LOCAL PRESS

 

What was concluded at the meeting at the Serbian Presidency (Politika/Tanjug/B92)

1. All institutions and state bodies of the Republic of Serbia strongly oppose the admission of “Kosovo” in the membership of UNESCO and invite members of the Executive Council and the General Conference of this international organization to reject the proposal. Serbian churches and monasteries in Kosovo and Metohija belong to the heritage of the Serbian Orthodox Church and the Republic of Serbia, and any seizure of such heritage would clearly endanger the survival of the most important religious, cultural and historical monuments of the Serbian people, but also European and world cultural heritage in Kosovo and Metohija, but also of the Serbian population still living in the area; 
   2. The Republic of Serbia will not recognize the independence of “Kosovo” and will fight for the preservation of national, spiritual and cultural identity of the Serbian people in Kosovo and Metohija. At the same time, aware of the harsh realities on the ground, especially for the view in a different and better future for both Serbs and Albanians in Kosovo and Metohija, the Serbian government, the Serbian Orthodox Church and the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts deem necessary to solve all problems in a peaceful manner and with additional efforts to establish better relations with the Albanians. Support to the formation of the Community of Serb Municipalities as the hedging instrument of collective political, economic, cultural and other rights of the Serbian people in Kosovo and Metohija will be one of the priorities of the state policy in the future; 
   3. The Serbian state will continue on its path towards the European Union, along with maintaining and improving the traditionally good relations with Russia, China and other countries. Also, the dialogue in Brussels between Belgrade and Pristina should continue and the Serbian government and its delegation have full freedom within the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia, to make compromise solutions, which would pave the way for better cooperation and common life in the future for the Serbs and Albanians; 
   4. The position of Serbs in the region was discussed in particular, and the responsibility and commitment of Serbia about the welfare of Serbs outside Serbia was reaffirmed, in particular the need for even greater and more substantial cooperation of special and parallel relations between the Republika Srpska and Serbia, in the field of economic development relationships and infrastructure projects as well as in the spheres of culture, arts and sport; 
   5. All organs and institutions of the Republic of Serbia, in the midst of the migrant crisis and destabilization in the region, identify regional cooperation, the creation of better and higher forms of unity and cooperation with other countries in the region as a vital state and national interest. Serbia will make an active contribution to ensuring that peace and economic prosperity in our region become the main themes, instead of political bickering; 
   6. All participants agreed that it is necessary that there is an open, continuous dialogue on key national issues in society, that there are no taboos and that the existence of differences is proof of Serbian tolerance, openness and strength; 
   7. By harmonizing the basic elements of the policy that we have to conduct, it is necessary to achieve the highest level of unity in the implementation of policies agreed on by highest state authorities, Serbian Orthodox Church and the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts.

 

Dacic: No decision can erase history (Beta)

Serbia will continue the struggle for preservation of its cultural heritage regardless of today’s decision of the UNESCO Executive Council concerning Kosovo’s membership, Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said on Wednesday. We need to continue advocating preservation and protection of the cultural heritage of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Serb people and Serbia in Kosovo and Metohija and we will do so at the UNSECO General Conference due to take place in November and through all other political and diplomatic activities in the time to come, Dacic told reporters in the Serbian Foreign Ministry. “The UNESCO Executive Council can adopt the decision as they see fit, but they cannot erase history because this has always been and will continue to be Serb cultural and religious heritage in Kosovo and Metohija. Whatever someone calls it and whatever decision is made,” said Dacic. He said that “if the Executive Council adopts the recommendation, it will be an unprecedented decision, because there is no international legal basis for it as the UN has not recommended the adoption of such a decision”. “On the other hand, it would be the first time to reach a decision on admission to membership of someone who has not passed the qualification in the preservation of cultural heritage, quite the contrary,” Dacic said.

