SERBIA DAILY No6

W Daily e-newspaper

• N° 6 • Belgrade, May 4, 2016

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WESTERN BALKANS e-MEDIA GROUP

Repeated Voting at 15 Polling Stations Today

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Election silence has been in effect since midnight on Sunday and will be lifted at 20:00 CET today

hat is when polling stations will close in the 15 locations where early parliamentary elections, held on April 24, will be repeated.

During election silence, campaigning and "sending of political messages" is forbidden, the Beta agency reported.

The Republic Electoral Commission (RIK) said that preliminary results from these polling stations - in Nis, Vranje, Belgrade, Jagodina, Backa Topola, Sremski Karlovci, Uzice, and Kladovoare expected "during the night".

Sasa Jankovic, Ombudsman: Serbia has adopted a set of media laws and at national level, public competitions for funding for media projects have also been carried, but this has not been sufficient to enhance the freedom of the media

Whatever the results, current Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said for TV Prva he would form a government "with good people," and added: "Perhaps these people will not be to everyone's liking, but there will be experts and politicians."

"I'm glad the SPS (Socialists) has its wishes. Only the SNS has no wishes at all. It's our list, plus the SVM (Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians), and we'll see if there'll be some more people, and if I wanted I could have 190 MPs in 24 hours. With the SVM and the Socialists,

Ivica Dacic, Foreign Minister: Today, when times are difficult for Serbia, our main job is to fight for a country in which justice is possible. But it can only be done when a country is rich and strong. There is no justice in impoverished societies

and Seselj, who said he was willing, if we left the European road - that's 190," Vucic said.

He added that this number "could go up to 210" but that he did not want this outcome "because it would mean a return to the old, bad policy."

19,631 voters are eligible to cast their ballots there. RIK will print 0.5 percent of "reserve ballots" bringing the total number printed to 19,729.

As was the case on April 24, 20 electoral lists are competing in repeated elections.

Tomislav Karadzic, Football Association of Serbia (FSS) President: Kosovo's admission to UEFA membership is a political decision and a defeat for football, which could face unforeseeable consequences as a result. Football has found itself in the jaws of politics

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Vucic: I'm Not Afraid of Chaos, People Had Their Say Prime Minister said he would not allow anyone to push Serbia into chaos for the sake of their own petty, selfish political interests

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erbian Prime Minister and leader of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) Aleksandar Vucic said that he was not afraid there would be any chaos after a partial vote recount following recently held parliamentary elections, stressing that things would be the way the law prescribed and the way the citizens wanted.

In an interview with Belgrade-based tabloid Informer, Vucic said he would not allow anyone to push Serbia into chaos for the sake of their own petty, selfish political interests, and that he would answer all hatred, directed against him by certain analysts, journalists and their political favorites, by opening factories, renovating schools and hospitals,

increasing GDP and raising salaries and pensions at the end of the year.

Commenting on the current "war for the threshold," in which officials of the DveriDSS coalition began to physically attack members of the Republic Electoral Commission (RIK), Vucic says that the question of whether someone has or has not crossed the threshold is not a question of his own or anyone else's wishes.

"The deciding on who crossed the threshold and who hasn't is a job done

by RIK, in strict accordance with the votes given by the people. The people are the bearer of sovereignty. It is they who gave their votes to us politicians," the prime minister said.

Nikolic: RIK Must Work Independently Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic called for enabling the central electoral commission RIK to work independently and according to the law.

"The relevant authorities must react and ensure free and democratic elections. I call on the media to give up on participating in a campaign against the winner of the elections, which I think is impermissible for the Serbian public broadcaster, which is leading the way in this," Nikolic told Tanjug when asked how he sees the political situation in the wake of the elections and pressures on the RIK. The exceptional electoral results of the Serbian Progressive Party are an affir-

mation of the hard and persevering work for the benefit of Serbia and its citizens, Nikolic said.

"The country is not giving up on the European path, but not at the cost of breaking off the ties with Russia or recognizing the independence of Kosovo," Nikolic said.

"Of course, there are those who have a problem with successful Serbia. They want Serbia for themselves only‌ they are trying to prevent the country's further progress. Through illegal pressure on the RIK, they are trying to alter the electoral will of the citizens," Nikolic said, adding that some parties have "transformed their right into legal violence."

Serbia Outraged by Kosovo Membership in FIFA Serbia reacted with outrage against UEFA's decision to accept the former province of Kosovo as its 55th member, saying it will fight the decision by all legal means.

UEFA's 28-24 vote in favor of Kosovo's acceptance "is a warning that we live in the world of interest and politics, and not justice and rules," Serbia's Foreign Ministry said.

Serbian officials said they will file a complaint with the Swiss-based Court of Arbitration for Sport because, they said, Kosovo's membership is against UEFA's statutes.

"The foundations of European soccer were shaken today. This could lead to serious divisions in the continent's competitions," Serbian ruling party official Marko Djuric said.

