LOCAL PRESS

 

Dacic: Serbia sincere mediator (Radio Serbia)

OSCE Chairperson and Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic invited in Vienna all of the involved sides to fully adhere to the set of measures for the implementation of the Minsk Agreement, and he stressed that it is a chance for ending the conflict. He has added that Serbia is ready to take over the role of a sincere mediator. “I strongly appeal at all sides to refrain from any action that might jeopardize the truce in the eastern Ukraine, which came into power on 15 February. In order to the OSCE support to be efficient, all sides ought to cooperate with the members of the Special monitoring mission, provide their safety and enable the unhindered access and freedom of move on the ground,” Dacic said at the winter session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly. He has underlined that the main priority of Serbia’s chairing is to support all the efforts that lead to the peace process. The implementation of the agreed set of measures is of the key significance. The monitoring mission is able to help in the full realization of the regulations of those two instruments, and it has shown to be priceless. The trilateral contact group will notably contribute to the implementation of the Minsk Agreement and in improving the peace process, Dacic explained. According to him, creating the conditions for dialog and compromise must be the common responsibility of all participating states, as well as of the OSCE structures and bodies. In that regard, Dacic has praised the role of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly in supervising the elections in Ukraine last year, and in establishing the inter-parliamentary group for liaison with Ukraine, and which gathers the delegates from Ukraine, Russia and other participating countries, with the aim of promoting dialog and helping to deescalate the conflict. The Minister has said that at the time of submitting the candidacy to chair the OSCE, Serbia believed that having a Western Balkan country in that position would be an additional value in the work of this organization. As he has noted, it will give us the opportunity to share our experience and lessons learned, including the recognition of the OSCE’s role in supporting the process of transition in the post-conflict period and reforms in the Balkans. The recent tragic event is another proof that the international community must be alert in view of the existing and potential terrorist threats, Dacic said, while condemning the terrorist attacks in Paris and Copenhagen. He has pointed that Serbia will focus on the cyber terrorism, connections with organized crime, human trafficking and illegal migrations, as well as on the management and reforms of the security sector. Besides that, Serbia will strive to keep reinforcing the implementation of all the obligations in the human dimension of the OSCE, by supporting national institutions for the protection of human rights, with the emphasis on the rule of law, freedom of expression and media, including journalists’ safety , freedom of association, protection of the national minority rights, and promoting the tolerance and non-discrimination, Dacic underlined.

 

McAllister to Serbian MPs: Serbia to face number of obligations (Tanjug)

Serbia has achieved exceptional progress on its EU path over the past few months, European Parliament (EP) Rapporteur for Serbia David McAllister stated, adding that he believes in Serbia’s European future. McAllister met with representatives of ruling coalition caucuses late on Thursday and underlined that Western Balkan countries have a European perspective and this idea is supported by all European leaders, the Serbian parliament released. McAllister expressed the belief that the first negotiating chapters will open this year but he noted that Serbia is about to face a number of obligations, especially in the fight against crime and corruption, judiciary reform and public administration, as well as the process of privatization of companies. Caucus whip of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) Zoran Babic informed McAllister about the positive results of the reforms implemented by the government. He noted that Serbia is committed to good relations in the region and is willing to respect and implement the provisions of the Brussels agreement on normalization of relations with Pristina and look for solutions to all open issues through dialogue. Babic noted that the parliament is intensively working on adoption of the law that will make it possible for Serbia to become a functional member of the EU. Zarko Obradovic of the ruling Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) caucus noted that within the Brussels dialogue, special attention should be paid to lack of respect for human and minority rights in Kosovo and Metohija.

Two Serbian cemeteries desecrated in Obilic (Tanjug/RTV Plus)

