LOCAL PRESS

 

Dacic: Full EU membership - first priority for new government (RTS)

“Full-fledged EU membership is the top priority for the new Serbian government,” Serbian First Deputy Prime Minister Ivica Dacic, who is also the foreign minister, said at a meeting of EU and Western Balkan foreign ministers in Salonica. “The government is oriented towards completing the accession talks by the end of its term in 2018, and we expect that Serbia could become a full-fledged EU member by 2020 in that case. Serbia is committed to carrying out reforms in all fields - in particular, the rule of law, interior affairs and protection of human and minority rights.
We believe that the EU’s new approach, which envisions opening the most difficult chapters - Chapters 23 and 24 - at the very start of the negotiating process, will contribute to a quicker transformation of the state and society and an accelerated negotiation process. The progress of Serbia’s European integrations so far shows that we possess adequate administrative capacities and that we are prepared to adopt and implement the EU acquis at short notice. Due to the complex economic situation in Serbia and the whole region, the EU should consider the possibility of providing greater economic support to the countries of the region, which could be achieved by reallocating support funds and making part of the funds also available during the accession process. We are concerned by voices and ideas in the EU that suggest that the Union needs to slow down the process of further enlargement. After each wave of enlargement, the EU emerged stronger. Thanks to the European prospects, all open issues in the region, ranging from refugee-related issues to borders and other problems, are resolved through dialogue. The European prospects were a key factor that ensured the success of the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue - the success of the dialogue has shown that the policy of enlargement still represents a strong motivational force in the Western Balkans. We expect everyone to make progress in the continuing enlargement process according to performance and reforms implemented,” Dacic said.

 

Dialogue frozen until fall (Novosti)

The Belgrade-Pristina negotiations are threatened with a months-long break and the next 24^th round of the Brussels dialogue may be held in the fall, Novosti learns. Brussels has confirmed that there have been no plans on a new meeting with the EU High Representative Catherine Ashton. The main reason for “freezing” the dialogue are the upcoming elections for the interim institutions in Pristina, because of which it is unlikely that the Kosovo government, while in technical mandate, will accept to initial any agreements in Brussels. “We are ready to continue the negotiations, but none of the Albanian officials will accept to formally sign anything at this moment and this is why the dialogue will most probably wait for the formation of the new government,” the leader of the Srpska Civic Initiative Vladeta Kostic told Novosti. There have been no meetings of the two sides’ technical teams over the past period. It is also unknown whether there will be changes in the composition of the Belgrade technical team in the following period since some of the members, like Veljko Odalovic, have been appointed to new posts.

 

Belgrade calling Serbs to take part in elections? (Novosti)

By voting for the disbanding of the assembly, MPs of the provincial assembly in Kosovo and Metohija gave a green light yesterday for scheduling early elections that should be held on 8 June. Unlike the voting in December 2010, when Belgrade officially announced that “conditions have not been acquired” to invite Serbs in the province to turn out for elections, this time expectations are that the state leadership will “animate” fellow-nationals to use their voting right. Over the past months the Serbian authorities mentioned with delay the participation of Serbs in these elections, waiting for the resolution of the dilemma as to whether the displaced persons will have the right to vote and whether Serbs will have, apart from the guaranteed, reserved seats in the assembly as well. Since the assembly was dissolved before the passing of the new election law, the displaced will have the right to vote, while the issue of reserved mandates hangs in the air since they were valid only in the previous two election cycles and constitutional amendments are necessary in order for them to be back in the game. According to former chair of the Committee for Kosovo and Metohija in the Serbian parliament Milovan Drecun, Belgrade should explain to the Kosovo Serbs that the elections will take place within a status-neutral framework and that this is an attempt for Serbia to position itself in Kosovo and Metohija: “I expect Belgrade’s call to go to the polls, because the more there are Serb votes, the more significant the role of the Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija will be. Belgrade needs to obtain the keeping of reserved seats in the following days, since their abolishment is an obvious attempt at marginalizing the Serbs. All technical procedure for the displaced to be able to really use the right to vote should also be accelerated. The caucus whip of the Independent Liberal Party (SLS) in the provincial assembly Sasa Milosavljevic tells Novosti that all Serb MPs have agreed that one Serb list would be the best solution this time. “If we take part in the elections as one political subject and not as a coalition, the five-percent census would be valid for us that I believe we can cross since around 35,000 votes are necessary. Thus, along with ten guaranteed mandates, we could win six additional and would then have a total of 16 mandates,” says Milosavljevic.

