LOCAL PRESS 

Drecun: Longer delay in Belgrade-Pristina dialogue (Tanjug) 

The decision of the Kosovo Constitutional Court to slate new general elections will lead to a longer delay in dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, the Chair of the Serbian parliamentary Committee for Kosovo and Metohija Milorad Drecun said on Tuesday. “Considering that Hoti’s so called government will be in a technical mandate until the election of a new parliamentary majority and the forming of executive authorities in Kosovo, in Pristina there will be no credible, or appropriate partner for the continued dialogue, and so also on the forming of the Community of Serb Municipalities without which progress is impossible in the potential continued dialogue,” Drecun told Tanjug. “I don’t believe that anyone in Pristina can now afford the political luxury of saying they can talk with Belgrade, reach and implement some agreements. I think that due to this scandalous and severe political crisis in Kosovo and Metohija, we will have a longer delay in the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina,” stated Drecun. He thinks that a very complicated political period is upcoming in Kosovo and Metohija among the Albanian parties with an utmost uncertain outcome of election results that need to be held. According to him, particularly in the case that, after the elections, the new government is formed by the movement Self-Determination, it will be virtually impossible to continue talks with that party, bearing in mind the extreme views of its leader Albin Kurti,” Drecun said. He says that the situation is very difficult and can additionally threaten the security of the Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija. He says it is also problematic whether and when new indictments will be filed against KLA members, who will be on them, whether there will be some of the present leaders of certain political parties, how will the Albanians react to the fact that key persons of the Democratic Party of Kosovo Hashim Thaci and Kadri Veseli are now in prison, i.e. whether this party will receive less of more votes. “One very uncertain situation and it is almost impossible to predict anything else except that the Self-Determination party will certainly mark a good result at the elections,” said Drecun.

Dacic: Pristina acting irresponsibly (TV Happy/Beta)  

Serbian parliament speaker Ivica Dacic said on Tuesday that it would be hard to find a political structure in Kosovo that would have a positive approach to Serbian stands. “Whenever new elections in Kosovo take place, there will be wrangling over the formation of a new cabinet in Pristina, while peace is most important to us,” Dacic told TV Happy. He added that much “had been cooking” in Kosovo in the previous period due to the arrests of some Kosovo officials.

According to Dacic, it is “irresponsible” as much time has passed before the Kosovo Constitutional Court, according to media reports, ruled the incumbent cabinet illegitimate.

Dacic also said that for the first time, the parliament would debate the latest European Commission Serbia Progress Report, noting that the EU had been insisting that the pace of Serbia’s accession depended on the dialogue with Pristina.

Dacic, McAllister on inter-party dialogue (Tanjug/Beta) 

Serbian parliament speaker Ivica Dacic had a telephone conversation today with the Chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs David McAllister. McAllister congratulated Dacic on his election as the parliament speaker and expressed his belief that he would use his rich political experience to improve the work of the parliament. Both officials endorsed the continuation of the inter-party dialogue in the parliament in accordance with the agreement reached in the exchange of letters between the former speaker Maja Gojkovic and McAllister, on behalf of the European Parliament, in September 2019. McAllister emphasized the importance that the EU attaches to the continuation of the inter-party dialogue and welcomed the readiness to continue it soon. Talks on this topic will continue after the Christmas and New Year’s holidays. Dacic informed McAllister that the parliament would have a session on the EU Commission's Progress Report on the Republic of Serbia for 2020 next week. This will be the first time that the Progress Report is discussed at a plenary session. McAllister praised this initiative.

REGIONAL PRESS 

 

Eighty-three per cent of votes from Mostar processed (Hayat) 

