LOCAL PRESS

 

Ten-day campaign for Kosovo elections (Novosti)

The new composition of the Kosovo Assembly will be elected on 8 June and the campaign will last ten days – from 28 May to 6 June. Serb member of the Kosovo Central Election Commission (CIK) Nenad Rikalo tells Novosti that political parties will be able to register their lists until 16 May, and registration of displaced voters will last from 13 to 19 May. Serb political representatives in the north and south of the province are not wasting time and have already met several times in order to see what are the possibilities for being on a single list for the first time, Novosti learns. According to unofficial information, one of such meetings was held last week in Belgrade, at the initiative of the new government. In can be heard that the wish of the Serbian authorities is for a single MP team to enter the Kosovo Assembly, which would have greater strength during the adoption of laws that concern the Serb community, but there is still no official stand of the state leadership on these elections. The Serbian (Srpska) Civic Initiative is ready for the elections, according to its leader Vladeta Kostic, but he notes that they will wait for the opinion of the state leadership before the decision on the candidacy and manner of representation. “We are open for talks with all Serb political representatives in Kosovo and Metohija whose public interest is above party and personal,” Kostic tells Novosti. According to Vesna Mikic, MP of the United Serb List in the last mandate, even though there is no official green light for the campaign, it has already started for them. “I am a skeptic regarding the formation of a single list with some people from the Independent Liberal Party (SLS), but the fact is time has come to put aside one’s personal frustrations. Absolute priority should be the position of the Serb people in Kosovo and Metohija,” Mikic tells Novosti. Serb representatives are still not losing hope that, with the intervention of the international community, they could keep the reserved seats in the Kosovo Assembly, along with the ten guaranteed. Namely, they think that the “deadline didn’t expire” to the reserved mandates, since the previous election cycle, just as the next one, are extraordinary, so the “reservations” weren’t valid for two full terms as it had been intended.

 

Joksimovic: Kosovo elections not to hamper Belgrade-Pristina dialogue (RTS)

Serbian Minister without Portfolio in charge of European Integration Jadranka Joksimovic expressed confidence that the parliamentary elections in Kosovo and Metohija, scheduled for June 8, will not hamper the dialogue on normalization of relations between Belgrade and Pristina. Joksimovic told reporters that the elections in the southern Serbian province are organized by EULEX and she therefore believes that the dialogue conducted through EU mediation in Brussels will not be slowed down. “I do not believe that the elections in Kosovo could in any way jeopardize the pace and quality of the dialogue,” Joksimovic said, adding that she expects that the post-election dialogue with Pristina will be further strengthened.
She said that she expects that the government in Pristina will recognize the importance of pushing the dialogue further, just like the Serbian government has done, as this is the only way to resolve all open issues in a constructive manner.

 

Fifteen bodies discovered in Rudnica (Politika)

Excavations in Rudnica near Raska have confirmed that a mass grave is located here, because the remains of 15 people have been discovered so far, Politika was told by the Chair of the Serbian Government Commission for Missing Veljko Odalovic, who is also the head of the Belgrade delegation in the Working Group for Missing Persons. “We cannot yet specify the number of discovered bodies because complete forensic treatment has not been finalized. We have in the field several dozens of experts, forensics and others in the presence of EULEX and Red Cross Committee observers, as well as representatives of investigative bodies and police. According to the state in the field, we are estimating that more mortal remains could be discovered, and once we complete the search of the location where we are at present, experts will start to search another nearby location,” said Odalovic.

 

 

Investigation into the murder of Aleksandar Putnik suspended (Politika)

The Basic Prosecution office in Djakovica suspended the investigation against Gazmend and Gzim Morina from the Vrnik village and Bashkim Gashi from Prizren, over the murder of Aleksandar Putnik and murder attempt of his son Dobrica Putnik, attorney Dejan A. Vasic told Politika. He stressed that the case was conducted by local judges, that the three suspects were detained for three months in the course of the investigative procedure, and that limitations of criminal prosecution is not anticipated for the murder. “Even though a lot of time has passed since the event, I am not losing hope that the perpetrators will be discovered in the end,” said Vasic, adding that along with the two Morina, Bashkim Gashi is charged with aiding in this criminal offense. Aleksandar Putnik from Velika Hoca was murdered on 2 October 2011 when shots were fired at him in the Zrze village, inhabited with Albanians, in “Burimi” premises. Putnik died on the spot while his son Dobrica was wounded in the right hand and neck and underwent long treatment in the Kosovska Mitrovica healthcare center.

