LOCAL PRESS

Vucic: There is no 17-point plan (Politika)

There is no agreement in 17 points on the change of borders, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said in Trstenik on Sunday. He thus denied the reports of the German and Pristina media on allegedly harmonized plans of the EU and US for resolving the Kosovo issue that would encompass exchange of territories between Belgrade and Pristina. Rejecting such speculations, Vucic says “there is not a single point, nor any maps, there is nothing and we are not talking”, alluding to the interrupted Belgrade-Pristina dialogue. “I cannot reply every day to statements and claims. This takes up a lot of my energy. We are not talking with them since they introduced taxes,” said Vucic. He pointed out that those claiming there is some plan wish to tear apart Serbia into 17 parts.

Vucic urges Serbs in Kosovo not to join Albanian army (Tanjug/B92/Novosti)

Albanians want to include as many Serbs from Kosovo Pomoravlje as possible into the Kosovo army, President Aleksandar Vucic said on Friday. And he urged the Serbs not to do that.

Vucic made his comments after a meeting in the Raska Disctrict with officials of the Serb List, a political organization in Kosovo that gathers Serbs. He said that he told them Serbia and the Serbs cannot survive if they go against each other, and asked them not to join or participate in the Albanian army in Kosovo and Metohija. “We will see if the Serbs will respond or not,” he added. He also said that he for the first time heard from people from Strpce and Gracanica  that they are increasingly facing problems with supply of foodstuffs from central Serbia, and that even in the north of Kosovo and Metohija there are problems because Albanians are organizing border police to check how the goods had arrived, and grab them. “Our job is to fight and we will fight for our people to survive,” Vucic said. He added that Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija react badly to statements coming from Pristina these days, which he added are the result of the nervousness of Albanian leaders. “Although we may look weak to some, because we are not threatening anyone, because we are not shouting, we are stronger than they think,” said the president. Vucic added that he fully understands why he is now the greatest enemy to the Kosovo Albanians – because to their irrational messages, he responds with rational ones, and to messages of conflicts – with messages of peace and stability.

Vucic concerned by EU’s inability to pressure Pristina (Tanjug/B92)

President Vucic has expressed his concern over Pristina’s stance to, despite pressure from the international community, not revoke its taxes on Serbian goods. speaking to Italian Ambassador Carlo Lo Cascio in Belgrade on Monday, said that Serbia will return to dialogue only after the withdrawal of the taxes. He emphasized that he was concerned about the inability of the European Union to exert more pressure on the Pristina authorities. The Serbian President and the Italian ambassador discussed the European perspective of Serbia, the problems in the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, bilateral relations and the upcoming visit of Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte to Belgrade, the president’s media office said in a press release.

According to this, Vucic expressed his satisfaction with the level of bilateral relations and added that there was room for improvement of economic cooperation. This will be also contributed by the visit of Prime Minister Conte, seen by two interlocutors as a sign of good relations between the two countries and as an opportunity for strengthening economic cooperation. Lo Cascio stressed that this will be a new phase of political dialogue between Italy and Serbia and that, shortly after the visit of the Italian prime minister, Vucic’s visit to Italy will be organized, which will show the true partnership between the two countries. “The visit shows how much Italy supports the European perspective of Serbia and the whole region,” said the Ambassador.

Stankovic: South has always been and will remain part of Serbia (Novosti)

“Any exchange of territories of the municipalities of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja is out of question. That region has always been, is and will remain part of Serbia. Various speculations on some exchange are only disturbing both the Serbian and Albanian population in Serbia’s south,” the Head of the Coordination Body for Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja Zoran Stankovic told Novosti. “Those stories, according to my knowledge, have no ground in any plan and any negotiations. They are not the topic of talks either in Brussels or in any other place,” said Stankovic.

US Embassy: US not to dictate agreement between Serbia and Kosovo (Beta)

Beta asked the US Embassy for a comment on a report in the German daily Frankfurter Rundschau that the EU and the US were ready to accept a territorial exchange between Serbia and Kosovo. The U.S. would be happy to see a comprehensive deal signed in 2019, but the dialog must resume first for that to happen. The US does not and will not dictate what the

solution should look like, but believes that it must be applicable in Kosovo and in Serbia and must contribute to the long-term stability of the region, the US Embassy replied. The Embassy further noted that it was up to the leaders and their teams to continue EU-mediated negotiations and explore possibilities.

