SERBIA DAILY No 28

W Daily e-newspaper

• N° 28 • Belgrade, June 3, 2016

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WESTERN BALKANS e-MEDIA GROUP

National Assembly Convenes For First Meeting Today

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Serbia's new National Assembly is set to be constituted today, agencies report

utgoing Assembly President Maja Gojkovic, who will, according to Aleksandar Vucic, continue in that office, announced that she had scheduled the meeting for Friday, June 3, what is today.

The mandates of the assembly's 250 people's deputies, allocated after the April 24 snap elections, will be confirmed during the sitting, when assembly president and their deputy, as well as secretary general should also be elected.

Until this happens, the meeting will be chaired by the oldest deputy assisted by the four youngest, coming from electoral lists that have won the most seats, and by the secretary general.

Twelve electoral lists will be represented in the new assembly, with the one led by the Serb Progressive Party (SNS) having 131 seats. They are followed by SPS-JS (29), the Serb Radical Party (SRS; 22), the Enough is Enough Movement (16), the Democratic Party (DS)-led coalition (16), Dveri-DSS (13) and LDP-LSV-SDS (13).

These lists had to cross the 5-percent threshold - a rule that does not apply to parties and coalitions representing Serbia's minorities. Five such electoral lists will also be represented in the

Edita Tahiri, Kosovo Minister without portfolio: Serbia's membership in the EU would be blocked if it did not respect the Brussels agreement.

Unilateral declaration of the Community of Serb Municipalities would be an impossible move

National Assembly - the SVM (ethnic Hungarians - 4 mandates), Muamer Zukorlic - Bosniak (Muslim) Democratic Community of Sanzak (2), the Green Party (ethnic Slovaks - 1) and the PDA (ethnic Albanians - 1).

Also, Serbia's Prime Minister-designate Aleksandar Vucic will on Monday begin consultations on forming a new govern-

Sanda Raskovic-IIvic, DSS: There was no rift between the DSS and Dveri Movement. This was true because these are two different parties. I do not think Dveri leader Bosko Obradovic would reach any kind of agreement with Vucic

ment with a meeting with officials of the Socialist Party of Serbia-United Serbia coalition, the press office of Vucic's Serbian Progressive Party told Tanjug.

Vucic should meet with officials of other parties on Tuesday and representatives of minority lists on Wednesday.

Vucic has announced that the government will be formed by June 16.

Nebojsa Stefanovic, SNS: It is to be expected that when some difficult decisions are made, or when pressures on Serbia are being stood up to, somebody from those ranks would show up, whose position would be completely opposite to the government

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Brussels Ready for Continuation of Eulex The diplomatic sources say that the EU member states have reached an agreement in principle to extend the mandate of the Eulex mission until June 14, 2018

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he EU is ready for a continuation of the Eulex mission in Kosovo under a new mandate that would imply a smaller presence and reduced executive powers, Tanjug has learned in Brussels.

Negotiations about a continuation of the EU rule of law mission in Kosovo are underway - diplomatic sources in Brussels have told Tanjug that the EU is ready for the Eulex mission to continue and that it is in contact with the Kosovo authorities.

All steps are ready on our part, and what we are expecting now is the exchange of letters with the Kosovo authorities and the adoption of the decision, diplomatic sources in the EU have told Tanjug.

With the current Eulex mandate set to expire on June 14, an agreement with

the Kosovo authorities should be reached very soon, following months of efforts, the sources said.

The diplomatic sources say that the EU member states have reached an agreement in principle to extend the mandate of the Eulex mission until June 14, 2018 and approve a EUR 34.5 million budget.

of Social Democrats (LSV) and five Enough is Enough assembly members abstained.

The constitutive session of the assembly was attended by 119 of the 120 assembly members.

The SNS has 63 seats in the provincial assembly, followed by the SPS-led coalition (12 seats) the SRS and the DSled coalition (10 seats each) and the LSV (9 seats).

The Enough is Enough movement has seven seats, followed by the SVM with six, the Hungarian Movement for Autonomy with two and the Green Party with one.

Modernisation of Border Crossing Batrovci Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure Zorana Mihajlovic said that the border crossing Batrovci will get a new cargo terminal with 28 new parking places and an extra line for trucks in length 1,750 metre by mid-July.

During a tour of the works in this most visited Serbian border crossing Batrovci Mihajlovic announced a further six lanes for passenger traffic, i.e., a total of 18.

She noted that the modernization, reconstruction and expansion of border crossing Batrovci began on 9 May, after

Markers

BY IGOR KURT

SERBIA DAILY CONTRIBUTOR

Once Opened, May Close Again

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Pastor Re-elected as Vojvodina Assembly Speaker Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians (SVM) leader Istvan Pastor was on Thursday reelected as the speaker of the assembly of Serbia's Vojvodina province.

The decision was carried by 91 votes for and 14 against, with 13 abstentions.

In addition to the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) and the SVM, which put him forward as assembly speaker, Pastor was also backed by the Serbian Radical Party (SRS).

The Democratic Party (DS) and two assembly members from the Enough is Enough movement and the Hungarian Movement for Autonomy, respectively, voted against Pastor, while the League

Daily

more than 13 years.

We are completing Corridor 10, and it is important that this transition has a higher throughput, and that customs officers can do their job, said Mihajlovic, adding that the Building Directorate of Serbia together with the government of Serbia started the expansion of the pass, which is already evident.

