LOCAL PRESS

 

Belgrade will not renegotiate on the ZSO (Politika)

The media in Pristina are giving conflicting assessments on what stand will be taken by the Constitutional Court towards the Community of Serb Municipalities (ZSO). The Court should announce the final decision before the New Year’s holidays. On the occasion of this information, the Head of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Marko Djuric recalls that the Brussels agreement signed on 25 August is the only one that is relevant for the Serbian government. He opines that the stage-managed political and legal processes in the province and imaginative excuses have no effect on Pristina’s obligations to implement agreements. “We are not interested in any decision of some court or any Kosovo institution. The only relevant thing for us is the signature from Brussels and we demand that the agreement is implemented without delay,” says Djuric. The Minister for Communities and Returns in the Kosovo government Dalibor Jevtic says that political and diplomatic circles in Pristina have been speculating on two possible scenarios – that the agreement on the ZSO is either in accordance or not in accordance with the Constitution. “Now there is also the possibility for the Constitutional Court to decide that part of the agreement that refers to the formation of the ZSO is in accordance with the Constitution, and that one part is not and that this part requires changes. According to these speculations, the ZSO jurisdictions are disputable since the Court could estimate that a third level of government is being formed in Kosovo, which doesn’t exist according to the Kosovo Constitution,” Jevtic tells Politika. The Chairman of the Serbian parliamentary Committee for Kosovo and Metohija Milovan Drecun is categorical that new talks in Brussels in regard to the ZSO are out of the question. He opines that these are New Year’s wishes of some Kosovo politicians, adding that the agreement must be implemented. “I am absolutely not interested what the so-called Constitutional Court and the so-called government in Pristina will say and decide. They must respect the Brussels agreement as agreed and there is no deviation here. If something is not in accordance with the Constitution, then the Constitution needs to be changed. If Brussels requests to discuss again the already reached agreement, then this would be a huge step backwards and this process would be without perspective,” stresses Drecun.

 

Serbia to support Lajcak for the UN Secretary-General? (Politika)

Serbia has still not decided who it will support in the race for the UN Secretary-General, but Miroslav Lajcak, Slovakian Foreign Minister and former high representative for B&H, has the best chance to receive Belgrade’s support, Politika has learned. As things stand now, Vuk Jeremic, former foreign minister and chairman of the UN Secretary General, almost certainly will not get the necessary support of his country to join the race for Ban Ki-moon’s successor. According to Blic, the Serbian government has decided to support the candidacy of the Romanian woman Simona-Mirela Miculescu, the Head of the UN Office in Serbia. However, Ambassador Miculescu, who was appointed by Ban Ki-moon as the director of the UN office in our country in June this year, tells Politika that she is not a candidate of her country for Ban Ki-moon’s successor and that she is not thinking about it. However, those who know the state-of-affairs in the UN are not sure that Lajcak’s chances to replace Ban are great. Politika’s source in diplomatic circles in New York says that even the official candidate of Croatia Vesna Pusic doesn’t have much of a chance. “Pusic doesn’t belong to the UN system nor did she hold any similar function, which is very important with this election. UNESCO Secretary-General Irina Bokova has the greatest chances. She fulfills some important criteria: this time they are looking for the post to be occupied by a woman, for the candidate to be from Eastern-European states and the UN system. The election of the UN secretary-general is a very complex game. Over the possibility of using the veto, this needs to be someone who suits the U.S., Russia, China and Britain. That is why it will be uncertain until the very end,” explains Politika’s interlocutor, adding that Jeremic would not be completely without chances since he proved himself during the presidency of the UN General Assembly and in the work with the Centre for International Cooperation and Sustainable Development, a NGO that he founded upon returning from New York.

 

Dacic: We didn’t promise votes to the Romanian representative (Novosti)

“This is the first time I hear that Belgrade will support Simona-Mirela Miculescu from Romania in the race for the new UN Secretary-General. This has never been discussed by the government. We still haven’t decided whether Serbia will even have a candidate for this prestigious post at the UN headquarters,” Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic told Novosti on the occasion of the speculations that Serbia will support the Romanian carrier diplomat who is believed to be among the candidates for Ban Ki-moon’s successor. During the 68^th session of the UN General Assembly, she performed the duty of the vice president, while Vuk Jeremic, who was also known as a contender for Ban Ki-moon’s successor, chaired the 67^th session of the UN General Assembly.

