LOCAL PRESS

Nikolic: Karadzic’s verdict must not influence fate of RS (RTS)

The first official reaction from the Serbian leadership to the verdict delivered to wartime Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic came from the President of Serbia, Tomislav Nikolic. On Thursday, just a few hours after the verdict was issued, Nikolic announced that it cannot and must not influence the fate of RS. “This verdict cannot and must not influence the fate of the Rrepublika Srpska (RS), and this is why I call on the political representatives of the Serbian people in B&H, in particular in RS, to fight for its republic and for its people, whose fate can be brought into question with this verdict, with a common standpoint”, Nikolic said in a written statement. Nikolic has pointed out that Serbia will fully comply with its obligations and exercise its rights constituted by the Dayton Peace Agreement from 1995, in particular the right to support RS and help it survive.

Vucic and Patriarch talk about Republika Srpska (Tanjug)

Serbia cannot allow the existence and survival of the RS to be threatened, Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic and Patriarch Irinej agreed on Friday. After one hour and a half at the Patriarchate, they told reporters that Serbia would act in line with the Dayton Agreement and respect the integrity of B&H and the RS. “Serbia cannot allow the existence and survival of the RS to be threatened,” Vucic said, adding that he had discussed with the Patriarch the judgment that the ICTY passed to Radovan Karadzic on Thursday. Patriarch Irinej said the state and the Church should act in concert for Serbia and RS to help each other in preserving the identity of the Serb people, heritage, cultural identity, name, language. “The relationship between our church and the state is good and we respect the principle of separation of church and state, but the church has a contribution to history and it is in the interest of our people to continue maintaining the friendly relationship of understanding and helping each other,” the Patriarch told a joint press conference with Vucic.

Vucic, Chepurin discuss Karadzic verdict, neutrality, NATO (Tanjug)

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic and Russian Ambassador to Serbia Aleksandr Chepurin agreed Monday that the ICTY verdict in the Radovan Karadzic case must not be used for attempts to impose collective guilt on one nation or question the status and the authority of RS issuing from the Dayton Agreement. Chepurin expressed solidarity with Serbia and the Serbs on occasion of the anniversary of the start of the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, a government statement said. The grave consequences of the aggression that lead to great loss of life, extensive material damage and drastic consequences for regional peace and stability are visible even 17 years after the tragic events, they said. They also discussed the matter of Serbia’s military neutrality as a significant factor contributing to strengthening security and stability in the Balkans and Europe as a whole.

Pak: Removing Kosovo from Constitution out of question (RTS/Tanjug/TV Pink)

“Any kind of removal of Kosovo from the Serbian Constitution and undermining of the country’s integrity is out of the question,” the Adviser to Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic Stanislava Pak said. Commenting the statement by law professor Vesna Rakic Vodinelic, – that instead of the current solution that does not correspond to reality, the constitutional preamble should have a solution similar to the constitution of the former West Germany – Pak said this proposal was not acceptable. Commenting on the incident when several Democratic Party (DS) officials were attacked, she told TV Pink that this was impermissible. Pak added that the DS sed this terrible act to collect points. “That’s what’s terrible. Violence is of course terrible in any form and should not exist,” she said.  Office for Kosovo and Metohija: University in Pristina important for survival of Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija (Tanjug)

The Office for Kosovo and Metohija has announced that the state university in Pristina with temporary headquarters in Kosovska Mitrovica is one of the foundations on which the survival and future of the Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija rests, and points out that the Serbian government and the people in Kosovo and Metohija will not allow anyone to abolish it. “The Serbian government will not allow now, or in the future, the reduction, abolishment of individual faculties or the abolishment or drowning into the institutions of the self-declared so-called Republic of Kosovo,” reads the statement on the occasion of the “false news concerning the University in Pristina with headquarters in Kosovska Mitrovica, which were published unsigned through certain Pristina media.

