LOCAL PRESS

 

New platform for Kosovo and Metohija planned (RTS)

The cabinet of Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic confirmed to Radio and Television of Serbia (RTS) that the plan is to write a new platform for Kosovo and Metohija. The government is waiting for more details on the new platform. In the meantime, the Serbian government concluded that it is ready to continue the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue that should commence in Brussels in early February. During the debate on the EU integration process, it was assessed that the Serbian government is committed to the EU path and that it strives to fulfill all obligations. The debate was attended by the Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia Michael Davenport who commended Serbia’s readiness to implement the Brussels agreement and contribute to normalization of the situation in Kosovo and Metohija.

 

 

Kosovo status immediately (Novosti)

Parallel to the implementation of the Brussels agreement, Serbia will present next year a proposal for a final status for Kosovo and Metohija. The new plan will arrive soon from President Tomislav Nikolic, and then it should be corrected and finalized by the government and parliament. The stand of the Socialists is that the unilateral declaration of Kosovo’s independence can never be legal and accepted, member of the presidency of the Socialist Party of Serbia Djordje Milicevic tells Novosti. “All talks that we are conducting are status neutral, we haven’t demonstrated with one single move that we are heading towards recognition. It is important to continue the dialogue, to implement agreements and to form as soon as possible the Union of Serb Municipalities. We will discuss the platform once it appears, because it requires the broadest possible consensus.” The leader of the Social-Democratic Party (SDS) Boris Tadic tells Novosti that Nikolic is misinforming the public by implicating that Brussels will certainly request recognition of Kosovo as a condition for Serbia’s EU accession. “As long as there is one EU member state that hasn’t recognized Kosovo, requiring recognition of independence cannot be an official EU stand. President Nikolic is doing this either because he doesn’t understand the principles of international politics or because he wishes to more actively return to the political life by abusing the Kosovo topic. Thus, he is hindering the government’s participation in the EU integration process, endangering our relationship with the EU and impeding continuation of accession negotiations.” The leader of the New Party (NS) Zoran Zivkovic tells Novosti that Nikolic’s statement is part of his clash with Vucic. “Their interests are diverging, and as soon as there is a conflict Kosovo is taken out. Of course, there is nothing that Serbia can do. With the Brussels agreement, Vucic’s administration has recognized Kosovo de facto and de jure.” For the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS), Nikolic’s announcement is utterly hypocritical. “He swore in 2008 that he will not rest until he returns Kosovo within Serbia. Four years later, he established a classic border between Serbia proper and Kosovo and Metohija,” the Kosovo DSS Board announced.

 

Four topics in Brussels (Novosti)

Three topics will be on the table before Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic and Isa Mustafa when they meet in Brussels on 8 and 9 February – the formation of the Union of Serb Municipalities, the judiciary, return of Serbian property and the creation of conditions for the return of displaced, Novosti learns. In the continuation of the dialogue with Pristina, which was scheduled by the EU High Representative Federica Mogherini, Belgrade will insist on these issues, and one of the arguments for the formation of the Union of Serb Municipalities to be one of the priorities is also the fact that this is the first item of the coalition agreement between the Serb (Srpska) List, the Democratic Party of Kosovo and the Democratic Association of Kosovo, whose leaders are Hashim Thaqi and Isa Mustafa. According to Novosti, the draft statute of the Union of Serb Municipalities has been completed, and it is completely in accordance with the Brussels agreement and the European Charter on local self-administration, and it will be presented to the public when it is estimated that it will not endanger the finalization of this key item of the Brussels agreement. The Coordinator of the Management Team for the formation of the Union of Serb Municipalities Ljubomir Maric, who is also the Minister for Administration and Local Self-Administration in the new Pristina government, tells Novosti that it has been agreed to form the Union in the next five months: “It will be recognized in the system of the Republic of Serbia, but also in the Kosovo system. Now we need to agree on how to change the Pristina legislature so the Union can be formed. We will also insist on the resolution of all issues regarding the return and protection of the property of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo and Metohija, but also of private and state property.”

