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LOCAL PRESS

Vulin: Ivanovic and Delibasic should be allowed to defend themselves while free (RTS)

Outgoing Serbian Minister without Portfolio in charge of Kosovo and Metohija Aleksandar Vulin has told the morning broadcast of Radio and Television of Serbia (RTS) that the decision of the court in Pristina for Oliver Ivanovic to remain in prison and the arrest of Dragoljub Delibasic cause anxiety and unpleasantness on the eve of elections in Kosovska Mitrovica. “I really call on EULEX to start thinking about these people and to allow them to defend themselves while free. The indictments are fine, no one has the right to tell someone whether they can file charges or not, especially for war crimes, but it is a basic human right for someone to be able to defend her/himself while free, especially if you have nowhere to escape,” said Vulin. He says that the Serbian Government is doing everything possible, but notes that, according to UNSCR 1244 it doesn’t have executive authority in Kosovo and Metohija. “But we do have communication with the international community and we are constantly requesting the international community to simply respect their own rules, meaning to treat Serbs as it does everyone else,” said Vulin.  Speaking about the election campaign for the mayoral elections in northern Kosovska Mitrovica, he assesses that things are taking their course, but that Ivanovic’s detention changes the situation, since at issue is threat of force that doesn’t have basis in law and that it is still unknown whether voters’ lists are appropriate. Ivanovic remains to be the mayoral candidate despite the fact that he is in detention. According to Vulin, Ivanovic’s arrest doesn’t influence the regularity of elections in Kosovska Mitrovica in a formal and legal sense, but it influences politically, while voter turnout may also be influenced with the fact that 23 February marks All Souls’ Day, because of which half of Kosovska Mitrovica residents will be absent. Vulin is convinced that the Serbs will not allow for a Serb mayor of Kosovska Mitrovica not to be elected and assessed that the candidate of the Serbian (Srpska) Civic Initiative Goran Rakic is excellent and that he will contribute to the development of the municipality. Speaking about the early parliamentary elections in Kosovo and Metohija on 16 March, Vulin says there is a good model from the past elections and that he had talked with the OSCE representatives and that there are no obstacles. “We’ll see whether Pristina will try to create obstacles, but as far as the international community is concerned, the elections are ready, and as far as the Serbian Government is concerned the elections can start tomorrow,” said Vulin, adding there is readiness of all sides and that he doesn’t expect problems.

Delibasic to be interrogated today (Beta)

Lawyer of the arrested Kosovo Serb Dragoljub Delibasic from Kosovska Mitrovica, Dejan A. Vasic, has said that Delibasic was transferred to Pristina, where he will face a police interview in the premises of the Kosovo special prosecution on Wednesday. Delibasic, a retired lieutenant colonel of the Serbian Ministry of the Interior, was arrested on suspicion that he committed several grave crimes during 1999 and 2000, and which are conneceted with Oliver Ivanovic’s case.

Serbian parlamentary elections most probably in Kosovo as well (Danas)

Serbian citizens in Kosovo and Metohija will most probably not be denied to vote at the Serbian parliamentary elections on 16 March, but the question is how they will be organized. Even though Serbian officials claim that voting on 16 March will be a “replay” of the Serbian presidential and parliamentary elections in 2012, which were conducted by the OSCE in Kosovo and Metohija, Danas’ diplomatic sources claim this might be a “combination” of 2012 and the recent local elections in Kosovo since neither Pristina nor the EU will allow the renewal of the Serbian administration in Kosovo and Metohija over the elections. After the last local elections, conducted by Pristina at the end of 2013, based on the Brussels agreement, all Serb majority municipalities in Kosovo and Metohija had entered the system of the Kosovo local self-government, because of which they are now looking for a new model for conducting Serbian parliamentary elections. Danas’ sources unofficially claim that there is still no political consent on this issue, but that the EU will not hinder, since official Belgrade has allegedly promised that it will strengthen at these elections the reform majority in the parliament that will support the amendment of the Constitution and resumption of the dialogue with Pristina. Kosovo Prime Minister’s advisors are sending media signals that the Kosovo government will not oppose elections, but diplomatic sources in Kosovo and Metohija warn that there is resistance towards this idea in Pristina. Pristina media speculate that the Serbs will vote as the “Diaspora” and that they are now discussing the place where the votes will be counted and the layout of the ballots. Serbia hasn’t officially recognized the self-declared Kosovo state and it doesn’t even have a consulate or an embassy in Kosovo and Metohija, while the Liasion Office in the EU headquarters in Pristina, could hardly be the voting place, Danas was told by several sources. The Republican Election Commission (RIK) has issued Instructions for Elections on 16 March where it is stated that “during the conducting of elections on the territory of the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija, as an inalienable part of Serbia, RIK can pass special rules for determining polling stations, forming organs and bodies for conducting elections, as well as for transfer of election material when necessary for safe implementation of the election process.” Prior to the publication of the Instructions on 29 January, RIK decided to request from the Office for Kosovo and Metohija and its head Aleksandar Vulin “all necessary assistance towards organizing voting at the upcoming elections on the territory of the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija.” After two days of waiting, Danas hasn’t received answers from Vulin as to what the requested assistance consists of even though it is speculated that several meetings, regarding organization of elections in Kosovo and Metohija, were held at the Serbian Government.

