LOCAL PRESS

Serbia cannot be neutral and join EU – German official (Vecernje novosti)

Serbia needs to declare itself in accordance with the foreign policy positions of the EU; a country that wants to join cannot have a neutral position. Minister of State for Europe at the German Federal Foreign Office Michael Roth told this to Belgrade-based newspaper Vecernje novosti. “The EU and its member states come first for Serbia when it comes to trade, investment and political cooperation. In addition, Serbia maintains relations with other countries, and no one expects them to be severed. Germany is also trying to have a solid relationship and cooperation with Russia and China. However, you want to join the EU – which means that you need to declare yourselves in accordance with the foreign policy positions of the Union. There cannot be some ‘neutral position’ of a state that wants membership,” said Roth. Asked whether there were any new conditions for Serbia to open chapters 23 and 24 in its accession negotiations, he answered negatively. “EU member states are currently harmonizing a common negotiating position. Germany is committed to the two chapters being opened as soon as possible. In particular, we expect that the independence of the judiciary and respect for media freedoms is ensured, along with a determined fight against corruption. There’s still a lot to be done,” added Roth. He pointed out that it was necessary to make up for the falling behind in the process of normalization of relations between Belgrade and Pristina. “Visible progress is needed – on both sides. The negotiating framework defines the parallelism of the accession negotiations and the dialogue of normalization. The speed of Serbia moving closer to the EU is determined by the speed of implementation of those commitments stemming from the agreement on normalization of relations. The opening of further chapters, in addition to 23 and 24, will therefore be considered in the light of the progress made in this field. And all that has been agreed on long ago, and is not a new condition,” said the German official. According to the daily, he also said there was “no mention” of international recognition of the self-proclaimed state of Kosovo and its membership in the UN. “Before Serbia’s EU accession it is necessary to normalize relations between Serbia and Kosovo in the form of a legally binding agreement. All countries of the Western Balkans, Kosovo too, have concrete accession perspective, but we do not want to import bilateral conflict into the EU,” said Roth. Asked about “the claims that the EU, including Germany, and the United States, want to destabilize Serbia and bring down (PM Aleksandar) Vucic,” he called them “absurd,” and added: “I am convinced that people in Serbia will not believe this. Germany, the EU and the U.S. want a stable, democratic and prosperous Serbia. We support Serbia on its path to the EU, this year alone with about 170 million euros, which makes us the largest bilateral donor. You have been approved around 1.5 billion euros for the period from 2014 until 2020 from the pre-accession funds alone.”

“Opening of two chapters by end of month not uncertain” (Tanjug, Beta)

An end-of-June opening of chapters 23 and 24 in Serbia’s EU accession talks has not been put in doubt, Tanja Miscevic said on Wednesday. “Everyone in Brussels is striving to ensure that the chapters are opened by the end of the Dutch EU presidency. There is still time for that – I cannot say that there is too much, but there is still time to get everything done,” Miscevic, who is Serbia’s chief negotiation for EU accession talks, told Tanjug. Discussions are under way about the text of a common EU negotiating position on chapters 23 and 24, she said, adding that she is not aware of special demands from any country, including Croatia. “The matter is in the hands of the member states, but let us hope for a positive outcome,” Miscevic said. Diplomatic sources in Brussels told Tanjug on Tuesday that Serbia could open new chapters in its EU accession talks on June 30. All technical procedures related to coordinating a draft of a common EU negotiating position for Chapters 23 and 24 could be completed by next Monday at the latest within the Working Party on Enlargement and Countries Negotiating Accession to the EU (COELA), the sources said. Without a debate, the green light for opening the chapters could be given at a meeting of the Committee of Permanent Representatives in the European Union (COREPER), scheduled for Wednesday, June 30, the sources said. An intergovernmental conference could be held in the afternoon of the same day to open the new chapters with Serbia, Tanjug has been told in Brussels. On June 21, Beta agency said it was told by officials in the EU Council of Ministers that “the chances of an intergovernmental conference between the EU and Serbia on June 30 where key chapters 23-24, on the rule of law and fundamental rights will be opened are slim since Croatia still refuses to entirely give up its earlier demands for Belgrade, and has added more, such as compensation for war victims.” They said that a meeting of the EU Council Working Group for the Western Balkans on June 21 had not harmonized the EU’s negotiating stance on opening the chapters with Belgrade, and that the subject would be up for discussion again on June 27.

