This Week in the News 

Serbia

Former presidential candidate Tomislav Nikolić from the Progressive Party (SNS) accused his opponent Boris Tadić from the Democratic Party (DS) of electoral fraud. Nikolić stated that, should he not win the run off election on May 20, 2012, then nobody will ever know how the elections were rigged. Nikolić explained his decision of not withdrawing from the presidency. He will not grant Tadić the chance of winning the elections automatically, said Nikolić. Not only would it be against the law for me to withdraw, it would also be a crime to leave Serbia in Tadić’s hands. He is sure that the elections were rigged and said he will continue his bid for the presidency so as to win the runoff election. This way, Nikolić explained, everybody will know that there was electoral fraud. Nikolić also criticized Serbia’s media organization RTS of siding with Tadić.

Former presidential candidate for the Democratic Party (DS) Boris Tadić stated that presidential candidate for the Progressive Party (SNS) Tomislav Nikolić does not shy away from threating with destabilization and conflict so as to avoid his failed attempt at getting elected. If the OSCE, and all other CESID observer parties, including the people from the SNS in the polling places were satisfied with the elections, then Nikolić’s behavior simply shows that he is a sore loser. Tadić added that he was not surprised with Serbia’s general election results. Since 2000, said Tadić, people chose the way of stability and new chances. They do not wish to return to the situation of the 1990’s. Those who unable to lose are the ones that are surprised, said Tadić, adding that those are the ones who proclaim alleged irregularities regarding the votes. Tadić sees this as an alibi for those that may be poised to lose come May 20, 2012 – the presidential election of Serbia. Tadić expressed certainty that voters will continue to choose a pro-European policy that will bring investment, new jobs and stability to the region.

In the end, right wing politician Tomislav Nikolić won Serbia’s presidency. Vesna Peśić, former Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) MP of Serbia, believes that the reason for Tadić’s loss was the nature of his aggressive campaign. Tadić’s campaign, so Peśić, was unpleasant and his ruling appeared arrogant. His administration forgot about ordinary citizens who were left with nothing after the faulty privatization process. The outcome of the presidential campaign is the result of mismanaged governance, explains Peśić, adding that it is good that Serbia proved that the government is replacable. This should be a clear message to the new administration that they too could be replaced. Peśić predicted prior to the presidential elections that Tadić will not be re-elected. 

Tadić received his greatest support from the Sandžak region, said Meho Muhmatović, mayer of Novi Pazar. In the six municipalities that are located in Sandžak, 75,2 percent – or 83,231 supported Tadić whereas 24 percent – or 27,447 of the voters chose Nikolić. Muhmatović stated that Sandžak’s citizens voted for a pro-European administration and added that he hopes the new government will stay on its course toward Europe.  

Truck drivers blocked the road between Raška and Novi Pazar for several hours. The truckers were dissatisfied because they were not able to carry their cargo to Kosovo south of the Ibar River, across the administrative crossings of Jarinje and Brnjak. The blockade dissolved after some time the same day after a meeting with Meho Mahmutović, the mayor of Novi Pazar. Mahmutović promised to push for a resolution of the problems. There are about 3,000 trucks that are registered in Novi Pazar which carry fright for a large number of Serbian companies.

There are about 200 Roma that live in and around Novi Pazar, most of whom fled from Kosovo. According to Blic, these people live in tough conditions without water and electricity. Now, they asked the government for help. The responsible administrative bodies ought to bring electricity to the citizens and pave the roads. Mefail Đugatani, one of the Roma, said they would like to send their children to school, adding that it was hard for them to send their kids to school dirty.

“Sandžak za Tadića, jug za Nikolića”. B92. Accessed May 21, 2012. http://www.b92.net/info/izbori2012/vesti.php?yyyy=2012&mm=05&dd=21&nav_id=611190

“Vesna Peśić: Agresivna Tadićeva kampanja je odbila Ljude!” Telegraf. Accessed May 20, 2012. http://www.telegraf.rs/vesti/215044-vesna-pesic-agresivna-tadiceva-kampanja-je-odbila-ljude

“Romi iz Novog Pazara traže struju i vodu”. Blic Online. Accessed May 17, 2012. http://www.blic.rs/Vesti/Drustvo/324120/Romi-iz-Novog-Pazara-traze-struju-i-vodu     

“Prekinuta blokada puta Raška”. RTS. Accessed May 16, 2012. http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/57/Srbija+danas/1103738/Prekinuta+blokada+puta+Raška+-+Novi+Pazar.html

“Nikolić: Ako ne pobedim, nikada nećete saznati kako je DS pokrao izbore”. Blic. Accessed May 14, 2012. http://www.blic.rs/izbori-2012/vesti/1162/Nikolic-Znam-da-mogu-da-pobedim-Borisa-Tadica 

“Tadić: Nikolićevi potezi alibi za neuspeh”. EMG.rs. accessed May 14, 2012. http://www.emg.rs/vesti/srbija/179454.html   

Bosnia and Herzwgovina (BiH) 

An increasing number of foreign investors are withdrawing money from BiH. This year, reported the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations, more money left BiH than was invested in it. Investors withdrew 100 million marks in capital while only half that sum was reinvested. From approximately 50 million marks, about 15 have been invested by Croatia and Slovenia while Switzerland, Italy and Turkey each invested about 5 million marks. Austrian companies withdrew about 45 million marks, Serbia 35 million and Luxembourg withdrew 28 million marks.

