SERBIA DAILY No13

W Daily e-newspaper

• N° 13 • Belgrade, May 13, 2016

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WESTERN BALKANS e-MEDIA GROUP

Electoral Commission Allocates Seats in New Assembly

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The Republic Electoral Commission held a meeting and allocated mandates in Serbia's new National Assembly

his paved the way for the scheduling of the first, constitutive sitting of the assembly that will confirm the mandates given to new deputies from 12 electoral lists that won seats in April 24 snap parliamentary election. A total of 20 lists competed.

The coalition gathered around the Serb Progressive Party (SNS) took 131 out of the assembly's 250 seats. They are followed by SPS-JS (29), the Serb Radical Party (SRS; 22),

Vladimir Groysman, Prime Minister of Ukraine: I am convinced that we have great opportunities for further development of cooperation between Ukraine and Serbia in many areas of common interest, as well as on the road to European integration

the Enough is Enough Movement (16), the Democratic Party (DS)-led coalition (16), Dveri-DSS (13) and LDP-LSV-SDS (13).

These lists crossed the five percent threshold and in that way won seats in the new assembly.

This rule does not apply to electoral lists representing ethnic minorities, five of which entered parliament under the socalled natural threshold principle. They are the SVM (ethnic Hungarians - 4 man-

Joseph Muscat, Prime Minister of Malta: I want to assure you that the government of Malta fully intends to strengthen the already excellent bilateral relations with the Republic of Serbia, and I believe that they will be further deepened

dates), Muamer Zukorlic - Bosniak (Muslim) Democratic Community of Sanzak (2), the Green Party (ethnic Slovaks - 1) and the PDA (ethnic Albanians - 1).

According to the Serbian Constitution, the new legislative term of office starts with the confirmation of mandates of at least two thirds of deputies at the first session of the newly elected parliament, which must be held within 30 days of the announcement of the final results (May 5).

Dusan Vujovic, Minister of Finance: The government has done a lot to attract foreign investors, including supporting the implementation of infrastructure projects, something that ensured it a higher World Bank Doing Business ranking

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Daily

Germany Markers Supports Vucic and Opening of "Free Srpska" Chapters 23 S and 24

BY VLASTIMIR MIJOVIC EDITOR

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Germany supports opening of chapters 23 and 24 in Serbia's EU accession talks as soon as possible, the country's ambassador to Serbia has said

deally, it should happen in the first half of this year, German Ambassador, Axel Dittmann, told Tanjug in Novi Sad. Serbia opened the first two chapters with the EU in December last year, and the important chapters 23 and 24 on the rule of law are about to be opened next, Dittmann said.

"The European Commission has made a very clear proposal that Serbia has fulfilled all conditions to open the chapters

- we support this," Dittmann said.

The German ambassador was in Novi Sad to attend a conference on the opening of the Civil Society Forum Belgrade, to be held in Novi Sad and Belgrade as a joint initiative of the European Fund for the Balkans and the ERSTE foundation.

The forum is a preparation for this year's Berlin Process summit on the Western Balkans, to be held in Paris.

Pristina "to Reconsider Format" of Talks with Belgrade Kosovo Prime Minister Isa Mustafa has told Voice of America that Pristina plans to "once again reconsider the format of negotiations with Belgrade."

According to him, this format is "blocking the process of Kosovo's European integration."

"It's important to me that all Kosovo institutions and also civil society are broadly represented in that process. We will consider ways to include parliament in the Brussels dialogue with the goal of making

decisions that are acceptable to both citizens and deputies," said Mustafa.

He also accused Belgrade of "not living up to its promise not to slow down Pristina's EU integrations."

"They are blocking all processes, which they took on an obligation not to do," said Mustafa, adding that the obligation not to block each other on the road to the EU stems from the first Brussels agreement reached by Belgrade and Pristina.

Tsipras Congratulates Vucic Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic received congratulations from Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras regarding the landslide victory in parliamentary elections, with the desire to further promote good relations on the basis of historical closeness of the two nations.

"I look forward to strengthening cooperation for the benefit of our two countries and the entire region, and on the basis of strong historic links and common values and principles of our nations," reads the congratulatory note by Tsipras, who wished Vucic success in future

Dacic Meets Italian Ambassador At a meeting with Italian Ambassador to Serbia Giuseppe Manzo, First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic noted the significance of Italy's support for Serbia's European integration.

They also discussed possibilities for

enhancing multilateral cooperation between the two countries, expressing satisfaction with the high level of bilateral relations and economic cooperation, the Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported in a statement.

erbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic urged Serb political leaders in neighboring Bosnia to set aside their differences and prevent street protests scheduled for Saturday from turning violent.

Both the opposition and the ruling party in Republika Srpska have called on supporters to take to the streets of the capital Banja Luka for demonstrations ahead of local elections in October.

The opposition will protest against unemployment and corruption, while the ruling party urged people to express support for government policies.

