LOCAL PRESS

 

Haradinaj arrested on Serbia’s warrant (Beta)

The leader of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AZBK) Ramush Haradinaj was arrested on the Serbian warrant that was issued in 2006, the Pristina media report. Haradinaj was arrested at the Ljubljana airport when returning from an official visit to Germany, Beta quotes Koha Ditore. The ICTY acquitted Haradinaj of war crimes. His party condemned his arrest and requested urgent release of their leader. Haradinaj is a former KLA leader.

 

Djuric: Most important topic for Serbia is formation of ZSO (Tanjug)

The most important topic for Serbia is the formation of the Union of Serb Municipalities (ZSO) that should have political weight, said the Head of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Marko Djuric. He told journalists in Brussels during the talks on the ZSO, that the Serbian delegation presented the key elements and principles on how it sees the formation of this community and pointed out “it is a pity there are no direct Kosovo Serb representatives in the talks”. “Talks on this topic will continue, this is the most important topic for us. We know what we are fighting for, the ZSO should have, as Ashton used to say, political weight, political teeth and nothing less than that can satisfy the Serb people and Serb community in Kosovo and Metohija,” said Djuric.

 

Drecun and Pushkov: Membership of Kosovo in UN is the red line (Tanjug/RTS)

The Chairman of the Serbian parliamentary Committee for Kosovo and Metohija Milovan Drecun and the Chairman of the Russian State Duma Foreign Affairs Committee Aleksey Pushkov agreed that “possible membership of Kosovo in the United Nations is the red line that must not be crossed”. Drecun that Serbia is ready to invest efforts in order to strengthen capacities for protecting its integrity in the United Nations. Drecun has stated that Serbia considers Kosovo and Metohija an unalienable part of its territory and wishes to resolve the Kosovo problem through peaceful means only, compromise and agreements. He pointed out that Serbia’s foundation for the status and position of Kosovo and Metohija rests on UNSCR 1244. In the Brussels process aimed at normalization of relations, Serbia has done all it can to help achieve a solution that would contribute to stabilization of the situation in Kosovo and Metohija, Drecun said. However, a disturbing fact lies in the obstruction Pristina is imposing in the implementation of the key section of the Brussels agreement embodied in the establishment of the Union of Serbian Municipalities, he said. “Nevertheless, we hope to reach agreement in the end on the this issue as well, and that we will be able to devote to other, also important, topics for the people in Kosovo and Metohija, such as the return of internally displaced persons and the issue of property,” stressed Drecun. He voiced hope that the special court for crimes committed by the KLA will be formed and a satisfying level of justice will be achieved for the Serb victims in Kosovo and Metohija. Pushkov pointed out that the stability in the Balkans bears exceptional importance because instability in the region is frequently reflected in the rest of the world. Speaking about the unilaterally declared independence of Kosovo and Metohija, Pushkov said that the current status of Kosovo and Metohija has rendered international law relative, and not absolute. He pointed out that a difficult period lies ahead of Serbia, because it must find a balance between the accession to the EU and the struggle to preserve Kosovo and Metohija.

 

Janjic: “Brussels 2” would help in defining Chapter 35 (RTS)

The President of the Ethnic Relations Forum Dusan Janjic told the morning news of Radio and Television of Serbia (RTS) that it is obvious that each side is saying what it considers its success. “Therefore, for Marko Djuric ii iss at the moment the tariff that would mean that residents in Kosovo and Metohija will have the tariff as internal traffic, without roaming and this is a temporary solution,” said Janjic. As regards Edita Tahiri, Janjic says the most important thing for the Pristina side is to get an area code, to have independent exit, because their fixed telephony is exiting through Serbia. They agreed that the number will be requested through Austria, said Janjic, adding that Serbia didn’t give full consent for this. “Objectively, Serbia doesn’t have a smarter possibility, because otherwise it would have to request this for Kosovo, which it doesn’t recognize as a state, while an independent area code can be in possession of only states or some entities that are under some protectorate and I think that a solution in this case will be for Austria to request this,” says Janjic. “When you have the first agreement, like the one in 2013, then it is logical to have the second, the so-called Brussels 2, and this is the second agreement on principles of normalization that should summarize everything that was done and to help define, when Serbia is concerned, the content of Chapter 35,” explains Janjic. “There is one delicate issue that was on the table as early as in March 2013, but was postponed, and this is cooperation in international government and non-government organizations, including the UN,” said Janjic. According to him, this is a delicate place for Serbia because Serbia has had a policy of active obstruction of UN membership, while now it would not be asked to recognize Kosovo, but to stop conducting the diplomatic convincing of other states to prevent recognitions. Janjic says this will be the key topic in “Brussels 2” while all other principles that concern the position of the Serb community, the Serbian Orthodox Church, economic sustainability and principle of resolving the problem of privatization, are not so politically disputable. “I said it would be ideal for Serbia to complete all this by 23 June, but, as the issue is delicate, it is possible to postpone it, but every postponement means that eventual opening of chapters will be next year. That ‘Brussels 2’ is not a condition, but facilitating the defining of Chapter 35 is, and only then can Serbia complete its action plan,” said Janjic.

