Bernd Hiteman: Belgrade has gained in importance during the Ukrainian crisis

Bodo Weber: Germany waiting Vucic to fulfil promises

Berlin, Belgrade - Today's visit of Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic to Berlin is very important, given the fact that it comes at the invitation of German Chancellor Angela Merkel for the first time since he took the office, assessed for Danas experts for the Western Balkans in Berlin.

According to our respondents, the need to boost ties between the two countries was particularly evident after the outbreak of the crisis in Ukraine, as well as in the context of continuing European course of Belgrade, including implementation of internal reforms.

Bernd Hiteman, Secretary General of the European Movement in Germany, comments for Danas that the arrival of the President of the Serbian government is not among the German media news headlines, which is not surprising since the public there is less interested in visits of foreign officials, but that Serbia certainly represents an important factor of stability in the Southeastern Europe.

"The role of Serbia is even more important during the Ukrainian crisis. At the same time, the catastrophic floods in Serbia give a human dimension to relations between Belgrade and Berlin," comments Hiteman.

Our interlocutor points out that the Serbian authorities have to concentrate in the coming months on internal administrative and judicial reforms, in order to become a "reliable partner" to citizens, investors and civil society in Germany. He also argues that claims of Aleksandra Vucic are "paradox" that "many in the international community pressure the Serbian media to campaign against him and his family," and that the freedom of the media certainly will be a topic of conversation of Serbian premiere in Berlin.

"Such statements are not subject in Germany, but allegations of assault from abroad are a paradox in an integrated Europe. As for the freedom of the media, the German publishers made it clear during the Serbian-German conference that press freedom and freedom of the market go hand in hand. Pluralism is the key word," says Bernd Hiteman.

Bodo Weber, a senior associate of the Democratization Policy Council in Berlin, says to Danas that political context of Vucic visit is significant.

"It will be the first meeting between Vucic and Merkel after the parliamentary elections in Serbia, the crisis in Ukraine, as well as the completion of all the elections, which were an obstacle to continuation of the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina. From the perspective of Berlin, Serbia certainly showed the most cooperation in connection with the settlement of the Kosovo issue, but came to a halt this year in the implementation of the Brussels agreement, largely because of the elections in Serbia, the EU and Kosovo. Therefore, Germany certainly expects the new dynamics, including the establishment of community of Serbian municipalities and agreement on basic court in Kosovska Mitrovica. At the same time, after all the announcements on series of reforms, which so far remained at the level of strategy of the Serbian government, the process of their implementation finally begins, meaning the fight against corruption, judicial reform, and the like," says a German analyst.

Commenting the statement of Vucic on "international pressure", Weber says this reflects "ambivalence of the absolute power that he has accumulated for only two years and the West recognizes this."

"Absolute power is on one side, a prerequisite for the implementation of the reforms that are necessary for the successful continuation of Serbia's European path and establishing good relations with the West, particularly as regards to the initiated political recognition of Kosovo. On the other hand, absolute power is in itself is a threat to the upcoming democratic reforms," said Bodo Weber.

German officials over the past 15 years, even in times of complete political disagreement, did not interrupt contact with Serbian politicians. Former German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, at the time of sanctions against Belgrade during the Kosovo talks in Rambouillet, met with then-President Slobodan Milosevic.

With Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder met in March 2001 then Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic. Vojislav Kostunica visited Berlin as President of the FRY and as Prime Minster of Serbia. Former Serbian President Boris Tadic, who was welcomed in Berlin, as well as Kostunica, with military honours, more than once during his term of office, met with Chancellor Merkel and other German officials.

The commemoration of the resolution of the Bundestag

German Federal Parliament Bundestag adopted on 27 June 2013th resolution setting out the conditions that Serbia must fulfil before obtaining full membership in the EU. Belgrade, as stated, is to sign a legally binding agreement on normalizing relations with Pristina. The resolution also stressed that it must be ensured that the process of normalization between Serbia and Kosovo should be specially treated in one of the negotiating chapters with the EU. Required is also to completely shed light on the German Embassy attack in Belgrade in 2008.

German media began to criticize

In the most recent comments of German media generally is highlighted Vucic’s "flexibility" when it comes to expectations of Brussels over Kosovo, but often is emphasized the political arrangement of Serbian prime minister during the Milosevic regime, which some, like the list of Sueddeutsche Zeitung, called "opaque". Tageszeitung of Berlin stated that the authorities in Serbia "resort to censorship as in their worst times." "In recent days the power measurement between the government and its political opponents looks like the race, dozens of messages of criticism disappear from the Internet as soon as they appear ... Qualification "my specialty is censorship" should be inserted in Vucic’s biography", comments the daily.