LOCAL PRESS

 

Djuric: Telekom precedent to be used in discussions on energy (Tanjug/Beta)

The Head of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Marko Djuric told a press conference that the Serbian government was happy with the agreement on telecommunications reached with Pristina in Brussels on Sunday, because it should normalize the work of telecommunications companies in Serbia’s southern province. Telekom’s assets in the territory of Kosovo will be fully protected and preserved not only in Serbia’s system, where it has been never questioned, but it will be protected and preserved by this agreement and the agreement that guarantees its transfer to the company Telekom Srbija, thus a wholly-owned by Telekom Srbija and which will be established in the territory of Kosovo, explained Djuric, who is the head of Serbia’ team at the negotiations on the normalization of relations with Pristina. “This is a unique telecommunications system that is preserved within the territory of Serbia. Serbia’s interests are protected, regardless of the fact that Pristina even this agreement interprets in a false, distorted and different way,” Djuric noted. Djuric specified that the Serbia’s team secured eight new locations for base stations in Kosovo so that a signal would be of better quality, and somewhat the coverage, which is especially important for the Serbs who do not live in the north of Kosovo. Telekom should receive a permanent license for landline telephony and for mobile telephony until the announcement of the tender in two years for the whole territory of Kosovo, Djuric said. He also said that all mobile operators that operated in that area would take part in the future tender. The precedent of Telekom Srbija and protecting the company’s property in Kosovo and Metohija can be used as an argument in the discussions on the energy sector and Lake Gazivode, Djuric, said at a press conference when asked if the agreement on telecommunications offered hope for protection of the Trepca mining complex and the Lake Gazivode accumulation system. “Those discussions will definitely not be easy,” Djuric said. The Pristina authorities have attempted to resolve the issue by usurping Trepca through a law that remains a dead letter because they cannot enforce it, Djuric said.

 

Ljajic: If Pristina violates the agreement, we will withdraw consent for dialing code (RTV)

Serbian Minister for Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications Rasim Ljajic has told Radio and Television of Vojvodina (RTV) that, according to the reached agreement in Brussels, Kosovo will not be allocated an independent international dialing code, because in this case Serbia’s consent would not have been requested, which is now requested. He told the broadcast “Right Angle” that in this case the recommendation of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) speaks about the definition of a dialing code for a certain geographical area. “Had Kosovo received an independent international dialing code Serbia’s consent would have not been requested. I took part in the talks in Geneva where it was clearly stated that this was impossible without Serbia’s consent,” Ljajic pointed out, adding that a similar example existed in Taiwan. He says that in the case of Kosovo, the dialing code will be enabled at the request from Austria and with Serbia’s consent, which will be given the moment when Telekom starts operating legally in Kosovo and Metohija. “Telekom presently has 22 base stations in Kosovo, while in the past it had 70 that have been demolished. We cannot guard them, but now they will have to be guarded and Telekom will receive eight new so they can cover other enclaves in Kosovo,” said Ljajic. According to him, calls between Serbia proper and Kosovo will be treated as intercity and there will be no dialing code in this traffic. When it comes to mobile telephony, he says, Telekom’s temporary business license in Kosovo expires in two years, as well as for two other operators that are doing business there. Asked what are the guarantees that the license will be extended to Telekom after two years, and could it happen that it is not extended, Ljajic says a new tender will be held in two years and Telenor will also appear there. This is an international tender that is being implemented under the EU supervision. There was no other solution. They cannot give presently a ten-year license to Telekom and for two other operators to take part in the tender,” he says. Assessing that the reactions in Kosovo to this agreement are mainly negative, he says he doesn’t want to measure who received more or less, but opines that this is a good agreement for Serbia. “This is not 1998, we don’t have the army, police or essential authority in Kosovo, but in this case we extracted the maximum that was possible,” assessed Ljajic, adding that talks will continue on Wednesday in Brussels on the implementation of this agreement, i.e. on “very complicated technical details that need to be implemented”. Asked what will happen if the authorities change in Kosovo in the meantime and if Pristina doesn’t wish to implement the agreement, but the dialing code for Kosovo remains, he responded that he didn’t exclude this scenario over the turbulent political situation in Kosovo, but in this case Serbia would also withdraw its consent for the dialing code. “If they do this, then nothing from the agreement will be valid, including the dialing code, because we would withdraw our consent in this case. We want the agreement to be implemented, but if the other side plays false, they will be the culprits and we do not have the obligation to implement what we had signed,” claims Ljajic. He notes that in these negotiations Serbia wanted to create a model that would be valid for all other areas when it comes to property issues in Kosovo, because, “had we conceded here regarding Telekom’s property, the Kosovo Albanians would be alluding to this in the following cases”. Asked why then we hadn’t negotiated in the same manner for Trepca, he says that these are different matters that cannot be compared, because pure plunderage occurred in Trepca. Nonetheless, Ljajic voiced concern in view of the possibility of maintaining Telekom’s competitiveness on the market, for which large investments in development and new technologies are needed. In this respect he says they are constantly talking about finding a strategic partner for this company.