Serbia is the shortest route between East and West, and only in July and August one million passenger vehicles cross the crossing Batrovci, and 370,000 trucks per year, she said.

efinitive Croatian agreement that Serbia may continue negotiations with EU, and open chapter 23 of the negotiation process, which deals with rule of law, is definitely a positive step forward not only for Serbia, but also a positive event which is needed to cool down the hot political atmosphere in the Balkans. Not only that Croatia played tug-of-war with Serbia for quite some time in regard to continuation of negotiations with EU but also Serb representatives from Bosnia and Herzegovina recently added to local tensions by their own complaints about the presentation of census there.

Therefore, Croatian move is worth of appraisal, although it remains unclear how they may react when Serbia submits its negotiating position for chapters 23 and 24, after which the EU member states should once again coordinate a common EU position for the talks with Serbia. Does it mean that if some of the parties involved is not satisfied with it (not talking about EU officials involved in negotiations itself) , Croatia, or some other country, may block Serbia again (as Romania and Bulgaria threatened to do recently)?

Is it a sort of political blackmail, because of too close ties that Serbia got with Russia, as some media claim, pointing to example of Montenegro which distanced itself from Moscow and goes through EU and NATO negotiations very quickly?

There is no real reason to cheer up until the process is well done and completed. For now, it is nothing more but a gesture of good will, and it is also possible, in the first place, that blockade had nothing to do with Croatia at all.

Answer may be somewhere in between Belgrade and Moscow.

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PINION

Could Ljajic Become "Serbian Obama"?

Rasim Ljajic seemed to be untouchable by harsh Serbian political winds. Persistent, always there, with no shady affairs known to public, eloquent and decent… what is the secret of his almost unbelievable endurance on Serbian political scene?

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xtraordinary elections just finished, new government is still EDITOR-IIN-C CHIEF not constituted, but Serbia already got several candidates for presidential elections in 2017.

It was not surprising to hear that Tomislav Nikolic intends to run for the office again, "as Vucic still needs my support", he explained, and it was also not too surprising that Ivica Dacic, and even Vojislav Seselj, announced they will compete in 2017, but one candidacy was particularly interesting, and in opinion of some analysts, deserves attention. That is the announcement

by Rasim Ljajic, leader of Social Democratic Party of Serbia (SDPS) that he intends to run for the office of the president.

The current Minister of Foreign and Domestic Trade and Telecommunications entered the world of politics as early as 1990, when, as a Bosniak from Sandzak region of Serbia, he joined Party of Democratic Action (SDA) of Sandzak as one of its founders, and which was, actually, a branch of the SDA from Bosnia and Herzegovina.

But Ljajic was soon repelled by extremist and nationalistic rhetoric of SDA leader Sulejman Ugljanin, and soon departed, proving himself, actually, to be a true Serbian patriot, who, although Bosniak, wanted to see his future and life in Serbia, and not in association with political or national movements from Bosnia or other regions.

As he was one of the leaders of Serbian opposition movement, after the fall of Slobodan Milosevic he became the Minister of Human and Minority Rights, and continued to hold ministerial positions during the reign of Democratic Party… and actually any other party that came to power in Serbia.

Rasim Ljajic seemed to be untouchable by harsh Serbian political winds. Persistent, always there, with no shady affairs known to public, eloquent and decent… what is the secret of his almost unbelievable endurance on Serbian political scene?

And taking into account that Ljajic entered politics very young (in 1990 he was only 26 years old) and lived and worked through war times, then after war era, witnessed Milosevic's fall and participated in post-2000 governments, it is also important that Ljajic declares himself as Bosniak, not as a Serb.

Some answers are probably that Ljajic is one of those politicians on the scene who definitely succeeded to avoid to be compromised in any way. He was never connected to any shady deals, and his public presence was always immaculate, decent and with a measure of good taste. He was

BY EMIR SALIHOVIC

always ready to cope with "dirty" jobs, primarily as he worked as a Serbian liaison with The Hague, having to deal with issues that almost no Serb politician wanted to do, and in a way, earned respect not only by his colleagues but by general public too. Also, as a minister for human rights he was known for his warm and decent approach to people and problems he had to deal with.

In that way, although Bosniak, he won sympathies of many Serbs, who traditionally would hardly give their political votes to non-Serbs.

For instance, Ljajic's SDP marked significant success in 2013 at local elections in Kosjeric municipality in Western Serbia.

It was interesting not only because of political combinations that took place at the time, when SPS refused coalition with SDP and SDP did only 20 days of election campaign solitary, and won 2 mandates, while SPS, which entered into coalition with several parties, won 3 mandates, only one mandate more than SDP solo. It was especially huge success for Ljajic and for SDP because the victory was not in traditional area where a Bosniak could expect victory, but it was in strongly Serb dominated area of Western Serbia. It proves that Ljajic is a politician who successfully crosses ethnic boundaries, and that his ethnicity is completely overshadowed by his political capabilities and authority.

He just cannot be compared to Sulejman Ugljanin, or, especially not, Muamer Zukorlic, whose warmongering vocabulary is annoying not only to Serbs, but also to all Bosniaks who want to build cooperation and stability among ethnic groups in Serbia and in the Balkans.

