LOCAL PRESS

McAllister: Long way to EU, important that Serbia continues on this path (RTS/Tanjug)

European Parliament (EP) Rapporteur for Serbia David McAllister has said in Belgrade that after the opening of the first two negotiating chapters, Serbia is on the way to the EU, which will be long, but along which it has a lot of friends in Brussels. “This is a big success for Serbian politics and society. You should keep the momentum going, so that we can open more chapters in 2016,” McAllister said on Sunday evening at the Serbian Chamber of Commerce (PKS), congratulating Serbia on the recent step forward. He especially commended the effort the PKS had invested in promoting regional cooperation, including good cooperation with Kosovo, and small and medium-sized enterprises. During his meeting with the members of the parliamentary Committee for EU Integration, McAllister said it was important for Serbia to continue on this path in the course of 2016, adding that the EP will support Serbia on opening the remaining chapters. The Serbian parliament’s press release notes that McAllister, speaking about the draft resolution on Serbia’s progress report for 2015, expects that the resolution will be adopted in the same general positive tone at the plenary session of the EP in February. McAllister especially commended Serbia for its performance in the current migrant crisis, as well as during the negotiations with Pristina, assessing that this dialogue contributed to the opening of Chapter 35.

Mogherini to soon send invitation for new round of dialogue (Novosti)

The EU High Representative Federica Mogherini will most probably send after the holidays an invitation to Aleksandar Vucic and Isa Mustafa for a meeting in Brussels, EU diplomatic circles state. The new round of the dialogue should be scheduled after the Constitutional Court in Pristina passes the final decision on the constitutionality of the agreement on the formation of the Community of Serb Municipalities (ZSO) whose implementation has been suspended temporarily. It is expected that this decision will be passed tomorrow. The estimates in Pristina are that the Court will note that the Agreement on the ZSO is not contrary to the Constitution, since it is envisaged by the Brussels agreement, which was ratified by the Constitutional Court and Assembly. This means it has a feature of an international agreement, i.e. stronger power than the law and Constitution. It is also estimated that the Constitutional Court will recommend for the government in Pristina to adopt a decree on the implementation of the Agreement on the ZSO.

Brussels hiding the Kosovo card (Novosti)

Nobody in the EU knows at present how the famous legally-binding agreement between “Serbia and Kosovo” will look like, nor do they have an answer to Tomislav Nikolic’s proposal for Belgrade and Brussels to open immediately this topic within Chapter 35. On the occasion of Nikolic’s stand, the Head of Serbia’s negotiating team with the EU Tanja Miscevic tells Novosti that every idea is welcome, but notes: “Neither the EU nor Belgrade have defined what they consider to be the end of the dialogue. The agreement on the comprehensive normalization will depend on the course of the dialogue and topics that the two sides open or close. What ‘comprehensive’ implies will depend on the dialogue with Pristina, and not on the negotiations with the EU.” The Chairman of the Serbian parliamentary Committee for EU Integration Aleksandar Senic claims that it is “absolutely possible to launch immediately a debate on the legally-binding agreement”: “In my opinion, this is even desirable. However, I don’t expect this will really occur, since Vucic will not allow the publishing of everything that he had promised in Berlin in regard to the future status of Kosovo.” On the other side, analyst Dusan Janjic says that the Serbian authorities, including the President, accepted in 2013 that the agreement will be reached at the end of the dialogue, so there is no turning back: “The content of the agreement cannot be defined now, since it is conceived as a result of the negotiating process. In a way, Belgrade was done a favor by leaving this for the end and by not having pressure to “violate” the Constitution right away. However, one should not forget that in the course of defining the agreement the EU, as the mediator of the dialogue, will be ‘tormented’ over the disagreements in its ranks regarding the Kosovo status. That is one of the reasons over which it suits Brussels to sign the agreement later on, since in the meantime pressures will be growing on five member states to change their stand regarding recognition of Kosovo’s ‘statehood’.”

