LOCAL PRESS

Vucic: Without Serbia’s support for formation of Kosovo army (RTV/Tanjug/Beta/RTS)

At a press conference after a meeting in Belgrade with the Republika  Srpska (RS) President Milorad Dodik, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said that Serbia could not take part in creating a Kosovo army. “Serbia cannot possibly participate in the creation of a Kosovo army. I have heard some people try to convince us that it is quite possible. The Serb List is talking about that, but I do not think that it is possible,” Vucic said. He said there was enormous pressure to destroy Serbian unity in Kosovo, and that there is a strong foreign influence to diminish Serbia’s impact.

They also discussed demarcation of B&H-Serbia border, declaration on protection of Serb people and infrastructural projects. Following the meeting, Vucic stated that Serbian representatives in the commission for border demarcation between Serbia and B&H started working on creation of border demarcation proposal, to try to resolve the issue by the end of 2017. He said he informed Dodik about problems Serbia is facing in regards with this issue. “I said that we will give our best to be constructive and to look for compromise,” said Vucic adding that Serbia will work to avoid solutions that are detrimental for interests of Serb people or other peoples in B&H and Serbia. Dodik and Vucic also discussed the announced declaration on preservation of Serb identity and formed a team that will work on the draft. Dodik expressed content because the first draft will be created in mid-November, after which they will finalize the document and send it in procedure. Vucic informed Dodik about Serbia’s conversations with representatives of the EU, US and Russia, and asked Dodik to do what he can to accelerate the EU path of B&H. Dodik informed Vucic about the current political situation in B&H and told him that the RS initiated checking of wartime past of judges and prosecutors. He reiterated that B&H is an unsustainable country, because foreigners decide on its destiny, instead of local leaders. Dodik stressed that Dayton Peace Agreement was desecrated, adding that B&H cannot be sustainable country because it was an experiment of foreigners.

Djuric: Dialogue on Kosovo through broadest social debate (Tanjug)

The task of the Working group for support to the internal dialogue on Kosovo and Metohija is to listen to and collect opinions from the broadest social spectrum on one of the most important topics for us in the next several months, the Chair of the Working group Marko Djuric said at the first session of this group. Djuric recalled that President Vucic, who initiated this dialogue, insists that it is conducted on several levels, that it is responsible and that it has clearly defined goals, but that one of the imperatives is that it is conducted within the realistic, with clearly defined goals that lead towards the future, and not to conflicts.

Dacic thanks Mayor for respecting international law (Tanjug)

Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic spoke on Friday with President of the Council of the European Center for Peace and Development and former UNESCO Director General Federico Mayor on democratic multilateralism and contemporary world movements. Dacic expressed his gratitude to the distinguished Spanish scholar and diplomat for being consistently opposed to the initiative for membership of Kosovo in UNESCO and publicly expressing the view that this demand is contrary to the principles and norms of international law.

Ljajic: Pristina violates CEFTA agreement (Beta)

Serbian Minister of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications Rasim Ljajic said that the Ministry demanded from Pristina the abolition of the so-called import duty on flour transported from Serbia to Kosov and Metohija. Ljajic said that a protest was made to the provisional institutions of self-government in Pristina in charge of the implementation of the CEFTA agreement and representatives of UNMIK, due to the introduction of a special fee of €40 per ton of flour, which was introduced since 23 October. He assessed that it was a classic customs barrier that prevents or even stops the export of flour from Serbia, explaining that the protective measure of the Kosovo authorities was introduced because allegedly flour from Serbia is sold below the market price, that is, the price of production.

