as the Patriarchate of Pec and the Church of Bogorodica Ljeviska would, should Pristina manage to join the organization, “go under its protection” – something the article said was “unacceptable to Serbia.”

Pristina denies sending UNESCO membership request to UN (Tanjug)

The Deputy Kosovo Foreign Minister has denied Serbian FM Ivica Dacic‘s statement that the UN refused to forward Pristina’s membership bid to UNESCO. According to Petrir Selimi, who spoke for Radio Free Europe‘s Albanian language service on Wednesday, “such a request had not been sent at all.” Instead, he added, “the UN refused to be the middleman in communication between Paris and Pristina, which opened the door for direct communication between Kosovo and UNESCO.”

“There is no doubt at all that Kosovo’s request will be considered by the Executive Board in October,” said Selimi, and described Dacic’s statement as “absolutely untrue.” He stressed that Pristina expects UNESCO’s Executive Board to next month “give positive guidelines for Kosovo’s membership,” and added, “Serbia knows this very well but is trying to do propaganda and muddy the waters.”

DS: Ivanovic should be released pending verdict (Tanjug)

The Democratic Party (DS) asked the Serbian government on Wednesday to take all the necessary measures to make it possible for Oliver Ivanovic, the leader of the Serb party Citizens’ Initiative Freedom, Democracy Justice, to be released pending the outcome of his war crimes trial, and voiced concern over the length of his detention. “With the recent extension, Ivanovic will spend 22 months in detention, which is unreasonably long, and his hunger strike means that special attention should be paid to his health, which is something in which the Government should be particularly involved,” the Democrats said in a statement. The DS insists on respect for the human rights of all the people in custody and respect for the presumption of innocence, and opposes the use of detention as a substitute for a prison sentence, as this is contrary to the principles of the rule of law and modern, organized societies, the statement reads. Ivanovic was arrested on January 27 on charges of committing war crimes against civilians on April 14, 1999 and February 3, 2000, and of encouraging the aggravated murder of a number of ethnic Albanians in Kosovska Mitrovica.

REGIONAL PRESS

The Party for B&H leaves the coalition with SDA (Patria)

Soon there could be an increase of the tensions in relations between the SDA and the Party for B&H, even before the coalition started to operate. The reason for that is the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (F&H) Forestry law, reports the news agency Patria. The source prompts that the Party for B&H pointed out several times that if they enter the coalition they are going to do it only for the sake of the B&H Euro-Atlantic path, in order to be a constructive partner. The only condition they had was the absolute protection of the state property. “The Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FB&H) is preparing the Law on Forestry by which the SDA would on their own initiative practically legalize the division of state property in a perfidious way. The Party for B&H is an absolute opponent, and the whole issue is out of the question. The serious talks have been started in order to stop the negotiation process, because as it is clearly stated the Party for B&H is not going to sell its principles at any price” says the interlocutor. The SDA further complicates the matters by appointing of the Supervisory Board of Elektroprivreda B&H, without any consultation with the Party for B&H, which should, according to the agreement be the SB&H’s department in the new composition of the FB&H Government.

Renzo Daviddi: I hope parties will vote in favor of reform package (Dnevi Avaz)

The Labour Law is a step forward but dialogue is certainly needed. Social dialogue is a prominent feature of the EU acquis communautaire. We strongly encourage both the government and the unions and the employers to engage in such social dialogue, the Deputy Head of the EU Delegation in Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) Renzo Daviddi said in an interview for Dnevni Avaz. He was asked how official Brussels views the situation in the Federation following the adoption of the Labour Law, that is, the atmosphere created by the current authorities in confrontation with the unions.

The government created a charged atmosphere, and the reason lies precisely in the way the Labour Law was adopted…

The requirement for the adoption of the law is not something that came up yesterday, it has been around for years. It had been part of the previous letter of intent of the government under the previous IMF agreement. Reforms are not implemented because someone insists that they be implemented, but because they are truly needed. You have a labour market in B&H still burdened by regulations mostly originating from the previous system, which has its own characteristics, rights and privileges. This kind of legislative framework is not adequate in a market economy. We expect further social dialogue in relation to collective agreements.

