LOCAL PRESS

 

Vucic: I’m protecting Serbia from those that are stronger (TV Prva)

The Serbian government is acting responsibly over the Trepca case and other property issues in Kosovo and Metohija, Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic has said. “Everyone must understand that they cannot take away everything from Serbia without asking anything,” Tanjug quoted him as saying on Sunday. “Compromises will have to be made in solving property issues in Kosovo and Metohija,” Vucic told TV Prva, but noted that he can “by no means agree with those who have recognized Kosovo’s independence and who claim and insist that everything there belongs to them”. Speaking about Trepca, Vucic said that the metallurgical part of the mining complex is mostly situated in northern Kosovska Mitrovica, while the lead and zinc mines are in the southern part of the town, and added that “Serbia’s interests cannot be denied”. Vucic said that “the hysteria that Albanians are exhibiting, protesting and wanting to overthrow the government does not interest him at all”. He was commenting on Saturday’s protests in Pristina when thousands of Albanians demanded the takeover of Trepca. Vucic said that “Western powers must understand that you cannot take everything and not ask us anything”, as well as that “there is no mention of anything like that in the Brussels agreement”. Asked whether it was true he threatened that the Brussels negotiations would not continue if Pristina took Trepca - something revealed by EP rapporteur David McAllister - Vucic replied that he “did not say in that way, but it could be read that way”. The Prime Minister said it is his job to “protect Serbia from those that are stronger” but at the same time, avoid exposing it to “sanctions, isolation, or bombing. He added that he “did not blackmail anybody”, but that “you cannot expect something of Serbia while tripping it up all the time”. “We raised the issue of property several times before and now I deliberately raised it additionally,” Vucic was quoted as saying.

 

Dacic thanks Ethiopia on its stand on Kosovo (Tanjug)

Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic has met with Ethiopian Foreign Minister Tedros Adhanom in Addis Abeba. During Sunday’s meeting, Dacic thanked Adhanom for Ethiopia’s principled position regarding the unilateral declaration of independence of Kosovo and Metohija, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. The Ethiopian Foreign Minister confirmed that Ethiopia will stand by its decision not to recognize the unilateral declaration of independence of Serbia’s southern province, noting that Ethiopia’s position is based on the principles of respect of international law and that his country respects Serbia’s argumentation on the issue.

 

Ljajic: Property among the most difficult topics in Brussels (RTS)

Serbian Minister of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications Rasim Ljajic told Radio and Television of Serbia (RTS) that Serbia does not have the right to give up its property there. “We have some orienting data in regard to the property related to the Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications. But, it is more important that the total value of Serbian property, including road, telecommunication and energy infrastructure and business facilities in Kosovo and Metohija until 1990 amounted to some $17 billion. That does not include the value of agricultural, construction and wood land, mines, buildings and residential facilities as well, which will be one of the main topics for Serbia during talks in Brussels.” He assessed that Pristina would most probably try to evade the topic, even though his ministry had launched in the past the issue of property. When we discussed with Pristina the topic of telecommunications, the Albanian representatives postponed the talks on the entire property in Kosovo,” says Ljajic, adding that the agreement at the time was for property to be one of the first topics at the negotiations in Brussels. Ljajic recalls that only the Serbian Post in Kosovo had 129 business facilities, and that Telecom invested enormous money into the southern Serbian province. He notes that he expects property to be one of the most difficult topics within the Brussels agreement, and adds this will not be easy nor will a decision be passed any time soon. Asked what he expects from the ICTY verdict in the Serbia-Croatia dispute, Minister Ljajic reiterates that in the formal-judicial sense one cycle will be completed, but that nothing essentially will change, because each side will have its view of the events even after this verdict. Ljajic says that this court path is not a bad solution if Serbia and Croatia were unable to reach an agreement. Ljajic opines that Serbia will have more benefit than harm from this verdict, noting that crimes occurred on both sides. Speaking about the current events and the protest of Muslims in Novi Pazar, the Minister says he is convinced that the situation will not escalate in this region. He is certain that the statement of the Prime Minister that he will not allow any sort of escalation of hatred contributed to calming the situation, as well as the appeal of the Serbian Orthodox Church not to publish caricatures of prophet Mohammed.

