LOCAL PRESS

 

Belgrade-Pristina dialogue to resume in Brussels; Djuric: Union and judiciary on the agenda (RTS/Tanjug/Beta/TV Prva)

The Belgrade-Pristina dialogue resumes in Brussels on Monday after a ten-month break and the respective teams will be led by Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic and Kosovo Prime Minister Isa Mustafa, with the mediation of EU High Representative Federica Mogherini. On the eve of the new round of the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue in Brussels, the Head of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Marko Djuric stated he expects the formation of the Union of Serb Municipalities and an agreement on judiciary to be part of the agenda. Djuric told TV Prva that Belgrade will raise the issue of Trepca as well as the one concerning property and position of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo. We will insist that the Union of Serb Municipalities be given a dominant spot on the agenda, Djuric said, adding he expects the EU representatives to focus on issues that have earlier remained open. Serbian MP from the Serbian Progressive Party Krstimir Pantic assessed that officials in Pristina were nervous and not at all willing to resume talks on issues not in their interest and that the Belgrade team would face numerous challenges, conditioning and pressure.

 

Nikolic’s cabinet: New platform is about agreement on normalization with Pristina (Danas)

Not even a month-and-a-half since Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic announced the drafting of a new platform on Kosovo, the public still doesn’t know what this document will regulate and when it could be adopted. Even though the expectation was that Nikolic would discuss this with Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic before the new round of the dialogue in Brussels, this didn’t occur since the Prime Minister didn’t have time. To all these unknowns, the public was additionally confused with the latest statement of the presidential advisor Stanislava Pak Stankovic that the platform will be completed by the end of Nikolic’s mandate in the middle of 2017. Asked by Danas what is the goal of the new platform and what it will regulate specifically, Pak replied in short that the “goal is to define the status of the territory with which Serbia needs to sign the agreement on normalization of relations with Pristina”. Former technical negotiator with Pristina and an MP of the Democratic Party Borislav Stefanovic tells Danas that it is obvious that the misunderstanding regarding the platform in the public also exists in the Serbian government. “The only new thing that can be concerning Kosovo is either an invitation for division or calling of an international conference that will decide on the Kosovo status or to offer Kosovo within Serbia a status resembling Tyrol. I’m afraid that none of these things will occur. Nikolic is just trying to exert pressure on the government to adopt the platform, to send it to the parliament, where the MPs will filter out their patriotism and then there will be nothing,” assessed Stefanovic.

 

Gasic: Army not a topic of Brussels dialogue (Danas)

The formation of the Kosovo army will not be a topic in the following rounds of the Brussels dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, Serbian Defense Minister Bratislav Gasic told Danas, in comment to the announcements of Kosovo officials that this is one of the priorities of the Kosovo government. Kosovo Foreign Minister Hashim Thaqi and Minister for EU Integration Bekim Colaku met in Pentagon, during last week’s official visit to the US, with US under-secretary of defense and, as they said, received support for the transformation of security forces into Kosovo armed forces. Gasic says that Thaqi’s statements are for internal political use and that Serbia is a serious country and adheres to all of its signed agreement and obligations, including UN SC Resolution 1244 that defines everything. The Serbian government Office for Kosovo and Metohija told Danas that the formation of the Kosovo army would be in violation of the Kumanovo Agreement and Resolution 1244, and the existence of security forces or armed forces represents quibbling of the agreement whereby the KLA should have been disarmed. “They have nominally, on paper, disarmed the KLA, but in fact, they only changed the signs on the uniforms, and then called this the Kosovo protection corps, and later the Kosovo security forces. Now they want to call this the Kosovo armed forces. You don’t have to ask us what we think about the KLA, regardless of how they are called,” states the Office for Kosovo and Metohija. According to Danas’ sources in the Serbian government, other Serbian officials have also not taken seriously Thaqi’s announcements. The reason is that, as it was explained to Danas, a two-third majority needs to vote in the Kosovo Assembly, i.e. majority deputies, but also the two-third majority of minority deputies, in order for this plan to be realized. It is possible to reach the two-third majority of majority parties, but without Serb votes it is impossible to reach the two-third majority of minority representatives. Because of this complicated procedure, Danas’ sources state, there are pressures on the Kosovo government to amend the constitution.

 

Pristina has a contingency plan for taking over Trepca (Politika, by Zivojin Rakocevic)