Serbia’s envoy to EU says his replacing was ill-considered (B92)

Dusko Lopandic, who has been recalled as Serbia’s ambassador to the EU, says this occurred “hastily, outside the usual procedure.” As he stated in a letter sent on Wednesday to Minister of Foreign Affairs Ivica Dacic, it also happened “without consultation and consideration. Lopandic said he was replaced “under Serbia’s caretaker government and at a delicate moment of the (accession) negotiations with the EU.” Lopandic said that the usual procedure involves a diplomat being warned about an omission in their work and invited to consultations that would then “weigh” the gravity of the case or seek that they declare themselves more broadly on all the circumstances of the issue. The ambassador said that the decision to recall him urgently “annulled and ignored the thirty years of his professional career.” “It would also be devastating for any professional officer that there are now publicly stated tactless classifications of ‘more serious omission in my work,’ which refer to the alleged insufficiently prompt notifying that a private exhibition was being organized at the European Parliament – which was prepared on their personal behalf by only one (out of 754) members of the European Parliament, with a completely marginal and insignificant influence,” said Lopandic. According to him, “the minister knows that dozens of exhibitions and gatherings are organized daily in the European Parliament building, which have no official character and are often organized also contrary to the official position of EU member-states.” “I responsibly claim that the interests of Serbia and Serbian citizens on the occasion of the organization of the exhibition about (Alojzije) Stepinac were adequately protected by the prompt reaction of the Serbian Mission to the EU – in writing and orally – in all relevant instances of the European Parliament,” Lopandic stated in the letter, adding that “the drastic sanction” that has been applied to him “does not correspond to the level of the so-called omission, much less to the non-existent consequences of that failure.” “The minister knows from the ambassador’s reports that almost none of the officials in the EP knew about the exhibition or had ever heard about Stepinac before our reaction,” said he. Asked to comment on the decision to replace Lopandic with Ana Hrustanovic, Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic on Wednesday said he could “neither confirm nor deny” the news, and added the reason was “diplomatic practice, and the rule not to announce the name of a candidate before the country they will be posted in has sent its agreement.” As for the decision to recall Lopandic, Dacic said: “This has been planned before, too, I would not talk about the reasons. He was in the fourth year of his mandate, in a way these are regular changes, that will certainly (also) be happening in the coming period.”

Dacic “Shocked” by some reactions to the Declaration on enhancing relations with Croatia (VIP)

First Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia and Foreign Minister of Serbia Ivica Dacic said on Wednesday that he was “shocked” by some negative reactions to the signing of the Declaration on enhancing the relations and resolving open issues between Serbia and Croatia. “It is incomprehensible how some things that are in the interest of Serbia and Serbian people as a whole are devalued by daily political considerations and needs to attack the authorities at any cost. After the signing of the Declaration, various parties spoke out, even reputable individuals, claiming that the technical government has no authority to do that”, Dacic told reporters. The technical government, however, “does all the work, except for personnel matters”, he said. There has indeed been some criticism in the public regarding the fact that Prime Minister designate Aleksandar Vucic and Croatian President Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic had signed a document on Monday under the above-mentioned name. The objections range from those that the document is in no way binding for the two countries, over those that it was signed by a prime minister of a technical government and president of a country whose government had just collapsed, to those that it would be logical for a figure appropriate in terms of rank to appear as a signatory on the Serbian side, namely, the President of Serbia. Dacic, however, said on Wednesday that “such an important historical event” should not be measured by whether someone has the authority or not, “especially since we know who won the elections and who the next prime minister will be”. Negative reactions to the Declaration “show that some do not care about Serbia making any kind of improvement regarding its international position”, he said. “I am shocked by such reactions. Even in Croatia, those who do not like Grabar Kitarovic welcome this step. What is happening here is very bad, since we are not talking about what is happening, but about who is doing what. For Serbia, it is essential to be the factor of regional stability”, Dacic said.

Ambassador Dittmann: Accusations against the EU Delegation in Serbia “Absurd” (Danas)

German Ambassador to Serbia Axel Dittmann strongly denied the recent accusations voiced against the EU Delegation in Serbia that appeared in Serbia’s media close to the authorities. These accusations “are absurd,” Dittmann said in an interview for daily Danas on Thursday, adding that the relations between Serbia and the EU were good as well as that he did not see why these should be getting worse. He spoke positively about his contacts with representatives of the government and the Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, adding that these were “constructive and open.” Speaking about the process of European integration of Serbia, Dittmann said that it was necessary to strengthen the independence of the judiciary and fight against corruption. Freedom of expression should also be promoted and independent institutions strengthened, he added.

