LOCAL PRESS

Vucic: Serbia follows moves made by Germany, Austria, Slovenia (RTS/Tanjug)

Commenting on the closure of the Balkan route, Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said that Serbia was behaving in line with what was being done on the ground by Germany, Austria, Slovenia and Croatia and would continue doing so in the future. “We will treat the minimum number of refugees in our country in accordance with international public and humanitarian law, but showing our humane side, of course,” said Vucic. He said that Serbia would continue to act responsibly and protect the human rights of refugees, stressing, however, that it would also be protecting its own national interests and would not be a “parking lot or a collection center for refugees”. Vucic believes that even after this week’s EU-Turkey summit, the EU failed to provide a comprehensive solution. Asked to comment on Politika editor-in-chief Ljiljana Smajlovic’s estimate that German Chancellor Angela Merkel “helped Serbia by closing the (Balkan) route”, Vucic said: “Nobody either helped us or otherwise, we have been helping ourselves, while no misfortune has passed us by: from the fact all refugees from the Middle East passed through Serbia, to the fact that natural disasters have not passed us by”.

Balkan route closed (Mondo/Tanjug)

Serbia, Slovenia, Macedonia and Croatia applied the new rules of entry of refugees, which means that only those with valid travel documents may cross the border. The Serbian Government as of midnight began implementing the decisions that apply to other countries on the migrant route, which means that our borders with Macedonia and Bulgaria operate in accordance with the rules, which are set up by Slovenia and Croatia, said Serbian  Minister of Labor, Employment, Veterans and Social Affairs Aleksandar Vulin. The Serbian Interior Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday evening it would coordinate all migration-related measures with the EU. These measures will be implemented on the country’s southern and eastern borders, the Ministry said, after Slovenia decided to shut down the Balkan migrant route, Tanjug reported. Croatia has informed the Serbian interior ministry that Slovenia, a member of the EU, will start enforcing the new regime for entering the Schengen zone and will not receive migrants without valid visas and passports as of midnight, said the statement. This practically means the closing of the Balkan route, the ministry said. With the new regime in place, Serbia cannot allow to become a collection center for refugees so it will coordinate all measures with the EU and reciprocally put them in place on its southern and eastern borders, toward Macedonia and Bulgaria, the ministry said.

Macedonia has completely closed its borders to refugees and other migrants crossing from Greece in response to tightening of inflows by Slovenia and Serbia, officials said Wednesday, adding to pressure to finish an EU-Turkey deal meant to stem the migrant crisis. A Macedonian government official said the path has been off limits to migrants since Tuesday while Greek police said no refugee have left the country via Idomeni since Monday morning.

“We have completely closed the border,” said the police official, who declined to be named.

According to the Macedonian Interior Ministry, no migrants entered from Greece on Tuesday.

“Macedonia will act according to the decisions taken by other countries on the Balkan route,” an Interior Ministry spokesman said, referring to the main routes taken by more than a million migrants to reach the EU over the last year.

Croatian Interior Minister Vlaho Orepic said on Tuesday night that Croatia too would apply new rules and that only people with valid passports would be allowed across the border. “There has been a change to the regime. Europe has obviously embarked on a new phase in dealing with the migrant crisis. It has been decided that the Schengen countries will apply the Schengen rules,” he said. Orepic said that there had been no migrant arrivals in Croatia over the last two days, adding that before that between 400 and 500 had arrived daily. “Europe’s border will be on the Macedonian-Greek border and we will comply with the decisions made,” Orepic said.

Why is Pristina launching the story on war reparations (Politika)

By running a new topic for the dialogue, – the request for war reparation from Serbia – Pristina is in fact trying to hide the fact that it still hasn’t fulfilled the Brussels obligations concerning the establishment of the Community of Serb Municipalities (ZSO) and to push to the background the beginning of the work of the Special Court for war crimes committed by the KLA. The Chairperson of the Serbian parliamentary Committee for Kosovo and Metohija Milovan Drecun stressed that it is actually Serbia that is the victim. “Terrorist activities and armed unrest occurred on our territory. Those who provoked conflicts, this being the terrorist KLA, with the help of NATO, are responsible for destruction,” he points out. Drecun notes that at issue is an attempt at hindering in advance the process of normalization of relations, avoiding key issues in this process, such as the establishment of the ZSO, the issue of Serbian property, which has been brutally seized and is being seized in Kosovo and Metohija, return of around 300,000 expelled… “Now they wish to completely push this to the background with absurd requests – those who are responsible and who destroyed, burned and killed, are no requesting reparation from the state that defended itself,” he underlines, convinced that the intention is to hinder in advance the resumption of the process of normalization of relations, because this “doesn’t suit them at all, especially the formation of the ZSO”.
Selakovic: I don’t know whether Seselj will be in The Hague on 31 March (RTS/Tanjug)

