LOCAL PRESS

 

Vucic: Serbia promoting stability in the region (Politika/Novosti/Danas)

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said at the Trilateral meeting in Belgrade that Serbia wants to and will be part of a solution and promote stability in the region. Opening the session, he said strong countries had clear ideas of democracy and market economy principles and assessed that only those societies had strength to combat challenges in the 21^st century. Serbia’s main foreign policy goal is EU membership and Belgrade wants to find its place in Europe, both economically and politically, he said. The Prime Minister did not conceal his satisfaction with this year’s EC report, but believes it will be even better next year. We are to have big success on conducting reforms, but we must try even harder, he said, warning that progress comes at a price we have to pay. He stressed Serbia was the first country in this part of Europe that has begun fiscal consolidation measures without external pressure and added we had support of the IMF, the World Bank and other relevant institutions in that. Serbia had naturally good relations with Russia and it is natural that it defends its strategic interests, but it also has a unique strategic advantage due to trade agreements with Russia, EU and China and other countries, which our partners should use and work in Serbia as recognized by our UAE partners and friends, said the Prime Minister. He stressed Serbia was also a natural ally of the U.S. and other countries in the battle against terrorism and global challenges and would continue contributing there. By presiding the OSCE next year, Serbia will prove its attachment to a peaceful solution to all the issues and problems, he said. In that context, the Brussels agreement was signed and we expect a government in Pristina to be formed so talks could resume, he said. He assessed regional relations as never better, adding that, despite the recent incident at the Serbia-Albania match, Serbia will receive Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama in Belgrade soon, which is the first such meeting after 68 years. He said he expected at least the smallest joint denominator in the interest of both countries to be found in talks with the Albanian Prime Minister.

 

Dacic: Important activities of Serbian diplomacy in the region and worldwide (Radio Serbia/Politika)

“I expect the visit of Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama to Belgrade on 10 November will first contribute to normalization and then to the improvement of relations between Albania and Serbia,” said Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic at a monthly press conference in the Serbian Foreign Ministry. He assessed the recent incident at the Serbia-Albania match and the numerous reactions that ensued afterwards as having aggravated the situation. In such a situation, the reaction of many would have been rash and the visit would have been cancelled, but this Ministry and the entire Serbian government are aware of the fact that they must resolve even the most difficult and complex problems, instead of disregarding them, he said. The details of the visit are still worked upon, bearing in mind the series of requirements published in the media on which the Albanian side insisted, Dacic said. He also announced a vivid diplomatic activity of Serbia in the upcoming period and preparations for the OSCE presidency next year. Preparatory talks on Serbia’s OSCE presidency, which starts on 1 January 2015, are also due in November. The main activities realized in October include the screening of Chapter 31 of the EU accession talks. Dacic added that Serbia expected the European Commission to assess that activity and propose the opening of that Chapter, Serbia being of key significance for stability in the region. He also said that Serbia would like to adjust its foreign and defense policy with the EU ones and that he hoped the negotiating chapters regulating those topics would be opened soon.

 

Djuric requests protection of Serbs in Metohija (RTS/Tanjug)

The Head Office for Kosovo and Metohija Marko Djuric has stated that he expects the leaders of the Kosovo Albanians’ political parties to extend support and protection to the Serbs in Metohija. During the visit to the returnee families in the municipality of Klina, Djuric has pointed that the situation is most difficult in Metohija. If you wish to have the support of the Serb (Ruska) list in partaking in the Kosovo government, you must show your support for normalization of relations, Djuric said in his message to Kosovo Albanian politicians. He has stressed that the biggest responsibility for the Serbs’ safety and the normalization of relations is on the holders of political power among the Kosovo Albanians. We extended our hand to the Albanians and expect them to provide security for the Serbs, Djuric emphasized.

 

Stoltenberg: KFOR committed to its mandate in Kosovo (Danas/Tanjug)

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has emphasized that the KFOR troops will remain fully committed to their mandate in Kosovo and Metohija, in line with UN Security Council Resolution 1244, and in the interest of all ethnic communities in the province. While thanking for the congratulation notice sent by Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic on the occasion of taking the office, Stoltenberg has underlined that he will be working together with the Belgrade authorities to improve the partnership of Serbia and NATO. We can make progress and strengthen the relations of Serbia and the Alliance, and the practical cooperation should also lead to the stronger political dialog and better understanding, reads Stoltenberg’s letter to Dacic.

