LOCAL PRESS

 

Djuric: Talks on IDs to continue (RTS)

The Head of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Marko Djuric has told the evening news of Radio and Television of Serbia (RTS) that talks on Serbian IDs issued in Kosovo and Metohija are underway and will continue. “The most important thing has been resolved – our IDs can be used normally and our citizens will be able to cross the administrative line. There are not many moments in this job when a series of concrete problems have been resolved,” said Djuric. He reiterated that Serbian politicians will be able to visit Kosovo and that vehicles transporting hazardous cargo will be able to enter Kosovo, which is, as he put it, the most important thing. “This was enabled at the intervention of the government and prime minister before international institutions. Problems that had been bothering the Serbs for weeks and months are not anymore the burden of our people,” noted Djuric. When it comes to the elections in Kosovo and Metohija, Djuric called citizens to turnout in high numbers and show the strength and unity of the Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija.He said the two sides had also agreed on the way Kosovo Serbs would vote in Sunday’s parliamentary elections. “An agreement has been reached to hold the elections following the 2014 model, with the presence of OSCE, which will guarantee that everything is legal and safe at polling stations”, said Djuric. 90 polling stations should be open for voting in Kosovo on Sunday.

 

Kocijancic: Talks on IDs to resume with EU facilitation (Tanjug/RTS/Beta)

Representatives of Belgrade and Pristina reached a deal allowing transport of dangerous goods over the administrative crossings from 25 April and visits by Serbian officials, while talks on the identity cards issue will continue with EU facilitation, Maja Kocijancic, spokeswoman for the EU foreign policy chief, said Wednesday. When it comes to the carriage of transport of dangerous goods that requires ADR certificates, the parties reached an agreement allowing unhindered passage of the goods that will apply from April 25, Kocijancic said in a release obtained by Tanjug. She said the two sides agreed on arrangements for official visits and their full implementation, facilitating visits and trips over official crossings. Kocijancic added that the two sides had also said that the visits of officials would be taking place with the aim of improving the spirit of normalization of relations in the context of the EU-brokered dialogue.
When it comes to the issue of Belgrade-issued identity documents, the sides agreed to resume talks on it with the mediation of the EU, which will set up a working group to tackle the issue soon, Kocijancic said.

 

Bojovic acquitted of war crimes charges (Tanjug)

The Appellate Court in Pristina acquitted former Serbian army General Milovan Bojovic of war crimes charges for lack of evidence in a trial that followed his arrest by the Kosovo police earlier in April. The prosecution failed to present evidence to prove claims against Bojovic, the Appelate Court said in the verdict explanation, Radio Television of Serbia reported, citing media outlets based in Pristina. The court also ordered the police to escort Bojovic to an administrative crossing between Kosovo and central Serbia. Bojovic was arrested at the Merdare crossing on 8 April.

 

Serbian Foreign Ministry delivers protest note to Croatia (B92)

The Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday handed a protest note to Croatia's Ambassador in Belgrade Gordan Markotic. The note concerns a statement made by Croatian Foreign Minister Miro Kovac, by which he "insulted and belittled Serbia," the ministry said. A statement issued today explained that Kovac recently described application of Serbia's laws as "a historical perversion" and implied that Serbia was "the state from which came the plans for the 1990s wars." The statement noted that such qualifications were inappropriate. The MFA further thinks that "abstaining from such appraisals in the future from the Croatian side would contribute to improving bilateral relations and good-neighborly cooperation," and adds: "We take this opportunity to point out to the almost daily nationalist outbursts and hate speech in the Republic of Croatia, which creates a sense of insecurity among the members of the Serb national minority - a direct consequence of the avoidance of the Republic of Croatia's competent organs to adequately sanction and publicly condemn such occurrences." Besides, the Serbian MFA expressed particular concern over the participation of Croatian singer Marko Perkovic aka Thompson in a religious forum organized for young people in a Catholic school in Croatia's town of Sibenik, where Perkovic delivered a lecture to elementary and high school students, "along with the songs'Cavoglava' and 'Jasenovac and Gradiska Stara', which glorify Ustashism and send threats to Serbs." The Ustashe regime referenced in the statement was in power in the WW2-era Nazi-allied Independent State of Croatia (NDH) entity. Jasenovac was one of NDH's extermination camps for Serbs, Jews, and Roma. The Croatian Ministry of Science, Education and Sport is yet to make any statement regarding the Sibenik incident. The Serbian MFA concluded that "Ambassador Markotic and representatives of the (Serbian) Ministry of Foreign Affairs agreed that, after the formation of a new government in Serbia, representatives of the two countries should meet more often in order to consider the open issues."