 

Six thousand hectares of disputable border (Novosti)

Director of the Real Estate Administration Dragan Kovacevic has stated that Montenegro has disputable borders with Kosovo and Croatia. Problematic locations towards the self-declared republic of Kosovo are in the region of Kula, Rozaje municipality, where the self-will of Albanian cattlemen has been present for years and who are destroying border signs in the Plav municipality as well. Kovacevic’s statement seems rather strange, because Montenegrin Interior Minister Rasko Konjevic has stated some forty days ago in Pristina that “Montenegro and Kosovo harmonized the agreement on borders and that it remains only for the expert teams to complete the demarcation through commissions formed by the two states, whereby, as he stated, a joint message would be sent to the European Commission.” “Two locations are disputable with Kosovo. At issue is an area of nearly six hectares. The competent commissions of Montenegro and Kosovo have had 12 unsuccessful meetings so far. Regardless of the fact that all data suggest that there should be no dispute because the territory that Kosovo claims is Montenegrin territory. That is also confirmed by the data from the first Kosovo cadaster, and the Serbian cadaster that coincide 99 percent with the data from the Montenegrin cadaster. We have data from 1932 when the first cadaster was done on the territory of Kosovo, i.e. classic geodetic survey, and strong arguments that this is our property. Montenegro will launch an international arbitrage if it doesn’t reach agreement with the Kosovo authorities by the end of the year.”

 

REGIONAL PRESS

 

Sorensen: Our motto is “united in diversity,” and we see this today in B&H (Oslobodjenje)

“This year we mark the centennial of the start of the First World War which gives this year’s 9 May – Europe Day – added significance. The suffering of millions of people in the First World War and conflicts that followed took a great toll among European populations and with good reason encouraged great minds, the founders of the EU, to consider how to prevent or even completely disable future conflicts,” said Ambassador Peter Sorensen, the Head of the EU Delegation and EU Special Representative in B&H, on the occasion of Europe Day. “Europe Day, which is marked on 9 May, therefore is an opportunity to honor transcending significant differences among European nations through the aspiration to form a common future. In this spirit, our motto is ‘United in diversity,’ and we see this today in B&H. The Sarajevo City Council is a perfect example of this. This building is a symbol of much of this: architectural vision, learning, institutional memory, artisanal skill, municipal democracy, and endurance of the citizens of Sarajevo,” stressed Sorensen. Reconstruction of the City Council was financed through funds from EU citizens of €9 million, “because what the City Council represents is close to our hearts as well.” “Restoring this jewel to the city, to B&H, to Europe and the world represents an enduring message of solidarity of the citizens of the EU with the citizens of B&H, and especially with the city of Sarajevo. This message can be borne to the entire world. For this reason, the EU financed the restoration of historical sites in Stolac, Banja Luka, and Novi Grad. However, our message of solidarity is much more than brick and cement. Half a billion EU citizens want B&H citizens to have what we achieved through the past decades with the united strengths of government, societies, and citizens. Inalienable personal rights and fundamental freedoms. Democratic rule. Strong rule of law. Better standard of living. We affirm our decisiveness to bring these values to B&H with an open invitation to the country for membership in the EU. We work on this daily together with the institutions of this country,” Sorensen’s statement reads. “It is no secret that building democratic society demands continuing work. On Europe Day we remember the joint responsibility behind preserving, working, and expanding democratic society to the entire continent. On behalf of the European Union and its representatives in B&H, I wish you a happy Europe Day!” Sorensen’s statement concludes.

