LOCAL PRESS 

Petkovic: Resolution for issue of Kosovo and Metohija through dialogue (RTV) 

“Non-paper” on changing the borders is neither a document of the state of Serbia, nor did we write it, nor do we have anything to do with it, but strangely enough, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic is being attacked in this regard,” the Head of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Petar Petkovic told Radio and Television of Vojvodina (RTV). “How many papers, documents about ‘Greater Albania’ were there and no one stood up about it, that it was the dismemberment of Serbia, the redrawing of borders, it is not clear to me who is the one who can decide on the future of Serbia, the Serbian people and the Serbian state,” asked Petkovic. “No matter how much they ask themselves, there is no solution without Belgrade,” said Petkovic. “We know very well what the West is saying when it comes to Kosovo as a child of the West, but what is new, where the door was closed on the issue of Kosovo and Metohija, the Serbian President managed to open the door and open the issue of dialogue as a way of a solution,” said Petkovic. As he emphasized, the moment when the issue of Kosovo and Metohija was brought up, an internal dialogue was initiated, which lasted for almost a year, and President Vucic himself said that a demarcation solution was possible and that proposal was rejected. “The demarcation proposal was the contribution of the Serbian side, an impulse to find a solution at the negotiating table. That is why there is a dialogue to try a solution, had they allowed us, Belgrade and Pristina, to agree, we would have agreed, but there is someone third,” he said.

Petkovic stated that when we talk about the continuation of the dialogue with Pristina, there is an agenda that is being negotiated, a topic that is being agreed upon, and we have moved in that direction, and from that moment we have started working on topics as agreed. “There was talk of the property issue, for seven years Pristina has been refusing to discuss the property issue. When you negotiate property, it is an issue you cannot resolve in 20 days, when you negotiate the missing, you cannot resolve it through three meetings and five sentences that you will put on one piece of paper,” he pointed out. “In what atmosphere are Serbs and the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) in Kosovo and Metohija, normalization of relations never to happen because of the war-mongering rhetoric of Albin Kurti and Vjosa Osmani, Serbia knows what they mean, in numerous incidents against Serbs and Serbian property, Visoki Decani is on the list of world endangered monuments,” said Petkovic. “In ten days, we had the desecration of temples in Kosovo and Metohija and in Strpce, Klokot, Pasjane, Gornja Gusterica, when we do not have dialogue we have incidents on the ground, it is in our interest to talk,” said Petkovic.

Nabhan: OIS members could withdraw recognition of Kosovo (Tanjug/Politika/Novosti) 

Palestinian Ambassador to Serbia Mohamed Nabhan confirmed on Tuesday that this country has launched an initiative in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIS) to freeze Kosovo’s membership due to the closure of the mission in Jerusalem, which, if accepted, could mean the closure of missions in Pristina, freezing of agreement or withdrawal of recognition of Kosovo.

He told Tanjug that Pristina’s decision to open a representative office in Jerusalem was condemned by all member countries of the Arab League and the OIS, but that concrete steps should be taken so that the government in Pristina knows how to behave on the international scene. “Termination of cooperation, i.e. freezing of cooperation, could mean closing embassies if they have them in Pristina or if they have some agreements to put them on ice. That means many things,” Nabhan said. Asked whether that could mean withdrawing the recognition of Kosovo’s independence, the Ambassador answered in the affirmative and said that this was also possible. “If Kosovo insists on what it is doing, it will certainly follow. That is the second step,” the Ambassador said. Nabhan reminded that although Kosovo is not a full member of the OIS, Palestine asked all member states, 58 of them, not to open missions in Jerusalem, since UN Security Council Resolution 478 forbids states to move embassies or missions to Jerusalem.

As he explained, Palestine is the decisive factor in the OIS, since the purpose of founding that organization was Jerusalem. “That organization exists for only one reason, and that is Jerusalem. If someone violates that rule, then there is no point in having that organization. That is why we have a decisive factor in that organization,” he said. Speaking about Palestine’s position on the issue of recognizing Kosovo, he said that it was still the same and that the country did not recognize Kosovo. “We recognize Resolution 1244 and we recognize Serbia within the borders defined in that resolution. Therefore, we still do not recognize Kosovo and we will not do that in the near future,” Ambassador Nabhan pointed out.

