LOCAL PRESS

Vucic: We will continue to set the scale high (Beta)

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic has organized a reception for the diplomatic corps and officials on the occasion of the opening of the first negotiating chapters with the EU. “We will continue to set the scale high, we will perform the remaining part well, honestly faster than usual,” Vucic said at the reception. He also thanked citizens and people in Serbia who, as he said, “understand well what it is we are doing and how we want Serbia to look”, and said that Europe is no longer an unfulfilled dream, but something reachable. He also thanked President Tomislav Nikolic, parliament speaker Maja Gojkovic, diplomatic representatives who, he assessed, sincerely wanted Serbia’s progress on the EU path. “We are also grateful to the people from the civil sector, independent institutions and NGOs,” said Vucic. On the subject of what the chapters are bringing, the Prime Minister said – first of all a system in which we will be creating a normal, decent and healthy Serbia; a legal state, in which we will be strengthening institutions, fighting against corruption, making progress in the economy and thus show what type of society we want to belong to.

EU publishes common position document on Chapter 35 (B92)

The EU has published its common position on Chapter 35 relating to Kosovo and Metohija. The text stresses that this first set of interim benchmarks will be updated and that if progress in the normalization of relations with Kosovo significantly lags behind progress in the negotiations overall the opening of other chapters could be frozen. The EU notes that Serbia in its position stated that fully understanding that the EU accession process and normalization process should run parallel and support one another, and that Serbia will remain entirely committed to the continuation of the normalization process and its dialogue with Pristina. The document adds that Chapter 35 does not replace the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina conducted under the auspices of the (EU) high representative, and that Serbia’s progress in the process of EU accession will take place in line with improvement of relations with Kosovo, and other requirements from negotiating frameworks. In the part relating to energy, it is stated that Serbia should establish the supply company ElektroSever in Kosovo, and solve the issue of the Serbian-appointed management of the Gazivode (hydro-power plant). “Serbia should ensure that it completes its part of the work on implementation of August 25, 2015 agreements, in particular on the establishment of the Association/Community of Serb majority municipalities in Kosovo as well as the other elements of the First Agreement of April 2013 (police, justice, civil protection). In addition, Serbia will complete its residual commitments under the previous Technical Agreements,” the EU common position on chapter 35 reads, and adds: “Finally, Serbia should engage in reaching further agreements, furthering the normalization in good faith, with a view to gradually lead to the comprehensive normalization of relations between Serbia and Kosovo, in line with the negotiating framework. In line with the negotiating framework, the Commission and the High Representative will monitor closely and continuously Serbia’s fulfillment of the following first set of interim benchmarks and report at least twice yearly, on this issue, to the (European) Council.” Other key points stated relate to elections, the Community of Serb Municipalities (ZSO), civil defense, police, and telecommunications. The part that relates to freedom of movement says Serbia must allow third states nationals’ entry into Serbia from Kosovo and implement the license plates’ arrangements in northern Kosovo for Kosovo residents. As for regional cooperation, the EU expects Serbia to enable, from their side, Kosovo’s effective participation in remaining regional initiatives, in line with the jointly agreed terms, while when it comes to customs issues Serbia should cease the issuance of documentation or affixing of stamps with denominations that contravenes Serbian obligations under the January 17, 2013 agreement.

Djuric: No doubt – difficult negotiations ahead of us (RTS)

During the night, there appeared information that Edita Tahiri signed a decree according to which all those who have Serbian IDs are banned to enter Kosovo. The Head of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Marko Djuric has told the morning news of Radio and Television of Serbia (RTS) that Serbia is carefully monitoring the situation and that it will react during the day. “If there are changes that are not in accordance with the agreement, we will not be silent, we will protect the interests of our citizens,” said Djuric. He congratulated the citizens on the opening of the first negotiating chapters and pointed out that Chapter 35 will be extremely difficult as it links the status of normalization of relations with Pristina to the issue of EU integration. “In the past period we have demonstrated that it is possible to make progress despite the obstructions,” says Djuric. He notes that Belgrade is not negotiating with Pristina only because of EU integration, but also because it wants stability. Chapter 35 will deal with the implementation of the reached agreements, while it leaves room to institutions and member states to interpret the manner of their implementation, he explains. There are certain differences here, but it is important to gain as much as support as possible for our position, says Djuric. “The main skill in foreign policy is not how to make as many enemies as possible, but how to win over as many people as possible,” says Djuric. He adds that Belgrade had many objections to this chapter. “Things have been eased, yet, since there are a lot of member states that do not recognize Kosovo, there is no doubt that difficult negotiations are ahead of us,” says Djuric. However, he points out that recognition of Kosovo is not required, but normalization of relations. “We don’t want to stress differences with Pristina. We don’t agree on the status, but we must agree that people need to live normally and institutions need to function,” says Djuric. Asked how big of a problem Chapter 35 is since it is blocking other chapters, Djuric says that all chapters carry the possibility of stopping negotiations if there are wide disagreements. “I think we need to think how to draw closer our positions and win over others for our stands. The best indicator is that Brussels sees in Belgrade the side that respects agreements despite the horrible obstruction in Pristina. Serbia became yesterday an associate member of the EU and this strengthens Serbia’s position. There is nothing more important for the Kosovo Serbs than having a strong Serbia behind them,” said Djuric.

