LOCAL PRESS

Nikolic, Agramunt: Serbia closely watching attempts at including “Kosovo” delegation into PACE (RTS)

Serbia is a strong partner of the Council of Europe (CoE) in tackling many problems, in particular as regards regional stability and the migrant crisis, Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic and the President of the CoE Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) Pedro Agramunt said after a meeting in Belgrade. Speaking about problems faced by Serbia, Nikolic placed particular emphasis on the Belgrade-Pristina talks, noting they were aimed at making life easier for the residents of Kosovo and Metohija irrespective of their ethnicity. The fact that Belgrade is in talks with Pristina in no way means it will ever recognize the independence of the so-called “Kosovo”, Nikolic said. Serbia will never allow “Kosovo” to become a UN member state – it is also closely watching attempts to get a “Kosovo” delegation into the PACE and it will keep opposing that as strongly as it can, he said.

Vucic, Agramunt discuss current international issues (Tanjug)

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic also received the President of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) Pedro Agramunt to discuss the current international issues such as the refugee and the migrant crisis, the rise of nationalism and extremism in Europe and the fight against terrorism. Vucic thanked the CoE and the PACE for respecting Serbia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, expressing the expectation that they would continue their status-neutral policy on Kosovo. Serbia will in the future make more use of PACE expertise, in particular in the fields of the rule of law and the fight against corruption, Vucic said. He briefed Agramunt on the good results of economic reforms, noting Serbia would continue to advocate regional reconciliation and cooperation. There can be no economic progress without political stability, Vucic said.

Dacic: We will be a constructive neighbor to regional countries (RTS)

Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic told the morning news of Radio and Television of Serbia (RTS) that the local elections in B&H had passed in a relatively peaceful atmosphere, without bigger incidents or objections that concern the regularity of elections. “Serbia has its clear position – we support the territorial integrity of B&H, but we also respect the RS, which is our obligation according to Dayton. We will be a constructive neighbor that can contribute to peace and stability,” said Dacic.

Dacic: Serbia is against fences, but will protect its interests (TVB92)

Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said on Monday that Serbia will not build up fences, but it has to protect its interests, because the country cannot bear the greatest burden of the migrant crisis. “This situation requires from us full coordination with the countries that are above us on the route – Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia and Austria, and of course we monitor very closely what is going on between Turkey and the European Union, that is whether a new migrant wave will happen again,” Dacic, who is in Hungary, told TV B92.He added that Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic was not pleased with the results of a recent meeting with his counterparts in Vienna, which failed to produce a single EU policy on migrants. “There is no united European policy towards migrants. All the states along the route are acting in accordance with their own interests. Serbia has to take care of its own,” Dacic said.

Dacic, Szijjarto: Two governments to hold joint session on 20-21 November in Nis (Tanjug/Beta/RTS)

Hungary expressed strong support for Serbia’s European integration and the opening of Chapters 5, 20, 25 and 26 in its EU accession talks, and Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic and Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto agreed a joint session of the two countries’ governments in Nis, southern Serbia. In light of Sunday’s referendum in Hungary, the two ministers also discussed the migrant crisis and Hungary said it would dispatch a 20-strong police contingent to Serbia as assistance, the Serbian Foreign Ministry said.

Drecun: Pristina wants to legalize seizure of Serbian property (RTS/Tanjug)

Pristina has been persistently trying to legalize the seizure of Serbian property, Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) MP Milovan Drecun told journalists in the Serbian parliament. He stresses that Serbia will adequately respond to the decision on debating the Trepca mining plant in the Kosovo Assembly. Drecun says that the problem of Trepca can be resolved only in agreement with Serbia, because it is the real owner of this mining plant, recalling that most of the mining vessels are in Serbia proper. He says it is evident how Pristina has been destabilizing for months, through various bans and obstructions of the Brussels agreement, relations with Belgrade and slowing down the entire normalization process, even returning it backward, which is unacceptable. “If Pristina continues with unilateral attempts at seizing Serbian property, then we will have a complicated situation that might even make the normalization process senseless,” concluded Drecun.

Djuric: No one will keep me from visiting Kosovo and Metohija (Tanjug)

The Head of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Marko Djuric said Monday he would visit the Serb communities in Kosovo and Metohija this week and that no one would keep him from doing so. Djuric added he was in constant contact with the Serbian Public Prosecutor’s Office over what he said were attempts by certain officials of the interim institutions in Kosovo and Metohija to restrict the freedom of movement, and noted this was a violation of Serbian laws. “There are indications that Enver Hoxhaj, Edita Tahiri and some other people from Pristina are involved in attempts to restrict the freedom of movement of Serbian officials and citizens. I am certain that our state authorities will take measures accordingly,” Djuric.

