LOCAL PRESS

 

Djuric, Keefe: Prompt resumption of Belgrade-Pristina dialogue (RTS/Tanjug)

The Head of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Marko Djuric has met with the newly-appointed British Ambassador in Belgrade Denis Keefe and discussed the EU integration process, underlining the exceptional importance of prompt resumption of the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue. Djuric and Keefe agreed that it is very important to continue the implementation of the agreements reached within the Brussels agreement, adding that progress should be sought through practical steps, the Office for Kosovo and Metohija stated. Djuric underlined that the formation of the Union of Serb Municipalities will be a priority in the time to come, and added that stability in Kosovo and Metohija is Serbia’s major interest. He expressed hope that after the formation of the provincial government, conditions would be created for security improvements, economic sustainability and better living conditions for Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija. In this context, Djuric and Keefe expressed the hope that the government would be set up soon, the release states.

Serb leaders targets again (Novosti)

The EULEX prosecution issued indictments against Slavisa Ristic and Stevan Vulovic, former and present mayors of Zubin Potok. Novosti learns from international circles in Kosovo and Metohija that Vulovic is charged with organizing the escape of Serb Slobodan Sovrlic suspected of being an accomplice in the murder of a Kosovo policeman from the Zubin Potok police station in March. According to the indictment that Novosti had insight into, Slavisa Ristic is charged with several criminal acts, including organizing of barricades in the north of province. They didn’t receive the indictments since they were not at home when Kosovo police representatives delivered them. “At issue is a purely political indictment so the north would be destabilized as much as possible and to send a message to the Serbs that there is no place for them there. The EULEX prosecution knows very well that I was at the meeting with the EULEX representative in Kosovo and Metohija Samuel Zbogar in Kosovska Mitrovica on the day that Sovrlic was abducted from the prison,” Vulovic tells Novosti, noting that the indictment against his predecessor Slavisa Ristic is proof that it is enough to be a Serb in order to be called to court. North Mitrovica Mayor Goran Rakic tells Novosti that after the statements of the representatives of interim institutions in Pristina that they will “arrest every Serb if he/she even carries water on the bridge” pressure from EULEX followed with unfounded indictments. This kind of unfounded detention, claims Rakic, only exists in Guantanamo.

 

Uncertain fate of 900 employees in Kosovska Mitrovica (Politika)

Even though next year’s budget of North Mitrovica municipality is already being drafted, it is still unknown how many of the 900 employees in the public sector financed by Serbia, but also Pristina, will keep their jobs, since the Kosovo authorities are requesting that this number be halved. It is quite certain that 160 employees of North Kosovska Mitrovica municipality, but also another 650 employees in the institutions financed by the local self-government (with money from the Serbian budget), will not remain in the same number on Pristina’s payroll in 2015. The question is also what will be with 55 employees engaged in the Administrative Office that was founded in 2012 by the government in Pristina, and they are registered as employees of the local self-government. The President of the North Mitrovica municipal assembly Ksenija Bozovic, who is also the representative of the Commission for drafting the 2015 budget, tells Politika that they have been working on it for some time and that it will be completed in August, but that it is still unknown how many employees will be employed in the new municipality. “It is certain that a new systematization will be done. We are waiting for the formation of the Union of Serb Municipalities, which also implies some new jobs. The municipality will pay attention to every citizen and we hope that nobody will lose a job,” says Ksenija Bozovic. She points to the fact that the newly elected leadership and deputies, in lack of a municipality building, hold sessions in rented premises, and work in party offices. In comment to Politika’s journalist that Adrijana Hodzic, the Head of the Administrative Office with headquarters in Bosnjacka mahala, is willing to “momentarily” give up the building and employees to the new Mitrovica leadership, Bozovic says: “I haven’t been officially informed about this.” Politika tried to receive answers to numerous questions from North Mitrovica Mayor Goran Rakic, and the Head of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Marko Djuric, since Hodzic told Politika that the issue of the municipal building is resolved at the “level of high politics”, however, both of them were unavailable for comments.

