LOCAL PRESS

 

Dacic to attend UNSC meeting on Kosovo (Tanjug)

Serbian First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic will on August 25 attend a UN Security Council session in New York. The Council will meet to discuss a regular report on the work of the UN mission in Kosovo, UNMIK, filed by the UN secretary-general, and covering the period between April 16 and July 1. Dacic will "assess the report and present Serbia's views on the situation in Kosovo and Metohija and the work of UNMIK," Tanjug reported on Wednesday, quoting a statement issued by the Serbian Foreign Ministry. Earlier in the week, Beta quoted Ban Ki-moon's new report as stating that no major progress had been made in the implementation of the agreements reached by Belgrade and Pristina, while the two parties were exchanging recriminations for their failure to deliver. The UN chief also reported that he was "still concerned over a wavering political focus on crucial issues, and because long-term priorities had been neglected over party interests." Ban "reconfirmed their commitment to the dialogue, but he also urged Belgrade's and Pristina's leaders to demonstrate fresh creativity, flexibility and a readiness for compromise, in order to make progress in the dialogue that would benefit all of the involved parties, and set Kosovo and the region on the path to stability and development." There were no high-level meetings during the period covered by the report, even though four technical meetings took place, the Secretary-general concluded in the report. Pristina insists that Belgrade has blocked the implementation of agreements on energy, telecommunications and the opening of the Kosovska Mitrovica bridge, while Belgrade is arguing that Pristina is making it impossible to set up the Community of Serb Municipalities, and is hindering Kosovo's efforts to join international organizations, which affects the atmosphere of the dialogue, Ban Ki-moon concluded in his report. The report also notes several incidents at religious and cultural sites.

 

Office for Kosovo condemns attack on RTK, demands attackers be found (Beta)

The Office for Kosovo and Metohija on Aug. 23 condemned a hand grenade attack on the Radio and Television of Kosovo (RTK), which includes departments in Albanian, Serbian and other languages, and demanded that the attackers be identified. The office also said that in the atmosphere of expanding political and religious extremism in Kosovo, international institutions and the Pristina authorities had to invest additional effort to preserve fragile stability in the region. The Journalists' Association of Serbia in Kosovo has also condemned the attack on Kosovo's public service and called on relevant bodies to find and punish the perpetrators. In the evening on Aug. 22, unknown persons activated an explosive device outside the RTK building. No one was injured in the attack.

 

Merkel: Important tasks ahead for Vucic (B92)

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has congratulated Aleksandar Vucic on his election as Serbian Prime Minister. She "affirmed the German government's future support for Serbia and noted that important tasks - continuation of reforms, regional reconciliation and normalization of relations with Kosovo - were ahead for him." The German federal government will also in the future strongly assist your country and continue to support you on the European path, Merkel wrote in her congratulatory message. She noted she was pleased with her meeting with Vucic on the sidelines of a July 4 Western Balkans conference in Paris, adding that she would be very glad to continue the close cooperation with him, the Press Office of the Government of Serbia said in a statement.

 

Nazarbayev decorates Nikolic with Order of Friendship (Tanjug)

President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev on Wednesday decorated Serbian counterpart Tomislav Nikolic with the Order of Friendship. During the ceremony in Belgrade, Nazarbayev noted Serbia was Kazakhstan's great friend and partner in Europe, Tanjug reported. Kazakhstan is a rich country and we are keen on cooperating with you, Nazarbayev said at the decoration ceremony. He said he would discuss with Serbian officials all political problems in the region and worldwide. You have expressed a readiness and a wish that we strengthen our friendship and cooperation, you always support us and that is why I passed a decree to award you the Order of Friendship, Nazarbayev told Nikolic. Nikolic said the friendship between the two countries and nations should be transformed into relations bringing better life to citizens. "Serbia has many friends worldwide, and we count Kazakhstan among the greater ones," he said. Nazarbayev arrived in Serbia on Tuesday afternoon and officially started his three-day visit on Wednesday.