 

Condemnations of attacks on journalists in Pristina (Beta/Tanjug)

The Journalists’ Association of Serbia (UNS) and its branch, the Association of Journalists of Kosovo-Metohija (DNKiM), vehemently condemned the attack on journalists while reporting from the protest in Pristina. “The UNS and the DNKiM request that police authorities and EULEX take all necessary measures and find the perpetrators of the attack on the RTK2 crew and the RTS cameraman and prevent new attempts to attack media workers in Kosovo,” the UNS said in a statement. At the rally, staged in protest against Jablanovic – a Kosovo government minister representing the Serb (Ruska) list – and the situation in the Trepca Combine, RTK 2 reporters Aleksandra Jovanovic and Bojan Kosanin and RTS cameraman Vladimir Milic were physically attacked, manhandled and provoked, the UNS said. “It all happened in central Pristina, outside the building of the Ministry of Culture – we were sworn at, threatened, dragged around and pelted by stones”, said Kosanin, a UNS member. Milic said that a masked protester attempted to snatch his camera away from him. “He had a white cap with a ‘Kosovo Liberation Army’ emblem, and a scarf across his face with the Albanian flag on it,” he told the UNS. The rally in Pristina was organized by the Self-Determination Movement and the Mothers’ Appeal Association, with the support of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, the Initiative for Kosovo and students of Pristina University. After the rally ended, a group of protesters pelted the government building and broke the glass in some of the windows, prompting a police intervention which included the use of tear gas.

“Freedom of the media in Kosovo is threatened”

The Serb Civic Initiative strongly condemns the attack on the RTK2 team, journalist Aleksandar Jovanovic and Bojan Kosanin, as well as the RTS cameraman Vladimir Milic. Threats and attacks on journalists are an indication of how the freedom of the media in Kosovo is threatened despite all the efforts by the Serbs to stay in this region, build trust and mutual coexistence, said the Serb Civic Initiative’s statement. The Serb Civic Initiative wants to believe that for the attack on the Serbian journalists the blame is on individuals’ whose extremism is stronger than the democratic expression of discontent, and urges the authorities and opposition, as well as representatives of the international community to publicly condemn the attacks. We ask that the EULEX and Kosovo police immediately reacts and identifies the perpetrators of the attacks on Serbian journalists and bring them to justice, reads the statement.

The Association of Kosovo Montenegrins condemns the act of vandalism by the groups of demonstrators at a protest in Pristina, as well as the cowardly attack on a journalist Aleksandra Jovanovic and cameraman Bojan Kosanin from RTK2, said the statement of the Association. Kosovo is a country of all citizens who live in it, regardless of their ethnicity, religion or language, therefore the Association of Montenegrins of Kosovo calls on all representatives of civil society to condemn today's violence and attacks on journalists, the Kosovo police, to condemn those that damage the Kosovo institutions and businesses in the city, said in a statement. Those people who love Kosovo are again sad and unhappy. Because of one group of vandals we will be the first news in the whole world, but unfortunately because of the violence and vandalism, which after all follows every protest organized by the Self-Determination Movement led by Albin Kurti, reads the announcement of the Association of Kosovo Montenegrins.

 

McAlister: Agreement with Kosovo before EU membership! (Novosti)

“The normalization of Belgrade-Pristina relations is expected to lead to a legally-binding agreement, by the end of the negotiations on Serbia’s EU accession, so that Serbia and Kosovo are able to completely exercise their rights and fulfill obligations,” David McAllister, European Parliament rapporteur on Serbia, tells Novosti in an interview. He notes that, apart from “normalization of relations with Kosovo”, rule of law, public administration reform and harmonization of the foreign policy with the EU are the key tasks standing before Serbia on its EU membership path. “The past year was very important for Serbia. The accession negotiations for EU membership commenced officially with the first inter-government conference in January. I welcome the high level of readiness and engagement in the screening process demonstrated by your government. I am convinced that Prime Minister Vucic and his team demonstrate devotedness to the EU integration process and are directly clutching to cope with systemic and socio-economic reforms.”

Does Serbia have to choose between Moscow and Brussels in conducting its foreign policy?

“Within the EU, some states have closer ties with Russia from others. The rules are clear. The candidate countries must harmonize with the EU legal heritage, and this also refers to foreign policy. As I have pointed out in the draft resolution, I regret that Serbia has not harmonized, when invited, with the restrictive measures against Russia. While it is chairing the OSCE this year, Serbia could use its closer ties with Russia to search for solutions for the current crisis in Ukraine.”

