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LOCAL PRESS

If Kosovo electoral legislature changes, I will call on Serbs to vote – Nikolic (Novosti)

BELGRADE – Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic has said that Serbia has a very tight deadline to try to convince the EU and Pristina to change the electoral legislature in Kosovo-Metohija so as to make it possible for Serbs to participate in the provincial elections.

“If this is not done, who will be the one to call on Serbs to go to the polls, I will certainly not do that,” Nikolic said for Saturday’s edition of Belgrade daily Vecernje Novosti.

Asked what bothers him in particular in the electoral legislation, the Serbian president said that this legislation does not take into account the Serb minority, the community of Serb municipalities and certain automatic rights.

“Besides, I am afraid that we will again have a problem with the right to vote,” Nikolic said.

“Pristina cannot agree first that all displaced persons should have the right to vote and then discard all their applications,” he said.

As planned, the electoral reforms should be completed in Kosovo-Metohija by the end of January ahead of the regular central elections in autumn, which are accompanied by a number of uncertainties in terms of participation of Serbs, the daily reads.

One of the issues refers to around 230,000 displaced people from Kosovo-Metohija and their right to vote.

It is assessed that at least a half of them has the right to vote, but there are indications that Pristina could prevent them from casting ballots since with the votes of the displaced persons, Serbs in the Kosovo parliament could constitute the third, and even maybe the second, strongest political force.

Sessions in north Kosovo opens path towards Union of Serb Municipalities (Politika)

The inaugural sessions in four municipalities in north Kosovo, in north Kosovska Mitrovica, Zvecan, Leposavic and Zubin Potok, where the mayors and councilors took oaths, except in north Kosovska Mitrovica, where the elected mayor Krstimir Pantic with two more councilors refused to sign the statement, have opened the path towards the formation of the Union of Serb Municipalities in Kosovo and Metohija, officials Belgrade opines. On the other side, the refusal to sign statements where the Kosovo state logo is “taped over,” but also the resignation by Pantic at the post of the deputy head of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, is also opening the oath towards possible new elections in north Kosovska Mitrovica. Asked by Politika whether Krstimir Pantic will run again for the mayor on the Serbian (Srpska) list, the chairman of the parliamentary Committee on Kosovo and Metohija Milovan Drecun says: “I interpret Pantic’s move as an utterly unexpected and unusual situation. The way he behaved isn’t appropriate for a politician. He may run for the mayor, but he certainly can’t be on the list supported by official Belgrade.” Asked whether an Albanian candidate could win at the possible new mayoral elections, Drecun says: “I don’t believe this is possible.” Drecun didn’t wish to comment the Kosovo state logo that was taped over at the asseverations, noting “there are much more important matters, as it is irrelevant what the Kosovo Ministry of Local Self-Government will have in its archive.” Many people in the north wondered why the asseverations were signed in the dead of night and why this occurred without the presence of the public, just as the meeting of the mayors of four municipalities with EU representatives was held on two occasions behind closed doors. Leposavic Mayor Dragan Jablanovic tells Politika that the oaths were taken on status-neutral material based on the Brussels agreement and the Law on Self-Government.” Asked by Politika whether the Law on Local Self-Government of Pristina or Belgrade was in force on Saturday, Jablanovic answered: “The entire election and post-election process has been carried out according to the Kosovo laws, but, I stress, it is neutral in status and in the spirit of the Brussels agreement.” Politika unofficially learns that shortly before midnight on Saturday, when 19 councilors were taking oaths in Leposavic together with the mayor, representatives of the Kosovo Ministry of Local Self-Government were also present but not in the same room where the asseverations were signed. The reason was that the Pristina representatives had insisted on the Kosovo flag being in the ceremonial hall, and also asked that the Kosovo flag is on the municipal building. If there are new elections for the Kosovska Mitrovica mayor, Agim Deva, the mayoral candidate in the first round of the elections on 3 November from the ranks of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (led by the current Premier Hashim Thaqi) tells Politika that he “will not be on the candidate list.” Asked by Politika whether this means that he will agitate for this party’s sympathizers to vote for Ivanovic if he is one of the candidates, Deva says: “Yes, I will agitate the Albanians from my party to support Oliver Ivanovic because he is the only political figure that knows to function with both the Serbs and Albanians and other communities. This is a man that Kosovoska Mitrovica needs, while everybody knows that Mitrovica has no better candidate than Oliver Ivanovic.”

