LOCAL PRESS

 

Nikolic: Serbia expects opening of chapters by year’s end (RTS/Tanjug)

“We expect the opening of chapters by the end of the year and unequivocal support to the Serbian government that has been investing maximal efforts to do its job well,” Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic said in talks with the EU Commissioner for Neighborhood Policy Johannes Hahn in Belgrade. “We expect from the EU encouragement for measures that no other political option has managed to implement,” stressed Nikolic. He pointed to the danger of the creation of a “Greater Albania” that, as he assessed, directly endangers Montenegro, Macedonia, Greece and Serbia. “We expect the respect of the inviolability of state borders,” said Nikolic, adding that this should also refer to Macedonia, Ukraine and Serbia. Nikolic informed Hahn that he has been completing his proposal for resolving the relations with Pristina, which he will soon submit to the Prime Minister. “I am convinced that we can reach a compromise with the Pristina institutions and transfer them a large number of jurisdictions. For us recognition of independence is a condition that we cannot accept, because this is the will of the majority of Serbian citizens,” said the Serbian President. Hahn stressed that he had visited the European capitals in order to see the mood on this issue and stressed that Kosovo was one side of the medal, while the other side is the state’s readiness for opening chapters. “We are waiting for the action plan especially for Chapters 23 and 24, which was promised last week, but it wasn’t completed due to internal consultations. Once we receive the proposal, we will examine it with the other member states that are included in this process,” stressed Hahn.

 

Vucic: I am offering 50 percent of Gazivode, they are asking for 100 percent, that is why they are not opening chapters (Tanjug/B92)

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said that he would discuss with the EU Commissioner Hahn what are the concrete reasons why chapters have not been opened. He told the press during a break at the conference of Foreign Investors Council in Belgrade that the Union of Serb Municipalities has not been formed yet, on which he has been insisting from the very beginning.

“Which part of this agreement has Serbia not fulfilled? Tell us the problem is somewhere else - let them ask why I won’t give over 100 percent of Gazivode. I won’t. Let them say that is why chapters have not been opened. If taking 100 percent of Gazivode is the reason, then the EU will have to find a new prime minister - I won’t sign it.” Vucic also said that Belgrade had offered Pristina 50 percent of ownership over this lake, but that they refused, and that six out of the 15 points of the Brussels agreement remained to be implemented, reiterating these concerned the future Union of Serb Municipalities. “We did what was the hardest for Serbia, and that is the plan on the judiciary, and we signed that,” said he. Asked if he expected chapters to be opened sooner, Vucic said he did, and that he also expected Serbia to be treated better because it undertook the most difficult economic measures in the regions and on the other hand was a pillar of political stability. “I am not certain that Serbia has received the respect I think it deserves - but that does not change my position, because I believe the road to the EU is the only serious road and a strategic road for our country,” said Vucic.

 

Report on Kosovo has not yet been adopted (B92)

The Serbian parliament failed to adopt a report of the Inquiry Committee on the abuses of money from the budget for Kosovo, although one year has passed after it was made. Last April, the Board of Inquiry of the Serbian parliament adopted a report on abuses of funds from the Serbian budget assigned to the most vulnerable in Kosovo from 2000 to 2012. However, the report was not adopted by the parliament, which reduced the scope for the punishment of those responsible.

“The audacity, arrogance and irresponsibility, bordering with disrespect,” said a year ago, Momir Stojanovic, Chairman of the Inquiry Committee on the expenditure of the budget of Serbia in Kosovo. The Committee found that from during the period between 2000 and 2012, 53 million dinars were going to Kosovo daily, without adequate controls. The results are the unfinished roads, abuse in health care, suspicious procurements, etc. Goran Bogdanovic, Minister for Kosovo and Metohija since 2008 till 2102, said that the report is incomplete. “Many capital projects that have not yet been completed are not included in the reports, acquisition of cars and so on. There are no public enterprises, and we know that a lot of money has been given,” said Bogdanovic. Although the conclusion of the report states that the government and the competent national authorities oblige themselves to inform the parliament about the measures that have been taken in this regard, one year after the report was adopted this hasn’t happened. The report and conclusions have nothing to do with the government, says the government and states that if there were any irregularities, the police and the judiciary should deal with it. At the office of the parliament speaker, they didn’t know what happened to the report, and they could not provide the answer to the question of when and whether it will be adopted. “What’s wrong with the whole issue is that even though the conclusions are adopted, the parliament has never adopted and committed the government to examine the facts and it loses all meaning,” says Nemanja Nenadic, Program Director of Transparency Serbia. Nenadic recalls that the public prosecutor can use the report and examine all the facts, and whether there is criminal responsibility.

