LOCAL PRESS
“The government in ten to twelve days … By July 3, and then I’m going to Paris” (Beta, Tanjug)
Mandate holder Aleksandar Vucic said that the new Serbian government will be formed in the next ten days, or until early July. “The government will be formed in ten, maximum twelve days. Everything will be finished until third of July,” Vucic told reporters. Vucic said that by July 3, when he’s traveling to Paris to participate in the international conference to talk and other EU officials, government must be formed. Mandate holder added that the Government in the Serbian Parliament will get “more than sufficient majority”.
Vucic: I believe that Serbia will have Croatia’s assistance (Tanjug)
Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic on Monday expressed confidence that Serbia will have Croatia’s assistance in the future, just like Croatia will have Serbia support. Addressing a press conference after signing a joint declaration with Croatian President Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic, Vucic said that recent events regarding the opening of Chapter 23 in Serbia’s EU accession talks were not mentioned during their meeting earlier in the day. “I did not even mention that because I think that, when we start solving our profound and serious problems, we will also be able to understand each other much better as far as foreign policy positions are concerned,” Vucic said in response to a question whether any open issues, if unsolved, could result in a new Croatian veto on Serbia’s EU accession talks. Commenting on Grabar Kitarovic’s statement that Croatia has no intention of blocking Serbia on the EU path Vucic said: “Great, thank you.” “We have envisioned many specific things and I am confident that this will produce results. Political will is the most important – on our part, it is absolute, and we are also confident not only about the good intentions, but also the abilities and capabilities of Mrs. Grabar Kitarovic,” Vucic said about the declaration, aimed at enhancing the relations between Serbia and Croatia.
Vucic, Grabar Kitarovic meet with Croatia’s ethnic Serb representatives (Tanjug)
Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic and Croatian President Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic met on Monday with representatives of Croatia’s ethnic Serbs in Dalj, a border village in eastern Croatia. The meeting was held in Milutin Milankovic‘s birth home, where Vucic and Grabar Kitarovic also unveiled a bust of the famous Serbian scientist. Vucic and Grabar Kitarovic were greeted by residents, who applauded them and said that they are pleased to see them in Dalj. Dalj is home to Serbs, Croats and Hungarians, with Serbs as the largest ethnic group. Later in the day, Vucic and Grabar Kitarovic will cross into Serbia and sign a declaration on enhancing bilateral relations and solving open issues between Serbia and Croatia. Monday’s meeting and the signing of the document have been anticipated as historic in both Croatia and Serbia, as well as a step towards defusing tensions between Belgrade and Zagreb and towards better cooperation and solving open issues. In Milankovic’s home, they were welcomed by Milorad Pupovac, an ethnic Serb MP in the Croatian parliament, and the meeting was also attended by Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic. Vucic and Grabar Kitarovic also visited Donji Tavankut, a village near Subotica, northern Serbia, that has a majority Croat and Bunjevac population. Vucic and Grabar Kitarovic, who were applauded by residents, visited a naive art gallery and attended performances organized by local ethnic Croat and Bunjevac cultural associations. They were also scheduled to hold a meeting with representatives of the Croat minority in Serbia and then go to Subotica to sign a declaration on enhancing bilateral relations and solving open issues between Serbia and Croatia. The Croatian president’s working visit is her first, albeit unofficial, visit to Serbia.
Igor Mirovic elected Vojvodina Prime Minister (Novosti)
Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) Presidency member Igor Mirovic was on Monday elected Prime Minister of Serbia’s Vojvodina province. Eighty-one of 113 Vojvodina Assembly members attending backed Mirovic’s candidacy, 29 voted against, two abstained, while one did not take part in the vote. Also elected were the 12 members of Mirovic’s cabinet, eight of whom had been put forward by the SNS and one each by the Socialist Party of Serbia, the Movement of Socialists, the Social Democratic Party of Serbia and the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians.