Vulin: Pantic’s resignation no longer important (Tanjug)

Serbian Minister without Portfolio in charge of Kosovo and Metohija  Aleksandar Vulin expects that the Central Electoral Commission (CIK) will provide its interpretation of the situation that arose after Kosovska Mitrovica Mayor Krstimir Pantic failed to take office, which calls for new elections for the Mitrovica mayor, while Pantic’s act is, as he put it, no longer important. “I guess that CIK will say that the elections for the mayor should be repeated. This is not something we needed at the moment, to spend energy on new elections,” Vulin told Tanjug. Given that the mayor in north Kosovska Mitrovica has not been appointed as Pantic did take the oath, Vulin said that this will certainly delay the formation of the Union of Serb Municipalities, but added that this halt is expected to be short and temporary. “I sincerely regret this, since I believe that the end result of all our efforts is the formation of the Union of Serb Municipalities. I call on the decision makers to enable us to solve this as quickly as possible,” he underlined. Vulin said that resignation is a personal act, but also a political one, adding that we need to turn to future and address daily issues. He thanked Serbs in north Kosovo and Metohija that besides courage, which they have always showed, they are now also showing great dignity and political wisdom. “Owing to them, we are managing to overcome the obstacles on the way to formation of the Union of Serb Municipalities and the hindrances that appear in the negotiating process,” Vulin underlined, adding during Saturday’s constitution of municipalities Serbs stood by the Serbian Government and the state of Serbia. “A new quality of trust between the government and Kosovo Serbs has been created and this yields results regardless of all obstacles coming from various sides,” Vulin underlined, noting that the process of the constitution is over and now Serbs in north Kosovo have legal and legitimately-elected representatives and authorities, which no one can disregard or fail to recognize.

Drecun: Reached solution – path towards progress (RTS)

The constitution of the Serb municipalities in north Kosovo opens a path to progress, the chairman of the parliamentary Committee on Kosovo and Metohija Milovan Drecun told Radio and Television of Serbia (RTS) on Sunday on the occasion of Saturday’s sessions at which the majority of mayors and councilors signed official statements and took office. “The solution could have been better, but it is in line with status-neutrality and the negotiating framework in which the Brussels process was conducted and the Brussels agreement was reached. The Brussels agreement was made recognizing the specificity of the situation in north Kosovo, while Pristina is trying to belittle this fact and impose solutions which cannot be implemented as Serbs in the north do not want to accept them. Pristina is now required to recognize the specificity of north Kosovo and to act constructively, he underlined, adding that this is also expected from Serb representatives who won mandates in the elections to fight for the interests of the people and the state of Serbia in Kosovo and Metohija. Lately, we have been falling into a trap by Pristina, which is turning to marginal and irrelevant, formal things in an attempt to show to the Albanian public that the Brussels agreement is not that bad for Albanians and the self-proclaimed independence. It is important that the status framework is neutral, and that the formation of the municipalities is status-neutral, and that has been accomplished with this solution, Drecun said. Regarding the resignation by Krstimir Pantic as deputy director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Drecun said that the citizens gave him a mandate to solve problems, and resignations are passive behavior, while Kosovo needs active behavior. Drecun said that the Brussels framework is such that it is impossible for one party to come out of it since the damage would be way too big. “The Albanians are now turning to provocations and trying to calm down their public and stultify the formation of the Union of Serb Municipalities,” he said. Commenting on the strategic agreement signed on Saturday between Pristina and Albania, Drecun said that this is an attempt to marginalize the Brussels agreement at the time of preparations for the Albanian prime minister’s visit to Belgrade. “Tirana is trying to show that Kosovo is connected to Albania more than it is to Serbia. Therefore, the responsibility of the Serb representatives, who were elected in the local elections, is much greater since the formation of the municipalities and the community of Serb municipalities will be the highest barrier against such attempts by Tirana and Kosovo. The elected representatives are expected to act responsibly and maintain the connection between the citizens, who elected them, and the state of Serbia, and in this sense Pantic has no room for solo political actions. We have to send a clear message to the international community that we adhere to the Brussels agreement, while Pristina is the one that fails, and that the Serb community is a factor which no one will be able to avoid,” Drecun said.