 

Janjic: Kosovo joining UNESCO would be dangerous for our heritage (B92)

The Abbot of the Visoki Decani Monastery Sava Janjic has told B92 that Pristina’s membership in UNESCO would be very dangerous for the Serb cultural heritage. “It is a very dangerous situation in which the future of our heritage, of our entity and all that we have comes under a big question mark,” Janjic said. He added he was very concerned primarily because the Kosovo government, according to Deputy Foreign Minister Petrit Selimi, refuses any discussion in the Brussels dialogue, which Serbia requested, wishing to talk in an open dialogue about all issues, including that of cultural heritage. The abbot of the Serbian Orthodox Monastery (SPC) in Kosovo told B92 that claims of that Albanians that Visoki Decani are a part of the heritage, that is - that the monastery was built of Albanians - is in the service of politics, populism and does not demonstrate the good will. “We have seen the withdrawal of recent draft legislation for cultural heritage and strategies for cultural heritage, which were drawn by Kosovo Albanians without international representatives, precisely because of their discriminatory nature, because the entire cultural property in Kosovo and Metohija is turned into the property of the government of Kosovo.” Janjic added there was numerous evidence in the monastery to refute such Albanian claims. “There are so many documents, historical data in Visoki Decani, that volumes of books could be written, more than about the entire history of the Albanian people. We have a collection of Ottoman manuscripts and firmans that is the largest in Kosovo. I don't think any mosque has that kind of collection of firmans that from 1506, during the time of Sultan Bayezid II, guaranteed the monastery’s rights, protection and land.” According to him, whatever the decision regarding the request of Kosovo to gain membership in UNESCO turns out to be, all the churches will remain Serbian Orthodox churches. “Whether or not they will get it, we cannot know. But one thing is that our churches will remain Serbian Orthodox no matter what happens. But they will not be a training ground for political promotion of those who want to take away our identity, our freedom, our rights. And for as long as we are in these holy places, it will be possible to enter and take photographs only with our permission and with our consent. Otherwise, I hope they won't use force.” The Visoki Decani abbot also said that cooperation with Kosovo institutions does not currently exist. “We have already stopped cooperation with Kosovo institutions and we can talk to them only after the talks in Brussels. It is up to them to show whether they will by joining UNESCO be occupiers of Christian holy shrines in Kosovo and Metohija, present themselves as such before the world, or simply show that Kosovo is moving towards a more civilized and cultured future. The way they have been going, I’m not quite sure they will be able to convince people in Europe that by attempting to occupy Serbian Orthodox Church facilities, by changing their identity, that they could gain sympathy for entry in the future to another organization.” Abbot Janjic said that the brotherhood of the monastery was facing constant threats and verbal abuse. “Young people no longer shout ‘KLA’, but ‘Allah Akbar’. This is unfortunate. The monastery has faced this for centuries, we will stay here. What I heard from the highest representatives of NATO is that protection of the monastery be further enhanced. If the Albanians want to enter into a conflict with NATO, let them go ahead, but I think they will not benefit from it.”

 

De jure (Politika, op-ed by Jelena Cerovina)

It is good that the President of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (SANU) nevertheless went yesterday to the Serbian Presidency for the meeting of the state and church leadership, even if it came with a little urging by the Prime Minister. The SANU President was supposed to be there both as a man who is at the helm of one of the most important Serbian institutions, but also, perhaps, more as a man who claimed several days ago that Serbia should abandon the province of Kosovo with “elements of dignity” since it is neither de facto nor de jure in Serbia’s hands and that someone needs to tell this to the Serbian people. His announcement that he will not respond to the invitation by President Nikolic, because the SANU President’s presence is not “most effective,” and that there are academics that are better-acquainted with the Kosovo issue, grated against the ears.

We don’t doubt that SANU has more competent people from Vladimir Kostic for the Kosovo issue, yet it was his words that made many in this country tremble. Primarily those in Kosovo. The abbess of the Sokolica Monastery near Zvecan said that his words demoralize the Serb people, even though Kostic distanced himself by saying this was his personal stand. However, few have seen it that way. Naturally, there is no dilemma those who are defending Kostic’s right to voice a different stand are in the right. Yet, many people here think that what the SANU President says is nothing more than a trial balloon, i.e. a hint of possible changes in the state policy in regards to Kosovo. Hence his words caused so much fear among the Kosovo Serbs, but also so much enthusiasm among the Kosovo Albanians.

I am not sure that Kostic would be supported by everyone who recognized Kosovo’s independence, because if Serbia had lost Kosovo, both de facto and de jure – European centers of power would not have been insisting on Belgrade signing with the authorities in Pristina a “legally binding agreement,” whose content they don’t even want to discuss openly, but we are still anticipating somewhere what could this imply. Why would, then, anyone need Belgrade’s signature, if Serbia had de facto and de jure lost Kosovo a long time ago? It seems that they still lack the “de jure” part, that Kostic claims they have also given up.