DS leader pushes for NATO membership and same-sex marriage (B92)
Democratic Party (DS) President Bojan Pajtic has called on party members to “turn a new leaf” and engage in “new activism.” He also believes that “the whole democratic opposition” should join the DS. In a letter sent to DS members, Pajtic points out that the upcoming party elections may be the last opportunity to stop “the disintegration,” and proposes that they state their position on “the four key issues.” Namely, Pajtic believes that the DS should stand for Serbia’s membership in NATO as well as “a strong Democratic Party,” a legally regulated status of same-sex marriages, and the inclusion of trade unions in the work of the party. “We have seen in recent weeks how fast the regime can make a turn from a European policy towards Russia. Serbia’s policy of sitting on two chairs has already gone on for too long, a policy that leads to ruin and devours decades of people’s lives in these regions,” Pajtic said in his letter. As he pointed out, the Democrats were also “not immune to the delusion that country this small can afford the luxury of balancing between the East and the West.” “The Democratic Party must make a step forward that is not popular, but if Serbia made such a step forward 20 years ago, there would have been no wars and the bombing of this country, the EU integration process would have been accelerated and citizens protected from foreign policy adventurism of the authorities, the consequences of which we feel to this day. Therefore, the DS need to stand for Serbia’s NATO entry. We are not ‘the East to the West and the West to the East,’ we are a country with seven million inhabitants, exhausted from the constant, one and the same defeats,” said Pajtic. As the next key topic, Pajtic spoke about “the disunity of the democratic opposition.” Therefore, he thinks the upcoming DS party elections must be used “to seek membership’s support for a reintegration of all that was democratic.” Pajtic believes that the DS is under obligation to confront prejudices and discrimination of any kind, and therefore asks that the status of same-sex unions be legally regulated and equalized with marriage and common-law marriage in this country. Also, Pajtic noted that Serbia does not have a strong trade union movement nor “its own Lech Walesa” – and that, since there is no strong historical connection between the party and trade unions, “precisely in collaboration with them, we are working together on activism among workers in Serbia.” The DS leader announced in his letter that he decided to, on the day of the election of the party’s leadership, pose questions to its members regarding these four topics.
Collective refugee centers to be closed by year-end (Tanjug)
The remaining nine collective refugee centers in Serbia, which are home to around 400 people, should be closed by the end of the year, Serbian Minister of Labor, Employment and Veteran and Social Affairs Aleksandar Vulin said this Monday. Speaking to reporters in Belgrade on World Refugee Day, Vulin said that Serbia is home to 29,574 people with refugee status, adding that Serbia had over 700 collective centers at the height of the crisis, while now there are only nine. “All nine should be closed by the end of the year and the nearly 400 people who are using the collective centers should be accommodated in a suitable way,” Vulin said. As a result of wars and ethnic cleansing in the 1990s, 618,000 people requested – and obtained – refugee status, but only 144,000 returned to their countries of origin. “A vast majority of 203,000 internally displaced persons from Kosovo and Metohija have not returned to this day. Today, we still have 18,000 internally displaced persons within the territory of Kosovo and Metohija,” Vulin stressed.
Double Standards: For UEFA “Kosovo is Albania” is OK, “Kosovo is Serbia” is not (Vecernje Novosti)
Events at the European Football Championship in France have shown once again that UEFA has two faces, writes daily “Vecernje Novosti”. European house of football, from which no one in Serbia can expect a shred of justice, has turned a blind eye to both eyes at the stadium in Marseilles, where a transparent saying “Kosovo is Albania” was visibly placed among the fans of Albania. Mixing politics in sport is obviously allowed to someone, and to someone not, depending on against whom are directed slogans at sporting events. Provocation at the match France – Albania (2:0) is only the continuation of a series of incidents that are tolerated in UEFA, all directed against Serbia. Dirty and deceitful game of Tirana, in the form of a drone that flew over the stadium in Humska street, also remained unpunished. And not only unpunished, but also rewarded, as points were deducted from Serbian national team, which opened the way for Albania to the championship in France. And what happens when there is a transparent saying “Kosovo is Serbia” at sports events? Well, that is another matter. Then UEFA becomes furious and there is always a painful punishment. For Serbs, of course, and everyone else who are on our side. Zenit, Moscow Lokomotiv and some other clubs know this, as their fans held these transparent. Much injustice was done to us by UEFA and other sports organizations and we had to put up with all of them. We had no one to complain to. Selective justice is not only in football. It is enough to remember Milorad Cavic, who was disqualified from the European Championship eight years ago, when he appeared on the stand wearing a t-shirt with inscription “Kosovo is Serbia”. “The Disciplinary Commission of LEN decided to suspend Cavic from further participation at the European Championship – it was said then in the statement of the European Swimming Association.
REGIONAL PRESS
Dodik: Visit to China will be an opportunity to define all segments of agreements (Srna)
Republika Srpska (RS) President Milorad Dodik said that he would visit China in the next few months and that it would be an opportunity to define all segments of agreements reached in Belgrade with representatives of Chinese companies which will take part in some of the infrastructure projects in RS. Dodik stressed that he was honored to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping and that he was impressed by the fact that Xi Jinping was informed of Chinese projects in RS, adding that the Chinese President encouraged further talks and cooperation. He says that he thanked Xi Jinping for the very successful implementation of a project for the construction of the Stanari thermal power plant, which is already working, and for talks with Chinese partners which should result in the construction of a new thermal power plant in Gacko, but also in the construction of highways which RS wants to build. “Xi Jinping encouraged us to talk and cooperate with Chinese partners and I think that he is familiar with the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H), where RS is successfully cooperating with the Chinese,” said the RS President. Dodik said that his meeting with Xi Jinping and representatives of the Chinese Companies was very important for RS and its further affirmation. He said that a protocol for the construction of the Gacko thermal power plant was signed in Belgrade with a Chinese company. “We also spoke with other Chinese partners – their Developmental Bank – about the construction of a highway which should connect RS with Serbia, namely, a section from the border to Bijeljina and a highway from Banja Luka to Prijedor, which are issues that are near to being finalized,” Dodik said. He said that during a meeting with some of the members of a large Chinese delegation there was word about financial participation of their banks and other business systems in the RS market. “I talked about establishing free economic zones in imitation of that which we can see in China, which create many jobs. These are things we discussed and finalized in a way,” the RS President said.
