LOCAL PRESS

 

Drecun: Survival of North Macedonia and Montenegro is defended in Kosovo and Metohija (RTS)

 

And almost a week after the visit of Albin Kurti to Skopje and Tetovo, with the emphasis on the symbols of Greater Albania, there are no condemnations from the international community. Milovan Drecun, the Chair of the parliamentary Committee for Kosovo and Metohija, is not surprised by this and points out that the problem is not only Kurti’s views, but the fact that he is working hard to realize the concept of Greater Albania. The US Ambassador in Belgrade said that Kurti’s visit to Skopje and Tetovo, highlighting the symbols of Greater Albania, was not an issue for him, while the Ambassador in Pristina called for dialogue and the establishment of the ZSO, claiming that the US does not support either Greater Albania or Greater Serbia nor the redrawing of state borders in the Balkans. “The territorial integrity and survival of North Macedonia and Montenegro is being defended in Kosovo and Metohija. Anyone who does not understand that advocating for independence is opening the way to the realization of the concept of Greater Albania and is either not allowed to express what is obvious to everyone or is seriously mistaken.” Drecun said. “The reanimation of the fascist Greater Albania is at work,” he points out. The problem is not only the views of Albin Kurti, but the fact that the realization of that concept is at work, says Drecun. “These are no longer attitudes, this is no longer a political idea. We have a practical implementation of the concept of Greater Albania, the cornerstone of which is the attempt to grant independence to our southern province and to gain full international legal capacity for the unilaterally declared independence of Kosovo. Therefore, it is the region that will suffer the most from the continuation of the implementation of that project,” said Drecun. “Unfortunately, North Macedonia was also designed by some international actors to be a kind of buffer zone, so that there would be no strategic partnership between Orthodox Greece and Orthodox Serbia. And in all of this, you now have an Albanian factor who is taking advantage of that situation. Then everyone they ask why there is no expected reaction from the international community? Well there isn’t. So who created that fake state that is the cornerstone of Greater Albania? That political West,” said Drecun.

 

Petkovic: Time when Kurti was allowed to do anything is over (Tanjug/RTV)

 

The Head of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Petar Petkovic spoke after "Vjosa Osmani's latest lament" which he says "confirms that the extremist elite in Pristina is not capable of realizing that the time when Kurti and his associates were allowed to do anything they want is gone for good", and that the EU "does not looks favorably on their attempts to destabilize the region". "The indignation of Vjosa Osmani over to the resolute demands that were put before Pristina is partly understandable, because the sponsors of self-proclaimed 'Kosovo' were in the past ready to tolerate any irresponsible action of the extremist political elite in Pristina, but the world is changing, and so are the stakes and rules of policies on the Western Balkans. Instead of realizing this in Pristina, and immediately doing everything to de-escalate the situation in the north of Kosovo and Metohija and return things to their previous state, and then enable the formation of the Community of Serb Municipalities (ZSO), they are doing the opposite, and now, they are not only threatening Serbs and Serbia, they are already threatening all others in the region who resist Kurti's Greater Albanian project. In the past, so-called Kosovo was a restless baby of the West, which was allowed to run wild, but that era is over, and it is good that the EU realized that leniency towards Pristina has gone too far and could have unfathomable and tragic consequences. Serbia, led by President Aleksandar Vucic, will continue to work in a sincere and consistent manner to stabilize the situation in the region and to consolidate peace where Kurti wishes for conflicts, and open space for cooperation and progress where Kurti wishes for war and regression," the Office for Kosovo and Metohija said in a statement.

 

KFOR to increase movement of troops during regular exchange of contingents in Kosovo (Beta)

 

The NATO peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, the Kosovo Force (KFOR) announced on Wednesday that an increased movement of troops and vehicles should be expected in the next few days, as a usual exchange of contingents would develop. KFOR explained in a press release that the peacekeepers would also hold exercises to test and maintain operational capacities, in order to ensure the same level of training and readiness across all the units in the field. “While these exercises will be conducted in a manner that minimizes disruption an dimpact on the local population, there may be traffic delays and the movement of soldiers may be seen,” the KFOR said in the statement. Under the UN Security Council Resolution 1244 and the Military-Technical Agreement signed in Kumanovo, in 1999, the KFOR is responsible for security in the territory of Kosovo.

