LOCAL PRESS

 

Vucic: Serbia continues to be part of UN peacekeeping operations (Beta)

During talks with Assistant Secretary-General for peacekeeping operations, El Ghassim Wane, Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic has stated that the new Serbian government will continue to take part in the UN peacekeeping operations. Vucic said that Serbia was among the first ten countries in Europe and the leader in the region by the number of engaged army members in the UN peacekeeping operations, and that participation of Serbian soldiers contributes greatly to their training and professional development. Wane said that the United Nations appreciates Serbia’s engagement in the peacekeeping operations, as a great contribution to preservation of peace and security in the world, but pointed to the necessity of progress in the implementation of the Brussels agreement, especially when it comes to the establishment of the Community of Serb Municipalities in Kosovo and Metohija. Vucic thanked for the presence of functioning of UNMIK as the guarantor of the neutral status of international presence in Kosovo and Metohija, based on UNSCR 1244. He added that Belgrade remained committed to continuing the dialogue with Pristina. Wane conveyed to Vucic the greetings of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and congratulated him on electoral victory, adding that he was assured the new Serbian government would continue good cooperation with the United Nations in all spheres.

 

Dacic, Wane underline importance of UNMIK in Kosovo and Metohija (Tanjug)

Serbian First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic talked with Assistant Secretary General for peacekeeping operations El Ghassim Wane and underlined the importance that Serbia attaches to UNMIK’s operations in Kosovo and Metohija in the unchanged scope and with the same mandate. A special emphasis has been placed on the Serbian engagement in the UN peacekeeping operations and its concrete contribution to maintaining international peace and security, the foreign ministry said in a release.

 

Djuric and Wane discuss importance of formation of ZSO (Tanjug)

The Head of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Marko Djuric met today with Assistant Secretary-General for peacekeeping operations El Ghassim Wane and acquainted him with the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, stressing the importance of this process for regional stability. “It is necessary to return trust  and this can be done only with the implementation of the agreement of the formation of the Community of Serb Municipalities (ZSO), as the key point of the Brussels dialogue,” the Office for Kosovo and Metohija quoted Djuric as having said. Stressing the irreplaceable role of the United Nations in guaranteeing the neutral status of the international presence in Kosovo and Metohija and the implementation of UNSCR 1244, Djuric voiced content with the continued good cooperation of the Serbian government with the United Nations Office in Belgrade and UNMIK. According to him, the three-month reports of the United Nations Secretary-General are of key importance for creating an objective image on the situation in Kosovo and Metohija on the international political scene. Djuric acquainted the UN representative with the position and problems of the Serb community in Kosovo and Metohija and stressed the importance of KFOR’s presence for security in the province. The meeting was attended by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of UNMIK Zahir Tanin and the Representative of the Secretary-General and the Head of the UN Office in Belgrade Simona-Mirela Miculescu.

 

EU ambassadorial meeting in Brussels commences, soon formal unblocking (Tanjug)

The EU ambassadorial meeting has commenced in Brussels, the agenda of which is also the issue of opening Chapter 23 in the negotiations with Serbia. Tanjug’s diplomatic sources in Brussels state that Croatia had submitted written consent and that the member states should reach consensus during today’s debate for opening Chapter 23. The Dutch Presidency told Tanjug that they hoped the “constructive work on opening Chapters 23 and 24 would lead to concrete results”.

 

Ljajic: We expect proposed agreement with EAEU (Tanjug)

Serbia expects to receive a proposed free trade agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) after which talks on finalizing the text of the agreement will begin, Serbian Minister of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications Rasim Ljajic said. “We expect the talks, but at this time I really cannot say when they will begin or conclude because it does not only depend on us,” Ljajic told reporters at a conference at the National Tourism Organization of Serbia. Serbia is just one of the negotiating parties, while the EAEU consists of five nations, he said. “Our primary objective is to retain the level of trade regime liberalisation we had with Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan because 99 percent of commodities are in that regime,” Ljajic said. The other objective is to make sure that this also includes Fiat and other products - certain types of cheese, sugar, cigarettes and wine. “For sugar, cigarettes and wine, it is not realistic because the Russians have said that they have no interest to do so as they are protecting their own production, but Fiat is realistic, as are certain types of cheese. This does not only depend on Russia, but also on the other four member countries, including new members Kyrgyzstan and Armenia,” Ljajic noted, adding that such agreements are not conflicting with agreements Serbia has with the EU.

