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LOCAL PRESS

Nikolic: Openly about chapters; we will never recognize independent Kosovo (B92/Beta)

Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic has reiterated that Serbia will never recognize an independent Kosovo, that it will join the EU without conditioning, and that the citizens, as negotiating chapters open, will be informed about everything. “We have nothing to hide, and as the agreement with Kosovo and Metohija will probably permeate all chapters, we will not hide that,” said Nikolic. Asked whether the EU was hiding something in the negotiating process, Nikolic responded: “Brussels for itself - we for ourselves, our road is common. Serbia will be in the EU without conditioning, the way it has done so far, by fulfilling its obligations so that its citizens live better.” 

Vulin expects understanding regarding screening of Chapter 35 (Tanjug)

The screening on Chapter 35 is underway in Brussels and when it comes to Serbia’s accession talks with the EU, this chapter pertains to the normalization of Belgrade-Pristina relations. The Serbian delegation is headed Serbian Minister without Portfolio in charge of Kosovo and Metohija Aleksandar Vulin and Serbian President’s Advisor Marko Djuric. Vulin has stated that he expects that Serbian legitimate interests will be respected. “We expect to have complete understanding and good will on the other side,” said Vulin prior to the meeting. Asked to reveal some details regarding Chapter 35, he said it would not be correct.

Belgrade counts on new political elite (Danas)

Who should resolve the almost dramatic security situation in the northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica that, after perennial phantom throwing of bombs, planting of explosives, beating and other incidents, culminated last week with the murder of the councilor of the Independent Liberal Party (SLS) in the new Kosovo municipality of north Mitrovica Dimitrije Janicijevic. Even though official Pristina is forcing the idea on the “criminal north” where it wishes to introduce order and Kosovo laws, Serb political leaders in north Kosovo and Metohija claim that the key for resolving the Mitrovica security problems is in Belgrade. Momir Stojanovic, deputy of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) and member of the parliamentary committees for Kosovo and Metohija, defense and internal issues, tells Danas that the root of the problem are “interest criminal groups” that official Belgrade can sanction “only in dialogue with the provisional institutions in Pristina and international representatives.” “Belgrade can help in two ways in increasing security in north Kosovo and Metohija. The first thing is change of the political elite and Serb leaders in the north. These personnel changes should ensure new leaders who will closely cooperate with Belgrade and conduct a compromise policy with Pristina. The second is for Belgrade, in agreement with the provisional institutions in Pristina and international representatives, to undertake measures for controlling illegal criminal acts,” says Stojanovic. Oliver Ivanovic, the leader of the SDP Citizens Initiative, tells Danas: “Serbia has unlimited possibilities to react and it had demonstrated on several occasions that it can do this when it wants. The problem is that there is no political will to resolve the general security situation in the northern part of Mitrovica. The atmosphere here is not normal for people who would like to raise children. This situation could cause new departure. There are three possibilities before the Serbs in Kosovska Mitrovica: to stay here because the Albanians have not managed to expel them for all these years, to arm themselves and return with the same measure or for the state to resolve the current situation together with EULEX and the Kosovo Police Service.” The Chairman of the Serb National Council (SNV) for northern Kosovo and Metohija Milan Ivanovic tells Danas: “The incidents have intensified since the intrusion of the Rosa special units at the end of July 2011 after Belgrade-Pristina negotiations on the customs seal stopped. Bringing unrest to the main Serb center in Kosovo and Metohija was supposed to cause a psychosis of fear and uncertainty. The attempt to declare northern Mitrovica a criminal zone, because the people here opposed any integration into the Kosovo system, was aimed at breaking resistance and causing ethnic cleansing. We were especially besmirched by the media with falsified data. According to UNMIK reports, there is less crime in the north of Kosovo and Metohija, and it is smaller compared to other parts of Serbia.”