Therefore, opposition, interested in removing Nikolic in 2017, but also not allowing Vucic to continue to exert his predominant influence, either as the prime minister, or even president, may want a candidate who may have chances to win votes in various segments of society.

Opposition will discuss that issue among them, as victory of one of them, could be a victory for all, on the political stage which is more and more polarized in a way like "SNS vs.

Everybody Else", whatever one may think of Ivica Dacic and his alliance with Vucic.

Could it be that 20 years after the war which divided former Yugoslavia along ethnic lines one Bosniak becomes the president of Serbia? Is it possible for Ljajic to become "Serbian Obama"?

As some analysts say, Ljajic is too pragmatic and politically wise that he wouldn't announce his candidacy if he got no clear signals that he may reap significant success, regardless if he was elected or not.

After all, let us remember Kosjeric from 2013.

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Accession Talks Stalled by Anti-Russian Sanctions, Not Croatia

Croatia stopped blocking Serbia's EU accession, but if Serbia were more like Montenegro it would reach the EU faster, sources in Brussels told Serbian newspaper Danas

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espite reports that the demands of neighboring Croatia stand in the way of Serbia's EU membership, Belgrade's close ties with Russia, including its failure to join anti-Russian sanctions, have slowed the accession process, diplomatic sources in Brussels and Belgrade told the Serbian newspaper Danas.

On Wednesday EU diplomats announced a breakthrough in Serbia's accession process, and that chapters 23 and 24 of the proceedings will be opened by the end of June, as planned, after Croatia became the last EU member to give the go-ahead.

The chapters are among the 35 areas in which the EU requires candidate countries to implement reforms. The two chapters in question deal with issues pertaining to the judiciary and human rights, as well as security, migration and links with the Schengen area of free movement.

Croatia was reportedly the only member of the 28-member bloc blocking the opening of Chapter 23, and has said it disagrees with Belgrade about the political status of the Croatian minority in Serbia, and about how the countries of the region plan to try those suspected of committing war crimes during the 1990's war in Yugoslavia.

Danas reported that EU officials believe Croatia and Serbia should resolve their differences via bilateral talks, rather than through Serbia's accession process.

They told the newspaper that Brussels would fast-track Serbia's route to the EU like that of neighboring Montenegro, if it joined Podgorica in endorsing NATO and anti-Russian sanctions.

"Danas' sources give the example of Montenegro, which is quickly progressing through the EU accession process and has a completely different political stance, because Podgorica has distanced itself from Moscow, put in place

sanctions against Russia and therefore enabled the doors to the EU and NATO to open quickly," Danas reported.

On Wednesday Serbian political analyst Dragomir Andelkovic told Serbia's news portal Telegraf that the deadlock to Serbia's accession process was actually broken by last week's meeting between Serbian Prime Minister Alexander Vucic and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In his view, by demonstrating Belgrade's close ties with Moscow, Western countries which had been supportive of Croatia's veto backed off.

"The meeting between Vucic and Putin had a great impact on some Western powers, because it showed that Serbia has a geopolitical alternative, that it has the backing of a great power like Russia. That's the reason why some Western powers started putting pressure on Croatia to stop blocking Serbia's negotiations with the EU as soon as possible," Andelkovic said.

Joksimovic: Chapters Opened by July Serbian Minister for European Integration Jadranka Joksimovic said that she believes that chapters 23, 24 and 5 in Serbia's EU accession talks will be opened by the end of June and that a few other chapters will also be opened by the end of the year.

"Of course, there is always much work to do in European integration - it is a demanding, prolonged and sometimes frustrating process. Sometimes, not all is simple, but the strategic goal is that we become an orderly country, and that is why it is important that we will open

chapters 23 and 24 - I believe, by the end of June," Joksimovic told the RTS. Those are substantial chapters dealing with judicial reforms, fighting corruption and organised crime, as well as with minority and human rights, she said.

"Those are important topics for us and it is good that we have finally got Croatia's consent as well," Joksimovic said.

The nature of the European integration process is such that there is always a possibility of a country attempting to include its bilateral interests in the negotiation process, but Croatia has

failed to do so, she said.

"Argumentation has triumphed over politicization, and that is good," Joksimovic said.

Serbia's chief EU negotiator Tanja Miscevic said that Serbia has sent its negotiating positions for chapters 23, 24 and 5 (on public procurements) to Brussels.

"All 28 EU member states agreed yesterday that Serbia has met the conditions for the opening of chapters 23 and 24, and now is when the great work begins," Miscevic told Pink TV.

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Unwanted: The Syrian refugees in Serbia Just last week we learnt that arrivals in Serbia are once again increasing, to 500 people per day. At their wits' end, with borders still mostly shut and with no political solution in sight, refugees are increasingly turning to traffickers to help them cross borders illegally

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hen somebody tells you, "If we had wanted war we would have stayed in Syria," it really makes you think.

I've done a lot of thinking since returning from Serbia a few weeks ago.

Until March this year, thousands of refugees were crossing into Serbia every day on long, often treacherous journeys towards sanctuary, in search of safer lives than those they had left behind.

Over time, countries throughout the West Balkans effectively closed their borders. The implementation of a deal struck in March between the European Union and Turkey has more or less stopped the flow of refugees crossing the Aegean Sea into Greece and north into the rest of Europe.

