LOCAL PRESS

UNMIK maid to measure the Brussels Agreement (Danas)

The main theme of the briefing on UNMIK at the Security Council on 21st of August will be the reorganization and reduction of the UN mission in Kosovo. Format of the UNMIK should be adjusted in accordance with the results of the Brussels agreement on the normalization of relations between Belgrade and Pristina, political analyst Dusan Janjic told Danas daily. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Serbia has confirmed to Danas, that the Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic will be attending the meeting in New York. According to Janjic, the representatives of UNMIK and Pristina will also attend the meeting. Administrative control of the protectorate in Kosovo was granted to UNMIK in accordance with the Resolution 1244, with the consent of Belgrade in 1999, under which the Pristina unilaterally declared independence in 2008. The UNMIK has an office in New York, representative office in Kosovo and the office for the community support. This mission has already been reduced when the Government of Serbia together with Mirko Cvetkovic accepted the deployment of EULEX in Kosovo in late 2008, which was condition with the negotiations about “six-point” that are essential for the survival of Serbs in Kosovo, which never happened. Pristina has repeatedly asked the Security Council to abolish the UNMIK. “UNMIK as the name cannot be abolished until the new resolution on Kosovo is brought at the Security Council, but it can reduce and adapt to the situation. The size of the mission and the issue of the UN’s special representative to Kosovo are going to be reexamined. Each Serb municipality has the community council, which will no longer be required, because with the implementation of the Brussels Agreement, they would all pass into the Kosovo system of local government” says Janjic. He points out that after the reorganization of UNMIK the status of KFOR remains to be resolved, which is by composition NATO, but formally a UN mission. According to Janjic there are two solutions for this – to extend the existing mimicry or, in accordance with the Constitution of Kosovo, have the NATO international military presence in Kosovo. “This second solution is not possible without the consultations at the UN Security Council and the agreement with Russia, although there is an agreement between Belgrade, Pristina and the EU on the reorganization of the Kosovo Security Force in to the Kosovo army and disbanding of the Serbian Civil Defence” says Janjic. He believes that the results of “the briefing” in New York that is to be held 21st of  August are going to be important for the continuation of the political dialogue between Serbia and Kosovo Prime Ministers Aleksandar Vucic and Isa Mustafa, which should be attended by their foreign ministers Ivica Dacic and Hashim Thaci 25th of August. Two days after the negotiations between Vucic and Mustafa, at which they are expected to sign several agreements – on telecommunications, energy, Community of Serb municipalities and some kind of new principles for the further “normalization of relations” the Vienna conference, which would be attended by the German Chancellor Angela Merkel will be held. At the conference, the key regional projects should be agreed in which the EU, as active members sees the Western Balkan countries and Turkey.

Kocijancic: Serbian-Russian joint exercise would be a mistake (Tanjug)

A Serbian-Russian joint military exercise would send a wrong signal under the current circumstances, as Brussels expects Belgrade to act in line with its EU commitments and its accession process, European Commission spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic said Tuesday. According to the news portal EurActiv, the Russian press reports indicate that Belgrade and Moscow will conduct a joint military exercise named Slavonic Brotherhood later this year in Russia.

“Under the current circumstances, such a joint military exercise would send the wrong signal. We expect Serbia to act in line with its EU commitments and its accession process,” the portal quotes Kocijancic as saying. The Belarusian troops will also take part in the exercise, the reports say.

Ministry: Acting according to Serbian neutrality (RTS)

The Serbian Defense Ministry released an Aug. 18 a statement that it was leading a policy according to the country’s declared military neutrality and that for the purpose of advancement and qualitative development of relations in the area of defense, it gave equal attention to all countries and international organizations, including the armed forces of the Russian Federation. “Where activities with the Russian Federation’s Armed Forces are concerned the Ministry of Defense pays it equal attention as to all other key partners, yet at this moment, this is not even close to the level that we have achieved with other partners,” reads the statement.

