LOCAL PRESS

 

Vucic to invite everyone to talks about joining government (B92)

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said he will invite next week everyone open to talking about the future of Serbia, and about participating in the new government. He said this did not mean that his SNS party would forge a coalition with everyone it talks with – nor will everyone taking part in the talks be able to join the government. “We are ready for talks with everyone about the important problems in society, mutual tolerance. We have begun assembling a team that would put in a lot of energy, without calculating,” said Vucic.  He told reporters that he “does not know its composition - because it is still unknown whether he will be putting together a coalition government”. Asked whether he was close to an expert government, Vucic replied he was close to a fighting government. He did not wish to talk about any names and specifically about a possible coalition with the Socialists (SPS) - but the presence of Nikola Selakovic and Zorana Mihajlovic at today’s press conference was a hint about who might keep their job in the cabinet. “I will talk with everyone and I’m ready to do that, it’s not hard for me, but there are those who have been saying since the election that they would not. They don’t have to. Maybe we’ll hear new ideas,” said Vucic.  According to him, there will be significant changes in the functioning of the government of Serbia which all citizens should feel as their own, regardless of political affiliation. “A team is needed that is dedicated to Serbia, to problem solving, not to partisan or individual interests. Our goal is to unite Serbia. We want to be closer to the people,” said Vucic. He added that the future Serbian government will be “displaced” from Belgrade once every two months - for a start to Nis, in southern Serbia. “I will be staying in the barracks with the key ministers, in order not to incur additional costs. We will receive citizens, and once a week I receive them personally from five o’clock in the morning until eight, so that I can then, from eight o’clock on, deal with their problems,” said Vucic.

 

Gojkovic: Constitutive parliament session to be held by 4 June (Tanjug/RTS)

The exact date of the new parliament’s constitutive session is still unknown, but it will be held by 4 June, the deadline set by the law, Serbian Parliament Speaker Maja Gojkovic said Tuesday.
“I would not speculate on the date, it is not only up to me - a broader agreement is required because the parliament speaker and the deputy speakers are elected at a constitutive session,” Gojkovic told reporters in Belgrade. Gojkovic said that the SNS presidency will meet on Friday, with a session of the party assembly scheduled for the following day. More importantly, Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic is still thinking about the composition of the new government and is writing its program, she said. The constitutive session of the Vojvodina Assembly will be held on 2 June, so the constitutive session of the national parliament will take place around that date, Gojkovic said. Asked if the date is 1 or 3 June, she responded that the session could also be held on 4 June.

 

Drecun: Truth about extremism in Kosovo not told (RTS)

The outgoing Chairperson of the parliamentary Committee for Kosovo and Metohija Milovan Drecun has told the morning news of Radio and Television of Serbia (RTS) that the article in The New York Times speaks about the influence of Saudi Arabia on Islamists and Wahhabism, instead of how the financing of Jihadists should be terminated. “This is the factual state-of-affairs that the article writes about, but also the state-of-affairs that the media kept silent about this truth after 2007, when I encountered a document that is unknown to the public, which discovers the network of radical Islam, behind which Saudi Arabia stood,” says Drecun.

This document identifies individuals and a bunch of NGOs headed by Saudi Arabia, whose leaders worked with Bin Laden. These organizations promote education and medical aid, while mosques are built from this money, says Drecun. He says it is interesting that KFOR arrested 12 members of this organization, but the organization was not banned. “The organization of renamed when I published this document, but they established local organizations and recruited people. This is ‘Al Harami’ from Saudi Arabia that was placed on the list in 2002, and Haradinaj brought to Kosovo and it has direct ties with Al Qaeda,” says Drecun. He points out that Tomas Gend, the head of the OSCE service from 1999 to 2004, publicly spoke that Saudi Arabia was giving instructions in Kosovo. “The role of Saudi Arabia is unknown, and now The New York Times writes about the activities of Saudi Arabia and forgets to say that the funding must be cut, and that it has not been done. It is no coincidence that in the last six months there has been a debate on the role of officials of Saudi Arabia in the 11 September events, where a report that has not been published is spoken about,” said Drecun.
Speaking about the announced formation of an army in Kosovo, which officials in Pristina see a step towards NATO membership, Drecun points out this could be done officially if they receive 23 percent support in the Assembly. He adds that another possibility was to give a broader mandate to the Kosovo Security Forces (KSF) without changing its name. “I guess they will try, through amendments and changes to legislation and without changing the name, but expanding its mandate, which would probably make it possible for them to participate in NATO missions and submit a request for membership in Partnership for Peace,” said Drecun. He says that this transformation will not be possible through changing the Kosovo Constitution, since this requires a two-third majority in the assembly in Pristina - which Serbs would be unwilling to provide.
Therefore, according to Drecun, Pristina will resort to expanding the mandate of the KSF without changing its name, making it an armed force. Such legislative changes require only a simple majority, noted Drecun, adding that the KSF is already operating under a NATO model used to organize armies, they are structured as an army, they have helicopters, an intelligence service.
“Only the form would change, very quickly they would get infantry and combat vehicles, but they are already trained by NATO officers, they participate in exercises organized by NATO in certain countries,” said Drecun.

