LOCAL PRESS

 

Only ten Serbs in the Kosovo Assembly (Politika)

The results of the early Kosovo parliamentary elections on 8 June were confirmed in Pristina on Friday evening at an extraordinary session of the Central Election Commission (CIK). Only ten Serb MPs will be sitting in the Kosovo Assembly, considering that the Kosovo Supreme Court had rejected the appeal of the Serb (Srpska) list that was of the opinion that another six mandates belong to it, based on the crossed census. Namely, there are 120 MPs in the Kosovo Assembly, 20 of which are guaranteed for national minorities’ representatives, 10 of which for the Serbs. Since the Serb list crossed a 5.3 percent census, it considers that it has acquired the right to enter an equal distribution of the remaining 100 MPs. The CIK member Nenad Rikalo tells Politika that the Kosovo Supreme Court, just like the Appeals Panel earlier, refused the appeal of the Serb list, stressing they cannot examine these appeals and that this is not in their jurisdiction. The Kosovo Constitutional Court will be the next institution that they will address but only after the Kosovo Assembly and government is formed. Politika unofficially learns that the EU will exert pressure on Pristina politicians for the assembly and government to be formed as soon as possible, having in mind that the legal deadline for this is 60 days. Rikalo says that if the Constitutional Court also doesn’t pass a positive decision regarding the appeal of the Serb list, that this issue will be discussed in Brussels. The leader of the Serb Civic Initiative Vladeta Kostic also tells Politika that Brussels will be the final instance. “We will discuss in Brussels the missed mandates since the Serb list crossed the 5.3 percent census based on 38,199 votes and thus we acquired the right to enter an equal distribution of 100 mandates, which is now divided among Albanian political groups. The EU will obviously have to deal with this issue in more detail, since we will place on the table all arguments that are in favor of the Serb list, but we will especially stress, which is also a fact, that the CIK working group during the election process changed the law and passed a decision on an unequal battle with the Albanians for the remaining deputy seats. It was decided then that we, Serbs, must win as many as 70,000 votes for one mandate, along with those ten guaranteed,” Kostic tells Politika, stressing that the Law on general elections literally states that “the Albanians and other communities equally participate” in the election race for 100 mandates.

 

What are the consequences of the decision to admit Kosovo in the Venice Commission (Novosti)

The recent decision of the Venice Commission to accept Kosovo will have a series of symbolic, but also practical consequences and precedents in the work of this institution that has strong influence in international relations. Novosti did a research on what will change in the treatment of the southern province in the “European Commission for Democracy through law”, but also wider. A great precedent was made by accepting Kosovo because all members of the Venice Commission had been members until now. With Kosovo, the Venice Commission now counts 60 full-fledged members from Europe and the rest of the world and has more members than the CoE. Another great precedent was made because the Venice Commission, unlike other international institutions, decided by a majority to “immediately” erase the footnote that stressed status neutrality. The asterisk behind Kosovo’s name has thus melted, while Kosovo will participate equally with others in the work of this commission. The asterisk that reminds of UNSCR 1244 was used the last time in the work of the Venice Commission in the decision on the accession. Apart from the strengthened symbolism, Pristina will also have concrete legal assistance. When the Parliamentary Assembly, secretary general or some CoE member state requests an analysis of the legal system of a specific state in the field of democracy, human rights and rule of law, Kosovo will equally take part in the decisions from now on. Thus, decisions will be made this way even if at issue would be the Serbian Constitution! This becomes an official document of one of the prestigious institutions in international relations. Through the work of the Venice Commission, Kosovo will also give its advisory opinion when it comes to the legal view to the resolution of certain conflicts on the continent.

 

Finances Committee accepts Serbian government report on floods (Beta)

The Serbian Parliament Committee for Finances has unanimously accepted the Serbian government’s report on the recent severe floods, proposing to the Parliament to adopt it. An advisor in the Finance Ministry Marko Lazarevic stressed, presenting the report to the Committee members, that some 30 million Euros had been raised and that the focus was on reconstruction now. He said that a law on defense from floods was being prepared and that teams of UN and World Bank experts were still in the field assessing damage and lost profit. The report will be ready for a meeting in Paris on Tuesday, which will be a preparatory meeting for the Donors’ Conference in Brussels on 16 July, stressed Lazarevic.