Dacic: SPS is waiting for Vucic’s invitation (VIP)

Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) is still waiting for an invitation of the Prime Minister designate Aleksandar Vucic to join the new Government, the SPS leader Ivica Dacic said on Wednesday. After the Government of the northern province of Vojvodina was set up this week – which is made of Vucic’s Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), the SPS and the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians (VMSZ) – according to estimates of most of the observers there would be seats for the SPS in the new government too, although the SNS could set it up even without the renewed alliance with Dacic’s party. It is assessed, however, that unlike in the previous government, only Dacic from the SPS would be a part of the new Government. The biggest obstacle to the re-establishment of the coalition of the SNS and the SPS, however, is the fact that many people in the SNS, including some of its senior officials, do not want continuation of the cooperation with the SPS. Dacic said that during a recent meeting with Vucic, the representatives of the two parties “agreed on most of the issues they were talking about.”

Part of the opposition unhappy with distribution of seats in Parliamentary Committees (Blic)

Serbian Parliament on Wednesday ended constitutive session in the new make-up by the formation of the parliamentary committees, but the distribution of the seats in the committees caused indignation of the opposition parties that voiced doubt that the government would let them to head some important committees. The leader of the opposition Dveri movement Bosko Obradovic said that the movement would not have its representatives in some of the key committees and that the governing party was responsible for that, because, as he said, it did not want to let the opposition’s opinion on important issues for the state to be heard. Caucus head of the opposition Social-Democratic Party, Marko Djurisic assessed that it would be good the committees to be chaired by MPs of opposition parties, but added that he did not expect something like that. Head of the caucus of the governing Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) Aleksandar Martinovic said that the party won the most seats in the elections as well as that “the chair seats in the committees logically belong to it,” adding that they were willing to cede some chair positions in the committees to the opposition. He added that there were “no more or less important committees.” “Each parliamentary group is represented in the committees according to the number of the mandates it has,” Martinovic said. Seselj has access to all state secrets: The Serbian Radical Party (SRS) leader Vojislav Seselj said that the party would not complain about the number of seats in the committees, since in the April elections the party “won less votes and seats than they expected.” Seselj – who was acquitted in March of the charges for war crimes in ICTY, where he spent nearly 12 years – was appointed on Wednesday a member of the parliamentary committee for control of work of security services. This means he will have access to reports of the Security Information Agency and two military intelligence services, which have to submit the reports twice a year and even more often if needed. “This also means that Seselj will have to obtain a certificate for access to classified information, which implies that he has signed a statement saying he agrees to checks by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and security agencies in order to be able to obtain the information marked as confidential, strictly confidential and state secret”, Blic reads on Thursday. “This certificate implies that Seselj will have access to exchange of the confidential information between domestic and foreign intelligence services, he will have access to the information related to the security risks for the country, as well as a manner in which the state is ready to react to them. He will also have access to the information related to the persons who are followed or intercepted”, the daily reads. The irony is that Seselj has always had a reputation of an extremely well-informed politician who has reliable sources in intelligence services and that he abused the acquired findings to attack other politicians and parties. “His books, in which he published informal talks with sources that were informants of security services, best reveal how dangerous is that Seselj will have access to the confidential information”, Blic reads.

REGIONAL PRESS

EUD: Publication of census only for RS is illegal (TV1, Fena)

The EU Delegation (EDU) to Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) stated on Wednesday that publication of census results only for Republika Srpska (RS) is illegal and reminded that over two years have passed since the census data were collected from citizens in October 2013. EUD called on all relevant institutions to finalize the census process in line with international recommendations. The spokeswoman for the EUD and the Office of the EU Special Representative in B&H Jamila Milovic-Halilovic told Fena news agency that publication of census results for the level of the RS only would not be in line with the Law on Census and the adopted methodology, which is why it would not be recognized by the International Monitoring Operation (IMO) and the European Union. Milovic-Halilovic noted that the adopted methodology is following the IMO’s recommendations, including recommendations for resident population, and that the Statistics Agency of B&H and the entity Statistics Institutes publish census results in line with the EU standards and practices. Milovic-Halilovic further noted that results of the 2013 census are necessary for financial and technical support of the EU and will serve implementation of the Reform Agenda and will contribute to the process of EU integration.

