LOCAL PRESS
Rama: Serbia to recognize Kosovo as soon as possible (Beta/Tanjug)
Albanian Prime Edi Rama has called again Serbia to recognize Kosovo as soon as possible, but stressed that he strongly supports the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue. “Kosovo is an issue on which we completely disagree because my stand is that the sooner Serbia recognizes Kosovo the better it will be everybody. Yet, at the same time there is a process that I fully support, and this is the dialogue as very strong means on which power will be based in the future,” Rama said at the panel on Serbian-Albanian relations with Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic. Regarding the dispute between Belgrade and Pristina on Trepca, Rama says that Trepca is located on the territory of Kosovo and that it belongs to Kosovo citizens. “Would you like to transfer it…people need to understand that Trepca is a mine on Kosovo soil and that it belongs to Kosovo citizens regardless of whether they are Albanians or Serbs,” he said. Rama also stated that it was time for all regional countries to stop being hostages of the past and to modernize their societies. Rama said that the EU integration process was a path for modernizing the society that is more important than EU membership as it helps the building of institutions, rule of law and functioning of democracy. “People in this region can have different opinions on Washington, Brussels, Moscow but they need to understand that there is no other mechanism that will enable us to leave, once and for all, the path of history that doesn’t do us any good, and to finally modernize and live in a modern era,” said Rama, who opened the 6th Belgrade Security Forum together with Vucic.
Vucic: Trepca surprised us all, I don’t know what to do (Tanjug)
I am not ashamed to say that we want to have better relations with the Albanians, Bosniaks since I see that, potentially viewing, we have better growth than most of the member states, we have big potential in the future and we will do this together, because if we go against each other then we don’t stand a chance, Serbian Prime Minister Vucic told the Belgrade Security Forum. He says there is no alternative when it comes to Serbia’s EU membership, but that he is not an optimist when it comes to the situation in the region and pointed to the huge problems in B&H, insults to Serbia arriving from Croatia. “There are huge obstacles that need to be bypassed and we are running late because we can’t fulfill our obligations, because insults are arriving from Croatia, yet the EU remained silent and this is a problem,” said Vucic. He assesses that mutual trust between Serbia and Albania had been built, but that it is fragile. Vucic says the goal of the Serbian government is to do everything so Serbia can get closer to EU membership. “I have a note on EU behavior. They are constantly setting bureaucratic tasks and goals. They are dictating us events and new realities, and we cannot influence this. We are losing ground in this area and this will be a big problem,” he said. Vucic says that the issue of Trepca has surprised everyone in Serbia, and that he doesn’t know what to do in regard to this, since he doesn’t see a clear reason why the Kosovo Albanians have done this. “Trepca is not only an economic issue, but also a political issue. Pristina has done the worst thing when it comes to Trepca, because it didn’t want to discuss this with the Kosovo Serbs, nor with those who work there. They skipped the entire procedure for their own internal reasons. I cannot find a reason why they had done this,” said Vucic. He adds there is no reason to stop the dialogue with Pristina. Speaking about the case of the arrest of Nehat Tachi in Nis, Vucic says that he could have also used the case of Oliver Ivanovic, who has been in prison in Kosovska Mitrovica for two and a half years now, as the key argument for disrupting the dialogue. “Do you really think that somebody arrested Tachi for political reasons? There has been an arrest warrant issued against him from 1997. I think we should sit together and look at all warrants, but also to have the same approach when we speak about the Serbs and Albanians,” said Vucic.
Dacic: KFOR guarantees implementation of Brussels agreement (RTS)
Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic hopes that NATO’s strong presence in the region will continue to contribute to peace-keeping and stability, especially with regards to Kosovo. He specifically singled out the crucial activities provided by KFOR that are guaranteeing the implementation of the Brussels agreement, hence, securing the protection of the Serbian population there. Furthermore, he stressed that Serbia’s military neutrality does not constitute an obstacle in the deepening process with NATO, one again affirming that a membership is not on the table for discussion.
Miscevic: EU should be more agile regarding issue of property in Kosovo and Metohija (Beta)
From the very beginning of Belgrade-Pristina negotiations, the Serbian side said that property in Kosovo was a logical issue that needs to be discussed. “The previous topics were exactly a matter of agreement of both sides, but the EU should be much more agile in finding a solution for issues that are obviously causing problems even though they are not part of the dialogue,” the Head of Serbia’s EU negotiating team Tanja Miscevic told journalists at the Belgrade Security Forum. “Our big uncertainty is that if it is estimated that it is our mistake (Belgrade’s reaction in regard to Pristina’s decision on Trepca) what we don’t see as our mistake,” said Miscevic. She pointed out that it is a common understanding of Serbian government that the EU is the goal and the instrument to that goal. What is extremely important is the continuation of the negotiation process. It is of tremendous impact to enable the expression of both interpretations, because only in that way, we can unable the difficulty of another side jeopardizing the rules. The victims do not have names and war cries on both sides should be prosecuted, if we want to go further.
