LOCAL PRESS

 

Latest RIK results (FoNet)

 

According to the latest data published by the Republic Election Commission (RIK) with 95.52 processed polling stations, 95.27 percent of the electorate processed so far, Aleksandar Vucic won 55.04 percent, i.e. 1.924,908 votes at the presidential elections. According to RIK President Vladimir Dimitrijevic, 376 polling stations, i.e. 4.48 percent, remain unprocessed. Jankovic won 16.33 percent, Maksimovic 9.43, Jeremic 5.65 and Seselj 4.41 percent of the votes.

According to the percentage of electorate processed 3,489,647 voters voted in the election which is 54.61% turnout. 98.34% of the ballots were valid, while 1.66% was invalid.

 

Vucic: Protests are alright as long as they are peaceful (Beta/B92)

 

Serbian Prime Minister and president-elect Aleksandar Vucic on Tuesday commented on a protest in Belgrade last night to say that everyone has the right to express their opinion. Protests were also organized, via social networks, in Novi Sad and Nis by those dissatisfied with the outcome of Sunday's presidential elections. Vucic said that this was alright as long as they were peaceful. “We are a democratic country and everyone has the right to be happy or unhappy because of the election results. Imagine if I were to call on all my supporters to go and celebrate,” Vucic told reporters.

Several thousand people - mostly youths and students - protested for several hours, shutting down traffic in downtown Belgrade. A new protest has been scheduled for Tuesday evening in front of the parliament.

Beta said that anti-riot police units were present, but did not respond to attempts to break through an improvised metal fence outside the parliament building, which features photos of the Serbs killed in the 1999 conflicts in Kosovo. Vucic said that the government will financially help organizations and associations from Kosovo to rebuild that wailingwall that has been torn down - a reference to the fence with photographs and names of Serb victims located in front of the parliament, that the protesters damaged.

He noted that the final results of the elections were still awaited, but that he expects to have won 56 percent of the vote. Vucic said that the results from Kosovo and Metohija are coming in, and that he received 80 percent there.

 

Djuric: Great Vucic’s victory in Kosovo and Metohija (Tanjug)

 

SNS deputy president Marko Djuric has stated that the current Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic won 80 percent of the votes at the polls in Kosovo and Metohija out of the total processed samples. “Therefore, Vucic won four fifths of the total number of votes, i.e. almost 33.000 votes, and this is 10 percent more than what our coalition achieved at the previous parliamentary elections,” Djuric told the press. The first following is Vojislav Seselj who won 7.1 percent of the votes, then Vuk Jeremic won 4.3 percent, Sasa Jankovic won 2.7 percent, Luka Maksimovic won 2.1 percent, Bosko Obradovic 2.1 percent, while other candidates are at the level of a statistical error. He is convinced that we will all together continue to protect the Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija, as well as Serbia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, but also fight to convince those, who were not on the Serbian side in the previous period outside our borders, in the correctness of Serbian arguments and thus win them over for “our cause”. “I would say that the Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija have united around Vucic in the political sense, and that the long awaited unity of our nation has been achieved. These are the first elections where not a smallest incident has been noted in the region of out southern province. The entire course of voting has passed peacefully at all polling stations, in accordance with RIK guidelines and OSCE rules, all participants of the electoral process have confirmed this,” said Djuric.

 

Vucic won more votes than Nikolic and Tadic together in 2012 (RTS)

 

Marko Uljarevic from IPSOS told Radio and Television of Serbia (RTS) that at the elections in 2012 we had two equal candidates and now an absolute domination of the SNS and an atomized opposition. He says that the election results coincide with the public opinion surveys published before the elections.

 

PACE observers: Campaign peaceful, election commission transparent (Beta)

 

The Election Observer Mission of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) said on April 3 that Serbia's election campaign was peaceful, as was the election day, that the vote was organized properly, aside from certain procedural irregularities. "The election day passed peacefully, and everything was well-organized. Voters were free to decide who to cast their ballot for, even though certain procedural irregularities were noted," said the PACE observers, invited by the Serbian authorities to monitor the April 2 presidential election.

The observers said that many presidential candidates and actors the PACE mission talked to had pointed to "unprecedented inequality" in media reports, in favor of the ruling coalition's candidate, even though the law provided for equal access to the media for all presidential candidates. The observer mission also said that during the campaign, the ruling coalition's candidate enjoyed an advantage, arising from his office as prime minister, which made the competition unequal for the other candidates.

 

Friendly relations between Serbia, Turkey give important contribution to regional peace (Beta)

 

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic spoke today on the phone with President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan. On this occasion, President Erdogan congratulated Prime Minister Vucic on the victory in the presidential elections in Serbia, adding that the friendly relations and cooperation between the two key countries in the Balkans have given an important contribution to regional prosperity and peace. Vucic invited Erdogan to visit Serbia, which he accepted, stressing that it is a great honor to be one of the first guests of the newly elected President of Serbia. The Turkish President stressed that the leadership and personal commitment of Prime Minister Vucic had a major role in achieving cooperation and regional partnership, which strengthened bilateral relations between Serbia and Turkey in recent years. On behalf of the people of Turkey and on his own behalf he congratulated Prime Minister Vucic on the victory. As the two leaders, who were elected during their tenure as prime ministers, I fully believe we will work together to further strengthen our current friendly relations and cooperation, especially in economy, said President Erdogan. He added that he hopes that bilateral and regional cooperation will be strengthened in all areas.

