LOCAL PRESS

 

Brnabic discussed Belgrade-Pristina dialogue with Palmer (Beta)

 

Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic spoke with Deputy Assistant Secretary at US Department of State at the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs Matthew Palmer about bilateral relations of the two countries, current political situation in Serbia and the region and the further progress of economic cooperation. Speaking about the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, Brnabic said that peace and stability are of key importance for Serbia and that we remain firmly committed to reaching a compromise solution. She recalled that Belgrade has fulfilled all its obligations arising from the Brussels agreement, but that Pristina has not fulfilled any of these.

Palmer emphasized that the US firmly believes that cooperation is necessary in order to preserve peace and stability in the region, and highlighted the importance of continuing the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina in order to achieve that goal.

 

Djuric: Territory swap with Kosovo not excluded (Beta)

 

The Head of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Marko Djuric said on Thursday that it was time for a compromise between Belgrade and Pristina and that an idea on the territory swap should not be discarded if it would lead to a solution, Beta reported. Speaking at the Belgrade Security Forum conference on the Belgrade – Pristina dialogue, he said Serbia should act with caution. “We want a solution which won’t lead to another archetype between the Serbs and the Albanians. If we reach an agreement on two important issues – the status and territory – if we manage to shake hands, I’m convinced that the relations between us will change for better,” Djuric said.

 

Dacic in Strasbourg: CoE should continue status-neutral engagement in Kosovo (Beta)

 

In a speech at an Oct. 18 ceremony marking the 15^th anniversary of Serbia's admission to the Council of Europe (CoE), Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic stressed that membership in that organization had substantially enhanced the level of human rights protection in the country, consolidated democracy and the rule of law and led to a thorough reform of institutions, although he reiterated that Serbia opposed Kosovo's admission to that organization. “Pristina’s possible request in that vein will be regarded by us as unacceptable because it is completely opposite to the basic legal principles of membership in international organizations, the CoE Statute and Security Council Resolution 1244. We believe that the CoE should continue with its status-neutral engagement in Kosovo,” Dacic said. Dacic warned that Belgrade believed that any Kosovo’s membership before the institutional end of the Belgrade – Pristina dialogue would present a great danger to the regional stability. He said that it would be better for Pristina to turn to the dialogue than to try to join international organizations, adding he expected that the number of states across the world that had recognized Kosovo’s independence would be under one hundred by the end of the year.

 

Vulin to talk to KFOR about "Kosovo army" (B92/RTS)

 

Serbian Defense Minister Aleksandar Vulin has announced that he will on Friday talk with representatives of KFOR in Kosovo. Vulin told RTS that the information was exchanged last night and that the President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic had several conversations on that occasion. “I am convinced that the president will make the best possible decision," Vulin said, when asked whether Vucic would accept advice and declare a state of occupation. Asked "who can now stop the formation of an army in Kosovo,” Vulin said that this was an issue for the international community that took responsibility for every situation in Kosovo, especially for respecting peace and security. "Now is the time to see if the international community is able to implement its own mandate and decisions," Vulin said. He emphasized that now it is necessary to also see what weight the word of NATO carries. “President Vucic has managed to receive guarantees from NATO that no armed formations of Kosovo Albanians would appear north of the Ibar River. This was one of the conditions for signing the Brussels agreement.”

Vulin said that Serbia had signed the Brussels agreement, because it received guarantees that there would be no armed forces in Kosovo. "Pristina in this way significantly destabilizes the situation in Kosovo and Metohija," he said.

 

US and German envoys differ on Kosovo-Serbia border change (Beta)

 

The US and German Ambassadors to Serbia Kyle Scott and Thomas Schieb said on Thursday that the European countries had the same approach toward the Balkans and firmly support their accession to the European Union, Beta reported. However, taking part at the Belgrade Security Forum conference on Belgrade – Pristina dialogue, the two expressed different opinions on a border correction between Pristina and Belgrade as a solution to the Kosovo issue. Scott said that the US was open to any agreement reached by both sides without any preconditions, while Schieb told the gathering that “the correction of the border was not a good idea,” adding he also supported a solution leading to stability. “The US doesn’t support the changes of the border, the US supports any lasting agreement between Belgrade and Pristina which the two sides will reach on their own,” Scott said. He added that Washington, without preconditions and red lines, but also without an unconditional approval, was waiting for the (Belgrade and Pristina) leaders to reach an agreement. “We want to see what they can come up with and then we will say if we accept that or not,” Scott said, warning about the frozen conflicts which bore the risk of new confrontation. Schieb said that Berlin, as well as Washington, would like to see an overall solution, but that it had strong doubts regarding the border correction. That solution might solve one problem, he said, and open many more. However, the two agreed on the importance of the Balkans, with Scott saying his country had been supporting the EU integrations of the whole of Western Balkans and that the US’ vision of the Balkans is positive, but I think that Russian vision is negative. He said that Russia would like to make the region prone to Moscow’s points of view. Schieb said that the Western Balkans has been a German government priority and that its policy toward the region remains the same. “Stable Balkans is in the best interest of Europe and Europe is under the direct influence of all events in the region. We believe that the EU membership is the best way to preserve stability in which the societies can progress,” he said.

