Belgrade, 04. 01. 2010.

SERBIA – CROATIA

• TADIC: SERBIA STILL FAVORS OUT OF COURT SETTLEMENT
• JEREMIC: SERBIA DOES NOT WANT TO SUE CROATIA
• MESIC: SERBIA WILL HAVE DIFFICULTY PROVING GENOCIDE
• KOSOR: SERBIA'S COUNTERSUIT WILL NOT AFFECT RELATIONS

• JEREMIC: SERBIA WILL BREAK RECORD OF EU ACCESSION SPEED
• DEGERT ON SERBIA'S CANDIDACY

• SERBIA CHAIRS CEFTA AS OF JANUARY 1
• BRADIC: SERBIA ATTRACTIVE CULTURAL AREA

• VUJANOVIC ON ASSIGNING MONTENEGRIN AMBASSADOR IN PRISTINA
• BENTLER: SECURITY SITUATION IN KOSOVO IS STABLE

BELGRADE, Jan 1 (Tanjug) - Serbian President Boris Tadic said Thursday that he still believes that all disputes regarding the conflicts of the nineties should be settled out of court and peacefully. However, Serbia needs partners for such an approach, he said.

Explaining to the Serbian TB RTS the reasons for the Serbian government decision Thursday to file a countersuit against Croatia before the International Court of Justice, Tadic said that crimes should be processed in regular court proceedings. He also noted that Serbia and Croatia are entering a new phase of relations which will involve also a process before the International Court of Justice.

He expressed his conviction that Serbian and Croatian institutions will be able in the future to sit down to talk and attempt to find an out of court settlement that would satisfy justice and its principles. Such a settlement must also bear in mind the incontestable victims of the conflicts of the nineties, he said.

The Serbian government decided Thursday to file a lawsuit and countersuit against Croatia before the International Court of Justice for genocide committed against the Serb population in Croatia during the 1991-1995 conflict in that country.

BELGRADE, Jan. 02 (Beta) - Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic said on Jan. 2, regarding the decision to file a countersuit against Croatia for genocide, that the intention and desire of Serbia is not to sue, but to build good neighborly relations and cooperation on the road towards EU integration.

"I think it would be a lot better for Croatia for it to never come to this. Our primary intention and desire is not to sue, but to cooperate on the road to EU integration, to build good neighborly relations, and to solve problems which we inherited," Jeremic told Radio Television Serbia.

Regarding the countersuit, he said that there is "an exceptional amount of material which will finally raise awareness of the international community and shed light on what was done on the territory of Croatia in the past 60 years, as well as the last 15."

Regarding European integration, Jeremic said that the goal of Serbia in 2010 is to ratify the Stabilization and Association Agreement with the EU as soon as possible, and for Serbia to become a candidate for EU membership by the end of the year.

"We will do everything to keep the processes of EU association and the determining of the future status of Kosovo completely separate. 2010 will be a key year for the future status of Kosovo, and I think that the period after the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice (on the legality of Kosovo independence) is given, will be one of very intensive and dynamic diplomacy for the country," Jeremic said.

ZAGREB, Jan. 01 (Beta) - Croatian President Stjepan Mesic said on Jan. 1 that Serbia will find it very difficult to prove genocide against Serbs before the Hague based International Court of Justice (ICJ).

"No Croatian soldier crossed Serbia's border, no soldier killed anyone in Serbia, or burned a single house or bombed a single town," Mesic said, commenting on the Serbian government's decision to file a countersuit against Croatia.

Mesic told reporters that "it was primarily in (the then president Slobodan) Milosevic's interest to have Serbs from Croatia leave for Serbia, which is also why he cleansed Kosovo of Albanians." According to him, Milosevic "wanted to expel two million Albanians from Kosovo, in order to settle Serbs from Croatia there," but the Serbs from Croatia refused to settle there, claiming they were Croatian citizens and that the return of refugees to Croatia was in progress.

On the same occasion, the Croatian Foreign Ministry on Dec. 31 announced that Croatia is ready to prove "facts about the aggression of Greater Serbia spearheaded by Slobodan Milosevic in the 1990s" before the ICJ. The ministry highlighted that it is also ready to prove facts about "the defense of the Croatian state and the final victory against the aggressor forces."

The news release adds that Croatia will also continue to advocate the development of good neighborly relations with Serbia.

ZAGREB, Jan 1 (Tanjug) - Croatian Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor said Friday that Serbia's countersuit against Croatia before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) will not affect bilateral relations. Despite Serbia's decision to file a genocide countersuit against Croatia before the ICJ, the relations between the two countries will not be influenced by the lawsuit as far as Croatia is concerned, Kosor said.

Croatia is still turned toward good neighborly relations, she said. Croatia absolutely chooses to support its neighbors on their Euro-Atlantic road, she said. Croatia believes that integration in the European Union will guarantee lasting peace in the region, she said. According to Kosor, her country is completely prepared for the process at ICJ. Croatia has prepared absolutely all the facts that can prove it was about a bloody Greater Serb aggression against Croatia under the guiding hand of Slobodan Milosevic, Kosor said.