 

Scott: Vucic’s victory a commitment to prosperous Serbia (Tanjug)

 

US Ambassador to Serbia Kyle Scott said Monday he saw Vucic’s victory in the presidential elections as the voters’ commitment to the policy pursued to date and to a prosperous future for Serbia. Scott said this during a conversation with Vucic, whom he also congratulated on the election victory.

 

Kosachov: Vucic to choose between EU and Russia (Beta)

 

Serbia’s new president Aleksandar Vucic’s wish to lead the country to integration with the EU might make Serbia choose between deeper ties with Russia and closer cooperation with Europe, says Konstantin Kosachov, the chair of the foreign policy committee of the Federation Council, the upper house of the Russian Duma. “If Europeans continue the policy of sanctions and isolation of Russia, it’s just a matter of time before the Serbian authorities will have to make a choice,” Kosachov said.

 

What are the jurisdictions of the president of Serbia? (RTS)

 

The newly elected president Aleksandar Vucic will take office when the mandate to the current head of state Tomilsav Nikolic expires on 31 May. The election of the prime minister will follow, while analysts believe that changes are also possible at the ministerial posts. “There are numerous problems that we need to resolve in the next two months; I will be the Prime Minister for the next two months,” said the newly elected Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic. According to announcements, Vucic will take the oath before deputies, ministries and officials at the beginning of June. From that moment, the counting of the new five years for the new president will start. Still, no regulation sets the deadline for taking the oath. According to prescribed duties of the president, the views are opposing. For some, the person elected by citizens to head the state, should have significant powers. For others, they are appropriate for the Serbian political system. “The president is the representative of the state and embodies the unity of all citizens, but he/she has powers such as the suspensive veto, or certain personnel authority, or when it comes to the right to dissolve the national assembly, or to appoint the mandate holder,” says Professor at the Law Faculty in Novi Sad Slobodan Orlovic. The president is the commander of the army, but she/he lacks tangible executive power, says Orlovic. He says that the future distribution of power depends from the answer to one question - will he retain the post of the president of the party, since in this case he would have the operative apparatus to perform this function. Without the political party they would continue with the formation of the constitutional tradition, explains Orlovic.

Before taking the office of the president, it is certain that he will resign from the post of the prime minister, which is adopted by the parliament. From that moment 30 days will start running for the election of the new mandate holder. Until then, the majority will deliberate who will succeed Vucic in Nemanjina 11. Analysts believe a slight cabinet reconstruction is possible.

“These changes might occur in a smaller number of departments or possibly amending some corrections if Aleksandar Vucic estimates that coalition partners helped him in the campaign and decides to rise the quota of ministers for his coalition partners,” claims the Executive Director of the Center for Free Elections and Democracy (CeSID) Bojan Klacar.

For decades, Andricev Venac 1 has been a synonym for head of state. Vucic announced that he could spend his five-year mandate in the Palace of Serbia. The law stipulates that the presidential headquarters are in Belgrade. The government will state what will be the address, in agreement with the president.

 

REGIONAL PRESS

 

Covic meets Vucic, Plenkovic, Vujanovic at separate meetings in Mostar (N1)

 

High-ranking officials from B&H and the region arrived to Mostar on Monday afternoon, ahead of the start of the 20th ‘International Fair of Economy’ in Mostar scheduled for Tuesday. President of Montenegro Filip Vujanovic, Serbian Prime Minister (PM) Aleksandar Vucic and Croatian PM Andrej Plenkovic, Croat member of B&H Presidency Dragan Covic and Chairman of B&H Presidency Mladen Ivanic arrived to Mostar. Prior to start of the event, the officials held a number of bilateral meetings on Monday afternoon. First, Covic held a meeting with Vujanovic and then, Covic met with China’s Deputy Minister of Agriculture Qu Dongyu. After that, Covic held a meeting with Croatian PM Plenkovic. After the meeting, Covic and Vujanovic underlined that they put economic topics in the focus of their talks, as well as Montenegro’s accession to NATO. Vujanovic announced that Montenegro will be a member state of NATO by a summit of NATO scheduled for May and in his opinion, joining NATO is Montenegro’s way to contribute to stability in the region. Vujanovic underlined that every meeting between officials from B&H and Montenegro aims to improve cooperation between the two countries.

Addressing media after the meeting, Covic announced that B&H Presidency will be in contact with Vujanovic at least once in a month or two. Covic explained that in this way, the officials intend to maintain true, friendly and positive relation and create positive climate that will reflect on the entire region. After meeting Covic, Croatian PM Plenkovic stated that Zagreb will support functioning of B&H and its stability and especially the EU path of the country. Covic emphasized that experiences of Montenegro on the path towards NATO integration are very important and can help B&H, noting that Montenegro’s progress on this path is a good and positive sign for the entire region.