Ivanic warned of a major crisis in the B&H joint institutions (Srna)
Mladen Ivanic, the Serb member of the Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) Presidency, has warned of a major crisis in the B&H joint institutions if nothing changes regarding the decision to publish the census results. Meanwhile Dragan Covic, the Croat member of the B&H Presidency, has said there are certain attempts at blocking the process of B&H’s European integration, and that he insisted that prior to the key meeting of the B&H Presidency the conditions are made for all three members of the body to support the report and avoid any outvoting.
Prosecutor’s Office of B&H rejects analysis of Judge Korner (Fena)
The collective of employees and the Collegium of the Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) rejected “as unfounded, untrue, lump and malicious the analysis of Judge Joanna Korner, which is not the goal of improving the prosecution of war crimes, but the demolition of the judicial institutions – the Prosecutor’s Office and the results achieved” was released today from the prosecution. Earlier the Head of the OSCE Mission to B&H, Ambassador Jonathan Moore said that it is up to the very institutions of B&H, including the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (HJPC), the State Prosecution and the Court, how they will respond to the analysis of judge Joanna Korner on the prosecution of war crimes in B&H at the state level.
Karamarko resigns as HDZ chief (Hina)
Tomislav Karamarko told a press conference on Tuesday that he was resigning as president of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ). “I resign as HDZ president. Reasons are clear and multi-layered (…) I promised the party that I would manage to form a parliamentary majority and I have failed,” Karamarko said ahead of the session of the HDZ presidency. Karamarko’s resignation followed after he resigned as Deputy Prime Minister last week and, as he said, after he failed to reshuffle a ruling majority following the toppling of the Tihomir Oreskovic government, initiated by the HDZ. HDZ Secretary General Domagoj Ivan Milosevic said on Monday evening that most of the HDZ members expect party chief Karamarko to resign. “I don’t know what Tomislav Karamarko will do tomorrow, but what I can say clearly is that I am not one of those publicly calling for resignations, but over the past several days many party members from all parts of Croatia have called me, members of the party presidency, the head committee and the absolutely dominant position is that we expect Mr Karamarko to resign,” Milosevic told Nova TV. A member of the European Parliament, Adrej Plenkovic of the HDZ, told Croatian Television on Monday evening that he was prepared to run for HDZ president. “In new circumstances, now that parliament has been dissolved and now that it has become clear that due to a wrong assessment a government reshuffle had failed following a vote of no-confidence in the government formed by the HDZ, its coalition partners and Bridge as the key partner, I believe we need to approach the new election fresh and in the context of this situation, I am prepared to take responsibility,” Plenkovic said.
Plenkovic says ready to run for HDZ President (Hina)
A member of the European Parliament, Andrej Plenkovic of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), told Croatian Television on Monday evening that he was prepared to run for HDZ president. “In new circumstances, now that parliament has been dissolved and now that it has become clear that due to a wrong assessment a government reshuffle had failed following a vote of no-confidence in the government formed by the HDZ, its coalition partners and Bridge as the key partner, I believe we need to approach the new election fresh and in the context of this situation, I am prepared to take responsibility,” Plenkovic said. He underscored that should the party decide to call intra-party election, he would run for HDZ president.
SNP submitted a resolution on the referendum on NATO (MINA)
Socialist People’s Party (SNP) submitted resolution on conducting the national referendum on Montenegro’s full membership in NATO to the parliamentary procedure. The resolution states that a large number of citizens of Montenegro expressed their preference to directly decide on Montenegro’s accession to NATO military alliance. “Since we are aware of the responsibility of the moment and need to democratically resolve the situation which Montenegro faced after receiving NATO invitation, Montenegrin Parliament considers that this issue should be resolved in a fair and free referendum”, the document says. It is emphasized that respect for the will of the citizens is the highest national priority and that the issue of NATO membership is a decision that will significantly determine the future of Montenegro.