REGIONAL PRESS

Preliminary results for local elections show SDA-SBB B&H coalition won largest number of positions of heads of municipalities in FB&H (TV1)

According to preliminary results of the local elections published by B&H Central Election Commission (CEC), coalition SDA-SBB B&H won the largest number of positions of heads of municipalities in the FB&H i.e. total of 33. SDA-SBB B&H coalition’s biggest success was marked in Sarajevo Canton (SC), where they won all positions of heads of municipalities aside from Stari Grad where Ibrahim Hadzibajric was re-elected Head of Municipality as an independent candidate. SDA-SBB B&H’s candidate Nedzad Ajnadzic was elected Head of Centar Municipality, after years of electing SDP B&H’s candidate to this position. This coalition won one position of head of municipality in the RS, in Vukosavlje with their candidate Elvir Hadziomerovic. SDA leader Bakir Izetbegovic stated: “It is already possible to say that SDA has confirmed the position of the strongest political party in B&H, with the largest number of mandates for councilors. Coalition SDA and SBB B&H has won the largest number of positions of heads of municipalities. Compared to previous local elections, coalition SDA-SBB BiH won (positions of heads) in municipalities Centar, Trnovo, Breza, Doboj-Jug, Srebrenik, Sapna, and Kladanj.”

SBB B&H leader Fahrudin Radoncic noted that SBB B&H ranks second based on the number of total mandates for local councilors following its coalition partner SDA as the first-ranking. “This is a great result of SBB B&H compared to local elections four years ago, when we ranked third,” Radoncic stressed. HDZ B&H is almost an absolute winner in municipalities with the majority of Croat population.

HDZ B&H leader Dragan Covic said that, based on latest results, 18 positions of heads of municipalities and mayors that HDZ B&H won is huge progress compared to previous local elections. Covic underlined that, besides, HDZ B&H “rightly” counts on having its representatives in Stolac and Mostar. HDZ B&H Vice President Borjana Kristo stated: “Now we have more heads of municipalities. We have now won position of heads in municipalities Usora, Odzak, Vitez, and Vares. Unfortunately, I need to point out that I regret to say that we have lost (the position of the head of) municipality Kupres.”

HDZ 1990 won the positions of heads of municipalities in Kupres with candidate Milan Rastegorac and Prozor-Rama with candidate Jozo Ivanicevic. HDZ 1990 also supported newly-elected Head of Domaljevac Municipality Mario Jurkic.

SDP B&H won seven positions of heads of municipalities and one position of mayor. SDP B&H leader Nermin Niksic confirmed that SDP B&H’s Jasmin Imamovic remains the Mayor of Tuzla, which the party deems as their biggest success in these elections. Niksic added that SDP B&H again won positions of heads of municipalities of Gradacac, Gracanica, Kljuc, and Krupa. Niksic stressed that new positions of heads of municipalities that SDP B&H won are in Maglaj, Zivinice, and Lukavac. Niksic added that the candidate supported by SDP B&H won in Buzim. Speaking about DF’ results in the local elections, DF leader Zeljko Komsic noted that this party did not win any of the positions for heads of municipalities or mayors of cities but he said that the candidate, which DF supported together with SDP B&H and SDU, won in Lukavac. He added that DF won around 120 mandates of councilors in the area of whole B&H. Komsic pointed out that the number of mandates of councilors DF won is in accordance with the expectations.

Preliminary results show SNSD as absolute winner of local elections in RS (RTRS)

SNSD is an absolute winner of the local elections in the RS. The ruling coalition SNSD-DNS-SP RS won over 40 posts of municipal heads and city mayors in two-thirds of municipalities and cites in the RS. RS President Milorad Dodik said on Sunday evening that such results prove that the RS has achieved an absolute success despite tense political relations. “In the time when the RS was tried to be disputed in many ways, it succeeded to achieve a magnificent victory,” Dodik stressed.

On the other side, SDS leader Mladen Bosic admitted his election defeat two hours after closing of the polling stations on Sunday. He stated that SDS will analyze the election results in the upcoming days to see what caused such poor results. According to SNSD, such defeat the opposition faced in the elections is a clear will of voters.

SNSD Vice President Nikola Spiric said that the Alliance for Changes (SzP) joined the state-level authority in an attempt to escape the will of the RS citizens, adding that they demonstrated they support the policy of SDA leader Bakir Izetbegovic that strengthens B&H and undermines the RS.