In Kosovo, the impoverished state of some two million people, there was an outpouring of joy after the UEFA decision.

Kosovo has sought international recognition through sports since declaring independence. UEFA supported Kosovo's case after resisting previous efforts by FIFA in 2012 to let its national and club teams play opponents from other countries.

Daily

Markers

BY EMIR SALIHOVIC EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Bitter Bite for Serbia

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he endless thug-of-war between Serbia and Kosovo continues not only in political and diplomatic arenas, but on sports fields too. It is not surprise, as sports are mainly an extended political arena in many respects.

Kosovars are trying in every way possible to get as much international recognition as they can, while Serb authorities, on the contrary, try to obstruct it whenever possible.

However, Serbian stanza on Kosovo independence is for many years unclear one, to say at least. On one hand they do accept political reality and negotiations with Kosovo authorities on various issues are underway constantly, while at the same time Belgrade too often behaves as if pretending there is no problem will make that problem disappear by itself.

If Kosovo was admitted to FIFA even without FIFA changing its Statute which clearly says that "only a country whose independence is recognized by the United Nations" can become a member, does it mean that Kosovars got better lobbyists than Serbia, when it comes to international arena? When Kosovo asked this clause to be changed into "(recognized) by most of the international community in Europe", their proposal was not accepted by majority at FIFA, but regardless of it Kosovo managed to become a member.

Serbia is very well aware what a representation in sports fields can mean for promotion of a country and visibility on international scene.

After all, Serbia is extremely successful in that.

Having Kosovo able to compete in international sports fields as an independent country is a bitter bite to be swallowed by Belgrade. It remains to be seen what will be the effect of Serbia's lawsuit with the Lausanne-based Court of Arbitration for Sport against UEFA. Although the true field where Serbia is losing may not be the sports one, but the lobbying one.

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PINION

Spiders in a Jar Unifications of significantly opposed political options rarely win broader national support (at least in Serbia), especially when the final aim of such unification is only to get more seats in the Parliament

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uring the entire election campaign, AleSERBIA DAILY CONTRIBUTOR ksandar Vucic tried to prove that the opposition got no real election program, and that they were united only by desire to overthrow the existing government and to rule themselves. Many people found that argument unconvincing and pathetic, and it seemed impossible to imagine a context in which the right-wing parties and the party of civic orientation can be found on the same side, as they are seriously divided not only politically, but by the value systems which they represent. However, that is exactly what happened only a week after elections.

Regardless if the accusations of election fraud are true or not, this unholy getting together was best described by Nenad Prokic, professor, former member of Liberal Democratic Party (LDP): "It is touchy how easily they are ready to get together joined by their personal interest, and they wouldn't sit together to agree on anything which is more important to Serbia than their percentages".

And really, after all this we can ask a question: what is it that civic Serbia thinks about when they get together to save Dveri from falling below the election threshold? And I do not question the request to inquire possible frauds, as that request can be justified by the need to ensure fair election process. I am talking about the call from the leader of Democratic Party (DS) Bojan Pajtic, to his voters, to vote for DSS/Dveri at the repeated round of elections which will take place tomorrow. That civic Serbia punished Boris Tadic at the elections in 2012 by choosing the "white ballots", pursuing the principle of "punishing political elite". Eventually, it brought Aleksandar Vucic to power. Still with disturbed conscience because of that, the same civic Serbia, now together with Boris Tadic, tries to punish

BY NEBOJSA KOSTIC

Aleksandar Vucic by giving their support to Dveri.

There is something genuinely disturbing in their way of "solving" problems on the political scene in Serbia last years.

Again, recognizing the need to evaluate the fairness of elections and legitimacy of election results, I am not convinced that an average sympathizer of civic oriented parties finds it acceptable to see on the same stage, along with their leaders, the leaders of right-wing parties. I am even less convinced that an average hard-line nationalist likes to see, along with his leaders, the politicians inclined toward West, whom he considers as "traitors".

Here is one example. According to some researches, a significant number of LGBT population in Serbia voted for "Enough is Enough" movement of Sasa Radulovic. Those voters now have the chance to see that movement actively participating in support and saving of Dveri, whose leader Bosko Obradovic in 2014 publicly called on Serbian Orthodox Church to organize "broad public litany and church service on streets of Belgrade", after the Gay Pride, "to cleanse the streets of the stench". We should ask those voters - those who prefer the system of values to the number of seats in the Parliament - how do they feel when they see all those politicians together now?

On the other hand, those who never forgave Vucic his nationalistic past now give impetus to parties that rehabilitate and maintain that same nationalism.

Unifications of significantly opposed political options rarely win broader national support (at least in Serbia), especially when the final aim of such unification is only to get more seats in the Parliament. It will probably evoke even more disappointments among the already disappointed electorate. And if anybody is to benefit from something like that, it will be the man against whom the unification was intended in the first place - Aleksandar Vucic.

Therefore, the whole of the current political scene resembles an allegory given by the sociologist and political analyst Jovo Bakic, who said: "All of them are just spiders in a jar, eating each other".

