LOCAL PRESS

 

Nikolic: Solution to migrant crisis in Brussels (RTS/Beta/Tanjug)

After a working dinner of Western Balkan leaders in Brussels, devoted to the migrant crisis, Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic has stated that the solution is not in Belgrade or Zagreb, but in Brussels. “We expect everyone to be correct towards us, just as we are to others, and to find out on time when the migrants will not be able to continue from Serbia, since this is very important, and we will certainly not be the first ones to close borders,” said Nikolic. He says that Austria and Slovenia have been announcing the closing of borders for migrants and that the Slovenian Prime Minister announced this would be done within two days. Nikolic said Juncker opposed this, saying that the EU didn’t want to isolate Greece.

 

Cooperation between Serbia and the RS as an incentive for the entire B&H (RTS)

The Western Balkan countries should seek common interests and reduce the risks of instability. The cooperation between the Republika Srpska (RS) and Serbia should be an incentive for the whole Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) to further cooperate with the rest of the region. Serbian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said that the Serbia’s response to the conflicting positions in B&H is a commitment for solutions that are the result of consensus, not the ones which are imposed on entities. Dacic pointed out that in B&H there are three key factors of instability: the different tendencies of the three constituent peoples, the interests of the great powers for revision of the Dayton agreement and attempts to revise history. If we’re talking in the context of the Western Balkans, Serbian Foreign Minister said, the attention should be paid to the aspirations for a constitutional revision in B&H, the development of relations between Belgrade and Pristina, monitoring of the situation in Macedonia and the prevention of the development of extremism in the region. Dacic also said that great powers always had their own interests when it comes to Western Balkans, but pointed out that regional countries should solve all the problems themselves, without interference from outside.

 

Migrants who return from EU cannot stay in Serbia (Beta)

Serbia has an agreement with the countries in the region to return the economic migrants, who have not been received by the EU states, to the countries they came from, Serbian Interior Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic said. “The EU states, primarily Germany and Austria, and then Slovenia and Croatia adopted certain regulations and they are not receiving economic migrants anymore. Not a single of these migrants remained in Serbia and there is no fear that Serbia would be an assembly center and that the migrants will stay in it permanently,” Stefanovic said.

 

Dacic: I expect nothing good from Thaqi’s election (Danas)

Following a possible election of Hashim Thaqi for Kosovo President, I expect nothing good from Belgrade-Pristina relations, Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic told Danas. Asked why he didn’t expect anything good in Belgrade-Pristina relations, Dacic explains that the reason for this is that political chaos in Kosovo is an excuse for Pristina for not fulfilling obligations assumed with the signing of the Brussels agreement. “This will continue,” said Dacic, pointing out that the EU should exert pressure on Pristina to fulfill assumed obligations, but it is not doing this.

 

Drecun: NATO unavoidable factor of collective security (Beta)

Serbian Progressive Party MP Milovan Drecun said on Feb. 17 that NATO was an unavoidable factor of collective stability in Europe and that Serbia remaining outside this cooperation would threaten its safety. “We expect NATO, first of all, to protect the Serbs in Kosovo, because we see that EULEX has neither the capacity or the political will to do so,” Drecun told reporters in the Serbian parliament.

 

Petrovic: Thaqi is best solution for Kosovo President (TV N1)

Kosovo Assembly deputy speaker Slobodan Petrovic thinks that the election of Hashim Thaqi as the president would be the best solution in this situation, even though Belgrade charges the Kosovo Foreign Minister with war crimes and human organ trafficking. “Thaqi is the only presidential candidate proposed by the ruling coalition and he is the condition of this coalition. He is perhaps the best solution for this position considering the situation in Kosovo. If he is not elected, then we will have elections, and the question is whether they will change anything. New elections would certain make process in Kosovo more complicated,” explains Petrovic. He says that Thaqi has been the Kosovo Prime Minister twice and that he has done a great deal, and that around 50 million Euros has been invested into the Serb community south of the Ibar River over the past seven years. “The issue of human organ trafficking and war crimes charges should be left for some other institutions,” he says. Petrovic says that frequent attacks on the Serbs are a consequence of the crisis in Kosovo that has existed since the establishment of this Kosovo government. “Perpetrators have not been found and there is no justification for this. There must be an end to this, because if perpetrators of the attacks against Serbs are not found then the question is what is next,” says Petrovic. Despite the attacks on people and property, Petrovic says the life of Serbs south of the Ibar has changed for the better in terms of the economy and security. “It has been never easy to be a Serb in Kosovo. Nobody, not only the Serbs, lives well in Kosovo today. Life south of the Ibar is far from what we would like it to be, but it changed towards progress,” said Petrovic. According to him, the presence of the international community in Kosovo is one of the biggest guarantors of security, while KFOR members have the biggest support of the Serbs. When it comes to the verdict to Oliver Ivanovic, Petrovic says the Serbs were shocked since they expected his acquittal. “We expect the second instance organ to annul this verdict and declare Ivanovic innocent. The verdict does not contribute to calming tensions that are high even now when it comes to this process,” says Petrovic.

