Weapons Finds Put BIA Under Spotlight
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Issue No. 217 Friday, November 18 - Thursday, December 01, 2016 ORDER DELIVERY TO Belgrade Pastry Film festival YOUR DOOR +381 11 4030 303 culinary scene: shops: continues to [email protected] - - - - - - - ISSN 1820-8339 1 Embracing Asian Belgrade’s challenge BELGRADE INSIGHT IS PUBLISHED BY 0 1 food sweet viewers gems Page 5 Page 11 Page 13 9 7 7 1 8 2 0 8 3 3 0 0 0 Even when the Democrats longas continue to likely is This also are negotiations Drawn-out Surely the situation is urgent Serbia Many of us who have experi We feel in-the-know because bia has shown us that (a.) no single no (a.) that us shown has bia party or coalition will ever gain the governa form to required majority negotiations political (b.) and ment, will never be quickly concluded. achieved their surprising result at last month’s general election, quickly itbecame clear that the re sult was actually more-or-less the result election other every as same in Serbia, i.e. inconclusive. as Serbia’s politicians form new political parties every time disagree with they their current party reg 342 currently are (there leader political parties in Serbia). istered the norm. One Ambassador Belgrade-based recently told me he was also alarmed by the distinct lack of urgency among politicians. Serbian “The country is standstill at and a I don’t understand their logic. If they are so eager to progress towards the EU and en theycome how investors, courage go home at 5pm sharp and don’t work weekends?” overtime. little a warrant to enough Weapons finds put BIA EDITOR’S WORD Predictability Political By Mark R. Pullen elections Serbian numerous enced rate ourselves as pundits when it comes to predicting election re sults and post-election moves. our experience of elections in Ser - - - - - - - - - - warned - under spotlight againstNEWS The discoveries of euphoria weapons caches NEWS near the PM’s home over fiscal have again revived “The situation in the party seems “Dacic will eventually side with Nikolic agreed: “The question is Fearing they might not cross the Pensioners leader, Jovan Krkoba The reported price is the post of In addition, the Socialists are bar Tadic has denied talk of horse- At the same time, Dacic seems re reach an agreement “If we don’t Source: Balkan Insight (www.balkaninsight.com) Balkan Insight (www.balkaninsight.com) Source: results party over which way to turn. extremely complicated, as we try to convince the few remaining lag gards that we need to move out of one Socialist shadow,” Milosevic’s Party official complained. in a bid to guide his party into Tadic the European mainstream, but much of the membership and many offi cials may oppose that move.” will the party split or ‘old- back down,” he noted. timers’ threshold to enter parlia 5-per-cent ment, the Socialists teamed up with Association of Pensioners and the the led by business United Serbia Party, man Dragan Markovic “Palma”. bic, Palma and Dacic are all pushing for a deal with the Democrats. of deputy PM, with a brief in charge security for the Socialist leader. gaining for other ministries, includ ing capital investments, Kosovo and education, Belgrade media reported. trading with the Socialists, maintain ing that ministries would go only to those committed to working for the “strategic goal”. government’s negotiations with luctant to call off the nationalists. with the DSS and Radicals, par ty leadership will decide on future steps”, Dacic announced, following par new country’s of session first the liament on Wednesday. - - - - the old question of - who truly controls Belgrade has won the Serbian secret praise from the page 10 services. IMF for cutting the Gordana ANDRIĆ budget deficit - but hile the football world watch es events unfold at the Euro erbia’s Security Service, the job of fiscal a strong current also However, Mihajlo Markovic, a founder of Markovic, a prominent supporter Some younger Socialist officials the BIA, is again under the Neighbourhood Matters faces extinction unless it changes. flows in the opposite direction, led by party veterans enraged the Tadic. prospect of a deal with recently warned of a crisis the party, if Dacic opts for the pro-European “nat bloc, abandoning the Socialists’ ural” ideological partners. of Milosevic during the 1990s, is seen as representative of the “old- timers” in the party who want to stay policies, true to the former regime’s even though these almost ruined the Socialists for good. have voiced frustration over the con tinuing impasse within their own Football Rebellion Football pean Championships in Austria and pean Championships in Switzerland, Bosnia is experiencing led by fans, play a soccer rebellion, enraged ers and former stars who are by what they see as corrupt leaders football association of the country’s leaders. W spotlight after Prime Min- June 13, 2008 Issue No. 1 / Friday, - - - - consolidation is far - ister Aleksandar