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Croats in Serbia "Discriminated" T

The new Croatian government would do everything to secure the position of the Croatian national minority in Serbia to be improved, the president of Croatian parliament Zeljko Reiner said

he problems of Croats in Serbia were tackled at the meeting of their representatives with Reiner in Zagreb, writes Balkan News Agency.

Reiner talked with the Croats from Vojvodina, the Serbian province where most members of the Croatian national minority live. Velimir Plese, Croatian consul general in Subotica, Serbia, was also present, Reiner's media office stated.

Zeljko Reiner stressed that new conservative Croatian government is committed to resolving the issue of Croatian minority in Serbia. Considering "discrimination" of Croats in Serbia, they were "prevented to promote their scientific

and cultural works and to organize celebrations in the appropriate urban spaces", Croatian parliament's media office stated, according to Hina news agency.

For a certain period of time, the Croatian minority faced the problem of lack of any official communication with the executive authority in Serbia, it was underlined at the meeting in Zagreb.

The participants also stressed the needs of pupils in Vojvodina which learn in Croatian language, as well as the proportional representation of Croats in officials institutions and the issue on media information in Croatian language.

Hina recalls that Croats in Vojvodina are the second largest Croatian community abroad, after those in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Last month, Croatian representatives in the European Commission blocked the opening of Chapter 23 (the rule of law) in accession negotiations between European Union and Serbia. They demanded Serbia to respect minority rights, "fully cooperate" with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and give up from universal jurisdiction in war crimes processing. However, the representatives of all other EU member states in Brussels did not back Croatia's claims.

Two Arrested for Smuggling Illegal Immigrants Citizens of town of Bor P.I. (24-year-old) and M.I. (21-year-old), were arrested on the road Zajecar - Negotin, on suspicion of trying to smuggle illegal migrants, Zajecar police announced .

According to the statement, police on the road Zajecar - Negotin tried to stop the passenger car "BMW" and a freight vehicle with Bor license plates, but the drivers ignored the orders of the police to stop.

"Patrol managed to stop them in the nearby village and the driver of the passenger vehicle was immediately arrested, while from the lorry came out several people and began to run. The police managed to catch them and

found that it was 15 illegal migrants.

Lorry driver managed to escape but in an intense action by the police, he was soon apprehended," police reported.

Two Bor citizens were put into 48 hours of detention, based on allegations of trafficking people, and their vehicles were confiscated.

On average, around a hundred migrants a day enter Serbia via Macedonia illegally, Serbian media report. The closing down of the Balkan route did not prevent the illegal crossing of Macedonia's northern border.

People smugglers from both sides of the border have good mutual cooperation and they have been smuggling migrant

groups of about 10 people into Serbian territory nightly. The terrain is hard to control, so Macedonian and Serbian patrols are facing major issues in relation to halting the illegal crossings.

The Serbian police has filed 146 criminal charges for migrant smuggling, while there is no official information on how many people from Macedonia are involved in this business.

Straight after entering Serbia, the migrants head to camp Miratovac near Presevo. The camp was empty for almost a month, but there are migrants there now, looking for a way to continue their journey towards western European countries.

Orthodox Fear "Coordinated Attack on Religion" The New York Post writes about "fears of a coordinated attack on the religion" in the wake of the fires in four Orthodox temples on Orthodox Easter Sunday.

The fires affected and to various degrees damaged a Macedonian and a Greek church in Australia, a monastery in Russia, and the Serbian Orthodox Church of St. Sava in

Manhattan, New York City.

According to the New York tabloid, the city's fire department (FDNY) said the blaze on West 25th Street "does not appear suspicious" - however "members of the Orthodox community have doubts."

The article said they are worried that the fire was started intentionally "in retalia-

tion for the religion's role in blocking the canonization of Croatian Nazi supporter (Catholic) Cardinal Aloysius (Alojzije) Stepinac."

Dusan Batakovic, former Serbian Ambassador to France, now director of the Institute for Balkan Studies said that "too many churches have burned to call it an accident."

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Opposition Rally Claims Election was Rigged

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Thousands of Serbian opposition supporters demonstrated in Belgrade on Saturday, accusing the main ruling party of rigging the election and demanding resignations

everal thousand supporters of Serbian opposition parties staged a protest on Saturday in Belgrade, claiming that the last elections were rigged and urging citizens to vote in repeated elections at 15 polling stations scheduled for Wednesday, writes Sasa Dragojlo for BIRN. They also demanded the resignation of the President of the Election Commission, RIK, Dejan Djurdjevic, and the director of the Institute of Statistics, Miladin Kovacevic.

Opposition leaders said that although they had different ideological views, they would unite to defend democratic institutions and the will of citizens, which they said were jeopardized by the government of Aleksandar Vucic and his Serbian Progessive Party, SNS. Bosko Obradovic, leader of the rightwing Dveri party, which has been narrowly excluded from parliament by only one vote, called on Vucic to admit the election was manipulated on Sunday, which is Serbian Orthodox Easter. "The Serbian Progressive Party will not determine the votes, Serbian citizens will," Obradovic said.

