LOCAL PRESS

 

Friendly cooperation between Algeria and Serbia (RTS)

Serbia and Algeria have very good bilateral relations, Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic said during a meeting with Mohamed Larbi Ould Khelifa, the speaker of the People’s National Assembly of Algeria. Serbia also owes particular gratitude to Algeria for its principled position of not recognizing Kosovo’s unilaterally declared independence, the President added. Welcoming a high-ranking Algerian parliamentary delegation visiting Serbia, President Nikolic said that he is proud of the fact that Yugoslavia was the first European country to recognise the independence of Algeria. Algeria is loyal to the friendship with Serbia, which dates back to the era of the Non-Aligned Movement, Mohamed Larbi Ould Khelifa said. He noted that Algeria will not change its principled position on non-recognition of Kosovo. Secessionism is a global problem and resolving it through discussion and in a peaceful manner is the best approach, Ould Khelifa said.

 

Khelifa, Gojkovic: Kosovo issue to be solved through negotiations (Tanjug)

Algerian parliament speaker Mohamed Larbi Ould Khelifa has stated in Belgrade that the Kosovo issue should be solved through the process of negotiations. Following the talks with the Serbian parliament speaker Maja Gojkovic, Khelifa has pointed that the bilateral cooperation is already diverse and strong, so the efforts in that direction ought to be continued. Gojkovic has underlined this is a historic visit, having in mind that at issue is the first ever visit by a speaker of the Algerian parliament, and the first visit by an Algerian official after 37 years. She has especially thanked Algeria for the friendly and consistent policy with regards to Kosovo and Metohija.

 

Djuric deceived the public in September: We recognized only IDs, but not passports (New Serbian Political Thought)

Starting on 16 November, “Kosovo” residents with Kosovo passports may travel via borders crossings in Serbia towards Croatia, Hungary, Bulgaria and Macedonia, including the Nis airport, while they have been able to use the Nikola Tesla Airport in Belgrade since 22 September, reads the statement from the Office of Kosovo Deputy Prime Minister Edita Tahiri.

This agreement entered into force one day after the Kosovo and Serbian delegations in Brussels reached agreement on the visit of Kosovo and Serbian officials to be agreed as of 1 December vie liaison officers in Belgrade and Pristina, instead of via EULEX, and one day after the Serbian government adopted the new decree on recognizing Kosovo university diplomas. At the same time, there has been no official confirmation or denial of this news from the Serbian side. In a statement to Novosti dated on 18 September, two days after the expanded agreement on freedom of movement was reached, the Head of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Marko Djuric said that Serbia didn’t recognize Kosovo passports, and that this agreement didn’t imply this, but that Serbian citizens, as he said, with the IDs of “provisional institutions in Pristina” (as Marko Djuric is exhorting the institutions of the self-declared “Republic of Kosovo”) will be able to use additional border crossings in transit in order to expand freedom of movement and enable the airport in Belgrade to have more passengers. “This measure doesn’t imply the use of any other document, except the documents of the Republic of Serbia throughout the territory of the country and doesn’t include any agreement on passports. It expands freedom of movement and it will enable the airport in Belgrade to have more passengers, and also for free transit of goods and people, regardless of nationality,” said Djuric then. None of the larger media outlets in Serbia conveyed this news in the course of the day.

 

Rakic Vodinelic: Implementation of Brussels agreement implies amendment of Constitution (FoNet)

The Brussels agreement, the manner in which it was concluded and presented to us, goes beyond the Serbian Constitution and this is another reason for the Serbian Constitution to be amended if one seriously intends to respect this agreement, opines professor at the Law Faculty of the Union University Vesna Rakic Vodinelic. According to her explanation, the Brussels agreement is establishing a special union of municipalities in the northern part of Kosovo in a manner that this union of municipalities, which needs to protect the Serb population, is formed in a foreign state. According to the Serbian Constitution, Kosovo is part of Serbia, while the Brussels agreement is treating the northern part of Kosovo as some sort of autonomy in some other state, specifiedVodinelic.

