LOCAL PRESS

 

Dacic: Pristina’s move blow to Brussels dialogue (Danas)

Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica said that the decision by the Kosovo Constitutional Court to suspend the agreement on formation of the Community of Serb municipalities (ZSO) is a blow to the Brussels dialogue and a threat to regional stability. “The core of the Brussels agreement is the establishment of ZSO, and this move by Pristina is a major blow to the dialogue in Brussels, which thus loses its point,” said Dacic, reads a release by the Serbian Foreign Ministry. Pristina is mocking the international community and the EU because there is no possibility that someone suspends the Brussels agreement, said Dacic. “The EU and US are on the move, because they would have already come forward with strongest condemnations if Serbia would have suspended some agreement,” said Dacic.

 

Djuric: Who do we trust in the resumption of the dialogue? (Beta)

The Head of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Marko Djuric has stated that Belgrade will continue to work on the draft Statute of the ZSO and expects from the EU pressure on Pristina to implement the agreement. Serbia is indignant over the fact that Pristina abandoned the Brussels agreement and publicly refuses to implement the agreement on the ZSO, Djuric told a press conference at the Serbian government, pointing out that this decision of the Kosovo Constitutional Court goes to say that Pristina never intended to implement the Brussels agreement. “What will now the EU say and do following the suspension? Just imagine if it was the other way round and the Serbian government had come up with such an initiative and abandoned the text of the Brussels agreement. I am sure that the reaction would have been immediate and energetic,” said Djuric. He points out that ever since 25 August when the agreement was adopted, Pristina has done nothing to adopt the executive decree on the formation of the ZSO, and that no serious pressure of the EU has been seen over this. “On the contrary, what we have seen is continued support to Pristina in regard to EU integration. That situation is politically unsustainable. The question is who and in what way can we trust in the continuation of the dialogue in regard to anything, if there is no readiness to exert minimal pressure on Pristina to implement at least one elementary obligation from the Brussels agreement,” said Djuric. He wonders “how long will this farce go on as its only goal is to disable the Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija to have more rights, to ridicule the trust it is trying to build in Brussels and whose goal is to undermine and humiliate Serbia and the Serb people. Normal relations, trust, long- term stability and the future are not built this way,” said Djuric. He noted that Belgrade will conduct intensive consultations with Kosovo Serb representatives and decide on further steps in cooperation with them. Serbia will continue to implement the Brussels agreement and the part that concerns the formation of the ZSO and it will continue with the activities on the draft Statute of the ZSO already today, said Djuric. He also said at the press conference that they also discussed at today’s Serbian government session the voting in UNESCO.

 

Djuric: Pristina has no intention of implementing agreements (RTS)

The Head of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Marko Djuric has told Radio and Television of Serbia (RTS) that somebody in Pristina promised and signed that the agreements will be implemented, and these are the obligations assumed on behalf of the provincial institutions. “Now we can see how much Prime Minister Vucic was right when he said that people in Pristina do not intend to fulfill the things they themselves agreed to, the obligations that they themselves assumed, and which derive from the spirit and text of the Brussels agreement. I am sure that there is no other way except the one of implementing what they committed themselves, and Serbia will certainly not be silent and stand on the side while its vital state and national interests in Kosovo and Metohija are being trampled on,” said Djuric.

 

Drecun: Pristina’s move obstruction of the Brussels dialogue (Radio Belgrade)

The Chairman of the parliamentary Committee for Kosovo and Metohija Milovan Drecun assesses that the suspension of the agreement on the formation of the ZSO is an unacceptable move by Pristina and that the normalization process between Belgrade and Pristina thus becomes meaningless. “Pristina is obliged to implement the agreed, even if it is not in accordance with the so-called Constitution in Kosovo, because this agreement must be above the legal framework that operates, it was established in this manner and it must create space for the ZSO since this is the fundamental pillar of the Brussels agreement,” Drecun told Radio Belgrade. He assesses that the suspension of the agreement is a result of an agreement between Pristina politicians and the Constitutional Court so Pristina could realize other goals. “At issue is a deliberate move that is a result of an agreement between politicians and the court to conduct an obstruction of the Brussels agreement in the part that refers to the ZSO and to take the normalization process to a deadlock in order to realize some other goals of Pristina and to exert strong pressure on Belgrade to accept things Pristina would like to gain in the following period,” says Drecun.

