LOCAL PRESS

 

Selakovic: Defence minister authorised for engagement of armed forces (Tanjug)

Serbian Justice Minister Nikola Selakovic announced after a meeting of the National Security Council that Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic had authorized the defense minister to put the Serbian Army on full alert if necessary in order to protect the citizens, the state and property from any external security challenges. He elaborated that this meant that, in the President’s absence, the defense minister can also take the decision on engagement of the armed forces in case that is necessary, should the police be unable to maintain law and order single-handedly.
The state authorities and the security services will have sufficient time, space and capacities to respond to any security challenge and protect the state system and the citizens, Selakovic told reporters.

 

Kosovo Assembly session interrupted (Tanjug)

The session of the Kosovo Assembly was interrupted after 2pm, after the opposition activated teargas. Tanjug’s correspondent reports that several hundreds of protestors are in front of the assembly building, surrounded by police cordons. Kosovo MPs discussed the presidential candidacies of Rafet Rama and Hashim Thaqi. The session is attended by Serb List MPs and two Kosovo ministers Ljubomir Maric and Dalibor Jevtic, and Kosovo Deputy Prime Minister Branimir Stojanovic. Early parliamentary elections will have to be called if the assembly fails to elect Kosovo’s new president by 6 March.

 

Stefanovic: Neighbors introduce quotas (TV Pink)

Serbia has received an official notification from the Croatian police that Croatia and Slovenia will not be taking in more than 500 migrants a day as of Friday, Serbian Interior Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic said. “Last night we received a notification from the Croatian police, which they had received from the Slovenian police, that Slovenia and Croatia will not be taking in more than 500 people a day,” he told TV Pink. There are slightly fewer than 2,000 migrants in Serbia at this time and only a small number of them have requested asylum. Even those who had requested asylum before did so to stay for a few days and get some rest to be able to move on,” he said, adding that the migrants’ goal is to reach Western European countries. “The key question is whether those countries want to take them in - if they do, that is an answer we must get,” he said.

 

Obradovic: Government to decide on ICTY order to arrest Seselj (Novosti)

Government of Serbia informed the ICTY that it would in the following several days discuss a proposal to forward a case against three members of the Serbian Radical Party (SRS), accused of contempt of court by ICTY, to the Higher Court in Belgrade for deciding on the matter, Novosti reports. Serbia’s legal representative Sasa Obradovic stated this in his regular report to ICTY on the measures taken by the Serbian government to meet Tribunal’s order to arrest Petar Jojic, Vjerica Radeta and Jova Ostojic. He also announced that Serbia would inform UN Security

Council about “the troubles caused by ICTY in this case, and the linked case against the indicted Vojislav Seselj”.

 

Zivkovic: Obviosly that opposition will not take part in elections on one list (Beta)

MP of the New Party (NS) Zoran Zivkovic has stated in the Serbian parliament that it is better for the opposition to take part in the elections on two lists. He notes that his party is ready to take part in elections individually or in some “natural coalition”.

 

REGIONAL PRESS

 

Another SIPA operation unannounced to the RS police (Srna)

Inspectors of the B&H State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) seized certain documents yesterday from Gradiska Municipality, the head of Gradiska Municipality, Zoran Latinovic, told Srna. The Republika Srpska (RS) Minister of Internal Affairs, Dragan Lukac, told Srna that the SIPA operation, which was conducted in Gradiska yesterday, was not announced to the RS police. Meanwhile, SIPA Director Perica Stanic told Srna that no documents were seized from Gradiska Municipality but that banking guarantees were recorded.