Eighty-three per cent of votes from the local elections in Mostar have been processed. The results have not yet been processed at 25 out of 150 polling stations. Hayat reports that HDZ B&H won majority of votes in the City Constituency and is followed by the ‘Coalition for Mostar 2020’. The reporter comments that after pro-Bosnian political parties won more votes at polling stations than those with a Croat prefix, HDZ B&H leader Dragan Covic complained about the B&H Central Election Commission (CEC), vote counting during night, etc. and added that Covic wanted 15 councilor seats in Mostar and according to the interim results he will probably have 13. Hayat reports that 81 polling stations have been processed for the city candidates’ list, with HDZ B&H winning 14,878, i.e. 36 per cent. HDZ B&H is followed by the ‘Coalition for Mostar 2020’ that won 12,188, i.e. 29.71 per cent of votes, then BH Bloc with 5,050 and HRS with 3,111 votes and ‘Stay Here – Together for Our Mostar’ with 1,836 votes. Ninety-two per cent of votes have been processes at the Constituency 4 – South where HDZ B&H won majority of votes, i.e. 2,286, and is followed by the ‘Coalition for Mostar 2020’. Hundred per cent of polling stations have been processed at the Constituency 3 – Southeast - ‘Coalition for Mostar 2020’ won 3,393, i.e. 73 per cent of votes, and is followed by the ‘Platform for Progress’ with 565 votes. Seventy-four per cent polling stations have been processed at the Constituency 5 – Southwest – where HDZ B&H won majority of votes and is followed by HRS an BH Bloc. 87 per cent polling stations have been processed at the Constituency 1 – North – ‘Coalition for Mostar 2020’ won majority of votes, 3,270 and is followed by BH Bloc with 862 votes and HDZ B&H with 312 votes. Eighty per cent polling stations have been processed in Constituency 2 - Old Town – ‘Coalition for Mostar 2020’ is in lead with 4,354 votes, followed by BH Bloc. Eighty-three per cent polling stations have been processed at the Constituency 6 – West - HDZ B&H has majority of votes, and is followed by HRS and BH Bloc.

B&H CEC recounts ballots in Mostar (N1) 

With an hour delay, the reopening of bags with election material, ballots and records in the premises of a High School in Mostar began on Tuesday. HDZ B&H is still in the lead but talks on election frauds continue. Members of the City Election Commission in Mostar say "we are ready to answer if we have anything to answer for". It took several hours to check the voting materials, records and count the ballots from 31 polling stations in Mostar, where irregularities were established. The City Election Commission and members of the polling station committees, in the presence of observers, opened a total of 45 bags that arrived from four city areas. City Election Commission President Hilmo Djidelija says that these are technical errors that cannot affect the election results. But what can change, if the irregularities are confirmed, are the preferences, the ratio of votes within the party lists themselves, admits Djidelija. The B&H CEC previously confirmed that the disputed polling stations were not included in the updated results until the final verification. Contrary to Djidelija's claims, Lana Prlic, a member of the Election Headquarters of the ‘BH Bloc’, who monitored the verification of the number of ballots, said for N1 that on Tuesday not only ballots were counted, but also votes. She said that records did not match the data of recount, in regards to party votes. Prlic claims that some results varied and there were even hundreds of votes that were uncounted for. That this could happen warned representatives from the list of independent candidates ‘Right to the City’ on Saturday, which said the procedures were not followed in many places, such as records that did not contain information on the number of ballots in the boxes before the polls opened.

HNS demands resignation of B&H CEC members due to alleged election frauds in Mostar (O Kanal) 

O Kanal reported that representatives of the Croat People’s Assembly (HNS) have requested from the current convocation of the B&H CEC to resign over alleged irregularities in the Mostar elections. They explained that competent institutions in all European countries count several thousands of ballots in one hour only, but the public in Mostar cannot get information on the election results even 40 hours after polling stations are closed.

Komsic: High time for amending DPA has passed a long time ago (O Kanal) 

O Kanal carries an interview with Croat member of B&H Presidency and DF leader Zeljko Komsic. Asked to comment on the international community’s latest stances on the need to amend the Dayton Peace Accords (DPA) they expressed on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the DPA and his own stance on the ‘Dayton 2’, Komsic stated that high time for amending the DPA has passed a long time ago and he still regrets a missed opportunity in the form of the April Package that represented a serious attempt to change the Constitution of B&H, especially because history is not so generous in this region to often offer a chance to revise certain things. According to Komsic, the constitutional amendments are necessary not for the competition or sidelining some ethnic group, but for more normal and functional state of B&H that needs to meet the EU standards and also because of the rulings passed by the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg that needs to be implemented by B&H. Asked about activities of B&H Presidency in 2021, Komsic stated that he expects some sort of pressure from the international community that will insist to see B&H Presidency as a leader in certain processes, reminding that similar initiative was requested from BiH Presidency regarding the Program of Reforms of B&H or the Annual National Program (ANP) for NATO. “B&H Presidency’s more active participation in the story about structural reforms in the field or electoral legislation and possibly the Constitution of B&H is expected. However, the question is how to achieve this given well-known stances of Dodik (SNSD), who even started to dispute 14 priorities set in the European Commission’s (EC) Opinion”, Komsic asserted. He noted that B&H has no other choice but to move forward and even B&H’s friends from the international community are actually very dissatisfied with the stalemate in B&H, and although they have understanding for everything they are dissatisfied because B&H does not succeed to move forward. Komsic assessed that reforms required from B&H authorities are not so complicated, especially the process of amending the law on public procurement, the law on the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (HJPC) of B&H or the law on the conflict of interest for instance.

