LOCAL PRESS

Djuric: We are not interested in Pristina court’s decisions (RTS)

The Head of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Marko Djuric told the morning news of Radio and Television of Serbia (RTS) that the agreement reached in Brussels was reached with great deal of pain and that Belgrade stood up for the rights of the Kosovo Serbs, so it doesn’t accept the decisions of the Pristina institutions. On the occasion of the messages conveyed by the EU High Representative Federeca Mogherini in Pristina, Djuric points out that several things could be heard that were not completely clear and true. “We respect very much Ms. Mogherini and other European officials, but our clear message is that the decisions of the Constitutional Court in Pristina do not either bind or interest us, and we do not accept any unilateral amending of the reached agreement in Brussels,” said Djuric. Pointing out that the agreed cannot be amended, Djuric noted that the Community of Serb Municipalities (ZSO) will be formed in accordance with this agreement, and not some other decision. “We are noticing that Pristina has been receiving international praises, now the visa-free regime, but we are not seeing that the implementation of agreements and the formation of the ZSO are being mentioned. Yet, there has been so much talk about the fact that there cannot be progress in EU integration without progress in implementing the reached. We see praises but nobody is opposing this,” says Djuric. He says that the formation of the ZSO is precisely the path towards a healthier relationship between Belgrade and Pristina. This is the only path for dialogue to progress. There is no essential normalization for us without that, says Djuric. Commenting the statement by the EU Commissioner for Migration and Home Affairs Dimitris Avramopoulos that the decision on the visa-free regime will be valid only for holders of Kosovo passports, Djuric says that Serbia will request the EU for this decision to be also valid for our residents in Kosovo and Metohija. This kind of discrimination is impermissible, adding there will certainly be a solution for our travel documents to be accepted. Regarding Kosovo’s admission in UEFA, and the announced admission in FIFA, Djuric says that Serbia will continue the fight against separatist tendencies arriving from Pristina. “We see that as a separatist tendency, when somebody wants to tear apart the map of our country,” says Djuric. What happened is “bare legal violence and force” and Serbia will never accept something like that. He adds that Serbia will sue UEFA in Lausanne and that those who have inspired and approved such an idea will bear responsibility. Noting that UEFA announced that the Pristina delegation and official Serbian delegation will not play together, Djuric says he doesn’t see where they will accommodate this delegation when 26 of 54 UEFA members are against Kosovo’s admission. “This is starting to resemble a circus. Our message is: Keep politics away from sports. This is trampling of the UEFA Statute and violation of all football norms,” stressed Djruric.

Belgrade to request from EU abolishment of Schengen visas for everybody (RTS/Beta/Tanjug)

“Belgrade will request the EU for the visa-free regime to be also valid for Serbs who reside in Kosovo and Metohija, regardless of the documents they possess,” reads the statement of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija forwarded to the Kossev website. The latest recommendation of the European Commission on transferring Kosovo on the visa-free regime for short visits in the Schengen zone should not be valid for “the kind of document” but “for all residents of the territory that is given the visa-free regime”, reads the response of the Office to the question addressed by Kossev.

RIK pronounces final results (RTS/Beta)

