LOCAL PRESS
Vucic: Germany to support opening of three chapters by year’s end (RTS/Tanjug/Beta)
Germany will support the opening of three new chapters in Serbia’s EU accession talks by the end of the year, Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic announced in parliament on Tuesday.
At one point during the debate on the 2017 budget bill, Vucic said he had just received confirmation that Germany would support the opening of three negotiation chapters by the end of 2016 – Chapters 5, 25 and 26.
Hahn, Vucic: At least one chapter to be opened next week (Tanjug) EU Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn said in Belgrade Monday that he expected Serbia to next week open one or two new chapters in its EU accession talks, while Aleksandar Vucic specified that Chapter 5 was certain to be opened. I think that next week we can open even more than one chapter, Hahn told reporters, adding that opening two or three chapters would lead to a new stage in the negotiation process. Chapter 5 will be opened, and we will see about the rest, Vucic said, adding that realistically, that is how things are. This is about what has been coming out of Croatia, and about the relations between Belgrade and Pristina, Vucic said. We will definitely not give up on national and state interests to have someone open the chapters, Vucic noted.
Vucic said that the speed of the chapters opening depends on assessment of Brussels whether it can procure some other concessions from Belgrade in the dialogue with Pristina. “They want to see if they will get something else from Serbia, and it depends on it whether these will be open now or later on,” Vucic said. He also said he did not expect that there would be strength in Pristina soon to fulfil what was agreed by the Brussels agreement, because “they have much more powerful protectors.” Speaking about the negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina, he said that the Serbian side has done much more than Kosovo. “They have 23 countries that have recognized the independence of Kosovo, and those are usually the most powerful EU countries. We do not have such powerful patrons. We have to do all of that for ourselves. On the other hand, they have protectors much bigger than we have,” Vucic emphasized. Hahn voiced his expectation that Serbia would next week open another one, and possibly two chapters, in the accession talks with the EU, adding that this process would continue, and that this could take Serbia into a new phase of the negotiations.
The Serbian government and the European Commission signed a contract in Belgrade, on Dec. 5, worth EUR80 million, to finance the reform of Serbia’s public administration sector, based on sectoral budgetary support and in line with the rules of a new Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance, IPA II. The agreement provides for an EU grant from the 2015 IPA funds. A total of EUR70 million would be sent directly to the Serbian budget in several installments over the next three years, while EUR10 million will support the Contract for Sectoral Reform. The document was signed in the EU Info Center by the Serbian minister for Serbia’s EU integration, Jadranka Joksimovic and EC Director for the Western Balkans Genoveva Ruiz Calavera.
Vucic talks about possibility of early parliamentary elections (B92)
Vucic says a number of people will be deciding whether to hold early parliamentary elections along with the presidential vote next year. At the same press conference with Hahn, Vucic said that whatever the decision, whatever the campaign will be – for presidential elections only, for parliamentary elections, or both, the campaign will be short. Vucic also remarked that he is not dealing with elections and has important work and meetings ahead of him in December and January. It is certain that regular presidential elections will be held in the spring of 2017, but several media outlets have been speculating lately that the early parliamentary vote could be organized at the same time – only a year after the previous snap elections. The newspapers Vecernje Novosti, Blic, and Kurir have been among the media reporting this. State officials at first refrained from commenting on these articles. Later, SNS official Maja Gojkovic said the party had not discussed the issue, nor did the prime minister initiate such a thing. Earlier, President Tomislav Nikolic would not rule out the possibility of early parliamentary elections. According to him, in transition, it is better to check the will of the citizens will more often.
Dacic, Hahn: Agreement on chapters could be reached next week (Tanjug)
Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic and Hahn on Monday expressed the expectation that an agreement could be reached next week on the opening of new negotiation chapters in Serbia’s EU accession talks. “Both parties took note of the progress in the European integration process of the Republic of Serbia, and it is expected that an agreement could be reached already next week on the opening of new negotiation chapters,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
They noted the need to maintain the pace of the accession process despite all the challenges facing the EU. They highlighted the messages from the July 2016 Western Balkans summit in Paris, which clearly affirmed the membership prospects and a continuation of the enlargement policy. They also discussed the EU-facilitated Belgrade-Pristina dialogue.