 

Vucic: Gasic already dismissed (Tanjug)

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic has stated in Novi Sad that Serbian Defense Minister Bratislav Gasic has already been dismissed, but that this will be formally done once he finds the best replacement for him. He reiterated he wished to find the best solution for Serbia, without doing a favor to anyone, adding this will be done very quickly. “This is not measured by time, but by the quality of the solution, and by whether you can find the people. People are not marbles, I don’t play with marbles, I don’t play with doing you a favor, or anyone else, but with Serbia and its people, and to find the best solution for Serbia,” Vucic said.

 

ICTY to release Stanisic and Simatovic pending retrial (Tanjug)

The ICTY Tuesday granted Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic provisional release pending the beginning of their retrial in The Hague. The decision neither specifies a date nor a deadline for their return, the Chairman of the Serbian National Council for Cooperation with the ICTY Rasim Ljajic told Tanjug. The ICTY granted the motion for provisional release filed by the defense lawyers on 17 December with the argument that the defendants had never failed to meet any of the requirements or appear before the court when summoned. The date of the first hearing in the retrial has not yet been determined.

 

REGIONAL PRESS

 

Members of the Serbian government to take part in RS day celebrations (Srna/Nezavisne)

Aleksandar Vucic has announced that almost the entire Serbian government will attend Serb Republic Day festivities on January 9.The Serbian Prime Minister made the statement late on Tuesday after his meeting in Belgrade with the RS President Milorad Dodik. He added they also discussed all the important political issues, the potential holding of a referendum in the RS, on the B&H Court and the Prosecution , the political tensions in B&H, and other issues - and that the situation in Serbia was presented to Dodik.  He pointed out that Serbia at all times has the task to play its role in accordance with the Dayton Agreement, and that it would always do that, trying and making an effort to fully preserve regional peace and stability. Dodik also addressed reporters after the meeting to point out that Serbia is the key country in the region, and that the RS authorities in Banja Luka support and understand Belgrade’s policy, which is aimed at strengthening regional peace and stability, while the entity wants to be a part of the efforts to ensure regional stability. Dodik said the RS has no reason or desire to destabilize B&H, adding that "ome kind of violence was being carried out there. “The political struggle for the status is something else entirely. What is written in the Dayton Agreement is in our interest. Our interest does not lie beyond what the Constitution said, and what the Dayton Agreement wrote. We are fighting for the goal that was verified and signed in Paris and previously agreed upon in Dayton,” he explained.  Dodik also said he spoke with Vucic about the excellent cooperation during this year, which is proof of genuine partnership.  When it comes to the fight against terrorism, Dodik said he thought it brought everyone in the region closer together - bearing in mind the need to preserve stability and peace. B&H and the RS are making efforts to maintain that peace, he stressed, noting there was a support network for Islamic State in Bosnia - as well as individuals who persist in that support. “There are records of security services about 3,500 people who are willing to carry out independent acts of terrorism. That says that awareness of these dangers exists in Bosnia-Herzegovina. I encourage every activity to act preventively against terrorism,” he said. Dodik added he expected competent judicial institutions not to, as they have done in the past, carry out spectacular mass operations, while prosecutors a few hours later release those detained, making it merely a creation for the media. “If there is genuine fight against terrorism and if there are preventive measures, the RS will support them,” he concluded.

 

B&H general indicted for war crimes (Bosna danas)

The B&H Prosecutor’s Office has filed an indictment against Sakib Mahmuljin, general and a former commander of the 3rd Corps of the RB&H Army. Mahmuljin was arrested on 8 December but was later released pending trial, and certain prohibiting measures were imposed on him. Prosecution filed the indictment this morning. He is charged with failing to prevent murder of 50 Serb civilians from July to October 1995, during the combat operations of the 3rd Corps of the RB&H Army in a wider area of Vozuca. This and other crimes were committed by “El Mujahidin” Detachment, unit made up of foreign fighters. Previously, the civilians were abducted from the other unit of the 3rd Corps. Mahmuljin is also suspected of inhumane treatment of about 20 war prisoners and civilians.

 

SDA: Finally everything started moving forward (Vijesti)

In 2015, B&H felt progress thanks to the synergy of knowledge. After a long interruption, path of B&H towards the EU and NATO was unblocked, said Secretary General of the Party of Democratic Action (SDA) and Member of Parliament of the Federation of B&H Amir Zukic.

