LOCAL PRESS

Brnabic: Frozen conflict in Kosovo potential source of threat for citizens (Beta)

Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said on Friday at the opening of the conference dubbed “Towards a Safer Serbia”, held in Belgrade, that four major challenges are ahead of Serbia: migration, terrorism, high-tech crime and the situation in Kosovo and Metohija. Brnabic assessed that the specificity of the situation in Kosovo is such that we have a frozen conflict, which is a potential source of security threat for our citizens for several reasons, and above all because we increasingly see the senseless attacks of Pristina authorities, from which we do not know what we can expect. She pointed out that Pristina does not fulfill its obligations under the first agreement between Belgrade and Pristina – the Brussels agreement, and that, therefore, Serbia does not have a partner on the other side on whom it can count. She assessed that migration is a challenge not only for Serbia, but for the whole of Europe, noting that during the period of the migrant crisis in 2015 and 2016, Serbia has proven to have security forces that can meet all the challenges and protect its borders and citizens, but also showed that it is humane and that it can deal with the registration of so many migrants. Serbia, although it did not have problems with terrorism, invests much and monitors every security threat that can come from that direction in order to remain a safe country, said the Prime Minister, adding that our country has a strategic assessment of public security from 2017 to 2021, which defines eight priorities. These are the fight against organized crime, suppression of the production and smuggling of drugs, corruption, high-tech crime and terrorism, as well as improvement of the state of law and order and traffic conditions, as well as the fight against irregular migration, Brnabic said.

Vucic feels a bit better after agreement with Stoltenberg (Beta/B92)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic says he has agreed with NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg that in the event of a crisis in Kosovo, they can quickly make contact. He said that this procedure has been established in order to prevent conflicts and more serious consequences. Vucic said that he asked Stoltenberg not to reduce the KFOR mission in Kosovo and Metohija, as it is the only protection for the Serb people. “I’ve had long talks with Stoltenberg and we spoke about all kinds of cooperation between Serbia and NATO. This cooperation is good and we have a lot of joint activities. We paid special attention to the issue of KiM and the role of KFOR, and I asked him many times not to reduce their mission to Kosovo and Metohija,” Vucic said, stressing that KFOR has an effective role in the protection of the Serbs. Vucic pointed out that they agreed that in any crisis situations they can get in touch in order to avoid serious consequences, and thank him for accepting that. “If there’s need to do it, we will be in contact in the shortest possible time, within a few minutes, and we will be able to solve it immediately and help, so that we can explain what is happening on the ground and help protect the population. It feel a bit better, because we will we can say what is happening on the ground and help protect the population,” Vucic said.

Stoltenberg: We should be ready for unpredictable (Beta/Tanjug/RTS)

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told the Belgrade Security Forum gathering “Leadership for a Secure Region” on Monday that it was necessary to expect the unpredictable and unforeseeable events, Beta reported. He added it was (now) more challenging to differentiate between war and peace, stability and conflict. “We have to understand the fact that we live in the time of the hackers’ wars, hybrid wars,” Stoltenberg said, taking part in the discussion together with President Vucic. Earlier the two attended the beginning of the intentional disaster relief exercise “Serbia 2018” held in Belgrade’s suburb of Mladenovac. NATO chief mentioned the Arab Spring, the Russian annexation of Crimea and the emergence of the Islamic State as events only a few could predict and that’s why we have to be prepared and react quickly. He added that NATO raised its Hi-tech, combat and intelligence community readiness. Speaking about the Balkans, Stoltenberg said he was worried about the return of the nationalistic rhetoric. “Brussels cannot solve the regional problems. It can help. People who live here should resolve all the issues, and I call for peace, and not to go back to nationalistic rhetoric,” he said, adding that despite other problems, the regional instability was a high-security risk for the whole of Europe and NATO. Vucic said Serbia would do everything to avoid conflicts and preserve peace and stability in the region. “We’ll do our best to continue the dialogue with the Pristina’s Albanians, to improve relations with new Bosnia’s leaders and there is no doubt that we will have a better relationship with Croatia as much as we can contribute to it,” Vucic told the gathering. He said Serbia would also do everything possible to avoid causing a headache to the great powers, but most of all to its people. “We know what was done to us, what we did to others and that’s why we should not repeat the mistakes from the past, but take care of the future.”

Vucic: Belgrade expects better relations with B&H and RS (Beta)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said that following Sunday’s general elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H), he expected even better cooperation with both B&H and Republika Srpska (RS), reports Beta. He unofficially congratulated to all three winners for the B&H Presidency, Sefik Dzaferovic, Zeljko Komsic and Milorad Dodik, adding his official congratulations would follow the final results.

REGIONAL PRESS

CEC B&H presents preliminary election results: Dodik 54.06, Ivanic 42.79 perent of votes (Nezavisne/N1)