 

KLA terrorists receive 15 years in prison (Politika)

The Higher Court in Nis has sentenced seven members of the so-called KLA to 15 years each in prison for armed attacks on members of the Yugoslav Army at the end of summer and beginning of fall of 1998. These terrorists were tried in absentia, while in the repeated court trial they were tried in Nis, as well as in the Higher Court in Kosovska Mitrovica four and a half years ago. The KLA members were declared guilty and they were sentenced to a single sentence of 15 years each in prison. The convicted are Shicer Maloku (1967) from Junik near Decani, Xhager Gashi (1970) from Donja Krusica near Suva Reka, Demush Gazaferi (1972) from Junik, Demaj Maloku (1978) from Djocaj near Decani, Agron Isufi (1971) from Stimlje, Anton Chuni (1967) from Djakovica and Ali Rabit (1955) from Crnotica near Presevo. The rationale of the judgment states that it was conclusively determined that these terrorists, with some 30 members of the “Kobra” group, planted twice in one day in September 1998 anti-tank mines and ambushed members of the Yugoslav army at the Yugoslav-Albanian border, between the “Maja coban” and “Morina” watchtowers.

 

EU to close borders for refugees on 1 March (Danas)

The EU will close borders on 1 March for refugees from the war zones of the Near East countries, Danas learns from sources in Brussels close to the European Commission. The closing of borders will be implemented gradually, first for the refugees from Iraq, then Afghanistan and finally Syria. “Demonstration exercises of the process of the complete closure of borders have been already unfolding between Slovenia and Croatia, and between Serbia and Macedonia,” Danas quotes its sources.

 

Scott: I am glad to see cooperation with NATO becoming closer (Beta)

The newly appointed U.S. Ambassador to Serbia Kyle Scott has told Beta in an interview that he was absolutely convinced that Serbia was resolute in continuing on its European course, and that the U.S. would do everything to support it on that path.I am glad to see cooperation with NATO becoming closer, and I believe that cooperation would help Serbia in strengthening its own military capability, becoming a pillar of stability in the region and having a more efficient role in international peace operations in the world, he stated.Speaking about Kosovo, Scott recalled that the U.S. and Serbia had different stances regarding the recognition of independence, emphasizing that it was now of crucial importance to focus on the normalization of relations between Belgrade and Pristina. Scott said that it was a step by step process, in order to help the people on both sides to be able to raise a family in a safer manner, to travel freely and do business without unnecessary barriers and to actually live a normal life even with disagreement on the status of Kosovo. As one of the priorities during his term of office in Belgrade, Scott said that it would be support and cooperation with civil sector and the media; he also welcomed the support given by the Serbian government to the territorial integrity and sovereignty of B&H and praised Serbia’s attitude towards the migrants. The U.S. ambassador also assessed the case of the Bytyqi brothers - the U.S. citizens of Albanian origin who were killed during the conflict in Kosovo - was “certainly a painful issue” that would continue to burden relations between Serbia and the United States until it was resolved.

 

PUPS leaves SPS; Dacic believes this will not weaken SPS (Tanjug/B92)

The presidency of the Party of United Pensioners of Serbia (PUPS) has unilaterally decided to leave the coalition with the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) and to address Prime Minister Vucic in order to commence talks on possible pre-election agreement with the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS).SPS leader Ivica Dacic has been notified about this decision, the PUPS said, adding that if no agreement is reached with the SNS, they would go to the early election alone.
A PUPS statement said that they believe the best way to achieve the party’s goals, above all to protect the position of pensioners, will be to directly harmonize our future activities with the political mission of Vucic.