A Serbian Orthodox cemetery near Obilic and a cemetery just outside Gnjilane, southern Kosovo, have been desecrated over the past few days by unknown perpetrators. Tombstones in the cemetery in Krusevac, a village near Obilic, have been knocked over and burned, the Raska-Prizren Eparchy of the Serbian Orthodox Church has said in a statement. The Eparchy vehemently condemned the incidents, deploring the continuing desecration of Serbian Orthodox cemeteries in Kosovo and Metohija. The Orthodox cemetery in the Donji Livoc village, situated just outside Gnjilane, has also been desecrated as unknown perpetrators desecrated and dug up the grave of Gradimir Milosavljevic, who was buried in 1998, RTV Plus has reported. All tombstones in the cemetery were knocked over in 1999 after the arrival of international forces in Kosovo and Metohija, and the cemetery is completely abandoned and covered in weeds. Ismet Hasani, a Kosovo police spokesperson for the Gnjilane region, said that the police are aware of the case and that an investigation has been launched in cooperation with the public prosecutor, RTV Plus reported. Fifteen Serb families, with a total of about a hundred members, lived in Donji Livoc - now an Albanian-only village - until 1999. All houses owned by Serbs have been demolished, but no one has as yet been called to account for the crime, RTV Plus reported.

Keefe: The smoother Brussels agreement implementation goes, the speedier Serbia’s progress on EU path (Vreme)

The British Ambassador to Serbia Denis Keefe has said that the smoother the implementation of the Brussels agreement goes, the speedier the progress of Serbia along the EU path will be. We want this year to be the year for opening many chapters. And this implies a lot of work and visible progress, Keefe says. He notes that the Serbian government made a number of key decisions in the second half of 2014 that should now be implemented. These are the decisions concerning the budget, changes to the legislation in relation to the agreement between Serbia and the International Monetary Fund. These decisions are important for Serbia itself and its advancement, but they are also of great importance for further EU integration. What remains a challenge this year- the implementation of the regulations passed in 2014. It will be difficult, Keefe believes. Keefe underscores that Serbia must work on creating a healthy media environment that will make the country a natural part of the EU. Media freedom is necessary not only because the EU requires that of Serbia, but because a healthy, free media environment is of key importance for the state of democracy in a country that wants to be a part of the EU, he says. As regards independent state institutions, Keefe says they are of decisive importance. The system as a whole is not healthy if its parts do not work as they should. Serbia needs independent institutions for its own sake, he noted. Commenting on the meeting that was held on 9 February as part of the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, he says that the further dialogue is very important for Serbia’s progress along the EU path. What we would like to see is the full implementation of the Brussels agreement. We are encouraged by the fact that it was possible to make progress in the 9 February meeting. The judiciary agreement is very important because that is one of the things that make the justice system functional, and that is a key thing for progress of any society, Keefe says. The next thing we would like to see is progress in other fields as well, the Ambassador told Vreme.

 

Kosovo is the 208^th FINA member (Blic)

The International Swimming Federation (FINA) admitted the self-declared republic of Kosovo into its membership. “The Kosovo Swimming Federation became the 208^th FINA Member, after the recent approval of affiliation by the FINA Bureau. The distribution of the FINA National Member Federations in the five continents is now as follows: Africa – 52; Americas – 44; Asia – 44; Europe – 52; Oceania – 16,” reads the FINA statement.

 

REGIONAL PRESS

 

Dunovic: Stories about my legitimacy might even be unconstitutional (Srna)

The Vice-President of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FB&H) from among the Serb Caucus Milan Dunovic said in Mostar that he is the legitimate and legal Vice President of the FB&H and that the stories about his legitimacy “are perhaps even unconstitutional”. Dunovic told reporters that under the FB&H Constitution, obligations of the President and two Vice-Presidents of the entities are to protect the interests of all the citizens of B&H. “The negotiations concerning the formation of the Council of Ministers are in progress, and I suppose that by the end of the week they will be completed to the satisfaction of all the parties that are forming a parliamentary majority. This should be followed by immediate negotiations regarding the establishment of the Government of the Federation. Regardless of the media acquired impression about the strained relations between the partners, I am sure that the parties will reach an agreement and form the FB&H Government as early as possible,” said Dunovic. The reason for the faster formation of a government according to Dunovic is that there is no more time to wait and citizens cannot be brought into such a position that the FB&H is without government in a moment of a very difficult economic situation. “Regardless from which parties the future ministers of the FB&H Government will come, they must be capable to do a better job for all,” said Dunovic, unwilling to talk about the DF requirements regarding the forming of the government at the B&H and FB&H level. Dunovic was proposed by the DF for a position of the FB&H Vice-President, and was elected without the support of the Serb Caucus in the House of the Federation Parliament, which is the first time this has ever happened in the FB&H.

