LOCAL PRESS

 

Vucic: Voting on Trepca postponed (RTS)

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic says that the debate in the Kosovo Assembly on the ownership structure of Trepca has been postponed for 21 January. That is a result of the minimal steps made by the Serbian government in resolving this problem, says Vucic. He told the press at the Serbian government that intensive talks with international community representatives on Trepca were held over the weekend, and that this will be discussed today with the government representatives in Pristina and the Serb community in Kosovo. According to him, the Serbian government had made certain progress in resolving the problem of Trepca, and according to all laws, but also according to the agreement in Brussels, the issue of property is yet to be opened in the dialogue with Pristina. “The issue of property in Kosovo and Metohija has not been opened yet and the Serbian government requires that this topic be opened as soon as possible, so our property is not seized overnight and that we know nothing about this, to pretend that we see nothing, so when everything is seized from us, for someone to say: Let’s open the issue of property now, and fight for two small plants in northern Kosovo,” said Vucic. Commenting on how the international community will position itself in this dispute, Vucic says he believes the international community is neutral.

 

Sertic: State of Serbia undisputed owner of Trepca (RTS)

Serbian Minister of Economy Zeljko Sertic told the morning news of Radio and Television of Serbia (RTS) that the state of Serbia, through the Development Fund, owns 55 percent of Trepca and, thus, unilateral privatization is not possible. “If the Kosovo institutions try to take over Trepca, we will enter the privatization process according to our law. We have already received four offers from abroad, precisely from the US and Canada where property is respected, and there are also offers from Switzerland and Hungary, as well as two offers from Serbia,” says Minister Sertic. The Kosovo Agency has been trying to launch the issue of privatization of Trepca, Sertic says, adding that Serbia has postponed all talks until further notice so Belgrade-Pristina negotiations could continue, but also because of the Brussels agreement. Sertic points out that all this concerning Trepca is non-respect of all rules and procedures, adding that this could leave unforeseeable consequences on the population in northern Kosovo. Sertic recalls that, apart from the 55 percent stake of the Development Fund, another 22 percent is owned by Serbian companies. “It is irrelevant to talk about any other relation. We have 268 million euros of reported claims, and we have given all that to the provincial institutions,” says Sertic. However, as the Economy Minister says, the state of Serbia is surprised, because this decision on privatization has suddenly arrived and without any consultation with our government. In any case, the Serbian side wants talks, all aimed at a successful privatization that would lead to a better life of the local community, stresses Sertic. He notes that they are still waiting for the response of the other side, and that he is relying on reason and rational thinking of all participants.

 

Djuric: Confiscation of Trepca undermines Brussels agreement’s foundations (RTS)

The Head of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Marko Djuric told the morning broadcast of Radio and Television of Serbia (RTS) that unilateral transfer of Trepca to Kosovo’s ownership is unacceptable for Serbia. Djuric says that this is a situation when we need to show our teeth, to draw a line and say: You can’t go on like this anymore. “There are some things that are difficult to correct later on if you let them once, and the consequences for the Serb community would be so far-reaching that we could speak of a complete economic disenfranchisement of our nation,” said Djuric. He adds that, apart from constant political pressure and presenting of consequences to the leaders in Pristina, not only publicly but also informally, Serbian officials are also in constant contact with the representatives of the international community, the Quint ambassadors and the Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia. “Even though they generally disagree with us regarding the status of Kosovo and Metohija, they understand and they respect private property,” says Djuric. He points out that “seizure and confiscation of Trepca would be unacceptable in the political sense” and that it undermines the foundations of the Brussels agreement. “What can we discuss if the provincial government would pass a decision whereby it would have authorization to transfer every public company, not only Trepca, into a public company that would be hundred percent owned by the so-called Republic of Kosovo?” wondered Djuric.

The Kosovo government adopted on 14 January the Draft amendments to the Law on Public Companies that enables Trepca to be transferred to Kosovo’s ownership, and the presidency of the provincial assembly decided to include the Draft in the agenda of today’s session according to urgent procedure.

