LOCAL PRESS

Brnabic: Solution for Kosovo in compromise of two sides (RTS/Tanjug)

Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic participated late Monday in the “Serbia in the EU” European Forum held at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Berlin, where she stated that Serbia’s strategic commitment is membership in the EU, whereas maintaining stability and developing regional cooperation of essential importance for the country. Brnabic pointed out that Serbia and Germany have a completely different opinion on Kosovo and the way in which long-term normalization of Belgrade-Pristina relations could be reached, but that that disagreement does not mean that we take it amiss, but that we are trying to explain why that normalization should be different than how Germany imagines it. She said that the solution to the issue of Kosovo and Metohija is in a compromise, and that for her a compromise should be found somewhere between the two opposing positions, that Kosovo is Serbia or that Kosovo is independent and that Serbia should just recognize it. The compromise is somewhere in between these two sides, but if someone insists that Kosovo is independent and that Serbia should just recognize it, then that will not happen and Belgrade will continue insisting that Kosovo is Serbia, Brnabic stated. She said that Pandora’s box was opened 10 years ago when Kosovo declared independence in violation of all democratic principles. We are trying to close that box and that will be hard. I do not know if it will be possible, I would like to find a compromise and that all of us move forward to the future, she said. Brnabic underlined that Kosovo is not the same case as Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Slovenia or Macedonia, because these were recognized republics within the SFRY, while Kosovo and Metohija has always been an integral part of Serbia, adding that Kosovo is a difficult and, above all, an emotional issue. She also noted that frozen conflict is in no way a good solution as it will always pull us backwards. Brnabic said that she sometimes feels as if she was locked in a “schizophrenic” politics when at one meeting she speaks about how much Serbia can advance due to the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and then she goes to a meeting dealing with incidents and attacks on Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija. That is the politics of the 19th century, and until we resolve this issue, we will be locked between a politics of the 19th century and a politics of the 21st century. So, I think the solution is in a compromise, Brnabic concluded.

Vucic: Serbia grateful to Greece for not changing stance on Kosovo (B92/Tanjug)

Serbian President and ruling SNS leader Aleksandar Vucic has met with the leader of the Greek opposition party New Democracy Kyriakos Mitsotakis. Vucic thanked Mitsotakis for his support and for the confirmation that Greece’s position on the issue of Kosovo and Metohija will not change. Vucic also said during the news conference he informed the New Democracy about Pristina’s decision to raise taxes on importing goods from Serbia. Vucic thanked Greece and New Democracy for the support given to Serbia in the process of European integration, and especially thanked Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras for his stance that Greece will not change its position in relation to the Kosovo issue.  Belgrade will continue the dialogue on Kosovo once Pristina decides to behave in a civilized manner, Vucic told reporters. Vucic said Serbia wants the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue and is not blackmailing anyone with the opening of new chapters in its pre-accession negotiations with the EU. “They can open as many chapters as they want or none but we cannot take part in the dialogue with the people who broke the rules that they accepted. We do not want to take part in that but want to believe that the EU and others who care about the dialogue will influence the people they helped with their declaration of independence,” Vucic said.

Drecun: No need to rush with a solution (RTS)

The Chairperson of the Serbian parliamentary Committee for Kosovo and Metohija Milovan Drecun has told Radio and Television of Serbia (RTS) that we should not rush with a solution for Kosovo, regardless of the fact that the EU is insisting on normalization of Belgrade-Pristina relations before the mandate of the EU High Representative Federica Mogherini expires.

Compromise is the only solution in a situation when the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue is abrupted and Brussels wants an agreement as soon as possible, Drecun says. According to him, the statement by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic that we are miles away from agreement, means that Pristina is not ready for a compromise, but wishes to impose its interests. It is good that most of the EU countries that support so-called independence of Kosovo realize that this situation can lead only to new conflicts and that agreement is needed, says Drecun. He thinks that it is necessary to revive and continue the dialogue and reach a compromise. That is why those who have most influence on Pristina, primarily Washington, need to play their role, said Drecun.