Mrkic: Kosovo is not independent since Serbia doesn’t recognize it (Srna)

Outgoing Serbian Foreign Minister Ivan Mrkic stated in an interview with Srna that there can be no discussion on Kosovo’s independence when Belgrade doesn’t recognize Kosovo as a state and that the Serbian Foreign Ministry has been successfully conveying this position in the world, where they understand the commitment for preservation of international law and principles that should apply for all. He says that Kosovo is Serbia’s internal issue and that everything done by the Serbian representatives in Brussels, with the help of the EU High Representative Catherine Ashton, is aimed establishing everyday life for all residents of Kosovo and Metohija, smooth movement of people and goods, and that the Pristina administration must secure the Serb community.

Mrkic assessed that it is perhaps too late to withdraw mutual lawsuits of Croatia and Serbia and says the court should deal with this and that the events in court should not transfuse on the relations between the two countries as this is not good for anyone – either for Serbian-Croatian relations or for the region.

Mrkic says Serbia will request from Austria and Germany archives taken by these countries from Serbia during WWII, which also include documents from the period of WWI. “I know there is a book about that and the fact is that wagons of that archive were taken and that only one smaller part was returned. We are trying to perceive this and we will certainly ask the return of what is ours, especially the archive from the period of WWI,” Mrkic says.

Commenting on the reaction of Bosniak officials to the investigation of the Serbian Prosecutor’s Office into Naser Oric and his collaborators “You can’t like the whole truth at a certain point, and then like only half the truth at another, and then like only two thirds of the truth. Truth either exists or not,” Mrkic said. Mentioning that Serbia had come to terms with what was going on with the Bosniaks in Srebrenica, he said that an actual facing with what had happened in the Serb villages along the Drina had never really occurred. The Minister warns that a completely reasonable question arises – why and how can it be that there is no one responsible for the thousands of murdered civilians, elderly men and women, and children – and concludes that the only just thing to do is to investigate each crime fully and punish the criminals. He is urging his friends from Sarajevo to dedicate themselves to the investigation and finding the remains of the Serb victims in the Sarajevo landfill, adding that this has to be examined fully and that there must not be any differences in the approach – when it comes to this issue. “There has been some news that at the landfill in Sarajevo, at a certain depth, earthly remains, which is outrageous, were found of the Serbs killed during the war, Sarajevo Serbs at that. Some say there were several thousand people killed. And then I heard there was supposedly no money to continue the investigation, which upset me very much.”
With respect to the proposal Serbia made to B&H and other former Yugoslav countries to form joint embassies, Mrkic mentioned that Serbia and B&H could arrive at a joint proposal in the course of this year, adding that he had spoken with his B&H counterpart Zlatko Lagumdzija on several occasions. “It is likely that later this year we will put something together as a joint proposal, which will of course be checked by both countries’ competent bodies,” Mrkic said underlining that Montenegro and FRYOM were also interested in the idea. He noted that this would not mean a “reformation and reinstitution of Yugoslavia or Yugoslav foreign affairs,” referring to such remarks as total nonsense and adding that during the talks with the colleagues from the former Yugoslavia, an idea came up to apply the “Scandinavian model” for the sake of rationalization, where several countries would use the same building for their offices. As regards the relations between Serbia and the Republika Srpska (RS), Mrkic said Serbia was willing to develop those relations as much as possible in line with the Dayton Peace Agreement, meaning, as he said, practically perpetually, as far as the cooperation went. Reiterating that Serbia fully supports the preservation of B&H’s territorial integrity and adherence to the Dayton Agreement, in which the RS is fully and clearly inscribed, Mrkic said that Serbia naturally has special relations with the RS. “We are the same people. It was only fate that divided us into separate countries but, hey, all that may become relative some day. What’s important is that we recognize what is supposed to be the backbone of our cooperation and that we should extend it to all areas, and this government supports such policy with all its heart and soul.” The postponement of a meeting between the Serbian Government and the B&H Council of Ministers, which occurred at the request of B&H, is not a problem at all nor a big political message, Mrkic said, adding that the meeting will definitely be held but that the most appropriate date was being sought “in light of the facts that occurred in the meantime.” “I’m sure that in a couple of weeks we will have a date suggested, and then we’ll reach an agreement,” Mrkic told Srna.