Seizure of premises on Mt. Brezovica (Novosti)

Representatives of the Kosovo institutions took over the premises of the “Sar-planina” National Park on Mt. Brezovica – the signboard saying NP “Sar-planina” has been removed, while a signboard of the Kosovo Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning was placed on one of the two premises. Occupying the premises of the NP management was condemned by the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, noting that 26 Serb employees have been removed from their workplaces without any legal basis. “The more frequent provocations of attacks on Serbian companies and property are testing our patience and risk to permanently threaten the normalization of relations process,” stated the Office, which assesses that the “only excuse for such unilateral acts can be Pristina’s wish to provoke a blockade of the dialogue”. That is why we call on Pristina and international representatives in Kosovo and Metohija to return the matter to the previous state-of-affairs.

Ker-Lindsay: Cyprus model not applicable for Kosovo (Danas)

“Many of us who have long been following Serbia’s EU accession path are very curious to see how the Kosovo issue will be resolved, which is actually a very complicated legal and political issue. Simply said, the problem is that Serbia, in order to join the EU, will have to show that it is applying EU rules throughout its territory. Obviously, this is impossible. Even if we leave aside the unilaterally declared independence of Kosovo, Serbia has ceased to have effective control over Kosovo since 1999, following the adoption of UNSCR 1244. This means that, even if it passes laws that technically refer to Kosovo, there is no way that it can ensure that laws are applied. Naturally, this has created a big obstacle for Serbia’s EU membership,” Senior Research Fellow at the European Institute, London School of Economics and Political Science, James Ker-Lindsay tells Danas in comment to the EU platform for Chapter 35 and eventual application of the “Cyprus model” in this domain, which had recently been discussed by Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic. Danas’ interlocutor points out that from the standpoint of the majority of EU member states, the simplest answer for Serbia would be to recognize independence of Kosovo, “which many, without a doubt, had hoped would occur by now”. “This would automatically mean that Serbia has no responsibility to ensure to apply EU acquis in regard to Kosovo. Still, Belgrade said this would not occur. Moreover, the EU is not in any position to demand from Serbia to recognize Kosovo since five EU member states have not yet done this as well. Thus, another solution needs to be found, but the problem is that there have not yet appeared clear options that would not go too far in Serbia’s favor. Some ideas that are to Belgrade’s will, like the Cyprus model, were unacceptable for the EU since this would suggest that the EU member states actually do not recognize independence of Kosovo. The same case would be in case of the adoption of some decision on establishing a coordination mechanism for UNMIK,” he says. “In the case of Cyprus, the international community condemned the partition of the island. No country, except Turkey, recognizes the self-declared ‘Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus’. When Cyprus applied for EU membership, the EU stand was that it should not be punished because of the Turkish invasion and occupation. Thus, they found a way to admit Cyprus even though it is still divided. This was done with the assertion that the entire island joined, but the EU acquis is not applied, at the request of the Cyprus government, in regions that are not under its direct control. In other words, the EU conceived the Cyprus model because it didn’t recognize the unilaterally declared independence of Cyprus Turks and wanted to find a way of admitting the island as an integral unit,” specified the British Balkan expert. He says that in the case of Serbia, there is a “radically different situation” since the vast majority of the EU member states recognizes Kosovo as independent. “Under such circumstances, any attempt to apply the Cyprus model would be a signal that they do not see Kosovo as an independent state. The Cyprus model works because it is based on the accepted principle that Cyprus is still one state, even if the government doesn’t control the entire territory, which is obviously very different from the stand that the majority of EU member states have on Kosovo,” he says. Lindsay notes that the impression is that, for the time being, the EU and Serbia have decided to overcome the problem by “agreeing that they do not agree when it comes to the status of Kosovo”, as well as that there is consent that Serbia can commence the EU accession process, which means that all decisions and laws that are passed will not prejudge the stand of any side on Kosovo’s status. “Only at the end of the process, when Serbia enters the final phases of EU accession, it will be necessary to reach the final agreement on Kosovo. In other words, Serbia can avoid this for a long time by passing the necessary laws and their application, and when all steps are taken the final decision will be made. Still, it is clear to all foreign observers that there are expectations that Serbia will be ready, up to that point, to accept independence of Kosovo. If this doesn’t happen, there simply will not be a way of passing the final decision. It would be too unnatural to admit Serbia because it still has the formal right over Kosovo but is not able to apply effective control over it,” concludes the British political analyst.

