LOCAL PRESS
Kosovo Office director “banned from entering Kosovo” (B92)
Director of the Serbian Government’s Office for Kosovo Marko Djuric has been banned from entering Kosovo. This was announced on Wednesday in the Serb enclave of Gracanica in Kosovo by his deputy Dusan Kozarev. Kozarev underlined that there was “no rational reason to ban Djuric from entering Kosovo and Metohija where he was supposed to attend an event after delivering aid to local farmers.” “There is no reason whatsoever why Djuric should not be in Kosovo, but someone decided that he should not be here with our people,” said Kozarev, stressing that those who made such a decision will realize that it does not show their strength, but rather their weakness and fear. Although he was stopped at the administrative crossing and banned from entering Kosovo and Metohija, Djuric insisted that the aid be distributed to farmers today, said Kozarev. Last Friday, authorities in Pristina said that Djuric had not been permitted to enter Kosovo, but he did so anyway to be able to travel to Kosovska Mitrovica and meet with the defense team of Oliver Ivanovic.
Djuric: Our goal in Brussels is establishment of ZSO (Tanjug)
Director of the Serbian government’s Office for Kosovo and Metohija (KiM) Marko Djuric said Thursday that the representatives of Belgrade in the dialogue with Pristina will go to Brussels next week with an aim to bring about the establishment of the community of Serb municipalities (ZSO) in the southern province. After a meeting with the officials of Serb municipalities in KiM, Djuric said that the Belgrade delegation will try to justify the trust of all citizens of Serbia and bring about the agreement on setting up the ZSO. The ZSO is not aimed against anyone; it is a stability factor and an instrument to bring the communities in KiM together, he stressed. In the meeting on Thursday, the KiM Serbs expressed their support to the government of Serbia and Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic as the head of Belgrade’s negotiating team, and their efforts to achieve the establishment of the ZSO, to improve the economic situation of the local Serbs and give them a chance to run their own political affairs, manage their own property, and have a say on all matters of importance for the life of Serbs in the southern province, Djuric said.
Serbs expect ZSO to be guarantee of stability (Tanjug)
Representatives of Kosovo and Metohija (KiM) Serbs told Tanjug on Wednesday that they expect that the future Community of Serb municipalities (ZSO) will be a guarantee of stability for the Serb community in the province. Dalibor Jevtic, Kosovo minister for communities and return, said that on one side, he expects from ZSO to create possibilities for better organization of Serbs, and on the other to ensure transparency in financing by Belgrade. “I expect that ZSO will be able to provide help to Serbs who live in the municipalities where they do not make up the majority,” Jevtic said.
Gracanica Mayor Vladeta Kostic told Tanjug that ZSO has crucial importance for Serbs in KiM, adding that if this were not the case, it would not be insisted on the ZSO formation for over a year. Vinka Radosavljevic, head of the Pec District, stated that she expects that ZSO will be a guarantee of stability for Serbs in KiM and that its formation will step up security for them. Certain Kosovo media quoted earlier Kosovo Prime Minister Isa Mustafa saying that four agreements between Belgrade and Pristina will be signed in Brussels on August 25, including the agreement on the Community of Serb municipalities.
Meucci: EULEX acts according to law (Tanjug)
EULEX is acting according to the law, Head of the EULEX Mission in Kosovo and Metohija Gabriele Meucci has said following concerns Serbia’s Protector of Citizens Sasa Jankovic voiced over the length of time that Oliver Ivanovic, political leader of the Citizens’ Initiative SDP, has spent in remand custody. In an answer to a letter that Jankovic had sent him to express concerns about the decision of the Basic Court in Kosovska Mitrovica regarding the extended detention of Ivanovic, Meucci said that EULEX, “too, is concerned about Mr. Ivanovic’s decision to start a hunger strike, especially in light of the fact that there are many witnesses remaining to testify in his trial.” “At the same time, we have full trust in the relevant institutions to respect his rights,” Meucci said. The EULEX chief said that decisions could only be taken by independent judges, according to the applicable Criminal Procedure Code in Kosovo.“Having evaluated all the relevant circumstances, including the arguments presented by the parties, the presiding judge found that the grounded suspicion that the defendant committed the criminal offences which he is charged with, as well as the conditions provided for by law concerning the risk of flight and the risk that witnesses might be approached, intimidated and influenced by the defendant, are still satisfied,” Meucci said. Ivanovic is in hospital due to health problems caused by the hunger strike he went on requesting release pending trial. Ivanovic is accused of committing war crimes against the civilian population and incitement to commit aggravated murder of several ethnic Albanians in Kosovska Mitrovica.