Is it realistic for Serbia to open the first negotiating chapters by June?

“Serbia’s ambitions in the negotiating process are welcome. However, there is not a specific time frame for opening chapters and the following steps greatly depend from Serbia’s capacity in the following months. In my opinion, 2015 should be the year of opening of the first negotiating chapters. Personally, I think it would be good if this could occur in the first half of this year.”

 

Seselj: Elections by year’s end (Tanjug)

The Serbian Radical Party (SRS) will begin in the spring with protests against the current authorities, the SRS leader Vojislav Seselj said in the Cacak City Hall. “We are waiting for spring to launch the protests. This government will not last long since it is bursting at all seams, so we expect elections by the end of the year,” said Seselj. He says that his party’s ranks had been consolidating since his return from The Hague. “Vucic and Nikolic expired, as it can be seen from the statements by western diplomats and the foreign media reports. They are enduring pressures in regard to the finalization of the independence of Kosovo and Metohija, and once this is completed, they will be let down the ladder,” assessed Seselj. He especially criticized the government’s economic policy that is, as he put it, worse from all previous governments that is reflected in borrowing and neglecting the local economy. He also touched upon possible cooperation with other patriotic parties, saying that the SRS is open for post-election coalitions with all those who oppose Serbia’s EU membership. “Serbia’s future lies in stronger ties with Russia, formation of a single market, customs union and defense system with this country,” stressed Seselj. He pointed out that he remains with his earlier anti-monarchy conviction since he opines that a republic is a democratic and civilization creation. As regards his stay in the ICTY and the process conducted against him, Seselj says this is a politicized process and that this institution has anti-Serb character. “I have been provoking the ICTY for years so they could indict me, because I knew they couldn’t accuse of one single war crime. The verdicts that are passed in The Hague are political, procedurally deficient and with many mistakes,” said Seselj, adding that he would not return voluntarily. “Let my accomplices in the misdeeds, for which they are accusing me, arrest me,” concluded Seselj.

 

Omerovic planned a bomb attack? (Tanjug)

Mirsad Omerovic from Tutin, suspected of recruiting fighters for the Islamic State, will remain in custody due to new evidence of his terrorist activity. He was arrested late last year by the Austrian police. During the investigation police has found in his computer the plans for making remote detonators. “I do not represent any danger,” argued Omerovic, who is known as a preacher of Ebu Tejma, before a judge in Graz, who recently extended Omerovic’s pre-trial detention. The main reason that the judge made a decision on extending the pre-trial detention is the fact that the police found plans for making remote detonators with cell phone use on Omerovic’s seized computer. Omerovic denied that the instructions for making detonators found on his computer have been written by him. “I had no idea,” he said. His lawyer claims that one of Omerovic’s friends has saved more data on his computer, such as books and other documents. Omerovic is one of the leading figures of Salafist scene in Austria. He was educated in Saudi Arabia, and in the German-speaking region is known as a preacher. The Prosecution even claims that he is ‘the main ideologist of the global jihadist Islamism”. The Prosecutor points out that he recruited young Muslims for a terrorist organizations “Jabhat al-Nusra” and “Islamic state”. “I have never recruited people for an Islamic State or any other Islamist organization,” said Omerovic. “On several occasions, I have publicly called on people not to go to Syria,” he said, adding that later jihadists have called by the phone to say that they still went. The Prosecution in its documents lists the names of 64 jihadists who have had contacts with Omerovic. From those even 52 is from the area of the Altun-Alem mosque in Vienna, where Omerovic has been preaching for a long time. Currently the Austrian authorities are investigating one of Omerovic’s friends from the mosque, who is suspected of having developed a plan for a terrorist attack in Vienna.

