Issue No. 188 Friday, July 10 - Thursday, July 23, 2015 ORDER DELIVERY TO Belgrade’s "The The YOUR DOOR +381 11 4030 303 public sector European ultimate [email protected] - - - - - - - ISSN 1820-8339 1 drivers slam Dream" EXIT survival BELGRADE INSIGHT IS PUBLISHED BY 0 1 working at Palić Lake guide conditions Page 6 Page 9 Page 10 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 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 Belgrade 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 - - - - - - - - - - investment - Western Balkans on NEWS plan ‘targeting wrong areas’ alert over ISIS threat NEWS While officials Countries in the “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: say the new ‘zero 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. - region have raised - - - borrowing’ policy - security levels and the Belgrade and introduced Waterfront page 10 new precautions development will to counter the help fill the city’s hile the football world watch es events unfold at the Euro threat of terrorist budget, experts a strong current also However, Mihajlo Markovic, a founder of Markovic, a prominent supporter Some younger Socialist officials 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 fear the new June 13, 2008 Issue No. 1 / Friday, - - - - attacks by Islamic - State. investment plan is too narrowly page 5 BIRN Team focused. olice in bulletproof vests, increased security at Katarina MARKOVIĆ public buildings and joint patrols at the borders are conomists are warning that pro over Serbia’s uncertainty longed “This year has been lost, from the elgrade officials have After eight years of stagnation, the pro-European and nation With Nikolic believes the Socialists, led “The group of younger Socialists only some of the meas- 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 given the campaign to E ures introduced by the - - - - attract foreign investors - Pregion’s security services after ISIS re- leased a video urging its supporters in to the Serbian capital a the Balkan to kill “unbelievers” in their boost, with Mayor Siniša Mali presenting the city’s home countries. Friday • June 13 2008 The video, published on June 5th fea- Bpotential at Milan EXPO 2015 on June tures Balkan fighters calling on “fellow 22nd. Muslim brothers” to join the fight for Several days earlier, his deputy an- Islamic State, known as ISIS or ISIL, or nounced that the city would for the first THIS ISSUE OF “attack” non-Muslims in their respec- time organise an investment forum, Belgrade Insight IS SUPPORTED BY: IS SUPPORTED tive countries. entitled Belgrade Investments Days, in on a new gov ense negotiations ernment have divided the ranks “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 September. 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. T City officials hope to gather business- Continued on page 3 Experts say ISIS poses threat to region’s stability. Photo by Beta/AP men from Europe, Russia, central Asia, Turkey and China and put Belgrade on the “map of investment destinations”. Earlier this year, the city announced Fear on the run: a new policy of putting an end to fur- ther borrowing and focusing on creat- ing an environment that attracts new A Srebrenica survivor’s tale investors. While the city is banking on the suc- was in territory controlled by the Meanwhile the rest of the women, cess of the multi-billion-euro Belgrade Fatima Ahmić spent 13 days fleeing through Bosnian Army. children and elderly people went to the Waterfront construction project, many woodlands, almost entirely without food and Fatima’s husband and two sons were United Nations peacekeepers’ base in experts believe the Serbian capital’s also in the column. They had all agreed: nearby Potočari, where they believed best chance of attracting investors lies water, dodging ambushes and shellfire as she “If we die, we die together.” they would be safe. instead in tourism and services. escaped the Srebrenica massacres 20 years ago. “I thought, if one of them is injured I The fleeing column came under con- They predict that the biggest invest- would tend to him and be with him… stant shell fire and many people died ments in the future will be made in cit- but it never pans out the way you plan,” during the long march, Fatima recalls. ies with strong infrastructure located Jasmina ĐIKOLI from the Bosnian Serb troops who over- she says. When the shooting started, she got sep- close to main transport corridors. ran her old hometown in July 1995, and The column of men, some ten kilo- arated from her family.