LOCAL PRESS

 

Vucic to meet with Merkel in New York (Tanjug)

 

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic reached New York on Monday afternoon to attend the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly. Immediately upon arrival, Vucic will meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.  Namely, Merkel initiated a meeting with the President of Serbia, although he has only a day and a half in New York and has a "tight" agenda. Vucic also expects a series of bilateral talks and meetings with world officials on the sidelines of the General Assembly. He will speak with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, following the meeting with the German Chancellor. As he said, numerous meetings and difficult talks awaits him in New York because the main topic of the meetings would be Kosovo.

He will also have a meeting with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, after which he will attend the opening of the 74th session of the UN General Assembly, which will focus primarily on combating climate change.

On the same day, the President of Serbia will speak with the Prime Minister of Ireland, Leo Varadkar, the President of Guatemala, Jim Morales, as well as the Acting Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs at the State Department, Philip Reeker.

At a reception hosted by European Council President Donald Tusk, First Vice-President of the European Commission Frank Timmermans and High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security, Federica Mogherini, Vucic will have an opportunity to discuss burning issues of the EU and the Western Balkans, and then attend the reception hosted by US President Donald Trump on the occasion of the 74th session of the UN General Assembly.

On the third day of his stay in New York, the President of Serbia begins his meeting with the President of the World Economic Forum, Borge Brende, after which he is scheduled to meet with Foreign Office Political Director Richard Moore, with Palau President Thomas Remengesau, then with the President of the World Jewish Congress, Ronald Lauder, only to put an end to a long day of discussions by meeting the Russian Foreign Affairs Minister, Sergey Lavrov.

On the last day of the visit, the President of Serbia will address UN officials at the 74th session of the UN General Assembly.  Vucic will also participate on a high-level event at UNESCO's organization "Future of Education", to be attended by Ethiopia's President Sahle-Work Zewde, as well as the President of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.

 

Vucic asked Mitsotakis for Greece not to change its stance on Kosovo and Metohija (RTS)

 

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic met with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in New York to discuss bilateral relations, the situation in the region and Serbia's European path.

President Vucic asked Prime Minister Mitsotakis for Greece not to change its stance on non-recognition of Kosovo's self-proclaimed independence, stressing that this is crucial for Serbia.

He informed Prime Minister Mitsotakis of the problems that arose after Pristina's decision to impose taxes on imports of goods from Serbia.

Prime Minister Mitsotakis stressed that Greece supports the dialogue but believes that unilateral moves do not contribute to it, and that Greece will not change its position when it comes to recognizing the self-proclaimed state of Kosovo.

Vucic said at the time that Greece was a true friend to Serbia, that we had correct cooperation with Aleksis Cipras, and that he believed that this cooperation could be even better with Mitsotakis.

 

Dacic: Serbia urges dialogue with Pristina (FoNet)

 

Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said in New York that Serbia is urging the dialogue with Pristina and a compromise solution to the Kosovo issue, the Foreign Ministry said in a press release on Monday. Speaking at an informal dinner for Western Balkan officials hosted by European Union High Representative Federica Mogherini, Dacic expressed the hope that the next High Representative will continue contributing to efforts to find a solution acceptable to both sides while insisting on the implementation of accepted obligations.

Dacic is in New York to attend the 74th UN General Assembly.

The Foreign Minister said that membership in the EU is Serbia’s key foreign policy priority along with regional stability, adding that the entire region belongs in the EU.

 

Kayle Scott: Ideally, resumption of Kosovo talks before election campaign in Serbia (N1)

 

Pristina will have to lift the import tariffs on goods from Serbia and Bosnia, and Belgrade will have to take some steps towards a compromise to resume the dialogue on the normalization of relations, the US outgoing ambassador to Serbia Kayle Scott told N1. He said he hoped that after Kosovo's early elections on October 6, a new government would be ready to get back to the negotiations which had been on hold since last November after Pristina introduced the 100 percent import duties on goods made in Serbia and Bosnia in retaliation for Belgrade's diplomatic offensive that prevented Kosovo from joining Interpol. Serbia's side then refused to talk further as long as the taxes were in force.

"It's clear that there is a problem in Serbia about what the country would get from a compromise, (but) I'm convinced that the Government and President Aleksandar Vucic are ready to search for a compromise" Scott said.

He added Kosovo's politics was less flexible. "I was an optimist it (the negotiation process) was going into the right direction a year and a half ago, but since last autumn it took a wrong path: Serbia's campaign against Kosovo's Interpol membership, Pristina's introduction of tariffs, then Serbia's Government's decision not to negotiate further – that's a negative cycle. It's time to calm down and focus on both Serbia and Kosovo long-term interests" the ambassador said.