 

US Embassy exerting pressure on B&H Prosecutor’s Office to issue indictment against Dodik (Novosti)

 

According to some information, employees of the US Embassy to B&H are exerting pressure on B&H Prosecutor’s Office to issue an indictment against SNSD leader Milorad Dodik, in an attempt to prevent him from becoming the Serb member of B&H Presidency, writes Novosti. According to a source, Head of the US Embassy’s Rule of Law Section Courtney Kline is in charge of direct influence on B&H Prosecutor’s Office since she “has been sitting in prosecutors’ offices in Sarajevo for days and has been insisting on preparing an indictment against Dodik in any way as soon as possible, and such indictment should enable his apprehension and ordering of custody for him”. Sources noted that outgoing US Ambassador to B&H Maureen Cormack, whose mandate was marked by fierce conflicts with Dodik and open interfering with internal matters and policy of B&H, is behind all of this. “On the election day, she called citizens to vote and then she even visited B&H Central Election Commission (CEC), when it became certain that Dodik and SNSD have convincing lead and she tried to push the story on irregularity of voting”, the source added and concluded by saying that the election of Dodik as new Serb member of B&H Presidency disturbed representatives of western countries because of his close relations with Moscow and also because of insisting on more independent Republika Srpska (RS) and statements on possible independence of this entity. The daily reminded that there were many reports on interfering of foreign countries, primarily of the United Kingdom, on the eve of elections with the goal to weaken Dodik’s position and even UK’s intelligence service got involved and actively worked on this task.

 

REGIONAL PRESS

 

Dodik will be first Chairman of B&H Presidency in its new convocation (ATV)

 

The first Chairman of a new convocation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) Presidency will be Serb member of B&H Presidency Milorad Dodik, since he won the highest number of votes in the race for B&H Presidency in the general elections in B&H on October 7. According to the latest election results, SNSD leader Dodik won 353,626 votes for the post of the Serb member of B&H Presidency, DF leader Zeljko Komsic won 221,800 votes for the post of the Croat member of B&H Presidency and SDA Vice President Sefik Dzaferovic won 209,218 votes for the post of the Bosniak member of B&H Presidency.

 

List of new MPs in Federation of B&H HoR, according to results of general elections in B&H (FTV)

 

According to the results of general elections in B&H, SDA won 28 out of 98 seats in the Federation of B&H House of Representatives (HoR). The candidates who will assume these posts include current Federation of B&H Vice President Melika Mahmutbegovic, Federation of B&H Minister for the Issues of Veterans and Disabled Veterans of the Defensive-Liberation War Salko Bukvarevic, MP in the B&H HoR Asim Sarajlic, General Manager of the Clinical Center of the University of Sarajevo Sebija Izetbegovic and MPs in the Federation of B&H HoR Osman Catic, Asim Kamber and Ismet Osmanovic, among others. SDP B&H won 16 seats in the Federation of B&H HoR, which will be assumed by current MPs in the Federation of B&H HoR Damir Masic and Elvir Karajbic and SDP B&H Secretary General Irfan Cengic, among others. HDZ B&H won 15 seats in the Federation of B&H HoR, which will be assumed by current MPs in the Federation of B&H HoR Marinko Cavara, Lidija Bradara and Mladen Boskovic, among others. DF won 10 seats in the Federation of B&H HoR, one of which belongs to its coalition partner GS. These posts will be assumed by current MPs in the Federation of B&H HoR Dzevad Adzem and Amra Kunovac (DF) and GS leader Nihad Colpa, among others. SBB B&H won eight seats in the Federation of B&H HoR, which will be assumed by Munib Jusufovic and Semsudin Kavazovic, among others. Our Party (NS) won six seats in the Federation of B&H HoR, one of which will be assumed by current MP in the Sarajevo Canton Assembly Sabina Cudic. PDA and Independent Bloc (NB) won four seats each, A-SDA, HDZ 1990 and People and Justice (NiP) won two seats each and Labor Party (LS) won one seat in the Federation of B&H HoR.