Aid delivered to farmers in KiM (Tanjug)
Deputy Director of the Serbian government’s Office for Kosovo and Metohija (KiM) Dusan Kozarev presented on Wednesday in Gracanica, central Kosovo, contracts for 50 aid packages to returnee farmers in the municipalities of Pec, Istok, Klina, Urosevac and Gora. The aid packages in the form of agricultural machinery, provided by the Office for KiM though public procurement totaling around RSD 10 million, is a co-funded project under IPA 2012, a broader project worth EUR 2.4 million. The Office for KiM will continue to support farms in the province, to the extent allowed by Serbia’s finances, in order to ensure that all those who choose to live off their land are able to do so, he said.
Zahir Tanin appointed as new head of UNMIK (Vecernje Novosti)
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appointed Zahir Tanin, Afghanistan’s permanent representative to the United Nations, as new chief of the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK). Belgrade-based Vecernje Novosti cited on its website Pristina-based media outlets reporting in the Albanian language as saying that Tanin would take up his new post, replacing Farid Zarif, on August 31. Besides being a UN General Assembly vice president of three of its sessions, Tanin was also an analyst, producer, and editor at the BBC World Service and a research fellow in International Relations at the London School of Economic and Political Science of the University of London.
Elections at all levels to be held in March 2016 (Vecernje Novosti)
Early parliamentary elections will most likely be held in Serbia in March 2016, the Belgrade-based daily Vecernje Novosti writes on Thursday. “There is a big chance they will be held together with local and provincial (elections). At the moment that is the most likely option and will be discussed by the end of August by top officials of the (ruling) SNS,” the paper said. According to the article, “binding elections together” would allow for PM and SNS leader Aleksandar Vucic‘s popularity to reflect from the state level to Vojvodina and to the local level. Vucic told reporters on Wednesday it was possible that early parliamentary vote would be called for early next year, but added no decision had been made yet. Asked about the reason for calling early elections, he said his political opponents, whom he respects, are “asking for that.”
Cooperation with Russia “won’t have undesired consequences” (Vecernje Novosti)
Bratislav Gasic says the Serbian Army (VS) is ready to respond to any threat and cited “uncontrolled entry of refugees” as currently the greatest risk. “This wave has been put under control, especially when it comes to checking their luggage. Alert has been raised to a higher level and we are readily awaiting all the risks,” the defense minister said in an interview for the daily Vecernje Novosti, and told citizens of Serbia “not to fear refugees from Asia and Africa.” “Our army can respond to all security challenges, regardless of whether this is about Kosovo and Metohija, the Ground Safety Zone, terrorism, or a mass influx of refugees. Moreover, the army has undertaken a number of tasks to arrange refugee camps and reception centers,” said Gasic. Asked whether “EU’s claims are true that an upcoming military exercise with Russia will be a mistake – one that could produce undesired foreign-policy consequences,” the minister said:
“We don’t expect that to happen. We will have as many as 127 joint activities with the U.S. this year. In the past two years we a step forward with Russia of the kind not seen before. We are turned toward all four pillars of Serbia’s foreign policy, but our most important interest is that of our state and our army. We want every partnership, assistance and exchange of experiences, but we are a neutral military force and will remain that way.” Gasic noted there were “promises from Russia” that two Mi-17B5 helicopters will be delivered to the Serbian Air Force by the end of the year and will cost EUR 25.3 million. He also spoke about a plan to start repairing nine MiG-21 jets next year, “so we can have a respectable squadron of fighter aviation by 2015.” “Airbus also wants wider cooperation. This company is interested in modernizing Super Galeb G4s by modernizing the first in Germany, and the remaining eight in the Moma Stanojlovic Institute (in Serbia),” said Gasic. But the minister revealed that Serbia has “for the time being” given up on the idea of buying new warplanes, and will consider buying “only what is necessary without taking out new loans.”
