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LOCAL PRESS

Dacic condemned Janicijevic’s murder, offers help in investigation (RTS)

Serbian Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Ivica Dacic has condemned the murder of the Serb councilor in northern Kosovska Mitrovica Dimitrije Janicijevic, and he offered help to EULEX and the Kosovo police in finding the perpetrators of that crime. “I do not know the motives for the murder, but since at issue is a member of a political organization, it certainly has political implications and consequences,” Dacic said in Belgrade, after the signing of the operative agreement between Serbia and Europol. He has emphasized that any form of destabilization of the situation in Serbia, violence and incidents such as Janicijevic’s murder, are threatening to harm peace and stability of the citizens.

Dimitrije Janicijevic (35) was murdered a little after midnight in front of his house in the northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica by shots from the automatic weapon. Janicijevic was also a candidate for the mayor of northern Mitrovica in the previous local elections on the list of the Independent Liberal Party. 

Vulin: Murder is blow to dialogue and safety of citizens (Tanjug)

Serbian Minister without Portfolio in charge of Kosovo and Metohija Aleksandar Vulin condemned the murder of the Serb councilor in northern Kosovska Mitrovica Dimitrije Janicijevic, pointing out that this is a blow to life and safety of every resident of this town, regardless of nationality, but also to the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue. “I am not asking the international community to only find the perpetrator of this heinous act, but I am also offering help in finding the murderer or murderers,” said Vulin, adding that Serbia will do everything in its power to contribute towards finding those responsible.

Serbia begins accession talks on 21 January (Tanjug)

The first inter-governmental conference between Serbia and the EU, which will mark the formal start of the accession talks, will be held in Brussels on 21 January1. According to an announcement from Brussels, the conference will start at 9 a.m. CET and be followed by a news conference. Serbia will be represented at the conference by Prime Minister Ivica Dacic and Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, while EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fule will represent the European Commission. Greece’s foreign minister will chair the conference, since Greece holds the EU Presidency until July, Dacic said earlier. According to Dacic, the conference, as a way of monitoring progress in the talks will be held four times a year, and the first one holds symbolic significance for Serbia. Officials of the European Commission and Serbia will present their frameworks for the talks, he explained, adding that the Serbian teams were prepared for the negotiations. Serbia has already started the screening process and Chapter 35 of the talks, which refers to Kosovo, is expected to be opened in the coming days, he noted. “It means a lot of obligations for us, like continuing the talks with Pristina, which is a daily topic and a nightmare,” he stated. The dialogue with Pristina is a basic political criterion that will affect the course of the accession talks with the EU, he pointed out. “We have come to the end of a very difficult beginning and we shall see how fast things will develop, and our country wants the accession to be both fast and of good quality,” the Prime Minister concluded.

SDPS submits draft law that would punish Serbian citizens who take part in wars abroad (Tanjug)

The Social Democratic Party of Serbia (SDPS) caucus sent the draft law to the parliament according to which the departure and recruitment of Serbian citizens for participation in wars worldwide would be treated as a gravest crime, SDPS said in a statement. SDPS called on the parliament to adopt the draft law on urgent procedure. The draft law envisages a prison sentence of 2 to 12 years for individuals encouraging and organizing recruitment of Serbian citizens for the needs of foreign armed formations, while individuals who decide to join organized formations in an armed conflict face a prison sentence of one to five years in prison, reads the statement. The law aims to prevent participation of Serbian citizens in armed conflicts worldwide because a number of people from the country have been joining paramilitary units abroad, be it through organized or individual efforts, for material or any other reasons. After some time, the people return to Serbia and become the spokespersons of propaganda which encourages others to commit the same criminal act, which is why the Code of Criminal Procedure needs to be appended by introducing a special crime, reads the SDPS statement. 

Kostunica: Serbia needs early parliamentary elections (Novosti)

The leader of the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) Vojislav Kostunica has stated that Serbia needs early parliamentary elections in order to emerge from the crisis of the state and society, and voiced expectation that they would be held on the same day as the ones in Belgrade.