Dacic: Serbia will build neither border walls, nor migrant camps (Danas)

Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic says Serbia will not build a wall along the border with Macedonia to stem the tide of migrants crossing into the country. Serbia will also not build migrant camps on its territory, he told the Belgrade-based daily Danas. According to Dacic, the flow of migrants from the Middle East on their way to Hungary will “redirect to Croatia and Bulgaria.” “I don’t believe that Serbia will make a decision to, at some moment, like Hungary (on the border with Serbia) build a wall on the border with Macedonia in order to prevent the entry of refugees and migrants to our country,” he told the paper.  Asked “how Serbia will behave and what measures it will take if the Hungarian wall leads to refugees and migrants, who are trying to reach the EU via Serbia, staying longer here,” Dacic said that this will “not occur,” as migrants “know where they can go and pass through in order to reach their desired destination.”  “Consequentially that means that Serbia will not have to build migrant camps, because an increase in their number is not expected once the border with Hungary has finally been closed,” Dacic said, and added that refugees “will head toward Croatia and Bulgaria” because of the wall.

PM: Reception center for migrants to be built in Belgrade (Tanjug)

Aleksandar Vucic on Wednesday spoke with migrants in a park near Belgrade’s main bus station and told them Serbia would “do everything so they feel better.” The migrants in question come from Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, and are passing through Serbia in a bid to reach EU countries. The Serbian prime minister spoke with the migrants today, asking about their needs, and telling them: “We will do everything for you, so you are safe like in your own house, and you’re always welcome in our country.” Tanjug is reporting that Vucic “asked the migrants if everything was alright, and they responded affirmatively.” He said that Serbia “offered hospitality and warmth to migrants from Syria and Afghanistan that they had not encountered anywhere else” – and added, “bearing in mind that cold days are coming, a temporary reception center will be built for them – most likely behind the Nacional Hotel, near the highway.” “When people speak about refugees from Syria and Afghanistan they speak (about them) as a great problem. We welcomed them in Serbia. We know how our people suffered 20 years ago. I am proud that Serbia is their best refuge and the safest place, on their way to the EU,” said the prime minister. He added that “Serbia will help as much as possible” and stressed that state institutions have acted “in an organized and good manner on the issue of refugees.” Vucic thanked also those citizens and organizations who helped them, and noted, “we wish them all to find their happiness.” Red Cross crews that accompanied the prime minister today distributed packages to the migrants containing baby diapers, fruit and fruit juices, while Vucic inquired what other needs they had, and announced that more blankets will be provided in the park, along with portable toilets. Vucic was today accompanied also by Labor Minister Aleksandar Vulin, Interior Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic, and Belgrade Mayor Sinisa Mali. Parks near Belgrade’s main railway and bus stations are one of the stops for the migrants on their way toward a better life. Between 500 and 700 people are found each day in these parks.  Since January 1, 2015, 90,000 migrants have passed through Serbia, with about 2,000 entering the country each day. A majority also leave “right away,” the Interior Ministry (MUP) announced several days ago.

EU: Cyrillic issue in Vukovar not in our competence (Tanjug)

The protection of minorities is an important value for the EU, but the European Commission does not have a general legal competence in relation to minorities Instead, it is under the competence of EU member states to deliver decisions on minorities, Tove Ernst from the European Commission’s press office said on Tuesday, according to Tanjug. “The protection of minorities is a principle that is explicitly mentioned in the Treaty on EU. The EU Charter of Fundamental Rights forbids discrimination based on national or ethnic origin. However, the Commission does not have a general legal competence in relation to minorities, especially in relation to the recognition of their status, their self-determination and autonomy, or the use of regional or minority languages,” Ernst told Tanjug.  The spokesperson was responding to the question addressed to the European Commission seeking a comment on the scrapping of the use of Serbian Cyrillic in Vukovar, a town in eastern Croatia, which is home to a considerable number of Serbs.  According to Ernst, member states kept the general competences when making decisions on minorities, and provisions of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights relate to EU member states only when the EU laws are applied.

Vucic: I will not allow anyone to humiliate Serbia (Tanjug)

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic has said on Wednesday, in reply to an EU representative’s statement that the bloc does not have a general legal competence in relation to the scrapping of bilingualism in Vukovar, that Serbia is firmly committed to EU integration, but that he will not allow anyone to humiliate our country. “When it comes to Serbia, they voiced their stance on much less important issues and gave long lectures. As far as the fundamental values of the EU are concerned, for which we all advocate- democracy, freedom, human and minority rights, now they do not have a reaction to their member state (Croatia), but they interfere in something that has nothing to do with fundamental values in the country that is yet to become an EU member state,” Vucic told reporters during his visit to migrants in the park near Belgrade’s main train station.