 

REGIONAL PRESS

 

Zlatkovic: RS to adopt new regulation (Srna)

Тhe Republika Srpska (RS) Justice Minister Gorana Zlatkovic has told Srna that she is surprised that the B&H Constitutional Court had abolished the RS government’s decision on verifying the accuracy and truthfulness of data when applying for permanent residence on the RS territory, bearing in mind that the regarded issue is entirely under entity jurisdiction, and she announced that the RS will adopt new regulation dealing with the details of this matter. “This issue is entirely under the jurisdiction of entities, taking into account that the government’s decision was issued only relating to the conditions and manners of checking the validity of documents based on which citizens register and de-register their permanent residence, i.e. temporary residence”, Zlatkovic said. She recalled that the Law on Permanent and Temporary Residence exactly stipulates that the competent Interior Ministry is dealing with citizens’ applications for registering and de-registering permanent and temporary residence. “In the course of this procedure, the competent organs of the Interior Ministry verify the accuracy and truthfulness of the data relating to registering or de-registering permanent or temporary residence”, Zlatkovic explained. She said that the B&H Constitutional Court in this specific case had not considered these facts, recalling that the issue falls under entity jurisdiction, i.e. the RS. In response to the question on possible reaction by the RS, i.e. the competent ministry, to this decision, Zlatkovic said that the RS government will adopt a regulation stipulating the manner and procedure for implementation of provisions of the law pertaining to the issue of applying for and unregistering permanent residence, i.e. temporary residence.
Tadic to be SDS’ presidential candidate and Bosic prime minister candidate in RS (Nezavisne novine)
Serbian Democratic Party (SDS) candidate for the RS president in the upcoming elections is the party’s vice-president Ognjen Tadic, while Mladen Bosic is the candidate for the RS prime minister, the SDS Main Board decided in Istocno Sarajevo.

 

EU, USA, OSCE, NATO: Everyone is entitled to protest, but not to engage in violence (Republika)

Albanians in the FYROM have been protesting for a few days demanding the release of six members of the Albanian community in the country sentenced to a life in prison. The Albanians say they will continue their demonstrations, despite the international community in the FYROM releasing a joint statement urging them to refrain from violence. We call on citizens to remain calm and refrain from violence. We urge the citizens and state leadership to unite and in the spirit of constructive dialogue address the issues that undermine mutual understanding and inter-ethnic relations, reads a joint statement of the EU Delegation, U.S. Embassy, OSCE and NATO Missions to the FYROM. All citizens are entitled to protest and express their views in a peaceful manner, but not the right to get involved in destructive, violent acts. As each inter-ethnic incident or attempt for inciting intolerance presents an opportunity for politicizing or taking advantage of the situation for political gain, it also offers possibility for opening a dialogue and strengthening the relations between the different ethnic communities. This is a possibility for the leaders to stand for an integrated country that respects diversity, the joint statement reads.

 

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

 

Debt-laden Serbia braces for painful reforms (Agence France-Presse, 7 July 2014)

With one in five people unemployed and pensioners outnumbering those in work, Serbia is struggling with a record budget deficit and could sink into bankruptcy.

Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic has pledged reforms, including cuts in the bloated public sector, but analysts warn concrete measures have yet to be taken and financial markets could punish Serbia for its failure to act.

The Balkan state is expected to post a record budget deficit of 8.0 percent this year, with growth forecast to reach 1.0 percent. But output could yet worsen by another 0.2 percentage points owing to devastating floods that struck in May.

Vucic, who was elected earlier this year on a promise to overhaul Serbia's ailing economy, said his cabinet was now ready to push through painful reforms that include increased taxes, as well as fresh cuts in the public sector and to generous subsidies.

"We have to do it and if we fail to do so in next six or seven months, we never will," warned Vucic, in power since April after a landslide victory by his conservative Serbian Progressive Party.