Serbian Justice Minister Nikola Selakovic has stated that he doesn’t know whether the leader of the Serbian Radical Party (SRS) Vojislav Seselj will be in The Hague on 31 March, when the delivering of his verdict had been scheduled. “I can neither say, nor do I know, what will happen on 31 March. This is a case that is in the hands of the court and we will see how they will proceed,” said Selakovic after his tour of the District Court in Belgrade. He notes that the Justice Ministry has been informing the ICTY on a regular basis in regard to the requested reports on the extradition of three SRS members, but these responses are branded confidential and he cannot discuss them. Selakovic said that the Ministry hasn’t received any responses from the ICTY in regard to these reports.

Djordjevic, Li discuss defense cooperation (Tanjug)

Serbian Defense Minister Zoran Djordjevic met with Chinese Ambassador Li Manchang Wednesday to discuss improvement of defense cooperation between the two countries. In an open conversation, Djordjevic and Li noted that China is one of Serbia’s most significant strategic partner and most dependable friend, and that the Serbian Defense Ministry is making a full contribution to maintaining the high level of cooperation and relations between the two friendly countries, the Defense Ministry said in a statement. Djordjevic thanked China for its support for Serbia’s legitimate endeavors to solve the situation in Kosovo and Metohija in a peaceful way through diplomatic efforts by Serbian officials despite an extremely complex situation and numerous challenges, the statement said.

RIK delivers instructions for elections in Kosovo (Tanjug)

The Republic Electoral Commission (RIK) has delivered instructions for conducting voting for the parliamentary elections on the territory of Kosovo and Metohija, as an integral part of Serbia, in a situation where it is not possible to guarantee safe implementation of elections in Kosovo and Metohija without cooperation with the OSCE Mission.

REGIONAL PRESS

B&H is on the path to NATO (Vijesti Srpske)

B&H’s priority on its path to membership in NATO is the registration of promising, immovable military property on the entire territory of B&H, and it is a difficult task that has “crossed on the political field”. This is one of the joint conclusions of participants on the meeting between representatives of the B&H Parliamentary Assembly and the members of the Committee on the Civil Dimension of Security and the Subcommittee on Democratic Governance of the Parliamentary Assembly of NATO (NATO PA), which was held on Monday in Sarajevo. The chairman of the B&H Parliamentary Assembly in NATO PA Nikola Lovrinovic stressed at the meeting that just a few other countries in the postwar period achieve progress on the reconstruction of infrastructure and reform of defense and security, as it is the case with B&H. He noted that the process of registration of military property is definitely launched and expressed hope that B&H, through activation of MAP, will become the full member of NATO, which is the state desired goal. He pointed out that NATO, by activating the MAP to B&H, sent a strong message about the current efforts of the country and emphasized that this process can no longer stand. The chairman of the Board of the Committee on the Civil Dimension of Security and the Subcommittee on Democratic Governance NATO PA, Lord Thomas Michael Jopling, said that the Western Balkan countries, including B&H, have achieved great progress on the path towards the EU and NATO. He stressed B&H’s large contribution to ensuring security in the region and has also made a great contribution to the NATO-led peacekeeping missions. “However, the stability of your region is still fragile, and the inter-ethnic gap is permanent,” said Lord Jopling, and added that the NATO PA is convinced that the European and Euro-Atlantic integration remains the most powerful instrument that will bring permanent prosperity and security in this region. He called politicians in the region, and especially B&H politicians, to urgently demonstrate compromise and determination to implement the necessary reforms and stop corruption. Jopling expressed the hope that the political leaders in Banja Luka and Sarajevo will find a way to work together for the benefit of all citizens of B&H and future generations. B&H Defense Minister Marina Pendes informed participants that the NATO Summit in Warsaw, when it is expected that the MAP to B&H to be activated, moved to July. She said that the B&H Defense Ministry has made the maximum in registration of military property and that 23 locations already are in register. Also, she added, the Defense Ministry sent 14 requests for registration locations in the RS, but there are several problems. The RS representatives, who were supposed to be at the meeting, didn’t come. SNSD delegate in PA B&H, Dusanka Majkic, who was invited to participate, said that she was not able to come because of “personal reasons” but was also surprised that other Serb representatives also didn’t come.