Ivanovic: Kosovska Mitrovica is not threatened with a crisis (Tanjug)

The leader of the Civil Initiative Serbia Democracy Justice (SDP) Oliver Ivanovic stated on Sunday that North Mitrovica is not under threat of crisis, but added that it is important to find a solution for the Mitrovica mayor. “I do not think that we are facing crisis since the North Mitrovica municipal assembly has been constituted given that 17 out of 19 councilors have signed the statements,” Ivanovic said, adding that he hopes that the remaining two councilors will do the same in the next days. In a statement for Tanjug, Ivanovic said that it is important to find a solution for the Mitrovica mayor as soon as possible since the situation, the way it is now after the resignation by Krstimir Pantic, is not envisaged by the law. So far, it has never happened that someone stands the elections, wins a mandate and then gives up on it, Ivanovic said.

Samardzic: Time for parliamentary elections (RTS)

Deputy President of the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) Slobodan Samardzic has stated that the latest events in Kosovo and Metohija related to the constitution of the Serb municipalities and the social and moral decline are clear indicators that it is time for early parliamentary elections. He said that the councilors of four north Kosovo municipalities were forced to sign the statement bearing the coat of arms of the illegally proclaimed republic of Kosovo, which was covered with a sticker that was to be peeled off later in Pristina. “Pantic refused to take the oath of office and resigned as deputy director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija. It is strange that certain Serb officials have said that Pantic’s resignation is irrelevant bearing in mind that the entire tactics of the victory of the Serbian (Srpska) list was based on his leadership. The latest events in Kosovo have brought into question Belgrade’s main argument referring to the normalization of the relations with Pristina on the EU path. The campaign of deception will last in the forthcoming years as long as it has effects on the citizens of Serbia, but this cannot last long since Serbia will be stuck on the outskirts of the EU. It should be checked whether people have really voted for Kosovo’s s secession from Serbia with the help of the Serbian government, the country's indebtedness of three-four billion Euros, procrastination of the solution to the constitutional issue of the province of Vojvodina and whether they are satisfied with the general social situation in Serbia,” Samardzic told a press conference. 

Joint session of Kosovo and Albanian government in Prizren may be interpreted as new tail wind in creation of “Greater Albania” (Novosti)

The century-old idea on the creation of a “Greater Albania” - shortly realized with the help of the Fascists in 1941 – has received a new tail wind in Prizren. The governments of Kosovo and Albania held last weekend the first joint session where they even announced the formation of the fund for the Albanians in the municipalities of central Serbia – Presevo, Medvedja and Bujanovac. The meeting of two prime ministers, Hashim Thaqi and Edi Rama, is last in a series of political moves that clearly indicate that the Albanians believe the time has come for them to finalize the process of national unification. One should also interpret this in the context of the statements of top Albanian politicians who, without reactions from the EU, have been directly or indirectly calling for a “Greater Albania” every month. Professor of International Politics Predrag Simic interprets the session in Prizren as the wish of the Albanians for Serbia’s south to become the next topic in Serbian-Albanian relations: “It is obvious that Pristina and Tirana are ‘unpacking’ the story on the Presevo Valley at the same time when the Serbs are trying to strengthen institutions in north Kosovo. Thus, the terrain is being prepared for the Albanians to require exchange of these territories in the future. Personally, I think that for Serbia the south is strategically a much more important region,” Simic tells Novosti. “The joint meeting of the two governments should not surprise anyone, considering the fact that it is common practice in the region. However, a series of other moves that clearly indicate that the self-declared state of Kosovo is striving to unite with Albania are problematic,” opines historian Cedomir Antic from the Progressive Club. “Pristina’s mayor removes without any obstacles the flag of his self-declared state and puts the state flag of the Republic of Albania. Also, the borders between Kosovo and Metohija and Albania are almost invisible. Kosovo has even received free access to the Adriatic Sea via Albania,” explains Antic. “Despite all the power of their patrons, formal independence of Albanian Kosovo and further unification with Albania are not possible without an agreement with Serbia.” According to the Albanian plan, the referendum on unification of Kosovo and Albania should be organized by 2016.

REGIONAL PRESS

OHR reiterates call for Budimir to cancel or amend decision on finance minister dismissal (Oslobodjenje)

The Office of the High Representative (OHR) in B&H still believes the B&H Federation President Zivko Budimir should cancel or amend the decision from 3 January to ensure that the finance minister continues to perform his function until his successor is appointed or the court rules otherwise, the OHR said in a statement. “The B&H Federal Finance Minister has a key role and his absence affects the functioning of all institutions in the Federation and beyond. Although steps could be taken to fill some legal gaps, such procedures could drag on and not result in a comprehensive solution that would ensure full functioning for both the Minister and the Ministry. As the International Monetary Fund has said, implementation of economic policy agreed in the framework of the stand-by arrangement is also substantially conditioned on the presence of a functioning Minister and Ministry of Finance in the Federation. The decision by the president, if it remains unchanged, therefore will have serious consequences on the functioning of the B&H Federal institutions and the capability of B&H as a whole to fulfill its obligations toward citizens and creditors,” the OHR said.

