LOCAL PRESS

Vucic: Our obligation is to be different from those who are lecturing us (RTS)

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic told a press conference in the Serbian government building that Serbia is at the crossroads: political, economic and moral, after years that have been consumed by meaningless wars, corruption and recession. We managed to stop the country’s further downfall, to improve its reputation in the world and the region and to improve the standard,” stressed Vucic. “We have verdicts before the ICTY that is ending its political and not legal role that it had,” said Vucic. According to him, one of the three main goals was to have reconciliation of nations in the region of former Yugoslavia. “There is no doubt that the ICTY has not fulfilled this goal, but kept on hammering nails into the coffin of the sleepy Balkans,” said Vucic. “Serbia and the Serbian government gave the most serious and most responsible answer after the announcement of the verdict to former Republika Srpska president Karadzic,” said Vucic. According to him, Serbia said that it will not get involved in the content of the judgment because it is not normal for a government of some country to interfere in the disposition of a judgment of another country and to go public with it. “Our obligation is to be different from those who are lecturing us and to respect Muslim and Croat victims,” said Vucic. Seselj’s trial before the ICTY was unambiguously political, rather than legal, from the start, both when they wanted him in The Hague, as well as when they released him provisionally and then wanted him back again, he said. “I feel no personal animosity towards Vojislav Seselj, but I will fiercely oppose his policy because it is pushing Serbia into isolation,” Vucic said commenting on the ICTY verdict.

Dacic, Lavrov: Serbia, Russia cooperating successfully in all areas (Tanjug/Beta/RTS)

Serbia-Russia relations are developing successfully in all areas, Serbian First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov agreed on Friday. Russia is one of Serbia’s most important strategic partners and Belgrade is thankful to Moscow for its support in international organizations on the issue of Kosovo, Dacic as saying before the meeting with Lavrov. “If not for Russia, Serbia would have been in a much worse situation on the issue of Kosovo,” said Dacic, who is on a two-day visit to Moscow.
We plan to develop bilateral relations further and we are preparing to sign several bilateral agreements and memorandums, he said. Moscow and Belgrade are successfully developing political, economic, military and technical cooperation, Lavrov said at the beginning of the meeting. Russia will help Serbia deal with the migrant crisis, he also said after the meeting, noting that the Russian-Serbian humanitarian center in Nis has provided temporary accommodation for migrants.

Vucic thanks Minsk for friendship and support (Tanjug)

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic met with the Ambassador of Belarus Vladimir Chushev and accepted an invitation from his Belarusian counterpart Andrei Kobyakov to visit the country. Vucic thanked Belarus for its friendship and principled support to Serbia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, as well as the support in the UNESCO General Conference vote on the request of so-called Kosovo for membership in the organization. Vucic and Chushev noted that a protocol on cooperation, signed in Minsk two days ago, will greatly contribute to a continuous growth of the trade volume and help expand the economic cooperation and encourage investments, the Serbian government’s press office said in a statement.

Pristina: Ban on trucks not lifted (RTS/Beta)

Kosovo customs spokesperson Adriatik Stavileci has stated that Pristina has not lifted the ban for Serbian truck transporting hazardous material. “The customs does not comment any political statements. The customs can only confirm once again that the reciprocal measures continue to be in force,” said Stavileci.

The Kosovo Ministry assesses that the information that the Kosovo government had allegedly withdrawn reciprocity established on 21 March 2016 is not correct. It is stated that the Kosovo government is prepared to bilaterally resolve problems through dialogue and calls on the authorities in Belgrade to once against examine a solution by reaching agreement on mutual recognition of ADR certificates.

Orlovic: Acquittal will improve Seselj’s rating (B92)

The acquittal of the Serbian Radical Party (SRS) leader Vojislav Seselj is surprising, Political Science Faculty Professor Slavisa Orlovic says. “The verdict is surprising. I spoke with the lawyers who monitored the ICTY work from the inside and nobody expected an acquittal. I think that politics has been interfering all the time. They held him in prison for 12 years, then they released him suddenly, without announcement, then they requested his extradition, then it was decided that he didn’t need to attend the delivering of the verdict,” said Orlovic. According to him, when all this is perceived, one may say that the court decision is directly aimed against Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic.  He says that the good thing is that Vucic didn’t comment the court decision yesterday and further fueled passions. According to Orlovic, Seselj’s verdict will certainly impact the election result of the SRS. “Whatever the decision may have been, it will have impact on improving the rating and distribution of votes inside the right-wing parties. I think this will improve Seselj’s rating,” said Orlovic.