 

Vulin: Serbia will never renounce Kosovo and Metohija (Tanjug)

Serbian Minister of Labor and Social Policy Aleksandar Vulin has said that Serbia will never renounce Kosovo and Metohija. Speaking of Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic’s visit to Kosovo and Metohija, Vulin has pointed that Vucic has done what no other prime minister had done over decades. Serbia meets all its obligations, adheres to the Brussels Agreement, but has never said it would recognize the self-proclaimed independence of Kosovo, Vulin stated. In comment to the events relating to Trepca and the Draft amendments to the Law on Public Companies, which was adopted by the Kosovo government on 14 January, Vulin said that Serbia asked its partners in the international community to stop the campaign about Trepca, get it back to square one and solve it through negotiations.

 

Families of kidnapped send letter to OSCE (Tanjug)

The Association of the Families of the Kidnapped and Murdered in Kosovo and Metohija has sent an open letter to the OSCE, asking for assistance in ensuring the release of the kidnapped Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija. We are forced to address you with a request for help in ensuring that members of our families who were kidnapped in 1998, 1999, 2000, in Kosovo and Metohija are released and allowed to go back to their families and children. Our state of Serbia is chairing the OSCE, and this is the last chance for Serbia to finally help our dearest ones, notes the open letter addressed to OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic.
The Association expects Dacic to insist that it must be the OSCE’s key demand and obligation that the kidnapped Serbs are released from prison camps in Kosovo and Metohija and Albania.
Previously, the OSCE urged Serbia to release all captives that had been members of the terrorist organization - Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), and 2,108 Albanian terrorists and criminals were released from Serbian prisons in the period from 2001 to 2003, adds the release. We are appealing to you to finally demand that the kidnapped Serbs be released immediately and allowed to return to their families and homeland, reads the letter. The Association of the Families of the Kidnapped and Murdered in Kosovo and Metohija also addressed a letter to Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, calling for his personal engagement in ensuring that the kidnapped Serbs are immediately released so that they can go back to their families, and in bringing to justice the perpetrators of these crimes, former leaders of the so-called KLA.

 

European Parliament: Serbia to harmonize foreign and security policy with EU, including the policy towards Russia (Tanjug)

European Parliament’s rapporteur for Serbia David McAlister has submitted the draft suggestion for the resolution on Serbia’s progress in 2014, which invited Serbia to harmonize its foreign and security policy with that of the EU, including the policy towards Russia. The draft document expresses regret over the fact that, when asked, Belgrade did not align its decision with the decision of the EU Council, regarding the introduction of restrictive measures to Russia. The European Parliament has greeted Serbia’s chairing over the OSCE and its priorities. Also commended is the battle against corruption and passing of the new laws on public information and media, while calling for their implementation. The EP also greets the first agreement on the principles in the normalization of the relations between Belgrade and Pristina, and also encourages the continuation of the dialogue, while adding that Chapter 35 should be opened at the very beginning of the accession talks.

 

Serbian Political Scene – Trepca, new attempt at looting Serbian property in Kosovo and Metohija (Radio Serbia, by Ivana Subasic)

The statement of Kosovo Prime Minister Isa Mustafa - that the Metallurgy Compound Trepca is the property of Kosovo, and that the new law on public companies will make it official after the urgent parliamentary procedure on 19 January - has reopened the issue of forced looting of the Serbian state property in Kosovo and Metohija. While the expert public describes Pristina’s latest move as an attempt to reinforce its position prior to the dialogue in Brussels on 9 February, the Serbian state leadership has sent a message that Pristina should not do it and that Serbia will know how to protect its property. Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic has assessed, in his first reaction, that the adoption of the announced law would strike a hard blow to the dialogue between the Serbian and Albanian sides, so he hopes that the Serbian side will be able to solve this serious issue. At the same time, the Head of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Marko Djuric has stated that the state will know how to protect the property and its people in the province. “We will not accept such a move, and being that Trepca is located in the north of Kosmet and the major part of its mines is under the central Serbia, that decision is absolutely unfeasible, but just making additional political complications in the attempt to exert additional pressure and instill anxiety among the Serbs,” Djuric said.

