LOCAL PRESS

 

Vucic, South American Ambassadors discuss UN draft Srebrenica resolution (Tanjug/RTS/RTV)

 

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic met with Ambassadors of South American states on Monday to discuss the "International Day of Reflection and Remembrance of the 1995 Srebrenica Genocide" draft UN resolution and the consequences of its potential adoption for stability in the region as well as for the global order. "I stressed the significance of a sensible, objective and righteous approach to this issue whereby the principles of international law would return to global fora and help build sustainable peace and trust among peoples," Vucic wrote in a post on Instagram after hosting the Ambassadors for a breakfast meeting. He added that they had also discussed a new impetus in Serbia's relations with South American states, a great untapped potential for strengthening economic and all other forms of cooperation as well as strengthening a strategic partnership in international forums.

 

Dodik asks Vucic to hold Serb people’s rally after adoption of resolution on Srebrenica (Beta)

 

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic accepted on Saturday Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik's idea to hold a Serb People's Rally right after the United Nations votes on a resolution on Srebrenica. On Saturday, Dodik asked Vucic that "the Rally of the Serb people, Serbia and Srpska be held right after the adoption of the resolution on Srebrenica by the UN General Assembly, because the Serb people need to decisively respond to the gravest of moral, legal and political disqualifications being prepared against it", the Serbian Presidency said in a press release. At the meeting Vucic briefed Dodik on the activities of Serbia and its delegation at the United Nations in response to a motion by Germany and other great powers to adopt the resolution on Srebrenica. Serbia has invested every effort to protect not just the vital interests of the Serb people, but truth and international law, too, Vucic said. Vucic stressed that the situation was very difficult and complex for the Serb people, and that it was very clear that West's leading states were going to try to push the resolution through almost at any cost. Dodik briefed Vucic on his visit to Russia and its results.

 

Dacic: UN General Assembly to hold urgent session on Bosnia at Russia’s request (Beta/N1)

 

Serbian Foreign Affairs Minister Ivica Dacic announced that the UN Security Council will hold an urgent session on Bosnia and Herzegovina on 30 April at Russia's request, and that Serb member of Bosnia's tripartite Presidency Zeljka Cvijanovic will address the event, local media reported. Also, according to Dacic, the UN Security Council will hold a regular session on Bosnia and Herzegovina mid-May and that Serbian President is yet to decide who will represent Serbia there. Cvijanovic’s office confirmed she asked to address the event and that she would do so via video link. The Serb politician has been under US sanctions since 31 July for obstructing and undermining the implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement, pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 14033, thus unable to travel to the United States. Commenting on the resolution on Srebrenica, which was supposed to be on agenda of the Security Council on 2 May, but was postponed, Dacic noted that the proposed document was an “inconsiderate gesture” and that the countries that sponsor the document will certainly not give up on it. According to him, the resolution’s sponsors also did not expect Serbia to confront it so strongly. “They expected us to deny the crime, and instead of that we followed the procedure, we said that the UN Charter’s Article 12 was breached, that there is no consensus in Bosnia and Herzegovina or in the countries of the region,” he stressed, adding that Serbia was not informed beforehand about the proposal. Dacic also deems that the resolution is far from reconciliation and will only deepen the divisions.

 

Brnabic meets with Mexican Ambassador to Belgrade (Tanjug)

 

Serbian parliament speaker Ana Brnabic met with Mexican Ambassador to Serbia Carlos Felix Corona on Friday. The parties noted that 2024 marked 78 years since the establishment of Serbia-Mexico diplomatic relations, symbolizing a long-standing friendship and successful cooperation between the two countries. Brnabic thanked the Ambassador for Mexico's support for Serbia's successful bid to host the specialized EXPO 2027 and noted that the expo was an excellent opportunity to promote Mexico as well as to attract tourists and investors.

The parties said they were pleased with the parliamentary cooperation to date and expressed a desire to advance it further, the Serbian parliament said in a statement. They noted the potential for strengthening economic cooperation, as well as Mexico's interest in utilizing Serbian technical and technological expertise in agriculture, health care and industry.

