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LOCAL PRESS

Nikolic: Serbia can have a better government (TV Prva)

Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic believes that Serbia could have a better government and that new elections would be useful for Serbian citizens as they would be able to choose whom they want. He said that the present stand of the Serbian government could function, but that it was natural that the largest political party appoints the prime minister after elections. He was quoted by TV Prva as having said that he was surprised by the government reshuffle, that he had some objections to certain ministers and that he informed the Prime Minister and the first Deputy Prime Minister of the fact. “Harmony cannot be created between a small and a big party, if the power is not proportional to the number of votes they won in the elections,” the President said.

Dacic: Crucial formation of Union of Serb Municipalities; I’m not afraid of elections (RTS)

“The meetings of the working groups in the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina will continue next week, and for now it is crucial to form the Union of Serb Municipalities and to pass its statute. You see that there are problems with the constitution of the municipal assemblies, the Union should be established, the statute should be drafted, now we are slowly reaching the core of the problem, the Union is becoming the main issue,” Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic told reporters during his visit to a retirement home in Belgrade on Thursday. He said that he does not know the date when the dialogue with Pristina will be resumed, adding that the EU High Representatives Catherine Ashton has told him that she would love them to meet in January. “We have not agreed on 17 January as the date for the continuation of the talks because I was not willing to accept the date as I believed that this would only be an additional pressure, and we should not work under pressure, we should find the best possible solutions. We are yet to see whether the talks will take place on 17 January or not, and it is certain that the political criteria for Serbia’s talks with the EU will remain unchanged requiring progress in the dialogue with Pristina. Probably there will still be different pressures,” Dacic said, adding that the administration in Brussels is on holiday at the moment so there have not been any contacts in the previous seven days, but they will continue on Friday or Monday. Dacic underlined that it is certain that on 21 January Serbian First Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic and him will go to Brussels to attend the first inter-governmental conference between Serbia and the EU, which will officially mark the start of Serbia’s EU accession talks. Dacic has stated that extraordinary parliamentary elections are not a priority, but it does not mean he is afraid, because if they are to be held, he believes it would “seal the fate of the opposition parties.” Dacic has repeated that he and First Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic are in agreement that the elections are not a priority, so if no significant changes are expected, except maybe a few staff positions, why waste time that could be used for more important things. Asked if potential extraordinary elections would halt the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, or the negotiations with the EU, the Prime Minister answered the negotiations would certainly not be conducted during that period, by he did not wish it to be an alibi to refrain from the elections. Dacic has reiterated that he had formed the government with Progressive Party leader Aleksandar Vucic and Serbia President Tomislav Nikolic, so he will also talk to them about the elections.

Patriarch Irinej: Kosovo, a horrible place of existence (Tanjug)

Serbian Patriarch Irinej has stressed in his Christmas message that suffering and injustice is not stopping in Kosovo and Metohija and that the attempts to snatch it have been ongoing for centuries. At the same time, the Serbian Patriarch told the Serbs who live there that they are not alone and forgotten, and that the entire Serb nation and righteous world is with them. “Our Kosovo and Metohija is a horrible place of existence because suffering does not stop there and injustice increases from day to day. Unrest and violence govern Kosovo and Metohija. They have been snatching this province for decades, the historic Old Serbia, from our bosom and being,” Patriarch Irinej said in his message that he read in the Patriarchate, which he sent on behalf of all hierarchs of the Serbian Orthodox Church. But, the Patriarch notes, they are not succeeding in tearing it out, because Kosovo and Metohija is more than territory – it is our vow. “We are saying to our brothers and sisters in Kosovo and Metohija: you are not alone and forgotten. We invoke peace in Kosovo and Metohija, peace, most of all, among our brothers Serbs, as well as peace among all people of good will,” says Patriarch Irinej.