Democratic Party MP Gordana Comic believes that political elites have forgotten that politics should be about people and their living conditions. They forgot to care about the human rights. The populations do not feel they are moving forward in everyday life and they do not see the results. The main emotions are uncertainty about the future, the lack of satisfaction, unhappiness, frustration. They are not able anymore with the unresolved issues. Last but not least, the Brussels agreement should finally be recognized as “our” agreement.
The Head of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Marko Djuric, who was also announced at the panel, didn’t show up. Kosovo government representatives also didn’t arrive in Belgrade for the Belgrade Security Forum.
Government decision on Trepca has legal effect (Politika)
The Serbian government decision to annul all legal consequences of Pristina’s act and actions that refer to the Trepca plant is not only political, but also has legal implications, claims Professor of international public law at the Belgrade Law Faculty Bojan Milisavljevic. He tells Politika that the Republic of Serbia is giving a clear sign with this decision that it will not give up its property in Kosovo and Metohija nor public rights that it certainly has in the southern province. “Since the Republic of Serbia starts from the fact that Kosovo and Metohija is an integral part of our state and our legal order, then it is clear that we also attach property rights to the property that is located in Kosovo and Metohija. Further, United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244 also stands on the position that Kosovo and Metohija is an integral part of the Republic of Serbia, therefore, from the standpoint of international law, this is also part of the territory of the Republic of Serbia and rules on succession that exist in international law are not applicable,” explains Milisavljevic. “This decision is the right move that will follow a series of other measures, and one of them is freezing participation of Serbs in the government in Kosovo and Metohija,” said Milisaveljvic.
Vucic: Serbia wants best possible relations with B&H (Tanjug)
Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic received the Serb member of the B&H Presidency Mladen Ivanic in Belgrade Thursday to discuss the political situation and inter-ethnic relations in B&H. Vucic highlighted the significance of preserving regional stability and good-neighborly relations, noting that Serbia wanted the best possible relations with B&H as this was in the interest of Serbs in Republika Srpska and B&H. Ivanic said Serbia was an exceptionally significant partner for B&H and that the two countries would continue to build the best possible relations in the future, the Serbian government press office said in a statement.
REGIONAL PRESS
B&H CEC rejects requests for annulment of elections in Srebrenica and Bijeljina, still no decision on Stolac (BHT1)
Central Election Commission (CEC) rejected the request of the coalition SDA – SBB B&H – SB&H to annul the elections in Srebrenica. The B&H CEC also rejected the request of the Movement ‘Uspjesna Sprska’ (‘Successful Srpska’) to annul the elections at all 54 polling stations in Bijeljina. The election process in Stolac was not discussed during the session.
Due to the situation in Stolac, the OSCE Mission to B&H has announced that it will open a temporary office in this municipality as of Monday. Head of the OSCE Mission to B&H Jonathan Moore stated: “What matters is that we will constantly be in touch with all local institutions and our colleagues from the international community, of course. Another purpose of this temporary office in Stolac is to act as ‘ears and eyes’ of the international community”, Moore explained. The OSCE Mission to B&H still has not decided whether it will engage its observers in case the election process in Stolac is repeated.
Grujicic in lead for post of Head of Srebrenica Municipality (Fena)
According to the latest preliminary and unofficial results published by B&H Central Election Commission (CEC), Serb political bloc’s candidate for Head of Srebrenica Municipality Mladen Grujicic increased his advantage in the elections by winning precisely 2,000 votes more than independent candidate Camil Durakovic. Specifically, the results show that Grujicic won 4,596, while Durakovic won 2,596 votes.
Durakovic said that, regardless of the outcome, state and international institutions must realize that 50% of votes for the Serb candidate for Head of Srebrenica Municipality came from Serbia. Durakovic added that, on the other hand, many Bosniaks residing abroad did not obtain the election materials on time. Durakovic noted: “The fight is still ongoing, and we will not give up on our goal, which is to repeat these elections that were unfair and stolen. Srebrenica has not fallen yet. I call on CEC to annul the elections in Srebrenica and I demand that they are organized and repeated by the end of the year. When the elections are repeated, I call on everyone to vote and support our fight against politics that deny genocide.”