Still, the announced law does present potential danger, because it authorizes the government in Pristina to turn any company into the property of the so-called state of Kosovo. In that regard, official Belgrade reminds that the Serbian government had exempted from the privatization all public companies for which it has the paperwork to prove they are Serbian, and that issue is yet to be discussed in Brussels. This is not the first time that the authorities in Pristina are resorting to the forced seizing of the Serbian state property. For years now the Kosovo Creditors Agency, delegated by UNMIK, has been unilaterally privatizing and selling the Serbian property without Belgrade’s consent, and the profits have been directed straight to the provincial budget. The announcement of Trepca, as the public company owned by Pristina, is but one in the string of stories about the looting of the Serbian business entities in Kosovo and Metohija. Even in 2000 this compound was registered by UNMIK as a new business subject, and as of 2002 the management of Trepca was transferred to the Kosovo Creditors Agency, which was disposing with the income from the mines until 2006. The Kosovo Privatization Agency then again registered the compound to a new address in the southern part of Kosovska Mitrovica in 2009. Similar things were done with the property of the Telekom, Electric Power Industry and “Serbian railways”. According to the official information, the state of Serbia owns some 24.5 thousand hectares of arable land, forests and construction land. The state owned facilities have the surface of 1,24 million square meters, office space 145 thousand and residential space another 25 thousand square meters. Besides that, various companies from Serbia have 1,358 facilities in Kosovo, of which 130 belong to the Serbian Post, 55 to the railway company, 18 to the Electric Power Industry etc. That property has been estimated to at least one billion dollars. The statistics show that after the unilateral declaration of the Kosovo independence, Serbia was disabled from managing the property estimated to some 250 billion dollars. Namely, that is the value of the real estate that is legally owned by the state of Serbia and its companies. Just the value of the private property of the people expelled from Kosovo and Metohija after the arrival of the international troops in 1999 amounts to at least five billion dollars. And it bears keeping in mind that, according to the international law, the property enjoys undisputed protection…or at least that is how it is supposed to be.

 

REGIONAL PRESS

 

Dodik: Dzaferovic cannot be the head of the Parliament (Srna/OBN)

The President of the Republika Srpska (RS) Milorad Dodik said that Sefik Dzaferovic, because of his war resumes, cannot be the Chairman of the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of B&H. Dodik, who is also the leader of the SNSD, noted that during the war Dzaferovic, undoubtedly was a Chief of Security of Zenica municipality, where many crimes had occurred and bears command responsibility for it. “We, as a party, will not give up on demanding his replacement and if he is not replaced we will abandon every session of the parliament,” said Dodik for OBN television, adding that the SDA has other people who can be at the forefront of the B&H Parliament, that have no war stains in their resumes. Dodik pointed out, that it is obvious that in such way the SDA war personnel is having a comeback to the scene, which can be dangerous for the country. According to him, B&H has more than 3,000 people who are registered as “sleepers” who can carry out a terrorist act and there are about 350 of those in the Middle-East who are fighting on the side of radical Islamist movements. Dodik said that political Sarajevo wants only political subjects, not partners, and warned that having such B&H brings no benefits to anyone - neither to the RS nor to Bosniaks, but only to alleged foreign experts. Speaking about the economy in B&H, Dodik said that all the banks which have the potential are foreign banks who are determining the interest rates, and that politicians from Europe are not coming with a proposal of reducing those rates. “We have 105 per cent foreign exchange cover for the emission of Convertible Mark (KM). Who decides that? Not me, but the foreigners,” said Dodik, adding that he sought the protection of domestic production market, but that he got no support. Dodik said that in the RS there will be an attempt to create and strengthen a state-owned bank that could affect the interest rate policy. He stressed that it would be logical to reduce the VAT rate to 10 percent for food, medicines, children’s clothes, and increase the VAT of other goods to 22 percent, the SNSD would vote for this initiative if it finds its place at the B&H Parliament’s agenda. “This could lead to stabilization in one part of the public finances, we should direct ourselves towards our monetary politics,” said Dodik. He emphasized that he was ready to “close the borders” and protect the domestic production, because Europe is trying to govern B&H, although she is not yet in the EU. “All the authorities in B&H since the war have been held hostage by the concept of the international community, who pushed all in to privatization, which proved to be disastrous,” reminded Dodik. Speaking about the Russian loan, Dodik said that the procedure is completed, the Russian bank got the instructions, and the government of the Russian Federation has booked those budgeted funds and nothing has changed. “In the long run this can stabilize the RS,” said Dodik.