 

SDP B&H Presidency decides to first try to form cantonal authorities without HDZ B&H and SDA (FTV)

 

SDP B&H Presidency convened in Sarajevo on Thursday in order to discuss the preliminary results of general elections in B&H, as well as the party’s request for recounting of votes. SDP B&H Presidency also announced that this party will first try to form new authorities in the cantons where it would be possible to do without HDZ B&H and SDA. The initiative for SDP B&H’s talks with civic parties, particularly Our Party (NS) and DF, was also discussed on this occasion. SDP B&H Secretary General Irfan Cengic stated that he is convinced SDA would prefer forming a coalition with SDP B&H, which has proven to be a credible partner that fulfills all obligations. “However, we have also witnessed that they are not credible partners as they are doing everything against every government, against every partner including SB&H, DF, SBB B&H, SDP B&H. They tried to undermine every partner in the last elections. They only failed to do that to SDP B&H, so I do not think we will make the same mistake” Cengic explained.

 

SDA: Small parties are trying to spite SDA by excluding it from authority formation talks (Oslobodjenje)

 

SDA Deputy President and current Minister of Civil Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) Adil Osmanovic said he is happy with his personal results achieved at the elections, as well as the overall results of the party, underlining it is important for SDA to have at least one representative in the Parliament of B&H coming from Republika Srpska (RS).

“That is very important considering that the representative is Bosniak, and we know the position of that people in the entity of the RS, where basic human rights are being challenged. I am speaking about the Bosnian language, disputing of the right to the national group of subjects, and it is known it is hard for us to find jobs in public companies and all those institutions that are being financed from the budget. This is the chance to present those issues before the House of Representatives and demand from the state of B&H to deal with the issue of returnee population in both the entity of the RS and the Federation of B&H.” Osmanovic said that SDA is yet to hold talks about formation of authority with other parties, but SDA Collegium convened and concluded that it would be good if a wide coalition of pro-Bosnian parties is formed. “SDA is not excluding anyone as a potential coalition partner when it comes to cantonal, entity or state level. We will talk with everyone, but we want a wide pro-Bosnian bloc to be formed in order to deal with all the challenges B&H is facing in 2018-2022 period.” He noted it is not good for the smaller political parties that have become parliamentary parties at cantonal or entity level to exclude anyone, underlining it is not normal to exclude the biggest party from a potential coalition. Osmanovic went on to say that it seems as if new political parties that stemmed out of SDA are acting in spite. Asked to comment HDZ B&H’s reaction to the election of Zeljko Komsic for the Croat member of the Presidency of B&H, he said: “Such reactions were expected from HDZ. Of course, I always point out that HDZ is the most responsible for the position they are in. There were many chances to adopt amendments to the Law on Elections that would settle both ethnic and civil, while being in accordance with the decisions of the Constitutional Court of B&H and the Federation of B&H Constitution. The problem is that HDZ B&H leader Dragan Covic always imposed maximalist demands, all or nothing. As people would say, he has got nothing now, and he is facing this situation we are in. It is not good to blackmail anyone to ensure amendments to the Law on Elections before implementation of the election results. I believe that only additionally complicates the situation,” said Osmanovic and pointed out that it is going to be impossible to form authority in the Federation of B&H and the Council of Ministers of B&H without them. He rejected allegations that Bosniak political elite helped Komsic win the elections, but he pointed out that Covic should ask himself why he does not have voter support in Sarajevo, Tuzla or Zenica. “Clearly, his closeness with Milorad Dodik, which pointed out to a possibility of destructive policy detrimental to B&H, has caused such reaction…

Asked how the state-level authority is going to look like with HDZ B&H and SNSD in it, Osmanovic said that unfortunately, leaders of those two parties made moves that are not good for the country, but SDA expects them to act in accordance with the law and the Constitution now.

Asked when the new authority might be formed, Osmanovic said that could happen in March of 2019 if everything goes as planned and without obstructions, but if HDZ B&H decides to obstruct implementation of the election results, the process might take much more time.