Foreign Minister Dacic has stated that everyone has the right to decide how it wished to participate in the elections and claims that the departure of PUPS from the coalition and their approaching the SNS will not weaken the SPS. “Everyone has the right to decide as they wish. We cannot accept that someone on the list has more than in reality,” Dacic told journalists. He also says that the PUPS hasn’t informed him about the decision, but that they announced they would talk with the SNS.

 

REGIONAL PRESS

 

Radoncic released from custody, prohibiting measures imposed (Srna)

The B&H Court has not accepted the proposal of the State Prosecution, which requested extension of custody of Fahrudin Radoncic, who is suspected of obstruction of justice, and replaced it with a house arrest measure. Party for Better Future of B&H (SBB) leader Fahrudin Radoncic said on Wednesday after having been released from detention that the provocation caused by his arrest will not destabilize the SBB-SDA coalition. Meanwhile the B&H Constitutional Court dismissed as ungrounded the appeal by Bakir Dautbasic and Bilsena Sahman submitted against the B&H Court decision to remand them in custody regarding the right to freedom and security and regarding the ban on breaching the right to presumption of innocence in the scope of the right to fair trial.

 

Radoncic: Provocation of my arrest have not destabilized very strong Bosniak coalition (Nezavisne)

After he was released from the custody, the President of SBB and former Minister of Security Fahrudin Radoncic in front of the Court told reporters that “a provocation of his arrest will not destabilize the coalition of SBB and SDA”. “The coalition is stable. Provocation of my arrest have not destabilized very strong and necessary Bosniak coalition that is in the interest of the entire B&H, not only this nation,” stated Radoncic. Asked who is framing him, Radoncic said that there will be time to discuss about that. “You know very well if you are prone to criminal activity, if someone is framing you to put pressure on the irrelevant or unknown witnesses, you know very well how it is called,” said Radoncic in front of the Court. He said that he had not read the full text of the decision of the Court on termination of his custody yet and that it is not on him to comment it. “My team of lawyers will deal with that. I need to devote myself to strengthening of the coalition, construction, employment and my job. Let’s have everyone doing their job,” said Radoncic. To recall, former Minister of Security and the President of SBB Fahrudin Radoncic yesterday was released from custody after the Court of B&H ordered measures of house arrest for him.​

 

Abu Hamza released from immigration center (Srna)

A long-time prisoner at the Immigration Centre in Istocno Sarajevo, a Syrian national Imad al-Husin, AKA Abu Hamza, was released at 8.00 am on Thursday with lenient restriction measures, Director of the Service for Foreigners’ Affairs of B&H Slobodan Ujic told Srna. Ujic has pointed out that the new Aliens Act, which entered into force, stipulates that a supervision measure cannot last longer than 180 days in the Immigration Centre, thus lenient supervision measures have been imposed against this person. He has stressed the supervision measures against Imad al-Husin refer to the Sarajevo Canton, except the Municipality of Trnovo. He must report to the Ilidza Police Department and the Service for Foreigners’ Affairs - Sarajevo Field Office. “In case he disobeys the provisions of lenient measures, he may be placed again at the Immigration Centre,” said Ujic. When it comes to the deportation of Abu Hamza to Syria, whose citizen he is, Ujic says that this person is still interesting in terms of security, but his deportation is not possible because of the war in Syria. “A third country is what we have been seeking for him. He is issued with the expulsion decision and if the third country is found, he will be deported,” said Ujic. Abu Hamza was under supervision in the Immigration Centre since 2008, since he was found to be a threat to the national security of B&H, thus the expulsion measure was imposed against him, to expel him from the territory of B&H with five-year-long entry ban.  Since there is possibility that his human rights could be threatened in his home country, the conditions to deport this person from B&H have not been created to this date. Abu Hamza is originally a Syrian national who moved to B&H in 1980’s. During the B&H war he was a member of "El Mujahidin" Unit. After the war, he was granted the B&H citizenship, but was arrested in 2008. He was deprived of freedom without any charges or a criminal offense committed, because B&H considers him a threat to national security.