 

Serbia's determination to build the best possible relations with Tanzania (Tanjug)

 

Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic visited Tanzania on Friday, on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the unification of Tanganyika and Zanzibar. On that occasion, Dacic met in Dar es Salaam with Minister of Foreign Affairs of Tanzania January Yusuf Makamba. The meeting was attended by members of the Serbian delegation, Minister of Domestic and Foreign Trade Tomislav Momirovic and MP Vladimir Orlic. During the meeting, Dacic pointed to Serbia's determination to build the best possible relations with Tanzania, based on the foundations of friendship and cooperation, which began in the years of Tanzania's independence. In a cordial meeting, the head of Serbian diplomacy emphasised the interest in renewing old friendships and very good relations with African peoples and countries, and he identified education, economy, trade, tourism and agriculture as potential areas of cooperation, among others. Dacic conveyed the invitation of President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic to the President of Tanzania to visit Serbia, and he also invited his colleague, Minister Makamba, to visit Serbia, according to a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

 

Dacic: Serbia to get new government over the holidays (TV Pink)

 

Serbia’s new government will be formed over the International Workers’ Day holidays due to a number of factors, said Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) leader Ivica Dacic. Dacic told TV Pink that the government will be formed on International Workers’ Day, adding that “it is not his place” to speak of which seats his party will get.  “It is up to the prime minister designate to talk about that. There is no more room for postponement because the legal deadlines are such that the cabinet must be formed before Easter,” said Dacic, who is the incumbent foreign minister.

 

Why did the Germans and the USA postpone the statement on the resolution on Srebrenica (Novosti)

 

The vote on the Srebrenica resolution before the United Nations General Assembly, originally scheduled for 2 May, has been pushed back by at least four days as the West wants to buy time to gather additional votes. According to Novosti, the change in the calendar on the East River was caused by the latest estimates, according to which there are currently in total more states that want to vote against the document or to abstain, than those that are definitely "in favor of it". After the diplomatic action of the Serbian team, which was led by President Aleksandar Vucic, and which included our personnel from Belgrade and New York, a large number of countries decided to abstain during the voting. And that would lead to the fact that the victory of the Western powers pushing the resolution would not be convincing, which would automatically call into question the legitimacy of the ugly text that stigmatizes the entire Serbian people. 193 member states have their seats in the UN. President of Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik stated that about 40 countries should be against the resolution, about 80 abstained, which means that almost two-thirds of the majority are not "in favor of it". There is no question that Germany and other Western powers can tell many people how to vote, but the fact that a document backed by some of the world's biggest powers is supported by about seventy countries still leaves a bitter taste in the mouth. That's why they gave an additional deadline (moving it to 6 May or a little later) and called it time to harmonize the text, but it's actually about pressures and finding a way to "break" some of the bigger and more influential countries into siding with them. The headquarters for gathering support, as President Vucic said, is located in Vienna. He also stated that we managed to complicate things a bit. "It seems that those who drafted the resolution on Srebrenica, with the intention of having it adopted by the UN General Assembly, do not have such a secure majority that would guarantee them that it will be adopted and that they need additional time to clarify its content to the countries who could vote, but for some reason are hesitating," said SNS MP Milovan Drecun. "By postponing the vote for the resolution, it was shown that the Serbian delegation did a good job and presented the facts that there was no genocide in Srebrenica, but that a war crime was committed. The facts were presented that relate to the present and the future, and that by adopting such resolutions, tensions in Bosnia and Herzegovina were raised to the maximum between Bosniaks and Serbs and that this is the path that could lead to the dissolution of Bosnia and Herzegovina and create new hostilities," he said. Leader of the Serbs in North Macedonia, Ivan Stoilkovic, pointed out that the resolution on Srebrenica is an ordinary imposition, with the aim of putting the label of collective responsibility on the Serbian people: "When you start disparaging the Serbs, then you start inventing all kinds of things. The same is true of the aforementioned resolution. It is symptomatic when you are accused of genocide, and you retaliate against them, then you are accused of hate speech, and they are the heroes of democracy. I believe that the leadership of the Srpska and Serbia to respond as best they can and protect their people," he says. The resolution on Srebrenica stipulates that July 11 be marked as an international day of remembrance, that the crime be called genocide and that such a lesson be included in the education system. The document does not have the consent of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which, according to the Dayton Agreement, makes decisions by consensus of all three members. Despite this, B&H Ambassador to the UN Zlatko Lagumdzija worked on the adoption of the resolution, with the help of Western countries that are sponsors of the text.