 

To prepare the laws as soon as possible (Srna)

The President of the National Assembly of Republika Srpska (RS) Nedeljko Cubrilovic and the RS Prime Minister Zeljka Cvijanovic have agreed today that the RS Government should prepare as soon as possible the laws that should follow the implementation of economic policies and the implementation of the budget for this year. At today’s meeting, it was agreed that, in order to achieve greater efficiency, the Secretariat of the Government and the National Assembly should coordinately work on the harmonization of the session’s time and agenda. “We agreed on a calendar of work for the first four months of this year, according to which each of the first week sessions should start with a session of the National Assembly, and in exceptional cases, religious holidays or days off it would be delayed,” said Cubrilovic to the reporters after the meeting with the RS Prime Minister. Secretariat of the Government and the National Assembly will coordinate the work on the harmonization of the time and agendas for the purpose of achieving greater efficiency. Cubrilovic added that at the meeting they have discussed the holding of a second regular session of the National Assembly, which will be scheduled at the meeting of the Collegium on Thursday, 22 January. He said that for this session, 36-point agenda is being prepared, where there is some residual material from the last year.

 

Kebo to show evidence Izetbegovic brought mujahedeen to B&H (Srna/Press)

Mirsad Kebo, the Vice-President of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FB&H), says he will soon present evidence that the former B&H Presidency chairman, Alija Izetbegovic, brought the mujahedeen to B&H. Kebo, who has so far presented a series of evidence linking many Bosniak politicians with war crimes, says that he has for some time now been subjected to various forms of pressure in Sarajevo and that he has received a lot of threats, mainly in writing or through an intermediary, from those who are included in the evidence he had submitted to the B&H Prosecutor’s Office. He told Press RS that this was evidence that he had “revealed one of the biggest affairs” in the post-Dayton era. “I declare under full responsibility that political, religious, terrorist and media mafias have been installed and they do not choose the means in confronting their opponents, even though I have long believed things to be different,” said Kebo.

He says he has so far disclosed plenty of serious evidence, that 6,000 documents “isn’t little”, many of which are labeled as original since they arrived from the Hague war crimes tribunal and he received them from confidential sources. When asked if he believed the Prosecutor’s Office could accuse him of being responsible for covering-up evidence, Kebo said he was hoping that that would be impossible, but certain he would be subjected to political pressure. If that occurred, he said, he would take it to the International Court of Justice. If the persons held responsible are not prosecuted, he will send letters to the United Nations, the US Congress, take it to the EU in Brussels, and go see a personal friend, the Emperor of Japan, in order to dismantle the “core of tycoons and politicians who have let their tentacles reach everywhere, even the judiciary”.

 

New Croatian President writes to UN chief about Seselj (Tanjug/Beta’s Zagreb correspondent)

Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic has sent a letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon asking for steps to be taken to return Vojislav Seselj to custody. The leader of the Serbian Radical Party (SRS) was granted provisional release on humanitarian grounds late last year after spending more than 11 years incarcerated at the Hague Tribunal. In the ongoing court case, he stands accused of crimes against humanity and violations of the laws or customs of war. In her letter, the Croatian president-elect stressed that the victims deserved Seselj's return to the detention center of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, as well as a speedy verdict and its elaboration. Grabar-Kitarovic said the delay in issuing a verdict in the Seselj trial was “undoubtedly a failure” on the part of the court, Beta reported. “It is key to reach a verdict in the case as soon as possible so that Seselj does not evade it by dying, like Slobodan Milosevic,” she stated. The Croatian president-elect’s letter was described by Serbian Deputy Prime Minister and head of the National Council for Cooperation with the Hague Tribunal Rasim Ljajic as serving only to complicate relations between Serbia and Croatia. Ljajic observed that the leader of the Radicals unfortunately remains the subject of an internal political debate in that country even after elections, and stressed that neither Serbia, that Croatia wants to distance itself from Seselj’s statements, nor the UN chief, are the right addresses to send this kind of message. “It only serves to convince us that this has nothing to do with justice or politics, but only with marketing. Everyone knows Ban Ki-moon is not the one deciding on this, Serbia even less so. We were absolutely not asked about anything. The only right address for their demands is the trial chamber of the Hague Tribunal, that reached all these decisions,” he said. Noting that “nobody has been able to explain why such importance is given to the statements of a leader of a party that is not represented in parliament,” Ljajic repeated that Serbia “wants to have best relations with Croatia,” while ‘such statements do not contribute to that”.