The candidate of the SNSD-DNS-SP coalition for the Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) Presidency member from Republika Srpska (RS) Milorad Dodik won 293,622 votes or 54.06 percent and leads in front of the Alliance for Victory’s (SzP) candidate Mladen Ivanic, who won 232,375 votes or 42.79 percent. These are the latest data from the Central Election Commission of B&H after processing of 84.33% polling stations. The candidate of the Serbian Progressive Party, Mirjana Popovic, received 8,918 votes or 1.64 percent, while the candidate of the “First SDS” Gojko Klickovic received 8,181 votes or 1.51 percent. 543,096 or 93.94 percent of valid ballots have been processed, invalid voices 17,509 or 3.03 percent, and invalid by other criteria 17,508 or 3.03 percent. Candidates of the Party of Democratic Action (SDA), the Democratic Front (DF) and the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD) are leading in the run for B&H tripartite Presidency, according to the preliminary election results presented by the Central Election Commission (CEC) late Sunday night. CEC President Branko Petric presented the preliminary results of the general election held across the country on Sunday after 741,599 votes have been processed. SDA’s Sefik Dzaferovic, who ran for the post of the Bosniak member of B&H’s Presidency, won 37.97 percent of votes, holding a lead over his opponent Denis Becirovic, the candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), who won 33.40 percent of votes. 49.47 percent of voters gave the support to DF’s Zeljko Komsic, the candidate for the Croat member of the state Presidency, while his main opponent and the Croat member of the Presidency in this term, Dragan Covic, the candidate of the Croat Democratic Union (HDZ B&H), won 38.66 percent of votes. Finally, the Serb candidate for the Presidency who has won the largest number of votes is SNSD’s Milorad Dodik, followed by the Alliance for Victory’s (SzP) Mladen Ivanic, now outgoing Presidency member. The Central Election Commission said the voter turnout in the Sunday election was 53.36 percent. Over three million voters were eligible to vote in the Bosnia’s general election this weekend and cast their vote for members of the state presidency, entity presidents and vice presidents as well as the members of the state, entity and cantonal parliaments. Polls in B&H opened on Sunday for the general elections with 3,352,933 eligible voters. Voters choose three members of the State Presidency, president and two vice-presidents of Republika Srpska (RS), members of the B&H House of Representatives, National Assembly of RS, Parliament of the Federation of B&H, and parliaments of 10 Federation of B&H cantons. At this year’s elections there were 128 political entities – 58 parties, 36 coalitions and 34 independent candidates, while 73 lists of candidates which have been submitted for compensatory mandates. A total of 518 positions are elected among 7,498 candidates. There are 3,352,933 names in the Central Voters’ Register, including 3,254,767 regular voters, around 8,000 displaced voters voting in absence, around 12,000 displaced voters voting in person, and around 77,000 voters who will vote by mail. Elections have been held in 5,794 polling stations, including 5,380 regular. There was a total of 314 mobile teams who will visit 10,000 citizens voting in institutions or at their own home. General elections kicked off Sunday morning at exactly 7 a.m. with slight delays in some towns in B&H. Delays ranged from 15 to 40 minutes. The most delays were recorded in the city of Banja Luka, where the watchdog recorded up to 100 delays due to technical issues, but the watchdog said all the issues were resolved on time. The voter turnout was 53.36 percent, according to the Central Election Commission.

Preliminary results for the parliament of RS, the SNSD in the lead, followed by the SDS, SDS, DNS and PDP (Nezavisne)

In the elections for the Republika Srpska (RS) parliament, based on the previously processed 74.06% of ballot papers, the SNSD is in the lead, with 153.639 or 32.68% of the votes won, ahead of the SDS, which has 89.521 or 19.04% of the votes and DNS who won 67,823 or 14.43 % of votes. According to today’s data of the Central Election Commission of B&H, PDP follows with 46,518 or 9.9% of votes, the SP with 38,949 or 8.29% of votes, the NDP with 18,858 or 4.01% of votes, “Together for B&H” with 17,251 or 3,67 % of votes, and United Serpska with 14,362 or 3.06 % of votes. The percent of valid ballots is 93.94 % and invalid 6.06 %. 1.260.597 voters had a right to vote for the Members of the National Assembly, and choose from 1.438 candidates out of 31 political subjects. Number of processed polling stations is 1,659. Unprocessed number of polling stations is 581.

Preliminary results for the Federation of B&H parliament, the SDA in the lead (Nezavisne)

The Central Election Commission of B&H this morning announced the first preliminary results for the House of Representatives of the Parliament of the Federation of B&H. The party with the highest vote is the SDA, followed by a coalition gathered around HDZ and SDP. According to data published after eight o’clock, the strongest parliamentary party in the Federation of B&H is the Party of Democratic Action with 25% of the votes won. It is followed by a coalition gathered around the Croatian Democratic Union with 18%, and the Social Democratic Party with 14% of the votes won. The Democratic Front won 8% of the votes in the Federation of B&H, and behind them it is the Party for a Better Future with 6% of the won votes. The newly formed Democratic Action Movement is near the 5% threshold for entry into the Federation of B&H House of Representatives. 57.11% of the votes were processed and more than 91% of them are considered valid.

Preliminary results for the president of the RS (Nezavisne)

The Central Election Commission of B&H announced the preliminary results this morning for the president of Republika Srpska (RS) after 78.57% of the polling stations were processed. According to the data, candidate of the Union of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD) Zeljka Cvijanovic won with 234,912 or 47.67% of the votes. While the candidate of the Alliance for Victory Vukota Govedarica came in second with 210.066 or 42.6% of the votes.

CEC: Exceptionally fair and decent election (Nezavine)

The General elections in B&H were exceptionally fair and decent, the Central Election Commission (CEC) President Branko Petric said Sunday evening, addressing the first press conference after the polling stations closed. The voter turnout was 53.36 percent, according to the Central Election Commission. “The voting time was extended at several polling stations, four or five, for about an hour” Petric said. The violations were recorded at ten of 6,000 polling stations, but the situation was put under control owing to election commissions, police and parties. “It stems from all this that this election was exceptionally fair and decent, contrary to catastrophic announcements that election was poorly organized and that its collapse could be expected” concluded Petric. Over three million voters were eligible to vote in the B&H’s general elections this weekend and cast their vote for members of the state presidency, entity presidents and vice presidents as well as the members of the state, entity and cantonal parliaments.

