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LOCAL PRESS

 

Rodic discussed peacekeeping operations with UN officials (Tanjug/Beta)

Outgoing Serbian Defense Minister Nebojsa Rodic has met with the UN officials Edmond Mulet, Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, and Anthony Banbury, Assistant Secretary-General for Field Support. Minister Rodic conveyed to his interlocutors that Serbia’s engagement in the UN peacekeeping operations represents a concrete contribution to preservation of international peace and security and that Serbia wishes to increase its participation in the peacekeeping missions. Serbia attaches great importance to UN values and the field of peacekeeping operations, so towards promoting our commitment, apart from permanent increase of our participation in the course of 2013, Serbia also established the post of the military representative in the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Serbia to the United Nations, the Defense Ministry announced. The Minister underlined that we continue to develop plans whereby we wish to increase our participation. As an obvious example of that is the Draft usage plan in 2014 that envisages the possibility of participation in more peacekeeping missions under the UN auspices. Apart from significant increase of participation in already existing missions, such as Lebanon, Cyprus and DR Congo, the Defense Ministry is also examining thoroughly the possibility of serious engagement of resources in the field of military medicine that, apart from human resources, also implies the engagement of a level two field hospital in some of the missions. Minister Rodic also voiced the initiative to examine, in line with the significant increase of the contingent in Lebanon, the possibility of also receiving a headquarter position in the UN Command in Lebanon. In regard to the UNMIK Mission, Rodic voiced satisfaction with this mission’s engagement and its status-neutral operating, in line with the UNSCR 1244. This has special significance, considering the dialogue conducted with Pristina with the EU mediation. Rodic assessed that UNMIK has one of the key roles in maintaining peace and stability in Kosovo and Metohija, stressing the necessity of maintaining the existing scope or presence. Serbia is trying to ensure peace and prosperity of all residents of Kosovo and Metohija, through all peaceful and diplomatic ways, primarily through dialogue, and this is why it is necessary for all international missions in the territory of Kosovo and Metohija, primarily UNMIK and KFOR, to stay on the ground and ensure security conditions for peaceful continuation of launched processes. Serbia highly appreciates the UN decision to use the Nis airport as the primary safe airport in situations of natural disasters and security threats to UNMIK staff and other UN bodies engaged in Kosovo and Metohija. Mulet welcomed Serbia’s engagement, stressing the importance of constant increase of the number of engaged members in the UN peacekeeping operations, primarily over expressed professionalism and high quality in past engagement. He said that the UN presently has a new concept for force engagement, which is based on existing good bilateral and multilateral relations of countries.  That can be a recommendation in which direction Serbia can plan its future engagement in UN peacekeeping operations. Banbury pointed out that resources in the field of medicine are necessary in many parts of the world and assessed that the engagement of a level two field hospital would be of great importance. Apart from that, the UN also needs other capacities that possess specific skills, such as special units, aviation assets (transport and attack helicopters), medical teams for evacuation by air, engineering units, transport capacities for engagement in difficult conditions and other. Minister Rodic has invited Mulet and Military Adviser of the UN Department for Peacekeeping Operations Maqsood Ahmed to visit Belgrade and tour the level two light field hospital, as well as other capacities of the Army of Serbia that can be put at the disposal of the UN, reads the statement.

Vulin: Kosovo Serbs will vote on 16 March (RTS)

Serbian Minister without Portfolio in charge of Kosovo and Metohija Aleksandar Vulin stated that the Serbs living in Kosovo will vote at the early parliamentary elections in Serbia scheduled for 16 March. As in the past, he said, the modalities will be agreed upon with the OSCE Mission. It is very important that the Kosovo Serbs vote for the future Serbian Government, Vulin emphasized. He informed Russian Ambassador to Serbia and the Russian businessmen about the opportunities to invest in Kosovo and Metohija.