 

Serbs may leave Kosovo institutions (Beta)

Kosovo Serb political representatives have stated at the protest rally in Zubin Potok, northern Kosovo, that they are pondering collective resignation from the Kosovo institutions if the arrests of the Serbs in the province continue. They have called upon the international community and EULEX to immediately and unconditionally enable all the unjustly indicted Serbs to be released pending trial, otherwise they will be forced to consider the possibility of terminating cooperation with EULEX. Serb representatives have pointed that the goal of the announced arrests is to intimidate the Serbs in northern Kosovo and Metohija, and assessed that such moves do not lead to the stabilization of the situation. The protest rally was held under the slogan “We are all the same, who is next?”, because of the ungrounded threats with Serbs’ arrests.

 

REGIONAL PRESS

 

Vucic invites Izetbegovic and Dodik to Berlin summit (Danas/Srna)

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said that he proposed to the Republika Srpska (RS) President Milorad Dodik and will propose to the Chairman of the B&H Presidency Bakir Izetbegovic that they jointly draft projects for the summit of Western Balkan states scheduled for August in Berlin, especially a project for the rebuilding of the Belgrade-Sarajevo rail line. “I told President Dodik, and I will tell the same to Izetbegovic, that for this great regional summit which is being organized by German Chancellor Angela Merkel we might show up together as people seeking the support of Germany and the EU for specific major projects,” Vucic told reporters in Doboj. He said that rebuilding the Belgrade-Sarajevo rail line would be important for the RS, B&H and Serbia. “If we arrive with joint projects, I believe we will get wider support from Germany, the EU and many others from abroad,” Vucic said. “It is our obligation to help, not only to whine, for nothing can be got from whining. We are able to heal the economy, and I think that we are on the right path to doing so in two to three years, after which we will be able to help even more and cooperate even more in the entire region,” Vucic said.

Vucic, Bosic: Serbia will not interfere in election will of RS citizens (Oslobodjenje)

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic has stated at the meeting with the SDS leader Mladen Bosic that neither him or the Serbian government, or the political party that he leads will interfere in the election will of the Republika Srpska (RS) citizens and that he will respect this will. Vucic said that Serbia, in accordance with the Dayton Accord and the Agreement on Special Ties with the RS, supports the RS and that it will continue to offer this support, the Serbian government Media Relations Office stated. “Serbia will always protect the stability of the RS inside the territorial integrity of B&H,” said the Serbian Prime Minister.

 

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

 

Serbia Approves Labor Code as Premier Seeks Spending Cuts (Bloomberg, by Gordana Filipovic, 18 July 2014)

Serbian lawmakers approved a new labor code as the government tries to shrink the public sector to narrow the budget deficit and qualify for the International Monetary Fund’s program.

Lawmakers voted 190-21 to approve the new bill, which eases hiring and firing rules, allows longer fixed-term contracts, lowers severance payments and does away with industry-wide collective agreements. The law is effective immediately.

Thousands of workers protested in Belgrade earlier this week, asking President Tomislav Nikolic not to sign the bill. The trade unions said they’ll seek to collect at least 100,000 signatures needed to force cancellation of the measure. They blame Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic for meeting most of the requests that came from foreign employers in Serbia.

Vucic’s three-month-old cabinet, which left the net minimum wage at 115 dinars ($1.34) per hour today, is under increasing public and political pressure as it balances promises to create jobs while trimming the budget gap. Serbia has fewer than 1.7 million people actively employed, just as many pensioners and 787,000 jobless. About 780,000 work in public administration and state-owned companies.

Pension Law

Lawmakers also voted 190-22 to amend the pension law, gradually raising the retirement age for women to 65 from 60 during next 18 years and introducing penalties for early retirement. Spending on public wages and pensions accounts for more than half of the government’s budget.

Vucic is trying to stabilize his cabinet after Finance Minister Lazar Krstic quit on July 12, saying the premier was unwilling to go along with his austerity measures. Krstic’s successor, Dusan Vujovic, said he wants to seek international financing to ease the pain of austerity and is looking for a three-year IMF loan by early October for stability.

Serbia needs to narrow its budget deficit, which is expected to top 8 percent of economic output this year. The economy is facing its third recession in five years, which is weighing on budget revenue even as spending is set to increase after the country was hit by the worst floods in a century in May. Fifty-seven people were killed and damage totaled an estimated $2 billion, or 5 percent of Serbia’s gross domestic product.