 

Stefanovic: Highways, border crossings will not be blocked (Tanjug)

Serbia will not allow migrants to block highways or border crossings in attempts to enter another country that does not want to take them in, Serbian Interior Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic said Monday. He stressed that constant attempts are being made by migrants to cross into another country or EU member state as they do not want to stay in Serbia, Bulgaria, Macedonia or similar countries and their aim is Western Europe. Serbia is trying to be a good host and there are few instruments available to stop migrants from heading towards the borders because they have freedom of movement during the permitted 72-hour stay, said Stefanovic. The competent authorities can prevent them from entering our country illegally, he said. They are economic migrants because they do not come from war zones, stressed Stefanovic.

 

Britain to assist Serbia in migrant crisis (Beta)

The British Ambassador to Serbia Denis Keefe said that his country would continue to assist Serbia in handling the migrant crisis. At a meeting with Serbian Labor Minister Aleksandar Vulin, the Ambassador commended Serbia for the way it had responded to the consequences of the migrant crisis, the Ministry of Labor, Employment, Veterans and Social Affairs reported. The Ambassador and the minister said they were pleased with a successful visit by British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson to Serbia, underlining that the visit had deepened the good relationship between the two states, the Ministry said in a press release.

 

REGIONAL PRESS

 

SzP terminates cooperation and communication with Dodik (N1/BHT 1)

Representatives of the parties gathered around the Alliance for Changes (SzP) coalition held a meeting in Banja Luka on Monday in order to decide on further steps after the threats issued against them by President of Republika Srpska (RS) and leader of SNSD Milorad Dodik. To remind, Dodik recently said that the RS government would no longer provide assistance to RS municipalities in which SNSD did not win the local election, that members of the RS Government will not have any communication with the heads of these municipalities and that SNSD would create a so-called ‘Black Book’ in which they plan to list all those who have at any time or in any manner caused damage to SNSD. Following the meeting, SzP representatives addressed a press conference and told reporters that a decision was reached to terminate cooperation with SNSD and Dodik. SDS leader Vukota Govedarica said that they reached a unanimous decision to stop cooperating and communicating with the RS President who, according to him, has not been acting as the President of the RS, but as a classic dictator. "All legal actions will be discussed, given that Milorad Dodik violated the Constitution of B&H," Govedarica stressed, noting that SzP is not afraid of Dodik’s ‘black lists’. According to him, Dodik’s statements are undermining the constitutional order of the RS by “fascistic methods”. Furthermore, Govedarica announced that SzP will form a legal team in the forthcoming period, which is going to analyze Dodik’s unconstitutional activities, after which the SzP will consider adequate measures against him. Govedarica explained that if Dodik wants to radicalize the relations in the RS this is exactly what he will get. Head of Teslic Municipality Milan Milicevic (SDS) reminded that this local community has already had negative experiences when it comes to cooperation with the RS government.