 

The Hague refuses to temporary release Karadzic (TV N1)

The Hague Tribunal, on Tuesday, refused the request of the former RS president Radovan Karadzic to be released to temporary freedom so as to attend the forty-day commemoration of his younger brother, TV N1reported. Theodor Meron, president of the International Residual

Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, the institution founded to complete the work of ICTY, refused Karadzic’s request to be temporarily released, underlining that the conditions for this had not been met. In his decision, Meron stated that Karadzic had, in his request, expressed the intention to live on the RS territory, and that the guarantees that the defendant would not flee were only provided by Serbia, and not by the RS or B&H.

 

REGIONAL PRESS

 

Cooperation with Russian companies needs to be expanded (Srna)

Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik and the delegation of St. Petersburg rated at the meeting the previous business activities of Russian companies in the RS as successful, noting that there is enough space for their improvement and expansion. The visit of the Russian delegation headed by Elgiz Kachayev to Banja Luka is a result of the agreement reached between Dodik and the Mayor of St. Petersburg Georgi Poltavchenko in April in Banja Luka.
Dodik: RS committed to original Dayton Agreement (Srna)
Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik has said at a meeting with a group of US congressmen in Banja Luka that the RS is committed to the original Dayton Agreement, thus the document should be respected, noting that the great misunderstandings in B&H started when this agreement began to change through international interventionism. Dodik expects the US to advocate more strongly the implementation of the Dayton Agreement, which has not only stopped the war, but also established the political and legal system in the country taking into account that they had an active approach in the creation of this agreement. Congressman Robert Aderholt, who headed the US delegation, opines that there is a need to bring about rapprochement of the RS stands to the Congress, as well as other relevant political institutions in the US.

 

Summit of local authorities of Europe and Asia gathering (klix.ba)

The Municipality of Novi Grad Sarajevo yesterday hosted the Summit of Local Authorities of Europe and Asia, which gathered about 150 mayors from 15 countries of Europe and Asia, members of the Union of Municipalities TDBB (The Union of Turkish World Municipalities), which was organized in B&H for the first time. The Summit was attended by mayors from the Republic of Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Northern Cyprus, Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro, Hungary, B&H, Albania and Kosovo. Besides mayors of European and Asian countries, the summit was attended by the representatives of TIKA, representatives of the Turkish Cultural Center Yunus Emre in Sarajevo, Vice-President of the FB&H, Melika Mahmutbegovic, representatives of the Canton Sarajevo, mayors of 15 municipalities in B&H and their associates, representatives of the Municipal Council and councilors of the Municipality of Novi Grad Sarajevo and other guests. The Municipality of Novi Grad Sarajevo is one of 17 members of TDBB from B&H. The cooperation started more than 2 years ago, and Mayor Semir Efendic was elected for one of the co-presidents and member of the Board of the Union in September last year. The aim of the Union is to strengthen the cooperation and exchange experiences between local communities. President of TDBB Ibrahim Karaosmanoglu said that he believes that the work done on this summit and bilateral meetings will be fruitful and will achieve quality results and new acquaintances. “We are attending this meeting as a union of municipalities with the aim to exchange experiences in the domain of local authorities. This is a good opportunity to meet each other and to make acquaintances with other municipalities in this region,” said Karaosmanoglu. TDBB was founded in 2003 and it operates with 28 member countries with more than 1,100 municipalities. B&H is, according to the Secretary General of TDBB Fahri Solak, a country where the TDBB acts most actively. The guests were hosted by mayors of municipalities Konjic, Travnik and Fojnica, which are members of the Union.

 

Moore: People in B&H are tired of rhetoric and platitude (faktor.ba)

After testifying before the US Congress in Washington, the Head of OSCE Mission in B&H Ambassador Jonathan Moore expressed his gratitude and satisfaction with the fact that the largest issue in B&H, the growing political corruption, was just discussed in the Congress.

Moore claims that this brings B&H back in the focus of the US interest with expectations that the Congress will, regardless of the election year in the USA and the change of administration in the White House, keep being engaged in B&H on the level of opening a new front for fight against all kinds of corruption. Moore said that there are two separate fields of engagement in which it must be acted in B&H in order to restrain corruption, the first being that an increasingly large number of anti-corruption cases must be processed before the court. Concretely, Moore said that the OSCE is willing to invest and increase its expertise for a more comprehensive scrutinization of prosecution processes and capacities of authorities in B&H. Secondly, good economic management across all levels of authority, with increased transparency, must become the basic principle which follows the anti-corruption fight on state and entity level. “People in B&H are tired of rhetoric and platitude. They want results,” Moore said.

