Issue No. 192 Friday, October 09 - Thursday, October 22, 2015 ORDER DELIVERY TO No end to Sremski BEMUS YOUR DOOR +381 11 4030 303 austerity Karlovci: where headlines busy [email protected] - - - - - - - ISSN 1820-8339 1 for Serbian tourism masks culture month in BELGRADE INSIGHT IS PUBLISHED BY 0 1 seniors misery Belgrade 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 Early 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 - - - - - - - - - - Serbian MPs ‘unable to election - talkNEWS alarms monitor surveillance ops’ Serbian Experts warn MPs businessNEWS lack powers and Early elections “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: technical knowl- 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. - - - - edge to control serve little - purpose and are surveillance oper- page 10 ations, amid fresh likely to slow down claims of unlaw- both investment and reforms, ful wiretapping. hile the football world watch es events unfold at the Euro economists and 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 Igor JOVANOVIĆ June 13, 2008 Issue No. 1 / Friday, - - - - managers say. - ublic confidence in Ser- bia’s security services Katarina MARKOVIĆ has been shaken after Stevan VELJOVIĆ page 5 the opposition Demo- cratic Party leader, Bojan year-and-a-half into its Pajtić, claimed last week present mandate, the Phis private telephone calls had been winners of 2014 early unlawfully intercepted. parliamentary elec- conomists are warning that pro over Serbia’s uncertainty longed “This year has been lost, from the Pajtić made the allegation after a tions are considering 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 Serbian news website, Teleprompter, inviting voters to go to E th - - - - published on September 30 what ap- Athe polls once again. - peared to be a transcribed private call Elections could be held in the next few between Pajtić and Lidija Udovički, for- months at the same time as regular elec- mer manager of the US firm Continen- tions for the municipalities and in the Friday • June 13 2008 tal Wind Partners. northern province of Vojvodina, reports Citing anonymous sources “close say. to security services”, Teleprompter Speculation about an early vote claimed the transcript was based on a gained more credibility following heated THIS ISSUE OF wiretapped conversation Pajtić had 18 arguments between the ruling Serbian Belgrade Insight IS SUPPORTED BY: IS SUPPORTED months ago. Progressive Party and opposition Demo- 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 cratic Party, and public disagreements 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 between ministers in the government. Continued on page 3 The Pajtić affair is just the latest in a series of allegations by politicians and officials that they have been unlawfully wiretapped. Photo by Beta Most Progressives support early elec- tions, but their leader, Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić, has postponed a deci- sion for mid-October until receipt of the Retrials expose flaws in European Commission’s Progress report. On October 1st, Vučić explained his dilemma, arguing there many reasons Croatia's 'war on corruption' exist to go to the polls early, “including the current atmosphere in public and Croatia’s much-vaunted ‘war on corruption’ ap- has called into question the ability of Numerous laws were changed, spe- the need to check the support of political Croatian courts to prosecute high-level cialist anti-corruption units were estab- options”. pears to falter after Supreme Court overturns corruption cases and Zagreb’s widely- lished within the courts and the Office for “The main reason against elections is praised ‘war on corruption’ as a whole. Suppressing Corruption and Organised the [need for] continuation of economic second conviction of former PM Ivo Sanader. All of which will likely prove highly Crime, USKOK, was granted more powers reforms, economic consolidation and embarrassing for Croatia, not least be- to prosecute alleged corruption cases. restructuring of public enterprises,” he Sven MILEKIĆ The convictions, the result of two cause the anti-corruption push had Kosor was even compared to Ger- added. separate trials that concluded in 2014, been hailed by international media man Chancellor Angela Merkel in her Talk of possible elections follows roatia launched it’s have since been quashed by higher and politicians as a role model for the commitment to fighting corruption in praise for the government’s reforms.