1. No leverage to block the recruitment process of the Wagner Group in Serbia

The Serbian Press Council let the public know that it does not yet have the authority to sanction “the job ad” made public by the well-known paramilitary group – the Wagner Group – that carries out activities in Ukraine. The ad was placed on the website of Russia Today Balkans.

The Serbian Press Council justified its action by the fact that it is an independent body that reunites editors, news agencies owners and media professionals. It released its justification to the press and also said that for the time being it did not have the authority to sanction the job ads of the renowned Russian paramilitary group mentioned above.

Gordana Novakovic, the general secretary of the Serbian Press Council stated that the institution she represented deals exclusively with the complaints related to the breach of the Code of the Serbian Journalists and does not have the authority to decide on violations of the Penal Code. When it comes to the violation of the Code of the Serbian Journalists, G. Novakovic referred to the article that stipulates that “a journalist/editor must not agree, under any circumstance to commercial advertising or political propaganda masked by journalism”.

Novakovic said that that far, the Serbian Press Council had not received any complaints related to the published text, and Russia Today Balkans was not on the list that falls within the Council’s responsibility and no complaints had been filed in this respect.

Comments:

On the 5^th January 2023, Russia Today Balkans published an article entitled “Wagner Published an Ad for Volunteers, the Terms Are More than Convenient”. The text cites the recruitment ad published on the official website of the Wagner Group, as well as on their official Telegram channel, where they listed the requests and “benefits” of those who apply.

The Wagner Group, also known as PMC Wagner is a Russian paramilitary organisation, described as a private military company, a mercenaries’ network or as a private army.

In December 2022, the Serbian press let know that the Wagner Group announced via its Telegram channel that it would open in Serbia the Residential Cultural and Informational Centre of Friendship and Cooperation Orly.

However, the Serbian President, Aleksandar Vučić, stood his ground and stated during an interview for Prva TV he gave in the end of December 2022, that the Wagner Group “had no business in Serbia”.

Aleksandar Vučić also highlighted that “you conduct your business where your business is and neither you (Russians), nor NATO have any business in Serbia” and “we must cooperate with it (NATO) because of Kosovo, because you Russians have left Kosovo”.

We can say that president Vučić’s stand is surprising. Last month – for the first time since the end of the war – Sebia actually asked for troops deployment in Kosovo, as a response to the clashes between the Kosovo authorities and the Serbs in North Kosovo, where they represent the majority.

Since we very well know, we must emphasize the fact that the NATO Mission in Kosovo – KFOR – rejected the Serbian Government’s request to send over 1000 policemen and militaries to Kosovo, after the clashes between the Serbs and the Kosovo authorities in December 2022. It was the first time since the end of the war when Serbia requested troops to be deployed in Kosovo.

2. Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) is permanently overshadowed, domestically, by the Republic of Srpska, when it comes to EU and NATO integration.

 On the 9^th January, EU and US officials condemned the Bosniak leader, Milorad Dodik, who awarded the Russian President, Vladimir Putin with the highest distinction the Republic has, a warning regarding the impact it would have on Bosnia and Herzegovina’s EU integration. Dodik gave the award in absentia, on the eve of the 8^th January 2023, before celebrating, on the 9^th January 2023 what they call “The day of the Republic”.

The EU’s spokesperson for foreign affairs, Peter Stano issued a statement, also on the 9^th January 2023, reminding the country in the Western Balkans that it received is status as a EU candidate no later than December 2022, and that “BiH political leaders should know how important it is for the EU to uphold the law.”

The US Embassy in Sarajevo also highlighted on the 9^th January 2023 that “Milorad Dodik’s decision to award Vladimir Putin, the man who invaded Ukraine, killed thousands civilians and caused massive infrastructural damages” was reprehensible and was seen as a “disregard of the values of the Euro-Atlantic community and of the rule-based international order.

Comment:

The EU played a stabilising part in the Western Balkans, ever since the bloody wars in the ‘90s swept the region, following the dissolution of former Yugoslavia. In December 2022, after years of negotiations, the EU bloc allowed BiH to become a candidate for the EU, along with Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova. All three countries were appointed as candidates to the EU.

However, BiH continuously faced political instability, especially due to leaders such as Milorad Dodik who permanently advertised his secessionist rhetoric and encouraged nationalism in the Republic of Srpska, one of the two entities that form BiH.

“Pointing out his closeness to V. Putin, M. Dodik wants to prove that he is a strong and important leader, despite the fact that Russia was ostracised by most of the world”, stated Ivana Korajlić, the CEO of Transparency International BiH.

“He was always proud of his strong relationship with V. Putin and Russia”. Nevertheless, Ivana Korajlić added that “there have been many warnings that indicated that M. Dodik’s actions would affect BiH’s EU integration process, however, this does not affect M. Dodik at all. Anyway, he kept on insisting that BiH should not become an EU Member.”

 3. Kosovo awaits normalcy with ID issuing – they would enable its citizens to travel abroad freely, including in the Schengen area.

According to information released to the media by the Kosovo Minister of Interior, by the end of January 2023, they are expected to finally receive the necessary materials for passports, driving licenses and ID cards. The citizens of Kosovo have not been able to obtain these documents for months, which led to serious domestic and foreign travel issues. Recently, the Kosovo Minister of Interior, Xhelal Sveçla, asked Germany to allow Kosovo citizens to enter Germany with expired passports. The Head of the Kosovo Democratic League, Visar Azemi stated during a press conference that this lack of passports complicates the lives of Kosovo’s citizens, insisting on the fact that “freedom of travel is a basic right not a luxury. At a time when we are getting ready for the visa liberalisation regime (with the EU) our country does not issue passports.”