Crnadak: RS is nobody’s property (Politika)

B&H Foreign Minister Igor Crnadak said in an interview to Politika that he expects the issue of the borderline between B&H and Serbia to be resolved no later than by the end of the year, including the exchange of territories in Rudo and Strpci municipalities. “I expect the agreement on border to be completed by 6 or 7 December, when the tripartite B&H Presidency is supposed to visit Belgrade. Completion of agreement on border is a technical operation, but it will have a strong political message for both countries,” Crnadak said. He says that he is satisfied with improvement of relations between B&H and Serbia, adding that Serbia strongly supports B&H on country’s path towards the EU. Commenting on Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic’s proposal to organize a trilateral meeting between Serbia, B&H and Croatia, Crnadak said that B&H supports the idea and that he has already discussed it with Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic. He added, however, that he does not know if Zagreb wants that kind of the meeting to take place.

Commenting on relations between Serbia and the RS, Crnadak said that those relations “are developing in line with the Dayton Agreement”, adding that many have started realizing that cooperation and good relations between Serbia and the RS “are no obstacle to development of relations between Belgrade and Sarajevo”. “I think that everyone have to realize that Serbs living in Serbia and those living in the RS, or B&H, are the same people, and that it is only logical for Serbia to be expressing interest by using mechanism which is at Serbia’s disposal through the Agreement on Special and Parallel Relations,” Crnadak explained.

Commenting on political crisis in B&H, Crnadak said that one must not identify the RS with current authorities in Banja Luka; he added that “many things Mr. Milorad Dodik and his party (SNSD) are doing are aimed at collecting political points on a daily basis and preparing for elections”. According to Crnadak, Resolution on Military Neutrality and “toying with referendum” are causing immeasurable damage to institutions of the RS.

Commenting on referendum on the work of the B&H Court and the Prosecutor’s Office, Crnadak reminded that the RS Assembly passed decision on referendum back in 2015 and that the opposition was against it, because they believe that it is not the solution. “Is it realistic to abolish the Court and the Prosecutor’s Office of B&H? Is it possible to implement it and do we have the support of Serbia? Is it honest, if we know that those who have initiated referendum had once voted for creation of such court and such prosecutor’s office?” Crnadak wondered, adding that the referendum should have been organized immediately after the acquittal of wartime Srebrenica commander Naser Oric.

Commenting on relations between the Alliance for Changes and SDA, Crnadak said they do not agree on many things, which is the reason there should be “no big discussions about constitutional changes”. “One should work with decision-making mechanisms which are already in place,” Crnadak said, adding that decision-making mechanism in B&H is a complicated one, but is also the only mechanism peoples have managed to reach an agreement about.

Commenting on relations between the ruling and opposition parties in the RS, Crnadak said that no one believes anymore in ruling parties’ accusations, including those that opposition has been given money to undermine the RS. Crnadak said that the only ones who believe is such nonsense are a small group of people “gathered around public service RTRS”, which is completely under SNSD’s control. “The RS is nobody’s property, meaning that it is not Milorad Dodik’s property either,” Crnadak said, adding that since his own political party, PDP, advocates strong fight against corruption, “it is difficult to imagine us being acceptable partners to SNSD”.

REGIONAL PRESS

International community express concern with conclusions adopted by HJPC (TV1)

The EU Delegation (EUD) to B&H reacted on Friday to a conclusion of the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (HJPC) of B&H which calls for changing of the Law that will enable suspension of judges and prosecutors without disciplinary proceeding. The EUD assessed the adopted conclusions as concerning and stated that the conclusions may directly influence independence of judges and prosecutors, as well as respect for the basic human rights. Head of the EUD and EU Special Representative (EUSR) Lars-Gunnar Wigemark stated that the right to a fair trial is a precondition for trust of the public in judiciary. Wigemark underlined: “No official, including judges and prosecutors, can be removed of his duty without carrying out proper, independent investigation and previous disciplinary proceeding. Circumventing procedures will directly limit independence and impartiality of judiciary and this is not in line with standards of the EU”.

The Embassies of the US and the UK to B&H issued a joint press release. The Embassies expressed deep concern due to the adopted conclusions, and described a call as disturbing. The press release reads that removal of judges and prosecutors without proper proceeding is against the key guarantees of the European Convention on Human Rights and that it undermines the rule of law in B&H. The Embassies also said that this will pave the way for improper political control over employees in the judiciary, enabling their removal without any reason or implementation of a proper proceeding.