 

Kovac: Croatia’s demands included in Serbia-EU negotiating process (Hina)

Croatia has ensured that its demands are included in accession negotiations between Serbia and the EU, Croatian Foreign and European Affairs Minister Miro Kovac said in Bulgaria on Tuesday. “Croatia can be pleased with its achievement. We have managed to ensure that our legitimate demands are incorporated in Serbia’s negotiating process and those demands are well known to the Croatian public: full cooperation with the Hague tribunal, full application by Serbia of national and international obligations in protecting minority rights, including the rights of the Croatian minority in Serbia, and avoiding judicial conflict in prosecuting war crimes,” Kovac told Croatian reporters on the margins of a meeting of foreign ministers of Southeast Europe Cooperation Process (SEECP) member states in Pravec, Bulgaria. “Without these criteria there can be no progress in that regard. That’s why Croatia will now give permission for work to begin on defining benchmarks for Chapters 23 and 24” in negotiations with Serbia, he said, adding that benchmarks need to be defined first. Asked how long this might take, Kovac said that this work might be completed by the end of June. “If everyone is quick enough, if all this is incorporated, it can be done by the end of June. That’s not up to us, we are already in the EU.” Kovac thanked the European Commission, Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn and the Dutch EU Presidency for their cooperation in resolving this issue.

 

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

 

NATO urged to strengthen presence in BalkansNATO leaders in Tirana welcomed (Balkan Insight, by Fatjona Mejdini, 31 May 2016)

Montenegro's membership, spoke of the need to bring Macedonia closer to the alliance - and called for a robust response to an assertive Russia.

The NATO Parliamentary Assembly, held for the past three days in Tirana, has put the Western Balkans in the spotlight and has emphasized that further improving regional security depends on continued Euro-Atlantic integration. During Monday's plenary session, the president of the NATO Assembly, Michael Turner, said the Alliance and the EU had brought security and stability to the Balkan region and had helped it to overcome the conflicts brought about by the dissolution of Yugoslavia. Turner said he also believed that Russia had started to act more aggressively, and that NATO has to raise its presence in the region to isolate the risks. "It is no secret that Russia is seeking to divide us... and Moscow believes that it is better for them to work against us and not with us," he told more than 250 officials from the 28 NATO member countries. NATO's Deputy Secretary General, Alexander Vershbow, said on Monday in Tirana that Euro-Atlantic integration was the key to stability in the Balkans, although he added that not every country in the region needed to seek NATO membership. "We respect the choices of non-member countries like Serbia, as well as Austria, Sweden, and Finland, to pursue partnership rather than membership," he said. "Neutral countries like Serbia play an important role in international peacekeeping operations and we appreciate Serbia’s contribution to the UN Missions in Cyprus and Lebanon, and to the EU missions in Africa," Vershbow said. All the speakers welcomed Montenegro's path towards soon becoming the 29th member of NATO.  "NATO membership will strengthen Montenegro’s independence, which it regained 10 years ago, and will help to ensure Montenegro’s long-term stability and security," Vershbow said. The Montenegrin Prime Minister, Milo Djukanovic, who delivered a speech in the plenary session, agreed. "NATO accession is the guarantee that Montenegro will be able to steer its own future," he said. The Albanian Prime Minister, Edi Rama, said that with Montenegro in NATO, the Adriatic was becoming an internal Alliance sea, in this way making Europe more secure. Rama also stated that other Balkan countries like Macedonia should also embrace Alliance membership in time. "We support Macedonia, like Montenegro, becoming anchored in the euro-Atlantic course," he said. "Albania is interested in this future being democratic, consolidated and prosperous," he added. On Monday, NATO leaders were urged to boost the Alliance’s collective defences to confront an increasingly assertive Russia, and ensure that any aggression is met with a rapid response and reassure those allies that feel under threat. Leaders were urged to develop a comprehensive strategy at the forthcoming NATO summit in Warsaw in July.

 

EBRD: 1 bln euro for China's projects in Western Balkans (ANSAmed, 31 May 2016) BELGRADE - Intesa Sanpaolo banking group and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will credit small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the Western Balkans with 1 billion euros in order for the enterprises to be competitive for participation in projects financed by China, the two banks announced. It is estimated that about 11 billion USD will be invested in the infrastructure projects in the Western Balkans in the coming decades. Banca Intesa Serbia executive board chairwoman Draginja Djuric said that a significant portion of the credit support of Intesa Sanpaolo and the EBRD will be placed in Serbia - where large-scale projects funded by China have already been implemented. Djuric also said that the companies that are not directly involved in China's projects, but which raise the competitiveness of the domestic economy, will be able to get the loans. Banca Intesa has approved loans worth 181 million euro to small and medium enterprises in Serbia for the first four months of this year, which is 5% more than in the same period last year.