 

Protest continues in Leposavic over entry of Radomirovic to municipal building (Kosovo Online/Politika)

 

Citizens of Leposavic, in northern Kosovo and Metohija, gathered again this morning to protest the entry of Pristina government's minister for communities, and the return of Radojica Radomirovic and about ten other people to the municipal building, writes Kosovo Online. Radomirovic, along with a group of ten young people, entered the municipality building this morning before six o'clock, accompanied by members of the police, says the website. Citizens who have been protesting for several months because of the presence of who they consider to be an illegally installed Albanian mayor in the municipal building, say that they are dissatisfied with the arrival of Radomirovic and are asking KFOR to act in accordance with the mandate and prevent anyone from entering the building. Municipal employees, who have not been able to come to their workplaces for more than two months, say that this is another form of provocation. Radomirovic also managed to enter the building with the same group of people yesterday around nine o'clock, as citizens of Leposavic greeted them with boos. Although KFOR did not approve this yesterday, after a delay that lasted a little more than an hour, the Kosovo police, despite the opposition of the gathered citizens, allowed a dozen people, who claim to be employees of the administration, to enter the Leposavic Municipality building by the back door.

 

EU: Elections in four N. Kosovo municipalities as soon as possible (N1/Beta/RTS/RTV)

 

Early elections should be organized as soon as possible in all four northern Kosovo municipalities in a full and inclusive manner, with the full and unconditional participation of Kosovo Serbs, as part of the urgent efforts to ease tensions between the two sides, said European Commission spokesperson Peter Stano. He added that when this will happen depends on both parties’ ability to meet the requirements, that is, the criteria that have been set before them. “The urgency should be seen on the ground, the urgency should be seen by the people and by the political leaders,” said the spokesperson. “Whatever is done in the framework of the dialogue is not done in order to please Brussels or the EU members states and their capitals, or the international partners, it is done in order to improve the life of people in both Kosovo and Serbia, and this is all linked to how the countries are advancing on their European path,” said Stano. He added that there is, of course, a sense of urgency and that there was a sense of urgency already before the latest escalation happened, and that this was conveyed to partners. “Both at the institutional level from Brussels, at the level of all 27 member states, at the level of other international partners, mainly the United States, there is a sense of urgency to complete the necessary steps to de-escalate and return to the dialogue. Not because of the election cycle in Brussels or in the EU, but for the benefit of people both in Kosovo and in Serbia so that both sides can start working normally on the normalization and therefore also moving forward on the European agenda. Because no progress on dialogue means no progress on the EU path,” said Stano.

 

Jovanovic: Protests Serbia Against Violence not a platform for election campaign (Danas)

 

The People’s Party whip Stefan Jovanovic said on Wednesday that the protests Serbia Against Violence should never be used as an election campaign platform, because they had been initiated to commemorate two enormous tragedies. “The focus must remain on the struggle against violence and improvements to the media sphere in Serbia, used to create vilence,” Jovanovic said in an interview with Danas. The People’s Party official explained that the opposition “must think very carefully what the protests should look like as of September”. In a comment on the Serbian speaker Vladimir Orlic’s words that “everyone runs away from the protests as soon as the opposition takes the floor,” Jovanovic said that Orlic “should deal with his own people, not the opposition”, the People’s Party quoted Jovanovic as saying.

 

Embassy of Serbia to Germany responds to text published in Berliner Zeitung (Politika)

 