 

Kosovo – Europe or extremism? (Radio Serbia, by Vukomir Petric)

In the past few days, there have been many attacks on Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija. First, in the village of Babin Most, Obilic municipality, some still unknown attackers tried to kidnap a nine-year-old girl. In Pasjane, a village in Kosovsko Pomoravlje, a Serb was stabbed in the middle of the street and a day later a 16-year-old girl was beaten up. In Klina, a Serb returnee was robbed and beaten up in his own home. Those acquainted with the circumstances in Kosovo and Metohija have recognized the already seen scenario, fearing that Kosovo Albanian extremists have launched a new surge of violence against Serbs, in order to intimidate and expel them. The attacks in Pasjane, Babin Most and Klina are ruthless and characteristic of almost all the situations preceding some important events or decisions related to Kosovo. The formation of a special court to investigate into KLA crimes and the necessity to implement the Brussels agreement obviously makes some powerful Kosovo Albanian circles nervous. By radicalizing the situation, they are trying to blur all the moves that would shed light on the Kosovo reality and unmask the role and crimes of the so far untouchable Kosovo Albanian “leaders”. The local and international public, especially Kosovo Albanians, have an opportunity to condemn the escalation of violence against Serbs and the authorities in Pristina to discover and efficiently punish the perpetrators. The international community must finally pay attention to the organized violence and the reaction of the Kosovo authorities and to act accordingly. The EU has a special role in all that as it has efficient mechanisms that can make Pristina obey the law and give full protection to Kosovo Serbs. If such a reaction of the authorities does not ensue this time either, one may wonder how one can discuss Kosovo’s EU integrations if daily attacks on the lives of members of a nation, in this case the Serbs, are mounted in that territory? There have been hundreds of uninvestigated crimes committed against Serbs in the past decade and a half. The situation is discouraging, but a trace of hope can be seen, as one of the attackers on a Serb, Zoran Kostic, has been arrested in Pasjane, so, hopefully, that might indicate the start of a new course in the equal treatment of all the nations living in this region.

 

Medals for Serbian peace force members in the Central African Republic (Tanjug)

The commander of the UN mission’s military forces in the Central African Republic, major general Martin Chomu Tumenta, decorated 68 members of the Serbian blue helmets contingent with UN medals of service, announced the Serbian Defense Ministry. Tumenta stressed he was proud to command forces including Serbian Army members, who, in the UN mission, in very difficult conditions, through their commitment, preserve the dignity of their country and contribute to the UN’s reputation. On 20 September 2014, Serbian Army and Defense Ministry members, with two military observers and two staff officers, began their participation in the UN mission in the Central African Republic. Since 11 December 2014, another 68 members of the Serbian defense system have been sent and they have formed a military hospital.

 

Is Macedonia a new powder keg? (B92)

Macedonia faces a stormy period, and EU’s active involvement is required for the crisis to be resolved, B92’s interlocutors opine. The situation in Macedonia was discussed by Ana Petruseva from BIRN and Dragan Djukanovic from the International Policy Institute. “Yesterday’s protest was only a reaction to the information presented by the opposition leaders. If you look back, there had been different protests of different social groups. Now we are watching a culmination of discontent towards a party that has been in power for 10 years now,” said Petruseva. “It is not realistic that the outcome of everything will resemble Serbia’s 5 October. I think the energy of these protests will be quickly emptied. Still, division on the opposition and government will remain in Macedonia, as well as the division between Macedonians and Albanians, which could result in new divisions, more serious,” opines Djukanovic, adding that nothing epochal will happen. Petruseva notes there is great polarization between the government and opposition, greater than between the Macedonians and Albanians. “The main flaw so far has been publishing these data and recordings. We are not listening to officials’ conversations; we are listening to specific cases. Nobody has denied the authenticity of these conversations. What is important is that the opposition has announced for next week the publishing of data on the murder of five young men, for which Albanians had been convicted, and what if it turns out that the government has been setting up something? I would expect the Albanians would join these protests in that case,” says Petruseva. Djukanovic opines that tensions could be overcome with EU mediation, but he thinks that the EU doesn’t have an active policy towards Macedonia. “This situation in Macedonia, objectively, doesn’t suit anyone. Having in mind the complex relations with Albania, Greece, and Bulgaria, this could be a new powder keg in the Balkans. I hope some possibility will be found if the EU has a more active policy towards Macedonia,” said Djukanovic.