 

Izetbegovic requests assessment of constitutionality of RS government decision on residence (Fena)

The Chair of the B&H Presidency Bakir Izetbegovic submitted today to the B&H Constitutional Court the request for assessment of constitutionality of the decision of the Republika Srpska (RS) entity government on examining accuracy and truthfulness of data during registration of residence on the RS territory of 17 April 2014. “Izetbegovic decided to take this step towards protecting the constitutional order, rights and interests of B&H and all of its citizens, and returning the situation to constitutional and legal framework,” reads the statement by the public relations service of the B&H Presidency. The RS entity government, it is stressed, has usurped with this decision the legislative authorities of the state, because this matter can only be the subject of state law and not of entity legal laws. This decision threatens constitutional rights of returnees, because it has created unjustified administrative-legal barriers for effective return. The RS entity cannot satisfy its interests by taking over state prerogatives and adopting their own decisions, but needs to act through its representatives inside procedures and forums envisaged by the B&H Constitution, reads the statement. It is also stated that amendments to the law on residence of B&H citizens can be passed only in the forum that passed this law, and this is the B&H Parliamentary Assembly, and according to the procedure that is regulated, and not in a way that complements, corrects or changes the law that violates the B&H Constitution, as the RS entity government has done. Otherwise, legal violence is performed and functioning of a legal state is endangered. Izetbegovic also requested the B&H Constitutional Court to adopt temporary measures whereby the decision of the RS entity government is repealed until the passing of a final decision by the B&H Constitutional Court. For all the above mentioned reasons, Izetbegovic requested the Constitutional Court to make this request a priority.

 

Cvijanovic: Residence issue further politicized (Srna)

The Republika Srpska (RS) Prime Minister Zeljka Cvijanovic feels that the international community is further politicizing the residence issue and that they succumbed to the influence of Sarajevo politicians. Cvijanovic stressed that the decision brought by the RS government on residence is in harmony with existing laws and the new law which was blocked by Bosniak political parties. “It seems to me that international community representatives did not read the existing law or insufficiently studied it before presenting their position,” Cvijanovic told Srna, commenting on a joint statement from the EU Special Representative to B&H Peter Sorensen, the EU Delegation to B&H, the U.S. Embassy and the Office of the High Representative. According to the Prime Minister, the decision is technical in nature, and precisely stipulates how the law is to be enforced, both the present and the future one if it is adopted. “As far as the RS is concerned, we had earlier called for bringing a law which will meet the security and other conditions which the EU in fact is concerned with,” Cvijanovic said. She said that the decision is provisional and will be in force until a new law is brought, but that it is not a problem if it is in force while the existing law is in force as it does not contradict it. Cvijanovic stressed that the existing law clearly stipulates that the reporting and cancelling of one’s residence and residential address in the RS is in the competency of the RS Interior Ministry, and that it is senseless to speak of this as being a unilateral action on the part of the RS by which it allegedly is accorded rights beyond its competency. “That’s nonsense, and it is highly dangerous for the international community to be the one to promote the principle of fictitious reporting of residence in B&H, while on the other hand they talk to us about the rule of law,” Cvijanovic said. 
Claim about NATO radar on Mt. Jahorina is election marketing (Nezavisne novine)

The Chair of the B&H Parliament’s Joint Defense and Security Committee Dusanka Majkic rejected as election marketing the claim of internet portals in the RS about a NATO radar on Mt. Jahorina which was installed there as part of the Balkan Regional Approach to Air Defense (BRAAD), and which might be a part of the NATO missile shield in the Balkans.