 

Ugljanin: BNV for resolution of Bosniak issue (Tanjug)

The head of the list “For Bosniak Unity” Sulejman Ugljanin has stated last night, after the repeated elections at the three polling stations in the Tutin municipality, that his list won and that now there is a legal and legitimate Bosniak National Council (BNV). “The Bosniaks received the BNV and the state received one more legitimate organ for resolving minority issues, here concretely the Bosniak issue, on our EU path,” Ugljanin told a press conference in Novi Pazar.

The cumulative result of the general elections at the Serbian level with the repeated elections is that the list “For Bosniak Unity” received 19,305 votes, i.e. 54.62 percent, and the list “For Bosniaks, Sandzak and the Mufti” received 16,044 votes or 45.3 percent. The cumulative result of the repeated elections at three polling stations – Dubovo, Konice, Ribarice – is that the list “For Bosniaks, Sandzak and Mufti” received 229 votes or 22.7 percent, and the list “For Bosniak Unity” received 799 votes, i.e. 70.3 percent.

 

Fehratovic: We request elections to be annulled (RTS)

The head of the list “For Bosniaks, Sandzak and Mufti” Jahja Fehratovic has requested the Republic Election Commission to annul the repeated elections for the Bosniak national council in the Tutin municipality, calling it “another electoral farce” during which there was “electoral fraud”. He said that his list was prevented to have members in electoral boards and observers during the voting and counting of votes, and that all ten members of the electoral boards were activists and members of the SDA Sandzak, whose leader is Sulejman Ugljanin. “Due to this fact, our list was forced to organize supervision of the turnout at the repeated elections by way of video cameras. According to the video document, the number of votes is by 303 higher in relation to the real turnout,” said Fehratovic. He claims that Deputy Chairman of the Republic Election Commission Ivan Sebek, otherwise Boris Tadic’s staff, “gave legitimacy to this electoral fraud”.

 

“Europe has died in Pristina” (Danas)

“UN Security Council Resolution 1244 has never been abolished, meaning it is still valid. That means that Kosovo is part of Serbia and this cannot be negotiated. Of course, Kosovo can have a special status, but, according to the UN resolution, it is part of Serbia. The matter is very simple,” says Jacques Hogard, former commander of the French special units within KFOR, who presented the Serbian edition of his book “Europe has Died in Pristina” at the Belgrade Book Fair. Hogard arrived in Kosovo and Metohija in 1999. His units were engaged in northern Kosovo and, thanks to them, Serb civilians and monasteries were saved from the KLA. Hogard couldn’t accept that “an aggressive corrupt Muslim state was being created in the middle of Europe with the help of Western democracies”, so he left the military service upon his return from Kosovo in 2000. His book is not only about the Kosovo experience, but also about what came before – NATO preparations in Macedonia that preceded the NATO bombardment of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the introduction of the UN protectorate in Kosovo and Metohija. Asked why KFOR didn’t fulfill its mandate from UNSCR 1244 in 1999 and protected all inhabitants of Kosovo and Metohija, Hogard responds that “the Americans and NATO never intended to implement this resolution and that their job was to allow the departure of Serbs and to facilitate ethnic cleansing in favor Albanians”. According to him, KFOR’s mission following the unilateral declaration of Kosovo’s independence under the UN protectorate has been “to protect this supposed independence”.

 

REGIONAL PRESS

 

Igor Radojicic: As things stand, I will not be Prime Minister (Press)

The Vice President of Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD) Igor Radojicic said that “under the current situation it is very unlikely that he will be the next Prime Minister.”

Before the information became public, that the leader of the Serb Democratic Party (SDS) Mladen Bosic offered the leader of Socialist Party (SP) Petar Djokic to be the prime minister designate if he complies with the parliamentary majority gathered around the SDS, Radojicic said that all of the options were open because everyone was talking to everyone. “Here, right now as we speak, the SP talks with the SDS, so it’s possible that the designate holder will be Petar Djokic,” assessed Radojicic. The Socialists currently provided the hope and fed the opposition, which is according to the election results still in opposition. What is happening now is democratic because everyone has the right to negotiate with anyone, but I think that it is unnecessary to make complications because these three parties - SNSD, DNS and SP - they can finish the job by Tuesday. Again, we’ll see what will happen and what will be the further development of this situation!