 

REGIONAL PRESS

 

Cvijanovic: Fight against terrorism requires absolute partnership in B&H (Oslobodjenje)

The RS Prime Minister Zeljka Cvijanovic said that “the RS is aware that terrorism today represents a global threat, but an absolute partnership in the framework of B&H is necessary for that fight”. Cvijanovic spoke in Banja Luka, with Ambassador Jonathan Moore, chief of the OSCE mission to B&H, on the security situation in light of the recent terrorist attack on the police station in Zvornik. At the meeting they stated that preserving peace and security is of exceptional importance for the RS and B&H, the entity government said in a statement. During the meeting, Cvijanovic and the OSCE chief of mission exchanged opinions on reform processes that are intensively developing in RS in the economy, healthcare, education, and social security.

There was also discussion of the significance of the OSCE mission in B&H, and they considered that cooperation thus far between the RS and the mission has been good.

 

Police find weapons and ammunition at Wahhabis (Nezavisne)

Police of Republika Srpska (RS) detained several people close to the Wahhabi movement on suspicion of potential security threat, in the action codenamed "Ruben”. As reported by the RTRS large quantities of weapons, ammunition, bulletproof vests, uniforms and propaganda material were seized. Police investigate connections to international terrorists, given that these persons have only recently arrived to B&H, as well as the fact that they are close to Wahhabi movement. It is suspected that arrested one returned from the Syrian front, and that they recruited other people to send them to foreign battlefields. Police officials have confirmed that the investigation is underway, noting that the specific details will be given later in the day. The search is performed at 32 locations. The names of those arrested have not been announced, because of the ongoing criminal investigation. Milan Salamadija, Spokesman for the RS’s Ministry of Interior, said that the action was conducted by the members of the Board for the fight against terrorism and extremism, and under the supervision of the RS’s Special Prosecutor's Office, supported by the Special Police Unit, Support Unit and the RS’s Ministry of Interior Crime Police.

 

Serbs find flag with lilies unacceptable as it is symbol of war (Srna)

For the Serb people, the flag with lilies represents a symbol of the war under which the Muslim army killed a large number of Serbs during the 1990s war, says Dusanka Majkic, an Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD) deputy in the House of Representatives of the Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) parliament. Commenting on the Party of Democratic (SDA)’s stance that the flag of the so-called Republic of B&H “must be respected by everyone in B&H, even by the authorities in the RS,” Majkic says that such a flag can never be accepted regardless of the emotion that the Bosniaks feel towards it. “Such a flag will always be a symbol that reminds us of the times of the most horrific war and suffering that the Serbs went through at the time,” Majkic told Srna. Noting that the flag is not just a reminder of the war, she said that the Bosniaks bring up the flag as a symbol of the continuity of fighting to create a state tailored to the needs of just one people in B&H, the Bosniak people. “If they have good intentions, it is strange that the Bosniaks do not bring up the official B&H flag which was also well received by them when it was imposed in 1998, and confirmed in 2001 by the state Parliamentary Assembly,” said Majkic. She warned that the war flag was increasingly given prominence with an aim to become a symbol of the entire B&H, the country where opinions and views of the other two peoples about the matter are neglected. “The SDA wont’ stop dealing with the past and incorporating the elements of the future in the elements of the past, and will only fight for a B&H that is dear to them and is designed only according to their views, while an agreement with the other two peoples about co-existence in the common country will never happen,” said Majkic. On Wednesday, the SDA roundly condemned the Public Security Station in Gradiska for bringing for questioning four people over displaying the flag of the so-called Republic of B&H. The SDA claims in its press release that “displaying of the flag of an internationally recognized state is not and cannot be an act of inciting ethnic, racial or religious hatred or intolerance.” During the 1990s war, the flag of the so-called Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina with lilies was one of the emblems used by the Muslims and members of the so-called Army of B&H at the time, while the Serbs and Croats had their own emblems.

 

Ostojic: Serbia has to meet high EU standards like Croatia did (Hina)

Croatian Interior Minister Ranko Ostojic reiterated that Serbia is expected to deal with war criminals and meet the high standards to join the EU just like Croatia did. Asked by reporters to comment on the angry reaction by Serbian Minister of Labor, Employment and Social Welfare Aleksandar Vulin to his statement that by enabling a trial of the killers of Croatian policemen in Borovo Selo (in the early 1990s), Serbia would prove its European path, Ostojic said that everyone can get angry about that statement but it should be answered with a language of facts.