The Republic Electoral Commission (RIK) has on Thursday released the final results of early parliamentary elections in Serbia, which show that 12 election lists will have their representatives in the new parliament convocation, electronic media reported. According to RIK data gathered from all 8,377 polling stations, the coalition gathered around the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) has won 48.25 percent of votes, as 1,823,147 citizens voted in favor of the list “Aleksandar Vucic – Serbia Wins”. The coalition of the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) and United Serbia (JS) has won 10.95 percent with 413,770 votes. Serbian Radical Party (SRS) has won 8.1 percent, i.e. 306,052 votes. The “Enough Is Enough” movement has won 6.02 votes, from 227,626 voters, coalition gathered around the Democratic Party (DS) has also won 6.02 percent, with 227,589 votes. Coalition between Dveri and the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) has won 5.04 percent, i.e. 190,530 votes, and the coalition between the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), Social Democratic Party (SDS) and League of the Social Democrats of Vojvodina (LSV) has won 5.02 percent, i.e. 189,564 votes. Parties of the minorities have also accessed the new parliament convocation – Alliance of the Vojvodina Hungarians (VMSZ) with 56,620 votes, or 1.5 percent, Bosniak Democratic Union (BDZ) led by Muamer Zukorlic with 32,526 votes, or 0.86 percent, Party of the Democratic Action (SDA) of Sandzak led by Sulejman Ugljanin has won 30,092 votes (0.8 percent), the Green Party – 23,890 votes (0.63 percent) and Party for Democratic Action with 16,262 votes, or 0.43 percent. This means that out of the total of 250 seats, SNS has gained 131 seat, SPS-JS 29, SRS 22, DS 16, Enough Is Enough 16, Dveri-DSS 13, SDS-LDP-LSV 13, SVM four, BDZ of Sandzak two, SDA of Sandzak two, Party for Democratic Action and the Green Party one seat each.

SNS: Coalition in Serbian parliament smaller than in Vojvodina (Tanjug)

The SNS would form somewhat smaller coalition in Serbian parliament than in the province assembly, the SNS deputy leader Nebojsa Stefanovic said on Thursday, Tanjugreported.

“We will try to make a broad coalition in the province, since it would be important to include as much factors as possible in terms of stability, while it would be a bit smaller in Serbian parliament”, Stefanovic said, without getting into details.

New government without SPS becomes more probable (Politika)

It was becoming more and more probable that the new Serbian government led by the SNS leader Aleksandar Vucic would include only the SVM, BDZ led by Muamer Zukorlic and LDP led by Cedomir Jovanovic, Politika reported on Thursday. The daily stated that the statement of SNS deputy leader Nebojsa Stefanovic did not leave a lot of space for the SPS to hope to once again take part in the government, even more since the unofficial information showed that Vucic was getting close to the decision not to invite them. Politika’s unofficial sources stated that Vucic could see Cedomir Jovanovic as his coalition partner if he should find out that this would not cause an unbearable revolt among his supporters. Alliance with Jovanovic is still not certain at the moment, but there are indications that Zukorlic could be invited to join the government if he is willing to respond. So far, the only certain thing is that the new ruling coalition will include SVM.

Seventeen years since the disappearance of Ljubomir Knezevic in Kosovo (Politika, by Dejana Ivanovic)