Presidency of B&H in an official visit to Croatia (Klix)

Members of the B&H Presidency have started a two-day visit to Croatia. They met with the President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, Prime Minister Tihomir Oreskovic and the President of Croatian Parliament Zeljko Reiner. The official visit started yesterday at 1 p.m., when the members of the Presidency of B&H Dragan Covic, Bakir Izetbegovic and Mladen Ivanic were to meet with the President Grabar-Kitarovic, after which a bilateral meeting of delegations was held. This visit has been assessed as very important, because Croatia is preparing a new political platform for B&H, which entails a greater engagement of Croatia as a member of the European Union on the path of B&H towards the EU. In return, Croatia will demand the strengthening of position of the Croats in B&H, in terms of respecting the legitimacy and equality, but without insisting on the third entity. The new approach of Croatia to the relations with B&H on the path towards the EU is supported by Germany and the USA. It remains to be seen whether there will also be a new approach of Croatia to B&H in practice and to which extent the B&H will be able to follow the proposed projects.

Croatia and B&H signing an agreement on European Partnership (Nezavisne)

Croatia and B&H will sign an agreement on European partnership which will be the framework for Croatian support to B&H in the accession to the EU after the submission of membership application, announced the ministers of foreign affairs of the two countries Miro Kovac and Igor Crnadak yesterday. Kovac and Crnadak met at Pantovcak, on the margins of the visit paid by the members of the B&H Presidency to the Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic. “As a signatory of the Dayton Agreement, Croatia has special responsibility towards B&H and wishes to actively support its membership in the EU. In Croatia B&H can find a strong partner in the implementation of all the reforms necessary so that the aim of entering the EU might be achieved one day,” said the Minister Kovac. B&H applied for membership in the EU in mid-February. The near signing of the Agreement on European Partnership was also discussed at the meeting. This agreement would provide a framework for supporting B&H in the first steps after the submission of application for membership. Also discussed was the initiative for a joint session of the two governments. “After my inaugural visit to B&H, this meeting is another confirmation of our agreement that we will strengthen bilateral cooperation as first neighbors,” Kovac said, adding: “With these meetings we prove that there is a continuity of Croatian foreign policy towards B&H as a stable country in which all three constituent peoples live equally”.

Dodik-Ferguson: To intensify implementation of reform agenda (Fena)

The President of the Republika Srpska (RS) Milorad Dodik and the British Ambassador to B&H Edward Ferguson expressed hope that soon problems related to the adoption of the coordination mechanism will be solved, and the implementation of the reform agenda will be sped up which will enable creating the conditions for obtaining candidate status in the next period, said the Office of the RS President. The RS is committed to the European path of B&H, to which includes the institutions of that entity that have to be involved in all processes related to the coordination mechanism and adjustment of the Stabilization and Association Agreement, reiterated the entity president Zeljka Cvijanovic during a conversation with Ambassador Ferguson.

SMS evidence: Campara instructs Azra Saric to frame Radoncic (Dnevni avaz)

A distinguished lawyer, Vasvija Vidovic, recently filed a complaint with the Disciplinary Counsel, Mr. Arben Murtezic, against Prosecutor of the B&H Prosecutor‘s Office, Dubravko Campara, published Depo portal. The complaint refers to Campara’s abuse of power and his repeated disregard of the duties of a prosecutor, by which he violated Law on HJPC.  Vidovic, as published by Depo, stated in the complaint that Campara, used his position to illicitly communicate with a witness Azra Saric. Only after that, Saric gave a statement based on which case against Fahrudin Radoncic and others was practically made before the Court of B&H. Vidovic, who also previously reported Campara for various violations of duty, though there is still no opinion delivered regarding these complaints, pointed out that Campara intensively communicated with Saric over the phone few days prior to extension of the investigation against Fahrudin Radoncic, in December 2015. She submitted relevant evidence from competent institutions as well, the portal reported. This evidence, in fact, corroborated the suspicion that the statement given by Saric to the Prosecutor’s Office of B&H in that period, could not be characterized as hers, but that Saric was instructed to testify against Radoncic! Saric hoped, reads Depo, to get a favor in return from Campara, that is, his intervention regarding the solution of her business status. Lawyer Vidovic confirmed to Dnevni avaz that she had filed a complaint against Campara and added that it was sent to all members of HJPC and to international organizations. She stresses that it was an inappropriate, unethical, and illicit communication of Prosecutor Campara with witness Saric. Vidovic also announced that she would file a criminal report against Campara, because this has elements of a criminal offence.

