LOCAL PRESS

Vucic meets with Kosovo Serb representatives (RTS)

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic and the Head of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Marko Djuric are meeting today with the Kosovo Serb representatives. The meeting, which will be held at the Serbian Palace, will be attended by Serb MPs and members of the provisional self-administration in Pristina, as well as mayors of ten Serb majority municipalities, the Media Relations Office stated.

Djuric and Reichel discuss Belgrade-Pristina dialogue (Tanjug)

The Head of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Marko Djuric met with Ernst Reichel, German Foreign Office Special Envoy for South-Eastern Europe, Turkey and the EFTA States. Djuric and Reichel spoke about the current developments in the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, the Office for Kosovo and Metohija said in a release. Djuric and Reichel also exchanged views on Serbia’s European integration process, the release said. The meeting was attended by German Ambassador to Serbia Axel Dittmann.

Gojkovic: Serbia will continue to fight for its heritage (RTS/Politika)

During an official visit she paid to Rabat Thursday, Serbian parliament Speaker Maja Gojkovic thanked Morocco for its principled support concerning the issue of Kosovo and Metohija, adding that Serbia would continue to fight for the preservation of Serbian heritage in its southern province. Gojkovic met with the Speakers of the Moroccan parliament’s House of Representatives, Rachid Talbi Alami, and House of Councilors, Hakim Benchemass. Gojkovic emphasized that Morocco’s principled support had been confirmed during a UNESCO Executive Council vote on recommending Kosovo’s admission to the institution on the day before, when Morocco supported the stance of Serbia, confirming the two countries’ friendship, the Serbian parliament said in a release.

Stefanovic, Ostojic agree on transit for refugees (Tanjug)

The Serbian and Croatian Interior Ministers, Nebojsa Stefanovic and Ranko Ostojic, on Friday held a meeting in Bajakovo, at the border between the two countries, for the first time since the outbreak of the refugee crisis. The ministers discussed the reception of refugees and agreed that, from now on, a Croatian train will be taking refugees from Sid to a reception centre in Slavonski Brod. “It is important for us that we agree on a quick transit while complying with procedures and rules,” Stefanovic told reporters after the meeting, noting that a strategic approach must be agreed as well. “We are not to blame for what is going on, and neither Croatia nor Serbia is economically strong enough, and we cannot receive 50,000 people,” Stefanovic said. The two countries need to have good relations and build security for their citizens, he noted.

Dunjic – a forensic expert with enormous experience (Politika)

The defense witness at the genocide and war crimes tribunal against Bosnian Serb General Ratko Mladic, Dusan Dunjic, has been found dead in a hotel room in The Hague. Dutch police immediately launched an investigation on Thursday, but despite the suspicious circumstances of the death, authorities say they have “no reason to suspect that a crime had been committed”. Professor Dusan Dunjic was a forensic medicine specialist for 35 years. He was an expert witness in the processes to Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic, in cases of Milan Milutinovic, Vlastimir Djordjevic, Ramush Haradinaj and others, as well as in cases of Glodjane and Racak. Doctor Dunjic was the leader of the team for exhumations and identifications in Batajnica, the Head of the Department for DNA identification of the Coordination Center for Kosovo and Metohija of the Serbian government. He was also the director of the Institute for Forensic Medicine in Belgrade, and he was engaged for two decades as an expert pathologist in many criminal proceedings in Serbia, including the case of the murder of Zoran Djindjic. He performed around 80 forensics expertise in murder cases and violation of firearms.

REGIONAL PRESS

Declaration on genocide against Serbs, Jews and Roma adopted (Srna)

The Republika Srpska (RS) parliament adopted a Declaration on Genocide Committed by the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) against the Serbs, Jews and Roma in WWII.  The Declaration says that crimes committed by the Ustashe against Serbs, Jews and Roma during WWII in the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) represent a planned genocide. 700,000 Serbs, 23,000 Jews and 80,000 Roma were tortured, looted, raped and finally murdered in the Jasenovac system of Croatian concentration camps for the extermination of the Serbs, Jews and Roma and opponents of the Ustashe regime. The Declaration says that the Independent State of Croatia was the only country in WWII which had concentration camps for the extermination of children, and they were in Stara Gradiska, Jasenovac, Ustica, Jablanac, Jastrebarsko, Rijeka near Jastrebarsko, Gornja Rijeka near Krizevci and Lobograd. According to an incomplete research, 42,791 Serbian children, 5,737 Roma children and 3,710 Jewish children were killed there. The Declaration also says that the crime of genocide in the Independent State of Croatia, by its proportions, is equal to the Holocaust which the Nazi Germany committed against the Jews. During that time, a great number of Serbs were forced to change their national and religious identity in order to save their bare lives and to renounce their Orthodox faith and accept Catholicism under duress and the threat of death. The RS Parliament demands that Croatia, as a state of the Croatian people, accept the historical and every other responsibility for the genocide committed by the Independent State of Croatia against the Serbs, Jews and Roma in WWII. The RS Parliament demands that all places where such crimes were committed be marked and that the memory of numerous victims of genocide be preserved, that the Jasenovac complex of concentration camps for the extermination of the Serbs, Jews and Roma be preserved and kept as a monument to the victims, and that a program of protection and beautification of the Donja Gradina Memorial Area be brought. The Declaration also says that Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia should set a date to remember the victims of genocide in the Independent State of Croatia and that Croatia should pay within the reasonable time frame a just compensation to the victims and their descendants. “The RS parliament expects the international public, particularly the states of the anti-fascist coalition from WWII, to support the Declaration so that it might see the light of the day after 70 years of waiting,” says the Declaration. Parliament adopted amendments proposed by the NDP which say that the Declaration should be sent to the European Parliaments, the Parliament of Israel, the Russian Duma and the US Congress for consideration and passage. Also adopted were amendments proposed by the Free Democratic Serbian Club which say that a committee should be formed to coordinate activities in connection with the construction of a memorial center in Donja Gradina. Members of the Domovina (Homeland) Coalition did not take part in the vote because the Declaration, they claim, is unilateral, and does not mention Muslims, Croats and other peoples who suffered in WWII. The failure of Parliament to “pass a resolution on genocide committed in Srebrenica in 1995” was also cited by the Domovina Coalition as a reason for their refusal to vote on the Declaration.