The Office of the High Representative (OHR) expressed its deep concern with the latest moves coming from the HJPC of B&H. According to the OHR, such moves are against the goal of the HJPC to build independent and professional judiciary. The OHR also stated that mandates of judges and prosecutors should be completely safe, while their removal can happen only after fair, transparent and appropriate disciplinary proceeding.

The OSCE Mission to B&H stated that the decision of the HJPC of B&H represents an unnecessary pressure on independent judicial institutions. “The conclusions of B&H HJPC do not reflect the meaning and purpose of independence of judiciary as the most important principle of the rule of law”, the OSCE Mission to B&H noted.

Dodik: Judiciary in B&H is only instrument for modeling of political system (RTRS)

RTRS carries that conclusion of the B&H High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (HJPC) which calls on the Prosecutor’s Office of B&H to provide information on whether or not investigation or criminal proceedings are being conducted against judges and prosecutors is a new stumbling block in relations with the international community. Republika Srpska (RS) representatives stressed that international community’s interventions have led to the worst judiciary in the region. RS President Milorad Dodik underlined that judiciary in B&H can only be regulated by local institutions without interventions of the international community. Dodik also said that judiciary in B&H is selective and directed against one people. “This judiciary is not a judiciary, but a political instrument for modeling the political system. They are saying that this is politically motivated, but if anything is politically motivated, then it is the interventionism of the international factor,” Dodik.

SDA: Conclusions of HJPC are scandalous (TV1)

Commenting the latest conclusions of the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (HJPC) of B&H pertaining to removals of judges and prosecutors of Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H), SDA noted that these represent a direct attack on independence of the judicial authority. SDA assessed these conclusions as scandalous and supportive of RS President Milorad Dodik’s policy of undermining of the state-level judicial institutions, demanding that President of B&H HJPC Milan Tegeltija is called to account and to have an insight into individual voting of B&H HJPC members on the issue. SDA also welcomed the stances of the international community on this issue. SDA said that it has nothing against any type of examinations, including examinations of war past of any judicial office holder, noting that this cannot be applied only to judicial institutions in B&H, but to the entire judiciary in B&H, as well as to all representatives of executive and legislative authorities throughout B&H.

RS submits report to UN Security Council (RTRS)

The Republika Srpska (RS) Government has submitted its 18th report to the UN Security Council covering the period from May to October of 2017, presenting its views of the issues faced by Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) in order to explain its opinions to the members of the Security Council and international community. RS President Milorad Dodik also wrote a cover letter supporting the 18th Report to the UN Security Council, addressed to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

The first part of the report, which the RS President submitted on behalf of the RS to the UN Secretary-General and UN member states, addressed the illegal subversion of the decentralized constitutional structure of B&H, violating the contractual rights and mechanisms of the protection of the RS and its people and worsening the disfunctionality of B&H.  “The High Representative has resorted to illegal decisions and coercion for years, thus executing the plan of SDA and other Bosniak parties to centralize the government. Since the High Representative’s so-called Bonn powers were discredited and were not applied anymore, SDA has relied on its own dominance in the State judicial institutions, such as the illegally formed Court of B&H and Prosecutor’s Office of B&H, to further undermine the constitutional autonomy of the two entities”, reads the document.

The second part of the report underlined the need to reform the B&H Constitutional Court by abolishing the positions of foreign judges.

The third part of the document explained why the Bosniak attempts to transfer the RS property to the B&H military structures are illegal and destabilizing and points out that a recent decision of the Court of B&H ordering the RS authorities to register the RS property to B&H and to the Ministry of Defense of B&H is contrary to the law.

The fourth part explained the reasons why the RS National Assembly (RSNA) is entitled to expressing its view on membership of NATO and potentially holding a referendum about the matter.

The fifth part stressed the need for judicial reform in B&H.

The sixth part of the report stressed the need for reforms so that the Court of B&H and High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (HJPC) of B&H can attain European and other international standards.