Vučić an- nounced changes follow- from over and big ing embarrassing recent Sfinds of weapons caches in Belgrade. wage and pension page 5 This is just the latest scandal that has put a question mark over the work hikes are still risky. of the secret service whose role re- mains widely perceived as shady and burdened by its dark past in the 1990s Miloš DAMNJANOVIĆ conomists are warning that pro over Serbia’s uncertainty longed “This year has been lost, from the - when some of its members were in- After eight years of stagnation, the pro-European and nation With Nikolic believes the Socialists, led “The group of younger Socialists Business Insight Costs Mounting future could scare off investors, lead investors, lead future could scare off to higher inflation and jeopardise prosperity for years to come. says standpoint of economic policy,” Econom the of Stamenkovic Stojan ics Institute in Belgrade. to Serbia’s late president, Slobodan to Serbia’s Milosevic, and reformists who want the party to become a modern Euro pean social democrat organisation. the Socialists returned to centre stage after winning 20 of the 250 seats in elections. parliament in the May 11 alist blocs almost evenly matched, the Socialists now have the final say on the fate of country. by Ivica Dacic, will come over to if only out of a pragmatic de Tadic, sire to ensure their political survival. gathered around Dacic seems to be adding said, Nikolic majority”, the in that these reformists believe the party volved in war crimes and politically n spite of another positive as- E - - - - driven murders. sessment of Serbia’s efforts at - Over the last two decades, the issues fiscal consolidation by the IMF of how BIA works, in whose interests mission, which recently vis- and who controls the agency have ited Belgrade, experts and Ser- Friday • June 13 2008 remained a matter of intense specula- bia’s own Fiscal Council warn tion, shrouded by mystery. Iagainst premature euphoria. They say the time for fiscal consoli- Continued on pages 2 and 3 dation is not yet over and Serbia should Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić. Photo: Beta THIS ISSUE OF be cautious about increasing spending, Belgrade Insight IS SUPPORTED BY: IS SUPPORTED following announcements on October on a new gov ense negotiations ernment have divided the ranks th “It looks as if the Socialists will Simultaneous negotiations held This divides “old-timers” loyal Socialist leader Ivica Dacic remains the Serbian kingmaker Socialist leader Ivica Dacic remains Lure of Tadic Alliance Splits Socialists Tadic Lure of government, old pro-EU While younger Socialists support joining a new, over the prospect. revolt Milosevic loyalists threaten in Belgrade By Rade Maroevic 30 that pensions and salaries in the which holds of the Socialist Party, the balance of power between the blocs and has yet to announce main which side they will support. move towards a government led by the Democrats,” political analyst Mi lan Nikolic, of the independent Cen tre of Policy Studies, said. “But such a move might provoke deeper divi sions and even split the party.” with the pro-European and national ist blocs have drawn attention to a deep rift inside the Socialists. COMMENT T public sector will go up. While praising what Serbia has achieved, they say the problem of cost- Bulgaria has not become a new ly public companies whose big debts are currently covered from the budget east-west battleground remains to be addressed. NO DENYING THE The election of a ‘pro-Russian’ president media. But when the presidential elec- a done deal, one might think: Bulgaria GOOD RESULTS tions enthrone an ex-airforce com- has shifted gears and jumped on the may have piqued the Western media but mander who pledges to do his utmost Russian bandwagon. On November 1st, an IMF Staff mis- to scrap EU sanctions on Russia, now Reality is more nuanced. The No sion completed its visit to Serbia as Rumen Radev’s victory will not change we are talking. 1 rule in foreign policy analysis is to part of the sixth review of the country’s the fundamentals of Bulgaria’s external Rumen Radev’s sweeping victory last distinguish between rhetoric and sub- Stand-by Agreement, SBA. Sunday fits nicely into a geo-political stance. Russia has fraternal feelings to- Its concluding statement was full of allegiances. narrative, together with Igor Dodon’s wards a number of countries in South- praise for the government’s fiscal and success in the presidential elections in eastern Europe, not least Bulgaria’s economic achievements. Dimitar BECHEV interest in the elections in Montenegro Moldova. On top of that, Putin congratu- neighbour, Serbia, but “constructive On fiscal policy, the Fund noted that had it not been for allegations that the lated Radev, hailing “the centuries-long cooperation in areas of common inter- Serbia’s budget deficit this year is ex- ant to sell a story Kremlin fomented a coup on the night traditions of friendship, culture and est” works.