OSCE says election process in B&H passed in peaceful manner, without problems and in satisfying security environment (TV1)

Representatives of the OSCE’s observation mission said on Sunday that election process in Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) passed in a peaceful manner, without problems and in a satisfying security environment. An OSCE team visited three polling stations in Sarajevo Sunday morning. Representatives of the OSCE mission said that complete picture of the results of the OSCE’s observation mission will be known on Monday. Special coordinator of the OSCE’s observation mission Makis Voridis said that the observation mission talked to all participants in the elections and that members of the mission have a complete picture of the election process in B&H.

Wigemark: Government must be formed as soon as possible (N1)

The EU will monitor the election process in B&H, Head of EU Delegation to B&H Lars-Gunnar Wigemark said, adding that it is important to reach a compromise in forming the government after the election, as soon as possible. “First of all, we hope there won’t be too many irregularities in this election cycle. We hope the election results will be respected and that the government and all the legislative bodies will be formed as soon as possible,” Wigemark said. “In order to make this happen, a compromise and a solution acceptable to everyone in Bosnia must be reached.” Wigemark pointed out that the EU is also monitoring the general election in B&H via non-governmental organization as well as other structures within the EU. “As far as the EU is concerned, we will monitor the election process via our colleagues who will state their election assessments on Monday. We’ll also monitor the election from other sources such as the ‘Pod Lupom’ coalition,” Wigemark concluded.

Cormack: US committed to election process and democracy in B&H (Nezavisne)

The US is committed to the election process and democracy in B&H, said US Ambassador to B&H, Maureen Cormack, adding that Embassy’s observers have witnessed individual violations in the election process. “It’s important that B&H citizens vote and that their voice is heard. They should vote for the leaders who focus on resolving their problems,” Cormack said. “The US Embassy has many observers across the country, that are making sure that the election is fair and honest.” The Ambassador noted that the Embassy received several reports saying that the election process was regular and without violations, but also some reports where the whole process was violated. She reiterated the importance of citizens reporting their objections to the election process to competent institutions.

Dodik: My victory is clean as a whistle, I will take oath before RSNA first (Klix.ba)

SNSD leader Milorad Dodik declared victory in race for Serb member of Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) Presidency. Following publishing of preliminary election results, Dodik said that even if all Muslims in Republika Srpska (RS) would vote for Mladen Ivanic, his victory is clean as a whistle. Asked by reporter, what will he do first after entering B&H Presidency, Dodik said: “Who says I will go there first”. “I think that the oath is not a reflection of constitutional position and I I’ll take an oath before the RS National Assembly. When I do that, I consider that I swore to those who elected me. Presidency, where I will sit, will have to have RS flag”, said Dodik. He thanked those who voted for him: “Even a hundred of US and UK Embassies could not have helped them, as they were helping them by now. The will of the people is undisputable, the people showed their dedication, Ivanic was sanctioned because of the servitude politics towards the West. As Serb member of Presidency I will advocate RS position, to be number one in B&H. My motto will be “RS First” and protection of constitutional order of this entity”, said Dodik. In his address to the public, Dodik said that he had spoken to Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic just before his address, who congratulated him on the election victory. Dodik stressed that his first meeting as a member of the B&H Presidency would be with President Vucic. “My first meeting will be with President Vucic, maybe even before with my colleagues in the Presidency of B&H,” Dodik said.

Ivanic: Dodik won in rural, I won urban regions (Klix.ba)

Candidate of Alliance for Victory for Serb member of Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) Presidency, Mladen Ivanic stated that his opponent Milorad Dodik has around 30,000 more votes, but added that there are more votes that need to be processed. “We will ask for re-counting of all votes, because the difference in certain posts is too high compared to other posts. I know that it is a dead race in Banja Luka. This year the result is much better than it was the previous elections. I won urban regions and Dodik in rural,” said Ivanic. He added that it is necessary to wait for final results.

Komsic: I will serve all B&H citizens (Oslobodjenje)

Addressing the press conference on Sunday night, new Croat member of B&H Presidency, Zeljko Komsic said that his message for B&H citizens is the same one that he conveyed in 2006 and 2010. “I want you to know that I am here to serve all citizens of this country and that I am at disposal, regardless if they voted for me or not. My message to Croats in Western Herzegovina and anywhere in B&H is that they have no reason for fear and panic. I am your president, regardless if you voted for me or not. The same message goes to the people in Republika Srpska (RS), who, due to constitutional organization, are prevented to vote for candidates coming from the Federation of B&H”, said Komsic. He said that he is aware of the obligation and the burden that he is taking over, adding that he will try his best not to make any mistakes in his future engagement. Speaking about the results for other authority levels, Komsic said that they are insufficient to make any kind of projections. “There are regions where we are well position, such as Tuzla and Sarajevo, but mine expectations are that DF, as a party, will move similar as in 2014. When it comes to coalitions, we have to see what kind of results were achieved and what are they prepared to do when it comes to B&H”, said Komsic. He stressed that DF will not agree to any kind of “mathematical coalitions”: “We will insist on adoption of certain laws first and then to start with forming of authorities”. Asked to comment statement of HDZ B&H leader Dragan Covic who said that real crisis in B&H is only now beginning, Kosmic said that “you cannot expect election results to be in you favor always”. “Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, and that is how things are in this job. I do not see reason for the crisis, when these elections were conducted in line with positive provisions of Constitution and other laws. Mr. Covic was elected in 2014 in line with these same regulations”, said Komsic.