Covic met with Vucic in Mostar on Monday evening. Following the meeting, Covic and Vucic briefly addressed the press. On this occasion, Covic confirmed that they had friendly conversations on a number of topics that burden the region, primarily B&H. “I wanted to inform him about relations in B&H and the standstill we have, as well as about our wish to move on the European path and try to stabilize relations, while also establishing absolute equality of three constituent peoples in B&H”, Covic noted.

Addressing the press, Vucic thanked for the hospitality in Mostar and said that he is happy to be able to attend the International Economy Fair. Vucic explained that he spoke with Covic about relations in B&H and the region, including relations between Serbs and Croats. Vucic stressed that he had no second thoughts about coming to the fair in Mostar, even though it is taking place shortly after Serbian presidential elections. Commenting on the situation in the region, Vucic assessed that it is best to continue talking to each other. “I simply think that the future lies in development and those are no empty words. It is the only possible story”, Vucic concluded.

Meeting participants stressed that there are a number of political problems that are burdening B&H, but also political problems that are burdening relations between Serbia and Croatia and relations between B&H and Serbia. However, they noted that focus in the coming days should be on the economy, but also on the path of B&H to Euro-Atlantic integration. Vucic said that it is important to put forward a new initiative. "That is our initiative for Western Balkans investment forum of chambers of commerce. I believe that this could be another good idea that will improve the cooperation between our countries and make life of citizens of both Serbia and B&H, but also citizens of Croatia, Montenegro and other countries in the region, easier and better," Vucic underlined. Vucic said that Western Balkan countries can be a generator of the EU’s development and underlined that the relations between Serbs and Bosniaks are important for stability in the region.

 

Vucic meets Ivanic, Vujanovic; discus economic issues as well as current situation in region (N1)

 

Chairman of B&H Presidency Mladen Ivanic met with Serbian Prime Minister (PM) Aleksandar Vucic in Mostar, on Monday afternoon. The officials discussed economic-related issues, as well as the current situation in the region. After the meeting, Ivanic stressed that very bad relations between B&H and Serbia were topics of the talks with Vucic. In this regard, Ivanic mentioned the latest moves of Bosniak member of B&H Presidency Bakir Izetbegovic and assessed that Bosniaks are not represented by the right leader for a longer period of time. Ivanic assessed that Izetbegovic’s moves, such as the one related to the motion for revision of the International Court of Justice (ICJ)’s ruling in case of B&H’s lawsuit against Serbia for genocide, set the relations between B&H and Serbia and overall relations in the region, backwards. Asked whether this is the reason why Izetbegovic was not listed as one of the attendees of the bilateral meetings in Mostar, Ivanic said that he does not know anything about this. Ivanic expressed hope that Izetbegovic will attend a working dinner scheduled for Monday evening.

 

Covic hosts informal dinner attended by regional leaders; discuss current political situation (FTV)

 

Croat member of B&H Presidency Dragan Covic was a host of an informal dinner organized on Monday evening and attended by regional leaders. Prime ministers of Serbia and Croatia, Aleksandar Vucic and Andrej Plenkovic, as well as President of Montenegro Filip Vujanovic, members of B&H Presidency and presidents of Republika Srpska (RS) and the Federation of B&H attended this dinner. Among other things, collocutors discussed current political situation in B&H and region, economic cooperation, the EU integration process etc. Following the meeting, Bosniak member of B&H Presidency Bakir Izetbegovic said that Croat issue in B&H can be resolved if those insisting on further ethno-territorial division give up on these requests. RS President Milorad Dodik stated that B&H has been facing many problems related to functionality of joint institutions, adding that this issue should be resolved within B&H. Dodik added that he understands that cooperation between B&H and Croatia should be improved. Reporter noted that Vucic and Dodik held a brief meeting after the aforementioned dinner.

 

PM: Croatia advocates B&H EU journey and equality of Croats (Hina)

 

Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic on Monday said in Mostar that Croatia strongly advocated stepping up B&H’s European journey and the equality of Croats in that country and confirmed that the main topic at an informal meeting with his Serbian counterpart Aleksandar Vucic would be European integration. "We expect that talks today and tomorrow in Mostar will concentrate on B&H's European journey. That is something Croatia intensively advocates and that is a topic I regularly initiate in the European Council with EU colleagues and heads of states and government as do members of my cabinet with their contracts, and our MEPs in the European Parliament. We wish to help on that journey and accelerate it," Plenkovic told reporters after meeting the Croat member of the B&H Presidency, Dragan Covic. He added that the EU has to be more strongly present in B&H and that Croatia is a "country that values B&H as a friend and ally." "We want to accelerate that pathway. That is why we are helping all efforts that relate to answering the questionnaire and, I believe, getting the candidate status and opening negotiations in the future," Plenkovic said. He added that authorities in Zagreb are especially interested in the equality of Croats in B&H. "From the aspect of Croats, we want to take account of the equality and constituency of the Croat people in B&H and to see that they can exercise their rights," he said. He added that he would meet informally with Serbia's Prime Minister and other counterparts who came to B&H from neighboring countries. We will discuss bilateral cooperation and regional stability and the European journey. I think that will be useful in light of the elections held in Serbia, he said. Covic underscored that the Economic Fair Mostar was an opportunity for grave political issues to be replaced with economic topics.

