LOCAL PRESS

 

Putin, Vucic: Relations will develop positively (Beta/Tanjug/RTS)

 

Russian President Vladimir Putin had two additional questions for Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic after their meeting in the Kremlin on Monday. And these concerned politics, Vucic revealed. Vucic went before reporters after the meeting - but was summoned back to Putin’s cabinet for what he said were a couple more questions. “Putin had two more questions for me, but I can't talk about what. These two questions were of a political nature,” Vucic said.

When reporters asked whether the questions concerned Serbia’s upcoming presidential elections, he replied negatively. “No, President Putin unequivocally said everything regarding the elections in his introductory address, while this concerned the future policy, what and how we should do in the future,” said Vucic.

After the meeting, Vucic said it was only a question of weeks before the six Russian MiG-29s would arrive in Serbia and that he expects Putin to soon sign a decree to that effect. According to him, the only issue that remains is technical - whether the planes will be dissembled and transported, or fly over third countries on their way here. Vucic said he was pleased to hear from Putin that he personally approved everything in the domain of the military-technical cooperation, that was previously agreed on with Russian officials, and concerning to 30 armored vehicles, 30 T-72 tanks, and six MiG-29s. Asked whether the overhaul of the warplanes would be done in Russia or in Serbia, Vucic said that the Serbian center for overhaul and repair of helicopters was also mentioned - and that this topic was launched by the Russian President. Vucic then said that the modernization of some of the MiGs will be probably done in Serbia - for which we must prepare - while the rest will be done in Russia. This way, a number of planes will soon arrive in Serbia, he continued, followed by those that will be overhauled in Russia. Vucic pushed back on critics to say the MiGs were not rust buckets but rather best in the world in close-quarters combat, top-notch planes - while their modernization concerned radar systems, and air-to-air and air-to-surface missiles. “These are the things we need,” he said.

 

Djordjevic: Overhauling of MiGs to take place in Serbia (RTS)

 

Serbian Defense Minister Zoran Djordjevic has told the morning news of Radio and Television of Serbia (RTS) that Serbia’s interest is for the overhauling of MiG planes to take place in Belgrade. “The overhauling will take place in Serbia and the interest for several reasons. Firstly, for our people to be able to be present in ‘Moma Stanojlovic’ in order to be acquainted and participants in the overhauling, and secondly, over the possibility to take over all this in the future,” says Djordjevic. “But we are also taking care of security. The interest is for the army to be best equipped, to be able to protect its skies, territory and the plans are heading in a good direction,” he says. He says that the Russian are interested in coming here and opening a center for the modernization and overhauling of helicopters. “At first this will be a small, regional center that would become later one a large, modern regional center for entire South-East Europe,” said Djordjevic.

 

Kuburovic: No reason for France not to extradite Haradinaj (RTS/Beta)

 

There are no reasons for the French court to reject Serbia’s request for the extradition of one of the commanders of the Kosovo Liberation Army Ramush Haradinaj since all the required documentation has been delivered, and three days ago the answers to all additional questions were also sent, said the Minister of Justice Nela Kuburovic on Monday. According to her, that which had been disputed was the length of the punishment which could be passed considering that the previous criminal legislation foresaw 20 years in prison for crimes against humanity, while later that sanction was amended and there now exists a possibility of passing a sentence from 30 to 40 years in prison. The Serbian Ministry of Justice, on Friday, sent the answers to the additional questions to the court in the French town of Colmar. The answers to the questions were provided by the War Crimes Prosecution which is leading the case against Haradinaj on the suspicion of his having committed war crimes in Kosovo.

 

Djuric briefs Hellbach on Belgrade-Pristina dialogue (Tanjug)

 

The Head of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Marko Djuric on Monday met with Ambassador Christian Hellbach, the German Federal Foreign Office’s envoy for southeastern Europe. Djuric briefed Hellbach on the course of the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, the problems facing the Kosovo Serbs and the political situation in the province.

 

DJB calls OSCE to count votes in Kosovo (Tanjug)

 

The OSCE Mission in Serbia should enable and ensure the counting of votes at polling stations in Kosovo after the polls are closed in the presidential elections in order to ensure the integrity of the election process and eliminate the possibility of fraud, the campaign staff of the It’s Enough movement’s presidential candidate Sasa Radulovic said on Monday. Radulovic’s campaign staff also said that, if the voting material is transferred from Kosovo to Vranje and Raska, this mission will be a cover for electoral fraud. The movement voiced its belief that it would make contribution to severe erosion of the integrity of the electoral process, “and thus the collapse of the reputation of the OSCE.” RIK has made a decision that for “security reasons” the counting of votes at polling stations in Kosovo is not possible, so the bags with the ballot sheets, as in previous elections, will be transferred to the territory of central Serbia.

