LOCAL PRESS

 

Vucic sums up past of Kosovo issue, singles out UK’s role (Pink TV/B92)

 

To get as much as we can, and lose the least we have to, that is what we are fighting for when it comes to Kosovo, under almost impossible conditions, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Wednesday, adding that he believes we will not get less than what Serbia had been offered.

In an interview with Pink TV, Vucic pointed out that, while at it, we are not fighting against the Albanians, but against many Western countries who are behind Kosovo’s independence, including the United Kingdom. “Look what Britain is doing via its agent outposts in central Serbia, in Kosovo, in the north of Macedonia,” he observed. Vucic reminded of the sequence of events that had led to Kosovo’s independence, including all the moves behind which stood Western countries - the promoters of Kosovo’s independence - but also of the fact that the former authorities did not respond to these events, and of how much - even when they did react, mostly with statements - they were without any plan and ideas, reacting in accordance with internal daily political needs. Vucic noted the great nervousness in the West, in Pristina, but also in Belgrade, where, he said some people expected a complete collapse of the Kosovo and Metohija policy. “When those from the Alliance for Serbia are asked why, as members of the former government, they put up a border at Jarinje and Brnjak, there are no Albanians there - there is no answer. Everything we get, therefore, will be something, because we don’t have anything. We have many opponents in the West. You saw what the British did and what they are doing, as well as some others through their agent outposts in the Balkans. We are struggling under difficult, almost impossible conditions to get the most out of what we can for our people, and to lose less,” he said. Vucic then explained the genesis of the Kosovo and Metohija problem recalling that Serbia in 1999 went to war for Kosovo against 19 of the world’s most powerful countries, and through no blame of its own. “Those 19 countries trampled on all legal principles and norms. I am not one of those ingratiating myself and saying that only Slobodan Milosevic was to blame. He did not calculate well and did not understand where that conflict was leading us. He is guilty because he should have fought to have good airplanes and tanks. But, he is not guilty of aggression, instead those who carried it out are. As a result of that aggression, we got the Kumanovo Agreement and Resolution 1244,” he said. Vucic added that this resolution does not speak of Serbia, and the Albanians are mentioned more often than the Serbs. “This document mentions the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and in 2006, thanks to the irresponsibility of those then in power - I do not want to speak about the interests of those who led Montenegro - we let those who were in favor of a common state with Serbia not to win in the referendum, because we were not seriously dealing with anything, since we had a cohabitation authorities that were fighting among themselves,” he criticized. Vucic said that in 2004, a pogrom against the Serbs occurred, when our citizens and holy places were targeted, while the state did not react in any way, except with press releases. Then, in 2008, although international circles, who were unfair to Serbia, and who were saying ‘standards before the status’ all the time, switched to ‘forget about standards, we’ll never fulfill them, let’s go for status’, and the Albanians moved to self-declare their own independence. “To that, we react largely irresponsibly, without seriousness, or strength, without ideas, as if surprised, in accordance with internal needs, because some wanted to protect something, others to remain in power, instead of jointly standing up. That cost us a great deal,” said Vucic. He also recalled that in 2010, Serbia went before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to ask whether the unilateral declaration of independence of Kosovo and Metohija was carried out in a legal way. “We did not seek arbitration by experts who are not dependent on their countries, but from the ICJ where judges are representatives of their countries,” he said. Vucic then mentioned that a few days ago the anniversary was marked of the murder of 14 Serb farmers in Staro Gracko, in Kosovo, and that the Albanian press did not report about it, but they praised Jeremic on the anniversary of the decision of the ICJ, and in addition, represented me as Satan. “I am Satan and the devil - even though I have not said a single ugly word about the Albanians - just because I’m trying to, together with Djuric and the government, pull something from the abyss for the Serb people that would not be degrading, which would save face, our people, because if the trend continues in 15 years we will not have Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija - to get more than what was in Ahtisaari’s plan. In these conditions, we are trying to get as much as possible for Serbia and the Serbs, to break the viscous cycle of conflict,” he said. Vucic stressed that he was fighting to preserve peace for our children and that he has been doing this for the past six years - and this is respected in the international community, but only here it isn’t respected, it’s taken as done deal and cowardice. “Our army is twice as strong today. Some take peace for grated - yet they would so easily light everything on fire, and then swing between Cambridge to New York. I do not intend to leave Serbia,” he underlined. Vucic pointed out that under all these conditions he launched the internal dialogue, adding that he knew that the nervousness would exist and grow ever bigger, and that everyone started to talk about Kosovo and Metohija.