 

Brnabic says cabinet will be formed by 6 May, calls elections most serious so far (TV Prva)

 

Serbian parliament speaker Ana Brnabic said on Saturday that the new cabinet would be elected by May 6, which is the deadline, and that the upcoming elections on 2 June "are the most serious ever". "This is an election where they (the opposition) are looking at everything happening in Serbia as an opportunity for them. They have time to campaign, but the president of the state, Aleksandar Vucic, absolutely does not, even though people trust him the most, because he deals with matters that are in the national interest," Brnabic told TV Prva. She said that one of the matters being handled by Vucic was the Resolution on genocide in Srebrenica. Brnabic also said "there is no election boycott" and that no one in the opposition would boycott the election. "No one is boycotting the elections. In Novi Sad they are all running together, and in some other local self-administrations as well. They (the opposition) are not running in places where they can tell they are weak because they are supposedly boycotting elections there -- while running in places where they feel a little stronger because, supposedly, they are not boycotting elections there. Therefore there is no boycott," Brnabic concluded.

 

Jovanovic: Vucic’s and Hill’s elections on 2 June (TV Nova S)

 

Leader of the New Democratic Party of Serbia (New DSS) Milos Jovanovic said “Vucic’s and Hill’s elections will be held in Belgrade” on June 2, and that part of the former Serbia Against Violence (SPN) coalition is going to these elections “like sheep to be sheared”. Jovanovic told TV Nova S that the part of the opposition standing in elections is not guided by the motto “I choose to fight”, but rather by “I choose seats”. “Those who have decided to participate in Belgrade in something that are not elections stand no chance of winning. The government is still moving voters to Belgrade, the opposition will not gain control over the voter registry,” said the New DSS leader. Jovanovic said he and the New DSS will conduct a campaign to explain to people why they should not vote in the so-called elections. “Only like this can we proceed to have legitimacy to fight against this government after 2 June,” Jovanovic added. He said that, following the decision of a part of the SPN to stand in the election, the battle against the regime will be “less efficient,” but stressed that the participation of the New DSS in that farce of elections would mean that the party is “an accomplice in fraud”.

 

Djilas: SSP will not call on citizens to boycott elections (Nova)

 

Freedom and Justice Party leader Dragan Djilas said Friday that his party would not call on citizens to boycott Serbia’s next election. In an interview with Nova Djilas said that most of the party's chapters had decided against running in elections in their respective municipalities and cities. Djilas added that the party would boycott the Belgrade polls, too, because “this is where election fraud happened once, and will happen again”. Explaining why local elections would also not be boycotted, Djilas said that the elections in Belgrade were being repeated because of “electoral fraud” and that it was unacceptable that they were being repeated under the same conditions, which “can only mean that the next vote, too, will be rigged”. “In the other municipalities, on the other hand, elections are taking place for the first time in four years. I am absolutely confident that if the electoral conditions remain the same, we cannot defeat Aleksandar Vucic’s regime,” Djilas said. Djilas added that most of his party’s chapters would not run in local elections and that its chapters in Pancevo, Cacak, Vrsac, Vrbas, Nis and Jagodina had already decided this. Out of 88 cities and municipalities in which elections will take place on 22 June, the Freedom and Justice Party’s local chapters will run in less than ten, the opposition party leader told Nova.