German parliamentarians sent a message to B&H (Klix)

Delegates of the SPD in the German Federal parliament (Bundestag) created a document “Strengthen the European Idea on the Western Balkans” in which, among other things, it is stated that the “Dayton constitution paralyzes the further development in B&H” and that the successor states of Yugoslavia need to “analyze and reassess their joint history and write it in the school books”. The German parliamentarians told the B&H politicians to take advantage of the new approach of the European Union and to intensify negotiations on membership in the EU. Furthermore, they added that chapters regarding the rule of law and financial control must be opened as soon as possible. The same stands for Serbia regarding Chapter 35, related to relations with Kosovo. Germans also pointed out that the EU must revive the process of accession to the EU with certain countries of the region and that clear political signals must be sent in that respect. This can be done by opening key chapters with the countries that are already negotiating with the EU. What German parliamentarians believe is very important is the regional political cooperation. Governments and parliaments are expected to strengthen the relations within the region. Moreover, German parliamentarians expressed strong support for reforms in this area, pointing out that it is necessary to support the reform-oriented forces in the countries of the Western Balkans. Furthermore, the German parliamentarians highlighted that, in case of B&H, other members of the EU must be involved in order to achieve economic and social priorities. Especially important is the fight against corruption, and the parliamentarians stated that they wish to see more determined work of national agencies for the fight against corruption and the intensification of cooperation with the European agency OLAF. Delegate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) B&H, in the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of B&H, Sasa Magazinovic, who attended the conference, said that it is very important for B&H and countries in the region to be present as a topic in parliaments of powerful European countries.

DSHV sees Serbian politicians’ claims as threat to ethnic Croats (Hina)

The Democratic Alliance of the Vojvodina Croats (DSHV) on Saturday refuted claims made by Serbia’s officials that it was the DSHV to blame for the fact that ethnic Croats have no representative in Serbia’s parliament. Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said earlier on Saturday that the Croat ethnic community in Serbia was entitled to three seats in the parliament but that its representatives did not exercise that right. “The decision by the DSHV to join the slate of the Democratic Party (DS) goes directly against the interests of the Croat community. So the right address for criticism is not Serbia but the DSHV,” said Dacic. The DSHV also finds statements made by Dacic and Interior Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) who alluded that it was Croatia rather than Serbia that should be taught lessons to be inappropriate and threatening. “Nebojsa Stefanovic’s statements, in which he connects the DSHV’s decision on whom it will choose for a partner to run together in an election to the matters regarding the ethnic Serbs’ status in Croatia, are intimidating, given that the decision of benign nature is connected thus with a series of inappropriate conclusions,” the DSHV said in a press release. The party says it would prefer if Minister Stefanovic made public statement about the case of the beating of a Catholic priest recently in a monastery in Vojvodina or if he presented results of what Serbia had done to meet its commitments. The Democratic Alliance of the Vojvodina Croats on Friday signed a coalition agreement with the Democratic Party (DS) for Serbia’s general elections set for 24 April. The political party representing Croats in Serbia recalls that it was the DS that recognized the Croat community as an ethnic minority when it came to power in 2000, whereby paving the way for the exercise of minority rights through institutions and through engagement in Serbia’s social life. In order to survive in Serbia’s political life, the DSHV is forced to cooperate and make coalitions with major political parties and cannot run in an election on its own due to Serbia’s failure to implement a bilateral agreement with Croatia under which ethnic Croats in Serbia are entitled directly to have seats in the Serbian legislature.

Discussion on dismissal already on 23 March? (RTCG)

The Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), the Bosniak Party (BS), Forca and Croatian Civic Initiative (HGI) will ask for the discussion on the dismissal of the President of Parliament to be the first item on the agenda at the Parliament session scheduled for 23 March, Pobjeda learned from multiple government sources. The initiative should be formally submitted to the Parliament by the Vice President of the DPS caucus Milutin Simovic. President of the Parliament Ranko Krivokapic scheduled the Parliament session for March 23 but set the dismissal discussion as the penultimate, 14th item on the agenda. Keeping in mind the possibility of expanding the agenda, this practically means that his dismissal would have been discussed only at the end of April or in early May. According to reliable information of Pobjeda daily, in order to deal with Krivokapic’s maneuver of delaying the dismissal, MPs of the ruling coalition will refer to the Rules of Procedure of the Parliament, Article 92, under which it is possible to change or amend the agenda just before the session.