 

Decision on Kosovo army to be passed in Brussels (Politika)

Judging by the statements from Serbian officials, the formation of Kosovo armed forces, which Pristina has been announcing more frequently than the foundation of the Special Court for KLA crimes, will not pass easily the Serb barrier in the Kosovo Assembly. More precisely, that law will not receive the necessary two-third majority of minority communities if an agreement at the highest level is not reached during the talks in Brussels. Both Kosovo Serbs and Albanians expect Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic to pass a decision on this. The Chairman of the Serbian parliamentary Committee for Kosovo and Metohija Milovan Drecun says that Belgrade can talk with the Kosovo Albanians about everything that is status neutral. “However, the formation of a Kosovo army goes outside the status neutral framework, because it means that this army is an armed force of some state and this formation as such is unacceptable for us. I think we must adhere to that, because accepting this formation could be interpreted that we are also accepting a state of this armed force,” concluded Drecun. Asked whether the plan is to discuss in Brussels the armed forces, Politika received an answer from the Office for Kosovo and Metohija that the formation of the Kosovo army would be contrary to the Kumanovo Agreement and UNSCR 1244, and that the existence of security forces or armed forces represents an “evasion” of the agreement whereby the KLA should have been disarmed. “They disarmed nominally, on paper, the KLA, where in fact they only changed the signs on the uniforms, and then call this ‘Kosovo protection corps’, and after ‘Kosovo security forces’. Now they want the same to be called ‘Kosovo armed forces’. It is redundant to ask us what we think about the KLA, regardless of how it is called,” Politika was told at the Office for Kosovo and Metohija. Kosovo deputy Prime Minister Branimir Stojanovic tells Politika that they haven’t either negotiated the armed forces. “We will yet see whether this will be resolved the way they want. We certainly have a negative stand on this and we aren’t even close to talks in regard to this,” said Stojanovic, who thinks that Albanian leaders are using such announcements for internal-political use. Asked whether he had information that this will be discussed in Brussels, Stojanovic says that this “has probably never been discussed in Brussels”, it is possible there have been sporadic initiatives, but that this was not on the agenda. “We certainly are advocates of discussing this at the highest political level, because this is not only an issue of Kosovo and Metohija and Pristina’s decision, but it also has regional importance, and Serbia should have a stand on this issue,” opines Stojanovic, stressing that the Pristina government is aware that the influence of official Belgrade has significantly changed lately.

 

REGIONAL PRESS

 

Appointment of Zvizdic created turmoil in SDA (Dnevni avaz)

Days after the election of Denis Zvizdic as a candidate for the mandate holder in the Council of Ministers within the Party of Democratic Action (SDA) the storm is still intensifying, and the dissonant tones announce rough spring when the SDA will hold the sixth Congress for the election of the new president and leadership. The unofficial information is that the personnel close to the late Sulejman Tihic is bitter because of the appointments and being outvoted. As they say, only in six months Izetbegovic proposed and negotiated eight appointments for the senior management positions all from his own circle, and contrary to the agreement of the convention. Some members of the SDA did not hide their disappointment of the practices conducted by Izetbegovic, especially by the repeating practice of majority outvote. The SDA Vice President Sadik Ahmetovic is also aware of it. He says that he still believes that Adil Osmanovic was the best candidate for the mandate holder in the Council of Ministers and that outvoting will not bring anything good to the SDA. “Osmanovic was the best formula for a complete unity in the SDA. I think that for such an important position consensus was necessary. I wish Zvizdic received 25 or 30 votes. That would have been a good message to everyone in the SDA,” said Ahmetovic. He said that time will tell whether he was right, saying that “a small group is not able to fight for the unity of the SDA on its own”. Adil Osmanovic, who was nominated for the mandate holder of the Council of Ministers, said that he thinks that a secret ballot would’ve resulted differently. “People were under pressure. You have the members of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina who have been promised functions, positions. How do you vote against the candidates proposed by Izetbegovic?” said Osmanovic. Denis Zvizdic is the SDA member who is constantly in power for more than a decade. Although he likes to brag that the Sarajevo Canton flourished during his reign, financial and audit reports of the period are disputing it, saying the period was marked by constant setbacks in the economy, employment, and the losses of public enterprises. Zvizdic era in the legislature was marked by numerous protests of unsatisfied citizens. This architect by profession, family and business wise, is strongly associated with the Young Muslim Circle in Sarajevo (primarily with family Campara and Izetbegovic), which is inspired by the ideology of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood. In recent years Zvizdic is at the forefront of the SDA which is in power in the Canton of Sarajevo, and the result of their reign is the collapse of this once richest canton. Sarajevo government deficit is measured by hundreds of millions of marks, and legal and financial chaos threatens to completely block the functioning of this canton.

