LOCAL PRESS

 

UNESCO waiting for Kosovo’s membership application (Danas)

Even though official Pristina claims that “Serbia has no chance of hindering Kosovo’s membership in UNESCO”, the organization’s headquarters in Paris claim there is no official confirmation that the request for the membership of the self-declared Kosovo state had arrived in their Secretariat. Official Belgrade received the same information from UNESCO, Danas was confirmed at the Serbian Foreign Ministry. Deputy Kosovo Foreign Minister Petrit Selimi tells Danas that Pristina forwarded the request before 17 July through New York, “through channels recommended by Paris”. Diplomatic circles in Paris deny that Pristina, despite the large diplomatic activity, had contacts with the UNESCO Secretariat, because the Secretary General of this organization Irina Bokova strictly adheres to UNSCR 1244. Allegedly, Pristina unsuccessfully attempted to contact Bokova after Palestine became an UNESCO member in 2011, although after the signing of the First Brussels agreement part of the EU has increased pressure on her for Kosovo to join UNESCO activities. Austria, Turkey, Great Britain and Saudi Arabia are listed as the main lobbyists for Kosovo’s UNESCO membership, while the US is not engaged for the time being, and France is also not on the “first line” of support. Even though 33 of 58 members of the current UNESCO Executive Council have recognized the unilaterally declared independence, Danas’ sources claim that not all of them are thrilled with Kosovo’s possible UNESCO membership. They support this with the fact that Serbia, at the 39^th session of the World Heritage Commission in Bonn at the beginning of July, with the help of Germany managed to keep its status in accordance with UNSCR 1244 when it comes to the monuments in Kosovo and Metohija. The same circles warn that if Pristina would receive a recommendation it would be bad for Belgrade if a large number of members of the General Conference would abstain, because only “for” and “against” votes are counted, which would enable Kosovo to receive a two-third majority with a relatively small number of votes. According to estimates of analysts, the fate of Kosovo’s membership will depend largely on the global political situation in the world and power relations during the session of the UNESCO General Conference from 3 to 18 November this year, because the admission of a new member state to UNESCO is always and above all a political issue.

 

McAllister: Chapter 35 probably to be opened first (Tanjug/RTS)

European Parliament rapporteur on Serbia David McAllister said in Belgrade Tuesday that it was now time to open the first chapter in accession negotiations between Serbia and the EU, adding that it was obvious that the first to be opened would be Chapter 35. Chapter 35 deals with the process of normalization of relations between Belgrade and Pristina, and its opening would depend on whether it was possible to make further progress when it came to setting up the Union of Serb municipalities (ZSO), McAllister told journalists, adding that the first chapters would probably be opened in the current year. McAllister said that the decision to open the chapters is made by all 28 EU member-states and the European Commission only makes a recommendation, adding that Chapters 23 (Judiciary and Fundamental Rights), 24 (Justice, Freedom and Security) and 32 (Financial Control) could be opened along with Chapter 35. According to McAllister, the most pressing issue at the moment is finding a solution for the ZSO, and Pristina, as well as Belgrade, needs to do what it is supposed to do. “The issue of Kosovo is, of course, of vital importance for the EU. There is a Bundestag resolution that requires that Chapter 35 needs to be opened very early, and this was also required by some other EU governments. It is not up to me to decide which chapter will be opened first, but it is obvious that this will be Chapter 35. It is time for compromise and we are close to that. It is in the interest of Serbia to conclude at the end of the negotiations a legally binding agreement with Kosovo that will be in the interest of both sides,” said McAllister, adding that Serbia had to be aware of the fact that opening the chapters was only the starting point for real work ahead of Serbia.

 

Miscevic: Belgrade-Pristina dialogue has power of a control mechanism in EU negotiating process (Tanjug)

The Head of Serbia’s negotiating team in talks with the EU Tanja Miscevic has stated the action plans for Chapters 23 and 24, relating to the rule of law, will be completed by the end of July. “Our plan is to have the action plans ready to be sent to Brussels by the end of the month, so that the EU procedure could commence in September,” Miscevic said at the first meeting of the joint counseling civil society board of Serbia and the EU. She has assessed that the work on action plans is proof that there is practice of cooperation with the civil society, which had offered the suggestions to the draft versions of the action plans, and she emphasized that similar practice will be continued and improved. Talking about the opening of chapters, Miscevic noted that parallel to the negotiating process is the ongoing Belgrade-Pristina dialogue on normalization of relations, which has the power of a control mechanism in the negotiating process. “Nobody has faced this so far, neither EU states nor EU institutions, we are still managing and hope this will not interfere with the essence of the process, which are internal reforms and reaching a modern and stable, democratic state,” said Miscevic.