Popovic: Who in the government promised an agreement with Kosovo? (Beta)

The leader of the Serbian People’s Party (SNP) Nenad Popovic has requested the German Ambassador to Serbia Axel Dittmann to state who in the government had promised that Serbia will sign the legally-binding agreement with Kosovo and Metohija. In an open letter to Dittmann, the SNP leader notes that the German Ambassador told Politika, speaking about the opening of the negotiating chapters with Serbia, what the Serbian authorities have been “persistently hiding” from citizens – that “Chapter 35 deals with the negotiations on normalization and that the joint negotiating framework envisages at the end of this process the adoption of a legally-binding agreement on full normalization of relations between Serbian and Kosovo”. “In the same interview, you also claim something, which we sincerely do not want to believe is true, because if it is – then somebody in the Serbian government is giving promises or taking actions that are contrary to the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia and the will of the majority of citizens of our country. Thus, you, Mr. Ambassador Dittmann, are saying that what you had said on the essence of Chapter 35 – is ‘the content of the joint negotiating framework that Serbia had also accepted’. Our obligation as the parliamentary party is to inform you that Serbia has never accepted that!”, said Popovic. “If some individuals accepted such ‘special’ conditions, which had never been set to any other state in the course of the EU accession process – we are asking you to point to these people and name them. This is also your obligation, as the diplomatic representative of one of the leading EU states,” said the SNP leader. “We respect Germany as one of the most important partners of Serbia and that is why we think that Germany deserves to be told the truth, and not for somebody to deceive it, all the more since this somebody, certainly does not have the mandate of Serbian citizens to conduct such an irresponsible and harmful policy for our state,” assessed the SNP leader.

REGIONAL PRESS

Functional cooperation between MIA RS and SIPA as of Wednesday (Novo vrijeme)

The RS government ordered the RS Ministry to immediately approach the finishing of Agreement on cooperation and coordination with the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H). After yesterday’s working-consultative session, it was announced that the RS government fully supports activities by the MIA RS on establishing cooperation with SIPA within the framework of current legal regulations, with full respect for constitutional structure of B&H and jurisdictions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. President of the RS government Zeljka Cvijanovic expects the agreement on operational cooperation and coordination between the MIA RS and SIPA B&H to be signed on Wednesday, December 16. Cvijanovic said that the cooperation already exists, and it will become functional again as of Wednesday, when all procedures are to be defined. Furthermore, Cvijanovic did not want to comment on allegations that this means the RS succumbed before the state, but she highlighted that it is important that yesterday a meeting was held between the ministers of security of B&H and of internal affairs of RS, Dragan Mektic and Dragan Lukac, after which it was stated that it should be approached to innovating and strengthening the already existing protocol and procedures in cooperation between MIA RS and SIPA B&H.

Government supports Interior Ministry regarding SIPA (Srna)

The RS government has said that it fully supports activities of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MUP) aimed at re-establishing cooperation with the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) in line with the valid legislation, respecting the constitutional structure of B&H and RS MUP competences. The government ordered MUP on Monday to immediately start putting finishing touches on the agreement on cooperation and coordination with SIPA. In a meeting where the RS ministers adopted a report on the MUP activities for overcoming the problem regarding SIPA, the government ordered MUP to submit relevant information upon signing the agreement on cooperation and coordination with SIPA once the job is done. The government PR office said that the Government will notify the National Assembly of the views it had taken.

RS opposition: By inventing enemies, RS government tries to cover up its crime (Osobodjenje)

Aleksandra Pandurevic, member of the Serbian Democratic Party (SDS) presidency, the opposition party, says the RS government, in a panic, is “inventing internal and external enemies,” because the “investigation on Bobar and Bank Srpska, Birac, and the investigation of Pavlovic bank are coming to an end.” “Everything happening in RS in the past several days indicates an attempt to cover up the serious crime the government has committed,” said Pandurevic at a press conference in East Sarajevo. She says the government in RS “is so steeped in crime that it is prepared to sacrifice the people and draw them into a war to flee responsibility.” “I am sorry the regime in RS is not interested in citizens, but rather exclusively in itself in order to protect what it kidnapped and robbed from the people,” said Pandurevic. She condemned the RS government for not responding to questions of how much it has reduced the deficit in the health insurance and pension fund, why nothing has been realized in economic policy and the reform agenda, and how many jobs have actually been created. She added that the government did not respond to questions of how much they have improved the lives of pensioners and veterans, what the status of Railways, RS Forestry and Post Office is, when East Sarajevo will get a hospital, who cares for the deceived workers at RAOP and UNIS, and therefore its negligence and incompetence hiding behind inventing charges.