 

Dodik: I am a man of peace (Oslobodjenje/TV N1)

Milorad Dodik, the President of the Republika Srpska (RS), said that he is a politician who does not favor war options, but rather a man of peace who has a clear stance. “I don’t hate Bosniaks, I have Bosniak friends. I don’t scare anyone, I don’t favor war options, I am a man of peace and I have a clear stance. I don’t do anything to do evil to anyone, I have tried to help many people, some I have failed and that is my fault,” said Dodik. Dodik said on TV N1, that he is not making life difficult for Bosniaks, Bosniak politicians are doing that. He considered that Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H), which is preserved by violence from the international community, cannot endure, however someone would interpret it, and said that he had never tried to destroy the B&H constitution, but rather opposed the destruction of the constitutional order. “I have never disputed B&H its nine rights that it acquired with Dayton. I never denied the military that the government before mine agreed to integrate. And I still think that it was bad, even our participation was wrong. It happened, but it was in accordance with the procedure that was prescribed. Everything else is arranged on the basis of violence, and I cannot accept that,” said Dodik. Responding to a reporter’s question of whether he expects B&H to return to war, Dodik said he believes there will be no new war. “What would someone go to war for? Thousands of people were killed, and do their descendants live better now?” asked Dodik. Responding to the question of why he is regarded as someone who “opposes” everyone, the RS President said that he has always done things one way, respected the constitution and laws. “The international community wrongly estimated that Milorad Dodik is no one’s. I came here to defend the interests of the Serb people and the RS. That someone evaluated me incorrectly and now wants to take it out, that’s none of my business,” said Dodik.

 

Mogherini to visit B&H on Monday (Oslobodjenje)

The EU High Representative Federica Mogherini will visit B&H on Monday 23rd February, as the country prepares to take a step forward on its EU integration path. Following the initiative of the EU to bring new momentum to B&H’s EU integration, outlined in the Conclusions of the Foreign Affairs Council held in December 2014, the B&H Presidency has agreed an irrevocable commitment to undertake reforms in the framework of the EU accession process. The commitment has been signed by all 14 political party leaders represented in the B&H Parliament, and it proceeds to the B&H Parliament on Monday 23rd February. During her visit, Mogherini will meet the members of the B&H Presidency and the leadership of both houses of the state level Parliament. She will then, upon invitation of the Presidency of B&H, attend and address a joint session of both Houses of the Parliament. HR/VP Mogherini will also meet the Presidents of the entities, the RS and the Federation of B&H, and the Chairman-designate of the B&H Council of Ministers and the two incoming entity Prime Ministers. Commenting ahead of her visit, Mogherini said: “B&H – and above all its people – deserve to move closer to the European Union and get the benefits this process will bring. The EU-related reforms will help address the fragile socio-economic situation in the country and spur jobs and investment. Good progress has been made so far in developing the written commitment to the EU agenda. Endorsement by the Parliament would open the way for the EU to take a decision on putting the Stabilization and Association Agreement between us and B&H into full force.” Following the initiative of the European Union, with a view to ensuring a new impulse to the process of European integration of B&H, as outlined in the conclusions of the Foreign Affairs Council in December 2014, the Presidency has agreed to irrevocable undertakes the implementation of the reforms within the framework of the EU accession process.

 

Croatia to pay USD 4m, banks 12m in Yugoslav-era debt to Swiss bank (Dalje.com)

The Croatian state will pay US$ 4 million and two Croatian banks $12.5 million to the Swiss UBS bank as part of a settlement reached at a New York court. The UBS filed the lawsuit in New York federal court in October, saying Croatia owed it $45 million in principal and interest on defaulted debt assumed after the break-up of Yugoslavia. The debt stems from a Yugoslav external debt rollover contract from 1988. After the break-up of Yugoslavia, Croatia, as a successor, took over by contract its part of the federation's assets and obligations, including those of the Yugoslav National Bank which, together with several commercial banks, was a party in the contract. Bonds were issued on 20 September 1988 and were due on 18 October 2008, including about $12 million in principal. The remaining amount claimed by UBS refers to default interest up to the filing of the lawsuit. Under the settlement, Croatia will pay $4 million and the PBZ and ZABA banks another $12.5 million, while the default interest will not be calculated. The other successor countries to the former Yugoslavia fulfilled their debt obligations to UBS, leaving only Croatia in default.