Grujicic stated that the local elections were carried out in line with laws and added that the initiative of (SDA leader) Bakir Izetbegovic for the annulment of elections has no legal grounds. Grujicic added that he will be the Head of Municipality of all citizens of Srebrenica and noted that he respects every victim. Commenting on the statement of Bosniak candidate for Head of Srebrenica Municipality Camil Durakovic that it will be a disaster if a Serb is elected the Head of Municipality, Grujicic said that this statement “is nothing short of racism”.
EUROSTAT’s Everaers: IMO concluded census results in BiH are valid and in line with intl. standards (TV1)
Delegation of the Office for Statistics of the European Commission (EUROSTAT) and the UN visited B&H and presented the stance on the results of the 2013 Census of Population, Households and Dwellings in B&H. The International Monitoring Operation (IMO) mandated to monitor the compliance of B&H census operation with international standards has established that census results in B&H are valid. This was confirmed by Director at EUROSTAT and Chairman of the IMO Management Group for B&H Pieter Everaers at a press conference held in Sarajevo on Wednesday. Everaers reminded that IMO team, which monitored the census operation in B&H, carried out 25 missions and are responsible for monitoring the compliance with international statistical standards. “IMO concluded that the census in B&H was carried out completely in line with international standards, although the pressure caused by discussion on religious affiliation and similar, had impact on management of operation”, Everaers noted. Everaers explained that the net over count for the census in B&H of about 4.6% is within the usual range of census results recorded in other countries. Everaers said that the IMO team considers that the manner of census data processing, which was used in B&H, is in accordance with international standards and added: “We expect that the RS will re-analyze the outcome of the census perhaps by using somewhat different programs for classification. We keep track of all procedures related to the census, including discussions between the two institutes.”
RS’ officials react to EUROSTAT’s validation (RTRS)
The RS representatives said that such evaluation is not surprising given that representatives of EUROSTAT and IMO team were engaged in the census and control census process from the beginning. Director of the RS Institute for Statistics Radmila Cickovic told RTRS that results of the control census were completely annulled and devaluated. “The number of persons who were not supposed to be enumerated is actually 300,000, which is the rate or 8.7%”, Cickovic warned.
Djukanovic and Lajcak: Elections results to confirm Montenegro’s progress towards the EU (CDM)
We expect that the general elections results will confirm further progress of Montenegro on its European path, Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Slovakia, Miroslav Lajcak, said. The officials noted it is extremely important that the regular general elections in Montenegro are held in stable political conditions, which, as they say, the government electoral trust has a special role in. Lajcak, the chairman of the EU Council for Foreign Affairs, is staying in Podgorica today and tomorrow as a special guest at the ambassadors’ annual consultations. Djukanovic thanked Lajcak for his willingness to present the most current developments in the EU to the heads of Montenegro’s diplomatic and consular missions and to convey his personal experiences and beliefs on the role of diplomacy and the functioning of diplomatic missions at this time. Lajcak said that Montenegro was the fifth state he visited in this capacity since Slovakia took over the presidency and expressed satisfaction with the progress of our country in European and Euro-Atlantic integration. He confirmed the readiness of his country, as well as Brussels, to continue with full support to Montenegro in fulfilling its obligations under European and NATO agenda, which will result in the opening of new chapters in the negotiation process with the EU by the end of the year.
DPS: Electoral process endangered by DF (CDM)
A lot of members and supporters of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) have recently contacted the party to report cases of Democratic Front’s aggressive campaign, DPS stated.
“Throughout Montenegro their activists jeopardize people’s privacy, visit their homes and blatantly offer money, jobs, writing electricity and other utility debts off, just to vote for them, or not to vote for DPS. Young people are particularly targeted – they are paid to wear T-shirts and other equipment with DF logo and daily payments range from €10 in Kotor to €15 in Pljevlja plus food and transport expenses covered. Of course they do not miss the opportunity to publicly present them as DF supporters. DF activists do this shamelessly, visiting even the most remote villages in groups,” DPS claims. According to the party, this corresponds to DF leaders’ announcements related to behavior on election day. “Some of the activities they plan, such as ‘jerseys changing’, were presented by Nebojsa Medojevic at press conference. Of course, he tried to hide their intentions by accusations against DPS,” DPS stated. “Other dishonest activities, such as ballots or even personal documents forgery attempts in order to attribute that to the authorities and DPS, are not ruled out either. And Nebojsa Medojevic virtually announced that in his statement,” DPS added. “These and similar illegal actions will certainly be fully investigated in the regular procedure. Therefore, everyone has a huge responsibility in order for the electoral process to be fully regular and transparent,” DPS stated. DPS will inform the OSCE monitoring mission about this “and do everything possible to provide the maximum contribution to the maintenance of fair and free elections, which is in the best interests of Montenegro and its citizens”.
