LOCAL PRESS

 

Petkovic: Kurti demonstrating he wants war, not agreement (Tanjug/RTV)

 

The Head of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Petar Petkovic said on Monday the most recent statement by the PM of the provisional Pristina institutions Albin Kurti demonstrated that Kurti openly wanted war, rather than dialogue and an agreement. "If Kurti is publicly confirming that a Community of Serb Municipalities will never be formed and that the Serbs have to accept unilateral and violent decisions on license plates and ID cards, it is clear to everyone that Kurti is calling for conflicts in Kosovo and Metohija," Petkovic said in an official statement. Whenever he makes a statement, Kurti makes up things about purported Russian influence because, that way, he not only wants to attack Belgrade, but also to justify future new unilateral and violent actions against Serbs in the province, Petkovic said. "Led by President Aleksandar Vucic, Belgrade will continue to maintain peace and stability in the territory of Kosovo and Metohija and the Western Balkans in general through a responsible and wise policy, and seek solutions to all crises in dialogue and through discussions," Petkovic said. He said Pristina's attempts to impose an agenda for the Brussels dialogue through wishful thinking about a "mutual recognition" were nothing but a tactic aimed at making dialogue pointless and ruining it before it even began. Speaking to the Italian daily La Repubblica, Kurti has said there was a great risk of renewed conflict with Serbia, reiterating his claim that Russia had a great influence on Belgrade. He said the Brussels discussions would address the general aspects of Belgrade-Pristina relations and that his government's decision on license plates and personal documents would remain in effect.

 

Intensification of cooperation with EU in field of innovation, high technologies (Tanjug)

 

Minister without portfolio in charge of innovation and technological development Nenad Popovic and Director of the European Institute for Innovation and Technology (EIT) Martin Kern signed on Monday the Letter of Intent for the establishment of the European Regional Innovation Hub (EIT Community RIS Hub) in Serbia. On that occasion, Popovic pointed out that the signing of the aforementioned document intensifies the very successful cooperation between Serbia and the European Union in the field of innovation and high technologies. The European Regional Innovation Hub will be the umbrella institution for engaging a large number of Serbian participants in the activities of the EIT community in Europe, he explained. Kern expressed satisfaction with the strengthening of cooperation with Serbia in supporting startups, entrepreneurs and students to implement their innovations faster. According to him, the EIT community is already present in the Serbian innovation ecosystem and by the end of 2020, it directed more than €1.2 million of support to local businesses and innovation projects in the past years, which resulted in an increase of over €9 million in investments.

 

Djilas: Regime working on weakening the opposition (Direktno/FoNet)

 

The regime has been working on weakening the opposition for ten years now, but it is not the only one responsible for our rifts, the responsibility also lies with the oppositions members, Party of Freedom and Justice (SSP) leader Dragan Djilas said. “We did not respond to the attacks, what would be better in Serbia if we did. Who would have been happy if we did, the opposition voters or the tabloids and regime representatives,” Djilas said in an interview with the portal Direktno.rs. Commenting on the coming winter, Djilas said there will be more inflation than necessary, less heating and electricity than necessary and just enough food but less money to buy it with. He explained that the printing of dinars, loans and overpaid projects are responsible for the inflation, which is local and not imported as the government says. He said the disastrous personnel policy at the republic and local level is the reason why big state companies and systems are collapsing. Coal and electricity prices are higher than in the past few decades and, instead of exporting them we are importing them because the Serbian power company (EPS), as a system, has been destroyed. Asked what he would do if he were in a position to make the decisions, Djilas said he would stop printing money and taking out new loans, give up on some expensive projects that are not necessary and invest in domestic small and medium-sized companies by reducing levies. In order to have healthy relations not just within the opposition but in the society in general, it would be useful “for us in the opposition to show that we are different from the people who are part of the regime,” Djilas said. “By our behavior, ideas, the words that we use, tolerance, readiness to admit mistakes,” he said, adding that, “if we criticize most regime representatives for their lack of knowledge and education, then each of us should say what we did in life”. Those under 30 should say what schools they finished, the older ones what their achievements in life are. Everyone should say where they work, what they do for a living, because what we have done in life is what guarantees to the people that we will deliver what we say we will when we come to power, Djilas said.