The seventh part of the report addressed Europe’s growing concern in terms of the B&H’s role of a safe haven for jihadists.

The eighth part analyzed the obstruction of the EU-related Reform Agenda by the B&H institutions.

In the final part of the report, the RS demanded that the international community observe the Dayton Peace Accords and B&H’s sovereignty by closing the Office of the High Representative, among other things.

Croatian President, B&H Presidency member Izetbegovic confirm readiness to address open issues in spirit of good-neighborly relations (HRT)

Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic and B&H Presidency member Bakir Izetbegovic held an informal meeting in the Dubrovnik-Neretva County on Saturday evening. They discussed bilateral relations, improvement of cooperation and open issues between B&H and Croatia, confirming the readiness to address open issues in the spirit of good-neighborly relations and based on respect for mutual equality, sovereignty and the international law. They also discussed the situation in the Southeastern Europe, perspective of the EU integration process and how to accelerate its pace, as well as organizing of trilateral meetings at the presidential level between B&H, Croatia and Turkey.

Ministry says Catalonia developments Spain’s internal issue (Hina)

Croatia considers the developments in Catalonia an internal issue of Spain and advocates democratic and peaceful solutions that are in line with European values, the Croatian Foreign and European Affairs Ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

Danilovic wants the opposition to meet (CDM)

Leader of United Montenegro Goran Danilovic has invited the opposition to meet in order to discuss a united front and actions pertaining to early parliamentary elections and future moves. Montenegrin opposition has been boycotting the Parliament for a year now. They have started off united, but DF and SDP returned to the Parliament when they needed to. Democrats, SNP, URA, SDP and Demos remained categorical in their boycott. “I publicly ask you to meet – 39 opposition MPs backed by 178.000 votes, we need to sit and make some decisions,” Danilovic said. He said the opposition needs to agree on detailed requests, conditions and actions when it comes to their primary task of holding early parliamentary elections.

Joint accession to EU has no Hungarian support (Pobjeda)

If EU is worried about strengthened influence of Russia or Turkey on Balkans, it should offer a more efficient and faster expansion policy, said state secretary for EU affairs in the government of Hungary Szabolcs Takacs. Speaking to Pobjeda, he said that Hungary believes that the country leading in the integration process should be the first one to join EU. “Countries’ progress should be determined on the basis of individual merit. Those who are faster should not be held back,” Takacs said.

SEC: SDSM claims victory in 17 municipalities (MIA)

All votes have been counted in 29 out of 35 municipalities where mayors were elected in the second round of the 2017 local elections, show initial results of the State Election Commission (SEC) posted online.

SDSM candidates won in 29 municipalities, including Vinica, Gradsko, Gazi Baba, Demir Kapija, Dolneni, Jegunovce, Karbinci, Kisela Voda, Makedonski Brod, Makedonska Kamenica, Mogila, Novaci, Rosoman, Staro Nagoricane, Caska, Cesinovo Oblesevo and Suto Orizari.

DUI claimed victory in Saraj, Debar, Lipkovo, Tearce and Cair, VMRO-DPMNE hopefuls won in Zrnovci and Kavadarci.

Furthermore, the Alliance for the Albanians won in three municipalities, namely Bogovinje, Vrapciste and Gostivar. DPA will have a mayor in Studenicani. An independent candidate won in the municipality of Brvenica.

Votes are being counted in the final six municipalities, including Butel, Zelino, Probistip, Struga, Tetovo and Stip.

Zaev calls on Gruevski to recognize the elections and to work in the interest of the citizens (Meta)

This is a great victory for the people of Macedonia and I congratulate this great holiday of democracy, said SDSM leader and Prime Minister Zoran Zaev, adding that the elections were fair and democratic. Zaev said that the results were as expected for them, both for the opposition and for the citizens. He emphasized that there must be no euphoria, that is, “celebrations end tonight, from tomorrow they will continue working”. He also called on the opposition, VMRO-DPMNE to reconsider its decision not to recognize the elections and to work in the interest of the citizens. He ruled out the possibility of organizing early parliamentary elections. “I understand these emotional moments of our opponent, but I hope that they will put the interests of the people first”, said Prime Minister Zaev.