Stefanovic: Serbia grateful for Azerbaijani support in defending Kosovo (Beta)
Serbian Interior Minister Nebojsа Stefаnovic said that Serbia was grateful for Azerbaijan’s backing to Serbia’s effort to defend its territorial integrity and keep Kosovo and Metohija under its roof. In a meeting with Stefanovic, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said that his country respected Serbia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, according to a news release from the Serbian ministry. Stefanovic underlined Serbia’s commitment to honoring the territorial integrity and sovereignty of both countries and further support to each other in international institutions. “Serbiа is grateful to Azerbaijan for the support to Belgrade’s effort to keep Kosovo and Metohija as an integral part of it,” Stefаnovic said.
REGIONAL PRESS
Reactions to Govedarica’s announcement of launching the initiative to hold a referendum on B&H judiciary reform (Hayat)
SDS leader Vukota Govedarica announced on Sunday that this party will launch an initiative to hold a referendum on reform of B&H judiciary in Republika Srpska (RS), if B&H parliament does not accept SDS’ request to hold a special session about this topic. SDS’ coalition partners SDA and SBB B&H both emphasized that they have nothing against holding a discussion on this topic but they are against blackmail. Deputy Speaker of B&H House of Representatives (HoR) Sefik Dzaferovic (SDA) stated that no one can set ultimatums related to what will be discussed before B&H Parliament. “You cannot present a request for something and threaten with possible unconstitutional behavior. It is unconstitutional to organize any referendum at entity level on some of the state matters, such as B&H judiciary. That would be unconstitutional and anti-Dayton move”, Dzaferovic underscored. DF MP Zeljko Komsic said that the Alliance for Changes (SzP) or only SDS which is part of the SzP, is about to change its course of politics, bearing in mind Govedarica’s contacts with the first President of the RS Radovan Karadzic SDP B&H MP Denis Becirovic stated over phone that it is more than obvious that Govedarica is behaving like RS President Milorad Dodik. On the other hand, representatives of SNSD in B&H Parliament expressed their support to Govedarica, stating that they will support the initiative and eventual referendum in the RS. Commenting on SDS’ initiative for a referendum on judiciary of B&H, DNS leader Marko Pavic agreed that the Constitutional Court (CC) of B&H and judiciary in general should be put on the agenda of competent authorities. According to Pavic, it is time to eliminate the foreigners from the CC B&H and to adopt a law on the CC B&H. Croat politicians, particularly HDZ B&H leader Dragan Covic, have already expressed their support. However, SDA and SBB B&H still have not taken a stance about SDS’ initiative of the law on the CC B&H.
SDA against replacing of foreign judges with domestic (Nezavisne novine)
Bosniak political parties, most notably the SDA, oppose the proposal law on the B&H Constitutional Court prepared by SNSD, which has support of HDZ B&H and Alliance for Changes (SzP). SDA deems that such law would block B&H and that this would be possible only if all parties agreed to thorough changes of Constitution of B&H. Daily reads that new proposal law on B&H CC, which after reaching of agreement with HDZ B&H and SzP should be submitted to parliamentary procedure, stipulates replacing of three foreign judges with domestic judges, where one would be appointed from Republika Srpska (RS) and two from the Federation of B&H. Deputy Speaker of B&H House of Representatives Sefik Dzaferovic (SDA) said that SDA will not agree to this and noted that constitutional changes are possible only if they are thoroughly carried out. “Foreign judges in Constitutional Court of B&H exist due to complex system in B&H. As long as this system is as it is, foreign judges need to stay,” said Dzaferovic. Deputy Speaker of B&H House of Peoples Barisa Colak (HDZ B&H) confirmed that contacts between SNSD and HDZ B&H have been established and that proposal law is being prepared, but he cannot stipulate when it will be submitted to Parliament. “I do not think that anyone serious thinks that we will be able to make step towards the EU if we are incapable of reaching decisions in Constitutional Court by ourselves,” said Colak. SDS’ Aleksandra Pandurevic said that SDS always advocated solution regarding this law. SNSD’s Lazar Prodanovic said that the new law would prevent outvoting of judges in B&H CC, of any of constituent peoples.