Transfer of powers to become crime in RS (Bosna danas)

The ruling coalition in the RS Assembly has ordered the government to prepare changes in the criminal code within 90 days, which would foresee criminal responsibility for transfer of powers from entity to state level. Many powers were transferred from the entity to state level before 2008, when today’s opposition parties were holding power. Opposition reacted angrily on RS Assembly’s conclusion saying it will pave the way for the persecution of dissidents. They also said it is “a witch hunt”. “That conclusion is part of the dictatorship which is being established in RS. They want to show that they are the only patriots in RS, and that all others are traitors. In that way, we are becoming targets,” said Dragan Cavic, leader of the opposition NDP party. Opposition said it is deprived of its voice in the RS Assembly and announced it will resort to other ways of fight.

U.S. to appoint special envoy for B&H (Bosna danas)

U.S. Congress is preparing resolution recommending the designation of a Presidential Special Envoy to the Balkans to evaluate the successes and shortcomings of the implementation of the Dayton Peace Accords in Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H), to provide policy recommendations, and to report back to the Congress within one year. The resolution has been proposed on the occasion of 20 years since the Dayton Peace Agreement ended war in B&H. Special Envoy to the Balkans should work in partnership with the OHR, the EU, NATO, and the political leaders in B&H, as well as with neighboring countries, to facilitate much needed reforms at all levels of government and society in B&H. Resolution urges the Presidential Special Envoy, not later than one year after the date of the adoption of this resolution, to submit to the Committees on Foreign Relations and Appropriations of the Senate and the Committees on Foreign Affairs and Appropriations of the House of Representatives a report with targeted evaluations and discoveries, including to provide proposals on how to address any ongoing difficulties outlined above, as well as ways to overcome any remaining political, economic, legal, or religious inequalities in B&H. Congress reiterates its support for the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and legal continuity of B&H within its internationally recognized borders, as well as the equality of its three constituent peoples and others within an integrated multiethnic country. It also welcomes steps taken by the government of B&H towards integration into the Euro-Atlantic community and reiterates its position that this commitment is in the interests of the further stabilization of the region of southeastern Europe. Resolution emphasizes that it is urgent that B&H, as well as its internal political entities, all work toward the creation of an efficient and effective state able to meet its domestic and international obligations with effective and functional institutions, and that the national government of B&H—as well as the institutions of the entities—are able to instill necessary reforms in order to fulfill European Union and North Atlantic Treaty Organization membership requirements.

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

Refugees rush Balkan borders to reach western Europe (dpa, by Alexandra Mayer-Hohdahl and Boris Babic, 23 October 2015)

Belgrade – Refugees were amassed at Serbia’s border with Croatia on Friday, anxious to press along with their journey amid concerns that they may eventually run into sealed borders.
More than 3,000 people arrived overnight at Berkasovo, waiting to cross into Bapska on the Croatian side. The camp emptied by sunrise, but at least 15 more buses arrived meanwhile with another 1,500 migrants, mostly refugees from the Middle East who hope to find shelter in western Europe. Once in Croatia, the refugees go through registration in the reception camp at Opatovac, then take a 300 kilometre ride in a bus or train to the Slovenian border. The smallest country on the so-called Balkan migration route, Slovenia is groaning under the pressure of thousands of refugees. There were around at least 14,200 refugees in Slovenia on Friday morning, processed or under processing in reception and collecting centres, the Slovenian news agency STA reported quoting the police. “It is as if half a million people entered Germany in a day,” Prime Minister Miro Cerar told the state TV Thursday night, illustrating the ratio of migrants to Slovenia’s population of 2 million. Slovenian officials earlier said the country can process 2,500 people per day and accused Croatia of channeling too many people too quickly to pass the burden. Cerar also said Croatia was unwilling to discuss migrants, but Croatia’s Interior Minister Vesna Pusic shrugged that off, insisting that Zagreb was willing to negotiate. Croatia, she however said, could not accept receiving 7,000-8,000 people daily and transfer only 2,500, the Zagreb daily Jutarnji List reported. After registering them, Slovenia passes the migrants on to Austria, from where they continue to Germany and other wealthy western European countries. International aid organizations as well as the countries through which the refugees travel on the Balkan route worry that Germany may close its border to migrants, causing a massive backlog upstream. Ten leaders from the European Union and Balkan countries will meet in Brussels on Sunday to discuss the “unfolding emergency” of the migration crisis in western Balkans.