 

Dodik answers SzP: SDS is closer to Izetbegovic than to SNSD (Nezavisne novine)

Commenting accusations coming from Alliance for Changes, Republika Srpska (RS) President and SNSD leader Milorad Dodik said that their statements are tendentious and malicious. “The very fact that in China, I agreed businesses for Doboj and other municipalities where SDS is in power, speaks best about that. Their statements prove that they are closer to (Bakir) Izetbegovic’s politics than legitimate parties which represent the RS”, said Dodik. Head of SNSD Caucus Radovan Viskovic said that SDS never cooperated with SNSD, but with SDA leader Izetbegovic. He noted that ever since SDS entered state level authority they refuse cooperation with RS institutions. “They intend to keep listening to Izetbegovic, which citizens recognized in elections. Probably someone instructed them for something like this, after catastrophic results in local elections, which is a show for the public”, said Viskovic, adding that there is no need to pay attention to them.

 

Covic: Issue of implementation of “Sejdic-Finci”ruling could be solved by end of January next year (TV1)

Croat member of the B&H Presidency Dragan Covic hosted the traditional meeting with journalists in Sarajevo on Monday. He used this opportunity to repeat that the issue of implementation of the “Sejdic-Finci” ruling could be solved by the end of January next year, adding that the issue of election of members of the B&H Presidency, as least when it comes to the Federation of B&H, has been almost completely solved. Covic stressed that the solution to the issue of implementation of the “Sejdic-Finci” ruling must be visible, noting that it is necessary to discuss it openly with Serb political parties. "The issue of election of delegates to the House of Peoples (HoP) of B&H should be discussed with representatives of Serb political parties, because it is related to both areas, given that we have a very clear model as to how delegates are elected in the RS and in the Federation of B&H," Covic underlined. Speaking about the decision for HDZ B&H and SNSD to jointly propose a Law on the Constitutional Court (CC) of B&H, Covic said that he was misunderstood and that solution to the issue of functioning of the B&H CC will not be proposed by these two parties only. "We will organize a meeting with representatives of parties that are in power at the level of B&H and the Federation of B&H to discuss this issue," Covic said. He underlined that he personally advocates reorganization of the judiciary in B&H, noting that this is one of B&H's obligations on the Euro-Atlantic path. "We all simply must be equal before the law. Our judiciary has to be depoliticized to the limit," Covic stressed. Speaking about the issue of Mostar, Covic said that he finds this issue to be his own personal failure. "Of course there is responsibility, because I am the person who is at the helm of one of the key parties in Mostar and in a way whether elections in Mostar will be held depends on this. I will insist on amendments to the Election Law that are related to the B&H CC's decision to be adopted as soon as possible," Covic underlined, adding that he did everything in his power to secure conditions for holding of the local elections in Mostar.

 

Brammertz: Office of ICTY Prosecutor will continue to monitor and support judicial institutions in B&H that prosecute war crimes (FTV)

ICTY Chief Prosecutor Serge Brammertz arrived for a working visit to Sarajevo on Monday. This two-day visit is taking place as part of Brammertz’s preparation of his regular semi-annual report for the UN Security Council. On the first day of his visit, Brammertz held a meeting with B&H Presidency members. Interlocutors agreed that it is necessary to investigate and prosecute all crimes and adequately sanction all perpetrators. Brammertz also met with representatives of associations of victims of war, where they discussed regional cooperation in the war crime cases as well as the specific cases that will be transferred to the Court of B&H after the ICTY closes at the end of 2017. Brammertz and representatives of associations of victims of war assessed that the level of regional cooperation in the war crime cases is “extremely low”.