The Embassy of Serbia to Germany reacted “with fear and concern” to the text ‘Domination of Serbia must be broken’ by Muamer Becirovic, which was published by Berliner Zeitung. Researcher of history of diplomacy Becirovic published this text on 13 August and Berliner Zeitung also published the reaction of Minister Counsellor in the Serbian Embassy to Germany Sasa Dinic who noted: “With all due respect for freedom of media and expression, especially when it comes to paper as liberal as Berliner Zeitung, I have to admit that statements and demands published in that text only caused my fear and concern as it invoked the strategy more than one hundred years old which resulted in the first great destruction of Europe during the last century, with millions of victims.” The daily noted that Becirovic wrote in his text that “Habsburg strategy on the Balkans” from 1910 stipulated that Sarajevo should be tied much stronger to Austrian Zagreb in order to bring Belgrade in balance as well as that “those two countries together should end Serb hegemonistic ideas and strengthen Austrian hegemony in the region.” Dinic commented by saying that “the creation of Bosnian-Croatian counterbalance for the sake of permanent balancing of Serbia in the Balkans, as the author suggested, would represent nothing but a threat to the region and it would condemn to failure every attempt to establish economic connections in the region. Such grouping of some against others is dangerous. We need mutual cooperation. The proposals of the author are also opposite to goals of the Berlin Process that was launched by Germany”.

 

Germany is flexing muscles on RS (Novosti, by S. Misljenovic)

 

Novosti claims that Germany is trying to strengthen its influence in the region by criticizing Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, RS President Milorad Dodik and their connections with Russia. “Determined to get out of the half-shadow of USA and United Kingdom, which already spread their tentacles all over the Western Balkans, Germany is now flexing its muscles on the RS and it deems that a similar formula could be applied everywhere, especially in areas where Serbs live”, Novosti writes. Collocutors of the daily argued that Banja Luka was selected as the primary target of Germany in the Balkans and the fact their citizen Christian Schmidt, who is not recognized by the RS, holds the position of the High Representative is very favorable for them. The daily explained that Schmidt already imposed a number of measures against the RS “which constantly insists on respecting of the Dayton Peace Agreement” and he imposed laws which enable persecution of the RS officials “and, on top of all of that, Germany had its ‘retaliation’ through abandoning important projects in the RS”. “Almost all mechanisms of pressures have been activated, including fabrications on alleged conflict of Vucic and Dodik, which are launched when needed. There is no doubt that many are bothered by the clear message which Serb leaders are constantly conveying: unity of the people is crucial for defense”, the daily argued. Dodik stated that the narrative on B&H and region, nourished by German media, is not much different than the one from 1990s and the one from the time of dissolution of Yugoslavia, which is something in which Germany played the most important role. “Nowadays, 30 years later, there are good guys and bad guys again, this time based on relations with the Russian Federation. Upon a request of the USA, Germany has engaged actively in the war between Russians and Ukrainians against the Russian Federation and it will have to explain this participation and consequences to its people eventually. Media will have to explain why they were silent about this while keeping other topics, less important for the German society, on their agendas. It is interesting that the German press is not dealing with the Western Balkans countries as with sovereign countries in which those who were elected in elections should be the ones who are making decisions. They are dealing with false High Representative who stays in B&H in an illegal manner as well as with potential occupation of the Balkans by Germans”, Dodik said. Speaker of the RS parliament Nenad Stevandic said that it is incredible to see how much official Berlin got engaged in disputing of the rights of Serbs, regardless of where in the region they live. “This is not just about the RS, but it is about Montenegro and Serbs in Kosovo as well, but it is obvious that the RS is Berlin’s main target”, Stevandic said and speculated that Berlin must have estimated that the destruction of the RS would result in destruction of everything else related to Serbs in the region. “However, Berlin must have forgotten that the RS fought in a much worse international environment and forced those who bombarded it to sign its sovereignty, borders and constitutional capacity in Dayton”, Stevandic added and claimed that Berlin lost its strength at the international scene due to the conflict in Ukraine so it assessed that the RS is the easiest target on which it could try to restore the lost power. “Still, even historical circumstances dating back to the World War II do not go in favor of Berlin. Germans, this is not Kozara from 1942!”, Stevandic concluded. Chair of SNSD Caucus in B&H parliament Sanja Vulic told the daily that Germans have never been inclined to Serb people throughout the history because of which present-day negative scenarios coming from Berlin are not surprising. “It is clear that a part of the international community is working on unpacking of the Dayton Peace Agreement (DPA). I would like to remind them, like countless times before, that B&H can exist only based on Dayton and the RS will only grow stronger after these attacks”, Vulic concluded.