 

BIRN: Blacklisted arms dealer exporting Serbian ammo to US (N1)

 

The BIRN investigative portal said on Monday that a Serbian arms dealer who was blacklisted by Washington is exporting ammunition to the United States. It said that Companies with ties to arms dealer Slobodan Tesic exported ammunition to six US firms, including one that works with the Pentagon, despite the fact that Tesic was blacklisted five years ago for bribery and violating arms embargos. “The investigation shows how Tesic, 63, has found a “way around” the US sanctions via two Belgrade-registered companies – Valir d.o.o. and Zenitprom – both of which have seen their revenues grow to tens of millions of euros since US sanctions were expanded to a number of other Tesic proxies in 2019,” it said adding that the two companies exported more than 926 tons of Serbian-made ammunition to the US. “One Zenitprom shipment, in April this year, went to Global Military Products Inc, part of Global Ordnance, which supplies weapons and ammunition to the US Department of Defense and its allies, notably Ukraine,” it said and added that the Pentagon declined to comment. Marc Morales, the owner of Global Ordnance, said he was not aware of any connection between Zenitprom and Tesic, nor had any connection come up in the due diligence his company performed. “The company is not on any OFAC [Office of Foreign Assets Control] list and the affiliations you are alleging were not known or in any formal documents provided to Global Ordnance,” Morales told BIRN. “To my knowledge, nobody from my company has ever met him and Global Ordnance definitely does not do business with him. And to clarify, I have never met him either,” he said. Tesic did not respond to BIRN requests for comment. For nearly a decade, Tesic was subject to a United Nations travel ban for violating UN embargo on arms to Liberia; in 2017, the US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on him, describing Tesic as “among the biggest dealers of arms and munitions in the Balkans” who uses bribery and financial assistance for officials to secure arms contracts. The US expanded the measures in 2019 to a further 11 companies and nine individuals used by Tesic as proxies to circumvent the sanctions. Some of these firms, however, continue to work with the Serbian state, buying arms from state-run manufacturers – often at preferential rates – for export around the world. Serbia has made reviving the country’s arms export industry a strategic priority and in 2014 Tesic was granted a diplomatic passport by the Serbian foreign ministry, a year after the UN travel ban was lifted. Zenitprom was founded on 7 May 2018 – a year after Tesic was first targeted by US sanctions – at the Belgrade address Diplomatska Kolonija 14. Representatives of Zenitprom could not be reached for comment but BIRN said it had identified 13 Zenitprom shipments of small-caliber ammunition to four US companies since 14 November 2020, totaling 698 tons. All the ammunition was produced by the state-owned factory Prvi Partizan in Uzice, western Serbia. The latest shipment was sent on 19 April this year to Global Military Products INC, GMP, a Tampa-registered subsidiary of Global Ordnance.

 

Biggest opposition ticket spends under a million Euro on campaign (Nova)

 

The United for Serbia’s Victory list of candidates, headed by Marinika Tepic, spent approximately 960,000 Euro on the parliamentary election campaign, three times less than the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS). According to the Anti-Corruption Agency report on campaign expenses, the United for Serbia’s Victory ticket, comprising parties and movements assembled around the Party of Freedom and Justice (SSP), Democratic Party (DS) and People’s Party (NS), had total expenses amounting to approximately 960,000 Euro. This list of candidates won more seats in the parliament than the other opposition parties. A breakdown of election campaign expenditures shows that advertising was the biggest item, that this ticket spent about 270,000 Euro on it, of which 253,000 Euro was spent on advertising on television stations. Most of the funding came from the state budget. The report reads that the United for Serbia’s Victory ticket received some 913,000 Euro from public sources, and approximately 841,000 (1 Euro – 118 Dinar) in contributions by individuals. The ticket’s total election campaign revenues were 108,613,895 Dinar which means that its expenses were not covered in full, said the Agency on its website.

 

REGIONAL PRESS

 

Arnautovic: Verification process of candidate lists is done (FTV) 

 