INTERNATIONAL PRESS
Serbia Keeps Key Rate as Fed Outlook Outweighs Slowing Inflation (Bloomberg, by Gordana Filipovic, 13 October 2016)
The Serbian central bank left borrowing costs unchanged for a third month, disregarding an unexpected inflation slowdown and watching out for the dinar’s reaction to the increasing prospects of an interest-rate increase in the U.S. The National Bank of Serbia left the benchmark one-week repurchase rate at 4 percent on Thursday, according to a statement on its website. Twenty-one of 24 economists surveyed by Bloomberg predicted the move, with the rest forecasting a cut to 3.75 percent. “Inflation is expected to return within target band around middle of next year,” the bank said in the statement, citing policy makers’ deliberations. “The need for cautious monetary policy is justified by uncertainty in international financial markets regarding future measures by the Fed and the European Central Bank and their possible impact on global capital flows.” The decision follows the publishing of minutes from the Federal Reserve’s latest meeting that showed several officials said a rate hike was needed “relatively soon.” Serbia’s policy path is linked to the Fed’s outlook as the Balkan country relies on U.S. investors for its bond financing and portfolio outflows could create depreciation pressure on the dinar and drive price growth higher. “With inflation expected to return to target by June next year rather than January, the central bank has room for another cut, but we think they should stay cautious before an expected Fed rate increase,” Ljiljana Grubic, an analyst at Raiffeisen Banka AD in Belgrade, said before the rate decision. The dinar, which has gained 0.15 percent since the previous rate meeting Sept. 8, traded little changed at 123.16 against the euro at 12:04 p.m. in Belgrade. The yield on Serbia’s dollar bonds maturing in 2021 rose one basis point to 3.885 percent. Serbian Inflation slowed to 0.6 percent in September from 1.2 percent in the previous month. The rate has stayed below the central bank’s target range of 2.5 percent to 5.5 percent for 31 months, even after 17 rate cuts from 11.75 percent since May 2013. The monetary authority has repeatedly said that international markets will guide its policy decisions. While rate setters expect household spending to improve and gradually lift prices, domestic demand remains weak. Premier Aleksandar Vucic is keeping a lid on public wages and pensions after cutting them in late 2014 in order to narrow the budget deficit and meet key demands set in a three-year accord with the International Monetary Fund.
Croat President Highlights Russian Threat in London (BIRN, by Marcus Tanner, 12 October 2016)
On her first official visit to the UK, Kolinda Gabar Kitarovic said the EU needed to keep an eye on Russia’s ‘aggressive’ actions and on the threat posed by uncontrolled migration.
Croatia’s President slammed Russian aggression, said uncontrolled migration represented a direct threat to Europe’s stability and warned would-be EU members in the Balkans not to expect to join the club in hurry, in a speech at London’s LSE Tuesday night. Russia’s “aggressive posture is undermining European stability, and the sooner Russia modifies its behaviour… the more prosperous its relations with the EU will be,” President Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic said.
Awareness of Russian actions did not preclude dialogue with Moscow, however, she added, noting terrorism and migration as key areas of mutual concern. Terrorism, the Croatian President said, “threatened entire countries and has metastasized in our continent, while migration was another key issue of joint EU-Russia interest. The “West Balkan route” may have been closed to migrants, she added, but “we have to remain vigilant as to the possible reactivation of this route”. Mass migration was a serious threat to EU unity, she said, owing to its capacity to “push [EU member] countries apart” as each one undertook its own policies to deal with the problem. Croatia joined the EU in 2013 and, in a nod to several neighbouring ex-Yugoslav states aspiring to take the same route – plus Albania – Grabar Kitarovic warned them not to expect to join any time soon. When Croatia began the accession process in 2005, she recalled, Croatian officials expected to complete the process within two years. In the end, she observed, it took eight. The problem in neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina was complicated further by the recent Bosnian Serb referendum on the Serb-dominated entity’s national day, which she called “illegal and against the Dayton accords” referring to the 1995 agreement that ended the 1992-5 war in Bosnia. The Croatian President has been meeting UK Prime Minister Theresa May as well as Queen Elizabeth II ahead of negotiations between the UK and EU on leaving the club that are expected to be tough. Grabar Kitarovic said Croatia regretted Britain’s potential departure but added that the two countries would remain linked through common membership of NATO, which she called “not just a military alliance but an alliance of values”.
