According to the preliminary results outgoing Prime Minister and leader of the right-wing Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), Aleksandar Vučić, has obtained 55,1% of the votes and secured a win in the first round of the presidential elections on the 2nd of April. Former Ombudsman and independent candidate Saša Janković came in second with 16,3% of the votes and Luka Maksimović Beli (Whitty) obtained 9,4% of the votes. The turnout was 54,2%. Although there were no major incidents on the election day, Vučić had a great advantage in resources and air time during the campaign.
Als gevolg van de parlementaire verkiezingen in december 2016 in Macedonië, zijn de spanningen in het land verder opgelopen. Macedonië staat nu voor een belangrijke keuze: de oude regerende elite behoudt haar macht en het land gaat richting een dictatuur, of het lukt de oppositie om een regering te vormen die de democratie en rechtstaat zal verstrekken en daarmee haar blik weer op de Europese Unie (EU) richt.
On 11 December Macedonia held early parliamentary elections, which were supposed to resolve a two-year political instability. Results of the two main parties are more or less 1% away from each other, with 99.72% of the votes counted: ruling nationalist VMRO DPMNE gained 38% and the opposition Social Democrats (SDSM) – 36.7% according to the Central Election Commission. Both parties declared victory and are looking for coalition partners. They are most likely to reach out to ethnic Albanian minority for support. Democratic Union for Integration (DUI) got 7.3%, which could bring 9-11 seats. Newly formed BESA party has 4.87%, which might result in 5 seats. DPA-led – Movement for Reforms acquired 2.95% - potential 3 seats. Democratic Party of Albanians alone received 2,61%, which could mean not more than 2 seats. The voter turnout was 67% - one of the highest in recent general elections.
In het weekend van 4 tot 6 november organiseerde Foundation Max van der Stoel (FMS) in samenwerking met het Servische Center of Modern Skills (CMV) een gender training voor drie sociaaldemocratische partijen in Servië: Democratische Partij (DS), Sociaal Democratische Unie (SDU) en Liga van Sociaaldemocraten uit Vojvodina (LSV). FMS trainers Sanneke Snuverink en Janny De Boer reisden naar het mooie Zrenjanin in de provincie Vojvodina af om de training te verzorgen.
The Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) of the current Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic won the parliamentary elections in Montenegro on 16 October. DPS has been in power since 1991 and this time received 41% of the votes. Djukanovic labeled these elections as a choice between NATO and Russia. Out of 81 seats in the parliament DPS will now receive 36. The party of Social Democrats of Montenegro (SD), which has close ties with DPS, won two seats. The opposition parties have 39 seats in total and might try to form an anti-coalition. In particular, the pro-Serb and pro-Russian Democratic Front coalition (DF) won 18 seats, the Grand Kljuc Coalition has 9 seats, the centre-left Democratic Montenegro got 8 seats and Social Democratic Party (SDP) gained four seats. National minority parties, Bosnian, Albanian and Croatian, also have four seats. The recent election results are weaker for DPS this time and it is expected to form a coalition with SD and national minorities. Coalition negotiations will be decisive for the future course of Montenegro: whether it will move closer to the West or turn back to its traditional partners Serbia and Russia. The voters turnout on 16 October was 71% despite the actively spread through the social media flashmob of ‘staying lazy’ on elections day.
De landen van de Westelijke Balkan hebben belangrijke stappen gezet in het EU integratieproces: Slovenië (2004) en Kroatië (2013) zijn EU-lid terwijl Albanië, Macedonië, Montenegro en Servië kandidaat-lid zijn. Bosnië-Herzegovina en Kosovo, waar de oorlogen de diepste wonden hebben achtergelaten, hopen zich op korte termijn bij de laatste groep aan te sluiten. Hoe staan de landen er politiek voor? Wat heeft EU integratie de landen gebracht in termen van vrede, stabiliteit, rechtstaat en democratie? Ondanks dat de EU zelf voor grote uitdagingen staat, zoals de Brexit, migratiecrisis en opkomst van populistische partijen die aan de basiswaarden van de EU schudden, moet het toetredingsperspectief een belangrijke impuls zijn voor hervormingen die de economische en politieke situatie zullen verbeteren en een leegloop van hoogopgeleide jongeren zullen tegenhouden.
Afgelopen weekend reisden FMS-trainers Thijs ’t Hart en Bas Batelaan naar Macedonië af om een training te verzorgen over de relatie tussen politieke partijen en sociale bewegingen. Met steun van Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS) organiseert de FMS in samenwerking met haar lokale partners dit jaar 14 trainingen in EU nabuurschapslanden over dit thema. Deze trainingen en een Training of Trainers (ToT) zullen leiden tot de publicatie van een nieuw handboek met als het centrale thema “Bridging the gap between politics and (civil) society”.
Between the 30th of July and the 3rd of August the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) Belgrade office, European Forum for Democracy and Solidarity and Foundation Max van der Stoel (FMS) organised the second seminar of the 2016 Course for Promising Politicians. The seminar ‘enhancing regional partnership and cooperation’ took place in Skopje, Macedonia. FMS trainer Maja Nenadović and Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) Nenad Šebek conducted the training.
Between the 26th and 29th of May Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) Belgrade office, European Forum for Democracy and Solidarity and Foundation Max van der Stoel (FMS) organised the first seminar of the 2016 Course for Promising Politicians. The seminar ‘ich bin ein Social Democrat’ took place in Igalo, Montenegro, and focused on ideology and policies. FMS trainer Michiel Emmelkamp and Novo društvo (Croatia) trainer and SDP international secretary Karolina Leaković conducted the training.
On 24 April early parliamentary elections took place in Serbia, where Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić’s Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) won 48,28 percent of the votes. According to Vučić his government has been held back by opposition and the elections were needed to solve the social conflict that is blocking reforms.
