Serbia Finds Juggling NATO and Russia a Struggle
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Issue No. 202 Friday, March 18 - Thursday, March 31, 2016 ORDER DELIVERY TO Centre throws Tašmajdan Belgrade Dance YOUR DOOR +381 11 4030 303 vulnerable cave, potential Festival more [email protected] - - - - - - - ISSN 1820-8339 1 Belgraders a tourist international BELGRADE INSIGHT IS PUBLISHED BY 0 1 lifeline hotspot than ever Page 5 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 Passing 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 - - - - - - - - - - Serbia finds juggling - NATO and Russia a struggle theNEWS buck Ruling and Serbia’s recent NEWS agreement with opposition parties avoid economic NATO has an- “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: issues in the early 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. - - - - gered national- - ists and unset- election because tled its Russian they are equally to page 10 ally - and raises blame, experts say. questions about hile the football world watch es events unfold at the Euro whether its doc- a strong current also However, Mihajlo Markovic, a founder of Markovic, a prominent supporter Some younger Socialist officials Stevan VELJOVIĆ 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 trine of military June 13, 2008 Issue No. 1 / Friday, - - - - he campaign for early - neutrality is still parliamentary elec- tions in Serbia started sustainable. with the usual ex- page 5 change of harsh state- Dušica TOMOVIĆ ments, but unlike pre- Saša DRAGOJLO Tvious campaigns, very little debate or pledges regarding the economy. erbian Radicals leader For the ruling party, the Serbian Pro- conomists are warning that pro over Serbia’s uncertainty longed “This year has been lost, from the and war crimes defendant gressive Party, SNS, holding early Parlia- 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 Vojislav Šešelj burned the mentary elections on April 24th, along E - - - - EU and NATO flags on the with the local elections and elections - steps of Belgrade’s Special in the province of Vojvodina, looks like Court on March 10th in pro- an opportunity to strengthen its grip on test against the Serbian government's power. S Friday • June 13 2008 recent agreement with NATO and its For opposition parties, it is an oppor- continued EU aspirations. tunity to recover from the 2014 elec- After burning the EU and NATO flags, tions debacle, when the Progressives Šešelj told journalists that signing of the secured more than a half of the seats in THIS ISSUE OF agreement meant that "Serbia has lost the Parliament. Belgrade Insight IS SUPPORTED BY: IS SUPPORTED its neutrality." Some previous campaigns, includ- 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 ing the 2012 elections, were marked 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 Continued on page 2 Anti-NATO protest on February 20 in Belgrade. Photo: Facebook with promises of new investments, new jobs, improving living standards, support for small business and the fight against corruption. This time, it seems like the economy Hate-filled graffiti mirrors is a less prominent topic than it was before, at least at the beginning of the campaign. At the moment, it seems safer to at- Bosnia’s divisions tack opponents by either harping on old affairs, debating NATO membership Graffiti in Bosnia often have little to do with street Luka [the main town in Republika Srp- Some works of graffiti appear in odd prospects or sexism in public speech ska] and Sarajevo in those days that places. A few weeks ago, a sign was than to talk about what matters most to art. Nationalist or political slurs and threats against involved Kosovo as well,” Ernest told sprayed onto a wooden board at a spot the citizens. other ethnic groups have become an unsightly BIRN, resignedly. popular with local fishermen next to The main problems of the Serbian He did not report the threat to the au- the confluence of the Bosnia and Usora economy – growth, public debt and un- reflection of the country’s divisions. thorities. In his experience, the authors rivers, between the mainly Serb town of employment – are not topics that par- of such works are never found and Doboj and Bosniak-dominated Maglaj. ties are readily inclined to talk about. Katarina PANIĆ “Every mosque will be an easy target - even if the graffiti is removed or painted “This is Serbia, access is forbidden to Neither the ruling party nor opposi- we will slaughter every Shiptar [insulting over, new ones soon pop up.