The SANU President is along the lines of the old Western demands, which were accepted in Serbia by certain political parties, that the “reality on the ground” must be accepted. Regardless of whether someone agrees with this stand or not, the question arises – what is it that Serbia gains by accepting such a “reality” – and the SANU President has not given an answer to this question. Those who share his opinion, perhaps, believe that it would be one less ballast around Serbia’s neck. Would it?

In response to critics, Kostic revealed that he could have gone abroad to work for much more money. He probably wanted to say that he is no less a patriot than those who were shocked by his statement. Mentioning money hardly did him any good in convincing anyone that he was right.

 

REGIONAL PRESS

 

What are we going to do a day after referendum? (klix.ba)

Member of B&H Presidency and the leader of the Party of Democratic Progress (PDP) Mladen Ivanic considers it indisputable that problems exist in the work of the Court and Prosecutor’s Office in B&H, but he does not see the referendum as the best solution. According to Ivanic, the referendum could serve for opening the issue of changing the Dayton Agreement, which would certainly not be in the interest of the Serbs and the RS. Ivanic said he approves the attitudes of the President of RS Milorad Dodik, who initiated the referendum, on the character, behavior, and the practice of the court and prosecution in B&H, as well as that he considers those institutions were means of attempting to eliminate the influence of the Serb and Croat politicians.

“It is a court that has been used for creating an image about war crimes in B&H because it dominantly, almost exclusively, convicted the Serbs and almost no one for crimes against the Serbs”, Ivanic said. It is clear that the answer of the citizens at the referendum would be “no”, in the highest possible percentage, but the question arises – what after that, Ivanic said.

“We must now what does the government plan to do after the referendum, but they did not say that and I think they do not even know that. I am getting the impression that they are using the referendum for some political promotion and not to make something actually happen, and that is why my attitude is cautious”, said Ivanic. He assessed that a large number of countries want to take advantage of the referendum in order to open the issue of the change of the Dayton Agreement, i.e. as an alibi that such B&H cannot work, which is certainly not in the interest of RS.

 

2,000 policemen to secure Aleksandar Vucic in Sarajevo (Dnevni list)

The joint session of the B&H and Serbian governments will be held in Sarajevo on November 4 and 5. The B&H Council of Ministers appointed ministers Marina Pendes, Dragan Mektic, Igor Crnadak, Slavko Matanovic and Adil Osmanovic into special Coordination committee for organization, and security and media preparation of the meeting. First joint session of the two governments should have been held in February last year. But it had been postponed on Belgrade’s request after workers’ demonstrations in several cities in Federation of B&H. The agenda has not been agreed yet, and it is expected that it will be done next week. Dnevni list daily has learned that the final protocol has also not been drafted yet because it is still not clear whether the Serbian government, led by Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, will arrive in Sarajevo by car, bus or plane, and where it will stay. According to Dnevni list, 2,000 policemen will be engaged to protect Vucic on November 4 and 5 in Sarajevo. Vucic was attacked in Srebrenica on July 11, during the commemoration to the victims of Srebrenica genocide.

 

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

 

Montenegro Opposition Denies Russia Behind Protests (BIRN, by Dusica Tomovic, 21 October 2015)

Predicting bigger anti-government demonstrations next Saturday, the Montenegrin opposition has denied accusations that Russia - and Serbia - stand behind the unrest