Slovak Embassy: We are not changing position on so-called independence of Kosovo (B92/Tanjug/RTV) 

Asked what is the position of Slovakia regarding the issue of independence of so-called Kosovo, the Slovak Embassy in Serbia told B92 that their position remains unchanged. “Allow us to inform you that the position of Slovakia regarding the issue of so-called independence of Kosovo remains unchanged,” the Slovak Embassy stated.

Dacic: I am signing first invitation for dialogue with opposition on 21 April (TV Happy/Beta) 

Serbian parliament speaker Ivica Dacic has said that on 21 April he will sign the first invitation for a meeting with the opposition parties that do not want European Parliament (EP) representatives present during the dialogue between the authorities and the opposition. “On 21 April, I will sign the first invitation for a meeting with those opposition parties that do not want the presence of foreigners during the inter-party dialogue. I have also invited (Serbian President Aleksandar) Vucic, both as president and party leader, but let him decide in what capacity he will attend,” Dacic said for TV Happy. The meeting is scheduled for 28 April, at 5 p.m., he added.

“I am inviting to this meeting all parties that wish to participate in the dialogue involving EP representatives, as well as those willing to take part in both types of the talks,” Dacic also said.

He pointed out that the government has approached the matter “very seriously,” but that the EU mediators have been postponing the talks because of the coronavirus pandemic. This is the reason, according to him, why the dialogue is in a “preparatory phase,” adding that it will “probably” begin in June.

REGIONAL PRESS 

 

RS ruling coalition announces initiative for forming RS’ team for negotiating with FB&H on peaceful dissolution (N1)

Leaders of the ruling coalition in Republika Srpska (RS) met at Mrakovica on Tuesday to discuss political issues, as well as issues that are of vital importance for future of the RS. Leader of SNSD Milorad Dodik, leader of SP Petar Djokic, leader of the United Srpska Nenad Stevandic, leader of the DEMOS Nedeljko Cubrilovic and leader of NPS Darko Banjac attended the meeting. Representatives of the state and entity institutions were also present at the meeting: RS President Zeljka Cvijanovic (SNSD), Chairman of the Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) Council of Ministers Zoran Tegeltija (SNSD) and RS Prime Minister Radovan Viskovic (SNSD).

Representatives of the ruling coalition in the RS underlined that they do not support war, armed conflicts but political negotiations and dialogue that will lead B&H to a solution suitable for the two entities and the three constituent peoples. Leaders of the parties also said that in case that the partners for this dialogue are missing, they will continue to insist and they will reach the final solution. The reporter noted that judging by previous statements, they probably referred to separation in B&H. Commenting on a response to the letter of the High Representative (HR) Valentin Inzko on return of awards given to convicted war criminals, attendees of the meeting underlined that the awards will not be withdrawn in this case and it is time for the HR to leave B&H and he is obliged to come to the RS parliament and submit a report on work of the HR because the Annex 10 of the Dayton Peace Accords obliges him to do this. Addressing media following the meeting, Dodik stated that they accept that Bosniaks – as a political factor – have their interests but interests of the Serbs in B&H must also be acknowledged and they will present their interests in a clear way without any hesitation. Dodik announced that the initiative is already being launched in the RS parliament and it is based on previously-conducted activities. He added: “We believe that there is no need for the HR here. We said this thousand times before. Our initiative in the RS parliament is that a new one should not come. We believe that it succeeded. No one will give us anything except for what we believe we should secure through our interests. Our primary goal here is peace.” Addressing media following the meeting, Cavic stated that there have been many initiatives in B&H coming from abroad unlike the initiative coming from within the country. In his opinion, there have been many reforms and initiatives and each one of them failed. Cavic added that the majority in B&H expected that others will do their job, adding that this is impossible. He sent a message to Bosniak politicians by saying: “If they think that they can preserve this country in a way to qualify that existence of a constituent people and its institutional presence is the basic obstacle for this country and its future, then they are doing everything to make it (the country) stop existing.” Addressing media following the meeting, Banjac stated: “We believe that the HR should no longer be in B&H. He absolutely should have never had competences that he has, i.e. he did not have the competences and he simply unanimously imposed some decisions and laws. The HR should leave B&H. The important thing is that as HRs have no these competences, they have to stick to the Dayton Agreement. They cannot impose any laws, any decisions because any imposing of laws and decisions will not be approved by this ruling coalition and I hope, all other political actors in the RS.”