Sixth day of blockade at Merdare (RTS)

The authorities in Pristina are not allowing passage of trucks transporting hazardous cargo –oil and gas – via the administrative crossing. There are no new explanations, and the Kosovo customs will continue to return trucks until the government decides otherwise. “The practice of passing bad decisions for everything continues without the knowledge of Serb members. Unfortunately, this is a reaction to pressure of certain opposition extremist parties that are bothered with everything that is Serbian, while Pristina is meeting their demands,” says the Kosovo Deputy Prime Minister Branimir Stojanovic. The decision of the Kosovo government is unilateral and it is not in the service of normalization of Belgrade-Pristina relations. “We are constantly going one step forward and two steps backward. The consequences will be borne by the people who live here,” says Stojanovic. Belgrade expects a quick resolution of this problem, as well as the Kosovo Serbs, because, as Stojanovic says, Pristina cannot behave as if CEFTA or any other agreements do not exist. “We expect that the EU, the guarantor of the Brussels agreement, will react and warn Pristina that it cannot behave in such a way,” says Stojanovic.

Serbian Trade Ministry: Kosovo violating CEFTA (Beta)

The Serbian Trade Ministry stated that by unilaterally implementing reciprocal measures, the Kosovo side had violated the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) provisions on resolving disputes, and announced that the problem would be taken up by the organization. Ministry officials told Beta that the Kosovo customs authorities had begun sending back from the administrative line trucks transporting hazardous cargo to Kosovo and Metohija, justifying the measure by saying that Serbia did not recognize the ADR certificates Pristina issues to its vehicles and drivers when delivering dangerous cargo from Serbia to Kosovo and Metohija. “Kosovo and Metohija is not a contracting party to the European Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road, which is the appropriate procedure for the issue of these certificates by parties to the agreement,” the Ministry officials said.

SPS condemns attacks of Albanians on SPS candidate in Kosovo and Metohija (Tanjug)

The provincial board of the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) for Kosovo and Metohija most harshly condemned the physical attack of Albanians on the SPS candidate in Kosovsko Pomoravlje Bozo Stanojevic and his brother Negovan Stanojevic. The Kosovo SPS recalls that underway is the election campaign at all levels in Serbia and that in line with this, the SPS has been intensively conducting activities in all municipalities and towns on the territory of our province and that it is no accident that the attack on the Stanojevic family and the SPS candidate occurred after the election rallies of the provincial board in Partes, Ranilug and Gnjilane. “We call on all voters to turnout for the elections on 24 April and show that they are committed to their state,” reads the statement.

Gorani to take part in parliamentary elections (Novosti)

The early parliamentary elections will be conducted in Gora, Kosovo and Metohija, on 24 April. The statement by the SPS provincial board for Gora, signed by the president Emrin Zurapi, reads that the Gorani, as in the past, are willing to take part in the elections. “The Gorani support the current government policy. We expect that a government that will be elected at the local level will be proportional to the one at the republican level. Despite numerous problems that we are facing, we remain committed to the Serbian government that has been always with us at the most difficult moments,” reads the statement by the SPS provincial board for Gora.

RIK declares electoral list “For Free Serbia – Patrons (Tanjug)

The Republic Electoral Commission (RIK) has declared the electoral list “For Free Serbia – Patrons – Milica Djurdjevic” for the parliamentary elections to be held on 24 April. So far, ten electoral lists have been declared. The first on this list is Bozidar Zecevic, followed by Milica Djurdjevic, Stanislav Gasparovski, Zoran Zecevic, and Budimir Markovic.

Anti-NATO protest in Belgrade (Beta)

Supporters of the Zavetnici (Patrons) movement started the anti-NATO protest on Sunday at Republic Square, from where several thousand people peacefully marched to the national broadcasters’ premises, with the front row holding a large banner readings “Resist occupation, Serbia is not a NATO colony.” Movement representative Milica Djurdjevic called on the supporters to honor the station’s employees killed in the NATO bombing with a minute of silence.The event was also supported by representatives of the Dveri movement and the Democratic Party of Serbia. As the organizers said, the rally was merely a continuation of protests against NATO because of “the controversial agreement Serbia has made with the Alliance, whereby it allows NATO soldiers to freely pass through Serbia, without any criminal or material accountability”.