 

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

 

Blair hired to advise Serbia: PM Vucic ‘needs some kind of PR coup’ (RT, 19 February 2015)

Serbian Prime Minister Vucic may present Tony Blair’s new advisory role for Serbia as a public relation success, and that Blair “will do wonders”’ for the country’s ‘European path’, foreign affairs analyst Srdja Trifkovic told RT.

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair will be an advisor to Serbia’s PM Aleksandr Vucic, who was on the opposite side in the Balkan conflict 16 years ago. According to Serbian officials the deal was paid for by the United Arab Emirates.

RT: The chief proponent of NATO's bombing of Yugoslavia could now advise a Prime Minister who was once himself an outspoken critic of Tony Blair, what do you make of this?

Srdja Trifkovic: We have a government here in Belgrade which is almost desperate to continue what is euphemistically called the ‘European path’. They want to join the EU even though the benefits of doing so are rather moot. And there are some major obstacles including the determination of Germany to demand Serbian recognition of Kosovo’s” illegal independence” as a precondition. What is bizarre is that Tony Blair has never expressed any regrets about his support for the bombing of Serbia in 1999. Even though his justification for joining the US-led bombing campaign was as false as his reasons for joining Bush in the war against Iraq, in fact, his government and he personally claimed that it was the objective of Serbia to create an apartheid society and to ethnically cleanse Kosovo of the Albanians, which was simply not true. But what is even more bizarre… I mean one might imagine that Serbian PM Vucic would want a former foe on board because he wants to influence the powers that be in Western Europe. But what is particularly bizarre is that they seem to be blissfully unaware of Tony Blair's low standing in his own country, where he has been under fire primarily for his role in the Iraq war.

Let’s not forget that his government published two false reports, one in September of 2002 which claimed that Saddam Hussein had plans for the use of chemical and biological weapons deployable within 45 minutes of an order to use them, which was complete rubbish. And then later on in February 2003 his team published a second dossier called “Iraq: Its Infrastructure Of Concealment [Deception and Intimidation]” …

RT: Do you expect any negative political fallout inside Serbia if Blair takes up the advisory job?

ST: I think it will do nothing for PM Vucic’s credibility and popularity. Especially since the role of the United Arab Emirates in the whole affair is not transparent. We don’t really know who is paying for this and obviously whoever it is, is expecting something in return. This is all very hush-hush. And in addition to Tony Blair's very low reputation in Serbia I think that the government is effectively shooting itself in the foot, because this is going to be a liability at home and abroad, it will achieve absolutely nothing because as I said Tony Blair’s credibility in either London or Brussels is close to zero.

RT: Where do the United Arab Emirates fit in all of this?

ST: You see Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic has close contacts with some prominent personalities there and they were instrumentally putting together a project called Belgrade Waterfront which is supposed to be a multi-billion dollar investment into a complete transformation of Belgrade into of sort of Abu Dhabi on the Danube. Personally I don’t think anything much will come out of this. But with all sorts of failures on the economic front in recent months, not least yesterday’s decision not to sell the major steelworks to a US-based company, I think Vucic needs some kind of PR coup. He will probably present it through the media, and the media in Serbia are very closely controlled by the government even though they are nominally free, that this is yet another major public relations success for Serbia and that Tony Blair will do wonders for Serbia’s European path. All of that is just a smokescreen for the fact that this government is actually in deep trouble. Their economic indicators are abysmal. And I think that a beleaguered government meeting a former politician whose credibility is pretty low is a pretty nice fit in fact.

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.