Bojan Pajtic, leader of Democratic Party, said that regime's "insolence and arrogance" was best shown by the fact that "a dead man who is supposedly 144 years old today" had voted for the Progressive Party. "Aleksandar Vucic is your servant and not your master," Pajtic said.

Sasa Radulovic, leader of the "Enough is

Leaders of Serbian opposition parties on a Saturday's protest

enough" movement, which won 6 per cent of the votes, said that there was numerous evidence that the elections were rigged, as dead people and nonexisting citizens had voted and ballot boxes had been tampered with. He called on people to supervise the polling stations at the repeat elections on Wednesday to ensure that no one can manipulated votes again.

"We are all together in the elections on Wednesday‌ and at the same time, this is the beginning of the end of Aleksandar Vucic," Radulovic said.

The RIK's contradictory results on election night and reports of numerous irregularities at polling stations caused consternation among several opposition parties.

Opposition supporters even came to the RIK building on the night between Sunday and Monday to make sure there was no manipulation with the votes and a day later they formed a joint legal team to scrutinize the election material, claiming that the elections had been marred by irregularities.

The RIK on Friday ordered repeat votes at 15 polling stations, involving up to 16,500 voters.

They also announced the results of 99.82

per cent of votes counted. As a result, the far-right coalition between Dveri and the Democratic Party of Serbia, DSS, was deemed to have won 4.99 per cent of the vote, just below the 5-per-cent threshold needed to enter parliament, giving Vucic's SNS more seats.

According to the RIK, the ruling SNS led

by Prime Minister Vucic won 131 out of 250 seats.

The second-strongest force remains the Socialist Party of Serbia, which was the SNS's junior partner in the last parliament, with 30 seats.

Boosted by the recent acquittal of its leader Vojislav Seselj by the UN war crimes court in The Hague, the ultra-nationalist Serbian Radical Party won 20 seats.

The "Enough is Enough" movement led by former economy minister Sasa Radulovic, won 16 seats - as many seats as the coalition gathered around the former ruling Democratic Party.

The pro-European coalition led by former Serbian President Boris Tadic and made up of the Social Democratic Party, the Liberal Democratic Party and the League of Social Democrats of Vojvodina just exceeded the 5-per-cent threshold. The coalition won 13 seats in the 250-seat parliament.

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Prosecution Appeals Against Seselj Acquittal

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The prosecution at the UN-backed court in The Hague has appealed for a guilty verdict or a retrial of Serbian Radical Party leader Vojislav Seselj, who was recently acquitted of war crimes

he prosecution asked the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia's appeals chamber to overturn Seselj's acquittal, correct what it claimed were errors in the verdict and convict the nationalist politician, or send the case for a retrial.

On March 31, the tribunal acquitted Seselj of all charges including crimes against humanity and war crimes allegedly committed during the 1990s in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia, saying the prosecution had failed to prove its case.

But in its notice to the court, the prosecution cited two main reasons for its appeal - that "the trial chamber erred in law by failing to deliver a reasoned judgment" and second "the trial chamber erred in fact by acquitting the accused" The prosecution said that despite the judgment ruling that there was not enough evidence to convict Seselj, the defendant was part of a joint criminal enterprise aimed at creating a 'Greater Serbia' and expelling all non-Serbs, and also instigated other crimes and committed numerous violations of the laws of war.

The judgment in March said that the prosecution failed to show a concrete link between Seselj's nationalist speeches and the crimes committed in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia.

It also said the prosecution failed to prove that there was a widespread and systematic attack on non-Serb civilians during the indictment period.

It further ruled that Seselj's project to create a 'Greater Serbia' was a political plan, not a criminal one, and that there were "reasonable grounds" to say that his deployment of paramilitary volunteers was to "protect civilians".

Seselj's was the first-ever verdict to be delivered by the Hague-based court without the accused present in the

Vojislav Seselj at a rally in Belgrade

courtroom to hear it.

The Serbian Radical Party chief has been in Belgrade since being granted temporary release from detention in The Hague in November 2014 on humanitarian grounds to undergo cancer treatment.

Since his release, he has led nationalist protests and made a series of hardline statements that have angered war victims.

He also managed to secure his party's return to the Serbian parliament after it won eight per cent of the vote at elections on April 24.

His acquittal caused angry reactions in neighbouring Croatia and sparked an

exchange of harsh words between officials from Zagreb and Belgrade.

Croatian President Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic meanwhile appealed to UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon, asking for the acquittal to be overturned.

Many human rights groups and international legal experts, including the International Bar Association, also questioned the verdict.

The Seselj appeal will be heard before the Mechanism for International Tribunals, MICT, which will complete the remaining work of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia because the UN court is closing down.

