SERBIA DAILY No17

W Daily e-newspaper

• N° 17 • Belgrade, May 19, 2016

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WESTERN BALKANS e-MEDIA GROUP

Consultations on New Government Start

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A new government will need the support of at least 126 deputies and considering that the SNS-led list has 131, Aleksandar Vucic will have the opportunity to once again put together his cabinet

resident Tomislav Nikolic will today start consultations on the formation of Serbia's new government by meeting with Aleksandar Vucic.

Vucic heads the outgoing government and is the leader of the Serb Progressive Party, whose pre-election coalition won 131 out of 250 seats in the National Assembly in the April 24 snap parliamentary election.

The consultations will take place at the president's General Secretariat, the presidential press office announced in a statement, Tanjug reports.

Under the Serbian constitution, the candidate for prime minister is put forward to the National Assembly following president's meetings with representatives of all election lists.

A new government will need the support of at least 126 deputies - and considering that the SNS-led list has 131, Aleksandar Vucic will have the opportunity to once again put together his cabinet. At this time it is unclear which other parties or coalitions might join in.

Media speculated after the election that Nikolic will do away with the consul-

Ivica Dacic, Foreign Minister: We believe that the migrant crisis requires a resolved and coordinated response of all European countries. Serbia has been investing significant efforts to address the problem in the most humane manner

tations altogether, allegedly "to avoid a meeting with SRS leader Vojislav Seselj."

Both Nikolic and Vucic were high-ranking members of the SRS before they broke away in 2008 to form the SNS. More confusion was caused by Nikolic's statement that he "thinks he won't even have to conduct consultations - considering it all depends on whether someone

Tomislav Nikolic, President: The signing and ratification of 32 Algerian-Serbian agreements as well as the preparation of seven others constitute a firm basis to further strengthen cooperation between the two countries

has secured 126 deputies to vote in favor of a government, and once there is evidence that they have, consultations are over and he gives the mandate."

However, Nikolic is under constitutional obligation to hold meetings with representatives of all elections lists before announcing the candidate for Serbia's next prime minister.

Abdelmalek Sellal, Algerian Prime Minister: My country os interested in cooperation with Serbia in the field of agriculture, defense industry and new technologies, and Algeria could help Serbia in the field of energy stability

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Serbian Defense Minister Meets NATO Officials Minister Djordjevic said that the NATO Military Liaison Office in Belgrade was an important channel of communication between Serbia and the Allied Joint Force Command

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erbian Defense Minister Zoran Djordjevic met with the Chief of the NATO Military Liaison Office in Belgrade, Italian Brigadier General Cesare Marinelli, to discuss ways to further improve cooperation between Serbia and NATO through the Partnership for Peace (PfP) program and cooperation between the Serbian Armed Forces (VS) and KFOR. Djordjevic said that the NATO Military Liaison Office in Belgrade was an important channel of communication between Serbia and the Allied Joint Force Command Naples (JFC Naples) on issues of military cooperation with NATO. He stressed the importance of the NATO Military Liaison Office in Belgrade in the process of preparing and implementing activities of international military cooperation between Serbia and NATO. "We in particular appreciate the proac-

tive approach and initiative of the Office to deepen cooperation in areas where it has already been established," Djordjevic said, pointing out that in accordance with Serbia's PfP Presentation Document, Serbia had presented the CBRN Training Center in Krusevac as a national center that could be also be used to meet regional and international needs.

According to a release from the Defense Ministry, Marinelli said that the CBRN Training Center had made a positive impression on him, adding that his Office would give full support to the development of the Centre under the auspices of the Partnership Training and Education Centres.

The brigadier general also said that NATO offered full support for the development of TRZ Kragujevac through the NATO/PfP Trust Fund for a project to dispose of surplus munitions and weapons in Serbia.

Daily

Markers

BY EMIR SALIHOVIC EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Competence as Condition

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successful economy must have good and competent workforce, says the President of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber, Christoph Leitl.

He also underlined the importance of dual education, which basically means that it combines apprenticeships in a company, and vocational education at a vocational school in one course, or a combination of practical, on-the-job training and theoretical education.

My generation this may, sort of, remind of an unsuccessful attempt at reforming education system in former Yugoslavia by the late Stipe Suvar, sociologist and at the time a member of the Presidency of Yugoslavia.

The idea behind that reform of highschool system was to educate students into particular trades, giving them practical skills they may use as soon as they graduate the highschool. As part of curriculum, students would visit companies related to their chosen industry, and even spent some short time as apprentices there.

The experiment failed, and there remained a sarcastic comment from those times that it was unclear if it was Suvar's reform or bad folk music that destroyed culture and education in former Yugoslavia.