The fate of Ljubomir Knezevic, journalist of the Pristina-based Jedinstvo and associate of Politika, who went missing on this day in 1999 in Kosovo and Metohija, is unknown even after 17 years. “Members of the KLA took by force Ljubomir Knezevic on 6 May 1999 from the Vucitrn railway station in an unknown direction. The War Crimes Prosecution is conducting a preliminary investigation in regard to the mentioned event on criminal charges of the Serbian Interior Ministry’s Secretariat in Kosovska Mitrovica in cooperation with the Service for uncovering war crimes of the Serbian Interior Ministry, the EU Special Investigative Team and the EULEX Prosecution in Pristina,” reads the poorly written response by Mioljub Vitorovic, Deputy War Crime Prosecutor to Politika’s questions concerning the results of the investigation of Knezevic’s disappearance. This practically means there are no suspects in this case. “The opinion of the United Nations Human Rights Advisory Panel (HRAP) from 2014 in regard to the abduction of journalist Ljubomir Knezevic indicates tremendous weakness of the international community and other responsible parties in Kosovo. It also shows great indifference for criminal investigations of abductions and murders of citizens, and Ljubomir was one of the seven journalists designated by the Journalist’s Association of Serbia in the dossier of murdered and missing persons in Kosovo and Metohija. HRAP established that there are large omissions of UNMIK and EULEX in ensuring safety to people, then in the investigation, that it is necessary for EULEX and responsible parties in Kosovo to find and punish the perpetrators, to publicly apologize to the Knezevic family over their omissions and to pay compensation. None of this has been done to this day. The family received nothing except a paper that hinted at the possibility of justice. It is sad that even our War Crimes Prosecution has no interest in dealing with investigations in regard to the murders of journalists of Serbian editorials in the region of former Yugoslavia,” the Head of the Education Center of the Journalist’s Association of Serbia Dragan Bjelica tells Politika. More than half a year ago, the Coordination of Serbian associations of missing and murdered in the region of former Yugoslavia has sent comprehensive material to 120 addresses of international institutions on the responsibility of the United Nations over drastic violations of human rights of Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija at the end of the 1990s. The answer hasn’t arrived from a single institution to this day, says Dusan Celic, the chairperson of the board of directors of the Coordination. “The largest number of violations of human rights, above all the right to life, occurred during the mandate of the United Nations in Kosovo and Metohija after 10 June 1999. The international community not only didn’t guarantee the right to life to everyone, but abductions, murders and mass ethnic cleansing occurred before its eyes,” Celic tells Politika. He claims that not a single sufficient investigation in regard to cases of abductions and murders of Serbs has been conducted in Kosovo and Metohija. “We are concerned that certain criminal cases within EULEX jurisdiction regarding abductions and murders of Serbs are being assigned to the local, Albanian, judiciary. We fear that the cases that EULEX hands over to the local judiciary will not be processed by the court for war crimes committed by the KLA in Kosovo and Metohija,” stresses Celic. He warns that UNMIK, which submits quarterly reports to the Security Council, doesn’t mention at all in them that there exists their human rights advisory panel that has passed 110 decisions on violations of human rights of the Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija. “As long as the fact on the disappearances and murders of the Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija during the UN mandate is hidden, the truth will not be revealed about Ljubomir Knezevic and hundreds of Serbs who were abducted, i.e. murdered, under similar, tragic circumstances,” says Dusan Celic.

REGIONAL PRESS

SNSD, DNS and SP agreed to stage a rally (Srna)

Leaders of SNSD Milorad Dodik, DNS Marko Pavic and SP Petar Djokic agreed on Thursday to stage a rally on 14 May in Banja Luka if the Alliance for Change organizes the protests; but also to cancel the rally if the Alliance for Change cancels the protests. Dodik has called on the citizens to massively attend the rally titled “Heart for Ruska” organized by SNSD, DNS and SP and some other organizations and associations if the Alliance for Change refuses to cancel the protests. The DNS leader Marko Pavic has stated that a full unity has been achieved concerning protest related subjects and mayoral and head of municipality’s candidacy in the upcoming elections at yesterday’s meeting with leaders of the SNSD, Milorad Dodik, and SP, Petar Djokic. Leader of the Socialist Party Petar Djokic stated that the ruling coalition’s rally “Heart for Ruska” wants to make clear that it does not lack people’s support.

Inzko: Challenging period is ahead of B&H (Srna/Hina)

High Representative Valenin Inzko stated yesterday before the UN Security Council in New York that a challenging period is ahead of B&H, but the country should be able to overcome it if all the parties work together, fully respecting the Dayton Peace Accords. The Austrian diplomat says that B&H is being prevented from activating its path to NATO membership because authorities in Republika Srpska (RS) refuse to cooperate in fulfilling prerequisites such as the registration of military property. The report further notes that RS has time and time again threatened with unconstitutional referenda. The most ardent in all this is entity President Milorad Dodik who refuses to implement a Constitutional Court ruling of January 9 which ruled that RS Day as unconstitutional. Inzko warned that RS officials continue to threaten secession of that entity from B&H. “I have made it clear repeatedly that the Dayton Peace Agreement does not allow for the entities to secede. The international community must continue to say clearly that our commitment to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of B&H is absolute,” Inzko said in his address presenting his report to the UN Security Council. Leader of the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD) Milorad Dodik has said that, although he has not seen it yet, the report by Inzko to the UN Security Council is most likely full of speculations and incorrect assessments of RS, “which is a part of the tradition that he is promoting there”.