Former KLA Member Arrested in Switzerland As a former member of the KLA ("Kosovo Liberation Army"), the individual, A.S., has been charged with committing war crimes against Serb civilians, local media in Pristina are reporting, citing those in Switzerland.

According to this, "A.S. was arrested in his apartment in Zurich, while the

Kosovo embassy in Bern has asked for an explanation."

Kosovo Justice Minister Hajredin Kuci "also intervened" by means of sending a letter to Swiss Minister of Justice and Police Simonetta Sommaruga.

In his letter, Kuci reportedly said that a

court in Kosovo, rather than one "in a neighboring state," has jurisdiction over the alleged crimes.

Swiss media are reporting that Serbia wants A.S., accused of committing crimes in two villages, extradited, but that he "objects to this, and claims he is innocent."

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South Korean Firm Accused to Maltreat Workers

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Yura, South Korean corporation which has several factories in Serbia, has by far the worst attitude toward workers, when compared with other foreign investors in the country, says Zeljko Veselinovic

eselinovic, the president of the trade union "Sloga", said this commenting 15 minutes strike in Yura's factory in Leskovac, in the south of Serbia, which was organized last week.

"Our battle with Yura lasts already five years", Veselinovic told "Danas" daily.

"They have been hitting workers with metal sticks, harassed women, although there were no rape cases. They forbade them (female workers) to go to toilet and suggested them to wear diapers for adults. If someone gets sick, they call ambulance to come to factory and if worker is not hospitalized she is obliged to get back to work", Veselinovic explained adding that many complaints have been submitted against Yura. However, nothing has been resolved so far, he stressed.

The cause of the latest rather symbolic strike was illegal decision of the management that workers would have not one day break for the upcoming Easter which coincides with International workers day, May 1. But physical and mental maltreatment of the workers, with government's silence on it, is far more worse, "Danas" reported.

Veselinovic recalls that six Yura workers have been fired after trying to establish trade union five years ago. "The court has found that they (workers) were right, but they were not reemployed", he says adding he was "proud" on workers because of their strike. "We will help them because this move should be

Yura factory in Nis

highly appreciated but I'm afraid that the only consequence would be firing of those who have organized strike".

Ivan Jovanovic, president of Independent trade union in Leskovac, says that workers in Yura's factory in this town are frightened. "When you lose the job in the south of Serbia you may hardly find another one", Jovanovic explained. In his words, employees suffer too much in order to get their payments; and the average wage in Yura's plant in Leskovac is around 25.000 dinars, which is approximately 200 euros.

On the other hand, Serbian government

has subsidized each Yura's job in Serbia with 10.000 euros. In 2015 only Leskovac plant received 950.000 euros.

Labor Minister Aleksandar Vulin reacted to "Danas" report by saying that "the behavior of the employers is almost impossible to prove". "Unfortunately, the workers call us only after they lose their jobs", Vulin told this daily adding that labor inspections go to Yura "with invitation or without it".

When asked whether the inspectors have found any irregularities in Yura's plants, minister answered affirmative but said that there were no complaints on toilet denial for the workers.

Goldstein: Serbia's Growth Faster than Expected Serbia has posted a faster positive growth than expected, the result of that being a faster growth of the region as a whole, the World Bank's Country Director for South-East Europe Ellen Goldstein said.

The WB's latest estimate for 2016 is that growth will stand at 1.8 percent of GDP, as published in the institution's regional

report.

All six countries in the Western Balkans now have a positive growth, as opposed to the situation in 2014, when Serbia was hit by the devastating floods.

Goldstein pointed to an increase in private investment, describing it as good news.

As for the state, the public sector is over bloated, inefficient, so efforts need to

be invested to improve the services, and make the best use of available resources, the WB official said.

That is why you have the reform agenda which you must pursue further. The fiscal and structural reform is already underway in Serbia, and you must go deeper to ensure a sustainable growth, Goldstein said.

To Reduce Number of Work Related Injuries Twenty-four workers in Serbia died at their workplaces in 2015 - everything must be done to reduce that number in the future, Serbian Minister of Labor, Employment and Veteran and Social Affairs Aleksandar Vulin said.

Workplace injuries and fatalities could have been avoided, Vulin said at the Atelje 212 theatre, at an event marking the World Day for Safety and Health at Work, adding that some companies have created safe work-

ing conditions and consequently had no fatalities.

He said that the task of his ministry is three-fold - to boost employment, avert any workplace injuries and eradicate, or significantly curb, illegal labor.

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Fear and Fragmentation in Post-Election Serbia

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It's been a very strange week in Serbia, writes The Balkanist

ong-dead voters, some born as far back as the 1870s, are alleged to have cast a ballot in the April 24th elections. The vote has since been deemed fraudulent by the opposition.

Five days after the elections, the muchmaligned Republic Electoral Commission (RIK) suddenly announced that the "clerical-fascist" coalition Dveri/DSS had fallen a single vote short of the five percent threshold necessary to enter parliament. Then parties from the nominally left-oriented democratic opposition decided to publicly align themselves with DSS/Dveri to protest against purported electoral theft orchestrated by the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), which won the election with 48.2 percent of the vote.