“Finally everything started moving forward, the Stabilization and Association Agreement came into force, the Reform agenda was adopted whose implementation has already started, and what is the most important is that we have met the conditions for B&H to submit a credible application for EU membership. Another great success, in a difficult and turbulent year, is the formation of a stable parliamentary majority,” said Zukic. He noted that the Constitutional Court of B&H in the year that is about to end, declared certain provisions of the Law on Holidays of RS as unconstitutional, at the request of member of the Presidency of B&H Bakir Izetbegovic.

“It’s really important to emphasize the efforts of President of SDA and member of the Presidency of B&H Bakir Izetbegovic on this path,” said Zukic. Also, 2015 was marked by continuous finding of credit lines with friendly countries. He noted the EU integration and accession of B&H to NATO as the major challenges for B&H in 2016, which are the basic requirement for future processes. “We should also mention that stabilization of the security situation is a great challenge for B&H,” concluded Zukic.

 

New scenario for blow on Republika Srpska (Srna)

Counter-terrorism expert Dzevad Galijasevic told Srna that the arrest of persons suspected of terrorism in the wider area of Sarajevo is a mere distraction and a scenario for new arrests of Serbs and blows on the RS. Galijasevic said that this was a coerced operation which does not include important people from the Wahhabi movement, “great amounts of money” and arms. “This is a coerced anti-terrorist operation and it is a result of pressure from American investigators in Sarajevo. These are investigations that were conducted much earlier and where nothing has been done,” Galijasevic said. Stressing that that there is no terrorism without arms, Galijasevic asked what the arrested persons would have used to conduct an act (of terrorism) – the flag of the so-called Islamic State, which was seized during the police operation? Even though all pressures on certain terrorist organizations are preventive in nature and should be useful, Galijasevic says that in this case, this is about a distraction from the most important security and geopolitical issue and about the attitude of great powers to B&H. “The most important question is a conflict of central bodies directed to RS. I am afraid that this operation, like the arrest of Sakib Mahmuljan, is but an introduction to more serious blows on Banja Luka,” Galijasevic said. Just like after the arrest of Mahmuljan, SIPA raided the police station in Novi Grad, this operation resembles the same scenario. “There are no important people from the Wahhabi movement or a movement supporting the Islamic community or Al-Qaeda in this operation. We do not see that important people of the terrorist-Islamic movement of B&H have been arrested. We see almost unknown Kemal Mulic as the most important person, and we do not have his name recorded as someone who is linked to any concrete terrorist operation,” Galijasevic said. According to him, if there are no great amounts of money, and if there are no links to organized crime, then we are dealing with some “bearded fanatics, closed in their homes where they keep the flags of the Islamic State”. Galijasevic reiterated that there is a serious suspicion that this is merely a scenario for new arrests of Serbs and blows on RS. Eleven persons were arrested in Sarajevo in the police operation titled “Rez” (Cut). Police say that they are linked to terrorism and the financing of terrorism, that they instigate people to go fight abroad and that they violate the law on freedom of religion and legal position of churches and religious communities in B&H.

 

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

 

Missing Kosovo Terror Suspect 'Dead in Syria' (BIRN, by Skender Govori and Labinot Leposhtica, 23 December 2015)

Bekim Mulolli's lawyer and sister say the terror suspect - who missed trial weeks ago -  may have died in Syria, although there are also claims that he is hiding in Serbia

A judge in Kosovo has said she believes a suspected terrorist, due to go on trial, may have died in the fighting in Syria. Bekim Mulolli was due to appear in court weeks ago and his failure to do so has raised suspicions about his whereabouts - and whether he is even still alive. “As far as Bekim Mulolli is concerned, there rumours that he has been killed in Syria but we cannot confirm anything about this because there is no official police report on the matter,” Judge Nora Bllaca said. Mulolli’s lawyer, Mentor Neziri, told BIRN that he had also received unconfirmed information that his client had died in Syria. His sister made the same claim to BIRN by telephone: “He is gone for good, there is no need to call anymore,” she said when asked whether her brother had died in Syria. Mullolli was first arrested in 2013 for attacking two Catholic missionaries from the US. He admitted the crime and expressed regret but the prosecution later lodged additional terrorism charges against him. He was moved from prison detention to house arrest on the prosecution’s request under unclear circumstances. However, the prosecution maintains that Mulolli is not dead but hiding in Serbia with his wife although it has yet to produce any evidence is support of this claim. Meanwhile, the trial of five suspected terrorists on Tuesday in Pristina was postponed after police failed to bring one of the defendants, Ardian Mehmeti, to the courtroom. Mehmeti, Valon Shala, Genc Selimi, Nuredin Sylejmani and Musli Hyseni are on trial for participation in terrorist organisations, leading a terrorist group, illegal possession of firearms, possession of explosives and preparation of terrorist acts. Ninety persons have been arrested in Kosovo since September 2014 on charges of active membership of, or affiliation to, Islamist terror groups including ISIS and Al-Nusra. Forty are currently on trial. The latest estimates of the authorities are that about 300 Kosovars have joined ISIS and Al Nusra.