The cost of spending has become unbearable, Vucic said, warning that the EU candidate country could end up "in the position of Greece" and needing international aid if bold action is not taken.

"We have more pensioners than those employed, and of those, more than 50 percent work in the public sector. Who can put up with that?" he said.

Serbia's national budget, equal to about 8.0 billion euros ($10.87 billion), is struggling to cope, as it has to meet payments to 1.7 million pensioners and more than 700,000 public sector workers in a country of 7.2 million people.

More than 20 percent of the workforce is unemployed, and many of those with jobs barely survive on an average monthly salary equivalent to 350 euros ($475).

The budget is also burdened by up to 600 million euros ($815 million) per year in subsidies to 161 state-owned companies that should have been shut down a decade ago, Economy Minister Dusan Vujovic said.

There are another 400 state-owned companies that should be privatised by the end of 2016, Vujovic added, saying that the government will seek international investors to revive these firms.

Serbia -- the largest country to emerge from the 1990s break-up of Yugoslavia -- has to reform antiquated labour, privatisation and bankruptcy laws, he said.

Parliament is expected to adopt the reforms by the end of July.

- 'No excuses left' -

Despite the government's pledges, analysts say it is moving neither quickly nor resolutely to deal with the crisis.

Milojko Arsic, an economics lecturer at the University of Belgrade, said Serbia's deficit "would be the highest in Europe" this year.

At the same time, "the government's readiness to introduce sharp fiscal consolidation and implement overall structural reforms seems less certain now than when it was formed," he said.

A budget revision announced for June has been delayed until later in the year, and public-sector wage cuts have been pushed back to October.

Timothy Ash, chief emerging markets analyst at Standard Bank, said that "expectations are very high now for this administration".

"They have promised much, they have a mandate for reform, and people expect them to deliver -- no excuses left," Ash told AFP.

"If they do not act, markets will penalise them, as debt ratios are approaching levels which raise concern over sustainability," he said.

Nikola Altiparmakov, of the government's Fiscal Council, forecast that the public debt would hit 70 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) by the end of 2014.

"If the government fails to implement reforms in the next six months... we are facing a serious threat from the public debt," Altiparmakov said.

"It is false dilemma whether we should cut wages or pensions or make savings in public companies. We have no choice, we have to do all three or we will collapse," Altiparmakov added.

Vucic insisted that there was no alternative to the package of highly unpopular reforms.

"This is a fight for our survival, we have to do it and we are going to do it," he said.

 

Serbia, Hungary and Bulgaria make energy commitments (energyglobal.com, 4 July 2014)

At a recent Natural Gas Europe and IPM conference, the Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Serbia, Hungary and Bulgaria made a multilateral commitment to greater cooperation on economic development and energy security. The three bodies issued a mutual statement in which they agree to work together to convene a forum to coordinate energy policies to increase prosperity for the region. The proposed forum will be open to respective members, governments and neighbours in the Central, Eastern and Southern European region. The Danube Energy Initiative, as the forum will be known, will sign a final agreement in Budapest in September.

In the statement, the Chambers of Commerce settled to cooperate to guarantee better access to secure energy sources, ensure the liberalisation of the energy market and enable competitive pricing.

Leaders of the three chambers noted that greater coordination was a high priority for all their organisations, and that they were all pledged to act in accordance with the principles of transparency, cooperation and the rule of law.

Serbia

Zeljko Sertic, President, Serbian Chamber of Commerce said, ‘I am delighted that the Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Serbia, Hungary and Bulgaria, yesterday signed a joint agreement committing to the creation of a new forum and I look forward to working closely with my colleagues in Hungary and Bulgaria on this project.

‘This forum will work to coordinate between the governments, businesses and civil society organisations of our respective countries to ensure that we all have more coordinated energy policies, designed to create greater prosperity for all.’

Hungary

Imre Toth, Honorary President, Hungarian Chamber of Commerce said, ‘this is an important step forward in improving the region’s negotiating power. Central, Eastern and Southern Europe occupy a unique geopolitical position in the delivery of the world’s fossil fuels. Through greater cooperation, we plan to improve the competitiveness of our businesses, lower energy prices for consumers and decrease CO₂ emissions for our environment.’