A demonstration was held in central Belgrade on Saturday to protest the alleged electoral fraud. It was attended by several thousand people and featured speeches delivered by nearly every well-known face from the Serbian political scene, from the left all the way to the far right. The massively popular new anti-Vucic track "Sistem te laze" (The System Lies to You) by nationalist hip hop collective Beogradski Sindikat played over the loudspeakers as the crowd dispersed. (A video for the song, released just days before the elections, depicts Prime Minister Vucic of SNS, former President Boris Tadic and Radical Party leader Vojislav Seselj as puppetlike figures in paper masks. It has already racked up well over six million YouTube views).

As expected, the entire fiasco has all played well into the hands of SNS, led by pro-EU "strongman-savior" Prime Minister Vucic. Many voters in Serbia find it unconscionable that the democratic opposition would share a stage with DSS/Dveri under any circumstances. In one widely criticized move, Democratic Party (DS) leader Bojan Pajtic called on his supporters to cast their ballots for DSS/Dveri in the repeat elections on May 4th, which will be held in 15 polling stations where voting irregularities have been found.

Betrayal of Values Now many of those who oppose Vucic from the left are focused on what they see as the democratic opposition's betrayal of their values rather than the alleged electoral fraud. Some have

Image still: "System Lies to You" video, Beogradski Sindikat, 2016

even applauded Dveri/DSS's unexpected single vote-loss, however darkly it seems to strengthen the widespread suspicion that there has been a manipulation of the vote. There's infighting among many of Vucic's opponents about what matters more: ridding the country of the ultranationalism embodied in political options like DSS/Dveri once and for all, or upholding democratic norms embodied, at least in part, by unambiguously free and fair elections.

But the ultranationalism many abhor in DSS/Dveri has nonetheless scored a sort of triumph in this election, and for this, few are entirely blameless. Some charge that the democratic opposition has legitimized or mainstreamed ultranationalism by aligning themselves with DSS/Dveri over their shared concerns about electoral fraud. But the electoral commission, overseen by SNS official Dejan Djurdjevic, also made martyrs out of DSS/Dveri first.

And of course, it's Vucic's old mentor Vojislav Seselj and his ultranationalist Serbian Radical Party (SRS) who made the greatest gains of anyone in this election. Relegated to total political irrelevance in the last elections in 2014, in which SRS managed to gain just 2.01 percent of the vote, this past Sunday they reentered parliament with 8.11 percent vote. Seselj now leads the thirdmost powerful party in Serbia, meaning that ultranationalist rhetoric, even if it's under Vucic's control, will remain a part of mainstream political life.

The western media framed SNS's victory

as an affirmation of "Vucic's pro-EU policies" and a rejection of the ultranationalism emblematized by Seselj.

Subsequent commentary has criticized this idea, arguing instead that the vote was merely part of Vucic's ongoing effort to consolidate his own power. Both of these arguments contain elements of the truth.

Commitment to West Vucic has consolidated power and generally adopted a more heavyhanded style of governance in order to carry out the deeply unpopular reforms Serbia must undertake before joining the EU. He's thoroughly committed to the west. He's also authoritarian. These qualities are not mutually exclusive. In Serbia, Vucic's autocratic grip on power is used to serve and speed up integration with the west. Following Sunday's vote, a few friends expressed fear that "now it's going to get really bad because Vucic needs to deliver on things like Kosovo." The "it" they were referring to was internal oppression.

Whether or not that now includes electoral fraud will have to be decided by a thorough investigation.

What is certain is this: In Vucic's longstanding effort to balkanize any bloc capable of posing any meaningful challenge to his power, he's always counted on witting (or unwitting) accomplices among the democratic and far-right opposition. The last few days have witnessed a refinement of this strategy.

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Serbian Cross-Border Insolvency Regulation In order to have direct access to Serbian courts and a debtor’s assets in Serbia, a foreign representative must file a request for recognition of the foreign proceedings as the primary or secondary foreign proceedings In the era of increased globalization, international trends have a strong impact on local ones, with national economies increasingly affected by movements and tendencies on the international scene. In such a setting, financial and insolvency issues troubling one corporation can easily become issues for related entities and partners abroad. A recent example is the EUR 2.56 billion cross-border insolvency case of Alpine Bau GmbH, one of the biggest cross-border insolvency and restructuring cases to date, which is having effects and implications in Serbia, too.

Insolvencies inevitably bring chaos and problems even at the national level and the magnitude of these difficulties is only increased when they play out on an international stage. Serbia is no exception to this rule. As a result, UNCITRAL has created a Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency in an attempt to provide effective mechanisms for dealing with the problems that tend to arise. Cross-border insolvency provisions based on this UNCITRAL Model Law were first introduced into the Serbian system in 2005 and have been subject to changes and improvements since, with the latest changes made in 2014 as part of the overall amendments to the Law on Insolvency. However, Serbian cross-border regulation still lacks some clarity, and additional improvements to Serbian legislation must be made to make it better suited to the needs of international trade and investments.