 

 

 

Montenegro Opposition Slates Mayor's Diplomatic Post (BIRN, by Dusica Tomovic, 20 February 2015)

The government's bid to make the former mayor of the capital Montenegro's new ambassador to Slovenia is proving controversial

The Montenegrin parliament's Committee on International Relations on Thursday failed to agree on the candidacy of the former Mayor of Podgorica, Miomir Mugosa, for the post of ambassador to Slovenia. Opposition MPs and deputies from the junior ruling party, the Social Democratic Party, SDP, boycotted the session. Some MPs have criticised the proposal on the grounds that Mugosa is still emeshed in corruption allegations. Goran Tuponja, an MP from the opposition Positive Montenegro party, said accusations that Mugosa had been involved in "various frauds" needed clearing up. The opposition also wants any hearing of Mugosa, who was mayor for 14 years, to be open to the public, an idea that the chairman of the Committee on International Relations, Miodrag Vukovic, has rejected. The SDP spokesperson, Mirko Stanic, said deputies of his party did not attend the hearing because of "previously assumed commitments". Mugosa is held partly responsible for the break-up of a coalition between Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic's Democratic Party of Socialists, DPS, and the SDP at city level. The SDP quit the local government in Podgorica in 2010 and said it would not re-establish cooperation with the DPS while Mugosa was mayor. His long reign as mayor ended last May when his party chief, Djukanovic, named a former Education Minister, Slavoljub Stijepovic, as his successor. Mugosa's mandate was marked by numerous controversies and allegations of abuse of office - but he was never prosecuted. On Monday, the city government in Podgorica formed a special commission to examine all his management team's deals in the capital since 2007. This was a key demand of the SDP in order to provide a majority for Djukanovic's party in city hall. Mugosa was notorious for confrontations with journalists. In 2011, he was convicted of causing serious injuries to the editor of Vijesti newspaper, Mihailo Jovovic. Commenting on the opposition and SDP boycott of the session, Mugosa himself said that he was always ready to face his political rivals and critics. "I heard that there were announcements and threats, but it is obvious that no onehas the courage to face me and comment on my new engagement," Mugosa told reporters in parliament.

 

EU Foreign Ministers Create New Roadmap For Bosnia And Herzegovina (SETimes, by Ana Lovakovic, 20 February 2015)

In an effort to reinvigorate Bosnia and Herzegovina’s stalled EU accession discussions, the EU Foreign Affairs Council recently lent its support to a British-German initiative focused on helping BiH meet the requirements for membership in the bloc.

The Council called upon the nation’s political leadership to commit itself in writing to carrying out reforms in the framework of the EU accession process. Earlier this month, the members of the BiH presidency and leaders of political parties signed a consolidated statement after meeting with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, who initiated the adoption of this statement and the EU’s new approach toward BiH. The renewed approach was approved without changing any EU accession conditions, including the European Court of Human Rights’ ruling in the Sejdic-Finci case. The court ruled in December 2009 that requiring citizens to identify themselves as Bosniak, Serb or Croat in order to be elected to the House of Peoples or the presidency is a violation of the European Convention on Human Rights. BiH has not yet changed its laws accordingly. The EU’s new initiative places the focus on reforms and issues of direct concern to citizens. The reform agenda should be developed and implemented in consultation with civil society, and should foremost address socio-economic reforms, including the EU’s Compact for Growth and Jobs, rule of law and good governance. The overall objective is to establish functionality and efficiency at all levels of government and allow BiH to prepare itself for future EU membership. The text also contains a commitment to work in consultation with the EU to create an initial agenda for reforms, in line with the EU acquis. The EU Foreign Affairs Council said the recent visit to BiH by the bloc’s High Representative of Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini and Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn was a successful step toward revitalising the reform process. The Council asked Mogherini and Hahn to continue engaging with the leadership in BiH to secure a written commitment to undertake reforms in the framework of the EU accession process. Mogherini said these developments represent the chance for BiH to make a new start in its accession bid. “We are ready to engage and to reciprocate in the moment when this commitment will be adopted by the parliament, and we really believe — with a very, I have to say, positive mood and discussion we had with all the ministers — that this could be a turning point in the way of Bosnia and Herzegovina toward the European Union. We need to make sure that together we move toward that direction consistently and not only in words,” she said. Hahn discussed the sequence of activities that BiH must implement. “It should be noted that none of the existing conditions are left out. I think that they can be implemented step by step. Therefore, the fulfilment of certain conditions is associated with further financial support. This is a considerable amount for BiH set aside annually. We’re talking about more than 800 million euros,” Hahn said. The EU Delegation to BiH and the Office of the Special Representative of the Union expressed satisfaction with the country’s commitment to a renewed approach. Renzo Daviddi, the charge d’affaires of the EU Delegation to BiH, said the overall objective is the commitment to establish functionality and efficiency at all levels of government and to allow BiH to prepare itself for future EU membership. “The commitment to make progress, at a later stage, on reforms in order to enhance functionality and effectiveness of the different levels of governance is required as well. Once this commitment is delivered and judged satisfactory, the EU will decide on the entry into force of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement,” Daviddi said. After meeting with BiH party leaders, Hammond said the British-German initiative is perhaps the best offer ever made by the EU to BiH. “The joint statement on the commitment of political leaders to get the required reforms is the first step on a long and difficult road to integration, and its adoption [by BiH’s parliament] would be a strong signal to the EU that BiH is part of the movement in the region toward the EU,” Hammond said. Steinmeier said the EU initiative is a new beginning for BiH in the process of integration, which Brussels wants. “This represents a new window for BiH which will not be open forever, and this is a time of opportunity that BiH should take advantage of. We have not forgotten the BiH after the last general elections. The citizens of BiH deserve a better future. All political leaders in BiH were unique in the position that they want to continue through the EU integration process and that a different path does not exist,” Steinmeier said, adding that BiH and the EU are establishing co-ordination mechanisms in order to jointly negotiate concrete reform proposals. Semsudin Mehmedovic, chairman of the BiH House of Representatives said the new plan is not a change of criteria, but a reordering. “I think the British-German initiatives turned things in the right direction in BiH, which is why I believe the political parties agree,” Mehmedovic told SETimes.