Jews won’t allow belittling of respect for Holocaust victims, says Kraus (Hina)

The central commemoration of Yom HaShoah in Croatia was held at Zagreb’s Mirogoj Cemetery on Thursday and on that occasion members of the Jewish community said that they would not allow anybody to belittle their feeling of respect for victims of the Holocaust and that therefore they had decided to organize a commemoration at the site of WW2 death camp in Jasenovac on their own this year. Attempts to tailor the past with the approval of the ruling authorities and failure to penalize such events in the past year must worry every decent citizen of Croatia, said the chairman of the Coordinating Committee of Jewish Communities in Croatia, Ognjen Kraus. Atrocities committed in the name of the Nazi Germany and quisling countries, including the so-called Independent State of Croatia, bear witness to the fact how mankind could sink low, while the human spirit could soar high, Kraus said adding that the Nazi system destroyed all structures of the Jewish society in an attempt to annihilate the Jewish spirit and culture. He recalled that in 1941 when the war broke out in this area, there were 12,000 local Jews in Zagreb, accounting for 7% of the population, while currently this has been reduced to permilles. In his speech Krause raised his voice against glorification of the Ustasha system and said that the local Jews would not tolerate attempts to promote Ustasha values. During this commemorative event, dozens of delegations of Jewish associations, of the State of Israel as well as of Croatia’s state bodies and local authorities and foreign embassies held wreath-laying ceremonies, The Jewish community Bet Israel held a commemorative service in the northern town of Krapina to observe the Holocaust Remembrance Day. Speakers at that commemorative event warned that local Jews were killed during the Ustasha regime only because that regime labeled them as a less worthy people. The Bet Israel community’s leader Aleksandar Sreckovic said that the present-day generations were not responsible for the persecution of Jews during the Second World War but that they were responsible for how they managed the memories concerning that period. Croatian Environment Protection Minister Slaven Dorbrovic said at the commemoration in Krapina that memories of the Holocaust must not fall into oblivion. Yom HaShoah or Holocaust Remembrance Day is observed as Israel’s day of commemoration for the approximately six million Jews who perished in the Holocaust as a result of the actions carried out by Nazi Germany and its allies. In Israel, it is a national memorial day, which was inaugurated in 1953.

Sending troops to a UN mission in the Sahara proposed (CDM)

The Defense and Security Council established the draft decision on deploying members of the Armed Forces of Montenegro (VCG) in the United Nations Mission in Western Sahara. Two members of VCG are planned to be directed to the United Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara – MINURSO, with the possibility of their rotation. The draft decision states that the Ministry of Defense will select the members of VCG for the deployment, conduct necessary preparation, training and equipping, as well as monitor and coordinate their engagement, in accordance with the law. In the explanation of the draft decision, it has been stated that it is grounded in the Constitution, which stipulates that the Parliament of Montenegro shall decide on the engagement of VCG units in international missions. It is added that Montenegro, after the restoration of independence in 2006, took over a part of the international commitments of the previous state union.

GDOM organizes protests in eight Macedonian cities (Telegraf.mk)

The Civil Movement for Defense of Macedonia (GDOM) held on Thursday evening several gatherings across Macedonia, including in Bitola, Ohrid, Gevgelija, Gradsko, Radovis, Kriva Palanka, Kocani and Resen. GDOM demands that elections must be held on 5 June ‘as the only way out of the agony gripping Macedonia’ and that the President Gjorge Ivanov revokes his pardoning decision. “The people are taking to the streets united over the idea that elections are the way out of this crisis. Today, the citizens of Gradsko, Radovis, Kriva Palanka, Kocani, Bitola and Resen are sending a message about their enshrined democratic right to decide on their own for their future in elections”, GDOM said in an announcement for the protests. In Bitola, the GDOM supporters said elections on June 5 were the solution to “normalizing the situation in Macedonia”. The supporters concurred that the crisis imposed by the opposition party SDSM could only be overcome in a peaceful and democratic way in elections.