Vekaric: Missed opportunity for Oric to come to Serbia (RTS)

Deputy Prosecutor for War Crimes Bruno Vekaric has told the morning news of Radio and Television of Serbia (RTS) that Naser Oric had been in Serbia and that the information on the request for issuing Interpol’s arrest warrant only caused damage in this case. “I am not happy with the fact that this has been made public, he had communication in Serbia and we had an opportunity for him to come and to be available to judicial institutions. This way, in the pre-phase before the red warrant, this was made public and it only caused damage,” said Vekaric.

According to him, Oric communicated in Serbia with people who were subjects of interest in the search for Ratko Mladic. “I can’t analyze where the leak occurred. International turbulence was created, you have a president who receives Oric in his cabinet,” sayd Vekaric. He says there is an official answer of the Directorate that deals with warrants that he can’t be extradited to Serbia, and that there is a possibility, based on the Protocol on Cooperation with B&H, to continue talks with the colleagues there on this case. What can be officially stated is that it is possible to discuss transfer of evidence to the Bosnian side, but the Protocol is based on voluntariness and the issue as to whether B&H will use this evidence, said Vekaric. Commenting the information that several policemen from Serbia are suspected of taking part in the kidnapping in Strpci, Vekaric says it is obvious that they were tasked with protecting, but in fact they were assisting in the conducting the kidnapping of the passengers from the train. “The passengers were identified before that, and the train was not stopped afterwards, there was no investigation, witnesses weren’t interrogated. There were so many omissions…” said Vekaric. Commenting on Oliver Ivanovic’s arrest, he says he is surprised by the decision of a Kosovo court to place him in detention. “We are absolutely surprised because there has been no reference to Ivanovic in any of our cases, nor have I heard his name mentioned anywhere, Vekaric said. UNMIK conducted an identical investigation several years ago, failing to find any evidence, Vekaric said, adding that he is unaware what kind of evidence might be available to UNMIK at this time. Collaboration with EULEX has been excellent otherwise, but there was no information in this case, and EULEX remained quite reluctant to provide any, Vekaric said.

 

REGIONAL PRESS

 

Dodik criticizes Bosniak politicians for supporting Oric (EuroBlic/Fena)

The RS President Milorad Dodik has criticized B&H political leaders over their reactions to the arrest warrant Serbia issued for Naser Oric. He said that B&H politicians used state institutions to promote crimes against Serbs. “The RS will have an adequate response to the new situation,” Dodik said. The Serbs will not boycott joint B&H institutions because it would harm some projects in the RS, such as the gas pipeline South Stream. But we will certainly weigh our actions and behavior through decision-making procedures in the Council of Ministers, and demonstrate our views,” Dodik said in an interview for EuroBlic. Dodik criticized in particular the SDP leader Zlatko Lagumdzija and the SBB leader Fahrudin Radoncic. Asked if he would terminate the political partnership with Lagumdzija, Dodik said that his party, the SNSD, has a very broad partnership with the SDP and it therefore cannot be conditioned by these gestures, adding what Lagumdzija did in the case of Oric is unacceptable. “He could have done it as president of his party, but what is controversial is that he received and supported Oric as the B&H Foreign Minister. He would not be in that office had there not been for the support of others in B&H, not just the SDP,” said Dodik. “The actions of Bakir Izetbegovic, who was elected by Bosniaks, are a different story. Nobody from the RS gave him any kind of consent, and he can behave in this way. But the joint institutions need participation of all, and in order to function do not tolerate behavior such as that demonstrated by Lagumdzija and Radoncic. We will not tolerate it,” said Dodik. He added that he saw the outcome of the Oric case in court proceedings, and that luckily in Serbia there is professional attitude of the judiciary and the War Crimes Prosecution, whose legitimacy is provided through the cases that they carried out against Serbs. “Serbian courts should be trusted. Each country that Oric enters is under obligation to stop him and hand him over to the court that is seeking him. If they continue to protect him in the B&H Federation, Oric’s range of movement will be from Bascarsija to Marijin Dvor,” Dodik said, referring to two neighborhoods in Sarajevo.