REGIONAL PRESS

Radoncic refused to enter B&H Council of Ministers (Dnevni avaz)

President of the Party of Democratic Action (SDA) Bakir Izetbegovic and President of the Alliance for Better Future (SBB) Fahrudin Radoncic held a meeting at the premises of the B&H Presidency. On this occasion, satisfaction with the fact that the coalition SDA-SBB has completely stabilized the situation in the Federation of B&H and even the region was expressed. However, Radoncic and SBB do not want to appoint their staff for empty positions in the B&H Council of Ministers. The two presidents agreed that in a very short period of time the coalition has already given enormous results on domestic and international plan, that the coalition is co-existent, principled, and that its implementation will be seriously continued. “When it comes to the expectation that Fahrudin Radoncic will be appointed as the Minister of Transport and Communications by the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of B&H on December 30, and Bakir Dautbasic as the Deputy Minister of Defense, Radoncic regretfully informed Izetbegovic that he personally does not want to enter the Council of Ministers. The reason for that is that Radoncic promised to his electorate the de-politicization of judiciary and opposition to rigged political processes, and that those are continued even fiercer with more severe violations of office of certain prosecutors in an attempt to disable the new coalition and the rule of law on the level of inevitable European standards,” the SBB stated. Whether SBB will propose another name for the minister of transport and communications of the SDA will choose its own staff for empty positions previously held by the Democratic Front (DF) remains to be an opened question of which the Presidency and the Main Board of SBB will declare politically. Radoncic expressed deep gratitude to numerous citizens, domestic and international officials, political and religious institutions and parties and citizens’ associations who provided full support and expected the processes of reforms and development of B&H, as well as the priority reform of judiciary which is a general domestic and international attitude, to be accelerated with his personal entering into the executive authority.

Mayor of Srebrenica to ask Vucic to support the idea of Srebrenica being a district (Vijesti)

Mayor of the Srebrenica Municipality Camil Durakovic stated that he knows he did the right thing when he apologized to the Prime Minister of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic, because he was supported by the mothers of the killed children who live in Srebrenica. Speaking of the relations between Srebrenica and Serbia, Durakovic said that if anyone wants him to stop building good relations with Serbia as the country with which Srebrenica borders, all they need to do is to say it and he will give it all up. Commenting of the recently held Investment conference, Durakovic stated that it is an idea from his pre-electoral platform and that it was important that it is organized by the people in Srebrenica, not by someone in New York, Washington… Durakovic believes that peoples in the Balkans have two options: to kill the others or to live in peace, and that is why we need to extend our hand towards people like Vucic. Furthermore, he claims that Republika Srpska (RS) is an entity created exclusively for the Serbs, and that the idea of Srebrenica as a district still exists and is the only realistic idea. “We will ask Vucic to help us in that,” Durakovic said. Moreover, Durakovic said he will re-run for the mayor position, since he will not let anyone destroy the concept they have created.