“Just imagine we abolished the Latin script in Belgrade and Subotica – that would be a scandal of global proportions,” Vucic said, adding that the fight for rights of Serbs will be continued.

“We will never deny rights to any other people in our country. You can use the Latin, Cyrillic script; in Serbia you can do that freely, this is a free and open country,” he concluded.

Highway to Albania important for regional interconnection (Tanjug)

The construction of Nis-Pristina-Durres highway will be one of the most important projects presented in the Western Balkans Summit in Vienna on August 27, as it is envisaged to link Corridors 10 and 8, and interconnect the region, the Serbian Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure told Tanjug on Wednesday. State Secretary Dejan Trifunovic said that Serbia is ready for the forthcoming Viennese summit, which will be held as part of the Berlin Process, and added that the highway construction project could be launched in 2017. “One of the projects in focus will be the Nis-Pristina-Durres highway. The three interested parties in this project are Serbia, Albania and the EU, and the total length of the highway is 384 km,” said Trifunovic, noting that the project implementation is based on close regional cooperation and defines a clear framework for the next four years. Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said earlier that the government is ready to allocate EUR 350 million for the construction of the Serbian stretch of the highway, the cost of which is estimated at EUR 600-650 million, and that it will apply for the remaining funds of around EUR 300 million from the EU.

REGIONAL PRESS

Investigation into attack on Vucic too slow (Srna)

The Chairman of the Republika Srpska (RS) Parliament’s Security Committee, Milanko Mihajlica, said that the investigation into the attack on Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic in Potocari is too slow, for which certain political circles, judicial institutions and police agencies at the Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) level are to blame. “The RS Parliament’s Committee has not received from B&H institutions a single piece of information on the attack on Vucic. It is obvious that the relevant institutions did not do their part of the job,” Mihajlica told Srna. He said that the Security Committee will continue to insist that the investigation be completed. “The Committee will review this issue at the next session. Nothing was good in the investigation, which can have far-reaching consequences for the overall relations in B&H and the region,” Mihajlica said. Meanwhile B&H Security Minister Dragan Mektic has requested the dismissal of the head of the Directorate for Coordination of Police Bodies Mirsad Vilic. Zika Krunic, Chairman of Independent Board of B&H Parliamentary Assembly, confirmed this information to the reporters in Sarajevo. Krunic said that they received request, and that Independent Board will discuss it next Monday. Minister told Klix website that he requests the dismissal because of the omissions made by Directorate during the commemoration in Srebrenica on July 11, when Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic was attacked.

Vukovar Serbs to complain against new town statute (HINA)

The Serb Ethnic Minority Council of Vukovar will most probably on Wednesday submit a complaint to the Public Administration Ministry regarding the latest amendments to the Vukovar City Council, a former president of the Council and now its member, Djordje Macut, confirmed to Hina on Tuesday. The Vukovar City Council on Monday adopted amendments to the city statute, which it was obliged to do under a ruling of the Constitutional Court which in August last year instructed it to determine, within one year, in which city neighborhoods bilingual signs can be put. The amended statute, however, does not envisage bilingual signs on local institutions or in the city’s streets and squares. Macut believes that the new statute is contrary to the Constitutional Law on the Rights of Ethnic Minorities which guarantees minorities who make up more than a third of the population in their respective communities the right to their own language and script, and he is also confident that the Vukovar City Council did not respect the Constitutional Court’s ruling.

“The new statute envisages fewer rights for the Serb minority than the statute from 2009, and its provision which allegedly enables the expansion of those rights is senseless because a possible expansion of rights would be decided on in October by the same people who have restricted them now,” said Macut. He explained that the 2009 statute made it possible for local Serbs to obtain documents issued by city institutions in the Serb language and in the Cyrillic script. To exercise that right now, they will have to submit a request in writing and pay an administrative fee. Macut said that the Serb Ethnic Minority Council had been willing to agree that some city neighborhoods be exempt from bilingual signs but that Mayor Ivan Penava did not want to cooperate with them. Under the Constitutional Law on the Rights of Ethnic Minorities, if an ethnic minority council believes that the local statute or some of its provisions are contrary to the Constitution or a constitutional or some other law regulating minority rights, it is obliged to inform the Public Administration Ministry about it without delay. If the ministry, too, concludes that the document in question is contrary to the Constitution or some other law, it shall stop its application within a period of eight days for a period of 30 days and send the government its decision and proposal to launch a procedure to establish if the document is in compliance with the Constitution. The government then has 30 days to launch the relevant procedure before the Constitutional Court, which does not have to observe any specific deadline to make its decision. There has been no information yet on how the government will react to the complaint by the Serb Ethnic Minority Council and Public administration Minister Arsen Bauk said on his Facebook profile on Monday that he could not comment on the latest amendments to the Vukovar City Statute. Pedja Grbin, the Social Democrat chair of the parliamentary Committee on the Constitution, too, told Hina that he would not want to prejudge a possible decision of the Constitutional Court on the Vukovar city statute, but that he believed that it would be in line with decisions the court had made before regarding the right of ethnic minorities to use their own languages and scripts. The Constitutional Court last August prevented the holding of a referendum proposed by the Initiative for a Croatian Vukovar, describing as contrary to the Constitution the referendum question under which citizens would be able to decide on amending the Constitutional Law on the Rights of Ethnic Minorities so as to grant the right to bilingualism to those minorities that make up more than half the population in their communities instead of one-third of the population as is now the case.