President of the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) Suad Arnautovic, asked about the printing of ballots for general elections that began on Monday and if all lists are verified, said that they verified a total of 822 candidate lists with more than 7,000 candidates. He said that the verification process was done and they verified compensation lists on Monday and the lists will be published in official gazettes in the next days. Asked about the early election campaign, Arnautovic said that the presence of political subjects on social media is increased since last elections in 2020, but this was not defined by the law. He added that paid ads are not allowed, but they have an agreement with Meta and Facebook to have insight in agreements that are made in regards to paid ads. Asked how the relevancy of the election process can be undermined, Arnautovic said that this only shows an irresponsible relation towards the legal system of B&H and they will work against paid ads on social media. Asked about technical changes to the B&H Election Law imposed by High Representative Christian Schmidt, Arnautovic said that the B&H CEC filed an initiative for such changes to the B&H parliament in September of 2021 and Schmidt imposed only those than can be implemented during ongoing elections. He added that the decision came a bit late and it is necessary to digitalize the election process. Asked about the implementation of new changes, Arnautovic said that they formed groups to monitor the activities of political subjects and the implementation of the new changes. Asked about the issues tied to manipulation on polling station committees, Arnautovic said that order needs to be created in terms of these committees in order to stop double representation. He said that B&H CEC instructed their services to work on solutions for this. Asked about the fines issued for those who violate the law, Arnautovic said that their fines now apply to more subjects who are involved in any violations of the B&H Election Law and political subjects themselves will have more responsibility in these cases. asked about positive and negative changes that came of the imposed changes, Arnautovic said that direct competences of the B&H CEC that are now defined are positive, as well as the definition of misuse of public funds and false representation, since this was not defined beforehand. Asked about the complaints regarding the rejected applications for vote-by-mail, Arnautovic said that some of these people are looking for a reason for their own lack of proper action regarding their applications. Asked about reports filed by Transparency International B&H (TI B&H) regarding the misuse of public funds to the B&H CEC, Arnautovic said that they received these reports and they are being processed. He said that all sides will be heard out and documentation will be collected, adding that sanctions were issued in about 10 of these cases. Asked about the complaint of TI B&H regarding the technical changes to the BiH Election Law, Arnautovic said that the recent changes are not all-encompassing and that sort of changes will be done after elections. He stressed that the B&H CEC is not an investigative institution and they can only monitor the events.

 

Komsic: Stances of Israeli Embassy contradictory and they need explanation (N1) 

 

With regard to stances expressed in a memorandum of the Israeli Embassy to B&H with HQ in Tirana, member of the B&H Presidency Zeljko Komsic pointed out that the positions of the Israeli Embassy contain several visible contradictions. Komsic noted that the first contradiction refers to the fact that Israel supports the equality of all citizens in B&H which, as Komsic said, is a universal principle in all democratically governed countries. "In the same statement, it is said that it (Israel) supports legitimate representation as an expression of the consociational political model, abandoned long ago in the world because it is based on systematically organized discrimination," Komsic was quoted as saying. The second contradiction, according to Komsic, relates to the fact that the proponents of consociation in B&H are those political actors whose policies are based on the denial of genocide, the glorification of war crimes and criminals, and the realization of the goals of joint criminal enterprises "which I firmly believe is not the official policy of Israel".

 

Niksic on Israeli Embassy statement: It is necessary to send note of protest and schedule meetings with senior Israeli officials (Dnevni avaz) 

 

Commenting “a scandalous statement” issued by the Israeli Embassy in Tirana, which is in charge of B&H territory as well, SDP leader Nermin Niksic issued a statement. Niksic called on B&H Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Chairman of B&H Presidency (Sefik Dzaferovic) to urgently submit a note of protest to Israeli government, along with detailed information about true legislation organization of B&H. Also, Niksic stressed that it is necessary to urgently organize bilateral meetings with senior Israeli officials, so the authorities in Israel would be made familiar with the truth about the political system in B&H, “and activities of those who dispute equality, promote culture of glorification of genocide denial and dispute fundamental human rights, to members of Jewish community in B&H as well”.

 

Other B&H politicians comment on stances of Embassy of Israel (Hayat) 

 

Hayat reports that visits of leader of SNSD and member of B&H Presidency Milorad Dodik and leader of HDZ B&H Dragan Covic to Israel with goal to undermine B&H achieved results. Namely, Embassy of Israel in Tirana commended the proposal of amendments to the Election Law of B&H proposed by HDZ B&H. Hayat reminds that Dodik and Covic have been opposing implementation of the ECHR’s rulings, i.e. legal solutions enabling a Jew to be candidate for member of B&H Presidency. SDA’s Semsudin Mehmedovic stated that Israel is not doing it for sake of Covic, Dodik, Croatia or Serbia, but because due to interest of Israel to demonize Islam and Muslims. MP of ‘Justice and People’ (NiP) in the B&H parliament Denis Zvizdic said that the statement of the embassy is one-sided and uninformed. The Association of former War Detainees Mostar wrote a letter, urging the embassy not to be deceived by HDZ B&H leader Dragan Covic.