Loiseau: Present state of EU doesn’t allow enlargement (Politika)

The current situation in the EU does not allow enlargement under the satisfactory condition, Nathalie Loiseau, French Minister for European Affairs said ahead of her visit to Belgrade. She said the May election would be crucial for the future of the EU. She said her country believed Serbia had a European perspective and that, besides Montenegro, was the country which progressed the most on that path after opening 16 out of 35 chapters in the accession talks with the bloc. “The current state of the EU is not favorable for new memberships, either for the bloc or the new states winch aspire to join. We have to reform the EU and to revise its functioning,” Loiseau told Politika. She added the EU reform was in the interest of both the bloc, its neighbors and the countries which would like to become the EU members. Loiseau also reminded the latter that they had to meet all criteria related to every chapter of the negotiations. She did not want to speculate on a possible date for Serbia’s full membership, adding it was not clear if the EU would be ready and when Serbia would be prepared. Loiseau said the crucial challenges for Serbia’s membership were the strengthening of the rule of law and a solution to the Kosovo issue. Paris supports the EU-facilitated Belgrade – Pristina dialogue on normalization of relations, she says, adding it is ready to contribute to the talks. “The dialogue has no alternative. We don’t underestimate the difficulties it is facing nor do we undervalue the tension arising from them. Everyone has to take own responsibility,” Loiseau said. She added France called on Pristina to revoke the decision on the 100 percent import tariffs imposed on goods from Serbia and Bosnia las November and said the dialogue was not possible without mutual trust.

REGIONAL PRESS

Convocation of the House of Peoples of B&H headed by Spiric, Covic and Izetbegovic? (Nezavisne)

As Nezavisne daily report, the new convocation of the House of Peoples of Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) will be headed by Nikola Spiric, one of the SNSD’s vice-presidents, Dragan Covic, leader of HDZ B&H and Bakir Izetbegovic, President of the SDA.

According to their sources, it has not yet been decided who will be the head of the Serb Club in the House of Peoples, and this function should be performed by either Sredoje Novic or Dusanka Majkic, who has a lot of experience as a parliamentarian because she was a delegate in the B&H House of Representatives in several conferences. Nikola Spiric, a SNSD delegate, could not say who will be running for the leadership and who will be the head of the Serbian club. As he said, it is irresponsible to talk about this because the party should decide on the issue. The Croatian Club should be led by the current President of the House of Peoples of B&H Barisa Colak (HDZ B&H), who also said that it would be irresponsible to talk about this issue, until he talks with his party colleagues. The Bosniak club should be led by Asim Sarajlic (SDA), unless SDA, in the name of partnership, gives it to Fahrudin Radoncic (SBB). As Ognjen Tadic, a member of the old Collegium of the House of Peoples of B&H, confirmed, the Collegium of this House will be held on Wednesday. “Then we will decide on the date of the constitutive session” Tadic said.

Colak said that the constitutive session would be convened under the rules of procedure and that there is no reason not to have it as soon as possible since, as he pointed out, because they already have all 15 delegates. The Central Election Commission (CEC) of B&H will confirm the results of the indirect elections for the House of Peoples of B&H at today’s session. Day later, the decision will be published in the “Official Gazette of B&H”, so the conditions for holding the constitutive session of the new convocation of the House of Peoples of B&H will be created next week.

Opposition leader questions his Bloc’s refusal to join government (N1)