 

Rama: When I am in Montenegro, I feel like in Albania (CDM)

 

Prime minister of Albania Edi Rama, who is paying an official visit to Montenegro, said he felt like home in Podgorica during a meeting with his Montenegrin counterpart Dusko Markovic. Montenegrin PM said that the Albanian community in our country was strongly committed to Montenegro and its interests. Rama and Markovic agreed to hold a joint session of the Montenegrin and Albanian governments in Shkoder. It is to be scheduled for October.

Since Rama is seen in international circles as a leader of Albanians wherever they live, Montenegrin reporters asked what he thinks about the fact that Kosovo’s parliament has been refusing to ratify the agreement on the border with Montenegro for almost two years. The document was signed in 2015 in Vienna. However, the opposition in Kosovo does not want to support the vote in parliament because they believe their country will lose about eight thousand hectares of land in that way. “As a third party who has almost nothing to do with the issue, I can say that I am grateful to the Montenegrin side for its contribution to solving this issue. Hopefully, this will be resolved in an appropriate way,” Rama replied. Markovic said that it could not and would not disrupt relations between Montenegro and Kosovo. “It’s about creating the political conditions in Pristina… Montenegro does not require special conditions and we are even willing to give in,” he said.

As a reminder, the vote on the border with Montenegro is one of the conditions for approving Kosovo’s visa liberalization with the EU.

As for Montenegro’s membership in NATO, Rama said he was pleased that Montenegro would be the 29th member of the alliance.

 

Ananije Nikic, a suspect in coup case, arrested in Moscow (Dnevne novine)

 

Ananije Nikic (59), one of the prime suspects in the case of attempted terrorism in Montenegro on 16 October 2016, has been arrested today in the Russian region of Rostov, the Police Directorate confirmed. He has been arrested under an Interpol notice issued by Montenegro’s bureau. “The suspect has been arrested in order to ensure its presence in the pre-trial procedure related to the criminal offense. He has been brought to the competent judge who will order the extradition detention. The communication between Montenegro and Russia concerning the extradition of persons is to follow,” the directorate said in the statement.

Montenegrin authorities issued a warrant against Ananije Nino Nikic, a DF’s translator/interpreter, on suspicion that he was part of the logistics network for the group who planned terrorist attacks in Podgorica on 16 October 2016 after the closure of polling stations. Investigators have become interested in Ananije Nikic, after former Serbian intelligence officer Slavko Nikic claimed that he was offered to be one of the key organizers of the group that was supposed to “create chaos in Montenegro”.

On 21 January, in an interview with Happy TV, Slavko Nikic said that on late spring 2016, Ananije Nino Nikic visited him along with a man who introduced himself as an FSB agent asking him to do a job for “friends from Russia”. Investigators suspect that the agent was Vladimir Popov (36), who is wanted in Montenegro. In addition to Popov, the Montenegrin authorities issued a warrant against Eduard Shirokov (Shishmakov) (45), a member of the Russian GRU military security service. The two of them are believed to be the main organizers of the group that was to cause bloodshed in Montenegro on 16 October. According to Montenegrin investigators, Nikic left Montenegro on 9 November 2016. The media reported on his whereabouts in Russia.

 

Tusk to Ivanov: Find a solution based on democratic principles and common sense (Meta)

 

“This protracted crisis is holding your country back from your Euro-Atlantic path. It is for you to find a solution based on democratic principles, decency and common sense. Only such a solution can be a lasting one. When you find it, you can count on our support”, said the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, at a joint press conference with his host, President Gjorge Ivanov. As Tusk said, this is the answer to the letter Ivanov sent to him in March, to Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, the President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and US President Donald Trump. “I came here with a strong message from the EU leaders and institutions: The European Union’s commitment to your European perspective is unequivocal. Working towards EU and NATO memberships has consistently proved a factor of unity. Unity that is so needed in your country today. I therefore hope that you will continue to follow this internal compass and avoid anything that could further fuel tensions, also along ethnic lines”, said Tusk.

At the press conference, Ivanov stressed that his position remains unchanged and that the legal and political obstacles must be removed for him to award the mandate to form the government.

“My decision is a preventive one, so we can avoid possible consequences. A blackmailed government means an unstable government, with a short expiry date”, said Ivanov. He emphasized that the EU are guarantors for two agreements in the country – the Ohrid Framework Agreement and the Przino Agreement. “The first item on the agenda for the parties and MPs should be European reforms, not foreign platforms that threaten the independence of the country, disrupt neighborly relations, encourage tensions and seeks to change the Constitution. Therefore, the Republic of Macedonia needs European reforms on foreign platforms. Only reforms can help us root out this political crisis. However, it is not just our challenge, but also for a good part of the region. Therefore, the EU should find a way to open Chapters 23 and 24 for the judiciary, the law and security”, said Ivanov, adding that to stop the blockade of European processes, the EU should find a way to prevent the blackmail of bilateral issues.

