LOCAL PRESS

Egypt supports Belgrade in UNESCO (Politika)

On the margins of the UN General Assembly in New York, Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic discussed the refugee crisis and Serbia’s efforts to prevent Kosovo from becoming a UNESCO member with President of Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. Nikolic said that the refugee crisis is a big test for Europe and its fundamental values. He pointed out that Serbia will continue to treat migrants responsibly and in a civilized way. President el-Sisi said that the crisis will not be resolved until the clashes in the Middle East end, primarily in Syria and Iraq. Nikolic presented to el-Sisi the arguments Serbia wants to use to prevent Pristina’s initiative to be admitted to UNESCO, the Serbian President’s press service stated. El-Sisi made a promise that, in the spirit of Egypt’s traditional friendship with Serbia, he will have great understanding for Serbia’s stances. Egypt is one of the 26 members of the UNESCO Executive Board that do not recognize Kosovo, as opposed to 32 members that recognize it. A total of 58 members of this body will vote on Kosovo’s accession at the session in Paris from 7 to 22 October.

Dacic: Pristina’s candidacy hindering Brussels dialogue (Politika)

At the UN summit in New York, on the margins of the General Assembly, Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic has presented the stand that the Kosovo candidacy for UNESCO prior to discussing the cultural heritage between Belgrade and Pristina representatives in Brussels is counterproductive. “Placing this topic on the agenda (of the UNESCO Executive Board) before we discuss it in the dialogue that is conducted in Brussels would represent further difficulty in our dialogue,” said Dacic. Serbia will include the issues of the status of the Serbian Orthodox Church, as well as the Serbian cultural heritage and property in Kosovo and Metohija among the topics for the continuation of the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue. That is one of the reasons over which the Head of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Marko Djuric went on a two-day visit to Brussels.

Belgrade-Pristina technical negotiations continue (Danas)

The Head of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Marko Djuric talked in Brussels yesterday with EU officials about the resumption of the political dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina and the implementation of the hitherto reached Brussels agreement. As announced, Djuric was supposed to request for the political negotiations at the level of two prime ministers to continue as soon as possible and to nominate the topics for the resumption of the dialogue – the status and property of the Serbian Orthodox Church, the issue of general property in Kosovo and Metohija and the opening of the Belgrade-Pristina airline. Djuric is supposed to meet today with the ambassadors of several EU member states in Brussels in order to acquaint them with the Brussels dialogue and the current situation in Kosovo and Metohija. At the technical level, Belgrade and Pristina discussed yesterday and continue to discuss today freedom of movement, especially license plates that have become again a problem after the agreement on vehicle insurance entered into force, as well mutual recognition of university diplomas, cadaster books and the work of the liaison offices.

ZSO will be formed on time (Tanjug)

The Community of Serb Municipalities (ZSO) in Kosovo and Metohija will be established within the agreed time frame and in keeping with the Brussels agreement, the participants of a panel discussion on the normalization of Belgrade-Pristina relations held in Brussels late on Monday said. Marko Djuric, the Head of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, said that, despite many disagreements with the head of the Pristina negotiating team Edita Tahiri, he is confident that the ZSO will be established as agreed and that the Kosovo government will soon issue a decree that would enable this. Tahiri said it is important to meet all provisions of the Brussels agreement, adding that the day when the ZSO is formed will be the day when all “parallel structures” Serbia has in Kosovo will be removed. European Parliament Rapporteur for Serbia David McAllister, who also took part in the discussion organized by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, stressed how important is to implement everything that was agreed in order for Chapter 35 of Serbia’s EU accession process to be opened before the year ends.

Milenkovic: Chapters 35, 32 first to be opened (Tanjug/RTS)

The Head of the Office for EU Integration Ksenija Milenkovic voiced expectation that Chapters 35 and 32, relating to Kosovo and Metohija and financial control, will be opened as part of Serbia’s EU membership talks by the end of this year. We expect that Chapters 23 and 24, on judiciary and security, will be opened soon after that, Milenkovic said at the opening of the International Scientific Conference: “Serbia and the European Union – Preparations for Negotiations on Chapter 23 and 24”. She stated that the European Commission (EC) accepted the Action Plan for Chapter 24 in early September, which relates to justice, freedom and security, while last week the body accepted the plan for Chapter 23 as well – judiciary and fundamental rights. What is next is presenting the action plans to EU member states, meaning the European Council, after which the preparation of the negotiating position will follow, as well the opening of negotiations. Milenkovic stressed that Chapters 23 and 24, as well as Chapter 35, will mark the course of accession negotiations, because they will be the first to be opened, and the last to be closed at the end of the negotiating process. This is in keeping with the so-called new approach to all EU candidate countries, which the EC adopted after Croatia’s talks. Milenkovic also said that the burning issue of migration is related to Chapter 24 and can influence the course of negotiations if the policy on this issue within the EU itself changes.