REGIONAL PRESS

SDA: Scandalous verdict of the Hague Tribunal in Seselj case (Fena)

The Party of Democratic Action even though it supports the work of the Hague Tribunal believes that yesterday’s acquittal of Vojislav Seselj is a scandalous verdict. The Muslim member and chairman of B&H tripartite presidency Bakir Izetbegovic said that the verdict rightly provoked anger because a war criminal was acquitted. “It is quite clear that Seselj had organized, armed, inspired and encouraged criminals to enter B&H and Croatia and to commit crimes and ethnic cleansing,” he said.

Seselj’s acquittal continues to cause reactions in Croatia (Hina)

Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic on Thursday strongly criticized the Hague tribunal’s acquittal of Vojislav Seselj, describing it as a shameful defeat for international criminal law. The Social Democratic Party (SDP) leader Zoran Milanovic on Thursday voiced his dissatisfaction at the acquittal of Serbian Radical Party leader Vojislav Seselj by the ICTY, describing Seselj as “a political criminal”. Croatian Deputy Prime Minister Bozo Petrov said on Thursday that the ICTY had lost its credibility by acquitting the accused Serbian Radical Party leader Vojislav Seselj on all counts of the indictment for war crimes committed in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Serbian province of Vojvodina. Justice Minister Ante Sprlje said that Vojislav Seselj’s acquittal was a sad day for civilization and the 21st century and announced that Croatia would call on the ICTY prosecution to lodge an appeal in order to right a wrong. Should Serb Radical Party leader Vojislav Seselj arrive at the Croatian border, he will be banned from entering Croatia pursuant to the Law on Foreigners, said the Croatian Interior Ministry on Thursday.

Djukanovic about Seselj: I had no expectations, so I cannot be surprised by tribunal’s decision (CDM)

Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic asked by CDM whether he was surprised by the decision and if he was afraid of a radicalism rise in Montenegro after the acquittal, Djukanovic said he did not think in those categories. “I had no expectations from the court in Hague, so I cannot be surprised by tribunal’s decision. I just note the fact that the court in The Hague finished the procedure and acquitted Seselj. I am glad that every person is free. I prefer that everyone is free than to everyone be imprisoned, regardless of whether I agree with him/her or not. As for me, I have noted that and I congratulate to Seselj on his freedom”, he said. SRS leader Vojislav Seselj is now a free man, because the UN court in The Hague has acquitted him related to all nine items of the indictment.

Dodik: SIPA operation – demonstration of force (Srna)

Republika Srpska (RS) President Milorad Dodik told Srna that yesterday’s operation conducted by the B&H State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) was a needless demonstration of force and that it showed a political bias of SIPA and the B&H Prosecutor’s Office, stressing that he is convinced that employees of the RS Banking Agency and the Investment-Development Bank worked in keeping with the law. Dodik stressed that SIPA continues, particularly after the SDS cadres took it over, to parade through RS and to act forcibly, trying to subsume these actions under some legal operations. He pointed out that SIPA and the B&H Prosecutor’s Office are unauthorized institutions which are not in keeping with the Constitution but are in keeping with the international will, adding that they serve to put pressure on RS and its institutions. Dodik says that obviously it was not enough that these people were called by the Prosecutor’s Office and that they gave statements, but some wanted to make a media spectacle. The RS President says that he is absolutely convinced that employees of the RS Banking Agency and the Investment-Development Bank did their jobs in keeping with the law and that there are no elements of guilt. Dodik said that the way of operations of the B&H Prosecutor’s Office is not a fight for law. Dodik said that the B&H Court and Prosecutor’s Office and SIPA brought fear to this country and became the main authority in “such a B&H,” which, he says, cannot last long. “I trust RS institutions immensely. I believe that there is no any reason for destabilization of these institutions,” Dodik said.

Should we expect the division of Mostar soon? (Radio Sarajevo)

City Board of HDZ B&H Mostar said in a statement that they are not participating in any discussions that are leading to the division of the city, nor they will participate and support the story of the two municipalities, as well as any other division, nor they agreed “the city zones” with the SDA, and they will especially not propose solutions that are contrary to the Constitution of the Federation of B&H. As they emphasized, there was no agreement reached with the SDA on two “city zones”, which are just named differently, but they are municipalities in fact. Solutions must be found within the framework of implementation of the verdict by the Constitutional Court of B&H, who established a large discrimination in the value of voting in the elections for the City Council of the City of Mostar. Solution that meets the first verdict of the Constitutional Court must be proposed, and that are not contrary to the Constitution of the Federation of B&H and use the relevant provisions of the existing Election Law of B&H. “Therefore, we do not suggest dominance, we respect Constitutional Court of B&H, the Constitution of the Federation of B&H, the Election Law of B&H, constituent peoples and other citizens, and we do not suggest division and further sources of conflict,” as sad in the statement. “No proposal was agreed with the SDA that would arrange Mostar by some law that would be adopted in the Parliament of Federation of B&H or the Assembly of HNC’s, which would essentially divide the city. This is not true. These proposals are contrary to the Constitution of the Federation of B&H.” “We are under the impression that no one read our proposal to the end so that they claim with concrete arguments that we agreed on the division and thus on ensuring the dominance,” as said in the statement. They also recalled that Croats and HDZ B&H never elected political representatives to Bosniaks and Serbs, nor they used electoral or other engineering to dominate or generalize.