What follows is a brief overview of the basics of Serbian cross-border insolvency regulation.

Three Instances The Serbian Law on Insolvency sets out three instances that call for application of its cross-border insolvency provisions: 1. when a foreign court or competent foreign body/representative requires assistance in connection with foreign proceedings; 2. when the local insolvency judge/administrator requires assistance in a foreign country in connection with insolvency proceedings conducted in Serbia, in accordance with the Law on Insolvency; or 3. when foreign proceedings are conducted

By Natasa Lalovic Maric Wolf Theiss Serbia

simultaneously with insolvency proceedings in Serbia, in accordance with the Law on Insolvency.

Under the Law on Insolvency, Serbian courts generally have exclusive jurisdiction for instigating, opening, and conducting insolvency proceedings against debtors whose center of primary interests is situated in Serbia ("main insolvency proceedings"), as well as for cases arising thereunder. Serbian courts may also establish jurisdiction against debtors who merely have a permanent business establishment in Serbia ("secondary proceedings"). Both

the center of primary interests and permanent business establishment are defined in line with UNCITRAL Model law.

For cross-border insolvencies, insolvency proceedings are generally governed by the law of the state of their original instigation, with the exception of segregation/secured claims with respect to the assets located within the territory of Serbia, which are governed

by Serbian law, and the effects of the insolvency proceedings on employment contracts, which are construed in accordance with the law governing those contracts.

In order to have direct access to Serbian courts and a debtor's assets in Serbia, a foreign representative must file a request for recognition of the foreign proceedings as the primary or secondary foreign proceedings (depending on whether they take place in the state where the debtor has the center of its primary interests or its permanent establishment) with the competent court in Serbia. The court will decide upon such

requests without delay and recognize foreign proceedings if the applicant has filed proper documentation, including but not limited to the proof that foreign proceedings were initiated and that the foreign representative was appointed.

Interim Measures However, the court may refuse to take any action that is contrary to Serbian public policy. Upon and after instigation of the insolvency proceedings against a debtor whose center of primary interests is in Serbia, foreign proceedings may only be recognized as secondary foreign proceedings.

For the purpose of protecting a debtor's

assets or creditors' interests, Serbian courts may, upon request of foreign representatives, issue interim relief measures. Once foreign proceedings are recognized as primary, automatic relief measures occur, aimed at preventing the initiation of new proceedings concerning the debtor's property, suspending enforcement measures directed at the debtor's assets, and prohibiting the transfer, encumbrance, or other disposal of the debtor's assets. If appropriate, these measures may also be issued after recognition of foreign proceedings as secondary.

Unlike in other jurisdictions, the ruling on recognition of foreign proceedings does not need to be published. Nevertheless, it is advisable to have it published, at least in the form of an annotation on the commercial register's webpage.

After recognition of the primary foreign insolvency proceedings has been obtained, secondary insolvency proceedings in Serbia may be commenced only if the debtor has assets in Serbia.

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War Crimes Law Poisons Serbia Accession Talks

It is a typical story of a behind-closed-doors dispute in Brussels that meets national sensibilities back home and becomes a political and diplomatic issue

O

n 7 April, a Croatian expert told his colleagues in an EU committee on enlargement that his country did not agree with a document prepared by the European Commission ahead of discussions to open two chapters of Serbia's accession process.

Media in Serbia said that Croatia was vetoing its EU membership and the Croatian government was reportedly asked by the European Commission and other member states not to stop the process.

The context was quite inflammable, as Serbia was in a campaign for 24 April elections. And in Croatia, the government has stirred controversies over its rehabilitaion of nationalism.

But EU officials, although annoyed by the move, do not see it as so dramatic.

"It's a storm in a tea cup," a EU source told EUobserver.

"For the EU, it's not a big deal. This kind of things happens at other stage of the process and with other countries. There is nothing to get excited about."

"Croatia did not block. It did not say no, it said it was not yet ready to agree," the source said.

Another EU contact told this website that although Croatia did not veto the process, it was delaying it.

Crucial Chapters The commission said that "discussions are currently going on, with our support" and that it was "ready to move forward with next steps as soon as the required unanimity among member states is met".

The EU now wants to open two crucial

By Eric Maurice EUobserver

chapters of EU accession negotiations before the end of June: chapter 23 on the judiciary and fundamental rights, and chapter 24 on justice, freedom and security.

Talks on the opening benchmarks for chapter 24 are going well. The controversy is over the benchmarks for chapters 23.

Croatia wants the EU benchmarks to include that Serbia must scrap a law on universal jurisdiction.

The legislation passed in 2003 gives Serbia's judiciary a competence over war crimes committed on the territory of the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s.

"We have the right to say that this law affects regional cooperation," a senior Croatian official told EUobserver.

