LOCAL PRESS

Vucic to meet EU representatives to discuss Pristina’s decision regarding ZSO (Tanjug)

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic has stated that “Brussels representatives” will arrive in Belgrade today in order to discuss with him Pristina’s decision to send the agreement on the Community of Serb Municipalities (ZSO) to the Constitutional Court for assessment of constitutionality. Vucic also announced that Pristina’s obstruction will be examined at the Serbian government session to be held today at 2pm. “The guests from Brussels will say, I already know in advance, that this is not important, that at issue is only one month… I’ve heard many similar stories, I will hear them once more, we will discuss this also at the government session and then I will be able to give a concrete answer,” Vucic told the press. Asked to comment on the EU reaction, i.e. the statement by the spokesperson of the EU High Representative Maja Kocijancic – that both sides need to implement agreements, Vucic recalled that Serbia has been implementing the agreed, but that Pristina hasn’t even started implementing the most important part on the ZSO formation, which makes up 40 percent of the Brussels agreement.

Maric: Mild EU reaction to Pristina’s decision (RTS)

The Coordinator of the team for the formation of the Community of Serb Municipalities (ZSO) Ljubomir Maric has told the morning news of Radio and Television of Serbia (RTS) that the first six points of the Brussels agreement speak of the formation of the ZSO. “Kosovo Serbs have been listening for two and a half years different justifications for delaying this agreement. There are always ways of implementing this with strong pressure of the international community, i.e. the EU as the guarantor of this agreement,” notes Maric. He says that the EU reaction is very mild and inappropriate for this situation. “It is concerning that this decision was passed without consultations with the Serbs, with those to whom the agreement applies and this has a completely different message that is not good at all. The word suspension is also very concerning, as this is very dangerous and we need to see what it means,” says Maric. He says that they had consultations yesterday with the representatives of four municipalities in northern Kosovo and that they will continue these talks today in Belgrade. “We expect a serious reaction of the Serbian government,” says Maric. He says the deadline for assessing the constitutionality is 60 days but the question is what may happen. “This issue is for the EU and we must seriously talk with them. They must give an exact deadline for the formation of the ZSO and to state whether the agreement on the formation is suspended,” said Maric.

Slovakia not changing stand on Kosovo (Novosti)

The provisional authorities in Pristina hope in vain that the signing of the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) with the EU could change something in regard to their status. “The signing of the SAA doesn’t change anything in Slovakia’s stand towards the unilaterally declared independence of Kosovo,” the spokesperson of the Slovakian Foreign Ministry Peter Stano told Novosti.

REGIONAL PRESS

Dunovic: I will not block adoption of laws in FB&H (Nezavisne)

The Vice President of the FB&H Milan Dunovic stated that he will not block the adoption of laws in the FB&H. “According to yesterday’s statement of the President of FB&H Marinko Cavara who stated that the Vice-president of FB&H Milan Dunovic will block the adoption of laws in the Parliament of FB&H and referring to yesterday’s failure to adopt the Draft of the Law on Amendments to the Law on Electricity in the FB&H in an emergency procedure in the House of Peoples of the FB&H, we want to inform the public that the Vice president of the FB&H Milan Dunovic does not have the ability to vote or influence on the voting of delegates in the House of Peoples of the FB&H according to his constitutional jurisdiction. Consequently, he does not have the ability to block adopting of the laws,” as announced in the statement from Dunovic’s Office. It was also added that the new parliamentary majority democratically decided not to adopt the Draft Law on Amendments to the Law on Electricity in the FB&H. “That exclusively depended on the delegates who were present at the session and their votes, and not on the Vice president of FB&H! Vice-President of FB&H Milan Dunovic demonstrated his willingness to ‘block’ the work of the Government and the Parliament of FB&H when he was the first one to sign the agreement for filling the Government of FB&H,” as stated in the statement.

Ivanic and Dodik about “War in the Balkans”: Lyon is just a plain mercenary! (Vijesti.ba)

Twenty years of peace in B&H might be terminated after increasingly expressive political tensions not only in B&H, but in the Balkans as well. Current political leadership of Republika Srpska (RS), the smaller B&H entity, has been long deprecating because of the current position and expressing desire for secession louder and louder; it was written in the last issue of Foreign Policy. The text signed by James Lyon, former member of the International Crisis Group, among other things accuses Milorad Dodik and the President of Russia Vladimir Putin for breaking B&H with an assessment that a “war with difficult consequences will break out again in B&H and Serbia” in case the referendum, which is scheduled for November 15, is held. That such a denouement is not possible is claimed by the head people from RS, stating that it does not matter so much what is written, but who wrote it. “There is no word about war conflicts. The text was written by James Lyon, who has been building his authority as the director of Crisis Group here, and of course he makes bombastic texts in order to be engaged somewhere by someone”, said Mladen Ivanic said. Furthermore, Ivanic added that he does not believe in the author’s thesis according to which the referendum on judiciary might be an overture into a referendum on secession in 2018, and that such outcome would be suicidal for the RS. Reacting to Lyon’s accusations, Dodik told the media in Belgrade that the former member of the International Crisis Group has always been tendentiously working against the Serb interest. “There will be no referendum on November 15, he lied about that as well! For ten years now, we have been listening to the same story about four requests: to rehabilitate the role of America, to rehabilitate and bring a special representative, to rehabilitate the high representative, to revise the Dayton Agreement until its complete change. Well, I am sorry, but that will not happen. I do not agree,” Dodik emphasized.