Krivokapic: Prime Minister to rethink and accept opposition’s demands (Antena)

Montenegrin parliament speaker and the president of the SDP, Ranko Krivokapic, said that the opposition would not wait long for DPS to fulfill, in their view, seven contentious demands. “I believe this is the last week in which we expect a response. After that, in coordination with those parties with which we usually meet, i.e. Demos and URA, an adequate response to the missed opportunity to reach a good agreement will be provided during the next week. I hope this opportunity for the DPS to rethink during the next few days and to give a final answer. If four requests are fulfilled, I believe that we can also reach meeting all of the seven demands,” said Krivokapic. “We expect the PM to be able to make a turn. He used to challenge the possibility of an interim government for three months and then he offered ministerial posts to the opposition. I expect that he is capable to rethink in these last days, faced with the depth of the crisis, and accept the remaining three requests,” said Krivokapic. Asked to comment on DPS’s announcement that together with minority parties it will require moving the item related to his dismissal from the end to the beginning of the Parliament’s session agenda, Krivokapic says that the procedure was known and that he did not want to go into details. Krivokapic explained that the SDP does not intend to topple the government without elections.

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

Slovenia, Serbia and Croatia move to close migrant route (AFP/AP/dpa/Reuters, 8 March 2016)

Slovenia has announced it will close its border to migrants without a valid EU visa. The announcement triggered a domino effect along the Western Balkan migrant route. EU member Slovenia on Tuesday announced all migrants without a valid Schengen visa would be denied entry as of midnight, a decision that Serbia said, “practically closes the Balkan route.” Neighboring Croatia also announced that it would refuse the transit of most refugees, as countless migrants still seek to make their way to central Europe. Concerned about “becoming a reception centre for refugees,” Serbia said it would align its policy by closing the border with Macedonia and Bulgaria to refugees and other migrants without valid EU visas. Slovenia said it would still accept some migrants “on a case by case basis on humanitarian grounds” and allow those seeking asylum in the alpine country, a statement from the interior ministry said. Several hundred thousand refugees and economic migrants have plied the Western Balkan route over the past year on their way to northern Europe after making the Aegean crossing to Greece from Turkey. Austria, Croatia and Macedonia have in recent weeks raised restrictions on entry in a bid to stem the flood of migrants moving further north to seek asylum in Europe. The restrictions have left several thousand migrants stranded on the Greek side of the Macedonian border. The domino effect comes as EU leaders at a summit on Monday said the irregular migrant flows along the Balkan route “have now come to an end.” The EU is trying to halt the disorganized influx of migrants – nearly half from war-torn Syria – that have divided the 28-member bloc and threatened to upend the cherished Schengen zone. The move to close the Balkan route comes as the EU and Turkey look set to strike a long anticipated migrant deal. Under its terms, Turkey has agreed to accept Syrian and other migrants from Greek islands in exchange for EU countries taking some Syrians directly from Turkey. The migrant deal also includes financial aid to Turkey and political concessions on visa liberalization for Turkish citizens and the acceleration of Ankara’s EU bid.

Montenegro Extradites Serbian Wartime General to Croatia (BIRN, by Dusica Tomovic, 9 March 2016)

Montenegro has extradited Serbian General Borislav Djukic to Croatia to face charges of crimes against humanity over his alleged responsibility for blowing up a dam during the 1991-95 war.