 

REGIONAL PRESS

 

Novakovic: With his resignation, Tucic enabled weapons export from B&H to Ukraine (Oslobodjenje)

Momcilo Novakovic, Vice President of the People’s Democratic Movement (PDP) and delegate in the House of Representatives, says that Boris Tucic, with his resignation from the position of minister of foreign trade and economic relations of B&H, “enabled the export of weapons from B&H to Ukraine”. Pointing to the law on the Council of Ministers, in which it states that in the event of a minister submitting a resignation, the deputy will perform their functions, Novakovic stated that Tucic’s resignation enabled his deputy to sign consent for the export of arms. “Tucic could be opposed to export, but he did not have to resign because he wouldn't sign a document. Therefore, I think that Tucic wanted to enable the export of weapons, and that he did not want to be responsible,” said Novakovic at a press conference in Banja Luka, asking Tucic how he signed permission in the previous period and whether he would accept responsibility, because now with his resignation he “enabled” the export of arms from B&H to Ukraine. Novakovic, as the oldest deputy from the RS in the B&H parliament, submitted an open letter to Milorad Dodik, the RS and SNSD president, after his statement that SNSD delegates would leave sessions of the House of Representatives until Chairman Sefik Dzaferovic is dismissed. He warned Dodik that in this case RS remains without the opportunity to use one of its most important rights, entity voting, and called on the SNSD president to reconsider his decision, and colleagues in the SNSD to participate in sessions. If Dodik insists on his decision, Novakovic says he thus assumes responsibility for the serious consequences of such moves. The NDP vice president said that forming a new Council of Ministers stopped due to “some behind the scenes action in the Federation and conscious obstruction of some parties with the aim of establishing a government as late as possible, or not at all”. He said that his party and the Alliance for Change wants the government to form as soon as possible and move forward with reforms and resolution of the accumulated problems, but parties from RS, he says, in this moment are not asking and are not to blame for the delay in the formation of the Council of Ministers.

 

Russian Ambassador: Minister Tucic’s resignation is a moral deed (Srna)

Russia greatly appreciates the move by the B&H Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations, Boris Tucic, who tendered his resignation in order to prevent the export of arms to Ukraine, in light of the fact that such export would have a negative impact on the peace process, Russian Ambassador Petr Ivantsov told Srna. Ivantsov said the issue of exporting arms and ammunition was complex and that his country did not oppose legal export regulated by a series of rules, agreements and treaties. “In this particular case we have export of ammunition to an area of an ongoing armed conflict. According to the EU criteria from 2008 stipulating the terms for the procurement of arms and ammunition, it is forbidden to export to the regions with ongoing armed conflicts because that complicates things further,” said the Russian ambassador.

Bosnia and Herzegovina is a signatory to an international agreement explicitly banning exports of arms and ammunition if they are used against civilians, Ivantsov said. “I personally believe that exports of ammunition to Ukraine, which yesterday killed 15 people and wounded 20 others, are immoral,” he said. When asked what he thought of the fact that those who advocate exports of ammunition to Ukraine justify such actions by the fact that the United Nations did not impose formal sanctions, Ambassador Ivantsov replied that the problem should be viewed through a moral prism and with common sense. “Procuring ammunition at this point, when negotiators are seeking a peaceful solution for south-east Ukraine, can only make things even more complicated,” said the ambassador. Ivantsov discussed the issue with members of the B&H Presidency and B&H foreign minister, while a meeting on the same topic also took place between the B&H ambassador in Moscow and the Russian Foreign Ministry. “We have excellent relations with Bosnia and Herzegovina. I think the decision to export weapons is not in compliance with the spirit of our bilateral relations and that it does not contribute to our ties,” said Ivantsov. He also touched upon a donation of surplus ammunition from the B&H Armed Forces to Iraq, pointing out that this was the case of supplying ammunition to regular forces fighting a terrorist group such as Islamic State. “In such a situation, the weapons and ammunition go to those who are legally entitled to them. But, in that case too, the government should make sure to carry out strict controls to prevent those arms and ammunition from reaching the terrorists,” noted Ivantsov. Minister of foreign trade and economic relations, Boris Tucic, stated on Thursday that the main reason for his resignation was the disagreement with actions of some B&H institutions involved in the process of issuing permits for foreign trade in weapons and military equipment originating from Bosnia and Herzegovina.

 

Vehid Sehic: If DF leaves the government, who will form the majority with HDZ and SDA? (Oslobodjenje/Patria)

In the coming four years in the Federation, the 2010-2014 scenario could repeat itself with political turbulence, believes Vehid Sehic, political analyst and president of the Tuzla Citizens' Forum, Patria writes. He says that after these elections, it is clear that agreement of a majority of political parties is the politics of division of spoils, ministerial positions, functions in public companies, which all slows down B&H as a state.