 

Rakic doesn’t’ want to be part of Pristina’s delegation in Brussels (Danas)

The Mayor of the northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica Goran Rakic doesn’t want to travel to Brussels as member of the Pristina delegation in order to agree with the Mayor of the southern part of Kosovska Mitrovica Agim Bahriti on opening the bridge over the Ibar River in this town, Danas has learned. The opening of the bridge , i.e. the removal of the existing Peace Park, is one of the topics on which agreement should be reached between the Serbian and Kosovo delegations at the technical level by 23 June. Rakic confirms for Danas that he is not planning to travel to Brussels, especially if he needs to be part of the Kosovo delegation. He says he can go to Brussels only as member of the Serbian delegation, but he still hasn’t received an invitation from Belgrade. “Why would we talk in Brussels when we are hundred meters away from each other here,” says Rakic. Asked when he will discuss with Bahriti this important issue, especially for Germany that insists on this, he says he is ready for talks “when elementary security conditions are acquired and when tensions calm down, because the Peace Park is a symbol of security for the Serbs”.

 

Pushkov: Serbia in rift between Russia and West (Politika)

Aleksandr Pushkov is considered one of the best Russian connoisseurs of the West, where he has lived and worked for a long time, acquiring numerous contacts in the highest forums of the US and Europe. He is an influential Chairman of the Russian State Duma Foreign Affairs Committee.

Is this global front, the line of fire, really passing through Serbia?

“I would say that Serbia is on the watershed between Russia and the Western world.”

You are talking about water, but the Americans are talking about fire?

“We avoid using militaristic rhetoric. Mr. Biden and the US side are too absorbed with military terminology and activities outside their own borders. In this case, it is more proper to speak about a watershed. On the one side, this is Russia and countries belonging to the Euro-Asia economic union, BRIKS, the Shanghai organization for cooperation. On the other side, this is the Western alliance. Serbia is not the only country on this watershed, but perhaps it is the most visible one. It is in the rift between two large geopolitical formations, not only because it was already subjected to aggression, but also because it is the only country in Europe that is aspiring to become an EU member, but refuses to introduce sanctions to Russia. I think that this, nevertheless, is not bringing into question Serbia’s security. There is not enough ‘fuel’ for a regional war in the Balkans at this moment, unless there are some very active external attempts of destabilization.”

Can the British draft resolution on Srebrenica have impact on destabilization of the Balkans that you mention? Putin once said that the Russians cannot be bigger Serbs from the Serbs, so the question is whether Russia will place a veto in the Security Council over its own interests or because it believes that genocide didn’t occur in Srebrenica?

“The project of the British resolution is primarily a way of pressing Serbia, which is not accepting to introduce sanctions to Russia. I suppose that the resolution is a form in which Serbia is being sent a signal of utterly discontent of certain western circles. That is also an attempt to negatively influence the relations between Serbia and B&H, i.e. to oppose Belgrade and the Muslims in the Balkans. The third reason is to confirm once again the validity of the NATO aggression against Yugoslavia. If it is stated that this was genocide, and it wasn’t, then this justifies the western aggression and secession of Kosovo.”

Does this mean that Russia will still place a veto?

“Moscow has always supported Serbia when it clearly voiced its position, always defended its security and sovereignty. Whenever Serbia has a clear stand, Russia supported it.”

 

REGIONAL PRESS

 

Session of FB&H House of Representatives adjourned (Glas Srpske)

The second session of the House of Representatives of the FB&H Parliament was not held yesterday due to the failure to adopt the agenda. For the adoption of the agenda 38 delegates have voted positive, 42 were against and 10 were abstained. The SDA requested individual expression on the agenda, but the DF and SBB considered that a failure to adopt the agenda meant that the session is over. The SBB and DF requested the resignation of the FB&H Prime Minister Fadil Novalic, in order to form the new parliamentary majority. “Asserting the stated and not adopting the agenda, was in some way, the expression of the position towards the Government - said the head of the SBB club Nasir Beganovic. Only the SDA and HDZ delegates have voted for the adoption on the agenda. At the beginning of the session the Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina requested the termination of the session stating that there is no majority that would support the agenda. Federation President Marinko Cavara said that as long as the Vice President of the FB&H is from the DF, we cannot talk about a new parliamentary majority. “The DF is in the executive branch and is responsible for decision-making in the Government of FB&H” said Cavara.