 

Imposition of first-instance verdicts for Karadzic and Seselj in March (Klix)

The following month will be of exceptional significance for the International Tribunal because two first-instance verdicts will be imposed – one in the procedure against Radovan Karadzic and the other in the procedure against Vojislav Seselj. This was stated by the President of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia Carmel Agius at yesterday’s seminar on the work of the International Tribunal in Hague. In front of more than 90 diplomats, Agius said that the work on other cases is being conducted at a pace which enables their timely completion. Speaking of his priorities and plans for the coming two years, Agius highlighted that the first and the most important is meeting the deadline for the closing of the International Tribunal until the end of 2017. Following this, Agius mentioned ensuring the efficiency of the procedures without compromising the fairness and quality of judicial proceedings and the consolidation of the image of the International Tribunal and the influence of its work. What Agius pointed out to be of crucial importance in the remaining two years is the continuation of International Tribunal’s commitment to the strengthening of peace and security at the territory of the former Yugoslavia, termination of impunity for perpetrators of international crimes, and prevention of the same crimes in the region. Agiius concluded that the Court conduction until its closing in 2017 must be executed in an efficient, professional and exemplary way.​

 

Albanian President Nishani finishes his visit to Sarajevo (Radio Sarajevo)

President of Albania Bujar Nishani stated in Sarajevo that he hopes that citizens of B&H and Albania, will be able one day to visit each other without the need to use passports, i.e. only to use identity cards. Chairman of B&H Presidency Dragan Covic said that the President of a country with which B&H wants to develop excellent relations in cultural, economic, and all other plans, visited our country. Covic introduced the President of Albania with the role of the tripartite Presidency and EU integration of B&H. “When it comes to foreign policy, we want to be in more than good relations with our neighbors,” said Covic, adding that our country will try to resolve all of the issues by itself. Nishani said that B&H and Albania have many common interests, and that the Euro-Atlantic integration is one of them. “Our relations are very good and we have no open issues. I used the opportunity today to give strong support for the sovereignty and integrity of B&H once again,” said Nishani. He emphasized that he got convinced in sincere friendly relations of B&H to Albania. At the end, he congratulated B&H authorities on the progress in the process of implementing reforms and approaching the EU.

 

Ambassador of New Zealand to B&H expressing hopes for further NATO integration of B&H (Novo vrijeme)

The Chairman of the B&H Presidency Dragan Covic received credentials of the newly appointed non-residing Ambassador of New Zealand to B&H with headquarters in Rome, Patrick John Rat. Bilateral relations between B&H and New Zealand are friendly and without open issues, followed by bilateral visits of highest levels, such as the visit by the Prime Minister of New Zealand John Key to B&H a year ago, it was stated at the beginning of the ceremony of the presentation of credentials. Although New Zealand is not a full member of Euro-Atlantic organizations, what has a strategic importance for B&H is the cooperation with New Zealand in certain aspects of Euro-Atlantic integration. In this regard, Covic informed Rat about current priority activities of B&H in terms of foreign policy and possible difficulties on that path. Rat said that New Zealand strongly supports B&H on its Euro-Atlantic path and congratulated Covic for the submission of application for membership in the EU, expressing the hope that further NATO integration of B&H will also start soon, after the expected activation of the Membership Action Plan at the NATO Summit in Warsaw in July this year. Covic and Rat believe that there are great possibilities of improvement of overall relations and cooperation and that additional efforts must be put in making relations in the field of economic cooperation and creation of partnerships more dynamic.

 

Interview with High Representative to B&H Valentin Inzko (EuroBlic)

EuroBlic: How do you comment on the decision of the RS President and SNSD leader Milorad Dodik on postponing the referendum on the work of the Court and Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H)? Has he done that under the pressure of the international community?

Valentin Inzko: I welcome the signals indicating the referendum has been put to one side. This is the right thing to do. What would be good to see now is for the RS Assembly to follow up on this so the referendum is definitively off the agenda. My views on this issue are well known: Republika Srpska (RS) can hold referenda on matters that fall within its competencies, which is also what the RS Law on Referendum states. However, the state judiciary and the powers of the High Representative do not fall into these categories and, therefore, such a referendum is not acceptable. These are the facts. Stating them loud and clear constitutes no pressure. Let us hope that, finally, everybody understands them. I am always the first one to argue that the judiciary, as one of the pillars of democracy, should be strengthened and improved at all levels. When it comes to the Court of B&H and the B&H Prosecutor’s Office, this should be done through state-level institutions and the structured dialogue.

EuroBlic: In the RS there have also been announcements of a referendum on the Republic Day, after the decision of the Constitutional Court of B&H. Will the OHR react in case of this referendum?