Izetbegovic: Kosovo won’t be recognized due to RS resistance (Nezavisne)

Relations with Serbia are improving, while B&H will not recognize Kosovo in the foreseeable future, said Bakir Izetbegovic. “I do not believe that we will recognize Kosovo in the foresee ale future,” Izetbegovic said, and explained this was also “the assessment of Minister of Foreign Affairs Ivan Crnadak” – because, as he said, “we have strong resistance from politicians from the RS and also from the Serb Presidency member Mr. Mladen Ivanic.” “Regarding the visa-free regime with Kosovo, we don’t have it either with some countries that we recognized 20 years ago and who have recognized us. We won’t be able to do the thing with the visa-free regime, but we can very much facilitate the issuance of visas. They could be issued both in Skopje and Belgrade and that’s being worked on, to make this procedure easier and simplify it in order to achieve intensive communication, because at this moment both economies are suffering because of this slow communication,” said Izetbegovic.

Former FB&H minister Lijanovic indicted (Dnevni avaz)

Tuzla Canton Prosecutor’s Office filed an indictment against the former FB&H minister of agriculture Jerko Ivankovic Lijanovic and his associates over illegal disbursement of subsidies. According to Dnevni avaz, the indictment is submitted to the Tuzla Canton Court, after investigation that lasted for several months. Lijanovic and his associates Suad Camdzic, Edin Ajanovic and Mersad Serifovic, were arrested earlier after Prosecution opened investigation. Lijanovic is Vice-President of People’s Party Work for Progress which participated in previous FB&H government. Lijanovic and others are suspected of paying only half of the money to agriculture producers, and taking rest of the money for themselves. Producers were forced to accept this fraud in order to receive incentives. They acquired 760,000 KM in this way, and are suspected of criminal offence abuse of office.

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

IS uses weapons exported to Britain from Serbia and Bosnia (thevillagessuntimes.com, by Paul Elliott, 21 December 2015)

In a report published today, Amnesty spells out how Isis fighters are using arms mainly looted from Iraqi stockpiles and designed and made in almost 30 countries – including Britain, the US, France, Germany, Russia and China. Iraq was also flooded with weapons after the 2003 US-led invasion and fresh deals reached after the 2011 United States pullout are continuing to pour arms into the country. Hassan Hassan, an associate fellow at the UK-based think-tank Chatham House and co-author of “ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror”, confirmed that most of ISIL’s weapons had been seized from the Iraqi and Syrian armies. Even more disastrous was the fact that a stockpile of weapons given to the US-trained rebels ended up in the hands of terrorists, after the so-called “moderates” willingly handed it over to groups such as Al-Nusra Front soon after crossing into Syria. “This shows again that arms export risk assessments and mitigation measures to unstable regions require a long term, root-and-branch analysis”, Patrick Wilcken, a researcher on arms control quoted to have said to the AI. Oliver Sprague, Amnesty UK’s Arms Programme Director, said: “Decades of free-flowing arms into Iraq meant that when IS took control of these areas, they were like children in a sweetshop”. ISIS has also gained access to weapons from other sources through the capture or sale of Syrian military stocks supplied to armed opposition groups in Syria by countries including Turkey, the Gulf States and the US, according to the organization. A new report by Amnesty International blames “decades of poorly regulated arms flows” into Iraq for providing Isis with a huge arsenal of weapons. It also warns other countries against exporting arms to Iraq, calling for a “presumptions of denial” unless forces are able to prove they are able to control the weapons. He spent much of the address, despite having insisted there was no connection to ISIS, in defending the ongoing strategy in the ISIS war, and insisting he doesn’t want a major ground war in Iraq or Syria that would last a decade or more. Taken together, the leaked document and the AI report paint a picture of a movement capable of maintaining its military force while also considering how to ensure a sustainable political future. It said any state transferring arms to Iraq should invest heavily in controls, training and monitoring in order to meet global standards. He added: “The legacy of arms proliferation and abuse in Iraq and the surrounding region has already destroyed the lives and livelihoods of millions of people and poses an ongoing threat”.