 

Seselj: OSCE manipulates with votes (Novosti)

 

The presidential candidate of the Serbian Radical Party (SRS) Vojislav Seselj voiced his belief that the irregularities in the presidential elections in Kosovo were possible, however, the government would not be accountable for that, but “the OSCE rules that allow that.” “It is stipulated that the OSCE takes over the boxes after the elections and transports them to Vranje and Raska. The ballots are counted over there after about 12 hours. You can imagine what could be illegally done with the boxes within these 12 hours,” Seselj said and added that there were irregularities in Kosovo in the last elections too. “Germany is pressing Vucic more and more to receive as large as possible number of refugees, and German agents are already looking for half-empty villages in Serbia where they could be settled,” Seselj said in a written statement.

 

Association of Families of Kidnapped, Killed Persons in Kosovo supports Vucic (Novosti)

 

The Association of Families of Kidnapped and Killed Persons in Kosovo called all the families of the kidnapped and killed civilians, soldiers and policemen, as well as all the exiled and refugees from the former SFRY, to vote for the candidate of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) and the ruling coalition Aleksandar Vucic and his “the only right policy” in the presidential elections on Sunday. Vucic “wholeheartedly wages the fight for the wholeness of

Serbia, national integrity and sovereignty, and the survival of the Serbs in Kosovo,” the association said in a release. “We will not let those who in the name of the state of Serbia in 2001-2002 period released 2.108 Albanian terrorists and criminals (...) to return [to power] again, and that way finish off families of the Serb victims. No country in the world would release the captured terrorists and criminals without requesting its kidnapped and captured citizens to be released and returned to their families in turn,” the release said.

 

Stamatovic would rebuild institutions as Serbia’s new president (Beta)

 

Serbia’s presidential hopeful Milan Stamatovic said that if elected Serbia’s new president he would do everything to re-establish governmental institutions, which he had described as devastated. “Today, Serbia’s institutions are either devastated or subordinate to a political party or one man. We need to free our institutions and make them stronger. If institutions are strong, the state is strong, too,” Stamatovic told Beta in a campaign interview. When asked about Serbia’s international position, Stamatovic said that the country should never join NATO, but rather seek allies in the East. “Our only way, our only chance and our future, lie in the East. There’s nothing for us in the West, because they have made their intentions quite clear [when they recognized Kosovo and bombed the former Yugoslavia...] We need to establish firm economic and military ties with Russia. We are unable to protect ourselves and boost national economy alone, and it is only with Russia’s partnership and military assistance that we can find a way out of the economic crisis,” said Stamatovic. Stamatovic also said that the Serbian troops should not take part in international peace missions, because national security is under threat. They should come back home and protect their own country against the neighbors that are threats to Serbia’s territory, the presidential contender said, naming Albania and Croatia as the states maintaining the territorial aspirations. “I have a platform consisting of four key points -nation, religion, culture and tradition. It is these four pillars that make a state stable. Without two, a state can hardly exist and perform its functions. This is what we need to put in place,” Stamatovic said.

 

REGIONAL PRESS

 

NATO might activate MAP even without registering of prospective military property to B&H (EuroBlic)

 

Sources of the daily claimed that there is a realistic possibility for the NATO to soften its requests and activate the Membership Action Plan (MAP) for B&H even if it doesn’t register all military property to the state. Such possibility could have been sensed during the latest visits of NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and President of NATO Parliamentary Assembly Paolo Alli. “Their official stance is that the official preconditions remain the same, which means that all immovable prospective military property should first be registered to B&H. However, they are aware that B&H will not make progress for years if everyone blindly adhere to those terms because Republika Srpska (RS) representatives maintain a firm stance that the property must be the ownership of the RS and given for use to the Ministry of Defense of B&H. Therefore, the information appeared that the stance of the NATO softened for the sake of mutual interests. They need the potential to expand in the Balkans and the activation of MAP would be some sort of a progress for B&H authorities with which they could brag”, sources noted. The daily stated that it is surprising to know that not even Bosniak personnel in B&H institutions no longer insist on registering the military property in the RS to B&H, but they are satisfied with registering of military property in the Federation of B&H alone. Sources noted that registering of some of property is also technically impossible because of lack of proper ownership documents and unsolved property-legal relations. “Apart from this, registering of locations in the RS to B&H would represent violation of the Dayton Peace Accords (DPA) because the RS would lose a part of territory which it got in 1995”, a source stated. The daily reminded that even B&H Presidency Chair Mladen Ivanic stated at the NATO seminar last week that the NATO should activate the MAP because B&H will not be able to fulfill terms in the next ten years. Minister of Defense of B&H Marina Pendes briefly stated that, as far as she is concerned, “the MAP should have been activated a long time ago”. “This is about flexible terms of NATO which do not depend only on us,” Pendes added.