 

Tepic: We naively believed we could do anything in ‘pre-stolen elections’ (N1)

 

Marinika Tepic, the Freedom and Justice Party (SSP) deputy leader, said that the committees of that party decided on their own whether they would go to the elections on 2 June, but also that they "naively believed" that they could do anything in the "pre-stolen elections". Speaking about how it is possible that the SSP does not participate in the elections in Belgrade, but participates in the elections in some other municipalities, Tepic asked a question: “I would have one pre-question or pre-answer, and that is how is it possible that we let a unique chance of defeating Vucic and the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), because we would have defeated him and all of them together, if we had remained united.” “I will not hide my sadness and disappointment as to why another round of talks did not last. We had him in our grip,” she added. According to her, a unique chance was missed because an agreement was betrayed and “some colleagues” took back their signatures and withdrew from the stance that they would not go to elections before necessary conditions for that are met. “We have been talking about electoral fraud in Serbia, Belgrade in particular, for four months, because we caught them red-handed,” she underlined.

 

Lazovic: Decision to run in elections does not mean surrender (Beta)

 

Radomir Lazovic, a co-president of the Green-Left Front said Friday that election conditions were unfair but that that only strengthened the opposition’s resolve to fight the coalition rallied around the Serbian Progressive Party. “It is very important that we call our friends, our coworkers, to convince them that we must not surrender to the Serbian Progressive Party,” Lazovic said in a comment for Beta, after the Green-Left Front revealed its decision to run in elections in Belgrade as part of a new coalition called “We Choose to Fight”. Together with the vote in the capital on 2 June, local elections will take place in 66 municipalities across Serbia, and in 17 Belgrade districts. “It goes without saying that the election conditions under which we are running are unfair, but that should only strengthen our resolve to fight the Serbian Progressive Party, and our refusal to cede to them a single city, a single municipality. We believe that we need to fight in the streets, in the Parliament and in institutions,” Lazovic explained.

 

Opposition party Together says will not run in local elections on 2 June (Beta)

 

The Together party decided on Friday not to participate “in any elections” on 2 June. The party explained that it refused to be “an accomplice to an organized criminal enterprise designed to usurp the sovereign right to decide freely who will perform public office.” “Serbia is entering a farce which the criminalized regime is using to obtain legitimacy, after being caught red-handed committing a theft of epic proportions on 17 December last year,” the party said in a press release. The time has come to unite and organize all citizens who refuse to accept “the lie that they have any chance of making a free decision in any election in Serbia”, the Together party concluded.

 

REGIONAL PRESS

 

Konakovic announces request of payment of war damages from Serbia (ATV)

 

B&H Minister of Foreign Affairs Elmedin Konakovic announced on Sunday that he will request the payment of war damages from Serbia, as well as the renewal of the review of the verdict against Serbia. Konakovic was quoted as saying: “Really, this kind of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and this kind of Serbia do not deserve an iota of respect from us”. The Director of the Institute for the Research of Serb Suffering in the 20th Century, Milivoje Ivanisevic, said that the Bosniaks and those who support, as Ivanisevic said, the false myth of the genocide against the Bosniaks in Srebrenica initiated the resolution in fear that the Serb side will be the first to file charges of genocide in Srebrenica and its surroundings, but against the Serbs. RS parliament speaker Nenad Stevandic said that they want to declare Serbs genocidal in the only war so far in which the Serbs did not allow themselves to be killed and slaughtered, and in which they verified their RS. Stevandic was quoted as saying: “If they killed and slaughtered us again like in the First and Second World (Wars) and we built states for them, it would be OK with them”.