However, Mr. Leitl is right that prosperous economy and society needs competence. And competence is achieved through learning things that one has real use for, something that one can apply, and know how to apply, in order to achieve desired goal. It means that a student must have a clear intention to apply what was learned, and not only to pass the grades, and maybe that was the breaking point of Suvar's reform. Simply, it was too much, or even impossible, for young people of late days of Socialist Yugoslavia to decide what direction they actually wanted to take in life.

Austria's experience in that respect is much more successful, and maybe they may help us achieve what Suvar and others were not able to bring to fruition decades ago.

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PINION

Serwer's Attack on Vucic Serwer almost didn't finish the meeting with Vucic and he already went out with two statements which return to Serbian Prime Minister as a boomerang, and are not of any use for him

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e know very well who is Daniel Serwer. One of the most aggressive antiSerb NATO troopers from the nineties. It is the person networked with various US intelligence and political and similar structures, with the reputation of an expert for "Serb issue". In short, it is a man who is not supportive to us, and still got some influence on certain aspects of Washington policy toward us. Therefore it is logical that Serbia tries to normalize relationship with him or at least to maintain communication. But I see no reason for that to happen on the level of Prime Minister. I say that because of his significant anti-Serb history, but also because of his real (geo)political influence which is not as it used to be.

Finally, neither Serwer or Serbia cannot have that much benefit from each other that the mutual cooperation should be deep. Therefore, old ideas and combinations will remain highlighted, regardless of superficial mutual positive tones.

As a rule, more serious things hide behind them, and what they are may be hinted by Serwer's statements. He is - and nobody should doubt it anymore - primarily Albanian, and even generally anti-Serb lobbyist. And whoever thinks, over here, that he may achieve something good with him, will soon discover the opposite.

Serwer almost didn't finish the meeting with Vucic and he already went out with two statements which return to Serbian Prime Minister as a boomerang, and are not of any use for him. First, he said that Moscow sees Vucic as unreliable and therefore undesirable partner, meaning that Serbian PM is

BY DRAGOMIR ANDJELKOVIC POLITIKA

uncritically oriented toward West. Second, that Vucic regards stability in the Balkans, and his positive image in the eyes of Brussels and Washington, as more important than the fate of Republika Srpska (RS).

I believe that none of these statements are true. Finally, and pragmatically, either from personal, party angle or the state angle, it is important to Vucic to maintain very good relationship with Russia, and for Moscow it would be enough, due to our geopolitical location, if we maintain correct relationship and it will not be dissatisfied with the policy of current Serbian state officials. It doesn't expect us to confront EU, but either to join ODKB. To that testifies recent electoral support of United Russia (Jedinstvena Rusija) party to Vucic's electoral list, where also was the party of Nenad Popovic (SNP) which enjoys Russian sympathies.

What was said also applies to RS. Majority of population in Serbia feels attacks on RS as attacks on Serbia itself, and local officials are not indifferent to its future either. But, even if Serwer was right, the things he said were not something to say publicly. Even if somebody talks to his citizens one thing, and swears loyalty to his foreign mentors to detriment of national interests, those mentors got no reason to discredit him publicly. They keep silent about it. And Serwer did try to discredit Vucic, with all political nuances, among the nationalistic oriented citizens of Serbia, without whose support Vucic would never win, but would be far behind the rating of Cedomir Jovanovic.

That's how things are, and what remains for us is to analyze if Serwer tried to stab his knife into Vucic's back just for the sake of his Albanian and other Balkans friends, or if there was an official message from US structures too. But one thing is clear, people like Serwer should not have place in offices of leading Serbian officials. Because of them, and that little pride that is left for Serbia!

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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Court Rules Radicals Won't be Extradited The Higher Court in Belgrade has decided that three officials of the Serb Radical Party (SRS) will not be extradited to the Hague Tribunal

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Seselj with Vjerica Radeta, one of three accused

he party made this announcement first and later Tanjug reported that Serbia's legal representative Sasa Obradovic had informed the Hague Tribunal of this decision, saying that the final ruling will be made early next week.

The Hague Tribunal accused the officials - Petar Jojic, Vjerica Radeta, and Jovo Ostojic - of influencing witnesses in the trial of the SRS leader, Vojislav Seselj, and sought their extradition.

But a judge in charge of preliminary proceedings ruled that conditions for this have not been met, as Serbia is under obligation to extradite only those

of its citizens accused of the most serious war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity.

This obligation does not apply to contempt of court cases, the SRS said in a statement said earlier in the day.

However, the court's final decision will be made by a three-member panel, the party added.

The Hague Tribunal in March acquitted Vojislav Seselj of all charges. He was accused of war crimes committed in Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Serbia's northern Vojvodina province.

The Hague Prosecution said it will appeal the ruling.