Mevlid Jašarević is likely to deny all charges against him this coming Wednesday. His lawyer, Senad Dupovac, explained that he can not be sure about his behavior in the courtroom while he is certain that he, Jašarević will plead not guilty regarding charges of terrorism. Jašarević’s partners, Emrah Fojnic and Muniba Ahmedspahić too are thought to plead not guilty.

Milorad Dodik, president of Republika Srpska (RS), stated that the “experiment” of state building in Bosnia i Herzegovina (BiH) had failed. Dodik again criticized the international community of having degraded the Dayton Accords. He believes RS to be a successful community in which everybody is welcome while he deems the BiH experiment a failure. Dodik added that RS ought to become an increasingly independent entity within BiH, without putting anybody at a disadvantage.

“Dodik: BiH neuspeno eksperiment”. RTS. Accessed May 18, 2012.

http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/11/Region/1104830/Dodik%3A+BiH+neuspeo+eksperiment.html     

“Jašarević će se izjasniti da nije kriv”. SEEbiz.eu. Accessed May 19, 2012. http://www.seebiz.eu/jasarevic-ce-se-izjasniti-da-nije-kriv/ar-35301/     

“Strani investor povlače novac iz BiH”. EMG.rs. Accessed May 18, 2012.

http://www.emg.rs/vesti/region/179675.html            

In This Week's News

Bosnia i Herzegovina (BiH)

The draft of BiH’s budged is likely to fail when it comes to the vote by BiH’s presidency. BiH’s national TV announced that Željko Komšić, the Croatian member of BiH’s rotating presidency, and Bakir Izetbegović, the Bosniak member of BiH’s rotating presidency, will vote against the adoption of the budged. Komšić confirmed this prior to the party’s session last week. Should Komšić insist on his decision, a new political storm will ensue and will lead the termination of compliance with the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and president Zlatko Lagumdžija, as reported by 24.sata.info. BiH’s budged, amounting to KM950 million, was adopted in the Council of Ministers just by Lagumdžija and Damir Hadžić and sparked a storm of disapproval. Particularly sharp were reactions that came from the Democratic Action Party (SDA) while all trade unions are unanimous in their assessment; this budged will break BiH.   

It is worrisome that between 2002 and 2025, the unemployment rate has risen up to 25 percent. In BiH, every seventh citizen is currently unemployed. This was found out by the local agency called ALDI which undertook a study on the reform of social security. The concept of unemployment differs between the agency ALDI and BiH’s statistical office according to which 200,000 people less are thought unemployed. Most affected by unemployment are the young as 25,000 jobs were lost during the financial crisis, all of whom were filled with young people between the ages of 15 – 24. Meanwhile, the largest job growth was recorded in the public sector while Republica Srpska recorded the highest growth.

Turkey has begun to lobby for BiH’s admittance to the NATO alliance. B92 reported that Turkey’s foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu started a diplomatic mission in Brussels for BiH to be included in the action plan for membership (MAP). This was confirmed by Davutoglu’s spokesperson Seldžuk Unal who explained that the initiative was formally addressed to all ministers who attended the ministerial NATO meeting in Brussels. B92 reports that BiH’s future in NATO was the main topic between Davutoglu and Great Britains foreign minister William Haig during the ministerial meeting last Thursday. According to regional news, Davutoglu and his Bulgarian colleague Nikolaj Mladenov jointly prepared a letter in which they seek recognition of BiH in MAP. We wish, so Davotoglu, that BiH feels that the international community cares about this country. We shall not forget that we watched the massacre for three years before we elected to intervene, so that now, we simply cannot turn our backs on BiH”.

While Askmen.com describes BiH as a scary place for tourists, the creators of the video game “Medal of Honor” present BiH as a country of terrorists. As B92 reports, this is one of the most famous games worldwide and its release is planned in the U.S. for late October. The player will visit the most conflict-ridden places to fight terrorists, to kill, and be killed. Other countries that are depicted as terrorist heavens are Somalia, Yemen and the Philippines. Previously, the portal Askman.com had made a list with the ten most fearful places for tourists, on which BiH is in the second place. Bosnia’s portal Klix.com reported that tourists still have the pictures of a wrecked BiH in mind where one can feel the ghosts of the past. Askmen.com concludes its report by explaining that BiH’s streets are still scarred from the war adding that, after all, this is were WWI started. The result is an amazing history and great cuisine, one of the best to the east of Italy.