 

Schwendiman: Establishment of special court going in right direction (Beta)

David Schwendiman, lead prosecutor of the Special Investigation Task Force (SITF), an independent body investigating war crimes and organized crime allegations, said that the entire process surrounding the establishment of a special court for crimes committed by the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) was going in the right direction.“A lot has been done so far, and we'll continue to work to make the Special Court Chamber and the Office of the Special Prosecutor fully operational,” Schwendiman said in an interview with Beta, when asked when the court could open its doors, and when the first indictments could be expected.

 

Halimi: Making Albanians part of majority fundamental (Tanjug)

Making Albanians a part of the parliamentary majority is the fundamental issue, the leader of the Albanian Party for Democratic Action (PDD) Riza Halimi said Monday after consultations with Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic on the new government. The parties that have formed parliamentary majorities in the past were not interested in ethnic Albanian participation, Halimi told reporters. “Our basic demand was that the position on southern Serbia, which has an ethnic Albanian majority, be changed and that the approach to solving problems be changed through the government and other executive authorities,” Halimi said. Speaking about the Coordination Body for Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja, he said that the body operates in Albanian-majority areas, while the main affairs are being managed from Belgrade.

 

Ugljanin: They did not invite us in, but we would refused (Tanjug)

Leader of Party of Democratic Action of Sandzak (SDA of Sandzak) Sulejman Ugljanin said after a consultation meeting he had with Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic on Monday that his party had not been invited to join the new government, but even if they had, they would have refused the offer. “There were rumors about whether we had been invited into government. We said we had not been invited and that even if we had been, I personally would not have accepted it,” Ugljanin said, explaining that the reason for that was violations of coalition agreements in connection with the Office for Sustainable Development. Ugljanin added that he would support anything that was good and criticize everything that was bad for the Bosniaks.

 

Romania and Bulgaria not hindering Belgrade (Danas)

Romania and Bulgaria are surprised with the claims of certain media in Belgrade that they oppose the opening of Chapter 23 in Serbia’s EU integration, sources from EU headquarters unofficially told Danas. “It is not true that the Romanians and Bulgarians are presently Croats’ allies when it comes to blocking Chapter 23 in negotiations between Serbia and EU. There had been objections, but as far as we know, the authorities in Bucharest and Sofia are greatly satisfied with the Action Plan for realizing the plan of national minorities, which was adopted by the Serbian government two months ago,” Danas’ interlocutors state. Contrary to this, Danas’ diplomatic sources are not optimists when it comes to the possibility of Croatia changing its position and accepting to approve the opening of Chapter 23 in June. “Due to the internal political crisis, Zagreb will most probably not soften its present requests,” sources in Brussels state.

 

REGIONAL PRESS

 

Coordination mechanism has to be harmonized (Srna)

Republika Srpska (RS) Prime Minister Zeljka Cvijanovic has voiced expectations that the authorities in B&H will very soon agree on a Coordination mechanism that respects the constitutional competencies of all levels of government in the country as one of the prerequisites for moving quicker to the EU. During a meeting with Swedish Ambassador to B&H Fredrik Schiller in Banja Luka on Monday, Cvijanovic underlined that only a valid population census harmonized with international standards was in the interest of RS and that the unilateral decision of the state Agency for Statistics could not be justified with an excuse of a quicker path to the EU. The two officials exchanged their views on the political and economic situation in RS and B&H, with the emphasis on the process of European integration, the Government’s PR office said in a press release. The common assessment was that the economic cooperation between RS and Sweden was good and that there were numerous unutilized opportunities for improvement, reads the press release.