 

London: UN SC’s work plan not ready yet (Beta) 

 

The UN Security Council's program for August, the month under British presidency, will be released on Aug. 1, Beta learned from the British Foreign Office on July 31. When asked if media reports that London didn't want a debate on Kosovo to be included in the Council's

agenda were true, Beta was told that the monthly program would be published on the Council's website on Aug. 1, between 5:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Central European Time, and that was all they were able to say at this point.

 

High level of understanding, cooperation between Serbia, Cyprus (Beta)

 

Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic and Foreign Minister of the Republic of Cyprus Nikos Christodoulides discussed the bilateral relations of two countries in Nicosia on 31 July, as well as the extension of cooperation in international organizations and forums. Dacic told his Cypriot counterpart about the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, while Christodoulides informed Dacic of the current situation with the Cypriot issue. Christodoulides reiterated that Cyprus will never recognize the unilaterally declared independence of Kosovo, while Dacic repeated the unconditional support to the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Republic of Cyprus.

The working meeting is a continuation of the agreements reached during the last meeting in Belgrade on 10 May, as part of the official visit of President Nicos Anastasiadis, when it was agreed to hold regular consultations between the two ministers.

 

Ruzic: Engaging in politics is not in the jurisdiction of National Minority Councils (RTS)

 

Serbian Minister of Public Administration and Local Self-Government Branko Ruzic has confirmed for the RTS morning news that the elections will be slated for 4 November. Members of national minorities have been invited to register for the electoral list for the upcoming elections for the National Minority Councils, which will be slated in the middle of this month. National minority members make up thirteen percent of the Serbian population, which is a rarity in the countries of the region and is making Serbia proud, says Ruzic. “There will be direct elections if more than 40 percent are registered in the special electoral list. If not, then representatives are elected indirectly, via electronic assembly,” says Ruzic. Laws clearly specify the competencies of the National Councils and the degree of engaging in politics. “Campaigns will be the same as for any other elections, but one should take into account the scope of work of the councils. National Minority Councils are in charge of dealing with culture, educations and media in the languages of the national minorities, and not with politics,” says Ruzic. Is Sulejman Ugljanin’s visit to Pristina and Bexhet Pacoli’s announcement - that he will support the requests of the Bosniaks - part of the campaign. “Violation of the Constitution in every organized state is not permitted, which should be taken into account by Mr. Ugljanin. All rights are guaranteed to the national minorities, and many are even above European standards. What is not permitted anywhere in the world is separatism and Serbia will permit this,” Ruzic said.

 

Stankovic: Campaign for National Minority Councils intensifies rhetoric (Novosti)

 

The Chairperson of the Coordination Body for Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja Zoran Stankovic has told Novosti that in the atmosphere of the elections of the National Minority Council the rhetoric is being intensified and information presented about the situation in the south of Serbia proper that have no foothold in reality. “At present there are around 38,000 Albanians with the right to vote on the electoral lists, and we expect more to be registered. The logical wish of the participants is to receive support as much as possible of the members of their nation, but one should not create in this campaign an atmosphere that will disturb normal life of citizens in these municipalities,” said Stankovic. Asked why the Albanians in south Serbia persistently turn towards Pristina and Tirana, he says that he sees no justified reason for any problems, if there are any, to be resolve in some other place except within the competent Serbian institutions. He also says there is not parallel between the situation in southern Serbia and northern Kosovo. “The Albanians from the south are exercising guaranteed rights, while negotiations on Kosovo and Metohija are conducted in Brussels,” said Stankovic.

 

Pacoli: Division would not be good for Serbs who live in Kosovo (Danas, by Snezana Congradin)

 

“There have been many rumors lately, more in Serbia than in Kosovo, about the so-called revision of borders or exchange of territory. I am absolutely certain that such a solution would be wrong for many reasons. The level of the perception of the people in the region is such that this idea would be abused, and we would have enormous unrests as a result. Change of borders within Kosovo and Serbia would open Pandora’s Box and become a point of dispute throughout the region. Finally, exchange of territory would not be acceptable for most of citizens of Kosovo, while, at the same time, such an outcome would neither be suitable for Serbia considering that fact that Serbia has other unresolved territorial issues,” Kosovo Foreign Minister Bexhet Pacoli told Danas in response to the question as to how true are the allegations that Kosovo and Serbia, in search of a compromise solution, are negotiating exchange of territory – Serbia’s south for Kosovo’s north.