Director of Federation of B&H Statistics Agency: Jukic’s decision cannot be revoked (TV1)

Guest of the evening news was Director of Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) Statistics Agency Emir Kremic. Asked if the decision of Director of B&H Statistics Agency Velimir Jukic about census methodology can be revoked, Kremic stated that Jukic decision is final and published in B&H Official Gazette, therefore it cannot be revoked. He explained that B&H Statistics Agency is an individual institution and said that its Director is entitled to pass decisions, because the law does not stipulate that he has to reach consensus with his deputies. Kremic stressed that the decision is in line with the law and recommendations of the International Monitoring Operation (IMO) team. Asked if anyone exerted pressure against Jukic, Kremic said that a lot of sessions of the Central Census Bureau were held and added that it was a turbulent period. He emphasized that the Jukic did not create the situation, but the previous management of B&H Statistics Agency and previous convocation of B&H Council of Ministers (CoM). He reiterated that Jukic’s decision is final and said that only a decision of B&H Constitutional Court could put it out of effect.

Covic: Previous agreement violated, mistake to be corrected (Srna)

Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) Presidency Member Dragan Covic stated in Banja Luka that finding a solution to the publication of the B&H census results is possible since the earlier agreement has been violated and the mistake needs to be corrected. “A mistake was made and we defaulted on the agreement without a doubt. It is now necessary to find a common way out of this situation. There are the B&H institutions and we now need to continue to work, instead of dealing with who did what. We need to find a way out since, obviously, we now have a serious problem,” said Covic. He has explained that adequate decisions can be made through the B&H Council of Ministers and possibly conformed through the parliamentary procedure, which is the way. After the meeting with Serb Member of the Presidency of B&H, Mladen Ivanic, in Banja Luka, Covic has told reporters that there is his responsibility as HDZ leader over the decision by Director of the B&H Statistics Agency Velimir Jukic and that he cannot run from it, but that it is not fair for someone to say that one knew something but did not. He has said he understands the position of MPs at the Republika Srpska (RS) National Assembly, and recalled that there was an agreement reached among all political parties at the state level to amend the law allowing six-month-extension of deadline for the publication of the population census results, avoiding December in order not to burden the pre-electoral process in B&H, but they failed to adhere to the agreement. Covic has stressed that the conclusions of the RS National Assembly, which do not accept the results of the B&H census, require serious analysis of all in B&H. “You cannot simply announce that someone published something and move forward, we should sit down and reach an agreement,” said Covic. MPs from the political parties seated in RS adopted the conclusions during a special session, regarding the information with respect to the activities on the B&H 2013 Census of Population, Households and Dwellings. The National Assembly does not acknowledge the illegal and harmful to the interests of RS decision on a single programme for processing the data of B&H census of population, households and dwellings in B&H. The parliament orders the Government and other entity bodies and institutions, as well as the RS representatives in the joint B&H bodies to actively use all rights, political and other legal instruments in order to declare the illegal common census data processing programme null and void. If the director of the B&H Agency for Statistics, Velimir Jukic, fails to retract the illegal decision on the common data processing programme concerning the 2013 Population, Households and Dwellings Census until June 25, the National Assembly orders the Government and RS Statistics Institute to withdraw their representatives from the Central Census Bureau and demands that the remaining two Serb members be ordered to leave the Bureau.

Dodik: Proposed adaptation of SAA unacceptable (Srna)

The Republika Srpska (RS) President Milorad Dodik stated that RS does not find proposed adaptation of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with the EU acceptable. After the meeting held with Head of the EU Delegation to Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H), Lars Gunnar Wigemark, and German Ambassador to B&H, Christian Hellbach, Dodik has told reporters that he expects the Serb Member of the Presidency of B&H, Mladen Ivanic, not to vote in favor of this agreement. He announced he would try to organize a meeting with the RS representatives at the state level to discuss the issue. Dodik has said that he discussed the coordination mechanism and the census in a meeting with Wigemark and Hellbach. He has reiterated that the decision by Director of the Agency for Statistics of B&H Velimir Jukic on a single programme for processing the data of the B&H census of population, households and dwellings is not acceptable for RS.