 

South Stream puts Serbia in conflict with EU (SETimes, by Ivana Jovanovic, 18 July 2014)

Belgrade says it hopes to join the EU, but will not reconsider its participation in Russia's South Stream project.

With the decision by Bulgaria to suspend construction of the South Stream natural gas pipeline, there is more pressure on Serbia, which is balancing its longstanding ties with Russia against its desire to join the European Union.

"The Serbian situation is the most difficult because it 'paid ' the entrance to the pipeline by giving to Gazprom low prices for NIS (Naftna Industrija Serbia – Oil Company of Serbia) and Banatski Dvor (and underground gas storage in Vojvodina)," Jelena Milic, director of the Centre for Euro-Atlantic Studies for Belgrade, told SETimes.

"It is not regulated by the energy agreement with Russia what will happen if Russia gives up the project or if it will not be able to realise its obligations. Serbia counts on incomes of transit and to pay back its debts to Russia," Milic said.

Following the instructions of the European Commission (EC), Bulgaria froze construction plans for South Stream, a 2,380-kilometre long pipeline that would transport Russian gas to Eastern Europe and beyond, bypassing Ukraine and putting additional financial pressure on Kiev in its dispute with the Kremlin.

Bulgaria ended its participation after the EU said the project does not comply with its competition and energy legislation. But Serbia still plans to participate in the project.

Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, who met with Russia Prime Minister Dimitry Medvedev in Moscow on July 7th, said the two countries plan to sign a South Stream agreement soon.

"South Stream is a priority project for Russia, and this has become evident in the context of developments in Ukraine," Medvedev said.

Milic told SETimes that it is important for Serbia to sync its legislation with the EU as well as implement its Third Energy Package, with which South Stream is in conflict.

"The Third Energy Package requires separate ownership of transporter and producer (in this case Gazprom is both) which protects from the monopoly and, overall, which is good for citizens," Milic said.

"Serbia should follow EU instructions and manage the issue in co-ordination with the Union. The less bad scenario for Serbia is agreement between the EU and Russia in which it should participate at the side of the EU," Milic said.

Vucic said that Serbia would like to become a member of the European Union.

"I have never concealed that Serbia wants to become a part of the EU, but at the difficult moment Serbia does not want to damage good, friendly relations with Russia," he said.

Russia is also attempting to restore its agreement with Bulgaria, which was signed in 2008.

Ilian Vassilev, managing partner at Innovative Energy, a professional consultancy firm, and former ambassador to the Russian Federation, said the suspension is a natural development in a process that is primarily driven at the EU-Russia level.

"Until the larger frame of energy and political (Ukrainian crisis) is cleared there is little to no chance for bilateral arrangements between an EU member state and Russia. Attempts to circumvent the EC primacy in the process and focus on the bilateral format, playing on nationalist and sovereignty sensitive public tunes in the South Stream route countries, as the Russians are trying, are doomed," Vassilev told SETimes.

 

Bosnia Buries 284 War Victims Two Decades on (AFP, 20 July 2014)

Thousands gathered Sunday for a final farewell to 284 people killed in Bosnia's 1992-1995 war, after their remains were exhumed from one of the largest mass graves found in the country.

"I hope it will be easier now," said 48-year old Suad Tatarevic, who came to bury some 40 family members lost to the mass killing, including his father and six brothers.

"At least I know where their graves are and can come to pray for them," he said as he knelt before the coffins of his loved ones, lined up with hundreds of others on a local playing field.

Tatarevic managed to flee when his father and brothers were killed on July 22, 1992, in their village of Zecovi.

His family were executed by Bosnian Serb forces as part of a campaign of ethnic cleansing at the beginning of the war, their bodies among 284 dumped in a huge mass grave.

Most of those killed were men, but they also included three women and a dozen teenagers aged 13 to 17 at the time.

All but one -- a Croat -- were Muslims from the northwestern towns of Kozarac and Prijedor and surrounding villages.

An imam said a prayer for the dead before their coffins were transported towards cemeteries in their home villages across the region.