REGIONAL PRESS

Judgement – Result of international lobbies’ pressure (Srna)

Republika Srpska (RS) President Milorad Dodik told Srna that it is absolutely clear that the judgment against the first president of RS, Radovan Karadzic, before the ICTY, which convicted him of 40 years in prison, was made under strong pressure from various international lobbies and earlier stereotypes about the Serbs being exclusively guilty party for the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H). “It is known that many cases at the ICTY have not always been based on facts, but were significantly politically motivated, as well as both the indictments and the verdicts were pre-tailored,” said Dodik, pointing out that most of the people in RS understand it this way. The RS President has stressed that the above statement is supported by the fact that almost the entire Serb political and military leadership is prosecuted, while the others, such as Naser Oric, who are now “walking freely around Sarajevo being released pending trial, in the meantime threatening the witnesses to change their statements, have not been held responsible. It’s the same with Atif Dudakovic who we could see ordering to kill everything that is of Serb origin, but no court, not even the ICTY, found a reason to prosecute him for that,” Dodik recalled and stressed that this shows that the alleged Hague justice is selective and politically motivated. Dodik has said that the ICTY was pretentiously announced as a place of justice, which should have led to the reconciliation, but nowadays it is obvious that there has never been less reconciliation and more injustice in B&H. “Establishing the judicial institutions anywhere and at any level for the function of political showdowns, certainly does not contribute to the stabilization and trust building,” said Dodik. According to him, if someone wanted justice for the victims, then the question would be posed – what about justice for the Serb victims, which are enormous, not only in RS but in Serbia and in many other places, too. He has warned about the fact that in terms of the ICTY’s verdicts, some parties are trying to “impose a particular burden” on RS itself, but it will not be achieved he said, regardless of any impacts, thus RS continues to live on and work, going its own way towards the stabilization of the situation in total. “I have to thank the Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, who made it clear today that the policy of preserving RS cannot depend on any judgment,” said Dodik. He added that RS needs to be grateful to Serbia and its PM for such a clear position, which he stated at the memorial service to the victims killed in the NATO bombing of Serbia, during which a significant number of children were killed. “It is obvious – accidentally or not – that the day of sentencing (Karadzic) was scheduled on the day when Serbia was bombed. In this respect, people in RS have their own feeling about this, and I feel it and I know it,” said Dodik.

Cvijanovic: Reasoning of legal arguments broke under political position (Srna)

Prime Minister of Republika Srpska (RS) Zeljka Cvijanovic stated after the announcement of the Hague Tribunal judgment in the case of Radovan Karadzic that the impression prevailed that legal argumentation yielded in front of the politics because the judgment was not supported by clear legal evidence and justification allowing therefore space for serious appeal in the future period. Prime Minister Cvijanovic pointed out that the approach of the international community toward the war in B&H has been and remained such that we “were not too surprised with the judgment since the whole international policy has been conducted in such a way that culprits are sought only on one side”. “Thus many criminals in spite of clear material evidence remained out of reach of the international or domestic justice and very often with the blessing of the very same international community and the same policy as result of which the whole process of reconciliation in B&H had been crippled and discredited”, Prime Minister Cvijanovic emphasized. The Prime Minister reminded that the peoples of B&H went through terrible suffering during the war and that judicial proceedings obviously have not and would not contribute to the healing process. Cvijanovic assessed that everything that carries the prefix ‘international’ was in a serious crisis. “The international community is in crisis as well as the international security, international politics and the global economy and the same applies to international justice,” Cvijanovic highlighted.

Izetbegovic: Vucic should not worry about the RS’s position (Nezavisne)

The Bosniak member of the B&H Presidency and leader of the Party of Democratic Action, Bakir Izetbegovic, said late on March 25 that Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic did not need to worry about the position of Serbs in B&H on the position of the RS, because the entity’s position was defined by the Dayton Accords. Commenting on Vucic’s statement after the verdict to Radovan Karadzic in The Hague, Izetbegovic said that Vucic should continue what he started several years ago, to help stabilize and improve relations between Serbs and Bosniaks, in both Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia, but in the Balkans in general, too. Vucic said on 26 March that he did not wish to respond to Bakir Izetbegovic, because, as he said, he was mindful of Serbs in RS and B&H, as well as of the Bosniaks in both B&H and Serbia. Minister of Interior Nebojsa Stefanovic said it was time for Izetbegovic to stop lecturing everyone and criticizing Vucic, who is trying to maintain peace and stability, even in difficult conditions, all the time. “Instead of constantly lecturing Serbia and the Serbs, it would be much better for Bakir Izetbegovic to take a look at his own part in and responsibility for what is happening in B&H, as well as its position in the region and in Europe,” said Stefanovic, as quoted by the Ministry.​