 

Finci on support of Israel to Croat parties’ proposal of election changes: Pro-Bosnian diplomacy demonstrated inefficiency in this case (Hayat) 

 

The Embassy of Israel in Tirana commended a proposal of amendments to the Election Law of B&H proposed by HDZ B&H. President of Jewish Community in B&H Jakob Finci deems that abovementioned stance of Israeli Embassy talks about inefficiency of diplomacy of pro-Bosnian parties. He added that this stance is obviously consequence of recent visits of SNSD leader Milorad Dodik and HDZ B&H leader Dragan Covic to Israel, who presented their stances as stances of B&H. Finci went on to saying that the Ministry of Foreign B&H has not been talking about Israel and failed to pay a visit to this country. He added that Dodik and Covic have been doing it regularly, adding that without visits and other types of direct contact, it is difficult to convince anyone in one’s ideas. He explained that the current method of election of members of the Presidency of B&H has been imposed through the Dayton Peace Agreement. Finci stressed that although there are five rulings of the ECHR saying that it is in opposition to the European Convention on Human Rights and stances of the Venice Commission, disputable part of existing legislation has not been adapted in compliance with these rulings. Finci added that he deems that pro-Bosnian diplomacy is inefficient and will not be able to turn around this stance, adding that true results will be visible after October 2 when citizens present their stances in elections and decide how to proceed with changes of Constitution and Election Law.

 

Israeli Foreign Ministry department for Balkans thanks Dodik for his support and condemnation of terrorist attacks of ‘Islamic Jihad’ group (RTRS) 

 

Department for the Balkans of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs has thanked Serb member of the B&H Presidency Milorad Dodik for his strong support and condemnation of the terrorist attacks by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group on Israeli civilians. "Israel has the right to defend its citizens: Jews, Muslims and Christians. The world should stand with Israel as it is fighting terrorism," Department for the Balkans of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs wrote on Twitter. Dodik earlier condemned the attacks by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group on Israeli civilians. "State of Israel has a right to defend itself," Dodik wrote on Twitter.

 

HR Schmidt sends letter to President and Vice Presidents of FB&H, calls for appointment of judges at FB&H CC (Hayat) 

 

High Representative Christian Schmidt sent a letter to President of the Federation of B&H (FB&H) Marinko Cavara (HDZ B&H), Vice Presidents Milan Dunovic (DF) and Melika Mahmutbegovic (SDA) and to members of joint collegium of the FB&H Parliament calling for appointment of judges of the FB&H Constitutional Court (CC) and members of Council for Protection of Vital Interest. In his letter Schmidt stressed that he has been disappointed with their failure to meet their obligations and to act in line with the Constitution of the FB&H. Schmidt reminded that the FB&H CC’s council for protection of the vital national interests has no quorum with only four out of seven judges and therefore it is blocked, stressing that he takes the problem of vacated posts of judges at the FB&H CC very seriously and that this is his priority. “The High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (HJPC) of B&H has submitted a list of candidates for all pending vacancies to the FB&H President and Vice Presidents, including the list of successful candidates for the vacancies of three judges on October 16, 2019, and then one more list of successful candidates for an additional judge on February 26, 2022. To date, you have not nominated any of these judges as required under the FB&H Constitution. This clearly represents a failure to perform your constitutional responsibilities”, Schmidt wrote in the letter.

 

Dunovic: Cavara is blocking appointment of judges and functioning of the FB&H (Hayat) 

 