Most of the victims were exhumed from a mass grave found last year in a disused mine in the village of Tomasica, some 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Prijedor.

Some 3,500 people were killed in the region at the beginning of the inter-ethnic war that claimed 100,000 lives throughout Bosnia. Some 700 people from the region remain unaccounted for.

Aldin Kahteran, 32, who was expelled from his village of Carakovo and now lives in France, had come home to bury father.

"In this region there were 3,500 deaths but only 16 Serb soldiers have been condemned" for these crimes, he said.

Between September and November 2013 forensic experts exhumed the remains of 435 people from the Tomasica mass grave, one of the largest uncovered since the war, but some victims have yet to be identified.

Bosnian Serbs took control of the Prijedor region in April 1992, forcing non-Serbs to leave their homes before destroying them.

Families were split up and thousands of people were thrown into three detention camps in the northwest, where they were held in squalid conditions, with many tortured and executed.

It was photographs of emaciated prisoners at Omarska -- reminiscent of the Nazi death camps -- broadcast in the summer of 1992 that shocked the world and drew international attention to the Serb campaign of so-called "ethnic cleansing".

The former Bosnian Serb political and military chiefs, Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic, are currently standing trial before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in the Hague, charged among other crimes for their role in the atrocities in the Prijedor region.

 

Two indicted for war crimes against Bosnian Croats (Dalje.com, 18 July 2014)
The Bosnian State Prosecutor's Office has indicted two former members of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) for war crimes against Croat civilians in the Konjic area, it was said in Sarajevo on Friday.
 The indictment was filed against Rasema Handanovic and Elmedin Causevic, who were members of the Zulfikar special unit, for torturing a Bosnian Croat married couple in the village of Grabovica in 1993.
Handanovic is serving a sentence of five and a half years which the State Court handed down for her involvement in crimes against Croats in the village of Trusina, where Zulfikar members killed 22 Bosnian Croats in 1993.
Handanovic was given a relatively mild sentence because she reached a plea bargain with the State Prosecutor's Office and committed to testifying against the other perpetrators. Based on her testimony, former Army of BiH member Edin Dzeko was sentenced to 12 years' pending appeal.
After the Bosnian war ended in 1995, Handanovic and Dzeko emigrated to the United States, whose authorities extradited them at the request of the Bosnian judiciary.

 

The library, also known as the Vijecnica national library, will continue to hold Open Days up till July 31 everyday between 10.00-17.00 local time (World Bulletin, 18 July 2014)

The National and University Library of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is referred to as the 'Memory of Sarajevo', has reopened its doors to visitors for the first time since it was destroyed by Serb forces in 1992 during the Bosnian war.

The library, also known as the Vijecnica national library, will continue to hold Open Days up till July 31 everyday between 10.00-17.00 local time.

Bosnians from both in and out of the country have been flocking to the site to take pictures and look around the building, which has restored their sense of national pride.

Slobodan Stoya, a historian from Sarajevo, took 30 French tourists around the site, explaining its symbolic and historical significance.

The library was built to fit an Andalusian design between 1892-1896 after the region came under the control of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire. It was once home to over six million books and archives, as well as works from Bosniak, Serb, Croat and Jewish writers and artists.

In the fire which burned for three days as of August 25, 1992, which ultimately destroyed the building, over 155,000 handwritten works and almost two million books from the national archives vanished.

Restoration was finally complete after 18 years on May 9, 2014.
Albanian expert: Turkey waypoint for Balkan jihadists (Today’s Zaman, 19 July 2014)

