Post by rex362 on Aug 28, 2012 14:52:20 GMT -5
[ since I spent 3 weeks in Vojvodina I am now an honorary Vojvodian ]
bcs I said so ....
The Serbian Constitutional Court ruling on Vojvodina province, curbing its powers, has deepened a split between liberals and nationalists in the country as well as in the province.
"Welcome to Novi Sad, capital of Vojvodina," reads a banner across the Novi Sad fortress put up by the organisers of the popular Exit music festival.
The message is ironic. As of Monday, Novi Sad is no longer "capital" of Serbia's autonomous northern Vojvodina province and Vojvodina must also now close its representative office in Brussels.
After Serbia's Constitutional Court recently declared certain provisions of the law on the jurisdictions of Vojvodina unconstitutional, the ruling has now come into force, following publication in Serbia's "Official Gazette".
The law on Vojvodina's competences was declared valid by decree of Serbia's former president, Boris Tadic and implemented on January 1, 2010. The provincial assembly had previously proclaimed its own statute on December 14, 2009.
The province opened an office in Brussels in October 2011 as a part of Serbia's broader EU mission, with the aim of enticing foreign investment and obtaining better access to European regional funds.
The central and southern cities of Kragujevac and Nis also have their own offices in the EU capital.
The Court ruling has deepened the political divide in Serbia, as well as in Vojvodina, between liberals who champion provincial autonomy and nationalists who see it as a threat to Serbian unity.
On Monday, Istvan Pastor, leader of the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians, SVM, told Ivica Dacic, the country's Prime Minister-designate, that his party will not now become part of the future government.
Commenting on his earlier statement that the SVM might join the new government, Pastor said circumstances in politics can change. "The SVM will vote in parliament depending on concrete bills," Pastor noted.
Bojan Pajtic, prime minister of the province, a member of the Democratic Party, has called parts of the court's decision on Vojvodina's jurisdictions "paradoxical" and contrary to international conventions.
"This is a unique example in Europe of a constitutional court reducing the scope of the acquired rights of national minorities," he said.
Nenad Canak, leader of the Social Democrats of Vojvodina, LSV, said that the province will now have to defends its interests more intensively.
“We have been unequivocally informed that Vojvodina cannot even issue fishing licenses," he said.
"We now have to defend ourselves, as there is nobody else who can protect our rights here”, Canak told the Novi Sad-based daily newspaper, Dnevnik.
On the other side, Slobodan Samardzic, of the nationalist Democratic Party of Serbia, said the issue of provincial autonomy is an internal issue, just as it would be in any other country.
"Every EU country has its own internal organisation and the EU has never intervened when it comes to how a country organizes its territorial authorities," Samardzic said.
Serbia's new government, which will comprise the Serbian Progressive Party, the Serbian Socialist Party and United Regions of Serbia, is to be sworn in on July 13.
www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/....ng-on-vojvodina
bcs I said so ....
The Serbian Constitutional Court ruling on Vojvodina province, curbing its powers, has deepened a split between liberals and nationalists in the country as well as in the province.
"Welcome to Novi Sad, capital of Vojvodina," reads a banner across the Novi Sad fortress put up by the organisers of the popular Exit music festival.
The message is ironic. As of Monday, Novi Sad is no longer "capital" of Serbia's autonomous northern Vojvodina province and Vojvodina must also now close its representative office in Brussels.
After Serbia's Constitutional Court recently declared certain provisions of the law on the jurisdictions of Vojvodina unconstitutional, the ruling has now come into force, following publication in Serbia's "Official Gazette".
The law on Vojvodina's competences was declared valid by decree of Serbia's former president, Boris Tadic and implemented on January 1, 2010. The provincial assembly had previously proclaimed its own statute on December 14, 2009.
The province opened an office in Brussels in October 2011 as a part of Serbia's broader EU mission, with the aim of enticing foreign investment and obtaining better access to European regional funds.
The central and southern cities of Kragujevac and Nis also have their own offices in the EU capital.
The Court ruling has deepened the political divide in Serbia, as well as in Vojvodina, between liberals who champion provincial autonomy and nationalists who see it as a threat to Serbian unity.
On Monday, Istvan Pastor, leader of the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians, SVM, told Ivica Dacic, the country's Prime Minister-designate, that his party will not now become part of the future government.
Commenting on his earlier statement that the SVM might join the new government, Pastor said circumstances in politics can change. "The SVM will vote in parliament depending on concrete bills," Pastor noted.
Bojan Pajtic, prime minister of the province, a member of the Democratic Party, has called parts of the court's decision on Vojvodina's jurisdictions "paradoxical" and contrary to international conventions.
"This is a unique example in Europe of a constitutional court reducing the scope of the acquired rights of national minorities," he said.
Nenad Canak, leader of the Social Democrats of Vojvodina, LSV, said that the province will now have to defends its interests more intensively.
“We have been unequivocally informed that Vojvodina cannot even issue fishing licenses," he said.
"We now have to defend ourselves, as there is nobody else who can protect our rights here”, Canak told the Novi Sad-based daily newspaper, Dnevnik.
On the other side, Slobodan Samardzic, of the nationalist Democratic Party of Serbia, said the issue of provincial autonomy is an internal issue, just as it would be in any other country.
"Every EU country has its own internal organisation and the EU has never intervened when it comes to how a country organizes its territorial authorities," Samardzic said.
Serbia's new government, which will comprise the Serbian Progressive Party, the Serbian Socialist Party and United Regions of Serbia, is to be sworn in on July 13.
www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/....ng-on-vojvodina