The Pristina authorities have a worked out contingency plan for taking over Trepca, the same model according to which they occupied the Brnjak and Jarinje administrative crossings in northern Kosovo and Metohija, we learned from international sources in Pristina who wished to stay anonymous. It is predicted that opening a new hot spot, and then managing the crisis, according to the scenario supported by western friends, would achieve the same result as the violent action in 2011 that, along with minimal victims, following long negotiations, barricades and tensions, led to the integration of northern Kosovo municipalities into the Pristina legal system. The activities of special units, victims, chaos on the ground, burning of crossings had at the time thrown Serbia out of the EU road, while the activities of the Pristina nationalists was in the final calculations – rewarded. And now, on the eve of the new round of the Brussels negotiations, Pristina opened a hot spot, so Serbian diplomatic moves and Belgrade’s road towards the EU, following the crisis of Trepca, found themselves under the threat of a new collapse. The calculation is simple: Belgrade should be forced to new concessions, and the package of painful yielding that should open new steps towards Europe, under the condition to “normalize relations with neighbors”. How can there be normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia if Serbia controls Trepca, resources on Mt. Sar, water reserves in Gazivode? How can one join the EU with the Serbian Orthodox Church, its strength, land and monuments in Kosovo? Nothing can be Serbian in Kosovo; it can only be Kosovo’s – that is the projection of Albanian nationalism, which is too often supported by the most powerful countries of the West. The best European legislative suit was put on in the pre-political company of Kosovo Albanians, so the project of Kosovo, in which the West had invested so much, could be put to an end. “Trepca is working, Belgrade is built” was one of the famous slogans of Albanian nationalists in the socialist Yugoslavia, and it was not only Belgrade that benefited in this projection, but also Skopje, after the earthquake, was built thanks to Trepca from Mitrovica, Tito’s at the time, and now Kosovo’s. Precisely now one political-economic earthquake, linked to Trepca, is shaking fragile Serbian-Albanian relations, Brussels agreements and settlements, and its epicenter is in every house of the remaining 120,000 Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija. Development optimism, economic recovery, Serbia’s investments and aid emphatically pointed out by Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic during his recent visit to Kosovo and Metohija, could be easily dispelled into dust by the crisis regarding the take-over of Trepca by the Pristina administration. Our sources state that Trepca is just the first of four projected goals, all aimed at the state of Serbia disappearing from Kosovo. The goals are also to take over control over Mt. Sar in the south, over the Gazivode Lake in the north, and, finally, the economic and administrative elimination of the Serbian Orthodox Church.

 

Leposavic unable to stop construction of illegal hydropower plants (Novosti)

Bekim Shuti alias Niki, former KLA commander in Vucitrn, stands behind the construction of several small hydropower plants in Saljska Bistrica, the only Albanian village in the Leposavic municipality. According to the same sources, aside from Shuti, the financers are also one more KLA commander from Drenica and one Albanian citizen. Leposavic Mayor Dragan Jablanovic says that no one has yet addressed the municipality, even though the construction works are conducted on the territory of Leposavic, that no permits were requested and that the local Albanian population in Saljska Bistrica also opposes the construction works. “Saljska Bistrica is 30km away from Leposavic, it is part of the territory of our municipality and it would be normal, and this is also envisaged by the Brussels agreement, for the local self-government to approve construction,” says Jablanovic, stressing that the Leposavic municipality is at present unable to stop the construction of illegal hydropower plants nor can it send its inspectors to Saljska Bistrica. Jablanovic adds that the municipality addressed the Kosovo government and the competent ministry and that it expects it to undertake something. “Regardless of the fact that Albanians reside in Saljska Bistrica, this village is part of the Leposavic municipality, and the law should apply everywhere to everyone,” says Jablanovic. The people in Leposavic point out that the wives of Hashim Thaqi and Bekim Shuti are cousins and that Shuti has support in Pristina. They say he is a high-ranking officer of the Kosovo protection corps and that he can construct and do whatever he wants in Leposavic and throughout Kosovo.

 

Gudenus: US responsible for wave of Kosovo refugees (Tanjug)

“A wave of refugees from Kosovo, currently a problem for Western Europe, proves the secession of Kosovo from Serbia and its hasty recognition was a mistake.” That is according to Johann Gudenus, vice chairman of the Freedom Party of Austria (FPO). Kosovo is not a war or crisis region, yet several thousand people from the area are at the Austrian borders, said Gudenus. The FPO whip underlined that one must consider why so many people are running away from “a state” that allegedly functions very well. “Now it is clear that Kosovo’s secession from Serbia, as well as its hasty recognition as an independent state, was a mistake. The current wave of refugees confirms that Kosovo cannot endure as a state,” Gudenus said. He recalled that the creation of ‘the state of Kosovo” was the wish of the United States, adding that international law was not respected during the process of gaining independence because there was no referendum, and that is why the U. S. must take responsibility. He also said that Austria’s reception capacities are packed, adding that if the country continues to accept economic refugees, “it will not be able to accept those who need protection”. In this regard, he called for a suspension of the Schengen agreement and reintroduction of border control i.e. rigorous expulsion of illegal immigrants. Gudenus said it is also necessary to ask why there is “a striking number of Muslims” among immigrants in Austria lately, and named Chechens, Afghans, ‘Kosovars”, and others.

 

REGIONAL PRESS

 

Anniversary of the biggest post-war protests in FB&H (Srna)

The anniversary of the biggest post-war protests in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FB&H) was marked in several cities in the entity on Saturday, while people in Sarajevo expressed their disappointment with the authorities’ failure to solve the piled up social problems by taking a peaceful walk in the center of the city. Around 200 residents of Sarajevo, chiefly senior citizens, started their protest walk outside the state presidency building and headed towards the Eternal Flame memorial. When they first gathered near the presidency building, they expressed their discontent with the fact even 12 months after the most massive protests none of the demands had not been met. Edina Dzindo, one of the speakers, asked on behalf of the crowd that the authorities ensure the right to employment, social welfare and health care, education, and a dignified life. “We demand wage cuts for officials, elimination of ‘white bread’ and usage of official vehicles for private purposes, and cancellation of other benefits,” added Ms Dzindo. Other demands presented by the disgruntled citizens of Sarajevo include a revision of privatization, eradication of grey economy, investigations into how humanitarian donations were spent, and elimination of political influence on judicial bodies. Numerous police provided security to the event and the presidency building, as well as other institutional buildings in downtown Sarajevo, while traffic was not suspended. Rallies, which began at the symbolic hour of 12 o’clock, also took place in Mostar, Zenica, Tuzla, Bihac, and Bosanska Krupa. In order to ensure law and order during the Saturday rallies, an operations committee was formed a few days ago comprised of several police agencies, with headquarters at the Directorate for the Coordination of Police Agencies in Sarajevo. Also taking part in the committee are the Border Police, State Investigation and Protection Agency, FB&H Police Administration and cantonal interior ministries. During last year’s protests on February 7, several institutional buildings were set alight, including the Cantonal Government building and B&H Presidency building, where some of the State Archives were destroyed. Buildings of cantonal governments were also set on fire in Tuzla and Zenica.