 

Terms of notice for 2,000 Serbs in northern Kosovo (Politika, by Biljana Radomirovic)

Based on the Brussels Agreement on normalizing Belgrade-Pristina relations, and in accordance with the Law on Local Self-Administration of the provisional authorities in Pristina, more than some two thousand (2,000) employees in northern Kosovo-Metohija, employed in local self-administrations and companies that are financed from the local budgets, will be dismissed as of New Year’s Day. Municipal employees will be decimated according to still unknown criteria, while the employees of public companies (the public utility company “Standard”, the Directorate for Urban Construction Land, the Tax Administration, members of the Civil Protection Service, etc…), which the Kosovo law doesn’t recognize, will be declared redundant as of 1 January 2015. However, all those who are not at the mercy of Pristina (which proceeds in accordance with the Brussels Agreement) remain to hope for the promises of Belgrade officials who have, many times, repeated that nobody will stay without jobs as a result of the implementation of this agreement. As comfort, Pristina is also promising that not a single employee will be begging because all those from the past payroll will be receiving a monthly appendage for the next three years, from a fund that already has ten million Euros. Politika’s interlocutors claim this will be some sort of a “bypass” so none of the employees would feel the impact of the law that will mercilessly hit the Serbs and non-Albanians in north Kosovska Mitrovica, Zvecan, Leposavic and Zubin Potok. Pristina also has a suggestion about how all of the employees could keep their jobs, but under certain conditions. This being that, along with the municipal employees and those in public companies, those employed in healthcare and education need to accept to be part of the Kosovo system. However, even if healthcare and education employees accept this suggestion from Pristina, the question remains how the provisional Kosovo provincial authorities can implement something that is not envisaged by the Brussels agreement, and at the same time break their own law that requires a significantly lower number of employees compared to the present number. The Brussels Agreement (as well as several dialogues under the EU auspices) define that healthcare and education employees remain in the system of the Republic of Serbia, therefore on the Serbian state budget. “Pristina is blackmailing and requests that we send them lists of all employees on the territory of the Leposavic municipality, including those who work in healthcare and education. They say this is a condition for them to keep their jobs. The Kosovo authorities are, thus, violating that which has been agreed in a conscious and calculating manner. One of the Pristina options is the one they call the “bypass”, according to which 564 employees, according to verbal promises, would receive salaries from a special fund that has ten million Euros on its account. The thing that is painful for us is that Pristina recognizes only 138 employees based on the budget for the following year. We have taken a stand that none of those 138 employees will take their salary until the remaining 564 also receive monetary compensation,” Leposavic Mayor Dragan Jablanovic tells Politika. The leadership in north Kosovska Mitrovica, as well as the employees in the self-administration and public companies, await with anxiety what the following year will bring them. Ksenija Bozovic, the Head of the north Kosovska Mitrovica Municipality, tells Politika that Pristina accepts to pay personal incomes for 115 employees in this municipality, while it offers for the remaining 600 solutions that are based only on verbal promises. “They presented to us that they would resolve the problem of employees who would lose their jobs in the next three years with the bypass system. The Serbs and non-Albanians are very concerned, however, because around two thousand employees in North Kosovo will in fact be on the streets at the beginning of next year. I call on the Serbian Government to, as it had promised, not allow for anyone to be left without a job,” says Bozovic. The same problem is bothering the Serbs in Zvecan and Zubin Potok, so Vucina Jankovic, Zvecan Mayor, tells Politika that 62 employees will remain in the municipal administration, while the other employees will “most probably stay on the budget of the Republic of Serbia”. The concern is also shared by Nemanja Jaksic, the Head of the Zubin Potok municipality, who says that fear has crept-in among the employees in the Ibarski Kolasin region, because Pristina, in its laws, doesn’t recognize hundreds of Serbs who have spent their lifetime in the official system of the Republic of Serbia.

 

REGIONAL PRESS

 

Ivanic, Izetbegovic and Covic took the duties of collective head of state (Nezavisne novine/ Srna)

Uttering and signing a solemn declaration, Bakir Izetbegovic, Dragan Covic and Mladen Ivanic assumed, today in Sarajevo at the inaugural session of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H), the duty of collective head of state that they will perform over the next four years.