If that happens, he says, “in the most optimistic scenario, we could expect the resumption of the dialogue before the start of the election campaign in Serbia."

The ambassador said the fact that neither the authorities nor the people in Serbia ever accepted Kosovo as a sovereign and independent country was one of the significant issues in the country.

He added Washington had some influence on Pristina, but could not decide on Kosovo's destiny. "Despite the US and the European Union pressure, the internal political dynamics go in favor of the tariffs, and the measure is very popular. Kosovo still believes it should insist on its independence and every attempt by Belgrade to question it make Kosovo's people even stronger resist it" Scott said. He said that it was clear Pristina did not meet all its obligations from the 2013 Brussels Agreement, "but they (Kosovo's officials) say Belgrade also did not fulfil all it was obliged to… The reality is that both sides should focus on what they had to do to make progress."

 

Regarding the current political situation in Serbia with the opposition saying it would boycott the next spring general elections, Scott said some of the opposition's remarks were founded, but that "the only way to check the support is to take part, not to, so to say, abandon the field."

He said that as a foreign diplomat, he should not extensively comment on the internal affairs of the host country. Scott added that despite the situation in media, the opposition had some room to express its stands in some dailies and weeklies, N1, but also on social networks. He recalled that during the rule of the late Slobodan Milosevic the election conditions were not fair, but that nevertheless he was ousted in the ballot. Scott criticized the tabloids which, as he said, "reduce everything to the battle between the good and bad," and mock people. Commenting on the freedom of expression in Serbia, Scott said it existed but what was lacking was decency. "We see people saying the most unbelievable things on social media, the things they would never tell anyone directly. That phenomenon exists in the US as well – the middle space is emptying, and more room is left to the extremes on both sides," the outgoing US ambassador told N1.

 

Kovacs: Serbia and Montenegro are fully prepared for EU membership (RTS, Tanjug)

 

Hungarian Government international spokesman Zoltan Kovacs said in Vienna that Serbia and Montenegro, in Budapest's view, are fully prepared for EU membership. Kovacs warned the EU against further abandoning the Western Balkans strategy and indicated that China has its own strategy for the region. "We know from the past that there have always been problems if no attention is paid to the Balkans”, he said, adding that he sees the region's biggest security problems in religious extremism in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Therefore, he added, the EU must devote itself to the region.

Kovacs praised Hungarian candidate for European Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighborhood Policy, former Hungarian Justice Minister Laszlo Trocsanyi. "The enlargement strategy plays a key role for us. A united Europe is not yet finalized" Kovacs said. He indirectly said, when asked by journalists, that taking over the enlargement agenda was part of an agreement for Hungary to support Ursula von der Leyen as Chairman of the European Commission. Kovacs concluded that if Trocsanyi does not get appointed in the European Parliament, that would not present a problem, as every state has alternative candidates. He also encouraged the start of accession negotiations with Northern Macedonia.

 

Rasim Ljajic: Serbia is not joining EAEU, only signing free trade deal (Politika)

 

Rasim Ljajic, Serbia's Trade Minister, said on Tuesday his country would not join the Euro-Asian Economic Union (EAEU), but would only sign a free trade agreement with Russia, Belorussia and Kazakhstan. His comment came after the European Union's officials expressed concern about Serbia's links with countries outside the bloc and those the Union had a different approach to, while at the same time negotiating the EU membership.

"The deal will be the same as we have with Turkey and (Central European Free Trade Agreement) CEFTA" Ljajic told Politika daily. He added that EAEU had spread to Armenia and Kirgisia and decided to adjust the free trade agreement with third countries, including Serbia.

"It's not any kind of a new (Stabilization and Association Agreement) SAA (which Serbia has with the EU)" Ljajic said, adding there was no politics, just trade. "If we said we didn't want to sign, our existing free trade agreement with Russia would be jeopardized" the Minister added.

Belgrade will sign the deal with EAEU, which will replace all existing deals and include a broader list of customs-free products, on October 25

 

Serbian Government passes conclusion to improve election process (Beta)

 

The Serbian government on Sept. 23 passed a conclusion, based on recommendations by the Working Group for Cooperation with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and its Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHIR), to improve the election process in Serbia, the government reported. In its conclusion the cabinet made it clear to all members of the cabinet, state secretaries, directors of special organizations, directors of government services and all other public officials, that they had to fully honor Article 29 of the Anti-Corruption Agency Act in a period from the date on which the election is called until the election process is completed. The conclusion says that a public official must not use rallies he/she participates in, as well as meetings he/she has as a public official, to promote a political party or a political subject. Further, a public official must not use public resources to promote a political party or a political subject, particularly the premises, vehicles and inventories owned by government bodies, provincial and local institutions, public companies and public institutions. The Serbian government recommends those who are not public officials to carry out any activity related to the promotion of a political party or a political subject, and to an election campaign, outside their working hours. The government has underlined in its conclusion that any violation of Article 29 of the Law would be treated an offense.