 

Belgrade, Zagreb "must solve issues without confrontation" (Tanjug)

There is "a need to ease tensions and remove a burden on communication between Belgrade and Zagreb," Aleksandar Vucic and Milorad Pupovac have said. The Serbian Prime Minister and the head of the Serb National Council in Croatia met in Belgrade on Tuesday. Vucic "noted the Serbian government's and his own commitment to solving all issues in bilateral relations through dialogue between the two countries without public confrontations," Tanjug reported. Thanking Vucic, Pupovac "conveyed the support of the ethnic Serb community in Croatia for a calming of the present public tensions." He also "backed Vucic's readiness to meet with Croatian officials as soon as possible, noting the political significance and benefits of his recent meeting with Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic on the position of the Serb and Croat minorities in Croatia and Serbia, respectively."

 

Seselj: I'll head to Croatia with my new diplomatic passport (Tanjug)

SRS party leader Vojislav Seselj claims that he has been issued with a diplomatic passports, and plans to use it to visit Croatia. Seselj, who is a people's deputy (member) of the National Assembly of Serbia, says he wants to meet with Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic. "It's true that I have received a diplomatic passport. I received it based on being the main opposition leader, the chief of the largest opposition group in the Assembly of Serbia," he told Tanjug on Tuesday. The reason for his planned trip to Zagreb, he also revealed, was "to get involved a bit" in the election campaign under way in Croatia. Asked "what kind of reactions he expected," Seselj replied: "We'll see. There are probably people who won't like me arriving in Zagreb, but I think a huge majority will give me a cordial welcome."

Asked whether he was been entrusted with some "mission abroad" - considering that a decree on diplomatic and official passports stipulates a National Assembly deputy can be issued with this type of travel document for the said reason - Seselj said that he "does have a mission" - but of the kind that he is unwilling to reveal to the public. "I'm a famous missionary," he said jokingly. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, meanwhile, is yet to confirm that the SRS leader has indeed been given a diplomatic passport. Seselj has also tweeted the news, posting the following message: "I have received a diplomatic passport. I'll soon go to Zagreb. I hope that Croatian authorities will not hinder me in any way, as a respectable Serbian diplomat."

 

Croatian PM: Seselj will be arrested if he tries to enter Croatia (Tanjug)

If he comes he will be arrested, says outgoing Croatian PM. “Seselj will be arrested if he tries to enter Croatia”, announced the outgoing Croatian Prime Minister Tihomir Oreskovic on Tuesday. “We all know that Seselj is a persona non grata in Croatia and according to this definition he is not welcome, and if he does come, he will be arrested”, Oreskovic said. The Croatian Interior Ministry (MUP) had, in March, when Seselj announced for the first time that he would travel to Zagreb, banned his possible entry into Croatia because of the danger of endangering the public order. MUP at the time informed the border control to issue Seselj the decision on refusing his entry to Croatia in the event that he should appear at some of the border crossings. The Croatian Law on foreigners foresees the possibility of refusing entry into Croatia on the grounds of endangering the public order of Croatia, national security or public health.

 

Will Belgrade dissuade Dodik from referendum (Politika)

Commenting on most recent claims that European officials might ask Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic to make an influence on Republika Srpska (RS) President Milorad Dodik and dissuade him from holding of the referendum, Vladimir Trapara from the Institute for International Politics and Economy of Serbia said that he thinks Vucic will not have to persuade Dodik this time to change his mind with regard to holding of the referendum on the RS Day on September 25. Trapara explained that the topic of the referendum is not very important and it has a rather symbolic character. At the same time, Trapara said that those who advocate prevention of the referendum are actually those who see it as the announcement of some future referendum and “they do not want the RS to decide on those matters”. President of the Center for Strategic Alternative Aleksandar Mitic shared a similar view and said that pressures on Banja Luka and Belgrade have two goals. According to Mitic, one goal is to test the credibility of the RS leadership to persist in stopping of 20-years long destroying of its competencies and the other is to test the new Government of Serbia to see if it is willing to endure provocations and exert pressure on the RS. Commenting on the stance of HDZ B&H leader Dragan Covic that the RS has the right to present its opinion on matters important to it, Mitic said that “interests of Croats in Bosnia are somewhat identical to interests of the RS. Therefore, Banja Luka would probably support them (Croats) in getting their entity”.