President of Central Election Commission (CIK) Stjepan Mikic presented the certificates to the newly elected members of the B&H Presidency. Izetbegovic, the Bosniak member of the B&H Presidency, candidate of the Party of Democratic Action (SDA) won 247,235 votes or 32.86 per cent, Covic, the Croatian member of the B&H Presidency, candidate of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), won 128,053 votes, or 52.2 percent, Ivanic, Serb member of the B&H Presidency, the candidate of the Alliance for Change, won 317,799 votes or 48.69 percent of the total valid votes. Bosniak, Serb and Croat member will be rotated to the position of Chairman every eight months in accordance with the Election Law of B&H. B&H Presidency members perform duties in accordance with the Constitution and Rules of Procedure of the Presidency of B&H, in accordance with the laws, and today’s session was hosted by the former Chairman of the B&H Presidency Bakir Izetbegovic. The Presidency is the highest collective executive authority of B&H, represents and symbolizes the sovereignty of B&H, and its task is to coordinate or harmonize the work of B&H institutions and defend the interests of the entities, which refers to the constituent peoples and all citizens. Among other things, it is responsible for the conduct of foreign policy, the appointment of ambassadors, representing B&H in international organizations, conducting negotiations for the conclusion of international treaties and proposing the annual budget of the Parliamentary Assembly, upon the recommendation of the Council of Ministers. The newly elected member of the B&H Presidency Mladen Ivanic, stated that the members of the B&H Presidency agreed that the new Chairman of the B&H Presidency will be Ivanic. Chairman of the Executive Board of SNSD Nebojsa Radmanovic claims that the latest agreement between the SDA and HDZ B&H does not mean that the HDZ leader Dragan Covic turned his back to the SNSD and joined the SDA, DF, SDS, PDP and NDP who have recently signed an agreement on forming the government. Radmanovic said that Covic reached an agreement on forming the government at the level of the Federation of B&H, because there are just the SDA and HDZ and with a third partner, it can be done. “In Republika Srpska things are going in the direction of forming a coalition government between the SNSD-DNS-SP. Only after that, we would have to talk to the SDA and see whether this party is committed to a real stable situation in B&H or wants to command processes, which will create instability.

 

Zeljka Cvijanovic: Investigation into political corruption (Oslobodjenje)

“The recording that media published, in which it can be heard that the current prime minister of Republika Srpska (RS) claims that they ‘bought two delegates, because delegates from Adam Sukalo’s party are screeching at them,’ shows that, in this case, corruption is at the heart of the RS government, or in the heart of the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD),” said Aleksandra Pandurevic, the Serb Democratic Party (SDS) delegate to the House of Representatives of Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H). At a press conference in East Sarajevo, she said that this case will be a test for the investigative authorities. “In fact, in this case the readiness of investigative and prosecutorial authorities will be tested in the fight against corruption. The police and prosecutors are legally obliged to fight the corruption, and we expect them to officially launch an investigation that will result in indictments and arrests of all the actors in this affair. In this way, they will prevent corrupt politicians from coming to power,” said Pandurevic.

She called on Zeljka Cvijanovic to answer the question “who have they bought and for how much money?” Stressing that political corruption is the mother of all other forms of corruption, Pandurevic added that the SNSD government “for years has continuously plundered the RS.”

“By buying votes and stuffing ballots on election night, they stole elections, and they are now trying to steal the will of the people that they failed to nab on election night, in order to further plunder the RS. The SNSD government is consistent only in one thing, and that is the continuity of political affirmation of crime,” the SDS delegate said. Asked to comment on the recording in which two MPs are called “primitives,” Pandurevic said that “arrogance, rudeness, and highhandedness are synonymous with SNSD functionaries.” “That Mr. Adam Sukalo, with a small number of votes, became a delegate is not his fault, but it is rather due to the electoral law that enabled it, and which the SNSD, as part of the Sarajevo government, had the opportunity to change, but didn’t,” said Pandurevic. Commenting on yesterday’s meeting of the HDZ and SDA leadership in Mostar, she said that Dragan Covic is a pragmatic politician and that he knows that the SDS for four years has insisted that the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) be part of the government at the B&H level, and that it wants this now as well, because they have the support of the Croat people. “I don’t believe that, after the publishing of this scandalous recording, Covic will protect corrupt politicians,” said Pandurevic. She added that “she looks forward to the honorable people in the SNSD, who are horrified by corruption and by releasing this video to the public wanted to draw citizens’ attention to post-electoral theft, do not want to be part of this corrupt affair.”

