LOCAL PRESS

Vucic: Serb-Albanian relations must be resolved once and for all (RTS)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has said that “a difficult compromise” when it comes to Kosovo does not mean that only one side is satisfied. He said that when it comes to Kosovo a compromise was important, “in order to live in peace.”

“I would neither add nor take anything away when it comes to what I said at the UN. Kosovo will not join the UN, unless we are satisfied with something, and we cannot be satisfied if they want us to recognize Kosovo,” Vucic told RTS.

He added that he was “sure that not everyone can be satisfied, but Serbia insists that the agreement cannot be such where one side is satisfied, and the other not.”

Vucic stressed that it was “important to resolve the Serb-Albanian relationship once and for all.”

“I want to tell Serbs that we have a reality, that we do not live in a mythical past, but that we also have not lost everything. The reality stands far from these two positions,” the president stressed.

When asked if he can guarantee that there will be no armed conflicts in Kosovo, Vucic said:

“No one can ever fully guarantee this, but it is a great achievement of the talks that in the last four years no Serb has been killed in ethnic conflicts. The biggest problem is with the expelled, they are not allowed to return. We now must look ourselves in the eyes and we say what is real and what is objective – not to give away something that is ours, what we control.”

Asked how much longer the Kosovo dialogue could last, Vucic said that it was a question of months.  “We do not have time for years. I would love a solution, if it there is none, it will be a frozen conflict,” the president said.

According to Vucic, those who criticize the Serb List – which supported the government of Ramush Haradinaj – are “very hypocritical.”

“In the same way a deal with Self-Determination, which advocates a Greater Albania, would have been criticized – or should we wait for the next elections with a pledge of six to eight percent of the Serbian population in KiM,” he added.

Vucic said he supported the Serb List’s decision, although, he added, “Serbia will not change its stance on Haradinaj.”

“In Serbia, he is charged with war crimes and I do not intend to defend myself from those who have never been to Kosovo. I received the support from 80 percent of Serbs in Kosovo in the presidential elections, not because I was beating war drums, but because I went to every village,” he said, and remarked: “Whatever you do is no good because nobody wants to look in the mirror.”

Vucic also said that the internal dialogue on KiM was “very much underway” and that he was “ready to hear all actors,” adding that the government will take over the logistic part of the dialogue. He denied that Kosovo and Metohija was lost, adding that he wanted to tell Serbs that “we have a reality that is not such that we like it.” “If Kosovo and Metohija were lost, I would not have fought so much concerning it every day. I personally suffered most severe threats, and one day I might write a book about it, and describe how it happened, because unlike others, I don’t intend to do this job my whole life,” Vucic said. He recalled that he was “the strongest and most firm in his positions when Albanians were to be brought to the north of Kosovo as policemen.”

“They threatened me that my career was over, that I had failed, that they already had such cases, that they would destroy me. My message was that I was doing my job, and that I don’t accept it,” he said.

On the criticism of the opposition that the dialogue came late, he asked why they did not launch it by 2012. He recalled that by 2012, Kosovo was recognized by 86 countries, by the end of 2013 by another “12 to 13” countries, after he took over as PM by “only 4-5 countries” – and ones that are “not the most significant on the international map.”

“We were not able to prevent them from appearing as a more important factor in sports organizations. Thanks to our mistakes, whose, I don’t want to talk about at this moment, but I will definitely speak about it sometime,” he announced.

Speaking about his recent visit to New York, where he addressed the UN General Assembly, he said the situation in the world was “entangled” and noted that he “does not remember that it was ever so complicated”. “Someone said at the UN that it looks a bit like a mad house, I cannot agree with it, but things are entangled. The most important thing is that we do not find ourselves in that whirlpool, to keep Serbia in a quiet port,” he said.

“As for the UNESCO, we have achieved a lot, as for the Interpol – China did not grant them (representatives of Pristina) visas to enter China for the Interpol meeting because they filed their request as the state of Kosovo, and China does not recognize that state,” Vucic said.

He also said that Serbia will be “stronger than ever in a few says”, and mentioned Russian MIGs, Russian and Serbian tanks…

“You are as strong as you are able to safeguard your homeland, not to attack anyone,. Your strength cannot be in arrogance, but in the economy – but you must have defensive power,” Vucic said.