Russia and Serbia Sign Military Cooperation Russia and Serbia signed a plan that sets out agenda for military cooperation between the two partners throughout 2016, the Serbia's Defense Ministry reported.

The bilateral deal was signed in Belgrade

by Serbian Ministry's international cooperation chief Milan Konjikovac and Russia's military attache in Serbia Andrei Kindyakov.

"Navy Captain Milan Konjikovac thanked Russia for its support in defending Serbia's territorial integrity

and sovereignty," the statement reads.

The roadmap set a timeline for highranking visits, including an upcoming trip by the Chief of the General Staff of the Serbian Armed Forces, Ljubisa Dikovic, to Russia.

According to the ministerial statement, Serbia's senior defense official emphasized his country's commitment to preserving its non-aligned status and cooperating with all partners based on mutual respect.

EC to Analyze Serbia's Non-extradition Ruling

Although the European Commission (EC) say they will analyze a ruling by a Belgrade court on non-extradition of three officials of the Serbian Radical Party (SRS) to a war crimes tribunal in The Hague, they believe a consensus among the member states will be reached and Chapter 23 in EU accession talks with Serbia will be opened soon, Tanjug learned at the EC. Regarding the information on the ruling by the Higher Court in Belgrade, according to which the prerequisites for the arrests and extradition of the three Radicals, legal advisers to Vojislav Seselj, to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), pursuant to an ICTY warrant of January 19, 2015, have not been met, the EC said Serbia was under obligation to fully cooperate with the ICTY. The EC added that the cooperation was reviewed on a regular basis and resulting conclusions expressed in annual European integration progress reports on Serbia.

We support the work of the Tribunal and our position on full cooperation is clear. The court, however, must carry out its work independently, says EC spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic.

She told Tanjug that the EC expected Chapter 23 in accession negotiations with Serbia to be opened as soon as the necessary consensus among the EU member-states is reached.

Diplomatic sources at the European Commission say that the EC is working with "a clear idea" and that all efforts are going towards opening new chapters in negotiations on Serbia's membership of the EU as soon as possible.

The sources say that Croatia's requests that are blocking the opening of Chapter 23 are unacceptable and the EC will not "modify" its position regarding any of these issues.

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Jeremic Speaks at International Peace Institute

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Serbia's candidate for UN secretary-general Vuk Jeremic gave a speech at the International Peace Institute (IPI) in New York

he former Serbian foreign minister and former UN General Assembly president presented his a 53-point platform, Tanjug reported, saying he was "prepared to carry out from day one if he gets a chance to serve the world nations once again."

At the beginning of his speech, Jeremic said he believed that there was a need to rejuvenate the organization and that the job of the next secretary-general was to lead in that common effort to make sure that the United Nations remained the primary forum for member-states to coalesce around a common purpose for achieving global progress for humanity in the 21st century.

Jeremic, who is currently president of the Center for International Relations and Sustainable Development (CIRSD), a public policy think tank based in Belgrade, said that to that end, he had put forward a platform containing 53 concrete commitments.

The platform is divided up in five chapters, its commitments referring to five different topics - sustainable development, climate change, conflict prevention and peace operations, human rights and humanitarian relief and revitalization of the organization itself, Jeremic said.

He said the job of the next UN secretary-

Vuk Jeremic

general would be to spearhead global efforts to ensure improving the situation with respect to all the five topics, and concluded his speech by saying that he had three overarching convictions.

"First, that ensuring more robust and inclusive multilateralism is the strongest safety net against the global perils that we face in our times. Second, that the United Nations should serve as the centerpiece of global governance in the 21st century, and third, that the existing resources need to be used more efficiently and effectively so that the global

public goods can be successfully delivered to the member states and international community at large," he said.

The presentation was followed by a long question and answer session, during which Jeremic touched on numerous topics, such as thwarting nuclear proliferation, problems of delivery of humanitarian aid and the refugee crisis.

The event has attracted much attention from the general and expert public, including from a large number of activists, intellectuals, UN and international law experts and media representatives.

Journalists Object Replacements at RTV Vojvodina Latest wave of replacements in Vojvodina's Radio Television service has been strongly condemned by most of the media and journalist associations.

So far, seven editors of news programme were replaced, and that happened after political pressure and instrumentalization of Vojvodina's public service, reads Blic newspaper.

"It is expected that "cleaning" this house of "unreliable" editors and journalists will continue in following days.

Replacements are carried on in absolutely inappropriate way, via tele-

phone calls and oral orders", the associations report.

In a letter which was jointly published

by NUNS, NDNV, ANEM, Local press and AOM journalist associations, it is stated that these incidents look just like beginning of nineties and so called Yoghurt Revolution, when several hundreds of most distinguished editors and journalists were fired, sent to forced vacation or marginalized, all of whom did not want to harness themselves into the service of Milosevic's regime.

