Belgrade DMH 271113

LOCAL PRESS

Dacic: Minority rights respected in Serbia (RTS)

Serbia upholds the laws that guarantee a high level of national minority rights, so the Belgrade authorities believe that the rights of the Serbian minority in other countries must be fully respected as well, Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic emphasized in the talks with representatives of the Supervisory Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, held last night in Belgrade. He pointed that the fact of some country being a member of the EU could not abolish its guilt for the violation of Serbian minority’s rights. Dacic underlined that the Serbian Government had initiated essential reforms in order to improve the judiciary system, provide the rule of law and reach European standards. At the same time, the government has adopted a set of anti-corruption laws and started the resolute battle against crime and corruption, Prime Minister Dacic concluded.

Vulin: Kosovo will not receive UN membership (Tanjug/B92)

“Kosovo will not receive UN membership as long as Serbia exists, and the agreement on the manner of representation of Kosovo and Metohija at regional gatherings will not be changed,” Serbian Minister without Portfolio in charge of Kosovo and Metohija Aleksandar Vulin has stated. “There is no place in the UN for Kosovo and there will be no changes of the reached agreements. It is another matter if someone would like to change something, but what was agreed in Brussels cannot be changed in Pristina or in Belgrade,” Vulin told journalists at the Belgrade Fair. He says Belgrade’s policy is clear and Belgrade remains devoted to the Brussels agreement and agreements reached before this government. Asked to comment the support of the Independent Liberal Party (SLS) to the Serbian (Srpska) Civil Initiative in the second round of elections and whether coalitions were possible, Vulin said that nobody had ever divided the Serbs nor tried to make Serbs into enemies and that everybody is welcome. “We consider that the correct government policy has been support to the largest list, and the Serbian list gathers Serbs in all municipalities and it is logical for all of us to gather around our flag, government and the Serbian list,” said Vulin, adding that the Serbian list had won or will win in the second round in all ten municipalities. The Minister has once again invited the Serbs in the province to approach the second round of the local elections on 1 December in the largest numbers possible. He expressed belief that the Serbs would vote as their country would like them to, for the sake of strengthening the ties with Belgrade and improving the position of the Serb people in Kosovo and Metohija. In that context, Vulin has pointed to the importance of forming the Union of Serb Municipalities, as the guarantee of survival and defending the interests of the Serbs in the southern province.

Mirovic: We will help Serb municipalities in Kosovo and Metohija (Tanjug)

Serbian Minister of Regional Development and Local Self-Government Igor Mirovic has called citizens to turn out for the local elections in Kosovo and Metohija, assessing that 1 December is the day when they will be deciding on their fate. “I wish to call all of our citizens to go to the polls in the municipalities where our candidates are being elected, especially the candidates from the Serbian Civic Initiative list,” Mirovic told journalists at the Belgrade Fair. “These elections are fateful elections when it comes to the survival of our people in Kosovo and Metohija. If we form a strong Union of Serb Municipalities, we will have a very strong mechanism for technical, financial and any other help through the Union,” said Mirovic. He said that the Ministry of Regional Development and Local Self-Government would do everything to help, through local development projects, all Serb municipalities after the elections in Kosovo and Metohija.

Book on Kosovo by French reporter (Politika)

The book entitled “Kosovo – the ‘Just’ War for the Mafia State”, by French reporter Pierre Péan, was presented in Belgrade last night. According to Rados Ljusic, the director of the Official Gazette, which published Péan’s book, the author wrote an emotional book about the Serbian-Albanian conflict from 1999 to 2004, as well as the state of affairs within the French Government, army and intelligence services during those years. He does not defend the Serbs from their bad policy, but he does point to the crimes of the Albanians and NATO policy that was exercised towards Serbia at the time, Ljusic said. The founder of the French humanitarian organization that helps the Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija, Arnaud Gouillon has pointed that the book also unveils the information regarding the background of the conflict in Kosovo, which has not been published before.