Vucic: UK should be more understanding of our position on Kosovo (Tanjug)

President of the Republic of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic received on Wednesday in Belgrade a delegation of the British House of Lords. According to a statement issued by the Presidency, Vucic and his guests spoke about “regional issues and the European path of Serbia.” Vucic “thanked the representatives of the House of Lords for their interest in the problems that the Western Balkans is facing, and pointed out that there are still many important issues on the European agenda of Serbia.”  He also said he was grateful that Britain was – “despite Brexit” – ready to assist Serbia in the process of EU integration. Vucic further said he was satisfied with bilateral relations, and “stressed that Serbia is interested in improving and strengthening them further, especially in the field of economy, and in more British investments.”

“We are ready to continuously strengthen political dialogue at the higher, and the highest level,” Vucic said, and “stressed that he expects the UK to show more understanding for Serbia’s position regarding Kosovo and Metohija.”

Representatives of the British Parliament emphasized that their delegation was in Serbia to collect information in order to better formulate the UK policy towards the Western Balkans after Brexit, and define a modality of activities aimed at contributing to the stability of the region, the statement said.

Interior Minister thanks countries which helped in preventing Kosovo from joining Interpol (Blic)

The Serbian Interior Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic, on Tuesday, at the conclusion of the Interpol General Assembly in Beijing, thanked the countries which had helped in preventing Kosovo from independently joining this body.

“I thank our Chinese friends for their huge support and help, particularly concerning the protection of the integrity of Serbia. Thanks to this, but also the support of other friends in Interpol, we have succeeded in preventing the self-proclaimed Kosovo to independently join this body”, said Stefanovic, and carried the announcement of the Interior Ministry.

Vulin meets with Italian Security Agency delegation on migrants (Beta)

Minister of Defense Aleksandar Vulin met with a delegation from the Italian agency for foreign security and information on the problems of migrations and fighting terrorism.

The subject discussed at the meeting were migrations and the battle against terrorism both on the Mediterranean and Balkan routes, as well as the dangers that migrations carried, given that they are used for the infiltration of potential terrorists.

The Ministry of Defense issued a statement saying that the two sides had agreed to advance successful cooperation, especially in the area of information exchange, the Ministry of Defense said. Vulin thanked Italy for the engagement of an Italian contingent in the KFOR mission, which had substantially contributed to preserving Serbian cultural heritage and securing a safe environment for the Serbian people in Kosovo, the statement added.

SNS official criticizes verdict against Vasiljkovic (RTS)

One of the leaders of Serbian paramilitary units during the war in Croatia, Dragan Vasiljkovic a.k.a Captain Dragan has been found guilty by the first-degree court in Split of war crimes against Croatian military personnel and civilians and condemned to a 15-year prison sentence, which caused strong reactions in Belgrade.

“The verdict against Vasiljkovic is a “verdict against all Serbs who defended their collective rights and the right of their country during the early nineties”, vice-president of the main board of ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) Marko Djuric declared.

Djuric, who is director of government Kosovo Office issued a written statement in which he described the verdict as “just one in a series of slaps in the faces to the Serbian people” and that that nothing better could have been expected from the judiciary of a country in which “the designers and perpetrators of the largest ethnic cleansing in Europe after World War Two are celebrated as heroes”.

The lawyer of Captain Dragan, Tomislav Filakovic, states that Vasiljkovic could soon be released because he had spent more than two thirds of his sentence in detention. Filakovic explains in this respect that Kapetan Dragan was arrested in Australia 11 years ago and 11 months ago, and usually the time spent in custody is counted in a prison sentence, reports the portal Index.

“If we know that two-thirds of the sentence has been served, then the sentence is fully served. Filakovic also believes that, if Vasiljkovic requests to serve prison sentence before the validity of the verdict, he can immediately demand conditional release because the legal presumption is fulfilled.

Lawyer Dragan Palibrk described the Vasiljkovic verdict as “catastrophic” and “political”. “I believe that he was condemned to this sentence because he did not want to falsely testify against former FRY President Slobodan Milosevic at the Hague Tribunal and because he testified in accordance with the truth”, declared Palibrk who visited Vasiljkovic in custody, but to whom the Croatian court denied becoming formally involved in his defense, even though this had been Vasiljkovic’s wish. According to Palibrk, the verdict “has nothing to do with the truth”.

