Bosnia i Herzegovina (BiH)

Bosnian and Turkish diplomats are determined to strengthen ties between the two respective states. After Bakir Izetbegović’s, member of BiH’s rotating presidency, recent statement by which he deemed Recep Tayyip Ergogan not only an important leader for Turkey, but also for BiH, Turkish ambassador Ahmed Yildiz to BiH assured BiH’s importance for Ankara. Yildiz explained that BiH and Ankara share historical and cultural ties while a large Bosniak diaspora lives in Turkey. Every occurrence in BiH thus also carries consequences for Ankara, he said. According to Novosti, Yildiz displayed special interest for military property. Yildiz emphasized the importance of EU membership as he expressed his hopes for a positive signal from Brussels. Regarding the military properties, there is no consensus among the parties so far, yet he hopes that this question can be resolved prior to the upcoming NATO summit in May so that BiH can advance its process of joining NATO. Republika Srpka’s Party of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD) meanwhile perceives increased partnership between Turkey and BiH as a threat. SNSD member Slavko Jovičić told Novisti that Turkey seeks to position itself as a leader in the region. Foreign Affairs minister of BiH Zlatko Lagumdžija confirmed that BiH will increase its cooperation with Turkey and stated that economic cooperation and trade will be at the center of the partnership. After a meeting with the president of the Commission for External Relations Volkan Bozkir, Lagumdžija stated that BiH’s goal is EU and NATO admission. Bozkir explained that Turkey will support BiH, especially on its way to NATO accession.

The mayor of Višegrad Tomislav Popović received the deputy director general of the Turkish International Cooperation Agency “Tika” Surej Polat as well as Ceran Burak Hasan who presides over Tika’s department of development. Popović was informed about the renovation and reconstruction of the Mehmet-Paša Sokolović Bridge over the Drina. Tika won the contract by way of public competition and the project is likely to take between two and two and half years due to the extensive and complex reconstruction effort. The Turkish government stated that the project is not a question of economics, but done out of respect for history as well as the significance of the structure.

BiH’s unemployment number is rising and has reached 43.08 percent as reported by the agency and for labour and employment. In January, 541,360 people were unemployed which is just 140,000 below the total number of employed people of BiH. In other words, an additional 4500, or .85 percent have lost their jobs since December 2011. Among the highest unemployed people are skilled workers, followed by the unskilled workforce and people with a secondary education. In January, there were only 687,000 employed people of which only 280,000 were women.

“Stopa nezaposlenosti u BiH premašila 43 posto”. Business.hr. accessed February 29, 2012. http://www.business.hr/ekonomija/stopa-nezaposlenosti-u-bih-premasila-43-posto

“Turci obnavljaju višegradsku ćupriju”. Novosti.rs. accessed March 2, 2012. http://www.novosti.rs/vesti/planeta.300.html:368882-Turci-obnavljaju-visegradsku-cupriju

“Lagumdžija: Saradnju BiH sa Turskom podići na viši nivo”. BiH-Nezavisne Novine. Accessed February 26, 2012. http://www.nezavisne.com/novosti/bih/Lagumdzija-Saradnju-BiHs-sa-Turskom-podici-na-visi-nivo-130091.html

“Jačaju veze Turske i BiH”. Novosti.rs. accessed February 25, 2012. http://www.novosti.rs/vesti/planeta.300.html:367783-Jacaju-veze-Turske-i-BiH

Sandžak

Mufti Zukorlić stated that he is dangerous only for those people that seek to oppress “my people”. My rhetoric may be considered dangerous and I myself be even viewed as radical. Asked about how he would define himself, either a religious leader who happens to deal with political questions or, a religious leader with serious political ambitions, Zukorlić stated he was neither. First of all, explained the mufti, he is a religious leader. However, he also considers himself a leader to the Bosniak movement of Sandžak that is now organizing in different areas of the Balkans. Islam and politics, explained Zukorlić, are not mutually exclusive while religious institutions cannot deal with political questions, however, nor should they. Yet, religion, education and culture are very well in his interest, said Zukorlić. Moreover, my bringing up human rights issues is painful for the government while human rights are universal issues, and nobody has the right to exclusively deal with them. Asked about the statement that many citizens of Serbia view him as a radical, Zukorlić countered that only people who are intellectually unable to counter-argue and have a discussion will deem ‘the other’ a dangerous radical. Besides, questioned Zukorlić, what is a radical? In the past twenty years, I have acted appropriately and tried to help the citizens of Sandžak and all the citizens of Serbia, explained Zukorlić. My role in the Islamic Community (IZ) is one of a pacifist, as has been the role of my people for the past 100 years. During the war years, Serbia’s Sandžak, as well as Kosovo were powder kegs and it was necessary that one of them to spark. A radical and dangerous person with ambitions to destabilize the region, Zukorlić added, would use any chance he got to do so. Moreover, there exist official records proofing that the IZ was the main factor that ensured peace and stability.

A debate under the name “Sandžak’s Young” has been launched by the news-outlet Dnevni List Danas (Daily News) and financed by the British Embassy in Serbia. Twenty students from the student parliament from the state university, activists and representatives of NGO’s as well as youth offices from in and around Novi Pazar and Tutin presented their vision of a multiethnic and religious environment such as Sandžak. Questions revolved around the visibility of division along ethnic and religious lines as well as about what connects these people and/or what factors divide them. The common problem among the young of Sandžak is the high unemployment rate and lacking events of sportive and cultural nature. There are visible national and religious divisions about which much of the responsibility lies with the elderly and especially the political leaders. Speakers expressed regret that not more Serbians participated in the discussion, as a joint effort is needed so as to resolve the existing problems. The event was attended by Borka Jovanović who is the president of the city while debates where hosted by the training center of the OSCE.

“Za dijalog su potrebne dve strane”. Dnevni List Danas. accessed February 26, 2012. http://danas.rs/danasrs/srbija/hronika/za_dijalog_su_potrebne_dve_strane.73.html

“Opasan sam jer ne služim vlasti”. B92. Accessed February 25, 2012. http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2012&mm=02&dd=25&nav_category=11&nav_id=585585

Serbia & the EU

Serbia was given status for EU membership accession. This decision was first announced via Twitter by Herman van Rompuy and later confirmed by the Commission’s president Jose Manuel Barroso, also via Twitter. The twenty-seven EU member-states met last Tuesday so as to discuss Serbia’s candidacy. Discussion lasted longer than originally expected and mainly hinged on Belgrade’s minority policy. Romania sought additional guarantees that Belgrade would apply minority policies properly. B92 reports that Rumania’s demand regarding minority policies came as a surprise as most assumed that the main requirements were to come from Germany. Normalizing relations with Priština is still the main criteria for Serbia to gain membership with the EU.

Croatia’s president Zoran Milanović expressed support for Serbia’s EU candidacy as he stated that Croatia will transfer her experience about the EU accession process to Serbia. Croatia’s foreign minister Vesna Pušić confirmed this information and stated via the electronic news media that Croatia will propose to its neighbors – including Serbia – the signing of bilateral agreements about the definition of collaboration and the transfer of experience regarding the accession process. Pušic explained that Croatia has the desire, the ability and the ambition to play a mediating role with each neighboring state in the region, with each of them in a way most appropriate.

“Zagreb: Podrška za kandidaturu”. B92. http://www.b92.net/inf/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2012&mm=02&nav_category=167&nav_id=586536

“Srbija dobila status kandidata”. B92. accessed March 2, 2012. http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.index.php?yyyy=2012&mm=03&dd=02&nav_id=587161