Vucic said Serbian police had indications the protests in Banja Luka could turn violent. He said he had spoken to political leaders in the Serb Republic, including its president Milorad Dodik.

"We don't need conflict," Vucic told a news conference.

"Peace and stability are conditions without which Serbia cannot progress."

At the same time the Serbian Interior Ministry (MUP) announced they "will not allow extremist groups or people from the criminal milieu in Serbia to go to rallies in Banja Luka."

Dodik has repeatedly tried and failed to persuade opposition leaders to cancel the protests but says he does not envisage any problems with having two rival protest meetings on the same day.

Vucic's remarks reflect pressure that Belgrade feels from the West to support stability in the Balkans if it wants to make progress in talks on joining the European Union.

"If there is conflict, the survival of the Serb Republic would be in question while Serbia would be put in an unfavorable position," Vucic said.

Vucic's warning is interpreted by the Alliance for Changes in Banja Luka as more of a warning to Milorad Dodik and his counter-rally.

It remains to be seen if the announced peaceful protest, organized by the Alliance for Changes under the slogan "Free Srpska" on Saturday, will succeed with becoming something close to the slogan.

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PINION "The Best Secrets are the Most Twisted" Could the scandal about demolitions in Savamala be just settling accounts between individuals who owned the buildings in question and a party or parties which are deeply involved into business related to Belgrade Waterfront project?

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he interest into the secretive demolishing of buildings in Savamala district of Belgrade in the night of April 24 do not subsides.

On the contrary, the latest demonstrations in front of the City Assembly of Belgrade probably gathered more citizens than ever, at protests organized by the citizens' initiative Let's Not Drown Belgrade, which generally opposes Belgrade Waterfront project and asks for transparency of the project and inclusion of citizens of Belgrade into it.

It seems pretty obvious that if somebody wanted to demolish the buildings without anybody knowing about it in advance, it was clever decision to choose the night immediately after the early elections, as it was expected that the attention of the majority of population would be on the results of the counting of ballots, and that the media would be almost exclusively focused on the election outcome.

Because, if it was done otherwise, in daytime and transparently, the demolishers would face the risk of Let's Not Drown Belgrade activists staging protests, or even trying to stop demolition.

Obviously, the demolishers didn't want all that hustle, but why, after all, they had to be masked?

It is hard to believe that regular workers would accept the order by their boss to mask themselves, or that they would accept baseball bats as accompanying tool of trade. In fact, it is not unlikely that, probably, the only regular employees of a company that would regularly carry on the demolitions in town were the guys managing the bulldozers. According to few testimonies of citizens who had close encounter with masked men they left impression of thugs hired to do a dirty job, rather than people whose regular job is in demolishing or construction business.

Well, definitely not their daily job anyway!

It seems that the problem is not so much in the fact that some old buildings were tore down, as it is the way how it was done, and that the initial reports from police made impression they knew nothing about it.

BY EMIR SALIHOVIC EDITOR-IIN-C CHIEF

Could it be just settling accounts between individuals who owned the buildings in question and a party or parties which are deeply involved into business related to Belgrade Waterfront project? After all, the Interior Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic told that one of the owners of the disputed buildings was a member of the Belgrade City Council "during the mandate of previous authorities" while another " is a member of the SNS political party".

Aleksandar Vucic commented that it was not definitely the way to do that job, to come in the night, undercover, and demolish the buildings. Asked if the government was behind the demolition he said that he was "certain that it was not."

Vucic's answer seem reasonable, and most likely true, as it is really hard to believe that someone from the government would order such a dubious action which would fire back in many unexpected ways. But taking into account sometimes very strong underground connections between local businessmen and the world of politics and state structures, like police for example, it is not hard to imagine that this action was somebody's private initiative, or even retaliation geared to someone else who also had vested interest into those particular locations in Savamala district.

However, there is also an issue how much is the civic movement Let's Not Drown Belgrade truly civic, and how much it fallen or falls into the jaws of party politics?

Their initial requests in regard to higher transparency of the project, and inclusion of citizens who must be given an opportunity to decide on the future of the city they live in, now extend to requests for dismissal of a number of city and police officials, and many of statements from the latest protest in front of the City Assembly were directed against Vucic and the ruling SNS party.

If the movement succeeds to remain impartial and truly civic, and avoids traps to become a stage for particular party activists who may try to use the movement to forward their own political goals, it may be one of the greatest civic initiatives in the history of Belgrade.

And what if Belgrade Waterfront really happens, succeeds and proves to be more than just a figment of somebody's imagination or a faรงade for someone's dubious business interest?

In that case all of the movement could be best described

by Shakespeare's title: Much Ado About Nothing.