 

Seselj: Srebrenica was the darkest point on the Serbian side! (FACE/Dnevni avaz)

Vojislav Seselj, a Hague indictee, in an exclusive interview for FACE stated that “Srebrenica is the key compromising of Serbia, and that it is important to say that, since Srebrenica is the darkest point on the Serbian side”. “I do not dispute the crime in Srebrenica, just saying that it was not genocide. There were three camps in Prijedor where people were killed, harassed and robbed. These were civilians. I’m not disputing crimes in Prijedor, I do not dispute the crime in Srebrenica, I will not I dispute any crime,” said Seselj. Responding to a question about the war role of the current Serbian President Nikolic and Prime Minister Vucic, Seselj answered directly and said that “if he is a war criminal, then so are Nikolic and Vucic”. “Nikolic was a volunteer in Eastern Slavonia and due to his accomplishments became the Cetnik duke. Vucic was a volunteer at the Jewish cemetery (in Sarajevo), with Slavko Aleksic. Vucic has always given more extreme statements than me. I have never said that for one killed Serb 100 Muslims should be killed, Vucic did,” said Seselj. In the interview that was aired in the primetime news, Seselj singled out Zeljko Raznatovic Arkan: “I have not spared criminals from the Serbian side. Arkan was criminal under the name of the State Security Service. In 1992, he came to Zvornik, in the Federal Police car with rotating lights and 39 of his men. By the orders of Biljana Plavsic, the local authorities in Zvornik gave him 350,000 German Deutsche Marks to fight the war,” said Seselj. When asked why the Croatian politicians reacted strongly to his release from The Hague and the Bosnian ie Bosniak did not, Seselj replied: “Bosnian politicians are intelligent. The Croats behaved like a catfish that gets hooked on bait. Sarajevo knows me. No one can be compared to Sarajevo thugs, neither Belgrade, nor Zagreb, or anyone in Yugoslavia. No one got caught on my statement in Sarajevo. I’d like they did. Sarajevo is my hometown. Someone there world of greeted me with joy, someone with hatred. In Belgrade, many greeted me with hatred.” Responding to criticism that he is an ethnic Croat, Seselj replied: “There are many Croats who claim that I am a Croat. The Croats are sorry that I’m not a Croat, they wish I was. What hurts me the most is that my three best men, Nikolic, Vucic and Draskovic, are the traitors of the Serb people,” said Seselj. Answering whether he would return to The Hague voluntarily, Seselj said he would not, and added: “If Nikolic and Vucic arrest me, as my direct accomplices in war crimes, then what can I do”... At the beginning of the interview, when asked to explain the paradox, that once the youngest PhD in the country became a nationalist, Seselj said that he gained it in the family.

 

Daviddi: Cantons must move quickly to form FB&H institutions (Oslobodjenje)

The legal deadlines for election of delegates in the House of Peoples of FB&H have expired and any further delay in the process will negatively influence the selection of the president and vice presidents of the Federation and the formation of the FB&H government, as well as the formation of the House of Peoples of B&H, said Renzo Daviddi, charge d’affaires of the EU Delegaiton in B&H. Therefore, the EU Delegation and the Office of the Special Representative call on the assemblies of Sarajevo and Una-Sana Cantons to urgently resolve the issue of nominating delegates for the FB&H House of Peoples and submit candidate lists to the Central Election Commission (CIK) B&H. In addition, they encourage other cantonal authorities in which the selection of House of Peoples delegates is not yet fully complete to accelerate the work and conclude the procedure. “Authorities at various levels in the country have the task of resolving the burning issues in the sense of needs and demands of the citizens and therefore should avoid any further delay,” stressed Daviddi. Commenting on the process of forming cantonal governments, he indicates the exceptional importance of forming governments at all levels as the highest priority issue. In this context, he says, the European Union reminds that the selection of delegates for the FB&H House of Peoples should be performed immediately upon convening the cantonal assemblies after holding the elections, and at the latest a month after certification of the election results, the EU Delegation said in a statement.