At the meeting, Ivanov and Tusk discussed the migrant crisis, current migrant movements and the tense relations between Turkey and the EU. Ivanov and Tusk expressed gratitude for the cooperation between Macedonia and the European Union in dealing with the migrant crisis, which will continue in the future.

 

Zaev expects Tusk to offer precise suggestions to end Macedonia crisis (MIA)

 

SDSM leader Zoran Zaev said he expected Donald Tusk, President of the European Council, during his visit to Skopje on Monday to put forward precise suggestions for a way out of the political crisis in Macedonia. "I believe they will be in line with what we have been hearing from the democratic world in the past few days and past few months, which involve peaceful and swift power transfer, respect of the Constitution of the Republic of Macedonia, respect of the established majority (in Parliament)," Zaev told reporters.

Asked to comment the VMRO-DPMNE Manifest, unveiled by the party, he called it 'an excuse to protract the handover of power.' "Conditions must be enabled for the process (power transfer) to take place in accordance with the Constitution and the laws... Everything should be the subject of debate, but to find some kind of banal reasons with some non-existing threats to our country, that we are about to be attacked, which means we must protect ourselves from something that doesn't exist. It's high time that we move on. The citizens expect this to happen," the SDSM president said on Monday.

 

Bushati: Involving the Albanian platform into the Constitution will have positive effects (Meta)

 

There is a deep crisis of democracy in Macedonia, Nikola Gruevski and his party are trying to transform this democratic crisis into an inter-ethnic crisis, said Albanian Foreign Minister, Ditmir Bushati. “There is no Tirana platform, there is a document that has been written by three out of four Albanian political parties that are present in the incumbent parliament in Macedonia which we have supported, because we see in this document a clear effort by Albanians first to keep Macedonia united, second to seek a better inter-ethnic harmony in the spirit of the Ohrid agreement, third to implement the Przino agreement, fourth to unblock Macedonia’s path toward NATO and the EU by normalizing relations with Greece, with Bulgaria and of course with Albania and Kosovo as Macedonia neighbors,” said Bushati in the interview.

Regarding the claim that the most important element of the Tirana platform is to make Albanian an official language of Macedonia, which means changing the Constitution, Bushati says that does not mean the federalization of the country. “I don’t know how this argument, having Albanian as an official language, is equal to the federalization of the country. But if one refers to the Ohrid agreement and to the source of disputes between Macedonians and Albanians in Macedonia, it is clear that the implementation of commitments under this agreement has been rather low. There has also been a tendency by Gruevski and others to consider Albanians as seasonal workers in their own land. And there is no serious effort to ensure inter-ethnic harmony in the country. Over the last five to six years, the society has been more divided along ethnic lines. And I believe that by involving the so-called Albanian platform into the constitution, and into the new legal framework of the country, there will be more positive results for both ethnic groups living in Macedonia, or the main ethnic groups – Macedonians and Albanians”, said Bushati.

 

Political crisis, Meta meets with PJIU leader Idrizi (ADN)

 

After a long dinner with the Prime Minister Edi Rama, Parliament Speaker at the same time, Socialist Movement for Integration leader, Ilir Meta, had a lunch on Monday with the other ally of the ruling coalition, the leader of the Party for Justice, Integrity and Unity (PJIU) Shpetim Idrizi. Their discussions were focused on the actual political crisis and the future of the coalition. Meta confirmed his readiness to continue the coalition with the socialists, but with some conditions. Meta said that "SMI is open to confirm the continuance of the coalition with the Socialist Party with the conditions that government will guarantee free and fair elections with the presence of the opposition". "If the leadership of the SP will not show maximal efforts to realize free and fair elections and guarantee the presence of the opposition too, SMI will not be part of this kind of coalition or an electoral farce," underlined Meta. He also added that to contribute on the political crisis, SMI is ready to give up from all its mandates, MPs and ministers, and offer them to the opposition, if this action helps build a trustful government and guarantees free and fair elections.

 

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

 

I'm Here to Help: Outgoing Serbian President Congratulates Vucic on Victory (Sputnik, 4 April 2017)

 

Outgoing Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic has pledged to support Serbia and his successor Alexander Vucic in any way he can, including promoting ties with Russia and China, he told Sputnik Srbija.

Having served as Serbian Prime Minister since 2014, President-elect Vucic will take over from outgoing President Tomislav Nikolic on May 31.

Nikolic, who beat Boris Tadic in the 2012 presidential election, told Sputnik Srbija that the emphatic election result did not come as a surprise for him. "The results were what I expected. I was convinced that the SNS party candidate had to win the first round and that a second round would have been a failure even though he would have won in the second round," Nikolic said.

"You saw the percentage of votes that the others got. It hasn't been the case for a long time that a candidate has almost no competition. As a rule, as in other countries, there has always been a second round in which the opposition candidate could hope to get some support from rest of the opposition."