DUI, largest Albanian party in Macedonia left the Government (MIA) ­

Democratic Union for Integration, the largest party that represents ethnic Albanians in Macedonia and a key coalition partner, announced on Thursday evening that it is withdrawing from the government. The move comes a week ahead of the day when Parliament is set to dissolve anyway, prompting the early elections on 5 June. “The Presidency of the party has empowered the President Ali Ahmeti to decide on our future steps. The Democratic Union for Integration also informs the local and international public that it will reexamine its policies in the coming days,” said Artan Grubi, member of parliament and leading assistant to Ahmeti, through his social media accounts. Next steps in parliament remain unclear. Grubi’s statement indicates that the ministers will withdraw. The government is considered to have resigned completely if the Prime Minister proposes the resignation of a third of the original members. In this case, DUI has enough members in the Government to prompt its resignation, and time is short until Parliament dissolves on 7 April to try and form a new government. The ruling VMRO-­DPMNE party is two votes short of forming an outright Government, and forming a new coalition government with DUI or the smaller Albanian party DPA, or between DUI, DPA and the largest opposition party SDSM, would take a longer period to agree with the President giving mandates to leading parties. The current government itself was formed as part of the political agreement brokered last summer, and is supposed to govern only 100 days ahead of the elections, with a technical Prime Minister and several SDSM officials included to manage and oversee departments important for organizing the elections. Its mandate was already extended, as the elections were moved from the originally agreed date of 24 April to 5 June. The Democratic Union for Integration party formed from the insurgency movement that sparked a conflict in 2001 that killed hundreds of civilians, Macedonian security forces members and ethnic Albanian insurgents. The insurgency leader Ali Ahmeti became leader of the new party, which has remained in the government for most of the time between 2002 and now. The party faced factional strife, with several members of Parliament remaining in the party but giving public statements against steps by the leadership or voting against it. DUI was also faced with attacks on its officials in the past days, most notably Deputy Prime Minister Musa Xhaferi and the young member of Parliament Ermira Mehmeti, with anonymous internet accounts posting audio tapes that allegedly show them having phone sex. The tapes, whose authenticity has not been verified, appear like the tapes that the opposition SDSM party was distributing during early 2015, claiming they come from its insiders in the UBK security service. Other politicians and businessmen were also involved in these latest wiretaps, including former SDSM appointed Prime Minister and top banker Hari Kostov talking with former top police official Branko Bojcevski, and journalist Olivera Trajkovska with businessman Jordan Kamcev. These other tapes are of a less sensitive nature, but indicate that someone has a cache of audio files and is likely blackmailing businessmen and politicians with it. The latest leaks include conversations by journalists and managers from the Sitel TV station, who were a frequent target of SDSM’s early releases, and these talks were used to allege sexual affairs by former SDSM leader and Macedonian President and Prime Minister Branko Crvenkovski. American Ambassador Jess Baily, who defended the original publication of wiretaps by SDSM citing public interest, responded to the latest files with several tweets in which he called for protection of privacy. SDSM were supposed to hand over all the files in their possession to the newly formed Special Public Prosecutor’s Office (SPO), but uncertainty remains over the actual amount of files that were given to the SPO, which apparently failed to prepare a report when it received them, and whose chief prosecutor Katica Janeva refuses to appear before Parliament to answer this question. A group of identity document forgers with alleged ties with top SDSM officials were detained recently with tens of thousands of tapes in their possession, and several former SDSM officials and journalist affiliated with the party have also published or distributed some of the recent tapes.​

Macedonia: SDSM leader comes to terms with elections being realized on June 5 (MIA)