 

The PFB&H House of Representatives supports Cavar, Mahmutbegovic and Dunovic (Oslobodjenje)

With 60 votes for, 28 abstaining and no votes against, FB&H House of Representatives endorsed a joint list for the election of Marinko Cavar (HDZ B&H) for the President and Melika Mahmutbegovic (SDA) and Milan Dunovic (DF) for the positions of the Vice Presidents of FB&H. The MP’s from the SBB, SDP, HDZ 1990 and Nasa Stranka abstained from voting. The list should be confirmed in the House of Peoples, and if it does not receive the required majority by each of the Clubs in the House of Peoples, it would be returned to the House of Representatives for a new vote. After they were supported by the House of Representatives in the first round, Cavara announced that after the election of the President and Vice-Presidents, cross-party talks on the formation of the FB&H Government should start. According to him, the HDZ B&H is interested in the departments of finance, transport and communication, energy, mining and industry and agriculture. “I believe that these three parties that are parliamentary majority at the FB&H level will come to an agreement to harmonize the positions and choose the most competent and most honest people who would govern the departments in the future,” said Cavara. Melika Mahmutbegovic said that in her work she will insist to perform, together with colleagues, those tasks that are within their jurisdiction. “The most important thing is to move forward with the appointment of the executive power,” said Mahmutbegovic. “Our cooperation is certainly going to be good and we will work in the interests of the FB&H and all of its peoples and citizens,” said Dunovic.

 

Tomorrow request for a special session of the Assembly (RTRS)

The President of Republika Srpska (RS) Milorad Dodik said that he will send tomorrow a request to convene a special session of the National Assembly of RS to vote, as soon as possible, on a new joint statement of the B&H Presidency. Dodik said for RTRS that he will request that the National Assembly responds in this regard in the upcoming week, given that the demand of the Brussels is that the B&H politicians should express their positions until Thursday, 12^th of February. The B&H Presidency signed the Declaration on European commitment and the necessary reforms of B&H towards the EU on 29^th of January, under the initiative of the United Kingdom and Germany. The first version of the statement about the commitment of political leaders in B&H to undertake the necessary reforms within the framework of the EU accession process, the B&H Presidency has established on 31^st of December 2014, but the leaders of SNSD, DNS and SP asked for the statement to be modified to respect the constitutional order of B&H, and clearly indicate the jurisdictions and the fact that the statement cannot be a base for the transfer of jurisdiction from the entities on to B&H.

 

Bosic called on Salihovic to comment on the charges against Dzaferovic (Srna)

The Deputy Chairman of the House of Representatives of the Parliament of B&H Mladen Bosic requested from the Chief Prosecutor of B&H Goran Salihovic to, as soon as possible, informs the public of the merits of the charges against the Chairman of the House Sefik Dzaferovic, in order to, as he said, resolve the political tensions that are causing the obstruction of democratic process. Bosic addressed Salihovic because, as he explained, of the political implications to the work of the B&H Parliament, which has been caused by FB&H Vice-President Mirsad Kebo’s public accusation against Dzaferovic. “Since this is a matter of public allegations of war crimes against the Serb population, the case has provoked strong emotions and reactions in the RS public,’ the letter states. Bosic stated that “a number of MPs from the RS’s House of Representatives are boycotting the sessions and seeking Dzaferovic’s dismissal as a Chairman of the House”, which, he says, has taken serious negative political implications that affect the work of Parliament. “The case is being investigated by the State Prosecution office lead by you. We expect that you, as soon as possible, inform the public of the merits of the charges against Dzaferovic to resolve political tensions that are causing the obstruction of democratic process,” writes Bosic in his letter to Salihovic.

 

Almost no terror act is committed without someone from B&H involved (Srna)

“It is obvious there is no terror act anywhere in the world without a person from B&H involved”, says the RS Interior Minister Dragan Lukac. Lukac points out that the arrest of six B&H natives in the U.S. on suspicion that they sent money and weapons to Islamic State unfortunately confirms yet again that when it comes to terrorism and extremism, B&H deserves special attention. “We must also pay attention here and raise the level of alert to the highest possible level in order to be able to deal with such matters and prevent any damage to the people or property on our territory,” Lukac told reporters in Prijedor on Sunday. The Interior Ministry is aware of the arrest of six B&H citizens in the U.S. but does not know much about the details, he said. “Their (US’s) police agencies and security services had most probably been monitoring the case for a long time, got hold of some information and carried out the arrests,” said Lukac, adding that, unfortunately, people do appear in either the East or West trying to and committing acts of terror. The US Department of Justice reported that six B&H natives had been arrested on suspicion that they sent money and arms to Islamic State and that they were all charged with conspiring to provide material support and resources to terrorists.