We must find a solution for elections in Mostar! (Vijesti.ba)

Speaking about the solution for elections in Mostar, the first man of the Party of Democratic Action (SDA) in Herzegovina Edin Music reminded of the previously offered model that his party and SBB proposed to the national Parliament in cooperation with the Center for Peace. According to Music, that model is good for Mostar and entirely respects the decision by the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H). “I think that was a good model that would fully respect the decision by the Constitutional Court of B&H. It defined the election of city councilors from city electoral areas in a way requested by the Constitutional Court of B&H, given that a central zone would also be introduced as a new electoral unit, which was also problematized in the decision by the Constitutional Court of B&H. There is also a suggestion to conduct elections for the mayor in a special way, i.e. that the citizens make the choice through the nomination of the mayor and two deputy mayors, and that the final decision is reached in the City Council afterwards,” Music said. Music added that the public knows that there was no agreement. “Opinions about this vary a lot, starting from the opinion that the decision by the Constitutional Court of B&H should be applied in a consistent manner (HDZ B&H) to the ambitions (SDA Mostar) to solve the issue of the arrangement of the city of Mostar through the adoption of a statute, together with electoral rules,” Music said. When asked to comment on the statement by the President of the City Board of SDA Salem Maric, who said that he is not optimistic regarding the agreement between SDA and HDZ B&H, Music said that he is an optimist. “Throughout life, I am observing things realistically and in this case there is a real optimism. We must find solutions that would enable the citizens of Mostar to have elections, including the reaction by the high representative,” Music concluded.

President Grabar-Kitarovic issues message on Anti-Fascist Day (Hina)

President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic on Wednesday issued a message on the occasion of the Day of the Anti-Fascist Struggle, June 22, extending her best wishes to Croatian citizens and saying that by joining the anti–Hitler coalition, the Croatian citizens gave a great contribution to the victory over fascism and Nazism. The central ceremony marking Anti-Fascist Struggle Day, which was marked on Sunday in Brezovica Forest, near Sisak, where the first armed antifascist unit – The Sisak Partisan Unit – was formed on 22 June 1941, was attended by numerous state delegations and representatives of the diplomatic corps in Croatia.

Marovic, Radjenovic and Pavicevic are no longer DPS officials (CDM)

Svetozar Marovic, Lazar Radjenovic and Zarko Pavicevic are no longer officials of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS). This was stated at today’s session of the chief DPS committee. The chairman of the DPS Political Council Svetozar Marovic resigned from all positions in the party on 14 June because, as he said, he wanted to remove the collective responsibility from the party. Marovic’s resignation was accepted at the DPS committee’s meeting. “The chief committee noted Svetozar Marovic’s resignation from the position in the committee and as the chairman of the DPS Political Council”, DPS stated. Svetozar Marovic was arrested on 17 December on suspicion of being involved in illegal activities which cost the municipal budget of Budva tens of millions of euros. In addition to Marovic, Lazar Radjenovic and Zarko Pavicevic, the former presidents of the municipalities of Budva and Bar, are not members of DPS either. “The chief committee also noted the termination of Lazar Radjenovic and Zarko Pavicevic’s office in the committee, based on the resignations they submitted”, the party stated. Lazar Radjenovic was sentenced for the Kosljun affair. There are four criminal charges filed against him on suspicion that, as the president of the Municipality of Budva, he abused his office and along with a dozen other suspects, cost the municipal budget more than €20m. Former president of the Municipality of Bar Zarko Pavicevic was accused of costing the municipal budget nearly €3m. Prosecutor’s office suspects Pavicevic of abusing his office and exceeding his official powers in the period 2007–2014 in order to obtain material gain to another legal entity, the Construction Institute of Bar (ZIB). DPS has wisely carried out transformation processes in Montenegro for 25 years. At the session, DPS congratulated 25th anniversary to all members, supporters, activists and all those who identify themselves with the party. “The past two and a half decades, DPS was a holder of the overall transformation process in Montenegro. The party has wisely led the country towards democratic states and made it the leader of Euro-Atlantic integration”, DPS stated. The chief committee adopted a report on the results of the last local elections in Tivat and noted that the party demonstrated its political strength and vision once again and confirmed quality of the party infrastructure. The committee also noted the importance of the political agreement, which was signed upon DPS’s initiative, and expressed satisfaction with its implementation.