 

Vucic to speak in RS parliament regarding referendum (Novosti)

The RS speaker Nedeljko Cubrilovic said that it is possible that the decision on the referendum on the Court and the Prosecutor’s Office be revoked if the requirements of the RS get adopted. “It is not up to parliament any more but the proponent, President Milorad Dodik,” said Cubrilovic. Talking about Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic’s offer to address the RS parliament and explain the situation regarding the referendum to the MPs, Cubrilovic told Novosti, that Belgrade’s position, as a guarantor of the Dayton Peace Agreement, should be respected. The Collegium of the RS parliament said that it is desirable and realistic for the Serbian Prime Minister to address the delegates, but that it is not possible to happen before September, due to the summer recess. “We are ready to welcome Vucic and it is possible that in the coming days we are going to send an official invitation. According to the rules of procedure, the Prime Minister of Serbia has every right to speak to the delegates on this important issue,” said Stevandic. Dodik said earlier that a referendum will not be held if four conditions are met - the independence of the Court and the Prosecutor’s Office, the prosecution of those who committed crimes against Serbs, change the criminal law in a part related to the expanding of the jurisdiction of the Court and the Prosecutor’s Office of B&H and the application of laws that were in force at the time of the offense.

 

Far from Reconciliation (Blic commentary by Nikola Tomic)

Tropical temperatures and stories about the wartime past are marking these days in the Balkans. As if the heat is getting to everyone, so they are not stopping with the counting of bones, excursions in the killing fields, and pagan celebrations of scarecrows of inter-ethnic hatred. For the latter, we have a decision by a Croatian ‘left-wing’ government for Zagreb’s airport to be re-named after Franjo Tudjman. Before that, in Knin on 5 August, in praise of the criminal ‘Operation Storm’, they will raise a monument to him. Makes you a bit sick, right?

The marking of 20 years of the crime/genocide (as one wishes to describe it) in Srebrenica served to drag out to the surface the hitherto relatively carefully-concealed and relativized Bosniak nationalism. When you add to it the all present Islamic extremism in the region, you get an explosive mixture that can reverberate far out and deadly.

Serbia is not relieved of its own venom either. As if it were bothered by a guilt complex, it jumps, all bristling, at the word genocide. Likewise, the reactions of many on the (in any sense horrible) attack on Prime Minister Vucic in Srebrenica confirm how much chauvinism, Europhobia and an anti-Western mood are deeply rooted in some parts of the Serbian society.

As for the Kosovo Albanians, they have not yet gone any further in dealing with the uglier sides of their past. Yet, judging by the latest threats from the US and EU, this will finally backfire on the Kosovo Albanians.

So, is there anything positive? Of course there is. But, everybody in the Balkans, both politicians and the public, are behaving in the style of “one step forward, one step back”. Stagnation. We are from reconciliation.

 

REGIONAL PRESS

 

The new ruling majority: SDA and Party for B&H to sign the coalition agreement on Thursday? (Fena)

The President of the Party for B&H Amer Jerlagic confirmed that tomorrow a meeting will be held with a delegation of the Party of Democratic Action (SDA), at which they would agree on the principles of the creation of a new coalition. After harmonization, added Jerlagic, the signing of the coalition agreement between the Party for B&H and SDA could be held on Thursday.

“The materials that they have sent us are the principles which they have signed in November 2014,” stressed Jerlagic. He added that the SDA has sent a document which was presented at the Circle 99 by the economic experts, regarding the development of B&H, because they believe that this is a long-term solution to the problem. “Now that there is no International Monetary Fund, we need to incorporate those elements in to the principles,” concluded Jerlagic.