Valentin Inzko: I am fully aware that the decision of the Constitutional Court on the RS Day has been received with a lot of negative emotions in the RS. I understand that. This is not the first decision of the court which has not been welcomed by everyone. In fact one could point to numerous decisions by the Court which have gone against the political views of the parties in the Federation as well, including cases where the views of the RS have been upheld by the court. So I don’t except that the decisions of the court have a political bias, because the history of cases just does not demonstrate this. From the point of the Dayton Peace Agreement, which all sides have signed up to, the legal situation is clear. Dayton says explicitly that the decisions of the Constitutional Court are final and binding. Again I want to be clear. This is not the first decision of the Constitutional Court that has not been welcomed by everyone, and that is normal. This happens in every country. But the fact remains, as in every other country, that whether you like it or not, decisions of the Constitutional Court are the law of the land, and they must be respected. The Constitutional Court is a key pillar of the Dayton Framework and it needs to remain functional in order to uphold the Constitution which is in the interest of everyone in this country.

That said, a solution should be found that is acceptable to all of the communities, while keeping with the court’s decision, and a good start would be to begin consultations with other constituent peoples. I think this is definitely possible if there is good will on all sides to resolve this issue so that this country’s leaders can focus on concrete problems.

EuroBlic: Does B&H need the Law on Constitutional Court that foresees the departure of foreign judges from that institution?

Valentin Inzko: Again the legal situation here is quite clearly spelled out in Annex 4 Dayton, the Constitution. The B&H Parliamentary Assembly has the possibility, not an obligation, to pass a law regulating different methods of selecting international judges. They have not used this possibility to date. However, it is important to note that the law can only deal with the selection process and can only apply to the judges who will replace those currently serving once their mandate comes to an end at the age of 70. Also, the law cannot cover matters that are regulated by the Constitution or the Rules of the Court. Also, your readers should know that the establishment of the Constitutional Court and the appointment of foreign judges was accepted and consented to by the Serb side in Dayton. The international judges serving in the Constitutional Court of B&H continue to play an important role and they continue to have my full support, as does the B&H Constitutional Court.

EuroBlic: RS President Milorad Dodik claims that one day the RS will become independent. How realistic is that?

Valentin Inzko: Once again, I will stick to the facts: the Dayton Agreement does not foresee secession and the entities do not have the right to independence under the Peace Agreement. The situation is clear and we should instead focus on making the country work more effectively.

EuroBlic: Russia keeps having dissenting opinions when it comes to the key conclusions of the PIC. What is your comment on that?

Valentin Inzko: The truth is that sometimes we do not have the same opinions on how to resolve certain issues or move forward. The important thing, however, is that no matter how different our opinions sometimes may be, we share the same goal and have the same vision: a stable and prosperous BiH. I value very much the contribution that Russia has made through its engagement in the Peace Implementation Council. We all want B&H to succeed.

EuroBlic: Does B&H still need the High Representative?

Valentin Inzko: The plan of the international community has always been to take B&H to the point where it would no longer be necessary to have a High Representative. That plan has not changed, but we are not there yet. Apart for the fact that the clearly defined conditions for the OHR’s closure, known as the “5+2” agenda are not yet implemented, we keep seeing challenges to some of the fundamentals of the Peace Agreement. It is hard to expect that in such conditions, the only body relevant to make a final decision on the closure of OHR – the Peace Implementation Council – would in fact make such a decision.

EuroBlic: Is the application of BIH for the EU “credible” if the High Representative of the International Community is still active in it?

Valentin Inzko: The presence of the OHR in no way hinders B&H’s progress towards the EU. Submission of the application represents a historic step for this country and, as someone who firmly believes that B&H citizens deserve to be members of the EU family, I wholeheartedly support it. But we have to be realistic: this is only the first step in what will be a long journey, and the country will need all the help it can get. My Office will continue to facilitate progress, at the same time making sure that the Dayton Peace Agreement is fully respected.

EuroBlic: Representatives of authorities in the RS claim that the international community has a list of RS officials to be removed. Is that true, who is on that list and why?