The outgoing President was critical of the 9% of voters who voted for Ljubisa Preletacevic Beli, a comedy character created by satirist Luka Maksimovic. They promised "the most terrible campaign to date, with a fistful of broken promises, megalomania and whipping up false hope."

Following the elections, he claimed to have won a majority of the vote and asked Nikolic to hand power over to him. In a Facebook post, he asked Nikolic to "come down and hand over the keys." Nikolic said that Beli's performance was "demeaning" for politicians and hopes that his success isn't replicated in future elections. "I hope that was just for this election, and that Serbian citizens who voted for him aren't sending a message to those who are going to decide their future. That's because by playing with your vote, giving it to someone who isn't serious, you are playing with your future and the future of your children," Nikolic said.

"When the party decided that Vucic would be the candidate, I immediately forgot my ambition to be president for another term, because I wouldn't be true to myself if I presented the citizens of Serbia, and especially members of the SNS, with the dilemma of choosing between two candidates from SNS. And since that wouldn't be good for Serbia, and the party had decided, then it was only left to me to decide whether to support this candidate or not. I made the decision, I supported him, congratulated him on his victory and we move on," Nikolic explained.

He told Sputnik he is unlikely to return to the SNS, but has pledged his desire to continue to support Serbia in any way possible, including co-operation with Vucic and his successor as Prime Minister. "The firm friendships I have with at least a few heads of state could help Serbia, we could achieve a lot and I'm going to discuss that with Vucic and the future Prime Minister."

"The easiest thing for me to do would be to represent someone in Serbia, but I don't want to do that because I want to represent Serbia and beyond. I want to help to complete all those difficult tasks for which Serbia needs the help of China and Russia. Then I can leave in peace, knowing that I did everything I could," Nikolic said.

 

Serbia’s prime minister just became president. What’s wrong with this picture? (Washington Post, by Boban Stojanović and Fernando Casal Bértoa, 4 April 2017)

 

On Sunday, Serbians chose a new president — electing Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic with an estimated 54.9 percent majority.

Why would Serbia’s prime minister shift gears to seek the more ceremonial position of president of the Republic of Serbia? The move reflects an ongoing effort to solidify the position of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS). It may also be a sign of Serbia’s turn toward an “illiberal” democracy — a political system marked by free and fair elections, but where rule of law, separation of powers, media freedom and other types of liberties are undermined.

[Happy 60th anniversary to the European Union (okay maybe not so happy)]

In an article published before the 2016 Serbian parliamentary elections, the third in just four years, we wrote that Prime Minister Vucic called for new elections in an attempt to extend his mandate until 2020, but also boost the SNS performance in the concurrent local elections. The SNS-led electoral coalition won 52.4 percent of the seats last year and was able to form a majority coalition government, eventually.

It took 109 days to form that government, however, largely out of Vucic’s concerns that the SNS would be defeated in the 2017 presidential elections. We predicted that Vucic would put himself forward as the party’s presidential candidate — despite his continuous denials.

We were right — after several months mulling it over, Vucic finally “accepted” his party’s offer to run for president in Sunday’s election.

[There are 4 reasons countries dissolve their parliaments. Here’s why Serbia did]

Here’s why Vucic ran for president

So what would lead Vucic to leave the assured — and more powerful — position of prime minister in a majority government, barely a year after his last electoral victory, and run for president of the Republic of Serbia? Here are four reasons:

1) The SNS could not afford to lose the presidency

Approval ratings in February for President Tomislav Nikolic were not very promising, and the SNS had no other credible and recognizable candidate to run in his place — other than Vucic. Despite the exceptionally good results obtained in last year’s elections, the SNS feared losing the April presidential election. And this was something Vucic could ill afford, as an SNS loss might strengthen what is a currently a weak opposition, but also decrease Vucic’s profile within the media, calling into question the strength and sustainability of his own government.

2) Then the unexpected happened — there was new competition

Initially the SNS did not have much to worry about, given the opposition’s failure to unite around a single candidate. Then two new presidential candidates emerged: former ombudsman Sasa Jankovic, and the former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Vuk Jeremic. Once these two very popular figures announced their intention to run for president, Vucic had no choice but to join the race. These two candidates, together with Ljubisa Preletacevic Beli, a satirist who decided to become a candidate after the opposition failed to unite, claimed about 31 percent of the vote, even with Vucic in the race.

 3) Very little will change for the SNS — or Vucic’s influence

Despite his new title, Vucic may see little significant change in terms of his capacity to influence policy or exert power. This is because Serbia’s proportional (closed-list) electoral system gives the party leadership enormous power to select who serves in parliament.

Thus, as the leader of the SNS, President Vucic will control who will succeed him as prime minister, the composition of the next Serbian government and the whole SNS-led parliamentary caucus. This kind of an arrangement is not completely new to Serbian politics.

There’s a precedent, in fact — during Boris Tadic’s second term as president, from 2008 to 2012, he led the Democratic Party, Serbia’s largest party at the time. Tadic appointed Mirko Cvetkovic, a nonpartisan politician, to formally lead the cabinet, but kept the real power in his own hands.