 

Dodik: Bosniaks will never give up on attempts to abolish RS (Glas Srpske)

 

RS President Milorad Dodik said that SDA leader and Bosniak member of the Presidency of B&H Bakir Izetbegovic has only continued activities of his late father, Alija Izetbegovic. According to Dodik, Alija Izetbegovic said that he would sacrifice peace in exchange for independence of B&H, and all he had gotten was a bloody war and a country divided along ethnic lines. His son Bakir said that he would sacrifice stability in exchange for revision of the ruling in the case of B&H’s genocide lawsuit against Serbia. Dodik noted that the lawsuit was filed against Serbia, but the real goal was to destroy the RS and Serbs in B&H. According to Dodik, the lawsuit was filed by then Alija Izetbegovic’s legal advisor Francis Boyle, who admitted in an interview back in 2007 that the International Court of Justice’s ruling has to be used to “initiate request for abolition of the RS”. “We have to secure clear conclusion in The Hague that the RS was created on the basis of genocide in Srebrenica and the entire B&H”, Boyle said. His honesty, according to Dodik, was the reason why officials in Sarajevo chose to ignore Boyle, but “they kept (former US President Bill) Clinton’s war crimes ambassador David Scheffer as their American assistant”. “It was only the continuation of Clinton’s policy, according to which Muslims should kill their own people, stage the slaughter of 5,000 people in Srebrenica, in order for America to bomb Serbs. That is why Sarajevo cannot get over Trump’s victory over Hillary Clinton in the most recent elections,” Dodik explained. President of the RS claims that SDS, PDP and NDP, in the form of the “so-called Alliance for Changes (SzP)” have actually allowed Bakir Izetbegovic and Bosniaks to act in an arrogant manner, and that they have become “Bakir’s accomplices in attacks on the RS and its authorities,” in exchange for several seats in state-level institutions. According to Dodik, by failing to set conditions before SDA and Bakir Izetbegovic, the SzP has “left the RS without the only efficient instrument in fight against greater-Bosniak policy”. Furthermore, Dodik said that the fact Softic was not authorized to represent B&H in the case of revision of ICJ’s ruling did not prevent Bakir Izetbegovic from requesting it - with the ultimate goal of abolishing the RS, or at least changing its name. And even after the ICJ rejected the motion, according to Dodik, SDA leader clearly said that the “process can be launched for as long as the court exists”. “In other words, they will never give up on abolition of the RS. Unless they lose - once and for all - any kind of support from the RS, which SDS, PDP and NDP as the so-called Alliance for Changes are now giving them,” Dodik concluded.

 

Dodik announces he will meet President Putin in July (Fena)

 

RS President Milorad Dodik announced that he will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in July. “It is a part of a regular communication that gives results”, said Dodik arguing that Russia and President Putin never said that the RS is part of Russian zone of interest. “I think it is about friendship. Russia is a good partner and we never got any demands from them”, added the RS President. He further noted that the RS is heading towards the EU and will continue cooperation with China too, and that the RS is not oriented towards NATO, which is “becoming a problem”.

 

Resolution from Federation of B&H is attempt of Bosniak domination over Croats (Vecernji list)

 

The European Parliament (EP) MP from Croatia Tonino Picula who told the daily that the Resolution, which was recently adopted by the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina House of Representatives (HoR) (Resolution condemns initiatives for federalization, MPs from Croat parties did not take part in the voting), clearly demonstrated wish of one people to dominate over another people. According to Kresic, MEP Picula clearly hinted at Bosniaks’ attitude towards Croats. Picula further noted that the Federation of B&H HoR’s Resolution is not compatible with messages from the EP’s Resolution, which did not set any ultimatums, instead it tried to detect relations and offer guidelines. MEP Picula told the daily that, unfortunately, the same cannot be said about the Federation of B&H Parliament’s Resolution, which masks desire for political domination of a majority people over minority people. Picula also noted that the EP’s Resolution is open for interpretations arguing that “it is certainly not an invitation to re-tailoring of the country and any kind of ultimatum to anyone”.