Dodik: Serbia demonstrated it is for reconciliation, others did not (Srna)

The RS President Milorad Dodik said in Belgrade that he does not see anything disputable in the statement of Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic on the ruling handed down to the first RS President, Radovan Karadzic – that he respects B&H and loves RS, or in the position the Serbian Government presented in connection with the ruling.  At a joint press conference with the Serbian Prime Minister after a ceremony of a handover of new vehicles and a boat to the Serbian Gendarmerie, Dodik said that Vucic’s statements should not bother anyone and that “I guess no one has anything against love in these parts. If Serbia and the Serbian Government did not demonstrate their orientation towards the stabilization of circumstances in the region, then I don’t know who did. We did not see others doing this. We only see the desire to condemn the Serbian people and RS, even Serbia,” Dodik said. He said that this is why RS respects the position of the Serbian government and that which Prime Minister Vucic said which brings a completely new attitude towards the crime in the region and does not differentiate between the crimes. “So, let us have a situation where a criminal will be accused and there won’t be problems in B&H, RS or Serbia. Such selective condemnations cannot suit anyone,” Dodik said. Regarding the reconciliation process, Dodik said that critics from Sarajevo, particularly (SDA leader) Bakir Izetbegovic, do not care for it. “Bakir Izetbegovic certainly does not care for it. They hate everything that is Serbian, particularly RS and only naïve people believe them when they speak about some legalities, Dayton and agreements,” Dodik said. He said that it is the intention of Sarajevo to make use of every moment to weaken RS if they cannot abolish it. “This is how this was used. Izetbegovic does not speak on behalf of B&H but on behalf of the Bosniak people, a part of the Bosniak people whom he represents,” Dodik said. According to him, Izetbegovic absolutely lost credibility for politics of cooperation. “As far as B&H is concerned, his politics is a situation in RS which is as bad as possible. We are recognizing it and fighting it,” Dodik said. Regarding the ICTY, Dodik said that it did not fulfil its purpose, it did not secure reconciliation. “A stereotype has been imposed since the beginning that it is trying Serbian politicians and military commanders for something it named ‘a command responsibility’ excluding others. This, of course, does not contribute to the reconciliation,” Dodik said. He reiterated that the ruling handed down to Karadzic even more divided B&H and that this could be seen in the past two days in the media and among people. “B&H gained nothing by this ruling,” President Dodik has said. He concluded that by bringing such rulings, the ICTY is losing its credibility since the fact is that a commander of the so-called Army of B&H, who ordered and committed crimes, is today walking freely the streets of Sarajevo. “The ruling of the ICTY is not only hypocritical but is also sad. In any case, the ICTY is part of this stereotype which has existed for years, and for people in RS, this is not a place of justice but of injustice,” Dodik said. Asked if he would again attend a ceremony of opening a student dormitory which was named after Radovan Karadzic, now that he knows the ruling, Dodik said that he would do it again, no matter what some may think of it. “If a part of the Marsal Tito Street in Sarajevo is named after Alija Izetbegovic, if the central square in Sarajevo is named after Izetbegovic, and if Bosniaks are preparing to name a new airport in Bihac after him, who would be bothered by a student dormitory named after Karadzic? This was students’ decision,” Dodik said.

Multiple reactions to the Karadzic verdict (Hina)

Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic said that the ICTY’s verdict sentencing wartime Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic to 40 years was “small solace” to victims, but it also could serve as a message to the present-day criminals and terrorists that they could not perpetrate crimes with impunity. Croatian Justice Minister Ante Sprlje told the press that the ruling against former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, shows that the wheels of justice grind slow but grind fine. The Slovenian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the ICTY ruling against Radovan Karadzic represents a warning, but also an opportunity to remind us again about the victims of one of the most tragic chapters in the history of B&H and Europe after World War II, a chapter which must never repeat again. The Serb member of the B&H tripartite Presidency, Mladen Ivanic, said in Banja Luka on Friday that he did not think that the Hague war crimes tribunal verdict for Bosnian Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadzic would contribute to reconciliation in B&H. The United States on Thursday briefly commented on the ICTY ruling against former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, saying that the ruling was closing a painful chapter in the former Yugoslavia. The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Thursday that the verdict handed down by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague in the case of Bosnian Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadzic is a historic day for the peoples of the region and beyond, as well as for international justice. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al-Hussein, said in a statement on Thursday after Radovan Karadzic was found guilty of the gravest war crimes, including genocide during the 1992-1995 war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, that the verdict issued by the UN tribunal showed that even powerful perpetrators of such crimes “must know that they will not escape justice”.