Publisher: WESTERN BALKANS e-MEDIA GROUP z POENTA d.o.o. Sarajevo, Augusta Brauna 3 z Editor - in - Chief: Emir Salihovic z Editors: VLASTIMIR MIJOVIC, AMRA ZIMIC, RASID KRUPALIJA, DANIJELA MRKIC, SANJA LJUBICIC z Director: Amra Zimic z Office Assistant: VERICA GRAOVAC, MUSTAFA BAHTANOVIC, DTP: Bekir Tvrtkovic z Marketing: KAROLINA MIHAJLOVIC z GSM: 00 381 61 2768568, 00 381 11 4086 992, serbiadaily@sbb.rs

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Prince Alexander Karageorgevich Dies at 91 Prince Alexander served as vice president of the Board of Directors of the Western European Diocese of the Serbian Orthodox Church, and was the patron, protector and the Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of the Dragon HRH Prince (Knez) Alexander Pavlov Karageorgevich died at the age of 91 in Paris on Thursday morning, his office in Belgrade said in a release.

Prince Alexander, the eldest son of late Prince Paul of Yugoslavia, who acted as Regent of Yugoslavia in the 1930s, and Princess Olga of Greece and Denmark, was born on August 13, 1924, at White Lodge, Richmond Park, United Kingdom.

Prince Alexander received his education at the Eton College in England. He participated in World War II as a volunteer and an RAF pilot with at least 1,000 combat flight hours. Following the end of WWII, he settled in Paris.

He left behind five children, from two marriages. With Princess Maria Pia of Savoy, he has sons Dimitri, Michael and Sergey and a daughter, Helen. With his second wife, Princess Barbara of Liechtenstein, he has a son, Dusan.

Prince Alexander served as vice president of the Board of Directors of the Western European Diocese of the

Prince Alexander

Serbian Orthodox Church, and was the patron, protector and the Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of the Dragon, which he founded in 2011 to renew the tradition of the old Order of the Dragon.

General Dikovic Visits Turkey Serbian Armed Forces (VS) Chief of Staff, General Ljubisa Dikovic took part in the Balkan Countries Chiefs of Defense Conference in Istanbul, and its participants agreed that the forum remained a successful framework for discussions on regional security and stability.

According to a release from the Serbian Defense Ministry, the participants also agreed that the forum offered a firm foundation for improving military cooperation between its members and with other forums and security organizations.

Taking part in the 10th edition of the conference were the chiefs of staff of Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Greece, Macedonia, Serbia and

Turkey, and the deputy chief of staff of Romania.

Attending as guests were the deputy chairman of the NATO Military Committee, the Allied Joint Force Command Naples commander and the chiefs of staff of Croatia and Slovenia.

Turkish President Rexhep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey welcomed the participants and guests and delivered a speech.

According to the release, General Dikovic had bilateral meetings with Chief of Staff of the Turkish Armed Force, General Hulusi Akar, and Chief of Staff of the Macedonian Armed Forces, Lieutenant-General Metodija Velickovski.

Dveri, DSS to Form Separate Groups The Dveri movement and the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) will form separate parliamentary groups in the new parliament, the Vecernje Novosti daily reports.

Bosko Obradovic and Sanda Raskovic-Ivic will be at the helm of the parliamentary groups. The parties made the

decision because of the accompanying perks - separate time slots during parliamentary debates and offices in the parliament building, the Belgrade-based daily learnt from party officials. Their MPs will coordinate activities and will, in fact, act in concert, Novosti adds.

He was also patron of the Center for Research of Orthodox Monarchism HRH Prince Alexander Pavlov Karageorgevich will be buried at the Royal Family Mausoleum at Oplenac, Serbia, the release said.

Gasic Denies He'll Head Air Traffic Services Bratislav Gasic, former defense minister, denied media reports that he was a leading candidate to become director of the Serbia and Montenegro Air Traffic Services (SMATSA).

Belgrade-based daily Danas reported earlier that it had learned this unofficially.

"There you can see how objective some media are, and how they handle the truth. That's a notorious lie, a fabrication, an untruth - I don't know what to call it," Gasic told journalists in the town of Krusevac, Beta agency reported.

But he chose to neither confirm nor deny the speculation that the Serb Progressive Party (SNS) - where he is currently one of the vice-presidents to leader Aleksandar Vucic - will on May 28 elect him as the head of its Executive Board.

Gasic, a former defense minister, was dismissed from the government late last year after he addressed a B92 reporter with a sexist remark.

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Prices of Textbooks Burden for Parents

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Parents of primary school children may be asked to pay even as much as 15-16.000 dinars for textbooks this year

his year's textbooks for first grade grammar school pupils will cost their parents from 4.000 to 8.000 dinars.

Prices go up to 15-16.000 dinars for older grades, when two foreign languages and several elective courses have to be calculated in. The Ministry of Education gave for the first time this year a unified list of textbooks which schools have elected for use during next three years. Now can be seen enormous differences in prices of various publishers and very colorful demands of teachers as well.

Somewhere worksheets are obligatory, in some other school one is not forced to buy them. Some teachers demand textbooks for painting and music, but some other colleagues of theirs do not consider them necessary.

Explanation from the Ministry of Education says that according to the Law on Textbooks, this institution does not influence the choice of textbooks.

"Schools themselves choose textbooks sets, so prices vary according to which publishers they have decided to choose", the Ministry representatives say.