In Greece, some 50,000 refugees are stranded. They find themselves unable to travel onwards and, understandably, determined not to go back to countries ravaged by conflict. Much has been written about the plight of refugees in Greece, but far less about those who now find themselves stranded in Serbia.

Empty Beds The scene at the reception centre in Presevo on the Serbia-Macedonia border was not what I was expecting. At

By Jenny Brown Christian Today

that time, just 66 refugees were staying at the centre. Rows of immaculate bunk beds ready to accommodate those arriving lay empty. Our ACT Alliance partner, Philanthropy, part of the Serbian Orthodox Church, continues to respond to an ever-changing situation, providing essential practical support such as sleeping bags, food and toiletries.

The challenge for them is the unpredictability of the need for their help. At any time the number of arrivals could change and they could, with little warning, find themselves coping with a huge increase in arrivals of desperate, exhausted people.

Just last week we learnt that arrivals in Serbia are once again increasing, to 500 people per day. At their wits' end, with borders still mostly shut and with no political solution in sight, refugees are increasingly turning to traffickers to help them cross borders illegally.

Staff at Philanthropy tell us that the people they now see arriving are in a poor physical state, exhausted by treacherous and physically demanding journeys, often in need of medical assistance. Many are children.

Hearing this news back in London, I'm

once again reminded of those words spoken to me by a young Syrian man.

He talked about how unwelcome and unwanted he feels in Europe. He sensed a level of hostility towards him, and his fellow refugees, which he couldn't understand. He had crossed the Aegean Sea overnight to reach Greece. But having arrived, he has found no welcome. His words spoke of his bewilderment at feeling unwanted, and they made me feel deeply ashamed.

How can we in Europe defend that perceived hostility towards people who have been forced to leave behind everything of their lives?

I've since tried to imagine how bad things must be to get into an overcrowded, possibly unseaworthy, boat.

To head out into the pitch blackness of the night, towards an uncertain future, knowing that many hundreds of people who have gone before you have died while attempting to make the same journey.

Political Will How can we, in Europe and specifically in the UK, look away and say that we do not want people like that young Syrian, and so very many others?

The UK is the world's fifth biggest economy; the EU has more than 500 million citizens. It is not beyond our ability to accept and positively welcome fellow human beings who have been forced to leave behind the very things that matter so much to us homes, families, friends, jobs, security, and identity.

The problem is political will, or rather our lack of it. In the UK, as in so many other European countries, we could do much more than we are, but our politicians insist and even rely on seeing refugees as a problem to be kept at a distance not on our shores. The lack of compassion is staggering.

The UK, with other European countries, has a responsibility to take a fair and proportionate number of refugees, including those who have already reached Europe. We should be providing safe and legal means for refugees to get this far, because there but for the grace of God go any of us.

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Classes Only in Croatian or Hungarian

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We proposed that the course for Architecture Technicians should be conducted in Serbian, Croatian and Hungarian languages, but this was not accepted, the director of the Polytechnics School says

n a Subotica high school pupils who enroll this year can study for an Architecture Technician only if they attend classes in Croatian language, reads Blic newspaper.

"There is no four-year type class in Serbian for the studies of Construction.

My daughter wants to be an Architecture Technician, but there is only a Croatian class there", future high school girl's mother says.

She is taken aback by the fact that in Serbia she has no possibility to enroll her child in Serbian speaking class.

"In Forestry School, the course for Landscape Architecture exists only in Hungarian language. They explained to me that this is the decision of the Ministry of Education, but it is unclear on which basis", she states.

In Polytechnics School they told Blic that their plan of enrollment was different from the decision of the Ministry of Education.

"We proposed that the course for Architecture Technicians should be conducted in Serbian, Croatian and Hungarian languages, but this was not accepted. We wrote our appeal twice because of the interest of the pupils, but they did not accept it", Iso Planic, the Director of the Polytechnics School says.

He explains that it is customary that the course of Landscape Architecture is

Subotica

conducted in Hungarian once in four years for a single class of students, and for three consecutive years in Serbian, for Serbian speaking children.

"We have certifications for several dozens of different profiles and we conduct our classes in three languages, which make it impossible to enroll all the courses in all three languages each year. Croatian speaking class is enrolled in different courses each year", Iso Planic says.

The Ministry of Education promised and answer to Blic to a question why in certain courses only the classes held in Croatian or Hungarian were approved, but the explanation never came

despite repeated calls.

Future high school student's mother says that most probably her daughter will still enroll for an architecture technician, although the classes will be conducted in Croatian.

"It is not the question if she can understand the classes or not, she will have Serbian language as a subject too, but at the end of the school she will receive a certificate in Croatian, and we live in Serbia. This will not harm her further education, and she will be in position to go to any faculty of her choice, but still I somehow feel that the injustice has been done", this mother says.

Dispute Erupts Over Nikola Tesla's Ashes A dispute has broken out in Belgrade over what should be done with the remains of Nikola Tesla, a SerbianAmerican revered as one of the world's greatest inventors.

The ashes of the man who developed, among other things, the alternating current electricity supply system widely in use today, are preserved in a goldcolored sphere in the Nikola Tesla museum in the Serbian capital.

The Serbian Orthodox Church wants to move the ashes to a cathedral in the city, but the museum and others are resisting the plan.

Tesla was born of Serbian parents in 1856 in what is now Croatia and died in New York in 1943. His ashes were later brought to Belgrade.