The Russian oil company NeftegazInKor which owns the oil refinery in Brod plans to invest an additional €700 million over the course of the next four years. Đakonov Aleksandar, the director of Optima group that manages the NeftgazInKor in Brod, explained that so far €120 million were invested into the refinery. The planned investment cycle is intended to bring the quality of the refinery to the level of the most advanced refineries of Europe. After the completion of the investment cycle, the refinery will run at a processing capacity of 4.2 million tons of oil, said Đakonov.

BiH’s prosecution office filed an indictment this past week regarding the attacks on the U.S. embassy in Sarajevo last year. The indictment was not made public yet. However, the prosecution will ask that Jašarević’s prisonterm be 20 years. Večerni List reported that Nusret Imamović, a leading figure of BiH’s Wahhabi movement, inspired Mevlid Jašarević’s rampage. The article claims that Imamović’s lectures and/or sermons encouraged Jašarević’s attack on the embassy. The paper further explained that Imamović’s sermons incited other terrorist acts in BiH over the course of the past two years. As Večerni List reported, Imamović spoke about how “the U.S. and the American Congress defined Muslims not only as military foes, but also as an ideological threat”. Therefore, “Muslims must defeat them ideologically”, the paper reported. Imamović further criticized those who support BiH’s bid for NATO and denounced the interreligious council of BiH and the Islamic Community as being traitors.

The U.S. ministry of justice indicted Mevlid Jašarević with attempted murder and for attacking the U.S. embassy with a machine gun. Reportedly, Jašarević is charged in ten points including, among others, attempted murder of U.S. officers and/or employees, attempted murder within the jurisdiction of the United States and assault with a deadly weapon.

“Pravosudje SAD podiglo optužnicu protiv Jašarević”. Beta Press. Accessed April 25, 2012. http://www.beta.rs/?tip=article&kategorija=vestidana&ida=2689469&id=&ime=

“Mevlidu Jašareviću prijeti zatvor od oko 20 godina”. Vijesti online. Accessed April 23, 2012. http://www.vijesti.me/svijet/mevlidu-jasarevicu-prijeti-zatvor-oko-20-godina-clanak-70647

“Imamović uticajni vođa vehabija”. Radio Televizija Vojvodine. Accessed April 23, 2012. http://www.rtv.rs/sr_lat/region/vecernjak:-imamovic-uticajni-vodja-vehabija_314685.html          

“Rusi ulažu 700ml evra u Srpsku”. B92. Accessed April 23, 2012. http://www.b92.net/biz/vesti/region.php?yyyy=2012&mm=04&dd=23&nav_id=603176

“BiH u igrici teroristička zemlja”. B92. Accessed April 23, 2012.

http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2012&mm=04&dd=23&nav_category=167&nav_id=602961

“Turska lobira za BiH u NATO”. B92. Accessed April 21, 2012. http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2012&mm=04&dd=21&nav_category=167&nav_id=602552         

“Svaki sedmi stanovnik BiH nezaposlen”. Al Jazeera Balkans. Accessed April 21, 2012.

http://staff.balkans.aljazeera.net/makale/svaki-sedmi-stanovnik-bih-nezaposlen       

“Željko Komšić neće podržati Nacrt državnog budžeta za 2012”. BiH News. Accessed April 20, 2012. http://www.bhnews.com/ba/vijest/19809/zeljko_komsic_nece_podrzati_nacrt_drzavnog_budzeta_za_2012.html

Slovenia

Three Slovenes, four Serbs and one citizen of BiH were arrested in relation to investigations on drug trafficking. The investigation was concluded last week in Celje, Slovenia, in cooperation with colleagues from Austria and Serbia. The suspects were trading drugs in Western Europe by using transportation company vehicles. One of the suspects was arrested in Austria while carrying 19kg of marijuana, more than 6000 ecstasy pills and 2kg of amphetamine pills. All but the two suspects from Serbia were registered in Celje. The Austrian police meanwhile captured two more of the gang’s members and confiscated 34kg of marijuana in addition to an extra 30kg that were with the other two members. The total value of the drugs lies at €200,000 while street value might be two or three times higher.