Prices depend on whether schools decided that full set is obligatory or only some of its parts. It is important to note that the prices were known both to schools and parents beforehand, and they had to reach some agreement when it comes to choosing sets.

The difference in prices can be seen in an example of merely one course, Serbian language for the first grade.

The price of obligatory set varies from 1.300 to 2.990 dinars, depending on the publisher. Somewhere pupils will have to buy and carry five books on their backs, and somewhere the set comprises of just two or three. From the same set, worksheets are obligatory in one school, and not in another. So in Trgoviste, for instance, kids in first grade

don't have to buy textbooks for painting and music, so their set costs 4.730, and in one school from Novi Sad the price is 7.320 dinars. In elementary school "P. P. Njegos", the obligatory set for eighth grade costs 13.674, and in "Mladost" elementary school it is 11.969, with foreign languages books excluded.

The prices get higher when we count in non-obligatory books, as labeled by teacher, but it happened not once that children are supposed to bring them to class anyhow.

"Next school year all the socially endangered pupils will get their textbooks for free", the Ministry of Education claims.

"We will have for the first time special contingent for school libraries, comprising various books which pupils are not obliged to buy, like atlases and similar".

The budget for free textbooks is 600 million dinars, and extra 134 million have been put aside for the books in minority languages.

Serbia Interested in Important Regional Projects Minister without portfolio responsible for European integration Jadranka Joksimovic stated that Serbia wants to take advantage of all the available funds in the Adriatic-Ionian Initiative for the projects that are important for our country, but also for the region.

Joksimovic, who was attending the 1st Annual Forum of the EU Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian region (EUSAIR) in Dubrovnik, said in a statement to the news agency Tanjug that our country is

very active in this area.

We want to use all the money that is available for specific projects that are regional in character and are good for Serbia, but also for the whole region, she stated.

According to her, the Adriatic-Ionian Initiative is a very important EU strategy for the Western Balkans because it creates additional space for Serbia to cooperate with the countries in the region and is working on connecting and networking.

Joksimovic had an informal meeting in Dubrovnik with Croatian Foreign Minister Miro Kovac, with whom she exchanged arguments after Croatia has blocked the opening of Chapter 23 in Serbia's negotiations with the European Union.

She said that Serbia does not shun talks, that it is very constructive in that matter, and our position is clear as we have fulfilled all the criteria necessary for the negotiations.

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Serbian Oligarch Loses Defamation Lawsuit

Philip Zepter is one of five non-U.S.citizens in history who received prestigious Ellis Island Medal of Honor in 2011

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The D.C. Circuit dismissed the claim by Serbian businessman Philip Zepter that the International Crisis Group tried to extort him, then defamed him in a post-Bosnian conflict report

he International Crisis Group (ICG) named Milan Jankovic aka Philip Zepter and his company, Zepter Group, in its 2003 report on stalled Serbian reform. The group says it works "to prevent and resolve deadly conflict" by distributing reports and briefing papers to officials in foreign ministries and international organizations.

The 2003 report blamed the deceleration of Serbian reform on "Milosevic-era financial structures" that had "transformed themselves into a new Serbian oligarchy that finances many of the leading political parties and has tremendous influence over government decisions."

Many of these companies "profited from special informal monopolies" and "privileged exchange rates" for their support of the Milosevic regime, the report stated.

Zepter and his company appeared on a list of individuals and companies who were purportedly "well known to average Serbs."

The district court initially dismissed Zepter's defamation claim, but the D.C. Circuit reversed in 2007 on the grounds that some passages could be interpreted as defamatory.

ICG successfully moved to dismiss,

By Jack Bouboushian Courthouse News

claiming the statements were opinion and fair comment, and were protected by the fair report privilege.

Zepter appealed, and the D.C. Circuit again reversed, this time reinstating his defamation and false light claims.

The D.C. Circuit upheld the complaint's dismissal on a third review, on the grounds that Zepter was a limited-purposed public figure in the postMilosevic government.

"Contrary to his suggestion, he was not a mere bystander engaged in civic duties but was an advisor to and financial supporter of Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic, who came into power following Milosevic's ouster," Judge Judith Rogers said, writing for a three-judge panel.

Zepter does not deny that he paid a lobbyist over $100,000 to support the Serbian government's efforts to improve relations between the U.S. and Serbia, efforts which led to the U.S.'s assistance in writing off two-thirds of Serbia's foreign debt.

"The evidence shows that Zepter had voluntarily thrust himself into ensuring that Serbia underwent reforms in the

post-Milosevic era," the 31-page opinion states.

In addition, Zepter has not proven that ICG was motivated by actual malice when it included his name in its report, Rogers ruled.

Zepter claims that the report's author James Lyon, ICG's project director for Serbia from 2000 to 2005, demanded up to $2 million in order to leave Zepter out of negative stories.