Peter Szijjarto, Hungarian Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade said, ‘energy security in Europe is vital and we cannot accept a situation where we are reliant on Ukraine for our energy supply. Europe lacks a clear energy strategy. The reality is that South Stream reduces transit risks and guarantees a stable and reliable gas supply to Hungary and the region more broadly.’

Szijjarto concluded, ‘Central and Eastern Europe should not be dependent on the outcome of political differences between the US, Western Europe and Russia. The EU has to accommodate a regional strategy aimed at the diversification of its supply routes.’

Bulgaria

Vasil Todorov, Secretary General, Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce said, ‘we will continue to work on the details of the forum over the course of the summer and will meet again in Budapest in September to formalise its creation. The Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce is committed to working with our neighbours and partners to generate new solutions for the future.’

Adapted for web by Claira Lloyd

 

Serbia Urged To Adopt New Security Agency Law (BIRN, by Marija Ristic, 7 July 2014)

Recent changes to the law governing the Security Intelligence Agency are not enough to solve the many problems the agency is facing, experts say.

“We believe that the current changes in the law are not enough to have a completely democratised oversight of the agency,” said the Centre for Euro Atlantic Studies, CEAS, a Belgrade-based think tank.

The Serbian parliament last month changed parts of the law to clarify when it is possible and under what specific conditions for the Security Intelligence Agency to eavesdrop and intercept emails or any other form of communication.

According to CEAS, a solution would be to form one national agency that would have the exclusive right to eavesdrop on communications.

The Belgrade Centre for Security Policy said the legal changes were an improvement, but added that the law has many other flaws that need to be tackled.

Predrag Petrovic from the Centre said that the Agency sometimes acts more as as arm of the police than as an independent institution.

He also said that internal control of the Agency needs to be properly established.

“There is a need to adopt, new modern law on the Security Agency… The problem is that [past and current] governments are acting only under political pressure,” he concluded.

 

Bosnian Serb wartime camp chief sentenced to 15 years (Agence France-Presse, 7 July 2014)

A Bosnian Serb who ran illegal camps where prisoners were tortured and killed during Bosnia's 1992-1995 war has been sent to prison for 15 years for "crimes against humanity", officials said Friday.

Bosnia's war crimes court found Branko Vlaco, 61, guilty of setting up and running four "detention centres" in the Sarajevo suburb of Vogosca from May to October 1992, where Muslim and Croat civilians were illegally held.

"Vlaco took part in expulsions and executions of civilians," judge Minka Kreho said while reading the verdict.

The verdict described in details the deaths of numerous detainees taken to the frontlines as "human shields" or tortured in detention centres.

"The prisoners were taken as human shields in groups of between 30 and 50 people," Kreho said.

According to victims' associations, some 800 civilians were detained in the Serb-run camps in Vogosca.

An estimated 300 of them were killed, while some 60 people are still considered missing.

Bosnia's 1992-1995 inter-ethnic war claimed some 100,000 lives. More than 9,000 people are still missing, official data shows.

 

Bosnia floods unearth war graves (Agence France-Presse, 7 July 2014)

The remains of 24 people, believed to be Muslims killed during Bosnia's 1990s war, were exhumed from several graves unearthed by May's devastating floods, an official said Friday.

Floodwaters removed a three-metre (10 feet) layer of ground exposing several small graves on the left bank of the Bosna river in southern Bosnia, Lejla Cengic, spokeswoman for the Institute for Missing People, told AFP.

During a month-long operation to exhume bodies uncovered by flooding, the remains of 24 people were found in the area between the towns of Maglaj and Doboj, some of the hardest hit by flooding, she said.

"Most of the victims had their hands tied around their backs, while several were killed by a bullet fired at a close range to the neck," Cengic added.

The remains are thought to belong to Muslim men from the village of Jablanica, near Maglaj, killed by Serb forces in June 1992, at the start of the war.

Their identity will be confirmed by DNA analysis.

Torrential rains hit Serbia, Bosnia and Croatia in mid-May, killing 77 people in the Balkans' worst floods and landslides in more than a century.