 

Dodik: Declare Srebrenica a place of genocide against Serbs as well (Srna)

Republika Srpska (RS) President Milorad Dodik told Srna that it would be right to declare Srebrenica a place of genocide against both Serbs and Bosniaks, and that this would be a way to pay respects to victims and send a message to the world that genocide was committed on both sides. “I have nothing against if anyone says that Srebrenica is a place of genocide against both Serbs and Bosniaks,” Dodik said, stressing that he is ready to accept something like that as part of a reconciliation process, but that he is convinced that the Bosniaks will reject such a proposal. Dodik expressed the conviction that RS representatives will not allow Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H), as a UN member state, to accept and give preliminary agreement to a text of a resolution on Srebrenica which arrived in the B&H Presidency, as it is full of falsehoods, stereotypes, stories of rapes which are hard to prove and the like. The RS President said that during his upcoming visit to Moscow he will ask Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov that Russia veto the British resolution on Srebrenica in the UN Security Council. “I will try to explain that this is important to us because Serb victims are being neglected, and if they want to focus on Srebrenica, then they must focus on both Bosniak and Serb victims,” Dodik said. Dodik said that he will discuss this issue with the Russian Foreign Minister on Thursday, but that this does not mean that Russia will do it at his request only, without its own consideration. “It was clearly written how resolutions can be brought in the UN Security Council. There is a procedure of harmonization which is maybe more important than a veto where it might happen that a resolution is not included in the agenda at all,” Dodik explained, stressing that the basic question is how to make an initiative for the passage of a resolution remain an initiative and how to prevent it from being included in the agenda in the process of harmonization. He said that it was visible in the past few days that a passage of a resolution is being proposed out of political reasons throughout the world – from the RS and B&H Parliaments to the EU Parliament and the UN Security Council – in order to maintain the focus on Srebrenica and to impose a truth. “If the truth is unquestionable, it wouldn’t take so much effort, and it is obvious and clear that everything is directed against us so that we would have to respect these documents, out of fear or some other reason, so that they might say that Serbs themselves recognized this,” Dodik told Srna. He said that this is why Serbs must not recognize these documents since as much as it is important for some people to impose their own truth, it is also important for Serbs to stop the spreading of lies. According to him, the persistent imposition of genocide is being done by those who maybe committed genocide in the past against some peoples and are now trying to impose responsibility on Serbs. “The Bosniaks persistently want to impose a collective responsibility, and Srebrenica is a clear cause,” Dodik said. Having in mind that the Bosniaks did not manage to do it before courts, he says, they are now trying to create a myth about it. “The real truth is that 3,500 Serbs were killed there, that their lack of interest for Serbs in that area hurts, and attempts to impose the truth which we do not want to accept are becoming irritating,” Dodik said. Commenting on reports by certain media that the upcoming commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the Srebrenica events is being used by Western powers to separate Srebrenica from RS and give it a status of a district, the same as to Brcko, Dodik said that something like that is impossible without a decision of RS bodies. “No one addressed us for something like that, and I am convinced that RS has a huge responsibility towards its territory and I don’t see a single reason why Srebrenica would not remain a part of the territory and political system of RS,” Dodik said. Dodik said that the request for separation of Srebrenica from RS is nothing new, and that some media speculate about it as July 11 is approaching, and that on July 13 or July 14, no one will speak about it anymore.

 

July 2^nd the EP decides on whether to place resolution on Srebrenica on agenda (Nezavisne)

The Conference of Presidents of the European Parliament (EP) on July 2^nd decides whether the draft resolution on Srebrenica is going to be placed on the agenda of the plenary session which is scheduled for July 7^th – 9^th, or is the statement by Martin Schulz, President of the EP and leaders parliamentary groups in the Parliament, going to be adopted. The EP delegates believe that the adoption of a new resolution on Srebrenica (EP has already passed two resolutions) would be significant for marking the 20^th anniversary of the massacre in a dignifying manner and for inviting the European institutions to prevent anything like that happening ever again. The initiator of the resolution, Croatian delegate Ivan Jakovcic of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, said that his goal is “for the EP, to mark the 20th anniversary of the worst massacre in Europe since the World War II, in a dignifying manner”. Further, the draft resolution calls on all European institutions “to do everything in their power so that the crimes like those in Srebrenica are not repeated”. The resolution also calls on the EU Council and the European Commission to send a clear message to the countries of the Western Balkans that they have a European perspective and that the EU Council and the European Commission support the enlargement process, and the process of regional cooperation. Slovenian Ambassador Franc Bogovic of the parliamentary group the EPP (European People's Party) said that he supports the draft, as well as Tanja Fajon, the S&D (the Progress Alliance of Socialists and Democrats). Ulrike Lunacek, Vice-President of the EP from the group of the Greens / EFA group, said that she and her parliamentary group strongly support the resolution on Srebrenica. In contrast to the delegates in the EP, the Russian Duma believes that the West with its resolutions on Srebrenica “wants to send a signal that it can trigger a mechanisms of impact on Serbia’s image because it did not join the sanctions against Russia”. Alexei Pushkov, the head of the Foreign Affairs Council of the State Duma of the Russian Federation in Serbia, said that this is an attempt to set Serbia and Muslim nations against each other, and pointed out that the adoption of this document it is not necessary, noting that its adoption would bring more harm than good.