“I called on the Serbian authorities to show their preparedness to meet European standards and that entails facing up to the fact that the people who committed crimes have to face justice. And I expect that of them. I stand by what I say. Whoever wants to can be as angry as they like, but as far as that is concerned, that matter has to be dealt with,” Minister Ostojic said. Minister Vulin had said in response to Ostojic’s statement that “war criminals are being tried” in Serbia.

 

Croatian government to set up state committee for operation “Storm” (Hina)

The Croatian government will adopt a decision on establishing a State Committee for organizing the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the “Operation Storm”, so as to ensure appropriate and dignified observance of the anniversary of this important military and police operation that liberated central and southern Croatia. Along with representatives from the state and military leadership, the Committee will have, as proposed, four retired generals, the participants of “Storm” - Ante Gotovina, Mladen Markac, Petar Stipetic i Marijan Marekovic.

 

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

 

Hahn Visits Serbia to Push Accession Talks (BIRN, 7 May 2015)

Johannes Hahn, the EU Enlargement Commissioner, is visiting Belgrade on Thursday to discuss ways of speeding up the opening of EU accession talks. On his second visit to Belgrade since taking over as EU Enlargement Commissioner last autumn, Hahn is meeting President Tomislav Nikolic and Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic among other officials. Ahead of his visit, Hahn said Serbia and the EU should start accession talks soon, and he was there to help Belgrade finish the reforms it had started. “Serbia can count on my support to help the EU members states to achieve necessary unanimity [to approve the opening of the talks]. But to achieve this, it needs to maintain its efforts in implementing reforms and to remain committed to a dialogue with Kosovo," Hahn told the daily newspaper Politika on May 7. “Clear progress on both fronts will give me the best argument to convince our member states,” he added. He said the EU's priority chapters were 23, 24 and 35, regarding justice, freedom and security, and normalization of relations with Kosovo. To discuss the progress that Serbia has made, Hahn is expected also to meet Serbia's EU integration, justice and interior ministers, as well as NGO representatives and the Ombudsman. “It is important for Serbia to make clear progress on these issues in order to convince the member states of its clear commitment to EU values and interests," he said. “All 28 EU member states have reiterated that they expect the opening of the first chapter, and I am confident that unanimity will be achieved very quickly,” Hahn told Politika. The Commissioner is due to discuss economic structural reforms with Serbia's finance and economy ministers, Dusan Vujovic and Zeljko Sertic, while he will also meet the opposition leaders, Bojan Pajtic and Boris Tadic.

 

Serbia to end protection for indebted state firms - prime minister (Reuters, by Ivana Sekularac, 6 May 2015)

BELGRADE - Serbia will not ask the International Monetary Fund to let it continue protecting indebted state-operated firms from creditors, Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said on Wednesday, reversing government policy. An IMF mission this week started its review of Serbia's 1.2 billion euro ($1.36 billion), three-year precautionary loan deal, which, amongst other things, envisions the state selling or reforming a number of unprofitable and indebted companies. Serbian law allowed the government to shield some 97 companies that have failed to find new owners or partners, including 25 major assets, such as the RTB Bor copper mine and smelter, Petrohemija petrochemicals and Galenika pharmaceuticals, which provide work for thousands. This protection from creditors is set to expire on May 31 and Economy Minister Zeljko Sertic had said on Tuesday that the government would ask the IMF to allow another "year or two" of cover. "Because, on May 31 ... these companies could go straight into liquidation," the Tanjug news agency quoted him as saying. However, on Wednesday, Vucic said he had decided to drop the government proposal. "We made that stupid proposal to the IMF, to give a carte blanche to 25 companies, (and) I have said we do not want that ... I am fed up with easy solutions," the prime minister told reporters after meeting the IMF team in Belgrade. "We will talk with creditors, because there's a limited number of (such) companies," he said. The company debts are mainly unpaid utility bills and services owed to other state-owned entities. The government looked likely to liquidate dozens of smaller firms that have largely been dormant for years, focusing its efforts on finding solutions for the bigger companies.