The Constitutional Court at the time obliged the Vukovar City Council to define within a period of one year in which city neighborhoods bilingual signs would be put and on the same day invalidated a decision whereby in 2013 the City Council decided that Vukovar, as a place of special Homeland War remembrance, would be entirely exempt from the application of the right to bilingualism “until conditions from Article 8 of the Constitutional Law on the Rights of Ethnic Minorities are met.”

That article says that the said law is to be interpreted and applied in such a way to ensure respect for ethnic minorities and the Croat people and to help promote understanding, solidarity, tolerance and dialogue among them. The Constitutional Court, however, accepted the government’s explanation that the said provision of the constitutional law was adopted with the purpose of promoting diversity and tolerance which, it said, were promoted by applying the Constitutional Law on the Rights of Ethnic Minorities and any other interpretation would be contrary to the Framework Convention on the Protection of National Minorities. According to unofficial information from the government, the Public Administration Ministry’s position on the Vukovar City Statute would depend on the report of the Serb Ethnic Minority Council, which must specify the provisions of the statute which it considers to be unconstitutional. Considering the content of the amendments to the city statute, the Public Administration Ministry will most likely temporarily suspend the statute and leave the final decision to the Constitutional Court. As regards Cyrillic signs in Vukovar, according to unofficial information, the government has the possibility to directly enforce laws, bypassing the city statute, but the question is how much that would be in line with the ruling of the Constitutional Court instructing the government to propose to the parliament, within a period of one year, amendments to the Law on the Use of Languages and Scripts of Ethnic Minorities, including mechanisms for cases when local self-government bodies obstruct the right to bilingualism. Before its summer recess, the government submitted to parliament two bills enabling the dissolution of such local self-government bodies and the appointment of commissioners to ensure the application of bilingualism. The bills were submitted for discussion under fast-track procedure, but the parliament decided to discuss them in two readings and the entire process was postponed for the autumn. In its referendum decision, the Constitutional Court banned state bodies to forcibly apply the Law on the Use of Languages and Scripts of Ethnic Minorities in Vukovar until the requested legal changes were made, and government officials fear that direct application of the law could be interpreted as a forcible measure and disrespect for the Constitutional Court ruling. Along with the Serb Ethnic Minority Council of Vukovar, also dissatisfied with the amendments to the Vukovar City Statute is the Serb National Council (SNV), whose leaders on Monday described them as unconstitutional and unlawful and said that they would notify the relevant institutions in Croatia, as well as the EU, the Council of Europe and the UN. The SNV is confident that the new statute is contrary to a number of international documents, including the country’s EU accession treaty, the Convention of the Rights of National Minorities and the Erdut Agreement. The amendments to the Vukovar City Statute have also been condemned by the Council for Ethnic Minorities, which believes that the Vukovar City Council has prevented the Serbs in Vukovar from exercising their rights guaranteed by the constitution and other laws.

The Council said it supported full application of the Constitutional Law on the Rights of Ethnic Minorities and the Law on the Use of Minority Languages and Scripts and warned that minority rights must not depend on daily politics.