The signatories appeal to international

and non-governmental organizations to voice their opinion about this political violence over Radio and Television of Vojvodina and its staff, carried by the regime, and they point out that these happenings are completely disavowing the very idea of public service, and are exposing true face of this Serbian regime.

Only few weeks ago, programming Director of RTV Slobodan Arezina was replaced, and very soon General Director of RTV Srdjan Mihajlovic submitted his resignation too.

Serbia and Spain Cancel OSCE Conference Over Kosovo The business conference organized by OSCE, led by Germany has invited all members of the organization.

The Republic of Kosovo is being represented by a number of businesses,

organized by the acting Foreign Minister, Petrit Selimi.

Kosovo's attendance, equal to other members of the organization, pushed Serbia and Spain to cancel their participation in the conference.

It is not the first time Serbia has canceled participation in international meetings, because of Kosovo.

The conference will focus on facilitating trade and investments in the region of OSCE countries.

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First Serbian Humanoid Robot Inaugurated

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Robot Marco should motivate children to participate more diligently in therapy and to do exercises longer, which is crucial for improvement of their health

arco the Robot, with his face quite alike the animated characters of popular Teletubbies, and with a pleasant voice, was mounted these days on the premises of Technical Faculty of Novi Sad, whose team of five under the command of professor Branislav Borovac bears honor of completely designing and constructing the first fully Serbian robot. Almost forty experts from Serbian scientific institutions and faculties were involved in the project, and it was financed by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological development of Serbia, reads Politika newspaper.

Soon Marco will be tested in the Children's Hospital of Novi Sad, where it will be helping children with disabilities.

One of a kind in the world, Marco should motivate children to participate more diligently in therapy and to do the exercise longer, which is crucial for improvement of their health.

Social Robots It belongs to a type of social robots, which are very trendy nowadays around the world. Anyhow, Serbia now has its robotic brand: Marco.

This project which resulted in Marco the Robot started 2011. But this companion of challenged children will be an ongoing work, and it will be perfected and adapted during its implementation in accordance with small patients needs.

Professor Branislav Borovac from the Technical Faculty of Novi Sad, who is the leader of the team which created the robot, told "Politika" newspaper how Marco, who reminds Serbian robotic enthusiasts to golden days of Serbian robotics during sixties, came to be.

Professor Borovac says that the idea about the robot came spontaneously in the discussions with the colleagues from the Medical Faculty about the problems they have with little patients who suffer from cerebral paralysis. There was a

Robot Marco and professor Borovac

need to invent a way to motivate then to exercise longer, since the therapy results depend on length of the practice.

"It seemed to us that we could help by offering them an interesting partner to work with, whom they would enjoy and willingly cooperate. He would show them the exercise if needed and praise them if they perform it properly", Borovac says.

Finalizing Software "As engineers we had no clue what robot should do and how it should look alike. So we asked our colleagues from other professions (medicine, psychology and art) to help us. We worked long to define the robot, but when all was agreed upon, we put our vision in motion", he explained.

"Electronics is still to be improved... and when we complete the hardware fundamentals, only then our interesting and important work lies ahead. In cooperation with doctors, through practical testing, we should finalize software and change what we did not plan well, and to add new moments that we still don't have. Only the implementation and work with children will show whether we succeeded or not. I am especially proud that we stand up to the fame which we gained in the times of professor Miodrag Vukobratovic (legend of Serbian robotics from sixties till eighties) was active, which is definitely not an easy task", Borovac said.

"A far as we know, Marco is the first humanoid Serbian robot, but there are others on the way", professor states and reveals that Serbian experts will not stop now.

Dacic Asks for CoE Neutrality A status-neutral engagement by the Council of Europe (CoE) in Kosovo, including respect for UN Security Council Resolution 1244, is the only acceptable for Serbia, Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said in Sofia.

We expect that the CoE will continue to

respect its principled position consistently, Dacic said addressing the 126th Council of Europe ministerial meeting.

Undeniably, Europe is facing a major test in terms of tolerance and solidarity in several fields, and without either of the two, it can hardly overcome all the diffi-

culties it is confronted with, Dacic said.

I would like to remind you of the constructiveness Serbia has demonstrated by accepting CoE interaction with interim self-government institutions in Kosovo in their functional capacity, Dacic said.

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Ryanair Launches Flights to Serbia

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The planes will fly between Bratislava and Nis twice a week

rish low-cost airline Ryanair will operate a new winter route from Bratislava to Nis in Serbia, starting on October 31. The flights will be dispatched twice a week.

The airline celebrated its new Bratislava to Nis route by releasing seats for sale at

prices starting from â‚Ź19.99 for travel in November. These low-fare seats are available for booking on its website until May 19 midnight, the Bratislava airport informed in a press release.