The recent sessions of the Houses of the Federation of B&H Parliament have shown that there is practically no parliamentary majority. Who will adopt the laws of this government?

It is evident that a firm majority is needed for reforms. I must admit I am a little surprised, even disappointed, that a number of parties, also signatories of the Written Commitment for the EU, did not demonstrate their adherence to it through their engagement. At the same time, among the parties in the Parliament that voted against this law, there are some forces which in the past had strongly supported precisely this reform. I can understand that there are things in the Law which are problematic. I also understand the criticism about how the Government conducted the dialogue. I am also aware of the criticism of procedural matters. But I hope that in the next steps, because there is a very long list of reforms, parties that have opted for the EU will vote in favor of implementing the reform package.

Yes, but it is one thing to have the right intentions to implement reforms, and therefore laws, but the quality of these laws is another matter. Are all laws proposed by this government necessarily good law?

I agree that this need not be the case. But in every parliamentary democracy, you have the possibility to act through amendments, through dialogue, to change certain aspects of a piece of legislation. If some parties believe, or come to believe in the future, that certain regulations are not aimed at reforms, they have ways to act on this, to improve such legislation. With the proper argumentation, I think a consensus can be reached about a piece of legislation.

In general, are we as a country in a position to regain lost ground on our path to the EU?

Objectively speaking, there has been some progress. I expect and hope that things will continue to move in a positive direction. I hope that the authorities will have the capacity from this moment until the end of the year to show results in fulfilling EU requirements.

How important is the upcoming summit in Vienna for B&H?

The summit is a very specific step, it is an attempt to link the countries of the region in a very concrete way with the communication channels in the EU. This, of course, does not pertain only to transport. This process will last until 2020 and significant funds will be made available. Commissioner Johannes Hahn spoke about a billion Euros in that period. About a hundred million Euros has already been secured in advance of the summit.

Have the B&H authorities done their homework?

The B&H side has determined certain priorities at the ministerial meeting in Pristine. The documentation has been submitted and is currently being evaluated. I hope that we can now move on to the phase of financing projects. The most important thing is that these are projects ready for rapid implementation. Because the available funds cannot wait around to be spent.

What is your view of the document of the Ministry of Security of B&H indicating a link between crime and the authorities?

I have not seen this document, so I cannot comment on it. We view the fight against corruption and organized crime as something extremely important and a top priority. The whole enlargement strategy, not just for B&H, has been revised so that chapters 23 and 24 are the first ones to be opened in the negotiations process. We will be following the actions of the authorities, and the EU is prepared to secure significant funds through IPA and technical assistance programs.

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

Kosovo-Serbia Car Insurance Deal Starts (BIRN)

A long-awaited vehicle insurance deal between Serbia and Kosovo, which is designed to make travel between Kosovo and Serbia much cheaper, started at midnight on Tuesday night.