An extraordinary session of the Montenegrin parliament on Wednesday will examine opposition claims that police used excess force in the demonstrations that rocked the capital over the weekend. While parliament will discuss the "ongoing political crisis in the country", it will take place without the majority of opposition MPs, as the main opposition alliance, the Democratic Front, is boycotting the assembly. At a closed-door session on Tuesday, a parliamentary committee questioned top security officials following accusations that police abused their powers with the demonstrators, arresting and beating up MPs and journalists. The committee has asked the prosecution to deliver a legal assessment of the violent clashes and the Interior Ministry will review the police operation and sanction potential perpetrators of offences. Led by the Democratic Front, demonstrators have been camping outside parliament for three weeks, calling for the resignation of Milo Djukanovic's government and early elections. They demand the formation of a transitional government in place of Djukanovic, who has been at the centre of power since the early 1990s. Protestors returned to the streets on Sunday, a day after police used tear gas to try to remove demonstrators from their camp near parliament. At least three opposition leaders and several MPs were injured during the clashes, which erupted when protesters tried to march toward the parliament. Two MPs and three journalists were arrested. The opposition announced on Tuesday that "tens of thousands of citizens" will gather on Saturday in front of the parliament and that they are sure that Djukanovic will resign. Nebojsa Medojevic, one of the opposition leaders, said in Brussels on Tuesday that the goal is not just to remove Djukanovic but to ensure a fair electoral contest. The protest are about ensuring that the political process is fair, he added. “The crisis is extremely deep and on the edge of serious instability, maybe even civil war. Nobody in the Democratic Front is asking for this, but more and more young people are taking to the streets to express their dissatisfaction," Medojevic said. The opposition has meanwhile rejected claims that protests were supported by Russia and Serbia. One opposition leader, Milan Knezevic, said that he was ready to step back from politics, "if someone prove that Moscow and Belgrade stand behind the protests". Deputy Prime Minister Dusko Markovic said on Tuesday that the protests were supported by nationalist circles in Serbia, but not by the government of Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic.

He said that the aim of the protest was to promote the campaign against NATO membership.

"I'm not claiming that, but I get that kind of information," he said, referring to claims that Russia was financially backing this campaign. An opposition official, Branko Radulovic, responded that this was "the biggest lie he has ever heard". Radulovic said that Dusko Markovic was only afraid of freedom and of what would happen after the fall of the government. Many in the large Serbian community are still angry with the Montenegrin government because it split from Serbia in 2006 when the former state union was dissolved. As the promise of NATO membership gets closer, Montenegro has certainly distanced itself from its historic ally, Russia. Moscow has repeatedly said that Podgorica's NATO ambitions run counter to hundreds of years of "fraternal relations" between the two Slavic, Orthodox Christian nations. The Russian Foreign Ministry on Sunday expressed regret over the dismantling of the opposition camp and added that a stable Montenegro remained in Russia's interest. The ministry has said that whatever assurances the Montenegrin leadership had obtained from Western states, joining NATO would not lead to the country's "consolidation. "On the contrary, there is a clear political and ideological division in society," the ministry said. Former Montenegrin Foreign Minister Branko Lukovac said Russia was openly interfering in political relations in Montenegro, and the level of this was surprising.

 

Migrants stranded in Balkans suffer bad weather, bottlenecks (Reuters, by Marja Novak and Aleksandar Vasovic, 21 October 2015)

LJUBLJANA, Slovenia/BERKASOVO,Serbia - A bout 3,500 migrants spent the night camped out in freezing cold at the Berkasovo-Bapska border crossing between Serbia and Croatia after the Croatian government closed the gates to limit the number of people entering the country. At first light on Thursday, groups of refugees bypassed the official border crossing and walked through orchards into Croatia. "Babies crying, women crying, we were burning big fires, but it was very cold, no one gave us food, only some bread," said a man named Sayed, who had made it to the border from the Syrian capital of Damascus. The crossing is one of the new focal points of Europe's biggest refugee and migrant crisis since World War II, which has seen hundreds of thousands of people fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East and Africa this year to try to reach Europe's rich countries. Hungary sealed its border with Croatia last week, blocking entry with a metal fence and razor wire. Croatia began directing migrants west to Slovenia, which has tried to stem the flow as migrants sought new routes and human bottlenecks built up through the Balkans. Most want to continue their journey on to Austria and Germany, the preferred destination for most. Both Slovenia and Hungary are part of Europe's passport-free Schengen Area while Croatia is not. With many now trapped in deteriorating conditions in the Balkans, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker called an extraordinary meeting of several European leaders to take place on Sunday. The commission said in a statement on Wednesday that Juncker had invited the leaders of Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Romania, Serbia and Slovenia. "In view of the unfolding emergency in the countries along the Western Balkans migratory route, there is a need for much greater cooperation, more extensive consultation and immediate operational action," the commission said. More than 20,000 migrants have arrived in Slovenia since Saturday morning in order to pass through to Austria. The Slovenian parliament passed legislation on Wednesday that will give the army more power to help police guarding the state border. Prime Minister Miro Cerar told reporters before the vote in parliament that Slovenia would ask the European Union for police reinforcements and for financial help

The heads of the police and border forces of Austria, Slovenia, Croatia and Hungary were due meet in Vienna on Wednesday.