 

Ambassador Ivantsov: Time of High Representatives is long gone (TV1)

Speaking about the results of the US presidential elections, Ambassador Ivantsov said that this was the choice of the electorate. "I would say that the best man won, or the best individual in this case. In accordance with the election procedure that exists, and we may agree or disagree with it, but it is a fact that Mr. Donald Trump will be the US President as of January. I would say that it is a bit early to judge what his policies will be like. He needs time to understand what is happening," Ambassador Ivantsov underlined. Asked to comment on speculations about how Russia was involved in the latest unrests in the region, i.e. problems that occurred in Macedonia and Montenegro, as well as just how much Russia is interested in the region, Ambassador Ivantsov said that they are interested in the region. "We perceive the countries in the region as our long-term partners in the historic, economic, political and even spiritual sense and it is only natural that Russia is taking interest in the developments here. I am not a fan of conspiracy theories. I do not believe that everything that is happening sort of involves intervention of some sort from not even Russia, but from any other outside power. I believe that there are certain ongoing objective processes in different countries of the region. Take Montenegro for example. They had the elections and we have the election result, we may like it or not, but it is a result. We have clearly said that we had nothing to do with the attempts to overthrow the Montenegrin government led by Milo Djukanovic," Ambassador Ivantsov underlined. Asked to comment on the recently held referendum in Republika Srpska (RS) and the Peace Implementation Council's (PIC) response to the referendum, Ambassador Ivantsov stated that the referendum took place. "There were no incidents despite what some members of the international community or local actors were predicting. There was no violence, and we had a result that clearly shows that the RS citizens want to celebrate their national day on January 9. The RS National Assembly (RSNA) reacted in accordance with that and amended the law in a way that Day of the RS - January 9 will be celebrated as a secular holiday. I do not see a problem with that. Of course, we will need to see how this will be accepted by the Constitutional Court (CC) of B&H and the international community in general," Ambassador Ivantsov stressed, adding that in his opinion, the entire story about the referendum was blown out of proportion. Commenting on the request recently made by High Representative in B&H Valentin Inzko for the West to remove RS President Milorad Dodik, Ambassador Ivantsov said that Inzko is assuming responsibilities that are not in line with his term of office. "First of all, he is the High Representative of the international community. By saying what he has said, Inzko acted on behalf of part of the international community. The West, as he puts it, is not united when it comes to Dodik's removal. I have never heard any of the members of the PIC Steering Board call for the removal of the legitimately elected RS President," Ambassador Ivantsov underlined.

Asked whether B&H still needs the Office of the High Representative (OHR), Ambassador Ivantsov recalled that he said on a number of occasions that the time of the High Representatives is long gone. "When the Dayton Peace Agreement (DPA) was signed, he (the High Representative) was part of the complex arrangement designed for B&H, and the High Representative at that time had his role. Today, B&H is a sovereign state. It is not a protectorate of some sort and it should not be dictated what to do by a foreign representative. I believe that this is unfair and unnatural. If you look at what the High Representative has achieved lately, there is not much to mention. What he does is threaten, condemn and blame different individuals in this country, with an emphasis on the leadership of the RS," Ambassador Ivantsov said.

Asked whether Russia is satisfied with the work that was done at the ICTY, Ambassador Ivantsov stressed that generally speaking, the ICTY should have been closed several years ago. "The sooner the ICTY completes its task the better. We supported the establishment of the ICTY so naturally, we stand by our decision. But, some of its work has definitely been politicized, and there was no balance between the cases that were prosecuted before the ICTY. We believe that in a way the ICTY strived to condemn Serbian politicians from the time of the war, while crimes committed by politicians of other ethnicity did not receive sufficient attention," Ambassador Ivantsov concluded.