 

Steinmeier and Hammond: EU once more reached out to B&H, and it is a chance that will not present itself again (Fena)

Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in Sarajevo that the European Union has once again reached out to B&H, and it would be good for the institutions and authorities to accept that extended hand so as to ensure better future for B&H citizens. In his address at the B&H Parliament he reiterated the EU position in relation to the German-British initiative and a new EU approach towards B&H. Steinmeier expressed satisfaction with the enthusiasm that he observed among the citizens of B&H during the campaign to repair the damages after the catastrophic floods in May and expects similar reaction of the competent authorities and institutions in B&H to happen in the future with socio-economic reforms in B&H. “Please, make the most of this opportunity and pass through the door that the EU has opened for you,” said the German diplomat, adding that B&H finally has to face the problems of corruption and unemployment in order to ensure decent prospects for young people”. He called on all political forces in B&H to commit to serious work in the coming period, where he emphasized the importance of market policy and social security, as well as providing conditions for foreign direct investments because B&H citizens are seeking answers to their existential problems. He underlined that B&H should abandon “old patterns of behavior”, especially since it has good conditions to turn towards progress in the field of agriculture and tourism, given that workers are qualified and motivated to work, which is shown by numerous examples of cooperation and work with German companies. Foreign Minister of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Philip Hammond, in his address to parliamentarians, said that the joint British-German initiative for B&H approved by the European Union “is a chance that will not present itself again”. Hammond recalled that the initiative was launched two months ago because the EU recognized the economic situation in B&H and the necessity for implementation of social reforms, strengthening the economy and creating new jobs. British Foreign Minister urged B&H parliamentarians to seize this moment and the opportunity offered by the initiative which was accepted in the EU with great enthusiasm in order to create a better future for all citizens of this country.

 

Lars-Gunnar Wigemark the new head of the EU Delegation to B&H (Vijesti)

The European Council has appointed Lars-Gunnar Wigemarka for the European Union Special Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H). He will also serve as head of the EU Delegation in Sarajevo. Lars-Gunnar Wigemark currently serves as head of the EU delegation in Pakistan and has 30 years of experience in the Swedish and European diplomatic service. He has held several different duties abroad, including those in Moscow and Washington, and worked on a wide range of business in the Department of Security Policy of the European Commission.

By resuming his position as the EU Special Representative in B&H, Wigemark will replace Peter Sorensen, who served in this capacity from 1 September 2011. Wigemark will take over the office on 1 March this year. The EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini said that “the EU is committed in supporting B&H on its European path”.

“Wigmark’s expertise will be of great importance for our engagement in B&H and foreign policy of the EU,” said Mogherini.

Wigemark was born on March 20^th 1960 in Goteborg, Sweden. He graduated from Harvard University in 1984, with the degree in social sciences. He had his master at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. During his diplomatic career since 1988 he served in Belgrade, Washington, Brussels, Moscow and Kabul.

 

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

 

Kosovo backtracks on bid to take control of mining giant (Reuters, by Fatos Bytyci, 19 January 2015)

Kosovo backtracked on Monday from a pledge to take control of a huge mining complex claimed by Serbia, a step Belgrade had warned would put at risk European Union-sponsored negotiations between the Balkan neighbours.