 

Holocaust expert Zuroff says that resolution on Srebrenica should not be supported because labelling Srebrenica as genocide further weakens importance of that term (ATV/Times of Israel)

 

One of the world's greatest experts on the Holocaust, the director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, Efraim Zuroff, said that the proposed resolution on International Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica, which should be voted on in the UN General Assembly, should not be supported, because, as Zuroff stated, labelling Srebrenica as genocide further weakens the importance of that term, which serves as an important warning to humanity about the dangers of wars and conflicts. Zuroff pointed out to the Times of Israel that not every war crime is genocide, adding that, among other things, the Serbs spared all the women and children in Srebrenica. “If the Serbs had intended to commit genocide, they would have killed all the Bosnian Muslims gathered in Srebrenica”, said Zuroff. He added that similar to this, deadly attacks of Hamas in Israel cannot be qualified as genocide and both war crimes in Srebrenica and Hamas’ attacks were tragic but merely a short episode in long-tern armed conflicts.

 

Dodik: There is no extraordinary situation in B&H, RS and FB&H created B&H (Face TV)

 

In an interview for Sarajevo-based Face TV, RS President Milorad Dodik said there is no extraordinary situation in the RS and B&H. He added that there will be no war in B&H. Dodik stressed that the RS has been leading healthy political process that has peace and agreement as its grounds. “I want to say to people that there is no extraordinary situation, no need for disturbance, that everyone should celebrated their holidays, that peace is ground of everything we need to do. Political processes are unstoppable and cannot be modelled by spreading of fear of anything”, explained Dodik. The RS President underlined that no politician from the RS ever talked about war, adding that when they talk about B&H, they talk about B&H which has its constitutional structure, adding that they do not want to live in unconstitutional B&H. RS President underlined that the RS does not talk about secession, adding that the RS and the Federation of B&H (FB&H) created B&H. “We do not have any plan on secession. However, we have plan that if all our efforts do not enable creation of mutually fair system of relations, we should disassociate with the FB&H. Our primary relation is not with B&H, we do not flee from B&H. we have relation with the FB&H, and it is signatory of all annexes of the DPA, and it is one of sides in the DPA. If we want to talk, we should talk with the FB&H and not with bodies of B&H”, concluded Dodik. Dodik stressed that allegations that he wants to secede the RS from B&H represent a “hoax.” Dodik confirmed that he appointed Zlatko Lagumdzija as B&H Ambassador to the UN (during his term at the post of Serb member of B&H Presidency). He also admitted that he stated in an interview to Face TV in 2007 that the genocide was committed in Srebrenica in July 1995, noting that this was his mistake.

 

Nesic: If there was no respecting of competencies, RS is ready to exist as an independent state (Dnevni list)

 

B&H Security Minister Nenad Nesic stated for RTRS that if there was no respect for its competencies, Republika Srpska (RS) is ready to exist as an independent state since it has territory, people, competencies and many friends in the world, which will support the RS in this. He further said that the RS gives a chance to B&H, but only through the DPA and who does not want this, there is peaceful separation. As for the statement of B&H Defense Minister Zukan Helez that there would be war in case of the RS’ secession, Nesic called on Helez to respect the DPA since it is the only way for B&H to survive. He concluded: “Without respecting of the RS’ competencies, there is no B&H either. I am calling on Helez to follow what I and RS President Milorad Dodik are saying – it is necessary to respect the DPA and constitutional structure of B&H.”

 

Statement of Israel Ambassador to Serbia denying genocide provokes reactions (N1/Nova BH)

 