REGIONAL PRESS
Dodik: B&H institutions not interested in Vucic attack case (Glas Srpske)
Milorad Dodik says the Court and the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) are not interested in solving the case of attack Aleksadar Vucic. The Serbian prime minister was assaulted in Potocari on July 11. Dodik, President of the Serb entity in B&H, Republika Srpska (RS), told the Banja Luka daily Glas Srpske that immediately after the attack he said that if the investigation were to be conducted by the authorities of the RS, the motives and the reasons for the attempted assassination of the Serbian prime minister would be revealed – as well as the names of both the perpetrators and the organizers of the attack. “I also said that if the investigation were left in the hands of the B&H authorities, it would come to nothing. That is exactly what happened. There is no interest, will or desire to solve this case. The Court and the Prosecutor’s Office are not, and have never been, the institutions of justice, but rather the institutions of political manipulation,” said Dodik. The B&H Security Minister Dragan Mektic demanded on Tuesday for Director of the Directorate for Coordination of B&H Police Bodies Mirsad Vilic to be relieved of duty, naming him as the person responsible for the omissions that led to the attack on Vucic in Potocari on July 11. The State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) arrested Almir Merdic, Fahir Hadzan, Mujo Dizdarevic, and Elvedin Himzic in connection with the attack, but they were released after questioning.
Interview: Valentin Inzko about the political situation in B&H (Dnevni list)
Dnevni list: Where is Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) going, towards dissolution? You must admit that the current situation does not look good, regardless of some “on-paper” developments on the European road … (adoption of the Reform Agenda, Labour Law…). What is the meaning of the adoption of the Reform Agenda at all when the state is constantly run by people who deny B&H with their every move and would gladly see the country dissolved into three parts?
Valentin Inzko: B&H’s future is crystal clear; it is inside Euro-Atlantic family. This is what the institutions of this country have declared and committed to time and time again. This is the primary foreign policy objective of this country. It is equally clear that the future of this country is reintegration, not disintegration. The sovereignty and territorial integrity of B&H has long been resolved and it is not open for discussion. Full stop. However, what I am concerned about is speed. A sense of urgency is missing. People are not living in the future, but today. Efforts should be focused on the future and not the past. Officials should expend their energy implementing the reform agenda to create new jobs that will keep the talented and hardworking people of this country here. Instead we see energy being wasted on a referendum which violates the Peace Agreement.
Dnevni list: It is a fact that Milorad Dodik, Bakir Izetbegovic and Dragan Covic currently have the main say in B&H politics. This is not really a guarantee for prosperity (my view). Do you agree? I am not saying that it would be better if Radoncic, Komsic… were in government.
Valentin Inzko: It is not for the International Community to choose B&H’s political leaders. The voters have made their choice, but their responsibilities did not end when they walked out of the polling stations. Democracy begins with a ballot, but it does not end there. What we need is for citizens to be more active in ensuring that elected officials meet their obligations. Nobody forced any of the individuals you mentioned to be a political leader. They are not martyrs, they made a free choice to enter politics and now we expect them to meet all of their obligations. This includes fully respecting the Peace Agreement and delivering the reforms they have signed up to and which are necessary to take the country forwards. This is all about them meeting their obligations and delivering concrete results. The spotlight is on them. They know this. We know this. Why? Because the entire country and the International Community know that they call the shots in their respective parties. There is nowhere to run and nowhere to hide from the spotlight. Now is the time for results. But it is obvious that bigger parties bear more responsibility than smaller ones; also those who are in power a longer period than others.
Dnevni list: Specifically, what is the fate of Dodik’s referendum on the Court and Prosecutor’s Office of B&H? Are you going to use the Bonn powers and remove Dodik if he puts his intention into action? What would the holding of the referendum mean for the state? Can you comment on the fact that Izetbegovic is strongly opposed to the referendum while Covic is hardly at all against it. Speaking to the media, he said that Dodik’s referendum could have a positive use…
Valentin Inzko: The proposed referendum represents a direct and serious violation of the Peace Agreement. It is irresponsible and highly damaging that after close to two decades we continue to see such challenges to the Peace Agreement. It would be great if all of this effort was being put into creating jobs for the young people of this country instead. More young people would be staying and building their future here rather than voting with their feet. Sadly that is not yet the case. Let us be crystal clear again. The Dayton Agreement, including the Constitution of B&H, as set forth in Annex 4 of the Dayton Agreement, never intended to limit the existence of state institutions to those explicitly mentioned in the Constitution of B&H, but quite to the opposite, the Constitution explicitly provided for the establishment of additional state institutions. The State judiciary is firmly grounded in the Peace Agreement and the Constitution of this country. The B&H Constitutional Court has ruled that the State Court and the Prosecutor’s Office were established under the Constitution to meet the State’s obligation to carry out state constitutional competencies. Decisions of the B&H Constitutional Court are “final and binding” and need to be fully respected. In addition, parties generally supported the establishment of these judicial institutions, with a few exceptions. That some propose to weaken institutions which have a key role to play in the fight against corruption is deplorable, especially when there is a clear demand from citizens and the International Community to stop corruption in B&H. The question we keep asking and are sure the citizens of this country are asking themselves, regardless of which part of the country they live in and which political party they vote for, is the right one: “Why would a politician want to weaken an institution, in this case at the State level, that has a key role to play in the fight against corruption? Why would a politician possibly want to weaken institutions that have an important role to play in convicting corrupt officials?” Whether you are from the International Community or you are a citizen of this country, you want the same thing, institutions that are being strengthened, not weakened, to convict corrupt officials.