The Trepca complex of lead, zinc and silver mines once employed 20,000 people and accounted for the majority of the former Yugoslavia's mineral wealth.

Since Kosovo's 1999 breakaway from Serbia in war, Trepca and other "socially-owned enterprises" - a hybrid ownership structure under socialist Yugoslavia - have been held in trust and readied for sale by an agency created by the United Nations.

But myriad creditor claims and the fact the complex straddles Kosovo's Serb-Albanian ethnic divide has stymied progress on Trepca, which currently operates at a minimum level of output just to keep the mines alive.

Losing patience and fearing bankruptcy, Kosovo's new government last week said it would take control of Trepca under a law due to be adopted on Monday, spurring Serbia to lobby the EU to prevent such a step.

As lawmakers convened, Prime Minister Isa Mustafa told them the law had been removed from the agenda and that parliament would instead consider a proposal to give the Kosovo Privatisation Agency another three years to restructure Trepca.

"We want to create conditions for Trepca to function without legal problems in the future," Mustafa said. "Right now we want to stop Trepca from going bankrupt."

Political sources told Reuters the government had faced pressure from Western ambassadors to backtrack, given concern over the impact on a fragile dialogue between Serbia and its former southern province aimed at improving relations seven years after Kosovo declared independence over Serbian objections.

Even before Mustafa spoke, Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic told reporters in Belgrade that Kosovo had backed down, saying he had held intensive talks with foreign ambassadors.

Serbia claims to hold around 75 percent of Trepca, but Kosovo says it lost all rights to state-controlled enterprises on Kosovar territory when forces under late Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic massacred and expelled ethnic Albanians in 1998-99 in a counter-insurgency campaign.

Both Serbia and Kosovo have long extolled Trepca's potential, though experts warn it would need huge investment to restore the complex to anywhere near its Yugoslav-era heyday. Complicating matters, the complex straddles Albanian and Serb areas of Kosovo, making any move to sell it even more sensitive given still tense relations between the communities.

It may also take years to sort through all the creditor claims, mainly from Serbia but also from a number of Greek investors. Mustafa said that, based on some assessments, around 1.4 billion euros ($1.6 billion) was claimed by

 

Belgrade, London discuss region, Serbia’s EU path (New Europe, 18 January 2015)

Serbia’s Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said on January 15 that the opening of individual chapters in the negotiations on Serbia’s EU depends on the Balkan country, but also on the understanding of its European partners.

At a joint news conference with British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, Vucic said he believes that the first negotiating chapters will be opened soon.

The Prime Minister pointed out that more work is ahead of Serbia before the opening of negotiating chapters 35, 23 and 24, adding that Chapter 32, which relates to the control of public finances, is in line with the highest European standards to a greatest extent, the government said.

He expressed satisfaction with the open relations between Serbia and Great Britain, and emphasised that Serbia considers the UK an example of successfully implemented reforms.

Hammond said that during the meeting with Vucic, they discussed the challenges in the region and the importance of regional stability for Serbia and the EU.

Vucic said Serbia has support of the UK towards the EU, as well as for the reforms it implements. He also pointed out that several companies from the UK are interested in some of the largest Serbian companies that will go private.

Serbia is on its European path and it will not give up on this path, Vucic said. He added that he and Hammond discussed Serbia’s OSCE presidency in a constructive and professional way, as well as the opening of chapters relating to the negotiations with the EU.

Vucic expressed a wish for many British high officials and businessmen to visit Serbia. Hammond expressed strong support to reforms in Serbia and the EU integration process while pointing out that the most important for the opening of the first chapters is the implementation of the Brussels agreement.

Vucic welcomed the UK’s position on the future of Serbia and its European integration, and reiterated that there is a lot of work for Serbia.

The Prime Minister conveyed the gratitude to Hammond for presenting the Serbian delegation a vision of the EU from the perspective of the UK. He expressed the desire that as many British leaders visit Serbia, but also to a large number of businessmen from the UK come to invest in our country.

Vucic expressed a wish for many British high officials and businessmen to visit Serbia.

Hammond expressed strong support to reforms in Serbia and the EU integration process while pointing out that the most important for the opening of the first chapters is the implementation of the Brussels agreement.