Vucic’s visit to Kosovo postponed (Danas)

The visit of Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic to Kosovo and Metohija, planned for 4 and 5 October, is being postponed until further notice, Danas unofficially learns in top government sources. As planned, Vucic should visit ten Serb majority municipalities in the southern province. The unofficial reason for postponing the visit is the complicated political situation in the region, while speculations are also that the Kosovo Serbs are in an unfriendly mood.

REGIONAL PRESS

Reform Agenda text harmonized with international financial institutions (Srna)

It was impossible to harmonize the 2015-2018 Reform Agenda’s text without the approval of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Commission, the Republika Srpska (RS) Ministry of Finance announced on Monday. “Every single letter contained in the Agenda has been harmonized and written in the meetings with the IMF, the World Bank and the European Commission,” says the Ministry in its reaction to the statement on excise duty by Sandra Hlivnjak, an economist of the World Bank in B&H. The RS Ministry of Finance reminds that the institution, which Hlivnjak represents, was a direct participant in the talks on the adoption of the Reform Agenda for period 2015-2018. “It is not clear to us on behalf of whom Ms. Hlivnjak speaks now, respectively, we have reason to wonder whether there has been a change in the position of the financial institution she represents in relation to what was written in the reform agenda or Ms. Hlivnjak speaks on her own behalf,” says the Ministry in its statement. Sandra Hlivnjak, an economist of the World Bank in B&H, stated on Monday in Sarajevo at the presentation of the South East Europe Regular Economic Report by the World Bank, that the international financial institutions required no one in B&H to increase excise duty, or additional taxes, stressing that “new taxes are not recommendable”.

Crnadak submitted a report to CoE Parliamentary Assembly (klix.ba)

The B&H Foreign Minister and the Chairman of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe (CoE), Igor Crnadak, participated yesterday in Strasbourg in the work of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). On that occasion, Crnadak submitted a report to the PACE on activities of the Committee of ministers of the CoE under the chairmanship of B&H. He informed the parliamentarians of the CoE that the Committee of ministers, under the chairmanship of B&H, reacted quickly to the refugees crisis, and based on attitudes of representatives of the countries of the CoE, UNHCR and the Development bank of the CoE, presented at the thematic debate held on 15 September, which, among other things, emphasized the need to face the roots of the refugees crisis. Talking about activities of the Committee of ministers in the field of the rule of law expressed the special satisfaction because the B&H chairmanship of the Committee of ministers of the Council of Europe successfully finished consultations with countries members about the date of signing the Additional protocol on the Convention of the Council of Europe on the prevention of terrorism, and that the event on that occasion will be held at the high level in Riga on 22nd October. He invited all countries members of the Council of Europe to sign this important document that deals with the issue of so-called “foreign fighters“. Crnadak talked about events at the high level that will be held in the next period, until the end of the chairmanship of B&H with the Committee of ministers of the CoE in accordance with the known priorities, as well as activities of the deputy chairman of the Committee of ministers of the CoE in various fields, activities on the adoption of the budget of the Council of Europe, as well as activities on the cooperation plan of the CoE with the EU and OSCE. Considering the fact that it is his last time to submit a report to the PACE as the chairman of the Committee of ministers of the CoE, Minister Crnadak expressed his gratitude to the Parliamentary Assembly, Secretariat and the Secretary general of the CoE for the support and the successful cooperation with BH chairmanship and the Committee of ministers of the Council of ministers, after which he responded on questions of members of the PACE. The Secretary general Jagland and the president of the PACE, Brasseur, on that occasion expressed the affirmative support to the B&H chairmanship with the Committee of ministers of the Council of Ministers, as announced from the Office for Public Relations oft the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of B&H.

“Positive Srpska” perpetrator of SNSD’s policy (Oslobodjenje)

The Party of Democratic Progress (PDP) believes that with the support for Emir Kusturica for mayor of Trebinje, the Positive Srpska Association proved to be a “branch of the SNSD and executor of their politics”. “Emir Kusturica is known for exclusively supporting the SNSD and doing the RS government with his business privileges, and because he is a big fan of Milorad Dodik, and because of this it is clear that Positive Srpska is an expositor of the interests of the ruling coalition,” the PDP believes. Kusturica’s candidacy for mayor of Trebinje also confirms, as the statement reads, that this famous director, if not formally a member, “is in substance a high functionary of the SNSD, to whom the RS government gave majority ownership in Andricgrad”. The PDP expresses regret that Positive Srpska and the SNSD dragged in famous actor Branislav Lecic as well into political relations in RS, but, as they say, regardless of the newest SNSD activities, the Alliance for Change will win the local elections in Trebinje, as well as the majority of the RS cities.