 

REGIONAL PRESS

 

B&H CoM fails to declare Wednesday day of mourning; Hadzovic: Dodik used chance to belittle state of B&H (FTV)

 

Wednesday was a day of mourning of the victims of the murders committed in Gradacac several days ago. The FB&H and the RS governments declared Wednesday a day of mourning, but there was no consent in the B&H Council of Ministers (CoM) to declare a day of mourning at the state level. FTV noted that Ministers from the Serb ranks refused to support this initiative in order to, once more, transfer state competences to the level of the entities. FB&H Prime Minister Nermin Niksic (SDP B&H) said that the tragedy was used to score cheap political points. Niksic said that he is convinced that everything was done in order to show that the entities are above the state. Asked to comment on this issue, journalist Danijal Hadzovic said that RS President Milorad Dodik used a chance to declare a day of mourning and thus, belittle the state of BIH and demonstrate force. Hadzovic added that Dodik’s partners in ‘The Troika’ make things easier for him by acting like dilettantes, amateurs and shameful.

 

OHR statement on Gradacac murders (AJB/Avaz/Oslobodjenje)

 

The Office of the High Representative published a statement on their official page, regarding the comprehensive measures that need to be taken in B&H to eradicate gender-based violence. The statement read: “Special attention needs to be invested with regard to the standards of services provided to the victims of domestic violence, from their first contact with the police to the availability and quality of shelters. Protective measures against gender-based violence must be easily and equally accessible and effective in all parts of the country. Greater focus also needs to be put on the spreading of knowledge, training and accountability of the judiciary, including prosecutors, and police officers, especially in regard to B&H’s international obligations when it comes to the prevention of gender-based violence. What happened in Gradacac is yet another indication that the victim protection system in BiH is seriously flawed. I urge relevant authorities on all levels to take immediate action and develop a comprehensive set of measures to better protect women and girls, as well as everyone else, against gender-based and other forms of violence.”

 

OSCE: Prevention of violence against women and domestic violence more generally must be priorities for all relevant institutions in B&H (Fena)

 

OSCE Mission to B&H issued a statement calling for urgent reforms in response to gender-based violence. Statement reads: “On this day of mourning, the OSCE Mission to B&H expresses its deep condolences to the families of the victims of those killed and wounded in the horrific killings in Gradacac, as well as to the local community suffering from this tragedy. Prevention of violence against women and domestic violence more generally must be priorities for all relevant institutions in B&H.  We welcome the urgent investigation into the institutional response regarding this particular case, and strongly encourage relevant authorities at all levels to review the ineffective system of protection against domestic violence overall and to come forward with administrative and legislative proposals for how to better protect women against domestic violence. According to an OSCE study, 48 percent of women in B&H have experienced some form of abuse, and 84 percent goes unreported.  A comprehensive response to this alarming situation will involve a coordinated effort including effective enforcement of existing legislation and training for police and judiciary officials.  The OSCE Mission stands ready to support any serious attempt to finally fight domestic violence decisively. We also call upon the relevant authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina to tighten firearms control through amending the laws regulating firearms ownership and possession in full harmonization with EU legislation and other international standards. Citizens should be encouraged to hand over their firearms to law enforcement authorities for destruction. Finally, we urge the media to act responsibly by balancing the need to inform the public against preserving and protecting the privacy of those involved, especially minors. This is particularly important given the sensitivity of such incidents and the vulnerability of victims and witnesses.”

 

Milicevic: SDS will not support Dodik; Dodik is not the RS (RTRS)

 

Commenting on the indictment against RS President Milorad Dodik. SDS President Milan Milicevic has stated for RTRS on Wednesday that this party has expressed its stance at a session of the RS parliament by supporting laws which refer to the Constitutional Court of B&H and disrespecting decisions of High Representatives in the RS and that they will not support Dodik since he violated these laws. He added that SDS supported the laws which protects interest of the RS, and the RS President should implement these decisions and he does not do it. Milicevic concluded: “It is not only important to support the institution of the President, it is important who is the President and what he does. The President must protect interest and implement decisions of the RS parliament, and he does not do this…. SDS will not support the man whose name is being identified with the RS. Milorad Dodik is not the RS. It is always the SDS’ stance to protect the institutions and first of all the decisions which are passed in the RS parliament, which are a condition for implementation. We cannot play with the RS parliament.”  As for SDS members’ different stances on the indictment against Dodik, Milicevic said that thus is about personal stances since SDS is a democratic party which respects everybody’s opinion, but the stance of the party, defined by official party’s bodies, must be respected.