 

EU without comment after Pristina suspends agreement (Beta)

The European Commission does not comment on ongoing judicial procedures, Beta has quoted EU spokesperson Maja Kocijancic as having said. Asked to explain the position of the EU - which brokered and fully supported the Brussels agreement - in the wake of Pristina’s decision, Kocijancic said: “We do not comment on ongoing judicial proceedings, we expect that the agreement of 25 August will be implemented. Both sides are responsible for their part of the job in the implementation of the agreement.”

 

Davenport: Serbia has made significant progress on EU path (Tanjug)

The Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia Michael Davenport said Tuesday that Serbia had made huge progress on the road to the EU over the last 12 months, as could be seen from the new progress report, published by the European Commission (EC) on Tuesday. The report points to the need of holding an Intergovernmental Conference in December in order to open the first chapter in accession negotiations between the EU and Serbia, Davenport told a press conference in Belgrade. The report also points out that Serbia has made substantial progress in implementing structural reforms, which have begun showing results, Davenport said. Serbia is also commended for making great progress in the area of fiscal consolidation. The report is encouraging Serbia to maintain the current pace of reforms, including the restructuring of state enterprises, he said.

 

REGIONAL PRESS

 

The report of the High Representative to the UN: The decision on referendum in RS direct violation of the Dayton Agreement (Nezavisne)

The decision of the RS authorities to hold a referendum that directly challenges The General Framework Agreement for Peace (GFAP) and the threat of the SNSD to hold an independence referendum in 2018 represent an escalation of the SNSD’s policy to challenge the fundamentals of the GFAP and the steps taken to implement it, states the report that the High Representative Valentin Inzko presented yesterday to the UN General Assembly and which covers the period from 21 April 2015 to 21 October 2015. On 15 July 2015, the Republika Srpska (RS) National Assembly (RSNA) adopted a decision to hold a referendum in the RS on the validity of the legislation on the B&H Court and Prosecutor’s Office, and the applicability of these institutions’ decisions on the territory of that entity, as well as on the authorities and decisions of the High Representative. In other words, the referendum question proposes that the RS leave the common judicial space of B&H. With the referendum at hand, the RS authorities are acting unilaterally in an area where the state of B&H, not the entity, has constitutional authority. They would effectively ask citizens of the RS whether the entity should “opt out” of its requirement to comply with the laws establishing the state judicial authorities as well as the decisions taken by these authorities. As such, the referendum constitutes an open challenge to the sovereignty of B&H and a violation of the RS’s commitments and obligations arising under the B&H Constitution as set forth in Annex 4 to the GFAP. The referendum also seeks to determine whether the authorities of the High Representative, in particular legislation enacted by the High Representative, should be recognized by the entity. As with the state judiciary, the entity does not have the authority to make this determination, since the authorities of the High Representative arise under international law. SNSD Party Adopts Declaration on RS Independence Referendum in 2018, the SNSD party adopted a declaration on 25 April entitled “RS – Free and Independent – Future and Responsibility”.  In this document, the ruling party in the RS stated its intention to organize a referendum on the independence of the RS in 2018 if demands related to the distribution of competences between the entities and the state are not met by 2017. Furthermore, the Declaration suggests that RS authorities might decide at a future point to regulate “by law which decisions made by the B&H authorities shall be applicable on the territory of the RS.” SNSD President Dodik reiterated publicly that if competencies which the SNSD alleges were usurped from the entity are not “returned” by 2017, then there would be an independence referendum in 2018. These actions have cast a shadow over positive efforts by political actors in B&H to advance economic and social reforms that would address the problems facing the country and potentially unlock further progress toward the European Union, following the entry into force of the SAA on 1 June. Under the authority vested in me, I use this report to once again make clear that the entities have no right to secede from B&H under the GFAP and that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of B&H are guaranteed by the GFAP, the B&H Constitution and international law. The signing and adoption of B&H’s written commitment to the EU integration process opened the way for the EU to take a decision for the SAA with B&H to enter into force on 1 June. The subsequent adoption of the reform agenda by State and Entity authorities and the delivery of concrete steps, such the Federation’s adoption of a new Labor Law, offer hope that the authorities may finally start to focus on delivering the reforms that would enable B&H to apply for EU candidate country status and to unlock the activation of the NATO Membership Action Plan (MAP). As noted in previous reports, B&H needs to make a decisive break with the past by doing politics in a new way, one that puts the interests of citizens and the country as a whole first. Regarding NATO MAP, I warmly welcome the registration of defense property in the name of the state of B&H that has taken place in the Federation, and now look for similar progress to be made in the RS. It should be noted that the decision to send Bosnia and Herzegovina’s formal application for NATO MAP was taken unanimously by the Serb, Bosniak and Croat Members of the Presidency in 2010 and transmitted with the signature of the Presiding Serb Member of the Presidency coming from the SNSD party, stated the High Representative in his report. The reporting period also saw several security incidents that run the risk of having a wider impact on the situation in B&H. The shooting at a police station in Zvornik on 27 April, several attacks on returnees which appear to have been ethnically motivated, and the attack on Serbia’s Prime Minister at the twentieth anniversary commemoration for the genocide committed in Srebrenica, confirmed the potential for security incidents to occur at any time. The rise in such security incidents is something the international community should be concerned about.