 

Ivica Dačić: All OSCE member countries must focus on resolving regional conflicts (APA, 19 February 2015)

Baku. “All OSCE member countries, institutions and structures must focus their attention on the settlement of regional conflicts and building stability,” OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Serbia Ivica Dačić said Thursday at the Vienna session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, APA reported. Dačić noted that the Paris and Copenhagen incidents as well as the Ukrainian crisis are signaling serious threats to the region’s security, and that close cooperation in this respect is necessary. “We are concerned by the re-escalation of tension in Ukraine. We urge all parties to observe the requirements of the Minsk agreement and respect the ceasefire,” he noted. Dačić said he will meet with Ertugrul Apakan, Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, to determine the parameters of the mission’s activity aimed at implementing the Minsk agreement. On February 20, in Vienna, OSCE PA will hold a special debate with the participation of Apakan. The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office also said that consistent with the OSCE’s fundamental principles, the Serbian Chairmanship will also prioritize the resolution through agreed formats of protracted conflicts in the OSCE region. “While high-level contacts between the parties and the meetings of the formats should continue, we believe that, considering the prevailing circumstances, some concrete steps could improve trust and confidence among parties, thus opening the way to tackle more substantive problems. The responsibility to advance the settlement processes related to the protracted conflicts in the OSCE area lies mainly with the parties. However, we need to ensure collective support for their peaceful settlement by investing additional efforts to generate the necessary political will,” Dačić underlined.

 

How the Badinter Commission on Yugoslavia laid the roots for Crimea’s secession from Ukraine (London School of Economics, by Cornelia Navari, 19 February 2015)

The Russian annexation of Crimea, together with the on-going war in eastern Ukraine, have raised fundamental questions concerning the right of a territory to secede from a larger state. Cornelia Navari writes on the influence of the Badinter Commission, which was set up to provide legal advice during the breakup of Yugoslavia. She argues that while the secession of Crimea from Ukraine remains deeply controversial, it largely followed the ‘template’ set by Badinter. Generally regarded as the basis of the post-Cold War territorial settlements, the Arbitration Commission of the Conference on Yugoslavia (referred to as the Badinter Commission after its chairman Robert Badinter) separated territoriality from ethnicity and made the internal borders of Yugoslavia the borders of the successor states: a principle initially accepted by the former Soviet Union and its successor states. But Bosnia could not be held within the principles and Kosovo was a direct contradiction of them, not to mention Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Crimea. The strains of keeping within Badinter have revealed inherent difficulties in dispensing entirely with the ethnic principle as a territorial concept, not least by the constitutional judges who made up the Arbitration Commission. They endorsed cultural nationalism, encouraged a significant degree of political self-determination, and legitimated identity nationalism as a genuine aspiration of peoples. Crimea, with borders, a separatist movement, a denial of identity rights and a recognised right to autonomy, is as much a child of Badinter as a breakaway from it.