We can expect a similar leadership scenario now. Vucic will certainly not repeat his predecessor’s mistake — when elected Serbia’s president in 2012, Nikolic decided to renounce his position as leader of the SNS.

4) The temptation of “illiberal democracy”

Most opinion polls predicted Vucic to win in the first round — and he did. Given the commanding victory, the only questions that remains are who will become the new prime minister, and what will be the composition of the new government.

While Vucic will continue to guide policymaking in Serbia, he will certainly select a prime minister who is completely loyal to him, so he can continue to exert political power.

Unfortunately, this raises questions about the legitimacy of the new government, given that it was Vucic whom the Serbian voters “elected” as prime minister barely a year ago. There’s a risk that Vucic’s move could also lead to the collapse (once more) of the country’s institutional system.

[This is what the gradual erosion of rule of law looks like in Poland]

Here’s the reason: Contrary to the Serbian Constitution, the power to create and operate policies will be in the hands of the president rather than the prime minister and his/her government. This wouldn’t be unique in Europe. Other examples include Putin (and Mevdevev) in Russia, or Kaczynski (and Marcinkiewicz) in Poland.

Vucic ran a particularly negative campaign, in a bid to discredit all the main opposition candidates. He asked the speaker to suspend parliament until after the elections, a move that angered the opposition parties. These moves, together with his absolute dominance over the media — which raise alarm bells in European institutions — are clear markers that Serbia might end up following the path of other illiberal European democracies.

Boban Stojanović is a PhD candidate at the University of Belgrade. Fernando Casal Bértoa is an assistant professor at the University of Nottingham in Britain.

 

Albanian foreign minister: New Balkan alliances oppose tribunals (EurActiv, by Georgi Gotev, 3 April 2017)

 

In a wide-ranging interview, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Albania Ditmir Bushati explained the political situation in his country, the so-called ‘Tirana platform’ that has raised eyebrows in Macedonia, Balkan geopolitics and the need for the EU to do more for the six candidate countries.

Ditmir Bushati has served as Albania’s foreign minister since September 2013. He previously chaired the Parliamentary Committee for European Integration.

He spoke to EURACTIV Senior Editor Georgi Gotev.

Can you update us about the political situation in Albania? Last time we reported that the opposition is boycotting parliament, asking for a technocrat government to set the stage for free elections. It was believed that the opposition boycott of parliament will effectively stall the creation of bodies that would vet 750 judges and prosecutors, a stepping stone to creating an independent and clean judiciary able to fight corruption.

The so-called political crisis is an artificial crisis. You referred to parliamentary boycott by the opposition. This is not something new for the political life across the Balkans, I would say, even across the Mediterranean. Last July, we approved by unanimous vote the constitutional changes that allow smooth implementation of justice reform. And we have put a parity condition, according to which the most important pieces of reforms are based on this political parity. The way in which these new bodies have to be established needs to be decided based on political party in the parliament.

And this was one of the conditions of the opposition at that time, which has been confirmed by us, although we had a different opinion at the time. Now that everything has been passed in the parliament, we are being faced with the boycott of the opposition.

In front of us we have two options. The first is to go ahead with the implementation of what we have agreed, together with the opposition, in order to proceed not only with the reform process but also with the EU accession agenda of Albania. As you know, last November the Commission recommended opening accession talks, provided that Albania would implement the vetting law. This has been fully endorsed by the member states. This is the option we have right now or to run after the opposition. I think we’ll go for the first option, we will ensure the implementation of justice reform, which has gained a lot of popularity among our citizens, more than 93% of our citizens are in favour of this reform, and we will ensure in this way also the commitment undertaken in the framework of the EU accession process.

Do you think the 18 June elections will take place in normal conditions? The Commission also linked this with the opening of accession talks…

Of course, we also had OSCE-ODIHR missions in Albania. ODIHR provided Albania with a list of conditions that need to be addressed before the elections, which regard better relations between politics and media, as well as election management. We will implement those recommendations, and there will be of course monitors, and OSCE-ODIHR will provide a detailed assessment of the elections.

There are some constitutional deadlines regarding the elections, and they have always been respected. It’s not up to us or to external forces to extend the current mandate. It’s quite a paradox that the opposition was asking for early elections before, like everywhere in the world, but now that we are approaching elections, the opposition is asking for a delay.

You mentioned that Albania is not the only country where the opposition boycotts parliament. Currently the opposition in Montenegro is doing that, while in Macedonia the conflict between the two major parties doesn’t allow the formation of a government. Why is this happening? Why in several countries of the Western Balkans are the political processes stalled, at the same time too?

It is related to the demands of the EU accession process, which also have to do with the modernisation of the institutions, with the fight against corruption, organised crime and the reform of the judiciary. Nowadays in the Balkans, we have different alliances. Ten-fifteen years ago there were alliances based on ethnicity, now it seems there are alliances against tribunals.