Statement of Ambassador of Israel to Serbia Yahel Vilan that Israel never accepted formulation genocide for atrocities committed in Srebrenica sparked numerous reactions on Sunday. Speaking about the upcoming vote on the resolution on Srebrenica in the UN General Assembly (UN GA), the ambassador said that Israel "understands the gravity of the issue” and added: “Countries that are more politically motivated than committed to historical truth should consider the impact of their decisions on the region and the stability of B&H.” In his opinion, significant and important authorities and historians such as Efraim Zuroff, Yehuda Bauer, or Gideon Greif should be trusted on this matter. In his opinion, using the term genocide in the case of Srebrenica is incorrect and gives a distorted picture of the event. "For me, Srebrenica should not be called genocide," Vilan pointed out. B&H Minister of Foreign Affairs Elmedin Konakovic said that they will send protest note to Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, adding that they want to explain current situation to the Foreign Ministry of Israel if they are not well-informed about it. “This Serbia deserves our contempt. They do not deserve any hand of cooperation. For one year we were going there, talked and offered dialogue. We got moral slap from them. Since he acts like this, we will use other methods to demand war damage compensation and revision of verdict in case of genocide lawsuit against Serbia. This Vucic and Serbia do not deserve any respect from us”, emphasized Konakovic. MP in B&H House of Representatives (HoR) Sasa Magazinovic (SDP) said that authorities in RS and Serbia have been deceiving the public that there is attempt to label entire people as genocidal. Konakovic fiercely criticized statement of Israeli Ambassador to Serbia Vilan. “Such statements are not only deeply wrong but are also insulting for the victims and survivors of genocide in Srebrenica, as well as all those in international community who respect truth and justice”. He told Vilan that comparison between Holocaust and Srebrenica Genocide is not competition in suffering, but acknowledgment that every victim of crime against humanity deserves equal respect and justice. “Mr. Vilan, your statements are not only irresponsible, but present insult for founding values that each diplomat should not only respect, but also promote. You are shame of diplomacy and human shame as well.”

 

Despite insisting of US Ambassador, FB&H government still has not sent proposal of law on ‘Southern Interconnection’ gas pipeline to FB&H parliament for adoption (Oslobodjenje)

 

Despite previous announcements that the proposal of the law on ‘Southern Interconnection’ gas pipeline would enter the legislative procedure by the end of March, FB&H government has not yet presented the proposal to the FB&H Parliament. Therefore, speaking at the Neum Energy Summit earlier this week, US Ambassador to B&H Michael Murphy once again called on B&H authorities to urgently act and eliminate B&H’s dependence on Russian gas, and to secure energy stability and security of the country. Murphy emphasized that the time is running out for implementation of key reforms that are needed to remedy years of poor management, corruption and neglect which left B&H’s energy sector in a terrible condition. According to him, the energy sector is dysfunctional and full of weaknesses. He warned that the delayed adoption laws, corruption, dependence on Russian gas, outdated infrastructure and the upcoming carbon fees are some of the challenges that threaten the energy security of B&H. Murphy also emphasized the need to diversify gas supply, which requires the adoption of the law on the ‘Southern Interconnection’. He underlined that there is no need for a new operator company to be established, and he criticized politicians who are obstructing the pipeline because they see it as an opportunity to increase their power and wealth. Speaking at a press conference this week, SDP leader and FB&H Prime Minister Nermin Niksic stated that the Government will soon finish the drafting of the law on ‘Southern Interconnection’. In his opinion, it will take six or seven years to finish the pipeline, and the matter is not so pressing. HDZ B&H’s Lidija Bradara once again reiterated HDZ B&H’s stance that ‘BH Gas’ should not operate the new pipeline. She noted that ‘BH Gas’ never completed the pipeline to Travnik, which shows that its capacities are rather limited.

 

Post-election negotiations to continue (HRT)

 