Gruevski: Мass bribery, systematic threats and blackmail in the second round (Meta)

There were more irregularities in the second round than the first round, said the VMRO-DPMNE leader, Nikola Gruevski. “Because of the election violence, raping of democracy … threats, pressure, massive bribes, the VMRO-DPMNE does not recognize these elections and will never consider them fair and democratic,” Gruevski told reporters. He said a snap parliamentary vote should be organized by a technical government and demanded the resignation of the head of the state electoral commission and an investigation of the alleged election fraud.

Prime Minister Zoran Zaev dismissed Gruevski’s claims and asked VMRO-DPMNE to reconsider its rejection of the results. “I am hoping they will find the strength (to act) as responsible political subjects,” he told reporters.

DUI’s assessment is that the elections were democratic and that the citizens have freely expressed their will (Meta)

DUI’s assessment is that the elections were democratic and that the citizens have freely expressed their will, said the chief of the party’s election headquarters, Arber Ademi.

“The government of Macedonia showed a capacity for organizing democratic elections. The voting is over now and the process of counting the votes has begun” said Ademi and he also said that as soon as the initial results arrive the party will share them with the general public.

Opposition leader warns new facts of governance-drugs connections (ADN)

New facts, which implicate government with the drugs trafficking, will soon come to light. The leader of the opposition, Lulzim Basha called an urgent press conference on Saturday to make this declaration.  He gave no further details, asking from the journalists just to wait few more days. “Dritan Zagani was never condemned by the Prosecution of Serious Crimes. Prime Minister, Edi Rama lied saying so. Tahiri arrested Zagani because he did not close his mouth, but reacted against the criminal connections of Tahiri with the criminal gang of Moisiu Habilaj,” said Basha. He declared that new details will made public in days that follow.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA SOURCES

The Economy and Infrastructure of Serbia (Euromonitor, 29 October 2017)

Serbia has been struggling since the 1990’s to regain their economy and bring it to where Hungary and other Eastern European countries are today. The country’s Economic Freedom ranking, after improving during 2011-2016, declined in 2017 due to weak fiscal prudence and a lack of reforms to improve bureaucratic structure. This set Serbia amongst the lowest five in 2017. That being said, the weak rule of law increases corruption opportunities in the country. Serbia’s corruption performance ranking in 2016 was better than the one in 2011, owing to adoption of the National Anti-Corruption Strategy (AC Strategy) of the Republic of Serbia for the period 2013-2018 that outlines the measures and way forward to tackle corruption in the country.

Serbia’s total tax rate has increased between 2011 and 2017 and was higher than peers like Bulgaria and Croatia. Businesses can avail a ten year tax holiday subject to certain conditions and provided they have invested at least RSD1.0 billion on property, plant and equipment (trade sources). In the World Bank’s Regulatory Quality Index ranking 2015 (latest data available), Serbia’s ranking was in the bottom ten regionally, owing to bureaucratic delays and poor rule of law that weakens business confidence. Overall, Serbia’s transport infrastructure remains poorly developed and needs attention.  The country’s Logistics Performance Index ranking, after improving during the 2011 and 2015 period, declined in 2016 owing to a decline in the quality of logistic services and trade infrastructure. Regionally it was placed in the middle. The country’s logistic competitiveness is expected to get boosted by the opening of its first private train terminal in 2017.Also, Serbian state-run railway infrastructure operator Infrastruktura Zeleznice Srbije plans to increase investments for construction and maintenance activities to €640 million euro (US$670 million) in 2017 from €215 million euro in 2016. With infrastructure on the rise, so is the internet. A rise of more than 30 percentage points seen in households having access to broadband penetration between 2011 and 2016 means that internet accessibility is spreading rapidly within the country. Though despite the increase, broadband accessibility remains lower than most of its peers within the region; Internet usage among businesses in Serbia is very high, but receiving orders over the internet remains very low, possibly owing to high mobile and fixed internet tariffs. Schooling is still a problem within Serbia as the average duration of schooling in Serbia for 2016 was 12.0 years. While this is slightly higher than 11.5 years of average schooling prevalent in Eastern Europe, brain drain is becoming a serious problem. This is when highly trained or intelligent people emigrate. This is a key problem for the country going forward as could create wide scale labour shortages in the country. This is impart due to the sub-standard education and skills not needed by the industry people have skills for. Serbia’s labour market remains rigid as low co-operation exists between employer and labour and its capacity to retain and attract talent remains weak. Although both overall and youth unemployment rates declined during 2011 and 2016, they remained much higher than the regional average as well as that of peer nations. The country’s National Youth Strategy 2015-2025 amongst other objectives also aims at not only creating more employment but also improve employability of the country’s youth.