Reactions to SNSD’s launching of initiative on talks on possibility of peaceful separation in B&H (N1)

N1 reported about strong reactions to SNSD’s launching of the initiative on talks on the possibility of a peaceful separation in B&H between the RS and the Federation of B&H (FB&H). Vice President of SDA Adil Osmanovic stated that doors of SDA are closed for the aforementioned talks and there is no question about the so-called peaceful separation. Osmanovic argued that Chairman of the B&H Presidency and leader of SNSD Milorad Dodik is aware that he does not have the support of the US administration for such ideas, reminding that he is on the US black list and added that the list should be extended due to secessionist moves. Osmanovic added that following the meeting at Mrakovica, SDA expects from the EU to finally sanction Dodik and his closest associates because he crossed the red line with this. He explained: “If not the entire EU, then the leading countries in terms of inability to travel outside of B&H borders.” Osmanovic reminded that the international reaction was a way bigger when SDA adopted the declaration concerning their views on organization of the state, arguing that the Peace Implementation Council’s reaction is missing in this case. Leader of the NiP Elmedin Konakovic called on the international community in B&H for a reaction. Konakovic asked the Office of the High Representative, Head of the EU Delegation to B&H Johann Sattler, US Ambassador to B&H Eric Nelson and the UK Ambassador to B&H Matthew Palmer whether they will silently observe paid campaigns and gatherings on peaceful separation. Konakovic also wrote: “You do not find the topic interesting?” SDP B&H Secretary General Elvir Karajbic reacted by saying that the party will not support proposals coming from the RS regarding the future of B&H based on ideas on a peaceful separation. Karajbic underlined: “There is no conversation about this topic. When it comes to B&H, we exclusively support principles of the AVNOJ’s borders and when it comes to SDP, the story on change of B&H borders is also out of question and much less something else like this famous non-paper that in fact has no any kind of a formal role.” The reporter noted that many believe that the story on the non-paper encouraged Dodik to continue questioning this idea. Former B&H diplomat Hajrudin Somun assessed that the non-paper may not exist but its content has been present within the Balkans and the EU which is why he believes that the content exists although it was not formally listed anywhere. Former Slovenian minister of defense Roman Jakic stated that the network of 21 liberal parties of ten South East European states unanimously condemned destabilization of the Western Balkans and dismissed ideas on revision, i.e. change of borders in the Balkans. Jakic added that they decided to confront and defeat ideas of sick minds and politicians who dream of creation of big states in the region. Jakic stated that defeating secessionist ideas is possible by political isolation of extremists and the reporter noted that many wish for this scenario to happen in case of Dodik for years. The RS opposition assessed that Dodik’s ideas about the peaceful dissolution should not be taken seriously. SDS leader Mirko Sarovic stated: “That is a story for fools, for those who do not understand the situation in this country. The aim is for us to start dealing with that story, while nothing functions in terms of the pandemic and healthcare.” Osmanovic presented an opinion that “the story about a peaceful dissolution is only diverting the attention from important issues”. Particularly, Osmanovic considers that the ruling majority in the RS wants to draw the attention away from the latest multi-million-worth borrowing, the emission of the RS’ bonds at the London Stock Exchange. Osmanovic also noted that another issue that the ruling majority is trying to overshadow is the upcoming RS parliament session at which the MPs should discuss High Representative Valentin Inzko’s demand for taking away the charters of merits that were awarded to convicted war criminals. FB&H Vice-President Milan Dunovic (DF) assessed that Dodik is trying to politically destroy the RS opposition “in some way”. Dunovic said: “Talks between the RS and the FB&H on any form of dissolution are out of question. No such negotiations are possible, because the entities neither are nor will they ever be states.”