As announced by both the relative winners of the 17 April parliamentary elections, the HDZ and partners, and the leaders of the "Rivers of Justice" coalition, the SDP, post-election negotiations on the forming of a new parliamentary majority and subsequent government will continue next week. 76 seats in the 151-seat house are required to form a parliamentary majority. While the HDZ and its partners have 61 seats in parliament, the big winners of the elections would appear to be the conservative Homeland Movement Party, which secured a crucial fourteen seats in the chamber that seemingly will play a pivotal role in forming a new parliamentary majority. So far, the Homeland Movement has held negotiations with both the HDZ and SDP, with party president Ivan Penava outlining his party's three conditions for backing any group in forming a parliamentary majority. They are the de-ratification of the Istanbul Convention, the immediate end to illegal migrants flooding into the country and that his party will not enter into any coalition agreement that includes the left-wing Mozemo party or the Serb minority party, the SDSS. HDZ party president Andrej Plenkovic has openly stated that he will not rescind the Istanbul Convention but says that negotiations with Penava and his team will continue next week. Another conservative party, MOST and its coalition partner the Sovereigntists Party, took eleven seats in the 17 April poll. However, MOST has since lost two of its seats, after the husband-and-wife duo of Marija Selak Raspudic and Nino Raspudic left the party after the elections, opting instead to sit in parliament as independent MPs. It appears however as though the HDZ will not be able to rely on their votes, as both MOST and the Sovereigntists have made it clear that it will not, under any circumstances work with the HDZ. The Severeigntists have gone a step further, adding that they will also not work with the Homeland Movement. On the left, the "Rivers of Justice" coalition has 42 seats in parliament, while the radical left-wing Mozemo Party has ten seats. However, even with every left-wing vote in parliament they would still be well short of a majority. For this reason, the SDP has been approaching center-right parties such as the Homeland Movement and MOST, with the idea of unifying the opposition on anti-corruption issues in order to constitute the Parliament. However, both the Homeland Movement and MOST have made it clear that they absolutely will not join forces with Mozemo. Meanwhile, Vesna Vucemilovic of the Sovereigntists announced via social media on Sunday that she would never support any alliance with the SDP or Mozemo. This comes after the leadership of the party decided that it would, under any circumstances, be a part of a majority formed by the HDZ. Vucemilovic said that she will not allow anyone to negotiate on her behalf with the SDP, a party that left the parliament when the historic decision on Croatian independence was adopted. Furthermore, she made it clear that she will not participate in any attempt to turn election losers into election winners. She concluded by saying that she will also not allow anyone to brand her a political pawn or traitor because of her convictions. The President of the Sovereigntists Party, Marijan Pavlicek, responded to her statement, noting that the decision adopted by the party presidency is clear and that all party members must adhere to it. He reiterated that backing the HDZ, minority representatives or the Homeland Movement in forming a majority is absolutely out of the question. Commenting on the current situation with regard to forming a new majority in parliament, Independent MP Zeljko Lackovic - who ran on the Homeland Movement slate, said that going forward protecting Croatian democracy would lie in in coalition governments, and not in courting national minorities. Lacković noted that the parliamentary minority is actively participating in negotiations on the forming of a parliamentary majority, which once again puts the decision on Croatia's future in the hands of minority representatives who are elected to parliament through a system of so-called positive discrimination and a miniscule number of votes. Lackovic concluded that it may be time to take into account the electoral will of the majority of voters.

 

35 members of Montenegrin parliament call on government of Montenegro to make decision without further delay on co-sponsorship of proposal for resolution on genocide in Srebrenica (AJB)

 

Thirty-five members of the parliament of Montenegro sent a letter to the Prime Minister of Montenegro Milojko Spajic, calling on the government of Montenegro to make a decision without further delay on the co-sponsorship of the proposal for the resolution on the genocide in Srebrenica, which will soon be before the UN General Assembly. DPS MP in the parliament of Montenegro Andrija Nikolic wrote on the social network X that the letter was offered for signature to the MPs of all caucuses of the parliament of Montenegro, except for the MPs of the former Democratic Front who deny that genocide was committed in Srebrenica.

 

Jaksic: False claims about UN resolution on Srebrenica do not have potential to fuel tensions in the region (MINA)

 

False claims suggesting that the Serbian people would be proclaimed genocidal and RS abolished with the adoption of the UN Resolution on Srebrenica don’t have potential to threaten security of the Western Balkans (WB), the foreign policy observer, Bosko Jaksic, has assessed. The President of RS, Milorad Dodik, said earlier that in case of the adoption of the UN resolution on Srebrenica, they would leave the decision-making processes in B&H, seeing no point in staying in the federation. In a statement for the MINA news agency, Mr Jaksic said that Mr Dodik was a “personalized danger for peace, not only in B&H, but in the region as well”, adding that his threats were “idle”. “Dodik thinks he can tell whatever he wants. He’s bragging about his friendship with Russian President Vladimir Putin and threatens with secession, because he’s already been sanctioned by the US,” Mr Jaksic said. According to him, Dodik’s statement that the adoption of the UN Srebrenica resolution would “bury” B&H was a sheer “nonsense”.

