LOCAL PRESS

Brnabic: Partition is Dacic’s stance, government yet to decide (Tanjug/B92/Beta)

The government does not yet have an official position on the issue of Kosovo and Metohija, Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said on Tuesday in Trsic, western Serbia. The government will take a stance as soon as it has a concrete proposal on the table, she added. “Vucic is doing his best to reach a compromise solution, I don’t think that a compromise solution is close, he is looking to find it from the left and the right side, he is trying to consider the problem from all angles, so that we lose as little as possible and gain as much as possible,” Brnabic told reporters. Asked whether Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic saying that a partition of Kosovo and Metohija is the best solution represents the government’s official position – and whether the government minds individual views being presented – the prime minister said that this was Dacic’s position, and that the government had no official position yet. However, she points out that presenting individual opinions was not problematic, since the internal dialogue on the issue of Kosovo and Metohija has started, and it is good that everyone is saying what they think. “Whether it is the Community of Serb Municipalities Plus, or no compromise and waiting to take control over the whole territory of the southern province, regardless of whether that’s realistic or not, whether it is partition … everyone can give their opinion,” Brnabic said. She said she did not know whether a compromise would be found for Kosovo by the end of the year, and stressed that Vucic was doing everything in his power not to leave a frozen conflict to future generations.

Vucic to Montenegrin officials: Thank you for taking such good care of Serbia (Beta)

In a comment on the presence of a Montenegrin army officer at a ceremony in Croatia,

celebrating an Operation Storm anniversary, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said that he had tried to develop the best possible relationship between Serbia and Montenegro, promising to look after Serbia’s interests. Speaking to the press in Belgrade, President Vucic recalled that Montenegrin Prime Minister Dusko Markovic had said during a visit to Belgrade that Montenegro would protect Serbia’s interests, and that it would consult with Serbia ahead of important dates, and over important issues. “Dear friends, thank you for taking such good care of Serbia, the Serbian people and our interests,” Vucic said sarcastically. Vucic said that Croatian officials were welcome in Serbia, if they wanted to visit. “Whenever they want to come to Serbia, they are welcome; when they don’t want to, be it an election period or not, they don’t have to,” Vucic said, when asked about Croatian media reports that his Croatian counterpart, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, wouldn’t come to Serbia. He said his wish for an improving relationship with Croatia hadn’t changed, but that he refused to beg them, or complain about their campaign against him.

Serbia, B&H to strengthen economic and political cooperation (RTS/Tanjug/Beta)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic stressed the need to strengthen the political and economic relations between Bosnia and Serbia during his meeting with B&H Presidency member Mladen Ivanic in Belgrade. These things, he has said, must be done in the spirit of good neighborly relations and the joint interests of the citizens of Serbia and all three constituent peoples in Bosnia, especially the Serb people in the Republika Srpska (RS) entity. The two discussed concrete measures for the implementation of joint infrastructure and other projects which would contribute to the better connectivity of the people, faster flow of goods and better economic cooperation, bilateral relations, as well as the situation in the region. Speaking about the situation in the region, Vucic briefed Ivanic on the situation in the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, stressing the need of reaching a true compromise which would guarantee permanent stability and economic cooperation.

Dacic: Those who live in enclaves don’t think it’s part of Serbia (Prva TV/Tanjug/B92)

Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic told Prva TV that he sees no readiness on Pristina’s part to reach a compromise when it comes to Kosovo’s status. According to him, there will no better time for resolving the Kosovo issue. Dacic said that talks will be intensified in the next few months in an attempt to find a lasting solution for the status of Kosovo and Metohija.