 

Population census continues to be the main issue in B&H (Srna)

The B&H Agency for Statistics has said it will hold meetings with representatives of the International Monitoring Operation (IMO) and Eurostat later this week to define a detailed plan of activities regarding the 2013 Population and Housing Census. The B&H Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations Mirko Sarovic said that it is now the statistical offices’ turn to make decisions regarding the population census. Meanwhile, Adam Sukalo, a member of the Republika Srpska (RS) Assembly, said that there must not be divisions in RS regarding the publishing of the B&H population census results. The Chairman of the SNSD Caucus in the B&H House of Representatives Stasa Kosarac said that SNSD MPs will raise the issues of a unilateral decision of the director of the B&H Statistics Agency Velimir Jukic to introduce a single program for a population census data processing at a session of the House of Representatives scheduled for today. The Deputy Chairman of the SNSD Caucus in the B&H House of Representatives Lazar Prodanovic feels that both the government and the opposition in RS have a common goal when it comes to the decision to introduce a single methodology for a B&H population census data processing.

 

Most responsible for destiny of Bosniaks and B&H: SDA fails to solve internal troubles (Patria)

It’s been a year since 4 esteemed members of SDA submitted their requests to Bakir Izetbegovic for democratization of SDA and personnel changes. Semsudin Mehmedovic, Senad Sepic, Salko Sokolovic and Sadik Ahmetovic requested dismissal of Asim Sarajlic, known as a problematic yet the key member of SDA. They waited 4 months for Izetbegovic to receive them. And when he did, at the end of September last year, he admitted that some parts of the request were reasonable and justified. Meanwhile, the group of 4 received a 5th member – Fuad Kasumovic, former deputy Finance Minister. The group kept silent for a while, only to submit another letter some 8 months after. This time, Izetbegovic responded more promptly. He said in his response that ‘the group’ made some insulting remarks about the top of SDA, that they are ‘faceless people without courage’, that some of the are ‘proven enemies of the party’, that the ‘principles of managing the personnel politics are family and interest-based’, that the people thy bring to the party are ‘obedient yet without any knowledge and practical experience, particularly in security and economic sectors’ etc. Hard and insulting qualifications that you presented in both of your letters have not been sustained with examples, names and facts. If you call upon courage, pride and readiness to tell the truth at any cost, tell it all the way. Use names! If you are unable to do that, don't write any more letters to me that contain general accusations and disqualifications which damage reputation and power of the party in the times when stability of B&H is relying upon it, wrote back Izetbegovic. The ‘rebel group’ from SDA got furious which as a consequence had Senad Sepic read the troublesome names to FACE TV camera: Amir Zukic, Asim Sarajlic, Semsudin Dedic and Sebija Izetbegovic. The last of the names, the name of Izetbegovic's wife is related to the statement about ‘family based personnel interests’, which provided for irreconcilable differences between the two sides and set the ground for further conflict. One can only speculate how Bakir Izetbegovic could possibly solve the riddle except for by opening a discussion in SDA about throwing out the ‘rebels’ from the party. Naturally, SDA cannot render freedom to party fractions in its structure to do as they please. In all modern European parties, fractions are a common phenomenon. However, since SDA is neither European nor modern, it is unlikely to be able to reconcile any conflicting positions inside the party. Izetbegovic’s letter obviously upset the other side enough to have them hit back targeting his wife who is becoming rapidly powerful in SDA. This has only exacerbated the conflict. The key question is what is going on in SDA. Although the water seems calm on the surface, it is widely known that some things are not going well. Since their election victory, SDA has not solved one single issue of B&H. The fashion in which it has governed the country for a year and a half has shown genuine lack of capacity to instill true reforms. They maintained a status quo. Izetbegovic’s famous statement about finding employment for 100.000 people within a year has been adapted along the way; now it reads 100.000 people during a 4-year period. That figure was recently halved by Prime Minister Fadil Novalic. Mostar initiative failed, every battle for finances is lost due to the lack of development strategy, and most of the things are done on ad hoc basis. The battle against lottery games mafia has been also lost, because SDA gave in to HDZ without fight. All state battles have been lost, including the one with Dodik’s taking the funds away from Agency for Deposit Insurance without any regard for the law. At the same time, the SDA rarely reacts to any attempt to discount B&H. There was no reaction to massive disregard for B&H during Dodik’s gatherings in Banja Luka. We have rather bad security situation in B&H towns and in the entire country. We have public companies with enormous debt, empty retirement fund, and massive unemployment of inter alia 360.000 Bosniaks, whose interests should be advocated for by SDA. We have continued illegal hiring, lawless country for the most of people and rule of law for the privileged only, we have corruption and robbery at every step. The people know (SDA motto). Behind all of this is shadow of SDA of 20 years and very successful network of clients for their continued stay on the top. However, if SDA continues maintaining losers’ politics, the group of 5 may grow into a rebellious majority. Political leaders need courage for reforms. SDA lacks courage to solve even its internal problems. The question remains when Izetbegovic will include in SDA's agenda the issue of removal of ‘rebellious 5’. It is certain that he will not rush with it. He is likely to make a long break again and get in touch with 'rebels' several months from now.