 

Elections to be monitored by 1,687 domestic and 196 foreign observers (Tanjug)

RIK Chairperson Dejan Djurdjevic says that 1,687 domestic and 196 foreign observers will monitor the upcoming elections. The observers will monitor the RIK work and the work of electoral committees, while the Center for Free Elections and Democracy (CeSID) will have 705 observers, the CRTA Association will have 509, the Association “Citizens on Guard” will have 462, Association “Academic Initiative Forum 10” will have nine observers for electoral committees in Novi Pazar, while the YUCOM Association of Lawyers for Human Rights will have two observers for monitoring the RIK work.

 

Number of polling stations reduced in Kosovo and Metohija over safety (RTS/Tanjug)

The republic Electoral Commission (RIK) has decided to reduce the number of locations for the polling stations, from 25 to 21, which was done for safety reasons. RIK Chairperson Dejan Djurdjevic told the 114^th session of RIK, that the safety situation in Kosovo and Metohija was unfavorable, that the risk for people at polling stations was high, and that the number of locations will be reduced and some addresses changed in order to keep things under control. “Now there will be more polling stations, around 10 at one locations, mostly schools,” said Djurdjevic, adding that the same number of voters remains, and that the voting will take place at 90 polling stations, only the number of locations is being reduced from 25 to 21.

 

Patriotic bloc of Kosovo and Metohija: Government preparing large electoral fraud in Kosovo and Metohija (New Serbian Political Thought)

The upcoming parliamentary elections in Kosovo and Metohija, organized according to the principle of the voting of the Serbs in the Diaspora, because they are not organized by RIK, but by the OSCE, are taking place in the spirit of preparation for a large electoral fraud by the SNS. The OSCE, as in 2014, doesn’t have enough capacity to organize fair and regular elections, and as such, serves only as a mask for the electoral fraud. There are numerous examples for this. RIK has reduced the number of polling stations from 25 to 21, allegedly for safety reasons, which is a lie. Namely, in 2004, when safety was much worse, there were 90 polling stations in Kosovo and Metohija. RIK is intentionally reducing the number of polling stations, because it favors the SNS, which possesses state resources and which is able to transport its voters, bearing in mind that at certain places they need to travel 70 kilometers in one direction. Also, with a smaller number of polling stations, electoral manipulation is conducted more easily. The patriotic coalition DSS-Dveri has been requesting from the OSCE for over a month to enable them observers in an expanded composition at polling stations, as well as during the counting of votes, bearing in mind that, as a non-parliamentary party, it doesn’t have the right to have members in the permanent composition. Unfortunately, the OSCE didn’t permit this. The experience from 2014 says that the fraud was conducted during the transport of electoral material from Kosovo and Metohija to Raska and Vranje, as well as during the handover and counting of votes. There are two important reasons why Aleksandar Vucic needs to steel votes in Kosovo and Metohija. The first one is that his rating is not as high as presented by public opinion polls, but half of that, so every vote is important. The second reason is that he thinks that with an electoral victory in Kosovo and Metohija he can wash down his national betrayal and transfer responsibility to the people, who “accepts” to be betrayed. The Patriotic bloc composed of Dveri and DSS will be informing, during the Sunday elections, the Serbian public and citizens, as well as OSCE representatives who are in charge of conducting elections, about all electoral manipulations, irregularities discovered in the course of voting.

 

Seselj: SNS to form coalition with DS, LDP-SDS-LSV (Tanjug)

The Serbian Radical Party (SRS) leader Vojislav Seselj is of the opinion that the SNS will form a coalition with the DS, LDP-SDS-LCV following elections, because there will be no one else. “The elections campaign ends today and, as we have predicted, these elections will bring a polarization between EU and pro-Russian political forces,” Seselj told a press conference in Belgrade.

 

REGIONAL PRESS

 

Bosniak political leaders do not have will to punish someone for the attempted lynch of Vucic (Srna)

Chairman of the SNSD Caucus in the House of Representatives of the B&H parliament, Stasa Kosarac, said that the session of the Independent Board in which the initiative to start disciplinary proceedings against Mirsad Vilic, the director of the Directorate for Coordination of Police Bodies, was not supported, represents a clear proof that the Bosniak political leaders do not have, nor have they ever had, the political will to punish someone after attempted lynch of Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic in Potocari.