What is the stand of the Kosovo authorities on the exchange of territories? Is this topic considered at all as a negotiating position?

“Kosovo doesn’t have a stand on this as there is no possibility of division or exchange of territories in the Kosovo negotiating agenda.”

It is obvious that Serbia is requesting division of Kosovo in the course of the negotiations, i.e. that it gets the north in exchange of recognizing Kosovo independence. It is also obvious that the Kosovo authorities oppose this, but there are allegations that Serbian officials are being offered the Association of Serb Municipalities – plus, in exchange of recognition and instead of division.

“Division or exchange of territory between Kosovo and Serbia would be detrimental for the interests of the Serb community that lives in Kosovo. It is only enough to take into account how many Serbs live in Kosovo and in the central part of Kosovo. Such action would give others the right to revise the past, and as a result of this, we may face unexpected demands. That is why the best option in resolving this issue would be not to touch borders and territories.”

Would the Kosovo authorities be satisfied with a Kosovo seat in the United Nations without formal recognition?

“We do not believe that a seat in the UN would help Kosovo without good relations with all neighboring countries, including Serbia. Serbia is an important neighbor for Kosovo, while Kosovo occupies a significant share on the Serbian market. The interest of citizens for fast establishment of peace is too big. That is why the whole point of the dialogue should be based on establishing peace with the goal of mutual recognition. Following mutual recognition, I am certain that the circumstances will dictate the development of life so that citizens will not even notice borders, but they will start cooperating again the way it suits them.”

 

REGIONAL PRESS

 

Minister Bevanda: Zvizdic expressed his own stance on Peljesac Bridge and not official stance of B&H CoM (Hayat)

 

Following a letter sent to Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic by Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) Council of Ministers (CoM) Chairman Denis Zvizdic (SDA) on the occasion of the official start of construction of the Peljesac Bridge on Monday, in which Zvizdic asked for the construction to be stopped, B&H CoM Deputy Chairman and B&H Minister of Finance and Treasury Vjekoslav Bevanda (HDZ B&H) also sent a letter to Plenkovic on Tuesday. Bevanda said in his letter that stances in Zvizdic’s letter do not represent the official stance of the B&H CoM but they are only personal stances of Zvizdic and SDA. He reminded that the B&H CoM unanimously passed the report of B&H Minister of Communications and Transport Ismir Jusko in July 2017, which says that there are no formal obstacles to the construction of the Peljesac Bridge. Bevanda reminded that Zvizdic did not consult him about the letter and he did not offer the B&H CoM his stances expressed in the letter for the vote, noting that this is the reason why he feels the obligation to warn of harmful consequences of such behavior given that most of media in B&H presented Zvizdic’s letter as the official stance of B&H. Hayat reminds that it seems that Bevanda forgot to mention the conclusion passed by B&H Presidency in 2007 that denies that competent institutions in B&H reached any kind of consent on the construction of the Peljesac Bridge, adding that he also forgot to mention the declaration passed by B&H Parliament opposing the construction and whose interests he has to protect in this case.

 

Peljesac Bridge once again causes quarrels among B&H authorities (Dnevni avaz)

 

Chairman of B&H Presidency Bakir Izetbegovic met with Head of the EU Delegation to B&H (EUD) Lars- Gunnar Wigemark on Tuesday. They talked about construction of the Peljesac Bridge and Izetbegovic reminded Wigemark that B&H’s official stance is that the construction of the Bridge should be suspended until solving of the matter of maritime border and B&H’s access to open sea.  According to the statement, issued after the meeting, Izetbegovic deems that construction of the Peljesac Bridge could result in international legal dispute and that despite of this, the decision to co-finance the construction from the EU funds, was reached. Izetbegovic added that the EU has not asked for B&H’s stance on the matter and he asked Wigemark for the official answer of the European Commission.