 

Covic: Situation in B&H region can be markedly improved (Hina)

B&H Presidency Chairman Dragan Covic said he was confident that relations within B&H and those with its neighbors could be markedly improved and announced a diplomatic and political offensive in the months ahead to achieve that. “I’m convinced that’s no utopia,” he said at a press conference on the occasion of his assuming the rotating Presidency chairmanship over the next eight months. Covic said a huge step forward could be made in Euro-Atlantic integration by reaching a concrete agreement within B&H by the end of next week on the coordination of its relations with the EU and on a plan of reforms on which the EU insists as a prerequisite for any further assistance to B&H. Covic said there should be no opposition to Euro-Atlantic integration in B&H and that he would communicate with officials at all government levels to that end, including Milorad Dodik. He said the problem Dodik created with his decision to call an entity referendum on the work of the State Court and the State Prosecutor’s office was not that big. He was convinced the referendum would not be held but now that it has been called, he said it should be used not to attack Dodik but to see what the real motive for it was. Covic said all three Presidency members would go to Belgrade on Wednesday at the invitation of Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic. He said there was no reason not to build friendly relations between the two states, regardless of the war past and the recent disputes over the 20th anniversary commemoration of the Srebrenica genocide. “I’m sure this meeting can only cool down passions in B&H,” he said, adding that the events in Srebrenica should be an incentive to really analyze the problem. He said the Belgrade meeting was “forced” by circumstances because it was not customary for a head of state to go to another country at the invitation of its prime minister. He said there would be no meeting with President Tomislav Nikolic. Covic went on to say that political negotiations would be opened in the coming period on the reorganization of B&H, primarily by amending the election law. Asked if the HDZ B&H party would continue to insist on a separate constituency for Bosnian Croats, he said there were “hundreds of ways to find a solution”, avoiding a direct answer.

 

Dodik not against compromise on referendum (Srna)

The RS President Milorad Dodik says he is not against reaching a compromise when it comes to a referendum on state-level judiciary in B&H. “If a solution is found parliament could again be deciding on that,” Dodik told RTRS. Dodik also noted that he four years ago reached agreement with then EU commissioner Catherine Ashton about judicial reforms in B&H. Noting that “referendums are possible in all states”, Dodik stressed that foreigners are not allowing the RS to hold one “in order to prevent people from realizing that things are solved by it”.

 

Salkic: High Representative to annul referendum (Srna)

Elected representatives of Bosniaks in the legislative structures of the RS requested today from the High Representative in B&H to annul the decision by the RS parliament to call a referendum on the Court and the Prosecutor’s Office and other imposed decisions and to sanction the initiators of this decision, said the RS Vice President Ramiz Salkic. After the meeting between Bosniak delegates from the “Homeland” coalition and delegates from the Bosniak caucus in the RS Council of Peoples, Salkic told reporters that the decision on the referendum is “anti-Dayton and that it threatens the stability and integrity of B&H”. Saklic added that at the meeting they have agreed that such a decision does not contribute to stability, not only of B&H but also of the region. Emphasizing that Bosniaks living in the RS don’t have great confidence in the RS Ministry of Interior, he pointed out that this confidence will be higher when “a better national representation in this Ministry” happens. Saklic said that at the meeting they have highlighted the need to resolve the issue of education of Bosniak children, having the education in the “Bosnian language”. He stated that one of the conclusions of the meeting is to discuss these issues. The elected representatives of Bosniaks should have the talks with the RS President Milorad Dodik, Prime Minister Zeljka Cvijanovic, and the ministers of Education, Culture and the Interior.

 

Dodik - Ivantsov: Possible compromise on referendum (Srna)

The RS President Milorad Dodik said that although the decision on the referendum is passed, he is not against compromise if a solution for the objections on the work of the Court and Prosecution that the RS has brought to the European Commissioner Catherine Ashton in 2011 is found. During the talks with the Russian Ambassador to B&H Pyotr Ivantsov, Dodik stressed that the decision of the RS parliament on organizing a referendum on the judiciary at the state level does not destroy the Dayton Peace Agreement and is legal and legitimate. He stressed that the decision was forced, due to the fact that the RS, four years ago, brought forward serious objections and expressed dissatisfaction with the work of the Court and the Prosecutor’s Office, which has mainly operated at the expense of the RS, announced the office of the RS President.

President Dodik thanked Ivantsov for the principled position of Russia that the issue of referendum in the RS is a matter of B&H internal politics, and for the fact that this country, as well as a good part of the international community in B&H, recognized the inefficiency of the judiciary at the B&H level. Dodik and Ivantsov have exchanged views on other current political issues in the RS, B&H and the region.