 

Road to the EU (Faktor)

A large number of local officials, including the Chairman of the B&H Presidency Dragan Covic are publicly stating that they expect B&H to get the status of candidate next year. Considering the experience of the neighboring countries, and the internal organization of B&H, these expectations seem maybe too optimistic. Average waiting time between submission of the application and acquiring status of candidate for the countries in the region that have candidate status is 2 years. Macedonia had minimum waiting period of 21 months, from the 22nd of March 2004, when it submitted an application until the 16th of December 2005, when it acquired the status of candidate.Montenegro waited for 2 years, from the 15th of December 2008 to the 17th of December 2010. Serbia waited for slightly longer time, a total of 26 months. Serbia submitted the application for membership on the 22nd of December 2009, and acquired the status of candidate on the 1st of March 2012.Albania is outstanding from this average only because of internal political problems, and its waiting period for the status of candidate was 5 years. Albania submitted the application for membership on the 28th of April 2009, even before Serbia, but it received the candidate status on the 24th of June 2014.B&H, after the submission of the application for EU membership, is on the penultimate place in the Western Balkans by the degree of European integration. Behind B&H is only Kosovo, which signed a Stabilization and Association Agreement with the EU on the 27th of October 2015, and now is waiting for its ratification and entry into force. Montenegro went the furthest, and it has more than 20 opened membership negotiations, Turkey is also in advanced stage of the process, while Serbia opened the first 2 chapters out of 35 late last year. Macedonia is waiting from the 1st of October 2009, although the European Commission proposed the start of negotiations on several occasions, because of the problems with Greece regarding the name, while Albania is in the stage of determining the beginning of negotiations.

 

Failure to adopt political agreement on Friday major setback for democracy in Montenegro (MNA)

Failure to adopt a political agreement on Friday would be a major setback for democracy in Montenegro, said the President of the Parliament Ranko Krivokapic. “The fact that leaders of the parties have gathered for the first time, that it is going on for three months, that the introduction to all this were riots in the streets, that the debate on the Government deepened the mistrust and that the political distrust in Montenegro is huge, leaves both options open,” said Krivokapic."The signing of the political agreement on building confidence in free and fair elections would be a great cornerstone for a new beginning in the political life of Montenegro", said Krivokapic. He said that Friday will be a very important day and that he expects everyone to think about it one more time.

 

Macedonian President, European Council Head and European Commission Chief discuss migrant crisis in Brussels (MIA)

Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov attended a meeting Wednesday evening in Brussels, convened by the President of the European Council Donald Tusk, set to cover the latest developments in the refugee crisis. The meeting was also attended by European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker, Prime Minister of Croatia Tihomir Oreskovic, Prime Minister of Slovenia Miro Cerar, and Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic. MIA correspondent from Brussels reports that the meeting was prompted by the growing calls on the part of the Visegrad group countries (Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic) to begin closing down the Balkan refugee route used by asylum seekers from the Middle East and Asia to reach core European Union countries. An estimated million people used the route in 2015, and similar, if not larger numbers are expected in 2016, which prompted countries such as Slovenia and Austria to call for the closure of the Macedonian ­ Greek border, with a heated debate erupting in Germany. Juncker and German Chancellor Angela Merkel recently said that Macedonia should not close down the border, a prospect that has caused panic in Greece with public alarm that the country could turn into a large refugee camp.The Office of President Ivanov informed that his position during the meeting will be that while other countries quarrel among themselves, it is important to propose practical solutions on how to help Europe with the problem it is faced with. Proposals President Ivanov discussed in recent meetings during the Munich Security Conference, and in London and Prague, ideas on how to approach the crisis. This included improving the crisis management capabilities, unified systems for registration of asylum seekers and closures and stricter enforcement of the external borders of the Union, while channeling and securing their flow once they reach the Balkan refugee route. This prompted Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico to note that Europe should listen more to the Macedonian proposals, adding that some European politicians have lost all touch with reality. Countries from Central Europe have provided Macedonia with police officers and material assistance to better control the flow of people coming in from Greece, and to be prepared to close the irregular crossing, if that day comes. Macedonia has said that it will close the border with Greece if faced with cascading closures coming down from destination countries, such as Austria which has indicated it will close the border after it reaches over 35.000 asylum seekers. “We will not allow one­sided solutions that will be detrimental to us,” President Ivanov said in Munich. Ivanov added that the crisis has shown Macedonia is a well-functioning country, prepared to face these types of challenges, evident in its early declaration of a crisis situation on the borders and the deployment of soldiers to help the police control the flow.