There is no constitutional patriotism

“We have an example in the RS that quickly completed constitution of a government according to the timetable in the electoral law, while in FB&H there is no respect for the electoral law, the FB&H constitution, or the B&H constitution. There is no constitutional patriotism, we are entering a difficult situation, and it is difficult because we are in a difficult economic crisis that inevitably leads to social crisis,” explains Sehic. He believes that politicians do not have an answer to the socioeconomic challenges, and that they fear the future, which may be one of the reasons why there is no policy of will and trust among them.

“We are entering a period where a dose of revolt by citizens can be expected. Because payment of pensions, obligations toward budget users are called into question. There is great dissatisfaction across B&H. As far as I see it, there is no program to exit the crisis,” says Sehic.

On the other hand, he points out, the greatest responsibility is on those who received the trust of citizens.

“We see that the DF has its principles from which it doesn't want to give up. If they want to survive in power, they will have to break these principles, and we see the official stance of the party leadership is that they won't participate in a future government if some things that were agreed and are principled will not be expected. If the DF leaves the coalition, the question of with whom the parliamentary majority will continue to build will be posed. So FB&H at the moment is in a very difficult situation, which shows the irresponsibility of politicians,” explains Sehic.

Influence of international community

Sehic stresses that in the entire story they must not forget the HDZ B&H, without which a government cannot be constituted.

“I must note that the SDA and HDZ B&H are linked by a declaration when, as national parties, they signed and obliged themselves to fulfill some conditions together with the HDZ 1990, PDP, and SDS, and here there is a strong influence from the international community. At the moment, the coalition between the SDA and HDZ B&H is stronger than that between the SDA and DF or HDZ and DF. How efficient the government will be is difficult to predict. It is hard to be a prophet in B&H knowing the political situation,” concluded Sehic.

 

“Montenegro, Kosovo and Metohija mafia states; Serbia unstable one” (Vijesti.me)

The geopolitical magazine Limes marked Montenegro and Kosovo as a mafia states on the map of crisis centers in the surrounding of Italy, writes the Podgorica newspaper Vijesti. On the map that illustrates the text "Italy is in the heart of the storm" only Montenegro and Kosovo are marked as mafia states, while Serbia, Macedonia, Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina are marked as “unstable”. The editorial staff, of one of the leading European publications dealing with geo-strategic issues, claims that Montenegro and Kosovo are marked as a “mafia states”, based on the data of Italian institutions. To the Vijesti’s question on what data did they use to create the map, Limes replied with an answer that the map is based on the data that came from various sources. “Among them is the data of Italian institutions on illegal trade to Italy (smuggling of weapons and drugs), in which the Balkan region, especially Kosovo and Montenegro are identified as important nodes,” claims the editorial office of the Italian magazine. They also state that the map was published in several issues of the magazine and that it does not follow any specific article. Vijesti did not get the answer to the question whether the assessment that Kosovo and Montenegro are “mafia states” is still considered current. The map marks the criminal routes, one from Turkey and Greece through Kosovo and Montenegro, which ends in the north of Italy, while the Belgrade is labeled as neuralgic point of trafficking, which starts from Moscow and Ukraine.

 

 

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

 

Tear gas fired at protestors by Kosovo police (AFP, 25 January 2015)

Police in Kosovo have fired tear gas to disperse groups of stone-throwing protesters as thousands took to the streets of Pristina to demand the dismissal of a Serb minister accused of insulting the ethnic Albanian majority.

Saturday's (local time) clashes erupted at the end of a rally in the capital at which some 7000 people, according to police, called on the government to fire Labour and Social Welfare Minister Aleksandar Jablanovic, one of three Serb ministers in Prime Minister Isa Mustafa's cabinet.

Around a hundred demonstrators threw stones, smashing several windows of the government building and of nearby cafes and restaurants, before dispersing, an AFP correspondent saw. Three policemen were injured in the unrest, police said.

Jablanovic sparked outrage two weeks ago when he called a group of ethnic Albanians "savages" for trying to prevent Serb pilgrims from visiting a monastery in western Kosovo on Orthodox Christmas. The group had claimed "war criminals" were among the pilgrims.