"Slovak customers can look forward to further improvements in the coming

Serbian Competition Commission Investigates Possible Geodetic Cartel Serbian Competition Commission (the "SCC") launched an official investigation into alleged price fixing against 26 undertakings on the geodetic services market.

The investigation resulted from an initiative of the Belgrade Land Development Public Agency, after receiving on several occasions what they claim were coordinated bids. The

investigation was launched after dawn raids on several locations of the subject undertakings.

The case represents another example of the SCCs focus on public procurement issues, and a good reminder for bidders in such proceedings to make sure that offers are prepared and submitted in accordance with the antitrust legislation.

EBRD Supports Resolving Non-Performing Loans The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is interested in supporting efforts to solve the issue of non-performing loans (NPLs) in Serbia, and restructure the companies with poor business results in cooperation with private investors, EBRD Director for Serbia Daniel Berg told Tanjug.

The EBRD can be a co-investor to funds that are interested in restructuring the companies with poor business results in Serbia, Berg said.

A good example of this is the recently announced project of American investment fund KKR in Greece where the

restructuring efforts are focused on the companies that have underperformed, which delivers greater value to investors - including banks, related companies and the state, he noted.

The level of NPLs in the Serbian banking sector exceeds 20 percent, for both commercial and consumer loans, but the situation with business loans is even worse, as one in four loans is either in default or close to being in default.

Under Serbian laws, banks can sell commercial loan portfolios, which is not the case with consumer loans unless the buyer is a licensed bank in Serbia.

months, including new aircraft interiors, new uniforms and more new routes, under our 'Always Getting Better' programme, as we continue to offer so much more than just the lowest fares," said Ryanair's Olga Pawlonka, as quoted in the press release.

Successful Economy Asks for Competent Workforce A successful economy must have a good and competent workforce, President of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber Christoph Leitl said, underlining the importance of dual education and Austria's willingness to share its experience with Serbia.

If a country must be more competitive, than it needs a competent workforce and highly motivated people, Leitl said in a statement to Tanjug.

This is achieved through dual education, which provides young people with a perspective and motivates them to engage with companies, thus reducing unemployment and expanding a pool of competent workers, which is the main goal, he noted.

We have a wide spectrum of opportunities for cooperation. Serbia has excellent potential through a free trade agreement with Russia, Leitl said after a meeting with President of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Marko Cadez on the sidelines of a conference on dual education in the Western Balkans.

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"Milos Obilic - Hero or Coward, Serb or Albanian?"

Aleksandar Vucic, PM of Serbia, with Edi Rama, PM of Albania in 2015

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Despite the animosities and stereotypes, cooperation between Serbia and Albania is possible, says Zvezdana Kovac

he director of the Center for Democracy and Reconciliation in Southeast Europe NGO was speaking at the "Serbia and Albania - towards a European future" conference when she pointed out that "media, but also education" is very often used as a powerful weapon to "upgrade ego-centric attitudes."

Presenting a project dubbed "Joint history project" that provides a number of different views of the same event, she said that students need to have more facts, while "their critical thinking needs to be encouraged."

Her presentation about multiple versions of one event - the example being Milos Obilic "presented as a hero in one country and a coward in another" - was interrupted by Albanian journalist Ben

Andoni, who noted that as a student of history, he was taught that "Milos Obilic was Albanian."

"Here's the third version," Kovac reacted, after which the participants agreed that this was "yet another example that suggests events should be viewed from multiple angles."

Kovac also announced that the Center will soon finish work on a textbook about the wars of the 1990s, with the support of education ministries from the region. "It took us ten years to manage to have this become a textbook and be used," she said. One of the obstacles, she continued, was that all countries wanted a cartoon that depicted Albania as a beautiful woman, Serbia as a snake, and Montenegro as a monkey removed.

"We did not want to remove that,

because we work with historians who have credibility," Kovac said, and pointed out that the goal of her organization was "not to change national history but to help teachers in schools."

The Center for Democracy and Reconciliation Commission has published a set of workbooks dealing with the period from the Ottoman Empire until World War II, available to teachers throughout the region, and their greatest quality is that they provide different perspectives on the same events.

During the conference on relations between the two countries it was said that Serbs and Albanians do not have enough information about each other, that there are many prejudices and aversions, but that both nations want better relations.

Migrants Wait at Border With Hungary A small tent city has formed on Serbia's border with Hungary where migrants are waiting to cross into the European Union despite border closures and a deal with Turkey to stop sea crossings into Greece, AP reports.

Dozens of migrants, including small children, have been camping in a few dozen tents on a littered field by Hungary's border fence, braving rain and cold nights determined to pursue their dream of a better future in the EU. Aid workers say Hungarian authorities have been letting into the country small groups of about 20 people a

day, mostly families with small children.