Dnevni list: Dodik wishes to “abolish” you (meaning your function and OHR mission, your comment? You are sometimes criticized that you are too soft towards his rhetoric? Perhaps you are just being good-mannered? Or the PIC is not unanimous when it comes to the “tactics” towards Dodik? It is a fact that Russia and Serbia often stand by him.
Valentin Inzko: My mandate is clearly set out in the Peace Agreement and I can assure the citizens of B&H that the International Community remains as committed to the Peace Agreement as it ever did. Closure of the OHR will be decided by the International Community and not by President Dodik or any other domestic politician. What I can tell you is that those are precisely the actions and rhetoric we have seen from President Dodik over the last nine years that are responsible for the continued presence of the OHR. So, OHR closure? One day yes, but before that we are going to have to see the established conditions met and of course an end to the direct challenges to the Peace Agreement of the kind that we are seeing most recently with the proposed referendum.
Dnevni list: Mr. Hill also commented recently that the SDA, under the leadership of Bakir Izetbegovic, could show more commitment towards a multi-ethnic state in a much more concrete way. Do you agree with this? Is the SDA too much unitarian, as some analysts like to say?
Valentin Inzko: Let me be very frank. Just like every other party, the SDA needs to look long and hard at itself and the results of its rule in those areas where it has won elections over the last twenty years. Are these cities, towns and villages sufficiently multi-ethnic in 2015? I don’t think so. Are they all economically successful? Has the youth stayed, or have they left cities and villages to go abroad? If they are true to the vision then we are going to have to hear in very concrete terms what measures they will implement to increase multi-ethnicity in those communities where they have held the majority. If you are genuinely for multi-ethnicity then you need to do something to improve the results we have on the ground. Everything else represents nice words and empty promises. This is my challenge to the SDA and every other major party in B&H, show us the concrete measures you will take to increase levels of multi-ethnicity in local communities where you govern. What the International Community does not want to hear from any party is what we have all too often heard in the past, and that is how somebody else is to blame. No more excuses, no more blaming, all we want to hear now is concrete proposals and then we want to see concrete results. As a final word on this issue, let me stress the role that the country’s bigger urban areas have to play in rebuilding the multi-ethnic fabric of this country. Sarajevo as the capital city has a particular responsibility in this respect and it will need to set a positive example by taking steps that will significantly increase its multi-ethnicity in the years to come.
Dnevni list: Can you assess the work of the FB&H Government and the Council of Ministers so far? A new coalition in the FB&H has been announced, but it appears to be quite uncertain, and a couple of days ago Covic also announced a reshuffling of the Council of Ministers and continuation of the reshuffling of the FB&H Government. As we can see, not a year has passed since the elections, and the governments are just dealing with reconstruction like some “construction workers”?
Valentin Inzko: Both have shown clear signs that they have serious intentions, but in both cases we need to see the pace of reform being accelerated after the summer recess. I think both the Chairman of the Council of Ministers and the FB&H Prime Minister would agree with this. More reshuffles and changes, really, is that what we need? I thought the idea was we finally saw an accelerated delivery of reforms to kick start the economy and to create much needed jobs. If I had a dollar for every time a politician promised that something was going to be done in the next ten days or two weeks I would be richer than Rockefeller. It is time to stop talking and to start delivering concrete results.