Statement of the HR Valentin Inzko following the first-instance verdict in the Karadzic case (Fena)

Respect for victims and relatives, truth, justice and reconciliation must prevail. The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia rendered its first instance verdict in the case against Radovan Karadzic finding him guilty of Genocide, Crimes against Humanity and Violations of the Laws and Customs of War, and sentencing him to 40 years of imprisonment. Even after more than two decades, the brutality of these crimes still shocks the human conscience and offends the notion of human dignity. High Representative Valentin Inzko reiterated his full support for the work and goals of the ICTY, established by the United Nations in 1993, in response to the mass atrocities being perpetrated in the region, including in Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H). “There is no reconciliation without truth and justice. There is no healing without allowing the victims and the witnesses to voice the horrors they saw and experienced,” said the High Representative. “In the words of former German President Richard von Weizsäcker, ‘there is no such thing as the guilt or innocence of an entire nation. Guilt is, like innocence, not collective but personal.’ And so the wheels of justice must turn. Democratic societies agree on this essential point. With this in mind, this judgement should help us, and give us strength, to look truth in the eye and to strengthen the culture of remembrance. Without truth and remembrance, there cannot be lasting reconciliation.” The High Representative also called on all authorities in B&H, in line with their responsibility to cooperate with the ICTY, to refrain from resorting to political posturing and from distorting the importance of justice served. Twenty years after the war, politicians should be forward looking and focused on the Euro-Atlantic future of B&H. “Those who have consciously chosen to glorify war criminals, and to relativize evil, have excluded themselves from humanity’s most basic values. And in so doing they have disqualified themselves from the civilized world and have to bear the consequences of doing so, such as isolation from the rest of the civilized world,” High Representative Inzko said. “After this verdict and the remembrance of the darkest times in B&H, let us work to ensure that truth, freedom and reconciliation prevail,” High Representative Inzko concluded. “We owe this to the victims and their relatives. We owe it to B&H and all its citizens. Finally, we owe it to the future and the youth of this beautiful country.”

New details on Markale and Srebrenica are melting away stereotypes of Serb culpability (Srna)

Military-political analyst Miroslav Lazanski told Srna that the stereotype about Serbs as the main culprits for the B&H war is strong, but that it is slowly “melting away” after the ruling handed down to the first Republika Srpska (RS) President, Radovan Karadzic, and details presented about Srebrenica and Markale. Commenting on the statement of the Chairman of the B&H Presidency, Bakir Izetbegovic, that he was surprised by claim from the ruling to the first RS President, Radovan Karadzic, that the so-called Army of B&H targeted its own territories and UN positions, Lazanski said that it has been clear for years that the Markale massacre is the subject of great manipulation. “The opinion of ICTY judge Melville Baird, who dissented saying that Bosniaks targeted Markale marketplace and that Karadzic is not guilty of it, is but one in a series of opinions supporting the claim that Serbs did not commit this crime,” Lazanski said. He said that a Ukrainian officer, who immediately after the explosion came to the crime scene, said that “something is not right,” and that reports and expert opinions on Markale were kept in the drawers of (the then UN Secretary-General) Boutros Gali, and that other members of the UN Security Council did not see them. “On the night after the shelling of the Markale marketplace, French First Channel reported that apparently Muslims shot at their own people, but this report was later withdrawn. The then French Prime Minister also said that this was a setup and that Serbs did not bomb Sarajevo civilians,” Lazanski said. According to him, it is odd that the American MPRI, which organised wars from Croatia to Kosovo, possessed a precise model of the Sarajevo Markale marketplace. Lazanski said that not a single commission has so far determined that a shell which killed civilians at the Sarajevo marketplace was fired from the Serbian positions. “This shell was needed. Markale was needed to ban flights of Serbian aircraft above B&H,” Lazanski said. He added that the public forgets that Sarajevo was not an ordinary city but a military garrison with military units of the so-called Army of B&H. “We certainly regret civilian victims and every crime needs to be condemned, but I think that the role of the city of Sarajevo as a military garrison is being neglected,” Lazanski said. He said that the fact is that the crime was committed in Srebrenica, but that it has been inflated. “The stereotype of Serbs as culprits is still strong, but it is slowly melting away. You see what the Vienna Standard wrote about Srebrenica a day before yesterday. Some Swedish papers and even one Japanese paper wrote about what happened in Srebrenica in an objective manner,” Lazanski said. He said that he thinks that the crime should be discussed and that the worst thing is to take things for granted, the way they were presented in the first moment. “The most profitable role in the tragic war in B&H is the role of a victim. When you take the position of a victim, like the Muslim side did, then you are allowed everything. I do not say that they did not suffer, but when you take a total number of casualties in B&H, then the percentage of killed Bosniaks corresponds to the percentage of Bosniaks in the pre-war population,” Lazanski said.