EU: Mogherini wants dialogue to lead to comprehensive agreement (Beta)

Brussels’ contacts with Belgrade and Pristina are under way, and EU High Representative Federica Mogherini is trying to strengthen the dialogue to pave the way to a comprehensive agreement on the normalization of relations between Serbia and Kosovo, wishing to make it happen by the end of 2019, when her and the European Commission’s mandates expire.

The explanation has come from EU officials in Brussels, who underlined for Beta that EU members had asked Pristina to withdraw a decision to impose a 10-percent tax on imports from Serbia, which was the key reason for not having another tripartite round of talks in Brussels last week. Contrary to Mogherini’s expectation that last Thursday should be the day to define key themes to step up and strengthen the dialogue, she only had separate meetings with the Serbian and Kosovo presidents, failing to bring them to the negotiating table together with her.

Sources in Brussels say that they didn’t know what President Vucic and German Chancellor Angela Merkel might have talked about in Paris. They did say it was true that Berlin had been the most adamant opponent to the two presidents’ alleged readiness to sign a legally binding agreement entailing delineation between Serbs and Albanians, more precisely, a change of borders and ethnic movements that should not threaten regional stability. EU officials and diplomats also say that the Americans have taken a more direct role in the dialogue, insisting that a Belgrade-Pristina agreement should be reached as soon as possible, even if it means border change. The Americans appear to think that if this unresolved or “frozen” conflict lasts, it will pose more a serious threat to stability than a difficult deal, however serious concessions the two parties might have to make. Serbia’s top officials allegedly discuss this regularly with their Russian counterparts, and Russia has made it clear that it will support any agreement

Serbia might accept.

REGIONAL PRESS

Dodik and Covic agree on joint participation of SNSD and HDZ B&H at all authority levels (RTRS)

Delegations of SNSD and HDZ Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) held a meeting in Istocno Sarajevo on Monday, at which the leaders of the two parties agreed to cooperate in the process of formation of new authorities at all levels in B&H. They stressed that it is clear that SNSD and HDZ B&H are legitimate representatives of Serbs and Croats in B&H, so they are ready to form new authorities immediately but they are waiting for an agreement among Bosniaks. SNSD leader Milorad Dodik stated: “We are waiting for the Bosniak team. We will not try to influence who their representatives are, but we are urging them to show up as soon as possible so that we can start working together on what they advocate the most, i.e. successful and better B&H. Do not let us wait for too long.” He also assessed that new authorities in Republika Srpska (RS) can be formed by the end of November or beginning of December. Speaking about formation of new authorities in the Federation of B&H, Dodik stressed that SNSD will not allow formation of the Federation of B&H House of Peoples until all seats in the Serb Caucus have been filled in line with the Constitution. “There will have to be 17 Serb delegates this time,” he said. Dodik also underlined that the agreement between SNSD and HDZ B&H is not aimed against anyone in B&H, but the Office of the High Representative (OHR) and foreign judges in the Constitutional Court (CC) of B&H should leave the country. He stressed that sovereignty of B&H can only be strengthened if local institutions and legitimate representatives of all three constituent peoples take over responsibility for functioning of B&H. “Destiny of B&H will depend on this issue. Whatever someone might think about this, it is impossible for B&H to continue to exist as a protégé of the international factor that makes decisions on internal and local issues. That will not be allowed,” Dodik said. He explained that the defense reform and establishment of a part of the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council were the result of agreement in B&H. Other competences were transferred from the entity level to the level of B&H through violence of the High Representative who established the current political system in B&H with more than 540 decisions, Dodik argued. HDZ B&H leader Dragan Covic was quoted as saying that B&H has been in a crisis for two years due to the lack of parliamentary majority. He stressed that it is necessary to work on the Reform Agenda and an accelerated path towards the EU, adding that the Election Law of B&H needs to be amended as part of this process. “We should never again find ourselves in the situation in which one people would elect representatives of other peoples to the Presidency or the Houses of Peoples” Covic reiterated. Covic stressed that DF leader and newly-elected Croat member of the B&H Presidency Zeljko Komsic is skillfully using the loopholes in the B&H Election Law. The two leaders agreed that SNSD and HDZ B&H will also cooperate at the levels of the RS Council of Peoples and the RS Government in which one ministerial post is supposed to be given to HDZ B&H, while SNSD would get one of HDZ B&H’s ministerial posts in the Federation of B&H Government.