Who is delaying investigation into the fate of missing Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija? (Radio Serbia)

With relief and hope, the families of the kidnapped and missing Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija received news that the EU special investigation team headed by Clint Williamson completed the investigation into human organ trafficking in Kosovo. However, the news was quickly denied, which disappointed Serb families who, for a decade already, have not managed to find out what happened to their loved ones. The Coordinator of the Association of Families of the Kidnapped and Missing Serbs from Kosovo and Metohija Milorad Trifunovic told Radio Serbia that for 15 years, they have been tilting at windmills and having no information about the fate of the Serbs kidnapped and missing during the war in Kosovo. “There is only one truth, and the fate of those kidnapped must be found out, while those responsible for it must be identified and punished. Day by day, we are losing hope that the European Commission will ever announce what really happened with the members of our families. The truth is just like the one Dick Marty presented to the European Parliament in his report which the Parliament adopted. We hoped that head of the EU investigation team Williamson would confirm Marty’s findings which clearly indicated how the crimes were committed and who the possible perpetrators were. But denial and an explanation that the committee is still working on the investigation was shocking news to us, said Trifunovic. He warns that for a long time now nothing has happened about the investigation into locations in Kosovo and Metohija where, based on reliable information, buried were bodies, which are suspected to be the remains of the kidnapped and missing Serbs . “After the location of Zilivode near Obilic a fire was set last year, not a single location with potential bodies of Serb victims has been explored.” Trifunovic claims that families of the kidnapped have no indication as to when these activities might be resumed, although they have given all the information about potential locations to Brussels and EULEX commissions on missing persons. Nobody is doing anything about it, Trifunovic underlines. Analyst Fatmir Seholi is one of the few Albanians arguing in favor of the stand that the truth about organ trafficking should be learnt as soon as possible whatever it may be. “As an Albanian, I want to know the truth about everything that happened here at the time. Even if the truth was bitter and we have to deal with it as well as with all the other events that occurred in this region during the war. And those who have committed these crimes must be brought to justice regardless of their nationality. Only then will society move forward,” says Seholi.

REGIONAL PRESS

Sorensen: Elections are necessary for all (Srna)

The Head of the EU Delegation in B&H Peter Sorensen has stated that the general elections in B&H, planned for October, are necessary for all. “I am urging the B&H Parliamentary Assembly to do everything necessary, as well as all other relevant institutions, political parties and individuals to do everything and to respect the decision of the B&H Constitutional Court for the general elections in B&H to be held smoothly,” Sorensen told the press in Sarajevo ahead of tomorrow’s session of the House of Representatives of the B&H Parliamentary Assembly. He voiced satisfaction with the meeting he had yesterday at the B&H Central Election Commission, stressing elections will certainly be held.

Bevanda: Start of Serbia’s EU accession talks can have positive effect on B&H (Fena)

The Chairman of the B&H Council of Ministers Vjekoslav Bevanda congratulated the Serbian government and citizens on the opening of EU accession talks and qualified this as a historic date. “Any progress and positive achievement is excellent news, and this is why this piece of news also has considerable importance for the entire region and B&H,” Bevanda told Fena.
“The opening of Serbia’s EU accession talks can have a positive effect on B&H on several grounds. First, a stable region and progressive development of neighbors produces stability in political, social and economic sense and B&H can only draw benefits from this. Also, taking into consideration the EU foreign policy and the goal of EU integration for the Balkan region, this gives fresh impetus to show better focus and greater efforts, assistance and friendship toward B&H. Finally, positive effects can also be expected on the internal level and everyone should invest fresh efforts and show willingness for B&H to become a member of the family of European countries,” Bevanda said.