He says there are two reasons for that. “The first reason is the need to find a compromise, not to keep this topic back, decades ahead. The other reason is that the mandate of the European authorities is expiring, Federica Mogherini will have to go to elections. This means that the direct dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina intensifies, but there is no solution without the consent of the great powers,” Dacic said. When it comes to his position regarding partitioning Kosovo, Dacic says that he has been talking about it for about ten years. “I talked about this with Dobrica Cosic, he told me that he talked about this with Milosevic and Djindjic… Djindjic said that we have several opportunities – a confederation, and if nothing can be done, there was partition…,” said Dacic. He added that he rejoiced when President Aleksandar Vucic opened the internal dialogue, but that he has not heard any other proposals. “That’s what I said, that’s my opinion. It is not a proposal of the party, nor of the government. I’ve been saying that for about ten years, I proceed from a practical solution. This solution is quickly possible because there would be no moving of the population,” he added. According to Dacic, he is not the one who opened Pandora’s box, and when the independence of Kosovo was proclaimed, the independence of the Republika Srpska should have also been proclaimed. “I was talking about delimitation, I did not use the term partition. Which territories those are, I’ve never spoken about it. Ask the people in the north of Kosovo what they think about it. And the Serbs in the enclaves in the south. What do they belong to? They belong to the Serbian province according to our Constitution, and where is it in real life… The one who lives in an enclave has long stopped thinking that this is an integral part of Serbia,” Dacic stressed. When it comes to the US position on the matter, Dacic emphasized that their position has changed significantly. “I talked to them many times, they did not even want to hear about it before. Today they are ready to hear about a compromise. They are ready for a creative solution, to put a full stop or three full stops on that issue,” he said. He stressed that he does not see Pristina’s willingness to compromise. “But they also have some limitations, they have some things that must be done. As far as I’m concerned, nobody from my party has ever been a traitor, I do not want to run away from a problem. I spend every hour of my working time to turn away at least one country from recognizing Kosovo,” Dacic stressed.

REGIONAL PRESS

Mektic says there are many misinformation, speculations re migrant crisis in B&H, there is lack of cooperation at regional level (TV1)

B&H Minister of Security Dragan Mektic stated on Tuesday that there are many misinformation and speculations regarding the migrant crisis in B&H, stressing that regardless of figures “the situation is not chaotic or anarchic.” According to Mektic, as many as 10,103 migrants have been registered in B&H since the beginning of the migrant crisis in the country, and out of this number more than 60 percent have already left B&H. He noted that B&H cannot fight the migrant crisis alone and the lack of cooperation at the regional level represents the additional problem. Commenting on the issue, B&H Service for Foreigners’ Affairs Director Slobodan Ujic reminded that B&H has not received any readmission application from Croatia, while certain citizens were returned along by border crossings and even repressive measures with use of force were executed against them. He added that different data on the number of illegal migrants, which are issued by competent institutions in B&H and Croatia, also prove poor cooperation between neighboring countries. Representatives of B&H Border Police have warned that shortage of police officers and adequate equipment greatly affects the state of B&H borders, noting that in the past eight years the number of police officers at B&H Border Police was reduced by 500. B&H Border Police spokeswoman Sanela Dujkovic reminded that there were also speculations according to which the RS police units controlling the eastern part of the border might be withdrawn from border crossings, but that this problem was resolved and there is no announcement on withdrawal of support of the RS Ministry of Interior (MoI) to B&H Border Police.

First session of Coordination Body for Monitoring Movement of Illegal Migrants in RS held in Banja Luka (BHT1)

The first session of the Coordination Body for Monitoring Movement of Illegal Migrants in the RS was held on Tuesday in Banja Luka. The participants of this session concluded that there are no capacities for accommodation of migrants on the RS’ territory. In case of need, the RS government will, in cooperation with local communities, provide all necessary logistic for humane transit over the territory of this entity. According to the data presented by the RS Ministry of Interior (RS MoI), since the beginning of 2018, there were 2,031 migrants from 22 countries registered on the RS’ territory. “More than 90 percent of them do not own any personal IDs. That is a problem. The problem is that we have persons registered in the fingerprint database, where one person has been registered under several names. They falsely present themselves,” said Director of RS Police Darko Culum. Culum rejected accusations of Prime Minister of USC Husein Rosic that the RS has been transferring migrants to this canton, underlining that migrants want to reach this canton. RS Assistant Minister for Refugees and Displaced Persons Drago Vuleta said that the data of the Service for Foreigners’ Affairs of B&H states that around 80 to 100 migrants enter B&H every day. Vuleta pointed out that part of the blame for such a situation in B&H falls onto the international community. “Part of the international community, especially the non-governmental sector, that does not contribute to finding of a solution. First they say that ‘Agrokomerc’ building is adequate, then they change their mind and say that it is too close to the border with Croatia. That has led to massive influx of migrants,” said Vuleta. Vuleta underlined that according to some information, around 10,000 illegal migrants were registered in B&H. He added that in order to improve security situation in B&H all competent bodies in B&H must engage in improvement of laws related to asylum and citizenship of B&H.