Valentin Inzko: This cheap propaganda for the masses is not worthy of an answer, but I don’t want to be accessed of not answering the question so let me be clear: There is no list. In general I would encourage politicians not to try and portray themselves as victims because they are certainly not that.

EuroBlic: What is your comment on the claims of RS authorities that the representatives of the Alliance for Change are the “servants” of the OHR?

Valentin Inzko: Ridiculous, to put it mildly. It is a pity that so much energy and time is wasted on statements that are so groundless that they are ridiculous. You only need a bit of common sense to see that.

EuroBlic: You received thousands of postcards from the RS requesting you to leave B&H. How did you experience that personally?

Valentin Inzko: I firmly believe that everybody has a right to express their views and I do not mind being the target of criticism, even when it is in bad taste. However, this SNSD-paid exercise went one step further than that, targeting me and members of my family, and that has nothing to do with the work of the High Representative. Some of the postcards contained death threats against me and my family. That crosses a line as it would do for any parent.

EuroBlic: It was stated by your office that some of them contained death threats. Did you forward them to the competent institutions?

Valentin Inzko: Yes I did. The case is now with the relevant institutions. Whether it is against me or any other person, death threats are unacceptable and a very serious matter.​

 

Gruevski: People will decide at elections (MIA)

This is a time when the people decide at elections, and the most important thing is what kind of country it wants, and VMRO-DPMNE's strength lies in the people. The opposition is wrong to boycott the elections justifying it with excuses and bluffs, said leader of VMRO-DPMNE Nikola Gruevski, at the opening of the Political Academy of the party, organized in collaboration with Conrad Adenauer in Macedonia, and Institute Pavel Shatev. “True politics means wise decision and to create the perfect balance protecting the state interests, and VMRO-DPMNE has always managed to reach the balance, making citizens and the county”s interest priorities. The rational behavior, as well as protection of the national interests, is the codex of our conduct. Hence the democratic values are important to us, and there is no bigger democracy than letting the people decide and hearing its voice. That is the fundament of democracy, and to us, as VMRO the opinion of the people is the most important, its will, its viewpoints,” said VMRO-DPMNE leader. That is why holding the elections is very important, Gruevski said. “Our goals envision great steps and a lot of hard work. In fact, this is what our country needs. It is dealing with problems from the past and also many current issues caused by the reckless policies of our opponents,” said Gruevski noting that a lot of hard work was ahead in the coming period during which the country should exit the political crisis ‘imposed by SDSM.’

 

Nikola Poposki: Both Macedonia and NATO benefit from country’s Alliance membership (MIA)

Both Macedonia and NATO benefit from the membership of our country in the Alliance is the main conclusion from the discussion of Foreign Minister Nikola Poposki in the framework of the Conference on Security organized ahead of the NATO Summit in Warsaw, held on Thursday in Budapest. Minister Poposki stated that in terms of regional security, as well as on security risks associated with the current crisis over reception of migrants in Europe, postponing of decisions entails a price. “This price certainly bears Macedonia, but also the Alliance. Support for membership is still high, but the credibility of this process will obviously need to recover in the long term,” Minister Poposki said. He attended the conference at the invitation of Foreign Minister of Hungary Peter Szijjarto and the main speakers at the event were the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Slovakia Miroslav Lajcak and Ted Whiteside, Deputy Secretary General for Public Diplomacy of NATO.

 

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

 

Turkey’s 'Soft Power' Risks Backfiring in Balkans (BIRN, by Hamdi Fırat Büyük, 26 February 2016)

Turkey has long sought to strengthen its position in the Balkans through political, economic and cultural means, but the strategy has limits and is attracting growing criticism.

A high-level Turkish delegation, probably led by Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, is due to visit Bosnia in May to attend the re-opening in Banja Luka of the Ferhadija mosque.

The 16th-century mosque was one of the most infamous cultural casualties of the 1992-5 war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 1993, Bosnian Serb forces levelled the mosque, which, thanks to its stunning architecture, had been the first site in former Yugoslavia to be placed on UNESCO's world heritage list. The Turkish development agency TIKA, among other donors, has supported its meticulous reconstruction, which has taken years. Some see this charitable undertaking as part of a much wider Turkish plan to expand its political, economic and cultural clout in the Balkans.