“The state is in a serious and deep crisis. The public debt is growing in a way that is intimidating, the budget deficit is huge, the unemployment higher and higher, investments exist only in promises. Life is becoming unbearable for a great number of citizens. The government is rushing into the EU, giving up on Kosovo-Metohija along the road, and the Stabilization and Association Agreement will completely destroy the Serbian economy. Only elections could bring that to a halt,” Kostunica said in an interview to Novosti. He noted that elections would offer a chance for a more vocal warning that EU integration is fatal for Serbia, and reiterated that for the state the best track will be that of political neutrality- cooperation with all, the EU included, but without formal membership. Kostunica noted that the DSS requests that people vote in a referendum in 2015 whether they are in favor of EU integration or not. “That would be an opportunity to discuss in a democratic debate, which is now marginalized, even forbidden, the issue of whether it would be better for Serbia to join the EU or stay outside it,” he added. “On the EU path Serbia is losing Kosovo, and tomorrow it can also lose Vojvodina. The neighboring countries that joined the EU will press more and more demands. The chain of blackmail will be endless, and Serbia will hardly be able to endure that torture,” the DSS leader explained. He noted that the time is yet to come for the DSS policy, and when asked whether his party would run in the elections in a coalition with the Dveri movement, the Serbian Radical Party and other parties within the so-called ‘patriotic bloc’, Kostunica said that there are also political and ideological differences between them, and that neither of the parties supports the DSS’s idea of political neutrality, so for the time being it is more likely that the party would stand for election on its own. 

EP adopts resolution on Serbia (Beta)

The European Parliament (EP) adopted a resolution on Serbia and offered full support to launching Serbia’s negotiations with the EU. The resolution was adopted with 528 votes in favor, 43 against and 51 abstained. The non-binding resolution sees it as “a historic step forward for the process of Serbia’s EU integration,” and proof that the EU is dedicated further enlargement. Members of the EP commended the Belgrade authorities on efforts invested in the normalization of relations with Pristina and the determination in the implementation of internal reforms.

REGIONAL PRESS

B&H, most ministers per capita (RTS’ correspondent Ruza Jeremic Turudic and RTRS correspondents)

B&H, with a complicated structure of authorities, is among the states with the most expensive administration. Apart from three presidents for three constituent nations who rotate at the B&H level, both entities also have their presidents, governments and parliaments. The number of civil servants is dizzyingly multiplied by the B&H Federation that has governments and parliaments in all ten cantons.  The Centre for Public Interest Advocacy has placed downtown Sarajevo a timer for budget spending so that one can see at any moment how much is spent for all levels of authorities. Nearly one lowest pension in one second. At all levels of authority – half a million of Euros per hour. Thirteen billion KMarks per year. “Out of that number nine billion through budgets, which you can see on the timer, and four billion through extra budgetary funds, and these are pension funds, employment institutes, healthcare funds and road directorates,” explains Damir Mehmedbasic, the Executive Director of the Centre for Public Interest Advocacy. It is not said accidentally that B&H has most presidents and ministers per capita. When one adds 70 state, entity and cantonal institutions, one arrives at the number of 180,000 employees in the public administration. B&H has as many as 13 governments, 11 in the Federation divided into cantons, one each in the Republika Srpska (RS), the Brcko District and the B&H Council of Ministers. It has the same number of parliaments, with 600 elected representatives. Nearly 200 ministers, deputies, assistants, advisors and the administrative apparatus that serves them are paid by taxpayers. The budget envisages around half a million Euros for the B&H institutions, which are the largest consumers of taxpayers’ money. Half of that sum goes for salaries. The Commission for finances and budget is satisfied with the calculations for next year. “This estimate of the institutions is preserved and stable, it ensures the development of B&H institutions at the level needed for our European path, for our path towards NATO and for strengthening the legality and administrative capacity of these institutions,” says the deputy presiding of the Commission Ante Domazet. However, Aleksandra Pandurevic from the SDS warns that not even “the German economy would withstand this kind of administration, not to mention the B&H economy that doesn’t exist.” “Radical cuts must be made in the administration, the number of B&H institutions should be reduced, the revision of all institutions should be performed so we can see which are justifiably needed and which are a surplus and to abolish them,” says Pandurevic. Of all budget consumers the army costs most B&H. Defense Minister in the B&H Council of Ministers Zekerijah Osmic points out that this budget is the largest with reason – other ministries have 50 employees, while we take care of ten thousand soldiers. “These ten thousand soldiers should be fed, transported, and when we look at the structure of this budget then we have a budget like all others,” says Osmic. The RS finances one third of the budget of joint institutions at the B&H level. The RS President Milorad Dodik doesn’t spare criticism regarding this expenditure from which, he says, the Serb entity has no benefit. “B&H is one grotesque country, so the administration is also grotesque - you have 22,000 people with salaries on the B&H budget. This was produced by seizing from the RS via 80 various agencies that have open systematizations; they are filled and have new employees every day. The international community is pressuring, requiring a budget that covers these expenses with an obvious intention of as less as possible money to remain for the entities so they would be congested themselves and show how they can’t exist,” claims Dodik. Despite warnings of the state auditor, employment in B&H state institutions continues. Around 400 new civil servants are planned for 2014.