IMF says Serbia on track but risks remain (Reuters, by Fawad Maqsood, 19 December 2015)

BELGRADE: The International Monetary Fund praised Serbia on Friday for reforms it said were generating economic recovery, but said some risks remained. The IMF said it had completed its third review of a 1.2 billion euros ($1.3 billion) stand-by loan with Serbia, approved in February, and this meant a cumulative total of 627 million euros was now available as a safety net for Belgrade to draw on if needed. Serbia has repeatedly said it considers the deal as precautionary and has no plans to draw funds. Last month the Fund raised its forecast for Serbia’s 2015 economic growth to 0.75 percent from 0.5 percent and projected 2016 growth of 1.75 percent. In a statement, IMF Deputy Managing Director Min Zhu said Serbia’s economy continued to recover on the back of efforts to strengthen public finances, address structural weaknesses and improve the business climate. He also warned of the need for reducing fiscal risks and offloading big state-owned enterprises. “It is important to take decisive actions toward implementing the commitments in the area of large SOEs, especially in the energy and transport sectors, and … resolution of enterprises in the portfolio of the Privatisation Agency,” he said. In line with the terms of the loan deal, Serbia’s parliament on Dec. 12 adopted a 2016 budget setting the deficit at 3 percent of economic output.

The IMF praised Serbia’s fiscal over-performance in 2015 but said Belgrade now needed structural adjustment of around 1.5 percent of GDP in 2016 and 2017 to place debt, currently at around 76 percent of output, on a downward path. To get the loan agreement, the government of Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic cut pensions and public-sector wages in October 2014. It is raising them by a minimal amount in 2016 after securing higher revenues this year. In the 2016 budget, the government set out plans to trim the bloated public sector by laying off around 30,000 people, or 6 percent of the workforce.

($1 = 0.9228 euros)

Bosnia census results threaten power-sharing system (voiceobserver.com, by Gregory Rogers, 21 December 2015)

SARAJEVO, Bosnia — Preliminary findings from Bosnia’s first census since the 1992-1995 conflict shows the population has dropped substantially since then, raising concerns about the government structure put in place by the Dayton Peace Accords. The state statistics agency said it counted a total of around 3,800,000 residents, down from the 4.4 million recorded in 1991.

The census results reflect demographic changes wrought by the conflict’s displacement and ethnic cleansing. The new figures are highly controversial because they could upset the quota-based power-sharing system between the previously warring Muslim Bosniaks, Catholic Croats, and Orthodox Serbs. “Leaders of the three constituent groups will all seek to slice, dice and present the results in the manner most favorable to their interests,” says longtime Bosnia observer Valery Perry of the Public International Law and Policy Group. All three sides, especially the minority Croats — the smallest population in 1991 — fear their influence will decline.

Montenegro Opposition Protest Demand Free Elections (BIRN, by Dusica Tomovic, 20 December 2015)

Anti-government protesters rally in the capital again on Sunday, asking for resignation of Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic and new elections. Montenegro’s main opposition alliance, the Democratic Front, has called for a new anti-government demonstration in Podgorica on Sunday, as a continuation of their protests in support of the demand for the “first ever fair and free” elections in Montenegro. One of the Front’s leaders, Andrija Mandic, called on other opposition parties to join the protest and demand the formation of a transitional government that will organize elections. All opposition parties except for the Front in November agreed to crisis talks with the speaker of parliament, Ranko Krivokapic, on condition that elections are held under new electoral legislation by next autumn. The deadline for reaching an agreement is Monday. “We expect an outcome on Monday and will congratulate those who have come up with a solution. But, if there is no agreement, I believe all our colleagues from the opposition will join us to put pressure to get the interim government,” Mandic said on Friday. The opposition claims that Montenegro has had no regular, fair elections for more than a decade, and that the country therefore has no legitimate authorities and no “legal” parliament. Joined by several student and human rights organizations, the Front began 24-hour demonstrations in September, demanding the creation of an interim government and resignation of Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic, who has held power since the early 1990s. The protest first turned violent on October 17, when police fired tear gas to disband the crowds. More violence broke out on Saturday 24, after opposition MPs attempted to enter the parliament but were prevented from doing so by police. During the clashes between protesters and police, three opposition MPs we arrested. Two have been accused of a coup attempt. Djukanovic said the violent protests were an attempt to seize state institutions, overthrow the elected government and change the country’s pro-Western political orientation. He said that his government had full legitimacy and would not quit. He has also accused “nationalist circles in Serbia and Russia” of interfering in the internal politics of Montenegro in order to alter its pro-Western stance.