B&H Ministry of Security issues instruction for temporary reopening of ‘Bira’ center (O Kanal) 

The B&H Ministry of Security issued on Tuesday an instruction for temporary reopening of the ‘Bira’ center in Bihac for migrants from the migrant camp in Lipa outside Bihac. B&H Service for Foreigners’ Affairs was instructed to organize temporary relocation of migrants from Lipa to ‘Bira’ until completion of adaption works in Lipa aimed at creation of normal conditions for accommodation of migrants. Representatives of local authorities in Bihac decisively oppose the reopening of the ‘Bira’ center for migrants. Extraordinary session of the Una-Sana Canton (USC) Assembly dedicated to this issue was scheduled to take place on Wednesday. USC Prime Minister Mustafa Ruznic stated on Tuesday that the USC government’s Operational Group for Monitoring of the Migrant Crisis in the USC concluded that the instruction issued by B&H Ministry of Security has only led to complication of the situation in the USC in terms of health and security and caused fierce reactions of the USC citizens.

Office of B&H Presidency Chairman Dodik: Orthodox Christian icon gifted to Lavrov not stolen (RTRS) 

The Saint Nicholas icon, given by Serb member and Chairman of the B&H Presidency Milorad Dodik to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, has not been stolen but belonged to the Dodik family’s consecrated icons collection, announced the Office of B&H Presidency Chairman. The Office emphasizes that the given icon has its market value, but its value is, above all, reflected in the fact that it is a consecrated Orthodox icon of a great saint, which is very familiar to every Christian. "Series of fabrications and untruths followed the wrong initial media presentation that it is an icon being a part of the cultural heritage and national treasure, which has not been established anywhere. It is confirmed by the fact that even seven days after the gift was given, the icon is neither on any missing icons list nor is anyone looking for it nor is it a part of anyone's cultural heritage, but despite that, the spread of untruths in the public continues," reads statement of the Office of the B&H Presidency Chairman. It also said that after Dodik presented a gift to Lavrov, numerous inaccurate allegations and false accusations were made in public by certain media outlets, so-called experts, senior B&H officials, including individuals from the RS. “Nobody and nothing, the least disgusting untruths, can spoil the fraternal relations between the two Orthodox peoples, as well as the relations between the Serb member of the Presidency and the political leadership of Russia,” reads the Office’s statement.

Directorate for Coordination of Police Bodies in B&H: Neither INTERPOL nor B&H law 

enforcement authorities received request to investigate icon (N1) 

Neither INTERPOL nor B&H law enforcement authorities received a request to investigate the 300-year-old gilded icon that Milorad Dodik presented as a gift to Minister Lavrov last week, the Directorate for Coordination of Police Bodies in B&H said on Tuesday. "The Directorate for Coordination of Police Bodies of B&H - National Central Bureau (NBC) INTERPOL Sarajevo, within whose competence is international operational police cooperation, meaning the cooperation through INTERPOL, has not officially received a request for action by the competent authorities in B&H or the NCB INTERPOL from Kyiv in relation to this case," the Directorate said.

 

Opposition’s request: Minister Radulovic to be interrogated (CdM) 

Members of the Committee for International Relations and Emigrants from the opposition lines will submit a request to the president of the Committee Miodrag Lekic on the control interrogation of the Minister of Foreign Affairs Djordje Radulovic due to the recall of seven ambassadors. Referring to Article 75, paragraph 3 of the Rules of Procedure, they cite that “The Committee renders decision on control interrogation at the request of one third of the members”.

The decision on the recall of seven ambassadors has provoked controversy, particularly as one of the recalled ambassadors is also Vera Kulis, a diplomat with successful career. “I deeply regret the recall of the current Montenegrin Ambassador Vera Kulis. She was capable of organizing high-ranking meetings with representatives of Montenegrin politics and made sure that Montenegro was visible at the highest international level,” Gunter Krichbaum, chairman of the German Bundestag’s Committee on European Affairs, said in a recent statement for Pobjeda.