INTERNATIONAL PRESS
Serbia says migrants in Macedonia should go to Bulgaria, Croatia (EurActiv)
Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said that Serbia will not put fences on its border with Macedonia, and that Hungary’s new fence along its border with Serbia would redirect refugees to Croatia and Bulgaria, the Belgrade press reported Wednesday (19 August). “I do not believe that at some moment Serbia will make a decision, like Hungary, to build a wall on its border with Macedonia to prevent the entry of refugees and migrants,” Dacic told the Belgrade daily Danas. Having reached Greece, many migrants head for Macedonia in an attempt to transit to countries in Western Europe. Macedonian authorities say they’re powerless to intervene. Serbia will not put any fences on the border with Macedonia. Refugee passing through Serbia will be redirected to Croatia and Bulgaria.
Should problems arise there as well, considering that neither Croatia nor Bulgaria are members of the Schengen area of passport-free travel, the number of refugees in Serbia is expected to decrease, Dacic said.
Migrants seeking Serbia and EU get help from Macedonia (DM)
Thousands of migrants are crowding the station of Gevgelija in Macedonia, trying to get to across the border to Serbia. Officials want to get rid of the migrants as soon as possible, letting them pass without controls. “These damned terrorists,” a Macedonian policeman swears as he shines his flashlight into a train’s rear carriages to look for hidden migrants. The struggle to board the train begins every morning, when the international express from Thessaloniki to Belgrade crosses the border between Greece and Macedonia and stops in Gevgelija. Two thousand refugees jostle with each other to get onto the train. Only 200 manage to find a place. “Terrorists, who else?” the policeman grumbles. “After all, they’re coming from Syria.” His colleagues are more relaxed. Despite having their riot gear on, most of the officers smoke and chat amiably with each other.
Gevgelija has been the site of some alarming scenes in the past week. Migrants fleeing conflict zones from around the world have reached are jostling to find a place on the trains. Children are passed in and out through windows, depending on whether their parents have found a way in. Some people have used knives to get through the crowd, injuring several others. Last Friday, Macedonian officials began issuing papers that enable migrants to transit the country. The only hitch is that this freedom of movement is good for only 72 hours. Migrants must have either left the country by that point or applied for asylum – something no one wants to receive in Macedonia. Those wanting to get out have only three days to travel the 180 kilometers (110 miles) from the southern border with Greece to Serbia in the north. Mohammed has already used up two of his travel days. The 25-year-old from Pakistan sits at the edge of Gevgelija’s railway platform surrounded by his countrymen. All of them have survived a perilous journey though Iran, Turkey and then, with a smuggler’s boat, to the Greek coast. After all he has experienced, the stay in Gevgelija without a bed or a shower seems like a cakewalk. “Have you never seen Pakistani television,” he asks. “The Taliban attacked a school and killed many children: 8-year-olds, six-year-olds, completely innocent.” The young, small-built man says he won’t fight for a place on the train. The police are helping families with children board, and Mohammed finds that agreeable. “I don’t have a chance here,” he says.
Moving migrants along
People like Mohammed make good customers for Angel Stanojkov. The local taxi driver sits patiently in his yellow automobile, pop music blaring from its speakers. Like all his compatriots in Gevgelija, Stanojkov is waiting for the odd customer who has had his fill of the gloomy railway station and is ready to pay some extra money to get to the north. “We take 100 euros ($110) for four persons wanting to go to Tabanovce,” he says. “This price is realistic, not too much.” Just 2 kilometers from Serbia’s border, Tabanovce is the next halt on the Balkan route, which takes migrants from the mostly non-EU countries in Europe’s southeast to the member states up north and west. “We actually drive them to the official border check post,” Stanojkov says. “But they get out and take unauthorized routes by foot to Serbia.” This strategy has come in handy for Macedonia. The impoverished Balkan nation is unable to cope with the estimated 2,000 migrants who arrive daily via Greece. Macedonia’s migration system has ceased to function. For example, the Gazi Baba migrant camp in the capital, Skopje, was filled with people for months, and its residents were not allowed to leave – or to return if they had. The German migrant rights organization Pro Asyl has described the camp as a “detention center.” It was finally closed at the end of July. Since then, Macedonia has implemented an uncreative but pragmatic strategy. Migrants are shown the way to Serbia and allowed to cross the borders unmonitored. Business is better than before. Gevgelija Mayor Ivan Frangov has come up with some new ideas. Inspired by Hungary, he has proposed a barbed-wire fence between Greece and Macedonia. Frangov told the Serbian news agency Tanjug that migrants made his city dirty and that the EU and that the UN