 

Dodik: I am concerned that Milicevic accepts views of both Sarajevo politicians and false representative on state property; I did not expect SDS’s support (RTRS/ATV)

 

RS President Milorad Dodik reacted on Wednesday to SDS leader Milan Milicevic’s statement that “state property and goods in public use are not two identical concepts and that these goods, i.e. natural resources, should be owned by local communities in the RS.” Dodik said that that he is concerned that Milicevic accepts the views of both Sarajevo politicians and “the false High Representative” and puts the story of state property on the table, forgetting that the issue was concluded with the Dayton Peace Agreement. “Proposing that the property should be allocated to local communities makes me suspect that Milicevic, nevertheless, knows that the property issue has already been resolved, but that he simply has to actualize it with a narrative that was created both outside SDS and outside the RS”, added Dodik. The RS President recalled that at one time, due to the “highest national interests”, SDS left the B&H parliament and started with the people to create and defend the RS, and 30 years later SDS left the RSNA and defended the interests of PDP “whose national program was written in the UK”. Dodik stated that he agrees with the President of SDS on one point – that he himself (Dodik) is not the RS. Dodik added that he would just ask him why they treat the RS as Dodik. Dodik also noted that he is not surprised that SDS will not support him, as they have washed their hands from all of their presidents, going back to Mladen Bosic, who practically made SDS a pro-B&H party. Dodik added that Milicevic is basically saying that SDS does not respect RS institutions, unless they are working based on SDS’s agenda or based on the place that creates the agenda that SDS distributes. It is a shame that the new leadership of SDS continued down the same path as previous leadership, which is the wrong path dictated by foreign offices, Dodik concluded.

 

Viskovic: Milicevic does not have to protect Dodik but he should protect institution of RS President (RTRS)

 

RS Prime Minister Radovan Viskovic reacted on Wednesday to SDS leader Milan Milicevic’s statement that “state property and goods in public use are not two identical concepts and that these goods, i.e. natural resources, should be owned by local communities in the RS.” Viskovic said that Milicevic does not have to protect and support Milorad Dodik, but he should protect and support the institution of the President of the RS. “Can Milicevic not understand that this is not an attack on Milorad Dodik, on an individual, but on the institution of the RS President? When you understand that, then you will be able to understand the struggle and it will be better for RS and the people”, Viskovic added.

 

Kovacevic: SDS is servant of international community (ATV)

 

Commenting on the statement of SDS leader Milan Milicevic, SNSD Spokesman Radovan Kovacevic stated that Milicevic supported stances of “non-elected foreigner Christian Schmidt and his immense work group”, that SDS members are part of, and he presented a shameful stance that the state party should be registered on local communities and not on the RS. Kovacevic stressed: “With this scandalous statement of Milan Milicevic, it has been definitely confirmed that SDS is just an obedient executor of orders of part of the international community, whose goal is complete disempowering of the RS.” Kovacevic noted that “regardless of wishes of Milicevic and illegitimate Schmidt, based on the DPA and the B&H Constitution, the RS is entitled to have its property and we will never give up on this right”.

 

EC answers RTRS’ inquiry for comment about indictment against Dodik (RTRS)

 

The European Commission (EC) responded to RTRS question for a comment about the indictment issued against RS President Milorad Dodik for non-implementation of the decisions of (High Representative) Christian Schmidt. The EC responded that it does not comment on ongoing court processes. The question was about the position or comment of the EU Commission on the indictment against the legally elected president of the RS Dodik for failure to implement the decisions of the OHR in accordance with the amendments to the Criminal Code of B&H imposed by the OHR and Schmidt.