Dodik informs Israeli Ambassador conditions for talks on future of B&H are met (RTRS)

Chairman of the B&H Presidency and leader of SNSD Milorad Dodik met Israeli Ambassador to B&H Noah Gal Gendler in Banja Luka on Tuesday. During the meeting, Dodik said that conditions for the entities and the constituent peoples to begin talks on the future of B&H are met. RS President Zeljka Cvijanovic also attended the meeting.

Izetbegovic: War is not likely to happen in B&H; I do not believe that Slovenian non-paper does not exist (O kanal)

President of SDA Bakir Izetbegovic, asked whether there will be war in B&H, said that he does not know. Asked what this depends on, Izetbegovic said that it depends on everyone and a sense of maturity that was necessary to reach by now. He stressed that they will do everything necessary to calm down the situation and to continue positive reform processes in B&H. Asked about the statement of President of SNSD Milorad Dodik that there will be no war from the Serb side as long as he leads it, Izetbegovic said that if Dodik said this then the war will most likely not happen. He added that he is afraid that Dodik believes that the other side will allow him to achieve war and political goals through non-papers. Izetbegovic stated that Dodik hopes that they are not ready to defend the country and that they will allow Serbia to reach the Sarajevo City Hall. Asked about the non-paper allegedly submitted by Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa to Brussels and whether he believes Jansa when he denies the existence of this paper, Izetbegovic said that he does not believe him. He assessed the situation as intentional and a testing ground and it will be used by the parties in the RS and HDZ B&H to achieve some goals easier. Izetbegovic believes that the non-paper is used to strengthen the cooperation and power of SNSD and HDZ B&H through pressure against SDA and its partners. Asked whether Dodik wants peaceful dissolution sincerely or this is the beginning of the election campaign, Izetbegovic said that it is the end goal in case an opening is found for such a thing to happen. He added that this rhetoric is used to improve the rating among voters in the RS and to help HDZ B&H with the negotiations regarding changes to the Election Law. Izetbegovic added that regional leaders and some B&H officials knew about the non-paper and now they are pretending that they did not know about it. Asked about the statements given by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic regarding the non-paper, Izetbegovic said that despite Vucic rejecting the ideas, he has other officials who have different statements and plans, as well as Dodik who discusses such ideas openly in front of Vucic during meetings in Serbia and it is all a game. Izetbegovic called on the defeatists not to make statements which dissuade the trust into B&H in the upcoming days. Asked whether he is ready to lead into the war if necessary, Izetbegovic said that he does not believe that the war in B&H will happen after a referendum takes place or something similar happens. He added that the first issues will begin in Brcko and that is the place where first interventions of the EUFOR can be expected, as well as issues along the entity line which someone will try to draw and they will try to stop. Izetbegovic believes that it would be possible for B&H and the region to slowly collapse into the war and friendly countries will slowly start intervening and this would be inevitable. He stressed that places like Srebrenica, Brcko, Tomasica will remain in B&H and Bosniaks will fight for them in any way possible.