 

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

 

PM Vucic: 'Serbia is once again an open society' (CNN, by Paula Newton and Milena Veselinovic, 19 December 2014)

Serbia hosted the Third Meeting of Heads of Government of China and Central and Eastern Europe this week, marking the first visit of a Chinese Premiere to Belgrade in 28 years.

The Balkan nation has positioned itself as an attractive destination for Chinese investment over the last decade, with a number of big projects in the pipeline. One of them is the China-funded Zemun-Borca bridge over the Danube river which was ceremonially opened by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Serbian prime minister Aleksandar Vucic Thursday.

Serbia is increasingly looking to invest in big infrastructure projects in Southeast Europe in order to ease the passage of its goods from the Greek port of Piraeus, which is under a 35-year concession by Chinese shipping giant Cosco, to western Europe.

CNN's Paula Newton sat down with Vucic in Belgrade ahead of the summit to discuss the government's efforts against corruption, Serbia's strategy for EU membership and the Kosovo issue. An edited version of the interview follows.

CNN: Strategically, why is it so important at this point in time to be having this summit and to invite so many different countries?

Serbia is once again a very open society and a very open place for all our guests.

Aleksandar Vucic

Aleksandar Vucic: It is actually the third summit in a row that is taking place here in Belgrade and we are very satisfied because of that fact. I'm really jubilant to see 16 prime ministers in our country, in Belgrade. It means that Belgrade once again became a very open, connected city. Many people from all over the world would associate Serbia with some past times, with the wars, and some terrible times not only for Serbia but for the whole region. I dare to say today that Serbia is renewing its energy, Serbia is once again a very open society and a very open place for all our guests.

CNN: What is China getting out of it? Some wonder if they will have undue influence in this country, because of the strong economic ties?

AV: They get our money. It's capitalism; they invest something, they earn money and that's it -- it's a market economy.

CNN: You're all in competition, I would say, in these European countries for that Chinese investment .Do you think there's enough around to go for everyone, or do you feel that it is a competitive environment right now?

AV: We do our best. Of course there is competition, that's something very normal between countries and Serbia is not afraid of competition. From Serbia you have a very open market of one billion people, which means that we have free trade agreements with the European Union, and on the other hand we have free trade agreements with Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, as well as Turkey.

We also have a very good relationship with many Asian countries, including China and Japan, and I think we still have many ties in the non-alignment movement. As former Yugoslavia, we were founders of the non-alignment movement and I think that many investors should come to Serbia to use our unique position. Also, we have very competitive labor costs, very high-skilled labor, and very educated and knowledgeable people.

If you ask me whether I do hope for my country to become a new member state, yes I do. But it's not something that I would like to promise to my people to gain some more political points.

Aleksandar Vucic

CNN: One of those important reforms is your anti-corruption pledge. What is the situation now?

AV: There is no problem with political will. There are no protected persons, there are no protected tycoons, protected politicians. The problem is that we still have an old system where people can work on each case for years, not to say for decades... and that's something that will have to change.

CNN: Turning to EU membership, is 2020 the year that you'll be able to fulfill all of Serbia's requirements to gain membership?

AV: If you ask me whether I do hope for my country to become a new member state, yes I do. But it's not something that I would like to promise to my people to gain some more political points and then not to deliver. What we can promise to our people is our deliverance -- to finish all the needed reforms to create a sustainable and great business environment in this country, a very good investment climate... that will have a growth rate in 2016 and 2017 that we will be able to boast with.

CNN: I want to ask you, will you categorically recognize Kosovo without any caveats, if that's the condition for EU membership?

AV: I've never heard of that condition. To say you have to recognize Kosovo as an independent state... would be the kind of condition that would be saying or conveying a message to Serbia, "OK, we do not expect you in the European Union very soon."

 

Croatia may block Serbia’s EU bid over war crime probes (World Bulletin, 21 December 2014)

Croatian foreign minister warns prosecution of war crime suspects in Serbia is a benchmark test toward the European Union

Croatia may block Serbia's accession process with the European Union if Belgrade would not prosecute those accused for war crimes during the break up of Yugoslavia, Croatian foreign minister told The Anadolu Agency. "Croatia will apply, only and exclusively, the absolute same criteria on Serbia that were applied to Croatia while joining the European Union," said Vesna Pusic, who is also the country's EU affairs minister and the first deputy prime minister.

"Nothing more, but also nothing less."