Another recent example of Turkey’s hands-on approach in the Balkans occurred last December, when Davutoglu inaugurated the latest Yunus Emre Institute in the Serbian capital, Belgrade.

The event formed part of a historic visit to the city in which the Serbian and Turkish governments agreed to boost their mutual relations. The Yunus Emre Institute in Belgrade became the 12th branch of this Turkish cultural centre in the Balkans, reflecting a Turkish drive to export its culture, art and literature to Serbia - a country with a long history of difficult relations with Turkey, owing to memories of centuries of Ottoman Turkish rule. Turkey is seen as conducting a multi-dimensional foreign policy towards the Balkans that also focuses on the use of “soft power”. The Balkans has always been an important region to Turkey, reflecting bonds established by hundreds of years of Ottoman rule, which only ended in 1912-3. The length of this rule and the strength of the links vary from one Balkan country to the next, but are strongest in areas like Bosnia with a significant Muslim population. After the Ottomans lost control of the Balkans, large numbers of ethnic Turks and other Muslims migrated to Asia Minor. Thanks to the arrival of so many people of Balkan origin, Turkish leaders continued to see the Balkans as part of Turkey’s hinterland, at least in terms of foreign policy. Following the establishment of the modern Turkish Republic in 1922, this connection was not always realised in concrete activities because of Turkey’s limited capacities. However, the Balkan region has always occupied an important place in the discourse and hearts of Turkish leaders.

Turkey discovers its soft power:

Turkey began more actively following a multidimensional foreign policy in the Balkans in 2002, when the Justice and Development Party, the AKP, took power. It has largely been orchestrated by Davutoğlu himself, first in his capacity as the chief advisor and Foreign Minister and finally as Prime Minister. Soft power, according to the acknowledged father of the concept, Joseph Nye, essentially means an ability to shape the actions and preferences of others through appeal and attraction rather than force. In the last decade, the Turkish government has pursued this aim through the creation of various institutions, such as the Turkish Aid Agency, TIKA, Yunus Emre Institutes, universities and Turkish state-backed media outlets broadcasting in regional languages. The Balkans is a prime target for these institutions, and their capacities and budgets for Balkan projects are proportionally the highest. Guided by the “soft power” strategy and supported by ample funds, TIKA has renovated hundreds of historic monuments in the region, financed local projects and organized large events designed to reinforce and revive bonds with Turkey. According to Kosovo newspaper Zeri, in Kosovo alone, TIKA is renovating 30 religious sites and funding 20 new mosques. It is also behind the construction of mosques in Bucharest, Pristina and Tirana, which are expected to be the largest in each of those cities. The Yunus Emre Institute has opened 12 branches in various Balkan cities.  Backed by the popularity of Turkish TV shows throughout the region, they promote Turkish language, art and culture, offering courses and funding Turkish-language departments at local universities. On the media front, Turkey’s state-led news agency, Anadolu Agency, AA, has opened a Balkan branch in Sarajevo, which is publishing in Bosnian, Albanian and Macedonian and promotes Turkey in the Balkans. Turkish universities in the Balkans form another important part of the “soft power” strategy. The International University of Sarajevo and the International Balkan University in Skopje, both founded by the Turkish government, attract thousands of students and academics and present an opportunity for local students to study in Turkey. Another Turkish university will open in Tirana soon. The Turkish Presidency of Religious Affairs, the Diyanet, is another instrument of Turkey’s soft power. It offers religious education, theological guidance, direct financial assistance and even mediates in disputes between regional governments and local Muslim communities. In Montenegro, says the Turkish think-tank SETA, the Diyanet is the recognised mediator in potential disputes between the Muslim community and the government. In an action reminiscent of Ottoman practices, the Diyanet also ceremonially inaugurates the new heads of Bosnia's Islamic Community once they are elected. Turkey's cultural engagement in the Balkans is supported by economic action. In recent years, Turkey has made large investments, primarily in areas of strategic importance such as infrastructure, energy, telecommunications and banking.

