Issue No. 184 Friday, May 15 - Thursday, May 28, 2015 ORDER DELIVERY TO Migrants Imperial Anxious YOUR DOOR +381 11 4030 303 pause for breath bag finally note to [email protected] - - - - - - - ISSN 1820-8339 1 in Belgrade sees light this year’s BELGRADE INSIGHT IS PUBLISHED BY 0 1 parks of day Mikser Page 5 Page 6 Page 10 9 7 7 1 8 2 0 8 3 3 0 0 0 COMMENT 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 Macedonian 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 bangs drum - policeNEWS action leaves host of questions over Greater Albania NEWS After the violence in The police action “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: Kumanovo, Serbia’s in Kumanovo has 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. - - - - media, politicians claimed 22 lives, - and experts have eight members page 10 rushed to warn of the of the police and dangers of a Greater 14 fighters of the Albania – a campaign armed group. It has hile the football world watch es events unfold at the Euro that some say suits However, 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. also left behind it a W the Serbian govern- June 13, 2008 Issue No. 1 / Friday, - - - - ment’s interests. trail of unanswered - questions. page 5 Gordana ANDRIĆ acedonian offi- Sefer TAHIRI cials have yet to provide full infor- he Macedonian police mation of what action in Kumanovo conomists are warning that pro over Serbia’s uncertainty longed “This year has been lost, from the happened in the leaves several ques- 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 northern town of tions unanswered. It E - - - - MKumanovo and what lay behind the has also left behind - clashes between police and a previ- not only lives lost and ously unknown armed group. Thomeless people but a bitter feeling However, Serbian security officials, that it takes a very little for the situation Friday • June 13 2008 experts and media have already drawn in Macedonia to get out of control. up several lurid scenarios. Most centre With such fragile institutions and on the idea that the clashes marked with a security system under the direct the start of a Kosovo Albanian-led fight command of the ruling VMRO DPMNE for a Greater Albania, while some even THIS ISSUE OF party, literally only one gun can turn Belgrade Insight IS SUPPORTED BY: IS SUPPORTED claim that America was behind the the country into a conflict zone. on a new gov ense negotiations ernment have divided the ranks events in Kumanovo. “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 Regardless of the fact that this con- 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 Clashes in Macedonia prompted fears in Belgrade that violence might spread to Serbia. Photo by Marko Drobnjaković/AP flict was not ethnic, the clash between the police and the armed group - which COMMENT apparently has no demands or politi- cal platform - still leaves behind a high level of uncertainty and confusion. Crunch time looms How was the police action executed? Were all international standards for ex- ecuting an action in such circumstanc- es implemented? for reforms in Serbia There are some of the more obvious questions that need to be answered in With the toughest reforms yet to come, the and increasing the price of electricity, She also refrained from making a reasonable time, or they will cast a which were debated during the April judgements on the timing and percent- shadow over the whole action, opening risk of some key reforms being abandoned in 29th-May 11th visit. age of the electricity price rise. the door for all sorts of suspicions. Zuzana Murgasova, head of the IMF She acknowledged the implemen- Was an ultimatum needed, to give the face of resistance is growing, experts say. mission, told a press conference with tation of agreed fiscal consolidation the local citizens an opportunity to Dušan Vujović, the Minister of Finance, measures, however, noting that Serbia's safely leave the area? Was there a need th on May 11 , that no discussion about fiscal performance in the first quarter for the excessive force that was shown Katarina MARKOVIĆ and the Executive Board is now expect- potential increases in pensions and was “in line with the objectives set by against the local people, children, wom- public-sector salaries took place.