The disaster forced tens of thousands of people from their homes and caused damage estimated at two billion euros ($2.7 billion).

Bosnia's 1992-1995 war claimed some 100,000 lives. More than 9,000 people are still missing, official data shows.

 

Bosnia's flood clean-up brings a hazardous wrinkle: land mines (Christian Science Monitor, by Kristen Chick, 5 July 2014)
May's deadly floods in Bosnia did more than damage infrastructure. They also shifted land mines, which now pose a very real danger to both residents and recovery teams.
Sapna Municipality, Bosnia and Herzegovina — In a densely wooded glen miles from the nearest village, a man in protective gear slowly sweeps a metal detector across a tiny section of mud, stopping to probe the ground when the device emits a beep.

Satisfied that there are no land mines in the foot-wide, four-foot-long section, he carefully moves up a red rod that marks the cleared territory, and begins his careful sweep all over again on the next section.

This valley marked the boundary between Serb and Bosniak Muslim forces during the civil war, and the hillside was sewn with mines. But May's devastating floods and landslides in Bosnia have displaced an untold number of the deadly devices from their known fields throughout northeast Bosnia, posing a very real danger to both residents and recovery teams.

So now in some areas, like Sapna, minesweepers are undertaking the painstaking, inch-by-inch process to clear fields before workers can move in to repair the flood damage – in this case, a water system that delivers drinking water to nearby villages. Yet one and a half months after the floods, the extent of the problem is still unclear and the recovery is just beginning.

Most mined country in Europe

The floods inundated parts of northeast Bosnia, killing 21 people (with two still missing), destroying more than 100,000 buildings, and causing an estimated $2.7 billion in damage.

But complicating recovery efforts, 70 percent of the flood-affected zones were in areas contaminated by mines, according to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Nearly two decades after the civil war here ended, Bosnia is still the most mined country in Europe; more than 600 people have died from the explosive devices since the war ended in 1995. Bosnia pledged to finish de-mining efforts by 2019, but even before the floods, that was looking increasingly unlikely. There are still more than 1,200 square kilometers left of mine-suspected areas, and the average clearance rate is only 13 square kilometers per year, according to the government's Mine Action Center.

Now, the floods have made the cleanup even slower. To determine where mines may have shifted in order to mark the new dangerous areas, officials must conduct a comprehensive survey that will likely take three to six months. Jasmin Porobic, who oversees the UNDP's explosive ordnance destruction project in Bosnia, says the floods and landslides have pushed back Bosnia's de-mining process by 12 to 18 months.

At least 92 mines have so far been recovered following the floods, along with more than 40,000 munition or unexploded ordnance pieces. Two flood-displaced mines have so far exploded. No one was injured, but officials fear that could change. Mr. Porobic says the disaster has kept people from activities like mushroom hunting or illegal logging that for many are their only source of income. If those activities take them into newly mined areas, “once people go back to their routines, we may see more victims,” he says.

UNDP and other organizations have conducted emergency awareness campaigns to warn people of the danger, and billboards urging caution line the roads in affected areas. Teams like the one in Sapna have conducted emergency clearance efforts in areas where landslides damaged infrastructure like roads or water systems.

But uncovering the real scope of the problem will take much longer. Officials are cautious when talking about new areas suspected of being mine-contaminated, because once an area is designated as such, it takes intense – and expensive – effort to declare an area cleared.

'Very risky'

Back in the Sapna area, the de-mining team, funded by UNDP, found three anti-personnel mines in more than a week of work, says team leader Mustafa Mesic.

Before they could even begin de-mining, teams had to clear the road to the site, which was blocked by multiple landslides. It now takes nearly an hour of bouncing along the heavily rutted track in a four-wheel-drive vehicle, passing areas where the edge of the road has fallen away in a landslide, to reach the site where the team is working.

The de-mining itself is also difficult. Because the area is hilly and wooded, it must be done with metal detectors instead of faster machinery. Mud from the landslide in the valley is in some places up to 16 feet deep, says Mr. Mesic, while the metal detector only works to a depth of about one and a half feet. So the team must clear the area layer by layer, removing half a meter of mud after making sure it is clear of mines, and then beginning all over again.