 

Why the coup failed: DF incompetent, Velimirovic ratted out the plan (Dnevne novine)

 

Democratic front (DF) is responsible for the failure of the terrorist act plan on Election Day, since it was “not able to conduct the coup, said cooperative witness Aleksandar Sasa Sindjelic during the hearing at the Special State Prosecutor’s Office last week, Dnevne novine newspaper reports. Sindjelic grounded these and other accusations against DF on Eduard Edi Shishmakov’s information, he received direct instructions from. According to Russians, in addition to the political group, protected witness Mirko Velimirovic also bears responsibility for the failure and therefore he could be killed, Sindjelic claimed. “When the media released that 20 Serbian citizens had been arrested and that they were terrorists, I had several phone conversations with Edi. We also met. He asked me to find out what was going on. He was particularly interested where the weapons were. I said that I did not know and that Velimirovic was only to know that. He insisted on finding either the weapons or Velimirovic. After this, when he was confirmed that everyone was arrested, Edi said that it was Velimirovic’s fault, that he ratted out and that he should be killed,” Sindjelic said last week before a special state prosecutor Sasa Cadjenovic and defendants attorneys. After the whole plan failed and the criminal group ended up behind bars, Shishmakov, as Sindjelic said, came up with the idea to “finally resolve the matter in Montenegro” and asked Sindjelic to personally kill then PM Milo Djukanovic. “I said that I cannot go to Montenegro and then he asked me to find someone who is skillful in using sniper rifle and explosive and who is willing to do that, adding that the money is not a problem. As far as Djukanovic is concerned, he said they knew where he moved in Podgorica, as he was under surveillance,” said Sindjelic. As Sindjelic said, his life was also endangered, which is why he decided to admit everything to the authorities. Currently he is being protected at a secret location, where he was brought to the hearing from.

The original plan was that the group the arrested Serbian citizen, under the command of Bratislav Dikic, to breach “bare handed” into the parliament building on Election Day. In the same time, an armed group organized by Shishmakov was supposed to enter the Parliament. “I learned from Edi that armed people would be in the Parliament and I remember that he mentioned a basement and rooms in the Parliament where Milo’s criminals were located. I also saw that he had maps of the city. He told me he had the photos of the police stations. During our talks in Moscow, Edi did not mention the number of the police officers, but later when we were in Serbia, he mentioned some details. Among other things, he mentioned policemen around the Parliament and that the west entrance would be weaker secured. He also mentioned a certain special unit at the Zlatica camp. He said that there was a group tasked with stopping the unit if it tried to intervene,” Sindjelic said. Sindjelic also said that Shishmakov gave him €200,000 to execute the plan and that those were new banknotes. “I do not know where the money came from. I spent the money I received from Edi on things necessary for the plan execution. But I have to say that during that time I also spent my money and it was about €35, 000,” he said. The cooperative witness clearly said that DF and the opposition were supposed to organize the protest on election night.

“Edi told me that. He literally told me that DF representatives had arrived to Russia several times and required that something like that should be carried out,” he said, noting that “these persons had control over the entire opposition in Montenegro”. However, he pointed out that the “other opposition was not involved in all these plans, nor did they were aware what was going on”.

He said that he met Shishmakov in 2014. The prosecutor’s order to conduct an investigation refers to a total of 25 people on suspicion that they committed the criminal offense of creating a criminal organization and terrorism in the attempt.

Montenegrin authorities issued a warrant against Ananije Nino Nikic, DF’s translator/interpreter, on suspicion that he was part of the logistics network, which was supposed to permanently destabilize Montenegro after the closing of polling stations. Predrag Bogicevic and Nemanja Ristic were in charge of the recruitment of members of criminal organizations. They were supposed to organize the arrival of the people to DF rally and “to cause a conflict with police officers along with politicians gathered at the rally and forcibly enter the parliament. They were supposed to stay there at least 48 hours and proclaim election victory of DF and other opposition parties”. Special Prosecutor’s Office has asked the colleagues from Serbia to extradite Ristic and Bogicevic. They were suspected of being tasked with bringing the groups that would be willing to cause chaos in front of the prliament. The Montenegrin authorities’ extradition request has been rejected. Mirko Velimirovic, a key man for exposing the criminal group, got a suspended sentence.

Nikola Djuric, Sinisa Cetkovic, Aleksandar Curovic, Dejan Stanojevic and Ivica Matic signed plea bargains with the prosecutor’s office. They agreed to spend five months in prison. Serbian citizens Aleksandar Aleksic, Milos Acimovic and Perica Andric admitted in the courtroom of the High Court on 17 February that they belonged to the criminal organization. According to their statements, the plan was to breach into the Parliament building and wait for further instructions if DF lost the elections. They were sentenced to five months in prison for creating a criminal organization. Former commander of the Serbian Gendarmerie Bratislav Dikic, Branko Milic, Dragan Maksic, Srboljub Djordjevic and Milan Dusic have been remanded in custody, as well as DF leader Andrija Mandic’s driver Mihailo Cadjenovic.