The verdict is a “demonstration of force by the Croatian judiciary”, he said.

Defense Minister Aleksandar Vulin has assessed that the verdict of Vasiljkovic, is a sad evidence that the Croatian judiciary will, for a long time continue to rule by the law of retaliation, and not justice. Vulin said that Vasiljkovic was given a political verdict without factual evidence, the statement said.

“Bringing such a verdict in Split, where the victims of a brutal torture in the Lora camp are still waiting for justice, is a mockery of the truth,” the minister said, adding that, as much as Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic is making the efforts to put the past behind us, Croatian politic is making the reconciliation that much more difficult.

“Starting with the law that would declare the expelled Serbs as aggressors, to the verdict of Dragan Vasiljkovic, in which, besides politics, there are no evidence. Revenge has replaced the law,” Vulin pointed out.

Joksimovic: More certain European future of Serbia (Tanjug)

Minister for European Integration Jadranka Joksimovic said in Brussels on Tuesday that Serbia now has a certain European future. This is influenced by internal reforms in the country, the strategy on enlargement of the president of the European Commission, but also the announced continuity in German foreign policy and policy towards the Balkans, the government quoted her as saying.

After a meeting with Chair of the European Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee and the parliament’s rapporteur on Serbia David McAllister, Joksimovic emphasized that it is very important that this high-ranking politician in Germany announced continuity in the foreign and European policy of Germany. This is very important because Germany undoubtedly is one of the EU’s political and economic engines. As a candidate country, we can expect a stable European policy, especially in terms of further enlargement, she said.

Joksimovic informed McAllister and ambassadors of EU member states of everything that Serbia is doing in terms of reform processes in the country, primarily on the rule of law, and discussed the opening of new chapters in EU accession negotiations. She expressed the belief that by the end of the year Serbia could open at least three new chapters, hoping for a positive trend in the opening of negotiation chapters to continue. According to Joksimovic, Serbia is doing its part of the work on the internal level, in order to implement the reforms, in the first place for the betterment for the citizens of Serbia. At the moment, there is even more positive atmosphere in the Union when it comes to the European path of Serbia, while the agenda for Serbia and Montenegro’s accession by 2025 was welcomed by the EU member states, said Joksimovic.

“Our plan is to fully comply with European standards by 2021 or 2022, to be followed by the usual procedure in the member states, where a new enlargement is ratified in parliaments or in a referendum,” she said.

McAllister said after the meeting that regardless of who forms the next government in Berlin, Germany will continue the policy of the Western Balkans’ and Serbia’s moving closer to the EU.  McAllister added he was confident that Angela Merkel would be given another term as German chancellor, and recalled her commitment to the Western Balkans and stability in the region, Tanjug reported.

REGIONAL PRESS

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Directors of Croatian and B&H Security-Intelligence Agencies met and agreed there was no wiretapping between B&H and Croatia (BHT1)

Director of Croatian Security-Intelligence Agency (SOA) Daniel Markic met with Director of Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) Intelligence and Security Agency (OSA) Osman Mehmedagic in Sarajevo on Tuesday. The meeting was held behind closed doors and took place after media allegations on wiretapping of Croatian officials and businessmen. Following the meeting, the two directors did not address media.

OSA issued a press release, which reads that the directors discussed current the security situation in the region, strengthening of joint potentials and all issues of common interest. “The cooperation was assessed as very productive, open and intensive in all fields and it has been concluded that there are no issues that burden relations of the two security-intelligence agencies,” the statement reads.

The recent SOA report was also discussed, with explanation that the number of supporters of radical Islam was not related to B&H, but to wider area of Southeast Europe.

Commenting on the meeting, B&H Minister of Security Dragan Mektic stated that no parallelism or illegal activities of one country against another have been detected and added that recent medial allegations were spins. He stressed that there was no “wiretapping affair”, saying that everything was done in line with the law.

Before the meeting, a session of the Executive- Intelligence Board of B&H, composed of Chair of Council of Ministers Denis Zvizdic and his Deputies Mirko Sarovic and Vjekoslav Bevanda, was held, on which occasion the Board was supposed to take an official stance on alleged wiretapping of Croatian officials and businessmen. This session was also held behind closed door. Mehmedagic attended the session too. Following the session, Sarovic said that they discussed the information on security and intelligence situation in B&H. He noted that the OSA Director gave certain information, but added that he is not authorized to release them.