 

The conference in Srebrenica: Vucic laid flowers at Potocari (Nezavisne)

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic on Wednesday laid flowers and paid respects to the Srebrenica victims at the memorial center Potocari in Srebrenica. Vucic led a Serbian delegation that paid respect to the victims, along with Srebrenica Mayor Camil Durakovic, B&H Presidency member Bakir Izetbegovic and chair of the B&H Council of Ministers Denis Zvizdic. The ceremony passed without incidents. Potocari was peaceful, with strong security measures in place.  The Serbian Prime Minister, accompanied also by the RS President Milorad Dodik, will attend a regional investment summit in Srebrenica. Ahead of his trip today, Vucic announced that Serbia would make a large money donation to this municipality. “We have shown our position by bowing in front of the innocent Srebrenica victims, and I believe a clear signal will be what Serbia is ready to do here. Beside respecting the past and understanding what happened, we are looking at the future with optimism,” Vucic said in front of the Srebrenica Culture House, where the conference is held.   The investment summit today was also attended by representatives of all institutions and entities of B&H, and invitees from the social-political life. Montenegrin Deputy Prime Minister, envoys of the Slovenian President, and invitees from Croatia also arrived to Srebrenica.

 

Dodik: I do not see progress that Commissioner Hahn is talking about (RTRS)

The RS President Milorad Dodik cannot see progress of B&H on the reform path, as the European Commission concluded in its report. Dodik claims that Europe wants to shape B&H the way which is the best for Europe, by using the European path of B&H. While the European Commission concluded that B&H is back on the European path, especially by adopting the Reform Agenda, the RS President stated that this evaluation can only be measured on the adoption of those measures. Dodik stated that he does not see the progress, and that he regrets that B&H is not allowed to conduct activities in the monetary field while, according to him, money for launching economy is being printed in Europe. “When you take into account and look at that famously-called story – the Agenda – you will see that almost all those measures have been listed in the Economic policy of RS for this year. However, a number of other measures remains, and those measures were not undertaken because somebody from the international community, with participation of Europe as well, did not want that to happen, such as the monetary policy field”, Dodik claims, stating that the launching of any monetary activities is being disabled for B&H.

 

Kojic: Strategy’s main objective will not be honored (Srna)

The Head of the Research Center of War, War Crimes and Tracing Missing Persons Milorad Kojic expressed his concern that the main objective of the Strategy for work on the most complex cases of war crimes in B&H will not be honored within a given period of time, until this year’s end. “After the given period expires, it is necessary to analyze what the B&H Prosecutor’s Office has done in connection with the most complex cases of war crimes and to determine the responsibility of those who failed to comply with the implementation of this strategic goal,” Kojic told Srna. He noted that it happens in practice that they leave it to time to do its job in order to make war crimes perpetrators and witnesses disappear biologically, therefore to close the cases and to clear the highly ranked Bosniak and Croat war officials of the responsibility. Kojic pointed out that not even one complex case of war crimes against Serbs has been processed in B&H, which is within the exclusive jurisdiction of the B&H Prosecutor’s Office and the B&H Court. “A form of misuse appeared in the work of the B&H Prosecutor’s Office, because it splits the most complex cases into the less complex ones clearing the highest ranking political, military and police officials of the former Army of B&H and HVO of responsibility,” said Kojic. According to him, by splitting the cases into less complex ones we are at the position that the cooks and guards are prosecuted for war crimes against Serbs, while the commanders of the prisoner-of-war camps appear as witnesses in the court proceedings, instead of vice-versa.  Kojic recalled that the Strategy for Processing of War Crimes was adopted in 2008 in B&H, whose main strategic objective is the processing of the most complex war crimes cases within seven years and less complex war crimes within 15 years. He said that the Structured Dialogue on judicial reform in B&H should give answers to these questions, and that the recommendations from this dialogue are to be implemented. “It is obvious that the people in charge of the Prosecutor’s Office believe that non-implementation of the recommendations from the Structured Dialogue does not entail any liability and therefore fail to implement them,” said Kojic. He said that the RS did warn through the Structured Dialogue about failing to process the most complex cases of war crimes against Serbs in the given time period, as well as problems concerning the transfer of war crime cases from the entity to B&H level and vice versa. “It is obvious that there was no interest in solving parallel investigations related issue. We had a situation that the same case about the same crime against the same persons is processed before both entity Prosecutor’s Office and the B&H Prosecutor’s Office, which certainly does not contribute to speeding up of the process,” said Kojic. He believes that the Structured Dialogue on judicial reform in B&H will deal with these issues, given the deadline of the Strategy’s validity and how to set new deadlines. “I personally think that new deadlines should not be set unless responsibility of those who failed to implement strategic objectives is determined,” Kojic pointed out.