 

REGIONAL PRESS

 

Bosnia and Herzegovina

 

SDP B&H to send amendments to B&H Constitution known as April Package into parliamentary procedure on Tuesday (BN TV)

 

The Caucus of SDP Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) in the B&H House of Representatives (HoR) announced on Monday that it will submit SDP B&H’s proposal of amendments to the Constitution of B&H, based on the April Package, into parliamentary procedure.

Addressing a press conference in Sarajevo, SDP B&H’s representative in the B&H HoR Sasa Magazinovic said that the Constitution can be changed neither at the SDA’s party congress nor at the session of the Croat People’s Assembly (HNS). Magazinovic underlined that the Constitution can be changed only in the B&H Parliament, reminding that SDP B&H prepared a text of the Constitution of Republic of B&H in early 2018, but – given that a change of the Constitution requires a two-third majority support of MPs from both entities – the party decided to propose amendments to the Constitution from the April Package. The SDP B&H representative specified that these amendments include “strengthening capacity of the Parliament, transforming the role of the House of Peoples (HoP), establishing the catalogue of Vital National Interest (VNI), defining the dissolution of the Parliament when the B&H Council of Ministers (CoM) is not appointed, introducing the function of the President of B&H and Vice-Presidents of B&H, who would be elected in the Parliament”. The SDP B&H representative assessed that this would create the preconditions to implement the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR)’s ruling in the case ‘Sejdic-Finci vs. B&H’. He went on to say that the amendments would also strengthen the competence of the President and the Presidency and provide a possibility of their removal from posts, introduce and strengthen the function of “Prime Minister of the CoM”, strengthen the role of the CoM and ministries and introduce European integration into the Constitution.

 

According to Amer Jerlagic, the leader of SB&H – the party that rejected the ‘April Package’ in 2006, SDP B&H’s proposal is populistic because present political parties have no capacities for such constitutional changes. He explained that what SB&H found disputable back in 2006 was the veto or entity vote, which is actually an ethnic vote, noting that 13 years later B&H is again faced with a situation in which the veto represents an entity problem whenever any decision-making process takes place.

Commenting on the issue, Ilija Cvitanovic, the leader of HDZ 1990 that also rejected the ‘April Package’, said that derogating the competences of the HoP of B&H and the decision-making method are key problems for this party. Representatives of SDA commented that this party supports the initiatives that would strengthen B&H’s functionality, but that this requires broader consensus.

SDA Vice President Adil Osmanovic explained that the party is ready to support the ‘April Package’, unless some kind of politicizing is hidden behind it.

DF Secretary General Zlatko Miletic reminded that the ‘April Package’ was unacceptable for SNSD and HDZ B&H during the 2018 talks on amendments to the election law and that HDZ B&H leader Dragan Covic rejected the package during negotiations because B&H HoP is losing its function in the context of the current situation, as well as because HDZ B&H finds more suitable to have a situation in which they will be able to block institutions in the future. He added that SNSD will most likely also reject the proposal given that it promotes strengthening of B&H institutions as a whole.

The ‘April Package’ was complete failure 13 years ago, and now it returns to the political stage after a number of political turbulences in the past couple of months through blockades and setting of conditions in the process of formation of authorities.

 

RS’ representatives strongly against April Package (N1)

 

SDP Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) will submit changes to the Constitution of B&H, i.e. the so-called April package, into parliamentary procedure. SDP B&H representative in the B&H House of Representatives (HoR) Sasa Magazinovic stressed that all political parties that are represented in the B&H Parliament, including SDA, SNSD, SDS and HDZ B&H, agreed to these changes at one point. However, according to N1, political climate in B&H changed in the meantime as evidenced by the statements of political representatives from Republika Srpska (RS) who stressed that they will not support the April package under no circumstances. N1 stressed that it seems that the Annual National Program (ANP) has been forgotten overnight and that no one is mentioning formation of the authorities, adding that now everyone in B&H is bickering over constitutional changes. SNSD representatives, on the other hand, claim that April package is ancient history and that everything that is stated in it is unacceptable for SNSD today.

SNSD delegate in the B&H House of Peoples (HoP) Lazar Prodanovic underlined that SNSD is against indirect election of B&H Presidency members and against B&H having a president of the B&H Presidency. "We are also against the formation of the B&H Council of Ministers in a way in which it would represent a government, where it would have a chairman and two additional ministries. We are also against any kind of reduction of the position of the BiH House of Peoples" Prodanovic said.