 

Dodik: Arrangement with IMF in July (Srna)

The RS President Milorad Dodik has stated that the new credit arrangement with the IMF will be operational in July. “There has not been an arrangement with the IMF For three years, and we were discharging liabilities meanwhile. I expect the arrangement, that will help the budget liquidity, to be signed in June,” Dodik told reporters at the Jahorina Economic Forum. The RS President pointed out that the arrangements with the IMF do not make him happy, but help since they are objectively needed, thus the absence of the arrangements also affects the loans of the World Bank and the EU. When asked why the Credit Committee of the RS Investment - Development Bank was dismissed, President Dodik said the Committee was responsible and therefore dismissed. “The Credit Committee should be out of politics, respectively should present an independent structure,” said Dodik. According to him, many laws, that will enhance the business environment, have been improved in RS. “We should support local investors instead of calling them tycoons,” concluded Dodik.

 

Djukanovic: Montenegro is not entering NATO to prepare for war (Radio CG)

Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic stated that Montenegro was not joining NATO in order to prepare for war, but to endorse European values and benefit from it. The state's joining the North Atlantic Alliance is a strategic turning-point for Montenegro, Djukanovic estimated in an interview to Radio Montenegro. Djukanovic said that Montenegrin Parliament Speaker Ranko Krivokapic was defending his political position and the accompanying privileges “in a tragic and comical way”. According to Djukanovic, a part of the Montenegrin opposition does not want to reach an agreement with the authorities about the conditions for the holding of parliamentary elections because, as he explained, they were more comfortable in a situation where they would contest the results of elections, although they keep losing them due to the lack of political credibility. Commenting on announcements that the opposition Democratic Front would continue their street protests, aimed at forming a so-called transitional government, Djukanovic estimated that this coalition was operating from anti-state positions. “The Democratic Front wants to seize power from the street, without the election check,” Djukanovic said.

 

Trajko Veljanoski: No Constitutional possibility to reconvene parliament (Telegraf.mk)

“Each convening of a session of already dissolved Parliament would mean a serious breach of Macedonia's Constitution”, Speaker Trajko Veljanoski said on Wednesday. Earlier the opposition SDSM leader Zoran Zaev held a press conference at which he demanded for convening of the Parliament to postpone the elections, set for 5 June. Veljanoski quoted the Article 63, paragraph 6 of the Constitution, which reads 'the Assembly is dissolved when more than half of the total number of representatives vote for dissolution, saying that vast majority of MPs of the eight Parliament's composition have already voted for dissolving of the highest legislative body. Hence, any convening of a session with MPs who have already decided on own dissolution is completely counter to the country's Constitution, Veljanoski said.

 

Macedonia: SDSM leader will not attend the Vienna meeting if his conditions are not met (Telegraf.mk)

SDSM will not attend the meeting in Vienna initiated by the Euro-parliamentarians and EU Commissioner Johannes Hahn if President Gjorge Ivanov does not revoke his pardon decisions and if he does not call on Parliament to withdraw the decision for holding elections on 5 June, SDSM leader Zoran Zaev stated. "Macedonia must hold fair and democratic elections with a purged electoral roll, implemented media reforms and it must separate the party from the state. To gain back the people's trust in legislation and in a legal state, the Special Public Prosecutor's Office must be supported and allowed to function normally", Zaev said. When asked whether he deems that Vienna talks could pave the way for a new so-called Bucharest agreement for Macedonia, Zaev called the claims 'nonsense' by politicians on their way out. "Everything that the international community is doing is for the well-being of Macedonia", Zaev said. Asked whether SDSM would agree to and back the formation of an expert government to organize snap polls provided that its demands had been met and the party had been part of the Vienna talks, Zaev said SDSM was ‘open and constructive’. “It doesn’t matter how such a government will be called if the two conditions are met and ways for organizing free and democratic elections are discussed. The opposition returned to Parliament, it stopped releasing wiretapped recordings, so called bombs, and handed over the documents to the Special Public Prosecution – this is what has been implemented from the Przino Agreement and nothing else,” the SDSM leader stated. More and larger protests organized by civil organizations will be held across Macedonia, Zaev said urging the protests to be peaceful and non­violent.