Covic: I am saddened by Bosniaks’ move (Klix.ba)

Following the publishing of first election results, HDZ Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) leader Dragan Covic addressed a press conference, visible disappointed by the fact that Bosniaks voted for Zeljko Komsic. “This is a message to all, Croat people conveyed a message that it is constituent and pro-European. I am saddened by the fact that Bosniaks failed to understand this and they opted differently. I thought they will not do that. We will have over 80% among Croat electorate. Bosniaks cannot elect legitimate representatives for Croats, which is the path of retrogression, which is not the European way. That is also a message to representatives of international institutions. We tried to change the Election Law. Now it is visible that the advantage is in the hands of the most numerous people. I trust there will be understanding among the Bosniaks, because this is not good for Bosniak people and for B&H and this can cause a crisis of unseen proportions. We are aware of this responsibility” said Covic.

SDA in lead for B&H parliament (Klix.ba)

Information about election results continued to arrive into the Head Quarters of SDA and according to 33% of counted votes, SDA is currently in the lead for Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) Parliament. It is followed by SDP and DF. According to most recent data, SDA won 32.2% of voted for B&H Parliament and they are followed by SDP, DF, SBB B&H and HDZ B&H.

Cvijanovic declares victory (Klix.ba)

SNSD candidate for Republika Srpska (RS) President, Zeljka Cvijanovic stated that she has about 30,000 more votes than Alliance for Victory’s (SzP) candidate Vukota Govedarica. “The difference is impossible to catch up with”, said Cvijanovic, adding that she is talking about results from 74% of processed votes. “We will analyze the results, but it is necessary to say that even those vulnerable posts for SNSD have been included. I am proud and satisfied that the difference is clearly visible and I expect it to even increase after all data are processed”, said Cvijanovic.

Vucic: Serbs should join govt ahead of election (Pobjeda)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic met the representatives of Serbian organizations in Montenegro and told them they should not reject the government’s invitation for setting up a temporary governing coalition, ahead of the parliamentary election and census, writes Pobjeda daily. Vucic’s statement followed the idea of the leader of the United Montenegro, Goran Danilovic, who considered that the political representatives of Serbs should support setting up of a temporary government, for which they would need the external support.

Several sources close to Pobjeda daily attended the meeting in Belgrade and revealed that the Serbian president pointed out Serbs would only benefit from joining Montenegrin govt. “Serbs would thus be able to show their interests and exercise their rights ahead of the elections and census. However, we do not want to meddle into Montenegro’s internal affairs” said Vucic, according to Pobjeda’s sources. Vucic and the managerial structure of the Serbian Progressive party, SNS, have been striving to convince Serbs to join the Montenegrin government since 2014.

Djukanovic: No doubt Russia had role in attempted terrorist attack (CDM)

In an interview with the Italian broadcaster RAI, the President of Montenegro, Milo Djukanovic, told there is no doubt the Russian nationals were involved in attempted overthrow during elections on 16 October 2016. He emphasized that Russia has its own interests which it has been trying to enforce even more aggressive if only it noticed greater weakness of Europe. “I think it’s very significant for Europe to preserve its vision of unification and the Western Balkans integrations, back the Balkans in its endeavor to embrace the European system of values and close the gap for possible meddling of third political parties not following this system of values. This is how I interpret events that happened in Montenegro, which have been taking place now in some other countries of Europe. I believe no one is surprised by the fact Russia has been consistently dismissing allegations over the involvement of its citizens, as we saw very well what was going on in the Skripal case. Therefore, there’s no doubt that Russian nationals participated actively in certain events in Montenegro, and that they themselves possess official IDs of certain state services. This would be my answer to the question related to different arguments we can hear in this regard,” responded Djukanovic when asked whether he trusted Russian president Vladimir Putin. Commenting on the recent statement by the U.S. President Donald Trump regarding Montenegro and its NATO membership, Djukanovic said he would rather not answer to that question, as “we are well aware and genuinely grateful for the U.S. continuous assistance in times when Montenegro had to preserve stability and multi-ethnical harmony, resist Milosevic’s aggression, as well as in times when reforms were supposed to be enforced, which afterwards created preconditions for entering NATO.” “Along with the NATO member states from Europe, the U.S. assistance was crucial, especially in speedy transformation of Montenegro, so that it can achieve standards which ensured NATO membership. This is why I believe it’s very important for us the U.S. society and state policy to consider Montenegro as a reliable partner. And we achieved this status in times when the Balkans was the topmost priority of the U.S foreign policy during Bill Clinton’s presidency,” noted President Djukanovic.

Tajani: Montenegro could join EU in 2025 (TVCG)

Doors of the European Union (EU) are open for Montenegro- this is what the President of European Parliament Antonio Tajani told in an interview with TVCG. Montenegro is the leader among countries wishing to join the EU and that should happen in 7 years, Tajani also said. “We love Montenegro and we want to cooperate with it. Our doors are open for Montenegro.” Despite challenges the EU has been recently facing (e.g. the next-year election, Brexit, migrant crisis and the enlargement policy), Tajani hopes our country will join the EU by 2025. “We have 7 years more. Montenegro could become the full EU member state if only we worked hard. We also have to improve the stability of the EU. Montenegro is a frontrunner for 2025 EU membership,” Tajani told. The European Parliament President emphasizes our country plays a key role for the stability of the Western Balkans, which is also very important for the stability of the EU.

Int’l community: Current deadlock to be settled in parliament, instead of in early elections (MIA)

It’s been almost a week after Macedonia voted in the name referendum. NATO accession and EU integration remains a priority neither the government nor the numerous international official will give up on. Macedonia, they say, doesn’t need early elections, what the country needs to do is to implement the Prespa Agreement by securing a 2/3 majority in parliament. EU Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn has already reiterated that there is no need for early parliamentary elections in Macedonia, instead the opportunity should be used in securing a two-thirds majority in Parliament that would implement the Agreement with Greece. Hahn told the Austrian daily Kurier that he has already conveyed this message to Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev.