 

Kosovo Serbs to vote at parliamentary elections, but there are still unresolved issues (Novosti)

The Kosovo Serbs will be able to vote at the Serbian parliamentary elections and the OSCE will be involved in the organization, just as in 2012. Initial agreement on that was reached at the last Brussels round, but the Belgrade and Pristina teams need to draft details since the Kosovo authorities do not want Belgrade to organize voting in the territory of Kosovo and Metohija. In order to demonstrate their “statehood” they will most probably insist on votes being counted outside the province’s territory. Two years ago, when Serbian parliamentary and presidential elections were held, 35,277 voters from Kosovo and Metohija voted at 90 polling stations, and the boxes were transferred to Raska after the closure of the stations. The Chair of the Committee for Kosovo and Metohija Milovan Drecun believes the election campaign will be able to take place in the province as well and that Pristina will not hinder significantly this process since central elections are also approaching in Kosovo and Metohija. “Pristina will have to demonstrate maximum restraint in creating problems for Serb citizens to vote at these elections. They must be given the right to vote because they don’t recognize the state of Kosovo and they have the right to vote and to be elected,” said Drecun. For Marko Jaksic, member of the Committee for Kosovo and Metohija and the Democratic Party of Serbia, it is important where the votes will be counted. “If the votes are counted outside the territory of the province, this means that the Kosovo Serbs are voting as, for example, our fellow-nationals in Austria and this gives the right to Pristina to treat Serbs as the Diaspora. If the votes are counted in Kosovo, then it would mean that it is still part of Serbia.”

 

Serbian-German civil dialogue (Radio Serbia, by Sandra Pekic)

Germany believes Serbia is the key country in the Balkans , and Serbia sees Germany as a key country in the European Union, it was announced at the gathering dubbed “Serbian-German Civil Dialogue”, organized by the European Movement in Serbia and the European Movement in Germany. Outgoing Serbian parliament speaker Nebojsa Stefanovic said that in the last two years, the parliament and the government of Serbia launched reforms that would make Serbia a modern and organized state. Speaking about relations with Germany, Stefanovic said that this year German scholarship holders will spend several months practicing for the first time in the Serbian parliament. He reminded that for years, Serbian students have been part of the training program in the Bundestag, where they have the opportunity to learn about the functioning of German institutions.

According to outgoing Minister without Portfolio in charge of European integration Branko Ruzic, with the management structure and successful reforms, Serbia plans to prepare to take on obligations imposed by the EU membership by the end of 2018. He reiterated that Serbia participates in the accession negotiations according to the new methodology, which emphasizes reforms in the field of rule of law. Speaking of Chapter 35 concerning the Kosovo issue, Ruzic said that, according to the latest poll, 70% of respondents believe that it is necessary to reach a solution with Pristina regardless of the insistence of Brussels.

The German Ambassador to Serbia Heinz Wilhelm said that Germany already supports Serbia as its biggest trading partner and aid donor. According to him, representatives of civil society characterize bilateral relations, and Serbia is one of five countries in the world where all six German foundations operate. Ambassador Wilhelm expressed hope that the election campaign in Serbia will not slow down negotiations between Serbia and the EU, as well as the dialogue with Pristina.

Board Member of the European Movement in Germany Ursula Maennle warned that the accession negotiations will not be easy at all and it is important that all social groups are involved in the negotiating process. Speaking of the German-Serbian friendship, she reminded of the golden age of literary collaboration of Goethe and Vuk Karadzic in the XIX century, adding that it could be the basis for cooperation in the XXI century.

The two-day gathering “Serbian-German civil dialogue” in the Serbian parliament is attended by a large number of members of civil society of the two countries, as well as political and economic life.

 

Due: United Nations assisting Serbia and the region (Tanjug)

The Representative of the Secretary-General and the Head of the UN Office in Belgrade Peter Due has stated that the United Nations are ready to assist in implementing the Brussels agreement, that they will work on promoting cooperation and reconciliation in the Western Balkans, and that they will continue on development activities in Serbia. Due, who has assumed his duty six months ago, told Tanjug in an interview that the UN welcomes Serbia’s efforts to join the EU and they welcome the steps it is making on the European path.

He assessed that the official opening of negotiations with the EU represents an historical achievement for Serbia and that this is also good for the entire Western Balkan as a region, and also good for the Union. “You will probably need patience, time is needed for negotiations, but we in the UN hope that you will quickly go through the accession process,” said Due.

Opening membership negotiations, according to him, also shows in many ways how Serbia has transformed and that it enjoys full respect as member of the international community, with an image that “has improved significantly at the international level.” Due considers that EU membership of our country is closely related to the Kosovo issue and that negotiating Chapter 35 is the key chapter. “The EU expects a comprehensive normalization of relations between Belgrade and Pristina. You have already achieved great progress when it comes to the dialogue with Pristina,” said the Head of the UN Office. As things stand now, he assessed, “EU membership is not conditioned with recognition of Kosovo’s independence, and as long as there are both recognizers and non-recognizers (of Kosovo) in the EU and the dynamics in the UN Security Council remains as it is at present, I think there will be no such pressure.”