 

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

 

Kosovo freezes EU-brokered deal with Serbia (EUobserver, by Peter Teffer, 11 November 2015)

Kosovo's Constitutional Court on Tuesday (10 November) suspended implementation an EU-brokered deal that gives more autonomy for municipalities with a majority Serbian population.

The verdict came just as the European Commission presented a progress report in which it praised the deal as a “key agreement.” Kosovo and Serbia finalised the pact in August, as part of efforts to “normalise relations,” something which Brussels requires them to do if they want to become EU members. The deal would grant the “Association/Community of Serb majority municipalities in Kosovo," or "ASM", the status of a legal entity, and provide the possibility for Serbia to fund them. However, it was heavily criticised by street protesters in Pristina as well as by opposition parties - with tear-gas bombs fired in parliament last month. Following the unrest, Kosovo president Atifete Jahjaga decided to ask the constitutional court whether the agreement is in line with Kosovo's seven-year old charter. The court on Tuesday said that, pending its assessment of the pact, its implementation should be suspended “in order to protect the public interest”. The suspension is valid until 12 January 2016, it said. News agency Reuters quoted Serbian foreign minister Ivica Dacic as calling the verdict a “threat to regional stability.” “Pristina is mocking both the international community and the European Union,” Dacic said.

The decision was reached the very same day EU enlargement commissioner Johannes Hahn presented a progress report, in which the commission praised the deal. “Kosovo has demonstrated its commitment to the normalisation of relations with Serbia by reaching a number of key agreements in August,” the 2015 Kosovo report says. The Serb-majority municipalities deal was one of four agreements reached that month. The European Commission was not available for a comment on Wednesday morning. Just two weeks ago, Kosovo also signed a Stabilisation and Association Agreement with the EU, a political and trade treaty which is a precursor to EU membership. But the country is still qualified as a “potential candidate”, just like Bosnia. Serbia is already a “candidate country”, although this is no guarantee for a speedy inclusion in the bloc – Turkey has held the status since 1999. Kosovo is also still struggling for recognition as a state, since it broke away from Serbia in 2008. Five of the EU's 28 member states do not recognise Kosovo as a country, and earlier this week it failed to become a member of the United Nations' cultural heritage body, Unesco. One hundred and eight out of 193 United Nations countries, including the US, do recognise Kosovo as a sovereign state.

 

Bosnia, IMF fail to agree new loan deal, to resume talks (Reuters, by Daria Sito-Sucic, 10 November 2015)

SARAJEVO - Bosnia's talks with the International Monetary Fund on a new loan deal have failed to yield a deal agreeable to all of Bosnia's complex governing authorities and fresh negotiations are planned, Bosnia's Fiscal Council said on Tuesday. The IMF completed another round of talks on a new program for the ethnically divided Balkan country after previous talks collapsed in June when Bosnia's two autonomous regions failed to settle on a reform package.

The new loan facility would replace a 33-month IMF aid program worth around 630 million euros ($673.22 million) that expired in June. It had been frozen in September 2014 over delays in carrying out economic reforms. The Council, gathering in premiers and finance ministers of Bosnia's central and regional governments and the central bank governor, said the IMF was open to further negotiations but only after the various governments adopted their 2016 budgets.