 

Illegal state would like to obtain attribute of statehood (Tanjug)

The formation of so-called “Kosovo armed forces” is in contravention of UN Security Council Resolution 1244 and it will not contribute to increased safety of the Serbian community in the province of Kosovo and Metohija or to stability in the region, assess experts in this field. Professors at the Faculty for Security Milan Mijalkovski and Zoran Dragisic told Tanjug that the creation of such a paramilitary armed force, i.e. a Kosovo Albanian army, “represents an attempt by the illegal state of Kosovo to obtain another attribute of statehood”. Dragisic said that “the Albanians in the province of Kosovo do not have to ability to form any army, since this is contrary to UNSCR 1244, and not only to the resolution, but also to the logic of security, since the province of Kosovo should, rather, be a demilitarized zone, than a place to form more armed forces.” “That the formation of those paramilitary armed forces cannot be accepted among the Serbians in the province of Kosovo and Metohija and the state of Serbia, is some welcome fact,” said Dragisic. He recalls that the Serbs in the province of Kosovo and Metohija “don’t expect, from these armed forces, either protection or security, but, rather, a threat to their safety, so it would be very good to re-examine this decision once again.” Dragisic recalls that the officials in Belgrade “have long pointed out that the formation of the existing self-styled “Kosovo Security Forces” already in fact represents a nucleus for forming a Kosovo Albanian army and this, unfortunately, has proved to be true”. “The thing that poses the biggest problem and that I am certain will occur, is that this process will be completed to the end since the Albanians have full support of the U.S. and some European countries,” he said. According to him, as things stand at present, we will have to reconcile with the fact that the province of Kosovo will raise an unlawful army “and this in no way can we see as a good fact or a way towards stabilization of the situation in the region”. Mijalkovski, who also considers that the formation of Kosovo armed forces represents a violation of the UNSCR 1244, notes that KFOR itself has violated this resolution in the first place by allowing the creation of the Kosovo Protection Corps. He recalls that the formation of this unit is not envisaged according to any agreement or Resolution 1244 “but that it was created, thanks to the U.S., as a unit for engaging in emergency situations.” “Now they want to restructure this unit into an army, that is a structural element, or one of the key elements, of every state… this way, the Kosovo Albanians wish for the province to be seen as a para-state, in all attributes, even though it is illegitimately being carved out of Serbian territory,” said Mijalkovski. He thinks that the formation of a Kosovo paramilitary armed force should be viewed primarily as “the U.S. and certain European states indulging the authorities in Pristina,” and that, whereas they should be telling them instead “what, how and to what level they should be functioning.” “The Serbs in the province of Kosovo and Metohija will be much more vulnerable if such an Albanian-led army is created…and I think that the Serbian government should not stand aside but should fiercely oppose this and even terminate the dialogue process,” said Mijalkovski. The basis for the formation of the Kosovo armed forces are the Kosovo security forces that were officially formed on 21 January 2009, by succeeding the former Kosovo protection corps.

 

 

 

Welcome and goodbye (Radio Serbia, by Andjelka Marisavljevic)

Two visits by high European officials – Catherine Ashton and Stefan Fule – who came to Belgrade immediately after the election of the new government without doubt represent support, but there are other interests behind it, too. What else could the leaving structure of European Commission officials boast, if not the achievements in the West Balkans? At the moment when the inter-ethnic conflict is raging in Ukraine, when geo-strategic interests of great powers are again colliding on the European soil, the only thing left to EU politicians is to push hard for the implementation of the Brussels agreement. This agreement between previously irreconcilable Serbs and Albanians should be a testimony to the European project being stronger than ethnic hatred. Although, it was hard to reach. EU High Representative Catherine Ashton can count it as her biggest accomplishment. She will leave the agreement as a valuable legacy to the new administration, to be formed after the election in the EU in late May. Unexpectedly, the crisis in Ukraine has raised the question of whether the support of the West to the secession of Kosovo and Metohija was the right thing to do. Namely, Russian President Vladimir Putin does not restrain from using the example of Kosovo in his policy as he sees it fit at any moment, like in citing it in relation to the Russian action in Crimea. After all, even if one was to object to Putin’s use of double standards, it is the patent taken from the Western policy.