Gjorge Ivanov: We were on brink of civil conflict (Telegraf.mk)

I want people to know that we were on the brink of open civil conflict announced by the defendants in the ‘Coup’ case. As a president I had the option to stand by and observe, or to take control of the game for destabilizing the country and to secure a priority for Macedonia. So I decided to preemptively pardon all who in one way or another were involved in the political crisis. The anger was directed towards me, but the plans for conflict were broken. This was part of President Gjorge Ivanov’s speech on Wednesday, in which he referred to the decision for pardon, to the parliamentary debate on his impeachment, and the demonstrations that occurred after his decision which at times were even violent. Ivanov said that those protests were pre-planned and his decision only contributed to accelerate their implementation. “Under the auspices of the international factor, Przino agreement was reached, but instead of resolving it, it deepened the crisis. Elections were postponed at the request of the opposition. The parties used the institutions to work in their interest. There was a high risk of a Macedonian conflict. The situation was getting complicated, the Przino agreement was pronounced dead. We were in a state, where security forces could not respond to threats. Army and police prevented over 15,000 attempts at crossing the border. There were attacks with weapons and explosives on state institutions. Party leaders have had death threats. Mobilization of criminal structures and anti-government activists have increased security risks in Macedonia. Special Public Prosecutor’s Office conducted selective persecution only against one political structure. It led to risk of conflict and violence. We faced a foreign-imposed game”, the President said. The President stressed that he had the option to either engage the army to quell a possible collision, or to take a preventive step that will ease the situation in advance. He decided the preventive option. “I want people to know that we were on the brink of an open civil conflict announced by the defendants in the Coup case. As president I had two instruments as an option. Reactive, to stand by and wait until the situation escalate and engage the army to calm the situation. But it would have meant the southern border to be left unprotected”, Ivanov said. He explained why he chose the second option. “Or, a preventive option, to take control of the game and secure priority for Macedonia. So I decided to preemptively pardon everyone who in one way or another was involved in the political crisis. The anger directed towards me, and plans for conflict were broken. But some misconstrue my intentions. Many asked me. What have I thought with the decision to pardon? Was I supposed to wait to see blood on the streets, to use army in condition of emergency? I incur the criticism of the unpopular decision to pardon. I would rather see my photographs burned, than the state institutions. It’s good that there was no open conflict, which some hotheads wanted to. These hotheads are now cooled and the game to destabilize Macedonia failed”, Ivanov said. He stressed that the protests that followed were planned earlier. He also rejected accusations that the decision violated the state law. Ivanov said that SDSM leader Zoran Zaev, and DUI leader Ali Ahmeti, are direct violators of state of law. “I was accused that with the decision to pardon I have infringed the rule of law. The rule of law was undermined by the leaders of SDSM and DUI because the constitutional system was not sufficient for them to sit down and negotiate. These two political leaders contributed to the violation of the rule of law. They spread confusion among citizens. They say that the decision is for the cancellation of SPO. It is an ad hoc institution, established by the political parties. Unfortunately, instead of an instrument of justice, SPO showed as an instrument of blackmail. Out of all the cases they have, they chose only those relating to the representatives of the government, ie the VMRO-DPMNE. Zaev said that the SPO acts exclusively on reports by the opposition. We got a selective prosecution”, Ivanov said. He noted that he had no intention to protect politicians and that today the only abolished politician is Zoran Zaev. “I am accused that I wanted to protect politicians. I withdrew all pardon decisions of politicians. Today the only abolished politician is Zoran Zaev. I urge him to make a formal request to withdraw his pardon”, Ivanov said. The President said that today we once again have functioning institutions. “Unlike April 12, today we have a new reality in Macedonia. We have functioning institutions. We have a political government which proposes legislation, Parliament works and enact laws, Przino agreement is again revived, the parties discuss a new date for elections”, Ivanov said. But he warned that a special war is run in the country as part of the strategies for creating permanent tensions. The President also said that there is a theater on the streets by those who do not recognize the institutions. “No one is denied the right to demonstrate, but there must be order. Such violence here must stop. Party leaders to keep an eye of what they agree upon, facilitators to be cautious about what they propose. NGOs to distance themselves from individuals and groups who protest just to profit”, Ivanov said. The President called for a greater accountability from the politicians. “We should not allow the whole state or the people be held hostage to the irresponsibility of these politicians. If you are led by hate or destruction, then the failure is guaranteed. As president I have a responsibility towards the citizens who elected me and gave me legitimacy, I have a responsibility to the armed forces, to the state. With such responsibility I will continue in the future, to protect national interests and security”, Ivanov was emphatic.