 

Indictment against Croatian general for war crimes in B&H upheld (Hina)

The State Court of B&H on Monday said that it had upheld an indictment for war crimes against retired Croatian Army and Croatian Defense Council (HVO) general Zlatan Mijo Jelic who is charged, amongst else, for participating in an ethnic cleansing campaign and the persecution of Bosniak civilians in the Mostar area as part of a "strategic objective of the Croatian people." Jelic lives in Croatia and the indictment against him was raised by B&H prosecutorial authorities in late 2015. The Court’s press release notes that the indictment was confirmed on January 7, but the Court did not release this information until it was confirmed that Jelic and his defense counsel had received the decision, Hina was told. B&H prosecutorial authorities are treating Jelic as a fugitive as he is currently residing in Croatia, even though Jelic has denied these claims. "I'm a retired Croatian Army general. I have Croatian citizenship and live in Croatia. I have never been on the run because I have nothing and no one to run from," Jelic said in December 2015 when the indictment was raised. He announced then that if the indictment was upheld he would insist that the trial be conducted by the Croatian judiciary, adding that he was convinced that he would prove that all the charges against him were unfounded. The upheld indictment states that in the period between May 1993 and the beginning of March 1994, during the armed conflict between Bosniak and Croat military units in B&H, Jelic, as commander of HVO units and the defense forces in Mostar participated in organizing and executing an all-encompassing and systematic attack directed against Bosniak civilians in that town with the aim of achieving strategic objectives of the Croatian people through ethnic cleansing, unlawful detention of men in prisons and camps, taking men away for forced labor on front lines and using them as a live shield, and the forced expulsion of women, children and the elderly to territory under the control of the Army of B&H.

 

New protests in Skopje, Strumica against President’s pardoning decision (Telegraf.mk)

The civil movement Protestiram (I Protest) staged protests in Skopje and Strumica on Monday, calling once again for rescinding of President’s Gjorge Ivanov decision to pardon all of those under investigation over a wire­tapping scandal. In Skopje, the protesters as usual kicked off their march outside the offices of the Special Public Prosecution (SPO) to express their support for the institution tasked with investigating probes arising from the wiretapping scandal. This evening the protesters, part of the “Colorful Revolution”, pelted the government and parliament buildings with paint balloons. The protest in Strumica reaffirmed the demands for annulment of the pardoning decision, the Constitutional Court’s assessment of the constitutionality of the SPO establishment, setting up of a special department within the Criminal Court to process the SPO cases and inclusion of the civic sector in negotiations for putting an end to the political crisis.

 

Macedonian President: Courageous leaders who would solve crises are needed (MIA)

Courageous political leadership, restoration of faith in humanity and solidarity and a world where human rights and the right to human dignity will be respected and protected are necessary, said President Gjorge Ivanov in his address at the World Humanitarian Summit. The event is organized by the United Nations and is taking place Monday and Tuesday in Istanbul. According to Ivanov, a proactive approach is needed in order to overcome the current global challenges, through four steps. He stressed that clear rules of the game are necessary, as well as an economically just system, investment in destroyed societies and reconciliation, his cabinet said in a press release. The Macedonian President warned that the double standards suspend the international law and leave room for anarchism in international relations. “We call on the respect of the International Criminal Court, and we disregard the rulings of the International Court of Justice. I will remind you that for more than 5 years, Macedonia is waiting for the international community to respect the verdict of the highest legal authority in the world - the International Court of Justice. The double standards suspend the international law and leave room for anarchism in international relations. The alternative to international law and international order is global chaos and global ‘anti-order’,” Ivanov pointed. The chief of state noted that Macedonia was the first example of a successful and preventive diplomacy of the United Nations because it managed to avoid the military conflicts that ultimately led to the dissolution of Yugoslavia.