Bihac Mayor Fazlic expresses support to announced protest over migrant crisis (Nezavisne)

Mayor of Bihac Suhret Fazlic expressed support to protest over migrant crisis, which has been scheduled by an informal group of citizens for 1200 hrs on Monday, August 13 in Bihac. According to Fazlic, it is only logical for citizens to gather and call in a democratic manner on competent institutions to do their job – especially when someone does not want or does not know how to resolve a problem, which puts citizens’ lives and rights in an immediate danger. Fazlic noted that the entire migrant crisis has fallen on Bihac’s back, while at the same time local authorities have no legal tools to do anything about it. “We do not have our police, we cannot order anyone to do anything, we have no office for foreigners’ affairs, and we do not even have the inspection which would control the stay of foreign citizens. Everything is under someone else’s control, yet they are doing nothing!” said Fazlic, adding that local authorities have been sending cries for help for months. At the same time, however, the Bihac City Board of SBB B&H distanced itself from the announced protests. The statement issued by SBB B&H Bihac reads that protests are nothing more than political manipulation, and they expressed concern with Mayor Fazlic and ruling structures’ “lack of leadership and vision”.

Croatian Foreign Ministry reacts to Serbian President’s comparison with Nazism (Hina)

The Croatian Foreign Ministry on Wednesday responded to recent statements from Serbia, saying comparison with the Nazi regime was a “twisted argument” because it was former Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic’s regime, with the help of the Yugoslav army and some Croatian and Bosnian Serbs, that was responsible for the return of ethnic cleansing in Europe after WWII.

Serbian statements about Croatia on the occasion of the 23rd anniversary of Operation Storm were “ill-intentioned and wholly unfounded,” the ministry said in a press release, dismissing Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic’s statement that “Hitler wanted a world without Jews, Croatia wanted a Croatia without Serbs.” The argument that Slovenia and Croatia illegally separated from the former Yugoslavia, made this year, shows Serbia has still a long way to go in dealing with the recent past, its role in the break-up of the former federation and its military aggression on its neighbors, the ministry said, adding that, instead, Serbian officials continue with their defamation of Croatia. It called on Serbia to resolutely deal with the past and take a constructive approach based on fact as the only right path towards building good neighborly relations and true reconciliation, for which Croatia has been offering cooperation since 1996, the ministry said, adding that “the unwillingness of some to deal with the past only delays true reconciliation.” Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic has said Vucic’s comparison of Croatia with Nazi Germany was a big exaggeration, and that it is well-known that the war was fought in Croatia, not in Serbia, that Milosevic’s Great Serbia regime carried out a military aggression against Croatia, and that the 1995 Operation Storm ended the occupation of Croatia.

Dozens of migrants caught crossing from Bosnia to Croatia to Slovenia (Hina)

A 50-year-old Serbian national was caught transporting 38 western Europe-bound Pakistanis, who were crammed into a van, through Croatia and he was intercepted by Lika-Senj County police on Tuesday in the village of Bunic near the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The police filed charges against the van driver for having illegally entered Croatia and for using wrong Slovenian plates on the van. On Monday, the Slovenian police reported that in the previous four days they had caught 34 irregular migrants near the border crossings of Metlika and Crnomelj. The Slovenian law enforcement authorities have warned about a rising number of migrants coming via western Bosnia and passing through Croatia on their way to western and north Europe.

Attacks on Montenegro serve as a way of blurring the recognition of Kosovo (CDM)

Inappropriate and unfounded statements coming from Serbia on the account of Montenegro have recently become more and more intense. Everybody who is familiar with the political circumstances in the region believes that these attacks on Montenegro are Serbia’s way of covering the Kosovo problem. The last attack came from president of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, who said that our Prime Minister, Dusko Markovic promised last year in Belgrade that Montenegro would pay attention to interests of Serbs in Montenegro and didn’t keep his promise. The Government denied that. Accusations aimed at Montenegro serve to draw attention from the “burning” problem called Kosovo. They don’t know what to tell the citizens and then… “diversion”. Political analyst Ranko Djonovic says it loud and clear – Serbia is conducting the campaign against Montenegro. “They always considered Montenegro their colony, like they have certain rights over it. Like they own Montenegro”, says Djonovic. He adds that not even Vucic can escape that Serbian hegemony. “If he could, he would divide Bosnia again, he would take part of Croatia,” concludes the political analyst.