Most of his work was done in the United States but in Serbia he is a national

hero. He developed the electric motor and did pioneering work in radar, radio and x-rays. Elon Musk named his Tesla electric car in honor of the inventor.

Church leaders have been campaigning for Tesla's ashes to be relocated to the grounds of Saint Sava's cathedral, one of the largest Orthodox churches in the world.

"The museum needs to exist, that is not in doubt," Radivoje Panic, a priest at the church, told Reuters. "But the remains should not be in a corner there, where they are not visible to everyone. Here they would be visible to everyone."

The Church issued statements this week calling for the remains to be moved to Saint Sava's. "The Serbian Orthodox Church had always been present in the life and deeds of the great Nikola Tesla," it said.

Others say Tesla was a scientist whose remains should not be in any church.

"I just don't believe Tesla belongs in a church," said film and theater director Gorcin Stojanovic, a leading voice among those campaigning against moving Tesla to Saint Sava's. "He was not an ancient king, nor a saint. He was a scientist."

In a statement, the Tesla museum said only that it had not been officially informed of the proposal to move the ashes by "an appropriate state institution".

Some saw economic motives at work.

"The dispute between the Tesla museum and the Serbian Orthodox Church about Tesla's urn is just a struggle for tourists. They don't care about Tesla and his last wishes," Nebojsa Krstic, an adviser to former Serbian President Boris Tadic, tweeted

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Prices of Fuel on Steady Rise Price is significantly influenced by state policy on excises and contrary to most countries in Europe, excises on diesel and gas are equal in Serbia, so diesel is more expensive than gas

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rices of oil derivates at Serbian gas stations are still on a mild rise. Gas and diesel prices rose some two to three dinars, while TNG price fell for about the same amount at most of the bottleries.

From the time when prices were falling on our gas stations, which was at the beginning of March, gas went up for six to seven and diesel for nine dinars per liter. So the price of diesel was from 132.6 to 143.5 dinars on Tuesday, while gas has gone from 129.7 to 133.5 and TNG from 57.9 to 133.5 dinars.

"This is all because of the rise of crude oil price on the market", Nebojsa Atanackovic, President of the AD "Nafta" company says. "Price per barrel reached 500 dollars. So it is understandable that it had an impact to the prices of fuel in Serbia. This still does not compare to the raise around the world".

Price is significantly influenced by state policy on excises, of course. Contrary to most countries in Europe, excises on diesel and gas are equal here, so diesel is more expensive than gas.

"Most countries are trying to reduce expenses in transport and agriculture, so the excise on diesel is cheaper there, while Serbian policy is different", Atanackovic says.

This reflects in a great measure on gas stations in border areas with Macedonia and BiH, since fuel turns out to have even 30% lower price there.

But curiously, prices of fuel are still even more than five dinar lower than in this same period last year! This corroborates the thesis that our fuel price which is paid by customers in the end, is less influenced by the price of crude oil on stock exchanges around the world and more by tax and excise policies.

Our prices never follow world prices, mostly because in Serbia large percent-

Future Growth Calls for Innovation

The forecasts for Serbia's GDP growth in 2016 have been upgraded mostly due to greater exports and investments, but stable future growth calls for innovation, says Serbian Finance Minister Dusan Vujovic.

"We will have to look for new sources of growth, and that is innovation," Vujovic said at a conference at the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts.

Serbia is opening factories, but the measure will be exhausted at some point, so innovation is the way to boost

productivity and competitiveness over the longer term, he said.

He said that EUR 171.1 million has been set aside for scientific and research projects, but that the funds remain undrawn.

"If that much money has been secured for innovation, let's use it, rather than get going and then halt," he said.

In Serbia, there are many ideas but a very low percentage of patents, and few of those concepts end up being used in practice, he said.

age is actually state's catching, Tomislav Micovic from the Oil Association of Serbia stated.

Those large states's catching has a heavy toll not only on people but on the very same state.

Whether the price of crude oil will go up on world markets or not will depend largely on the meeting of OPEK countries which will take place in Vienna on June 2nd.

Dinar Strengthens Against Euro The dinar has continued to strengthen against the euro, going up by 0.1 percent and setting the official middle exchange rate at RSD 122.9607, the National Bank of Serbia (NBS) said in a release.

Against the single European currency, the dinar has dropped 0.3 percent on the month and 1.9 percent on the year. Since the start of the year, the dinar has weakened 1.1 percent.

The indicative dinar-versus-dollar has risen 0.4 percent to RSD 110.0713 per dollar.

Since the start of 2016, the central bank has sold EUR 780 million and purchased EUR 20 million on the interbank foreign exchange market to prevent the rate from being too volatile.

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Democratic Party Takes Aim at Serbia's 'Autocracy'

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Democratic Party president Bojan Pajtic alleges that PM Aleksandar Vucic is an autocrat posing as a European democrat and says opposition parties should unite against his rule at the next round of elections

ojan Pajtic, the acting president of the Democratic Party, DS, was among the young politicians who took centre stage in Serbia following the fall of Slobodan Milosevic's regime in 2000 - but now he is again in opposition, he says he has a new 'autocrat' in his sights.

In an interview with BIRN, the DS leader accused Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic of acting like a despot and failing to deliver the prosperity he has promised.

"He absolutely dominates all spheres of society," Pajtic said.