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

Croatian prime minister refuses to speak with Serbian counterpart over migrants (AP, 28 September 2015)

Croatian Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic accused Serbia of sending thousands of migrants to its border. More than 78,000 migrants are said to have crossed the border.

SERBIA—Bickering between Balkan rivals Serbia and Croatia over a migrant surge has turned personal, with Croatia’s prime minister saying he no longer wants to speak with his Serbian counterpart. The two former Yugoslav nations, which were at war in the 1990s, imposed tit-for-tat border regulations last week, but the dispute appeared to have eased on Friday. Croatia has been accusing Serbia of sending thousands of migrants to its border, instead of channelling them up north to Hungary. On Monday, Croatian Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic said he no longer wanted to speak to Serbian counterpart Aleksandar Vucic over the issue, while Vucic said he would “speak to the devil” to restore regional stability. Croatia said Monday that 78,000 migrants have crossed its border from Serbia in the past 12 days.

Serbia-Croatia Row Exposes Balkan Fault Lines (Balkan Insight, by Damir Pilic, 28 September 2015)

The border dispute between Croatia and Serbia was only solved after Brussels intervened, showing how fragile relations between the two neighbouring countries really are.

The two-day trade and media war on the issue of refugees that we witnessed last week between Croatia and Serbia shows how little it takes for things to rapidly deteriorate in the Balkans.

The refugee issue has enflamed nationalist tensions across Europe, but the Balkan wars that took place just 20 years ago make tensions like these even more dangerous than elsewhere. At first, it didn’t seem very serious, amusing even, as a kind of Balkan political ‘cabaret’. Asked to comment on Serbian objections about Croatia’s treatment of refugees, Croatian Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic said: “The eagle is not talking to the flies. We [Croatia] are an eagle.” The Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic, replied with an allusion to the legendary Yugoslavian film Balkan Spy, which contains the line: “The eagle has fallen. The eagle has fallen.” Then suddenly the devil had come to collect. Faced with a daily influx of refugees on its eastern border and convinced Serbia has an agreement with Hungary to deliberately send refugees to Croatia, Zagreb closed the Bajakovo crossing to all trucks from Serbia last weekend. The move was designed to put pressure on Serbia to begin directing some refugees towards Hungary. This angered Serbia, and Belgrade retaliated on Wednesday by closing its borders to all Croatian goods. Croatia immediately responded with its own ‘counter counter-attack’ by closing its borders to all passenger traffic from Serbia. No Serbian citizen could enter Croatia, nor any vehicles bearing Serbian registration plates. At this point, things definitely ceased to be amusing, and not only because the border blockades cost an estimated 1m euros each day, according to economic analysts.

Echoes of the Balkan wars

Trade sanctions between two countries that were at war during the nineties brought back memories of the events that preceded the conflict. Back then, the crisis started with economic and trade blockades between what were then Yugoslav republics, now independent states.

Suddenly, the scent of gunpowder filled the room. On both sides prominent politicians purred strong, almost warlike, statements. During a European Union summit, Croatia’s Milanovic described Serbia’s behaviour as “not normal”, while the Serbian Justice Minister Nikola Selakovic asserted “Croatia brutally attacked Serbia”. Serbia’s foreign minister, Ivica Dacic, waded in with “war started in the past” over these types of issues, before adding: “If Croatia wants conflict, there is no problem”. In an unusually harsh ‘diplomatic’ note, Serbia described Croatian measures as discriminatory and compared them to the actions of the World War II era Ustasa-run Independent State of Croatia, which enforced laws that discriminated against Serbs, Jews and Roma communities. In just a moment, it seemed that the war was only yesterday and that both sides of that conflict were completely ready to continue were they had left of 20 years ago. As if efforts to curb passions and normalise relations over two decades had simply collapsed into a Balkan ‘black hole’. “Words like these contribute to additional aggravation of the situation,” the political leader of Croatian Serbs, Milorad Pupovac, warned. “It seems to me that it is going back to the period before 1996. If the blockade persists and spreads, a renewal of bad relationships and the destruction of what was built [during the] last 20 years will come.” If the situation was not so serious, the citizens of both countries would be able to laugh over a fact that the both prime ministers gave, at the same moment, almost identical statements to the public. Croatia’s Milanovic said he “cannot allow Serbia to make a fool of us”, while his Serbian counterpart, Aleksandar Vucic, said he “cannot allow Serbia to be trampled and humiliated”. This confirmed the old rule according to which everyone in the Balkans thinks to be withheld from their neighbours.