Croatia wants Belgrade to persecute the Yugoslav People’s Army commanders and political leaders accused for war crimes during the war in the 1990s. In the breakup of Yugoslavia, the Serbian-controlled Yugoslav Army fight a war against Croatia’s independence between 1991 and 1995.

A large number of former commanders and leaders of Serbian origin are imprisoned or standing trial in the Hague for war crimes, but many others accused are still in captivity 19 years after the Bosnian and Croatian wars come to an end. Pusic said that prosecuting those accused for war crimes was part of requirements from the European Union for Croatia and also for the Bosnia and Herzegovina, even in the earlier stages.

"Prosecuting war crimes was specifically something that was a benchmark for us (Croatia) in chapters 23, 24," she said, referring to EU policy areas Zagreb negotiated with the union to become a member. Pusic said Croatia required from Serbia to do the same.

"One sentence"

Pusic said that Serbian-Croatian relations are good, but they are now influenced by the temporary release of the "indicted war criminal [Vojislav] Seselj," a Serbian politician who was released in November by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in Hague after more than a decade of court procedings for war crimes. He was released on humanitarian grounds to have treatment after being diagnosed with cancer last year. "Nobody in Croatia thinks that it was Serbia’s responsibility, because it was not Serbia who released him," she said. "However, after he was released, he started with his warmongering and hate speech towards both Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina." On the day that Croatians commemorated the fall of the town of Vukovar to the Serbian forces in 1991, Seselj sent a press release to the Croatian media titled “The day of Vukovar’s liberation.” He said also that he still supports the ideology of "Greater Serbia," which means having territorial aspirations at the expense of Bosnia and Croatia and Kosovo. Pusic said that "it would have been enough to hear just one sentence from the Serbian government saying: Serbian government distances itself and finds completely unacceptable everything that this person is saying, especially regarding territorial and other aspirations of our country." The expected statement from Serbia had yet to come. "And this is the reason why [the Croatian] prime minister cancelled visit to the 16+1 summit with Chinese in Belgrade," Pusic said. Prime ministers from the Central and Eastern European countries held a summit with the Chinese premier in Belgrade last week. Croatian government decided that Pusic and not Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic to head the Croatian delegation in the summit.

The freeze of EU enlargement

The new president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, has said that no further EU enlargement will take place over the next five years, but ongoing negotiations will continue.

"The EU needs to take a break from enlargement so that we can consolidate what has been achieved among the 28," he has said. Pusic said that "some countries took [this] to be a negative massage, but in my opinion it is a simple statement of a fact." She said that "it is simply technically not possible that any country, in the life of this commission, to complete the process of negotiations in the five years."

"Turkey, a separate case"

Pusic said that Turkey should be treated as a separate case from the Balkan countries aspiring to adhere in the European Union "for the simple reason that there is a huge difference in size."

Pusic said that while the EU integration makes a big difference for Balkan countries, including Croatia, it does not make such a big difference for the EU itself. "On the other hand, when a country in the size of Turkey joins it does influence the nature and the character of the European Union." "So this is a huge step, not only for Turkey, but also for the European Union," she said, adding that Croatia supports the EU enlargement policy "as this will be a positive step for both sides." The Balkan countries are small in terms of population and economy potential compared to Turkey. All Western Balkan countries, including Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania and Kosovo adhere to become part of the Union. The smallest of these is Montenegro with an estimated population around 700.000, and the biggest Serbia with over 7 million. Turkey has a population of over 76 million. Turkey has begun the negotiations to join the EU in 2005 -- the year when Croatia started its own -- and Ankara's talks still continue.

 

Bosnia: European Values Must Come from Within (IWPR, 22 December 2014)

A proper federal structure might rationalise an over-complex system of governance, but neither institutional change nor EU accession is enough to fix Bosnia's problems

The general election in Bosnia and Herzegovina is long over and the votes counted. So now what?