Although the Serbian PM has garnered praise from many EU and international officials after he switched from a staunchly nationalistic ideology to a pro-European one, Pajtic believes that this is just political posturing to cover up his autocratic intentions.

"His narrative about European integration is just his way of winning Brussels' support. They ignore the fact that he has 'turned out the light' in Serbia while acting like a despot," Pajtic claimed.

Nocturnal Demolitions Pajtic thinks the EU is supporting Vucic only because he is negotiating with Kosovo about normalizing relations, but should not ignore what he said are the Serbian government's democratic failings.

"Reforms are not just talks with Pristina.

Reforms also imply that society is getting more democratic, freer and more prosperous‌ and that is not a society under the control of one man," he said.

He cited the recent nocturnal demolitions of buildings by masked men in the Savamala district of the capital, allegedly to make way for the upmarket Belgrade Waterfront development, and the dismissals of journalists by a TV station in Serbia's northern province of Vojvodina as evidence for his allegations, as well as what he claimed was poll fraud at the parliamentary elections in April.

"It will be difficult for the EU and international community to cross through what happened in Savamala, the theft at the elections or what is happening now at Radio Television of Vojvodina. It would be hypocritical to continue calling this government a pro-reform government,"

Bojan Pajtic

Pajtic argued.

"The only reason why you cannot call Vucic a totalitarian is because he has no ideology at all. His only idea is to stay in power," he added.

Pajtic also condemned Vucic's oftrepeated plans for Serbian prosperity, saying that his promises were getting loftier while the country's economy and living standards are sinking.

"For four years we've been listening to promises of fantastic prosperity in Serbia. However, the only things happening are a dramatic drop in prosperity, an unconstitutional reduction in pensions, land seizure from farmers, phantom masked people are carrying out the law, votes are being stolen and media freedoms are almost completely dead," Pajtic spat in one breath.

"There is no reason to believe Vucic when he says that the future will be something different," he argued.

Pajtic started his political career as an MP in the Serbian parliament in 2001, but is now fighting for his survival as the leader of the weak and diminished DS. The left-leaning DS is now a shadow of the political powerhouse it was at the height of its popularity. It has held power in Serbia several times since 2000, but lost the 2012 elections to Vucic's rightleaning Progressive Party.

The ruling Progressive Party now dominates parliament, winning 131 out of 250 seats in the recent elections, while the once mighty DS only polled six per cent, gaining a paltry 16 seats.

Serious doubts about Pajtic's leadership were raised after the Democrats lost power in the elections in the northern province of Vojvodina, which was his

powerbase, for the first time in 16 years.

Although his party carried out many problematic privatisations when it was in power, and also implemented subsidies as a method of economic development in 2006, Pajtic now claims that the "context has changed" and insists that the DS's social democratic policies are a real alternative to Vucic's neoliberal ones.

Neoliberal Policy "Vucic's policy is completely neoliberal and for the DS, as a social democratic party, that is not acceptable. The economic policy of subsidies of giving 26,000 euros for each worker to the investor but employees working as slaves for 200 euros a month is deeply inhumane," he said.

In the presidential and Belgrade city election campaigns, in 2017 and 2018 respectively, the DS will counter the idea that "cheap labour is a key component for attracting investors, as well as favouring foreign investors [over Serbian ones]", he said.

He added that the DS will also challenge the concept that privatisation is always better and confront the policy of confidential contracts with investors.

"When contracts are secret it means that something is wrong. We will reveal the contract with Fiat [which the DS government signed while in power], but also 20 contracts that Vucic's government signed," he promised.

One of the biggest symbols of the Vucic government's controversial contracts is the state-backed Belgrade Waterfront project funded by an investor from the United Arab Emirates.

S e r b i a D a i l y, J u n e 3 , 2 0 1 6

9

Musicians Who Build Bridges

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Over the last eight years or so the very touchy subject of Mitrovica's ethnic divide has been broached by, of all measures, music; one of the most influential manners of communication

t's almost 17 years since the end of the Kosovo war and just over eight years since Kosovo declared independence from Serbia. In the aftermath of the war, the city of Mitrovica became a symbol of Kosovo's ethnic division when the southern half of the city was repopulated, mainly by ethnic Albanians, and the majority of Serbians living on the south bank were displaced to North Mitrovica.

Close to 100,000 people now live in Mitrovica which is separated, north to south, by several bridges built across the River Ibar; a huge river with a length of 276 kilometres which passes through Montenegro and Serbia. The New Bridge or the Mitrovica Bridge (a vehicular and pedestrian bridge) is seen as a de facto border between the northern majority-Serb communities and the rest of Kosovo, which is predominately ethnic Albanian.

Gentle Reminder The New Bridge continues to highlight the ethnic division of Mitrovica and has been partially blocked for a number of years. Today the bridge is partitioned off with only the west side accessible to pedestrians. It also maintains a gentle reminder of its significant past by the 24 hours presense of the Kosovo Police, and Italian (Carabinieri) International peacekeepers.

At this present time Mitrovica, now with separate municipalities north and south, is peaceful as its inhabitants go discreetly about their business, waiting curiously for the implementation of a Pristina-Belgrade signed agreement which, will establish an 'Association of Serb Municipalities' with a majority-Serb population in Kosovo.

Over the last 8 years or so the very touchy subject of Mitrovica's ethnic divide has been broached by, of all measures, music; one of the most influ-

By John Duncanson SERBIA DAILY CONTRIBUTOR

ential manners of communication.