HUNGRY AND COLD

Aid agencies are concerned about backlogs of migrants building in the Balkans, battered by autumn winds and rain as temperatures drop before winter. Croatian authorities said about 4,200 people were sheltered in the Opatovac camp, from where buses would take them directly to the Slovenian border straight or to the nearest train station in Tovarnik, from where they could go to Slovenia border. The camp capacity is 4,000 people. Refugees who spent the night at the Berkasovo-Bapska border crossing in tents or under tarpaulins provided by aid groups burned bonfires to warm themselves up. "The keyword is - cold. It's been freezing, this was our busiest night this week," said Astrid Coyne-Jensen of the Danish People's Aid medical team. Mustafa, a man in his 30s, wrapped in a gray blanket said that his group of three families spent the night at the border crossing under a piece of discarded tarpaulin as there were not enough tents for everyone. "I am from Hama in Syria, I have family in Turkey, I will tell them not to come as this is not for people, this is for animals," Mustafa said as he was trying to break a piece of wood to put it in a fire. Slovenian opposition parties said the government should follow Hungary and put up a fence on its border with Croatia to prevent migrants entering the country. An Interior Ministry official said the possibility erecting obstacles could not be excluded if the flow of migrants escalated. Almost 6,000 migrants arrived on the Greek mainland on Wednesday on three ferry boats sailing from the islands of Lesbos and Chios, the first pount of landfall for many of the refugees from Syria. They disembarked at Pireaus port where they were bussed out to a central train station. Two boatloads of migrants came ashore at a British military base on Cyprus on Wednesday, authorities said, the first time since the crisis began that refugees have landed directly on what is considered British sovereign soil. Vessels carrying the migrants were spotted in the early morning hours off RAF Akrotiri. They held about 140 people, including women and children.

(Additional reporting by Igor Ilic in Zagreb and Michele Kambas in Athens, Writing by Ivana Sekularac

 

EU's Juncker summons leaders over Balkan refugee crisis (Reuters, 21 October 2015)

BRUSSELS - European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has called an extraordinary meeting of several European leaders on Sunday to tackle the migrant crisis in the western Balkans as thousands trying to reach Germany are trapped in deteriorating conditions. The Commission said in a statement on Wednesday that Juncker had invited the heads of state or government of Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Romania, Serbia and Slovenia. The summit comes as hordes of refugees and other migrants camp by roads in western Balkan countries in worsening autumn weather after Hungary sealed its borders with Serbia and Croatia, causing a chain reaction in other overwhelmed states. Slovenia passed legislation on Wednesday to give the army more power help police guarding the state border as refugees streamed in from Croatia on the way to Austria, which is within the passport-free Schengen zone. "In view of the unfolding emergency in the countries along the Western Balkans migratory route, there is a need for much greater cooperation, more extensive consultation and immediate operational action," the Commission statement said. The summit's aim was to agree "common operational conclusions which could be immediately implemented", it said. A 28-nation EU summit agreed last week on a range of measures to strengthen external border protection and offer financial incentives to Turkey and other nations to keep refugees on their soil and deter them from heading to Europe. That appeared to be an effort by Juncker to raise pressure on central and southeastern European countries to cooperate among themselves in managing the migration flow and end a series of unilateral actions that have raised political tensions without providing minimum humanitarian conditions for the refugees. The meeting will take place between 1600 and 1900 CET (1500-1800 GMT) on Sunday, followed by a working dinner and will also involve United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, the European Asylum Support Office and EU border agency Frontex. The president of the European Council, Donald Tusk, and Luxembourg, which holds the EU's rotating presidency, were also invited. (Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop; Editing by Louise Ireland and Paul Taylor)

 

Bosnia's Entities Borrow to Plug Pension Holes (BIRN, by Drazen Simic, 21 October 2015)

Pension funds in Bosnia face a bleak future with the number of pensioners almost exceeding the number of those in work, poor collection of contributions and unsound government decisions