 

Lajcak: No referendum in RS (Oslobodjenje/Patria)

Slovakian Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak said that the announced referendum in the RS is unacceptable for legal and moral reasons and added that it certainly will not happen, Patria reports. “Legally it is not possible for entities to decide on the institutions on the state level,” Lajcak told reporters before a session of the EU Council of Ministers in Brussels. He added that the referendum, in which the RS citizens should declare on the competence of the state judiciary for B&H on the territory of the entity, is debatable from a moral point of view as well. Lajcak said that the earlier EU High Representative Catherine Ashton told RS President Milorad Dodik that the referendum is not the way, and offered a structural dialogue on judicial reform in B&H.

“That dialogue is functioning, we are holding to our obligations, but Mr. Dodik has backed out from his,” the Slovak diplomat said. Lajcak said he had personally asked Mogherini to put the referendum question in the agenda of today’s session. Responding to a reporter’s request to comment on the recent attack on Serbian PM Aleksandar Vucic on the 20th anniversary of the Srebrenica Genocide, Lajcak sharply condemned the act. “The genocide happened, but hate will not help move the country forward,” he said

 

EU foreign ministers say referendum in RS unacceptable (Bosna danas)

The EU High Representative Federica Mogherini said that the referendum in the RS would be “extremely problematic”. She said that after the meeting of the EU foreign ministers. She stressed that all ministers are concerned about the intentions of President Milorad Dodik who announced a referendum. “The date of the referendum has not been determined yet, which gives space for the idea to be reconsidered,” said Mogherini. Croatian Foreign Minister Vesna Pusic also criticized Dodik’s politics. Pusic said that calling a referendum would be a violation of the Dayton Peace Agreement and the Constitution of B&H. European Commissioner for Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn said that the referendum would not be in accordance with the implementation of reforms and cooperation with the EU.

 

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

 

US Trade Deal Gives Boost to Serbian Exports (BIRN, by Igor Jovanovic, 21 July 2015)

Serbia has regained the status of 'privileged nation' in trade with the US but experts believe that businessmen will have to work hard to exploit the opportunity. The Serbian Chamber of Commerce announced on Monday that the United States Congress has approved a trade programme for Serbia, which will allow preferential duty-free exports of any of 5,000 specified products to the US. The programme, called the Generalized System of Preferences, will be in force from July 29 until the end of 2017. It allows Serbian companies to potentially gain an advantage by selling their products more cheaply on the US market. The right for Serbian companies to export goods to the US without taxes expired in July 2013, which significantly influenced a subsequent decrease in exports to the US. According to media reports, Serbian exports to the US were 46 per cent lower in 2014 than the year before. Serbia exported goods worth around $531 million to the US in 2013. The new Congress decision is retroactive so US Customs will pay back Serbian businessmen any taxes that have been paid since July 2013. Serbia mainly exports mainly weapons, cars and frozen agricultural products to the US. Sasa Djogovic, a Belgrade-based Institute of Market Research associate, told BIRN that the Congress decision was a “new chance” for Serbian businessmen but that they will have to work hard in order to seize the opportunity. “They need to work closely with the Serbian government, the Serbian Chamber of Commerce and American Chamber of Commerce in Serbia. The companies who have already exported their goods to the US have an opportunity to increase the volume of that export while others have a chance to try to enter the US market,” Djogovic said. Serbian businessmen should also contact the Serb diaspora in the US in order to find potential distributors of their goods, Djogovic added. “This is just a chance and it is down to us whether we will use it,” he said. Nebojsa Atanackovic, the president of the Serbian Association of Employers, believes that privileged exports to the US are “good news” for Serbian companies. “It is a huge market and our companies who have already exported there will have an opportunity to export even more,” Atanackovic said. According to the Serbian Institute for Statistics, the country’s foreign trade deficit was 1.1 billion euros in the first three months of 2015, which is 18 per cent more than the same period last year. US trade preference programmes such as the Generalized System of Preferences provide opportunities for many of the world’s poorer countries to use trade to grow their economies. The Generalized System of Preferences is the largest and oldest of these programmes.