 

EUD/EUSR, OSCE, US Embassy urge CoM to adopt revised National War Crimes Processing Strategy (N1)

 

The EUD stated on Tuesday that the EUD/EUSR, the OSCE Mission to B&H and the US Embassy to B&H call on the B&H Council of Ministers (CoM) to adopt the revised National War Crimes Processing Strategy without delay. The press release reads that changes to the National War Crimes Processing Strategy are necessary due to a huge number of unsolved war crimes cases and added that all relevant actors are aware of this. The press release stated that the National War Crimes Processing Strategy represents the best way to put an end to the cases by 2023, which is a precondition for achieving reconciliation.

 

Slovenia warns Croatia to better protect border from illegal migrants (Hina)

 

During a regular patrol on Monday along the border with Croatia, Slovenian police discovered around Crnomelj near Koper 22 illegal migrants of various nationalities from Africa and the Middle East, Slovenia's police reported on Tuesday. Eight are from Pakistan, eight from Morocco, three from Iran, two from Afghanistan and one from Iraq. Slovenia's police reported that most of the illegal entries into that country are occurring around Crnomelj. In a statement to the national broadcaster on Monday, the state secretary in Slovenia's interior ministry Bostjan Sefic, said that Croatia should better guard its border toward neighbouring countries so that migrants don't manage to make it to Slovenia because it has the obligation of protecting the EU external borders. Sefic claimed that about a thousand migrants are caught each month and that Slovenia will soon be forced to adopt certain measures that won't be easy for Slovenia either but, considering such developments, they will be essential.

 

Pahon assures Montenegro of the US support (Pobjeda)

 

Montenegro plays a significant role in ensuring security and represents an important NATO ally, said Pentagon spokesman, Eric Pahon. Commenting on the US President recent statements, who said he was not sure the USA should defend Montenegro in case of any attack, Pahon stressed his country has been utterly committed to friendly relations with Montenegro, being a NATO Ally. “Pentagon regularly communicates with Montenegro officials when it comes to defense issues.  The US and Montenegro have been committed to NATO and cooperation, and Montenegro is a significant player in ensuring security. It also plays an important role in NATO and other operations at a global level. The fact your country sent 20 soldiers to Afghanistan represents a great success for every country and it proves your commitment to joint security interests, shared by the USA and NATO as well. We look forward to cherishing our friendly relations,” said Pahon. Pentagon has already recognized Montenegro’s commitment to NATO Alliance, at the moment when Montenegrin parliament decided to deploy 40 military officers to Afghanistan and 2 to Kosovo on 5 July 2018. The USA supported Montenegro on its road to the NATO from the very beginning, and relation between the two countries have been stronger than ever, Pahon assured Montenegro of US support.

 

Government calls referendum on key issue without consultations with opposition - VMRO-DPMNE (MIA)

 

The inferior, sterile press conference of Prime Minister Zoran Zaev cannot conceal the tragic developments in Macedonia for the last 14 months, which reached its peak yesterday when the parliamentary majority decided to call a referendum without consulting the opposition on the issue that is vital for the Macedonian identity, history, tradition and culture, VMRO-DPMNE secretary general Igor Janusev said Tuesday in a press release. “Zaev has decided to impose meaningless and ambiguous question on citizens only to conceal the acceptance of submissive agreement with Greece, making concessions no Macedonian politician have ever made,” the press release reads.

 

Zaev: Now's the time to take responsibility for the future (MIA)

 

Prime Minister Zoran Zaev calls on the citizens of Macedonia to vote in the name referendum that is staled for September 30 stressing that 'now is the time for every citizen of the country to take responsibility for the future.' "Every one of us is obliged to take responsibility for their own future and for the future of their country. Your vote is your right. Do not allow anyone to abuse your right," Zaev told a news conference Tuesday in Skopje flanked by all ministers in the government's press room. The citizens, he added, must not allow to be swayed to go to the voting stations and express their opinion about the Prespa Agreement and the country's accession to the EU and NATO. The government will respect the outcome of the democratic election regardless of the result, Zaev pledged. "Now is the time to make a decision. Remember the 1991 referendum, a great decision of a great nation that had determined its future voting for an independent state. Back then, we showed that we are a nation that has been learning the lessons from history, a nation learning from history in order not to repeat its traumas. Every one of us is obliged to take responsibility for their own future and for the future of their country," the Macedonian PM said. He also urged 'all honest VMRO-DPMNE members' to understand the significance of the moment telling them: "The door is open." Asked whether the referendum would be considered relevant if the census failed to meet the threshold, PM Zaev said he didn't even want to think about it. “Whether the referendum is going to be successful, I don't even think about it. We all know that an overwhelming majority will vote Yes. I'm confident that the referendum will be fully successful and that it will fulfill two cumulative aspects - over 50% turnout and an overwhelming majority of citizens voting Yes," he said responding to a journalist question all the while urging all citizens to understand the gravity of the decision-making process. According to him, if the citizens decide not to take part in the referendum by not voting, then by doing so they are in fact leaving the decision up to the institutions in the country.