The leader of one of the left-leaning parties that have formed a pro-Bosnian bloc after the election in October is having doubts about the bloc’s recent refusal to enter a coalition with the Bosniak Party for Democratic Action (SDA) and be part of the government. The BH Bloc promised never to enter a coalition with any ethnic-oriented party and opted for remaining the opposition, but Zeljko Komsic, the leader of The Democratic Front (DF), told the Montenegrin daily Pobjeda that he is questioning what voters will say after the Bloc decided to again stay away from the government. “At some point, citizens will rightly ask – why are we voting for you? He who thinks that the BH Bloc will at next election win 51 per cent of the votes and be able to form the government alone is naïve,” Komsic said. The (SDA) insisted on a coalition with the BH Bloc but after it was rejected multiple times, it reached out to the two other nationalist parties, the Croat Democratic Union (HDZ) and the Bosnian Serb Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD). The three can now form a government although the latter two aim to change the internal structure of Bosnia or disintegrate it while the SDA is vehemently against that, just like the BH Bloc is. The way things stand now, important issues will be soon on the agenda, like the Election Law which the HDZ wants to change so that people can vote only for members of their own ethnic group – something the SDA is firmly against. But Komsic said he fears the SDA may give in to the HDZ request without the BH Bloc being able to prevent it as it is not part of the government. “By avoiding to participate in the government, have we given the SDA a green light to make a deal with the HDZ?” Komsic asked, adding that if such a deal is made, citizens will rightfully question the BH Bloc’s decision. “Will the citizens be right when they say – why did you not fight? Why did you run away? That’s what I’m afraid of,” he asked, noting that when one participates in government, then one can prevent some things and change others. Komsic noted that his experience with the SDA is bad but that he is thinking of the consequences of the BH Bloc’s decision. “You get the opportunity to stop some negative processes and you refuse to do it. What’s the excuse? I’m disgusted with them? OK, I’m disgusted with them too but people have voted for them and that’s the reality,” Komsic said about the SDA. It is much better to enter a political battle because only then you have a chance to win, he said.

Adopted answers to additional questions from EU Questionnaire (Srna)

The Council of Ministers in a technical mandate adopted at extraordinary telephone session the answers to the additional questions from the European Commission’s (EC) Questionnaire for preparing the Opinion regarding the request of B&H membership in the EU and information about technical finalization of the answers. The answers to additional questions from the Questionnaire and information were adopted unanimously, the Council of Ministers said.

Croatian and Slovenian presidents meet in Zagreb (HRT)

According to a statement released by the president’s office, Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic and Slovenian President Borut Pahor met for an informal working lunch in Zagreb on Friday. The informal meeting between the two presidents was held in conjunction with their agreement aimed at maintaining good neighborly relations between Croatia and Slovenia.

During the meeting they discussed several issues, including the next Brdo Brijuni Process meeting which will be held in Albania in May. The two presidents agreed that in the current international environment it is important to preserve good neighborly relations and political dialogue at the highest level. In this regard they discussed the last Slovenia-Austria-Croatia trilateral meeting as well as a draft by President Pahor related to a business forum of the Three Seas Initiative, which will be held at the beginning of June in Slovenia, who is also the host.

Prime Minister: Kosovo’s appeal for alliance against Serbia makes no sense (RTCG)

Prime Minister Dusko Markovic described as meaningless an appeal by the Kosovo speaker, Kadri Veseli, for an alliance against Serbia. Veseli’s call for North Macedonia and Montenegro, the first of which is gearing up to join NATO and the latter of which is already a member of it, to unite against Serbia Markovic said to reporters in Podgorica that something like that could not be accepted by Montenegro. “Montenegro has never allied against anyone, including Serbia. I do not understand the message. It cannot be accepted in Montenegro, and from Montenegro’s point of view, it is meaningless,” Markovic said.

Despite bad weather, protest gathered around 10,000 citizens (CDM)

The organizers of the “97,000-Odupri Se” protest, at the meeting in Podgorica, have announced new demands: the irrevocable resignation of members of the Public Service Council and General Director of Montenegrin Radio Television (RTCG) Bozidar Sundic. Despite the terrible weather conditions, around 10,000 citizens from all Montenegrin cities participated in the third round of protest. The protest began at the Independence Square, or, as the organizers called it – the Independent Citizen’s Square and the completed in front of the RTCG building, where protesters dumped toilet paper rolls and screamed “Liars”. Citizens made noise with drums and whistles, while RTCG broadcasted it on the central news. At the Independence Square, thousands of people gathered exclaiming words: “We’re a State”, “We Want Justice,” “Milo thief”, “Katnic Go Away”, “Resignations” and “All on the streets”. During the protest in front of the state institutions, there was a noticeably increased police presence, but no incidents occurred. Police officers did not carry equipment to break the demonstration, except the police cordon at RTCG and members who were in transit between the Government and the Montenegrin Assembly buildings. One of the organizers Demir Hodzic called on citizens not to allow provocations and incidents. “These are nonviolent protests and will remain so. Someone who tries to make problems is not part of us” Hodzic said emphasizing there are no free institutions in Montenegro.

Dramatist Lela Milosevic told the citizens that freedom was not unconditional and that citizens were free until they violated some of the laws of society and the country in which they live.