Turkey’s Calik Holding owns Albania’s GSM operator, Eagle Mobile, while the state-owned bank, Halkbank, took control of Serbia's Cacanska Bank in March 2015. It already has 33 branches in Macedonia. The Turkish construction company Enka in consortium with Bechtel built the Merdare-Morina highway, a key connection between Kosovo and Albania. The Enka-Bechtel joint venture recently started construction of another major highway, between Kosovo and Macedonia. While the number of Turkish investments in the Balkans is not as large as some Turkish or Balkan decision makers might like, they are visible and function as another important agent of Turkey’s soft power in the region.

The other side of the coin:

Not all Turkish or regional officials see Turkey’s use of “soft power” as entirely positive, however. Some accuse Turkey of following a risky and polarizing foreign policy towards the Balkans.  TIKA has been accused of granting its funds primarily to Muslim communities or to other groups that have good standing with the ruing AKP. Some experts say that TIKA's reconstruction efforts focus almost exclusively on Islamic, Ottoman era monuments, ignoring requests for the reconstruction of other, non-Muslim religious monuments. US expert on Balkans, David Phillips,  accused Turkey of pursuing an overtly Islamic agenda in the Balkans in an extremely critical overview of Turkish foreign policy published in the Huffington Post in December 2015. He went so far as to claim that, perhaps even calumnious, through its “soft power”, Turkey was fuelling Islamism and religious radicalism in Kosovo. Additionally, Turkish leaders have also been criticized for working only with selected politicians in Balkan countries. For instance, Erdogan over the past few years has steadily strengthened relations with Bakir Izetbegovic, the Bosniak member of Bosnia's tripartite presidency and leader of the main Bosniak party, the Party of Democratic Action, SDA, mostly ignoring other Bosniak politicians. The AKP and Erdogan himself threw their full political and even financial support behind Izetbegovic’s 2014 bid to become the new leader of the SDA, and then again in the same year, when he ran for the Bosniak position on Bosnia's presidency. In both campaigns, Izetbegovic enjoyed the full support of Anadolu Agency's Balkans service. Various opponents, academics and researchers in both Turkey and Bosnia have condemned what they see as Ankara’s and the AKP’s blatant favouritism of Izetbegovic. According to these critics, this display of obvious support is risky for both countries because if one or other party loses power, it could have a major impact on relations between the two countries. Critics say Turkey is applying political favouritism in other parts of the Balkans. For example, it has offered full support to Hashim Thaci, the Foreign Minister of Kosovo, for his upcoming presidential bid. As a result, Thaci is often seen in Ankara, taking part in various official and unofficial visits and being received by Turkey’s top leaders. Turkish political influence takes other forms as well, especially regarding Muslim minorities in the Balkans, such as ethnic Turks in Bulgaria, ethnic Albanians in Macedonia or Bosniaks in Serbia’s Sandzak region. After the recent crisis erupted between Russia and Turkey, after Turkey downed a Russian military jet, Turkey pressured Bulgaria’s Turkish party, the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, MRF, the third largest party in the parliament, to side with Turkey. The MRF leader, Lyutvi Mestan, heeded this request and issued a statement in support of Turkey, drawing bitter criticism from Bulgarian society at large, including members of his own party. Mestan and his supporters were subsequently kicked out of the MRF by party's old leadership and have announced formation of a new party. Meanwhile, Turkey has banned his more Russophile predecessor, Ahmet Dogan, and other MRF party leaders, from entering Turkey. Turkish involvement in Bulgaria's internal politics has thus splintered the MRF, potentially damaging the chances of ethnic Turks and Muslims in Bulgaria's future elections, while relations between Turkey and Bulgaria’s Turks - as well as relations between the two countries – have suffered a blow. Turkey’s “soft power” strategy in the Balkans has also ignited regional and international debates about the rise of “Neo-Ottomanism” in the region. Some argue that Turkey is strengthening its presence in these areas in order to recreate a form of Ottoman hegemony – an unpopular concept especially in former Ottoman lands that today are dominated by Christian majorities, such as Serbia and Montenegro. Turkey's positive image has also taken a knock as a result of the Erdogan government’s authoritarianism and use of brute force to quell public protests so-called Gezi Park Protests that started in 2013. Turkish democracy appears increasingly restrained by authoritarian regulations, as illustrated by the government’s seizure of opposition media outlets in 2015. The watchdog organisation Freedom House has downgraded the state of Turkish media to “not free” already in its 2014 annual report. The formerly strong economy, the main cornerstone of Turkey’s soft power strategy, has also started to show signs of weakness. Economic growth has halved from an average GDP growth rate of 7 per cent from 2002 to 2007 to 3.2 per cent from 2008 to 2014.  The Turkish currency, the lira, has lost 40 per cent of its value against the US dollar since January 2013. These trends have decreased Turkey’s ability to invest abroad. Experts say Turkey’s more recent foreign policy manoeuvres are undermining the soft power strategy. According to them this does not mean that Turkish foreign policy in the Balkans is completely on the wrong track. AKP’s policy towards the Balkans is the most active in the history of the Republic of Turkey. However, some argue that Turkish foreign policy and Turkey’s soft power attract only certain groups rather than the region as a whole. While Turkey’s position in the Balkans, in particular among Muslims, remains strong, its recent internal economic and democratic shortcomings as well as misguided external policies seem to be limiting its ability to exercise its capacity to its fullest extent. If it wants to unleash its potential once again, Turkey must dress the wounds it has inflicted on its own democracy and economy - and seriously revise its foreign policy in the region.