BELGRADE, Dec 31 (Tanjug) - Serbia has capacity and determination to beat all records in the speed of the EU accession, Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic stated, adding that Serbia will manage to outdo many countries that are by chance in better position than Serbia at the moment.

Jeremic said in an interview for the New Year's edition of the Belgrade-based Vecernje novosti that Serbia is willing to resume friendly relations with its neighbors, but is also ready to press charges against Croatia unless Zagreb gives up on theirs. In view of the Kosovo-Metohija issue, Jeremic said that if new negotiations on the status of the southern province are launched, the rigidness from the earlier period may be replaced by a more flexible approach.

"The central strategic priority of the Serbian government will still be the EU accession. At the same time, we will continue to fight for the preservation of the territorial integrity with all available diplomatic and legal means and the priority will be regional relations including the protection of rights and interests of Serbs in the region. I would also underscore the importance of economic diplomacy. We will use the established political relations to encourage the growth of the Serbian economy and thus enable better life for the Serbian citizens," Jeremic pointed out.

When asked whether Serbia could acquire the status of an EU candidate by the end of 2010, he said that we will definitely tend to realize that. Jeremic said that Serbia's EU path will not be trouble-free and that one of the hindrances will be the conservative view of some EU member states to the EU enlargement to the West Balkans, and expressed belief that all obstacles will be dealt with.

BELGRADE, Jan 2 (Tanjug) - Head of the European Commission (EC) Delegation in Serbia Vincent Degert said that Serbia's application for EU membership could be considered as early as this January. A meeting of European Union foreign ministers will be held on January 14, Degert said, adding he expects that Spain will put on the agenda the issue of Serbia's candidacy.

Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos says he strongly supports Serbia's decision to submit its EU candidate status bid. According to Moratinos, that was a logical and good step by a country whose future is in the European family. Moratinos stressed that if the Serbian people want to join the EU, it is up to the EU to understand and seriously consider their wish.

BELGRADE, Jan 1 (Tanjug) - Serbia performs the role of the chair of the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) for 2010 as of January 1, which will make possible for it to export almost a third of its products to the CEFTA market.

In an analysis presented to Tanjug, experts from the Serbian Chamber of Commerce (PKS) stressed that the CEFTA Agreement, which was signed on December 19, 2006, and which includes, except from Serbia and UNMIK/Kosovo, the territories of Bulgaria, Romania, Montenegro, Croatia, Moldova, Macedonia and Albania, represents a great opportunity for further development of Serbia's external trade, and especially for its exports.

Serbia's exports to the CEFTA countries have been stable in the past few years and amount to around 32 percent of the total value of the country's export, whereas its imports from the CEFTA region comprises only eight percent of the total imports, the analysis shows. The fact that Serbia had a positive balance of around USD 1.17 billion in the trade with the rest of the countries from the group from the beginning of January to the end of October 2009, shows that the CEFTA market is very attractive for the country's exporters.

BELGRADE, Jan 2 (Tanjug) - Serbian Minister of Culture Nebojsa Bradic said that the publication World Heritage Serbia recommends Serbia as a particularly attractive world cultural area.

The publication, which will be presented Monday at the National Museum in Belgrade, lists Serbian heritage sites recognized by UNESCO as authentic contributions to the world heritage. World Heritage Serbia focuses on medieval sites such as monasteries and royal mausoleums in Bysantine style with specific national characteristics.

PODGORICA, Dec 31 (Tanjug) - President of Montenegro Filip Vujanovic has said that he will issue a decree on the appointment of Montenegro's ambassador to Pristina when Kosovo recognizes the Montenegrin minority and guarantees it an appropriate status.

In an interview for the Podgorica daily Pobjeda, Vujanovic reiterated that it is necessary that Kosovo creates conditions for the return of non-Albanian refugees and displaced persons to Kosovo, reminding that, according to the census from 1981, there were more than 28,000 Montenegrins in Kosovo-Metohija, and that by number they were the second non-Albanian ethnic group after the Serbs.

He underscored that the Montenegro's government "is very careful" when it comes to establishing diplomatic relations with Kosovo, pointing out that the decision on the issue will be made when the time is right for that. The Montenegrin president underlined that he does not think that he confronts anyone in any way whatsoever with such a position.

PRISTINA, Jan 2 - The security situation in Kosovo is very stable and there are no threats from abroad, KFOR commander, German General Markus Bentler said. According to Bentler, the security situation in Kosovo is very stable and there are no threats to the people of Kosovo.

There have been some small clashes in northern Mitrovica, but in general the situation is calm, Bentler said in an interview for Radio Deutsche Welle. He urged the people of Kosovo to be tolerant, to work for peace and be involved in the consolidation of the society and to focus on positive aspects of development.

Asked if KFOR has trouble with the Serbian parallel structures in northern Mitrovica, Bentler said that they are not a problem for KFOR, and that this issue is not the responsibility of peacekeeping forces. Bentler expects positive developments in 2010 and said that people of Kosovo have shown maturity and are interested in a decent living.