“The aim of such election material is to diminish the efforts of the RS to properly control NATO integration within B&H. It is evident that someone wants to put underfoot all past efforts and to introduce doubts respecting the future actions of the SNSD-led government,” Majkic said. She stressed that the story of a NATO radar installed on Mt. Jahorina is as incredible as is the attempt to get the RS President Milorad Dodik involved in it. “President Dodik has never dealt with this issue nor is it in his competency to deal with it. The fact is that not a single body and institution in B&H dealing with these issues has discussed radars and a NATO missile shield, so that the whole story is based on insinuations,” Majkic said. She said that an article published by certain internet portals in the RS about the installation of a NATO radar on Mt. Jahorina mentions the NATO Membership Action Plan (MAP), a condition for which is the resolution of the issue of military property. “The SNSD representatives in the B&H Parliament persevered in having the issue of military property resolved along with the issue of other property, and the MAP cannot be activated without it,” Majkic said. She said it is the position of the RS Parliament that NATO standards should be adopted, but that the question of whether B&H will join NATO or not will be answered when the moment is right. “This means that like in most other countries, a referendum should be organized about such a big decision. It is certain now – and NATO knows this well – that there is no political support on the part of the RS citizens for B&H to become a member of this military alliance,” Majkic said. She said that she yesterday spoke with the Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe, British General Adrian Bradshaw, to whom she conveyed the clear position of the RS on accession to NATO. “I said that the country and people that were bombed during the war, who still suffer from consequences of depleted uranium, cannot so easily, if at all, bring a decision, unlike the other part of the country which would join NATO without any hesitation,” Majkic said. She said that General Bradshaw said NATO is not begging anyone, but responding to invitations from countries, and that the decision on whether B&H will be a member of the alliance or not depends on the RS as well. “If one half of the population of this country is not for NATO, B&H will not be a member of this military alliance. Even General Bradshaw said that if B&H does not want to be a member of NATO, they will respect it,” Majkic said.

 

U.S. strongly condemns statements against B&H (Dnevni Avaz)

“The U.S. decisively rejects any questioning of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of B&H,” the U.S. Ambassador to the Permanent Council of the OSCE Daniel Baer said. He pointed out that his country “profoundly disagrees with those who question the sovereignty and territorial integrity of B&H.” “Such statements go against the Dayton Accords,” he stressed in Vienna where the situation in the West Balkans, especially in B&H, has been discussed. Baer welcomed the report of the OSCE Mission in B&H Fletcher Burton, whose mandate expires. Speaking about B&H, he welcomed that the census was completed, the election law was amended and that B&H is contributing important deployments to the peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan. “Much work remains to be done, however, and we urge the citizens and leaders of B&H to work together so that their country can live up to its potential,” said Ambassador Baer.   He also referred to the public protests that are still ongoing in B&H and pointed out that this was an expression of discontent of citizens with the bad economic situation. “Politicians must be held accountable for a government that is transparent and focused on delivery of services and rule of law, economic development, greater accountability for economic decisions, and progress on EU accession. The elections in October provide a fundamental opportunity for B&H’s voters to demand a strong commitment to these sorts of results,” said Baer. 

 

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

 

Kosovo calls snap election after failing to create army (AFP, 8 May 2014)

Kosovo's president on Thursday called snap elections for June 8 after lawmakers failed to agree on the creation of an army for the former Serbian province.

"I intend to ask from the European Union, in the coming days, to send a mission of observers to closely monitor the electoral process," said President Atifete Jahjaga as she announced the election.

Prime Minister Hashim Thaci had called on Tuesday for an early poll after his plans to create a 5,000-strong army to "protect the sovereignty" of Kosovo were blocked in parliament.

Since the end of the 1998-1999 war between ethnic Albanian separatists and Serbian forces, Nato has been in charge of maintaining peace and security in Kosovo.

 

EU enlargement continues, including Serbia: Davenport (Xinhua, 9 May 2014)

EU delegation to Serbia Michael Davenport said the strongest signal of the EU support to Serbia were two separate visits of high EU officials

Serbia and the European Union (EU) are determined to fulfill their responsibilities on the country's path to EU accession, said head of the EU delegation to Serbia Michael Davenport on Thursday.

Davenport made the remarks at a reception organized on the occasion of the European Day that is celebrated across the continent on May 9.

"Enlargement of the EU continues. Now we have 28 members, and we will continue in that direction so that remaining countries from the region will become members, including Serbia," said Davenport.

Davenport said the strongest signal of the EU support to Serbia were two separate visits of high EU officials only days after the forming of the new government on April 27 - EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and Stefan Fule, European commissioner for enlargement.

"You all heard their messages, but we all know that there is a lot more to be done," Davenport said.

Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic and Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic attended the reception.

The EU celebrates its day on May 9, when historical declaration by French foreign minister Robert Schuman was brought in 1950 that created a new form of organization called a supranational community.