Hamdi Firat Buyuk is a Researcher at the Ankara-based think-tank the International Strategic Research Organization, USAK, and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Turkish Weekly.

 

Increased police controls decided by Austria-coalition will worsen the crisis (New Europe, 26 February 2016)

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein heavily criticized the decisions taken by the Austrian anti-immigration coalition emphasizing that the measures are exacerbating “the chaos and misery all down the line.” The decision of Austria, Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia and Slovenia to increase police security at the borders, will worsen the refugee crisis UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said on February 25. The top United Nations human rights official urged the five countries that adopted the police measures, to “carefully recalibrate” the approach of their police forces. Zeid emphasized that the measures are exacerbating “the chaos and misery all down the line,” and especially in Greece, which is already overwhelmed. “Alarmingly, given the primary duty of the police to protect people, the agreement contains no measures aiming at protecting these extremely vulnerable women, children and men on the move – there is, for example, not even a mention of special measures to protect people who might be particularly at risk of human rights violations, including children, persons with disabilities, LGBT persons, older people, victims of torture or victims of gender-based violence or trafficking,” Zeid said in a statement. “Instead, the agreement appears to be solely concerned with applying stringent limitations of entry on people travelling along the so-called Balkan Land Route, and providing for the ‘controlled transfer of migrants,’ without sufficient safeguards,” he added. “This extraordinary agreement by police chiefs establishes a policy across five states that includes measures which seem to be incompatible with the human rights obligations of the countries concerned, all of which are bound by international human rights and refugee law,” the UN official said.

According to the UN, the latest reports suggest chain deportations are now taking place all the way down the Balkan land route, which includes Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia and FYROM, towards Greece.

Afghan refugees and document controls

The UN official also stressed that hundreds of Afghans were reportedly stranded for more than five days on the border between the FYROM and Serbia, and many other Afghans have been blocked from entering FYROM from Greece. Zeid also regretted the decision by the authorities not to allow the entry of any refugee in FYROM without the proper papers. The UN official said that that the lack of a valid document should never be a reason for refusing entry into an asylum procedure. “I understand the challenge facing the authorities in some European countries who are trying to cope with large numbers of migrants arriving on, or transiting, their territory, and efforts to improve the management of the situation would be very welcome indeed.” Zeid said.

Zeid also said the agreement by the five countries appears to authorize profiling people and limiting “entry on humanitarian grounds,” solely on the basis of their nationality and possession of identification documents, rather than on an individual assessment of whether or not they are in need of asylum or some other form of international protection of their human rights.

The agreement also establishes “extremely narrow criteria” for allowing entry – “fleeing war” – with no mention of “persecution,” which is the key criteria for recognizing refugees under the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol and related international law, the UN official stressed.