High Representative Christian Schmidt sent a letter to President of the FB&H Marinko Cavara (HDZ B&H), Vice Presidents Milan Dunovic (DF) and Melika Mahmutbegovic (SDA) and to members of joint collegium of the FB&H parliament calling for appointment of judges of the FB&H Constitutional Court (CC) and members of Council for Protection of Vital Interest. In his letter Schmidt stressed that he has been disappointed with their failure to meet their obligations and to act in line with the Constitution of the FB&H. According to Hayat, Schmidt either does not see or does not want to see who has been making obstructions for years and he is blaming everyone for these obstructions. Hayat wonders whether this is introduction to imposing of the Election Law in line with wishes of HDZ B&H. In a statement for Hayat, FB&H Vice President Milan Dunovic said that Schmidt’s disappointment with the fact judges have not been appointed to the FB&H CC does not reduce the fact that he is even more disappointed with Schmidt. Dunovic underlined that abovementioned problem existed before Schmidt was appointed the High Representative. The FB&H Vice President wonders whether the High Representative is attempting in this way to relativize and justify failure of Cavara to do his job, because over last two years he (Dunovic) has been warning of this problem, i.e. that Cavara is blocking appointment of judges and consequently, functioning of the FB&H. He went on to saying that him and other Vice President Mahmutbegovic have submitted proposal of names of candidates for judges of the FB&H CC with President Cavara on several occasions over last two years. Dunovic underlined that he cannot understand why Schmidt addresses him in his letter, when he is not responsible for failure to appoint abovementioned judges. “Cavara is responsible for it and he has been intentionally creating obstructions”, stressed Dunovic. He added that this was recognized by the US administration that put Cavara on the black list. FB&H Vice President wondered why High Representative relativizes the situation and disperses accountability to three members of the FB&H leadership. Dunovic said that address of the High Representative which puts the President and the Vice-Presidents of the FB&H in the same basket, is an incomprehensible and ill-intentioned move. "I, like the High Representative, am disappointed by the non-appointment of judges, but I believe that I am not the least bit responsible for Mr. Cavara's inaction," Dunovic was quoted as saying. Dunovic said that he does not observe this as a well-intentioned move because the HR knows very well that this problem is in hands of one man and that is Cavara. Dunovic underlined that the OHR knows very well where the problem is as this situation was present during the rule of the former HR Valentin Inzko. DF issued a statement stating that the Schmidt, with a letter sent to FB&H President and Vice Presidents, asking them to urgently appoint judges to the Constitutional Court of FB&H, is advertising cooperation of HDZ B&H, but also considers B&H citizens to be “intellectually under-capacitated and backwards”. “Schmidt’s appeal to FB&H President and Vice Presidents Milan Dunovic and Melika Mahmutbegovic to carry out appointing of judges to vacant positions in the FB&H CC is another proof of this. Without any causes, he appeals to Dunovic and Mahmutbegovic and he knows that the sole culprit and the only one who blocks the appointments is Marinko Cavara,” reads DF statement.

 

EUFOR Mission to B&H announces deployment of German military contingent to B&H on phased basis (BHT1/Nezavisne) 

 

The EUFOR Mission to B&H has announced the deployment of a German military contingent to B&H, that will be carried out in phases.  “The number of personnel to deploy will be up to a maximum of 50.  These new EUFOR personnel will provide additional capacity in EUFOR HQ and for EUFOR’s network of Liaison and Observation Team (LOT) Houses which are located on an impartial basis all over B&H,” reads the press release issued by the EUFOR Mission to B&H. It was stressed that this is another proof of the dedication of the EU to a stable, prosperous and European future of all citizens of B&H. Nezavisne novine also reported and noted that the daily learned unofficially that German Minister of Foreign Affairs Annalena Baerbock, during her recent visit to B&H, informed all three members of the Presidency of B&H and other bodies in B&H about the intention of Germany to return to EUFOR. The daily also learned that none of the sides expressed any remarks to this information “but certain reserves and concerns were expressed later on, after this information was released to public”. The daily reminded that the document, which was adopted by the German Parliament and published at its webpage, noted that the goal of the operation of German soldiers in EUFOR is to help overcome ethnic tensions and bring B&H closer to EU and NATO. “The potential for destabilization of B&H and possible secession of the Republika Srpska were stated as one of the reasons for this decision”, the daily concluded.

 

Kalabukhov pens op-ed underlining ‘centuries- long’ friendly relations between B&H and Russia (Oslobodjenje) 

 

Ambassador Igor Kalabukhov noted that they regret to witness the constant attempts of certain B&H officials to delude their own citizens with false speculations about allegedly a negative role of Russia in B&H. What is especially concerning, the Ambassador noted, is the fact that such groundless statements are intentionally inspired within certain western embassies in Sarajevo. Kalabukhov noted that all this is aimed to divert the attention of the public “from the joint western enterprise”, directed toward undermining of the Dayton Peace Agreement, and shifting of responsibility for the permanent crisis in B&H, which is “fed” because of their own political interests. The Ambassador further noted that regardless of these attempts, none of this will damage “centuries-long friendly relations between multi-ethnic peoples of Russia and B&H”, noting that Russia was always there to offer a hand to B&H in times of need and this will not change. Kalabukhov underlined that as one of key international mediators in peace talks within the contact-group, Russia continues to provide gas supplies to B&H, most notably to Sarajevo during the war and having in mind the internal specific issues and the economic situation, Russia never insisted on payment of wartime multi-million debt agreeing to conditions which suit B&H. The Ambassador underlined that Russia was also there to assist firefighting of huge wildfires in 2012, it was among the first ones to send medical assistance and later on the vaccines when COVID-19 pandemic broke out and underlined excellent cooperation between B&H and Russian universities, exchange of students and other cultural cooperation. Kalabukhov underlined that favorable conditions for strengthening of relations between two countries lay in religious differences, reminding of cooperation in this regard and underlined that Russia is traditionally one of the biggest trading and investment partners of B&H. He reminded that owing to Russian investment the fuel industry in B&H was reconstructed after the war. He noted that the West is using all possible methods, uncompetitive and illegal ones included, to push out Russian companies from B&H, which most of all harms interests of B&H citizens, but despite all this, Russian companies are interested to continue to work honestly in B&H, adjusting to “all artificially created barriers and obstacles”.  “B&H was and remains to be a friendly country for Russia. Despite of attempts of malicious people to harm our good and relations verified over time, as well as to involve B&H into the orbit of anti-Russian campaign launched in the West, we know that there are more supporters than adversaries to mutually beneficial Russian- B&H cooperation,” ends Kalabukhov.

