Belgrade, 13. 01. 2010.

SERBIA

• TADIC EXPECTS KOSOVO NEGOTIATIONS TO CONTINUE
• TADIC: TWO RESOLUTIONS ON WAR VICTIMS
• DULIC: ADOPTION OF TWO RESOLUTIONS IS EXPECTED
• ESPANA: SERBIAN GOVT COMMITTED TO REGIONAL RECONCILIATION
• JONGHAE: TWO DECADES OF DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS BETWEEN SERBIA, SKOREA
• TADIC MEETS WITH JOHNNY DEPP
• THIRD KUSTENDORF FILM AND MUSIC FESTIVAL OPENS
• VUKADINOVIC: SECURITY SITUATION IN SERBIA IS STABLE
• VUKADINOVIC: LOCATING TWO HAGUE INDICTEES IS BIA'S ABSOLUTE PRIORITY
• FULE: EU BACKS WEST BALKANS' INTEGRATION

ZVECAN, Jan 12 (Tanjug) - Serbian President Boris Tadic said on Tuesday that he expects the negotiations on the status of Kosovo and Metohija to continue after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague renders an advisory opinion, and added that the Serbian government will remain committed to the policy of peace.

In an interview for Zvecan-based television Most, which will be aired Tuesday night, Tadic said that Serbia will pursue an active foreign policy, with negotiations as a means of resolving the future status of Kosovo and Metohija. "Regardless of the stance of the interim institutions in Kosovo, for Serbia this issue is not resolved, because Kosovo has failed to establish the standards of human rights, citizens' interests, rule of law and freedom of movement that apply in legitimate states," Tadic said.

"We expect negotiations after the ICJ renders an advisory opinion, and we remain committed to the policy of peace. We want to sit with the ethnic Albanians at the negotiating table and find a compromise solution, which entails Serbia in Kosovo and not only the interests of the ethnic Albanians," the Serbian president said. He reiterated that Serbia will never, under any circumstances whatsoever, recognize Kosovo's independence, pointing out that Serbia has no intention of managing the lives of Kosovo Albanians.

Tadic stressed that Serbia wants to be part of the solution and not part of the problem in Kosovo, and that the country will continue to assist the region in joining the EU, but only as an integral part of Serbia. Stressing that Serbia deserves respect for the huge funds it sets aside for Kosovo and Metohija, President Tadic said, however, that the question is where these funds are spent. Does the money end up in the pockets of individuals and is it spent in an irrational manner, jeopardizing the survival of the Serb people and institutions in Kosovo, the Serbian president wondered.

BELGRADE, Jan 13 (Tanjug) - Serbian President Boris Tadic stated that two resolutions will be submitted to the parliament for adoption, one that condemns the Srebrenica crime and the other referring to crimes committed against Serb victims in the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRJ).

Tadic said that the Srebrenica resolution is ready, adding that the government will take it into consideration as soon as possible and that a distinction has to be made between the Srebrenica resolution and the resolution on the Serb victims. Tadic stated for the Wednesday Belgrade-based daily Politika that he initiated the Srebrenica resolution since he believes that the matter is not party-related or political, but an issue of value and moral.

"The resolution would remove anathema from the Serbian people, protect our national interest and be verification that there is no collective guilt but that any criminal can be named," Tadic said. The Serbian president said that the Srebrenica resolution is ready and that the Serbian government will discuss it as soon as possible. "I know that the resolution was not welcomed by everyone and I did not expect it to be, but the adoption of the resolution will be in the interest of the Serbian people and the Republic of Serbia. We have to launch initiatives that alter reality in a positive direction," Tadic said. The Serbian president pointed out that Srebrenica resolution and the resolution on the Serb victims have to be separated and added that both of them will be adopted.

BELGRADE, Jan 13 (Tanjug) - Serbian Minister of Environment and Spacial Planning Oliver Dulic stated Tuesday evening that two resolutions are expected to be adopted, one of which will refer to the condemnation of the crime in Srebrenica, whereas the other will imply a historical and political retrospect of the crime against the Serb people during the disintegration of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRJ).

Dulic said that the events in Srebrenica are a crime defined as one of the most massive ones after the Second World War and that the Serbian society "must finally complete the process of facing the past. It is a good thing that this process will be over once and for all so that we could turn to the future and begin thinking about cooperation with the regional countries," Dulic said in an interview for TV B92.

According to him, as a society, Serbia has done the most in confessing its own guilt and in personalizing that guilt in court proceedings before domestic courts.

BELGRADE, Jan 12 (Tanjug) - Spanish Ambassador to Belgrade Inigo de Palacio Espana evaluated Tuesday that the statement by Serbian President Boris Tadic on the need of a resolution on Srebrenica was yet another proof that the official Belgrade was willing to contribute to the reconciliation in the region.