 

The Americans would like to break Dayton (Novosti)

U.S. analysts and institutes are persistently advocating the breaking of the Dayton order in Bosnia-Hercegovina (B&H). The U.S. Institute for New Democracies claims this framework was created in an undemocratic manner. Analysts from this institute claim that the EU, headed by Germany, hasn’t succeeded in its foreign policy in B&H, and that the administration of U.S. President Obama should get involved more actively in resolving the deepening political crisis in B&H. This institute suggests several ways for resolving “the political collapse and moving forward.” They suggest that Obama’s administration needs to play a more active role in B&H and change the position of Germany, and the EU, in B&H, which, according to the Institute, have only strengthened secessionist forces in B&H and threatened peace in the country. The U.S. Institute points out that the position of the international community, especially the Office of the High Representative (OHR), must be defined clearly, along with notion that the OHR should not leave B&H before the Dayton Agreement is changed, although OHR is only mandated to implement the agreement. It is also added that the international community must support B&H and “reject attempts of neighbors, and their allies in B&H, to threaten its state institutions.” “Belgrade and Banja Luka must be told clearly that they can’t hold anymore joint sessions of their legislative institutions, while Zagreb’s insistence on the division of the B&H Federation must be curbed,” states the U.S. Institute.

The SNSD caucus whip in the B&H Parliament Drago Kalabic tells Novosti that Bosniak lobbyists are hiding behind the reports of U.S. political institutes. “For years now, Bosniak lobbyists are requesting that the U.S. administration and Congress in Washington undertake concrete measures and impose a new B&H Constitution that would, without any doubt, lead towards the complete centralization of authority in the country, which is unacceptable for us,” said Kalabic. MP from SDS in the B&H Parliament Borislav Bojic tells Novosti that it would be dangerous to request any radical amendments to the Constitution in the election year in B&H. “I think such initiatives are not realistic or well-intentioned,” said Bojic.

 

Croatia: Hatred towards minorities (Novosti)

Hatred is knocking on the door of Croatian politics, and fear is creeping among its minorities, this is the conclusion of numerous MPs after a heated debate in the Croatian Sabor (parliament) regarding the implementation of the constitutional law on minorities that also regulates the issue of bilingualism and the Cyrillic alphabet in Vukovar. Many MPs in the Croatian Sabor claim that the relationship towards minorities today is worse than before, while Croatia was negotiating EU membership, even though there are positive changes in some areas for the better.  The debate showed an open confrontation between the right- and left-wing partiess, but also revealed that deep divisions presently reign in Croatia. “Fascistic calls that are increasingly being heard in Croatia luckily do not fly in the Istria region, and the referendum on the Cyrillic alphabet is aimed at dividing Croatian citizens. That is a monstrous initiative and it will lead to us saying ‘good night Croatia’ and to the remaining Serbs fleeing the country,” Istria MP Damir Kajin said in the Sabor. The left-wing in the Sabor openly opposes holding a referendum on the Cyrillic script, while the right-wing, headed by the HDZ, claims bilingual signs are a provocation and a wall between the current government and citizens. “The Croatian society isn’t ready for the Cyrillic script in Vukovar. Attention is not paid to legal and moral dilemmas,” states the HDZ, criticizing the government for putting the majority Croatian people in an unequal position by “yielding” to minorities.

 

Lange: There is certain tardiness in meeting obligations (Tanjug)

The Head of the Department for Montenegro in the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Enlargement Dirk Lange has stated that the European Commission (EC) has noticed certain tardiness in Montenegro meeting its obligations on the road to the EU. He said in Podgorica that Brussels wished to see action plans that lead to concrete changes in Montenegrin society.

According to the Podgroica media, he added that every six months the EC will conduct a monitoring assessment of Montenegro’s meeting obligations on the road to the EU.