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

Serbia makes progress in privatisation corruption probe (Southeast European Times, by Biljana Pekusic, 15 January 2014)

The Serbian Prosecutor's Office for Organised Crime has completed its preliminary investigation of 24 privatisations.

The Serbian Prosecutor's Office for Organised Crime has brought charges against 63 people after completing a preliminary investigation into the country's privatisations. The investigation took place last year at the EU's behest.

In 2011, the European Commission deemed the privatisation of 24 Serbian enterprises as controversial and requested that police investigate the processes. Questions surrounding the privatisation process in Serbia have created a roadblock to the country's EU accession.

Serbia's privatisation law, which was adopted in 2001, was designed with a loophole: Buyers are not required to fully disclose their identities.

That led to hundreds of tenders where buyers appeared to be foreign investors, but were really Serbs using front companies to buy state enterprises and use their assets for large profits, according to investigative reports by the country's Anti-Corruption Council.

Almost 2,000 of the 3,017 state-owned enterprises that were privatised between 2001 and 2011 have ceased operation or have gone into bankruptcy, according to the Social and Economic Council of Serbia.

In the latest investigation, charges were filed in the privatisation processes of several companies, including Jugoremedija, Mobtel, Luka Beograd, Sartid, Tehnohemija, Azotara, Srbolek, Šinvoz, Zastava elektro and Nubainvest.

"We have launched an investigation against 93 suspects, including three former ministers, the director of the privatisation agency, the director of the action fund and other people from government agencies," said Miljko Radisavljević, the chief prosecutor for organised crime.

Radisavljevic said his office has completed investigations into 66 people and filed charges against 63. Among the offences are bribery, falsification of official documents and the illegal use of power in state-owned enterprises and civil service.

Judgments for the individuals are expected by the end of the year, Radisavljević said, adding that he estimates the amount of damages suffered by the state is more than 100 million euros.

First Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, who is charge of the country's anti-corruption efforts, said the cases now rest with the Serbian judiciary. He said the cases will serve as a test to see if the courts in Serbia are ready for the fight against corruption and crime.

"What we expect is to show is that our courts act independently, judge fairly and effectively. That we are not waiting 10 or 15 years for justice," Vucic said.

The investigation also found that illegal actions took place in the judicial system during the privatisation process.

"We recently dismissed a deputy prosecutor who is facing criminal proceedings," Serbian Public Prosecutor Zagorka Dolovac said.

In addition, criminal charges have been filed against former Commercial Court President Goran Kljajević and Commercial Court Judge Dusan Marcicev on suspicion of illegal actions during the privatisation of steel factory Sartid, which was purchased in 2002 by US Steel.

According to Branko Pavlovic, a lawyer who was engaged as a legal representative for some of the companies in Serbia that are being investigated, the country has a long way to go in its anti-corruption efforts.

"Serbia is still unprepared to effectively fight corruption because there is no opportunity for the judicial sector to finish what police and prosecutors do," Pavlovic told SETimes.

He said he does not think illegal privatisation issues can be resolved to European standards because Serbia does not have enough qualified judges and prosecutors to finalise enough cases of corruption in the economy.

"Such cases have 100,000 pages of court documents. A judge may [be successful in completing] one such case, but judges have several of these cases," Pavlovic said.

Serbian restitution deadline approaching (JTA, 15 January 2014)

NEW YORK – Families of Serbian Jewish victims of the Holocaust have until March 1 to file claims for property restitution.

Serbia passed a law in October 2011 enabling restitution of Holocaust-era property or compensation in lieu of restitution for people whose property was confiscated by the Nazis or the Communist regime that followed.

This week, the World Jewish Restitution Organization, which handles Holocaust restitution advocacy relating to European countries other than Germany and Austria, launched a public relations campaign to get families of victims to file their claims by the March 1 deadline.