 

Council of EU: Debate on Macedonia postponed (MIA)

Foreign Affairs Council of the European Union on Monday night did not discuss the situation in the country despite the request from the UK and Germany this issue to be under the “Miscellaneous” at Monday’s meeting of foreign ministers of member states of the EU. Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto, after Council of the Union acknowledged that the discussion on Macedonia was postponed to 20 June because those who sought this topic to be discussed, Germany and Britain, were not present at the end of the meeting through its ministers. Therefore, the EU High Representative Federica Mogherini had postponed the discussion on the Macedonian events. “Macedonia’s issue was not on the agenda because Mogherini said that the ministers who asked for this item to be on the agenda are not present at the moment. Therefore, this discussion was postponed for the next meeting, the High Representative said. The foreign secretary of Britain, Phil Hammond was here, but he left and was not present when it came to discussing the last item “Miscellaneous” on the agenda. Germany was represented by the Minister of State Michael Roth. Therefore Mogherini asked this item to be postponed and put on the agenda for June 20, or a month from now,” Szijjarto emphasized. Although the discussion on the political crisis in Macedonia was postponed, the Hungarian Foreign minister reiterated the firm stance that his country, as a Member State of EU, has in terms of hearings in the country. “My arguments for Macedonia lie on the same principles as for Poland, and it is the honor. Macedonians made their decision. The current ruling party won four consecutive elections in Macedonia. They have not won power through the lottery, but through elections. We are always against the interference of the European Union in the internal political life of Macedonia. Always! I’ve never seen any other country in the world where the opposition party is totally against early elections. It is a very strange situation. Ruling party is ready to organize early elections, for which it has a mandate, but leading opposition party is against and it’s a really strange situation,” Szijjarto said. At the end of his statement, Peter Szijjarto said that Hungary “pays tribute to the achievement of the current ruling party in Macedonia when it comes to NATO and EU integration process”. According to him, it’s sad that the further progress of Macedonia in EU and NATO was recently slowed down and it was “not country’s fault”.

 

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

 

Border closures across the Balkans inhumane: U.N. refugee agency (Reuters, 24 May 2016)

The deal between Turkey and the European Union have sharply reduced the number of migrants crossing into Europe

The U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Monday border closures in Europe to stop migrants were inhumane and government efforts to stem the flow had averted the crisis only temporarily.
Border closures across the Balkans and a deal between Turkey and the European Union have sharply reduced the number of people crossing into Europe this year, after a million made the often perilous journey in 2015, most fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East and North Africa. "There are a lot of people patting themselves on the shoulder and saying the deal worked, the people have stopped coming: but there's more to it than that," Melissa Fleming, spokeswoman for the UNHCR, said on the sidelines of the world's first humanitarian summit.
"It has pushed the problem backwards and the problem is not yet solved." She added: "The sudden (border) closure and the action by unilateral states was inhumane vis-a-vis many vulnerable people." Under the deal between Europe and Turkey, Ankara has agreed to take back illegal migrants from Europe in return for aid, accelerated EU accession talks and visa-free travel to the bloc. EU Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Christos Stylianides acknowledged there was "room to improve" the bloc's policy on migration. "We have time in order to find this common policy," he said. Turkey has taken in nearly 3 million refugees since the start of the Syrian civil war and spent nearly $10 billion. Some aid groups say it is not a safe country for refugees. Last week, a Syrian on the Greek island of Lesbos won an appeal against a decision to forcibly return him to Turkey, successfully arguing that Turkey does not afford refugees the full protection required under the Refugee Convention, rights group Amnesty International said. An official at Greece's asylum service said the ruling was made in an individual case and was not a decision on Turkey's overall status as a safe third country. Finalisation of the EU-Turkey deal has been held up by disagreements over Turkey's anti-terrorism law, which Brussels wants brought in line with European standards. Billed as the first of its kind, the United Nations summit in Istanbul aims to develop a better response to what has been called the worst humanitarian crisis since World War Two.

 

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Media summaries are produced for the internal use of the United Nations Office in Belgrade, UNMIK and UNHQ.  The contents do not represent anything other than a selection of articles likely to be of interest to a United Nations readership.