 

EU enlargement continues (RTCG)

 

Enlargement of the European Union (EU) continues, said the head of the EU Delegation to Montenegro Aivo Orav, adding that Montenegro was the leading country in the European integration in the Western Balkans with a very clear future in the Union. He stated that the meeting of European leaders last week, in which they made the Declaration, is the preferred road. "We know that we want to continue with the peace and stability now that there are so many challenges. Peace in the world is increasingly important to us and we talk about it more and more," said Orav at a conference on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Rome, organized by the Ministry of European Affairs in cooperation with the Embassy of Italy and the EU delegation. He said that EU enlargement continues. As he said, Malta and Estonia are very small countries. "But they would have been much smaller if they were outside the EU. Germany and France are large countries, but are much larger in the Union". Orav believes that the exit of the UK from the EU have united member states of the Union to a greater extent. He stated that it is their hope that all countries of the Western Balkans will one day be members of the EU.

 

BESA will not support SDSM and DUI choice for Parliament Speaker (MIA)

 

The BESA party announced it will not support Talat Xhaferi’s nomination as Speaker of Parliament, after his name was jointly put forward by SDSM and DUI. BESA is one of the three parties representing ethnic Albanians that support the idea of having SDSM leader Zoran Zaev get the mandate to form the next Government, but its intense rivalry with DUI and its hopes of making further inroads among ethnic Albanian voters at DUI's expense have announced the relationship in the possible future coalition will be tricky. "If it is up to a DUI candidate to begin the first step toward reforms, then thank you, but we do not support such reforms. This party has served Nikola Gruevski faithfully for ten year and is the main culprits for the crisis. DUI is responsible for staged political processes, poverty, emigration, distancing from the Euri-Atlantic integrations, the Skopje 2014 project. DUI can't bring reforms to the country," said Afrim Gashi, BESA MP.

SDSM has 49 seats in parliament, and DUI has 10, while BESA has five. The Alliance of Albanians added three more votes to the possible coalition. SDSM needs 61 votes in Parliament to elect a Speaker and a Government. BESA still hasn't made it clear whether it will join the government, with its leader Bilal Kasami indicating that if it is to be in the Government, it will want parity with DUI in the division of departments.

BESA won over a significant number of DUI supporters and propelled itself to second place among parties that represent ethnic Albanians in its first general election. It seems eager to remain in the opposition and target DUI from the outside to improve its standing for the municipal elections that should be held in the Spring, or if there is agreement to hold early general elections as VMRO-DPMNE has requested.

 

“For United Macedonia” initiative stages protest in Skopje (MIA)

 

The civil initiative dubbed “For United Macedonia” held Monday evening yet another protest in the Macedonian capital. Protests of the initiative are also being held in cities and towns across the country, including Ohrid, Kavadarci, Kriva Palanka, Kocani, Strumica, Kumanovo, etc. Protesters have reiterated their demands that include unconditional rejection of the so called Tirana Platform and protection of the unitary character of Macedonia. “For 29 days we are taking to the streets. Let us remind the MPs of VMRO-DPMNE of the historic role they are playing at the moment and to remind them that they must not allow Parliament to be helmed by someone who won't denounce the Tirana platform," Bogdan Ilievski of the civic initiative "For United Macedonia" told the crowd. According to him, more and more people are joining the protests. "We have the power to change things... by being here, protesting, by declaring our love for a united Macedonia and by sticking to our demands urging that the Tirana Platform should be rejected,” he said.

 

Zaev believes Parliament session will pave way for an SDSM led Government (MIA)

 

Zoran Zaev, leader of the Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM) said that he expects to form a Government following the latest steps to complete the constitutive Parliament session. Zaev said that he expects that the Parliament majority he put together will elect a Speaker, who will then call on President Gjroge Ivanov to give him the mandate to form a Government.

"The Parliament and President Ivanov can't block democratic processes. I have to get the mandate considering that I have the signatures of 67 members of Parliament out of 120. They represent 700.000 citizens. The majority will of the citizens is clear and it was expressed at credible elections and now we need a quick and peaceful transfer of power. Everybody who wishes well to Macedonia will support these democratic processes and so does the domestic and international democratic public", Zaev said, referring to calls from European diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini who urged that Zaev should get the mandate.

In an interview with Kanal 5 TV Zaev tried to allay worries that his coalition, which would leave a majority of ethnic Macedonian voters and members of Parliament in the opposition, will not jeopardize Macedonian national interests. Zaev said that he remains strong in support of the Macedonian ethnic identity, and that he still hasn't negotiated with the Albanian coalition partners over the divisive and controversial Tirana platform.

VMRO-DPMNE responded with a press release saying that only early elections, at which the Tirana platform will be put before the voters, can bring stability and a way out of the political crisis.