HDZ accepts MOST proposals, Croatian Prime Minister still unknown (Jutarnji list)

Last night, HDZ sent its formal reply to MOST, agreeing on the possibility of discussing a non-partisan prime minister. HDZ also said that it was willing to accept collaboration with those members of the left coalition who support reforms. HDZ called for an open discussion about the definition of political and administrative mechanisms necessary for the implementation of reforms. They have accepted the possibility of potentially naming a non-partisan prime minister aware that it was their only option to come to power in a deal with all MPs from MOST, reports Vecernji List, Jutarnji List and Index.hr on December 15, 2015. SDP said that HDZ’s reply was a proof of cowardice and the fact that SDP is a much stronger party. “They actually did not say anything, and yet they waited until the very last minute”, a SDP source said. Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic yesterday began a third round of consultations with a joint meeting with HDZ president Tomislav Karamarko and SDP president Zoran Milanovic. The President convened the meeting because she wanted to know whether there was a possibility that the two coalitions, which together have 115 seats in Parliament, could form a joint government. Both SDP and HDZ said they were against such a coalition. After the meeting, Milanovic said that only him and Karamarko can be legitimate prime ministers because they took part in the elections as candidates for that post. MOST leadership held an informal meeting last night during which they once again discussed their relations with SDP and HDZ. The meeting ended just before midnight, and it will continue this morning. There are reports that HDZ and MOST have already begun looking for a non-partisan candidate for prime minister. Although there are no official information about potential candidates, two economists, Zeljko Lovrincevic and Sandra Svaljek, have been named as possibilities. However, MOST has denied that Lovrincevic was a candidate. HDZ also denied the information about Lovrincevic, saying that a year ago Karamarko offered him a position in future government, which Lovrincevic refused saying he would rather be an advisor. “MOST should finally make a decision. In the end, they will make a decision based on positions in future government, and not based on party programs,” said a SDP source. He could not forecast how all the discussions will end, but according to him there are only two likely options. One is a government formed by SDP’s Croatia Is Growing coalition, and at the second are new elections. As far as the constituting of the Parliament is concerned, SDP believes that Speaker Josip Leko should convene the session only after there is enough support in the Parliament to elect the new speaker. “We still do not have the majority, but we are close,” said a source. Several prominent SDP members said that nothing significant happened yesterday and that SDP still has a chance to form a government.

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

Serbia moves down EU path amid Bosnia concerns (Irish Times, by Daniel McLaughlin, 15 December 2015)

Belgrade opens first EU accession ‘chapters’ as envoys warn Bosnian Serb leaders

Serbia is taking a step towards eventual accession to the European Union by opening the first two chapters of its membership negotiations, amid renewed western concern about the stability of neighbouring Bosnia. “Serbia has long deserved it, and has fulfilled many conditions that were very difficult to fulfil,” said Serbian president Tomislav Nikolic. “The opening of chapters symbolises the fact that we are still on that European path in the eyes of the EU.” The first two chapters to be opened are expected to relate to financial controls in notoriously corrupt Serbia, and to its relations with Kosovo, the mostly ethnic-Albanian state that broke from Belgrade’s rule in a 1998/99 war. Kosovo formally declared independence in 2008, but Serbia’s leaders say they will never accept its sovereignty, even while backing EU-led efforts to build co-operation between Belgrade and Pristina. It is still not clear how Serbia could become a member of the EU, which Kosovo also seeks to join, without recognising its neighbour’s sovereignty. “Serbia is ready for the opening of chapters, wishing openly to complete the negotiation process by 2019, despite all the difficulties we may face, so that we could apply for membership in 2020,” said Serbian foreign minister Ivica Dacic. “Time has shown that the government . . . is ready and capable of such historic steps forward.”

The opening of Serbia’s first EU accession chapters on Monday had historical resonance, 20 years after the signing of the Dayton Accords to end Bosnia’s devastating 1992/95 war.

The country is still struggling for cohesion and stability under the structure imposed by Dayton, which divided Bosnia into a Muslim-Croat Federation and Serb-run Republika Srpska, two semi-autonomous regions linked by weak institutions in the national capital, Sarajevo.

Muslim majority

The EU and United States want to unify the country by weakening the regions and strengthening Bosnia’s national structures, but Republika Srpska’s leaders strongly oppose this, fearing they will be dominated by the country’s Muslim majority. Last week, Republika Srpska halted all co-operation with Bosnia’s national police, courts and prosecution service after a raid on official buildings in the region resulted in the arrest of five Bosnian Serbs on suspicion of war crimes.