"There is an option, to vote Yes and to vote No, but there is no option at all to ignore the referendum," Zaev concluded.

 

Palmer visits Macedonia (MIA)

 

Matthew Palmer, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, will visit the Republic of Macedonia August 1-3 to express U.S. support for the country’s conclusion of the Prespa Agreement with Greece and the country’s progress toward NATO and EU membership, says the United States Embassy to Skopje. Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary Palmer will meet with President of the Republic of Macedonia Gjorge Ivanov, Prime Minister Zoran Zaev, and political party leaders. He will attend the Ilinden celebration in Krushevo and will meet with local officials outside of Skopje.

 

Kosovo reverses decision on increased tariffs (MIA)

 

Kosovo's government has reversed its decision increasing agricultural import tariffs, Minister of Economy Kreshnik Bekteshi told a press conference Tuesday. "Kosovo's parliament took into consideration Macedonia's arguments presented at our meeting last Friday," Minister Bekteshi said, "and fully revoked the decision." Bekteshi said the Ministry of Agriculture would estimate any losses the Kosovo tariff decision may have incurred in the meantime. The Government would then take the appropriate measures to compensate Macedonian farmers, Bekteshi added.

 

Vasili accuses Rama after ASD Report (ADN)

 

The head of the Parliamentary Group of Socialist Movement for Integration (SMI), Petrit Vasili, accused on Tuesday the Prime Minister Edi Rama according American State Department (ASD) report for Albania. According to him, Rama is the main cause that brought Albania at this point.

"The American State Department said that the media captured and threatened by the government, the massive laundering of dirty money from trafficking and organized crime, embarrassing corruption and giant concession thefts are destroying the country. The tired Prime Minister self-pampers in his imbecility with auto-video, with the fantasy he sells for reality. In one word, he thinks that can hinder the problem avalanche. ASD spoke clearly when it said that Albania is on the verge of the chasm," said Vasili.

 

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA SOURCES

 

Migrants and Refugees Find Squalor in Bosnia, Croatia Closed (BIRN, by Anja Vladisavljevic, 31 July 2018)

 

A rising number of refugees and migrants heading through Bosnia face dire conditions, their way forward blocked by heavy-handed Croatian police.

It was almost lunchtime at a dormitory on the outskirts of Bihac in northwestern Bosnia and Herzegovina and an Afghan woman sheltered from the rain in a tent before joining the queue for food. The dormitory was unfinished. Its windows had no glass, the water pipes leaked and there were holes in the upper floors. The stench of smoke and urine hung in the air. “This is not a camp, and that is not food,” said the woman, who did not give her name. Bihac is no stranger to crisis. Twenty-five years ago this city was under siege, its mainly Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim) residents trapped on all sides by Bosnian Serb forces for whom control of Bihac would strengthen supply lines between themselves and their ethnic kin fighting a rebel war just over the border in Croatia. Yugoslavia was collapsing in bloodshed, and Bihac’s proximity to road and rail communications made it a strategic prize. Today, that location means it is a magnet for migrants and refugees from Asia, Africa and the Middle East carving out a new route through the Balkan peninsula to Western Europe. For around 1,000, the squalid dormitory and the sodden tents out front are a temporary home, their way forward into European Union member Croatia blocked by police whom rights groups accuse of using heavy-handed tactics to keep them out.

The numbers heading north from Greece via Albania, Montenegro and Bosnia have doubled since last year, with Bosnia now struggling to provide accommodation and food to around 5,000, 3,000 of whom are in Bihac. The numbers do not compare with 2015, when hundreds of thousands streamed north from Greece through Macedonia and Serbia. But with that route largely shut down, smugglers are hemming closer to the Adriatic. It has put a particular strain on Bosnia, still in the long process of recovery from a 1992-95 war that killed 100,000 people and left the country divided along ethnic lines.