Covic, Novalic meet and agree priorities of Federation of B&H in upcoming period of time will be excise duties, budget and Questionnaire (TV1)

Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) Presidency Chair Dragan Covic and Federation of B&H Prime Minister Fadil Novalic met in Sarajevo on Tuesday. They agreed that it is necessary to calm down political relations and fulfill parts of the Reform Agenda. They also agreed that one of priorities of the Federation of B&H authorities in the upcoming period of time will be excise duties, budget and the European Commission’s Questionnaire. Covic and Novalic discussed the main problems in the work of the Federation of B&H Government and its relations towards both parliaments. Covic informed top officials of the Federation of B&H about messages he received from Washington and Brussels. Novalic said that the priorities of the Federation of B&H Government are reform laws and noted that those laws are law on contributions, law on income, law on healthcare, law on pension and disability insurance, two laws related to veterans and three infrastructural projects – some related to excise duties and some not related to excise duties, and also the law on civil service. Novalic added that the main questions Covic raised were questions related to the excise duties, budget and Questionnaire. “Those three items will be the main issues in the following two to three months”, Novalic concluded. Covic said that he feels encouraged that a draft budget might be developed very soon and that the “Federation of B&H can give its contribution to make sure this part related to excise duties will follow its course”. Covic added that, in order for all this to happen, it will be necessary to calm down relations at the political scene at all levels in the country and this should be done before the visit of EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini.

International conference on new security challenges takes place in Sarajevo (TV1)

Chair of the Commission for NATO Integration of Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) Josip Brkic said at the international conference on new security challenges that he expects the NATO Membership Action Plan (MAP) to be activated by the end of the year. Brkic added that he believes that B&H will register enough of military property for the NATO to decide to activate the MAP.

The reporter noted that the RS Attorney General’s Office is now obstructing the process of registration of military property in spite of the decision of the Court of B&H according to which this property must be registered to the state.

Representative of the Political Affairs and Security Policy Division at NATO Headquarters (HQ) Tanya Hartman reminded that the preconditions remain unchanged and noted that it is necessary to register all prospective military property to B&H.

Director of the Center for Security Studies Denis Hadzovic said that internal challenges in B&H are mostly of economic-social nature, while the conference focused on global threats which also affect B&H and the region such as extremism, radicalism, terrorism and organized crimes. Ambassador of Slovakia to B&H Jan Psenica said that B&H must consider the situation and prepare a list of priorities or a list of possible threats.

RS President Dodik says RSNA will adopt resolution on military neutrality of RS soon (TV1)

Republika Srpska (RS) President Milorad Dodik announced that the RS National Assembly (RSNA) will adopt a resolution on military neutrality of the RS soon.

“Our stance is clear – military neutrality, this resolution on military neutrality will go to the next session of the RSNA and we will state everything we think about it in it, i.e. preservation of the constitutional order, position of the RS and military neutrality, until the people decides on it, in case it is necessary, but they should decide on it in referendum and not have political elite decide on it”, Dodik said. “I think that the resolution is already prepared. It was a subject of talks of coalition partners at a meeting that was recently held”, Dodik added.

Dodik explained that Nebojsa Radmanovic (SNSD), while he was performing the duties of the Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) Presidency Chairman, signed a decision related to the start of the procedure with NATO, but that the Membership Action Plan (MAP) does not mean NATO membership. Dodik explained that decision about initiation of procedure is the only NATO-related decision that has been made in B&H, adding that the same thing happened in Montenegro, and then people decided about country’s membership in NATO.

“The atmosphere at the time is very clear. Back then, Russia was negotiating with NATO to become a NATO member state. Russia is a member of the NATO program Partnership for Peace, just like B&H”, Dodik said. President of the RS noted that many things have changed since then. “We have perception that NATO would flatten the RS and create the unitary state out of B&H. There is a fear of such NATO among people, and I am only conveying that stance as their president”, Dodik said.