 

Lobbying for power in Banja Luka (Politika’s Sarajevo correspondent)

The leader of the opposition Serb Democratic Party (SDS) Mladen Bosic spoke yesterday in Bijeljina with Petar Djokic, the leader of the Socialist Party (SP) which is a member of the ruling coalition gathered around the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD) and offered him the position of the prime minister designate for formation of the future government of the Republika Srpska (RS), although under the Constitution of the RS the designate is proposed by the President, who is, according to the election results, Milorad Dodik. Djokic said that the proposal of the SDS is to be discussed at the SP leadership level, and will soon have an adequate response. “I want to say that the SP is not a political dealer. And we are not ready to be one, and at present we do not consider this is a moment for political trade. We believe that the RS and its life should have clear answers from all of us that who got the trust and support of the people,” said Djokic after the meeting. The SDS leader said that during the meeting with Djokic, they talked mainly about the possibilities of mutual cooperation in connection with the forming of a parliamentary majority in the National Assembly. “The position of the SDS is clear. We believe that the parliamentary majority should established that would create the process of change,” said Bosic, stressing it is not possible to make that change “if the SNSD is in power.” He stated that, both he and his interlocutor agreed that deep reforms should be made in many fields of the RS, ranging from energetics, health care and education, and to all the other. “We remain open for all other parties, except for the SNSD,” pointed Bosic, reports Srna. Djokic described the meeting with the SDS leader as “great progress” because, as he pointed out, “it is a big thing to sit at the same table with the political parties that have different policies and political views”. He pointed out, that in the conversation he expressed his view that they should strive that the majority in the RS is created by the political parties that have their headquarters in the RS, and that it was important to continue the dialogue with those who want to. “We have our own partnerships in the RS that we have had in previous years, and we did not distance ourselves from them. We had the talks with them, too, and they will continue in the upcoming period,” said Djokic and repeated the SP believes that talks with the SDS should continue, as well as the talks with members of other partner parties.

 

Dodik: “South Stream” or total blockage of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Novosti)

The Russian Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) Peter Ivantsov gave a statement about building the “South Stream” pipeline: “the line will be made ​​despite the current problems. There are several options of the pipeline route through B&H, and the politicians must decide”.

This project will bring billion dollars in investments to B&H and it would mean more job openings, said Ivantsov. “South Stream will be implemented despite the current problems, because it is a matter of a great energy project for all of Europe, which aims to complement the existing pipeline network,” said Ambassador Ivantsov. He specifies that there are several options when it comes to the arc of the gas pipeline “South Stream” with a route through B&H, that arc can be divided into two parts and one part goes thought Republika Srpska (RS), and the other one through the Federation of B&H, or to extend the arc from the RS to continue through Federation of B&H. It all depends on the wishes of politicians. We have discussed this issue with the RS leadership. President Dodik has signed a memorandum of understanding with “Gazprom”, and the B&H Council of Ministers has shown their interest too, says Ivantsov.

“There are two debts – the debt for gas delivered by Gazprom during the war in B&H, and the other, so-called clearing debt that dates back to the trade relations of the USSR and former Yugoslavia. When taking into account the amount of both debts, the Russian government should pay B&H 20 million dollars more. Russia suggests that for those 20 million Russian Federation delivers equipment for the rescue operations that were needed during the recent floods in B&H. The problem is that entities in B&H have not yet clearly decided how they want to resolve the issues of these debts,” said Ivantsov.

 

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

 

Planned western Balkans reconciliation meeting crumbles (Reuters, by Paul Taylor, 31 October 2014)

BELGRADE - It was meant to be a rare gathering of the leaders of the western Balkan countries bidding to join the European Union, a moment of high symbolism two decades since the wars that tore apart Yugoslavia, but old enmities again got in the way.

Leaders of Serbia, Kosovo, Bosnia, Macedonia, Montenegro and Albania were all invited to meet under the auspices of the Trilateral Commission, a Western reflection group, at a Saturday conference in Belgrade, capital of Serbia and once Yugoslavia.

Albania's prime minister, Edi Rama, declined his invitation in the wake of an abandoned Oct. 14 soccer match between Serbia and Albania in Belgrade, when brawls broke out on the pitch after a remote-controlled drone trailing a flag of "Greater Albania" flew over the stadium, triggering a pitch invasion.

Rama, in agreement with his Serbian counterpart, had already postponed an Oct. 23 bilateral visit for Nov. 10. It will mark the first visit to Serbia by an Albanian leader in 68 years, hailed as a new chapter in relations marred by tension over Serbia's majority-Albanian former Kosovo province.