Macedonia: With no new announcement for Leader meeting, election date issue is far from settled (Telegraf.mk)

After Monday’s violent protests by the opposition, it is uncertain what will be happening on the political arena in the upcoming period. After VMRO-DMNE clearly declared on its anniversary celebration that the crisis must be resolved at elections and that they will do everything in their power to make SDSM participate in elections, the opposition is quiet. The “Colorful Revolution” activists speak on their behalf when they demolish monuments and state property on protests daily. Every day they come out with new demands, the main one being the formation of a technical government, but without setting an election date. That is exactly the intention of SDSM. The opposition wants to first become part of the Government, while setting the election date is to come after that. But VMRO-DPMNE is more careful now and will not make the same mistake again, as it was the case for elections that were supposed to happen on April 24 and June 5. VMRO-DPMNE says that SDSM will be allowed to be part of the Government a 100 days before elections, which is in accordance with the Przino Agreement. Nikola Todorov from SDSM says that he expects progress in negotiations between the 4 parties for the total implementation of the Przino Agreement, even though there are no announcements for a new leader meeting. “For now there is no announcement for a new leader meeting and there shouldn’t be until there is something new and concrete. A few days ago, I reiterated VMRO-DPMNE’s stance and the party’s viewpoint in regards to the Electoral Roll, so I expect that there will be some sort of progress soon”, Todorov said. In regards to SDSM protests, Todorov said that they are famous for destruction, vandalism, and demolition. But their punishment by the people will be proportionate to their insanity and destruction”, Todorov pointed out.

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

Debunking the Myth of Russia’s “Military Base” in Serbia (Sputnik)

A Russian-Serbian humanitarian center (RSHC) that has helped the Balkan nation to deal with emergencies, like floods and fires, plans to construct a new training base for volunteer firefighters and rescue teams, Bojan Glamoclija and Vyacheslav Vlasenko, the center’s co-directors, told Sputnik. Despite the center’s good track record, some claim that the base at the Ecka airport located in Serbia’s northeast will in fact be a Russian military installation. Glamoclija dismissed these accusations as nonsense. “I repeat the humanitarian center is in no way a Russian military base,” he said. Those who think otherwise are welcome to see for themselves. “We opened our doors to everyone, including foreigners, the UNHRC, the UNDP. The doors are open. There are no checkpoints. They are saying that the base in Vojvodina is a military facility, but it’s just empty talk.” The base, according to Glamoclija, will provide training to local “civil defense groups, as well as firefighters and rescue teams.” It will be a massive effort and a much needed one. Consider this: Serbia’s volunteer firefighting society comprises 100,000 people. The initiative did not come out of the blue. Vojvodina, a province in the north of Serbia, is home to facilities operated by Naftna Industrija Srbije, the country’s major oil and gas company, state-owned natural gas provider Srbijagas and Russia’s gas giant Gazprom. A major natural rubber factory and many chemical plants are located in the city of Zrenjanin. This is a risk-prone area that lacks a dedicated base to help improve emergency management. “If an additional base is built, it would focus solely on Vojvodina, while a center in Serbia’s south, the city of Nis, would tackle other challenges,” Glamoclija explained. The center played a role in helping Belgrade deal with the unprecedented wave of refugees from the Middle East and Africa. “When we provided assistance to migrants in the city of Kaniza, journalists wondered why Russia was helping the EU. But the center was only helping the Serbian people and the state to deal with the influx,” he noted. The center has already made a difference in Serbia. “When last May we gave Serbia fire engines Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said that these were the first new vehicles that the Ministry of Internal Affairs received in three decades,” Vlasenko noted. “The trucks are very expensive for Serbia, but the country needs them badly.”