The central government has already drafted its budget for the next year but the autonomous regions - the Bosniak-Croat Federation and Serb Republic - have yet to do so. Regional officials had additional comments on the Letter of Intent proposed by the IMF and the Fiscal Council asked them to submit the remarks by the end of the week so that they could be included in the final draft of the document. In a statement last month, the IMF Executive Board of Directors urged Bosnia to implement reforms to boost economic growth and secure external financing.

The reforms sought by the IMF are part of a wider program the European Union wants Bosnia to implement to further its bid to join the 28-nation bloc, particularly in the areas of social welfare, pensions and health funds. The Bosniak-Croat and Serb regions both need IMF cash to secure their financing needs. They are trying to secure loans from commercial lenders in the absence of IMF aid to cover budget gaps in 2015 of some 1 billion Bosnian marka ($547 million).

(Reporting by Daria Sito-Sucic; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

 

Bosnian Court Fears ‘Abolition Attempt’ by Serbs (BIRN, by Denis Dzidic, 11 November 2015)

The state court fears that a new Bosnian Serb reform proposal is aimed at abolishing the state-level judiciary, but Republika Srpska says it just wants to clarify the division of authority between the state and Bosnia’s entities.

A new draft law on state-level courts, proposed by the authorities in the Serb-dominated Republika Srpska entity as a part of reform plans with the European Union, is aimed at “overturning the structure, jurisdiction and even the existence of the Bosnian state court”, the state court in Sarajevo has warned. BIRN has seen copies of the draft law prepared by the Bosnian Serb justice ministry, as well as responses to it from the state court and EU experts. The most problematic issues in the draft are in connection to the jurisdiction of the state-level judiciary, especially in regard to taking over cases from Bosnia and Herzegovina’s two entities, as well as the election of judges and the location of the country’s future appeals court. In its comments, the Bosnian court claims that the Bosnian Serb entity has proposed the changes because it want to minimise the power of the Sarajevo judicial institution or abolish it altogether.

But the Republika Srpska justice ministry told BIRN that this was not true, and it only wants to “abolish the expanded jurisdiction under which the Bosnian court can take over cases opened according to entity laws”. European legal experts believe however that the Bosnian Serb proposal is unclear in regard to the issue of the jurisdiction of the Bosnian court. They suggest that the Republika Srpska justice ministry should clarify whether it wants the state court’s jurisdiction over entity cases totally quashed or transferred into a different law, such as the criminal code.

Appeals court row

Republika Srpska prepared the draft law on the state judiciary after a meeting in Brussels in September as part of the so-called ‘structured dialogue’ aimed at overhauling Bosnia's judiciary.

The meeting came after weeks of pressure from the Republika Srpska leadership, which has vowed to stage a referendum questioning the authority of Bosnia’s international supervisor, the Office of the High Representative as well as the powers of the state-level judiciary because of its alleged bias against Serbs, especially in war crimes cases. Within the structured dialogue meetings, Bosnia has agreed a significant reform which envisages the creation of an appeals court, by moving the appeals chamber of the Bosnian state court into a separate institution. However, the jurisdiction of the planned new court and the Bosnian state court remains a stumbling block. “The aim of the new law should only be to create the appeals court, which would mean that the current court is divided into two. However, the Republika Srpska proposal foresees a creation of two completely new courts, with organisations and jurisdiction which differ from the current ones,” the Bosnian court said in its comments. “It is as if the Bosnian court never existed,” it added. The Bosnian Serb justice ministry has told BIRN that these allegations are untrue, and that only the appeals chamber of the state court would be abolished. The state court also objects to the fact that the Republika Srpska proposal envisages the election of new judges for both the new appeals court and the state court itself. “The continuity of the work of our judges should not be brought into question,” the state court said. “The law should clearly define if there are reasons for the dismissal of judges. If there are not, then the judges currently employed in the first instance cases should remain Bosnian court judges, while appeals judges should be named as appeals court judges,” it added. The court also said that the issue of the election of judges and the timing of the introduction of the new law could have a strong bearing on current cases. It therefore proposed that either appeals judges finish the cases assigned to them before new cases are sent to the new appeals court or these judges automatically become appeals court judges. Republika Srpska has asked for the election of new judges because it wants both courts to have an equal number of judges from all three ‘constitutional peoples’ - in other words, the main three ethnic groups: Bosniaks, Croats and Serbs. The Bosnian court however said this was “discriminatory”. European Union experts also said that the election of judges should be based on professional and not ethnic reasons. “It is necessary to avoid jeopardising the public perception of the independence of each elected judge by enacting an election procedure which highlights ethnic background more than professional demands,” the EU experts said in their comments.