Macron: If EU is reformed, Western Balkans countries may join Union by 2024 (Dnevni avaz)

French President Emmanuel Macron delivered a speech on the European Union at the amphitheater of the Sorbonne University on Tuesday, stating that it is possible to have the Balkans countries in the EU by 2024 if the Union goes through a reform. According to the daily, this speech has already been marked as momentous. “If it enables ambitious differences, such EU would gradually enlarge and would include the Western Balkans countries too”, he said. The author comments that Macron’s speech means wind in sails of German Chancellor Angela Merkel to form a government as soon as possible and it is also an announcement of a policy that two of them would be advocating and implementing in the following years. Analysts commented that this speech was closely coordinated by Berlin and Paris.

Croatia

Grabar-Kitarovic u in a letter to Kavazovic: My words weren’t directed against Muslims, Bosnjaks and B&H (Hina, HRT)

The Hina news agency has reported that in a letter to the head of Muslims in Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H), Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic said that she never spoke against Muslims, Bosnjaks and B&H, but she rather only emphasized political events and processes that evoke unease and concern, regardless of where they took place.

The Islamic community agency in B&H said that the President responded to Kavazovic who recently asked her to “explain her statement that Bosnjaks are a terrorist threat to neighboring countries and Europe”.

“In her letter the President expressed thanks for the letter she received, the respect and sincere words, but she remained firm in the standpoints she mentioned”, said Hina

In her letter Grabar-Kitarovic wrote that she did not direct a single word against Muslims, nor against Bosnjaks, nor against B&H and expressed regret that a part of the public in B&H has been waging an unsubstantiated campaign against her for months.

Grabar-Kitarovic said that her political activity, including advocating the acceptance of B&H into the EU as soon as possible, is motivated toward the good of all three peoples, the good of interstate interests between Croatia and B&H and in the interest of peace and cooperation in Southeast Europe.

The Croatian President notes that the Bosnjaks people, like the Croatian people, throughout history have been labeled and persecuted, imprisoned in camps and killed.

“Lead by the motive of this to never be repeated against anyone, along with the obligation to protect state and national interests of the Republic of Croatia and all of its citizens without regard for religion or ethnicity, it is my duty to warn of all political, not religious, but political events and processes that evoke unease and concern, regardless of where they take place, especially when our part of Europe is in question”, said the president in her letter.

Kavazovic’s letter came after claims from the office of the Croatian president saying that B&H had a thousand radicalized people that represent a potential security threat in line with Islamic terrorism. This was refuted by high ranking officials in B&H as well as the Security Minister of B&H Dragan Mektic, but they did not state what the actual proportions of the terrorist threat are in B&H.

Serbs and Croats “will have to be allies in future” (Vecerni list)

Serbs and Croats will have to be allies in the future, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said in the interview to Zagreb daily Vecerni list. Vucic also announced his visit to Croatia for November.

Asked what he saw as the main problem in relations between the two countries, he told Vecerni list that he “sees these problems, but does not understand them.”

“I have to be honest, I see them, but I do not understand them and I think that in the future, Serbs and Croats will increasingly have to be allies, while there will be increasingly fewer people who live in the past of their hostilities,” Vucic said.  He added that “poison darts” were frequently exchanged between Zagreb and Belgrade, “mostly around Ustashas and Chetniks or the status of national minorities.”

Asked to “comment on when this would end,” Vucic said, “not any time soon” – but added that he believed the situation would change slowly, and that there would be “less of it than there is now.”

The Belgrade-based daily Vecernje Novosti also carried excerpts from the interview, to report that Vucic announced he would travel to Zagreb in early November.

Asked “why he criticized the proposal of the new Croatian law on defenders” he said that “when Greater Serbia aggression is being referred to – and the result was the expulsion of 250,000 Serbs from their homes (in Croatia), and more Serb than Croats victims in the area – then one forgets that Serbs could pass 500 laws on Jasenovac and other places of suffering.”

“The question arises where it all leads to. I’m merely pleading with our Croatian friends to walk in our shoes before passing the law, as we do here. I never asked to come to Zagreb, and that somebody had to talk about what kind of genocide has been committed in Jasenovac, or that someone coming to Belgrade had to talk about it. Our shortcoming is that we rarely put ourselves in the other’s position,” said he.

Asked what he thought about the idea of ​​proclaiming “a moratorium on public debates about the past,” Vucic said it was “a wonderful sentence”.

“I will use it as soon as on Tuesday on RTS,” added the Serbian President.