 

NUNS criticizes Vucic for unsubstantiated accusations of RTS journalists (VIP, Danas)

The Independent Association of Journalists of Serbia (NUNS) stated that the manner in which Prime Minister Vucic spoke about the RTS journalists at the press conference on Monday was “highly inappropriate” and called on the Prime Minister to, in public communication, show “a higher level or responsibility for the culture of speech”. In its announcement, NUNS stated that the completely unsubstantiated claims that the journalists of the public service were “spreading hatred” and that certain RTS editors were “political figures”, represented a direct pressure on the editorial policy of that media, which is forbidden by domestic laws and international conventions on the freedom of media. “I am even embarrassed to talk of some people in the public service. All the citizens pay them so that they can spread hatred towards individuals or the government just because we do not think like them”, Vucic said, among other, on Monday.

NUNS add that the Prime Minister had, with the statement that he was refusing to appear on RTS for four or five months now, demonstrated lack of responsibility even concerning his obligation towards the public. “A Prime Minister of a well-ordered, democratically inclined state, is obligated to address the public via media without any discrimination. It is particularly unacceptable for the highest state official in executive power to publically discriminate the national public service.

Concern about the unprofessionalism of the media and possible sanctions lays in the authority of the regulatory and self-regulatory bodies not the executive authorities”, states the announcement. NUNS again called on the Prime Minister to demonstrate a higher level of responsibility for the culture of speech in his public communications. “With his inappropriate expressions at the press conference Vucic, in fact, contributes to the tabloidization of the public scene which promotes an insulting manner of public address, inappropriate and dangerous for a free, democratic society”, NUNS stated.

Danas daily writes that during his speech on Monday, “Vucic left an impression that is inappropriate for his function. Using street language, the PM launched an onslaught on “some kind of” opposition, “some kind of” opponents on social networks, some people who hate our athletes and sport successes, although it remains unclear why would anyone hate success and athletes”.

“The tone and language of the Premier cannot be described as decent conduct, or as an example of tolerance and culture of dialogue. This is not a contribution to lowering of tensions and division either. It is entirely the contrary. Decent people don’t use such language and tone of voice”, writes the commentator. “And there’s worse. The fact that such behavior of the PM has not been caused by the moment and that it was not something that just got away is the cause of even more concern.

His appearance and topic had been announced a day earlier. He could have found a way to utter these sentences within the limit of correctness, but he opted for the opposite: to insult, to settle scores.

Not to mention that there is more important work to be done than settle scores with exhibitionists on social networks”, Danas wrote.

 

Mt. Kopaonik: Leftover NATO bomb injures deminer (Vecernje novosti)

Gluhovic, who comes from Pale, Republika Srpska (RS), is now receiving medical treatment in Belgrade's military clinic VMA, the daily Vecernje Novosti is reporting. In the meanwhile, an investigation is under way to determine how the explosion occurred. The device in question - which the newspaper identified as "an MK4 bomb" - was found in a turf of grass and exploded in Gluhovic's hands. The deminer has numerous injuries to his head, arms, legs, and elsewhere on his body, with his eyes seriously injured and his eyesight now in danger. Gluhovic's colleagues on Mt. Kopaonik told the daily he was now feeling better, and that they hoped the consequences of the injuries would be as few as possible. Experienced deminer Boban Kundrac, who was at Pancic's Peak "the whole time NATO's planes rained containers with cluster bombs" during the alliance's 1999 war against Serbia, said that the areas has "for the most part" been cleared of unexploded bombs.