 

Kovachevski expects mass turnout on 8 May, support for Pendarovski from all citizens (MIA)

 

SDSM leader Dimitar Kovachevski urged Friday all citizens to vote in the 8 May presidential runoff and the parliamentary elections and dismissed claims over a SDSM-DUI agreement to boycott the vote. "This is not true. I call for mass turnout at the May 8 elections and support for presidential candidate Stevo Pendarovski and the coalition 'For a European Future' for the parliamentary elections. Let's have a big turnout, elect a president and a parliamentary composition, so that Macedonia continues on its Euro-integration path," said Kovachevski. On the poor results from the first round and the 180,000 votes for Pendarovski, Kovachevski said "it is a fact that citizens have sent a very clear message that SDSM has received", while expecting larger support in the runoff. "We received the message in the first round for all the mistakes that have been made over the past seven years. However, we expect to talk to citizens in all cities and villages across the country, in order to get the support for Pendarovski in the runoff. We are continuing in the second round with our head held high," Kovachevski told reporters. He is aware that citizens are dissatisfied and that the main topics they are preoccupied with are the fight against corruption, rule of law and better standard of life. "The key requirement to make this happen is for the country to join the EU and that is why our programme is titled 'For European Macedonia'," said Kovachevski and added he favored the implementation of a vetting for judges, prosecutors and politicians. Asked if he expects a transfer of votes from other parties and ethnic Albanians, the SDSM leader said he expected the support from all citizens, regardless of their background. "No one has the voters under their control ad are directed who to vote for. Pendarovski was nominated by over 22,000 signatures from citizens and is supported by the SDSM-led coalition 'For a European Future'. He made this clear at the press conference - he will seek the support from citizens not the candidates who failed to advance to the runoff," said Kovachevski. He added that discussions are taking place with political parties at various levels. "I also have discussions with political parties at various levels and call on a mass turnout, so that we elect a president that will ensure a secure European future and a parliament that will take brave decisions for the country and give citizens what they expect and deserve," noted Kovachevski.

 

Kasami: Worth It coalition as partner in next government 'already announced' (MIA)

 

Besa Movement leader Bilal Kasami of the ethnic Albanian opposition coalition Worth It said Friday their coalition will be part of the future government, as it has already been announced, adding that the future government, even with VMRO-DPMNE, will easily adopt the constitutional amendments. "We will have a European government, with the inclusion of the Worth It coalition. The new government will guarantee the country's EU integration and advancement of the rights of Albanians.  As stated previously, the government will be able to adopt the constitutional amendments, even if VMRO-DPMNE or any other political party are part of it. Therefore, when we say that constitutional amendments will be adopted, we mean it. We are not like DUI, which was in coalition with VMRO-DPMNE for 10 years and did not take even the slightest step towards EU integration." Kasami said. He noted that their coalition "guarantees constitutional amendments and the advancement of the rights of Albanians".

 

Minister Hasani attends Conference on "Autonomous Weapon Systems and the Challenge of Regulation" in Vienna (Radio Tirana)

 

Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Igli Hasani, travelled on April 28 to Vienna, where he participated in the conference "Humanity at the Crossroads: Autonomous Weapon Systems and the Challenge of Regulation," organized by the Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs of Austria, Alexander Schallenberg. The conference addressed ways to examine autonomous weapon systems (AWS) and the challenges for their regulation from various perspectives. Immediately after Vienna, Minister Hasani travel to Brussels to participate in the meeting of Foreign Ministers of EU Member States and candidate countries, within the framework of the General Affairs Council format of the EU, organized by the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU, focusing on law enforcement within the enlargement process.