MEP Petir: Macedonia does not need any ambassadors as tutors (MIA)

Macedonia does not need any ambassadors as tutors, the Macedonian politicians and the people are capable enough to lead their own interior politics, said MEP Marijana Petir, who was the main speaker at the debate-EU Talks: Enlargement Policy and Its Perspectives. Macedonia has fulfilled all conditions for opening accession negotiations with the EU, Petir said. She considers that if EU continues with the same politics towards Macedonia, it will only prove its incredibility, which is obviously not good. “No other EU candidate country has been imposed with conditions that have to do with bilateral issues. And we all know that Macedonia is not part of the EU because of the bilateral issue with Greece. From this position at this conference, I am calling on the Council to open the negotiations with Macedonia because Macedonia deserves this. I did not come here today to give advice about what should Macedonia do in regards to the issue. Macedonia has politicians who have the capacity to deal with the issue and they love the people enough to realize that Euro-Atlantic integration is a priority and that they should be united on this matter,” Petir said. She stated that all internal issues should be resolved jointly, that the agreement should not be undermined and that elections should no longer be postponed. “The right to govern should be acquired through a democratic way, at elections, through the choice of the people. Everyone took on responsibilities with the agreement from last year. Did the State Election Commission (SEC) fulfill its commitments? SEC has been elected by Parliament legitimately and it is comprised of 3 ruling representatives, 3 opposition representatives and 3 experts. So SEC can come out and say whether conditions are met for holding elections as an authorized institution, instead of someone from the outside saying it. I cannot say that, nor can any foreign representative. That is not ours to say,” Petir said. The EU cannot impose any sort of sanctions against Macedonia, she added. “You are an independent state with its own Constitution and the EU cannot impose sanctions against Macedonia. I call on the EU and everyone I consider good-intentioned to help Macedonia. Friendship is demonstrated through helping, not the other way around”, she said. Macedonia has a very significant role in the migrant crisis, it reacted very well in relation to that matter and it asked for help in a timely manner,” she added.

Macedonia: Half of Tabanovce’s migrants leave after establishing route (Telegraf.mk)

At the reception center in Tabanovce there is currently about 500 migrants, which is a lot less than before a month and a half ago when there were over a 1,000 temporary residents at this center. According to Goran Stojanovski, manager of the reception center, a good deal of the migrants has returned to the ‘Vinojug’ camp near Gevgelija. A few of them, with mediation from the International Organization for migration (IOM), accepted to go back to their countries, but most of them left for Serbia. “Ever since they came, it was clear that they do not want to stay in Macedonia. If they wanted to, they would have applied for asylum. They head north by roads only known by them. We cannot interfere or influence them. Our obligation is to treat them humanely while they reside here and that is what we do,” Stojanovski said. There are currently only families with children residing at Tabanovce. Everyone that had the chance, left for Serbia by using the route established by migrants after they realized that Serbia will not open its borders and allow them to enter legally. According to sources from humanitarian organizations that work with migrants, they first let through about 10 migrants who test the terrain of the local smugglers and they establish a channel, which is later used by the rest of the migrants. The number of migrants at the Reception Center in Gevgelija is diminishing. About 100 migrants are accommodated there at the moment. Plus, there are around 153 migrants in the outer tent which managed to illegally cross the border, but after a check by the Ministry of Interior they were returned in Idomeni camp. The inflow of migrants coming to Greece has also diminished. In the last 24 hours, there were only 55 new migrant arrivals. According to data, Greece is currently hosting around 53,731 migrants and asylum seekers.

