Issue No. 205 Thursday, April 28 - Thursday, May 12, 2016 ORDER DELIVERY TO Celebrating Author BIRN’s YOUR DOOR +381 11 4030 303 Easter, urges women Kosovo war [email protected] - - - - - - - ISSN 1820-8339 1 Serbian to live more crimes film debuts BELGRADE INSIGHT IS PUBLISHED BY 0 1 style fully in Serbia Page 4 Page 6 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 New 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 - - - - - - - - - - New Serbianparliament Smederevo - steelNEWS mill mirrors politically owner promisesNEWS polarised society investments “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: For the past few and jobs - for 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. - - - - - years, self-styled now ‘pro-European’ par- China's He Steel page 10 ties have had no se- Group bids rious opposition in premium price parliament, but that hile the football world watch es events unfold at the Euro However, a strong current also However, Mihajlo Markovic, a founder of Markovic, a prominent supporter Some younger Socialist officials despite falling 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 is about to change June 13, 2008 Issue No. 1 / Friday, - - - - after radical pro- prices, demand - throughout Russian forces won page 5 seats in the April Europe. th 24 elections. Stevan VELJOVIĆ n the afternoon of the general th conomists are warning that pro over Serbia’s uncertainty longed “This year has been lost, from the Milivoje PANTIĆ elections held on April 24 , the 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 outgoing government closed a E - - - - nce the new Serbian par- deal to sell Železara Smederevo - liament is established steel mill, selling it to China's He after the results of the Steel Group, one of the largest elections are finalised, firms in the global steel business. I Friday • June 13 2008 its sessions are expected Minister of Economy Željko Sertić and toO offer a much more realistic picture of He Steel Chairman Yu Yong signed the the country’s politics than before. contract on the steel mill grounds at an April 18th ceremony attended by Prime th THIS ISSUE OF Continued on page 2 Serbian voters cast their ballots on April 24 . Photo: Beta Minister Aleksandar Vučić and govern- Belgrade Insight IS SUPPORTED BY: IS SUPPORTED ment ministers. 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 The deal with the Chinese company 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 came as a relief for workers and for the government, which faced substantial Bulgaria makes stars of costs for keeping the company running. The accord is the first Chinese invest- ment in a major Serbian company. Until now, Chinese companies were engaged vigilante migrant hunters mostly in infrastructure projects financed through state-sponsored bilateral loans. The Serbian government accepted on Their actions have caused outrage abroad, “We are united by patriotism and by up a space for ultra-nationalist rheto- April 5th a binding bid submitted by the the idea of helping society,” Roussimov ric, targeting Muslim and Roma minori- He Steel Group to buy the Smederevo but at home the self-appointed ‘migrant told BIRN. ties, Bulgaria’s EU and NATO member- steel mill for €46 million. The company hunters’ who patrol Bulgaria’s border with “Patriotism” is the key word that ultra- ship, and the liberal political ideology. will invest at least €300 million in the mill nationalist groups use to justify their According to a recent national poll by and plans to retain the workforce of 5,050 Turkey enjoy broad support. hunts for undocumented migrants on Alpha Research, over 54 per cent of Bul- employees. the border with Turkey. garians approve of the civil arrests of He Steel is the largest steel producer in Mariya CHERESHEVA Dressed casually and seated on a migrants who have entered the coun- China, with an annual production capac- bench in the scenic garden of Burgas, TOLERANCE FINDS ITS LIMITS try illegally. ity of 50 million tons. It employs a work- risto, Biser and Georgi, they do not look like the uniformed Most of them, 54.8 per cent, believe force of 120,000. The company operates three young Bulgarians toughs shown patrolling the border Despite Bulgaria’s longstanding tradi- citizens should help the state guard the in 30 countries around the world and its from the coastal city of area in numerous amateur videos.