According to him, the EU believes in the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue and the UN very much support the positive EU role in that dialogue. Speaking about UNMIK’s role, Due assessed that things have changed a great deal in Kosovo since 1999 when he served there, in the positive sense, but mentioned that Kosovo still faces numerous challenges and that UNMIK now has a much more modest role than in 1999. Nevertheless, Resolution 1244 remains in effect and it will remain so until the UN Security Council finds this necessary, and UNMIK will remain in Kosovo as long as this resolution is in effect, he explained, pointing out that UNMIK continues to represent the legal framework and authority. “The UN is also ready to assist in the implementation of the agreement reached between Belgrade and Pristina with the EU mediation, and if we were to be requested to do more in regard to this we would gladly do this,” Due pointed out. He noted that the Kosovo institutions do not welcome UNMIK’s presence, while Belgrade, at the same time, insists on its further presence. The UN Office in Belgrade (UNOB) is practically UNMIK’s office in Belgrade, said Due, explaining that he is the representative of the UN Secretary-General, but also of UNMIK which is headed by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Farid Zarif. “My primary focus is Kosovo and Serbia, but I also deal with the political development in the entire Western Balkans and with regional cooperation,” he said, assessing that the overall picture in the region is positive and that enormous progress was achieved in the field of security, politics and the economy, as well as in uniting the region, in which aspirations towards EU membership play a very positive role. However, he noted, there are also reasons for concern, such as B&H and the FYROM that, even though stable, are still in some way “stuck” in the European integration process and for which the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue could be an inspiration and model. Due said that our country contributes very significantly and increasingly more in the UN peacekeeping operations, presently with around more than 200 out of a total of 100,000 soldiers and policemen who are deployed for these purposes throughout the world. Serbian forces are deployed in the missions in Lebanon, Cyprus, in Africa (DR Congo, Liberia, Ivory Coast…), Serbian soldiers and policemen are well-trained and much respected, and Serbia’s assistance is highly respected in the field of medicine, said Due. He also noted that the UN Country Team, headed by Irena Vojackova-Sollorano, is active in Serbia, which counts more than 20 agencies and which deals with UN development activities.

Last year, that team, said Due, implemented in Serbia programs and projects worth almost $30 million and it will continue with development activities, focusing on good management, sustainable development and regional activities, and working on development strategy for the following years and in cooperation with the Serbian authorities.

 

REGIONAL PRESS

 

Lagumdzija-Inzko: Decision on Mostar financing must be in citizens’ interests (Oslobodjenje)

B&H Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers Zlatko Lagumdzija, who is also B&H Foreign Minister, met in Sarajevo with the High Representative Valentin Inzko and Principal Deputy High Representative and Brcko Supervisor Tamir Waser. Lagumdzija especially stressed the significance of adopting a decision in the Council of Ministers on introducing a sixth tranche of the stand-by arrangement of the International Monetary Fund, by which B&H’s financial stability is preserved and funds for social spending, military veterans, health, and education are secured. He especially stressed the significance of an agreement on Elektroprenos reached in Brussels, by which practically 200 million KM are unblocked to invest in B&H’s electrical grid. During the meeting they discussed the implementation of the European Court of Human Rights ruling in the Sejdic-Finci case, as well as fulfilling other conditions for unblocking B&H’s European path. Lagumdzija noted the importance of active participation by the EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fule and his colleagues in finding a solution for implementing Sejdic-Finci. He reiterated the position that B&H’s European path must lead to further internal integration for the country, and that B&H’s European perspective makes no sense without further internal integration. He also noted that indirect elections for all three members of the B&H Presidency can be discussed, but without asymmetric solutions. When it comes to the B&H Federation House of Representatives’ decision on the method of financing the city of Mostar, he stressed that the decision must primarily be in the interest of that city’s citizens. Once again he stressed the need for a more urgent adoption of laws that would resolve the issue of state and military property in B&H, which will complete fulfillment of the decision by the B&H Constitutional Court on state property as a first precondition for unblocking the Membership Action Plan and bring B&H closer to full-fledged membership in NATO. Lagumdzija informed his interlocutors of the activities undertaken to implement a set of anticorruption laws in which representatives of the European Commission delegation in B&H have taken part, and especially emphasized the support of the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee in adopting these laws as a true step for progress in B&H in the fight against corruption and organized crime, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

 

Oric and Mandzic ask Izetbegovic for protection (Fena)