Now, the European representatives, especially those in charge of Belgrade’s and Pristina’s progress in European integrations, are struggling to alleviate the negative effects of the recognition of Kosovo and Metohija. But it is only possible in one way – including the entire region into the European project. They simply must not allow for a frozen conflict in the Balkans, and at the moment it is very important for Serbia. A country that is cracking at the seams can have chance for recovery only if peace is preserved and European standards upheld. That is why EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fule has set concrete demands before Belgrade – the economic strengthening of the state, rule of law and good regional relations, just like in the exposé of Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic. Vucic, however, has also implied the existence of the “fourth pillar” in those recommendations, but did not specify what it is. It is not very likely, for the above reasons, that the EU will demand anything disputable from Serbia in this time of crisis. The tolerance for the neutrality of Serbia in view of the Ukrainian topic indicates that Brussels had concluded how positive motivation might be more effective than pressure.

And so, it happened that the new Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic has great support at the beginning of his mandate, both in the country and abroad. The statement of Catherine Ashton that he is a man who has the capacity to realize his ambitious plan and complete the accession talks with the EU by 2018 represents such positive stimulation. Whether the successor of Catherine Ashton, who got results with a polite smile and gentle woman’s hand, will show understanding for the complex relation in the Balkans is yet to be seen. The personal touch will not have much impact on the final results, but could be important for public relations.

Besides that, the indications of the current position of enlargement commissioner possibly being abolished does not necessarily mean stoppage to the project of EU expansion. Due to the previously mentioned reasons, the strategic interest of the Union is to put the potential neuralgic point in its own backyard under control, i.e. demonstrate the functioning of its principles. With a lot of laughter, hugs and friendly messages exchanged with Catherine Ashton and Stefan Fule in Belgrade, the new Serbian Government may wait for their successors with lot less anxiety.

 

REGIONAL PRESS

 

EU, U.S. and OHR: Solution for residence issue to be found at state level (Oslobodjenje)

EU Special Representative Peter Sorensen, the EU Delegation to B&H, the U.S. Embassy and the Office of the High Representative (OHR) have called on the authorities in B&H at all relevant levels to find a solution for the residence issue at the B&H level. In a joint statement they called for abolishing regulations on residency at other levels of authority, whereby, as they put it, the unnecessary politicization of this important issue would end. Sorensen, the EU Delegation to B&H, the U.S. Embassy and the OHR voiced “grave concern over the politicization of the residence issue in B&H” and pointed out that the existing law at the B&H level, which regulates the residence issue, must be respected until it is changed. “Unilateral attempts to regulate this issue at the entity level, such as the recent decision of the Republika Srpska on verification of accuracy and truthfulness of data when registering residence, go beyond the existing law and they are unacceptable,” reads the statement. The joint statement goes on to say that it is equally unacceptable for other political actors to block the functioning of B&H institutions, such as the B&H House of Peoples, whereby usual democratic dynamic between representatives of different interests that can lead to compromise or passing of potential amendments to the Law on residency at the B&H level is prevented. “The residence issue is regulated at the B&H level and requires a political and legal solution at that level. It is important that B&H changes and amends the existing law and brings it closer to the best examples from European practice, towards overcoming gaps in this field,” reads the joint statement. It goes on to say that the rights of returnees must be respected, as well as freedom of movement of all B&H citizens. “Uniform standards must be applied throughout B&H, and the authorities throughout the country should apply the existing and future legislation equally to all citizens, without any form of discrimination and in a manner that builds trust of the public in the work of the authorities,” reads the statement.

 

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

 

After ethnic Serb lawmakers sit out vote on army, Kosovo dissolves parliament (Deutsche Welle/Reuters/DPA/AP, 7 May 2014)

Kosovo's legislators have backed a motion for the dissolution of parliament, paving the way for early elections in June. The decision interrupted a controversial debate on Kosovo's armed forces.

With all of Kosovo's major political parties having previously agreed to snap polls on June 8, the country's parliament voted Wednesday 90-4 to dissolve itself, with three abstentions.

On Monday, the legislature had planned to vote on establishing a military for the fledgling country, but Serbian lawmakers boycotted the proceedings to prevent a quorum, as Kosovo's constitution requires that two-thirds of deputies representing ethnic minorities be present for votes. Tens of thousands of Serbs still live in Kosovo, which formally declared its independence in 2008.

Ahead of the vote on Wednesday, Prime Minister Hashim Thaci had said that "the parliament that cannot launch its own army should not continue."

A former province of Serbia with a mostly ethnic Albanian population, Kosovo has had its share of political and economic struggles since declaring its independence. Despite improving relations, Serbia opposes any military for Kosovo. Previous to last year, however, Serbia had refused to recognize the statehood of Kosovo at all.

President Atifete Jahjaga must now schedule the new elections to take place within 45 days.