However, "for the attempted extortion to be clear and convincing evidence from which a reasonable jury could find actual malice, Zepter must proffer evidence not only that Lyon prepared Report 145 with an extortion motive in mind, but also that the extortion motive caused ICG or Lyon to risk publishing an untrue statement about him. Zepter's evidence fails to establish the latter, at least by clear and convincing evidence," Rogers wrote. "All Zepter has shown is that Lyon hoped to capitalize on working on reports about the Balkans. That evidence, without more, does not amount to evidence that Lyon was willing to publish untruths in order to make an extra buck."

Zepter is worth an estimated $5 billion, according to the Cato Institute.

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Belgrade's Airport Welcomes Airbus A330

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An Airbus A330 airliner with the Air Serbia logo on its tail was welcomed with a water cannon salute at the Belgrade Nikola Tesla airport

he plane will be used to operate a non-stop service from Belgrade to New York starting from June 23.

It will be the first non-stop service between a Balkan country and the United States in 24 years.

The wide-body airliner arrived from Abu Dhabi, carrying Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Air Serbia and Belgrade Mayor Sinisa Mali and Air Serbia CEO Dane Kondic, among others.

The Serbian carrier will be the only company in the neighborhood running such a service.

By leasing the A330, Air Serbia marked the next step in its development as a leading airline in the region.

The service to New York will be operated five days a week.

"We have already sold over 11,000 tickets for the Belgrade-New York flights that will be operated on a wide-body Airbus A330 aircraft that touched down on the Belgrade

airport on Wednesday," said Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Air Serbia, and the national carrier's CEO Dane Kondic added that the service would start bringing profit as early as two years from now.

Mali, who is also the mayor of Belgrade, said that Serbia now had the biggest airliner in the region, bigger than any in 11 neighboring countries.

"Not only is the A330 airliner the biggest plane is Air Serbia's fleet but it is also the biggest in the region. No other airline in

Vucic: Serbia Best Place for Investment The state budget deficit in the first four months of 2016 was around EUR 100 million, rather than an anticipated 600 million, said Aleksandar Vucic, the Prime Minister.

"Our state coffers have never been in a better condition," the prime minister told reporters in Vranje, southern Serbia.

Serbia has no problems with cash, unlike many countries in the region, some of which want loans from us, Vucic said.

Liabilities from past years are also under control and interest payments are becoming due, with a total EUR 1.2 billion to be spent for this purpose in 2016, Vucic said, adding that major payments were already made in February and March.

He said that he believes that Serbia will have a dynamic GDP growth rate of a minimum 2.3 percent this year and 3 percent next year, and that "it will be a cumulative, year-on-year growth."

In any case, "golden years" are ahead for Serbia, he said.

Vucic was visiting a British American Tobacco (BAT) plant in Vranje on Tuesday, when he also remarked that the finalization of the Chinese acquisition of the Smederevo steel mill and the completion of the fourth and fifth reviews of the deal with the IMF are "two significant events ahead for Serbia."

He "thanked on British American Tobacco for moving its production line from Croatia to Vranje, southern Serbia, calling Serbia the best place for investment," Tanjug reported.

"Serbia is the best place and you have made a good choice," Vucic said, noting that BAT's business operations in Serbia generate over EUR 100 million for the budget annually.

The state will scale up the fight against tobacco smuggling, and explore ways to assist the company even more, the Serbian prime minister said, after opening a new production line of British American Tobacco.

With the opening of the new line worth EUR 5 million, BAT has expanded its capacities by 40 percent and become the production hub for CEFTA member states.

The opening ceremony brought together the company's senior officials, Regional Director for Western Europe Naresh Sethi, General Manager for Central Europe Richard Widmann, General Manager for Serbia and Montenegro Thanos Trimis, President of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Marko Cadez, and numerous businessmen and public figures.

Before touring the company, Vucic met with top managers to discuss the company's plans in Serbia.

the region has a bigger aircraft and that is why it is a picture of a better, more beautiful and more successful Serbia and a symbol of our country's economic recovery and prosperity," Mali said.

He stressed that the Belgrade-New York service, kicking off on June 23, would help improve business cooperation between Serbia and the United States, and called on businessmen to take advantage of A330 being able to carry 15 tons of cargo.

German and Austrian Banks Recommend Serbian Bonds The Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic says Germany's Commerzbank AG and Raiffeisen Bank International AG have recommended buying Serbian bonds.

This means Serbia has surpassed Poland, Hungary and Croatia in what it is doing in the control of public finances, the head of Serbia's outgoing government, who is expected to put together a new government, told reporters in Belgrade.

In making this statement, he was referring to a recent article published by Bloomberg.

"This means some of the countries will lose billions of euros in EU funding. On the other hand, the recommendation for purchasing our bonds implies trust in the Serbian financial system," Vucic said.

He added he would soon be able to confirm very good news for Serbia Serbia's credit rating would go up, which would be verified by all important credit agencies.

"This will be major news for Serbian citizens," Vucic said.

