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LOCAL PRESS

Dacic calls Serbs again to vote in Kosovo (TV Prva)

Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic has called on the Serbs in northern Kosovska Mitrovica to turn out and vote in the repeated local elections on 17 November unless they want the city to be led by an Albanian, which would destroy the whole concept of the Union of Serb Municipalities.
Dacic said that a positive report by EU High Representative Catherine Ashton is conditional, among other things, on a successful completion of the election process in Kosovo, further implementation of the Brussels agreement and improvement in relations between Belgrade and Pristina. Unless there is a problem in the implementation of the Brussels agreement, Dacic said, I expect that Ashton will note positively in her report that Serbia had made progress in EU integration, which should be followed by a positive decision of the European Council on the date for the beginning of the accession talks between Serbia and the EU. Dacic told TV Prva that it would be good if Serbia started the negotiations by the end of December, but even if that happens by the end of January, it will be a strong message and a signal that Serbia needs to increase the momentum of its reforms. Dacic stressed that it is very important that the Serbs turn out and vote in the repeated elections in northern Kosovska Mitrovica. “If they want to win, the Serbs will have to take part in the elections. The plan is for northern Kosovska Mitrovica to be the administrative headquarters for the Community of Serb municipalities, which will consist of a total of 10 municipalities, and perhaps even the region of Gora in the south of Kosovo. If we fail to do that now, we will not have north Kosovska Mitrovica and the whole concept will collapse. If the mayor is an Albanian, it will mean that we are not be able to set up the administration, and we will not be in the position to create the Union of Serb Municipalities, which could lead to conflicts, and perhaps even to armed conflicts,” said Dacic, reiterating that everyone who has been causing serious incidents in northern Kosovo and Metohija will be prosecuted.

Vulin congratulated Goranis for success in elections in Gora (Tanjug)

Serbian Minister without Portfolio in charge of Kosovo and Metohija Aleksandar Vulin has congratulated the community of Goranis for the results of their list in the local elections, and he thanked for their loyalty to the Republic of Serbia all these years. In a statement to Tanjug, Vulin has pointed that the local elections in the Gora municipality were essentially a kind of a referendum, in which the Goranis have opted to be part of the Union of Serbian Municipalities with their Serb neighbors. The Minister has thanked the citizens for the fact that their children are schooled according to the programs of the Republic of Serbia and for remaining faithful to the idea of living together.

Ivanovic: International community to improve conditions for elections (Beta)

The candidate for Kosovska Mitrovica mayor nominated by the Civic Initiative SDP Oliver Ivanovic expects the international community to improve conditions for the elections that are to be repeated in this town on 17 November. Ivanovic emphasized that this would be a chance for the northern Mitrovica to get a Serb mayor, as otherwise, should an Albanian be elected, the town will lose the local self-administration.

No final results yet (RTS/Beta)

The Central Election Commission (CIK) of Kosovo has not yet prepared the final results of the local elections held on 3 November, because not all ballots have been counted. At today’s CIK session, it was announced that the counting of the so-called conditional votes and those that arrived by mail would commence today and that the final results would be announced in the following days. The CIK member Nenad Rikalo has stated that some election material will be annulled but that this will not influence the final results. “The CIK has decided to recount the election material from 62 election boxes from entire Kosovo. At eight polling stations – three in Leposavic, two in Zvecan and three in Prizren – the election material from boxes will be annulled if the authorized bodies do not submit by noon today election rolls with signatures of voters from these polling stations,” Rikalo told Beta.

Patriarch Irinej: International community to find solution for Kosovo (Novosti)

Serbian Patriarch Irinej has stated that Serbia cannot renounce on Kosovo, and if that is the price of being admitted to Europe, then we will rather give up on that. When receiving the participants of the Pan-European conference on human and religious rights in the Patriarchy, Irinej has said that the international community must find a solution for the problem of the province. Kosovo is our history, our culture, our spirituality, the Patriarch stressed and invited the international community to help the expelled Serbs return to Kosovo and Metohija. He has reminded that his historical seat is in the Pec Patriarchate and the Serbian Orthodox Church and national being would lose their heart if Kosovo belonged to another country. 