 

European right wing with sharp condemnation against Zaev (Kurir.mk)

President of the European People’s Party (EPP) in the Council of Europe, Pedro Agramunt gives strong support to the FYROM Government for the latest developments related to the case “Putsch” and refers sharp condemnation against SDSM leader Zoran Zaev. Agramunt, in terms of the non-democratic try to take government, expressed concern about the recent events in the country, especially as it highlights regarding the irresponsible behavior of the political opposition. “Respect of the rule of law is fundamentally linked to respect for democracy and fundamental rights. Therefore, we condemn the accusations of Zoran Zaev, president of the Social Democratic Union of Macedonia, and we call him to review its allegations to the Government, because no one can be convicted, unless charged based on the law. Political behavior for achieving illegitimate purposes is not acceptable in any shape or form of democracy. Threats by the leader of the opposition towards the Prime Minister of the Republic of Macedonia, Nikola Gruevski are not adequate to express the correct criticism of the government”, said Agramunt. According to him, only political arguments and political programs with the support of citizens are democratic ways to win the elections in democratic countries. “I also, condemn the involvement of foreign countries through their secret services and illegal tapping of telephone conversations of the highest political representatives of Macedonia, to overthrow the Government. There can be no democracy and respect for fundamental rights, without respect for the rule of law and vice versa. Finally, I would like to stress the importance of political dialogue in conflict resolution and I call to account the opposition Macedonian policy to respect the democratic rules of the political system”, says Agramunt.

Agramunt was member of the Spanish delegation in the Assembly of European security and defense of the Western European Union, and was Chairman of the Committee of Presidents, the Committee on Defense and Political Committee. In addition, he was President of the Federal Group of Christian Democrats and European Democrats, and finally President of the European People’s Party in the Council of Europe. He is member of the Spanish delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe since 2000, and is member of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Population, and the Subcommittee on Refugees and Migration, the Political Affairs Committee, Subcommittee on the Middle East and early warning systems and prevent financial crises in Europe, the Committee on economic Affairs and development Committee of honor duties and obligations of the Member States of the Council of Europe (Monitoring Committee) where is the Vice President.

 

 

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

 

Serbia’s Vucic to rekindle Kosovo talks with view to EU entry (Bloomberg, 8 February 2015)

Serb Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic will rekindle efforts to settle political disputes with the breakaway Kosovo Republic for the first time in 10 months as he looks to win European Union membership by the end of the decade. Vucic is set to reopen a new round of talks on Monday in Brussels with Kosovar Prime Minister Isa Mustafa, under the eye of EU mediators, Maja Kocijancic, the spokeswoman for EU foreign-policy chief Federica Mogherini, said in a website statement. Serbia rejects Kosovo’s 2008 declaration of independence, the last secession following Yugoslavia’s bloody breakup along ethnic lines. A new political rift erupted last week when Mustafa, a Kosovar Albanian, fired the local Serb community’s cabinet member. While Serbia sees EU entry as the final reward for its effort to ease tensions, Kosovars will seek visa-free travel to the EU in exchange for cooperation. “Implementation of the Kosovo agreement is crucial for Serbia because without it, it can’t move forward” with membership, said Sonja Liht, the head of the Belgrade Fund for Political Excellence. “The carrot for Kosovo is that talks are essential for getting visa-free travel.” Kosovo was the site of the last battle in the disintegration of Yugoslavia under then-President Slobodan Milosevic, in 1999. Milosevic sent in Serb troops to quell ethnic Albanian restiveness, sparking a U.S.-led military response by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Kosovo Corruption

The former province is among the poorest countries in Europe and the third-most corrupt behind Ukraine and Belarus in Transparency International’s corruption perception list. It needs to change the opinions of EU leaders skeptical of Kosovo’s ability to protect the rule of law if it is to win travel and trade concessions and strengthen the tiny economy, said Liht.

Even as the government pushes for free travel to the EU, President Atifete Jahjaga urged Kosovars to halt an exodus out of the country for better jobs in Western Europe. About 35 percent of Kosovars are unemployed, with a poverty rate of about 30 percent, according to the United Nations. The negotiations in Brussels will be the first since March 2014 and may be complicated by Mustafa’s decision to fire cabinet member Aleksandar Jablanovic, who called a group of Kosovar Albanians savages for throwing rocks last month at a bus carrying displaced Serbs. “Ousting the Serbian minister was a unilateral move, which makes the dialogue in Brussels more difficult,” said Marko Djuric, the head of Serbia’s Office for Kosovo, in a statement on the government website.

Pristina Protests

Jablanovic apologized for the comment, though that wasn’t enough to defuse ethnic Albanian street protests against him. The rallies lapsed into the worst violence in Kosovo’s capital Pristina since independence. Ethnic Albanians make up 90 percent of Kosovo’s population of 2 million people, while Serbs account for about 7 percent. Serbia’s population is 7.2 million. Serbia wants to join the EU by as soon as 2020, while the Brussels-based bloc has never given a target date. The country has to align itself with EU laws and then needs backing by all the 28 national governments to get in. Vucic’s government has made membership its priority even after refusing to join EU sanctions against Russia, citing strong ties with its historically.