Many migrants have turned to smugglers to guide them over.

As aid vans arrived carrying food, blankets, shoes and socks, migrants lined up for their share. They lit small fires for warmth.

The U.N. refugee agency is launching an unprecedented appeal to the private sector to help pay for shelters for 2 million refugees worldwide amid a "huge shortfall in funds" for that purpose.

Spokesman Leo Dobbs says the appeal aims to tap philanthropists, companies, foundations and individuals as a

potential source of new money because UNHCR hasn't gotten enough funds from its traditional government sources.

The "Nobody Left Outside" campaign aims to raise funds to build or improve shelter for 2 million refugees by 2018, or about one-eighth of the people UNHCR was helping in mid-2015. UNHCR says housing operations are expected to cost $724 million this year, but only $158 million is currently available.

UNHCR says 60 million people are forcibly displaced now, the highest figure since World War II.

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RS Opposition Fears Interference From Serbia The opposition bloc in Republika Srpska is concerned that Belgrade is openly supporting their rivals - and might try to determine the results of upcoming local elections in Bosnia

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he opposition bloc in Republika Srpska, the Serb-dominated entity of Bosnia, is becoming increasingly worried about Serbia's possible influence on the power battle in the RS and the outcome of local elections due on October 2, reports BIRN. Aleksandar Trifunovic, editor of the Banja Luka-based website Buka, told BIRN that Belgrade is showing increasing support for the current government of the RS and for the President of the entity, Milorad Dodik.

"In the past weeks, Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic has increased his support for Milorad Dodik, as the latter is currently the strongest player in the RS," Trifunovic noted.

Marko Kmezic, senior researcher at the Centre for Southeast European Studies at the University of Graz, in Austria, agreed and noted that Serbia had not given up its influence in the RS. "Cooperation between Vucic and Dodik is pragmatic and based on mutual interest," Kmezic noted, adding that both politicians need support "across the Drina" - the river border between Bosnia and Serbia - in order to gain internal legitimacy and the support of voters.

Trifunovic and Kmezic said Serbia still feels it needs to stand beside the strongest bloc in RS, to maintain stability in the country.

Trifunovic said this attitude of support for the authorities became particularly evident during the run-up to protests organised on May 14 in Banja Luka by both opposition and government supporters in the entity.

In the days leading up the demonstration, Dodik repeatedly called on the opposition to cancel its protest, claim-

Anti-government protest in Banja Luka, BiH

ing that it would create major security concerns.

"Vucic openly helped the RS government when he said that Serbia had information that extremists were ready to create disorder during the rallies," Trifunovic noted.

Leaders from the RS opposition bloc, the Alliance for Change, organised a press conference in Belgrade where they complained about "the incredible amount of lies coming from Belgrade and the Belgrade media [about the May 14 protests]".

Mladen Bosic told the conference: "First, the opposition organised a peaceful rally ... then Dodik immediately called for a counter-protest.

"This decision represented an open threat of possible clashes, whose final aim was to cancel our protest," he added.

Immediately after the protests ended, Vucic congratulated "all political actors for having shown their democratic potential", and expressed his desire "for a stable and prosper RS", the Serbian

media reported.

Vucic's appeal for calm and stability was not entirely welcomed by the opposition in the RS where some saw it as interference.

Zeljko Raljic, editor of the Banja Luka newspaper Istinito, said: "By going to Belgrade, Bosic and the other leaders from the opposition in the RS are sending the Serbian government and media the message that they will not tolerate any interference in the election campaign in the entity".

Leaders of the Alliance for Change also criticised the Serbian media, which gave much space to claims that the opposition protest was directly financed by the Open Society Foundation, founded and funded by US businessman George Soros.

Bosic said the so-called documents proving this claim had been falsified and that he had not expected such behaviour from the media in Serbia.

"All this looked like an organised campaign, conducted in Serbia, in order to avoid any protest in Banja Luka," Bosic said.

Serbia Acquits 10 of Hiding Ratko Mladic A Serbian court cleared 10 people of helping former Bosnian Serb military chief Ratko Mladic evade arrest while he was on the run from war crimes charges in the 2000s, reports BIRN. Ivana Ramic, the spokesperson for the First Basic Court in Belgrade, told BIRN that the 10 defendants had been cleared on Tuesday because "the statute of limitations regarding the criminal prosecution has completely expired".

Stanko Ristic, Ljiljana Vaskovic, Borislav Ivanovic, Predrag Ristic, Sasa Badnjar,

Ratko Vucetic, Tatjana Vaskovic Janjusevic, Bojan Vaskovic, Marko Lugonja and Blagoje Govedarica were all acquitted.

They had been accused of helping Mladic in his attempts to evade capture at various periods of time between 2002 and 2006, although they knew that the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, ICTY had issued an arrest warrant for him.