Kovac: Croatia to help Serbia fit into European standards (Hina)

Croatian Foreign Minister Miro Kovac said that respect for human and minority rights was part of the identity of the EU, adding that Croatia would help Serbia reform itself and fit into European standards, the Hina agency quoted the foreign minister as saying on March 25. When asked if Croatia would block Serbia’s accession talks with the EU in the area that refers to human and minority rights, Minister Kovac described those as “the fundamentals of the European identity, which is why it’s impossible to talk about a blockade”. “Serbia said nothing about a blockade when the EU diplomacies, Germany and Great Britain in particular, insisted on cooperation and an agreement between Belgrade and Pristina as a prerequisite for EU talks with Belgrade to begin two years ago. For that position, Serbia never criticized, say, German Chancellor Angela Merkel,” Kovac explained. The Croatian foreign minister said that Croatia was ready to assist Serbia in accepting and implementing reforms that were potentially painful, yet necessary for joining the European family of nations. Kovac added that Croatia had gone through the process, and learned from its own experience.​

Luksic: We are ready to accept the obligations of NATO membership (RTCG)

Deputy Prime Minister and minister of foreign affairs and European integration, Igor Luksic, made a statement related to the letter of intent he sent to the secretary general of NATO Jens Stoltenberg. In the letter, Montenegro’s interest in joining the Alliance was expressed, as well as it willingness to accept the rights and obligations arising from the membership. As announced by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, Montenegro’s readiness to continue comprehensive reform process in key areas aimed at improving the rule of law and increasing the level of public support to NATO has also been reiterated in the letter. The ministry has stated that sending the letter of intent is to be followed by the preparation and signing of the Accession Protocol. Thus Montenegro will get the right to participate in the work of NATO bodies as an observer, while the member states are starting the ratification process. Luksic has said that it is the procedural, but also an essential step, because in this way (by our response in which we confirm our commitment to respect the obligations arising from membership in the organization) the conditions to enter the final phase of the process are being created. “The next step is the preparation of the Accession Protocol, which will be made and then distributed to the members of the Alliance for ratification. But it is essential that by this act, i.e. by responding to the letter of the secretary general Jens Stoltenberg received in December in which NATO invitation to Montenegro was formalized, we also expressed our readiness to continue reforms in this field until ratification process is completed, showing that Montenegro is a country that will be ready to take over and meet the membership obligations and paving the way for the next steps,” Luksic stated. According to him, this means Montenegro continues to be committed to the rule of law, improving public support to NATO membership, security system development, both in terms of security agencies quality and in terms of our interoperability and interoperability of our defense forces. “So, in this way, by sending this letter, we have completed an important procedural step which is the basis for drafting the Accession Protocol, and expressed our attitude towards further reforms. As you know, the Council for NATO Membership has recently defined a proposal of reforms for the next one-year period. By implementing the reforms, Montenegro will substantially become a member of NATO when the ratification period is completed,” said Luksic. He has also pointed out that after the Accession Protocol is signed by NATO member states, Montenegro will be able to participate in the work of all NATO bodies, without the right to vote until the ratification process is completed. This means we have certain responsibilities regarding the preparation of the Summit in Warsaw and all other meetings related to it. “I think this is another sign of a responsible attitude of the entire state administration system, the individual departments that may have been more intensively engaged in this regard, and additional opportunity to point out that the integration process does not involve this government or one party, but Montenegro as a society”, Luksic said.