 

A thin red line between Serbs and Albanians in Kosovo (DW, by Kristen Chick, 8 February 2015)

Recent protests in Pristina shook Kosovo's capital and forced the sacking of a government minister. Soon their effects may also be felt as far away as Brussels as talks to normalize Kosovar-Serbian relations resume.

As Kosovo and Serbia resume EU-mediated talks on normalizing relations on Monday, the demonstrations in Pristina, the most significant unrest since the former province of Serbia declared independence in 2008, indicate that Kosovars' growing impatience may present a new hurdle to the dialogue. The protests were sparked by comments from an ethnic Serb minister in the Kosovo government and the government's delay of plans to nationalize Kosovo's largest mine after opposition from Serbia. But the large turnout at the protests shows a deep frustration over the lack of progress the Kosovo government has made in the seven years since independence and what many perceive as Serbia's role in stalling that progress. Around 10,000 people protested on January 24, and a smaller but still significant crowd gathered on three days later. Both protests began peacefully but ended in clashes with police that left dozens injured and arrested. "Kosovo's red line now shows to be very thin. It will be very difficult to push Kosovo to make major new concessions, if at all," said Leon Malozogu, director of the Pristina-based think tank Democracy for Development. Prime Minister Isa Mustafa "will have to be very careful that for each compromise he makes, to make sure it comes with significant rewards," or he may face new protests, said Malozogu. Spark of the uproar: Minister of Communities Aleksandar Jablanovic refered to ethnic Albanians as "savages". The demonstrations were organized by opposition parties and other groups after Minister of Communities Alexsandar Jablanovic, an ethnic Serb, used the word "savages" to refer to ethnic Albanian protesters who blocked a group of Serbs on a Christmas pilgrimage in an area that was devastated by fighting during Kosovo's 1998-1999 conflict with Serbia. When Kosovars expressed outrage, he said he didn't know whether Serbian forces had committed war crimes there, though they have been documented. Jablanovic is leader of the Serb List party, which is supported by Belgrade.

'Humiliation' for Kosovars

As calls for Jablanovic's resignation grew, Kosovo's government moved to nationalize the territory's largest mine. Once employing 20,000 people to mine its deposits of lead, zinc, and silver during the days of Yugoslavia, Trepca now languishes at minimum capacity. But Serbia, which also claims partial ownership of the mine, protested the takeover, and Kosovo's government suddenly backed down. To Kosovars, it appeared their government was acquiescing to Serbia's demands. This was "humiliating" for Kosovars, said Naim Rashiti, the Kosovo project director at the Balkans Policy Research Group. Many people were already upset that despite promises of a bright future from politicians, unemployment, poverty, and corruption are high. In what many regard as a sign of the desperation, tens of thousands of Kosovars are now leaving their homes, illegally migrating to EU countries to seek jobs and a better future. While politicians sold dialogue with Serbia to citizens as a process that would resolve issues with Belgrade and then focus on jobs and other economic issues, Rashiti said, Kosovars see few tangible improvements after years of negotiations.

'In Brussels' interest'

Besmir Yvejsi is one of them. He participated in the January 24 protest, though he said he didn't agree with the violence that followed it. An editor for a science magazine from the area where protesters blocked Serb pilgrims, he was deeply insulted by Jablanovic's comment. And he believes that dialogue with Serbia focuses on topics "that are more in the interest of the EU than of Kosovars." Thousands of anti-government protesters clashed with riot police in Kosovo's capital Pristina at the end of January. If many are impatient about negotiations, they also worry about what they see as increasing Serbian influence on Kosovo. A Pristina resident who would only give his name as Arban said Serbia was intent on destabilizing Kosovo and preventing economic progress, and was using Trepca to do it. "The main issue for us is economic growth and economic stability," he said. "Serbia will never allow Kosovo to breathe freely." On the eve of a planned February 4 demonstration, the prime minister gave in to protesters' demands and dismissed Jablanovic. Their success may encourage future street action if people, or opposition parties, grow angry or impatient with the government. The protests were a "wake-up call," Rashiti said. "The government has to understand it has limited time to make changes," he said. "People's patience has run out."

 

Asylum seeker numbers rise dramatically - Kosovo and Syria top the list (DW, 9 February 2015)

The number of people seeking asylum in Germany continues to grow. According to the Interior Ministry, more than 25,000 people applied for special status in the country in January alone.

January, 25,042 people applied for asylum status through Germany's Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF), the Interior Ministry announced Monday in Berlin. The total includes 21,679 first-time applications and 3,363 follow-ups. That represents an increase of 73 percent over January 2014 and 23 percent over December 2014.

There has already been a decision on almost 18,000 of the applications made in January. Forty-four percent were accepted as refugees, and the government has prohibited the deportation of 137 more applicants. The applications of just over a quarter, were rejected.

In January 2014, Germany received 203,000 applications for asylum, 60 percent higher than in 2013, the third-highest total in national history and more than any other EU country last year. Applications for asylum in Germany were only higher in the early 1990s, when Soviet-style communist regimes dissolved across Europe, but the country itself reunified.