SNP to clearly declare on NATO (RTCG)
Montenegrin Social Democrats believe that proposing of the SNP Resolution which foresees the national referendum on full membership of Montenegro in NATO is hasty, unnecessary and politicized decision. Vice President of SD Mico Orlandic said that the request of SNP is irrational and impractical, saying that a decision on membership should be brought by MPs as the legitimately elected representatives of the citizens. According to Orlandic, bearing in mind the fact that NATO will be one of the main topics in the campaign for the October elections in addition to economic topics, the public will clearly know which party supports Atlantic integration of Montenegro and which does not. “We believe that by voting for a particular party they will knowingly authorize the deputies of this party to vote for, or against membership, but in the Parliament. This decision will be brought by the new Parliament after the elections in October, so this initiative has purely politicized character. Instead, it would be better for the top of the SNP to consolidate and finally express a clear stance of the party on NATO integration to the public of Montenegro,” SD say.
Former US officials to Obama: Montenegro should join NATO as soon as possible (CDM)
A group of former senior US officials sent an open letter to US President Barack Obama and the Congress, urging them to ratify the protocol on Montenegro’s accession to NATO as soon as possible, ideally until the end of the year. The letter that has been signed, among others, by former National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley, former Secretary of Defence Chuck Hagel, former commanders of NATO in Europe, generals Philip Breedlove, James Jones and James Stavridis and the former Deputy Secretary of State William Burns, says that Montenegro, as the 29th member of the alliance, was ready to fulfill the obligations arising from the membership and to contribute to Euro-Atlantic security. As they say, Montenegro has made a significant progress in resolving internal issues related to the rule of law, corruption, organized crime and security sector reform. Also, it has formed small but capable armed forces and reformed the security services in order to meet NATO standards. Montenegro’s entry into NATO, which is supported by both Republicans and Democrats, will contribute to its long-term stability, sovereignty and security as well as stability and security in Southeast Europe, according to US officials. Montenegro’s membership would also show the credibility of NATO’s open door policy and clearly reject the idea that any third party has a de facto veto on NATO enlargement. In the period of regional and international instability, support and strengthening the structure of the alliance that promote a common approach based on the rules and understanding are essential. Montenegro’s accession to NATO would be yet another important step in this effort, say former US officials, adding that therefore thy called on President Obama and the Congress to start the procedure for ratifying the protocol on Montenegro’s accession to NATO soon, in order for the process to be completed by the end of 2016.
Protests in Skopje: SDSM brings people from other cities to join “Colorful Revolution” (Telegraf.mk)
Under the motto “Citizens are coming for justice”, a growing number of protesters gathered on Monday in front of the Special Public Prosecutor’s Office (SPO) to provide support to prosecutors and to start a mass protest in Skopje. People from several Macedonian cities are likely to arrive to the protest on Monday and the top leadership of the opposition SDSM also supported it. Otherwise, Monday’s protest was organized a day after the ultimatum of the civil movement “Protestiram” expired, in which, until June 18 they sought for a recognition of the constitutionality of SPO and stopping the persecution and detention of protesters who participated in the daily protests. Within Monday’s protest the demonstrators are expected to throw paint on the monuments and the buildings of the state institutions. Civil Movement “Protestiram” announced that in the coming days they will continue with guerilla actions and SDSM says that a political solution is mostly wanted for the crisis.
Federica Mogherini: Need for open dialogue and Przino Agreement implementation (Telegraf.mk)
Macedonia was on the agenda of Monday’s EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Luxembourg, with memberstates agreeing over the need for open dialogue, implementation of the Przino Agreement and creating the conditions for development of the rule of the law in the country. “There is a very clear unity among member states in the need to have the country’s political leadership engage in open dialogue, implementation of the Przino Agreement, and creating the conditions for credible elections, developing the rule of law, support to the work of the special prosecutor and implementation of the urgent reform priorities”, said EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini at a press conference following the council meeting.
INTERNATIONAL PRESS
Stoltenberg: Montenegro’s path is decided by the country itself, not by Russia (Radio Free Europe)
The Secretary General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg said that Montenegro’s accession to NATO had nothing to do with Russia, but that Montenegro, as an independent country, determined its path on its own. “The fundamental right of every independent country is to choose its paths, including security arrangements it wants to be involved in. So this is an issue between Montenegro and the 28 NATO member states”, Stoltenberg said in Trondheim, Norway, on Monday during the session of the alliance’s board. The head of NATO believes that the parliaments of all 28 member states will ratify Montenegro’s NATO Accession Protocol, which is one of the last steps before the country formally joins the alliance. “Some parliaments have already ratified it and I do not notice any problems, but we need decisions, we need ratification in all parliaments before Montenegro becomes a full member”, Stoltenberg told the Radio Free Europe. Asked whether he was surprised by the Russia’s attitude, since it does not approve Montenegro’s joining NATO, Stoltenberg briefly said: “We welcome Montenegro and this welcome is not directed against anyone, including Russia.”