Raid in Montenegro hotels: 55 Russians taken for hearings (Dnevne Novine)

Around 60 foreign citizens, mainly from Russia and Japan, were apprehended, pending hearings, in the action taken by Directorate of Police, in which around hundred officials took part. Russian and Japanese citizens have been staying in Danilovgrad’s Hotel Perjanik and Podgorica’s Hotel Ramada, Dnevne Novine learns. This special action taken in cooperation with security agencies is the fall out of long-term information exchange. This information, according to unofficial sources of Weekend Edition of Dnevne Novine daily, cast a doubt that a group of foreign citizens, belonging to foreign organizations, are residing in Montenegro. These individuals were tied to violent acts internationally. “The information exchange and other policy activities lead us to locate a group of 55 Russian nationals that had not been legally reported in Montenegro. This group was residing in Hotel Perjanik in Danilovgrad. Police was also interested in 4 Japanese nationals that have been reported in Hotel Ramada in Podgorica. Based on police information and Special Prosecution’s initiative to Higher Court, police made a search of hotels Ramada and Perjanik. Over 100 police officials of different jurisdictions were engaged in this action. They conducted a search of facilities, confiscated many things and objects, among which 205 different electronic devices, such as cellular phones, tablets, laptops, SIM cards, USB memories,” Dnevne Novine learned from an unnamed source, who added that these objects were sent for a forensic investigation. These 60 individuals were taken to police offices and had their statement taken. “Other natural and legal individuals in Montenegro were investigated as well. There are no suspects and activities in this phase, that has a more of preventative and informative character,” Dnevne Novine learned.

Macedonian Interior Minister: No police operation undertaken, boosted police presence in Skopje-Kumanovo region (MIA)

There was no police operation undertaken, and no raids or arrests were made, but only the presence of police forces in Kumanovo – Skopje region has been increased because in this period there are serious challenges which are risk to the security of and the region. The statement was given by Interior Minister Oliver Spasovski during his Saturday’s visit to the police station in the village of Matejce, where he met with chief of police station and the citizens of the village of Lipkovo. “During this period we are facing a refugee crisis and in the frames of these activities, the police presence was increased in the Kumanovo and Skopje regions, aimed at providing greater security and stability to the citizens of the Republic of Macedonia,” Spasovski said. He pointed out that there is no need of creating rumors and fear among the citizens, emphasizing that cooperation exists with the citizens of this region. Once again, he added that everyone should be peaceful because the police undertake all necessary measures that include strengthening the security situation in the country. “There was no police action last night. There was only increased police presence in this area in light of what I have told earlier and the assessment was that we should exert greater control in Kumanovo – Skopje region so that we can guarantee the security of citizens,” Spasovski said. He stressed that there are often illegal crossings at the country’s northern border in the region, adding that recently there have been entries of illegal migrants in from the northern border.

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

Karadzic’s conviction and Serbia’s rights trend (TransConflict, by Praveen Madhiraju, 28 March 2016)

Given its neighborhood, Serbia may feel stable. But allowing toxic narratives to fester at home is dangerous. EU leaders should ask themselves whether this is a foundation built to last – especially during an election season where a government and cabinet is being formed. Pushing rights issues is a path to more secure moorings.

If the Balkans is the powder keg of Europe, European Union leaders should mind sparks flickering in Serbia this Spring.  The reaction to Radovan Karadzic’s recent conviction created a few, but there are many more.  War criminals are consistently being rallied for.  NATO and EU flags are being burned.  Parliamentary elections are driving political discourse more nationalistic in tone.

This will tempt the EU to further sidestep Serbia’s poor rights record as it has already promised opening promised EU accession chapters like Chapter 23.  But ignoring failures in war crimes accountability and media freedoms risks a deeper bend towards volatile divisions.  EU leaders should require better from Serbia.

The ICTY and NATO

The ICTY’s conviction of former president of the Republic of Srpska, Radovan Karadzic, was “better than nothing”.  Karadzic, a self-fashioned warrior-poet turned new-age mystic, masterminded the Srebrenica massacre.  On March 31st, it will issue a verdict against the founder of the far right Serbian Radical Party, Vojislav Seselj.   Seselj led ethnic cleansing campaigns against Bosnian Muslims and Catholic Croats and burns EU and NATO flags whenever a camera is nearby.  He also endorsed Donald Trump.