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

Serbia will ‘fiercely’ oppose UEFA admission of Kosovo (Newsweek, by Damien Sharkov, 5 May 2016)

Serbia will use all available legal measures to fight the decision by UEFA, Europe’s football governing body, to admit neighboring Kosovo as a member, said Prime Minister-elect Aleksandar Vucic.

The Balkan region of Kosovo has been contested since medieval times. It was part of Serbian-led Yugoslavia until the country’s violent collapse in the 1990s. A war between ethnic-Albanian Kosovars and Serbian forces followed, until a peace deal was struck in 1999. Kosovo declared independence in 2008, but Serbia, along with others including Greece and Russia, object to the declaration. An independent Kosovo is not recognized by the U.N., but is recognized by the likes of the U.S., the U.K., France and Germany. In Serbia, Kosovar independence remains a highly controversial topic and Kosovo’s entry into UEFA has prompted an overwhelmingly negative reaction. Vucic, whose party stormed to victory in Serbia’s elections last week, vowed to reverse the decision by any means necessary. “We will fight and we will fight fiercely,” Vucic said at a press conference in Belgrade on Wednesday, according to Serbian state news agency Tanjug.

“We will take legal action to challenge the decision,” he said. “The decision is not in accordance with the UEFA statutes which clearly say that only UN members could join the organization.”

As a result of the decision, football clubs and teams from Kosovo will be allowed to take part in international competitions in Europe. It also paves the way for Kosovo to request admission to the world football governing body, FIFA, which could see a Kosovar side play in the qualification stages of the 2018 World Cup, a first for the country. The matter would be complicated further if Kosovo is drawn to play against any countries that do not recognize it—tensions between Balkan neighbors already often spill over into football. During the qualifiers for the Euro 2016 tournament, Serbia and Albania were drawn to play each other. One of their two matches had to be suspended when the players started brawling on the pitch and fans intervened, chasing the Albanian side back to their dressing rooms. What is more, the next World Cup is due to be hosted by Russia, a vocal opponent of Kosovar independence. After UEFA announced its decision, Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko said Russia had voted against the addition of Kosovo and said Russian teams may refuse to play with Kosovar sides in international tournaments “until the political resolution” of the question regarding Kosovo’s status.

Political crisis could halve Macedonian growth – central bank chief (Reuters, 5 May 2016)

SKOPJE – Growth in Macedonia’s economy could be slashed by more than half to 1.6 percent in 2016 if the political crisis gripping the country is not resolved by the end of the year, the central bank governor said on Thursday.

Dimitar Bogov said a damaging scandal over wiretapping involving senior public officials had led the bank to develop what he called an alternative scenario for economic development this year. “In this alternative scenario, which can be seen as realistic, Gross Domestic Product growth would be 1.6 percent this year,” he said. Without the uncertainty caused by the scandal, growth would be 3.5 percent, he added. As a result of the crisis, growth would be significantly affected by lower investment and consumption. Bogov also said on Thursday the bank had raised interest rates on the country’s short-term debt to 4 percent from 3.25 percent to shield the local currency from the effects of the crisis. It last increased rates in April 2012. The crisis in Macedonia deepened when President Gjorge Ivanov pardoned officials being investigated over the wiretapping scandal, a move which put at risk an EU-brokered deal to resolve matters and triggered protests in the capital, Skopje. Macedonia, already in the forefront of Europe’s migrant crisis, has been in turmoil since February last year, when the opposition accused then-Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski and his counter-intelligence chief of wiretapping more than 20,000 people. Under the EU deal last year, the ruling VMRO-DPMNE party and the opposition Social Democrats agreed to hold early elections, now planned for June 5, and set up a court to investigate the scandal. But Ivanov’s decision to pardon 56 officials under investigation for wiretapping angered EU officials, who said the bloc might consider introducing sanctions, including asset freezes and travel bans, on politicians obstructing a resolution of the crisis. (Reporting by Kole Casule; writing by Ivana Sekularac; editing by Giles Elgood and Mark Trevelyan)

* * *

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.