“State-level law enforcement and judicial authorities have jurisdiction to operate fully throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina and this jurisdiction must not be challenged,” envoys in Bosnia for the EU, US and other western states said in a joint statement.

EU offers accession hopes to Turkey, Serbia (New Europe, by Dan Alexe, 15 December 2015)

Turkey has taken a step forward in its long-delayed membership talks with the European Union.

EU officials agreed on Monday to open negotiations with Ankara on economic and monetary policy, while also opening accession talks with Serbia, showing how a migration crisis and Russia’s presence in the Balkans has prompted the EU to rethink plans to stop expanding.

The chapter on economic and monetary policy is one of 35 policy chapters every aspiring EU member must negotiate to join. Turkey has now opened talks on 15 chapters. The move comes two weeks after the EU offered billions in refugee aid, an easing of visa rules and faster membership talks if Turkey would do more to stop migrants reaching Europe.

Turkey started talks a decade ago, but progress has been held up because some countries, notably Germany, would prefer a “privileged partnership” to full EU membership. A long-simmering dispute between EU member Cyprus and the large, relatively poor and mainly Muslim country also blocked some chapters. While neither Turkey nor Serbia are likely to join the world’s largest trading bloc in the near future, the EU hopes that formal negotiations on different areas of its “chapters” or rules, will help tackle multiple crises on its borders. “The refugee crisis and terrorism shows us that we are on the same continent, we are facing the same challenges and the more we develop common policies, the better off we will be,” EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini told a news conference. In July 2014, facing a popular backlash over the millions of people from formerly communist eastern EU nations streaming into western EU economies to get better-paid work, Juncker promised “no new enlargement in the next five years”. But failing states, war, Islamist militancy and a refugee crisis in the EU’s neighborhood have showed the value of trying to engage and push countries towards becoming market economies. Underlying that change in mood is Turkey’s promise to help stem the flow of migrants from its territory to Europe in return for cash, visas and renewed talks on joining the EU, with which Ankara formally started its membership talks a decade ago. “The sense of direction is this: rather than having an ideological debate about enlargement tomorrow or no enlargement, take the concrete steps to bring us closer,” Mogherini said. That was echoed by other EU officials as they opened the first enlargement chapter with Turkey since 2013 – on economic and monetary affairs – just two weeks after the first EU-Turkey summit in many years and where EU leaders called for membership talks to be “re-energized”. Still, big obstacles remain for Turkey, a populous Muslim nation that some EU members say will never join the bloc. While Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek promised swift progress on the economic chapter, dealing with human rights and rule-of-law issues will be much more problematic. In its latest report on Turkey last month, the European Commission urged Ankara to lift restrictions on media freedom, respect human rights and stop interfering in the judiciary. Of concern to the Commission, which helps EU governments decide who to let into the bloc, is the growing power of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, who many regard as authoritarian. In total, 15 out of the EU’s 35 chapters have now been opened with Turkey and one has been provisionally closed, but membership still faces resistance from France, Germany and particularly divided Cyprus, where Turkey controls the north. But as a new pragmatism shapes EU foreign policy, Brussels also displayed more willingness to Serbia, opening two accession chapters, despite the limited implementation of Belgrade’s agreements with its former province Kosovo. One of the chapters will focus on relations with Kosovo, which broke away during a war in 1999 and declared independence in 2008. Serbia does not recognize its former southern province as sovereign, but has struck a series of deals brokered by the EU to try to regulate relations between the two. “We’re not here just to toy with Serbia,” Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn told reporters. The EU, he said, is serious about a rapprochement with Belgrade, even if there are concerns about its close relationship with Russia and over the difficulties of resolving disputes over the status of Kosovo.

Montenegro General Election To Test country’s Bid to Join NATO – PM (Sputnik, 14 December 2015)

Prime Minister of Montenegro Milo Đukanović claims that there is a chance that the parliamentary elections in Montenegro in 2016 may reverse the country’s course on NATO accession.

MOSCOW — There is a chance that the parliamentary elections in Montenegro in 2016 may reverse the country’s course on NATO accession, Prime Minister of Montenegro Milo Đukanović said. “The Montenegro Constitution does not stipulate a referendum on NATO membership — that’s the parliament’s prerogative,” Đukanović said in an interview with Russia’s Kommersant business daily posted on the newspaper’s website on Monday. “The upcoming parliamentary elections will become a real test of public attitude toward the country’s membership in the Alliance. If the parties that oppose the NATO bid win, the decision will not clear the parliament, and vice versa,” Đukanović stressed.NATO has invited Montenegro to start accession talks to become the 29th member of the alliance, despite deep divisions on the matter within the tiny Adriatic nation. Moscow has warned that the move would only worsen the situation in Western Balkans and destabilize the situation in Montenegro.

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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.