 

NDP reacts to a RS corruption scandal (Oslobodjenje)

The National Democratic Movement (NDP) believes that the courts, prosecutors, and police “must already be on their feet and investigating the unprecedented farce linked with the public revelation of the alleged purchasing of delegate’s mandates.” “What we have already indicated, therefore, has taken place in the past few days and in the electoral campaign: the regime reached for the most brutal means to redraw the electoral will of the citizens, and this was publically announced, when, lo and behold, from the mouth of Zeljka Cvijanovic, a person who more than others should take care in respecting constitutionality and legality,” the NDP said. “What would happen in any similar situation in the civilized world, where the prime minister publicly admits to participating in a serious criminal offense that strikes at the fundamental values of democratic society – buying delegate mandates?” “Need we remind that in this situation, giving bribes and taking bribes, are the most serious criminal offense, and we want to know will Zeljka Cvijanovic cooperate with the investigators in exposing the donors and recipients of bribes in the eventual investigation that must follow?” the NDP wonders. Whether, they say, the investigators will show a willingness to investigate these allegations or, as with many times in the past, they will “in practice function as Dodik’s private state instead a legal one, and whether someone because of this affair will end up behind bars, remains to be seen in the coming days and hours.” The NDP believes that this is an opportunity for organs and system institutions concerned with legality to investigate the matter to the end, “otherwise the even greater stain will remain on the entire electoral process and the post-electoral combinations, in which the regime, through public and secret means, buys the electoral will of citizens.” “If, however, it happens that someone in these criminal combinations is really found on the side of the regime, and if in practice they show themselves to be what Dodik’s prime minister testifies to, it will be clear that they received money and that they have fallen into a vicious circle of crime and corruption. The question is, with what money and what means were the two delegates purchased?” the NDP statement reads.

The NDP demands that Cvijanovic publicly disclose the names of “those who were bought off, and the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) will verify all these allegations.” “But, obviously, all this will be very difficult to prove in the private state of Milorad Dodik and his corrupt government, which is willing to do anything,” says the NDP.

 

EU Ministers meeting on Bosnia-Herzegovina, Ukraine and Russia (Dnevni avaz)

The foreign ministers of the EU countries will discuss today in Brussels the crisis in Ukraine and relations with Russia, as well as the situation in the Balkans. Ministers will focus their attention on the crisis in Ukraine and relations with Russia. Also, on the agenda is the Western Balkans, especially the post-election situation in Bosnia-Herzegovina (B&H). Heads of European diplomacies will discuss the German-British initiative to review the “ways and means to encourage the reform in B&H that would lead the country toward the EU.” In short, the plan contains four points—Berlin and London require from new B&H authorities "the written irreversible and irrefutable commitment to work on: a) the functionality of B&H and implementation of the necessary reforms, b) an agreement on the initial agenda regarding the implementation of the necessary reforms, with full consideration of the Copenhagen criteria (which is the set of measures to ensure the functioning of the state and her ability meet the requirements necessary for the EU membership). After signing the list of obligations, the EU will announce that the process of signing a Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) is initiated. B&H will start working on the initial reform agenda. After the progress is evident, the Council of the EU will invite B&H to apply for EU candidate-country status. After the “initial” reforms are implemented, the Council shall request the opinion of the European Commission in regard to B&H request for candidate status. At this point, the Commission will decide on the role and the impact of the “Sejdic-Finci” court case and how this problem affects the further progress of the B&H toward the EU.

 

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

 

Serbia Premier Rejects another EC Appeal to Join Anti-Russian Sanctions (FNA, 15 November 2014)

TEHRAN - Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic stated once again on Saturday that his country did not plan to join anti-Russian sanctions, and that Serbia has its own government which takes decisions independently in the interests of the country.

"We are on a path to Europe, but Serbian policy will not change immediately," Vucic said in comments on newly appointed EU Commissioner for European Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn’s statement that urged Serbia Friday to pursue its policy in line with the European one and to join anti-Russian sanctions, Itar-Tass reported.

On November 20, the European commissioner will pay his first visit at this post to Serbia. Ahead of the visit Hahn told reporters in Brussels that he understood that Serbia had its history and relations with Russia, but the country should take a decision at some moment of time. Serbia has a current status of a candidate country to enter the European Union and when Serbia joins the EU, the country will have to act in line with EU foreign policy and decisions, the EU commissioner said, noting that an expected time for Serbia to accede to the EU is 2020.