PDP representatives have a similar position as SNSD. Namely, PDP leader Branislav Borenovic stressed that there is only one reality - the Dayton Peace Agreement (DPA). "That is a constitutional organization that guarantees a sufficient framework, a sufficiently wide framework that allows all of us to function, to work, compete in who is better in economy and attraction of investments" Borenovic underlined.

 

Croatia

 

Grabar-Kitarovic to Guterres: Serbia-Kosovo territorial exchange would open up Pandora's box in SE Europe (Hina)

 

An exchange of territory between Serbia and Kosovo would open up Pandora's box in Southeast Europe, Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic told UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in New York. Croatian president met with UN Secretary-General Guterres and discussed with him the situation in Southeast Europe, notably Bosnia and Herzegovina, relations between Belgrade and Kosovo, and what Croatia "as the leader in the region will do to help further stabilize the situation and help solve outstanding issues."

"I mentioned the exchange of territory and said that it would be a very bad idea that would open up Pandora's box and lead to various demands for territorial swaps in the entire territory of former Yugoslavia" she said.

Grabar-Kitarovic criticized the proposal for a territorial swap at a bilateral meeting with Kosovo President Hashim Thaci, whose position on the matter has changed.

Grabar-Kitarovic added that Guterres also wanted to know what Croatia would be doing during its chairmanship of the European Union and "how we will make use of it, for ourselves as well as for our neighborhood."

 

Albania

 

FM Cakaj participating at the UN General Assembly in New York (Radio Tirana)

 

The opening of accession negotiation of Albania and North Macedonia with the EU is an actual need for the Western Balkan region. This was one of the agreed topics that the leaders of the delegations of the western Balkan countries participating at the UN General Assembly in New York. The acting minister for Europe and foreign affairs, Gent Cakaj declared that ‘’ the topic of the discussion of this meeting was the general assessment of the political situation in the region. We agreed that resolving the open matters in the Western  Balkan region is key for guaranteeing not only stability but also the development of the social-political life in the region. All the representatives of the region stressed the importance of opening the accession negotiations of Albania and North Macedonia in October’’.

The head of the Albanian diplomacy underlined that the continuation of the enlargement process of EU with the Balkan region is of special importance for deepening the reforms and helping the process of democratization and consolidating the European path of the region in general.

 

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA SOURCES

 

Ex-CIA analyst: Everything resembles breakout of World War I, waiting for a trigger (Sputnik)

 

Former CIA chief analyst for Russia George Beebe says relations between Russia and the United States have reached a dangerous margin, just waiting for a trigger. George Beebe, current Vice President of the Washington Center for National Interest, believes that it is becoming increasingly difficult to prevent potential conflicts, so it is necessary for the two countries to establish channels of communication.

Although the report of the Special Prosecutor Robert Müller on "Russian case" had eliminated doubts about "Donald Trump's conspiracy with Moscow," Beebe says in the US, people still believe that Russia is trying to "undermine American democracy" and generally harm America in every way, Sputnik reports. There is a consensus in Washington that Russia seeks to fundamentally undermine democratic government in the United States, but that conclusion is not based on any sort of sound analysis.

"That is a very dangerous. Period. The idea that the US has faced a risk that threatens their very existence makes it difficult to manage the crisis. It is becoming increasingly difficult to establish the communication channels needed to manage the crisis and prevent conflict", Beebe warns.

The state of rivalry, he pointed out, does not allow US experts and politicians to advocate measures that would allow them to manage relations and eliminate dangers. "The obvious outcome is that we are not doing what is necessary to prevent that competition from getting out of hand", the expert added.

 

Resembling the outbreak of the World War I

 

Beebe, who also served as adviser to US Vice President Richard Cheney for Russia, Eurasia, and intelligence, published a book this month entitled: "The Russia Trap: How our shadow war with Russia could spiral into nuclear catastrophe".

In the book, George Beebe argues that "new game-changing technologies, disappearing rules of the game, and distorted perceptions on both sides are combining to lock Washington and Moscow into an escalatory spiral that they do not recognize. All the pieces are in place for a World War I-type tragedy that could be triggered by a small, unpredictable event". Beebe believes that anticipating this danger is the most important step in preventing it.

In his book, the expert describes, in his view, a similar situation before the First World War. As Beebe writes, the disaster at the time was caused by the mutual underestimation of potential adversaries, incompatible geopolitical ambitions and new technologies that fuel the first coup and create the illusion of superiority over the adversary.

"There are numerous potential triggers around the world today that could trigger a similar crisis. And we do not have the channels of communication, game rules, or restrictive measures necessary to deal with it. It must be acknowledged that this is a dangerous situation. lf we recognize it as such, then I think we could fight it, but it must be acknowledged that the danger exists" Beebe concluded.