 

Stefanovic, Scott on fight against organized crime (Beta, Tanjug)

Serbian Minister of Interior Affairs Nebojsa Stefanovic and U.S. Ambassador to Serbia Kyle Scott met in Belgrade on Aug. 23 to discuss the fight against organized crime and terrorism. A Ministry statement said that Stefanovic and Scott talked about the further specialization of Interior Ministry employees which would be done "through different programs the U.S. government is implementing in Serbia."

 

REGIONAL PRESS

 

Decision on a coordination mechanism adopted (Srna)

The Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) Council of Ministers adopted a decision on a coordination mechanism in the B&H’s European integration process. The decision defines an institutional and operative system and a way of coordination between B&H institutions in implementing activities in connection with the B&H’s accession to the EU, and joint bodies within the coordination system, their composition, jurisdictions and mutual relations, says a press release from the B&H Council of Ministers. The coordination of the European integration process means activities that are implemented with the aim of securing as greater a harmonization and coherence as possible in the work of institutions at all government levels in B&H in connection with the meeting of obligations from the Stabilisation and Association Agreement between the European Communities and their member states and B&H, and other obligations from the European integration process. The coordination system regulates a way of communication between institutions in B&H, with the aim of presenting to the EU institutions harmonized positions on behalf of B&H. The decision establishes a system of vertical coordination, that is, a coordination between various government levels in B&H, for which purpose joint implementation bodies will be established that would include all government levels in B&H.

 

Dodik: Izetbegovic radicalizing situation needlessly (Srna)

Republika Srpska (RS) President Milorad Dodik stated on Tuesday that Bakir Izetbegovic, the Bosniak member of the Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) Presidency, is further “radicalizing” the situation in the country without any apparent reason.

In a statement for Srna, Dodik recalls that RS has celebrated its RS Day for almost two decades without any obstacles and now Izetbegovic finds it appropriate to launch an initiative to abolish the whole thing, which has been done by the Constitutional Court where two judges, previously vice-presidents of Izetbegovic’s party, the Party of Democratic Action (SDA), and three foreigners made such a decision.

“This is now a child’s play where they are trying to prove that the Court’s decision has to be complied with regardless of the extent of outvoting. If the B&H Constitutional Court were indeed a constitutional court, it would not be composed the way it is,” Dodik pointed out.

Commenting on Izetbegovic’s promise that he would lodge an application to the B&H Constitutional Court for the resolution of the dispute between B&H and RS to demand a temporary measure to put the RS National Assembly’s decision on RS Day referendum on hold, Dodik stressed that “Izetbegovic is not B&H,” but merely a Bosniak member of the Presidency and nothing more.

“It is perfectly clear that the Bosniaks have manipulated the international community too for its own political goals, and of course, the Constitutional Court as well, which has repeatedly made decisions that were the result of outvoting,” noted Dodik, adding that only the “stupid or gullible” could believe in good intentions of the institution occupied by the former SDA vice-presidents, who adjudicate about what needs to be done in RS or not.

The RS President reiterated that the RS Day referendum will take place on September 25, expressing conviction that the international factor or the Constitutional Court in this case will not succumb to political pressures.

“If they do, having in mind that we will hold the referendum under such circumstances, they will obviously send a message to radical Islamic groups that they can launch an array of activities that might threaten stability. We have the information that it is only a matter of time before the international community or the Constitutional Court issues a measure in that way,” Dodik told Srna. Therefore, he said, the international factor and B&H Constitutional Court would be in the position of directly supporting terrorist activities in the future.

“The matter is very clear. We haven’t heard a single serious, formal or substantive remark challenging the referendum issue and holding of the vote,” said Dodik. He submitted that Bosniak politicians created paranoia by “talking about some distant options in the future.”

Dodik said that just like in all other referendums, the possible answers in the RS Day referendum question “Do you support the idea of January 9 celebrated as RS Day” are “Yes” or “No”, and that before the public gave any answer, the Bosniaks found it appropriate to “go into battle” because they believe that the very launching of the instrument called referendum will bring about a dissolution of B&H. According to Dodik, exactly the way the Bosniaks work, and in general, the attempts to abuse the body such as the Constitutional Court and the violence by the international community – is the best way to tear B&H apart.