 

Complaints to the UN and U.S. (Novosti)

The defrocked leader of the non-canonically unrecognized Montenegrin Orthodox Church Miras Dedeic is requesting help from the UN Human Rights Committee in Geneva, the U.S. Embassy in Podgorica and Montenegrin Ministry for Human and Minority Rights regarding “freedom of religion.”  This situation has been inherited from the period between the two World Wars, when the Monteengrin Orthodox Church was re-incorporated into the Serbian Orthodox Church without the former’s approval and through abuse of power in 1920. To make things easier for Geneva, Dedeic informs them that “these decisions were passed at an illegal gathering, organized by the Serbian Karadjordjevic dynasty and its supporters, called the Assembly of the Serbian people in Montenegro.”

The Montenegrin Orthodox Church, in a letter signed by its Metropolitan Mihailo, says that it is in an unfavorable position in Montenegro and is seeking the status of a so-called “traditional” church, as well as protection of the freedom of religion under the Law on Religious Communities, which is currently being prepared. The Montenegrin Orthodox Church says in the letter that the church in Montenegro is unjustifiably limited in its right to worship and publicly perform religious rituals in buildings “which, according to tradition, belong to it.”

 

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

 

Serb Ex-Police Chief Held Over Kosovo Killings (BIRN, 5 February 2014)

A former Kosovo Serb police commander has been arrested over the killings of ten Kosovo Albanians in 2000 alongside a prominent local Serb politician who was detained last week.

Retired interior ministry colonel Dragoljub Delibasic, who at the time of the alleged crime was police commander in the north Kosovo town of Mitrovica, was detained on suspicion of involvement in the violence which saw ten Albanians killed and 25 more wounded in February 2000, the EU rule-of-law mission in Kosovo said on Wednesday.

He is alleged to have committed the crime in collaboration with local Serb political leader Oliver Ivanovic, who was detained last week on suspicion of involvement in the killings which took place after the Kosovo conflict ended, as well as over alleged war crimes during the fighting between ethnic Albanian rebels and Belgrade’s forces in 1999.

Delibasic is suspected of “incitement to commit the offence of aggravated murder by depriving other persons of life because of national motives, committed in co-perpetration with Oliver Ivanovic, the alleged leader of the ‘Bridge Watchers’”, EULEX said in a statement.

The ‘Bridge Watchers’ were hardline Serbs who patrolled the main bridge in Mitrovica dividing the town into Serbian and Albanian sectors.

The attacks by Serb assailants in 2000 saw ethnic Albanians murdered and driven from their homes in Mitrovica.

Ivanovic has denied the charges against him and announced that he will run for mayor of North Mitrovica in a forthcoming repeat mayoral vote due on February 23, despite being in custody.

His arrest last week angered Belgrade, and Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic wrote a letter to EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, asking her to intervene to secure his release to ensure stability in the Serb-dominated north of Kosovo.

Serbs in North Mitrovica also protested last Thursday for Ivanovic’s release.

Aleksandar Vulin, the Serbian minister responsible for Kosovo, said on Wednesday that both arrests were provoking unrest in north Kosovo ahead of the repeat local elections, urging EULEX to allow the men’s to be freed on bail until indictments are raised.

“No one has the right to forbid anyone to prosecute someone, especially for a war crime, but it is a basic human right to defend oneself from freedom, especially if you don’t have anywhere to escape to,” Vulin told Serbian broadcaster RTS.

EULEX said on Tuesday that Ivanovic will remain in custody for a month after an appeals court denied his request for bail on the grounds that he might abscond.

The court said there was “a substantial risk that the defendant will flee” and “a concrete risk there will be intimidation of witnesses”.

 

Serbia seeks arrests of former Bosnian commanders over war crimes (UPI, 4 February 2014)

BELGRADE, Serbia -- Serbia says it has issued international arrest warrants for two men suspected of war crimes while commanding Bosnian Muslim forces during the Balkans conflict.

Naser Oric and Hakija Meholjic are alleged to have committed war crimes against Serbs in the Drina region of Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1992, the Serbian news agency Beta reported Tuesday.

"Diffuse arrest warrants" for the men were issued by the Serbian Interpol office, said Bosnia's Directorate for Coordination of Police Bodies.

Both men are citizens of Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Oric was sentenced to two years in prison in 2006 after he was convicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia of failing to prevent the deaths of five Bosnian Serb detainees and the mistreatment of 11 others between 1992 and 1993. An ICTY appeals courts overturned his conviction and acquitted him of all charges in 2008.