Although a few new political parties and a few fresh faces made it past the threshold for election on October 12 and are now involved in coalition talks and in bargaining over ministerial positions, there is a strong sense of déjà vu. One of the three branches of power in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), the tripartite Presidency has been formed and announced. But it is irrelevant to breaking the deadlock in this country. Its position and jurisdiction in the political dispensation make it is a toothless collective head of state, one which BiH could easily do without. The Presidency was conceived in the Dayton Accords as the symbol of a country reunited after war. It was meant to show the Bosnian population and the wider world that its three members – one Croat, one Bosniak and one Serb – could sit at the same table and discuss affairs of state in a civilised manner. Yet more often than not, instead of upholding the unity and integrity of BiH, Presidency members have displayed discord that has contributed to tensions among the ethnic communities they represent. Leaving aside the Presidency, the country would not survive without the complex, many-tiered structure of executive power – two entities, ten cantons and so on. It certainly could not function without its Council of Ministers, the name the Dayton Accords gave to the government of BiH. It seems unlikely that the Council of Ministers will be constituted any time soon. Horse-trading over ministerial posts has been going on since the election results were officially confirmed in late October. It is worth recalling that ahead of the elections, the mood among voters and in the media could be summed up as "We've had enough". It was a call for change, a demand that whichever parties were victorious, they would adopt a new approach to coalition talks. The guiding principles for forming the new government were meant to be founded on political programmes and strategic visions for economic prosperity and political stability. Thus far in the process, though, there is little that holds out hope of a competent, responsible and reform-driven Council of Ministers. Nor could BiH function without its legislative structures – parliaments at both state and entity level, plus the local assemblies. For almost two decades now, members of parliament have generally behaved in an arrogant and irresponsible manner, alienating themselves from their constituency. All they cared about was being on their mobiles seeking instructions from their leaders for every word they said. From one parliament to the next, they proved incompetent or unwilling to engage in constructive debate and consistent lawmaking. Parliamentarians also deserve blame for effectively ceding their powers to the offices of their party leaders. That is where real power lies in Bosnia. In this sense, BiH can be described as a "pre-institutional democracy". Behind a façade of institutions, true power is placed in the hands of party leaders who are not subject to democratic checks. Such a travesty of a parliamentary process is not essential to BiH’s continued existence, unless the latest incarnation of parliament displays a will for fundamental change. For now, that seems unlikely. All participants in the political debate in BiH have one thing in common – a proclivity to spout misleading rhetoric about European Union membership. The mantra of EU accession as the ultimate cure-all is a smokescreen for politicians’ reluctance to enter into a debate about the real reasons for social and political paralysis and the steady decline in most people’s standard of living. If politicians were banned from soundbites about EU accession, it would soon be apparent how detached they were from reality. The reasons for paralysis would still be there, and it would become obvious that EU membership would do nothing to reform the absurd constitutional and institutional structures of this country. It may be a well-worn fact, but I would again highlight the fact that in order to stop the war at all costs, three peoples were pushed and squeezed into two ethnically-defined entities – the Federation and Republika Srpska. This construct defies any constitutional or functional logic. None of the national communities feels comfortable in a vessel with no one at the helm. Republika Srpska repeatedly states its intention to go its own way and seek independence. The Federation, created out of a huge majority of Bosniaks and a small minority of Croats, is growing more and more inefficient and stuck in its self-serving ways. All this being the case, there is no serious reason why BiH’s newly-elected politicians should not begin discussing a future built along federal lines. A federal structure is a legitimate option, and could offer the potential to create a functioning democracy. In any case, BiH is already a de facto federation, albeit an asymmetric one as a legacy of the 1992-95 war. The Sarajevo establishment’s stubborn adherence to the illusion that BiH is a unified or unitary state simply prolongs the inevitable implosion of an unsustainable political dispensation. Republika Srpska’s equally stubborn insistence on secession only heightens the sense of uncertainty and lack of confidence. What BiH really needs is a consistently-pursued process of Europeanisation at home, not formal EU membership, which in any case would achieve nothing per se. This Europeanisation would help smooth the way towards a consensus on more accountable leadership, vertical systems of government, the rule of law, and a parliamentary system in which every voter know his or her elected member. That would create a new climate of where public officials were accountable for what they did. And that might serve to encourage the expression of public opinion, something that does exist but is hard to articulate in the present atmosphere of political chaos. Day by day, Europeanisation would gradually chip away at the low-level corruption that is ubiquitous in BiH, and which means even the most insignificant claim form or application requires favours and inducements if it is to be processed. It is depressing to see a whole generation that has had to grow up thinking about who they know, not what they know. Corruption is most profoundly embedded wherever the relationship is between client and service provider. That includes schools, universities, healthcare, employment offices, recruitment agencies, public administration and more. Last but not least, Europeanisation should help Bosnians learn the benefits of respecting otherness, including conflicting views, without the need to belittle or offend. It might even teach them that queuing patiently in the bank or post office actually benefits everyone who is waiting, and that pedestrian crossings exist for a reason. BiH needs to go through the painful and slow process of transforming a collective mentality of victimhood, great expectations, and blaming others for every ill, into a proactive and responsible society. Embracing Europeanisation might be one way of doing that.