"The prosecution has the right to file an appeal against the verdict," Ramic said.

The original indictment alleged that Bosnian Serb Army officer Jovo Djogo was the main organiser of the attempts to conceal Mladic, but the defendant died during the trial.

Mladic was eventually arrested in 2011 in the village of Lazarevo near Zrenjanin in northern Serbia after 16 years on the run.

He is now on trial at the ICTY for genocide in seven Bosnian municipalities in 1992, genocide in Srebrenica in 1995, terrorising the population of Sarajevo and taking UN peacekeepers hostage.

S e r b i a D a i l y, M a y 1 9 , 2 0 1 6

10

Compensation Demand over Masked Belgrade Demolition A company whose building in the Belgrade Waterfront complex area was demolished by unknown masked men told BIRN they will sue the state if they do not get compensation

T

he owners of the legally-registered company Iskra, whose building was one of several demolished by masked men in the state-backed Belgrade Waterfront complex area under cover of darkness last month, told BIRN they will sue the state if they are not paid adequate compensation.

The Iskra building was left in ruins after around 30 masked men armed with baseball bats and equipped with diggers tore down buildings on the riverbank and allegedly beat up local residents.

"I hope someone will call us for a meeting to see how we are going to solve this. If they continue to ignore the situation, we will not have any other options but to sue the state," Vlada Miljevic, the director of Iskra, told BIRN. "We did not buy Iskra to live and sleep there - we were doing business. The state acts like it is not our state at all," Miljevic said.

The Serbian police, Belgrade's major and Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic have all denied having any knowledge about the demolitions.

But doubts about the city authorities' stance has been fuelled by the fact that the area affected forms part of the land that must be cleared for the construction of the Belgrade Waterfront project.

Iskra's computers, furniture, documents and all the equipment in its warehouse were destroyed during the incident.

Part of Iskra's demolished building on Herzegovacka Street had a valid a temporary license, part had a valid usage permit and the rest had a valid building permit, Miljevic said.

"No procedure of demolition has been initiated by the relevant authorities for

By Sasa Dragojlo BIRN

any of these facilities," he insisted.

According to the Belgrade Waterfront contract, the deadline to clear buildings on Herzegovacka Street to make way for the project is June 30, Serbian investigative website Insajder has reported.

Insajder suggested that the buildings

the Waterfront's territory.

Many people living along the Sava river quayside also claim the development will only serve the wealthy.

A recent report by Serbia's Ombudsman said police refused to respond to calls from people who witnessed the nocturnal demolitions.

Ombudsman Sasa Jankovic said in a report on May 10 that after examining police documents and listening to

Demolished buildings on Hercegovacka Street

could have been knocked down by the masked men to accelerate the process because legal disputes over proposed demolitions can last for years.

While Serbia's government sees the Belgrade Waterfront project as a major contribution to the capital's economic future, critics claim that the contract with Eagle Hills, a company based in the United Arab Emirates which is implementing the project, is unconstitutional because it has involved suspension of Serbian laws on

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

"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," Jankovic said in his report.

The authorities' silence over the demolitions and the Ombudsman's allegations have provoked protests in Belgrade.

Former Serbia and Montenegro President Jailed Svetozar Marovic, the former president of Serbia and Montenegro, has signed an agreement with Montenegro’s special prosecution, pleading guilty over his role in the so-called “Budva affair”, news service CDM reported. In exchange, Marovic will serve four years in jail.

This is the first case in Montenegro in which a top politician and members of his family will actually be sentenced to jail. The European Commission has repeatedly urged the country to show more results in its fight against corrup-

tion and organised crime. In early May, Marovic’s brother Dragan and his son Milos also signed agreements and admitted their guilt in the same case.

Marovic was arrested on December 17 on reasonable doubt that he was involved in the Budva affair. He has been under investigation for four years on suspicion of abuse of office leading to suspected damages of over 120 million EUR. The case concerns the construction and management of the Plaza shop-

ping mall in the Adriatic resort of Budva, a joint project between the municipality and a private company, Trade Unique. Marovic and several others are suspected of colluding to benefit Trade Unique.

CDM quoted a report from local daily Dnevne Novine saying that Marovic has admitted that he was the leader of a criminal organisation which he had set up aiming to gain illegal benefits from property. According to Marovic, the group included 30 people.

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Opposition Collapse Relieves Pressure on Kosovo PM As Kosovo's 'Unified Opposition' splinters in rows over tactics and power sharing, the government's controversial deals with Serbia and Montenegro are likely to face less resistance

A

seven-month-long struggle of the unified opposition against the Kosovo government has ended in undignified collapse following the election of the former head of the Democratic Party of Kosovo, PDK, Hashim Thaci, as President of Kosovo.