Asked whether the removal of the B&H Council of Ministers (CoM) would mean anything and lead to change in B&H, Izetbegovic said that if something like that happens now, it would worsen the situation. He added that the removal of the CoM could not possibly be adopted in the B&H parliament either. Izetbegovic said that he thinks there will be no war nor there are resources for it in terms of having someone attack someone else in B&H the moment they organize some kind of referendum on secession and peaceful dissolution. “As far as we are concerned, after humiliation and evil that we – Bosniaks - suffered in this country, Tomasica, Srebrenica, Brcko Port and Keraterm will happen never again. We can fight for it for a year, 10, 50 years by political, diplomatic and military means. Those who launch it will know how they started it. It will most likely be some kind of referendum. And then they will not know how to get out of it, because it is certainly easier for us to get in the second round or second half-time of fight for this country than to allow some kind of non-paper to complete what has not been done by genocide. This is a country in which genocide was committed, in which ethnic cleansing was carried out 99%, in which all mosques and Catholic churches were destroyed in the part named the RS”, Izetbegovic said and noted: “They hold the power, award war criminals, deny genocide and if they launch completion of (former RS President Radovan) Karadzic’s job with some kind of non-paper, it will be their fault for what will certainly happen here”. Asked if better economic cooperation with Serbia, as offered by Vucic, is possible, Izetbegovic replied by saying that he is willing to talk with anyone who advocates normal and friendly relations and noted that something like this was discussed several years ago: “We even agreed on visits with intellectuals and politicians and then the attack on Vucic happened in Srebrenica, after which he changed. I did not change. As far as I am concerned, I am open (for cooperation). We must develop better relations here”. Izetebgovic argued that he does not know who attacked Vucic in Srebrenica and noted that he would be glad if Vucic said who it was, because he argued that he knows who attacked him. Asked to state what he expects following the letter of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken sent to members of the Presidency of B&H, which noted that domestic leaders must reach consent on changes to the Constitution and Election Law on B&H, Izetbegovic replied: “I expect them to be clear, to threaten when it comes to such attempts and then to back up principles. We cannot move backwards in some reforms, divide the country through talks on the Election Law and this is certainly not something we will do. So far, there has been no strong reaction of USA in this context”. Speaking about talks on changes to the Election Law of B&H, Izetbegovic said that HDZ B&H leader Dragan Covic must have counted on Bosniak side to succumb to pressures when he announced that changes will be ready by the end of June. “Rulings of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). Can we make concessions in the story on legitimate representation within this? We probably can. Everything must be in line with the Constitution of B&H and Federation of B&H Constitution, which stipulate that each people has the right to have legitimate representatives and have the right to protect vital national interests” Izetbegovic stated and noted that if Covic wants to change the Constitution in terms of provide additional guarantees when it comes to this matter “then we will ask the position of the constituent people to be reduced down to protection of vital national interests, i.e. to let the houses of representatives breathe, to set democracy free. One cannot have legitimate representatives from 1/10 of the country’s territory as Covic would like to have in order to be able to stop anything without an explanation”.

RS reactions to Izetbegovic’s statement that Serbs are genocidal people: This is dangerous, insulting, warmongering rhetoric, RS advocates peace, it will not wage wars (RTRS)

RTRS warned that leader of SDA Bakir Izetbegovic again crossed the red line and after calling Serbs bad people, now he called them genocidal and said that he will wage a war only to prevent secession of the RS. Officials from the RS and from the RS Veterans’ Organization (BORS) reacted by saying that this is dangerous, insulting and rhetoric of a loser. The reporter noted that the story on a war in Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) is often timed and mostly comes from the political Sarajevo while even the holy month of Ramadan did not stop Izetbegovic to continue spreading hate towards the Serb people in B&H in his interview for O Kanal. Representatives of the ruling coalition in the RS reacted by calling this rhetoric of a loser, adding that the RS advocates peace and it will not wage wars. Leader of SNSD Milorad Dodik said that the RS does not want the war and he called on representative of the Federation of B&H (FB&H) and the other two peoples for talks. Leader of the United Srpska Nenad Stevandic called on the Quint Countries to condemn and react to warmongering rhetoric of the Bosniak leader or else, he said, silence means approval. The BORS and other associations in the RS stemming from the war reacted by saying that this is a warning to Serbs not to forget with whom they live in B&H and reminded that Bakir Izetbegovic’s father, late leader of SDA Alija Izetbegovic said back in the 1990sh that if necessary, he will sacrifice peace for a sovereign B&H. President of the BORS Milomir Savcic stated: “This is how we welcomed the 1990s thinking and hoping that there will be no war and that these are our neighbors. Even now, we want nothing. We do not jeopardize anyone and we want to be our own in our own (land) and instead of solving problems and open and disputable issues, we are dealing with something totally different. He is making threats and statements that qualify the entire people. This is shameful as it can be.” Director of the RS Center for Investigation of War, War Crimes and Search for Missing Persons Milorad Kojic stated that the message that the Serbs are genocidal people is a projection that Alija Izetbegovic made on a unitary B&H, i.e. exclusively Bosniak B&H without Serbs and the Serb people. The Islamic Community in B&H also reacted and Head of the Islamic Community in B&H Husein Kavazovic warned that Bosniaks must be ready, careful and monitor what is going on, adding that all Muslims should come to their senses and unite in order to win the evil without precising who is the evil and who represents danger for Bosniaks.