Unprecedented need

A plurality of applicants, 5,530, were fleeing Syria. Kosovo had the next highest number, with 3,630 citizens seeking asylum, followed closely by its neighbor to the north, Serbia, and Albania. Certain Balkan countries have been deemed "safe" by BAMF and have this seen fewer applications receive asylum status in Germany. A significant number of applicants also came from Afghanistan and Iraq, two countries that slipped into near civil war after their invasion by forces allied with the United States in the past decade and a half. Iraq has also become one front of the multinational war fought by the “Islamic State” group, which was begun by inmates in the US-run prison at Camp Bucca and has gone on to take significant swaths of land in neighboring Syria. Headed by Manfred Schmidt, BAMF has accelerated its review procedures for asylum applications. In 2013, Germany initiated a series of measures to make migration easier for those who sought to live in the country. Last year, a minor scandal emerged when it was reported that a German intelligence agency was trying to use asylum applicants as criminal informants.

 

The disaster of Kosovo should be a warning to all humanitarian interventionists (The Week, by Michael Brendan Dougherty, 9 February 2015)

It’s been almost 16 years since a NATO coalition banded together to defeat Serbia’s Slobodan Milošević in Kosovo. Ever since, it has been exhibit A in the case for “humanitarian intervention.” A swift short war, a thug removed from power, a series of oppressions redressed. After the hostilities ceased, Kosovo’s government was overseen by the United Nations, and declared full independence from Serbia in 2008. In the meantime, the U.N. bungled possibly the easiest show-trial in world history, letting Milošević score a lot of points from the stand as the trial dragged on longer than it took F.D.R. to declare war on Germany, mobilize a few million men, and beat Hitler. Milošević died of a heart attack in prison before his trial finished. NATO troops are in Kosovo, a decade and a half after the “short” 78-day campaign. What’s the political scene like in liberated Kosovo? Well, here’s a story. Last week Aleksandar Jablanovic, an ethnic Serb who served in the cabinet as minister of communities, was sacked by Prime Minister Isa Mustafa, in order to appease ethnic Albanians who were planning riotous protests against him. Kosovars threw rocks at government buildings. About 170 people were injured in the clash between protesters and police. What did Jablanovic do to cause the unrest? He had described a group of Albanians as “savages” in January. Why? Because they had blocked (with the threat of violence) the route of Serbian Christians making a traditional pilgrimage to a monastery in Western Kosovo. Sounds unpleasant, right? It gets worse. Unemployment in Kosovo is around 45 percent. (That’s not a typo.) The electricity is very unreliable, and Kosovars often don’t pay their electricity bills to the state. The government is considering canceling all debts that citizens owe to the government, to rebuild trust (and popularity) and start putting services on a firmer footing. About a third of Kosovars live on less than $2 a day. Kosovars aren’t putting up with it, and a wave of mass immigration to Western Europe has begun. Thousands of Kosovars are just picking up and leaving. A minister for education has said that some 5,200 pupils have vanished from Kosovo schools in the past five months, leaving with their families for Western Europe, usually via Serbia and Hungary. Many of them are seeking out refuge among the 700,000 to 800,000 Kosovar immigrants who live in enclaves in Switzerland and Germany, almost all of whom emigrated in the past 25 years. The entire population of Kosovo is currently around 1.8 million. At this point it is unlikely that a single Kosovar in Kosovo is without a cousin in Western Europe. The E.U. isn’t happy about this, and is trying to work with Kosovo and Hungary to stop the tide. It’s unlikely that the sacrifice of Jablanovic is going to appease the anger in the streets. If your electricity didn’t work years after a costly war with Canada, would you be happy just to see Ted Cruz humiliated? Ten seats in the Kosovo Assembly are reserved for ethnic Serbians, and so members of Jablanovic’s Serb List party have eight out of 120 total seats and occasionally take cabinet posts. This is no laughing matter, as neighboring Serbia has never recognized Kosovo’s existence as an independent country, and appears to exercise its own interests through elected Kosovo Serbs. Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić recently visited Serbian enclaves in the northern parts of Kosovo. He was the first Serbian leader to do anything like this in years. In no way can anyone say that Kosovo is worse off now than it would have been if Slobodan Milošević and Serbia had had their way. Milošević’s political, cultural, and then military campaign against Kosovars did nothing but expand until it was arrested from the outside. But there’s also no doubt that Kosovo should serve as a permanent warning against the idea that humanitarian interventions are easy. The bombing was a perfect example of the moral hazard involved in “Responsibility to Protect” interventions. The roar of NATO jets so raised the stakes for Serbian forces and for Milošević, that Serbians killed five times as many people after the intervention became a fait accompli than they had before that time, under the theory that rubble makes less trouble. And winning the peace has been impossible. Kosovo took a decade to escape the tutelage of the U.N. But the corruption, poverty, misgovernance, and ethnic violence in Kosovo are doing exactly what Milošević did: pressuring ethnic Albanians to leave.

 

6 Bosnian Immigrants Indicted For Using Facebook, PayPal To Facilitate Extremists In Syria (AP, by Jason Keyser, 7 February 2015)