Pro-Bosnian bloc has majority over SDA in both Federation of B&H Parliament and Parliament of B&H (Dnevni avaz)

SNSD leader Milorad Dodik and HDZ B&H leader Dragan Covic have stated on Monday that they are waiting on the representatives of Bosniaks to start talks about formation of authority at the state and the Federation of B&H levels. The daily stated that the pro-Bosnian political parties that do not want to form a coalition with SDA and that have already started formation of cantonal authorities have total of 51 sears in the Federation of B&H Parliament, which means they do have majority. On the other hand, SDA alone has 27 representatives in the Federation of B&H Parliament. When it comes to the Parliament of B&H, the pro-Bosnian bloc, which is constituted of SDP, DF, Our Party, SBB B&H, PA, NB, A-SDA and NiP, has total of 15 representatives, while SDA alone has nine representatives.

A warrant has been issued for Gruevski (Meta)

The Basic Court requested the Ministry of Interior to issue an arrest warrant for ex-Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, after looking for him for several days to hand to him the issued decision for going to jail. The Ministry of Interior stated that they “acted upon the order”, which should mean that they had issued an arrest order. “We inform you that the Basic Court Skopje 1 issued an order to apprehend the person you asked for and on 12.11.2018 at 16.30h it was delivered to the SVR Skopje and requested an arrest warrant to be issued. The Ministry of the Interior, immediately after receiving it, acted upon the order”, the statement said. Gruevski was sentenced to two years in prison for the “Tenk” case for illegally procuring luxury Mercedes, which a court case was led by the Special Public Prosecutor’s Office.

The court has temporarily frozen the property of those accused in the Empire case (Meta)

The Special Public prosecution has demanded that the assets must be temporary freeze as a security measure and the court has assigned temporary measures and bans for expropriation and the managing with the shares in the companies for which there is a suspicion that were used for gain with the criminal acts for which the case “Empire” was started. “Apparently, a judge from a previous procedure, who acted upon two proposals from the prosecution for a temporary ban of conducting financial transactions for legal entities for whom there is a suspicion that by conducting criminal acts, the persons that are under investigation have gained profit, and the judge has accepted the suggestions and by issuing orders it has urged several banks to prevent the outflow of assets from the accounts of these legal entities” informs the court. The court also informs that the defence has lodged pleas for the judge’s decision for setting measures for securing presence and that the Criminal Council will be additionally deciding upon them.

Parliamentary committees vote in favor of the four constitutional amendments (Nezavisen vesnik)

Four constitutional amendments which enable the change of the country’s name from “Republic of Macedonia” to “Republic of North Macedonia” have received the green light during the weekend in the parliamentary committees. MPs held debates on the fourth amendment which relates to the Diaspora. In the past few days, parliamentary committees have also approved other amendments. Meanwhile, after the approval by the committees, the amendments will then be discussed in a plenary session, which has been scheduled to take place on December 1. The government has declared that the constitutional amendments are expected to pass at the beginning of next year, in order for the country to receive an invitation for NATO membership and also to advance with the process of EU accession. The constitutional amendments are part of the Prespa Agreement which was reached in June this year between Athens and Skopje.