Police report decline in illegal migrants entering Croatia from Serbia (HINA)

Even though neighboring Serbia and Europe on the whole are faced with a large-scale influx of illegal migrants, the Croatian Interior Ministry has recorded a drop in the number of illegal entries from Serbia, the Croatian police directorate reported on Tuesday. In the first seven months of last year, 516 illegal entries into Croatia from Serbia were recorded, while this year that number was 118 which is a drop of 77%. The directorate underscored that a possible inflow of migrants through Croatia depends on developments in Hungary and Serbia, adding that the Croatian police are taking all the necessary steps to react on time. The police are monitoring the global situation and analyzing any possible implications and are prepared for any possible threats so as to redirect human and technical resources, if necessary, according to the police statement. Supervision of the European Union’s external borders has been intensified with maximum police efforts to protect the state border, particularly along possible transit routes used for illegal crossings and smuggling.

“We are using technical equipment and measures to the maximum to protect the state border aimed at preserving security in EU member states. We plan to implement joint activities with other agencies and services, primarily mobile customs units to prevent any form of cross-border crime and other illegal activities on those routes that lead from the border to Croatia’s interior,” the directorate said. Migrants from the Middle East and northern Africa are trying to reach a group of European countries between which border controls have been abolished under the Schengen Agreement, and they are travelling from the south of the European continent towards the west and north. Thus, they are passing through Serbia in a bid to enter Hungary, Austria, Germany and Scandinavian countries. Under the Schengen agreement, travelling from one Schengen country to another is possible without any passport and immigration controls or any other formalities previously required. However, the Schengen Area and the European Union are two completely different zones which should not be misinterpreted. Croatia, the EU newcomer, has not yet been admitted to the Schengen Area.

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

Political Propaganda on TV Prva: Superminister Vučić’s Sisyphean Day (Balkanist)

Introducing the television show “A Day with the Prime Minister” on TV Prva, about the “average working day” of Serbian premier Aleksandar Vucic, in which the country’s superman leader solves all of Serbia’s problems.

Serbia has achieved yet another unbelievable feat: it’s thought up the newest TV format — something between a reality show, a TV sales pitch, a movie trailer, and an educational documentary program. This worldwide breakthrough was made by TV Prva’s ten-minute show, “A Day with the Prime Minister,” broadcast on Saturday and Sunday immediately before the channel’s main news program at 6 o’clock (at the same time as the popular quiz show “The Puzzle” on RTS).

Unlike “The Puzzle,” this pompously announced “exclusive” show has only one contestant: it follows one day (a working day, as if there was any other kind) in the life of Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic. There are meetings — “one, two, three… twelve” counts a journalist. A series of meetings is filmed, and like DVD extras, a series of remarks from a famous actor:

“Weber made the distinction between people who live in politics and people who live for politics, and it’s normal to live both in it and for it in the modern age, but it’s important that you live for it,” said the Prime Minister of his dedication to his job. It is indeed a masterful explanation of his motivation, like the woman on the TV shopping network who explains that she bought the sneakers she is advertising because she “had to run around a horse.” If it’s true, as a journalist insisted, that “A Day with the Prime Minister” on TV Prva is about a “usual working day,” one has to wonder whether TV Prva, using national channels, is trying to say that the Prime Minister really solves every problem in Serbia every single day. On the day when their cameras happened to end up in the Serbian government building, the Prime Minister solved the problems of drought, migrants, procurement of helicopters, the “tension” between Air Serbia and the Belgrade Airport, the national lottery, and trucks that can’t cross administrative boundaries to Kosovo. He also hosted two foreign ambassadors and had a few more meetings and a government session. And those are only the pre-scheduled meetings. We aren’t counting the random encounters in the hallway. However, we did learn a few interesting things from the show “A Day with the Prime Minister.” First, that one day with the prime minister lasts, in fact, two days: on Saturday, “A Day with the Prime Minister” premieres, and on Sunday, “A Day with the Prime Minister” is on again. Second, we were convinced (whereas up to now we had only speculated) that the ministers in the Serbian government are completely dependent and unable to finish any task if they haven’t seen Aleksandar Vucic that day. So in fact, Economy Minister Zeljko Sertic solves economic problems, and Minister of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Policy Aleksandar Vulin implements them (we’ve always wondered what the secret of his success was) when he doesn’t know what to do with the wave of refugees who are crossing Serbia. When the Prime Minister isn’t in the room, a minister — as we saw with the example of Minister Sertic and his meeting with the presidents of the chambers of commerce of Serbia and Kosovo — can only casually chat with others in the room while they wait for the Prime Minister to return. In some instances, the presence of our competent minister is not required (especially when filming for TV), but Vucic best deals with the transport problem of relations between Air Serbia and the Belgrade Airport without the Minister of Transport, Zorana Mihajlovic. The senior ministers, like Ivica Dacic, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, don’t try to interfere with Vučić doing his job — Dacic doesn’t even go to meetings with foreign ambassadors. He’s so relaxed that he arrives late to a government session. However, the Prime Minister mildly reproaches him because when will the ministers hear what they did today, if they don’t see Vucic? But he doesn’t have time for ministers who are late because there is much work to be done. Since even for a journalist of TV Prva it was impossible to not notice that the Prime Minister, as the people would say, is leaping up out of the iron and the oven, this phenomenon was explained for the camera by the head of the prime minister’s cabinet, Ivica Kojic: “The Prime Minister is the captain of a team in which he must exert control over each individual sector.” More ambitious lower-ranking officials, judging by the show “A Day with the Prime Minister,” have realized this great political truth — that the most important thing is to see Vucic at least once a day, so they try to eye him in passing, in the hallway, as did Smederevo mayor Jasna Avramovic. During the opening ceremony of something, Vucic, almost in a whisper, asks the director of the airport, “How much are you going to pay us…?” and the director responds, “As much as is needed.” These are, it seems, the most fruitful moments in the life of a Serbian politician, when you can surprise Vucic with the good news that some factory will employ “even more” workers than was envisioned. Some jobs were lost and we didn’t notice, but it’s OK, we’ve found them. And even better if you have the opportunity to call Vucic “boss.” Because only political illiterates could think that the mayors of Smederevo are in charge of their own constituents. For this, adviser to the Prime Minister Aleksa Jokic praised Mayor Avramovic: “The woman is very active, Smederevo is a city that is quickly developing, and help is needed to speed up the procedures with foreign investors.” Following the prime minister’s visit to the Belgrade Airport, we witnessed the truism that the best business is done in a whisper. During the opening ceremony of something, Vucic, almost in a whisper, asks the director of the airport, “How much are you going to pay us…?” and the director responds, “As much as is needed.” That’s how you speak with the prime minister: “How much money did the Belgrade Airport make last year?” “As much as You need.” There’s that precise and transparent calculation. Otherwise, you may have noticed, the Prime Minister addresses the director of transport with the informal “you,” and the director addresses the Prime Minister with the formal “You,” and it’s all normal. Why was this necessary for TV Prva? Although we saw all sorts of interesting things, “A Day with the Prime Minister” can by no means be called an educational program in the public interest — nothing was filmed that the agency should rush to record and report to the world. A much more informative program would have been “A Day with a Pensioner.” We don’t doubt that this show will even more watched than the reality show “The Maldives,” but we didn’t see any advertising before, during, or immediately after the show. Commercial reasons can thus be excluded too. It is pure political propaganda, and it’s prohibited outside of election campaigns. It’s true that upcoming elections are being discussed, but campaigning hasn’t officially started. State agencies can advertise in electronic media, but the law on advertising expressly prohibits using any image of any politician or government official. No, this isn’t paid political advertising, and that makes it even more dangerous. TV Prva hasn’t broken any law because this mess can always be classified as an informative program, but it’s not. And it’s not a commercial. So we can only guess as to who is involved, for what, and for how much. “A Day with the Prime Minister” ends with a scene in which the Prime Minister, for the first time by himself but with a briefcase in hand, wearily walks down the hallway of the Serbian government building. “The prime minister is going home for a bit because at night he has to have dinner with foreign diplomats,” a journalist explains. “Poor thing,” say the viewers, surely through tears, in front of their small screens, who are ready to secretly foot the bill for that diplomatic dinner and everything else that the Prime Minister proposes.

Vote to Scrap Cyrillic in Vukovar Angers Serbia (BIRN)

Serbia has strongly protested over the decision of the Croatian town of Vukovar to change the town statute and scrap controversial bilingual signs, written in Latin and Serbian Cyrillic.

Serbia has protested after Vukovar town council on Monday said that signs in Cyrillic, the script of the Serbian minority in Croatia, will no longer be displayed on town institutions, squares and streets. The receipt of any official note in Cyrillic in Vukovar will also now require a special request and payment of a fee of three euros. The changes were adopted on the initiative of the Croatian Democratic Union, HDZ, the leading party in Vukovar. Serbian political representatives and the councillors of the Social Democratic Party, the strongest party in the national government, opposed the decision. Serbia’s government on Monday said the changes violated equal rights on language and script and thereby the fundamental human and minority rights of Serbs.