Media ‘worsened’ crisis

As in the early 1990s just before war broke out, the media worsened the situation, especially the Serbian tabloids. While the moderate Serbian media analysed the economic damage and transmitted statements given by Croatian and Serbian leaders, Belgrade tabloid headlines sought to offend Croatia and its prime minister. Headlines such as “Ustasa Gang”, “Lunatic Takes Croats into War”, “Ustasa Attacks on Serbs”, were common. Kurir newspaper even referred to Milanovic as “an idiot” on its cover. Andrija Jarak, a reporter for Croatian Nova TV who is based in Belgrade said he had never experienced “such a large outpouring of hatred and anger”. In Croatia, the media mostly reported the entire story in the context of forthcoming parliamentary elections in Croatia, and focused on Milanovic’s efforts to win over right-wing voters. One of the paradoxical consequences of the election campaign in Croatia was the fact the nationalist Croatian Democratic Union party, HDZ, did not dare attack Serbia in these circumstances, out of fear that would mean it supports Milanovic, who is from the currently governing Social Democratic Party. Although the election campaign affected the sharpness of Milanovic’s attitude, it also generally helped, because it reached out to the real Croatian nationalist right-wing. Namely, it is indisputable that some sentiments associated with the Ustasa really exist within Croatia’s political scene, but Milanovic has for years been a major political barrier to such tendencies. In this sense, Belgrade tabloids declaring Milanovic as Ustasa raised eyebrows in Croatia, especially when Informer published its front page with a photomontage presenting Milanovic as Ante Pavelic, NDH leader, which would be roughly equivalent to presenting Angela Merkel as Karl Marx. However, such misplaced comparisons show how fragile good neighbourly relations between Serbia and Croatia really are. It is good that, for a moment, everyone stopped talking negatively and nationalistically about refugees themselves, but it is bad that nationalist sentiment suddenly escalated between Croats and Serbs. The conflict turned out to be ‘storm in a teacup’, but only because Brussels intervened quickly enough. It looks like the Balkans will need tutors for a long time.

Bosnian ex-Minister Charged With Subsidies Scam (BIRN, by Elvira M. Jukic, 28 September 2015)

Former Federation entity Agriculture Minister and four others are charged with creaming off money earmarked for farming subsidies

Former Federation Agriculture Minister Jerko Ivankovic Lijanovic and Tuzla Canton Trade Minister Edin Ajanovic were among five people arrested on Monday for alleged wrongdoings in agricultural subsidies distribution, Tuzla cantonal prosecutor said. The Prosecutor’s Office noted that among the arrested were also Suad Camdzic, the former minister’s adviser, Mersed Serifovic, the former minister’s political representative in Tuzla, and another person from Odzak allegedly in charge of the tracking of financial aid for agriculture in the Federation entity. The Tuzla Prosecutor’s Office said Lijanovic was suspected of having organized an association that misused payment of subsidies in agriculture in Tuzla Canton and in the Federation over at least three years. According to the statement, the former minister in the Federation entity government from 2011 to 2014 pressured farmers who received subsidies to pay back half of the money they received to the members of his association. BIRN reported on these allegations in 2013, revealing suspicions of the model being used to suck out money that was supposed to go towards agriculture in the Federation entity, as well as about the former minister’s other affairs. The Prosecutor’s Office said it suspected that Lijanovic and members of the association “in this period gained around 700,000 KM [some 360,000 euro] and that they also… tried to gain a larger sum of money, to which some farmers did not agree”. Lijanovic is Vice-President of People’s Party Work for Progress, NSRZB, which he leads with his brother, the party president, Mladen Ivankovic Lijanovic. Other arrested on Monday were either members of or related to the party. The party responded to the arrests by saying it was the victim of a political set-up executed by the ruling Bosnian Croat party, the Croatian Democratic Union in Bosnia, HDZ BiH. The party said the ruling elites in Bosnia were angered by the party’s reform plans and by its calls to scrap the current constitution of the Federation and abolish the cantons. “This automatically endangers the chairs and jobs of those who one year after the elections still did nothing concrete for those whom they had manipulated,” the party said. It was not the first time that Ivankovic Lijanovic has been arrested. Last year he spent several months in detention over allegations of organized crime, tax evasion and other frauds, together with his brothers and collaborates. The charges related their family meat industry and other companies. The NSRZB party claimed then that its leading politicians were victims of political games that aimed to politically discredit them.