Refugee Agency had left his people in the lurch. Despite the mayor’s assertions, not all of Gevgelija’s residents are unhappy with the influx of migrants. Many are using the opportunity to make quick cash. Vendors have lined the railway platforms with plastic tables, and business is good: a euro buys two bananas, a pack of popcorn or a bottle of water. Travelers can also recharge their mobile phones for a small fee. Naturally, most of the business is illegal, but the police don’t seem bothered. None of the traders would speak with DW’s reporter. Residents of Gevgelija are trying to make sense of the situation. A couple hundred meters away from the train station, in the pedestrian areas and bars, conspiracy theories abound. “Some think that the refugees bring diseases with them or that they want to occupy our lands,” Stanojkov says. The driver himself does not share that opinion, but he does think the situation may have something to do with “international factors.” “It must be the Americans – or maybe even the Europeans,” he says. “The war in Syria did not start on its own.” Mohammed, who came all this way from Pakistan, has no use for such rumors. He is happy with unspoken deal with Macedonian officials have made with migrants, theoretically allowing them to make it to Serbia, and potentially onward to Hungary and the European Union. Mohammed still does not know that Hungarian officials are planning to finish building their border barricade by the end of August. His logic is simple: “Many people flee to Europe … and I’m following them.” For Mohammed, the “real Europe” begins at the place where he hopes to apply for asylum. “If I’m lucky,” he says, “I’ll reach Germany.” Once there, he wants to find a decent job and build a secure future. “If I’m lucky.”
Bosnia and Herzegovina: The Bobar Banka case (Osservatorio balcani e caucaso)
The story of Bobar Banka Bijeljina highlights the possible reasons for the convocation of a referendum in Republika Srpska against the judiciary of Bosnia and Herzegovina
In early summer, when president of Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik announced a referendum to deny the authority of the State Attorney of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the entity controlled by Banja Luka, the public’s attention was still totally absorbed by the aftermath of the Oric case – the former commander of the defense of Srebrenica arrested in Bern and later extradited to Sarajevo.
“The State Attorney of Bosnia and Herzegovina will freeze the charges against Oric”, Dodik had said then, “we have no confidence in these institutions. If the entire population of Republika Srpska believes that the former commander committed crimes against them, then the Attorney of Bosnia and Herzegovina cannot act this way”. Although few now believe the Bosnian-Serb leader’s threats, the announcement could yet have other, much more practical reasons than the search for justice.
On July 28th, the Attorney of Bosnia and Herzegovina filed formal embezzlement charges for 5 million Euros against four officials of Bobar Banka Bijeljina – former directors Petar Cacanovic and Dragan Radumil and their collaborators Mileva Jankovic and Radmila Telebak.
The crack of Bobar Banka and the good friends of the SNSD
The beginning of the end for Bobar was in late September 2014, with the death of owner Gavrilo Bobar, tycoon of the Republika Srpska, member of the National Parliamentary Assembly of the entity, and member of the Central Committee of Milorad Dodik’s Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD). According to an article published in 2003 by Sarajevo weekly Dani, Bobar’s very relationship with Dodik allegedly enabled him to fulfil “the American dream in Bosnia and Herzegovina” and become “the most powerful citizen of Republika Srpska” after the war ended.
A few weeks after the death of its founder, Bobar’s empire started creaking. On November 27th, the news came that the Republika Srpska Banking Authority had decided to put Bobar Banka under the authority of a temporary administrator (Savo Sevaljevic), called to solve its financial problems. The bank allegedly suffered from a severe lack of liquidity, for which the opposition immediately blamed the ruling parties and the SNSD in particular. In some very harsh speeches, MP Dragan Cavic of the NDP argued that the institute was ruined by the generous as well as reckless lending to members of the establishment. According to Cavic’s reconstruction, the bank squandered millions of marks, and the resulting capital shortfalls were written off by forcing public bodies controlled by the SNSD, particularly companies such as Elektroprivreda RS, to deposit their funds to Bobar Banka through illegal procedures of recapitalisation. On December 23rd, the decision that everyone expected: the attempts at recapitalisation had failed and the bank had therefore to be dismissed. The effects were disastrous. Over 40,000 accounts remained frozen for some time, even for small savers. Although small deposits (under 25,000 Euros) were guaranteed, the situation was catastrophic for the aforementioned Elektroprivreda RS (which held 10 million marks in the bank), for the District of Brcko (that had deposited 27), and for the municipalities of Trebinje, that the Bobar Banka had deposited about 5 million marks, equivalent to about a quarter of the national budget.