U.S. “strongly supports” Montenegro’s NATO membership (RTCG)

The U.S. strongly supports Montenegro’s membership in NATO, it was said as Montenegrin Speaker Ranko Krivokapic met with influential congressmen and senators. In addition, the need for continued efforts in the area of the ​​rule of law, but also in the fight against corruption and strengthening of the public support was stressed, said the Montenegrin state television RTCG. During Krivokapic’s conversation in Washington with Congressman Michael Turner and Senator John McCain, unequivocal support was given to inviting Montenegro to join NATO during the December summit of foreign ministers, Krivokapic’s cabinet said in a statement, adding that NATO membership will mean a step forward for the country. During the meeting they also discussed the current situation in Montenegro, caused by the protests of the opposition Democratic Front which wants the government to resign, and Krivokapic said that “ultimatums are not democracy, peaceful protests are one of the vital tools of democracy, but they are in no way a stable, nor a final tool”. He concluded that “all flows must return to institutions, the Parliament of Montenegro that is the place of agreements and decision-making”. Krivokapivc took the opportunity to also, while in Washington, call on all political actors to return to parliament and said that the government must be “an expression of indisputable legitimacy, of the will of the citizens, and therefore the best decision for Montenegro”. During his visit to the United States, Krivokapic has been meeting with officials in the State Department who condemned the violence that erupted on Saturday during a protest of the Democratic Front in Podgorica.

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

Serbia Accuses Kosovo of Reneging on EU Deal (BIRN, by Igor Jovanovic, 29 October 2015)

Serbia has accused Kosovo of violating the Brussels agreement by obstructing the formation of the Association of Serbian Municipalities in Kosovo

Serbian officials on Thursday accused Kosovo of obstructing the formation of the long-awaited Association of Serbian Municipalities in Kosovo as a result of its initiative “to assess the constitutionality of the agreement”. Aleksandar Vucic, the Prime Minister, said that the EU should react after Kosovo suspended the agreement reached in the EU-led talks. Vucic said on Thursday that the deal on the Association, reached as a part of the Brussels agreement between Serbia and Kosovo in 2013, was of a strategic importance for Belgrade. He added that Kosovo had been rewarded by the signing of a Stabilization and Association Agreement with the EU on Tuesday – without fulfilling its obligations from the Brussels agreement. According to him, more than 40 per cent of the agreement concerns the Association of Serbian Municipalities, which Serbia and Kosovo Serbs see as a crucial for the safety of the Serbian community in Kosovo.

“This opens up other, much more important and much more contentious issues … whether it is good to be honest and responsible, to fulfill your obligations and not to be rewarded or is it better not to fulfill anything and to be rewarded?” Vucic asked. He said the government will discuss its next moves after Kosovo President Atifete Jahjaga on Wednesday said she would ask Kosovo’s Constitutional Court to assess the constitutionality of the agreement on the Association of Serbian Municipalities. Isa Mustafa, Kosovo’s Prime Minister, said on Wednesday he supported the President’s initiative and the government would respect the court’s decision. Marko Djuric, head of the Serbian government’s Office for Kosovo, said on Thursday that Pristina had caused “a big internation scandal” with its initiative. He added that Serbian and Kosovo representatives agreed on August 25 in Brussels that Pristina would pass a regulation on the establishment of the Association, and that “the assessment of the constitutionality of that regulation was made possible – but not of the whole agreement. “It’s not one, but three steps back in the normalization of relations between Belgrade and Pristina, and it must not remain without a reaction from the EU, which is the guarantor of the agreement,” Djuric concluded. Serbian and Kosovo officials on August 25 reached four key agreements in the EU-led talks in Brussels, which the EU called a landmark achievement in the normalisation process. One was a deal on an autonomous Association of Serbian Municipalities, which Vucic said it was agreed would have broad powers, including a president, vice-president, assembly, council, coat-of-arms and flag. However, the Kosovo Prime Minister insisted that it would not have such broad powers and would merely “help municipalities with Serbian majorities in Kosovo”. The agreement has caused political turmoil in Kosovo. Opposition MPs have even released tear gas in the Kosovo parliament, protesting over the agreements with Serbia.

EU Puts Pressure on Serbia to drop trade Area Deal With Russia (Sputnik, 30 October 2015)

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said that as Serbia prepares to join the European Union, the European Commission wants it to abandon the free trade area (FTA) agreement signed by Russia and the then Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 2000.

DUSHANBE — The European Commission has demanded that Serbia abandon the free trade area (FTA) agreement signed by Russia and the then Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 2000, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Friday. “We have an agreement on a free trade zone, concluded by the Russian and Yugoslavian governments. At present, as Serbia prepares to join the European Union, the European Commission wants it to abandon the agreement. So our concerns are completely justified,” Medvedev stated at a session of the CIS Council of Heads of Government. The accord, signed in August 2000, aims to deepen bilateral economic and trade cooperation as well as creating necessary conditions for the free movement of goods and capital. According to Medvedev, the issue has been discussed with Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, and the sides agreed that is was impossible for the country to participate in two free trade zones simultaneously. On Tuesday, Vucic arrived in Moscow for a three-day visit, where he met his counterpart Medvedev and Russian President Vladimir Putin. During his visit, Vucic also attended the Serbian-Russian Business Forum and the Moscow international forum on innovations.

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Media summaries are produced for the internal use of the United Nations Office in Belgrade, UNMIK and UNHQ. The contents do not represent anything other than a selection of articles likely to be of interest to a United Nations readership.