 

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

 

Serbs Suggest Russia Veto for Srebrenica Resolution (BIRN, by Ivana Nikolic, Denis Dzidic, 17 June 2015)

The Serbian president’s office and the leader of Bosnia’s Serb-led entity Republika Srpska have suggested asking Russia to veto a proposed UN Security Council resolution condemning the Srebrenica genocide. Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic’s office said on Wednesday that Belgrade should ask Moscow to use its veto at the UN Security Council to block the possible adoption of the proposed resolution that marks next month’s 20th anniversary of Srebrenica because the massacres in July 1995 were being “politicised”. “Srebrenica is not the isolated case, it happened during a civil war after numerous massacres of Serbian civilian residents near the same Srebrenica,” Nikolic’s office said in a statement to Serbian newspaper Danas. Milorad Dodik, president of the Bosnian Serb-dominated Republika Srpska entity, has also said that he will meet Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov in St Petersburg on Thursday and ask him to veto the resolution which he said “offends Serb victims” and could raise ethnic tensions. “It is clear there will never be a unified position on the document in Bosnia as this document aims to politicise the tragedy and impose a quasi-truth about the suffering in Srebrenica,” Dodik told newspaper Vecernje Novosti. The draft resolution condemns the genocide and those who deny that it took place, and calls for the prosecution of all those responsible for the massacres in which more than 7,000 Bosniak men and boys were killed by Bosnian Serb forces in July 1995. But it has angered Serbian and Bosnian Serb leaders, who deny that the massacres represent genocide, despite the rulings of Bosnian and international courts. The Serbian government meanwhile has yet to state its official position on the resolution. Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic has suggested that a decision will be made after Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic returns from a trip to Norway on Thursday. “Russia can support us in our decision, but it doesn’t have to,” Dacic said. Dragan Popovic, from the Belgrade-based Policy Centre think-tank, told BIRN that Serbian politicians’ reactions were a continuation of their denial of what happened during the 1990s wars. “I don’t understand why we are trying to stop the condemnation of something which is very clear, which is based on the courts’ rulings, which is very well-documented,” Popovic said. Bosnian transitional justice expert Vehid Sehic told BIRN that the controversy could have been expected. “Unfortunately, I am not surprised that this is being politicised. We live in a society which is not moral, where politics are being used to deny facts, where justice is being viewed as something selective, where we blame only others,” said Sehic. Srebrenica survivor Muhizin Omerovic however welcomed the initiative. “I think it is good that the international community is pushing this, so that we can finally learn the lessons of the Srebrenica genocide, so that it never happens to anyone,” Omerovic told BIRN. “I am only sorry that Bosnian society hasn’t reached that level, for us to sit down, to agree on a common version about war crimes, genocide, and especially Srebrenica in a way that suits all sides,” he added. As well as calling for reconciliation and dialogue, the 13-point draft resolution calls on states to develop educational curriculums which highlight lessons learned from genocides and other war crimes. But Sarajevo University professor Zarije Seizovic said that before this happens, the truth must be agreed within society itself. “Before we include war crimes in history books we need to determine the truth, achieve justice, apologise and reconcile, and then the so-called historical truth, which would be based on inter-ethnic and inter-state consensus, could be studied. Without that, education will still be a tool for one-sided representation of facts and as such, a tool for allowing nationalistic divisions,” Seizovic told BIRN. The row over the resolution comes amid heightened political tensions between Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina after Nikolic was asked by the Bosniak member of the Bosnia’s tripartite presidency to postpone a visit to Sarajevo because the former commander of the Bosnian Army in Srebrenica, Naser Oric, was arrested in Switzerland last week on a war crimes warrant issued by Serbia.

 

Hungary considering border fence to keep out migrants (AP, 17 June 2015)

BUDAPEST, Hungary -- Hungary's foreign minister says the government is considering building a 4-meter-high (13-foot-high) fence along border with Serbia to stop the flow of migrants reaching the country. Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said Wednesday that the government asked Interior Minister Sandor Pinter to prepare the plan by next week. Szijjarto says the fence won't contravene any of Hungary's international obligations. Since the second half of 2014, the number of migrants and asylum seekers entering Hungary, mostly across the southern border with Serbia, has risen markedly. So far this year, more than 53,000 people have requested asylum in Hungary, up from under 43,000 in 2014 and 2,150 in 2012.