Until the team completes its work and others repair the water line, residents from some nearby towns will be without clean water. Sabaheta Muhanovic, who lives in the nearby town of Handzelic, says her family can now use the water from the faucet for washing dishes and bathing. In the first days after the floods, it was so dirty that it was entirely unusable.

Though the water now appears cleaner, authorities warn it is still not safe to drink. Buying bottled water for drinking has become a financial burden on her family, Ms. Muhanovic says. Her family has a reservoir at their home, but that water isn't safe to drink either.

“Some people from these villages are risking drinking from their reservoirs,” she says, "but it's very risky."

 

Ratko Mladic’s Soldiers ‘Only Defended Their Homes’ (BIRN, by Denis Dzidic, 7 July 2014)

The Bosnian Serb military leader led a multi-ethnic army which never terrorised civilians in Sarajevo but was itself targeted by Bosniak snipers, a Mladic defence witness told the Hague Tribunal.

Witness Slobodan Tusevljak, the former commander of a squad which was part of the First Sarajevo Motorised Brigade of the Bosnian Serb army, told Mladic’s trial last week that there were Croat and Bosniak soldiers among his troops and that a Croat was even the commander of the squad at one point.

In a statement made by Tusevljak during the investigation, which was read out in the courtroom, he also said that he had never received an order to attack civilians in Sarajevo.

He said however that attacks by the Bosnian Army killed more than 200 soldiers and dozens of civilians on the road connecting the towns of Lukavica and Pale.

“People got killed in combat, but most were killed in sniper and artillery attacks. There is data about it, as well as a list of soldiers who were killed,” Tusevljak said.

Mladic is on trial for terrorising the population of Sarajevo, genocide in Srebrenica, the persecution of Muslims and Croats throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina, which reached the scale of genocide in seven municipalities, and for taking UN peacekeepers hostage.

When asked by trial chamber chairman Alphonse Orie why the fact that some of the Bosnian Serb Army’s soldiers were Croats and Bosniaks was relevant to Mladic’s trial, defence lawyer Miodrag Stojanovic said that the fact that it was a multi-ethnic army “indicates that its members were just defending their homes”.

“Its composition says that they fought to defend their homes and that Serbs, Croats and Bosniaks were victims of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” Stojanovic said.

“Considering the accusations about the terror against citizens in Sarajevo, we want to demonstrate that the terror was not as described in the indictment and it was committed against Sarajevo residents who failed to accept the political stance of the then Bosnian leadership. We are trying to prove that Serbs, Croats and Bosniaks who were present there suffered equally,” he explained.

Judge Orie said that he was “not sure” that he agreed.

“The chamber is not fully convinced that what you are saying is true. It is true that soldiers sometimes suffer during a war, but when a soldier gets killed in a war, it is not necessarily considered a crime irrespective of whether we like it or not. This is the reality of war,” Orie said.

Mladic’s trial resumes next week.

 

Macedonia Protest Unrest Leaves 20 Police Injured (BIRN, by Sinisa Jakov Marusic, 5 July 2014)

Police have restored calm after ethnic Albanian protesters clashed with riot squads at a rally against the jailing of alleged extremist Muslims for the ‘terrorist’ murders of ethnic Macedonians.

Police said they were investigating on Saturday after 20 officers and several protesters sustained injuries in the previous day’s protests, which spokesperson Ivo Kotevski described as “extremely violent”.

“The police are examining the footage from the unrest. Criminal charges will be filed against all who will be identified. We still don’t know who the organizer of the protest is because the event was not reported [to the authorities],” Kotevski told a press conference late on Friday.

Running battles broke out in the city streets on Friday after ethnic Albanian protesters rallied to show their anger at the life sentences handed down to six alleged Muslim radicals for the killing of five ethnic Macedonians at Orthodox Easter in 2012, in a case that raised ethnic tensions in the country.

Although Skopje was calm again on Saturday morning, Kotevski said that police remained on standby at various critical points in the capital.