Another political crisis casts its shadow (Oslobodjenje)
The B&H Constitutional Court has partially accepted a request submitted by Bozo Ljubic while he acted as the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Parliament of B&H, requesting harmonization of the Law on Elections of B&H with the Constitution. The decision refers to the election of delegates in the House of Peoples of the Federation of B&H Parliament. Commenting the decision for the daily, Ljubic stated that the main problem lies in lack of balance in the Law on Elections of B&H between the number of delegates elected in certain cantons and number of certain constituent peoples in those cantons. He also noted that another problem with the Law on Elections is the fact that cantons with Bosniak majority are choosing 35 out of 58 delegates, while cantons with Croat majority are electing only 11. He explained that this means that cantons with Bosniak majority are actually electing 100 percent of Bosniak delegates, two thirds of Serb delegates, three fourths of Others and one third of Croat delegates. Ljubic also noted that B&H CC decision clearly states that the principle of constituent status and equality of the three peoples is inseparable from their right to choose their legitimate representatives in the institutions.
SDP, DF and GS issued a joint statement, saying that the decision of the Constitutional Court of B&H is “a consequence of lack of harmonization of the Constitution of B&H with the decisions of the Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg in the cases ‘Sejdic-Finci’, ‘Zornic and Pilav v. B&H’ and others”, underlining that any change to the Law on Elections of B&H is unacceptable until the Constitution of B&H is harmonized with those decisions. The three parties underlined that it is clear why the authorities are refusing to implement these court decisions, because the principle of exclusivity of collective rights would be abolished in favor of the civilized principle of protection of individual rights of the citizens regardless of their ethnicity or any other affiliation. “The Constitutional Court of B&H is obliged to protect the Constitution of B&H, which contains enormous number of discriminatory articles that need to be annulled through implementation of the mentioned ECHR decisions,” reads the statement. The three political parties are requesting from member of the Presidency of B&H and SDA leader Bakir Izetbegovic to initiate review of the decision on the request submitted by Ljubic as soon as the legal conditions for such move are met. The parties concluded that, if Izetbegovic refuses to react, he will prove he is no different from “those political forces that want to divide B&H into three ethnic territories”.
FM talks controversial memorial plaque in Jasenovac (Hina)
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Davor Ivo Stier on Monday addressed comments that the government was not reacting to a memorial plaque in Jasenovac inscribed with the Ustasha salute “For the homeland ready”, saying the inscription was part of the coat of arms of an association registered during the time of the Ivica Racan cabinet. “The statute of the HOS (Croatian Defence Forces) Fighters Association and later the statute of the HOS Volunteers Association were both approved during the time of the Ivica Racan government,” Stier told Hina. Asked if the government would react to the plaque put up in Jasenovac, he said, “This government will approach the matter systematically and institutionally, in line with the programme of the HDZ, which condemns all forms of totalitarianism – fascism, Nazism and communism. We believe this matter must be solved like that, institutionally, and that one must stop manipulating it for daily politics.”
Stier was also asked to comment on a Facebook post by opposition MP Arsen Bauk, who wrote that Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic should hold a government conference call and adopt a decision to “remove the memorial with the Ustasha salute in Jasenovac, the site of a death camp which was the result of a policy of racial and ethnic exclusion in the Independent State of Croatia, which was proclaimed on 10 April 1941, under the aegis and the direct influence of Nazi Germany, by the Ustasha Homeland Organisation.” Stier said Bauk “was a government official when the Association was registered with such a coat of arms and later the minister of public administration who was competent for that matter, but did nothing about it.”
The opposition Croatian People’s Party (HNS) too commented on the memorial plaque to 11 HOS members put up in Jasenovac, saying the government’s unwillingness to clearly and resolutely oppose the belittling of the values on which the democratic Croatia was built was disgraceful and must be roundly condemned.
U.S. official says fascistisation not visible in Croatia (Hina)
A senior US official said on Monday that fascistisation was not visible in Croatia, as claimed by Serbia, which has called on the international community to react to “the expansion of fascism” in Croatia. I don’t see that trend, Hoyt Brian Yee, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Euroasian Affairs, told the press in Zagreb on Monday. Asked to comment on the contentious plaque, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Davor Ivo Stier said the government would approach the matter systematically and institutionally.
“This government will approach the matter systematically and institutionally, in line with the programme of the HDZ, which condemns all forms of totalitarianism – fascism, Nazism and communism. We believe this matter must be solved like that, institutionally, and that one must stop manipulating it for daily politics,” Stier told Hina. Commenting on Croatia-Serbia relations, Yee said he had seen Zagreb and Belgrade make true efforts to resolve contentious issues, such as war crimes, integration issues, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and relations with Russia. He said this trend was present not only in the region but beyond.