 

Memories of suffering:

When BIRN visited Bihac, on July 23, the rain did not stop. Clothes and blankets were soaked.

Residents stood in line for their meals, eating in shifts as the dining room, which doubles as sleeping quarters at night, is too small for all of them. That day, the Red Cross served breakfast for 900 and 1,150 hot meals for lunch and dinner. There are just six toilet and shower cabins.

Children played near the road with stray dogs. When the sun comes out, they swim in the emerald waters of the nearby River Una, though even this escape was blighted by tragedy on July 5 when one person drowned. Their own memories of war and deprivation still fresh, some residents of Bihac and elsewhere in Bosnia and Herzegovina have been quick to help, organising volunteers and donating food and clothes. But the situation has stirred fear and prejudice in others. “In the consciousness and narratives of the local population, there are strong associations and comparisons with their own suffering in the war of the 1990s, the experience of being besieged, dying and want,” said culturologist Hajrudin Hromadzic, born in Bihac and now an associate professor at the University of Rijeka in Croatia. The region, he said, had been thrust into a situation of “spontaneuous coping and experimentation”. Some 200 were originally housed in a retirement home in the city centre, but were moved to the dormitory on the edge of Bihac on July 17 when mayor Suhret Fazlic said the retirement home was unsafe. Bosnia has only two official asylum centres. The EU, trying to keep down the flow over its own borders, has pledged to help create another, but Bosnian officials have struggled to agree a location.

Dozens of local councillors and mayors from northwestern Bosnia staged a protest on Thursday in Sarajevo over the state’s handling of the situation. “They sleep in parks, on benches; they turned our stadium into a toilet, our children have nowhere to play,” said Fazlic.

“We are not against migrants, we understand their problems, but we ask the Council of Ministers to find adequate accommodation and to get them off the streets,” he was quoted as saying by local media. Hromadzic blamed the country’s “chronic state dysfunction”. The peace deal that ended the war in Bosnia bestowed a complicated and unwieldy system of ethnic power-sharing that critics say has left government often ineffective and sometimes prone to paralysis.

Whether addressed at the local, cantonal, federal or state level, said Hromadzic, “none of them can find solutions to this delicate challenge.”

 

Police violence:

One thing is for sure. None of the dormitory’s residents want to stay in Bosnia and Herzegovina. There are regular attempts to cross the border into Croatia, but the obstacles are formidable, from forests and rivers, to uncleared landmines and an unwelcoming Croatian police force.

Amnesty International, as well as a number of Croatian non-governmental organisations and media, have documented cases of police using disproportionate force. BIRN heard similar stories from the refugees and migrants it spoke to. Refusing to be named, they spoke of physical violence, of possessions being confiscated or destroyed and money and cell phones seized.

“My son and I have tried to cross the border several times, but the police are pushing us back,” said an Afghan man, father of a four-year-old boy. During the last such ‘push-back’ they escaped with “only” a broken smartphone, he said. A Pakistani man, who said he was a student of computer science and architecture, said he had crossed the border five times, even reaching Croatia’s northern neighbour Slovenia. But each time he and his friends were sent back.

Trying to evade police, many swim across rivers. On July 2, Croatia’s interior ministry said that over the last 18 months, 12 had died trying to cross the border into Croatia. Some NGOs give a higher figure of 16, but say they fear the real number is even greater. On July 19, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said that dozens of people were being treated daily for injuries sustained while trying to cross from Bosnia and Herzegovina into Croatia.

A Red Cross spokesperson in Bihac, Nicole Robicheau, said conditions near the border were “grossly inadequate”. “People don’t want to stay here but they are effectively stranded,” Robicheau said in a press release. “Each day, people try to move onwards to Croatia but many return with injuries.” On Tuesday, Croatian Defence Minister Davor Bozinovic dismissed allegations of police brutality, saying authorities acted only in accordance with Croatian and EU law. But Julija Kranjec, of the Croatian rights organisations Center for Peace Studies, said a simple denial was not enough in the face of multiple eye-witness accounts given to reputable international organisations. “If there’s the good technical equipment they go on about so much – drones, thermographic cameras – why not show what’s really going on?” said Kranjec.