Opposition VMRO-DPMNE’s stance on referendum to be revealed by 10 September, leader Mickoski says (MIA)

The opposition VMRO-DPMNE will inform the public whether it will support or boycott the referendum by 10 September, party leader Hristijan Mickoski said Tuesday in an interview with the Channel 5TV. On numerous occasions VMRO-DPMNE has voiced its opinion about amending the constitution in favor of changing Macedonia’s name, Mickoski said. During the summer VMRO-DPMNE intends to consult with its supporters on the matter, Mickoski said, pointing out that citizens would be informed about the party stance on time, namely by 10 September when the referendum campaign was set to kick off.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA SOURCES

Serbs and Croats still segregated in Vukovar’s schools (Deutsche Welle, 7 August 2018)

Even 23 years after the Battle of Vukovar, a divide remains between Croats and Serbs in the city. In school, children are separated according to their ethnicity. Srecko Matic visited the eastern Croatian city.

Kristina Islentieva and Filip Rutko attend the same school. They have the same teachers. Yet they live in different worlds. They barely know each other. Serbian and Croatian children don’t go to class together in Vukovar: One group attends school in the morning, the other in the afternoon. “Since we are in different shifts, we can actually only see each other at the weekend, or in passing when the Croatian shift enters the school building,” the 13-year-old Islentieva said, adding that it seems that youths are being prevented from “meeting and spending time together.”

Croatia’s official school policy stipulates that lessons in the eastern region must be delivered in two languages and both the Latin and Cyrillic alphabets. The program is a consequence of the “peaceful reintegration of eastern Croatia,” which formally ended in 1998. Back then, politicians agreed to the program to better protect the cultural identity of the Serbian minority. Parents are free to choose which class their children attend. And they choose to separate. The students themselves appear to see it differently. “I would immediately stop holding class in two shifts,” said Rutko, 14, adding that the segregation deepens the feeling of difference between people. “If I were mayor, I would make sure that all schools have the same program, the same textbooks.”

Joint after-school activities

Separate classes, separate preschools, ethnicity-specific radio stations and even cafes that cater to separate cultures: The divisions are apparent in the baroque city two and a half decades after the wartime atrocities that accompanied the breakup of Yugoslavia. During the three-month siege by Serbian troops in 1991, more than 2,000 people, many of them civilians, died. The rubble has long been cleared, but not all wounds have healed, said Dijana Antunovic Lazic, of the European House in Vukovar. The institutions work only for themselves, she said, adding that the same is true for the people: “In my opinion, the greatest problem here is the lack of dialogue that should be going on at all levels in the local government.” Politicians reject the idea that they have any responsibility for the divisions in their city. Parents just choose separate day care centers and school classes, according to the mayor’s office. “These children function together, in clubs, in sports,” Deputy Mayor Ivana Mujkic told DW. “Living together today is much better than in the past, and it starts with the little ones.” For their part, Lidija Miletic and the faculty and staff she works with at the Dragutin Tadijanovic primary school are attempting to better integrate the approximately 230 Croatian children and their roughly 90 Serbian schoolmates. Miltetic’s approach includes joint activities. After class, the school offers voluntary sports, acting, dancing, music and many other activities, she told DW. “Although students attend classes either in one language or the other, we are always a unit when we perform elsewhere and represent our school,” she said. “We work together, like one big school.”

The economic fallout

Segregation isn’t Vukovar’s only problem. The city that once had more jobs than inhabitants is also struggling with the economic consequences of the war. Unemployment is high and in particular young, well-trained specialists are leaving. Before the war, almost 50,000 people lived in the city. The number had dwindled to just over half of that by the time the last census was conducted, in 2011. People seem to keep to themselves, but they generally say the different ethnicities tend to get along. The fact that people are slowly opening up to each other is in part thanks to educators such as Miletic, who spent the 1990s in Zagreb as a refugee before returning to her completely destroyed hometown. She believed in Vukovar’s future, she said, adding that people move away, but they will also return. “They are all citizens of Vukovar,” she said. “People here lived 5,000 years ago — there’s no reason it won’t be like this in the future.”

Dream of a career in arts

Kristina Islentieva would like to go abroad and become an artist when she grows up. Though she was born long after the war, it defines her everyday life “as if there were an invisible wall between us.” “I wish this wall would collapse so that everything would be normal and we could spend more time together,” she said. She is one of many in Vukovar who hope that someday the residents will truly live together, rather than just side by side.