 

B&H Parliament unable to form Parliamentary Committee for SAA (Oslobodjenje)

The European Parliament has recently warned the Parliament of B&H of its failure to form a Parliamentary Committee for Stabilization and Association, which is expected to be formed in every country in the process of EU accession. Member of the Joint Commission for European Integration of the Parliament of B&H Sasa Magazinovic told the daily that this is a body expected to monitor activities related to the implementation of the Stabilization and Association Agreement. “This is the body where we are equal with the EU for the first time, namely where the voices and obligations of B&H representatives are identical to the voices and obligations of the MEPs. The Parliamentary Committee must be composed of an equal number of representatives of the Parliament of B&H and the European Parliament, and the decisions are passed with simple majority in both delegations,” explained Magazinovic and underlined that the problem is in Republika Srpska (RS) representatives who want to include the principle of entity voting in the regulations. “One must know that this body is not passing any binding decisions, only recommendations,” he said and noted that he is surprised with the patience the European Parliament is showing. Member of the Commission from the RS Milica Markovic told the daily that certain Federation of B&H representatives and Croatian MEP Tonino Picula have requested the simple majority vote, which is not acceptable for the RS because such system is not present in any of B&H institutions. She underlined that entity voting is mandatory and the RS is unable to accept any other option. Markovic noted that they held their first session last December. “We were supposed to meet in October, but the European Parliament stated they do not want to meet with us until we adopt the Rulebook,” she noted.

 

Stone: FBI launches proceedings against Hillary for receiving money from Serbian government (Vijesti)

Famous American analyst, lobbyist and the advisor of Donald Trump during his campaign for the president of the United States, Roger Stone, stated that the FBI has launched the investigation against Hillary Clinton because of the allegations that she, among other things, got money from the government of Serbia so that their Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic could get a meeting with the President Barack Obama. “One of the reasons why the FBI reopened the case was because of an allegation that the nation of Serbia was shaken down for two million dollars in order to get a meeting for their Prime Minister with Barack Obama.” Stone also said that the money was sent to the Clinton foundation, which is a criminal offence and that Hillary’s attempt to escape the proceedings is going to represent a great challenge for the institutions.

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic didn’t hide his sympathies towards the Clintons, he participated in the forum organized by the Clinton Foundation and gave Hillary Clinton the words of support during her presidential campaign. Recently, to the remark of the RTS journalist Gorislav Papic, that at the moment when Hillary Clinton was losing support in her own country, Serbian Prime Minister was giving her his support, Vucic answered that he did it because he was smart. “What are we going to do if Hillary Clinton wins? Are you going to exclude that possibility? Are you going to give me guarantees that Hillary Clinton is not going to win? I’m supposed to lead the country and have America leading the politics against Serbia, is that what you want?” asked Vucic. Two months before the US presidential elections, Vucic was the guest of the “Foundation of Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton”. The Clinton Foundation was already in the public eye and under attack by certain U.S. institutions suspecting that Hillary received illegal transactions via the foundation while she was the State Secretary

 

State Election Commission rejects SDPM candidate lists (Telegraf.mk)

State Election Commission is set to adopt the final report on the voters, whose records in the electoral roll were found to be disputable following the administrative and field checks. In addition, the commission will adopt the final report on the voting applications by Macedonian nationals living or working abroad. State Election Commission adopted the candidate lists of the Coalition for reforms and justice, Coalition "VMRO for Macedonia", Coalition "Alliance for Albanians", Levica and NDM, which were previously returned due to irregularities. The candidates lists of SDPM were also adopted, except for the first and the third constituency, for which according to the SEC members, irregularities were not removed. The State Election Commission on its session accepted the candidate lists of the coalition "For a better Macedonia" by VMRO-DPMNE, the opposition coalition headed by SDSM, of DUI, DPA, PDP, LP and Besa. Upon renewed review and after noting series of irregularities, the State Election Commission (SEC) unanimously rejected Monday the MP candidate lists of the Social­ Democratic Party of Macedonia (SDPM) for the December 11 elections. State Election Commission member Atanas Urumov elaborated that signatures in the statements by certain candidates did not match, some statements had an earlier date, there were irregularities in the statements over the candidates' criminal records etc in the SDPM lists for all election districts. SDPM can appeal to the State Election Commission decision within 24 hours before the Administrative Court. Silvana Boneva proposed the lists to be rejected and Igor Milev stressed that someone intentionally and consciously wanted to mislead the SEC. Besides these irregularities, the SDPM list carriers had similar names and surnames to candidates from another political party.