"It is good that this deadline was not extended as the (companies) would have continued to amass debt," said Sasa Djogovic, an economist with the Belgrade-based Institute for Market Research (IZIT). "If some go bankrupt, so be it. They can be privatised as bankrupt either as whole or in parts." Vucic said Serbia's economy was improving and that the IMF may revise its 2015 growth forecast from -0.5 percent to zero or 0.5 percent growth. Output declined 1.8 percent in 2014 and a flash estimate for the first quarter of 2015 saw contraction of -1.9 percent. Vucic last week said Serbia's fiscal performance was better than expected and that the general government budget deficit for this year should come in at below 4 percent of GDP, compared to an IMF-agreed target of 4.75 percent.

 

New opposition protests in Macedonia follow violent clashes (AP, by Konstantin Testorides, 6 May 2015)

SKOPJE, Macedonia -- More than 1,000 opposition supporters protested outside Macedonia's parliament on Wednesday over the 2011 police killing of a student, a day after violence at a similar demonstration left 38 officers and one protester injured. Protesters peacefully chanted slogans calling for the resignation of conservative Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski's government, which the left-wing opposition party has accused of trying to cover up the fatal police beating. Interior Minister Gordana Jankulovska said six of the officers injured Tuesday night were hospitalized in severe condition. "It was a brutal attack on the police," she said, adding that protesters used metal bars to beat police and threw stones, bottles and eggs. The Vienna-based Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe voiced concern at the violence, urging restraint from police and protesters alike. "The right to peacefully gather and protest is a constitutionally guaranteed right of all citizens in the country," said Ralf Breth, head of the OSCE mission to Skopje. "However, such protests should not be marred by violence." Before Tuesday's violence, Social Democrat head Zoran Zaev accused the prime minister of attempting to cover up the 2011 death of 22-year-old Martin Neskoski. Zaev released dozens of audio recordings he says are from illegal wiretaps, in which people purported to be Gruevski, the country's intelligence chief, its interior minister and other officials discuss how to cover up the killing. The recordings are part of a series of wiretaps Zaev has been releasing amid Macedonia's most severe political crisis in years. Jankulovska described Zaev's claims as "monstrous" and accused him of abusing the young man's death for political gains. Zaev has accused Gruevski of being behind the illegal wiretaps of about 20,000 Macedonians, including journalists, judges, ambassadors and lawmakers. Gruevski has denied the accusation, countering that the wiretaps were done by foreign spies.

 

Appeals Court Row Stalls Bosnia’s Judicial Reforms (BIRN, by Denis Dzidic, 7 May 2015)

A dispute between politicians over establishing a state-level appeals court has halted the country’s judicial reforms and caused the European Union to suspend vital funding for war crimes prosecutions. Bosnia’s justice ministry and its judicial overseer, the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council, both support of the idea of creating a new appeals court on the state level, but the country’s Serb-led entity Republika Srpska is refusing to approve the plan because it objects to its powers of jurisdiction. In a reflection of the wider political divisions in the country, Republika Srpska wants more judicial autonomy, while the country’s other entity, the Bosniak-dominated Federation would like a more strongly centralised, state-level judiciary. A draft law on courts in Bosnia and Herzegovina – which envisages the creation of an appeals court, moving the appeals chamber of the Bosnian state court into a separate institution – was prepared in 2012. Since then however, the draft law has not been sent to the Bosnian parliament because of the rival views within the country about state-level jurisdiction. The issue has now come to a crisis point: the European Union stopped its funding for war crimes prosecutions at the start of the year until a justice sector reform strategy is adopted. The appeals court is the only issue still to be agreed within the justice sector reform strategy. The European Commission’s Western Balkans director Jean-Eric Paquet told BIRN that funds required to pay the salaries of over 140 prosecutors, judges and assistants working on war crimes cases throughout the country will not be released unless the Bosnian authorities adopt the justice reforms. Paquet said that Brussels repeatedly warned the authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina that this financial assistance would stop if nothing was done. “Nothing has come as a surprise for the authorities concerned. However, the adoption of the justice sector reform strategy remains an unfulfilled key condition for the continuation of the extraordinary IPA [Instrument for Pre-Accession] budget support for war crimes case processing. This requirement will not change,” he said. The EC released the first tranche of funds in December 2013, but the second tranche was halted at the beginning of this year. This has already caused problems in the judiciary - some prosecutors are working without salaries, assistants have been fired and there is no funding for investigations. Milorad Novkovic, the president of the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council’s supervisory board for the implementation of the Bosnian war crimes strategy, said that the situation is “alarming” and that if a solution is not found soon, “the consequences will be far-reaching because work on war crimes will be brought into question”. The scale of the remaining task is immense: according to the council, there are still about 1,200 open war crimes investigations against known perpetrators, and even more against unknown ones.