 

State Election Commission: Computer database checkup will take 2-3 days, followed by field inspections (Telegraph.mk)

We have enough time to revise the Electoral Roll, the State Election Commission (SEC) stated. They said that all the deadlines will be respected and that the parties should leave the SEC to do its job. The whole revision procedure should not last more than 20 days. The first step will be to cross check the databases which will be done by three IT companies that specialize in such matters. The data base checkup will last three to four days at the most. After that, field inspections will follow. April 24 elections depend on the electoral roll revision, and this was determined with the Przino Agreement. This was mentioned Tuesday by Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn, and by US and EU Ambassadors Jess Baily and Aivo Orav two weeks ago. They will come out with their assessment on Saturday, which will depend on whether the initial cross checkup of databases and field inspection commence. Aside from the Electoral Roll, an agreement on media related issues is expected by Friday, even though negotiations are at a standstill due to the opposing views of the Government and the opposition.

 

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

 

Kosovo PM: KLA Convictions are a Serbian Farce (BIRN, by Petrit Collaku, 18 February 2016)

Prime Minister Isa Mustafa said that a Serbian court’s decision to convict eight former Kosovo Liberation Army fighters of killing Yugoslav Army troops in September 1998 was a farce.

Mustafa said on Thursday that courts in Serbia have no right to judge Kosovo’s citizens and even less to try former KLA fighters who were involved in what he called a liberation war and respected the laws and customs of warfare. “The government of Republic of Kosovo will inform [its] international partners about this tendency and will ask them to put pressure on Serbia to stop such court farces and the pursuing of citizens of the Kosovo Republic under baseless charges [which are] totally outside international judicial standards,” Mustafa said during a government meeting. He added that Wednesday’s verdict convicting the eight former KLA fighters, which handed down by a court in the Serbian city of Nis, will not have any legal impact because Serbian courts does not have a jurisdiction over Kosovo citizens. “Kosovo is an independent country. For Serbia, the citizens of Republic of Kosovo are foreign citizens,” Mustafa said. The higher court in Nis on Wednesday found the former KLA members guilty of acts of terrorism for ambushing and killing Yugoslav Army troops in Kosare in Kosovo in September 1998. The former KLA men - Shiqer Maloku, Xhafer Gashi, Demush Gacaferi, Deme Maloku, Agron Isufi, Anton Cuni, Rabit Alija and Rrustem Berisha - were convicted in absentia and given prison sentences of 15 years each. The court’s decision was based on some video clips that showed the KLA ambush and the shooting of the Yugoslav Army soldiers, six of whom died. The indictment alleged that the KLA men first prepared an ambush for Yugoslav Army border troops by laying anti-tank mines. A Yugoslav Army tank detonated the mine, killing one soldier and wounding four others, and then the KLA fighters opened fire on an army helicopter that arrived to take away the casualties, the charges alleged. This was followed by a second attack shortly afterwards close to the Kosare border post, when the accused set another ambush and opened fire on a Yugoslav Army vehicle, throwing hand grenades and killing five soldiers and wounding two more, the prosecution claimed. The KLA fighters - who allegedly attacked from Albanian territory - then robbed the soldiers and targeted another helicopter that came to evacuate the wounded, according to the indictment.

 

European states deeply divided on refugee crisis before key summit (The Guardian, by Ian Traynor and Nicholas Watt, 18 February 2016)

Germany’s Angela Merkel is trying to salvage her open-door policy as a growing number of countries move to seal borders

Europe’s deep divide over immigration is to be laid bare at an EU summit in Brussels on Thursday, with German chancellor Angela Merkel struggling to salvage her open-door policy while a growing number of countries move to seal borders to newcomers along the Balkan routes. A debate on the migration crisis over dinner on Thursday evening will do little to resolve the differences, senior EU officials predict. Donald Tusk, the president of the European council, has avoided putting any new decisions on the agenda in an attempt to avoid fresh arguments.