Interpol will reportedly decide soon whether to issue "red notices" for the arrests of Oric and Meholjic.

Oric recently asked the Bosnian government for protection from extradition to Serbia, charging that Serbia would "persecute him as long as he lived."

 

Spy Probe Row Over Macedonia Presidential Hopefuls (BIRN, by Sinisa Jakov Marusic, 5 February 2014)

The outgoing head of the state office for rooting out former secret police collaborators wants it to check candidates ahead of upcoming presidential polls, but the opposition disagrees.

The outgoing head of Macedonia’s controversy-hit Lustration Commission, Tome Adziev, has insisted that it is entitled to check the records of candidates for future head of state to see if they collaborated with the intelligence services in the Communist era.

“The commission has jurisdiction to make decisions until the election of new members [after the commission’s mandate ran out on January 15]. A collective body elected by parliament is in operation until parliament disbands it,” Adziev said.

But Cedomir Damjanovski, the only member of the outgoing Lustration Commission who was proposed by opposition parties, said such a move would be outrageous because parliament has yet to elect new members for the body.

“Parliament should find a solution. I personally asked to be signed off from the position but the commission head Adziev is not allowing the commission members to be signed off so they can return to their old jobs,” Damjanovski said.

Adziev however accused him of working for the opposition.

“Damjanovski is instructed from outside in order to make trouble and to obstruct the [process of] lustration,” he said.

Although legislation states that the Lustration Commission must check the records of presidential candidates before they enter the race, the polls, scheduled for April, were announced after its five-year term expired.

Parliament has not yet elected new members, mostly because the main opposition party, the Social Democrats, have announced that they will boycott the vote because they consider the commission biased.

The opposition argues that it has been misused to target government critics and in December 2012, it removed two of its members from the commission in protest. Adziev however has denied the allegations.

Macedonia is following in the steps of many former Communist states that have brought in lustration laws as a way to address past injustices stemming from politically-motivated prosecutions.

 

Macedonia Opposition Slates Govt Pre-Poll Job Promises (BIRN, by Sinisa Jakov Marusic, 5 February 2014)

The opposition has criticised employment subsidies and new openings for civil servants that were announced by the government just over two months before presidential elections.

The opposition Social Democrats said that the call for 300 new civil servants published last week by the State Administration Agency, as well as the recent government-trumpeted subsidies that should see some 4,000 people hired in the private sector, are unlawful.

“We warn [Prime Minister] Nikola Gruevski and his ruling party that they are breaking the election rulebook and the Anti-Corruption Law,” the opposition party said, urging the State Election Commission and the State Anti-Corruption Agency to intervene.

Last week, a few days before speaker of parliament Trajko Veljanoski set April 13 as the date for the first round of presidential elections, the State Administration Agency issued a call for 300 new positions, mainly in the government sector in charge of the implementation of the 2001 Ohrid Peace Accord.

At the end of last month, the government also presented its new “active employment measures” which are intended to provide 4,000 people with jobs in 2014 by giving subsidies worth almost a million euro to employers.

Employers will be obliged to keep the workers on their books for six to 12 months, government spokesperson Aleksandar Gjorgiev said.

The ruling VMRO DPMNE party also reaffirmed at a meeting on Monday a recent government decision to provide employment in the state administration for retired army veterans aged 45 years and over. Although it has not been specified how many people will benefit, estimates suggest it could be up to several thousand.

Gruevski has denied any wrongdoing ahead of the polls.

“I have no information that the law has been broken. I suppose there are experts who can answer on this issue,” he told media.

According to the election rulebook, employment calls during the pre-election period are forbidden.

“These active employment measures are always being promoted ahead of elections, and with one goal in mind, to boost employment promises and to keep the electorate hopeful,” said the former head of the State Employment Agency, Biljana Jovanovska.

Jovanovska said that if examined objectively, such measures mostly have no lasting effect, as employers usually sack the workers afterwards.

Meanwhile, state institutions continue to give very different figures concerning the total number of civil servants in Macedonia, ranging from 90,000 to 180,000, according to different sources.

The opposition has repeatedly accused the government of filling the administration with its own party loyalists, rewarding them at the state’s expense. The government has denied such accusations.

The latest official data from the Employment Agency set the country’s unemployment rate at 28 per cent, two per cent less than it was a year ago.

The data from the State Statistical Office shows that according to UN standards, some 30 per cent of Macedonians live in poverty.