“New elections will only delay the way to start the EU accession talks with FYROM, which is planned for the summer 2019,” Hahn noted. In regard to the referendum, Hahn noted that it cannot be said that it was unsuccessful. “It is unusual for a referendum to be supported by 94 per cent of voters, but only 36.8 per cent to come out and vote, and because the opposition was apparently successful in the boycotting the referendum,” Hahn said. He said he believed that that a two-third majority can be mustered in parliament. “Eight or nine votes from the opposition are necessary and this must be done. Everyone says they want to join EU and NATO, including the opposition, and then simply you have to pay the price of this solution. It is about a solution that is in the interest of the country, and not in the interest to political parties and politicians. And in this case how votes can be secured? I believe that it can be done with combination of Balkan and rational solution,” Hahn concluded. As Skopje hosted the second Macedonian-German forum “Building Bridges – Politics and Economy”, two more messages were conveyed for the government and the opposition to make efforts to find a solution that doesn’t involve snap polls.

“At the moment Macedonia is in a very decisive period following the referendum held last week. A decision on the future of the country should be made, in the long run. The time has come when the opposition and the government need to work together to find a common political solution, member of the German Bundestag Thorsten Frei said Friday in Skopje. According to him, a decision on the future of the country should be made now and it is the right moment for the opposition and the government to try and find a common political solution. “It is not about bribing MPs, but it is about doing what’s best for the state. In my opinion, I believe that the government and the opposition should jointly find a good solution for country’s benefit,” Frei told Macedonian politicians in Skopje. In his first interview after the referendum, Prime Minister Zoran Zaev reiterated that the ruling coalition didn’t want early elections. “The opposition makes attempts to obstruct Macedonia’s future within the EU and NATO for personal calculations, the ruling coalition will be forced to call for snap elections,” he told BHTV1. “We will do our best to ensure the necessary parliamentary majority for the constitutional amendments. However, if the opposition is trying to obstruct the future of Macedonia for personal interests the elections are inevitable,’ Zaev says, voicing belief that the process will grant him a two-third majority as ’80 percent of citizens support the country’s European future.’ I am certain that the opposition also favors the country’s accession to the EU, but the political calculations makes it to do what it has been doing. ‘Even the opposition leader, who boycotted the referendum, will say ‘yes’ to EU, NATO if you ask him and I believe it to be true. But he wishes for his party to return to power and with such aspiration he jeopardizes the future of our country, Zaev says. Macedonia’s future is at stake and everybody bears grand responsibility for this matter, which ‘is above me, above the opposition leader, above political parties.

VMRO-DPMNE leader Mickoski has two options to prevent new political crisis (MIA)

Early elections with formation of a Przino-style government and a public prosecutor proposed by the opposition or rejection of the Prespa Agreement and elections, followed by an appointment of a public prosecutor with partisan consensus are the two options presented Sunday by the opposition leader, Hristijan Mickoski. Speaking at a news conference at the party’s main offices, Mickoski said the options provided a way out of the political crisis of the country. “Macedonia is entering a new political crisis. The solution is catastrophic and unacceptable both for VMRO-DPMNE and the majority of citizens. A new crisis will completely destroy the economy,” he said. The agreement, according to him, was reached without consensus and ‘with a promise SDSM cannot deliver neither to the citizens nor to the international partners.’ “There are two options. The first one is elections, already announced by Zoran Zaev and accepted by VMRO-DPMNE. But before that, a technical government must be formed. An atmosphere of fair conditions should be created and a public prosecutor should be appointed that is nominated by the opposition. The second option involves Zoran Zaev dismissing the Prespa Agreement before elections are called right after allowing the people to decide. VMRO-DPMNE after the elections will endorse the formation of a new institution to prosecute crime that is led by a public prosecutor nominated with a consensus from all parties,” Mickoski told the news conference.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA SOURCES

Serbian president: Some EU countries are hypocrites on Kosovo issue (RT, 5 October 2018)

Serbia’s course of EU integration is impeded once again by simmering tensions with Kosovo. How is Belgrade going to get around this – and is the region in any danger? We talked about this with the president of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic.

Sophie Shevardnadze: President Vucic, welcome to Moscow. It’s great to have you on our programme. It’s our first.

Aleksandar Vucic: I’m very pleased to be here, and I enjoy spending my time in Moscow.

SS: So you are here discussing a lot of things with Putin. You seek his support and advice on Kosovo, you just came out from the meeting with President Putin. What did he advise?

AV: We discussed all important issues on the political scene in the Western Balkans and the entire region of the south-east Europe. Also we discussed our bilateral issues, either political or economic. And we do have better economic relationship and our trade exchange, our trade turnover is growing. Last year it was 23% bigger than in 2017. This year it’s going to be once again 20% more. We’re doing our job in a very proper way. We’re guarding our economic co-operation and collaboration. Speaking about most important political issues, we’ve always had that kind of support and assistance, I dare to say, an endorsement in most important issues for Serbia. I felt very comfortable about Putin’s words of further support for Serbia’s territorial integrity which is not only an issue of Serbia, it has become an issue for many sovereign states which were put in jeopardy by unilateral actions of some other territories, people or nations.

SS: So if you allow me, let’s go point by point regarding that, especially Kosovo – it’s always relevant, and especially now…

AV: I’m at your disposal.