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

Vojislav Seselj: ‘Free Me or Try Me Again’ (BIRN, by Marija Ristic, 13 January 2014)

Serbian Radical Party leader Vojislav Seselj has asked the Hague Tribunal either to release him or restart the war crimes case against him from the beginning, alleging unjust treatment.

Seselj’s defence said on Friday that he should either be freed or tried again, in the interests of fairness and justice, after the court ordered a delay in the verdict in the case against the Serbian Radical Party boss, who has been in custody in The Hague since 2003.

“There is no interest [of justice] that could justify 11 years of detention without the rendering of a first-instance verdict,” the defence said in its motion to the international court.

The defence called on the Tribunal to reverse a decision it made on December 16 appointing a new judge to Seselj’s case after a previous judge was removed for alleged bias.

However, it said, “there is absolutely nothing that would compensate for the violation of the right to trial in a reasonable time”.

The court decided last month that it would resume the trial once the newly-appointed judge, Mandiaye Niang, has familiarised himself with the case.

The verdict in the case was initially scheduled for October 30, but it was cancelled after one of the judges, Frederik Harhoff, was removed over a controversial letter he wrote complaining about some of the international court’s rulings.

Harhoff was removed after Seselj filed a motion in July, claiming that the Danish judge was not impartial because he wanted to convict Serbs.

The allegations were sparked by Harhoff’s leaked letter, which criticised the court’s high-profile acquittals of Serbian and Croatian wartime commanders.

Seselj has been in custody since 2003, when he voluntarily surrendered to the Hague Tribunal, but his trial only started in November 2007, after several failed attempts and a hunger strike.

He is charged with committing war crimes and crimes against humanity against the non-Serb population in Bosnia, Croatia and the Serbian province of Vojvodina between 1991 and 1994.

The verdict has not yet been rescheduled.

Macedonia Opposition Shuns ‘Collaborator Hunters’ Vote (BIRN, by Sinisa Jakov Marusic, 13 January 2014)

The opposition is boycotting the election of new members of the Lustration Commission, the state office for rooting out former secret police collaborators, which it has accused of bias.

The main opposition Social Democratic party, SDSM, has said that it will not back anyone for membership of the controversy-hit Lustration Commission at the vote that should take place in parliament this week.
The term in office of the current 11 members of the Commission expires on Wednesday, but the opposition has accused the state body of staging a witch-hunt on behalf of the government.
“The SDSM does not support anyone’s candidacy,” said party spokesperson Petre Shilegov.
“Lustration has been misused by the government for political retaliation against those who think differently and has strayed from its original purpose of righting injustices from the past,” Shilegov explained.
According to Macedonia’s lustration law, new appointments to the commission require approval by a two-thirds majority in parliament, which the government of Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski does not have.
This means that each of more than 20 applicants who have been backed by political parties need to get support from at least 82 of the 123 legislators.
However, the opposition boycott is not likely to cause a long-term deadlock in the work of the commission because in case of an unsuccessful first vote, a second vote is envisaged in which a simple majority of 62 legislators will suffice.
The ruling VMRO DPMNE party insists that opposition’s accusations of political misuse of lustration are unsubstantiated and thus its boycott is senseless.
“There is no other party that is casting a shadow on this process. The principle of a blockade by only one party is utterly unacceptable and I appeal to them to reconsider their stand,” said VMRO DPMNE legislator Ilija Dimovski.
Macedonia is following in the steps of many former Communist states that have brought in lustration laws as a way to address past injustices stemming from politically-motivated prosecutions.
The commission has so far pinpointed over 120 people, including prominent judges, politicians, NGO activists, artists and journalists as former collaborators or of being responsible for ordering the surveillance of others.
But the opposition argues that the lustration process is targeting government critics and in December 2012, removed two of its members from the Commission in protest.
The commission’s head, Tome Adziev, who is now applying for another term as a commission member, has rejected the allegations.
Parliament passed a first lustration law in 2008 and a second one in 2012 after the constitutional court scrapped many key provisions from the original legislation, narrowing its time span and the range of professions to be subjected to checks.
Unlike the first law and the first Lustration Commission, which at the beginning enjoyed wide support, the more recent legislation was adopted only on the basis of votes from the ruling party.