Bosniak member of the B&H Presidency Bakir Izetbegovic has stated on the occasion of the announcement that Serbia could issue an arrest warrant for war-time Muslim commander Naser Oric, that B&H will not extradite its citizens to Serbia, which should reconsider its behavior towards B&H citizens. “Oric was subject to a very detailed investigation in The Hague, and that investigation is over. It is out of the question that he should be tried for the same crimes again in B&H, let alone in Serbia,” Izetbegovic said after he met with Oric and Smajo Mandzic in the Presidency, who said that they came to ask for protection from possible extradition. Izetbegovic said that if Serbia wants to improve relations with BiH and join the EU, it should reconsider its behavior towards B&H citizens, Fena reported. Izetbegovic said that the entire case is connected with the campaign ahead of early parliamentary elections in Serbia, stressing that the parties in the campaign should not use B&H defenders to promote themselves. The Bosniak official announced that he will personally make a number of contacts with Serbia in order to improve the two countries’ relations.

 

 

 

 

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

 

North Kosovo on Edge After Serb Leader’s Arrest (BIRN, by Jeta Xharra, Valerie Hopkins, 31 January 2014)

The war crimes arrest of Oliver Ivanovic, a former paramilitary turned political moderate, has heightened the mood of tension among Serbs in Kosovo’s already volatile north.

“He was wearing a blue uniform, a black hat, and he was armed to his teeth.”

This is how Isa Mustafa remembers seeing Oliver Ivanovic, the Kosovo Serb politician who was arrested this week on war crimes charges, back on April 14, 1999, the day when 26 Albanians were killed in the south of the divided town of Mitrovica.

On that day, Mustafa told BIRN, Serb paramilitary forces entered apartment buildings in his neighbourhood, and with the help of Serb neighbours, they went into Albanians’ homes and told the people inside to pack their bags and leave for Albania.

Once the Albanian families were out on the street, the paramilitaries started dividing up the men and women, Mustafa recalled.

“I could see the faces of some paramilitaries who were not wearing masks and I was surprised to see Oliver Ivanovic among  them,” he said.

Mustafa was a football referee at the time, and Ivanovic was a sports instructor who had gained some local fame as a karate champion, although by 1999 had also become an increasingly prominent Kosovo Serb political leader. The two men knew each other through sport.

“If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes I wouldn’t have believed it if someone would told me that he could be among those people. I am talking about Oliver Ivanovic, who I knew,” Mustafa testified in court in Mitrovica in 1999.

Some of the Albanian men were allowed to leave, including Mustafa, and some told to stay. Later gunshots were heard, Mustafa said. One of his relatives was among the 26 Albanians whose dead bodies were ultimately found several months later, in October 1999.

If Ivanovic goes to trial, Mustafa could be a key witness, but the arrest of the Serb who stood for mayor of Mitrovica in local polls in November last year has again heightened tensions in the divided town, where his supporters demonstrated for his release on Thursday.

Ivanovic, aged 60, was once called a warlord but is now seen by Western diplomats as a moderating voice and has played a key role in Kosovo Serb negotiations with NATO and the EU.

In the late 1990s, he was a major figure in a group of hardline Kosovo Serbs known as the ‘Bridge Watchers’, a paramilitary force that guarded the northern end of the bridge over the River Ibar in the town, which seprates the Serb north side from the Albanian south. Their mission was to prevent Albanians from crossing over into the north.

The force was eventually disbanded but some of its members retained their connections to one another in organised crime networks.

Ivanovic made an about-turn, however, entering politics and making a name as a moderate who was willing to engage in dialogue with the government in Prishtina.

This came at some personal cost. In 2005, his car was blown up after he made the unpopular decision, much criticised by Belgrade, to participate in Kosovo politics as a member of the Kosovo Assembly between 2004 and 2007.

He later served as a state secretary in the Serbian ministry for Kosovo from 2008 to 2012, but unlike many Kosovo Serbs, he speaks Albanian, frequently giving statements to the Albanian-language media in Kosovo.

A threat to stability?

Ivanovic’s arrest came at a time of rising uncertainty in the Serb north of Kosovo, after the refusal of the mayor-elect of North Mitrovica to take office and the murder of another local politician.

Krstimir Pantic, who beat Ivanovic in the mayoral elections in the town last November, refused to take up the post because he objected to signing an oath of office on a document “that had the markings of Kosovo’s statehood”. Many Kosovo Serbs strongly object to anything that suggests public recognition of Kosovo's independence from Serbia.