SS: …It’s been back in the news because you’re seeking to mend ties with Kosovo, but you’re saying it has to be a two-way street. You’re in favour of a so-called land deal that would see Kosovo divided on ethnic lines. Right now Pristina is saying “no partition” to any part of Kosovo…

AV: Firstly, I wasn’t saying that we should do – and I never mentioned that – a sort of partition based on ethnic lines. There’s only one sentence that I have always been saying: we need to find a compromising solution between Serbs and Albanians which means that it cannot be the case that Albanians get everything and Serbs get nothing. Albanians gained absolutely everything that they’ve ever dreamed of, and Serbs got absolutely nothing. That was my, our and Serbia’s first and only position that we never changed. Than we faced response from different sides. Russia said: “It’s ok if Serbia agrees on something because we consider Serbia a sovereign state, if Serbia agrees on something we’ll support it.” It was absolutely in accordance with international public law. That’s why we respected and appreciated that political attitude of President Putin and Russia very much. On the other hand, we got a very clear response from several EU countries. They were totally against it. They were saying, just to clear it up, that if that happens Serbia will open a new Pandora’s Box with the border changes…

SS: Do you disagree?

AV: I totally disagree! And I’ll tell you why. How can we open a Pandora’s Box?! Who opened this Pandora’s Box in 2008 having accepted, acknowledged and recognised the unilaterally proclaimed independence of Kosovo?! They were doing so, not us! When they say to me “we don’t want to change the borders”, I immediately reply to them saying “ok, that means that Kosovo is the part of Serbia, there are no border changes” – “No, no, we accept the border changes that we did 10 years ago, but you cannot do it even if you agree on that with your Albanian counterparts.” Then I say: “Hey, where are the principles? Are there any principles? You can do it, you can change our territory and we cannot do it?!” It wasn’t a Pandora’s Box that was opened 10 years ago, but it’s a Pandora’s Box opened today…

SS: Well, that’s the way they see it. By opening a Pandora’s box they mean that Serbs living in Bosnia and Herzegovina or the Albanian minority in Macedonia  – what will you say to them to that?

AV: First of all, we support the territorial integrity of Bosnia, we never mentioned anything about it, but I speak about Kosovo: “You, people, first agreed and recognised the secession of Montenegro from former Yugoslavia (it happened in 2006, if you remember). In 2008 you recognised the independence of Kosovo from Serbia. How did you derive that right? And that wasn’t an opening of Pandora’s Box?! And now it would be an opening of a Pandora’s Box even if Serbs and Albanians decide to make such an arrangement! That’s a hypocrisy!”

SS: But, like you’ve mentioned in your answer in the beginning, they are still against it. I mean, yes, Russia supports you. America is saying “if Serbia and Albanians find a mutual agreement, we’ll support it”. But the European partners are saying “Pandora’s Box”. How healthy is it to try to mend ties with Kosovo? You’re trying to do that as much as you can while your most important partners  – you want to be part of the EU – are saying “no-no, go on, keep on fighting”. How healthy is it? It’s a weird situation…

AV: Yeah, you define it this way, I’ll define it in a slightly different way. I would say it’s a very complicated situation. But at the same time we have different agendas on other issues like NATO membership. Serbia most probably very soon will be the only country in the region not aspiring to NATO membership and we don’t hide it. There are different reasons for that, political attitudes from the Serbian side, including everything that happened to our country and our people in 1999. That’s what makes difference between Serbia and all the others. We are a very special case. You see now the situation in Macedonia – people didn’t say “yes” at that referendum. But it doesn’t matter, who cares about the referendum results, they’ll go for it, you know…

SS: Yeah, they’re saying the results were great even though less than 50% showed up. They don’t mind.

AV: If I may say, we think that whatever Macedonia and Greece might agree on we will support it. That will be very important for them. But you cannot undermine people’s decisions, you cannot undermine people’s will. People in the Balkans expect respect as well as all the others. They just expect a normal appreciation and they want to be heard. That’s what I wanted to say speaking about Serbia and Russia – we are heard, that’s very important for us, and we feel that we are respected by our Russian colleagues and our Russian friends.

SS: Is my impression right when I say that you’re the first president in the long time who’s actually open to mending ties with Kosovo and you speak about it, but you don’t get much response from the Kosovo side?

AV: You’re right. We signed the Brussels Agreement and we fulfilled all our obligations under the Brussels Agreement. But the other side – they had only one obligation which was 40-45% of the whole Brussels Agreement. And that obligation was foundation and establishment of the Serb community or the Serb Association, it doesn’t matter how you call it. They didn’t do it, they didn’t do a single small step forward on this issue. And it was tolerated by the international community (when I say “international community” it’s an euphemism for the Western world). They said nothing to them. There were no remarks. But we delivered absolutely everything on different issues: regional police, justice and judicial issues, and many other issues. They did nothing. We said: “Are you going to fulfil it or not? Are you going to put pressure on your guys to fulfil what they signed up for?” We got a response: “Ok, we’ll speak about a general resolution of your problem”. I said ok. We’re open to speak about it. From the very beginning I hoped that some people in Pristina as well as many people in Brussels will do their best to reach a compromising solution. Now I can tell you that I will always be ready to carry on with the dialogue, I will always be ready to negotiate on whatever you want. But in the meantime we lost any trust and confidence in the Albanian side that they really want to reach any kind of a compromising solution because they were doing their best in a lot of provocations, and they were doing absolutely everything just to undermine all our efforts. Instead of lowering the expectations of their people they were expanding their expectations. And they see that there’s no fertile ground for a possible arrangement. But anyway, Serbia will always be ready to resume the process of dialogue, but I’m not expecting very much as a result of it.

SS: Mr. President, you’ve just mobilised Serbian army because Kosovo’s leader went to visit the area with a majority of Serbs there…

AV: No, it’s not because of that.

SS: Why was it?

AV: It’s the view from the outside. People say: those guys wanted to see a part of Kosovo and then you mobilised your army. No.

SS: They broke the agreement – I understand why you mobilised the army.