“When we break the freedom, we would have to be taken away. And did we break the laws of society and the country in which we live? We did not! And are all the law offenders in Montenegro deprived of liberty? No! That’s why the price of their freedom we pay well and feel about our skin, not guilty or obliged,” she said. Milosevic added that the reason for the street gathering is that “Montenegrin citizens are deprived of liberty and laws are not equal for everyone. That is why we have decided for peaceful, democratic protests to seek the release of all state institutions, the judicial system, all state resources, to make them function in the interest of the state and the people, not in the service of the prosperity of the ruling individuals. We are looking for the liberation of the captured government, to enter into those people who will represent the interests of the citizens and the state, not personal and rogue interests,” she said.

To those who characterize citizen protests as hostile and anti-state, Milosevic said that citizens who went out to the streets are not the enemies of the state. “I’ll send them their vocabulary to understand: Easy! These are heavy accusations! You could quickly answer them. Enemies and destroyers are among you, those who hunt for electricity, we know well why. Enemies are those who work exclusively for personal interest and against the interests of their people and the state. These are the enemies, not us,” she said. The allegations by the media that various domestic and foreign services are behind the protest organization, actor Slavisa Grubisa said that “behind these protests is the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS). They took us to the street. DPS made an effort to make citizens of this country feel like second-rate citizens. There is no abandonment of the free peoples of Montenegro! Change is in us. Patient and persistent, to the end! Let’s face it,” Grubisa said. Describing the reasons for the urgent resignation of those responsible in the Public Broadcast Service, Omer Sarkic from the protest organization committee said that the public broadcaster is now the same as the one in the 1990s. “It is not a public but a party-propaganda service. It has 30 years of disinformation, quarrelling, dividing, instead of informing us, educating, connecting. Today we are here to come together and finally firmly resist this. That is why we ask that the RTCG Council and the Director General of RTCG immediately submit irrevocable resignations. There was enough of their noise and brute. Our noise at the time of their central news should be the answer to their premature brutality,” said Sarkic. “And in the previous two protests” 97,000 – resist “, organized on February 2 and 16, the number of gathered citizens has surpassed our expectations. For the first protest, we prepared 97, and for the second 970 envelopes. However, in both cases, ten times more citizens came out on the street,” the organizers said. Protestors repeated requests for the resignations of the Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic, Prime Minister Dusko Markovic, Special Prosecutor Milivoje Katnic, and the Anticorruption Agency Director Sreten Radonjic. They said they would not give up the protest until the state institutions are free and independent and announced that the new gathering would be organized next Saturday by delivering new demands.

Dimitrov: Main topic of the presidential elections should be our country’s future (Nezavisen vesnik)

North Macedonia’s Foreign Minister Nikola Dimitrov in an interview for Radio Free Europe on Sunday said the upcoming presidential race should focus on the country’s future. Asked if he would run, Minister Dimitrov said there were many strong contenders in the coalition, highlighting how important it is for the Government to have a principled partner in the future President. “The main topic of the presidential elections should be our country’s future. How to make citizens’ lives better; how not to doubt ourselves” Dimitrov responded to the interviewer’s comment that VMRO-DPMNE’s candidate Gordana Siljanovska Davkova is set on criticizing the Prespa Agreement in her campaign.

Asked about any new developments regarding fugitive former PM Gruevski’s extradition, Minister Dimitrov said he believes the Ministry of Justice would send Hungary an additional request. “We and Hungary have a completely different take on the Gruevski case” Dimitrov said, “because the European Council in its conclusions last year gave us some homework: to find whoever was accountable for the alleged abuse of power, crime, and corruption revealed in the wiretapped conversations, and for the attack on Parliament, especially its organizers and instigators.

Opposition is getting ready for the presidential elections; the majority is yet to nominate its candidate (Nezavisen vesnik)

While opposition in North Macedonia nominated professor Gordana Siljanovska as its presidential candidate, the governing coalition led by Social Democratic Union Party (SDSM) is still in search of a candidate. Prime minister and social democrat leader, Zoran Zaev continues his consultations with Albanian political parties and other minority groups in order to come up with a joint presidential candidate. So far, he has held meetings with leaders of all Albanian parties and most of them have agreed on offering their support for a joint presidential candidate.