 

EC: Council decides on opening of accession negotiations (MIA)

 

The European Commission said Monday the Council decides on the opening of EU accession negotiations when conditions are met, MIA reports from Brussels. EC Spokesperson Maja Kocijancic was referring to a question regarding the claim by SDSM leader Zoran Zaev that the Commission promised the opening of EU accession negotiations if he led the new government.

“As you know, we do not comment on comments. You are aware what the rules are, the Commission recommendation to open negotiations with your country is conditional on your country implementing the Przino agreement and the Urgent Reform Priorities. When these conditions are met, the opening of accession negotiations is the decision for the Council,” said Kocijancic.

 

Fleckenstein advises Albanian opposition (ADN)

 

The rapporteur for Albania in the European Parliament, Knut Fleckenstein urged to the Albanian opposition on Monday to return in parliament and vote the judicial reform laws.  In an interview for Tema newspaper, he also appealed to the political parties to collaborate and realize the recommendation of OSCE/ODIHR on the parliamentary elections on 18 June. “I respect all those who protest peacefully for their political beliefs. The only thing that I do not accept is the parliament boycott. All the MPs are chosen to represent their citizens inside the state institutions. The opposition should come back in the workplace,” said Fleckenstein. From the other side he declared that he cannot understand the urges of the opposition for a caretaker government. “I do not understand how this request will contribute to improve political, economic and social situation,” underlined Fleckenstein.

 

Opposition’s firm decision: No elections with Rama as PM (ADN)

 

Opposition will not step back from the request for a caretaker government. This was the decision taken on Monday by the Democratic Party (DP) leader, Lulzim Basha at the end of a meeting with this political force branches chairmen and secretaries in 12 districts. Sources within DP informed albaniannews.com that no backward step from the opposition’s requests and objectives was discussed during this meeting.  The meeting concluded that “no elections will take place with Edi Rama as Prime Minister”. On the other side the DP branches chairmen urged to the protest escalation.

 

Opposition’s protest, maximal support by US (ADN)

 

The leader of opposition, Lulzim Basha reinstated on Monday the US support for the opposition’s protest, despite the denial of such thing by the US embassy in Tirana.  Speaking inside the opposition’s tent in the 38th day of the protest he said that the protest cause for the crime’s dismissal from the politics, leaving room for free and fair elections, received maximal support in the US, and will now be transformed into political action. “The support to our battle, to our cause related to free and fair elections, the crimes dismissal from the politics and a fight without any compromise against drugs, was comprehensive. This support will now be transformed into a political action that aims to restore European standards in Albania,” said Basha.

 

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

 

Few Foreign Observers to Monitor Serbian Elections (BIRN, by Vanja Djuric, 28 March 2017)

 

At least 17 foreign organisations will monitor Serbia’s presidential elections, but with the OSCE only sending a limited mission, domestic NGOs will carry the greater burden of reporting irregularities.

Serbia’s Republic Electoral Commission told BIRN that so far it has granted 17 foreign organisations permission to monitor the presidential elections on April 2 – but crucially, the number of poll observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, OSCE, will be far fewer than at previous ballots. As well as the limited OSCE mission, electoral commissions from Russia and Bosnia and various embassies, including those of the US, Britain, Germany and Switzerland, are deploying observers. The Republic Electoral Commission also said that it has yet to decide on seven other requests, such as those for observers from the EU delegation to Serbia and the embassies of France, Austria and The Netherlands.

The OSCE has previously said that it will not have observers at polling stations or carry out systematic observation of the vote count because not enough advance warning was given by the authorities to prepare a full-scale mission. The European security body, which has monitored the previous 15 elections in Serbia, will for the first time not carry out systematic or comprehensive observation of voting, counting and tabulation on election day.

Alexandre Keltchewsky, who is leading the mission for the OSCE and its Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, ODIHR, told N1 TV on Monday that it would depend a lot on local NGOs to closely monitor the elections. “In a situation like this, when we do not have long-term observers, we rely most on local observing missions, NGOs. Their role is even more important than ours,” Keltchewsky said. “That is why it is very important for them to have the possibility, as well as political parties’ observers, to monitor the whole process, because there are many more then us this year,” he added. The commission has yet to announce the full list of local organisations accredited to monitor the elections, as the deadline for applications expired on Monday at midnight.

On Monday morning, the commission told BIRN that it had already approved requests from the Belgrade-based NGOs Center for Transparency, Research and Accountability, CRTA, the Center for Free Elections and Democracy, CESID, and the Lawyers’ Committee for Human Rights, YUKOM. The Center for Development of Non-Profit Sector, CRNPS, and the Roma Center for Strategy, Development and Democracy have been asked for additional documentation.