Turkovic sends instruction to all diplomatic and consular representative offices on activities after occurrence of ‘non-paper’ for Western Balkans (ATV)

B&H Foreign Minister Bisera Turkovic has sent an instruction, bypassing the B&H Presidency, to all diplomatic and consular representative offices on activities after the occurrence of the ‘non-paper’ for the Western Balkans, requesting to be made clear that any potential talks about retailoring borders of B&H are considered as malicious. ATV reports that it had been confirmed from several B&H Embassies that the instruction had been received, but it is not binding until approved by the B&H Presidency.

EUFOR: We are competent for implementation of military aspects of DPA (BN TV)

In their reaction to tensions in B&H and discourse about possible problems, the EUFOR stated that they are competent for implementation of military aspects of the DPA, adding that its Annex IV, i.e. the Constitution of B&H is ground of sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence policy of B&H in line with international law. It was underlined that reserve forces of the EUFOR stationed in Europe can be called in to deploy their troops in short notice to strengthen EUFOR in case of threats to safe and stable environment. It was concluded that in this way the EUFOR can intervene rapidly to support B&H law enforcement agencies in preserving safe and stable environment if necessary.

Vucic: Serbia will not recognize independent Kosovo in order to get RS (Dnevni list)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said, among other issues, that when it comes to allegations that he is “the President of all Serbs”, he is not and does not see himself as the President of all Serbs, instead he is the President of all citizens of Serbia. President Vucic further said he has not seen the so-called ‘Slovenian non-paper’ but has read some papers that somebody published. “Do these papers suit us? No. Not only did I not take part in its writing, but I have never seen it, I have seen speculations (…) You see, you say Serbia will recognize independent Kosovo in order to get the Republika Srpska. It will not happen. None of that is realistic, it is not goof and we do not need it (…) We do not need territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) and there will be no war,” said Vucic.

 

No joint ceremony to pay tribute to Jasenovac victims (Hina)

There will be no joint commemoration for victims of the World War II concentration camp Jasenovac on Thursday, representatives of the victims will lay wreaths separately from the state leadership while President Zoran Milanovic will do so separately from the prime minister and parliament speaker. President Milanovic's spokesman Nikola Jelic confirmed to Hina that Milanovic and his delegation will lay wreaths at the Stone Flower monument at Jasenovac at 11 a.m. on Thursday. Office of the President did not receive reply from gov't, parliament "President Zoran Milanovic and his delegation will pay tribute to the Jasenovac victims on 22 April, at 11 a.m., as agreed with the organizer, the Public Institution Jasenovac Memorial Area" Jelic said. He added that the Office of the President had not received a reply from the government or the parliament to its invitation to pay tribute to the Jasenovac victims together. "As early as last Friday the President of the Republic proposed to the Prime Minister and the parliament speaker that they all pay tribute to the Jasenovac victims together, but we have not received any reply," Jelic said. Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said that a government delegation would lay a wreath at Jasenovac at 9 a.m., again dismissing the possibility of paying tribute together with Milanovic, noting that "there is no reason for us to put on an act." "As regards any joint laying of wreaths or flowers, I said yesterday.... there will be no putting on an act," he told reporters.