May 9 is celebrated by many countries, as well as Serbia also as the Victory Day, by which many countries commemorate the capitulation of Nazi Germany in the Second World War.

 

Serbia's careful balancing act on Ukraine (EurActiv, by Maja Poznatov 9 May 2014)

Serbia strives to maintain a neutral stance on the Ukrainian crisis, refusing both to take part in sanctions against its Russian ally, and to support the secessionist movement in Crimea and eastern Ukraine.

For the time being, even though Serbia is an EU candidate country, that position is being met with a certain amount of understanding by both Brussels and Moscow.

Soon after the inauguration of the new Serbian cabinet in late April, senior EU officials and the speaker of the Russian parliament visited Serbia. One of the questions that inevitably came out was Serbia’s position on the Ukrainian crisis.

Since the beginning of the crisis, Brussels has demonstrated its appreciation of Serbia’s delicate position in light of its close relations with Russia, but with the reminder that an EU candidate country is expected to support European Union policies.

During their recent visits to Belgrade, EU officials did not insist too much, at least publicly, on that matter, and EU Enlargement Commissioner Štefan Füle briefly said that the EU respected the position of Serbia as a sovereign country with regards to this issue.

The visits, first by EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton on 28 April, just a day after the forming of the new Serbian government, and then by Füle on 5 May, are primarily interpreted as a sign of support to the new cabinet in the implementation of reforms and an ambitious European integration plan, including the continuation of the dialogue with Pristina, which the EU considers especially important.

Kosovo and Crimea

In formal terms, for Serbia, Kosovo is the central issue related to Ukraine. Because of Kosovo, Serbia has an interest in supporting Ukraine and opposing the secession of Crimea, but that puts it in a contrary position to Russia, which annexed Crimea, but opposes the independence of Kosovo and backs Serbia in the UN Security Council.

Both Russia and the West, each for their own reasons, claim that Kosovo and Crimea are not the same story. More suitable for Serbia is the Russian view, according to which Kosovo has no right to secede from Serbia, as opposed to the European one, which does not recognise the secession of Crimea, but recognises it in Kosovo’s case.

On the other hand, Serbia as an EU candidate country, is faced with the challenge of having to choose sides, for example, whether it belongs in Europe only geographically, or stands unreservedly by the policy of the EU, the alliance it wishes to join.

For now, Belgrade is striving to keep a neutral position. Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said after his meeting with Štefan Füle on Monday that Serbia supported the territorial integrity of every country, including Ukraine, but added that it did not want to introduce sanctions against Russia.

“We support the territorial integrity of every country, including Ukraine. But, let’s put it this way, I asked that Serbia, for the sake of traditional ties… maintain its position and not introduce sanctions against Russia,” said Vucic at a joint news conference with the EU enlargement commissioner.

After a meeting of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers on 6 May, Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said that Serbia’s foreign policy activities would in the coming period be focused foremost on its EU membership, with the simultaneous development of relations with traditional friends.

A faithful friend of Russia

On the margins of the conference in Vienna, Daèiæ spoke with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, to whom he conveyed the message that Serbia would remain a faithful friend to Russia and would not change its positions.

“We have again confirmed our positions. Once again I wish to say on Serbia’s behalf that Serbia will never work against Russia, that it is a question of morality, and that Serbia and Russia will continue their mutual projects,” said Dacic.

One of those projects is the construction of the South Stream natural gas pipeline, which was a conversation topic between Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic, as his office reported, and Russian Parliament Speaker Sergey Naryshkin, who visited Serbia on 5 and 6 May.

Nikolic “expressed interest in intensifying works on the construction of the South Stream gas pipeline, stressing that it is a project that will ensure our country’s long-term energy stability and create preconditions for conspicuous progress of the Serbian economy,” reads the statement from the president’s office.

The speaker of the Duma told Nikolic that Russia found “Serbia’s determination to become a member of the European Union understandable, because the Union is the most important trade partner of the Russian Federation, too.”

Nikolic said that “Russia properly understands the position” of Serbia regarding the crisis in Ukraine, and “voiced regret over the escalation of the crisis.”