The minister later publicly apologised for his comments but angry crowds have continued to rally against him across the breakaway territory.

Serbia and its former province fought a war in 1998-1999 which ended when a NATO air campaign ousted Belgrade-controlled troops from Kosovo.

Kosovo unilaterally proclaimed independence from Serbia in 2008.

Some 120,000 Serbs now live in Kosovo, where 90 percent of its 1.8 million people are ethnic Albanians.

Premier Mustafa included three Serb ministers in his 21-member cabinet in a bid to improve relations with Kosovo's largest minority group as well as with Serbia, which does not recognise the territory's independence.

 

Serbia boosts co-operation with European Defence Agency (SETimes, by Ivana Jovanovic, 23 January 2015)

Progress in the defence sector and faster EU integration are the main benefits of Serbia's co-operation with the EDA, experts and officials say.

In an effort to boost the common defence and security politics of Europe, Serbia has taken steps to increase its involvement with the European Defence Agency (EDA). According to Major Jovan Krivokapic, spokesperson at the Serbian Ministry of Defence, co-operation will be improved in the fight against improvised explosive devices, precision-guided munitions, defending against cyber attacks and unmanned land platforms.

EDA Chief Executive Claude-France Arnould visited Serbia in late November to set the co-operation parameters. She met with Defence Minister Bratislav Gasic, and they agreed that active involvement in the concept of the Joint Security and Defence Policy is reflected by the aspiration toward increased engagement in crisis management operations, development of joint projects and improved administrative capabilities for more active co-operation with the EU.

"EDA's mission is to help its member states improve their defence capabilities through increased co-operation. As such, the agency stands ready to address the needs and priorities of Serbia through an à la carte approach that would allow the country to join projects that are in line with its defence and security priorities," an EDA official said in written statement for SETimes.

Serbia has been a member of the agency since December 2013, when an administrative agreement between the agency and the Serbian Ministry of Defence was signed. Collaboration with the agency has focused on supporting member states' efforts to improve the EU's defence capacities in the field of crisis management, as well as to boost co-operation between the 27 EU countries.

The initiative will help Serbia accelerate its EU integration process, build up trust with the EU and the Union members and advance its defence system and industry.

"Co-operation with the European Defence Agency is improving the military and defence capacities of Serbia and, in that way, our interoperability with the member states of the EU," Krivokapic told SETimes.

"Serbia has already indicated interest in various aspects of EDA's work -- particularly countering improvised explosive devices, chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear defence and security of supply. Representatives from Serbia have already attended various EDA supported counter [improvised explosive device] activities, and have shown interest in future collaborative research and development projects in that domain," an EDA official told SETimes in a written statement.

Krivokapic added that by co-operation with the EDA, Serbia has accessed the databases of the agency, including the Collaborative Data Base, the Defence Test and Evaluation Base and the European Defence Research Centres Portal.

"Engagement of the ministry of defence within common security and defence politics of the EU is important for the integration process of Serbia," Krivokapic said.

Marko Savkovic, the programme director of the Belgrade Security Forum, agrees that co-operation with the EDA is beneficial for Serbia's EU aspiration.

"EDA is an institution within the EU, but it doesn't require Union membership. So, it is really a nice exercise of co-existence within the frame of Brussels politics," Savkovic told SETimes.

He added that strong ties with the agency could help Serbia improve its defence industry, which is the only area of the country's economy that has produced strong results in the last few years.

"Here is potential transfer of knowledge, use of others experiences and co-operation with many countries on development of platforms that will be beneficial for all. So, connected with this, Serbia has projects to offer to the EDA, and the EDA develops projects in which participation would mean a lot for us," Savkovic said.

 

Montenegro refuses to send new ambassador to Bosnia amid border dispute (JTW News, by Hamdi Fırat Büyük, 23 January 2015)

Amid a new border dispute, Montenegrin President Filip Vujanovic has refused to appoint a new mission leader to Sarajevo. In return, it is reported that Bosnia is planning to withdraw its ambassador from Podgorica.

The dispute comes as a group of Bosnian academics, intellectuals and NGOs has published a report which claims that a short stretch of the Montenegrin coast and its surrounding areas called Sutorina legally belong to Bosnia. The group argues there is strong evidence that the territory had been a part of Bosnia until the World War II.