 

Montenegro to Seal Border Deal with Kosovo (BIRN, by Dusica Tomovic, 23 December 2015)

Montenegro is moving forward to complete border demarcation with Kosovo - which remains a highly controversial issue among Kosovo opposition parties

A Montenegrin parliamentary committee has backed confirmation of the border agreement with Kosovo and a vote on the issue could take place by the end of this year. The Interior Ministry is set to begin a two-year process of marking the border line with Kosovo.  On Tuesday, parliament's legislative committee backed the deal which the Montenegro and Kosovo governments signed in August in Vienna, during the Western Balkans Summit.MPs on the committee supported the agreement without any votes against, and recommended parliament to ratify it as in accordance with the Montenegrin constitution. Opposition parties in Kosovo have been protesting passionately against the deal for months, accusing the Kosovo government of giving away territory to Montenegro.  They demand the cancellation of the agreement, saying that the border with Montenegro set by the 1974 Yugoslav constitution, needs to be officially agreed once again between the two countries.  The opposition says the government in Pristina has shifted the 1974 border to Montenegro's advantage. But on Monday, the US State Department said that following a review of maps from the 1940s to the present, including those used by the commission demarcating the border, it was clear that the recently-delimited border closely aligns with the border defined by the 1974 Constitution.  "The borders we have depicted since 2008 match the proposed border of 2015 in detail," the State Department said, adding that it had reviewed the line of the Kosovo-Montenegro border prepared by the Kosovo State Commission for Marking and Maintenance of the State Border. "We note that conclusion of the border demarcation agreement is an EU condition for visa liberalization and represents an important step in Kosovo’s path toward European integration," it added. The Kosovo government commended the State Department report on border demarcation, expressing its "gratitude for the verification of delimitation line". On Monday, Kosovo Foreign Minister Hashim Thaci said the US report confirmed that the decision on border demarcation was the right one.  The chair of the Montenegrin Demarcation Commission, Milan Paunovic, meanwhile said: "This agreement was made to mutual satisfaction and former borders have been confirmed." Paunovic said that in two years' time the border will finally be marked and a joint Montenegro-Kosovo commission will correct certain parts of the demarcation line so that locals' properties and land are not split between the two countries. Kosovo and Montenegro started consultations on signing an agreement on border demarcation in 2011. Montenegro recognised Kosovo in 2008.

 

Small Cog in a Big Wheel:  Montenegro is ‘Pawn’ in Anti-Russian ‘Chess Game’ (Sputnik, 22 December 2015)

NATO Seeks Expansion to Eastern Europe

Montenegro is only a little pawn in the big chess game of international politics. NATO’s recent decision to invite the small Balkan nation to start the accession talks on join the military alliance isn’t an unexpected turn of events and it won’t change the course of the larger game, Giuseppe Cucchi wrote for the Italian political magazine Limes. Being sandwiched between the European Union (EU) and Russia and its economy equally dependent on the two opposite camps, Montenegro has always had to make a tough choice with which side to align itself. Moscow was happy to extend its hand of friendship to maintain old ties with Podgorica. However, hoping that a union with NATO would bring security and EU membership would lead to economic prosperity Montenegro decided to abandon their old friendship with Russia. As the government in Podgorica chose to embrace the EU and NATO, Russia understandably is a little upset, but it won't do anything beyond "verbal gestures," Cucchi said, as cited by Limes. Meanwhile, NATO is not considering the interests of others and keeps expanding further to the East. "Decision making influences the inertial force with which NATO, which is bloated and too bureaucratic, is accustomed to follow its path without looking at the interests of others," Cucchi said, according to Limes. Finally, one needs to understand that the Western military alliance believes that the "newly" found idea of Russian containment would allow it to forget about the years of decline and sooth existential doubts that began to arise within the organization, the Italian journalist said. The EU and Montenegro opened formal negotiations on Monday concerning another two chapters on the country's accession into the bloc. Back in 2008, Montenegro submitted its application for EU membership. The following year, its citizens were granted a visa-free access to the EU's Schengen zone and in 2010 the country signed the Stabilization and Association Agreement with the EU.