 

Western sanctions won't harm Russia, but harmed Croatia, says President (Hina) 

 

The sanctions imposed by Western countries on Russia due to the attack on Ukraine are not working, and they will not harm Russia, but they have harmed us, President Zoran Milanovic said on Monday during a visit to Hvar. Describing the situation in the world as unstable and increasingly confusing, Milanovic warned that "it all resembles a dandelion in the spring, and you just pray to God no one sneezes and blows it away". The West's response is not good, said Milanovic, adding that "we have sanctions that are not working". He underscored that he "has been saying this from day one" and that he regrets that he was right. "The sanctions are not working; they will not harm Russia, if that is the goal and what has happened has harmed us," the President said. Regarding statements by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic that he will not go to the Croatian Adriatic and by Novi Sad Mayor Milos Vucevic that he could not understand why some Serbs go to Dalmatia for the summer, Milanovic said that he was happy about Serbs vacationing in Croatia. "They are welcome. (Serbia) is a neighboring country and we don't have to agree on everything," Milanovic said. When asked why Vucic was doing this, Milanovic replied that he did not know because he was not the president of Serbia but of Croatia. "Good, at least Vucic is not talking about a Serbian sea, for now. There is a lot of folklore in that," said Milanovic.

 

Kovac: West must impose changes to Election Law in B&H (Vecernji list) 

 

Former Croatian foreign minister Miro Kovac, asked if he expects if the political parties in B&H will manage to reach an agreement on the electoral rules within the six-week deadline, replied by saying, among other issues, it is not realistic to expect an agreement because an agreement would prevent the Bosniak policy’s plan to achieve power in the FB&H, and later on in entire B&H. According to Kovac, the minimum goal is to win in take over the FB&H and that maximalist goal is that entire B&H is controlled by Bosniaks. “That strategic direction is being camouflaged with the story about the so-called civic B&H, and it would be promoted by use of force if necessary, which was proven by recently politically rigged protests in front of the building of the High Representative”, said Kovac, who went on to say there is an aim to create political-religious conflict (between Bosniaks and Croats) and to manipulate with feelings of people who believe that something is being taken away from the Bosniaks. “What an absurd! In essence it is the opposite. Bosniaks are taking away constitutionally guaranteed rights from less numerical Croats”, added Kovac. Asked what will happen if an agreement is not reached, whether he expects HR Christian Schmidt will impose new electoral rules, Kovac said that during this pre-election ambiance, one could not really notice that HR Schmidt used the so-called Bonn powers six times, out of which two times were related to the Election Law.  “To tell you the truth, if today’s West is committed to advocating principles of the rule of law, and it is, then there is no other thing but to impose changes to the Election Law as ordered by the Constitutional Court in the Ljubic case. Any other action would mean that Europe and the West in general have generally, you will have to excuse my language, spat on their own face.” Asked to comment on the German Bundestag’s resolution on B&H, which mentions Croatia as destabilizing factor in B&H, and how it is possible, Kovac replied by saying the Americans have given full support to the HR in terms of adoption of changes to the Election Law. As for the Bundestag’s resolution, Kovac says it contains several unacceptable qualifications that resemble dilettante-like experiments in a political lab. He went on to say that B&H is being destabilized by forces that destroy the Dayton organization, stressing that Croatia and political leadership of B&H Croats advocate the rule of law and the European future of B&H.