Dialogue reopens on Macedonia dispute (neoskosmos.com, by Michael Sweet, 21 December 2015)

FYROM foreign minister visits Athens as international media talk up referendum solution.

According to a report by The Guardian newspaper this week, Nikola Gruevski, the prime minister of the self-proclaimed ‘Republic of Macedonia’, says he is open to change his country’s name – a step that could end the 24-year dispute with Greece over the naming issue. Mr Gruevski was described as willing to reopen dialogue with Athens on the issue – providing that any potential name change is put to a plebiscite in the former Yugoslav republic. “We are ready to discuss, to open dialogue with them, and to find some solution,” Gruevski told The Guardian. “We would like as soon as possible to go to dialogue with Greece to find a solution, and if we find a solution we have to go to the citizens and organise a referendum,” Mr Gruevski said. “Through dialogue we have to find some solution, and after that to ask the citizens: is this right or not right.” The long-running dispute has prompted Greece to consistently block its northern landlocked neighbour from joining the EU and NATO. Australia continues to apply the United Nations resolution passed in 1993 that the country should be referred to as ‘FYROM’ until Athens and Skopje found agreement on a new name. Previously deadlocked negotiations brokered by the UN between the two countries have included proposals for qualifying words such as ‘upper’ or ‘new’ being applied to the term ‘Macedonia’ – but no wording has yet been acceptable to both parties. Ahead of a visit to Athens on Thursday, Skopje’s foreign minister, Nikola Poposki, told Kathimerini that “conditions are more than ripe” for the name dispute to be finally resolved. Many believe the visit, the first in 15 years, suggests a compromise may be close. Greek foreign minister Nikos Kotzias ended an 11-year embargo with a visit to Skopje in June, when he said that he wished “all our neighbours to be members of the European Union … because our own country, to great degree, is dependent on what happens in the Balkans as a whole”. The Guardian story suggested that members of the leftist Tsipras government are keen to finalise a solution which some in SYRIZA blame on right wing nationalism. Having previously warned that no new name for FYROM could include the word ‘Macedonia’, Athens conceded in 2007, saying that it would give its consent to a composite name in which it could feature. A senior Greek foreign ministry source reportedly told media: “We have gone the extra mile. We’ve proposed a composite name with geographical qualifications for all uses.”

Postponing Elections is Macedonia’s Only Hope (Balkan Insight, by Erwan Fouéré, 21 December 2015)

The EU should have the courage to tell Macedonia to delay an election for which the country is wholly unprepared.