Overall, Serbia’s economy and government has been improving over the years. Yet, they have had a stagnation as their new policies are coming into play. The country will have to continue improving the education system as well as the job market to curb their problem with brain drain. The Serbian train infrastructure improvements, as well as internet and bandwidth, leave the country to soon be thriving in these areas. With the help of the National Anti-Corruption Strategy of the Republic of Serbia, the government should become more effective and help the country flourish.

Catalan Situation ‘Not a Vanity-Type of Secession, Self-Determination’ (Sputnik, 27 October 2017)

The Catalan parliament has declared independence from Spain on Friday, October 27, after a decisive vote that sees 70 deputies vote in favor, with 10 opposed and two blank ballot slips. Sputnik spoke to Professor of Law Alfred De Zayas about the legal implications of this declaration of independence.

Sputnik: What do you think is the next steps for Catalonia?

Professor Alfred De Zayas: We will have to see what Madrid does and how it does it. They certainly made an effort to negotiate and it failed, and I regret it. In my own proposals, I thought that a fresh referendum would be necessary to find out exactly what the Catalonian people wish. But this has not been possible now they have declared independence and of course a unilateral declaration of independence is not self-executing, it is not automatic.

It is however consistent with current international law and the international court of justice found in 2010 that the unilateral declaration of independence of Kosovo did not break international law. Of course we have the precedence of Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia Herzegovina declaring themselves unilaterally independent. Now, one thing is declaring independence and another thing is getting the recognition from other states. We have seen that the European Union has more or less stuck its head in the sand and played the ostrich and decided to say “no, that is exclusively a matter for Spain, an internal matter.” Curious, if you contrast that with the way that the European Union has been meddling in the internal affairs in Poland and in Slovakia and in Hungary. So we have here more or less a rather arbitrary if not a la carte approach to international law.

Self-determination in the 21 century is no longer decolonization. Self-determination is democracy and democracy expresses itself by referenda, so prohibiting a referendum is an anomaly. An anomaly under Spanish constitutional law as Article 10, paragraph 2 of the Spanish constitution and Article 96 place international treaties and international human right laws above Spanish law, so Spanish law must be interpreted in the light of international law, and Article 1 of the international covenant on civil and political rights provides for self-determination, and it is not without reason that its Article 1. It has been given that important place in the list of articles. But we are facing a situation of fetishism of legality. The government says that the referendum is illegal as will be the declaration of independence as illegal instead of sitting down and discussing those elements that would make it legal or illegal. Now this has been a debate in literature and law since Damone Memorial and now you already have it in Sophocles and pigonie and the romans said “dura lex, sed lex” — “the law is [harsh] but [it is] the law.” And you have to apply it even if it’s hard and then you have Cicero coming against that view and saying “summum ius, summa iniuria” meaning “an excess of law, is the highest level of injustice,” so instead of interpreting the law in the light of the spirit of the law, in the light of human dignity, what you are trying to achieve with law you simply block and say “nope, we will not tolerate a referendum and I consider that a mistake.” I would like to say the Catalan situation it is not a vanity type of secession, it is not vanity type self-determination, they do have their culture, they do have their history, they do have their identity, and Catalan autonomy has been encroached upon more and more in the last 15 years. That is also the opinion of professor colleagues of mine who have seen this move towards homologation in Spain and in the field of education. But of course I have no clue what the Spanish or other the Catalans really want. If we had, had a referendum properly organized and conducted by the United Nations or monitored by the European Union and by the Carter Centre, then we would know what we want and then we could sit down like civilized people and discuss the options. What I find absolutely outrageous in Europe in the 21st century, is that independence, would lead us to be arrested, so I mean this is having political prisoners. Can you imagine if the United Kingdom had decided to arrest the leaders of independence in Scotland or if Canada had decided to arrest the leaders of independence of Quebec instead of saying “let them hold a referendum, and if they have substantial two-thirds majority, then let’s talk.” It is most regrettable in a European country that this has transpired.