Radulovic came into the public spotlight not only because of the recall of the ambassador but also because of the statement that the expulsion of Serbian Ambassador Vladimir Bozovic was a hasty act. The most interesting of all was when minister liked the tweet of a certain Ivan Kosancic who has called Darko Pajovic a bat. After CdM wrote about that, Radulovic apologized to Ambassador Pajovic.

Bishop Joanikije: Our lawyers amended the law, whereas we were just monitoring the process (Radio Svetigora/CdM) 

Bishop Joanikije of Budimlja-Niksic, who’s the administrator of the Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Littoral, Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC), has stated that lawyers of SPC were involved in the preparation of the amendments to the Religious Freedom Law, whereas the church was monitoring the overall process. According to him, they did it in the best way possible. “If only the circumstances were better, we would require that discriminatory law to be completely abolished. However, things are as they are and many challenges lie ahead for the new government, and we, in addition to the pandemic, poverty and unemployment and this difficult situation, started with the comprehensive amendments to this law, as we have already announced on several occasions. Our lawyers did that, we were monitoring the process, letting the experienced people to do their job. I think they did it in the best possible way,” bishop Jaonikije told in an interview for Radio Svetigora. The amendments, he has added, completely changed the law, and what’s most important – there’s no discrimination, no one is being prioritized, as all religions are equal now. “All religions are provided with property rights, all religions are guaranteed to have legal subjectivity, no one’s continuity is endangered and no one is put into a position to go and register itself as a newly established religious community,” he emphasized.

The government of Montenegro defined amendments to the Religious Freedom Law and forwarded them for adoption to the Parliament of Montenegro. The disputed articles 61, 62, 63, 64 are being deleted, as requested by the SPC, so now it doesn’t have to register in Montenegro.

Becic: Parliament to meet on Monday (CdM) 

The last sitting of the autumn session will be held on Monday, 28 December, it was agreed at Tuesday’s meeting of the Collegium of the parliament speaker. Parliament speaker Aleksa Becic said that they agreed on the agenda and that he expected the proposal for establishing the Committee on Comprehensive Reform of Election Legislation soon to enter the parliamentary procedure, as a joint proposal of both the parliamentary majority and the opposition. “If it happens, and I expect that it will, I assume that the first agenda point will be to consider and adopt the decision on establishing the Committee,” Becic noted. He also expects that the proposal for the decision amending the rules of procedure will be on the agenda as well. The agenda will also include the proposal amending the labor law, being the joint proposal of the opposition and the government. Becic adds that he expects the government’s proposal to urgently adopt the amendments to the religious freedom law, as well as some other laws. “During the meeting, we also agreed to define the delegations of the parliament in international organizations,” he noted.

Bosniak Party urges parliament to adopt resolution recognizing the Srebrenica massacre (CdM) 

The Bosniak Party caucus has submitted to the parliament of Montenegro the initiative for adopting a resolution recognizing the Srebrenica massacre. Their proposal says that the parliament of Montenegro confirmed that a massacre took place in Srebrenica back in 1995 and that over 8.000 Muslims were killed. The resolution would condemn statements, behavior and policies that deny or question the Srebrenica massacre. In addition, the resolution suggests that 11 July should be declared the Srebrenica Memorial Day. The head of the BP caucus Ervin Ibrahimovic has called on all parties to engage in the alignment of the text of the afore-mentioned resolution. “By adopting the Resolution on the recognition of the Srebrenica massacre, Montenegro will once again make a strong and important step forward in preserving the lasting peace in the region,” Ibrahimovic said.

 

Zaev expresses gratitude to Borisov for the promise to share the coronavirus vaccines (Republika) 

Zoran Zaev expressed his gratitude to Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, for giving a portion of the Bulgarian share of coronavirus vaccines to Macedonia. I personally expressed my gratitude to Prime Minister Borisov, the Bulgarian government and the Bulgarian people for this gesture of solidarity and humanity, and an exceptional gesture of friendship toward the Macedonian people and all the citizens of Macedonia, Zaev said in a statement. Macedonia is facing delays in the deliveries of vaccines and Healthcare Minister Venko Filipce went to Sofia on Tuesday to discuss receiving a share of the Bulgarian shipment. The two countries are at odds after Bulgaria vetoed the opening of EU accession talks with Macedonia, demanding major concessions on historic and national identity issues.