Both Karadzic and Seselj remain heroes to nationalists in Serbia.  Following Karadzic’s conviction, Seselj led thousands of people in a rally opposing the verdict.  A Seselj conviction will draw more rallies. It may force another type of confrontation. For eighteen months, Seselj has been more or less daring Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic and President Tomislav Nikolic to extradite him back to the ICTY.  Both know the fallout might draw the ire of SNS members, many of whom (including Vucic and Nikolic) defected from the Radicals and Seselj’s tutelage.

These outcomes will be exploited for political gain.  Vucic and Nikolic have called for elections on April 24.  Their SNS party is polling extremely well, but it still needs to cater to nationalists.  Seselj’s Radicals are surprisingly polling at 6%, which would give them seats in the parliament.  Acquittals or convictions will only help stir Radicals and similarly-minded SNS members.

Nationalists are being spurred by other events. These include a U.S. airstrike on an ISIS target in Libya that likely killed two Serbian diplomats and the signing of an agreement with NATO – still thought of as the primary perpetrator of war crimes by large segments of the Serbian populace for its 1999 bombing campaign that ended the Kosovo war.

Western leaders soft-pedal rights issues

EU leaders routinely offer Serbia unequivocal support and promise to open justice-related accession chapters “very soon”.  But the government’s role in the poor state of media independence and war crimes accountability are effectively shrinking the space for more progressive voices, while allowing nationalist ones to take root.  This is a dynamic too dangerous to ignore.

Mr. Vucic, the former Information Minister during Slobodan Milosevic’s final years in office, has a penchant for personally interfering in and going to war with media outlets.  The European Union’s progress reports have consistently noted concerns with the government’s role in hindering independent media and the freedom of expression.  Yet EU leaders are want to criticize Mr. Vucic’s role.

The government also encourages politics that are bad for justice.  Political pressure has been cited by nearly every NGO, OSCE, and EU report as a reason for poor resolution of war crimes cases.  For example, Justice Minister Nikola Selakovic recently defended an SNS-friendly litmus test for the next head of the Office of the War Crimes Prosecutor, a position that is currently unfilled and will remain so for months.  This was just weeks after he and other ministers flew a government plane to the Hague to escort home one of the ICTY’s most cold-blooded criminals to a hero’s welcome.

In response to a small row over the handling of extradition requests, PM Vucic told ICTY judges that “Serbia will not let anyone humiliate it, not even the Hague judges….learn to respect Serbia, and only then we will continue to cooperate in line with Serbian laws.”  And when the Humanitarian Law Center made credible war crimes allegations against Army Chief of Staff Ljubisa Dikovic, Vucic similarly lashed out before even reading the file.  He accused the NGO of trying to “bring down” the army and country.

Rights Key a Sustained Peace

Such rights-based criticisms may seem like small potatoes when faced with the larger threats of regional and international stability that the refugee crisis and Russian military expansion have created.  To be fair, Prime Minister Vucic has made diplomatic gestures to further regional reconciliation.  These efforts often garner Mr. Vucic some additional trust. This is short-cited.

Speaking at Columbia University’s Harriman Institute, Serbian journalist and filmmaker Marija Ristic recently noted that even well-educated Serbs like her are taught nothing of Serbia’s role in the Kosovo war.  Others lament that the mainstream-media often ignores war crimes trials of Serbian suspects and emphasizes cases of Serbian victims.  In these narratives, Serbia was not the primary aggressor, but the primary victim of massive war crimes.

Politicized justice and an uncritical media are the seeds of renewed hostility.  Human rights activist Natasa Kandic has opined that, “It’s been a long time since the state of inter-ethnic relations was as bad as it is now.”

Serbia is not alone in these deficits.  The ethnically-centrifugal forces pulling at the Bosnian state are well-documented, where monuments are routinely built to war-criminals instead of war-victims.  Macedonia recent unrest still looms large with its own elections scheduled for June.

Given its neighborhood, Serbia may feel stable.  But allowing toxic narratives to fester at home is dangerous.  EU leaders should ask themselves whether this is a foundation built to last – especially during an election season where a government and cabinet is being formed.  Pushing rights issues is a path to more secure moorings.

Praveen Madhiraju is an international lawyer, a pro bono advisor to BytyqiBrothers.org and can be found on twitter @BytyqiBrothers.

The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of TransConflict.