CHICAGO (AP) — Six Bosnian immigrants accused of sending money and military equipment to extremist groups in Syria used Facebook, PayPal and other readily available services to communicate and transfer funds, according to a federal indictment. All are charged with conspiring to provide and providing material support to groups designated by the U.S. as foreign terrorist organizations, including the Islamic State group and an al-Qaida-affiliated rebel group known as the Nusra Front. The indictment unsealed Friday in U.S. District Court in St. Louis alleges they plotted by phone, Facebook and email; shared videos and photos related to their plans on social media sites; sent money via PayPal and Western Union; and shipped boxes of military gear through the U.S. Postal Service. The defendants are accused of donating money themselves and, in some cases, collecting funds from others in the U.S. and sending the donations overseas. It says two of the defendants, a husband and wife in St. Louis, used some of the money to buy U.S. military uniforms, firearms accessories, tactical gear and other equipment from local businesses and ship it to intermediaries in Turkey and Saudi Arabia who forwarded the supplies to fighters in Syria and Iraq. One of the suspects, Mediha Medy Salkicevic, a 34-year-old mother of four from the Chicago suburb of Schiller Park, appeared Saturday in federal court in Chicago. Wearing an orange jail uniform, she spoke only to confirm that she understood the charges. She appeared calm and smiled occasionally while consulting with her attorney. Speaking to reporters afterward, defense attorney Andrea Gambino stressed that Salkicevic is considered innocent until proven guilty. The indictment says the suspects used "coded language" in their communications over email and social media, using terms like "the beach" for places in Iraq and Syria. But it says they also used terms such as brothers, lions, mujahids and shaheeds, or holy warriors and martyrs. Such language is commonly used among Islamic extremist groups and would seem likely to draw law enforcement scrutiny if posted openly on the Internet. But terrorism financing expert Loretta Napoleoni said it's a clever tactic to use such usual channels for communicating and sending money as long as the amounts are small, noting that so many people use them that it's easy to "go below the radar." "That's the easiest way to send money. ... And frankly using the U.S. Postal Service is also a very good way not to be caught," said Napoleoni, author of "The Islamist Phoenix." ''There is so much stuff going through." The FBI arrested Salkicevic on Friday. If convicted, she could face up to 15 years in prison and a fine of up to $50,000 on each charge. The case will be tried in Missouri, where several other defendants were arrested. A bond hearing Monday will determine whether Salkicevic travels there on her own or in custody. The indictment alleges the conspiracy began no later than May 2013. All six people who are charged are natives of Bosnia who were living in the U.S. legally. Three are naturalized citizens; the other three had either refugee or legal resident status, according to the U.S. attorney's office. Besides Salkicevic, the indictment names Ramiz Zijad Hodzic, 40, his wife, Sedina Unkic Hodzic, 35, and Armin Harcevic, 37, all of St. Louis County; Nihad Rosic, 26, of Utica, New York; and Jasminka Ramic, 42 of Rockford, Illinois. Salkicevic is accused of sending several thousand dollars to Ramiz Hodzic in St. Louis via PayPal. According to the indictment, Hodzic sent her a photo of two sniper rifle scopes being shipped and that Salkicevic replied by saying she hoped they would be put to good use. Salkicevic has four children and is employed, but her attorney declined to give reporters any other information about her. Five of the defendants have been arrested; Ramic is overseas, but the Justice Department declined to say where. Online court records do not list defense attorneys for any of the defendants. The property manager at the complex where the Hodzics live told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that the couple had been living there for 1½ years with their three children. Larry Sorth and his wife, Joyce, said they were surprised by the arrests and that the couple was friendly. "She was very sweet, to tell you the truth," Joyce Sorth said of Sedina Hodzic.

 

Bosnians Hold Protests to Warn Authorities (BIRN, by Elvira M. Jukic, 7 February 2015)

A year on from the mass protests of February 2014 against corruption and poverty, new demonstrations are held across Bosnia. Bosnians held demonstrations across the country on Saturday to mark the anniversary of the start of protests of February 7 2014 - and remind local leaders of how little they have done to improve matters over the past year. Police agencies across the country said they were prepared for all scenarios, including violence. Yet there was no need for police interventions since the memorial protests gathered between few dozen and few hundred people in several towns including Tuzla, Zenica, Mostar and Sarajevo. “This appeared to be more a meeting of journalists and policemen,” said BHTV reporter from Tuzla, Marko Divkovic, in his report to BHTV news, referring to the fact that in Tuzla, like in most other towns the number of policemen and media crews almost exceeded the number of demonstrators.

Protests in Sarajevo gathered few hundred people, but some protestors said the event was not well organized as people gathered in two groups in different parts of the city centre. “There will be no violence here, there is more police than civilians,” one protester, Dzafer Alic, told Balkan Insight. He complained that regardless of protests, situation in the country was not getting any better. “People don't have anything to eat. Hungry people are on the streets,” said another protester in Sarajevo, Mirsad Dzano. Last year’s protests turned angry when hooligans joined the demonstrations and set fire to government buildings, overturned cars and fought with police. Several hundred policemen and protesters were injured in street clashes, which brought scenes unseen since the end of the war in Bosnia in 1995. Although disgruntled workers and other citizens continued holding protests in Tuzla and other places throughout last year, they never grew into something bigger. Sakib Kopic, from the Solidarity Union of Tuzla, told Balkan Insight on Friday that protests that are being organized on Saturday are only a warning. He said that demonstrators will wait for all governments to be formed, and will then give them 100 days to undertake reforms. If they do not “protests will become radical,” he said. Some of the protesters told Balkan Insight that there was no organization or a plan of the protests but that the people came on their own.