He said that officers would “follow the social networks through which the mobilization for the violent protest happened”.

Friday’s protest, which started after the midday prayers in mosques in the Albanian-dominated Skopje municipality of Cair, quickly turned violent as the crowd, mainly made up of young men, charged towards the Skopje Criminal Court, throwing stones and bricks at the building and the police.

The police responded with water cannon, stun grenades and tear gas, preventing the crowd from advancing towards the government building and forcing the protesters back to Cair.

The several-hours-long clash resulted in caused damage to various buildings and cars as well as a series of injuries to police and protesters.

According to unofficial information several members of the press were also injured on Friday and the police appealed for them to report their injuries.

The protestors took to the streets after the jailing on terrorism charges last Monday of ethnic Albanians Alil Demiri, Afrim Ismailovic, Agim Ismailovic, Fejzi Aziri, Haki Aziri and Sami Ljuta.

They were convicted of killing five ethnic Macedonians in April 2012. The initial announcement in 2012 that the murderers might be ethnic Albanians also sparked protests by groups of ethnic Macedonians, some of which turned violent.

The defence has said it will appeal against the convictions, while the prosecution said it will appeal against the release of the seventh defendant, Sejdi Rama, who was acquitted on the basis of lack of evidence.

The country’s top politician has yet to comment on the terrorism verdict or the violence. While the court was reaching the verdict on Monday, Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski was at an official visit to Japan. During the violence on Friday, he was in China.

The latest protest unrest comes after two days of violent, ethnically-charged protests gripped the capital last year, sparked by the controversial appointment of an Albanian ex-guerrilla Talat Xhaferi as defence minister.

In 2001, Macedonia went through a brief armed conflict between ethnic Albanian insurgents and the security forces. The conflict ended the same year with the signing of a peace deal that increased Albanian rights.

Albanians make up a quarter of the country’s 2.1 million population.

 

Croatian Government Authenticates Anti-Cyrillic Petition (BIRN, by Josip Ivanovic. 4 July 2014)

The authorities confirmed that a petition for a referendum to end official use of Serbian Cyrillic script in parts of Croatia has over 526,000 signatures – enough to trigger a vote.

Minister of administration Arsen Bauk reported to the government on Thursday that over 526,000 people had signed the anti-Cyrillic petition – well over the 450,000 signatures required for a referendum.

The petition was launched in November last year by the Headquarters for the Defence of Croatian Vukovar, a campaign group led by war veterans angered by the installation of signs in Croatian Latin and Serbian Cyrillic in the wartime flashpoint town of Vukovar.

The Headquarters was at the forefront of protests in Vukovar last year against the installation of bilingual signs in Latin and Cyrillic on official buildings in the town, which was devastated by Serb forces in 1991.

The dispute erupted at the start of 2013 after the authorities said that they intended to introduce the official use of the Serbian language and Cyrillic script into areas where Serbs made up more than a third of the population, in line with the country’s minorities legislation.

Pedja Grbin, a Social Democratic Party MP and president of the parliament’s Committee on the Constitution, said that the petition would now be checked by the constitutional court.

“Once parliament receives the official report from the government, a meeting of the Committee on the Constitution will be called to check this demand for a referendum. My proposal will be to test its constitutionality,” said Grbin on Thursday.

Davorin Mlakar, a member of the centre-right main opposition party, the Croatian Democratic Union, HDZ, agreed that the petition should be checked.

“I am positive about the fact that the ruling majority will check the referendum question at the constitutional court,” said Mlakar.

But Mlakar, along with the campaigners have criticised the government for its delayed reaction on this matter.

The Headquarters for the Defence of Croatian Vukovar criticised the length of time it has taken for the petition to be verified.

“It took 15 days for us to collect the signatures, and they need six months to count them. I think it’s funny and sad,” said Tomislav Cosic, one of the Headquarters’ leaders, in April.

 

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Media summaries are produced for the internal use of the United Nations Office in Belgrade, UNMIK and UNHQ. The contents do not represent anything other than a selection of articles likely to be of interest to a United Nations readership.