SP RS leader Petar Djokic said that it is not impossible to raise the issue of the government reshuffle at the level of B&H and to review relations within the SzP. Djokic informed that SP RS won over 50,000 votes in 41 municipalities in the RS. PDP leader Branislav Borenovic said that this party is satisfied with 10% or over 61,000 of votes they won at the level of the RS.

SNSD’s candidate Igor Radojicic won the position of Mayor of Banja Luka with 56%. Radojicic himself noted that SNSD marked convincing victory in Banja Luka for Mayor. “We also expect a convincing victory of our lists for councilors,” Radojicic added. SNSD’s candidate Luka Petrovic won the position of Mayor of Trebinje with 57%. SNSD’s candidate Zoran Stevanovic won the position of Head of Zvornik Municipality with 76% of votes and SNSD’s candidate Ljubisa Cosic won the position of Head of Istocno Novo Sarajevo with 69%. SNSD won two positions of heads of municipalities in the FB&H, i.e. Drvar and Glamoc, with 58% of votes.

On the other hand, Alliance for Changes (SzP) declared election defeat and it is considered to be the biggest loser of this year’s local elections. SzP suffered election defeat when it comes to positions of mayors in Banja Luka, Trebinje, and Pale. SzP won only several positions for heads of municipalities and mayors, including Doboj – where SDS’ Obren Petrovic won with 55% of votes, Samac – with SzP’s Djordje Milicevic winning 54% of votes, and in Teslic – with Milan Milicevic winning 57% of votes. SDS’ Mico Micic declared he has been re-elected Mayor of Bijeljina, as he considers that votes from abroad will not bring changes to the situation.

SNSD, SDA win biggest number of votes in Brcko District (RTRS/Oslobodjenje)

SNSD and SDA won the biggest number of votes in the Brcko District in the local elections in B&H on Sunday. Out of 31 MP posts in Brcko District Assembly Serb parties won 12 posts, Bosniak parties won 13 posts, Croat parties won four posts, while national minorities won two posts. President of the Brcko District Election Commission Andrea Strkalj-Mrkonjic stated on Monday that they have processed around 61 percent of ballots by noon because of poorly written records from certain polling stations. At a press conference, Strkalj-Mrkonjic stated that 41,239 citizens or 49.15 percent voted at the local elections. Out of 25,315 processed ballots, 816 were declared invalid. According to the unofficial data, SDS-NDP coalition has won 3,750 votes, while SNSD won 3,265 and PDP-NS coalition won 1,670 votes. SDA won 3,032 votes, HDZ B&H won 2,021 votes and the Brcko Democratic Movement won 2,004 votes. Also, SDP won 1,262 votes and SBB B&H won 1,136 votes.

B&H CEC’s preliminary election results indicate that Durakovic could lose position of Head of Srebrenica Municipality (TV1)

According to B&H Central Election Commission (CEC)’s preliminary results, current Head of Srebrenica Municipality Camil Durakovic, who is an independent candidate this year, could lose the position to Serb political bloc’s candidate Mladen Grujicic. B&H CEC member Suad Arnautovic stated at the CEC’s press conference that according to the preliminary results, based on 21 processed polling stations out of total of 27 in Srebrenica, Grujicic is in the lead with 67.96% of votes, followed by Durakovic with 31.76%. Grujicic, who already declared victory in the election night, asserted that he has convincing advantage over Durakovic. Grujicic said that he is grateful to his voters and announced that he will be “the head of the municipality of all citizens in Srebrenica regardless of their ethnicity”. Durakovic noted that that there was not too much sleep in the night between Sunday and Monday because of “chanting coming from the other side”, which did not allow citizens of Srebrenica to sleep. Durakovic deems that Grujicic is not ready to assume the responsibility of the Head of Srebrenica Municipality, emphasizing that Grujicic was most supported by SRS and SNSD. Durakovic stressed that it is still necessary to wait and see the final results of the elections.

B&H Presidency adopts amendments to Master Plan for Process of EU Integration of B&H (BNTV)

The B&H Presidency adopted amendments to the Master plan of the European path of BiH, which precisely defines the necessary activities and deadlines so that B&H could obtain the EU candidate status by the end of next year. The adopted document, among other things, stipulates amendments to the B&H Election Law related to the City of Mostar. Croat member of the B&H Presidency Dragan Covic said that he will propose for the next local elections in B&H to be held together with the 2018 general elections in B&H so that B&H is not faced with an election campaign every two years which, according to Covic, is evidently slowing down B&H’s path to the EU integration. Covic stressed that adopted Master plan of the European path of B&H defines beginning of the next year as the deadline by which B&H must implement the Sejdic-Finci ruling. “We are yet to agree on a concrete solution, although I believe that we already have basis for this solution, and that is why I believe that we will not have problems when it comes to the implementation of this decision,” Covic stressed, noting that B&H will not obtain the EU candidate status without solving issues, such as the issue of Sejdic-Finci ruling.