We have a network of tribunals that are about to be established in our neighbourhood, a special prosecutor in Macedonia, and you know that the work of the special prosecutor there has been hindered by the political establishment. There is a special prosecutor in Montenegro, there is a special court in Kosovo and also a special prosecutor, and also a vetting process for all judges and prosecutors in Albania, which is quite unprecedented.

And there is political resistance to these developments, because they may be accompanied by the re-shuffle of the public scene in the Western Balkans. This is partly due to the accession process, and partly due to external interferences and influences. There are third factors that are quite assertive in our neighbourhood and they do have disruptive effect for the reform process.

You mean Russia?

One part is the resistance to maintaining the status quo. You asked me about Montenegro. We’ve seen there an assertive Russia, an attempted coup that involved segments from the Russian Federation and segments from Serbia. And then we’ve seen a campaign against Montenegro joining NATO. Political groups in the country, media outlets and even the Orthodox Church were involved into this campaign.

But the ethnic component should not be underestimated. The so-called Tirana platform for Macedonia appears to be a major problem for your neighbouring country. It is seen, at least by VMRO-DPMNE, as interference in internal affairs.

Albania was one of the first countries to recognise Macedonia. We were one of the few countries of the neighbourhood who never questioned the territorial integrity of Macedonia, we never questioned the identity and language of Macedonia. One third of the population that is living in Macedonia that is Albanian has been always pro-European and pro-Atlantist. Probably it will be very difficult to find a friendlier neighbour than Albania to Macedonia.

Right now there is a deep crisis of democracy in Macedonia. And there are tendencies by Gruevski and his political group to transform this democratic crisis into an inter-ethnic crisis.

There is no Tirana platform, there is a document that has been written by three out of four Albanian political parties that are present in the incumbent parliament in Macedonia which we have supported, because we see in this document a clear effort by Albanians first to keep Macedonia united, second to seek a better inter-ethnic harmony in the spirit of the Ohrid agreement, third to implement the Przino agreement, fourth to unblock Macedonia’s path toward NATO and the EU by normalising relations with Greece, with Bulgaria and of course with Albania and Kosovo as Macedonia neighbours.

But the most important element of the Tirana platform is to make Albanian an official language of Macedonia. This according to critics amounts to changing the constitutional order. Macedonia is not a federation after all.

I don’t know how this argument, having Albanian as an official language, is equal to the federalisation of the country. But if one refers to the Ohrid agreement and to the source of disputes between Macedonians and Albanians in Macedonia, it is clear that the implementation of commitments under this agreement has been rather low.

There has also been a tendency by Gruevski and others to consider Albanians as seasonal workers in their own land. And there is no serious effort to ensure inter-ethnic harmony in the country. Over the last five to six years, the society has been more divided along ethnic lines. And I believe that by involving the so-called Albanian platform into the constitution, and into the new legal framework of the country, there will be more positive results for both ethnic groups living in Macedonia, or the main ethnic groups – Macedonians and Albanians.

You said Gruevski was treating Albanians as seasonal workers, what do you mean by that?

If one reads his statements this is quite clear, that he gives more attention to the creation of jobs, which has not been the case, unfortunately, than to the creation of a conducive environment for better inter-ethnic harmony and for harmonious economic development of the country. If you travel to Macedonia, you will immediately pick up on the differences and the gap that exists between communities, which needs to be bridged. The way in which investments have been made, the way resources and wealth have been distributed, the way ethnic groups have been represented in public life – all this needs to be adjusted in a gradual manner.

This sounds a bit paternalistic…

I made a clear difference between the crisis of democracy and the tendencies to transform it into an inter-ethnic crisis. If you invite people in the streets to chant against Albanians, to chant against the US, to chat against EU and NATO, if you invite people in the street to chant against the identity of Albanians living in Macedonia, you will reach the same conclusions. Where do you see paternalism here?

What should the EU do? A recent summit discussed the situation in the Western Balkans, which looks quite alarming…

First they need to bring more political soul to this process, which is becoming more procedural, because you have more interim steps and more benchmarks. And second, they need to take into account the new geo-strategic environment in the region. We discussed Macedonia but the same is true for Albania, Serbia, Montenegro. By anchoring the Western Balkans into European waters, it is possible to increase the leverage of European Union on our internal developments and internal dynamics. There is some backtracking in the neighbourhood, and precisely in those countries which the EU was less successful in anchoring them into European waters.

Third, we need more investments and bridge the economic gap between the Western Balkans and other Central and Eastern European countries that joined in 2004. I’m not speaking about the average of the EU. But the Central and Eastern European countries were eligible to apply for structural funds well before their accession, which is not the case for the Western Balkans.

We are talking about six countries with a total of 22-23 million people, so it’s less than Romania in terms of population, and should not be a burden for the EU. And last but not least, we need consolidation of the European project, because in the context of the migration crisis and the terrorist attacks, the Western Balkans acted as security providers to the EU. And it would have been fair [for the leaders of the Western Balkan countries] to sit around the table when the EU was celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome. This was the case on the 50th anniversary but 10 years later, we are in a different strategic environment and the candidates are not around the table. It’s a little bit strange.