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Nordeus Has New Game in Works

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Europe's leading mobile and social networks game developer Nordeus is developing a new game, it has been revealed

he company, started by three Serbian software engineers, currently employs 160 people in offices in Belgrade, Dublin, and London, and is behind the one of the most successful online sports games - Top Eleven.

The game, first released in 2010 for Facebook and later for mobile operating systems, now has over 140 million registered users and is promoted by famed football coach Jose Mourinho.

Nordeus CEO Branko Milutinovic

announced a new game during the recent games industry and developer conference Reboot Develop 2016, held in Croatia. What is known so far is that it will not be another sports game.

In an interview with the pocketgamer.biz wesbite, Milutinovic revealed that the team had built some 40 prototypes over the past several years.

Speaking about the company's business model, Milutinovic said: "I understand that sometimes companies want to over-

EBRD: Zelezara to Help GDP in 2017 The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) reported it is possible Serbia could see its GDP growth at 3.8 percent in 2017 if the Zelezara Smederevo steelworks increases production as planned.

According to the EBRD's latest economic outlook, presented at the EBRD 2016 Annual Meeting in London by the bank's acting chief economist, Hans Peter Lankes, Serbia's economic growth forecast remained at 1.8 percent and 2.3 percent for this and next year, respectively.

A Tanjug reporter attending the EBRD meeting said Lankes had observed that

the Serbian economy was experiencing a trend of positive growth, created by increased demand from the EU, investments and recovery of exports.

The forecast for the coming year could change for the better under the influence of an increase in production at Zelezara Smederevo, recently privatized by a Chinese partner, within the framework of the ambitious plans announced, Lankes said.

The EBRD say that increased production at the Serbian steelworks could raise the country's GDP growth in 2017 from the current 2.3 percent by additional one to 1.5 percentage points.

Cable Maker Leoni to Hire 300 More People Minister of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Policy Aleksandar Vulin said cable manufacturer Leoni, whose plant in Prokuplje he toured, would soon hire 300 more workers.

After touring the factory, Vulin told reporters that on May 9, Leoni asked of the National Employment Service (NZS)

to secure 300 more workers.

"There is no better news than that a factory creates jobs," Vulin said.

The state has earmarked RSD 2.8 billion for active recruitment schemes and another RSD 550 million for hiring people with disability, the minister noted.

sell - we never raised any money and we don't plan to ever. It's part of our culture."

In Serbia, Nordeus is recognized for its CRS activities and was among the winners of the 2015 VIRTUS award for philanthropy.

The company has contributed with donations to B92 Fund's "Battle for Maternity Wards" and "Battle for Schools" campaigns, and has supported the Children's Drop-in Centre and Children's Shelter in Belgrade.

Chakrabarti: Continued Support to Serbia Suma Chakrabarti, who got a second four-year term as the head of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), told Tanjug that he was willing to continue supporting ongoing reforms in Serbia and the Western Balkans.

Speaking to a Tanjug reporter on the sidelines of the annual EBRD meeting in London, Chakrabarti said that the EBRD had invested a lot of effort in the Western Balkans, pointing out that the London meeting hosted two investment summits where the focus was on the region, particularly its cross-border projects and energy and infrastructure sectors.

He said that the EBRD was willing to help the Western Balkan economies through the implementation of mutually beneficial cross-border projects and to help the countries step up their reform processes.

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Protesters Say Authorities Were Behind Demolitions

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Thousands of Serbian citizens protested against the authorities accusing them for being involved in Savamala demolition case, asking for their resignations

round 4,000 protesters accused the Serbian authorities of being behind an unexplained incident in which dozens of masked men demolished buildings in an area where the state-backed Belgrade Waterfront complex is to be built.

The protest was organized by Let's Not Drown Belgrade, a campaigning group opposed to the construction of the Waterfront project.

They demanded the resignations of the Police Minister, Nebojsa Stefanovic, the Mayor of Belgrade, Sinisa Mali, the acting Belgrade police chief, Vladimir Rebic, the Communal Police chief, Nikola Ristic, and the President of the City Assembly, Nikola Nikodijevic.

Citing a recent Ombudsman's report, they said the authorities purposely refused to respond to calls from people who saw around 30 masked men armed with baseball bats and equipped with diggers tearing down buildings on the riverbank on the night between April 24 and 25 and allegedly

beating up local residents.

Radomir Lazovic, one of the members of Let's Bot Drown Belgrade, said the media failed to report the incident, which left citizens without proper informations on the situation in the country, adding that authorities have "crossed the red line this time".

"The masks were not there to hide the perpetrators, they were there to scare us, to tell us that you cannot joke with them, that they have the power, and have everything in their hands," Lazovic said.

"But they failed and we are here to tell them that this is not going to proceed," he added.

Masked Protesters As a symbolic response to the masked demolition men, some of the protesters came with improvised phantom masks on their heads.

Serbian Ombudsman Sasa Jankovic said in a report on Monday that after examining police documents and listening to

recordings of police telephone conversations during the incident, he concluded that the police were complicit in the nocturnal demolition.