Ilir Kulla, an Albanian expert on international security, said there are hundreds of people from Kosovo, Macedonia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina who have joined the civil war in Syria and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), adding that Turkey is their main transit route.
“Turkey is the main waypoint, but not the only road for the Balkan jihadists,” Kulla said in an exclusive interview with Sunday's Zaman.
He served as the adviser to the Albanian president between 2007 and 2010 and state secretary of Religious Affairs of Albania from 2004-2005. He also worked as the adviser to the minister of foreign affairs from 2002-2003. He is currently a journalist and a political analyst.
Below are the questions and answers of the interview with Kulla.
Since the Syrian war broke out, many people living in the Balkans began joining conflicts in the Middle East, and especially the Syrian civil war. What factors lie behind this?
The reason why young Albanians left Albania in groups or individually was to join the war in Syria. At the outset of the Arab Spring Western governments and media pumped out a lot of strong propaganda in support of the Arab revolutions. At the same time, the approach of local religious leaders to the same phenomenon was in line with that official propaganda. So, men like Bashar al-Assad, Ben Ali, Hosni Mubarak and Muammar Gaddafi became “evil” according to the partners of Western countries in the Mediterranean Dialogue, and young people from the periphery of the big Arab cities became “freedom fighters” and “the good guys.” European governments employed a double standard. They did not recognize Hamas' victory and the results of the 2006 democratic election, but they took advantage of the Islamic movements, claiming that, through them, countries would attain democracy. The Albanian government acted along the same lines as former Prime Minister Sali Berisha, publicly calling for the ouster of the Assad regime.
For Albanians who lived through the Albanian democratic revolution and the war in Kosovo, the Arab Spring was a just fight. For the young Islamist movements it was even better. Public opinion, the propaganda of Western governments (including the US) and calls from sheikhs were the same. The young people asked themselves, “Why shouldn't we participate in such a jihad, in this just jihad?”
I think it was a combination of reasons, including propaganda, religious motivation and some monetary incentives. Now, things have changed, and we call them terrorists, but we shouldn't forget that the responsibility for what happened is not only theirs, but also rests in official organizations, religious leadership and governments -- including the Turkish government and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoðan.
Do you know of any research or have you carried out research yourself on this topic as it pertains to Albania or the Balkan peninsula as a whole? How have these developments affected Albania in particular?
The problem in the western Balkans started in 2011 but became more prevalent in 2012, and even more so in 2013. They organized themselves in Albanian paramilitary units, first for the Farouq Brigades of the Free Syrian Army, then for the al-Nusra Front and later for ISIL in the cities of Ar-Raqqah and Aleppo. They fought. Some of them were killed and declared martyrs by religious leaders. Now they have their own videos in the Albanian language; they have plans for an Albanian caliphate and they use social networks, propaganda and, of course, the media for recruitment.
Is there an official or estimated number of people who have joined the war so far?
There are hundreds of them, and, if we include those from Kosovo, Macedonia, Bosnia and Sandzak, there are thousands. I include here young people who joined the jihad from the diaspora.
Are the governments of the Balkan states taking any action to stem the tide or slow down this movement of people from the Balkans to Syria?
Governments have moved on from their initial approach to resorting to other more extreme measures. State authorities, in most cases, are unable to operate in a professional manner. Some of them consider the only solution to be repression or, even worse, they don't know what to do and wait for the CIA to come and solve their problems. Unfortunately, there is no clear plan about how to handle the issue in the future.
What kind of factors motivate the youth to leave Albania, and the Balkans in general, and join the war in Syria and Iraq?
I would have to say the reason they are joining the war in Syria, in addition to my initial explanation, is related to the very bad economic and social situation in the Balkans, seemingly irreparable political systems, corruption and organized crime -- the same preconditions for the young people involved in the Arab Spring. The young religious jihadist in the Balkans knows that, for the moment, it is not realistic to talk about a Balkan jihad, so they join another jihad and the caliphate as a first step towards a final goal. If you remember, it was the same situation in the '80s with young Arabs who joined the jihad in Afghanistan.
What transit route do those joining the fighting in Syria and Iraq take? Do they go via Turkey?
Yes, Turkey is the main waypoint, but not the only road. Even Iraq and Lebanon are used, but this is nothing new. All you need to do is look at Turkish Airlines flights for Tirana-Ýstanbul-Antakya and you can see the reality.
What can be done to stop this movement of people?
It is no longer possible to stop it; it is too late. We will pay the price just as Turkey will pay the price. The price is not being able to give a future to the young population of your country. But we should prepare ourselves for the future, which will be difficult. Sooner or later those people will return home, and unfortunately we are not prepared for the future.

 

€500 Million Loan Raises Queries in Macedonia (BIRN, by Sinisa Jakov Marusic, 21 July 2014)

Newly revealed plans to raise a record €500 million through a Eurobond have caused divisions in Macedonia, with many querying official explanations for the loan.