The virtual break-up of the opposition bloc puts the ruling coalition, led by the PDK, and Democratic League of Kosovo, LDK, on firmer ground, just as the hotly contested implementation of a law establishing an autonomous Association of Serbian Municipalities looms.

With the embattled opposition parties now turning their knives on each other, the likelihood of a new wave of protests against the law is diminishing, although months of protests have left behind difficulties that the ruling coalition as well as the EU will have to take into account.

The opposition bloc was established by the Vetevendosje [Self-determination] Movement, LVV, the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, AAK, the Initiative for Kosovo NISMA, and a part of civil society, after the EU-mediated deals on forming an association of majority-Serb municipalities and on border demarcation with Montenegro were agreed in August 2015.

Controversial Deals The controversial deals drew a unified response from the opposition parties, which accused the PDK-LDK coalition of giving away territory to Montenegro and of making Kosovo a dysfunctional state.

The opposition parties then almost paralyzed the work of Assembly of Kosovo between September 2015 and February 2016, as MPs threw teargas in plenary sessions, demanding that Prime Minister Isa Mustafa withdraw from the deals or resign.

A number of opposition MP's were arrested while Assembly sessions had to be held outside the plenary chamber.

The now former President of Kosovo, Atifete Jahjaga, then, on October 31, 2015, asked the Constitutional Court to assess the compatibility of the deal on the Serbian municipalities with the constitution.

On December 23, 2015, the Court ruled that the deal was "not entirely in compliance with the spirit of the constitution"

By Arben Qirezi BIRN

regarding equality before the law, fundamental rights and freedoms, rights of communities and their members, and in relation to eight other articles of the constitution.

Encouraged by this half-victory, the opposition leaders named themselves "The Unified Opposition" and tried to expand the anti-government front to include members of civil society.

The opposition called loudly for the resignation of the government and for

PDK and the LDK between 2002 and 2007.

The AAK leader was briefly Prime Minister until he resigned in March 2005 to face war crime charges in The Hague.

Mutual Disagreements NISMA, meanwhile, was created by two PDK dissidents, Fatmir Limaj and Jakup Krasniqi, both of whom served in senior positions in government under Hashim Thaรงi. They earlier held high positions in the Kosovo liberation Army, KLA. These differences may have influenced mutual disagreements over which methods to use in opposing the government.

Kosovo opposition parties sign cooperation agreement (Photo: BIRN)

early elections during 2016.

Although the ruling coalition, supported by ethnic minority MPs who participate in the government, has overwhelming control of the Assembly, with 85 out of the 120 seats, most independent observers expected early polls some time in 2016.

On February 17, Kosovo's Independence Day, the opposition staged the biggest protests ever held in Kosovo since 1999, demanding the resignation of the government and new elections.

The position of already unpopular ruling coalition became even worse as the election of a new President approached.

However the ruling coalition proved to be much stronger and more united than its opponents believed.

Besides different, sometimes even conflicting, ideological and political positions, divisions within the opposition stem from a legacy of mistrust between the parties.

The Vetevendosje Movement of Albin Kurti and Visar Ymeri, which only participated in Kosovo elections for the first time in 2010, was built on a platform of hostility to the entire political system.

But the AAK has been part of a number of ruling coalitions in the past, both with the

"Differences could not be ignored - and there were plenty of them. For us, the government has to be brought down because it is corrupt, weak and damaging, not because they are enemies," Arifi said.

Recent developments have added to the existing confusion.

After the media on May 5 published a photograph of Thaรงi, Haradinaj and Jakup Krasniqi of NISMA toasting the recent EU Commission recommendation of visa liberalization for Kosovo, this was widely interpreted as a sign of rapprochement between them.

Haradinaj's spokesperson, Muharrem Nitaj, denied this, insisting that the photograph was taken at a courtesy meeting organized during the visit of EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Federica Mogherini. AAK and NISMA continued to oppose the current government, Nitaj insisted.

However, opposition disagreements have continued, allowing the ruling coalition some respite - at least until the time comes to finally implement the controversial deal on the Association of Serbian Municipalities, which Serbia insists should not be affected by the ruling of the Kosovo Constitutional Court.

TODAY IN THEATRES PLEASURE Drama Location: BELGRADE DRAMA THEATRE RADE MARKOVIC STAGE Time: 20:00 hrs

SOKIN AND BOSINA Author: MILICA KONSTANTINOVIC Location: ZVEZDARA THEATRE Time: 20:00 hrs

ALEXANDER

WAITING FOR GODOT

Ballet

Author: SAMUEL BECKETT

Location: NATIONAL THEATRE - MAIN

Location: ATELIER 212, PETAR KRALJ

STAGE

STAGE

Time: 19:30 hrs

Time: 20:30 hrs

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