Migrants Trade Punches, One Stabbed as Tensions Boil Over (Time, 22 October 2015)

People face long waits and other hardships as they make their way north

(VIENNA) — Migrants traded punches and scuffled with police at a Serbian border crossing and a man was stabbed in a similar clash on the Slovenian border Thursday, as pent-up pressures on their trek toward hoped-for safe haven in the European Union boiled over. Slovenian police said the stabbing took place near Rigonci earlier in the day, and that the victim was given medical treatment. The unrest at Berkasovo village on the Serbian border subsided after several minutes. But the outbreak reflected the frustrations of the tens of thousands of people facing long waits and other hardships as they make their way north over the Balkans each day in search of better lives in prosperous EU countries. Further along that route, Austrian police moved to relieve pent-up pressure which they feared could lead to violence, removing barriers at an overcrowded collection point at a border crossing with Slovenia. A day earlier, thousands of migrants broke through police obstacles at the same collection center at the Spielfeld border point. Many of the migrants spilled out of the facility Thursday but then gathered nearby, following police instructions. But many others walked away from the border. The collection area just inside the Austrian border was again full by afternoon. Police and soldiers struggled to maintain order as the crowd surged every time a group was separated for transport by bus to shelters and processing. Trampled, pushed or otherwise hurt, several people were seen receiving medical attention, including one boy, about 8 years old, whose leg was being bandaged and a younger boy being given oxygen. At least two adults were taken away on stretchers. A police officer with a loudspeaker urged people to sit and wait for buses, warning “if you make trouble, we make trouble.” On the Slovene side, more than 1,000 migrants were waiting for entry, either to apply for asylum in Austria or to transit to other EU nations. The flow of people over the so-called west Balkans route that begins in Greece has shifted. Migrants still cross first into Macedonia and then Serbia but now enter Croatia instead of Hungary, which erected a fence along its border to Serbia. From Croatia, they move to Slovenia, which has struggled to deal with the increasing numbers. In Serbia, groups of migrants huddled around fires lit to combat the chill at Berkasovo village. Niklas Stoerup Agerup of the U.N. refugee agency, said the number of migrant families with children under the age of 5 transiting into Croatia has been increasing over the past several weeks. Overnight and early Thursday “we’ve had a continuous flow of people coming in and also a continuous flow of people managing to cross the border,” he said. Fadl Abdul, a Palestinian from Lebanon, was among those warming themselves at one of the fires. He said children were particularly vulnerable to the hardships. “We can sit here, one day, two days without eat … water, OK, no problem,” said the 43-year-old in broken English. “But what about the kids? They need milk, they need to change clothes, everything.” Croatian Interior Ministry spokesman Domagoj Dzigulovic said 1,277 people arrived in Croatia from midnight until late Thursday morning. Further north, authorities in Slovenia counted 12,616 migrants entering the country on Wednesday and more than 38,000 since Saturday, when Hungary closed its border with Croatia. Slovenian authorities say they can handle no more than 2,500 entries per day, and have accused Croatia of sending too many migrants through. Interior Ministry officials said the country has formally requested European Union aid in managing the influx. Also Thursday, the Czech Republic — which lies off the Balkan route and has been relatively unaffected by the refugee crisis — was the focus of criticism by the head of the U.N. refugee agency. Zeid Raad al-Hussein suggested that the Czech Republic systemically violates the human rights of migrants. Zeid singled out the Bela-Jezova center where refugees are detained with their children.

The Czech Republic’s ombudsman condemned conditions in the detention facility last week, saying they violate the U.N.’s Convention on the Rights of the Child and the European Convention on Human Rights. His office took aim in particular Thursday at detention facilities such as Bila-Jezova north of Prague, saying that even Czech Justice Minister Robert Pelikan has called it “worse than a prison.” It cited an internal Czech report on Oct. 13 saying 100 children were crammed inside when the rapporteur visited. Zeid’s office cited other reports that authorities had strip-searched some migrants to confiscate money to pay for their involuntary detention. Speaking through his spokesman, Czech President Milos Zeman dismissed the criticism as a campaign against the Czech Republic. His spokesman Jiri Ovcacek, said Zeman is not ready to change his critical views of Islam and the refugees. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban also continued to advocate tough anti-immigrant measures. He told an EU People’s Party Congress in Madrid that if the European Union is incapable of stopping the waves of people arriving at its “eastern gate” of Greece, they must be stopped at its “western gate” of Hungary and Slovenia.

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Masha Macpherson and Sabina Niksic in Brezice, Slovenia, and Jovana Gec in Belgrade, Serbia, and Pablo Gorondi in Budapest, Hungary, contributed to this report.