Pantic: I expect formation of Union of Serb Municipalities in February (Tanjug)

Deputy Head of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Krstimir Pantic has stated that the statute of the Union of Serb Municipalities will have to be harmonized with representatives of the international community. “The statute will have to be approved and dovetailed with officials of the international community, we expect this to be done in the shortest time possible and to have the Union formed as early as beginning of February after all municipalities individually make a decision on accession to the Union,” Pantic told Tanjug. Pantic, who is soon to assume the office of the Kosovska Mitrovica mayor, stated that it is certain that nine municipalities in Kosovo and Metohija will be members of the Union, adding that the decision of the Strpce municipality is still unknown. “We would, of course, want all 10 municipalities, where Serb parties are in power, to join the Union, since this way we would be able to protect the interest of our citizens in the best possible way, but this is the decision of each municipality individually,” Pantic said.

Kurkulas: Serbia could progress fast in EU accession (Beta)

Greek Minister in charge of European Affairs Dimitris Kurkulas said he believed Serbia had capacities to progress fast in EU accession and that the decision on the first inter-governmental conference was well deserved. He confirmed that preparations for EU accession talks were under way and Greece, which has taken over the six-month presidency of the EU, is also preparing to organize the first inter-governmental conference between Serbia and the EU, which is due on 21 January. The decision to hold the conference is a historic moment, he said, adding that Greece had supported Serbia on its EU course all the time.

Deniau: Serbia could become EU member in 2020 (Tanjug)

“Serbia has achieved substantial progress on its EU pathway as a result of major political and social changes and the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, and could become an EU member in 2020,” the French Ambassador to Serbia Francois-Xavier Deniau told Tanjug. He says that the EU accession talks will be based on the merits of Serbia itself, and that their pace will depend on the country’s progress in fulfilling the conditions for joining the EU. Deniau, who has served as Ambassador to Belgrade since 2010, said that people are increasingly convinced that the EU is the natural fate of Serbia, and that there are visible results, as confirmed by the EU decision to open accession talks with Serbia on 21 January. “Belgrade has also achieved progress in the ties with Pristina by taking reality into account and focusing on specific issues essentially related to protecting the Serb population in Kosovo. After the 2012 elections, Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic and the new government decided to raise the dialogue to a higher, political level,” Deniau said, adding that this was followed by a fantastic acceleration, the Brussels agreement and a series of agreements that must be implemented. Serbia’s judiciary must be absolutely depoliticized, and professionalization is the best way to do this, Deniau said. He welcomed Serbia’s anti-corruption strategy and the political will of the government and First Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, who is in charge of this matter. It is also important that media and journalists can do their job independently, without fear of pressure or reprisals, and be free of influence from the political authorities, Deniau said. France has Agence France-Presse - it is a public service, which, however, does not prevent it from being an independent agency, he said. Serbia has very good legal frameworks concerning minorities, and there is no need for any substantial objections in this regard, Deniau said. The Ambassador recalled that a European Commission report has pointed to Serbia's slow economic progress, adding that efforts must be made for Serbia to maximize its benefits from the process of European integrations. Serbia is facing the danger of the visa-free regime being suspended as a result of increasing numbers of false asylum seekers in EU member states, Deniau said, suggesting that the Serbian authorities should make serious efforts to confront certain individuals and groups and misuses of procedure, as well as to implement tighter border control.

Serbian citizens’ opinion poll: Brussels agreement the most important event (Politika)

The signing of the Brussels agreement between Belgrade and Pristina is the most important event of 2013 for 67% Serbian citizens, results of a New Year opinion poll conducted by Belgrade agency Faktor plus show. According to the survey, conducted from 19 to 26 December on a sample of 1,100 Serbian citizens over 18, the EU accession path is supported by 64% of the polled, 11% support a provisional suspension of talks with the EU, 21% support total interruption of the talks and political neutrality, while 4% are undecided. Politika writes that 56% of Serbian citizens support the Serbian government’s policy towards the Kosovo issue, 23% do not support it and 21% are undecided.

SDF: Survival of Serbian minority in Croatia called in question (Radio Serbia)

The Serbian Democratic Forum (SDF), the most influential organization of Serbs in Croatia, warns that the present position of the Serb minority in Croatia is still very difficult and that the survival of that minority is seriously called in question SDF emphasizes that, although some 130,000 Serbs are said to have returned to Croatia in the past of period, not even half of that number are true returnees and most of them are elderly people. The majority of Serbs have returned only formally and, since they are unable to live in the areas where they returned, they have either gone to third countries or have returned to Serbia again, the announcement reads. SDF therefore wishes to draw the attention of the public and authorities in Croatia to the fact that the protection of human rights was a prerequisite for admission to Croatia to the EU, which prerequisite has not been fulfilled at all.