"This is a question of national interest and there is 100 percent support for this position in Croatia," he said.

Last year, the then-prime minister Zoran Milanovic said that the law was "unacceptable" and that Serbia could not enter the EU with it in place.

His justice minister, referring to the UN tribunal on war crimes during the wars in ex-Yugoslavia, said that with this law, Serbia was trying to have its own "mini Hague Tribunal".

But for the EU, the political context cannot escape the legal reality.

The EU says that laws on universal jurisdiction are not covered by the community acquis that new member states have to absorb and that it cannot oblige Serbia to drop its legislation on the matter.

Croatia insists these existing laws are different because they do not harm relations with neighbors. Abolishing the Serbian law would affect Serbia less than its existence affects Croatia, the official said. He admitted that this particular point is not understood by Croatia's EU partners.

Protection of Minorities Another issue is the protection of minorities in Serbia, in particular the Croatian minority.

Croatia says that Serbia "has not done enough" and points out that Croats are not represented in the Serbian parliament despite a bilateral agreement signed in 2004.

"Serbia needs to guarantee in practice" minorities' right in education, public administration and over the use of their language, an EU source said.

Chapter 23 has not yet been opened and discussions will be long before it is closed.

It'll be evn longe before the whole accession process is concluded, the EU sources said. That will leave plenty of time to secure guarantees from Serbia.

The EU "will carefully monitor" how Serbia will implement the measures requested by the EU on the "efficient and impartial treatment of war crimes, equal treatment of suspects, proportionality of sentences and protection of victims," a source said.

The discussions are going on and will stay at experts level, because the 27 other member states do not want it to be raised at the level of their ambassadors.

The commission still hopes to be able to open chapters 23 and 24 in June.

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Gianni Infantino, FIFA: Support From Serbia Means Lot to Me

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The support I received from the Football Association of Serbia meant a lot to me as I could realize from the very beginning that we share a vision and a strong commitment towards the sport we love, says FIFA president

he President of International Federation of Association Football (FIFA), mister Gianni Infantino, has spoken, in interview for the official website of Football Federation of Serbia, about the importance of the support that Serbian Football Federation President Karadzic and the FSS have given during his candidacy for the role of the new President of FIFA, as well as about the organization and work of Serbian House of Football, the picture from Belgrade that reached the entire World after Serbia have won the trophy in New Zealand, the need for construction of the new national football stadium, but also about the strategic goals of FIFA under his leadership.

The Football Association of Serbia was among the first to publicly give you support in your campaign for the FIFA president. How much have all of that meant to you?

The support I received from the Football Association of Serbia meant a lot to me as I could realize from the very beginning that we share a vision and a strong commitment towards the sport we love.

While I would like to thank again the Serbian FA and its President, Mr. Karadzic, as FIFA President I'm of course fully committed to work with and for all 209 FIFA member associations.

You had the opportunity to visit our unique Sports Center in Stara Pazova, as well as to get familiar with organization

and work of the Football Association of Serbia. Looking at those parameters, what is the current position of the Football Association of Serbia in comparison to the other football associations in Europe?

The Sports Center of the Football Association of Serbia is a landmark project that for sure has provided Serbian football with a great tool to further develop football at all levels. The development of football is FIFA's primary mission. The same goes for every FIFA member association. This is why it is so important for football that such facilities are being built, especially for the youth.

As far as the organization of the Serbian FA is concerned, I could witness in my time at UEFA how efficient it is.

Serbia won the FIFA U-2 20 World Cup 2015 that was held in New Zealand, while more than 100.000 people went out on the streets of Belgrade to celebrate that success. It was a picture that quickly circled the globe. How did it seem to you?

Winning a FIFA World Cup, in any category, can only be achieved with a lot of hard work. Serbia's victory at the FIFA U20 World Cup last year was the result of the great work done at youth level by the Football Association of Serbia.

Congratulations to all involved! This is very encouraging and promising for the future of Serbian football. I'm looking forward to see these players performing

at the next level.

The next major project of the Football Association of Serbia is building the national stadium. How important is it for the development of Serbian football?

As I mentioned earlier, good infrastructure is fundamental when it comes to football development. The building of the national stadium could be considered as the next step towards the improvement of Serbia's football infrastructure following the work done at Stara Pazova. Modern stadiums provide better conditions and therefore help welcoming more fans, in particular families. This is an additional tool to boost the success and the promotion of the Game.

In what direction will FIFA go under your guidance and what are the most important strategic goals?

The implementation of the reforms approved by the Congress on 26 February is a key priority. Furthermore, I want to substantially increase the budget for football development for the 2015-2018 period by USD 517 million (from USD 900 million to USD 1,417 million). By doing so, FIFA will be in a position to help its Member Associations, even better than now, to develop football. I want to give more participation and involvement to the various football stakeholders into FIFA's work. Overall, I want that FIFA's full focus is onto football.

And make the football community feel proud of FIFA.

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