Approximately 14,500 of the estimated 16,000 Jews who lived in Serbia before the Holocaust were murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators.

Medical Tender Angers Macedonia Opposition (BIRN, by Sinisa Jakov Marusic, 15 January 2014)

Macedonian opposition says the issue of a pricey tender to company linked to a prominent pro-government journalist is an example of corruption.

Macedonia's opposition Social Democrats say the award of a costly tender for medical equipment to a firm linked to Ivona Talevska - an editor in Sitel TV and on Vecer daily - is an example of government corrupting the media.
“This costly business reveals a mega-scandal of how the government of [Prime Minister] Nikola Gruevski is corrupting the media,” Petre Shilegov, the spokesperson for the Social Democrats, claimed.
“How is it possible that Gruevski’s favourite news editor is also a favourite business associate of the government, and how many other examples like this are there?” Shilegov asked.
Documents from the Macedonian Central Register, revealed by the opposition party and confirmed on Tuesday by the Health Ministry, show that the firm that won the tender, VISARIS MKD DOO, was formed in March 8, 2011 with Talevska as the dominant owner and a Serbian citizen, Marko Petrovic, as minority owner.
The firm is a branch of the Serbian company VISARIS DOO Beograd, formed by Petrovic in May 2003.
According to the firm's history, Talevska was the dominant owner of the Macedonian firm until a year before the issue of the tender by the Macedonian Health Ministry in December 2012.
After Talevska pulled out of the firm and left her share to her minority partner, Petrovic, the company won the tender worth just over one million euro. The contract tasks the firm with procuring equipment for Macedonian hospitals.
Six months after the company won the tender, Talevska’s mother, Limba, appeared in the company register as a new majority co-owner while Talevska is now noted as the main contact person.
Talevska has issued no statement to the media, or explained why the Macedonian firm has been registered at the same address, Gradski Stadion BB, as the firm Sileks, which owns Sitel TV.
Macedonian Health Minister Nikola Todorov said there was nothing illegal in the tender because when he signed the contract the firm was not owned by Talevska.
Speaking on Monday for Kanal 5 TV, Todorov said he was “disappointed that such a good project”, to replace old medical equipment, had been overshadowed by “a slightly unethical situation”, referring to the latest change of ownership.
Meanwhile, the Serbian mother firm has announced that it will sue the Macedonian Social Democrats for defamation and for ruining its reputation.
“We do not want anyone to be... subjected to attacks, offences and qualifications, simply because his\her daughter is a journalist, politician or a public persona,” the company said.
Macedonia's state-funded Anti-Corruption Commission told Balkan Insight that they were following events.
“We are following closely all the information published in relation to the tendering procedure at the Health Ministry... this information will be considered at a session of the commission,” it told Balkan Insight.

Montenegro Urged to Probe Media Attacks (BIRN, by Dusica Tomovic, 15 January 2014)

Union requests parliament to hold hearings into the spate of recent attacks on journalists.

The Media Syndicate of Montenegro is demanding a parliamentary hearing of senior prosecution, police and intelligence officials concerning unresolved cases of attacks on journalists in the last ten years.

The union said MPs needed to engage more and better conditions for the free work of media employees.

The union said it sought a parliamentary hearing of State Prosecutor Branko Vuckovic, National Security Agency chief Boro Vucinic and Interior Minister Rasko Konjevic.

The request was sent on Tuesday to parliament's Committee for Security and Defence, the body tasked with monitoring the work of the security services.

Union head Marijana Camovic recalled several recent cases of attacks or threatened attacks on journalists in the independent Vijesti, Dan and weekly Monitor media houses. Most of these cases have not been resolved.

The situation had created “an impression that there is no penalty for attacking journalists”, which leaves them open to attack from for malcontents of all kinds.

“It is our obligation not to agree to a climate of fear and to insist on solving cases of attacks,” she said.

“We expect a more reactive political debate among MPs, and form officials in the prosecution and police, to find out how far they got with these investigations,” Camovic told Balkan Insight on Wednesday.

Camovic noted that as MPs had already condemned attacks on journalists, there is no reason not to take a step further.

The Media Syndicate said it expected MPs to use their influence to ensure journalists receive adequate legal protection as well as a safe environment for their work.

The union was founded in April 2013 and is now the largest media organization in Montenegro, uniting more than 300 Montenegrin journalists from independent and pro-government media.