Opposition preparing shadow parliament (CDM)
“Although the opposition is boycotting the parliament of Montenegro, we cannot close our eyes to the problems our country is facing. The situation in public finances is very bad, as is in health and education. We will look for new solutions,” explained Milos Konatar, the President of the City Board of the Civic Movement URA. He said that current Parliament is a product of corrupt elections and election rigging, which makes it illegal. “Based on that, the government chosen in that parliament has no legitimacy. Opposition won 39 mandates under pressure during elections. We must find a way to work for our citizens who trusted us. One of the ways to succeed is shadow parliament,” Konatar said. Shadow parliament could serve as a platform for opposition voicing its opinions on current affairs. Shadow parliament would mirror the daily schedule of parliament of Montenegro. They would also consider the upcoming Budget Law. He concluded saying that this was one of the ideas they are currently considering and that all options are still open.
Macedonia: Parties enter last week of pre-election campaign (Telegraf.mk)
The final pre-election campaign week starts with rallies in Skopje scheduled for the Coalition for a Better Macedonia, led by VMRO-DPMNE, while SDSM takes its coalition to the southwest. VMRO-DPMNE will gather its supporters in the Skopje municipalities of Kisela Voda and Centar, where SDSM held its main rally of the campaign on Sunday evening. Meanwhile, SDSM plans rallies in the 5th electoral district, in Debar, Struga, and finally, Ohrid. Other scheduled party events include a gathering in Kumanovo organized by the Alliance for Albanians, which was formed by splinter factions from the more established DUI and DPA parties. Levica, a far left party that was created from the SDSM led colored revolution protests, will have meetings with citizens in Kicevo and will meet with the Eco Guerrilla environmental group in Tetovo.
INTERNATIONAL PRESS
How Macedonia Is Leading on the Refugee Crisis (The National Interest, by Wes Martin, 4 December 2016)
Small nations in Eastern Europe are too easily dismissed by the American and European establishment.
In little more than a year, millions of desperate refugees have fled from the wars in Syria and Iraq. Many hundreds of thousands have reached European shores, with their distressing plight broadcast around the world. The sluggish reaction from some of the world’s biggest economies so far has forced the smaller ones to step up. And it will be these countries, especially across the Balkans that will remain pivotal in our ability to defeat ISIS. One to watch is the small country of Macedonia. This country was on the front line of the crisis, operating outside the European Union, but acting as a passage between Greece and the rest of the continent. The route through Macedonia between the Middle East and Europe has been used for centuries. It is an historic route across continental Europe that has brought trade, culture and prosperity. Today that route brings a very different and troubling story. In just two months last summer, 42 thousand refugees entered Macedonia. The country’s entire population is roughly 2.1 million — the same as Kentucky — and since this crisis began it has been forced effectively to let the entire population of Idaho pass through its borders. Foreign Minister Poposki spoke in 2015 to say that Macedonia, a country of 2.1 million inhabitants, had seen 800 thousand migrants use this route in an attempt to make their way from one EU country (Greece) across a non-EU, non-Schengen country (Macedonia) back into the EU.
Eventually, Macedonia’s leaders acted where no other European leader was prepared to do so. The Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski declared a state of emergency and closed the borders. It was a bold and courageous move that prompted the rest of Europe to act. It was quickly followed by a visit to the region by European Council President Donald Tusk, who declared: “No European country will be a transit country.” As the Bavarian prime minister and president of the Christian Socialist Party (CSU) in Germany Horst Seehofer said: “We in Germany benefited from this. Macedonia basically did what Germany was supposed to do.” And it is on this border, with our partners in Macedonia, where we can make the greatest efforts to stabilize the Balkans, and truly and effectively make a dent against the ISIS terror threat. In June, Macedonian police arrested four men they suspected of fighting alongside ISIS. Authorities in the former Yugoslav republic estimate as many as 130 of its citizens have fought or are currently fighting with Islamist groups in Syria and Iraq.