REGIONAL PRESS

B&H offers delegation of 28 more police to UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan (Oslobodjenje)

B&H responded affirmatively to the call from the United Nations to urgently dispatch additional peacekeepers to South Sudan, in order to protect civilians from violence. “The B&H Ministry of Security offered an additional 28 police officer contingent from all police agencies in B&H, who have already gone through the necessary training and after voluntary reporting are prepared to go on this mission,” the Ministry said in a statement. The UN Security Council recently requested an increase in the number of peacekeepers after a worsening of the security situation in South Sudan. At the moment the B&H contingent in South Sudan numbers 35 officers, and on Saturday another six will join them. When the additional contingent from B&H of 28 officers is received, this will constitute thus far the largest police mission from B&H in peacekeeping operations. B&H is this way showing its willingness to fulfill its international obligations and assist the threatened residents of South Sudan.

Inzko writes to Covic: Ban on executive functions no longer in force (Onasa)

The High Representative in B&H Valentin Inzko sent a letter to Dragan Covic in regard to the High Representative’s decision from 29 March 2005 by which Covic “is banned from serving in the executive government until the High Representative explicitly authorizes him or the court proceedings against him are completed, whichever is fulfilled first.” “On the basis of information received from the B&H Federation’s Supreme Court, the court proceedings from 2005, according to the High Representative’s understanding, have concluded. Therefore, the ban that the High Representative imposed on Covic connected with performing executive responsibilities at any level of governance is no longer in force. The High Representative also reminded Covic that everyone in the functions delegated to them by the public are obliged to perform their duties adhering to the highest ethical standards in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations,” the Office of the High Representative announced.

Covic: Past year exceptionally demanding (Srna)

The leader of the HDZ B&H Dragan Covic believes that the past year in B&H in an economic sense was exceptionally demanding, and that leaders and government representatives failed to find a solution for many tough economic and social issues. “We cannot be satisfied, because we basically did not work on the key issues. The year was tough, and I hope we will have the wisdom to avoid similar traps in 2014,” said Covic in his new year’s interview with Srna. The HDZ B&H leader warns that the necessary social sensitivity has not been reached, really because of those who most called for it and who even have a social element as the structure and base of their party operation. According to Covic, not a single parameter shows that the field of the economy in 2014 can be regarded with optimism, or with confidence that it would be better than 2013. He believes that the B&H Federation missed a chance to try to cope with some problems through joint coordinated work of the legitimate representatives of parliamentary structures who received the support of their people in the past elections.  When it comes to the political sphere, the HDZ B&H leader believes that in the past year there was much that remained in the shade of sophistry, as well as questions of who is in government and who in the opposition, especially when it comes to the Federation. “When you move from the cantons, the entities, to the level of B&H, one doesn’t know which parties are in power. In the B&H Presidency there are representatives of one party, in the Council of Ministers a second, the Federal government a third, in the cantons a fourth… It creates an image of a devalued electoral process,” says Covic.
According to him, the worst of all is the fact that “to the public, politics and the word ‘politician’ are characterized, which isn’t good, because in general it may not be looked at.” “Everyone should be held accountable for what they do, and the aims were reversed – to put everything at the same bar, and then everyone is the same. We in politics must try to create a somewhat different environment,” said Covic. He stresses that it was agreed that immediately after the new year they would try to create a correct plan at the level of B&H and the Federation of what to do in the next eight or nine months, such that the entirety of 2014 doesn’t turn into the election year, if, as he says, it is even possible to make it so in this political nightmare. “As things stand, I fear that it will be really hard to do, because there are many signals that this started in the election campaign. It could be devastating if we spend all of 2014 in an election environment, which would mean mutual insinuations, allegations, and polling. Then everything that is bad in B&H would come to the fore, the media in the hands of individuals or parties,” says Covic. According to him, wise politicians should, at the beginning of the year, create an environment such that, when the elections are finished, they can immediately start working. “We should do everything that on the first or tenth day after the election we can say that we have power and we are going to work, and not that it happens to us that again we have a year of sophistry over forming the government. Experiences from 2013 show best where these obstacles are,” said Covic. He is confident that the general elections will be held in October 2014, although some speculate that some do not want them held. “We all want elections, and the HDZ B&H absolutely does, because we cannot be satisfied if we don’t have a member of the B&H Presidency and our representatives in the Federal government,” stresses Covic. According to him, the HDZ B&H has set for itself the goal of taking a two-thirds majority in the Croat people for the upcoming elections. “We already see today that this is doable. The HDZ B&H deeply believes that we will win the elections among the Croat people convincingly,” said Covic. He points out that all those who wanted to eliminate the legal and legitimate will of the Croat people in the past elections caused enormous damage to B&H. “They today will try a hundred ways to wash their hands, but all those who on behalf of the Croats wanted to bring the Croat member of the B&H Presidency in two electoral cycles, who in the name of the Croats wanted to implement executive authority, destroyed the Federation and B&H and they cannot avoid their responsibility. I would be happy if there would be a lesson for the coming elections, that no one tries to play games with B&H citizens any longer,” said Covic.