Osmani: Macedonia will succeed to finalize EU accession talks by 2025 (Nezavisen vesnik)

Vice PM for European Affairs Bujar Osmani briefed Monday in Brussels the EU Commissioner for Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, Johannes Hahn, about Macedonia’s progress in implementing the necessary reforms on the road to EU membership. “The reform plan 18 has already been adopted by the government and its implementation, for now, is going smoothly. I expect for all key areas to be addressed on time and hence conditions to be created for confirmation of the decision on starting the negotiations,” Osmani told Hahn. Osmani also referred to the progress in implementing the reforms in key areas, especially after the   unblocking of parliament’s work and its first green light for constitutional changes, the Secretariat for European Affairs said in a press release. “The parliament gave its first green light for the constitutional changes in accordance with the Prespa Agreement, which has not only opened the way for implementing the obligations of this deal, but also created conditions for accelerating the reform process in the country in line with the conclusions of the European Council of June 2018,” Osmani said. He also notified the tangible progress in the relations between Macedonia and Greece relations. In this respect he mentioned the inauguration of the Skopje-Athens flight after a 10-year break, an agreement between the two countries on the trilateral initiative between Macedonia, Greece and Albania for the sustainable development of the Prespa region, as well as the initiatives for strategic partnership with Greece and its support of Macedonia’s EU-integration. Osmani also briefed Hahn about the progress in setting up the negotiating structure for the start of the accession talks. Macedonia, Osmani said, has been making progress in implementing the reforms, priorities and recommendations related to the EU accession process; the obligations under the bilateral agreements with Bulgaria and Greece and in advancing the relations with the neighbors. Hence, he voiced belief that Macedonia would succeed to join EU Western Balkans Enlargement Strategy, which sets 2025 as a date when any of these countries could join the European Union provided they meet the criteria for membership.

Kosovo and Albania to sign customs unification (ADN)

The agreement on customs unification between Kosovo and Albania is expected to be signed on November 26 at the joint meeting of these two governments that will be held in Pec.

Adviser to the Minister of Finance of the Government of Kosovo and Advisor to the Prime Minister of Albania for Customs and Tax, Lulzim Rafuna, said on Monday that both governments are in the final stages of harmonizing the necessary documentation for goods circulating between Kosovo and Albania. According to him, by doing this agreement, it is planned to not require unnecessary documents but to mutually recognize the documents of both countries.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA SOURCES

Kosovo’s President Says Agreed With Trump On Need For Comprehensive Agreement With Serbia (RFE/RL, 12 November 2018)

Kosovar President Hasim Thaci says he agreed with U.S. President Donald Trump on the need to reach a final and comprehensive peace agreement between Kosovo and Serbia. Thaci, who met with Trump while in Paris on November 11 during commemorations of the end of World War I, said that Trump supported a legally binding agreement between Kosovo and Serbia after the two agreed “on the need to extend peace and reconciliation” in the Western Balkans. “I am grateful for his and U.S. support,” Thaci wrote in a tweet giving details of the meeting of the two presidents. The Kosovar leader said he also discussed Pristina’s normalization talks with Belgrade during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Paris. “On this topic, President Putin was clear: ‘If you (Kosovo & Serbia) achieve a peaceful agreement, Russia will support it,” he wrote on Twitter. The two Balkan countries are both pursuing normalization in hopes of furthering their bids to join the European Union. EU diplomats have said they must reach a binding agreement on sensitive issues such as their common border and whether Serbia will recognize Kosovo’s independence, which it declared 10 years ago. This summer, Thaci and his Serbian counterpart, Aleksandar Vucic, both raised the possibility of redrawing their border in comments that alarmed some observers who feared it might revive the ethnic divisions that fed the 1990s Balkans war. Thaci said in a November 9 interview with the AFP news agency that any revised border with Serbia that comes out of the two neighbors’ normalization talks will not be drawn along ethnic lines. The interview came a day after a short, tense meeting with Vucic in Brussels that was hosted by EU foreign-policy chief Federica Mogherini. Serbia has never recognized the independence of its former province although more than 110 other countries have done so. Serbian ally Russia has for years blocked Kosovo’s recognition at the United Nations.

Kosovo’s recent decision to create its own army has provoked anger from its own ethnic Serb minority as well as from Serbia. NATO, which currently leads the KFOR military force that ensures Kosovo’s security, has also expressed reservations over the idea.