AV: Yes, they came there with machine guns, rifles and everything else and they don’t have the right to come there with that kind of weaponry. That was our verbal arrangement, there’s a statement done by NATO. Plus, Albanians and Serbs agreed after the Brussels Agreement we made – also in Brussels – that there were two preconditions if someone would like to bring machine guns to the north of Kosovo. One and the most important precondition was – and still is – the consent of the local Serb community. They didn’t ask a single Serb about saying “yes” to the visit of Hashim Thaci. But it’s not about his visit, it’s about the weaponry his people were using. That was another provocation, and they wanted to show that they were in charge of whatever they want to frighten the Serbs, and they did it. And the other precondition was the consent of NATO. We don’t know what NATO was doing, if there was a consent of NATO. It was an accumulative precondition: number one – the consent of the Serbian people and they didn’t have it at all. That’s why we needed to react, otherwise they can conquer the north of Kosovo, they would expel our people and most of the Western community would say: “Well, ok, that happens. Now we should live in peace and now we have borders in the way that we wanted.” And Serbia cannot agree to this. Our job was to send a strong message that we would protect our people from the guys that would use heavy weaponry against our guys in the north of Kosovo.

SS: I think, the message was received and well-heard. You’ve mentioned in the beginning that you’re the only country in the region that doesn’t aspire to be a part of NATO. But you and NATO still enjoy great relations 20 years after the bombings: you do mutual exercises, they conduct exercises on you territory and when it comes down to it you’ve just mentioned…

AV: We do the same exercises with Russia.

SS: Absolutely. But when it comes down to it NATO didn’t do anything with this incident, it’s a NATO controlled territory. What do you get in return when you co-operate with NATO this much? Do you feel like you get in return as much as you would like to?

AV: Put yourself into our shoes, please. We’re not Russia. We’re not a big country, although we’re the biggest in the Western Balkans. We are a small country and we have to protect our people and maintain peace, tranquility and stability within the region. We need to boost our economic development, we need to attract foreign investors. We cannot say everything that we think to everyone. It’s a different position. We’re not as big as Russia, we’re not as strong as Russia. We have to keep the momentum of asking and trying to keep the same or better level of co-operation with all the others. But at the same time don’t forget that it’s not only about NATO aspirations that we don’t have. Serbia is the only country that didn’t impose any sanctions against Russia. Do you really think that it’s an easy decision for Serbia? Do you really think, we didn’t face a lot of pressure from different sides on this issue. Yes, we did.

SS: Mr. President, I have to ask you. You said it so many times that you’ll never sacrifice Serbia’s relations with Russia for EU membership. You’ve shown a great example of how not to do that. But the day will come, and you know it will come, when they’ll say: “Aleksandar, why won’t you join the sanctions and the process of Serbia’s accession to the EU will be sped up”. This sentence may sound differently in different variations, but you get the point. What are you going to do then?

AV: I got the point. You’re very well-prepared for this interview, but to tell you the truth I’m hearing the same question for more than five years. First of all, we’ll see whether it will happen. Second, we’ll see in which form that may happen. Third, we’ll see what the European Union will look like in 5-6 or 7 years. That should be our last obligation before we join the EU. The most important precondition for our EU membership is to resolve the Kosovo issue. It’s a much bigger and a much more problematic issue for us than any other issues. As you can see, there are many buts and ifs. So we’ll see, and I hope we’ll be strong and respected enough that everyone will always appreciate and respect our relationship to the Russian people and Russia. We cannot change ourselves on this issue and hopefully people in Europe will understand that. I’m saying to you once again: who knows what happens within several years.

SS: Let me ask you about your aspirations to become part of the EU, I know you were very enthusiastic about it when you came to power, when you were Prime Minister. Once you’re President you always say: yes, Serbia wants to be part of the EU. Let’s say we live in an ideal world and you and Kosovo resolve this issue overnight, it happens, that’s not an obstacle anymore. EU right now, like you said…

AV: It’s not the case, but ok.

SS: Yes, but it’s always like we have the Kosovo issue and then we never talk about Serbia becoming part of the EU. Let’s forget about Kosovo. Let’s say you resolved it overnight. And you don’t have any obstacles to go into the EU. Are you still as enthusiastic seeing what’s going on: the south is getting poorer, the north is getting richer, and Western and Eastern Europe bickering about migration, and these elections that’s coming up are going to completely change the whole configuration and the paradigm in which EU exists. It’s kind of a fractured union right now. Why do you want to be part of it so much?

AV: It’s not about whether someone wants to do something desperately or not. It’s about rational decisions. Serbia is on the EU path because of several reasons. One of that is that we want to belong to that type society, and the other one is that we have the biggest percent of our trade exchange with EU countries – 60% of our overall trade turnover plus 20% with regional countries, everything else is Russia plus China and a small portion with Turkey. We are situated in that part of the world, but at the same time I don’t think that that will exclude not only our friendship but our very close ties with Russia. And I don’t hide it. You were insisting from the very first moments of our interview on everything that I was saying about the European Union which I don’t hide. But you don’t mention the fact that even in Washington or in Brussels or today in English language I’m saying that we’ll keep our very close with Russia always, and we don’t know what will happen in the future. But I think that our European partners will always understand our issue with Russia.

SS: I just want to ask you one last question or maybe two about President Trump because he’s a very unconventional American leader, his views of the world and the way America should be are unlike the ones of his predecessors’. He’s not very sympathetic towards the EU, he’s declaring tariff war with China, EU. He doesn’t really like NATO because he says that everyone should pay up, not only America. Does that change anything for Serbia or Serbia’s stance? You invited him to come to Serbia and you said Serbia wants to be friends with him…

AV: Yes, but he didn’t come to Serbia so far. We, Serbs, no doubt prefer Trump.