Sputnik: What do you make of the Spanish senate approving direct rule over Catalonia?

Professor Alfred De Zayas: Well, I expected that. I mean it’s quite clear that the Spanish Government had the majority to put that through. But again, you still have Article 1 of the covenants on civil and political rights, and you still have the rule in international law of non-retrogression in human rights protection. So once you have given a state or a Provence or a territory a degree of autonomy, you’re not supposed to encroach on it. You can approve upon it but you’re not supposed to turn the clock back and that is the situation we have. We will see what other actions are taken, and I would hope that the high commissioner of human rights of the European Union would pronounce itself on this amazing development. But thus far they have essentially kept quiet. The European Union has shown a, shall we say, complicity with what is happening and it is regrettable because as I said, the European Union is applying double standards. You’ve seen quite clearly the efforts of the EU, vis-a-vis Hungary and they could immediate it. I think the logical thing for the EU in a European State, is to offer its mediation, and after all, the Catalans are European citizens. You have seven and half million Catalans and they have been very peaceful in their demands. As a matter of fact, they have been demonstrating for independence for a good 10, 15 years and the independence movement is of course a lot older, but it has come of age in the recent past. It has come of age not as a terrorist movement, not as a violent movement but is has come of age in a very orderly and peaceful way. It is my worry, that if you remember back in 1989, Slobodan Milosevic canceled the autonomy of Kosovo. The direct result of doing away with Kosovo’s traditional autonomy was that you had the Kosovan Liberation Army established and then you had a war that ended in 1999 with the bombardment of Serbia and Kosovo, with tens and thousands of deaths. Now I don’t think we want to see that repeated and I think that canceling the autonomy of a people that is accustomed to autonomy is a mistake. I think all of this could have been avoided if there had been a negotiation. If there had been an internationalization of the product. If you had, had the European of court of justice in Luxembourg pronouncing itself on the status of autonomy of the Catalans and in the efforts of encroaching or reducing or canceling that autonomous status. But again, there has been a lack of leadership, and I hope that in the following weeks we will not see more violence. I think a realization of the right of self-determination is a conflict preventative measure. It is a strategy that the Europeans should have had and let’s remember, that the Europeans recognized the unilateral declaration of independence of Slovenia barely ten days after Slovenia had declared itself independent and that in itself was recognizing the breakdown of the territorial integrity of the federal state of Yugoslavia. The same thing happened with the unilateral declaration of independence of Croatia and the declaration of independence of Bosnia Herzegovina. So the Europeans felt fine, they go along with all of these unilateral declarations back in the 1990’s, but now they don’t want to do it. So you would think that once the genie is out of the bottle that you can’t’ really put it back into the bottle. But they are acting like all of this hadn’t happened and they didn’t create any precedent. And therefore we are dealing with the Catalan situation as having no precedent in international law that you can apply to it, and that is wrong.

Of course, that’s politics and politics is very frequently more powerful than international law and international law is also violated with impunity.