B&H holds regional record with 183 political parties (Dnevni Avaz)

B&H holds a record in the region, according to the number of registered political parties, so at this point it is not possible to predict how they will compete in the general elections scheduled for October, because some of the parties are disappearing, while others are being established, according to local media. The Central Election Commission confirmed that currently in B&H, at least on paper, there are 183 political parties, and since the elections conducted in 2010, 77 political parties were deleted from the court registers. According to available information, after B&H, Croatia has the most political parties in the region (112), followed by Serbia (around 90), FRYOM (53), Montenegro (45), and 30 in Slovenia. Spokesperson of the Commission Maksida Piric told Dnevni Avaz that in the case of B&H that data is constantly changing. “So far, we have sent to the court 146 requests to delete parties from court registers,” said Piric, adding that these are parties who have not had any activities for a long period of time, nor do they fulfill their obligation to submit reports on financial operations. It is anticipated that more parties will appear by the planned elections in B&H, because the Commission is constantly getting new questions related to the legal process of registering. In the municipal elections, which were conducted in B&H in 2012, 83 political parties competed. Among them, there were 28 that did not exist in the municipal elections in 2010 or in the local elections in 2008. Even 19 of them had candidates only in one municipality, in which the founders of the party live and work.

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

Serbian EU Entry Talks Pose Challenging Path With Kosovo Key (2) (Bloomberg, by Gordana Filipovic and James G. Neuger, 21 January 2014)

The European Union began entry talks with Serbia, demanding the country at the center of the continent’s bloodiest conflicts since World War II mend ties with Kosovo and improve norms on justice and civil liberties.

The Balkan state of 7.2 million people wants to be the third former Yugoslav republic in the 28-member EU, with the goal of finishing 35 negotiating areas, or chapters, by 2018 and joining by 2020. Neighboring Croatia, which entered the EU in July 2013, took eight years.

“Starting negotiations means entering into a very demanding phase,” said EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fule at a Brussels briefing today with Serbia’s two top leaders. “Hard work will be needed and many challenges lie ahead.”

EU membership would solidify Serbia’s effort to overcome the isolation triggered by the collapse of Yugoslavia under strongman Slobodan Milosevic. It also had to drop resistance to EU demands to give up suspected war criminals, renounce claims on the former province of Kosovo and bring its courts, economy, and approach to personal freedoms in line with EU norms.

“Difficulties are ahead of us, but we are ready,” Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said at the news conference. “I’m convinced we can do it. We can do everything by 2018. Then it will be up to you gentlemen, up to the climate in Europe, whether you are ready to admit Serbia by 2020.”

Economic Gloom

Serbia is struggling to emerge from the effects of two recessions since 2009. Membership may help lift living standards, lure more foreign investment and create jobs in a country where almost a quarter of the workforce is unemployed.

The economy will grow 1.5 percent this year, according to the central bank. The government has stepped up plans to sell state companies, consolidate the deficit by 2016 and renew talks with the International Monetary Fund, which will send a mission to Belgrade on Feb. 26.

Investors have responded to the EU drive by pushing down the yield on the 2021 dollar bond to seven-month lows, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Having fallen from a record-high 7.469 percent on Sept. 10, the yield was at 5.867 percent at 436 p.m. in Belgrade, while the dinar closed almost unchanged on the day at 115.6609 per euro.

While other ex-communist states that joined the EU have seen living standards surge since membership, Serbia has languished at about a third of the EU average over the last decade. Foreign direct investment, which totaled $24 billion from 1994 to 2012, is less than half of what neighboring Bulgaria, the EU’s poorest member, lured in the same period.

Courts, Corruption

Today’s press conference was dominated by Kosovo and will remain a key measuring stick for progress.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization pushed Serb troops out of Kosovo, considered a religious and cultural heartland by many Serbs, 15 years ago, leading to a 2008 declaration of independence that Serbia has never recognized.

Serbia was also at the center of the 1990s Balkan wars that killed 140,000 people, displaced 4 million more and eventually split the federation into seven separate entities, including Kosovo.

Among other tasks, the country must overhaul a court system in which cases sometimes take as long as 20 years, compared with the EU average of eight months, Serb EU chief negotiator Tanja Miscevic said last week.

Serbia ranked 95th out of 178 countries according to the 2014 Index of Economic Freedom compiled by the U.S.-based Heritage Foundation. Unlike all 28 EU states, it fell in the “mostly unfree” category, with “widespread” graft.