 

HDZ B&H’s plan ‘B’ is to block work of B&H CoM due to Komsic’s election victory (FTV)

 

The Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) Council of Ministers (CoM) was supposed to convene in Sarajevo on Thursday, but the session was cancelled due to the absence of B&H Minister of Finance and Treasury Vjekoslav Bevanda, B&H Minister of Justice Josip Grubesa and B&H Minister of Defense Marina Pendes (HDZ B&H). None of the three Ministers explained the reasons for their absence. Other Ministers did not want to provide more information either, explaining that they agreed not to make statements on this occasion. The B&H CoM Secretariat only issued a brief statement on the fact that the session was cancelled. According to FTV, HDZ B&H leader Dragan Covic seems to be implementing his plan ‘B’ by blocking the work of the B&H CoM after being defeated by DF’s candidate for the Croat member of the B&H Presidency Zeljko Komsic. The reporter noted that this is what Covic announced after the election defeat. He warned that an agreement on amendments to the Election Law of B&H – which would prevent one constituent people from electing representatives of other peoples – will be a precondition to post-election talks on formation of a new executive authority at the levels of the Federation of B&H and B&H. Prior to the session of the B&H CoM, Vecernji list published an article entitled ‘Crisis of B&H authorities: Croat representatives harmed in 11 matters’, which reads that the scheduled session will not be held because of that. B&H CoM Chairman Denis Zvizdic dismissed the allegations in the article, according to which Bevanda sent him a letter warning of 11 situations in which the Croat representatives were harmed. “The case is about manipulations based on the well-known propaganda technique of switching the arguments and blaming the other side. Therefore, I dismiss all allegations in the article related to my name and the B&H CoM Chairman’s Office,” reads the statement issued by Zvizdic.

 

Plenkovic discusses Bosnia and Herzegovina at EU Summit (Hina)

 

Croatia's Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Thursday that he was satisfied with the way his position on B&H and the status of the Croat people was accepted at the EU summit in Brussels. During a debate within the framework of external relations at the summit of the 28 EU leaders, Plenkovic spoke about B&H following the general election in that country where the majority Bosniak population once again outvoted the smaller Croat population and elected the Croat member to the tripartite presidency. "I think that after my exposition, most colleagues only then realized the dimension of the problem. We have to understand that for someone who is a little further away from our region, that is hard to comprehend. Intervening was supported by Bulgaria's Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, Hungary's Viktor Orban and interestingly Spain's premier Pedro Sanchez, and French President Emmanuel Macron, and EU High Representatives for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini acknowledged our arguments" Plenkovic told reporters. Plenkovic said that he had expressed concern because Bosniaks, as the majority people in the Federation of B&H, elected the Croat member to the country's presidency, in contradiction to the majority will of Croats in B&H who voted for the incumbent Croat member of the presidency. "We explained that this circumvents the Dayton Agreement. That scenario is not good for the Bosnia and Herzegovina's functioning. It is not good for all three constituent peoples, in this case the Croat people in relation to the others with regard to equality and legitimate representation in institutions," Plenkovic said. After the summit, Plenkovic is set to conduct bilateral meetings with Mogherini and President of the European Council, Donald Tusk. "We will talk more, B&H isn't the only topic. I am interested in how the High Representative views a series of topics in our neighborhood - what will happen following the referendum in Macedonia which didn't see a sufficient number of voters going to the poll, how the dialogue between Serbia and Kosovo is going and with President Tusk about several topics that aren't related just to that," Plenkovic said.

 

Bosniaks want Njegos and Kis out of schools (Dan)

 

The Bosniak Academy of Sciences and Art, BANU, the Bosniak National Council in Montenegro, the Bosniak National Council in Serbia, Bosniak Cultural Association and a group of other Bosniak organizations submitted an initiative to the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Culture of Montenegro “to launch proceedings for banning and removing books written by Petar I Petrovic Njegos and Danilo Kis from programs, in accordance with their legal authorizations”. The same request was sent to the ministries in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Croatia and Slovenia. In the initiative’s justification they said that “the content of these books for years represented a scientific and literary basis for creating the nationalist and other anti-civilizational relations, especially towards Islam and Muslims” writes Dan daily.

According to these organizations, Njegos, as one of the greatest Serbian and Montenegrin writers, as well as Kis, a member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts and of Jewish origin, with their books, that is, “hatred towards Islam and Muslims”, provoked hatred and conflicts between peoples living on the territory of former Yugoslavia. The initiative compared the above-mentioned books of Njegos and Kis with Hitler and added that they strongly opposed any award should ever have names of these two writers. The Ministry of Education, on the other hand, answered to the request by stating they did not intend to change the existing program and curriculum.

 

MPs have key responsibility in steering political direction of country: MEPs (MIA)

 

Following the Parliament’s debate on constitutional changes, Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) David McAllister and Eduard Kukan said Thursday in a joint statement that the Prespa Agreement is a historic opportunity for the Macedonia’s European future and MPs have the key responsibility in steering the political direction of country. “The Prespa Agreement of 17 June 2018 provides a historical opportunity to ensure the European future of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Accession to the EU is a strategic, values based choice, with reconciliation and good inter-ethnic and neighbourly relations being key components of the Union’s enlargement policy. The parliamentarians in the “Sobranie” – not bound and in possession of a free mandate – have key responsibility in steering the political direction of the country. We understand the difficult choices related to the implementation of the Prespa Agreement. However, we trust that all political actors will use this unique opportunity to constructively shape the Euro-Atlantic future of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. By using this window of opportunity, the Assembly should assume its responsibility and pave the way towards a successful, prosperous and European country,” reads the statement.