The Badinter Commission and Crimea

The Badinter Commission was established by European Community foreign ministers in 1991 to arbitrate among ‘relevant Yugoslav authorities’ in the impending break-up of Yugoslavia. Its opinions, issued between November 1991 and January 1992, served effectively as the peace treaty that ended the Cold War in Europe. At its heart was the separation of territoriality and self-determination from the ethnic principle. The territorial principle was expressed in Opinion 3, in response to the question: ‘Can the internal boundaries between Croatia and Serbia and between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia be regarded as frontiers in terms of public international law?’ The Commission determined that, ‘except where otherwise agreed, the former boundaries become frontiers protected by international law’, basing its decision on two principles: respect for the territorial status quo and, ‘in particular. . .the principle of uti possidetis’, which endorsed colonial boundaries. But the territorial settlements after the First World War involving the dissolution of three empires (and the closest approximation to a precedent for the post-1990 situation in Europe) had displayed very little regard for internal borders. That Badinter felt uncertain in applying the principle is demonstrated by the judges immediately moving on to give a constitutional justification, calling on the second and fourth paragraphs of Article 5 of the Constitution of Yugoslavia (in which each republic respected the borders of the others). It also endorsed the ‘tough’ version of uti possidetis – no change of territory at all. When Croatia declared its intention to separate from Yugoslavia, it did so by appealing to the right of self-determination, echoed by Chancellor Helmut Kohl in granting recognition to Croatia. The right to self-determination appears in the United Nations Charter, article 1.2 of which extends the right of self-determination to all peoples. (Other sources, such as the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, refer to colonised peoples only.) However, the Charter does not define what is to be understood by the word ‘peoples’, or how their right is to be exercised. The Badinter Commission took the view that ‘in its present state of development, international law does not make clear all the consequences which flow from this principle’. The critical statement is Opinion 2, issued in response to the question: ‘Does the Serbian population in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, as one of the constituent peoples of Yugoslavia, have the right to self-determination?’ The Commission substituted the term ‘communities’ for ‘peoples’ and assigned to such communities rights within existing states, recognising ‘that within one State, various ethnic, religious or linguistic communities might exist’ and stated that all such communities have the right to see their respective identities recognised and to benefit from ‘all the human rights and fundamental freedoms recognised in international law, including, where appropriate, the right to choose their national identity’. The link between self-determination and human rights was made explicit in paragraph 2, in which the Commission called on the two 1966 international covenants on human rights. By this association, and a corollary of it, a people must have the right to determine its own fate in order for individuals to have the right to determine theirs. In Opinion 4, it authorised the referendum as a final test for separation. But law was by no means the final arbiter of the post-Cold War settlements, at least not in the area of guaranteeing the rights of ‘communities’. Scant attention was given to the Albanian minority in Macedonia or the Serbs of Bosnia, and Croatia was not given a clean bill of health by the Council of Europe until 2000. Neither Estonia nor Latvia made concessions on granting citizenship rights to Russian speakers, provoking formal complaints by Russia to the Council of Europe. On the territorial side, the western powers were forced to amend their determination on ‘first layer down’ in drawing new borders for, and in authorising full powers to the Republika Srspka, in Bosnia, in 1995 and to depart from it entirely in their recognition of Kosovo in 2006, provoking Russia to recognise Abkhazia and South Ossetia two months later, and on similar grounds, of a ‘remedial right’. Despite their condemnation of Russia’s ‘annexation’ of Crimea, the Crimean case followed on from Abkhazia and South Ossetia and all three followed closely the Badinter ‘template’. All three were autonomous provinces with clear borders; none belonged by tradition to their respective predecessor states; all could defend separation by referendum (and by degrees of repression); all were ‘peoples’ within their territories and not ‘minorities’. All had great power backing. The conclusion of Asborn Eide, long-term member of the UN Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights and drafter of numerous reports on the protection of minorities, seems the fairest: ‘When a group living together compactly in a geographical region or enclave… claims that it is a people rather than a minority’, and when ‘neighbouring States and/or the international community react in ambiguous ways to such claims, or even endorse them, the future status of that territory is thrown into uncertainty’.