He believes that Croatia will not hinder Serbia on its European path, but stressed that former Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic would impose sanctions “for no reason.”

“None of that will come to anything, even in Croatia wanted it to. It can cause problems, but it cannot stop our path to the EU. But, to be honest, I believe we will have the support of Croatia along that path,” Vucic said.

He also said that he “respected Croatian President Kolin Grabar-Kitarovic and considered it important to work on concrete matters and show respect for each other.”

“It is healing and significantly helps in relations of our countries and nations,” he said.

Vucic also spoke about the attack that he experienced in Srebrenica several years ago.

“At one point I thought, when I saw that I was left alone and that nobody from the protocol was near, and that my associates were twenty meters behind me, ‘that’s it, it’s over’. I did not bow my head, I bowed my head before the memorial, in front of the Srebrenica victims, because I only bow my head where I want to, and that was my decision. Later, under the stones, shoes, bottles, I did not bow my head for one second,” Vucic said.

fYROM

Government to provide conditions for fair and democratic elections, Zaev tells Glover (MIA)

Prime Minister Zoran Zaev on Tuesday held a meeting with Ambassador Audrey Glover, Head of the OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission to Macedonia.

PM Zaev said that all institutions involved in the election process, including the political parties, should commit to administering fair and democratic elections, the government’s press service said.

“Having learned our lesson from poorly organized elections in the past, we must not allow as a result of election irregularities to jeopardize our Euro-Atlantic aspirations, which we have been focused on a lot in the past several months in order to make our chances realistic,” noted PM Zaev. Reiterating that implementation of the election process was one of the key criteria to meet the strategic goals of Macedonia, Prime Minister Zaev underscored the government’s strong commitment to ensure fines for ‘any individual or organization that will dare to violate the regularity of the election process, both during the election campaign and on election day.’

The Head of the OSCE/ODIHR mission introduced the PM with their upcoming activities related to the election process, the number of short- and long-term mission observers. She also informed him that the mission a day before the election would add 200 more short-term observers to the monitoring process, said the press release.

“Both sides, the ruling party and the opposition, are faced with a serious obligation, before our citizens and the diplomatic corps as well, to show that nothing matters more unless we miss the chance to organize fair, credible and democratic elections,” Zaev noted.

He asked the Ambassador to inform him about all attempts made to violate the regularity of the election process so as to prevent any shortcomings that might be used to dispute the legitimacy of the elections.

“I would like to recommend that more attention should be paid on remarks of all opposition parties, including VMRO-DPMNE. In these elections, ethnic Macedonians will vote for ethnic Albanians, and vice versa. It is a solid guarantee towards a joint future,” Zaev stated in his meeting with Glover.

Officials of the OSCE/ODIHR Mission said they had been meeting with citizens and organizations reiterating they had been deployed to closely monitor the elections.

Next week, the OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission will present its first report on the early stages of the election campaign.

FM Dimitrov meets EU Commissioner Hahn (MIA)

Macedonia expects opening of its EU accession talks, Foreign Minister Nikola Dimitrov told Tuesday in Brussels to Johannes Hahn, Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations. Dimitrov briefed Hahn about the pace of implementing the reforms in Macedonia under the government’s Action Plan 3-6-9, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a press release. The government is fully committed to implement the key reforms in order to speed up the launch of the EU pre-accession negotiations, Dimitrov told Hahn.

He expressed belief that Macedonia’s progress will lead to a discussion for making a decision on opening Macedonia’s accession talks, as a step towards realization of the country’s strategic goal – the EU membership, the press release reads.

Hahn on his part reiterated the European Commission’s commitment to further cooperation with Macedonia’s government in favor of successful implementation of the country’s urgent reform priorities and acceleration of its EU-integration process.

SPO wants to confiscate 2.2 million euros in assets and property from Gruevski, Protoger and Dimovski (Meta)

The Special Prosecutor’s Office in the indictment for the “Titanic” case are asking the leader of VMRO-DPMNE and former Prime Minister, Nikola Gruevski, the former chief of his cabinet, Martin Protoger, the current MP of VMRO-DPMNE in Parliament, Ilija Dimovski and the accused Leko Ristovski to confiscate assets worth 2.2 million euros.

This sum, according to the SPO, corresponds to the unlawfully provided funds for financing the election campaigns of the party in 2011, 2013 and 2014.