David McAllister (EPP, DE) is the Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the European Parliament, while Eduard Kukan (EPP, SK) is the Chair of Western Balkans Working Group in the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee.

 

US Deputy Assistant Secretary Palmer to visit Macedonia on Monday (MIA)

 

United States Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs Matthew Palmer will pay a visit to Macedonia on Monday, says the U.S. Embassy to Skopje. “Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs Matthew Palmer will travel to Macedonia on October 22 to discuss U.S. support for the Prespa Agreement between Macedonia and Greece and the importance of moving forward with Macedonia’s reform agenda. He will meet with government and political party officials, including Prime Minister Zaev and Minister of Foreign Affairs Dimitrov” says the U.S. Embassy.

 

Sekerinska meets Gottemoeller and Hahn in Brussels (MIA)

 

Defense Minister Radmila Sekerinska met Thursday in Brussels with NATO Deputy Secretary General Rose Gottemoeller and Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn, following the official opening of Macedonia’s Alliance accession talks. “We have invested enormous efforts so that Macedonia is fully prepared for the accession talks. We have large experience and will to complete these talks as soon as possible, in parallel with the implementation of the Prespa Agreement, so that the country assumes its deserving place as a full-fledged member of NATO,” said Sekerinska at the meetings. According to her, the launch of the accession talks is a confirmation that the process is moving forward. “We had no dilemmas that we are on the right path,” Sekerinska told Gottemoeller and added Macedonian citizens are convinced that NATO membership would bring stability, security and prosperity of the entire region. She said Macedonia’s NATO membership has no Plan B other than implementation of the Prespa Agreement, noting that everything is now in the MPs’ hands. Sekerinska and Hahn concluded that the Prespa Agreement is the only guarantee for Macedonia’s EU and NATO accession, saying MPs should overcome partisan differences and act for the country’s future. Interlocutors agreed it is difficult to believe that a better agreement on the name issue settlement would be achieved in the near future and that Macedonia should seize this opportunity, the Defense Ministry said in a press release.

 

West wants Macedonia in NATO at any price, says Russian MoFA (MIA)

 

The United States and EU members interfere in Macedonia’s domestic affairs in the most offensive way, by pushing the process of renaming the country in the parliament, says the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, TASS reports. “Following the failure of the September 30 referendum, administered in hope of getting the people’s approval to the Greek-Macedonian ‘compromise solution’, Washington and EU leading members intend to push the dictated constitutional revision in the parliament,” says the Russian MoFA. According to Moscow, this is the most offensive interference of the U.S. and EU in Skopje’s domestic affairs, which “goes beyond all reasonable limits.” “The goal is to bring Macedonia into NATO at any price,” notes the Russian MoFA.

 

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA SOURCES

 

State Department thanks departing Greek FM Kotzias (Greek Reporter, by Philip Chrysopoulos, 18 October 2018)

 

The U.S. State Department thanked departing Greek foreign minister Nikos Kotzias for the Prespa agreement and for his role in improving Greece-U.S. relations. These comments came on Wednesday following Kotzias’ unexpected resignation, and were related to Greece’s state-run ANA-MPA news agency by a State Department official. Kotzias unexpectedly submitted his resignation on Wednesday afternoon following a turbulent cabinet meeting on Tuesday during which he had a vocal disagreement with Defense Minister Panos Kammenos over the Prespa agreement. Kammenos, the leader of junior partner in Greece’s coalition government, the Independent Greeks (ANEL), has opposed the deal from the start. Kotzias was praised by the State Department for his “dedicated service,” the achievement of the achievement of the “historic” Prespa agreement with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and his efforts to enhance Greek relations with the United States. “The U.S. strongly supports the agreement’s full implementation, which will allow FYROM to take its rightful place in NATO and the EU as the Republic of North Macedonia,” a State Department official told ANA-MPA. “As FYROM’s parliament continues deliberation on constitutional changes, we urge leaders to rise above partisan politics and seize this historic opportunity to secure a brighter future for the country,” the official added. Following Kotzias’ resignation, Greece’s Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras took over the foreign ministry portfolio, stating his goal of ensursing the successful completion of the Prespa agreement.