"These omissions in the work of the police are not the result of individual mistakes but were organised and implemented within the framework of a previously prepared plan," Jakovic said in his report.

"Police officers and their superiors did not know or did not dare to reveal the identity of the party that ordered [the demolition] to the Ombudsman," he said.

Callers reported that on the night of the incident, around 30 masked men armed with sticks, stopped and searched them, tied them up and detained them in the Herzegovacka street area of Belgrade's Savamala district.

The masked men also demolished a series of empty buildings - the Sava Ekspres restaurant, a family house, the Iskra company office and several others.

The buildings were reportedly demolished to make way for the governmentbacked Waterfront project, a major redevelopment scheme that will cover much of the south bank of the Sava river in the Savamala district.

Lack of Information

Protesters throw toilet paper on the City Assembly

Serbia's Public Information Commissioner, Rodoljub Sabic, has called on the city authorities to explain what happened, but both the Belgrade police and Mayor Mali have denied knowing anything about it.

"What happened there, if anything happened, will be established by the competent authorities," Mali said.

The President of the Belgrade Assembly, Nikola Nikodijevic, has questioned whether the incident even happened.

"Nobody reported anything to the police and what is certain is that nobody saw it, it just boils down to a story of few people," Nikodijevic said on May 1.

Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic spoke on Wednesday on the matter, saying that the demolished sites were illegal builds and he did not see the case as important.

"The authorities will examine what happened. These are things that should not be approved and we will investigate the case," Vucic told a press conference.

Let's not drown Belgrade meanwhile announced that it will stage a new protest if the authorities do not submit their resignations within 14 days.

S e r b i a D a i l y, M a y 1 3 , 2 0 1 6

10

Stereotyping Serbian Muslims Fuels Extremism

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Human rights advocate Semiha Kacar says poverty and anti-Muslim prejudice are some of the factors powering religious extremism in Serbia's Sandzak region

hen it comes to the threat of Islamic terrorism in Serbia, all eyes centre on the mainly Muslim region of Sandzak in the southwest of the country on the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Semiha Kacar, president of the Sandzak Committee for the Protection of Human Rights and Freedoms, said that stereotypical ways of looking at Sandzak date back to so called "Anti-bureaucratic revolution" of 1987, when Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic and his Socialist Party of Serbia, SPS, organized "spontaneous" protests against the alleged dangers facing the Serbian people in the province of Kosovo and in Yugoslavia, generally.

"Stereotypes that were revived about Muslims [in Sandzak] back then have survived until today," she says.

"Of course, in Novi Pazar [the region's main town] there are young man with long beards and veiled women, but this is also a city of popular singers, athletes, successful students, and educated professionals in on all fields," Semiha says.

Poverty and Marginalization She says poverty and marginalization is one of the main drivers of religious radicalization. The region, in which around 55 per cent of the population are Muslims, is one of the poorest in Serbia.

"A feeling of injustice and desperation is leading people to extremism," she says.

"Drugs, smuggling, human trafficking and prostitution are part of our reality. In a situation of hopelessness some people seek a way out in a problematic and distorted religious interpretation," Semiha says, noting that more than 25,000 people in Novi Pazar out of 100, 000 are unemployed.

Lately, attention in Serbia has focused on the role of the informal religious Islamic institutions in creating conditions for the growth of extremism.

The Furkan masjid, or place of worship, in Novi Pazar, became a notorious gathering place for Islamic extremists in recent years.

Prosecutors filed charges in 2014 against a group of five people who used the Furkan to plan their actions.

The five are suspected of terrorism and of links to terrorist organizations in Syria.

They allegedly collected money for themselves and for several others to go

Semiha Kacar, president of the Sandzak Committee for Protection of Human Rights

to terrorist training camps in Syria and later fight for militant organizations such as ISIS or the El Nusra front.

Semiha said people needed to draw a difference between the average Muslim believer and the extremists, noting that peaceful Muslims are often the prime victims of radicalized Islamists.

"In recent years, some of the Wahhabis have interrupted religious services in mosques and provoked believers in attempts to take control of mosques and impose their view of how people should behave by force," Semiha says.

Problem to Confront "Such groups do not represent Islam, which is not based on hatred and destruction, as is confirmed daily by the tolerant behaviour of a vast number of believers in Sandzak," she says.

She says discrimination against Muslims, which remains endemic in Serbia, is another problem that must be confronted.

The construction of Muslims as the Serbian people's archetypal enemy has its roots in ancient history, dating from the iconic Battle of Kosovo in 1389 and from five centuries of Ottoman Turkish rule over Serbia.

The break-up of Yugoslavia and the

bloody war in Bosnia in the 1990s, strengthened this ancient prejudice against Muslims.

Semiha says Islamic leaders as well as state officials need to do more to help change the general attitude toward Muslims in Serbia.

Irresponsible statements in the past have found fertile soil among some Muslims, she warns.

Semiha defends the secular state as a barrier against the spread of religious extremism, be it Muslim or Christian.