Meanwhile Serb politician Dimitrije Janicijevic was shot dead on January 16, allegedly by Serb nationalists opposed to his liberal politics and willingness to work with the government in Pristina.

“With one candidate killed, another under arrest and a third unwilling to do his elected duty, the international community needs to be very strong, because the atmosphere is extremely negative right now,” Bane Krstic, a journalist in North Mitrovica, told BIRN.

Serbia’s First Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic has already demanded that the EU get involved to ensure stability.

Vucic said on Thursday that he had sent a letter to EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, asking her to intervene to secure Ivanovic’s release.

“We seek a clear explanation, because we have a couple of questions that are difficult to find answers to, such as why Oliver Ivanovic was charged with something that happened 13 years ago, and how come he - if he had committed the crime - moved freely throughout Kosovo, talked to everyone… and then suddenly on the eve of [repeat local] elections he is arrested,” Vucic said.

“We think it’s important for peace and stability but also for the sake of trust that he be released,” he added.

Ivanovic was arrested by the EU rule-of-law mission in Kosovo, EULEX, on suspicion of involvement in war crimes against ethnic Albanians, and in murders committed after the 1990s conflict.

EULEX prosecutor Jonathan Ratel has issued a statement saying that the arrest was not politically motivated.

“The rule of law is a system in which no one, including governments or politicians, are above the law, and everyone is equally subject to it,” Ratel said.

But Ivanovic’s lawyer Nebojsa Vlajic insisted that politics were behind the charges.

“If there was evidence against Ivanovic, the question is, why he was not charged [for the crimes] when they happened?” he told B92 in Belgrade.

“He has lived his entire life in Kosovska Mitrovica and was available at all times to the judicial authorities,” the lawyer added.

However Nora Ahmetaj, director of the Kosovo Centre for Research, Documentation and Publication, which focuses on researching war crimes, defended the arrest.

Temporary destabilisation could be a price worth paying for accountability and longer-term reconciliation, she maintained.

“In judging how this arrest will impact on politics in North Mitrovica, we should recall the situation in [the Kosovo town of] Skenderaj where the reaction was very harsh on the first and second day, but that was it,” Ahmetaj told BIRN.

She was referring to the arrest last May of Sami Lushtaku, who was elected and sworn in as mayor of Skenderaj following the local elections while still on trial for war crimes.

Ivanovic has already indicated that he has hopes of emulating Lushtaku’s achievement.

Despite being in custody, he has applied to run for mayor in the forthcoming repeat mayoral vote in North Mitrovica on February 23 – and his arrest by EU police could even boost his appeal among hardliners when the ballots are cast.

 

Four candidates running for mayor of Kosovo city (Xinhua, 30 January 2014)

Two Serbs and two Albanians will run for the mayor of Serb-dominated municipality of north Mitrovica in repeat elections on Feb. 23, the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Kosovo announced Thursday.

Pristina authorities had to reorganize elections after the elected mayor from last November's elections, Krstimir Pantic, rejected taking the oath in line with Kosovo laws.

CEC chairperson Valdete Daka said the four mayor candidates were Goran Radic from the Serbian Initiative Srpska party, Oliver Ivanovic from the Serbian SDP party, Florent Azemi from the PDK party, and Musa Miftari from the opposition LDK party.

Daka said that reelections would be organized in line with the 2013 April agreement reached between Pristina and Belgrade in the EU-brokered dialogue in Brussels. The agreement enabled the participation of Serbs from the north of Kosovo in the process for the first time in 10 years.

Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in 2008, but Belgrade does not recognize the secession.

 

Serbia ‘Cannot Lose’ Croatian Genocide Lawsuit (BIRN, by Marija Ristic, 31 January 2014)

The Serbian foreign minister said Croatia will not win its case for wartime genocide against Belgrade at the International Court of Justice, where a verdict is expected by the year’s end.

Foreign minister Rasim Ljajic said on Thursday that Croatia will fail to prove in court that Serbia committed genocide during the 1990s war.

“I am more than convinced that we cannot lose that dispute, and that Croatia cannot prove that genocide has taken place,” Ljajic told Serbian broadcaster B92.

Croatia filed genocide charges against Serbia at the International Court of Justice in 1999, also demanding that Belgrade punish all perpetrators of war crimes during the 1990s conflict, return looted cultural property and pay for wartime damages.

In response, Serbia submitted a counter-claim in 2010, maintaining that Croatia was guilty of genocide against Serbs during and after the war.