 

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

 

Spotlight: Thousands of migrants stranded along Balkan route (Xinhua, by Liu Lihang, Biljana, 21 April 2016)

SKOPJE -- The European Union (EU) still hasn't found a definitive solution for the thousands of migrants from conflict zones in the Middle East and Africa who remain stuck along the closed Balkan route. This route leading from Turkey and Greece, through the Western Balkans towards Western Europe has been officially closed since February, but many still remain in the transitional border camps demanding to be allowed to continue their journey. In the Greek border camp of Idomeni, over 11,000 migrants still hope they will be granted permission to proceed toward Western Europe. Some of them are being turned back to camps in Greece but most of them remain in Idomeni, protesting almost every day and clashing with Greek police. "We are not leaving. We will stay here until the border opens and we can continue our journey to Germany. I won't go back. There is a war in my country," one migrant in Idomeni said. In a sign of protest, the migrants are blocking the international railway between Greece and Macedonia costing rail transport companies in the two neighboring countries millions of euros. "This situation has been blocking our work for the past month. The damages are highest in the railway transport of goods. We notified all international authorities that the migrant crisis at the moment is practically preventing the implementation of the main goal of the EU -- free movement of goods and people," the manager of Macedonian Railways-Transport Nikola Kostov company said to Xinhua in Skopje. On the other side of the border, in Macedonia, the number of migrants in the transition camp has not increased in the past month. Around 130 migrants remain in the camp without an option to continue their journey. An additional 1,000 migrants are in Tabanovce, at the border between Macedonia and Serbia. But the number of illegal border crossing attempts is increasing every day. Macedonian security forces suspect these attempts are often initiated by civil organizations for protection of human rights in Greece, but since these organizations are active in another country, they can't raise charges against them. "Macedonia is not a party of the agreement between EU and Turkey concerning the migrants so the ones that are already on our territory could not be returned to Turkey on the basis of the provisions in this agreement," the Macedonian interior ministry explained. "We have initiated finding a mutual solution for the faith of these people, a solution that will solve their status and will make them part of the agreement between EU and Turkey, but so far we haven't received a positive response," the Macedonian interior ministry said. The situation of these migrants is additionally complicated by the fact bilateral cooperation between Macedonia and Greece is poor because of the unsolved name dispute between the two countries. Moreover, during the last clashes between the migrants and the Macedonian police, Skopje authorities blamed Athens for not taking measures to prevent the migrants in Idomeni from getting to the border and the Greek officials blamed Macedonian security forces for using force in the border area. All these issues are expected to come up at a two-day ministerial meeting among the ministers of foreign and internal affairs of Greece, Macedonia, Bulgaria and Albania to be held on Thursday and Friday in Thessaloniki, north of Greece. Meanwhile, EU politicians are firm in their resolution that the Balkan route has to remain closed. Austria's President Heinz Fischer in an interview for the Macedonian Information Agency (MIA) on Wednesday insisted that the Balkan route must not open. "This road leading from Turkey and Greece straight to Germany, which was used by hundreds of thousands of people, is completely unacceptable," he said. This view is shared by many EU officials. An official in Brussels signaled that Macedonia should consider giving asylum to the migrants stranded on its territory. "The persons that have the right to international protection should get asylum in Macedonia and the country should ensure they have conditions for decent life," said Natasha Bertaud, spokesperson for the EU Commissioner for migration and internal affairs. Only a few of the migrants who reached Macedonia chose to apply for asylum in the small Balkan country. Most of them see their future life only in Western Europe. Statistics show the burden caused to EU countries by the huge migrant wave that started in 2015. The 28 member states of the EU granted protection status to 333,350 asylum seekers in 2015, during the worst migrant crisis on European soil, which is an increase of 72 percent compared with 2014, EU's statistical office Eurostat reported on Wednesday. "Since 2008, a total of nearly 1.1 million asylum seekers have been granted protection status in the EU. ," stated Eurostat. But for the small and weak Balkan economies, such as Macedonia's, the burden is even harder to take.

"If we continue to spend as we do now, by the end of this year we will spend almost eight percent of our total national budget alone on security forces deployed at the border, their accommodation and fuel. This is an enormous expense for us," Macedonian defense minister Zoran Jolevski explained. So far, Macedonia has seen more praise than financial aid from the EU for its role in the migrant crisis. The EU's border management service Frontex on Tuesday confirmed the Macedonian security forces securing the border with Greece were responsible for the reduced number of migrants reaching the EU in the past months. Frontex attributed the drop to Macedonia's decision to significantly reduce the number of migrants it allowed to enter from Greece.

Editor: Mu Xuequan

 

* * *

 

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.