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

Serbia: Economic Woes Will Overshadow Joy Over EU (BIRN, by Gordana Andric, 3 January 2014)

The start of EU membership talks may dominate the agenda at the start of 2014, but endemic economic problems will soon dominate discussion.

Serbia looks set to start 2014 on a bright note. After more than a decade of work on EU integration, Brussels and Belgrade are to open accession talks on January 21.

As the year moves forward, the country is also expected to make further steps toward solving the complex dispute with Kosovo, the former Serbian province that declared independence in 2008, which Serbia vows never to recognise.

However, analysts predict that next year might bring early general elections, perhaps as soon as next spring, while problems in the economy will continue to cast a shadow over most people’s lives.

Progress on EU and Kosovo

EU foreign ministers meeting in mid-December set an opening date for accession talks with Serbia in the latter half of January 2014.

The EU granted Serbia candidate status in March 2012. In April 2013, the European Commission stated that accession talks should open once Serbia made “visible and sustainable improvement in relations with Kosovo”.

“When it comes to EU integration and the issue of Kosovo, Serbia will stay on the same course as in 2013, meaning that it will continue to make further progress,” Dejan Vuk Stankovic, political analyst, predicted.

The decision to open accession talks came after Belgrade and Pristina adopted a 15-point agreement on “normalising” their relations on April 19.

According to a December report by Catherine Ashton, the EU High Representative, the two sides had made significant progress on implementing the deal since April.

"In some areas we have gone much further and faster than I thought we would. Does this mean that all the work is done and we can call ‘case closed’? Of course not," she said.

Stankovic said Kosovo and Serbia will not reach agreements on all their many open issues, starting with Kosovo’s quest for recognition as a state, but in 2014 the two sides may draft a plan that will definitely put their relations onto a new footing.

Elections in sight

After officials from Serbia’s main ruling Progressive Party stated that they were ready for early general elections in 2014, analyses believe elections may be held in spring, at the same time as local elections in Belgrade.

Dragan Djilas, leader of the Democratic Party, was ousted as mayor of Belgrade on September 24, when 60 of the 110 deputies in the city assembly voted to dismiss him.

“Elections will mark the beginning of the political year – local polls in Belgrade definitely, but possibly general elections as well, reconfiguring the political scene,” Zoran Stojiljkovic, political analyst, said.

According to Stankovic, elections could leave the Progressives, currently governing in coalition, in sole control of the landscape.

“General elections are likely and will probably be a sort of a derby between the Progressives versus all the other parties on the political scene,” Stankovic noted.

Media reports have hinted at the likelihood of fresh polls ever since last year, as the Progressive Party is enjoying a surge of popularity, but, as of now, does not hold the top posts in the coalition government, such as prime minister’s post.

The latest polls suggest that the Progressives might be able to form a government on their own, without a coalition partner.

According to a survey by the Centre for Free Elections and Democracy conducted, in September, about 42 per cent of voters plan to vote for the Progressives.