He expressed confidence that the negotiating chapters with Serbia will be opened soon, and supported the strict decisions of Vucic in order to reform the Serbian economy, as it would become more competitive.

 

Saving Bosnia's past from the ashes (BBC, by Guy De Launey, 17 January 2015)

Rioters intentionally burned down the national archive last February

The interior of Sarajevo's Presidency building would make any historian wince. Not the decor itself - but the charred papers, piled against the walls.

This display of damaged documents stretches away down the ground floor corridors of the building, leaving dark smears on the white paint, leading to a heap of burned books, boxes and manuscripts in a stairwell.

These scorched remains were part of one of Bosnia's most important historical archives. They had somehow survived not only two world wars but also the siege of Sarajevo in the 1990s - only to be destroyed in an afternoon of rioting during anti-government protests last February.

The deputy director of the Presidency Archive, Simun Novakovic, grimaces as he offers a guide to the damage, lifting a thin, blue, plastic sheet to reveal more singed papers - some with text still visible, others almost certainly blackened beyond restoration.

"These were materials relating to the Habsburg era and the first and second world wars. There were also hand-written documents from the Ottoman era. It's depressing that in the course of one day people could cause so much damage."

Among the documents confirmed as destroyed were three shelves of boxes and folders from the era of Austro-Hungarian rule in Bosnia, covering "Military, Education, Religion, Informers".

Military archives from World War One were also incinerated - along with records from the Ustasa Croatian fascist movement, which governed Bosnia during World War Two.

No funds or facilities

Turkey has funded a new, more secure archive facility - but it is unclear what might be placed there.

Mr Novakovic says that he and his colleagues are still classifying the damaged material - but there are no facilities or funds for restoring the documents.

In fact, for a country boasting such a rich history, Bosnia offers very little support for the preservation and display of its heritage.

Cuts to the culture budget led to the closure of the National Museum in 2012, after its employees had gone for a year without pay. A valuable Jewish manuscript, the Sarajevo Haggadah - a symbol of the city's proud multi-cultural history - remains inside the abandoned building.

Archivists managed to rescue some of the most valuable items from the old City Hall during a fire in 1992. But they have never been returned to dedicated storage facilities.

Historic importance

"They have not been housed in an adequate fashion - something had to be done," says British journalist and historian Chris Bennett.

He launched the Foundation for the Preservation of Historical Heritage, along with three other long-term foreign residents of Sarajevo. They aim to preserve Bosnia's archives in digital form - before any further calamities.

Mr Bennett points out that saving the documents is a matter of more than just local concern, given the importance of events in Bosnia and its neighbours before and during World War One.

"We have all the background information here to the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The investigations, contemporary press reports and the obituary in the German-language newspaper for Bosnia at that time. The focus usually tends to be on the Western front - but the war started and ended in the Balkans."

Many of the documents salvaged from the 1992 fire are passing through a small room in the National and University Library in Sarajevo, where the Foundation has installed a simple but high-quality rig for digitising the archives.

Share don't touch

"Skilled operators can get through 300-400 pages an hour, digitising a serious amount of material," says British photographer Jim Marshall, another member of the Foundation.

"Delicate documents belong in a safe. The central point is that the image can be viewed and shared without having to touch the documents."

The aim is to make the archive material available online for researchers around the world. Such systems already exist in many other places, but Bosnia remains an extremely unusual country, where completing even a simple project can be a cause for celebration.

"Co-operation is very important to us," says Nadina Grebovic-Lendo, who is overseeing the digitisation project for the National and University Library.

"There was no financial help from the government for the preservation of our collections. So we're finding ways to do it ourselves."

The Foundation members are keen to mention that they could do with some funding themselves, so that they can increase their preservation efforts.

It may be too late for the material which burned last February - but perhaps there could still be a future for Bosnia's unique reminders of the past?

 

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Media summaries are produced for the internal use of the United Nations Office in Belgrade, UNMIK and UNHQ. The contents do not represent anything other than a selection of articles likely to be of interest to a United Nations readership.