Plenkovic: We were not the ones to start with insults 

"The President of the Republic or his staff are now launching an initiative for the Parliament Speaker and myself to lay a wreath with him in Jasenovac. We were not the ones to start with the 'animal farm', we were not the ones to start with insults or a number of other things that are most inappropriate, so there is no reason to put on an act, let that be clear to everyone," said Plenkovic. He added that the organizer of the commemoration was the Jasenovac Memorial Area, not the government or anyone else, and that this year's commemoration would be held in line with epidemiological restrictions. The government's delegation will arrive at 9 a.m. and the parliament's delegation at 10 a.m., he said. "This has nothing to do with representatives of the victim ethnic groups. We met with them last week, we hold meetings regularly, we respect the victims and went to Jasenovac in the past four years as well. We will go this year again, next year, in 2023, 2024. This has to do with the protocol, but putting on an act is out of the question," he said. Reporters asked Plenkovic if he should ignore his relationship with Milanovic, regardless of how bad it may be, in situations such as commemorations, to which he said: "No, there's no need for that. In this case it is not envisaged and is out of the question."

Representatives of Serbs, Jews, Roma and antifascists to form separate delegation 

The Serb National Council (SNV) said earlier in the day that representatives of ethnic groups that were victims of the Ustasha terror would have a separate, four-member delegation in Jasenovac. SNV president Milorad Pupovac, the leader of the Coordinating Committee of the Jewish Communities of Croatia, Ognjen Kraus, Roma association "Kali Sara" representative Veljko Kajtazi, and the leader of the SABA association of antifascist fighters and antifascists, Franjo Habulin, will lay a joint wreath at the Stone Flower monument at noon on Thursday.

Kraus confirmed to Hina that this decision was made after it became evident that there would be no joint delegation comprising top state officials. "After we realized that there would be separate delegations, we decided on a separate delegation as well. As you can see, a single delegation does not depend on us. We cannot support the use of commemorations for political one-upmanship," said Kraus.

 

Does Krivokapic know what he will sign? (Pobjeda)

Although Montenegrin Prime Minister Zdravko Krivokapic said he would soon sign the fundamental agreement with the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC), the Montenegrin public is not aware of what exactly is written in the text which should permanently regulate relations between the state and the SPC, and more importantly – what consequences it will have on the Montenegrin cultural and sacral heritage, Pobjeda reports. It’s not only the general public who is ignorant. Apart from Minister of Justice Vladimir Leposavic, who is (not) resigning, even the representatives of the 3 parties of the parliamentary majority claim that they haven’t had access to the final text version. DPM Dritan Abazovic‘s tragicomic statement – that there is nothing disputable in the text he didn’t read – could perhaps be understood as a kind of a low-level and stupid joke whose intention, I guess, was to “relax” the citizens a bit.

Status of religious communities under scrutiny of Council of Europe (Dan)

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is to discuss the situation in Montenegro today. After that, it will decide whether to extend the supervision over the implementation of key reforms. Ahead of the debate, the MPs were offered a draft report on Montenegro, which includes 6 amendments submitted by the PACE Committee for Supervision of the Implementation of Membership in the Council of Europe, Dan reports. Several amendments concern human rights and freedoms, and one concerns the peaceful transition of power, following last August’s elections. The last 2 amendments concern the Law on Freedom of Religion. One of them welcomes the adoption of amendments to that law at the end of last year. The other one states that the PACE will monitor the implementation of the law.

 

The political climate becomes tenser after the shooting in Kavaja (Tirana Times)

The political climate has become tenser after the attack that took place in the electoral offices of the Democratic Party in Kavaja, where Bledar Okshtuni was wounded with a firearm by Ndricim Jonuzi. Immediately after the attack, the leader of the opposition Lulzim Basha went to Kavaja, and declared that “Kavaja has faced a serious event, an assassination attempt against the DP, against the Alliance for Change, by a Prime Minister who knows that on Sunday will lose, and Kavaja and Albania will win.” President Meta also travelled to Kavaja, and declared that the Prime Minister did not have any respect for the constitution, and urged him to go to SPAK.