The second-rated bloc, the Socialist Party of Serbia, in coalition with the Party of United Pensioners and United Serbia, lags far behind on about 16 per cent.

Serbia’s former ruling Democrats can count only on about 11 per cent. About 7 per cent of people would vote for the Liberal Democratic Party, and about 6 per cent for the nationalist Democratic Party of Serbia, DSS.

Bratislav Gasic, the Progressives’ vice-president, told the news agency Tanjug on December 17 that party members are ready for an electoral contest.

Nebojsa Stefanovic, the speaker of parliament and another vice-president of the Progressives, also said the time was right for early elections.

Economic clouds gather

According to Predrag Simic, the euphoria caused by the opening of EU accession talks and by potential elections may dominate the first few months of the year, but economic issues will soon overshadow all others.

“Serbia might briefly be distracted from its economic issues, but after the first quarter of the year has passed, the main preoccupation will be the economy,” Simic said.

According to Stankovic, the main challenges in the year ahead will be taming the budget deficit, conducting structural reforms in the economy, cutting pensions and salaries and attracting investment. “Economic issues will be the most difficult challenge,” he said.

The 2014 budget foresees a deficit of 285 billion dinars [€2.48 billion], equal to 7.1 per cent of GDP.

The government has already adopted some measures to close the deficit, such as raising VAT on foodstuffs, medicines and utilities from 8 to 10 per cent and introducing “solidarity” taxes on higher wage earners in the public sector.

However, according to both the economy and finance ministries, the country needs to brace for further unpopular reforms, such as restructuring public companies, trimming the state administration, curbing the invisible “grey” economy and changing labour laws.

According to Stojiljkovic, the worry is that economic reforms could trigger social unrest. “Such reforms are necessary but might cause social tension, so we should also expect protests,” Stojiljkovic said.

Cuts in all forms of public spending apart from salaries and pensions also leave no room for measures to boost economic growth.

According to Miroslav Prokopijevic, an economist, the growth rate in Serbia will fall in 2014. “Economic activity will be worst we have seen in the last four or five years,” he warned. “People will face real difficulties.”

EU to end EULEX mission in September, government of Kosovo to negotiate a new mission (Balkan Independent News Agency, by Tinka Kurti, 3 January 2014)

By September, European Union has planned on ending its EULEX mission and replace it with a new mission, a reduced one with another name.

Diplomatic sources in Pristina say that the new mission, the name of which has not yet been determined,

will be situated with its headquarter in the current EU office in Kosovo.

Contrary to EULEX, this mission will have a more reduced personnel, nonetheless, the focus will be to secure rule of law in Kosovo.

The new mission will have executive powers, but they will differ as opposed to EULEX.

The mission will have executive powers in the north of Kosovo and in other spheres which relate to the implementation of the Brussels agreement.

Diplomatic sources in Pristina say that in mid January, the government has planned meetings in Brussels with representatives

of member states.

Deputy prime minister and minister of justice, Hajredin Kuci will lead the delegation of Kosovo in the official talks between EU and government of Kosovo to restructure the mission.

Once the new mission launches enquiries on persons suspected of corruption, the government of Kosovo wants the new mission to inform authorities in Pristina first.

In 2013, EULEX launched enquiries on many senior officials of Kosovo and ordered their arrest, mainly on counts of war crimes, killings, rapes, etc.

These actions have been criticized and have been considered as unacceptable by persons who were subject to the enquiries.

International photographers document everyday life in Kosovo (Deutsche Welle, 3 January 2014)

Relations between Albanians and Serbs in Kosovo remain tense. An international group of photographers has tried to capture the mood in Pristina and is looking for evidence of reconciliation

It is massive, run-down and highly visible: The national Martyr's Monument in the Kosovar capital, Pristina, seems out of place in this era. The bulky concrete Socialist construction, once a symbol of brotherhood and unity of the Yugoslav peoples, represents a long-gone past. Today, the monument stands as a silent historic witness of an outdated political system.

But the monument was important to people in the 1970s and '80s, said Jetmir Idrizi . The Kosovar photographer took black-and-white photos of the monument, and cut the images lengthwise into thin strips. "They document the time when Serbs and Albanians lived together without prejudices of nationality," Idrizi said.