 

Serbia Unexpectedly Lowers Main Rate to 9% as Economy Slows (Bloomberg, by Gordana Filipovic, 8 May 2014)

Serbia’s central bank lowered borrowing costs for the first time this year as economic activity slows and price pressures wane.

The National Bank of Serbia in Belgrade, the capital, unexpectedly cut its benchmark one-week repurchase rate by 50 basis points to 9 percent, according to a statement on its website today. Seven of 24 economists in a Bloomberg survey predicted a quarter-point cut, two saw a half-point reduction and 15 forecast no change.

The move may provide a boost for Premier Aleksandar Vucic, whose party won an absolute majority in March 16 early elections, as he seeks to encourage businesses to invest and create jobs. Serbia had refrained from easing rates this year after cutting 2.25 percentage points off the benchmark rate from May to December last year, saying reduced stimulus by the U.S. Federal Reserve was putting pressure on emerging-market currencies.

“Disinflation will continue in the coming period due to low aggregate demand, which is resulting from contracting credit activity, negative labor market trends and low food production costs,” the central bank said in the statement. “Financial markets are responding positively” to announced economic measures of the new government.

The dinar, which has weakened 0.6 percent against the euro this year, traded 0.1 percent weaker at 115.8566 per euro by 12:03 a.m. in Belgrade, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Cut Justified

The rate cut is justified “given the government’s hints of fiscal tightening measures, the widening negative output gap, the EUR/RSD stability and the recent downside inflation surprises plus contained inflation expectations,” Hypo Alpe Adria d.d bank in Zagreb said in note to clients before the announcement.

Economic growth slowed to 0.4 percent from a year earlier in the first quarter, according to preliminary estimates by the statistics office, falling short of central bank’s estimate of 0.5 percent. The central bank still sees full-year growth at 1 percent. Inflation fell to 2.3 percent in March, below the bank’s target of 4 percent, plus or minus 1.5 percentage points.

The government needs to draft measures to save about 1.5 billion euros ($2.1 billion) through 2017, including 400 million euros this year, to convince the International Monetary Fund to endorse a loan and assure investors that policy makers in Belgrade will transform Serbia’s economy.

Eased monetary policy, along with a gradually weakening dinar, may help the economy amid subdued consumer demand because of the prospect of public-sector job cuts and lower public wages, according to Vladimir Vuckovic, a member of the Fiscal Council, a three-person body that oversees fiscal compliance, said on May 6.

 

Bosnian civic groups call for new mass protests on Friday (Dalje.com, 7 May 2014)

Several dozen members of different nongovernmental organisations and informal groups of citizens in Bosnia and Herzegovina on Wednesday morning set out on foot from Tuzla and Zenica towards the capital of Sarajevo in an effort to rekindle protests against the government of the country's Croat-Muslim entity and once again called for its resignation.

The president of an association called "Big Children" from Tuzla, Almir Arnaut, told local media that a big gathering of participants in the protests held in February this year, which ended without any major results, would be held in Sarajevo this Friday."We will demand that the government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina step down," Arnaut said, adding that protests would be held outside the government and parliament buildings.

People involved in the work of informal groups formed after the February 7 protests have announced that they will participate in the protests scheduled to take place in Sarajevo on Friday. Such announcements have come from some 20 towns in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

During the February 7 riots, cantonal government headquarters in Tuzla, Sarajevo, Mostar, Zenica and Bihac were set on fire or severely damaged, with violent protesters setting fire also to the building housing the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, causing extensive damage to material stored in the State Archives.

The governments of four cantons resigned following the protests. Meanwhile, a new government has been elected only in Tuzla Canton, while in other cantons talks between political parties on the establishment of new governments have not yielded any results.

Activities of informal citizens' groups have almost completely died off in the last two months.

Some of the organisers of the protest to be held this Friday said that this time they would insist on the resignation of the Federation government because it was one of the demands during the February 7 protests that has not been met.

Meliha Bajramovic of an informal citizens' group from Tuzla said they would also insist on discontinuation of prosecution of those responsible for the February 7 rioting, discontinuation of all privatisation procedures, reduction of salaries of elected officials and adjustment of pension growth to the growth of salaries.

Bajramovic said the organisers of the protest had called on all participants to remain in Sarajevo over the weekend in case their demands were not met on Friday.

 

Pendarovski Denies Macedonia Opposition Leadership Ambitions (BIRN, by Sinisa Jakov Marusic, 8 May 2014)

Opposition presidential runner Stevo Pendarovski says he wishes to remain out of the fray of any leadership issues within the defeated Social Democrats, SDSM.