Case takeovers disputed

There are also opposing views on the location of the future appeals court. While Bosnian Serbs want the court to be in Banja Luka – the capital of Republika Srpska – the Bosnian court would prefer it to be in Sarajevo, near the state-level judicial institutions. However, the biggest stumbling block is the jurisdiction of the state-level judiciary, especially in regards to taking over cases from the entities’ courts and prosecutions. The Bosnian state court has jurisdiction over all criminal acts covered in the state-level criminal code, adopted in 2003. According to section 7 of the legislation, the institution can also demand that cases relating to criminal acts covered by the laws of entities be sent to state level if they undermine the sovereignty, territorial integrity or national security of the country. This ability to take over cases from the entity-level judiciaries has been strongly criticised by the Bosnian Serb leadership. The Bosnian court has said that the Bosnian Serbs’ propsed new law cuts out the jurisdiction altogether. But Republika Srpska justice minister Anton Kasipovic told BIRN that it was important to stop “the arbitrary taking-over of cases”. “The jurisdiction of each court should be clearly defined by law and cases cannot be arbitrarily taken, like the Bosnian court often does. So the idea here is not to abolish the Bosnian state court, but to remove some solutions form the current legal framework,” said Kasipovic. EU experts said however that Republika Srpska’s draft law would remove the state court’s jurisdiction over entity cases, although the agreement within the structured dialogue talks was only to clarify its jurisdiction, not end it completely. One option for a solution to the dispute would be to transfer jurisdiction to Bosnia’s criminal code, listing all the types of cases which can be taken over by the state court from the entities. But the state-level court expressed concern about this possibility, claiming the listing of all circumstances when cases can be taken over would “overburden the criminal code”. “The point of the jurisdiction now is that the Bosnian court can take cases if it thinks they can cause consequences for the country. In this sense, it is impossible to list all crimes which can cause such consequences. So it is clear that such an attempt would definitely result in the reducing of jurisdiction,” said the court. The court would prefer to keep the situation as it is, but to define specifically the situations in which it can take over cases from the entities. Kasipovic said however that the Republika Srpska draft law does not envisage any situation in which the state court could take over cases from the entities. “Our version does not recognise the expanded jurisdiction and taking over of cases from entity courts at all. This means that the Bosnian court can only have authority over cases under the state criminal code and other laws passed by the state level parliament,” he said. Because of these opposing views, it is unclear how the issue of jurisdiction will be resolved, but justice ministers from all levels in Bosnia have told the EU to expect an agreed proposal by the New Year.

 

Macedonia receives conditional recommendation to start EU accession talks (Xinhua, 10 November 2015)

SKOPJE -- The European Commission extended its recommendation that Macedonia start the accession negotiations for EU membership on Tuesday, but on the condition that the country fully implement the agreement signed by the political parties with the intent to end the political crisis. The Commission said the recommendation was made "in light of the progress made so far in the implementation of the June-July political agreement," as well as the understanding there be substantial progress made in the implementation of the urgent reform priorities. The Commission outlined it still had concerns about political interference in state institutions, such as the judiciary and the media, and the country's electoral process. "This issue shall be addressed again after the elections," stressed the Commission in its newest progress report and enlargement strategy paper published on Tuesday in Brussels. This is the seventh consecutive recommendation for Macedonia to open EU accession negotiations, but so far the European Council hasn't followed the Commission's recommendation and hasn't managed to reach a unanimous decision to start negotiations with the country. "This year was filled with many serious challenges. The country faced the most serious political crisis since 2001. I think that it is time to fully implement the political agreement in good faith and take upon urgent reform priorities," the EU Ambassador here, Aivo Orav, stated after the report was published. Orav presented the report to Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov. For Macedonian Foreign Affairs Minister Nikola Poposki, it is important the country uphold the recommendation to start the accession negotiations with the EU. The progress report for the Western Balkans "is a strong motive for us to continue all the engagement both in the area of the political dialogue and in the reforms. It is understandable that the full implementation of the political dialogue will be one of the conditions that the European Commission will monitor closely and it will determine any future evaluation," Poposki said on Tuesday in Brussels. The Macedonian opposition party, SDSM, also saw the need to follow the recommendation so as to reestablish trust in the country's political machine.