The soccer incident triggered a war of words between Tirana and Belgrade, as well as attacks on bakeries owned by Albanians in Serbian towns, showing how ethnic and national resentments in the region continue to lurk just below the surface.

That was only the start of the unravelling of a session due to focus on "west Balkans candidate countries on their path to European Union accession" - an increasingly remote prospect with the EU having just declared a five-year moratorium on further enlargement.

"NOT FOR WANT OF TRYING"

Kosovo's president, Atifete Jahjaga, whose visit would have marked the first to Serbia by a head of state of an independent Kosovo, also bowed out, citing a political crisis at home. Kosovo, which is mainly ethnic Albanian, broke away from Serbia in war in 1999 and declared independence in 2008.

"I decided to stay in Kosovo at this critical time," she told the Kosovo daily Tribuna.

"I never take these meetings as something easy, because they are not easy. But I believe in Kosovo's statehood... and I will never be afraid to face anyone in Belgrade, in Pristina or elsewhere," Jahjaga said.

Belgrade has not officially recognised Kosovo's independence, which came almost a decade after an 11-week NATO air war in 1999 that drove out Serbian forces which had waged a bloody counter-insurgency, driving hundreds of thousands of people into neighbouring Macedonia and Albania. But Kosovo's foreign minister, Enver Hoxhaj, visited Belgrade last week in a step towards practical cooperation.

"We have to close once and forever the conflict with Serbia, because this conflict continues to hold Kosovo and the whole region hostage," Jahjaga said.

The chairman of Bosnia's multi-ethnic presidency, Muslim Bosniak Bekir Izetbegovic, also dropped out of the Belgrade meeting after, sources said, the organisers invited the president of the Bosnian Serb republic, Milorad Dodik, who wants to break away from Bosnia.

The absence of the three leaders means only the majority Orthodox Christian countries will be represented. There will also be no official representative of Croatia, which has already joined the EU in July 2013 after fighting against Serb rebels to break free of Yugoslavia in 1991-95.

Jovan Kovacic, chairman of the Serbian group in the Trilateral Commission and a member of the organisation's executive committee, told Reuters: "It was not for want of trying by the organisers."

 

Russia Reduces Gas Flow to Serbia over Unpaid Debt (novinite.com, 1 November 2014)

Russia has cut gas deliveries to Serbia by 28% over the past week, Serbia’s Energy Minister Aleksandar Antic has said.

He attributed the cut to a drop in gas supplies by Russia’s Gazprom Export to all other countries receiving gas via the Ukraine transit route and Serbia’s debt for past deliveries totalling USD 224M.

According to Antic, Serbia has received 3.2 million cubic meters of gas from Russia over the past week, instead of 4.5 million cubic meters per day.

“In any scenario, Serbia has no reason to worry, and we will have no problems concerning the gas supply, as we have a stable long-term contract with Gazprom, as well as domestic supplies and additional quantities stored in Banatski Dvor,” Tanjug news agency quoted Antic as saying.

Antic said that he would meet with Russian partners next week to discuss debt rescheduling, adding that the first tranche of USD 100M could be paid by the end of 2014.

Serbian daily Danas reported earlier that Russia has decided to cut gas supplies to Serbia after Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic refused to sign a protocol for the repayment of USD 200M in Serbia's debt for past Russian gas deliveries during the recent visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Belgrade.

According to unnamed sources quoted by Danas, Vucic had refused to sign guarantees that Serbia will repay the entire debt by March 2015 because he believed Russia is “already making a huge profit in Serbia via NIS”.

Russia’s Gazprom Neft acquired 51% of Serbia’s oil monopoly NIS for EUR 400M in 2008. The Serbian government has since argued Russia benefited from the deal much more than Serbia and has hinted it would seek to revise it, something Moscow has ruled out.

"We have partner relations with Russia," Serbia’s Deputy Prime Minister Zorana Ivanovic told the N1 channel . "We are prepared to pay USD 100M swiftly, but we must work like partners and talk every day."

Serbia relies mostly on supplies from Russia via Ukraine and Hungary to meet its gas needs.The country’s Banatski Dvor underground gas storage has been filled to its capacity of 450 million cubic meters - enough to meet household demand for about three months.