“The doings of Bakir Izetbegovic along the lines of ‘let’s abolish RS Day and the people in RS will shut up’ is never going to happen. Only the stupid or gullible can trust the good intentions of someone abolishing RS Day having a clear plan to send a message that RS has never been created and therefore doesn’t exist,” said Dodik.

“This is all a part of a scenario that has never ceased to exist – the centralization and Unitarianism in B&H. We will definitely not be a part of such B&H. It can be centralized or unitarised only from Sarajevo via Zenica to Tuzla, and that’s all they can centralize, nothing more,” said the RS President.

 

Ambassador of the Russian Federation to B&H: tensions over a referendum need to be reduced (Srna)

The Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H), Petr Ivantsov, said that Russia was not of the opinion that the expression of the will of the people about an issue that was of great important for it was illegal, stressing that tensions over a referendum on Republika Srpska (RS) Day need to be reduced. “As you know, I have already spoken about the referendum and we wanted to discuss it at a session of the Peace Implementation Council (PIC). I feel that tensions over this issue should be reduced,” Ivantsov told reporters. He added that he would have an opportunity to speak in more details about this issue after a session of the PIC which might be held after consultations conducted by the OHR. Even though the High Representative to B&H, Valentin Inzko, announced earlier that a session of the PIC dedicated to a referendum on RS Day on September 25 would be held yesterday, the OHR later announced that the session had been postponed because of consultations that were underway.

 

Inzko: There are disagreements among PIC members regarding the referendum in RS (RTRS)

The High Representative Valentin Inzko confirmed in a statement to RTRS that there are divided stances regarding the issue of the referendum on the Republika Srpska (RS) Day among the Peace Implementation Council (PIC) member states. Inzko said that he had to cancel the PIC’s session dedicated to this issue scheduled to take place on Tuesday due to confronted stances of the PIC ambassadors, stressing that he expects the session to take place at the beginning of next week. “PIC will hold the ambassadors’ meeting most likely next Tuesday. We are still working on a joint statement, which is slow due to different stances”, Inzko said in a statement issued on Tuesday. Russia has already issued the dissenting opinion, while Russian Ambassador to B&H Petr Ivantsov reiterated on Tuesday the Moscow’s stance that the RS has the right to hold the referendum and the international community must not be an obstacle to the will of one nation. RTRS learns unofficially that along with Russia, the Ambassadors of Germany and Greece are also against discussion on the referendum in the RS. Asked to comment on this information, representatives of the German Embassy to Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) refused to take a stance on this issue. The reporter reminded that B&H Presidency Chairman and SDA leader Bakir Izetbegovic is the one who caused the political crisis in B&H after he filed an appeal with the Constitutional Court (CC) of B&H to review the constitutionality of January 9 as the RS Day, and he now calls the intentional community for help.

 

Preda, Pack call on Vucic to persuade Dodik that referendum on RS Day is against DPA (N1)

European Parliament (EP) Rapporteur on Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) Cristian Dan Preda stated on Tuesday that the referendum advocated by Republika Srpska (RS) President Milorad Dodik is against the Dayton Peace Accords (DPA). He called on Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic to intervene and persuade Dodik that the referendum on the RS Day is not a good thing. Former MEP Doris Pack also called on Vucic to intervene, stressing that he should explain Dodik that the referendum is not in line with the DPA and holding of the referendum would actually undermine the DPA.