 

Cavara says Schmidt is on vacation so he does not know who wrote letter, argues Schmidt only cares about SDA’s demands (Vecernji list) 

 

Commenting on the information that High Representative Christian Schmidt sent a letter to President of the FB&H Marinko Cavara (HDZ B&H), Vice Presidents Milan Dunovic (DF) and Melika Mahmutbegovic (SDA) and to members of joint collegium of the FB&H Parliament calling for appointment of judges of the FB&H Constitutional Court (CC) and members of Council for Protection of Vital Interest, Cavara said that he has the information that Schmidt is in fact on vacation, so he does not know who wrote this letter. Cavara also reminded that Schmidt gave up imposing of decisions related to implementation of rulings of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) because he faced “pressures of public lynch in front of the OHR and he was scared”. Cavara claimed that “it is surprising that Schmidt only cares about what SDA demands” and he went on to say that it seems as if Schmidt does not care about implementation of rulings of the Constitutional Court, he does not care about the fact FTV has been working outside of its Statute or about the fact that the FB&H Police Administration has not had legally appointed Director for the past eight years. “Schmidt is taking care of matters important for SDA so that the ‘status quo’ can be maintained when it comes to the Election Law of B&H and so that malversations can be carried out with illegal election commission”, Cavara said. The daily noted that the request presented in Schmidt’s letter must be viewed in a wider context, knowing that Schmidt actually succumbed to pressures exerted by Bosniaks and missed the chance to enable Croats to elect their legitimate delegates in the House of Peoples, whose task is to launch the mechanism of protection of the vital national interest. The daily concluded by saying that it remains to be seen whether the High Representative will show enough courage when it comes to changes that would enable the realization of the constitutional principle of legitimate representation.

 

Zivkovic: Abazovic’s government should and must fall (CdM) 

 

Danijel Zivkovic, head of the DPS caucus, is clear – Prime Minister Dritan Abazovic’s government must fall on 19 August. In an interview for CdM, he says that there are numerous reasons for this. One of them, as he notes, is that the Prime Minister, without an iota of responsibility, has stopped the European perspective of the citizens of Montenegro. Zivkovic says that the Agreement signed with the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) is formally and essentially contrary to the Constitution and the legal system of Montenegro. He adds that SPC controls part of the security sector. Zivkovic believes that, after the next parliamentary elections, the European forces in Montenegro will have an absolute majority that will ensure political stability and the Government for a full four-year term. He is sure that DPS will be the main backbone of that coalition. He is also convinced that the administration led by Mayor Ivan Vukovic in Podgorica will produce a good election result that will ensure DPS to continue another mandate in managing the city administration.

 

Jokovic: DPS and Democrats agreed to overthrow thegGovernment (RTCG) 

 

The leader of the Socialist People's Party Vladimir Jokovic told Radio Montenegro that he had reliable information that the DPS and the Democrats had agreed to overthrow the government on 19 August. "My information is very reliable. It is that the DPS and the Democrats have agreed on everything. It's up to them. We will see how they will look at it, but if those who want to overthrow this government because it signed the Fundamental Agreement are ready to annul that Agreement, as announced by the DPS, good luck to them. We have finished our job, let them do theirs," Jokovic said. "The SNP has completed its political goal of entering the government, and we are waiting for the results of the vote on 19 August," the SNP leader concluded.

 

Djurovic: The fall of the government would mean a return to the old ways and another decade of idleness with very negative economic consequences (CdM) 

 

The government of Montenegro achieved enviable results in the first hundred days, and its Prime Minister Dritan Abazovic showed the courage to make major decisions and solve decades-old problems, and any change in such a policy course would have negative consequences for the further development and progress of Montenegro, Goran Djurovic, vice president of URA and minister of economic development and tourism, said. "Therefore, every member of parliament who votes for the downfall of the government on 19 August must be aware of the political and economic consequences of such a decision. Every vote for the downfall of the government means a return to the old ways and issues that burden society (such as the Fundamental Agreement, which has now been put ad acta), and Montenegro does not have time to wait for another decade of idleness in which they would once again condense into national pens, counted and returned to disastrous Balkan policies," said Djurovic. As he pointed out, the economic consequences of the upcoming crisis announced for the fall can be serious and very negative, and it is the responsibility of every member of parliament to see what kind of problem a country can be in without a government. "State institutions in their technical mandate cannot respond to the problems of the crisis in the right way. The measure of patriotism is care for citizens and the European path of the state, and I don't want to believe that there is anyone in the parliament who would question that for the sake of party interest. The responsibility lies before everyone," says Djurovic.