 

Yugoslavia’s Last Defense Minister Dies in Moscow (AP, 3 November 2014)

BELGRADE, Serbia -- Gen. Veljko Kadijevic, who was Yugoslavia's last defense minister at the start of the country's bloody breakup, has died. He was 88.

Serbia's state television said Monday that Kadijevic died on Sunday in Moscow, where he had lived since 2001.

Kadijevic became defense minister in 1988, shortly before the communist-run ex-federation dissolved along ethnic lines, triggering Europe's worst carnage since World War II.

Kadijevic led the military during the war in Croatia, including the siege of Vukovar, when the eastern Croatian town was completely destroyed by Serb-led Yugoslav army troops.

Croatia has accused Kadijevic of war crimes over the Vukovar siege and issued an international arrest warrant. But Kadijevic, who had adopted Russian citizenship, was never handed over to face the charges.

 

Ministers from Austria, the Western Balkans and V4 Meet in Slovakia (FriedlNews, 31 October 2014)

The meeting of foreign ministers of the V4 and the Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Macedonia, Serbia, and Kosovo) was held in Bratislava in the presence of Austria's Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz and the designated EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini.

Slovakia and the countries of the Visegrad Group V4 are the strongest supporters of EU enlargement by the countries of the Western Balkans. Slovak Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Miroslav Lajcak declared this after Friday's meeting of foreign ministers of the V4 and the Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Macedonia, Serbia, and Kosovo), held in Bratislava and in the presence of the Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz and the designated EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini.

However, according to Lajcak, the fact that we want counties of the Balkans in the EU does not mean that we support lowering the criteria necessary for accession to the European Union.

"We will do everything possible for these countries to join the EU as soon as possible after they meet all the necessary criteria," said Lajcak. Slovakia offers to the counties of the Western Balkan especially its experience from the process of European integration. "Our specific experience is something you cannot learn in textbooks. We are prepared to share our experiences with these partners," said the Slovak minister and added that if they show strong political will to take the necessary measures and engage in the reform process, the EU's response will be positive. According to Lajcak, we also want to see Kosovo in the EU, which Slovakia does not officially recognize. "The official position of Slovakia is not an obstacle to the European heading of Kosovo," said Lajcak.

The Slovak Foreign Affairs Minister among others confirmed the words of the new President of the European Commission's Jean-Claude Juncker that the EU will not expand over the next five years. The Foreign Minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina Zlatko Lagumdzija is not disappointed by such forecasts. "Of course, we would welcome if in three or four years we would be members of the EU, but we have so much work to do," said Lagumdzija, according to whom they will need even more than five years. Macedonian Minister Nikola Poposki sees matters similarly.

 

Post election games have begun in Bosnia (Journal of Turkish Weekly, 31 October 2014)

Just a few days after the Central Election Commission announced the final results of the general elections in BiH, political parties begun negotiations on possible coalitions, in order to gather enough seats on all parliaments to form a majority.
In any other country it would have been a simple enough process, but not in BiH. Two weeks ago, the citizens voted for ten cantonal assemblies in Federation BiH (F BiH), Parliament F BiH, Parliament of Republic of Srpska (RS), president of RS and BiH Parliament. They had a chance to vote for 50 political parties, 24 coalitions and 24 independent candidates. The total number of names on all lists was 7,748.
The winners of the elections, the Party of Democratic Action (SDA) in F BiH and the coalition of parties gathered under the umbrella of Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD) in RS, won the elections so narrowly that it is clear that establishing governments will be a hard task. In this situation there is room for other parties and coalitions to try to form a majority on all levels.
In F BiH, the SDA and the second on the list, Party for better future BiH (SBB BiH) have already decided to stay on opposite sides. During the electoral campaign it was made clear that only a miracle could bring these parties together after elections, because SBB BiH leader, supported with the biggest newspaper in BiH “Dnevni avaz”, led a brutal campaign against SDA leaders, especially Bakir Izetbegovic, son of late founder of SDA and first president of BiH, Alija Izetbegovic. It is now clear that both parties will negotiate with the new star, the Democratic Forum, leaded by Zeljko Komsic, former member of Social Democratic Party BiH, which is, according to analysts, the biggest loser of elections.
A similar situation has been formed in Republic of Srpska, where the biggest coalitions, one leaded by SNSD and the second leaded by Serb democratic party (SDS), already declared that they will not join forces in the entity’s Parliament. SNSD and its partners have a tight majority and the coalition of Bosniak parties “Fatherland “ (“Domovina”) seeks its own chance to take a positions in RS Government in change for support. “Domovina” has already declared that, regardless who will form the Government, they will demand five of the sixteen ministries, including the Ministry of education. This Ministry is especially interesting for Bosniaks in RS, because of cases of discrimination of pupils in the villages Vrbanjci and Konjevic Polje, where children don’t have a chance to attend subjects that are relevant to their culture and religion.
Also, since SNSD lost about 25 percent of its seats in RS Parliament, compared to the previous mandate, it is expected that this party, as the biggest in the coalition will have to give more significance to its partners, the Socialist party and the Democratic Peoples’ alliance, in order to prevent them from joining the opposition block. If just one of this parties leave this coaliti
on and make agreement with the Alliance for changes, leaded by SDS, SNSD will have no chance of achieving a majority in RS Parliament.
And that is not the whole story, because there is state level and establishing of majority in BiH Parliament. Things on that level are maybe more complicated than ever because all parties are divided by nationalities.
SNSD and the biggest Croatian party, Croatian democratic community (HDZ), has already agreed to cooperate on all levels. SBB BiH will negotiate with SNSD and not with the SDS coalition. The reason, as SBB BiH leader, Fahrudin Radoncic explained, is that SNSD did not have war criminals as leaders in the past. At same time, SDA declared that they will not negotiate with SNSD, with SDS being their choice.
All of them will also try to negotiate with the Democratic Front, because Komsic is a “Social Democrat Rebel” and SDA hopes that they will not negotiate with the SNSD. On other hand, its leader Zeljko Komsic is a former soldier of the Army of Republic BiH, having been awarded the biggest war medal – the “Golden lily”, so SBB BiH leaders hope that DF will not negotiate with SDS on state level.