 

Izetbegovic to file motion with B&H CC to settle dispute between B&H and RS (TV1)

Leader of SDA and Chairman of the Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) Presidency Bakir Izetbegovic announced on Tuesday that he will forward a motion to the Constitutional Court (CC) of B&H for the settlement of dispute between B&H and Republika Srpska (RS) incurred after the RS National Assembly (RSNA) failed to implement the CC's decision on unconstitutionality of the Day of the RS and called a referendum on this issue. Izetbegovic underlined that with this, the RS called a final and binding decision into question. "I will also ask for ordering of provisional measure and for putting this referendum on hold, i.e. a ban on holding of the referendum... I think that it is irresponsible and unfair to incite people, based on emotions, to vote on something which they cannot vote on. The B&H CC's decision is final and binding," Izetbegovic underlined. HDZ B&H leader and Croat member of the B&H Presidency Dragan Covic, on the other hand, said that he does not believe referendum on the Day of the RS will be banned. "I believe that there is no point in banning it. Referendum is a form where people state their opinion on a matter in a democratic way," Covic stressed, adding that the referendum cannot in any way obstruct the position of the B&H CC. "Date of the referendum was not chosen by accident and it is all in the function of local elections. In my opinion, these are not that important issues so that one starts speaking about war in B&H," Covic underlined. SBB B&H leader Fahrudin Radoncic said that he fears "RS President Milorad Dodik brought us in a position of a political adventure which, among other things, means that we are leading his election campaign in the Serb electorate in the RS free of charge." "He got the tension he needed ahead of the elections. As far as we are concerned, we expect to exit this situation with the help of legal and political means in a way that this does not have an impact on perspective, stability and security of B&H on its European path," Radoncic stressed.

 

Durakovic: I will not allow implementation of RS Day referendum in Srebrenica (FTV)

After Principal Deputy High Representative (PDHR) Bruce Berton banned holding referendum on the Republika Srpska (RS) Day in Brcko District area, Head of Srebrenica Municipality Camil Durakovic also announced that he will not allow this referendum to take place in Srebrenica because that would be a violation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) Constitution. Namely, Durakovic passed a decision (Note: Not indicated when, presumably on Tuesday) not to allow formation of municipal commission for implementation of the RS Day referendum in Srebrenica. “As long as I am Head of this municipality, I will not appoint any commissions that would implement illegal activities. That is my clear and final stance. We will see how competent authorities of this entity will act”, Durakovic noted. Representatives of Serb political parties in Srebrenica pointed out that they learned about Durakovic’s decision only from the media, but they deem that it will not manage to prevent holding referendum in this municipality either way. Speaker of the Assembly of Srebrenica Municipality Milos Milovanovic stated: “No one can ban implementation of referendum in Srebrenica because it is an integral part of the RS. Therefore, not even Mr. Durakovic can ban it.”

 

Croatian FM tells Serbian PM to present list of warrants against Croats (Hina)

Croatian Foreign and European Affairs Minister Miro Kovac on Tuesday sent a message to Serbia's Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic that if he decides to attend the Dubrovnik Forum later this week, he should by all means bring a list of warrants issued by Serbia against Croatian citizens for alleged war crimes. We still don't know whether Vucic is coming to the Forum in Dubrovnik, Kovac told reporters in parliament after a memorial session marking Remembrance day for the victims of totalitarian regimes.

"If he decides to come, he should absolutely bring with him the list of those Croats, citizens of Croatia, suspected, charged or convicted in absentia and those for whom warrants have been issued. He needs to bring those lists with him and hand them over to Croatian authorities," Kovac said. Asking whether Tihomir Oreskovic's invitation to Vucic to come to Dubrovnik was a good move, Kovac said, "Prime Minister Oreskovic invited him like he did many other prime ministers and he (Vucic) didn't respond until yesterday, two and a half weeks after the RSVP deadline." Kovac added that Serbia's Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic had also been invited to the forum yet he hasn't responded at all. Relations between Croatia and Serbia have been at a very low level over the past few weeks, following an interchange of notes and rhetoric. Vucic said on Monday night that he probably won't be attending the forum, adding that he didn't expect much to result from it.

"I haven't decided yet because I don't see that anything important can come of it. However, I'm always prepared for talks," he said. Speaking about Remembrance day of all totalitarian regimes, Minister Kovac said that Croatia had no yet reached that level to fight against all totalitarianism and that that was an important step for Croatia to face up to its past because that is essential in order to turn to the future.