 

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

 

Schwendiman: New Kosovo War Court ‘Not Anti-Albanian’ (BIRN, by Marija Ristic, 15 November 2016)

In his first interview since being appointed chief prosecutor of the new Kosovo special court, David Schwendiman told BIRN that suspected criminals are his target, not the Kosovo Liberation Army itself.

“I am not after organisations, I am not after ethnicities, I am looking at individual responsibility for what was done,” David Schwendiman told BIRN in an interview. “If that message gets out clearly to the people that are affected by this, then maybe they will understand that the court is not pro-Albanian or anti-Albanian, pro-Serb or anti-Serb, but that we are just doing our job,” he said. Schwendiman is the chief prosecutor at the new Kosovo Specialist Prosecutor’s Office, set up in The Hague with the mandate to prosecute crimes by former Kosovo Liberation Army fighters from 1998 until 2000. Senior KLA figures are expected to be indicted for alleged crimes committed during and after the war with Serbian forces, although the first indictments are still pending. In Kosovo, the court is seen as biased as it will only try former KLA fighters - people perceived as liberators by the majority of the country’s ethnic Albanian population - while in Serbia, the court has wide support due to hopes that it will prosecute crimes against Serbs. But Schwendiman said that the main message he wanted to convey during his first visit to Serbia and Kosovo last week is that he will be independent and free of any political influence. “Our role is to look at individuals, not to look at ethnicities; I know there is a perception out there - not a lot I can do about that, other than do my job and to do it right,” he explained. The new court will hear cases arising from the 2014 EU Special Investigative Task Force, SITF report which said that unnamed KLA officials would face indictments for a “campaign of persecution” against Serbs, Roma and Kosovo Albanians believed to be collaborators with the Belgrade regime. The alleged crimes include killings, abductions, illegal detentions and sexual violence. Kosovo and Serbian media have speculated widely about who will be prosecuted by the court. A Council of Europe report from 2011, which laid the grounds for the SITF investigation, alleged that Kosovo President Hashim Thaci was key figure in an organised crime ring that was responsible for human rights abuses in post-war Kosovo. Thaci has denied the allegations. However, Schwendiman declined to identify who was under investigation, and said that one of the reasons for his visit to Belgrade and Pristina last week was to quell such rumours. “I wanted to raise the issue of speculation, assumptions and rumours and make sure that people understood that unless it comes from me, it is not something you should believe,” he underlined.

Ensuring assistance and independence

Last week’s visit was Schwendiman’s first to Kosovo and Serbia, although he has experience working in the Balkans. From 2006 to 2009, he served as an international prosecutor in the Special Department for War Crimes at the state prosecutor’s office in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