REGIONAL PRESS

Expert meeting at technical level without agreement (Oslobodjenje)

The Sarajevo meeting on the legal issues regarding the implementation of the Sejdic-Finci ruling among the representatives of the European Commission and legal experts of seven leading political parties in B&H hasn’t brought anything new after five and half hours, except that a new meeting was scheduled for Friday. “We have discussed some legal aspects that are tied for some modalities and the House of Peoples, which shows how complex this issue is and, if you want to be consistent in some composition, how difficult it is to view one issue separately from other issues in B&H or to look for some solutions on the principle of erasing the ethnic sign, because this brings into question all other functions. Today we don’t agree on the principles, let alone on the models,” said Bojana Kristo of the HDZ B&H. Sefik Dzaferovic (SDA) has stated that the meeting had a special accent on the House of Peoples. “Some issues of the future structure of the House were opened, having in mind the past different proposals of political parties, manner of election of delegates in the House of Peoples and the role of the House in the B&H parliamentary system, the quorum and some other issues. Nothing has been agreed, because this was not the goal of this meeting. We will agree on the political level,” said Dzaferovic. The Director of the Directorate General of the European Commission for Enlargement and Neighboring Policy Jean-Eric Paquet said before the meeting: “I hope I will see constructive talks on technical issues that should help our interlocutors in B&H to reach agreement, so B&H could keep pace with the neighbors in the EU integration process. Our efforts on this issue are still underway and I sincerely hope a solution will be reached soon. Many things are stake for B&H,” he said. Stasa Kosarac of the SNSD has reiterated the stand that the Republika Srpska (RS) is not a problem in the implementation of the Sejdic-Finci ruling. “We expect agreement at the level of the Federation, and the RS stand is known – indirect election of B&H Presidency members is out of the question,” said Kosarac, noting that there is still enough optimism that the best solution will be found on the modalities of the implementation of the Strasbourg Court ruling. Predrag Kovac of the SDS agreed with his statement. The leader of the HDZ 1990 Martin Raguz said: “I am convinced that we don’t have the right to give up, it is good that Europe is pushing us in that direction. We must not allow for next elections to be held without the implementation of the ruling, which, even if held, would not have the same kind of credibility and support of the democratic public, both internal and foreign. I’m afraid that we would lose the perspective of the IPA funds. It is time that we stop accusing each other while the country, as well as its nations, are suffering. Now is the moment, and I am calling all of us for a more responsible approach, for dialogue and agreement. We don’t have the right to be part of a negative scenario and this political battle awaits us.”

Covic: Federal government is illegal and illegitimate (Dnevni Avaz)

“The government of the B&H Federation is illegal, illegitimate and works to the detriment of the citizens of the B&H Federation,” the leader of the HDZ B&H Dragan Covic said. He pointed out that the Federal government had lost the parliament’s support and that reorganization should have occurred. “However, the Federal government is operating from day to day, as the item on the agenda is interesting to some of the members of this government,” Covic told Dnevni Avaz. He assessed there were attempts at perfidiously using the time left before the next elections, to “grab what can be grabbed” for certain people in the government and to trade in all possible ways in order to receive support for some items on the agenda. This is how the draft budget that had arrived from the government passed the House of the Representatives of the Federal parliament. “Every part of the government is making some interest for itself. The SDA is also part of that government, just as the SDP and other small parties. All of them will be trading in order to get the maximum while still in power,” said the HDZ B&H leader. Covic announced that the next session of the HDZ Presidency would discuss leaving the federal parliamentary majority.

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

Trump Eyes Turning Serbian Army Ruin into Hotel (BIRN, 27 November 2013)

Donald Trump is considering buying the Serbian Defence Ministry's bombed headquarters in Belgrade, and turning them into a top-class hotel.

Workers in Serbia are busy cleaning the remains of the so-called B building of the former Serbian Army headquarters in Belgrade that NATO blasted in 1999.

"Works include clearing the collapsed remains of the reinforced concrete structure from the basement to the top," the Defence Ministry said.

The job is due to last 70 working days.

The clean-up comes after American businessman Donald Trump met Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic last week in the US and discussed the potential for building a luxurious hotel on the spot.

Trump is sending a group of observers to view the location over the next month. Dacic said after the meeting that such an investment would be of great importance for Serbia.

"The arrival of Trump and his investment would be a call to other serious investors," Dacic said.

The celebrity tycoon has a series of hotels in the US which are branded with his name, as well as being famous for his outspoken television appearances.

He is not the first investor to show an interest in turning the former army headquarters into a hotel. Mohammed bin Zayed, from the United Arab Emirates, has also eyed the location for a possible luxury hotel.

The former army heardquarters, which was the work of Serbian architect Nikola Dobrovic, comprises two buildings of about 50,000 square metres, built between 1956 and 1965.