"Religion in Sandzak and in Serbia in general is often used as a tool in political battles, which leads to abuse of religion for political purposes and the instrumentalization of state institutions by powerful religious communities," she says.

The problem of extremism in an ethnically mixed environment is a matter for society as a whole, she maintains.

"Religious communities, political parties and non-governmental organizations need to assume their part of responsibility. Dialogue is one of the most important ways for overcoming tensions in society," she says.

"However, some groups want things to stay the same because it fits them‌ and that is the problem," she concludes.

S e r b i a D a i l y, M a y 1 3 , 2 0 1 6

11

Toward Sustainable Development Goals

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The UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Serbia, Irena Vojackova-Sollorano, was interviewed by Balkan Green Energy News

he United Nations in Serbia is refurbishing its future headquarters to be energy efficient and even produce its own energy. Smart meters are installed to measure the consumption of electricity, heat and water, and significant technical remodeling is underway, says Irena Vojackova-Sollorano.

In an interview with Balkan Green Energy News, she stressed sustainability starts with every person's commitment, and that all groups and communities in the society, all the way to the government and international bodies, are taking action according to the global consensus, defined in 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

A German national, VojackovaSollorano has been appointed in Serbia in October 2013. She lead the country team's response to the floods in 2014 together with the United Nations Development Programme and to the refugee and migrant crisis with UN Refugee Agency - UNHCR.

Common Challenges What is your view on Serbia's role in the implementation of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that the United Nations adopted last year?

Serbia was very active on the diplomatic level and in the preparation of over two years until the goals were identified. Through the UN country team we have involved the wider society in this debate, getting input through social media. We also worked with the civil society and the private sector. Especially the young people were interested, to make sure that there will be jobs and livelihood and that they will live in a stable and fair society. A point which was rather unique for Serbia and six other countries around the world was that youth wishes culture to be taken into consideration when discussing development what is our future culture.

The young people want to take responsibility for their life. Every person can take any of the goals and change something.

A family or a school can take a sustainable development goal and work on it.

Is it fair to say that Balkan countries have common challenges in sustainable development?

All countries have now subscribed to sustainable development. They will all

be measured in the same way and report about the 17 goals - we no more have the divide between the developing and the developed world. While many goals are measured and

Irena Vojackova-Sollorano

achieved on a national level, many are cross border. Environmental protection and disaster risk reduction must be worked on with the neighbours, but so does economic development. Climate action and clean water and sanitation are some of the other SDGs which require regional action.

The United Nations Development Programme is implementing the project 'Reducing Barriers to Accelerate the Development of Biomass Markets in Serbia'. What are its results and where are the biggest headwinds?

Sustainable energy and the diversification of sources are a quest of the UN as a whole. In the country team we have many organizations that are supporting this from different angles. Serbia is just starting - we don't have many companies or municipalities utilizing the great potential. The United Nations Environment Programme and the United Nations Development Programme are very active and have many projects with the government and local authorities. The Global Environment Facility (GEF) has several projects tapped especially by the Ministry of Mining and Energy together with UNDP. We are making public buildings energy efficient by measuring consumption and moving to reduce it.

In another segment we are promoting biomass as renewable energy source.

We are looking at 20 municipalities to introduce efficiency measures and utilize biomass. We aim to attract up to USD 15 million into this area.

UNDP is about empowerment, including emancipation through business skills. In your experience, particularly in the

green energy segment, which mechanisms are effective in mobilizing people from marginalized groups?

The first step is education to empower people to take their own choices and not be dependent on other people to interpret to them what they should do.

Besides the work of Unicef with the Ministry of Education, UNDP is looking at the context of municipalities so that marginalized groups have access to health, education and jobs. We have built a recycling centre near Novi Pazar and made sure that there is water and sanitation in the nearby settlement and also jobs for the people living there. The facility was handed over to the local waste management utility. We are doing it to show municipalities what they can do themselves. UNDP is not here to take care of each individual, this is the responsibility of the authorities. We are just showing them what can be done.

Serbia Set a Baseline What measures on the local scale are needed in the improvement of energy management in municipalities and cities and where does UNDP step in?

First of all it is measuring energy use, comparing data and looking at examples of how consumption can be reduced. UNDP is assisting municipalities with measurements and looking at individual solutions, depending on whether this is a mountainous area, if there's forest or it has rivers. So we are also helping to write projects and there is a lot of capacity building to be done so that municipalities can avail of the funds that are out there. But they need proper documentation before they can apply.

Last year Serbia was the first of the candidates for membership in the European Union to announce its measures to reduce greenhouse emissions. What is its position in sustainable development?

Serbia has set a baseline and I think the goals are achievable, but action has to start now. Carbon emissions need to be reduced drastically, through renewable energy use and other measures, but the state needs to be much more active.

The European Union accession process is also coming with different measures, but the Paris Declaration is about global goals. We think this makes double efforts with requirements for Serbia to do the right thing, but it has to begin very fast.

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