Borisov: We donate the vaccines without any hidden intentions (Republika) 

Bulgarian PM Boyko Borisov expressed Tuesday hope that next year a common solution for continuation of Macedonia’s EU integration process will be found. Borisov said this at a session of the Bulgarian government at which a decision was made of each shipment of Covid – 19 vaccines that arrives in Bulgaria, a certain amount to be donated to Macedonian citizens. The Minister of Health Venko Filipche also attended the session at the invitation of Borisov and the Bulgarian Minister of Health Kostadin Angelov. We do this with a pure heart without any hidden intentions, we do it for our closest neighbors. I hope that next year, together with Zahareva and Karakachanov, we will find a common solution for Macedonia’s integration into the European Union, as we supported it for NATO. So nothing terrible has happened, it is a matter of political will on both sides to get there, said Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov at Tuesday’s session of the Bulgarian government.

 

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA SOURCES 

Secretary‑General Appoints Mari Yamashita of Japan Representative, Director of United Nations Office in Belgrade (UN Press Release, 22 December 2020) 

The United Nations Secretary‑General António Guterres announced today the appointment of Mari Yamashita of Japan as his Representative and Director of the United Nations Office in Belgrade.  Ms. Yamashita succeeds Simona‑Mirela Miculescu of Romania, who has assumed new functions with the Government of Romania.  The Secretary-General is grateful to Ms. Miculescu for her contribution to the work of the United Nations Office in Belgrade during her tenure in this position. As the Representative of the Secretary-General, Ms. Yamashita will oversee the Office’s activities in support of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), and relating to regional developments of special relevance to the work of the United Nations and UNMIK. Ms. Yamashita is an experienced United Nations professional, her career spanning more than 30 years working in peace and security, preventive diplomacy, peacebuilding and outreach, both at Headquarters and in the field.  She is currently the Deputy Director of the Asia Pacific Division with both the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, and the Department of Peace Operations. Among other positions with the United Nations, she served as Deputy Head and Director of the Peacebuilding Support Office, Director of the United Nations Information Centre in Tokyo and as External Relations Adviser in the Executive Office of the Secretary-General.  In addition, Ms. Yamashita held leadership positions in the field, including with the United Nations Mission in Nepal, United Nations Transitional Administration in Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)‑United Nations Joint Operation in Armenia.

Ms. Yamashita holds a Bachelor of Law degree from Jochi Daigaku/Sophia University in Japan, and a Master of Arts degree in law and diplomacy from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, in the United States.

Czechia and Slovakia block an important document for EU enlargement (DPA, 22 December 2020) 

The Czech Republic and Slovakia have blocked an important document concerning the further EU enlargement. The reason is the Bulgarian veto on the opening of accession talks with North Macedonia. According to the Czech Minister of Foreign Affairs Tomas Petricek, the document could further complicate accession negotiations. "I am sorry, but we had to block the EU Council Conclusions on Enlargement," Slovak Foreign Minister Ivan Korcok said in a statement. "This document inadequately introduces sensitive historical issues into the agenda in relations between EU member states and candidate countries," the Slovak minister said, adding that such an approach undermines the credibility of the enlargement process and motivation of candidate countries to meet tasks and accession criteria. According to Petricek, the text also contains, among other things, passages that change history, which could be detrimental to the enlargement process in general. Bulgaria blocked accession talks in mid-November because Northern Macedonia rejected its request to recognize that its national identity and language had Bulgarian roots. According to Sofia, its Balkan neighbor is also not complying with the friendship pact that the two countries signed in 2017, and an anti-Bulgarian campaign is underway in the Macedonian media. There are also disputes about a minority living on Bulgarian territory. Northern Macedonia considers them Macedonian, which Bulgaria rejects. Sofia believes that Macedonian nationality and language were created in the 1940s under what was then Yugoslavia and that before 1920, most of the population in the area considered themselves Bulgarians.

Although Bulgaria agreed to open accession talks with Albania, the veto on Skopje also blocked the start of negotiations with Tirana. "I will explain our procedure in-person to a Bulgarian colleague. We want the enlargement process to proceed further, not to get stuck in bilateral disputes," added Czech Minister Petricek. The situation is an unpleasant problem for EU diplomacy, given that Russia, China, and Turkey are also trying to strengthen their influence in the Western Balkans. Slow progress in developing relations with the EU could therefore lead to a neglect for the reforms demanded by Brussels for greater democracy and the strengthening of the rule of law, the DPA noted. According to the DPA, the ambassadors of the Czech Republic and Slovakia approved the text of the conclusions on Wednesday and did not use the country's right of veto until Thursday in the Council of Ministers. Both countries specifically criticized the fact that a reference to historical disputes with Northern Macedonia was included in the text on the issue of enlargement under pressure from Bulgaria.