Dr Zoran Pajic is Visiting Professor of War Studies at King’s College London and a trustee of the Institute for War & Peace Reporting

 

 

Russian Cleric Urges Macedonia to Free Priest (BIRN, by Sinisa Jakov Marusic, 22 December 2014)

A high-level Russian Orthodox cleric urged Macedonian leaders to free Jovan Vraniskovski, a controversial priest who is serving a jail sentence for embezzlement

Metropolitan Hilarion Alefeev of Volokolamsk, seen as one of the most influential figures in the Russian Orthodox Church and head of its external relations department, urged Macedonian leaders to release Vraniskovski in order to help the country’s church settle its status in the Orthodox world, a well-informed source from the Macedonian Church told BIRN. During his stay in Macedonia over the weekend, Hilarion repeated this request to President Gjorge Ivanov, Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski and Bishop Clemet of the Macedonian Church, the source said under condition of anonymity. “The topic of conversation was the settlement of the canonical status of the [Macedonian] church, which is outside of communion with the Orthodox world,” the Russian Church said in its official statement. For almost a decade, Vraniskovski has been the focus of a dispute between the Macedonian Orthodox Church and its Serbian counterpart, which does not recognise Macedonia's ecclesiastical independence, known as autocephaly. The more influential Serbian Orthodox Church, which has much better relations with the Russian Church, has said it will only offer its Macedonian counterpart autonomy. In July 2013, Skopje’s criminal court convicted Vraniskovski to three years in prison for embezzling some 250,000 euro from the Macedonian Orthodox Church in 2002, before he defected to set up his own church. Vraniskovski, who pleaded not guilty, claims he was put on trial because he defected from the Macedonian Orthodox Church and formed the unregistered parallel Orthodox Ohrid Archdiocese, which was supported by the Serbian church. The Russian cleric also met Vraniskovski on Sunday in the Skopje clinical centre, the Church said, without giving any further details. It also remains unclear why the incarcerated Vraniskovski was in hospital. The Macedonian authorities were also silent about details of the visit, which came just weeks after Vraniskovski claimed he has been tortured in prison and said he feared for his life. He blamed the Macedonian authorities for his treatment. “For all that is happening to me, I cannot unconditionally blame the prison warden or the Directorate for Sanctions. What can they do when in this country of ours’ laws can be bent with a single telephone call coming ‘from above’?” Vraniskovski asked. The authorities denied the allegations. The Orthodox Ohrid Archdiocese called Vraniskovski’s trial politically motivated and said his jailing showed that the country's courts are used “to protect the monopoly of the schismatic Macedonian Orthodox Church”. The Serbian Orthodox Church has also demanded that the Macedonian authorities put an end to what it has called the “persecution” of Vraniskovski and his church. In September this year, the Serbian Orthodox Church put the head of the Macedonian Orthodox Church on ‘trial’ in an ecclesiastical court for alleged secessionism, which dampened hopes of an end to the dispute between the two churches. The Macedonian church rebuffed the move, insisting that Serbian church has no jurisdiction in its country.

 

Montenegro expected to extradite 3 men to US (Associated Press, 18 December 2014)

PODGORICA, Montenegro — Montenegro has started extradition procedures for three men who have been charged by a New York court with conspiring to kill Americans and aid terrorists.Dejan Djurovic, director of Montenegro's Interpol bureau, said Thursday that "activities for their extradition are underway." They have been labeled by U.S. prosecutors as international arms traffickers.The men were arrested this week in Montenegro. U.S. authorities say they were unaware they were dealing with U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration confidential sources.U.S. prosecutors say Cristian Vintila and Massimo Romagnoli of Italy and Romanian Virgil Flaviu Georgescu conspired to sell large quantities of military-grade weapons to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as FARC. They could face life in prison, if convicted in the United States.

 

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