During his visit to Belgrade, Naryshkin thanked the Serbian public for its stance on the Ukrainian crisis and added that he expected no unpleasant surprises in relations with Serbia concerning that issue.

“We are grateful that Serbia did not support the anti-Russian resolution in the U.N. and that its representatives in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe did not support the anti-Russian decision that stripped Russian deputies of the right to attend,” said Naryshkin.

However, the members of the Serbian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe voted differently on 10 April during the passing of a resolution stripping the Russian delegation of the right to vote, which led to a debate in Serbia. The seven-member Serbian delegation had three votes “for,” three “against” and one abstainee.

Serbian deputies did not take part in the 27 March vote in the UN General Assembly on a resolution on Ukraine’s territorial integrity, which proclaimed Crimea’s joining Russia invalid.

Serbia not feeling effects of Ukrainian crisis yet

Economists say that Serbia is not feeling any direct consequences of the Ukrainian crisis yet, but that it could feel them if the crisis continued, while National Bank of Serbia Governor Jorgovanka Tabakovic said those consequences were already being felt when it came to dollar payments.

“We are already having problems with payment, if it is made in dollars. We are taking a risk if the destination is Russia, with which we have highly developed relations and which is one of our most important foreign trade partners, along with Germany and Italy,” said Tabakovic in a lecture on Monday on the influence of international financial institutions on Serbia’s monetary policy.

Economists Miladin Kovacevic and Mahmut Bušatlija said that Serbia was not feeling any direct effects of the crisis Ukraine yet, but added that it probably would.

“If it continues, the crisis in Ukraine will undoubtedly affect the economies of both the EU and Russia, which are our main partners in foreign trade, where we now have a pretty good growth of exports. That growth may slow down, as a result of which our economy will suffer in the future,” Kovacevic, deputy director of the Statistical Office of Serbia, told reporters.

Bušatlija said that Serbia would feel the crisis in Ukraine, where, as he put it, a civil war is going on, in the near future, especially if it fails to secure the necessary natural gas supplies for winter by September.

“The Ukrainian crisis will primarily be felt [in Serbia] this winter, if we are not ready to make [the underground gas storage facility] Banatski Dvor operative and fill it up to the top,” he told journalists.

Bušatlija underscored that Ukraine was one of the most important links in the so-called energy security of Central Europe, Southeast Europe and Italy.

 

Serbia In Talks With IMF Over 3-Year Loan (IBTimes UK, by Nigel Wilson, 9 May 2014)

Serbia is talking to the International Monetary Fund about a three precautionary loan deal but dates and figures have not been set, finance minister Lazar Krstic said on Thursday.

"We are in the process of discussions with the IMF and we will go ahead as planned. We are looking for a standby precautionary loan," Krstic told Reuters at a business forum in Switzerland.

Serbia is hoping to agree a deal for a sum within twice its IMF quota, suggesting a figure in the region of $1.5bn.

"Once we have refined the policies to the required level, I think that's the point when we will be able to begin engaging the IMF again to continue the conversation," Krstic said.

The country's new Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said last month that he expects the country to sign a deal by July.

In order to strike a deal, the EU-applicant country will need to trim down its surging budget deficit and cap public debt which has risen to 63% of GDP.

"We are not poor who are seeking charity, we need support for true reforms," he said last month.

Vucic has promised to cut the country's bloated public sector, reform the state's pensions system and reduce subsidies to state companies.

Speaking to IBTimes UK last October, Vucic pledged tough and meaningful reform of the country's economy.

"We are experts in corruption and we're experts in extortion but this is now times gone past," he said.

"We are putting an end to public-owned companies acting as if they are a state within a state and awarding themselves salaries and bonuses while still being subsidised by the government."

"We have 25% unemployment and we have problems with our budget deficit. But how do you think we are going to cut this by 2% when we are wasting money elsewhere? Why, because we're hypocrites," Vucic told IBTimes UK in October.

Investors see the IMF deal as an important step that could speed up economic reform in the Balkan country, which opened talks over EU accession in January this year.