With SDSM leader Zoran Zaev declaring that he is ready for elections, it is becoming clear that 5 June elections will be realized. The opposition is aware that the atmosphere for a new postponement is not right and that they must face the people. By the looks of SDSM’s leadership at their last appearance, they seem to be encouraging themselves because it looks like they are going to lose elections again due to the destructive politics they lead. Political analyst Sotir Kostov says that with Zaev you can never be sure of what is going on, but he thinks that elections will probably happen on 5 June. “The people cannot stand this anymore, especially in a time when there is a migrant crisis going on. The field checkups have begun, plus those who came to power without going to elections might become comfortable in their position. Legitimacy is gained and lost at elections, power is also gained and lost at elections”, Kostov points out. At a party debate, several days ago in Kumanovo, Zaev confirmed that his party will take part in elections. “I am sending a message, SDSM is ready to go to elections on 5 June, which we are sure will bring about changes,” Zaev said. But, experts find Zaev statement – it is not the opposition’s goal to replace the current government – very strange and indicatory that SDSM are ready for a new electoral defeat. SDSM’s two conditional issues, namely the electoral roll purge and reforms in the media, are currently being resolved and will be fulfilled by election time. The field checkup of voters has already begun and it can be seen from the list of citizens, which is publicly published, that there are no phantom voters. SDSM’s claims about half a million disputable voters, and then 300,000 proved to be wrong. In the next few weeks, it can be expected for parliament to pass the amendments to the Law on Media, now that the Association of Journalists of Macedonia and Macedonia’s media association have turned in their suggestions. Elections are supposed to be held on 5 June, while parliament will be dissolved on 7April.

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

Hague Tribunal Should Be Closed ASAP (Sputnik, 1 April 2016)

MOSCOW – Serbia disagrees with the sentence handed down to former Bosnian-Serb leader Radovan Karadzic by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and believes the tribunal needs to be closed as soon as possible, Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said Friday. “We in Serbia reacted sharply to Karadzic’s sentencing because they want to end the entire process and place a period at the end. But we would like that it is proven who in particular is guilty. The person who is a war criminal must take responsibility, of course, but a collective type of guilt…is completely unacceptable for us and we’re against war crimes like in Srebrenica being so easily defined as genocide, and that the Republic of Serbia was created from genocide,” Dacic said during a joint press conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow. Lavrov echoed Dacic’s opinion in a similar statement at the same press conference, saying the tribunal is “politicized and biased.” “We have noticed considerable politicization and bias in the work of the International Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. We are in favor of it being closed soon,” Lavrov said, adding that “some mechanisms of the tribunal need to remain, but should be wound down as soon as possible.”

The ICTY recently convicted Karadzic on 10 out of the 11 counts against him of crimes against humanity and breaching warfare laws in the war and sentenced him to 40 years in prison.

Radovan Karadzic was found guilty of one of the two counts of genocide in relation to the July-November 1995 mass murder of Muslim men and boys in the Bosnian town of Srebrenica, and the forced deportations of Muslim women, children and the elderly from the same town.

The Bosnian War erupted between Bosnian Muslims, Serbs and Croats when Bosnia and Herzegovina announced its secession from Yugoslavia in 1992. The war claimed the lives of over 100,000 people, and forced more than two million people from their homes.

Serbia won’t ascend to EU at cost of alienating Russia, or join NATO – FM (RT, 1 April 2016)

While Belgrade is interested in becoming part of the European Union, it would not do so if the cost would be hurting Serbia’s relations with Russia, Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said during a Moscow visit.

“We want to become part of the European Union since it would serve our interest. We are a country that geographically and politically is part of Europe. But it cannot be done at a cost of our good relations with the Russian Federation,” he said at a joint conference with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov. Serbia has been negotiating potential accession to the EU since 2005. Serbia’s environmental, agricultural and financial regulations and its judiciary are considered major obstacles as does the issue of Kosovo, Serbia’s breakaway region that most of the EU members recognize as a sovereign nation. Lavrov said the EU, a major sponsor of the Kosovar authorities, is in the position to put pressure on Pristina and protect the remaining Serbian residents of the region. “There is sabotage of the agreements that Belgrade and Pristina reached in August last year with the EU’s mediation to create Serbian municipalities in Kosovo,” he said.

This sabotage, he said, “does not get any tangible reaction from Brussels. This worries us. We believe that the European Union should confirm its status as an objective mediator and leaned on Pristina to make the Albanian leadership of Kosovo deliver what they signed up to.”

Dacic added that Serbia has no intention of joining NATO, an organization that bombed the former Yugoslavia during the Balkan Wars. Serbia is still coping with the consequences of that military action, the minister said. “Belgrade would not engage closer with NATO for the sake of the Serbian people, not Russia,” the Serbian official stressed.“Most Serbian citizens stand against becoming a member of the alliance.”