 

Croatia And Serbia: The Elusiveness Of Genocide – OpEd (Eurasia Review, by Binoy Kampmark, 7 February 2015)

The origins of genocide as a term stem from the work of one man: Raphael Lemkin. While the morbid topic of exterminating entire races for one reason or another (the wrong God, the wrong belief, the wrong race) had been pondered over, the Polish bibliophile was almost manically enthusiastic about identifying a means of what genocide actually meant. Who races, exterminated, for what? In 1933, he made a proposal to the International Conference for Unification of Criminal Law held in Madrid, suggesting that a certain form of barbarity involving the elimination of racial, ethnic and religious groups be codified. The proposal drew heavily from the killings and displacements inflicted on Armenians during the First World War. For Lemkin, “barbarity” meant “the premeditated destruction of national, racial, religious and social collectivities”. By “vandalism”, he meant “the destruction of works of art and culture, being the expression of the particular genius of these collectivities”. With the occupation of much of Europe by Nazi Germany, his thoughts turned to moving beyond the term “barbarity and vandalism,” finding in the actions of the Third Reich a “coordinated plan” centred on annihilating specific groups. For Lemkin, such a term – genocide – would cover virtually every conceivable grouping, “physical, biological, political, social, cultural, economic and religious.” With the much to-and-fro about the definition, the resulting work yielded the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. From the start, it caused trouble. It certainly persisted in troubling Washington till the 1980s, when the civil religion of Holocaust commemoration pushed politicians to ratification in acts that seemed more than a touch disingenuous. The familiar wording of Article 2 in the UNGC criminalises the intent – intention in seeking to “destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group”. This can comprise killing those members, causing serious bodily or mental harm, deliberately inflicting conditions “of life calculated to bring out the physical destruction in whole or in part”; the prevention of births, and the forcible transfer of children from one group to another. Most conspicuous absences include culture and political groups, the latter very much a compromise reached to include states with an unhealthy appetite for persecuting, not to mention murdering, dissidents. Lemkin’s original suggestion of protecting the “genius” of a collectivity or grouping by criminalising acts destroying cultural expression is also absent. Intent remains the inscrutable scarecrow, a bare creature that often remains hard to pin down. Jurists associated with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia suggest that intention to commit genocide can be the only “reasonable inference,” a special intention deemed the dolus specialis. Those at the International Court of Justice reiterated that assumption. In its judgment on Tuesday, the ICJ rejected (15 votes to 2) Croatia’s claim and Serbia’s counter-claim unanimously (17 to 0) that both states had breached the Genocide Convention during the civil wars of the 1990s. Croatian officials insisted in an application filed in July, 1999 that Serbia had breached the UNGC in Croatia between 1991 and 1995, its defining motif being the destruction of Vukovar; Serbia counter-claimed that Croatia had been responsible for breaching the convention in 1995 in the area of “Republika Sprska Krajina” in the offensive code named “Storm” that displaced 200 thousand Serbs. In both instances, the ICJ seemed to flirt with the possibility that genocide was present. For one, the judges found that the “material acts perpetrated,” subsumed under what is termed the actus reus, constituted genocide. But the judges decided to pull back, severing the physical acts that seemed to imply genocide from the requisite mental state that should have accompanied such actions. “Evidence of that intent is to be sought, first, in the State’s policy (although such intent will seldom be expressly stated), but it can also be inferred from a pattern of conduct, where such intent is the only reasonable interference to be drawn from the acts in question.” Serb actions against ethnic Croatians were “aimed at forced displacement of the majority of the Croat population from the regions concerned, and not at its physical or biological destruction.” Ditto that of the ruthlessly effective Storm operation. The United Nation’s highest court had provided something of a double absolution, while insisting that both countries continue to seek appropriate avenues of reparations to victims and finding missing persons. Law remain the bluntest of instruments, often an imperfect one in the realm of reconciliation. That said, the political forces were somewhat mellower than expected, though President Tomislav Nikolić did express satisfaction at the court’s acknowledgment about Operation Storm’s comprehensively effective nature. (A prevailing sense on the part of Serbs, not without some justification, is that less ink has been spilled on this chapter than others during the wars.) He had, however, little reason to crow. Neither side wishes more bad blood on an issue that has reached a point of nationalist exhaustion. In the careful words of Serbian Justice minister Nikola Sekaković, “This marks the end of one page on the past, and I’m convinced we will start a new page on the future, much brighter and better” (Reuters, Feb 3). Croatia’s Foreign Minister, Vesna Pusić, expressed hope that the verdict would close “this historic chapter and moving on to a better and safe period for people in this part of Europe.” The ICJ verdict itself casts light on Lemkin’s own, broader assertions about what genocide actually constitutes. Sociologists and anthropologists have sought to broaden the scope, seeing the legal distillation as crudely limiting. Lemkin’s understanding of a very specific type of atrocity was certainly broader – states will seek to eliminate groups and justify that in accordance with a political program or some such. Mass murder is often the feast of a very conspiratorial mind. Refined analysis for such cruelties may seem inappropriate – but genocide remains the most terrible impulses of darkened reason, a matter of calculated killing rather than spontaneous bravado. Irving Louis Horowitz sought to see genocide as a result of “a structural and systematic destruction of innocent people by a state bureaucratic apparatus.” Rather than being crimes of passion, they have often been crimes of a planned, bureaucratic state, a reductionist view that sees humans as disposable units, eliminated in the name of broader plans. Unfortunately, the legal guise of genocide remains troubled by political haggling, showing how a human rights convention is just a much the assessment of a politician as it is a lawyer.

Binoy Kampmark was a Commonwealth Scholar at Selwyn College, Cambridge. He lectures at RMIT University, Melbourne