The Special Public Prosecutor’s Office on its new website has published prosecutorial acts for all the 20 cases it has opened, which are related and arose from the wiretapped conversations.

Only the content of the “Target” and “Fortress” cases was not published.

The published charges may reveal interesting moments and curiosity to the defendants in the cases and ways in which the offenses for which they are charged for were committed.

Albania

PM of Kosovo Ramush Haradinaj to visit Tirana on Wednesday (ATA)

Prime Minister Edi Rama will host on Wednesday PM of Kosovo, Ramush Haradinaj, and his delegation on an official visit to Tirana. According to the agenda published by the press office close to PM, the military welcoming ceremony will be held at the venues of the Palace of Brigades. At 10.05hrs the two premiers will hold a meeting that will be followed by another one between the two delegations. At 11.00 hrs the Committee for organization of Pan-National year dedicated to Gjergj Kastriot Skenderbeu will hold the inaugural meeting under the chairmanship of the two premiers. At 11.30hrs, PM Edi Rama and his Kosovo counterpart Ramush Haradinaj will appear at a joint news conference.

Albania to support Kosovo’s NATO membership, says Xhacka (ATA)

Albanian Minister of Defence Olta Xhacka received today Minister of Kosovo Security Force Rrustem Berisha and the delegation accompanying him.

Minister Xhacka expressed her hope that Minister Berisha will be a worthy advocate of Kosovo aspirations for Euro-Atlantic integration.

“Kosovo integration is a natural destination like for all the countries of the Balkans. Albania is ready to intensify cooperation between the two countries and to share with Kosovo our experience of NATO membership”, said Minister Xhacka during the meeting of the two delegations. On his part, Minister Berisha said that Albania is Kosovo’s most powerful ally toward membership in the North Atlantic Organization and more.

“Kosovo Security Force is set to accelerate its process of transformation into Armed Forces. This is not a step against the Serbian minorities, but to the benefit of all the citizens of Kosovo”, said Berisha.

Following their meeting, Xhacka and Berisha made a joint statement to say that Albania and Kosovo will continue cooperation and support in political and technical level. Minister Xhacka also said that the Plan of Cooperation is being implemented for the current year while the respective staffs are working on the plan over next year. Following the meeting at the Ministry of Defence, the Kosovar delegation accompanied by the Deputy Minister Petro Koci followed a training session at the battalion of the Special Forces in Zall-Herr.

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

I would rather kill myself than steal a vote, Vucic says (IBNA)

Serbian president Aleksandar Vucic has used his freshest TV appearance to criticize opposition groups ahead of local elections in Belgrade. He announced the voting for early December.

Vucic referred to the protests that have been organized in Belgrade earlier this year.

In April, the protests have taken place over Vucic’s election win and to mark a year since the illegal overnight demolishing in the center of Belgrade. The demolishing of the old buildings with apartments by bulldozers occurred at the place of Vucic’s mega project “Belgrade Waterfront” financed by an UAE company. In 2016 Vucic admitted that action was wrong and said that Belgrade city was responsible; he suggested that mayor Sinisa Mali would bear the consequences. But Mali is still Belgrade’s mayor.

“They (opposition groups) have protested over election fraud; now they say that there was no any fraud”, Vucic said last night. Speaking in the state owned Radio-television of Serbia’s studio he added: “I would rather kill myself than still a vote”.

Considering the demolishing, Vucic ironically said that “that was α terrible case”.

“It is not terrible to leave billions of debts”, he said alluding to former mayor Dragan Djilas whom Vucic and his allies intensively started to attack in previous days; namely, they claim that Djilas would be opposition candidate for mayor. Djilas did not confirm nomination yet. “But it is terrible to dismantle ruined slams and build a monumental skating ring for children”, τηε president went on.

“Belgrade was never as beautiful as it is today. So much money has never been invested”, Vucic claimed referring to the hundreds of construction sites in the capital, simultaneously erected which has caused traffic jams on daily basis. “And they (citizens) are complaining because they are coming late at the workplace, as like that is the biggest problem”, Vucic said.

When it comes to the so called music fountain in the inner city, which was closed shortly after opening because of the further reconstructions, the president said “it is among τηε ten most beautiful fountains in Europe”. “The fountain even sings in spite of haters”, Vucic said.