A recent NPR investigation highlighted that as many as one thousand individuals have traveled from the western Balkans to territories held and controlled by the Islamic State or Jabhat al-Nusra and other militias in Syria and Iraq. These are people mobilized by messages that they don’t belong in Europe and that Europe has rejected them. And with them, the flow of weapons has followed. The president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has threatened to open his country’s borders to allow refugees to stream into Europe. At a critical moment in this crisis, this threat could soon become a dangerous reality that throws an already troubled region into even greater turmoil. More than anything, it will put a greater burden on our allies in the Balkans. If President Erdogan decides to act, the flow of terror will follow the mass flow of the desperate. While many countries have failed to act, it is reassuring to see leaders in countries like Macedonia take necessary action. And it is exemplified by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s support: “Hungary will provide every assistance with the protection of borders, whether technical or financial assistance, or personnel.” This has been one of the greatest upheavals in geopolitics in a generation, the largest movement of people since World War II, and it is triggering a drastic change across Europe. The millions of people flocking to Europe are fleeing the very terror we are trying to defeat. And for the sake of stabilization across the region, we must look to all our partners – none more so than in the Balkans. Small nations in Eastern Europe are too easily dismissed by the American and European establishment, yet stability and security there will prove essential in the world’s ability to combat terror. We ignore the warnings from our friends in the Balkans at our peril.
Wes Martin is a retired Army colonel who served as the Senior Anti-terrorism Officer for all Coalition Forces in Iraq.
Macedonia Albanians Stick to Ethnic Issues in Election (BIRN, by Semra Musai, 5 December 2016)
Albanian parties in Macedonia are focusing on standard ethnic issues in the December 11 election – while more pressing everyday problems that need solving are being left out, experts fear.
Parties representing ethnic Albanians in Macedonia – about a quarter of the population – are campaigning on traditional ethnic issues in the December 11 elections, wooing voters with pledges to ensure greater use of the Albanian language and improve of the status of Albanians in the country. Amidst the big ethnic issues, everyday problems of more immediate concern to voters risk being left out, observers say. “Improving education, health, culture, infrastructure, unemployment and other social measures are hardly mentioned in their programmes, while ethnic issues are dominant,” political analyst Xhelal Neziri told BIRN. The two main Albanian parties, the junior ruling party, the Democratic Union for Integration, DUI, and the opposition Democratic Party of Albanians, DPA, are both pitching squarely for the ethnic vote. The DUI pledges to make the Albanian language official on the entire territory of the country – Albanian is currently an official tongue only in those areas where Albanians are a significant proportion of the population. The DUI also promises decision-making based on ethnic consensus in every institution including parliament as well as economic equality for Albanians. Unlike in the 2014 general and presidential elections, the DUI has not mentioned demands for one of the three leading political posts to go to an Albanian – either the President, speaker of parliament or the Prime Minister. The party has been present in coalition governments in Macedonia since 2008.
The DPA on the other hand centres its campaign on pledges to end what it says is economic discrimination against Albanians through the disproportionate allocation of the state budget in favour of the Macedonian majority. DPA leader Menduh Thaci also promises a fiscal amnesty for many Albanians in debt as well as general amnesty for ethnic Albanian suspects and convicts in several politically and ethnically charged trials, in which he says Albanians suspects were framed by the authorities. The DPA also promises to boost the powers of the Deputy Prime Minister, who is usually Albanian, to give him or her the right to veto government decisions that affect Albanians.
Other newly formed Albanian parties running in the December 11 elections are demanding constitutional changes. The Movement for Reform – Democratic Party of Albanians is committed to what it calls a bi-national state, as is another new party, Besa. Neziri says such promises are unrealistic as none of these parties is going to win a majority of seats in parliament, so they will be in no position to fulfill their ambitious pledges.
Parliament in Macedonia has 123 seats, Neziri explains, of which realistically Albanians can hope to win about 25. Traditionally, the winning ethnic Macedonian party invites the winner in the Albanian bloc to join a coalition government as a junior partner. However, many Albanians have long felt that the junior party in government has little real power. Neziri argues that populistic and illusory promises play on sentimental feelings, trying to imbue Albanians with a feeling that they have been duped by the promises made to them after 2001. Macedonia in that year saw a brief armed conflict between Albanian insurgents and the security forces. The conflict ended the same year with the signing of an internationally-brokered peace accord in Ohrid that guaranteed greater rights to Albanians who make up a quarter of the country’s 2.1 million population.