After the former leader of Macedonian Social Democrats, SDSM, Branko Crvenkovski, urged Pendarovski to assume the party leadership from Zoran Zaev, the former presidential runner said he wished to distance himself from tensions inside the party ahead of its post-election congress on Saturday.

“Because I am not part of the party bodies and structures, I wish to stay distanced from all events within the SDSM until the May 11 congress. I ask that my name stays out of any internal-party calculations,” Pendarovski said in a brief statement.

He also said he had not been approached either by Crvenkovski or by current leader Zoran Zaev to discuss his possible future political engagement.

In the April presidential elections, Pendarovski came second as the candidate of the Social Democrats. However, he is not formally a member of the SDSM.

On Wednesday, the former opposition leader suggested that Pendarovski should take over as party leader from Zaev.

Crvenkovski said that following its defeat in April's early general and presidential elections, the party needed a new leader to consolidate the fight against Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski who has held power since 2006.

His remarks caused a stir, coming days before the party’s extraordinary congress, when a vote of support will be sought for Zaev and the party's vice-president, Radmila Sekerinska.

Zaev has meanwhile denied that the party is quarreling over his leadership. “I was assured by Pendarovski that he is not thinking about any engagement in the party, least of all as party president,” he said. “He remains together with the party leadership waging a battle against this government,” Zaev told Deutsche Welle.

Since losing the general elections, which the party has blamed on election fraud, the SDSM has refused to take up its seats in parliament. It has instead demanded the formation of a caretaker government that would carry out fresh elections.

Pendarovski won some 400,000 votes in the presidential election, 120,000 more than the SDSM won in the parallel general elections.

The long-standing former SDSM head said that, after the latest election defeat, the party was in trouble and needed a unifying figure like Pedarovski with an “authority that surpasses the frames of the party.

“Neither I nor Zaev is the solution for this situation,” Crvenkovski said.

Among other things, Crvenkovski said he supported the party's decision not to take up seats in the new parliament and admired Zaev for his “brave” practice of revealing corruption scandals linked to top government official, including the Prime Minister.

However, he said it had been a mistake to agree to go into elections with Gruevski in the first place.

“This totalitarian regime must be delegitimized completely and our participation in institutions would only make us accomplices in creating an illusion of ‘normality’,” Crvenkovski said.

 

Charges: Minnesota Man Hid Bosnian War Crimes (Associated Press, by Amy Forliti, 8 May 2014)

MINNEAPOLIS – A Minnesota man was charged Wednesday with immigration fraud for allegedly lying on his immigration documents by concealing war crimes he committed during the Bosnian war in the 1990s.

Zdenko Jakisa, 45, appeared in U.S. District Court in Minnesota on one count of possessing unlawfully obtained documents. He was ordered detained, and another hearing was set for Monday. He will be appointed a public defender, according to court documents.

Authorities say that when he was filling out refugee and legal permanent resident applications, he didn't disclose that he had served in the armed forces of the Croatian Defense Council in Bosnia-Herzegovina and had gone to prison.

Jakisa's crimes include killing an elderly Bosnian Serb woman and kidnapping, robbing and assaulting a Bosnian Muslim man in 1993, the Department of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a news release. The agencies cited records from Bosnia and Bosnian witnesses and noted that prosecutors in Bosnia and Herzegovina joined the investigation.

Katherine Menendez, the attorney who represented Jakisa during his initial court appearance Wednesday, didn't immediately respond to a phone message seeking comment.

According to a June 6, 2012, article in the Forest Lake Press, Jakisa and his wife applied to come to the U.S. in 1998 through the U.S. Embassy in Croatia. They were approved through a lottery system and sponsored by Catholic Charities and a local church.That article mentions that Jakisa was required to serve in the military in Croatia's 1991-95 war for independence from the Serb-led Yugoslavia.

"I lost tons of my friends," Jakisa told the newspaper. "My brother is also in a wheelchair, shot in the spine. There is almost no person in Croatia who did not lose somebody or is not crying for somebody. It was a bad war for nothing — just good for government people so they can still talk lies to their own people."

Jakisa has a lengthy criminal record in Minnesota, including multiple convictions for driving while impaired, disorderly conduct and obstructing the legal process.

More than 100,000 people were killed during the Bosnian war, which also turned half of the country's population of 4.3 million into refugees.

———

Associated Press researcher Barbara Sambriski contributed to this report from New York.

 

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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.