 

Macedonia Opposition Says Govt 'Stalling' Reforms (Journal of Turkish Weekly, 21 July 2015)

Action on the deal to resolve the crisis in Macedonia has got off to a bumpy start after the opposition accused the ruling party of pulling out of a meeting on reforms without warning

The vice-president of the opposition Social Democrats, Radmila Sekerinska, has slated the main ruling VMRO DPMNE party for cancelling a key meeting on implementing reforms only half an hour before it was due to start on Monday. “This has to end immediately,” Sekerinska told the media, accusing Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski and his party of “stalling” and “avoiding” work on the internationally brokered agreement that will prepare the country for new elections by next April. The ruling party rebuffed accusations, insisting that they canceled the talks ahead of time and blaming the absence in Brussels of the Foreign Minister Nikola Poposki, who is part of the party’s team. The accusation was “the peak of hypocrisy”, as Sekerinska herself had been absent from previous meetings of the same working group last week, the ruling party replied. Last week, after marathon talks in Skopje, EU Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn announced that a deal had been reached between Macedonia's warring political parties. The deal stipulates that the government will resign "in due time to allow the new government to be sworn in on 15 January 2016, 100 days before the parliament elections which shall be held on 24 April". As part of the agreement, political leaders agreed to form working groups that will carry out major personnel changes and boost the powers of several important state offices. Boosting the powers of the Electoral Commission, the Anti-Corruption Commission, the Public Revenue Office, the regulatory Agency for Media as well as the Public Safety Bureau is expected to ensure freer elections and limit the space for political misuse in the period ahead. Yesterday, in Brussels, Hahn reiterated that "there is no time to waste" on implementation of the agreement. The political crisis in Macedonia revolves around allegations that Gruevski's government has illegally orchestrated the surveillance of over 20,000 people. Gruevski has insisted that compromising tapes of officials' conversations, which have been released by the Social Democrats since February, were “created” by unnamed foreign intelligence services and given to the opposition to destabilise the country. The tapes appeared to reveal the government's direct involvement in election fraud, abuse of the justice system and media and even suggest it covered up the murder of a young man by a police officer.

 

Montenegro to Keep Track of ISIS Threat (BIRN, by Dusica Tomovic, 21 July 2015)

Montenegrin intelligence service data have revealed that six Montenegrin nationals are currently fighting alongside ISIS in Syria and Iraq. Parliament's Security and Defence Committee on Monday uged the National Security Agency to continue to keep track of Islamic extremism and radicalism in the light of the activities of the Islamic State in Balkans. Mulling the annual report of the intelligence service, the chairman, Melvudin Nuhodzic, said that monitoring should be carried out through intensive cooperation with regional and partner agencies and through joint operations. He revealed the latest data, which say six Montenegrins are fighting in Syria and Iraq and one in Ukraine. "It is very important that the competent authorities monitor each case but those are individual cases, not an organized and significant phenomenon in Montenegro," he said after the committee's closed session. An Islamist video published last week by unknown authors on YouTube called for the creation of an Islamic caliphate in the Western Balkans and the destruction of democracy. The video called for terrorist activities throughout the region, the downfall of democracy in all these countries would be destroyed and establishment of sharia law in its place. In June, an earlier video released by ISIS called on more Balkan fighters to join their ranks - and for supports who do not go to fight in the Middle East to maim, kill and poison unbelievers in their home countries. Nuhodzic said that those threats should not be overestimated underestimated. "Internet performances have a propaganda effect, spreading fear," he noted.

In December 2014, the European Parliament's Rapporteur for Montenegro, Charles Tannock, said Montenegrin security agencies were monitoring over 300 people suspected of links to terrorists. The government later denied this, saying the intelligence agencies were monitoring an "insignificant number". In October 2014, authorities said only 13 citizens from Montenegro had gone to fight alongside ISIS in Syria. One of them, Damir Slakovic from the coastal town of Bar, was killed in July in a bomb attack in the area between Syria and Iraq, local media reported. In June, the Syrian war cost the life Mirza Haklaj from Podgorica, who was one of the actors in ISIL's video. Responding to the threat in the region, Montenegro has adopted a law punishing illegal participants in foreign conflicts with up to 10 years in jail. In June, the leader of the junior governing Bosniak party in Montenegro, Rafet Husovic, called on the citizens of Montenegro, especially Muslims, not to fall for provocations by the Islamic state, stating that "some individuals are attempting to cause tensions." Muslims - mainly Bosniaks and Albanians - make up around 19 per cent of the population of the country but there is little tradition of religious radicalism in these communities.

 

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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.