'Mitrovica Rock School' has been making strides to bridge the Mitrovica split by bringing the ethnically divided youth of Mitrovica together, through producing and playing music. Rock guitarist Jimi Hendrix once said, "Music doesn't lie. If there is something to be

The summer school was a resounding success and a short while after the trip to Skopje two branches of the school were opened, one either side of the Main Bridge. "We're not trying to manipulate the political situation - just make connections between people," said Wendy Hassler-Forest of 'Musicians without Borders,' an international nonprofit organization that uses music education to assist in healing war-torn communities recovering from war and conflict. Wendy is also a co-founder of Mitrovica Rock School and a program manager.

Interethnic Bands

changed in this world, then it can only happen through music."

Famous words from a very famous music legend. And maybe the young and aspiring musicians living within Mitrovica agree with Mr Hendrix.

Mitrovica Rock School was founded in 2008 and is an interethnic project which presents young musicians from both sides of the Mitrovica division the opportunity to meet, look past their differences, and play music together.

The original idea was to open a school close to the New Bridge; however, there is an understandable reluctance from the divided communities to cross the bridge, either way. This sensitive issue was resolved by holding a summer school125 kilometres from Mitrovica in Skopje Macedonia, bringing together prospective Serbian and Albanian students of the future Mitrovica Rock School.

The most successful interethnic band to date is The Artchitects, the rock school's first mixed band to write their own material. Formed in 2011 by the best students of the rock school's north and south branches, The Artchitects have performed in Macedonia, the Netherlands and Italy. And in May this year, Pop2life, an experiential marketing and music agency, funded a trip to New York City where the band met music industry experts.

The Rock School currently has 8 interethnic bands and although divided by politics, the young musicians are able to write and record music at their respective schools where written material can be shared through social media, emails and also through spoken conversations on the internet.

However, playing live together continues to take place at music events outside of Kosovo.

Since November 2015 the rock school has organised five exchange weeks between the two branches in Mitrovica.

Some kids have even crossed the New Bridge to meet fellow musicians, who they now consider as friends.

S e r b i a D a i l y, J u n e 3 , 2 0 1 6

10

SERBiA DAILY

INTERVIEW

Past Laced with Anguish

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Ljubomir Andjelkovic a.k.a. Kodjo Vangorski, a former Yugoslav diplomat, speaks to Serbia Daily about his latest novel and falsifications of history

hanaian and Serbian author Kodjo Vangorski, (real name Ljubomir Andjelkovic), was a Yugoslav diplomat, expert on psychological warfare, and stratagem. For almost three decades he lived in West Africa, under different but highly inspiring conditions that influenced his later writings.

His latest book 'Past Laced with Anguish' ('Ostrascivanje Proslosti') has been published earlier this year by Argus Books&Magazines. This book which unmasks ulterior political motives hidden behind folkloric interpretations of historical events, created quite a stir among the literary audience.

Mr AnĂ°elkoviĂŚ, while reading your latest book, I was repeatedly surprised with your conclusions which are in collision with generally accepted interpretations of historical events. Would you be so kind to explain your motives to write a book doomed to be branded as unpatriotic?

On my return from Africa, I was shocked by the change of heart among my compatriots. The entire territory of former Yugoslavia became but a market for nationalistic manipulation. In order to restore their lost self-esteem, Serbs, Croats, Macedonians and others became addicted to historical details of dubious authenticity and thus fell prey to all sorts of stratagem.

History may be inspirational, but fake histories are nothing more but placebo pills which offer false hopes and deepen the overall political and moral crisis. Besides, those who offer a false past may also offer a wrong future.

How did it come to that?

Since the times of ancient chronicles, history has been used for political manipulation. However, the notorious saying that history is written by victors is not entirely true. The defeated keep their records also. As the result we often have different interpretations of same historical events which fuel further conflicts.

That is especially the case with a new generation of quasi-historians that sprouted after the breakup of Yugoslavia.

Nationalistic euphoria

By Nebojsa Mircetovic SERBIA DAILY CONTRIBUTOR

became a very important driving force in all spheres of life and created a market for biased interpretations of historical developments. To make everything worse, quasi-historians discovered that

Kodjo Vangorski

devising a more appealing national past may be very lucrative.

You are not a trained historian, how did you come to conclusions which require not only a detailed knowledge of history, but also profound understanding of methodology of historical research?

Quite a lot of historical documents, which have been accepted as valid sources, are not sufficiently reliable.

Allow me to compare them to dubious diplomatic and intelligence reports. It is well known that in the world of secret diplomacy and espionage there are specialized services that fabricate fake reports in order to confuse the opposite side, but are also engaged in recognizing such doctored up reports.

Consequently, I subjected historical sources to the same treatment.

How did you do it?

The main tools are logic, common sense and decent knowledge of diplomatic history of the period. When challenging the validity of historical reports one should first examine if something like that could have happened at all!

Consequently, they must determine if a supposed historical event fits the context of other historical developments and especially current policies of great powers and their eventual gains. After that, the analyst must consider who else might have influenced the developments and why. Then one has to examine what might have been the ulterior motives of those who created those documents; and finally how present political situation might be influenced by insisting on the validity of those documents.