Strengthening public trust

Republika Srpska justice minister Anton Kasipovic told BIRN that the Serb entity’s biggest objection to the Bosnian state court – and the proposed state-level appeals court – is the current jurisdiction which allows it to “take over cases from Republika Srpska and the Federation entity courts at its own discretion”. However the Bosnian justice ministry and the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council said in written statements to BIRN that the new court would “increase the perception of independence” and “strengthen public trust” in the state-level judiciary. The logic in dividing the first instance and appeals chamber of the Bosnian state court, they claim, is that “each person has a right to appeal a verdict to a higher court” – which is not possible now. However, the Bosnian Serb justice ministry is refusing to approve the plan, with minister Kasipovic citing “numerous objections to the organisation and jurisdiction of the state-level judiciary”. “It is well known that the court of Bosnia and Herzegovina was created by a law which was forced through by the High Representative [the top international official in the country responsible for overseeing the implementation of the Dayton peace deal], despite the fact that the Bosnian constitution offers no basis for such an institution. Thus, one of the objections of Republika Srpska is to the appeals chamber within such a court,” Kasipovic said. He said that Republika Srpska would approve the creation of an appeals court only once the state level judiciary’s authority to “take over cases from Republika Srpska and the Federation at its own discretion” is removed. The Bosnian justice ministry and the European Commission meanwhile do not believe the state-level judiciary should lose this jurisdiction, but that it should be more “precise – to avoid future abuse”, according to Pacquet. Clearly defined criteria, they believe, should be put in place to lay out when a case can be taken over by state-level judicial institutions. Paquet believes however that this should not block the creation of an appeals court. “Let me remind you that at present, there is already an appellate division within the court of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The competence is already there,” he explained.
Too high a price to pay?

The president of the Bosnian state court, Meddzida Kreso, believes that the creation of a new appeals court would be “economically unjustified”, and that a supreme court on the state level should be created instead – a view backed by some legal experts. “Creating a court which would only decide on appeals to decisions made by the Bosnian court is difficult to economically justify, since that would mean a new budget, infrastructure, administration, staff and other support mechanisms,” Kreso told BIRN. “However, creating a supreme court on the state level would help create a unique pyramidal judiciary structure which would harmonise the law and ensure equality before the law for all citizens,” she said. In her view, such a move would not necessarily infringe on the positions of entity-level judiciaries. “I am not questioning the legality of the entity-level supreme courts. I cannot see why we cannot have entity-level supreme courts and a state-level supreme court. We had the same situation in the former Yugoslavia. Republics had supreme courts and the federal state had a supreme court and everyone knew what their role was,” said Kreso. Sarajevo-based legal expert Denis Gratz said he shared Kreso’s view, arguing that the creation of a supreme court would be the “ideal solution”. “It would be a tip of the judiciary structure which should be aspired to, especially in the sense of strengthening state-level institutions,” said Gratz. But Bosnian Serb justice minister Kasipovic said that Republika Srpska “will never accept a state-level supreme court, and this is final”. “I think we have drawn a line under the idea of creating a supreme court. We believe there is no need to create such a Court. The question is, what would a state-level supreme court do when we have entity-level supreme courts? Creating such an institution would disrupt the entire judicial system in the entities and would bring their functioning into dispute,” said Kasipovic.
Playing politics with the judiciary

Kasipovic said that he plans to hold a meeting with state and Federation justice ministers and the president of the judicial chamber of the Brcko District soon to find a compromise which would help move judiciary reforms forward. But despite this, Gratz fears that the Bosnian Serb leadership might use the EU insistence on an appeals court to win “other benefits”. “In this situation, the ruling majority from Republika Srpska has two options and they are winners in both. In the first, they block the judiciary reform and weaken state-level institutions, thereby strengthening their autonomy, and in the second they get benefits in other places just to make sure they accept some form of an appeals court, which is again a victory, since the international community will praise them as negotiators willing to compromise,” he said. Novkovic said he hoped that “reason will prevail” before serious damage is done. “I am not sure why this is happening. At the Structured Dialogue [talks between Bosnian judicial institutions, justice ministries and EU officials], we discussed the draft law to create an appeals court and everyone agreed this was important,” Novkovic noted. “I believe and I expect this will be solved soon, otherwise we will have a situation that funding for war crimes will be stopped and also the EU will stop giving about 16 million euros for the reconstruction of courts,” he said.