Dodik fails to appear for interrogation in premises of B&H Prosecutor’s Office in Sarajevo (TV1)

RS President Milorad Dodik failed to appear in premises of the B&H Prosecutor’s Office in Sarajevo on Monday where he was supposed to be interrogated as a part of the case ‘Referendum’. Namely, Dodik was summoned for interrogation as a suspect for failure to implement B&H Constitutional Court (CC)’s decision on unconstitutionality of marking the RS Day on January 9. Dodik is currently the only suspect in the case. Dodik announced several days ago that he will not go to Sarajevo for interrogation.

Counter-intelligence Serbian agent arrested in Montenegro (CDM)

It is the first time that a former member of an intelligence or counterintelligence service has been arrested on suspicion of having committed a criminal offense. That is Serbian citizen Radovan Aleksic, who was the Yugoslav Armed Forces lieutenant colonel, the head of its counterintelligence service, but also the head of intelligence service in Podgorica until 2002. After Montenegro independence restoration, he refused to join the Armed Forces of Montenegro, local and regional media reported. He was arrested on Dobrakovo the border crossing today on suspicion that he attempted to kill police inspector Predrag Sukovic on 11 July. “It never happened that some intelligence or counter-intelligence agent was arrested for the crime. I hope this means that the state will begin to work,” retired general in the Yugoslav Armed Forces aviation, Blagoje Grahovac, told CDM. He said he knew Aleksic, but was not able to give any details about him. “I knew him, but only superficially, nothing else, because he was in the army”, Grahovac said. However, he had a tip for Aleksic. “I advise him to admit everything immoral and illegal he did in his career – if he did such things. Thus, he would contribute to the nation and the state more significantly than everything he did in his life,” Grahovac said. Aleksic became known to the public in 1999, when he was beaten in front of his apartment in Niksic. In that period he was security chef of Yugoslav Armed Forces Podgorica corps. The attack has not been resolved. Three years later, Aleksic was appointed head of the Military Intelligence Service in Podgorica. After Montenegrin referendum on independence in 2006, he refused to join the Montenegrin Armed Forces. Now he has Serbian citizenship.

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

Migrants March toward Hungary Border to Demand Its Opening (AP, by Darko Vojinovic, 4 October 2016)

BELGRADE, Serbia — Hundreds of migrants stranded in Serbia set off on foot from Belgrade toward the border with Hungary on Tuesday to protest its closure for most people trying to reach the European Union. Earlier in the Serbian capital, police intervened after the protesters clashed with other groups of migrants who opposed the march. There were no reported injuries during the scuffles. More than 6,000 migrants remain stuck in Serbia following Hungary’s introduction this summer strict limits on the number of asylum seekers allowed to cross into the EU-member country and reinforced a razor-wire border fence with heavy patrols. The so-called Balkan migrant route, used by nearly 1 million people fleeing wars and poverty last year, formally closed in March, forcing migrants to use alternative routes and pay smugglers to get them across. On Tuesday, some 400 migrants chanted “Open Hungary Borders” and held banners saying “we don’t need food, water or nothing, we want you to open the borders” as they marched north in a long column from Belgrade along a road leading toward the Hungarian border some 200 kilometers (120 miles) away. Most migrants appeared to be young men and boys who stand little chance of getting into Hungary or other EU nations. Hankrim from Afghanistan, who gave only his first name, said he has been on the road for six months, sleeping on roads and parks. “Excuse me please, Hungarian government, please Hungary, open the border,” he said. Serbia said Tuesday it would not erect a wire border fence, but would deploy its army to seal off the borders with Macedonia and Bulgaria to stop migrants from coming in from those countries. “We will block the migrants the same way as the countries which did not erect the border fence,” Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic said. Hungary has refused to accept any of the migrants that the EU is trying to relocate from Italy and Greece and on Sunday voters there overwhelmingly rejected any future mandatory quotas for accepting asylum seekers. The referendum was rendered invalid because of low turnout. Meanwhile, Romanian border police said they were investigating 16 Iraqi citizens, including six children, they found in two boats on the River Danube early Tuesday. The Danube forms the border between southern Romania and Bulgaria. The migrants told police they had traveled through Turkey and then into Bulgaria and wanted to reach Germany. They said each family had paid 35,000 euros ($39,000). Romania and Bulgarian authorities are investigating the group of eight men, two women and six children for illegally crossing the Romanian border. They will be handed over to Bulgarian authorities under the terms of a Romanian-Bulgarian agreement.