Bosnia’s two entities, the Federation and Republika Srpska, have in recent days sought out commercial loans to fill shortages in their pension funds. A senior Federation government official told BIRN on Friday that the mainly Bosniak and Croat entity was close to taking out one or more bank loans to fix its gaping budget deficit and stabilize its pension fund. He said the final details were being worked out and would be announced soon. The announcement comes a week after the Federation changed the law to allow its entity pension fund to directly take commercial loans to ensure regular payments of pensions. Last Friday, the Republika Srpska leadership came under fire from the opposition parties and experts for agreeing to a commercial loan from a little known US-based, Russian-led investment fund, which is designed to serve the same purpose - plug budget holes and stabilize the entity pension fund so that it can continue paying pensions. Both pension funds are in a similar situation to that of the late 1990s, when the monthly inflow of contributions for pension insurance from salaries of employed workers was insufficient to cover monthly payments. This situation led to a gradual delay in the payment of pensions so that by 2000 pensioners were receiving only nine instead of 12 pensions per year.

Since local politicians failed to address the problem, the then High Representative, Paddy Ashdown, supported by the IMF and the World Bank, in 2000 imposed a set of laws and regulations improving the process of contribution and tax collection and obliging pension funds to pay out pensions each month regardless of how much money was collected. The changes stabilized the pension funds for some years but the situation started worsening again from 2006, as political infighting within and among ethno-political blocks intensified. In this period, the ruling parties in the Federation entity - to win additional public sympathy - granted more than 19,000 “exceptional” pensions, mostly to former soldiers even though they did not meet the required criteria either by age or work experience. This significantly increased the financial burden on the Federation pension fund as the amount available through collected contributions remained the same. The Federation government promised to cover those extra pensions from its budget but this promise was never fulfilled and in practice the cost, around 50 million euro per year, has been divided among ordinary pensioners. Problems are similar in the other entity, Republika Srpska. Because there are too many pensioners compared to number of workers paying into the pension fund, the RS government has had to support the pension fund each month with an additional 7 to 8 million euro, just to ensure regular payment of pensions.

The situation worsened as of late 2014, when the IMF blocked further support for Bosnia’s state and entity budgets because governments had failed to undertake necessary reforms.

This has led to growing budget deficits on all administrative levels, which caused delays in the distribution of pensions. Even if pensions are paid regularly, pensioners have good reasons for dissatisfaction in Bosnia. The average pension in July was 188 euro in the Federation entity and 175 euro in Republika Srpska, and this amount has not changed significantly for years.

In the meantime, prices have been rising, which has left most pensioners unable to cover the minimal costs of living. With small and irregular pensions, pensioners in both entities face a difficult situation, which has caused growing anger, frustration and mass protests. The entity governments have decided to deal with these and other financial problems with new loans, often plugging budget holes through sales of government bonds to the local banks. As these emergency measures proved insufficient, the two governments decided to take out bigger, medium-term loans from commercial banks. Most experts say this approach only removes symptoms, not the causes of the problem. They said this approach also makes the problem worse by dangerously increasing Bosnia’s overall indebtedness, which future governments will simply not be able to repay without new, more radical cuts and other measures. The key reason for the instability of pension funds in Bosnia is the ratio of workers to pensioners and other-dependents, which should be 2.5-1 or higher, but is closer to 1-1 or even 1-1.5, if the unemployed are added to the picture. According to Bosnia’s Agency for Statistics, in July there were 714,003 officially employed in Bosnia – not enough to support 542,936 unemployed persons and 646,364 registered pensioners. The main source of economic and social troubles in Bosnia is the extremely high unemployment rate, which was nominally 43.2 per cent in July.

According to the annual Labour Force Survey by the Agency for Statistics in April, using the methodology of the International Labour Organization, ILO, which includes people employed temporarily and in the grey economy, the unemployment rate was less catastrophic but still 27.7 per cent. Some officials and experts place their hopes in some moderately positive trends, which can be observed in this year. Official statistics shows that during the first seven months of this year the number of employed has increased by 6,278 from 707,725 to 714,003, while the number of registered unemployed persons fell by 4,176 from 547,112 to 542,936. With such a modest increase in the number of jobs of 0.9 per cent while and a decrease in unemployment people of 0.8 per cent, Bosnia will need decades to reduce unemployment to acceptable levels, however.

For Bosnia’s pension funds to become sustainable, Bosnia would need to double the existing number of employed and transform the workers-to-dependents ratio. That would mean creating an additional half a million new jobs at least, which is unimaginable given the growing political turmoil, which is likely to keep the EU-supported reform agenda blocked. New loans may look like the only solution for the ruling elites, but that medicine will bring new negative side effects in the future.