 

PM's participation in Croatia Forum "doesn't make sense" (Jutarnji list, RTL)

Head of Croatia's caretaker government Tihomir Oreskovic says the arrival of Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic to Dubrovnik "does not make sense". He explained this position by stating that the format of the Croatia Forum gathering in Dubrovnik - which Vucic would have attended - has changed, and that it no longer includes the Prime Ministers' panel. "It is important to put this invitation in context. We invited Premier Vucic a month and a half ago. Relations were different then. I think the deadline to receive his response to the invitation was July 29. But, we heard it for the first time yesterday that Vucic was not coming," said Oreskovic. He also told the RTL Danas broadcaster that the summit has changed its format "during the past 20 days," the Zagreb daily Jutarnji List is reporting."We told Vucic we will not have the prime ministers' panel. I see no sense in Vucic coming. But I hope we will find out today or tomorrow," said Oreskovic. The Beta agency reported on Wednesday it learned that Vucic would not travel to Dubrovnik. Speaking during a news conference on Monday, the prime minister confirmed that he had received an invitation. "I have not yet made a final decision, only because I can't see what we could do, substantially. But I'm always ready to talk," said Vucic, and stressed that "Serbia will be able to deliver everything that has been promised and agreed on" during the visit of Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic to Serbia's northern province of Vojvodina.

 

Plenkovic: Ideological rows consequence of SDP-led government decisions (Hina)

Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) leader Andrej Plenkovic said on Tuesday that current ideological debates in Croatian society were the result of the Social Democratic Party (SDP)-led coalition government's decisions such as the revocation of the Croatian Sabor's sponsorship of the commemoration of the Bleiburg atrocities. Secondly, the adoption of the law dubbed Lex Perkovic sent a "very poor message" and we staged a walkout in the Sabor which is why lawmakers did not adopt a declaration on Croatia's membership to the European Union, which resulted in damage to Croatia's international position, Plenkovic said.

Everything else that followed is consequential to those two moves and I, as the new leader of the HDZ, turned to the future, want these topics to find their place in such a way that will contribute to the truth and reconciliation in Croatian society, Plenkovic said in parliament after a commemoration observing the European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism. These topics are exceptionally important for all countries in one-time Eastern Europe to face up to the past, countries that didn't experience democracy in the wake of 1945.

It is important that society, political parties, the academic community and historians research these topics soberly and in detail to determine the truth and in that way we will be able to head into the future, he added.

Commenting on insulting comments by HDZ candidate Stevo Culej against ethnic Roma MP Veljko Kajtazi, Plenkovic said no inappropriate rhetoric will be tolerated and that an apology was due.

 

Luksic gave up trying to succeed Ban Ki-moon (CDM)

The candidate of the Government of Montenegro for UN Secretary General Igor Luksic informed the president of the United Nations General Assembly Mogens Lykketoft and the president of the Security Council of the UN Ramlan Bin Ibrahim that he was withdrawing his candidacy for the position of secretary general. In a letter to senior representatives of the UN, Luksic pointed out that it was a great pleasure to participate in the process in which he got the chance to transparently present concrete measures and innovations to improve the interoperability of the UN.

“Given the complexity of the international context, the next secretary general will face with the task of ensuring that the UN system is suitable for this purpose. Multilateral program has been considerably improved with the existence of a significant number of prominent international agreements and resolutions”, Luksic said. He pointed out that it was important in the coming period to focus on the implementation of the plan, trying to motivate young people to perceive the work of the UN as a “road sign towards a better future”.

“In this regard, I am sure that further investment in restoring confidence and development will contribute to peace, security and human rights”, Luksic said in a letter to the UN.

He hopes that for the sake of equality of all regions in the framework of the United Nations, the argument Eastern Europe will prevail when it comes to the final decision.

So the race for the new UN Secretary General continues without the Montenegrin candidate. Portuguese Antonio Guterres got the greatest support, but two countries did not support his candidacy. The former Serbian foreign minister Vuk Jeremic is immediately behind him. His candidacy was supported by eight countries, four countries did not support his candidacy, whereas three of them abstained. The only woman among the leading candidates is Susana Malcorra, who has eight votes of support, and six against. The candidates are also former Macedonian Foreign Minister Srdjan Kerim, Natalija German from Moldova, New Zealander Helen Clark, Slovak Miroslav Lajcak and Christian Figueres from Costa Rica.