 

Bogavac: Democrats will vote to overthrow the government and thus annul the Fundamental Agreement and prevent Montenegro from entering the Open Balkans (CdM) 

 

The President of the SNP Berane Municipal Board Tihomir Bogavac announced that according to the party's knowledge, the Democrats will vote to overthrow the 43rd government and thus, among other things, say, "reset the DPS, annul the Fundamental Agreement, prevent Montenegro from entering the Open Balkans". "The Socialist People's Party has always remained consistent in its promises and its positions, we have proven that many times. It was a long road to achieve our goal, to fulfil the will of the citizens, that road was also thorny for the SNP, but we have persisted and we proudly point out that one of our conditions for entering the government has been fulfilled, which is the Fundamental Agreement," he pointed out. "According to information, the Democrats will vote to overthrow the 43rd government of Montenegro and thus reset the DPS, annul the Fundamental Agreement, re-establish a hostile relationship towards Serbia, prevent Montenegro from entering the Open Balkans, and stop Montenegro's European path. With this act, the Democrats would once again, for the umpteenth time, prevent the election of members of the Judicial Council and thus slow down the fight against organized crime and corruption, which this government has been fighting against," Bogavac said. "Our fraternal relations with Serbia were damaged by Milo Djukanovic, DPS and their satellites, but Jokovic and Abazovic managed to restore and repair them after so much time, now, with the actions of DPS and their satellites, we will return to the same thing! So, I ask now, who is a satellite of the Democratic Party of Socialists, who is a traitor, who hesitates all the time in making decisions and express opinions," Bogavac asked. He points out that they (SNP) are proud of what they have done, and be that as it may, "hundreds of governments can change, but only the 43rd government led by Prime Minister Dritan Abazovic and SNP ministers will be remembered for solving the issue of Serbian of the Orthodox Church in Montenegro". A question that, he adds, was opened ten years ago, a question that, according to Bogavac, no one has had the courage to solve until now. "It is not strange to us that the Democrats are changing their attitude towards the DPS, it would be strange if they remained consistent in their pre-election statements that they would not be with the DPS. It would be strange if they had an attitude at all, because we are not used to it from them," Bogavac said.

 

Nikoloski: Government to accept elections and make sure that the poll with a double advantage of VMRO-DPMNE is correct (Republika) 

 

The latest IPSOS shows that VMRO-DPMNE has a double advantage in relation to SDSM and it is accurate, reflecting the reality and mood of Macedonian citizens, says the vice president of VMRO-DPMNE Aleksandar Nikoloski. Regarding the accusations by SDSM that the poll was ordered by VMRO-DPMNE, Nikoloski emphasized that polls are commissioned by political parties to see the mood of the people between two election cycles. Polls are commissioned by political parties. So, polls are always commissioned by political parties, possibly by institutions, and are the main measure of where each political party stands between two election cycles. Of course, the best poll is the elections, but in the meantime, in the entire democratic world, this is the way in which the performance and support of each political party are measured, Nikoloski said. He added that IPSOS, which also conducted the latest poll at the request of VMRO-DPMNE, has not missed a poll either in the Balkans or in Europe, and if they come out with those numbers, then at that moment it is the mood of the people, and the government’s escape from elections and referendum is proof of that. Nikoloski in Prilep called on the government led by SDSM and DUI, to make sure that the poll numbers are the truth, to agree to early parliamentary elections and to organize a referendum, where the citizens will say the most accurate poll through these two forms of direct democracy.

 

The first ship with grain from Ukraine to Albania, with 6 thousand tons of wheat is sailing towards the port of Durres (Radio Tirana) 

 

The ship "Jaohar Ranim" is sailing towards the port of Durres with a quantity of 6,000 tons of wheat. This is the first ship to come from Ukraine since the start of the war there. Loaded in Izmail, Ukraine, the ship left this port on 28 July and is expected to arrive in Durres on 10 August. Izmaili is the largest Ukrainian port at the mouth of the Danube, in Odesa. Last week, it was announced by the Turkish authorities about another ship departing from Odesa towards Libya on 1 August, but the ship "Jaohar Ranim" was the first to start its movement, after the attacks that started from Russia in February of this year. The blockade of Ukrainian ports caused problems in the global grain supply. Russia and Ukraine together account for nearly a third of global wheat exports, so the resumption of wheat exports from Ukraine has given a new breath to the global consumption demand.