“Uhapšeno osam trgovaca drogom iz Slovenije, Srbije, BiH”. Press Online. Accessed April 23, 2012. http://www.pressonline.rs/sr/vesti/hronika/story/216287/Uhapšeno+osam+trgovaca+drogom+iz+Slovenije,+Srbije,+BiH.html     

Macedonia

Following the killing of five Macedonians, the Bulgarian newspaper Novinite suggested for Macedonia to split so as to ease tensions there. The article propagates the idea that Macedonia ought to split preventively so as to avoid a disaster in the future. The story was picket up the by pro-governmental news agency Večer which noted that the idea emerged from their eastern neighbor ten years after a similar proposal was launched by Macedonia’s former prime minister Ljupčo Georgievskog. The proposal launched the idea of redrawing borders and a population swap, the Albanian population. As the paper reported, the destabilization of Macedonia could result in an international conflict in Serbia, Kosovo, Bulgaria, Greece, Romania and Turkey. Therefore, a long-lasting solution ought to be found that could guarantee lasting stability in Macedonia. To this end, one must consider all options, one of which is the proposed “preventative division” of Macedonia. Why, concludes the article, should Albanians continue to be loyal to the Macedonian state in light of their rapidly growing number, especially after the example of Kosovo’s Albanians who received international recognition of independence only nine years after an armed rebellion?

“Podela Makedonije smiruje region?” Novosti.rs. Accessed April 23, 2012. http://www.novosti.rs/vesti/planeta.300.html:376851-Podela-Makedonije-smiruje-region

Serbia

Leader of the coalition Preokret and the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Čedomir Jovanović said that all, Serbs, Albanians, Bosniaks, Croatians and Hungarians are equally unhappy due to flawed policies in a rally in Novi Pazar. Politicians must meet existing problems head-on instead of running away from them, explained Jovanović. He explained that he goes into this campaign with the notion of fighting problems. We will, said the LDP’s leader, neither wage war with Tadić and Nikolić nor will we win with Ugljanin, Lljajić or the mufti. Instead, we must agree on the work that has to be done and this work must then become part of our lives. If people need to be reconciled, as Jovanović put it, let us do it before the elections and not afterwards. This way national reconciliation cannot be abused for the sake of forming coalitions.

Presidential candidate Ivica Dačić, leader or the coalition United Pensioners of Serbia (PUPS), Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) and United Serbia (JS) stated that his first presidential decree, should he be chosen, would be to petition for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to leave the country and to make sure that Vojvodina will never become a republic. “The arrogance of the IMF is endless”, said Dačić during a rally by Novi Sad’s Freedom Square. Dačić added that the IMF requested of Serbia to tighten its belt further by cutting the salaries of all employees as well as for Serbia to sell all public sector enterprises. He further emphasized that EU membership is not worth Serbia’s national interests adding that if conditions for EU accession means for Serbia to give up her most vital national interests, then Serbia is not interested in joining the EU. Regarding the status of Vojvodina, Dačić said that the region could be autonomous only if this supports Serbia’s unanimity and strength. Vojvodina will never be anti-Serbian and interested in her disunity as some have thought.

In a rally held in Novi Pazar, head of the Democratic Party (DS) and the coalition For a Better Life Boris Tadić emphasized that Serbia is on her way into a better future adding that he will work to affect change for the better in Serbia. He asserted that he will make sure to bring investors to the region who in turn will create jobs. Tadić explained that he will do anything to assure that all peoples, cultures and languages get the place they deserve adding that Serbia will be a country of peace for all her people. Tadić assured that there will be no repetition of what has happened in the past.

“Tadić dovodi investore u Novi Pazar”. Kurir. Accessed April 28, 2012. http://www.kurir-info.rs/tadic-dovodi-investitore-u-novi-pazar-clanak-201216      

“Vojvodina nikada neće postati republika”. Nezavisne Novine. Accessed April 28, 2012. http://www.nezavisne.com/novosti/ex-yu/Dacic-Vojvodina-nikada-nece-postati-republika-139063.html

“LDP: Svi su jednako nesrećni”. RTS. Accessed April 22, 2012.

http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/1950/Izbori+2012/1088102/LDP%3A+Svi+su+jednako+nesrećni+.html

Montenegro and BiH

Chairman of the council of ministers Vjekoslav Bevanda and minister of foreign affairs and EU integration Milan Roćen announced in Sarajevo that a border agreement between BiH and Montenegro is planned durign Bevanda’s upcoming visit to Montenegro. The date has not been publicized yet. Bevanda and Roćen pointed toward the significance of the Adriatic-Ionian highway and railway line between Čapljin and Nikšić emphasizing that this is a priority project for BiH and Montenegro. BiH and Montenegro wish to attract foreign investments for these infrastructural projects in a joint approach.

“BIH i Crna Gora: Uskoro sporazum o međudržavnoj granici”. Radio Slobodna Evropa. Accessed April 24, 2012. http://www.slobodnaevropa.org/archive/news/20120424/500/500.html?id=24558720