Brussels

The statement adopted by the European Council last week on the crisis in Macedonia could not have been clearer. It expressed “grave concern about the situation in the country, in particular the serious political crisis, marked by a divisive political culture, lack of culture of compromise, backsliding on freedom of expression and judicial independence, as well as further erosion of trust in public institutions”. No wonder many question Macedonia’s preparedness to hold early parliamentary elections in four months’ time. But how many people in Macedonia will have heard this message and understand why the country finds itself on the receiving end of such a damning assessment? As in the past, the government, using its control over the media, will put its own gloss on the international community’s assessment and place the blame entirely on the shoulders of others, not least the opposition parties. It will also point a finger at the EU itself, as reflected by the ruling VMRO-DPMNE party’s repeated insults of the EU mediator in recent weeks. The government’s tactics are clear – to show domestic public opinion that it is above suspicion. Making every effort to bury the evidence of the wiretapped conversations, involving alleged corruption and abuse of power at the highest levels of government, is an integral part of this strategy. That the ruling party has forced the Parliamentary Committee of Inquiry, established to examine the wiretapping claims, to hold its meetings in camera speaks volumes of the latter’s approach to transparency and government accountability. It is tantamount to an admission of guilt. As part of the EU-brokered political agreement agreed in June/July, the early elections planned for 24 April were supposed to mark a turning point in the political fortunes of Macedonia and put an end to the corruption and authoritarian practices of past years. The agreement stipulates that the Prime Minister, Nikola Gruevski, should resign and make way for a new government to be installed by 15 January whose sole responsibility “shall be limited to the organisation of the early parliamentary elections”. Unfortunately, there are no indications that the political leadership is ready for change. On the contrary. The ruling VMRO-DPMNE party and its leader, Gruevski, have made repeated efforts to undermine the political agreement by blocking compromise solutions. Apart from the return to parliament by the opposition, ending its boycott of 14 months, and the appointment of a Special Prosecutor to investigate the wiretapping allegations, none of the deadlines established for implementation of the June/July political accord have been respected. In its “Needs Assessment Mission Report”, published on 27 November, the OSCE/ODIHR echoed many concerns about the level of preparedness for elections and the danger of the irregularities of the past elections being repeated. Even if agreement is reached on the critical areas required to ensure a level playing field for the election, as on media freedom, control over the abuse of state resources and safeguards to prevent pressure on voters and intimidation of public servants, what guarantee is there that the rules will be respected? Past experience, as well as evidence from the wiretapped conversations, has shown that no matter how many laws are adopted it makes no difference because the behaviour of the political leadership remains the same. Previous elections have also shown that intimidation tactics are not limited to public servants, but also affect the business community. The government has not hesitated in the past to let loose its army of tax inspectors prior to elections to spread fear and intimidate businesses who fail to pay their dues or pledge their support for the ruling party. The latest controversy over the destruction of a park in the grounds of the Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje to make way for two new faculty buildings is symptomatic of the government’s tactics, aimed at launching building projects in the run-up to elections and using state funds purely for electoral purposes. That this latest action was perpetrated under cover of darkness and without any prior consultation with the constituency most affected shows how this government continues to operate. Instead of promoting consensus between the political forces in the country and fostering inclusive dialogue, the government is adopting the language of confrontation and subterfuge. The only hope for Macedonia to emerge from this crisis is for the early elections to be postponed for at least three to six months. The EU should make clear to the political leadership that, based on the record of the past weeks, holding elections in April would be counterproductive and not conducive to resolving the deeply rooted crisis – even if a delay means a prolongation of the current government’s mandate beyond the 15 January deadline. A delay of three to six months would give more time for the OSCE/ODIHR recommendations, not least the long overdue updating of the voters list, as well as the reforms repeatedly called for by the EU, to be adopted and embedded in the electoral process. It would also give more confidence in the capacity of the newly appointed State Electoral Commission to function properly. Ensuring impartial and balanced media coverage will require constant scrutiny by the EU together with the OSCE. The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media has repeatedly warned the government over its lack of respect for media freedom and has urged respect for critical reporting without fear of intimidation, to which journalists have been subjected. The government’s attitude towards media freedom will not change overnight, no matter how many laws are adopted. A delay in holding the elections will also allow the Special Prosecutor more time to launch her first indictments in the wiretapping scandal. It is inconceivable that almost a year has passed since the first revelations of alleged corruption at the highest levels of government were made, and that no one has yet been held accountable. Whether an election is deemed to fully respect internationally agreed democratic standards does not solely depend on what happens on election day but on the entire electoral process that precedes it. If this election is to mean anything for Macedonia, it should mark the start of a long process of restoring democracy, public confidence in the democratic functioning of the institutions and a political leadership accountable to its people and answerable to the laws of the country rather than partisan politics. Above all, it should eliminate the climate of fear that has marked these past years and destroyed the hopes of many young people who have decided their only option is to leave.

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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.