In an interview with Tanjug, Espana said he believed Tadic's words proved that Serbia should show understanding and comprehension for the victims and the political processes the region had experienced over the past period. "This government has given a lot of proof about its willingness to promote regional cooperation in many areas," the ambassador said, pointing out that it would be hard to imagine regional cooperation, as a precondition for the Western Balkans integration into the UE, without reconciliation and resolution of the problems of the past.

"If such an initiative would be conducive to improving the region's understanding and reconciliation it should be endorsed," Espana estimated, and underlined that it would be for the political parties to reach a final decide on the Srebrenica resolution. Commenting on the possibility that such a resolution would be adopted which would condemn all the crimes in the region of former Yugoslavia, the ambassador pointed out that in his opinion "all victims are equal."

"It is true that the events in Srebrenica were particularly tragic, but it's not up to me to judge history and I believe that all victims are equal and that all should be remembered with compassion," the ambassador underlined. It is not only about the victims. It is also about their families and friends in this country and other countries of this complex region, he added.

BELGRADE, Jan 12 (Tanjug) - Korean Ambassador to Serbia Kim Jonghae has said that bilateral relations are excellent and expressed his conviction that they will continue to be fostered in the future too.

Kim's statement was carried by the Seoul Times in an article marking the 20th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Republic of Korea and the Republic of Serbia. Diplomatic relations between the former SFR Yugoslavia and the Republic of Korea were established in December 1989.

BELGRADE, Jan 12 (Tanjug) - Serbian President Boris Tadic met with American actor Johnny Depp, who will be the guest of honor at the 2010 Kustendorf Film Festival, and the festival organizer, film director Emir Kusturica, in Belgrade on Tuesday.

The 3rd Kustendorf Film and Music Festival will officially be opened in Drvengrad, Mokra Gora, on Wednesday with the unveiling of a life-size statue of Johnny Depp. Afterwards, Depp will receive the Award for Future movies.

BELGRADE, Jan 13 (Tanjug) - The Third International Kustendorf Film and Music Festival will be opened in Drvengrad (Wooden Town) on Wednesday, in the organsation of film director Emir Kusturica and under the auspices of the Serbian Ministry of Culture. Minister of Culture Nebojsa Bradic, accompanied by special advisors Zoran Hamovic and Goran Markovic, will visit Mokra Gora and attend the ceremony.

The opening ceremony will begin in the afternoon hours with the unveiling of a life-size statue of Johnny Depp, who will be the guest of honour. The sound of trumpets and fireworks will make the event even more spectacular, and Cannes Film Festival director Thierry Fremaux will present the digitally restored version of the movies of Lumiere brothers.

The competition part of the programme will begin with four student films produced by Austria, Russia, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The festival will be closed on January 19.

BELGRADE, Jan 13 (Tanjug) - Serbian Security Information Agency (BIA) Director Sasa Vukadinovic stated Wednesday that the security situation is Serbia is stable. Presenting the report on the BIA operation for the period between March-October 2009 to the Serbian Parliament's Committee on Defence and Security, Vukadinovic pointed out that Serbia was continuously exposed to certain security risks, adding that they are of the highest priority in the BIA operation given that destabilization of Serbia and other regional states is possible.

He underscored that BIA analyses the security situation in Serbia through several segments while the most important segment is fight against terrorism and separatism. Vukadinovic stated that different intentions and goals were recorded with the ethnic Albanians in Kosovo-Metohija in 2009 who are trying to exercise control over the whole territory. According to him, contrary to the past activities when they resorted to violence, now the ethnic Albanians are trying to populate the north of Kosovo-Metohija, particularly the area near the settlement of Brdjani.

BELGRADE, Jan 13 (Tanjug) - Serbian Security Information Agency (BIA) Director Sasa Vukadinovic stated that the agency has engaged all its available capacities with the aim to complete the cooperation with The Hague Tribunal, primarily to locate and arrest the two remaining indictees.

"Locating the two remaining Hague indictees, primarily General Ratko Mladic, is an absolute priority," Vukadinovic said at the session of the Serbian parliament's Committee on Defense and Security.

BRUSSELS, Jan 12 (Tanjug) - European Commissioner designate for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy Stefan Fule said on Tuesday that the EU would continue to encourage the reforms in the West Balkan countries which were essential for the countries' admission into the family of European nations.

Addressing the European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs, the newly-appointed enlargement commissioner said that the West Balkans carried a heavy historical burden and that the EU should help the countries in that region to overcame that burden. An enlargement of the EU is success, and it will make Europe stronger. I want new members to join our family in the next five years, he said. Fule added that one of the main goals of the EU was to support the stability and reforms in Eastern Europe.

Answering the questions of the EP members, the commissioner underscored that the abolishment of visas for the citizens of Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia represented an important step in the relations between the EU and the West Balkan region. We will continue to make effort that visas be abolished for Bosnia-Herzegovina and Albania by mid-2010, he said, and pointed out that a constructive dialogue would be continued with Serbia, bearing in mind the progress the country had made in the integration process. We will also continue to back the reforms in Kosovo, Fule added.