It suffered extensive damage from NATO bombing on April 29 and on May 7, 1999. Six years later, the complex was placed on a list of Serbian cultural heritage sites.

It has not been repaired since the bombing for lack of money but serves mainly as a tourist attraction.

The complex is owned by the Serbian state and the Defence Ministry and Army were only its tenants.

According to Serbian law, a building listed as a protected monument can be repaired without changing its status. The building must retain its external appearance but areas behind its façade can be redeveloped.

Serbia Needs More Savings in 2014 to Get IMF Deal: Petrovic (Bloomberg, by Gordana Filipovic, 26 November 2013)

Serbia needs to make additional savings in its 2014 budget to convince the International Monetary Fund to agree to a new loan program.

Savings of as much as 1 percent of economic output are needed to cut the planned general government deficit of 7.1 percent of gross domestic product to about 6 percent to 6.5 percent, said Pavle Petrovic, head of the Balkan country’s Fiscal Council, a three-member body appointed by parliament to oversee budget discipline.

“If the deficit was lowered in comparison with 2013, that would calm investors and even more importantly get us closer to a necessary deal with the IMF,” Petrovic told reporters in Belgrade today. The 2013 general government deficit will be about 6.6 percent of GDP, he said.

Serbia has made no formal request for loan talks with the IMF. The Washington-based lender last month cut its growth forecast for the country and called for more action to overhaul labor and pension systems as well as to reduce red tape to help the economy expand.

An IMF technical mission will come to Belgrade next month to help assess public finances and better plan budget spending and revenues, Tanjug news agency cited Finance Minister Lazar Krstic as saying. Krstic said “there are no formal talks” on a potential financial backstop, and Serbia is still interested in a precautionary program.

Yields on Serbia’s 2021 dollar-denominated bond fell one basis point, or 0.01 percentage point, to 6.504 percent at 5:58 p.m. in Belgrade. The dinar slid 0.1 percent to 114.1630 to the euro, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

State Companies

The overhaul of state-owned companies, along with a lower budget gap and the adoption of a credible mid-term savings plan are needed to avoid a debt crisis, Petrovic said, less than two months after Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said the country was on the verge of bankruptcy.

Premier Ivica Dacic’s cabinet raised the general government gap forecast to 7.1 percent of GDP next year to include one-time spending aimed at overhauling state-owned enterprises and prop up commercial banks.

The government will need to borrow 5 billion euros ($6.8 billion) a year at least until 2016 to cover the gap and settle debts. Access to funding may become limited and pricey without deficit cuts, Petrovic said.

‘Insufficiently Credible’

Dacic, who replaced the previous finance minister and his party to narrow the number of coalition partners as part of a government shuffle in September, pledged last month to raise taxes, push back the retirement age for women, crack down on the shadow economy and cut subsidies to state-owned companies to curb public debt growth by 2016.

The measures proposed in next year’s budget and the fiscal strategy through 2016 aren’t “balanced and are therefore insufficiently credible,” Petrovic said. “The state of public finances demands more decisive measures” and action “without delay” to resolve issues at state companies and banks that “uncontrollably bleed budget funds.”

Serbia will need 800 million euros in 2014 to cover failed banks, including 360 million euros to boost the capital of its Deposit Insurance Agency, which this year spent 100 million euros after the collapse of Privredna Banka AD Beograd, Petrovic said.

Bulgaria’s far-right Ataka asks territories in Serbia, Macedonia to be returned to Bulgaria (Focus News Agency, 27 November 2013)

Sofia. “Territories in Serbia and the Former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia, which are inhabited by Bulgarians, should be returned to Bulgaria,” far-right Ataka party required in a declaration presented at the parliament today, FOCUS News Agency reporter informed.

The declaration reads that “in 1919 a humiliating treaty – the Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine, was signed, and under this treaty many Bulgarians were left outside the country”.

“Serbia and the Former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia cannot be considered legal successors of the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs. Serbia was not accepted for successor of Yugoslavia by the UN and the international community, while FYR Macedonia is not even recognised under its constitutional name.

Respectively, the Neuilly-sur-Seine dictatorship has no power in terms of Serbia and FYR Macedonia and it is invalid in terms of the Western Outlands and Strumica, due to the disappearance of the country it was signed with.

The lands separated from Bulgaria under this treaty should be returned to its territory,” the declaration reads further.

Ataka thinks that the issue should be settled before Serbia starts the EU accession talks and before FYR Macedonia’s entrance in the EU.