“Serbia is warning Croatia of its duty to honour its international obligations. We demand an urgent response of the Croatian state bodies to the decision of the Vukovar authorities, whose top officials, in the year celebrating 70 years of the victory over fascism, have become known to a wider public by singing Ustasa (fascist) songs,” the Serbian Foreign Ministry stated on Monday. Some Croatian media outlets last week published a video showing two senior Vukovar officials, Marijan Pavlicek and Igor Gavric, singing World War 2 Fascist songs at a wedding. Pavlicek was a known opponent of the bilingual signs in Vukovar who has blamed Serbian representatives in Vukovar for the lack of coexistence in the town, adding that Serbian politicians in Croatia act on orders from Belgrade.

Vukovar Mayor Ivan Penava, from the HDZ, rejected the allegations of human rights violations.

He said the amendments to the town’s statute “provided maximum rights to the members of the Serbian national minority in Vukovar, taking into account the facts of life and the factual circumstances in the town”. Croatian police have clashed with Croatian war veterans from Vukovar on numerous occasions in last two years over the issue of bilingual signs in the town, which in 1991 was besieged and conquered by the Yugoslav People’s Army and Serbian paramilitaries. An infamous massacre occurred after the Serbian takeover. In August 2014, the Croatian Constitutional Court obliged Vukovar local authorities to define the individual rights of national minorities to use their language and script in the city. Dejan Drakulic, a Serbian representative on the Vukovar assembly, on Monday called the changes to the statue “disastrous for democracy. “Our rights were diminished by this decision,” Drakulic said, adding that the Serbian minority in Vukovar was considering asking the government to overrule the decision. Anti-fascist activists in Croatia also condemned the amendment of the Vukovar Statute. “The decision of the Vukovar’s City Council is immoral and a source of new hatred, which certainly should be condemned,” media cited a statement of the Union of Anti-Fascist Fighters and Anti-Fascists of the Republic of Croatia on Tuesday. Minority rights laws in Croatia entitle any minority that numbers over a third of the local population to public use of their language and script. According to 2011 national census in Croatia, just over 34 per cent of the population of Vukovar declared themselves as Serbs.

Vujanovic: The countries of former Yugoslavia should be one state, except …(Albeu)

The Vienna summit of Western Balkans, to be held in late August, is very important, because of its political value and economic one, said in an exclusive interview to “Anadolu Agency”, Filip Vujanovic, President of Montenegro. He recalled that three years ago when the Brdo Brijuni process was constituted, Croatia and Slovenia as members of the European Union, after the breakup of the former Yugoslavia, promoted the Western Balkan countries in political and economic terms to enable acceleration of the process of European integration, but also to get more funds through the Commission and its funds, banks and Member States, to connect more strongly with countries of the region and ensure the implementation of regional projects. “After the summit in Slovenia the Berlin summit took place where regional cooperation was encouraged, in particular, good neighborly relations, as very important of accelerating the European integration. This is important. We got a message from Berlin, the more we cooperate, the closer we are, because this significantly depends on the process of European integration. On the other hand, we want to focus on the priority projects”, said Vujanovic. Western Balkan countries need to focus on economic reform to improve their chances of joining the EU, Vujanovic said. “We need joint projects to develop our economies,” he said. “The biggest problem is that our highways are not in good condition. Our priority is to build the Adriatic–Ionian motorway to connect almost all the countries in the region to Europe.” According to Vujanovic, the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline Project is also a priority for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro and Slovenia, who consume up to 10 billion cubic meters of gas a year. “Bonding those countries with Trans-Adriatic Pipeline Project (TAP) is very important,” Vujanovic said. “Implementing this project will realize a major energy investment.”

He believes that NATO entry for his country, but also Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, would be a good think.  When it comes to border issues, in the opinion of the President of Montenegro, he recalled that the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia took place on the issues of borders and territories, and the Hague Conference, which did not succeed, proposed that each country should be independent. “It was an excellent suggestion of Alija Izetbegovic and Kiro Gligorov, that the remaining countries, except Slovenia and Croatia, should try to keep a union confederation. The whole dispute was essentially a dispute over territory. We know that the problem was over Bosnia”, he said.