 

Serbia, 15 years after the bombings (Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso, by Federico Sicurella, 8 May 2014)

15 years after the NATO raids, Serbian society is dealing with a recent past marked by diverging narratives

If the buildings of Belgrade could talk, the story of Serbia's troubled transition to democracy would take the form of a tale in three voices.

The voice of the Ušce skyscraper, which stands between the barracks in Novi Beograd and used to be the seat of the Yugoslav League of Communists.

The voice of the state television building (RTS), nestled behind the church of St. Mark, just a few steps from Tašmajdan park.

The voice of the Generalštab, the majestic modernist-style building that used to host the headquarters of the Ministry of Defence and of the army (formerly of Yugoslavia, then of Serbia), with the two wings overlooking one of the crucial crossroads of the city centre.

The three buildings would start by talking about the prestigious function that each played in the Yugoslav past.

Then came the '90s, so their three stories would converge into a one narrative of how Slobodan Miloševic bent them to his own lust for power, turning them into bastions of the regime.

The story would culminate in April 1999, when all three buildings were bombed by NATO aircraft during Operation Allied Force, aimed at forcing the Miloševic regime to negotiate the cessation of the Serbian offensive in Kosovo, thus limiting the humanitarian catastrophe that had sprung.

From that point on, however, the narrative would split again in three different stories related to the different routes of memorialisation of the three buildings.

The Ušæe skyscraper, turned into a mall in 2005, would speak of itself as of a symbol of the abolition of the socialist past and the entry of Serbia into the liberal-capitalist system.

The RTS palace, where 16 employees and journalists were killed in the bombing, would present its gutted face as a place of official mourning and protest.

The Generalštab, finally, would offer the emptiness of its two craters as symbol of the loss of memory and failed commemoration. The palace, indeed, does not carry any commemorative plaque.

A controversial anniversary

It has been exactly 15 years since the NATO bombing. In 1999, for nearly three months, NATO aircraft dropped bombs on Serbia's key military positions, but also strategic targets such as bridges, factories, and public buildings. The operation achieved the expected result and forced Miloševic to withdraw the army from Kosovo, but cost the lives of 500 civilians. The legitimacy of the military intervention, not ratified by the United Nations, and its political record overall remain the subject of bitter controversy.

A few days ago, the day of remembrance was celebrated for the civilian and military victims of the bombing.

The Serbian political elite did not miss this important event.

President Nikolic visited Varvarin, a town in central Serbia where 10 civilians died as a result of the bombing of a bridge.

Former prime minister Dacic, recently replaced by Aleksandar Vucic, laid a wreath of flowers on the hill of Straževica, one of the hardest hit military targets.

Several ministers, representatives of local governments, and army authorities took part in commemoration ceremonies in various locations around the country.

The RTS case

The most dramatic and touching ceremony was held at the RTS palace, one of the three voices of our story.

At 2:06 am, the time at which the missile crashed through the building on April 23rd, 1999, the directors of television and the relatives of the victims gathered around the memorial plaque and lit candles in memory of the fallen.

The plaque bears the inscription "Zašto?" (why?), a sharp question that has received conflicting and equivocal responses for years.

The Association of Journalists of Serbia (UNS) repeated it once again, loudly demanding the completion of the investigation into the responsibility of what many do not hesitate to define a 'war crime'.

The Commission of Inquiry investigating the murders of journalists, perhaps the deepest wound in recent Serbian history, promised to strive to shed light on the matter.

Former RTS director Dragoljub Milanovic has already served 10 years in prison for not ordering the evacuation of the building in time.

Now the focus is on the alleged responsibility of the heads of the army and the Ministry of Defence, suspected of having concealed the news of the impending attack and thus set Milanovic up, as he has always claimed.

The uncertain fate of Generalštab: a semiotic look

"The builder broke off a piece from the mountains where the decisive struggle for the fate of the peoples of Yugoslavia had been consumed and brought it to the centre of the capital".

With these words Nikola Dobrovic, Yugoslav partisan and distinguished modernist architect, described the meaning of the Generalštab, his most grandiose achievement.

He was probably referring to the famous Battle of Sutjeska, or rather to the even more famous monument that 'freezes' the breach of the Yugoslav partisans surrounded by the Axis powers.