Furthermore, Xhelal Sveçla pointed out that “Kosovo citizens cannot travel, students cannot travel. Lack of passports affects Kosovo citizens who live abroad. They are warned of the necessity of having to remain in their countries of residence.”

As such, Xhelal Sveçla, in his letter addressed to the German authorities, he asked that Kosovo citizens who have a valid German stay permit should be allowed to receive services while using an expired passport. Those who are born in Germany, and whose parents have a valid German residency, and left for Kosovo to be issued a Kosovo passport must present the valid German stay permit of one of the parents that travel with the child, the German birth certificate of the child and his/her Kosovo birth certificate. Sveçla asked that these actions be valid until June 2023, or sooner, should the issue of the lack of ID materials be solved.

It became obvious that in Kosovo, as in many other countries, there do not have the necessary materials to print IDs, due to issues with the supply chain, caused by the lack of materials, due to the effects generated by the pandemic and by the war in Ukraine. Under such circumstances, the Civil Agency keeps on prioritising emergency documents’ issuance, that is in case of illness, family reunification, for sports and diplomacy.

 Comment:

On the same day in December 2022, when the government in Kosovo applied for EU integration, the representative of the Council’ Presidency and of the European Parliament agreed to allow Kosovo citizens free entry in the Schengen area – the earliest on the 1^st November 2023 and the latest on the 1^st January 2024.

The EU Council’s decision was made public through a press release, on the 14^th December 2022. It also confirmed that it was agreed upon with the representatives of the EU Parliament that a set of rules should be established with regard to the free visa regime for the Kosovo passport holders.

“The new rules would allow those who have Kosovo passports to travel in the EU without a visa for 90 days, anytime within 180 days. This visa exemption would be valid once the European Travel Information Authorisation System becomes functional, and no later than the 1^st January 2024”, just as the EU announced.

The EU Commission started the visa liberalisation process for Kosovo on the 19^th February 2012, while on the 14^th June the same year, it issued the procedures for the process. Six years later, on the 18^th July 2018, the Commission gave a positive recommendation regarding the process, confirming that the entity met all the necessary requirements so that its citizens could travel without a visa in the 27 countries from the Schengen area.

4. In the context of the geopolitical evolutions in 2022, North Macedonia wishes EU integration the most, especially when sympathies towards Turkey and China are growing.

According to a survey that the International Republican Institute[1] conducted between the 13^th and 23^rd December 2022, and published on the 19^th December 2022, only 13% of the respondents said that their country was moving in the right direction, while 58% said that North Macedonia was not headed in the right direction, while 28% remained neutral.

Domestically speaking, the survey suggests that the support for the Social Democratic Party, now in power, decreased significantly. Only 11% said that should there be elections at that time, they would show their support for the social-democrats, they lost 16% since last November. The main political party in the opposition, right-wing, VMRO-DPMNE “dropped” less, 19% said they would support the party; they lost only 1% in the polls since the previous year. The Integration Democratic Union remains the largest Albanian national party in the country. 7% of the respondents said they supported it, just like the previous year. Their opponents from the Albanian political bloc the Albanian Alliance received 5%, with 1% less than last year, while the BESA Movement got 4%, just like the previous year. According to the survey, the Levica political party, the only parliamentary party that was in favour of the Russian invasion of Ukraine improved its support. It won 6% from the respondents, two more percent than last November.

Externally speaking, out of 73% of the Macedonians wish their country joined the EU, while 24% would rather not join. Nevertheless, even though percentages are high, they represents an 11 points drop, compared to the previous survey conducted by the institute, in November 2021.

Germany, an EU State Member is the partner the respondents favour the most. 84% wish their country had strong relations to Berlin (the same percent as the previous year).

The EU in its entirety came in second place with 82%, registering a 3% drop, compared to the previous year, while the USA drew a 71% support, five percent less than the previous year.

However, when it comes to the relations between North Macedonia and more authoritarian countries, the survey showed that 87% of its citizens agreed that the interests of their country are best served when cooperating with Turkey. It represented a 6% increase as compared to November 2021.

In the same context, though, 65% proved they felt the same way about China – a 1% increase. Russia lost its support among Macedonians – 57% of the respondents said they wished to have strong relations with Moscow, a drop from 60%, compared to November 2021.

Comment:

Just as Paul McCarthy, the IRI Europe regional manager, stated, “it is very encouraging to witness such a strong support for North Macedonia’s European integration”, especially if we take into account that it is the 30^th NATO member.

Nevertheless, we are more and more aware of the fact that there are other actors that are seen as undemocratic, and that are working hard on “climbing up the ladder” and influence the country.

It is worth mentioning that McCarthy highlighted the fact that “inflation and energy prices are rising, and North Macedonia is coming against economic problems as well, and data show that people do not believe their country is headed in the right direction”. As a consequence, McCarthy added that “national politicians should focus on solving economic problems if they want polls to change”.

As a conclusion, we can safely say that even though citizens in North Macedonia are complaining more and more about the direction their country is headed, especially domestically speaking, the support for EU integration remains strong.

[1] The International Republican Institute is a US non-profit organisation. Most of its board are members of the Republican Party.