In my book "Past Laced with Anguish", I re-examined cornerstones in the history of the Central Balkans - not with aim of changing historical facts, but with the aim of changing our attitude towards history. I hope that my writings succeeded in deflating general anguish that presently thwarts our efforts to find a decent way to the future. This book goes hand-inhand with my previously published novel "Goldberg&Rozalinda" which narrates the methods of planting biases into human souls.

We are informed that you have signed a contract for publishing seven of your books. Could you tell us in the shortest possible way how would you describe your literary opus?

My literary work is primarily meant to entertain readers. However, I smuggled my personal views on clashes between different cultures and on fallacies which destroy our happiness. In fact, the ultimate goal of my literary work is search for happiness and the resistance of our prejudices which thwart us to find it.

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11

Djokovic: Money is Not Important to Me, in Serbia Average Salary is 200-300 Eur

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Media are putting me in a very unpleasant position when they want me to talk about the amounts that I've won during my career, says Novak Djokovic

wo days and four sets were needed to Novak Djokovic to win for the fifth time in his career against the Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut, The reason? Obviously the rain, even if Nole already experienced it in the past. And it helped him to handle the situations better.

'I remember early in my career I played a match against Kiefer in Wimbledon for five days. That was the longest I have played one match. This is probably the second longest. Same reason: raining.

Weather conditions are something you can't really affect if you don't have special abilities. Other than that, you have to wait and pray for good weather, and that's what we did. Yesterday the match was interrupted three times, and of course it wasn't easy coming into the facilities here at 9:00 a.m. and leaving at 7:30 or 8:00 p.m., but it's not the first and probably not the last time I'm going to have to face these particular circumstances. Not only for us players but it was difficult for all the crowds that were coming in and paying tickets to watch the matches. Then they watch maybe an hour and then they go home, and two days ago, no matches at all. And the weather forecast, as far as I heard, is not that great for the coming days. So that's the reason why we should have the roof here (smiling). I'm hoping we're going to have it very soon.'

A few of the women who played the same time as him were saying they thought the conditions were not playable, that play should have been stopped. Does he agree with that?

'Conditions were definitely on the edge throughout the entire day. Bautista and I played I think more than two sets in the mist. It was literally maybe five to ten minutes of the entire stay of over one-and-ahalf hours we had yesterday on the court

without rain. So it was practically raining throughout the entire play, which made it more and more difficult for our performances and focus and everything. But priority should always be the health of the players, no doubt. I have had situations before, plenty of situations before where I thought that the courts were not good enough, you know, for us to perform at

milion career-prize money, he is the first tennis player to do that, but money is not the priority for him: 'I do not pay much attention to that and I don't like it when prize money discussions take over - he said To B92 - Media are putting me in a very unpleasant position when they want me to talk about the amounts that I've won during my career - professional sport should not be played because of money. That is the number one issue and the society of today insists on that success is being presented and

such a high level because it was quite dangerous on the edge to twist your ankle or, God forbid, something else. But once you accept the circumstances and the decision is such that you play, then you have to go with it.'

Asked if he would have a problem if the scenario will be like that: quarters on Thursday, semis on Friday, day off, final on Sunday, Djokovic said: 'That's an ideal scenario right there. Let's see, first of all, whether or not I can win my quarterfinals and put myself in a position to play semis and maybe final. That's No. 1.'

With today's win he has more than $100

explained through money and power and that shouldn't be the unit of measure. I am 100% against it and I have completely different views and values.'

He thinks about the people that really suffer a lot: ' Can you imagine me speaking about money right now, while the average salary in Serbia is 200-300â‚Ź?

What would that be like? That is all I have to say. I am not trying to present myself as something I am not, being too modest or something like that. It is sad that in today's world the sport has become so tense, it has become a tool for creating unpleasant and aggressive rivalries.'

By Gatto Luigi Tennis World

Pediatric Oncology Ward Receives Donations The Institute of Oncology and Radiology has received valuable medical equipment thanks to a donation of the International Women's Club (IWC) and the B92 Fund.

The donation to the pediatric oncology service, includes Vac-Lok cushions used to immobilize the head and body of children during radiation therapy, and a laboratory refrigerator for storing and disposing of reagents, samples,

serum and plasma in controlled conditions, as prescribed by accreditation systems in all institutions of this type.

Addressing representatives of the International Women's Club and the B92 Fund, Director of the Institute Professor Doctor. Radan Dzodic said that any help intended for children suffering from malignant diseases was invaluable, and described the donation as "certainly a well-planned gift to

the institute - one that will be used in the best possible way," praising the donor's humane gesture.

On behalf of the IWC, Christina Valdez said that the IWC was happy to be able to help and join the Fund's campaign to procure medical equipment, and that its members were proud to be helping those making an effort to create better conditions for the medical treatment of children.

TODAY IN THEATRES ELECTRICITY CUT Author: ALEKSANDAR RADIVOJEVIC Location: ATELLIER 212 - PETAR KRALJ STAGE Time: 20:30 hrs

PRIMADONAS Comedy Location: CARTE BLANCHE THEATRE Time: 20:00 hrs

TO DAMASCUS

LES MISERABLES

Author: AUGUST STRINDBERG

Musical

Location: NATIONAL THEATRE -

Location:

MAIN STAGE

MADLENIANUM THEATRE, Zemun

Time: 19:30 hrs

Time: 19:30 hrs

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