While initially, Prime Minister Rama reacted by condemning the event, saying that the “politicization of this event is as bad as the event itself,” Rama wrote on Twitter that the attacker, Ndricim Jonuzi (who holds also the surname Tahiri), is in fact a DP militant, which politicized even further the episode. “It’s quite obvious that the episode in Kavaja has no political motif! The author has nothing to do with the SP, actually, he is a militant of the DP! The DP has no guilt about the episode, but for the scandalous politicization!” wrote Rama on Twitter. The comment was made after Jonuzi, who is still wanted by the police, published a video in which he admitted being the author of the attack, and claimed that he didn’t do it for political reasons. Jonuzi in the video added also that he had been a longtime supporter of the DP, but lately is no longer interested in politics. In the video, Jonuzi tried to justify his attack by saying that it was a reaction after seeing two supporters of the DP, including Okshtuni, blocking the street to an old woman. Although he had asked them to leave, according to Jonuzi they did not respond positively to the request. Jonuzi said also that the episode of the knife attack that had occurred a couple of hours earlier in Tirana, had left an emotional mark on him. Nevertheless, he said that he was “not proud of what he did.” The Democratic Party reacted again after the claims of Rama and Jonuzi by publishing a photo, according to which they could prove that Jonuzi was in fact a supporter of the SP, linked to high ranking members of the party. “All the facts prove that yesterday’s attackers are his (Rama) people and they acted on purpose. This is a criminal attack on our democracy,” said the statement of the DP. In the photo published by the DP, the attacker Jonuzi is seated at a table with the actual socialist Mayor of Kavaja Redjan Krali, the head of the municipal police in Kavaja Markel Shtylla, and Dorian Troplini, an employee of Kavaja municipality. Both Shtylla and Troplini are also wanted by the police since they were present in the attack. Present in the table was among others also Elton Elezi, the head of the Socialist Party in Kavaja. Meanwhile, the mayor of Kavaja Krali considered the attack a banal episode, which was not politically motivated. He distanced himself from the attacker, saying that the photo published by the DP was taken from a normal dinner, after an invitation from Shtylla. “I know Jonuzi only as a citizen of Kavaja, as I do know all the others,” said Krali. The mayor claimed that the head of the municipal police of Kavaja, according to his information was not involved in the attack. “In any case, the institutions will be the one to decide about this,” said Krali. The mayor denied also the rumors that Jonuzi had previously won tenders from the municipality of Kavaja.

Will opposition succeed in overthrowing rule of Rama? (ADN)

Parliamentary elections will be held in Albania on Sunday. The elections will be very tense, not only because of the deep economic crisis and the pandemic of the Chinese Covid-19 virus, but also because of the eight-year rule of autocratic Prime Minister Edi Rama, whose party, the SP, controls the country at all levels - from government and parliament to the level of municipalities, law enforcement and "independent institutions". This is due to the amended electoral legislation implemented by the government of Prime Minister Rama. The autocratic and arrogant rule of Prime Minister Rama, combined with high levels of corruption and crime, has also not put Albania on the right track to move closer to the European Union. But after eight years in power, the popularity of Rama and his party is very low. Results of a poll involving four main parties: Prime Minister Rama's Socialist Party, Democratic Party DP - Lulzim Basha, Socialist Movement for Integration SMI - Monika Kryemadhi and Tom Doshi Social Democratic Party PSD (which is related to organized crime and is on the blacklist of the United States) provides for the following division of deputies into twelve constituencies: Shkoder Region: SP 3, DP 6, SMI 1, PSD 1; Kukes Region: SP 1, DP 2; Lezha Region: SP 2, DP 3, SMI 2; Diber Region: SP 2, DP 3, SMI 1; Tirana Region: SP 16, DP 14, SMI 7, PSD 1; Durres Region: SP 6, DP 7, SMI 2; Elbasan Region: SP 6, DP 6, SMI 2; Korca Region: SP 4, DP 4, SMI 3; Fier Region: SP 8, DP 5, SMI 3; Berat Region: SP 3, DP 2, SMI 2; Vlora Region: SP 7, DP 4, SMI 1; Gjirokastra Region: SP 2, DP 1, SMI 1. As the poll results show, no party will get an absolute majority, but there is a possibility that the opposition parties DP and SMI will form a coalition government after the elections.