Macedonia's decision to borrow €500 million was revealed in the latest Official Gazette, which said the money would be borrowed in the third quarter of this year “for financing the budget needs of this year and the next”.
Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski denied that the loan has anything to do with budget deficit worries, insisting that the country does not need any loans now, but is raising money in order to refinance old debt that will be up for returning next year start.
“At the moment, we have no such urgency,” Gruevski told the media. “Our estimate is that now is the right moment to make a move, so we can raise finances under best possible conditions [on world markets], which will be used mainly for refinancing previous debt.”
However, a former Finance Minister, Nikola Popovski, said the Prime Minister was not telling the truth.
“If the money is really intended for refinancing old debt, created by the previous Eurobond from 2005, worth €150 million, then why are we raising €500 million?" he asked.

He said the real reason for the loan was that "the government has accumulated a huge [budget] deficit that annually amounts to €300 or €400 million, which must be financed from somewhere”.
According to data from the Finance Ministry, in the first four months of this year alone, Macedonia spent two-thirds of its predicted budget deficit for the whole of 2014.
The ministry report revealed that in the first four months, the government spent almost €200 million more than it gathered in taxes. This sum amounts to two-thirds of the planned €300 million budget deficit for 2014, which is set at 3.5 per cent of GDP.
Other experts blame the increase in spending on the April general and presidential elections, which saw another victory for the VMRO-DPMNE party led by Prime Minister Gruevski.
The size of Macedonia’s public debt has long been a source of contention. Earlier this year, the government and opposition expressed radically different views about the figures.
Opposition Social Democrats accused the government of hiding the real size of the public debt, which they say may have reached or exceeded 44 per cent of GDP.
The government insisted that the opposition had exaggerated the problem, saying that the state debt by the end of December 2013 was €2.7 billion on 34.3 per cent of GDP.
This is the third time in a decade that Macedonia is issuing Eurobonds. In 2005, the government this way raised €150 million at an interest rate of 4.65 per cent. The money is to be returned next year.
It issued a second Eurobond worth €175 million in 2009. This debt was repaid last year with an interest of 9.8 per cent.
In 2010, the government said it no longer planned to raise money this way, because of “unfavourable conditions” on world markets.

 

Slovenia president expects new government in second half of September (Reuters, 16 July 2014)

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's new government could be formed in the second half of September, President Borut Pahor said on Wednesday, after a new centre-left party won the most votes in a snap election.

"Following a patient dialogue between parties and their parliamentary groups, a new government could be formed in the second half of September," Pahor's office said in a statement after he met Miro Cerar, whose Party of Miro Cerar (SMC) won Sunday's election.

The SMC won 36 out of 90 seats in parliament, more than any other party has held since Slovenia's independence from Yugoslavia in 1991. (Reporting By Marja Novak; Editing by Zoran Radosavljevic and Raissa Kasolowsky)

 

Slovenia central bank urges reform to avoid new downturn (RTE, 17 July 2014)
Slovenia narrowly avoided a bailout in December

Slovenia needs to speed up economic reforms and attract foreign investment if it wants to avoid a new downturn, the central bank warned, as a new government prepares to take over.

"We are at a crossroads and the sense of complacency based on recent data could be deceptive and lead us into a vicious circle again," the head of the central bank Bostjan Jazbec told a news conference.

Hard-hit by the global economic crisis, euro zone member Slovenia narrowly avoided a bailout in December as the outgoing government injected €3.3 billion to recapitalise state-owned banks.

The economy then exited a recession, with gross domestic product expanding by 1.9% in the first quarter of this year.

But "further delays in the restructuring of the economy will gradually minimise the effects of December's bank recapitalisations," Mr Jazbec warned.

"To secure sustainable growth, we need a new investment cycle," he added, before urging the incoming government to continue privatising state-owned companies, a move launched by outgoing Prime Minister Alenka Bratusek.  

The winner of Sunday's anticipated elections, political newcomer Miro Cerar, has pledged to back measures to stabilise the public finances but opposes the privatisation drive.

A new government has not yet been named but Mr Cerar will likely be asked to lead it.