Tensions escalate in Bosnia’s ‘most divided’ city (World Bulletin, 1 April 2016)

Tensions between Bosnians and Croats in historical city of Mostar are increasing as both sides suffer consequences of lack of city council since 2012

Ethnic tensions are beginning to rise again in Bosnia and Herzegovina’s historical city of Mostar as it edges close to local elections this year. The elections, if held in October like in the rest of the country, will be the first after a gap of eight years in the city. Mostar has been administratively divided into six municipalities, equally between Bosnians and Croats since the Bosnian War in 1995. Bosnians live mainly in the eastern part of Neretva River, while Croats are on the western side.

– No local elections since 2008 –

In 2004, former High Representative for Bosnia-Herzegovina Paddy Ashdown had taken an initiative to bridge differences between two sides in the city by issuing a new statute aimed at establishing a single municipality in Mostar. But the regulations could not be confirmed and put into action due to opposition by Croats, who feared Bosnians would get equal or even more rights in parts of the city where the Croats are in majority. Because of the statute issued in the city, local elections were not held in Mostar in 2012 like they did in 2008. Leaders on both sides had failed to agree in Bosnia’s House of Representatives, one of two chambers of parliament, eventually paving the way for the Constitutional Court to declare that the electoral statute of the city was unconstitutional. As a result, the municipality remains without a city council since 2012, which has created severe management issues in Mostar. Mostar Mayor Ljubo Beslic, who belongs to the Croatian Democratic Union, today functions as a unitary authority elected through six voting units. Every unit has the same number of councilors despite different number of voters in the unit. The Bosniak Party of Democratic Action is the other main party in the city.

– Three provocations in one week –

Recently, three provocative actions targeted the sentiments of Bosnians in Mostar, sparking tensions in an already divided city. Last week, a Croatian flag was drawn on nearby mountain Planinica on the Croats-majority side of the city, which sparked outrage among Bosnians, who objected that the city was not part of Croatia, but Bosnia. In the same week, an unidentified person threw a stone inscribed with “do not forget 93” in the Neretva River, which too created anger among Bosnians. The stones symbolically represent the Old Bridge, which was destroyed in 1993 by Croats. Also, a sign that bore names of the countries that contributed to the reconstruction of the Old Bridge has been damaged within the same week.

– Lack of leadership –

Bosnian leaders have so far fallen short of resolving the ongoing struggle for organizing local elections in Mostar. Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Presidency Council Chairman Bakir Izetbegovic said on Sunday that talks over Mostar remained futile. “If there are four plenipotentiary municipalities in Sarajevo, I do not think there would be a problem for Mostar to have four or six municipalities,” Izetbegovic said. Dragan Covic, Croation member of the council, said Sunday his side was ready to offer solutions. “Unfortunately, I did not receive any comments on our party’s solution offer. I think no one read our proposal. I want everyone to read the solution we propose,” Covic said. But while both leaders reviewed their own proposals, they neither offered any reactions to the recent acts of provocations in Mostar nor urged the public to stay calm. It is because of this indecisiveness that it now remains unclear whether Mostar will go into local elections in October this year or not like in the rest of the country.

– Bridging the gap –

Apart from being a tourist attraction, the bridge has a significant piece of history attached to it.

In fact, Mostar city is mostly known for its iconic Old Bridge that connects the eastern and western side of the city, which is constructed alongside the Neretva River. The Old Bridge was built between 1557 and 1566 after the citizens of Mostar requested Sultan Suleiman the Great for one. However, on Nov. 9, 1993, the Old Bridge was destroyed by heavy fire from Croatian forces. The International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia had sentenced former Bosnian Croat leader Jadranko Prlic and five co-defendants to 10 and 25 years jail time on charges of “ethnic cleansing” of Bosnian Muslims and destruction of the Ottoman-era Old Bridge of Mostar during the breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s. But while the bridge was reconstructed in 2004, which one hoped would reunite the city’s east and the west, people continue to struggle living together in the small Bosnian city. In fact, today it is known as the ‘most divided city’ in Bosnia.

Citizens in Mostar hope the divide between the two peoples will end one day. They also believe the recent acts of provocations were nothing but “dirty election games” and “political tricks” designed at increasing tensions between ethnic groups before local elections are due.

Adisa Maslo Hadziomerovic told Anadolu Agency on Tuesday that all such provocations are being carried out to prove who is a better Bosnian or Croat. “Unfortunately, this is proof that nationalism winds the minds,” Hadziomerovic said. Vera Soldo, a journalist, also condemned the recent attacks on the historical bridge of Mostar and pointed out that the bridge comes under protection of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Another citizen, Irma Pehilj, called for unity in Mostar. Pehilj said: “Mostar is not only the most beautiful city of Bosnia, it is also in the world. Let’s be one. Let’s defend our city with love.”