The ethnically divided city of Mitrovica in the Serb-dominated north of the country is also a source of inspiration to the photographer. The barricaded bridge over the Ibar River has become a symbol of the conflict between the Serbs and the Albanians.

Common past

The fragmented monument

Kosovo declared independence in 2008, but many Serbs still refuse to recognize that independence and continue to regard Kosovo as a Serbian province. An EU-brokered deal, agreed in 2013 by both Belgrade and Pristina, could help normalize relations.

Reconciliation is closely tied in with the common past shared by the two ethnic groups in the country, according to Kosovo-Albanian Idrizi. Sometimes, he said, it is important to look back if you want to move ahead. By invitation of Germany's GIZ government aid agency and along with five colleagues from Mongolia, Hungary, the Palestinian Territories, Mali and Germany, Idrizi spent a week in Kosovo exploring the topic of reconciliation. An exhibition entitled "Reconciliation in Kosovo" shows the photographers' interpretations of the topic simultaneously in Berlin, Bonn and Pristina.

Facts of life

Hungarian photographer Csaba Mezaros found the older generation struggles with reconciliation

Idrizi was born in Pristina. During the Kosovo war, then 15-year-old Idrizi and his family fled to Macedonia and on to Belgium before returning home. Today, he is a renowned photojournalist who works in Pristina as well as in Belgrade. To him, reconciliation is a fact of life, but he said he understands the anger and hatred felt by "people who lost someone during the war; the memory is still fresh, it's only been 14 years." His family was lucky: "Personally, I haven't lost anyone from our families during the war, so it made it a bit easier for me not to have issues if someone is a Serb."

German photographer Merlin Nadj-Torma, who also took part in the GIZ workshop in Kosovo, said Idrizi's clipped photographs impressed. "The symbolism is very strong: Jetmir shows that these monuments still exist in Kosovo, but no longer function there."

Kosovo in a different light

It was difficult at first to engage in the topic of reconciliation in a country where the conflict is still so evident - even unsolved - in some regions, the German photographer said. "My initial reaction was: Kosovo is definitely the wrong place for this," Nadj-Torm said. However, she experienced memorable moments during her week-long stay: "We met Serbs and Albanians simply working side-by-side in a bakery and in a drugstore." Affiliation to an ethnic group played no role whatsoever.

A shift in perception

Nadj-Torma took photos of everyday places, including a sports field and people's homes in Pristina. Her pictures are blurred, which gives them a dream-like quality. "The places appear in a different light," the photographer said. "I wanted to show that a small shift in our perception can have a big effect."

Mongolian Gotsybayar Rentsendorj focuses on children at play

Idrizi praised his German colleague's photos. "At first, I feared the other photographers would just position a Serb next to an Albanian," he said. "But they showed me that reconciliation is much more than that."

The exhibition at the Landesmuseum Bonn shows the two photographers' work placed side by side. Merlin Nadj-Torma was born and raised in Germany, but her parents come from Serbia.

"We joked a lot about each other and challenged each other, but in a good way," Nadj-Torma said. On a small scale, the two photographers show what could one day apply to all Serbs and Albanians: leave the past behind and face the future together.

Prayers for Erdogan to Be Held across Bosnia (Novinite, 3 January 2014)

Prayers in support of embattled Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan are planned for Friday across Bosnia and Herzegovina, according to the Anatolian Agency.

According to the report, the initiative was started by the International University of Sarajevo, which proposed that the prayer at the Gazi Husrev-beg Mosque in Sarajevo be "a collective prayer for Turkey's PM and his cabinet."

The campaign has been occasioned by the political and financial turmoil going on in Turkey after a high-profile corruption probe forced Erdogan to replace close to half of his cabinet.

The Turkish PM has consistently described the proceedings as part of a plot, backed from outside of the country, to oust him from power.

According to the Anatolian Agency, the prayer for Erdogan initiative met vast support, with 34 other Islamic sites of devotion across Bosnia joining.

In the past, Erdogan has made forceful - and controversial - references to Turkey's historic link with Bosnia and Herzegovina.

As most of the Balkan peninsula, the country was for centuries part of the Ottoman Empire, and now the majority of its population is Muslim.