Serbian General Borislav Djukic was handed over to the Croatian judicial authorities on Tuesday after spending nearly eight months in pre-extradition detention in the Montenegrin capital Podgorica. Montenegrin police arrested Djukic last July on a warrant issued by Zagreb accusing him of involvement in blowing up a dam during the 1991-95 war in Croatia. Djukic was arrested at the airport in the Montenegrin resort town of Tivat as he was about to get on a plane to Belgrade. The police said that Djukic, a Serbian citizen aged 67, was arrested for crimes against humanity. Djukic, the wartime commander of the 221st Motorised Brigade of the 9th Knin Corps of the Yugoslav People’s Army, is accused of mining the Peruca dam near the Croatian town of Sinj on January 28, 1993. The dam was blown up but workers from the hydropower plant managed to prevent its complete destruction, which would have endangered the lives of more than 50,000 inhabitants of the towns of Sinj, Trilj and Omis. Djukic was also the deputy commander of the rebel Croatian Serbs’ Army of Serbian Krajina, and a defence witness at the Hague Tribunal trials of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic and the president of the Republic of Serbian Krajina, Milan Martic. In August 2015, the Justice Ministry in Belgrade also requested Djukic’s extradition due to criminal proceedings pending against him in Serbia. Local media reported on Tuesday that the High Court in Podgorica decided on November 6, 2015 that there were grounds to extradite him to both Croatia and Serbia, but Montenegrin Justice Minister Zoran Pazin decided to send him to Croatia. General Djukic is the fifth Serbian arrested in Montenegro on the basis of warrants issued by Croatia for war crimes committed in the 1990s. The main pro-Serbian opposition party in Montenegro, NOVA, said on Tuesday that Djukic’s extradition was “shameful”. “Without any explanation and information – in the [typical] way of the Montenegrin regime, despicable and cowardly – the famous general, a citizen of Serbia, was handed to his enemies,” the party said in a statement.

App Fuels Worries About Macedonia Voters’ Roll (BIRN, by Sinisa Jakov Marusic, 9 March 2016)

Electoral Commission insists it will clean up the disputed electoral roll in time for the June elections – after the launch of web app allowing people to check the list added to concerns.

Members of the State Election Commission, DIK, say the many inconsistencies in the electoral roll spotted by individuals, the media and political parties since the launch of an app last week will be dealt with before the June 5 early elections. Bedredin Ibrahimi, a member of the DIK, says there is no cause for panic about the timeframe. “The app was launched for citizens to have an insight and help clean up the electoral roll… there is no need for drama about it. We will finish our job on time,” he said. “The principle is simple, only those [voters] who meet the conditions will stay on the list,” Ibrahimi added. The web app launched by the DIK allows people to check how many voters are listed at their own address and at other addresses. It has revealed what appear to be widespread inconsistencies on the electoral roll. Users have reported many cases of dozens of people being listed at same addresses, which are not known to house any of those people. The discoveries have added to longstanding fear that the voters’ roll is full of fictive voters, used in the past to tip election results to the advantage of the government parties. “One address in Skopje contains 35 voters. Another holds 15 people that are listed as voters in two different polling stations; 35 voters are listed at addresses of public institutions,” the opposition Social Democrats, SDSM, said on Tuesday. The main ruling VMRO DPMNE party of Nikola Gruevski, which was widely accused in the past of election rigging and whose former ministers are now suspects in an election-rigging case launched by the Special Prosecution, accused the SDSM of seeking an alibi for losing the next election. “The despair and panic in the SDSM ahead of the elections can be seen from the moon,” the ruling party stated, adding that the opposition cannot make any more excuses “now that it controls the DIK and the Ministry of Interior [now under a minister from opposition ranks]”. The two institutions are directly in charge of the electoral roll. Meanwhile, the DIK said that the ongoing cross-referencing of data contained in various institutions, in order to filter out fictive voters, is expected to wrap up on Friday. Afterwards, DIK teams will begin a field check of voters from door to door in order to address outstanding problems – although the scope of this operation is not yet known. Currently, the electoral roll contains more than 1.8 million voters. The OSCE, which has monitored Macedonian elections in the past, has described it as unusually large for a country of just over 2 million people. The opposition says the ruling VMRO DPMNE party, which has won nine consecutive elections since 2006 – parliamentary, presidential and local – has an interest in concealing fictive or deceased voters on the electoral roll. The crisis in Macedonia escalated last February, when the opposition started releasing batches of covertly recorded tapes, which it said showed that the VMRO DPMNE-led government was behind the alleged illegal surveillance of some 20,000 people, including ministers. The opposition insists that the tapes contain incriminating evidence against many senior officials, including proof of high-level corruption, government influence over the judiciary, prosecution, businesses and media, politically-motivated arrests and imprisonments, electoral violations and even an attempted cover-up of a murder of a man by a police officer. Gruevski, who has held power as Prime Minister since 2006 until he resigned last month, says the tapes were “fabricated” by unnamed foreign intelligence services and given to the opposition in order to destabilise the country.

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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.