“Theirs to do as they pleased”
While the opposition attacked the majority, the clearance authorities clammed up in suspicious as well as absolute silence. On January 29th, on BN television, temporary administrator Savo Sevaljevic let out what Dodik’s enemies had argued from the start: “the bank made huge loans” to people close to the government, “on the basis of purely personal considerations”. Those loans had now become “bad debts: these people acted on the basis of the belief that the bank was theirs to do as they pleased”. A few days later (February 6th), Sevaljevic resigned. What was happening to Bobar Banka remained a mystery to the public throughout the spring. In March, Transparency International Bosnia and Herzegovina complained that the Republika Srpska Banking Authority, in violation of the provisions of law, had not yet provided a full report on the situation, a sign – according to the international organisation – “that the authorities are trying to hide something”.
The agency called out the entity institutions on their inactivity several times. In April, it required the Finance and Budget Committee of the National Assembly of RS to set up a meeting of public inquiry for Slavica Injac, director of the entity’s banking authority, who, in addition to not providing information on the status of the liquidation of Bobar Banka, refused to provide documentation proving that the Authority had carried out the necessary checks on the bank before October 2014 and the crack, as she claimed. What is perhaps more serious is that, although it is well established that the bank was at the centre of serious malpractice, there is a jurisdictional dispute between the Attorney in Bijeljina and the RS Special Attorney: none of the two bodies, in fact, is willing to investigate on the case. Bijeljina argues that this is a matter of organised crime, which is outside of its legal powers, and attributes it to the RS Special Attorney – which, however, does not act. On April 21st, Transparency International called on the authorities of Republika Srpska to solve the conflict of jurisdiction, “which is seriously damaging public confidence in the institutions”.
On June 5th, eventually, the Attorney General of Republika Srpska, called to give its opinion on the issue of jurisdiction, referred the matter back to the National Attorney of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The question, then, became the responsibility of Sarajevo. Just over a month later, on July 18th, Milorad Dodik announced a referendum against the very Attorney of Bosnia and Herzegovina. With the first arrests made only ten days later, the coincidence appeared rather strange: “the referendum is a clear attempt to avoid the legal consequences of the Bobar Banka case”, said Dragan Cavic to newspaper Dnevni Avaz, “and to prevent similar investigations on other cracks caused by Dodik’s party, like that of another bank of the entity, Balkan Investment, or the Brod refinery”, victim of one of the many suspicious privatisations of post-war Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Montenegro MPs to Debate NATO Membership (BIRN)
Ruling parties have submitted a resolution to parliament backing NATO membership, drawing criticism from opposition lawmakers and anti-NATO groups. Montenegrin MPs are to debate a pro-NATO motion of the ruling coalition at an extraordinary session in September. The resolution says NATO membership is in the interest not only of the state but of all citizens and is not the exclusive choice of “authorities or any party or [part of] the political or intellectual elite”. The resolution urges the authorities to intensify their activities to ensure “the quality and the full realization of the integration agenda.”Full membership in NATO is a strategic goal of Montenegro and it represents a historical chance to provide country, citizens and future generations with a safe and respectable place in the family of developed democratic nations,” the document reads. Security analyst Alexander Dedovic said that the debate in parliament will test the level of support for membership among Montenegrin lawmakers and show whether two-thirds of MPs support the idea. “The public debate will finally move from the parks, the streets and from cafes, to the place where all democratic states decide on important issues,” he told BIRN on Wednesday. Opposition and anti-NATO organizations criticized the announced parliamentary vote on the importance of NATO membership. Opposition leader Modrag Lekic said discussing a parliamentary declaration about “the progress of Montenegro towards NATO” at a time of the deep economic, political, corruptional and institutional chaos was a theatrical play put on for the public. “The intention of the directors of this theatre play is clear – creating new divisions in Montenegro, while trying to change the focus from the difficult condition of the country,” Lekic said. The Montenegrin authorities are pinning their hopes on formally receiving an invitation to join the alliance by the end of the year. During several visits to Montenegro this year, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg reiterated that a decision on whether the country is ready to join NATO will be reached by the end of 2015. A recent poll suggested Montenegrins are almost equally divided between supporters and opponents of NATO integration, with 36.3 per cent saying they were in favor, 37.3 per cent against and 26.1 per cent unsure.