 

FYROM: Elections likely as foreign ambassadors urge political leaders to make decision (Telegraf.mk)

On Tuesday or Wednesday, the State Election Commission is supposed to approve the report on the registration of disputable voters, who had 2 weeks to attest their identity and place of residence.

Out of 39,502 voters, about 9,000 registered. According to amendments to the Electoral Code, the rest should be removed from the Electoral Roll. But they will get one more chance to register before elections, and this will be during the review. DUI and DPA are dissatisfied with the whole procedure since most of the disputable voters are ethnic Albanians from the first and sixth electoral unit.

It is speculated that most of these voters whose right to vote will be denied are going to appeal to the Administrative Court which will hinder the electoral process and deadlines.

Another condition for holding elections, which is media regulation, is already realizing. On Tuesday, the fifth member of the ad hoc body, that will start monitoring media 100 days before elections, is supposed to be elected. What remains is for the opposition to suggest an editor in chief of the state broadcaster.

If Nikola Gruevski, Zoran Zaev, Ali Ahmeti and Menduh Thaci come to an agreement at the August 31 leader meeting then elections will be held on December 11. According to the Przino Agreement, a 100 days before elections SDSM will become part of the technical government with ministerial positions in the Interior Ministry, and deputy ministers in the Agriculture Ministry, Finance Ministry and the Ministry of Information Society and Administration.

 

UN, European Union and World Bank Join Forces to Help Macedonia Flood Victims (Telegraf.mk)

The European Union and the World Bank, together with the UN agencies in the country, have responded swiftly to the Government’s request for assistance in addressing the damage caused by the devastating floods that hit the country earlier this month. In addition to ongoing emergency relief efforts, a joint team of experts in disaster recovery from the EU, the UN and the World Bank have been deployed on the ground to work with national counterparts to identify the causes of the floods and assess their impact on communities and the broader economy, EU, WB and UN agencies in the country say Tuesday in a joint press release.

 

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

 

Serbia: About two million square meters mined (BIRN)

It is suspected that mines are located in the area of about two million square meters, cluster monition on the territory of about three million square meters, while air bombs – rockets are located in more than 150 locations, it was announced by the Mine Action Center. “According to data from August 2016 so far space of about 20 million square meters has been cleared of mines and unexploded ordnance,” said the center in its statement. On the occasion of the fact that few days ago, during the works on the project of humanitarian demining and clearing of land surfaces, a member of the center was badly injured during the destruction of bombs from NATO bombing in 1999 on Kopaonik, Mine Action Center said that works on the project have been terminated and that a Commission was formed to determine how accident occurred.

 

Over 103,000 migrants transited Serbia since January (ANSAmed)

Despite the closing of the Balkan route in recent months, the flow of migrants from the Middle East to Serbia continues, Labour and Social Affairs Minister Aleksandar Vulin said Tuesday. Vulin is in charge of dealing with the migrant emergency in the country. Speaking in Presevo along the country's southern border with Macedonia, where the head of UNHCR in Serbia Hans-Friedrich Schodder inaugurated a new wing extension for the local reception center, Vulin said that most of the migrants enter Serbia illegally from Bulgaria and Macedonia. He noted that over 103,500 migrants had crossed through the country since January 1, over 5,000 had been pushed back and 356 traffickers have been reported to the authorities for trying to aid an abet illegal border crossing. Vulin added that over 7,300 migrants had filed asylum requests in Serbia, though most of them did so only to regularize their temporary stay in the country before heading to Western Europe. The new pavilion unveiled on Tuesday can accommodate another 650 migrants in the Presevo reception center, which will thus be able to house an overall 1,500 people. Some 520 migrants and refugees are currently staying in the center. (ANSAmed).