Ljajic said that Belgrade had been ready to withdraw its counter-suit, but the political leadership in Zagreb did not reciprocate because it feared a backlash from the Croatian public.

“Serbia was fully prepared to withdraw the lawsuit unconditionally, but the other side was not ready to do the same,” Ljajic said.

Croatian foreign minister Vesna Pusic has previously said that Zagreb was only ready to discuss the withdrawal of the lawsuits after Belgrade provides information about Croatians who went missing during the 1991-95 war in her country.

The two countries will start defending their cases at the International Court of Justice on March 3 – Croatia is to present evidence and hear witness testimony first, followed by Serbia. The sessions are expected to last a month, while the verdict is expected by the end of the year.

 

Unemployment in Bosnia 'peace threat' (World Bulletin, 30 January 2014)

About 25 % working-age people in Bosnia are unemployed

More than one in four young adults in Bosnia are unemployed, a figure which World Bank director for South East Europe (SEE) Ellen Goldstein finds "stunning and problematic."

Speaking at the Bosnian Council of of Ministers on Thursday at the opening of a World Bank conference to discuss the rate of unemployment in the country, Goldstein pointed out that the most alarming aspect is that youth unemployment is "twice as high than among the middle-aged."

This threat must be solved in order to ensure the peaceful and progressive future for people in Bosnia, Goldstein said.

Low rate of participation of workers in the labor market represents a threat to peace in Bosnia, said Goldstein. She added that the World Bank has recorded a slight increase in employment in the country in the past year, but it is reduced due to constant political problems in the country.

"The World Bank is ready and willing to help and give budgetary support which is linked to the reform of the business environment and the labor market," concluded Goldstein.

 

 

US Intelligence Deems Macedonia, Bosnia, ‘Volatile’ (BIRN, by Sinisa Jakov Marusic, 31 January 2014)

For the first time in recent years, US National Intelligence has bracketed Macedonia in the same 'volatile' category as Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The head of US National Intelligence, James R. Clapper, named Bosnia and Maceodnia as countries of concern at a Wednesday hearing of the Senate Intelligence Committee, on the most significant security threats for 2014.

“The situation in Bosnia-Herzegovina and ethnic cleavages in Macedonia are particularly volatile,” he said, speaking about the Western Balkans.

Regarding Macedonia, he blamed problems partly on the Macedonian authorities.

“The Macedonian Government continues to push programs geared to promote ethnic Macedonia nationalism at the expense of the country’s Euro-Atlantic integration,” he said.

Clapper added: “The longer that Macedonia’s EU and NATO membership paths remain stalled over the country’s constitutional name dispute with Greece and poor bilateral relations with Bulgaria, the greater the risk that ethnic tensions will increase”.

Despite repeated recommendations by the European Commission, the EU has not started membership talks with Macedonia, nor has it been invited to join NATO, owing to the dispute with Greece over its name.

Greece insists that Macedonia’s name implies territorial claims to its own northern province, also called Macedonia.

Last year, Bulgaria joined Greece in blocking Macedonia's path to the EU, complaining that Skopje had failed to nurture neighbourly relations.

This is the first time in more of a decade that US intelligence, in its annual report on security threats, has described Macedonia as volatile.

Last year, the report warned that disputes between the ethnic Albanian and Macedonian communities might become more polarized, and mentioned the name dispute with Greece and chilled relations with Bulgaria as points of concern.

However, in 2013, US Intelligence stressed that it did “not expect a return to the civil war violence of a decade ago”.

In 2001, Macedonia experienced a short armed conflict between ethnic Albanian rebels and state security forces. The conflict ended that year with a peace accord that granted greater rights to Albanians who make up a quarter of the population of 2.1 million.

In return, ethnic Albanian paramilitaries disbanded and several commanders became politicians who are now part of the junior coalition party, the Democratic Union for Integration, DUI.

Speaking about Bosnia, the only other country from the region named in the report, Clapper’s remarks reflected those from last year.

“In Bosnia-Herzegovina, different interpretations of the political framework, based on the 1995 Dayton Accords, as well as efforts by Bosniak, Croat, and Serb leaders to maintain control over their political and ethnic fiefdoms will continue to undermine BiH’s central state institutions,” he noted.

On a pessimistic note, Clapper said that general elections set for 2014 “will not likely bridge these differences, diminishing hopes for BiH’s Euro-Atlantic integration that its neighbors have achieved”.