In its email to BIRN, the Republic Electoral Commission said that up to March 24, it had not received any request to monitor the election process in Kosovo. The OSCE issued a pre-election assessment report this month which expressed concerns about “confidence in the lower-level election commissions, accuracy of the voter register, conduct of the campaign, especially regarding possible voter intimidation, vote-buying, and the potential misuse of administrative resources”. “Most previous OSCE/ODIHR recommendations remain unaddressed, and specific aspects that could merit attention by an OSCE/ODIHR election observation activity include the conduct of the campaign, campaign finance and media coverage,” the assessment said. “Given the concerns shared by civil society organisations about their ability to deploy observers and the issues raised by multiple stakeholders on election day, the management of proceeding at polling stations on election day may benefit from further scrutiny,” it added. Keltchewsky told N1 TV that he expects issues that were highlighted in reports on previous elections in Serbia will recur this time.

 

Why NATO continues to divide the Balkans (Eurasia Times, by Jaroslaw Symanski, 27 March 2017)

 

Because of a single maverick senator, Montenegro’s bid to become the newest member of NATO has once again been stalled, forcing Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to step in and urge ratification. Last week, Republican Senator Rand Paul was accused by his colleague, John McCain, of “working for Vladimir Putin” after he blocked the passage of the accession protocol. “It’s a minority position, yeah,” Paul acknowledged, although that’s a bit of an understatement. Given the FBI’s stunning revelation that it was investigating whether the Trump team colluded with Russia to influence the US elections, most lawmakers are eagerly looking for ways to rebuke the Kremlin. And one of the easiest ways to do this would be to signal Washington’s continuing commitment to NATO and further expand the alliance’s ranks.

But with a NATO-skeptic like Trump as president and with rebellious lawmakers like Paul holding up what might previously have been a rubber-stamped accession protocol, the future of NATO is under debate more than ever. This isn’t just the case within the alliance, but also in the Balkans, especially in the countries of the former Yugoslavia – seen more than ever as a key battleground between Western and Russian interests. Public opinion of NATO in these countries depends on a number of factors, from the history of the Yugoslav wars to perceptions of ruling politicians – many of whom, as in Montenegro and Bosnia, have held power since the 1990s. While dissatisfaction with political elites in the Balkans might seem irrelevant to those outside the region, it’s also tightly correlated with hostility to NATO. Western officials should inspect these kinds of internal weaknesses more closely, instead of hoping them to become resolved after joining NATO. After all, these vulnerabilities can be a key sign of whether the country will help fortify the alliance – or only drag it down.

Croatia, for instance, joined the Partnership for Peace in 2000 and acceded to NATO in 2009. The public has historically expressed positive opinions of NATO compared with other Balkan states, which isn’t surprising, since they directly benefited from the alliance’s interventions during the Yugoslav wars. And while Croatia continues to suffer from some political challenges, from frequent dissolutions of parliament to ministerial conflicts of interest, its woes are nothing compared to some of its neighbors. It’s no surprise that researchers have found that Croatians’ relatively high satisfaction with national government is correlated with greater support for NATO membership.

The story isn’t so rosy in Bosnia or Montenegro. Bosnia joined NATO’s Partnership for Peace in 2000 and was later invited to join the Membership Action Plan. But the accession process has remained stalled for several reasons. First, the state has yet to fulfill certain membership requirements, ranging from relatively easy, such as the registration of certain defense properties, to much more difficult, like the enactment of real democratic reforms. Second, Bosnia’s weak, cumbersome structure of governance, divided into two federal states with a rotating presidency, has also been a major obstacle to a real consensus on membership.

However, the biggest roadblock has been the vast rift among the public about the prospect of membership. Croats and Bosnians are generally favorable, but the Serbs have remained understandably resistant, owing the alliance’s strikes on their forces in the ’90s. Despite these divisions, Western diplomats have continued to act Pollyannaish about Bosnia’s potential membership in the alliance. Last June, for instance, the ambassadors of the US, the UK, and NATO issued a joint statement urging Bosnian leaders to continue on the track towards membership, saying that it would be a “great way” to enact “positive change.” They emphasized that entering the alliance would bring not only increased security, but also “rule-of-law reforms that will help improve the lives of ordinary citizens.”

Perhaps these Western leaders should take a look at the state of affairs in Montenegro before they urge yet another divided, dysfunctional Balkan state to join. In Montenegro, as in Bosnia, the public is highly divided about the prospect of membership. According to a December opinion poll, only 39.5% of citizens favor joining NATO and 39.7% are opposed. Many locals are against membership in part because of their own recent history, when NATO bombed Serbia and Montenegro as part of their interventions to stop the killing and expulsion of ethnic Albanians in southern Serbia (now Kosovo). But more importantly, this hostility to membership is closely tied with Montenegrins’ resentment of their corrupt, semi-authoritarian government.