These claims have in turn sparked harsh debates in Montenegro between the opposition and the ruling government. The Montenegrin opposition parties have now been exerting pressure on the ruling government to provide an answer to the report, eventually calling an urgent meeting of the parliament.

“Not an inch of Montenegro should be ceded to anyone” said leader of the “Positiv” Montenegrin opposition bloc Darko Pajovic.

In what has come to follow, Montenegrin President Vujanovic has refused to sign the appointment of a new ambassador to Sarajevo because of the recent debates, pointing out that Bosnia and Hercegovina has recognized Montenegro’s independence with its current borders.

The Serbian vice-president of the House of Representatives, one of two chambers of the Bosnian Parliament, Mladen Bosic, said on Wednesday that the issue should have been resolved in other ways. “I am surprised by how Montenegro reacted,” he said, referring to the Bosnian Presidency.

“Stopping the appointment of the ambassador was too harsh. I don't see why it should be forbidden to open a discussion about the border,” he added.

While the dispute over Sutorina has its roots in the past and should therefore not be regarded as anything new, the issue had remained frozen up until now. Moreover, the agreement which delineated the border between Bosnia and Montenegro was ratified in November of last year by both governments.

The disputed area of Sutorina and its surrounding territories include five villages as well as the region’s namesake, the river Sutorina.

Most importantly, the disputed lands lie a few kilometres from the Montenegrin coastal town of Herceg Novi. If the territory were to be granted to Bosnia, it would give the country a second access point to the Adriatic Sea, in addition to its only coastal area of Neum which spans 24 kilometres.

 

Vermont Man Convicted of Lying About Bosnian War Crimes Role (AP, by Wilson Ring, 23 January 2015)

A man charged with lying about his role in Bosnian war crimes when he applied for U.S. citizenship after moving to Vermont more than a decade ago was convicted on Friday.

If Edin Sakoc's conviction is upheld on appeal, he would be stripped of his U.S. citizenship and deported, Assistant U.S. Attorney Eugenia Cowles said. Sakoc, 55, also could face up to 10 years in prison.

Prosecutors said Sakoc raped an Orthodox Christian woman in the town of Pocitelj and aided in the killings of two elderly women in her Bosnian Serb family in July 1992. Sakoc, a Bosnian Muslim who arrived in the United States in 2001, was accused of lying about his role in the crimes when he applied for citizenship in 2007.

Cowles, the lead prosecutor in the case, said, "I think it's an important case because we have laws that guide immigration in this country, and when we receive information that raises questions as to whether people have abused that system in coming in there's an obligation to investigate it and follow through on that prosecution."

Sakoc's attorneys, who are likely to appeal, said they felt the verdict was inconsistent because he was found guilty of lying on an immigration form but the jury did not find he committed any of the underlying crimes.

"They didn't find him guilty of having committed a crime," defense attorney Steven Barth said after reviewing the jury form. "The second question is have you ever persecuted anyone. And they didn't find him guilty of that either."

Instead, what the jury found was that Sakoc lied when he said he had never given false information to U.S. officials.

U.S. District Court Judge William Sessions III noted the same thing.

"There was no finding as to whether Mr. Sakoc had committed any (war) crimes or whether he had persecuted anyone," the judge said after the jury verdict was announced.

Sakoc, who showed no emotion when the verdict was read, was allowed to remain free on conditions. He, his wife and his young daughter have been living with a family.

Sakoc left the courtroom without making any comment. His attorneys asked for and were granted 30 days to file post-trial motions.

During closing arguments Thursday, Barth, the defense attorney, said the crimes were committed by a powerful Bosnian Croat army commander and Sakoc couldn't be held accountable for the actions of another, even though he was aware of the killings after they took place.

Sakoc's attorneys also said the witnesses' stories were inconsistent and the rape accuser repeatedly changed her story over the years about whether she was assaulted.

After about an hour of deliberations Thursday, the jury asked to re-hear an audio recording played during the two-week trial in which Sakoc told U.S. immigration authorities he was present the night the two women were killed but denied involvement in the killings.

Many Bosnian refugees have settled in the Burlington area. On Thursday, about two dozen of Sakoc's supporters were in the courtroom and waited with him for the verdict in the hallway outside.

 

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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.