A long-delayed agreement on car insurance between Serbia and Kosovo has come into effect, which should cut the insurance costs for drivers by roughly half. The deal assumes that drivers of vehicles registered in Kosovo will be now able to cross into Serbia with third-party liability insurance, MTPL. Drivers with Serbian license plates in Kosovo will only need an insurance policy that applies in Serbia. The agreement was first reached by Serbia and Kosovo officials on June 24 but was suspended a month later, just as the implementation was due to start. The agreement, signed between vehicle insurance companies in Serbia and Kosovo, is designed to slash the high cost of driving between the two countries. Previously, drivers of vehicles registered in Kosovo have paid around 120 euros to enter Serbia – plus a daily fee of five euros for a 15-day stay that included the use of temporary license plates. Drivers of cars registered in Serbia meanwhile paid 20 euro for a week of driving in Kosovo. The agreement should roughly halve the amount. Dalibor Jevtic, the ethnic Serbian Minister for Communities and Returns in Kosovo, told Radio Contact Plus in the divided northern Kosovo town of Mitrovica that the agreement on vehicle insurance was a deal in which many people had an interest. He said the agreement will cut the current cost for drivers on both sides and reduce the red tape at crossings. The long-awaited cross-border car agreement was suspended on July 24 with both sides blaming the other for the breakdown. Kosovo officials claimed that Serbia had agreed to grant entry to vehicles from Kosovo with license plates labeled with “RKS”, meaning Republic of Kosovo. But Serbian officials insisted that allowing in RKS license plates potentially meant recognition of Kosovo’s independence, proclaimed in 2008, which Serbia resists. Until now, the problem has been resolved by owners of cars with RKS license plates obtaining temporary plates at border crossings with Serbia, which allow them to drive in Serbia.

The other obstacle to the implementation of the agreement is the status of former Yugoslav license plates which carry Kosovo city initials, “KM” for Kosovska Mitrovica, for example. The Kosovo government said it interpreted the vehicle agreement as meaning that such plates were prohibited on its territory, and announced it would seize any vehicles which have them. Serbian officials said this was unacceptable for Kosovo Serbs and was never agreed as part of the deal.

Belgrade Urges Hunger-Striking Kosovo Serb Leader’s Release (BIRN)

The Serbian government called on the EU to intervene after Kosovo Serb political party leader Oliver Ivanovic, who is on trial for war crimes, was remanded in custody again.

Marko Djuric, the director of the Serbian government’s office for Kosovo, wrote to the EU’s rule-of-law mission EULEX and the UN mission in Kosovo, UNMIK, on Tuesday asking them to take action to secure Ivanovic’s release pending the verdict in his trial. “We beg you to urgently take measures within your jurisdiction and use all formal and informal means that are available to you so that the basic human rights and freedoms of detainees are met and the deterioration of Ivanovic’s health is prevented, but also to avoid political and social destabilization in Kosovo,” Djuric said.

Ivanovic, who is standing a trial for war crimes and ordering the killings of Kosovo Albanians, went on hunger strike on Friday after EULEX decided to extend his custody until October 6. One of his party officials said he had already lost weight and his health had deteriorated. Ivanovic’s son read out a letter from his father at a meeting of support in the Serbian town of Novi Sad on Tuesday evening, in which he vowed to continue his struggle for freedom for himself and on behalf of other Kosovo Serbs. Ivanovic, the leader of the Freedom, Democracy, Justice Party, said in the letter that he is now “not only fighting for my freedom, but for legal safety of all the people who stayed in order to live here (in Kosovo)”. “No single citizen should be subjected to injustice and deprivation of liberty or violation of human rights only because it is politically necessary to someone,” he said.

Serbian ombudsman Sasa Jankovic also wrote a letter to the head of EULEX Gabrielle Meucci on Tuesday, saying he was “concerned over the duration of the detention of Oliver Ivanovic”. The custody extension triggered protests this week in Pristina and in front of the Basic Court in the town of Mitrovica, where he is on trial. But EULEX spokesperson Dragana Nikolic Solomon told media that there are still dozens of witnesses remaining to be questioned at Ivanovic’s trial. Ivanovic was arrested in January 2014 and has been in custody ever since. He is accused of ordering the murder of ethnic Albanians in Mitrovica on April 14, 1999 during the NATO bombing, when he was allegedly the leader of a paramilitary police unit. He is also accused of inciting the killing of ethnic Albanians during unrest that erupted after the war on February 3, 2000, when many Albanians were driven from their homes. Four other defendants, Dragoljub Delibasic, Aleksandar Lazovic, and father and son Ilija and Nebojsa Vujacic, also face charges of murder or attempted murder.

All of them have pleaded not guilty.

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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.