 

B&H MoD and B&H AF launch procedure to determine if there was any criminal and disciplinary responsibility for incident at barracks in Pazaric (Nova BH)

 

Joint Staff of the Armed Forces of B&H (B&H AF) stated on Wednesday that investigative bodies of the Ministry of Defense of B&H and the B&H AF have launched a procedure to determine if there is any disciplinary and criminal responsibility after the fight of two candidates for cadets during the basic training on Tuesday. To remind, the incident took place at the barrack in Pazaric and it is qualified as severe breach of military discipline. Deputy Minister of Defence of B&H Aleksandar Goganovic is surprised that the Prosecutor’s Office of B&H passed the case to the Hadzici Police Department, as they saw the case more appropriate for them. He publicly invited the Prosecutor’s Office of B&H to investigate this case and take it seriously, instead of dealing with imaginary indictments against RS President Milorad Dodik.

 

Gjeloshaj: I told Spajic to clearly specify those blocking govt. formation and that we should re-run in elections if necessary (CdM)

 

The Albanian Forum leader and the list holder in the June parliamentary elections Nik Gjeloshaj has told CdM that the political views of the representatives of the parties in terms of specifying those with whom the government wouldn’t be formed, during yesterday’s meeting with PM-designate Milojko Spajic, were as follows: We will not go with DPS, We will not go with ZBCG, We will not go with URA. “By simple calculation, whatever government/majority is formed with these views of different political parties, it will not and cannot mathematically have a majority of 49 MPs! We will get a political government with the support of 41, 44 or 46 MPs”, says Gjeloshaj. Answering CdM’s question whether he believes that the government will be formed, Gjeloshaj says he thinks that the government will be formed, but underlines that the key will be whether it will have additional legitimacy with the participation of minorities in it. “It will be very important for the Albanian Forum that with its basic commitments the 44^th government has basic postulates that should be accepted by the members of the government, and that is only respect for the views that we are strongly in favor of joining the EU and the fact that we are a member of the NATO alliance, while the Albanian Forum finds crucial:

1. A government whose members would condemn Russian aggression;
2. Advocating for the territorial integrity of Ukraine and supporting EU sanctions against Russia;
3. Further strengthening of the participation of Montenegro in NATO;
4. Advancement of minority rights and
5. Unquestioningly supported sovereignty of neighboring countries, including Kosovo.

 

Uljarevic: Spajic will try to “buy” ZBCG with good management and operational positions (MINA)

 

PM-designate Milojko Spajic will try to form a government with the Democrats and minority parties, but also to “buy” the For the Future of Montenegro (ZBCG) coalition with good management and operational positions, according to Center for Civic Education CEO Daliborka Uljarevic. She says that the election result indicated from the beginning that the process of forming the government would be neither quick nor easy. “Therefore, it is not a surprise that not even two months after the end of the elections, despite intensive, albeit informal negotiations, there is not much progress in what were the actors’ starting points”, Uljarevic has told the MINA agency. According to Uljarevic, the fact that there is little talk about the principles, program and values that the government should represent, and that most of the negotiations focus on the distribution of the “pie of power” in the executive branch, is worrying. Uljarevic believes that Spajic is fully aware that without the ZBCG coalition, and bearing in mind that he has already ruled out cooperation with the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), he will have an unstable government. “At the same time, he would have to be aware that the government with ZBCG would have a built-in structural problem that would distance it from its Western partners, and at the same time it would be destroyed from within by ZBCG”, Uljarevic has pointed out. She believes that Spajic will have to make difficult decisions for which he will bear the consequences. “Both for him and for Montenegrin society, it would be good if, unlike his predecessors, he made those decisions in the public interest of the Europeanization of Montenegrin society”, Uljarevic has stressed.