McFarlane: I believe in positive decision on EU negotiations (Danas)

British Chargé d’Affaires in Serbia David McFarlane believes that on 20 December the EU will pass a decision on opening the accession talks with Serbia. He has emphasized that Great Britain has been a long time proponent of the EU enlargement. However, according to his guest article in Danas, the specific challenge relating to Kosovo will have to be taken into account, and require the establishing of an approach that would continue dealing with the normalization of the relations between Belgrade and Pristina.

Europe does not threaten Serbia with suspending visa-free regime (Radio Serbia, by Sandra Pekic)

This fall the European Parliament has approved the introduction of the so-called “protective mechanism”, which enables the suspension of the visa-free regime for the Schengen area to Balkan and other countries, in case of the number of asylum seekers from those countries suddenly growing, or if some kind of danger to EU countries should emerge. At issue is a preventive measure that envisages the possibility of a temporary limitation to the visa-free regime. As previewed by the mechanism, if the number of false asylum seekers doubles over the period of six months, these measures could practically be introduced in one day. Serbian Minister without Portfolio in charge of the European integrations Branko Ruzic has received assurances from Brussels that the passing of this legislation is not targeting Serbia. The EU wishes to protect itself, due to having had bad experiences with illegal migrations during the previous instances of the enlargement process, especially with Bulgaria and Romania, director of the Center for Euro-Atlantic Integrations Jelena Milic has reminded. According to her, we should not ignore the fact that by introducing the new protective measures, the European parliamentarians strive to calm the public anxiety in their home countries, due to the future visa liberalization for Kosovo and Metohija. Decreasing the number of false asylum seekers remains a priority for Serbia, underlined Police Director Milorad Veljovic. At the recently held meeting of the Commission for Monitoring of Visa-Free Regime with the EU officials, the representatives of the EU Delegation in Serbia have expressed satisfaction with the steps and activities that the Serbian Ministry of Interior had taken in curbing the phenomenon of false asylum seekers. While stressing that the growing number of the asylum applicants hinders the accession talks, head of the negotiating team Tanja Miscevic has pointed it is necessary to be cautious about the thin line between solving the problem of false asylum seekers and violation of human rights. The intention of this sort of migrants from the West Balkan is usually not to get the asylum, but rather to take advantage of the financial assistance that Germany, Sweden, Belgium and Luxembourg extend during the procedure of processing the application. In order to solve the problem in the long term, it is necessary for the Serbian Government to implement concrete measures in providing favorable economic and social environment in all segments of the society for the categories of the population that usually aim for the EU as the false asylum seekers.

REGIONAL PRESS

Serbia protests over attack on consulate in Rijeka (Tanjug)

Serbian Ambassador to Croatia Stanimir Vukicevic has protested to Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs of Croatia Zeljko Kupresak over a damage that was made to a bilingual sing with the name of the Consulate General of Serbia in Rijeka and smashing of windows on the building during the night between 8 and 9 November, the Serbian Foreign Ministry said in a release on Sunday. Kupresak expressed his regret over the incident and the belief that the attack on Serbia's mission will be shed light on very soon, the release says. The Serbian Foreign Ministry said that they expect Croatia to take all necessary measures to fulfill the commitments it took upon itself in compliance with the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. The Ministry recalls that the Consulate General of Serbia in Rijeka (western Croatia) has been exposed to similar attacks several times, the last time being in April this year, when a Molotov cocktail was thrown at the building.

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

Chinese State Councilor meets 67th Session UNGA's president (Xinhua, 8 November 2013)

BEIJING -- Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi on Friday met with the president of the 67th Session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA), Vuk Jeremic, who is also the former Serbian foreign minister.

Yang highlighted the work of the 67th Session of the UNGA, adding that as the most universal and representative inter-governmental international organization, the UN should continue to play an important role in international affairs.

Yang said the China-Serbia strategic partnership made new achievements in recent years, and the two sides should implement the consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries and boost bilateral ties in the next stage.

Vuk Jeremic said Serbia and China have a profound friendship and called for more cooperation in various fields between the two countries.