 

Republika Srpska Opposition Strikes Back at Ruling Party (BIRN, by Elvira M. Jukic, 3 November 2014)

The parties that polled best in Bosnia’s Serb-dominated entity continue to woo smaller parties in a bid to forge alliances that will enable them to form a government.

The Serb Democratic Party, SDS, which came second in the elections in Republika Srpska last month, has offered cabinet positions to the Socialist Party, SP, in a bid to win its favours from the ruling Alliance of Independent Social Democrats, SNSD.

The SNSD came first in the polls. But both the SNSD and the SDS need the support of smaller parties to help them create a parliamentary majority and form a government in the entity.

The SP was the SNSD’s partner in the outgoing administration. But after the SNSD promised the premier’s position to the Democratic People’s Union, DNS, the SP is considering whether to pull out of the alliance.

“It is known with whom we have shared political values for years, but at this moment, the overall results and the expectations of citizens direct us to solutions which might be the best for the life of people towards whom we have a responsibility because they gave us votes in the elections,” said SP leader Petar Djokic.

Djokic met SDS president Mladen Bosic in Bijeljina on November 2 to discuss a possible coalition, Nezavisne Novine newspaper reported.

But SNSD leader Milorad Dodik said that he hoped Djokic would not take the offer as serious.

The SNSD, SP and DNS met on Friday in Zvornik. Djokic said afterwards that despite the SDS offer, the partnership with the SNSD was not over and that his party would consider both coalition offers.

The SNSD won 29 seats in the National Assembly of Republika Srpska at last month’s polls, while the SDS got 24 seats.

Its confirmed ally, the DNS, won eight, while the SP took five.

The SDS meanwhile has the backing of the Party of Democratic Progress, PDP, which took seven seats, and the National Democratic Movement, NDP, which took five.

The Domovina [Homeland] coalition, which is comprised of non-Serb parties and won five seats in the assembly, has not yet declared which party it will support.

The SDS held power in Republika Srpska until 2006, when Dodik and the SNSD took over and governed for two terms.

 

FYROM FM says Athens, Skopje ‘nowhere near a solution’ (ekathimerini.com, 1 November 2014)

Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) are nowhere near a solution to the name dispute, the Balkan statelet’s foreign minister, Nikola Poposki, said on Saturday.

“We are further away from a solution than we were a few years ago. I wish I were in a position to say that we are close to leaving this issue behind us, but reality mandates that we remain particularly cautious,” Poposki told Skopje’s Faktor website.

In the same interview, the FYROM official blamed the government in Athens for lack of progress in the negotiations, while adding that he was still waiting for a fresh proposal from United Nations special mediator Matthew Nimetz.

 

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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.