In a recent essay on the Generalštab, scholar Vladimir Kulic writes that the 'void' between the two wings of the building meant to symbolize the Yugoslav project, representing its creative energy and openness to the future.

After 1999, this fertile emptiness was replaced by the negative emptiness of the craters made by bombs. Today, writes Kulic, the Generalštab poses a dilemma – which void to commemorate, which void to identify with. The one created by Dobrovic or the one created by NATO?

Semiotician Francesco Mazzucchelli, a scholar of architecture in conflict zones at the University of Bologna and the author of Urbicidio, il senso dei luoghi tra distruzioni e ricostruzioni in ex Jugoslavia (Urbicide, the sense of place between destruction and reconstruction in former Yugoslavia, 2010), studied this dilemma in depth.

OBC asked him to reflect on the relationship between the uncertain fate of Generalštab and Serbian society's fatigue in dealing with the traumas of the recent past.

"The bombing transformed the Generalštab in a sort of 'natural monument' in Belgrade", says Mazzucchelli. Its location on Kneza Miloša, surrounded by many embassies, made it the core of a specific symbolic space, the “space of confrontation and conflict between the Serbian people and the international community”. A core that functions as “a metaphorical urban scar which starts bleeding again on special occasions", as happened with the protests against the independence of Kosovo in 2008.

Between semantic ambiguity and cultural memory

The Generalštab, continues the semiotician, is a "load of semantic ambiguity" that stubbornly resists commemoration as well as any attempt at urban renewal. While the building lacks commemorative plaques, it has not been turned into a luxury hotel either, despite such plan being discussed for years.

What is behind this inertia?

"I do not believe the excuse of bureaucratic obstacles and lack of funds", says Mazzucchelli, "given the zeal with which many other buildings have been restored".

Rather, "this inertia reflects the ambivalent attitude of the Serbian elite, who for years have carefully avoided touching such a sensitive and delicate matter, aware of the risks of playing with two narratives hard to reconcile, one that interprets the ruins as a symbol of Miloševiæ's crimes and the much more widespread one which sees them as an act of protest against the West's aggression of Serbia".

Asked if the Generalštab is likely to remain an unresolved space, a 'memory lapse', Mazzucchelli says: "It will remain so until the wars of the 90s find a narrative shared by a large section of the Serbian public. In any case, the idea that the Generalštab could become a luxury hotel makes me uncomfortable, because it would mean to deprive Serbian society not only of one of the most remarkable examples of Yugoslav architecture, but also of a valuable opportunity to create cultural memory”.

 

Suspected Bosnian war criminals nabbed (NL Times, 9 May 2014)

Two Bosnians suspected of committing war crimes against civilians during the Serbian/Bosnian war in the nineties were arrested in Spijkenisse and Heumen this morning.

The arrest was at the request of the Bosnia and Herzegovina; a press release from the Prosecutor’s Office of The Hague characterizes them as ruthless individuals who were involved in the torture and murder of people of Serbian background in the Balkans.

The man who was held in Spijkenisse is a 43-year-old former member of the 103rd Brigade of the Bosnian Croat army. He has Bosnian nationality. The request for his extradition states that in June 1992 he served as camp commander in the Derventa region, where Serbian civilians were imprisoned in a school.

“He was involved in the murder, torture as well as the physic and psychological mistreatment of the civilians; he once accused a prisoner of trying to escape after which the prisoner was shot dead with an automatic weapons. Others were forced to view the dead body,” it states. Beatings with gun butts were norm, prisoners’ teeth were kicked out with military boots and cigarettes were extinguished on their bodies. The commander also once ordered the prisoners to hand in all their gold, money, watches and other valuables.

Of the 52-year-old man who was held in Heumen the prosecutor’s office says that he has Dutch and Bosnian nationalities. Together with an armed group, he killed a resident of the Bosnian village of Beslagici; the group had opened fire on the man’s house, forcing him to run out where they shot him. They then burned the house down. A woman and daughter who lived next door managed to jump out of a window and escape.

The Prosecutor’s Office said the extradition request will soon be tabled by the court in The Hague.