The country has been ruled for nearly 30 years by Milo Dukanovic, a former communist leader turned semi-authoritarian ruler. Dukanovic has skillfully played up his country’s supposed ambitions to join NATO and the EU in large part to cover up his own dirty track record. Over his years in office, variously as prime minister or president, he’s been accused of a range of crimes from assisting Mafia groups to cronyism to election rigging. He stepped down after the most recent round of elections in October, but he continues to pull the strings from behind the scenes. It’s no wonder that Montenegrins are tired of him, and even less enthused about the prospect of joining an alliance so praised by their perennial strongman.

With such deep societal divisions, lingering historical resentment, and political dysfunction in Bosnia and Montenegro, it begs the question: why, indeed, have Western lawmakers been pushing so hard to bring them into NATO? Instead, they should try to encourage these states to mend internal divisions and enact reforms, before hoping that membership in the alliance will somehow change them from the outside in. Without such efforts, it’s too much to expect, as Tillerson wrote in his letter to Senate leadership, that membership for Montenegro and its neighbors would support “greater integration, democratic reform, trade, security, and stability among its neighbors” at some unknown point in the future.

 

In defiant jab at Russia, Senate all but assured to approve Montenegro’s NATO bid (The Washington Post, by Karoun Demirjian, 28 March 2017)

 

With the support of the Trump administration, the Senate is taking a swipe at Russia this week by voting to let one of Europe’s smallest countries into NATO. The Senate is all but guaranteed to approve Montenegro’s bid to become a fully-fledged member of the security alliance, after an opening procedural vote passed Monday evening by a vote of 97 to 2. Hawks and moderates of both parties are convinced that Russia’s influence should be checked wherever possible, and that adopting Montenegro — once part of former Yugoslavia — is a way to do it. “It is a nation in this contest that we are now engaged in with Vladimir Putin, who has committed to extending the reach and influence of the Russian government … to the point where he attempted a coup to overthrow the freely elected government of Montenegro,” Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said on the Senate floor Monday. “If we turn down Montenegro it will not remain the democracy that it is today.” Authorities in Monte­negro claim pro-Russian factions attempted to stage a coup last October during parliamentary elections. Russia has denied any involvement. The Kremlin also is strongly opposed to any more expansion of NATO. Three Balkan countries that were once under Russia’s Cold War sphere of influence are in the process of joining. Georgia, a former Soviet republic, has also expressed interest in joining.

The strength of Monday’s procedural Senate vote makes ratification of Montenegro’s bid in the United States inevitable. All current NATO member states must ratify Montenegro’s bid in order for it to accede to the treaty — or become a member. Still, the road to ratifying Montenegro’s bid in the United States has not been entirely smooth. During the last Congress, the term clock ran out before the Senate got a chance to vote on Montenegro — leading many to wonder if Republicans were dragging their heels because Trump had struck a conciliatory tone on Russia.

The president spoke highly of Putin on the campaign trail, and the intelligence community determined that Russia had attempted to interfere in the 2016 with the intention of promoting Trump’s candidacy. Two congressional committees, as well as the FBI, are currently investigating possible ties or collusion between members of Trump’s campaign and transition teams and the Kremlin. But the administration has urged the Senate to ratify NATO’s bid. In a letter, first reported by Reuters, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson wrote to Senate leaders earlier this month that ratifying Montenegro’s membership is “strongly in the interests of the United States.” In fact, what opposition exists to Montenegro’s bid appears to be coming primarily from one senator — Kentucky Republican Rand Paul — who is making the point that he believes supporting Montenegro’s bid is a waste of U.S. taxpayer money. Accusing his fellow senators of simply using Montenegro’s bid as an excuse for “a punching session about Russia,” Paul argued Monday that “admitting Montenegro to NATO will do nothing to advance our national security and will do everything to simply add another small country to the welfare wagon of NATO.”

It’s a tone reminiscent of that Trump struck during the campaign about NATO, when he told the New York Times that member states “aren’t paying their bills” — suggesting the U.S. commitment to fulfill its treaty obligations to other members of the alliance might be leveraged on whether those countries had settled the books. As president, he appears to have altered his stance, pledging earlier this year that the United States will “strongly support NATO,” as reported by CNN — though he continued to stress that other NATO members have to contribute more toward collective defense.

NATO members agreed in 2014 to a 10-year timetable to spend 2 percent of their gross domestic product to collective defense. Most do not at the moment. Montenegro’s contribution, as a country with a GDP of about $4 billion and a standing army of about 2,000 soldiers, would likely not contribute much, even if it meets the 2 percent target. NATO members have only been called upon once to meet their collective security obligations under Article V of the North Atlantic Treaty — after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack in the United States.