 

Osmani in letter to MPs: You decide whether we will continue EU negotiations or bring them to a standstill (MIA)

 

Ahead of Friday’s session of parliament on the constitutional amendments, Minister of Foreign Affairs Bujar Osmani addressed the MPs in an open letter Thursday, stating that their decision will determine whether the country will continue negotiations or bring them to a long-lasting standstill without guarantees of success. “Friday will mark the beginning of the discussion that will be followed by the vote on the second most important decision that any parliamentary composition has ever had to make in the history of the country’s independence – after NATO membership, the realization of the country’s second strategic goal to join the progressive European family of countries. On Friday, you will decide North Macedonia’s European future, a future that we are working towards and which all governments in the past 30 years have worked towards. It is up to you whether we will resume EU negotiations by adopting the constitutional amendments, or bring them to a long-lasting standstill, until some new opportunity, without any guarantees for success, encouraging the process of foreign passports for the citizens who are looking for a European future for themselves,” wrote Minister Osmani. “I believe, and I know,” added Osmani, “that you all want the country to become a member of the Union composed of the most democratic and wealthiest states in the world, which guarantees peace, democratic development and economic prosperity.” “In the process of negotiations, we aimed to protect and strengthen the Macedonian language and the Macedonian national identity. I responsibly claim that we succeeded. For the first time, the Macedonian language was recognized and adopted in the Council of the EU by the member-states, and is unequivocally a part of the European languages. No one can dispute that fact,” said Osmani. The FM noted he understands all those who fear other potential attempts to negate and to impose new bilateral conditions, while assuring that questions of identity and history are not a part of the negotiations. “With utmost responsibility, I claim that the questions of identity and history are not a part of the roadmaps and benchmarks that the opening and closing of negotiations depends on. With this amendment to the Constitution, we will only strengthen our international position and bolster international support for our goals. Through negotiations, our opportunities to continue to promote and improve the Macedonian national uniqueness, history and culture will be significantly better and strengthened,” stressed the Foreign Minister.

 

Constitutional changes under Bulgarian dictate impossible, VMRO-DPMNE MPs will not support them, says party whip (MIA)

 

VMRO-DPMNE's parliamentary group will reiterate its arguments at the plenary session on the constitutional amendments Friday, as they did during the session of the Committee on Constitutional Issues. We remain of the position that changes to the Constitution in the current format, under Bulgarian dictate, are impossible, and we will not support them, said the whip of VMRO-DPMNE’s parliamentary group Nikola Micevski at a press conference Wednesday. According to Micevski, the vote for the session’s agenda will show if the Government has the majority it needs to adopt the amendments. “VMRO-DPMNE’s MPs remain of the position that changes to the Constitution in the current format, under Bulgarian dictate, are impossible and we will not support them. Our position was expressed in the Committee on Constitutional Issues where, through arguments, we said that the government is pushing a process that does not have the support of the citizens. We will repeat this at the plenary session too,” said Micevski ahead of Friday’s session of parliament. Micevski said that the plenary session will be a good opportunity for the public to see that the government “has been lying all year” about the constitutional amendments and that “they are not even close” to adopting them. “That happens every time the people are underestimated, and the personal interests are placed above the national interests,” said Micevski, adding that the government has been buying time all year, and is now becoming “a victim of its own lies”. Asked if VMRO-DPMNE’s MPs will participate in the debate, Micevski said that, just like at the session of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs, they will “explain through arguments”. Micevski added that, as a whip, he hasn’t been pressured by anyone so far, he said he has the support of the citizens “who ask of him to persist in his intentions”. The sole item on the agenda at Friday’s session of parliament is the adoption of the constitutional amendments, which are set to add the Bulgarians and five other ethnic communities to the country's Constitution. The adding of the Bulgarians to the Constitution would enable the country to continue its EU accession talks and hold the second intergovernmental conference.

 

US Embassy to Albania urges the magistrates to contribute to a justice system that is effective, transparent and fair (Radio Tirana)

 

With 4 September being the deadline for the applications, the US Embassy to Albania has urged the judges and prosecutors to apply for the vacancies in the High Judicial Council and High Prosecutorial Council. Through an announcement on social network, the embassy points out that this is an important moment for the Justice system in Albania, so it invites them not to miss the opportunity to give their contribution. “This is an important moment for the Albanian justice system to ensure continued progress and to uphold the principles that underline justice reform. Don’t miss the opportunity to contribute to a justice system that is effective, transparent, and fair – on behalf of your fellow magistrates and all citizens of Albania," says the US Embassy to Tirana post.