‘Accession Timetable’

“The 2020 target copies the accession timeline of CEE countries, but obviously cannot be guaranteed,” Otilia Dhand, an analyst at political risk evaluator Teneo Intelligence, said in an e-mail. “The most controversial chapter is the one on relations with Kosovo, which will be the first to be screened.”

It must also tackle organized crime, a group of whom ordered the 2003 assassination of then-Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic, a pro-westerner who stood up against criminal gangs. While 50 percent of Serbs backed entry in the EU’s Autumn 2013 Eurobarometer poll, anti-accession sentiment simmers.

“Endless blackmail on Kosovo will follow, and the European Union will swallow our cultural, traditional and national values,” Vojislav Kostunica, a former president and prime minister, told Beta news agency in Belgrade.

Waning Enthusiasm

With enlargement enthusiasm waning among some EU members since the first expansion into ex-communist Europe in 2004, and stung by shortcomings in rule-of-law issues in members Bulgaria and Romania the commission has introduced new rules.

It will halt talks if Serbia “significantly lags behind progress in the negotiations overall, due to Serbia failing to act in good faith, in particular in the implementation of agreements reached between Serbia and Kosovo,” according to a negotiating framework presented by the commission today.

Support for expansion is also waning across the EU, with 52 percent against, compared with 37 percent for enlargement, according to the EU’s Autumn 2013 Eurobarometer survey. The U.K., which supported eastern European countries’ entry in 2004, is now pressing for curbs on migration from future members.

By starting talks, Serbia jumped ahead of former federation partner Macedonia, which has yet to begin and is behind Montenegro, which started negotiations in 2012.

Serbia kicks off EU membership talks, sets 2020 as target for completion (DPA/AFP/ AP, 21 January 2014)

Serbia has officially opened negotiations that Belgrade hopes will eventually result in European Union membership. Serbia was granted candidate status after taking steps to normalize relations with Kosovo.

"This is the most momentous, the most important event for Serbia ever since the end of World War II," Dacic said. "This is formulating the values we wish to implement, this defines the society we want to have," he added. "From today onwards, Serbia becomes formally part of an admission procedure which leads to the family of European nations."

Serbia first applied to join the European Union (EU) in 2009, but it wasn't granted the status of an EU-candidate state until three years later - after it had taken steps to normalize relations with its breakaway former province, Kosovo.

The EU's enlargement commissioner Stefan Fuele, used Tuesday's press conference to stress the need for Serbia to continue along that path, if it was to bring its accession negotiations to a successful conclusion.

Much work to be done

"Belgrade will need to remain fully committed to the normalization of relations with Pristina," Fuele warned. "Starting accession negotiations means entering in a very demanding phase. Hard work will be needed and many challenges lie ahead," he added.

The next talks between Belgrade and Pristina, which are being mediated by EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, are scheduled for next Monday.

In order to be granted membership to the EU, a candidate state must implement a raft of reforms to bring it into line with norms set out by the bloc.

Serbia's talks are to begin with two of the most difficult of the 35 negotiating chapters to complete, those on the justice system and basic rights. Without giving a date, Fuele said the first of these could be opened before the end of this year.

Serbiawould be the third country from the former Yugoslavia to join the European Union after Slovenia, which joined in 2004, and Croatia, which entered the bloc last July.

Serbian Prosecutor Urges Harsh Sentences for Kosovo Killings (BIRN, by Marija Ristic, 22 January 2014)

The prosecutor demanded lengthy jail terms for 11 former Serbian fighters accused of killing at least 118 Kosovo Albanian civilians during attacks on villages in the 1999 war.

Serbian war crimes prosecutor Dragoljub Stankovic told Belgrade special court on Tuesday that 11 men who fought with the Yugoslav Army’s 177th Intervention Squad were guilty beyond reasonable doubt of unlawful attacks on four Kosovo villages in spring 1999, during which scores of Albanians were killed and their houses looted and torched.