“I have never been to Pristina and I have never been to Belgrade, although I have been in the region. I wanted to meet the people that we need to be working with as we go into this next phase. I wanted to ensure that they understood we appreciate their continuous support and effort and I also wanted to ensure they understood from me key things about my job and my responsibility,” Schwendiman told BIRN. According to Kosovo’s Law on the Specialist Chambers, which enabled the court to be set up, “evidence collected in criminal proceedings or investigations within the subject matter jurisdiction of the Specialist Chambers prior to its establishment by any national or international law enforcement or criminal investigation authority or agency including the Kosovo State Prosecutor, any police authority in Kosovo, the ICTY, EULEX Kosovo or by the SITF, may be admissible before the Specialist Chambers”. All these institutions have thousands of pages of testimonies, reports, orders and other documents that could be used by the specialist prosecutor, but what can be used in court will only be made clear once its rules on procedure and evidence are adopted after adopted after its judges and president are elected. “I am sure there will be a mixture of what we can and we cannot use; in Bosnia for example, we had to put live witnesses on the stand, but established facts, courts could accept,” Schwendiman said. Although many have questioned whether it is actually possible to prove the crimes committed by a guerrilla force like the KLA, due to the lack of written orders, Schwendiman expressed confidence, saying that the SITF’s chief investigator Clint Williamson left him a solid base of evidence to build upon. “I wouldn’t take the job if Clint and I hadn’t talked what Clint thought was accomplished by July 2014 [when the SITF published its report]. I have been working on this for a year and half as the lead investigator and I wouldn’t have taken the job as the chief prosecutor that I didn’t believe there is something to take on the next step, which is prosecution,” he said. But Schwendiman is aware he will have to heavily rely on witnesses and their statements. Ensuring safety for protected witnesses testifying about the crimes committed during the Kosovo war has been a problem for all the institutions that have been involved in such prosecutions in the past - the ICTY, the UN Mission in Kosovo, UNMIK, EULEX and domestic courts in Serbia and Kosovo. “Protecting those who we estimate are vulnerable or who become vulnerable because of participation in this process is absolutely vital. I have the authority to do that, I got assurances of the assistance to help me do that, and I can’t and I won’t talk about specific teams or methods that we are now employing or will employ to get that done,” he explained. Numerous witnesses have changed their testimonies during previous trials of KLA members in Kosovo and The Hague. “It is a big concern to us, it is a big challenge for us, and it something we take very very seriously and that we dedicated a lot of time and effort to do it. We have to maintain the trust and confidence that people have in us and we have to protect those vulnerable to the extent that we don’t lose that trust,” Schwendiman responded.

Intimidation in the community

Schwendiman first encountered witness intimidation while investigating crimes committed during the Bosnian war. “In Bosnia and Herzegovina it was not common but it did happen, people lost families and support, and there were perpetrators that lived in their neighbourhoods and I am asking them to come to testify; even though their names have been redacted in the indictment, I perfectly understood when they came and said no,” Schwendiman recalls. He recalled a situation when a woman refused to go into the courtroom because of social pressure to remain silent and not cause any potential problems. “She was not discouraged by the community of the perpetrator, but her own community, who told her, ‘You don’t need to that, you know it just brings tensions to us, why do you want to talk?’” he explained. “But we managed to convince her by frequent visits, by talking with her through the issues, by being sensitive to things, talking to her son who could reason with her that there was support for her. The most important thing is making sure that people have trust in us,” he added. He said that his experience in Bosnia had enabled him to deal with such situations with a deeper level of understanding. “The importance is to be sensitive with things you have no experience with and not pretending that you do. I cannot say someone I understand what you went through - I don’t understand, I have no idea,” he explained. “You are talking with people who have lived with the most horrible things you can imagine, that cry themselves dry, there is no real hope left, they don’t live where they lived forever, they have been displaced… You’ve got all this disappointment, hatred inside of them, that makes it hard to establish a relationship, and that comes with experience,” he added. As in Bosnia, he hopes that his investigations will help the search for the remains of around 1,660 people still missing from the Kosovo conflict. “I know how to do it and I have done it and I am absolutely committed to do it as much as I can to locate, recover and get people back to their families,” he said. He is however aware of the big expectations that some people have of him, especially in Serbia, where the new court is seen as a unique chance to get justice for Serb victims. “I have great empathy for that, I can only do what I can do and be realistic and truthful and transparent as possible,” he said. “Managing expectations is terribly important because that will affect whether or not the outcomes are perceived as legitimate and that is a big goal for me, so I will do everything I can to help people understand what the expectations should be and then they can hold me to account if I meet or don’t meet those expectations,” he added. However, as with other international courts, some level of disappointment is inevitable, he admitted. “There will always be people who are disappointed, I don’t have any doubt about that,” he said. Although 17 years have passed since the end of Kosovo war, Schwendiman believes that bringing the perpetrators of the crimes committed there to justice remains important for the future of the country. “No matter what was going on before, there is still a lingering question about things that happened during the war and these things are affecting the environment, affecting people personally,” he argued. Holding the perpetrators of such abuses accountable, he concluded, will “help people living with the past, not in the past”.