Vucic noted on Saturday that he "heard something like this not for the first time," but he had "several questions". "When someone loses 1.5 billion euro over the impossibility to export fruit and vegetables to Russia, the EU indemnifies only 1.1 billion euro to the country. Who will indemnify this to us?" the Serbian premier noted.

"We heard and understand everything that they are speaking to us in any language, but we will take decisions ourselves," Vucic said.

 

Far-Right Leader Praises Serbia's Ties With Russia (AP, by Jovana Gec, 15 November 2014)

Three days after being temporarily released from a U.N. war crimes court for health reasons, Serbia far-right leader Vojislav Seselj told about 10,000 supporters on Saturday that his Balkan country must scrap EU integration and turn entirely to Russia.

The Serbian firebrand, accused of recruiting notorious paramilitary forces during the Balkan wars, also said he wants to regroup his ultranationalist party to force an early election next year and "wipe away the pro-Europeans."

"We want integration with Russia. We do not want the European Union. That is where our enemies are," Seselj told his supporters, some of whom carried posters of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Serbia has sought to balance its bid to become a member of the European Union and to maintain its close relations with Russia, its traditional Slavic ally. In a sign of close ties with Moscow, Serbia last month gave the visiting Putin a hero's welcome, organizing a military parade to his honor. On Friday the nation's two armies held a joint military exercise in north Serbia.

Seselj said "Serbia must set a clear path and decide between east and west," adding: "We must show sincerely we are for Russia."

He returned home on Wednesday after the tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague, Netherlands, released him for medical treatment. Serbian doctors who visited the 60-year-old say he is suffering from colon cancer that has spread to his liver.

Seselj has been in custody since 2003, charged as part of a criminal plot to drive out non-Serbs in Croatia and Bosnia during the conflict. Judges have delayed passing a verdict several times because of different legal obstacles.

 

EU Seeks to Break Bosnian Deadlock (Dow Jones Business News, 16 November 2014)

BRUSSELS--After focusing diplomatic efforts on Serbia and Kosovo in recent years, the European Union is preparing to shift its gaze elsewhere in the Balkans in an effort to break a political stalemate in Bosnia.

On Monday, EU foreign ministers will meet for the first time under new foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini. They will discuss ideas for edging the former Yugoslav republic toward EU membership.

Ms. Mogherini, a former Italian foreign minister, has pledged to make Bosnia a priority in her early days in the job. She plans to travel to Bosnia soon and could take a direct role in trying to broker a political deal, officials say.

For once, diplomats see reasons for hope. With the country mired in high joblessness and economic stagnation, European officials believe last month's elections showed a taste for change and economic progress in Bosnia, where around 100,000 died in a bitter civil war that ended in 1995.

The main obstacle to Bosnia's EU path has been the country's failure to change a constitutional provision that created a three-person presidency comprising a Serb, a Croat and a Bosniak, the predominantly Muslim majority community in Bosnia.

The provision grew out of the Dayton peace deal that ended the war. By dividing power and giving each community a veto on major issues, the provision guaranteed Bosnian Serbs" acceptance of a single nation state. It also entrenched the autonomy of the Serbian "political entity" in Bosnia--the Republika Srpska.

However, in 2009, following complaints from Roma and Jewish leaders, the European Court of Human Rights said the provision was illegal. The EU told Bosnia it couldn't implement an already-signed pre-accession accord that would move it toward EU membership until the issue was resolved. Despite repeated initiatives from Brussels, there was little progress.

Last week, U.K. Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond and his German counterpart, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, proposed a new plan.

They suggested Brussels implement the Stabilization and Association Agreement--which can be a precursor to joining the EU--once it has a written commitment from Bosnia's leading politicians to future institutional, economic and political changes aimed at moving Bosnia toward a well-functioning market economy. These include dealing with the constitutional provision and fiscal reforms and privatizations.

If Bosnia starts to deliver, the foreign ministers pledged, Berlin and London would support Bosnia's bid to open accession talks with Brussels.