“They killed at least 42 people in [the village of] Ljubenic, 44 in Cuska, 10 in Pavlan and 24 in Zahac. They destroyed and burned 70 houses,” Stankovic said in his closing arguments held on Tuesday before Belgrade Special court.

Stankovic said that the attacks did not have any military goal, because there was no intelligence suggesting that Kosovo Liberation Army guerrillas, who the Yugoslav Army was fighting against, were present in the villages.

“Their goal was to expel the population to Albania, considering the fact they destroyed all the villagers’ documents and set fire in their homes,” Stankovic explained.

“All the attacks had the same pattern - they would enter the village, loot homes and expel people, split up men and women and children. The women and children were forced to leave the village for Albania, while the men were shot,” he added.

He said that the attack was planed and organised by Yugoslav Army officer Toplica Miladinovic, for whom he demanded the maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

The prosecutor also asked for maximum sentences for Milojko Nikolic, Ranko Momic, Sinisa Misic and Dejan Bulatovic, arguing that they were direct perpetrators.

Nikolic is also alleged to have raped a 14-year-old Albanian girl.

The prosecutor asked for 15 years in prison for Srecko Popovic and Abdulah Sokic, and five to eight years for Slavisa Kastratovic, Radoslav Brnovic, Veljko Koricanin and Boban Bogicevic.

During three-year trial, 79 witnesses were questioned. The indictment was based on the testimonies of two former members of the unit – Zoran Raskovic and a protected witness codenamed ‘A1’.

The defence’s closing arguments begin on Wednesday.

Macedonian Albanians Demand 'Consensus' President (BIRN, by Sinisa Jakov Marusic, 22 January 2014)

The junior partner in Macedonia's coalition, the Democratic Union for Integration, DUI, has called for an inter-party consensus on a new president to be elected in March.

The DUI, an ethnic Albanian party, says it will try to persuade its senior partner in government, the VMRO DPMNE party led by Nikola Gruevski, to endorse a joint candidate in March.

“A consensus candidate will reflect the will of all citizens” and will “form a cohesive centre in society who will unite all ethnic, political and other layers,” the DUI spokesperson, Bujar Osmani, explained on Tuesday without naming names.

He said the DUI presidency had recently urged the party head, Ali Ahmeti, to “continue talks with coalition partners and agree on the concept of a consensus presidential candidate”.

The main ruling party on Tuesday failed to react to the idea to Balkan Insight. The party has been silent about its candidate, as the other key political players also have been.

However, a VMRO DPMNE legislator, Antonio Milososki, a former foreign minister under Gruevski, recently said he suspected that the DUI “will not back whoever VMRO DPMNE endorses as its presidential candidate”.

Osmani warned that if VMRO DPMNE does not accept the idea of a joint candidate, the party might turn to the opposition Social Democrats instead, or trying to put up an pan-Albanian presidential candidate.

As Albanians form a quarter of the country’s 2.1 million people, their parties have played an important role in deciding who wins the presidential race, although no ethnic Albanian has ever been elected President of Macedonia.

Before launching the idea of a “consensus candidate”, the DUI leader in November said the party was unlikely to endorse the current head of state, Gjorge Ivanov, for a second term.

“We have not seen anything bad from him but there was nothing positive either,” Ahmeti said, thereby denting Ivanov’s chances.

With less than three months to go before the elections, both the ruling and main opposition parties are reported to be mulling running candidates from outside their own ranks.

Unconfirmed reports say diplomat Srgjan Kerim, who presided over the 62nd session of the UN General Assembly, and current President Ivanov, top the list of potential candidates for VMRO DPMNE.

A relatively new name in the ring is that of Sasko Kedev, a well-known heart surgeon who was a VMRO DPMNE presidential candidate in 2004.

Stevo Pendarovski, a former advisor to Presidents Boris Trajkovski and Branko Crvenkovski, tops the list of potential opposition candidates.

Denko Maleski, a diplomat seen as close to the opposition, and who was Macedonia's first foreign minister after independence in the 1990s, has also been mentioned.