Bosnia MPs try to change Mostar’s Ustasa street names (BIRN)

Bosnian MPs have started moves to change the names of three streets in the southern city of Mostar, controversially named after high-ranking politicians from the Ustasa, the Fascist movement that ruled Croatia in World War II and collaborated with the Nazi German occupation of Yugoslavia. The three streets are named after Ante Vokic and Mladen Lorkovic, two ministers in the government of so-called Independent State of Croatia, NDH, both executed after they planned a coup against the leader of the movement, Ante Pavelic; Mile Budak, one of the ideologists of the movement; and Jure Francetic, the Ustasa commissioner for Bosnia during World War II. “Unfortunately, there is nothing surprising in this … here, nobody is interested in moving on from the past,” Edin Zagorcic, head of the local council of Bosnia’s Social Democratic Party, SDPB&H, told BIRN. Last week, the House of Representatives of the Bosnian parliament approved a proposal by the SDPB&H to change their names. The streets, located in the western part of Mostar, inhabited mostly by Bosnian Croats, received their names in the 1990s, when this part of the city was controlled by the Croatian Defence Council, HVO, Aljazeera Balkans reported. Despite the result of the vote in parliament, modifying the names of the streets is going to be a difficult task as Mostar currently has no city council. After its electoral statute was declared unconstitutional, the city did not organize its local elections in 2012. “Changing the name of the streets is the exclusive competence of the city council … which adopts this decision with the approval of two-thirds of its members,” the public relations office of Mostar told BIRN in a statement. The city administration added that Mayor Ljubo Beslic had tried in the past to initiate a procedure to change the names but did not succeed. Amna Popovac, an activist from Mostar, said a solution must be found at local level, but stressed that the political agenda for the city should have other priorities. “Mostar has bigger problems (than street names) … first, we need to find a solution to the political blockade and organize local elections,” Popovac said. “When we have a new city council, we will also think about addressing the issue of the name of these streets,” Popovac said. She said that the initiative started in the state parliament is also motivated by electoral factors in light of the upcoming local elections due on October 2. The example of streets named after controversial figures is not exclusive to Mostar but is quite common in Bosnia, Asim Mujkic, a professor from the Sarajevo Faculty of Political Sciences, told BIRN. “These names are part of the symbolic capital of the nationalistic parties … giving up on them is difficult, because it would call into question the whole ideology which stands behind them and which was exploited during the (1992-5) war,” Mujkic said. Other controversial names in Bosnia’s streets include a street in Republika Srpska in East Sarajevo dedicated to Draza Mihajlovic, the wartime leader of the Serbian royalist Chetnik movement who was also accused of collaboration with the Germans. A street in Bosnia’s capital, Sarajevo, remains dedicated to the 10th mountain brigade commander, Musan Topalovic “Caco”, who during the siege of Sarajevo executed several Serbian civilians. “These names are used in Bosnian streets because the policies they represent are still valid … when Bosnia decides to change them, it will also mean that the country and its politicians will be also changing their political paradigm, from nationalism to liberal democracy,” Mujkic concluded.

Croatia’s political chaos (New York Times)

Croatia’s future was plunged into uncertainty on Monday when its Parliament overwhelmingly voted to dissolve itself, effectively ending a right-leaning coalition government that had been in power for barely six months. The vote followed Prime Minister Tihomir Oreskovic’s failure last Thursday to survive a no-confidence vote. New parliamentary elections are scheduled for September. Mr. Oreskovic, a Canadian Croatian businessman with no political experience, had been tapped by the right-wing Croatian Democratic Union (H.D.Z.) to lead the coalition government it formed with the populist party Most. Mr. Oreskovic promised to tackle corruption and push through economic reforms. But he clashed with Tomislav Karamarko, the deputy prime minister and leader of H.D.Z., over conflict-of-interest charges involving lobbying fees received by Mr. Karamarko’s wife. That clash led to the no-confidence vote that took down the entire government.

Mr. Oreskovic has had other troubles. He stood by as Croatia’s minister of culture, Zlatko Hasanbegovic, an apologist for the Nazi-backed Ustashe regime that ruled Croatia during World War II, embarked on a campaign to purge Croatia’s media of journalists suspected of left-wing sympathies. Last month journalists and editors marched in protest to the Ministry of Culture in Zagreb. Croatia can ill afford this political chaos. Its economy remains weak, unemployment is around 17 percent, and the country’s debt is equal to nearly 90 percent of its G.D.P. Croatia became a member of the European Union just three years ago, with high hopes membership would boost its economy and reduce unemployment. But those hopes haven’t been fulfilled. Croatia’s crisis further adds to the E.U.’s stresses, which include dealing with defiant authoritarian governments in Poland and Hungary. If September’s elections don’t result in a stable government that can tackle Croatia’s economic woes — and pull the nation back from its alarming tack to the far right — Croatia risks an uncertain, darker future, which will affect Europe’s future, too.