Opposition Mulls Joining Forces in Belgrade Elections
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Issue No. 213 Friday, September 23 - Thursday, October 06, 2016 ORDER DELIVERY TO Čukarica Slobodan Bitef YOUR DOOR +381 11 4030 303 residents fear Georgiev: shows no [email protected] - - - - - - - ISSN 1820-8339 1 ‘toxic smoke’ People can be signs of BELGRADE INSIGHT IS PUBLISHED BY 0 1 from tyre- killed in different slowing in burning ways 50th year Page 5 Page 9 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 Sanctions 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 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 - - - - - - - - - - Opposition mulls joining deadline - forces in Belgrade elections loomsNEWS for Serbia A proposal to run a NEWS joint candidate for over gas Belgrade mayor in “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: the next city elec- company 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. - - - - - tions could be the After missing best chance for the page 10 embattled opposi- a deadline to tion to challenge the ‘unbundle’ dominance of the Srbijagas, Serbia 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 ruling party, experts 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. faces sanctions W Issue No. 1 / Friday, June 13, 2008 Issue No. 1 / Friday, - - - - believe. in October that - Saša DRAGOJLO may impede its s all parties ponder page 5 who their candidates EU accession will be in the forth- coming elections in negotiations. Belgrade, the opposi- tion is considering conomists are warning that pro over Serbia’s uncertainty longed “This year has been lost, from the whether to field a joint candidate in a Stevan VELJOVIĆ After eight years of stagnation, the pro-European and nation With Nikolic believes the Socialists, led “The group of younger Socialists A 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 bid to oust the Serbian Progressive Par- E - - - - ty, SNS, from City Hall. erbia faces the prospect of - A new player in the election could sanctions from the Energy also be the civic movement “Let’s not Community on October Drown Belgrade” [Ne davimo Beograd], 14th following its failure to Friday • June 13 2008 whose popularity has grown following restructure Srbijagas, the an outcry over the controversial demo- state-owned gas utility, litions in the Savamala district. Swhich is highly dependent on Russia. “The [Energy Community] Secretariat THIS ISSUE OF Continued on page 2 The current Belgrade Mayor Siniša Mali is not likely to stay in the post for too long. Photo: Beoinfo has sent many letters to the Serbian au- Belgrade Insight IS SUPPORTED BY: IS SUPPORTED thorities but to no avail. 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 decision on measures against Ser- 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 bia will be announced officially on th14 Oc- tober in Sarajevo, and will enter into force Bulgaria’s IT boom offers immediately,” the Secretariat said. Experts say the issue of the Serbian gas provider has become a political hot potato in which the EU and Russia hold Syrian refugee new life different interests. The restructuring of Srbijagas has “In the beginning, staying in Bulgaria This is how he met many Bulgarian been an issue for years between Serbia When one 33-year-old Syrian reached was not on my mind, as I knew it was volunteers who advised him to look for and the Energy Community. Bulgaria, his only goal was to get to Western a poor country and there were no op- a job in the country. The international organisation gath- portunities here. I thought I would “I just sent my CV to some compa- ers EU countries and countries in South Europe – but Bulgaria’s ambitious software have a better chance to find a good nies and they immediately started call- East Europe around the aim of creating job in Germany,” Elias recalled in his ing me – IT or outsourcing companies, an integrated market. and outsourcing companies made him modern office in Sofia, the Bulgarian looking for people with Spanish [which Serbia has agreed to unbundle Srbi- capital. Elias speaks fluently together with jagas’s activities both legally and opera- change his mind. “It was destiny that made me stay three other languages] or Arabic,” he tionally, to have separate companies for successful career in IT and a family in here,” he added, remembering the sum- explained.