Daniel Serwer, a former U.S. special envoy to Bosnia, now professor of conflict management at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, said the plan removes constitutional reform as a precondition to progress and throws it in with other issues. He says other "tradeoffs" could be offered to secure Bosnian Serb and Croat commitment to political reforms.

"Of course they could always have found those tradeoffs without the British/German plan, but the plan makes it more likely," he said.

The Anglo-German initiative is one of several ideas foreign ministers will discuss Monday. The EU had already offered stepped-up assistance for economic reform in the spring after protests rocked Bosnia in February.

Ms. Mogherini quickly welcomed the Anglo-German initiative, saying she would go to Sarajevo to "engage with the new leadership on the way forward."

Underlining their determination to focus on Bosnia, EU ambassadors will hold one of their regular meetings in Sarajevo on Thursday and Friday, EU officials say.

None of this will matter if Bosnia's minority communities--especially the Serbs--refuse to engage. But last month's elections showed that Bosnian Serb internal politics has grown more fluid.

Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik, who many in Brussels blame for blocking reforms, narrowly kept his post but opposition leader Mladen Ivanic won the Serbian post of the three-way Bosnia presidency. Mr. Dodik's office didn't respond to requests to speak about the EU's plans.

Ignor Crdnak, secretary-general of Mr. Ivanic's Party of Democratic Progress, said the Bosnian Serb politician is " very much open to" the Anglo-German initiative.

"We are the only party in Republika Srpska that was very much pro-European from its founding in 1999 and of course we want to see the unlocking of the SAA as soon as possible," Mr. Crdnak said in an email.

He said, however, that any future reforms must provide protections for Republika Srpska such as leaving the Dayton agreement's entity-based voting system in place.

"There is now a Serb in the presidency who doesn't owe his political future to Milorad Dodik. That's a plus," said Mr. Serwer.

Ms. Mogherini's predecessor, Catherine Ashton, spent many hours chairing talks between Serbian and Kosovan leaders aimed at normalizing ties between Belgrade and its former province. An ensuing reconciliation agreement helped place both on track for eventual EU membership.

 

EU must set reform agenda for Bosnia: think-tank (Reuters, by Daria Sito-Sucic, 14 November 2014)

SARAJEVO - The European Union needs to spell out much more clearly economic and political reforms required from Bosnia's leaders in exchange for helping to accelerate its accession bid and unlocking funds for the Balkan country, a think-tank said on Friday.

In a report entitled "Retreat for Progress in Bosnia", the Democratisation Policy Council (DPC) criticized a British-German plan for Bosnia unveiled in Berlin last week as too "modest" and as failing to set adequate reform incentives.

Britain's ambassador to Bosnia, Edward Ferguson, told Reuters the initiative, which aims to reboot ethnically divided Bosnia's stalled EU bid, would be on the agenda of EU foreign ministers at a meeting on Monday.

"What we want to do as quickly as possible is to turn this from the UK-German initiative into a new EU strategy that is signed up to by all members of the EU," said Ferguson.

But the DPC, which promotes democracy and accountability worldwide and is funded by a U.S. private foundation, said the plan fell far short of what was needed in Bosnia, where an unwieldy system of ethnic power-sharing put in place after the Yugoslav wars of 1992-95 has stymied reforms.

"The elephant in the room remains – a political structure that includes zero incentives for reforms or accountability to citizens, and allows for fear and patronage to be the dominant drivers of social and political life," the report said.

"(The EU should) set the initial reform agenda instead of allowing political leaders to do it according to their own interests," DPC said in its recommendations.

"If the aim is to get Bosnia prepared for membership, the EU cannot afford to be coy or modest in its demands," it said, urging "consequences" for those who question Bosnia's integrity as a nation state - a clear rebuke to Bosnian Serb leaders who often threaten to secede from the loose federation.

In their initiative, Germany and Britain hope to inject momentum into Bosnia's EU bid by dangling the carrot of EU cash and putting economics ahead of political reform.

With Bosnia's fragile economy reliant on International Monetary Fund handouts to cover a growing budget deficit, Britain and Germany hope the attraction of access to EU funds can help push institutional change.

Nationalist parties triumphed in elections in October and the complex political system has hampered the formation of a stable government, dimming hopes of swift progress with the EU.

 

* * *

 

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.