The leaders of four anti-immigration eastern European countries met in Prague on Monday and demanded alternative EU policies by next month. Their plan amounts to exporting Hungary’s zero-immigration razor-wire model to the Balkans, sealing Macedonia’s border with northern Greece, and bottling up the vast numbers of refugees in Greece unless they are deported back to Turkey. Merkel had been due to lead a rival meeting of leaders of 10 countries on Thursday in an attempt to invigorate a pact with Turkey, but that has been called off following the bomb attack in Ankara on Wednesday. Merkel’s plan – trading money and refugee quotas for Ankara’s efforts to minimise the numbers crossing the Aegean to Greece – hinges on EU countries volunteering to take in quotas of refugees directly from Turkey. But even among her allies – a so-called coalition of the willing – support for the policy is fading. Austria has announced stiffer national border controls this week, saying on Wednesday that it would limit the number of migrants it let in to 3,200 a day from Friday. “We must apply the brakes step by step,” interior minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner told reporters. Vienna has also told Brussels and Balkan governments that it could close its borders within weeks. France, another member of the coalition, announced that it would not participate in any new quotas system. “You can’t have 20 [EU] countries refusing to take in refugees,” said a European commissioner. But senior officials in Brussels admit that there is now a solid majority of EU states opposing Merkel. In a pre-summit statement to parliament in Berlin on Wednesday, Merkel stoutly defended the policies that are under fire at home and across Europe. Despite the problems, she said, 90% of Germans continued to support taking in people fleeing war, terror and persecution. “I think that’s wonderful,” Merkel said. Her speech dwelt overwhelmingly on the faltering pact with Turkey, struck in November. Ahmet Davutoglu, the Turkish prime minister, was to attend the mini-summit in Brussels, but cancelled his trip on Wednesday following an apparent terror attack in Ankara. The issue at the EU summit, Merkel said, will be whether to press ahead with the Turkey pact or whether to concentrate on the closed scenario of more fences and quarantining Greece. Internal German government reports, according to the magazine Der Spiegel, predict a security and humanitarian emergency within days in Greece if it is cut off from the Schengen free-travel zone and refugees are stopped from continuing up the Balkans. Greece remains in the line of fire because of its inability or reluctance to secure the maritime border with Turkey. It has been given three months by Brussels to improve its performance or face possible temporary eviction from Schengen. The summit will warn Athens that failed or unregistered asylum-seekers entering Greece have to be returned immediately to Turkey. But Tusk, chairing the EU summit, spoke strongly on Tuesday against quarantining Greece. Germany, Austria and others have reimposed partial national border controls in the Schengen area and want to retain the option to extend that to two years in May. In order to do so, Brussels has to rule that Schengen’s external borders are inadequately secured, meaning that Greece will be the scapegoat. “There is no issue of isolating Greece,” said a senior EU official. “The external border is in Greece and will remain in Greece.” Several countries, including the eastern European states, believe and hope that Merkel’s pact with Turkey will fail and that by the spring, when the refugee flows are almost certain to rise, their arguments will prevail. “Relying simply on Turkey to deliver is not enough,” said a senior eastern European diplomat. “Macedonia cannot cope with the flux.” In a related development, the UK prime minister is to offer to send an official border force cutter vessel and maritime helicopters to join the Nato force that is being created to crack down on people smuggling in the eastern Mediterranean. Amid fears that the Russian attacks on the Syrian city of Aleppo could lead to an increase in the numbers of Syrians seeking refuge in Europe, David Cameron will tell EU leaders that the UK is prepared to increase its contribution to the monitoring of people traffickers. He will tell EU leaders in Brussels that Britain is prepared to deploy its existing cutter vessel in the Mediterranean and to send an extra one to join a Nato standing maritime group. Nato defence ministers discussed setting up the group, which is designed to focus on refugees crossing the Aegean from Turkey to Greece, at a meeting in Brussels last week. The plan is due to be adopted in the coming weeks. The prime minister will also signal that he is prepared to deploy Merlin helicopters to the mission, and to assign liaison officers from the National Crime Agency to work directly with Turkish border guards. Turkey is a member of Nato. The latest figures suggest that 2,000 refugees a day are arriving in Greece even during the winter months, with 60,000 arriving in January. More refugees arrived in the first four days of February than in the whole of the month last year.

 

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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.