SS: Than Obama? Why?

AV: I don’t know. Serbs have always thought that it was the Democrats’ fault that they launched an aggression against Serbia. And Serbia always supported the Republican Party within the U.S. Trump, as you said, is pretty much unconventional. And you know only a few things about his policies or almost nothing about his policies in the Balkans. But at least John Bolton opened the doors to the possible arrangement between Belgrade and Pristina. That’s what we appreciate. This is slightly a change of their policies, but we have to see, we have to wait, I cannot assess it.

SS: I’m asking because Russians were also excited when Trump came in because we always thought that Republicans were better than Democrats for Russia. And Putin and Trump like each other on the personal level, but then there’s establishment that wouldn’t let him do anything…

AV: That’s why I have a very rational approach. I’m not excited, not emotional at all. I’m very rational about it. That’s why I’m saying to you that we have to wait and see what’s going to be the final result of their stance, positions and attitudes towards Serbia or Western Balkans.

SS: Alright, Mr. President. Thank you very much for this insightful interview.

AV: Thank you very much. I was, to tell you the truth, very much positively surprised of the knowledge that you have shown. There are very few politicians in Serbia that would understand all the questions and issues that you’ve just tackled.

SS: Thank you, I love your country and I wish you all the best of luck.

AV: I love your country, I wish all the best to your country and I hope that we’ll be able to preserve and to maintain the best possible relations between our two countries.
SS: Amen.

Djukanovic’s Montenegro Can Never be an EU ‘Backbone’ (BIRN, 8 Ocotber 2018)

Europe seems desperate to see Montenegro as its greatest Balkan success story – even if it means turning a blind eye to the less reported side of the story.

After Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic’s speech in the European Parliament on October 2, one might take away the impression that Montenegro is a well-regulated state where no problems exist at all. It is a responsible neighbor, an attractive destination for foreign investment, its GDP and tourist numbers are constantly rising, and it offer a quality of life with which everyone should be content. The President seems to have conveyed a picture of an idyllic Montenegrin reality to EU officials, judging by the statements of the Enlargement and Neighbourhood Commissioner, Johannes Hahn, and the European Parliament President, Antonio Tajani. “Dedication towards integration and fulfilment of obligations” and “Montenegro as a backbone for the EU in the Western Balkans” are the phrases that lingered after Djukanovic’s speech – not to mention the “ovations” and long applause that the local pro-government media reported as a huge success for Montenegrin policy. Despite the almost ideal Montenegrin reality that Djukanovic presented in the European Parliament, which the EU clearly “supports” in its effort to prove that the integration process is still alive and successful, neither side in this story is being truly honest. Djukanovic did not mention a single a problem with Montenegro’s democratisation process. Noting that, in the drive to strengthen the rule of law, 70 new reformist laws and other strategic documents have been adopted, with the establishment of two new institutions which are not yet strong or depoliticised, but are every day becoming more influential, Djukanovic closed the list of achievements that the government could boast about.

He did not, however, mention the trust, or rather mistrust, that most citizens feel in the country’s institutions, the corruption entangled in all walks of society, the organised crime or the endemic conflict between criminal gangs. He did not mention that, predictably, there has been no police breakthrough in the case of the assault on journalist Olivera Lakic, or the fact that only every third case of assault on a member of the media has any epilogue. He forgot to mention the way party cadres rotate from one position to another, even before the public has had time to “forget” the wrongdoings and illegal activities for which they were forced to leave their former positions.

He also skipped praising the arrogant way in which the authorities have re-established control over the public broadcaster, just like the state and the administration generally – as if, after 30 years of rule, everything is somehow meant to stay in the hands of his Democratic Party of Socialists, DPS, and by the usucaption belong to them – with which they can do whatever they want. What all indicates is that this is the highest level of “reforms” that this government is ready to offer either the EU or its own citizens. It is clear also to this long-lasting government that the only thing left for it is to point to the constant threats from abroad and potential breakaway from the European path – so that it can convince the EU that it would be less damaging if Montenegro was integrated, regardless of the insufficient pace of democratization, than leave it stranded.

Djukanovic missed no opportunity to state all of that in Strasbourg. His policy since coming to power has been characterised by the constant targeting of enemies from within and without, who threaten Montenegro’s independence and freedom and want to cast it away from the European path with the help of non-EU powers. In other words, everyone is suspicious, and all of them are working against us. This policy is encapsulated in the deliberate building up of anxiety over the hastily organised referendum in Macedonia, the dispute between Serbia and Kosovo and situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Maybe one could say that, because of the current state of affairs and specific problems facing other countries in the region, Montenegro is indeed the European integration frontrunner and a factor of stability in the region – but not because of the reforms it has undertaken, or because of the number of EU membership chapters it has opened.

It should be noted also that the common problems of the whole region are listed in the already forgotten document of the European Commission released at the beginning of this year, in which regard Montenegro is no exception, and which it has made no significant progress in eliminating.

Besides all that, Djukanovic highlighted that Montenegro has completely harmonised its foreign policy with the one that the EU advocates, recalling all the sacrifices that had to be made for a European perspective and “secure membership”. However, when the President also proclaims that Montenegro is already behaving like an EU member state, it immediately draws a parallel only with those undisciplined EU member states in which human rights violation are ubiquitous.

In one thing Djukanovic is definitely right. The existing problems in the region are a red alert for the European Union, if it wants to avoid new potential conflicts, stagnation and backsliding in this part of Europe, and prove that the “European project” is still sustainable. But that will never be achieved with performances like this one – or by praising those who are, in fact, the main agents of the captivity of the Western Balkans.