“I think this is possible. If we do this, then we confirm the idea of a ‘common society’ and we send a clear message to our citizens to support this candidate” Zaev said, adding that Albanian parties which are part of the governing coalition have offered their support in principle.

Bilall Kasami, chairman of BESA party told that opposition parties are looking into all possible options. “We met with PM Zaev, where we discussed the possibility of supporting a joint candidate. The future president should have a positive approach and offer his contribution in relaxing cross-ethnic relations” Kasami said. Nevertheless, the leader of BESA party didn’t rule out the possibility of joining forces with the Alliance for Albanians and nominate a joint presidential candidate. Meanwhile, SDSM will hold a congress on 3 March during which it’s expected to announce its presidential candidate. Foreign minister Nikola Dimitrov and former presidential candidate, Stevo Pendarovski are among the potential candidates. Opposition party VMRO-DPMNE says that it will win these elections.

France warns Macedonia that it may not approve opening of EU accession talks (Republika/MIA)

French European Affairs Minister Nathalie Loiseau warned Macedonia that it may be left without an invitation to begin EU accession talks this summer. Loiseau welcomed the fact that the Macedonian government accepted to change the name of the country under Greek pressure, but underlined that it is not enough to open accession talks and that Macedonia will have to meet strict reform criteria as well. In an interview with MIA, Loiseau says that “North Macedonia” can open accession talks only if all criteria are met, but also makes a point previously raised by French President Emmanuel Macron, that the European Union is in need of internal reforms first, before it can think about adding new members. Macron has warned against watering down the EU too much by enlarging it toward new countries before the existing members can build deeper institutional links. France and the Netherlands were the most outspoken opponents of the opening of EU accession talks with Macedonia last summer. Then the European Council decided to postpone the decision for June 2019 when the report card of Macedonia will be examined. Minister Loiseau raised concerns over the state of corruption in Macedonia, but also over the rampant reports of nepotism in the public sector in the past months. The enlargement is criteria based and reforms in North Macedonia must continue, in the economy, in the fight against corruption and in the rule of law. It will be a very bad service to the EU and to North Macedonia, as well as to our joint interests, if things develop otherwise, the French Minister said. Loiseau called for patience until the EU has time to evaluate that Macedonia has really implemented reforms, beyond merely passing laws, and has raised specific concerns such as the long delay in the appointment of the Anti-Corruption Commission. She would not respond positively to a question whether the country would be allowed to open accession talks as things stand now.

There is very little time left and North Macedonia has to implement many necessary reforms. We will particularly pay attention to the law against discrimination which is an obligation to show respect for European rights and freedoms. The government must also take action against nepotism and corruption, Loiseau added. Asked about the proposal made by Macedonian Defense Minister Radmila Sekerinska, that Macedonian forces join in EU led military missions abroad, Loiseau underscored that the EU and France are heavily involved in missions, especially in France, and that any Macedonian contribution would be highly appreciated.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA SOURCES

FYROM Issues Reference Guidelines for International Media (Greek Reporter, by Philip Chrysopoulos, 24 February 2019)

The foreign ministry of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia issued guidelines for international media on how to refer to the country, its citizens and language, based on the Prespa Agreement it signed with Greece. The directive says that the official name of the country is the Republic of North Macedonia, or in short North Macedonia, and the nationality (citizenship) is Macedonian/citizen of the Republic of North Macedonia. Regarding state entities, media should use the terms the government of the Republic of North Macedonia, the president of North Macedonia, the minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of North Macedonia, etc. The media should also use terms such as North Macedonia’s municipality of Ohrid, the University of St. Cyril and Methodius of North Macedonia, and so on. The country’s foreign ministry says that the official language is the Macedonian language and the country codes are MK and MKD, the same as they were before. The adjective “Macedonian” is to be used when relating to the “ethnic and cultural identity of the people, our language, history, culture, heritage, territory and other attributes.” However, the guideline says that the above terms “are distinctly different from those used and related to the region of Macedonia in Greece.” The FYROM ministry said proper examples of the use of the word Macedonian would include terms such as Macedonian ethnic identity, Macedonian language, Macedonian people, and Macedonian territory. Media should also refer to Macedonian culture and Macedonian history, and the government specifies that the adjective “North” should not be used in the aforementioned context. Also, the adjective “North” cannot be used when referring to terms like Macedonian economy, Macedonian art, Macedonian music, Macedonian agriculture, Macedonian architecture and so on.