Belgrade, April 13, 2010

SERBIA – REGION

TADIC SENDS MESSAGE OF PEACE FROM TVRDOS MONASTERY
TREBINJE, April 12 (Tanjug) - President Tadic said in the Orthodox Monastery Tvrdos near Trebinje, eastern RS that he has come to BIH to send a message of peace and reconciliation to all who live there and to express support to Serb people and church in BiH. He told the press that another goal of his visit is to support the endeavors of RS government to preserve the identity of the Serb people in BiH. Tadic visited the medieval monastery together with RS Prime Minister Dodik. Tadic, who is on a two-day visit to BiH, also visited the Herzegovina Museum in Trebinje. On Tuesday, he will open a business fair in Mostar.

TADIC OPENED THE INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC FAIR IN MOSTAR
MOSTAR, April 13 (Tanjug) - President Tadic opened the International Economic Fair in Mostar, the official partner of which is Serbia. Tadic is heading Serbia's delegation, which includes Deputy Prime Minister Mladjan Dinkic. The fair is attended by RS Prime Minister Dodik, Chairman of the BiH Presidency Haris Silajdzic, President of HDZ in BiH Dragan Covic, Croatian parliament speaker Josip Friscic, Mayor of Mostar Ljubo Beslic and representatives of the diplomatic corps. Tadic, who visited Trebinje before arriving in Mostar, stated that the fair will give a strong incentive to the economic cooperation in many areas, not only the traditional ones such as agriculture and metal industry, but also the area of new technologies. Dinkic will sign an agreement with BiH Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations Mladen Zirojevic on cooperation in the area of tourism, and will also open the economic forum, in which the representatives of Serbia, BiH Council of Ministers and RS will take part. The Fair in Mostar is one of the biggest and most significant regional events of such kind, and will be held from April 13-17. The Fair will gather 700 exhibitors from forty countries, among which fifty companies are from Serbia, from various branches of industry.

TADIC STATED THAT ONE NATION MAY NOT EXIST WITHOUT CULTURE
TREBINJE, April 13 (Tanjug) - During his visit to the Herzegovina Museum in Trebinje President Tadic stated that one nation may not exist without culture and identity. "I am impressed by the fact that the Republika Srpska has found the strength to secure funds for one such museum, because without culture and identity there is no nation," Tadic told. Tadic also said that his visit to Trebinje is a visit to a part of our former land on which our people live and preserve their own identity. The Trebinje Museum was founded in 1955.

VUKICEVIC: VUKOVAR IS CROATIA'S DOOR TO SERBIA
ZAGREB, April 12 (Tanjug) - Serbia's Ambassador in Croatia Stanimir Vukicevic said in Vukovar that the two countries should take advantage of that city's position to foster their economic and other forms of cooperation. The use of cyrrilic as official alphabet in Vukovar would not endanger stability or the rights of the majority nation in Croatia, he said. The use of cyrrilic and registration of Serbian-language schools are at present the major problems of Serbs in Vukovar, Vukicevic told the press after meeting Vukovar Mayor Zeljko Sabo. In Serbia, all ethnic minorities have the right to use their own alphabet, and exercise of this right by Serbs in Croatia would not endanger stability or the rights of the majority nation in Croatia, he said. That issue is regulated by constitutional law on ethnic minority rights, he said. Vukicevic also conferred in Vukovar with city and Vukovar-Srem County on bilateral and cross-border cooperation and on the situation of Serbs as ethnic minority in the city and the county. Vukovar is Croatia's door to Serbia and the city's position can help foster economic and other forms of cooperation between the two countries, he said.

SERBIA AND CROATIA READY FOR POSITIVE POLITICAL STEP FORWARD
SUBOTICA, April 13 (Tanjug) - Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Jandrokovic has stated that a considerable political progress had been made in the relations between Croatia and Serbia during the meetings held by Serbian President Tadic and his Croatian counterpart Josipovic, and that both sides are ready to make a political step forward. A considerable political progress was made during the meetings Tadic and Josipovic have held in Optaija and Brussels, despite their disagreement over Kosovo, and it was evident that "both sides were ready for a positive step forward, which had a positive response in the EU," said Jandrokovic. In an interview published by the Subotica-based Hrvatska Rijec, the newspaper of the Croatian minority in Serbia, Jandrokovic said that "the fact is that the political relations have not, for some time now, been on the expected, European, level, which we desire." "It is noticeable how much the political relations between Croatia and Serbia had stagnated following the recognition of Kosovo. However, it is clear that the cooperation in the areas of tourism, culture, economy, among administration organs, in the area of the fight against organized crime in particular is very good, marking a continuous progress," said Jandrokovic.

CONSUL GERANT: TADIC & JOSIPOVIC TO CONFER IN BACKI MONOSTOR
BELGRADE, April 13 (Tanjug) - The presidents of Serbia and Croatia will confer in Backi Monostor, a village in north Serbia, on Friday, where Josipovic will also meet with a delegation of the Croatian national community in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, Consul Gerant at the Consulate General of the Republic of Croatia in Subotica Ljerka Alajbeg told. The two presidents are scheduled to previously take part in the trilateral meeting in Pecs, hosted by Hungarian President Laszlo Solyom. Josipovic's visit to Backi Monostor is his first visit to Serbia since he assumed the presidential post in February. According to Alajbeg, the delegation of the national council of Croats in Vojvodina will be headed by its Chairman Branko Horvat, who will inform Josipovic on the position of the Croatian national minority in Vojvodina. One of the issues to be discussed will be the election of members of the national council of Croats in Vojvodina in June.

SERBIA

SERBIA PROCLAIMS APRIL 15 DAY OF MOURNING
BELGRADE, April 13 (Tanjug) - The Serbian Government has proclaimed Thursday, April 15, the day of mourning, on the occasion of the death of Polish President Kaczynski and a large number of high state officials and citizens of Poland, the government stated.

CVETKOVIC SIGNS BOOK OF CONDOLENCES
BELGRADE, April 12 (Tanjug) - Prime Minister Cvetkovic signed the book of condolences opened at the Polish Embassy in Belgrade after the deaths of Polish President Lech KaczLech and other military and state leaders. "I sincerely mourn the tragedy that has befallen the families of the deceased and the entire Polish people. The Serbian people stands by its friends in Poland in this difficult time," the prime minister wrote. People have been laying flowers and lighting candles in front of the Polish Embassy.

DEJANOVIC: CONDOLENCES TO FINI OVER THE TRAIN CRASH
BELGRADE, April 13 (Tanjug) - Parliament Speaker Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic sent a telegram of condolences to Italian Paliament Speaker Gianfranco Fini over the train crash in the north of Italy. According to the statement released by Djukic-Dejanovic's cabinet, the telegram reads as follows: "On behalf of all Serbian MPs and myself I express our most heartfelt condolences over the death toll of the train crash". At least 11 people were killed and 20 were injured yesterday when a train struck a landslide and derailed near Merano, in the northern Italy's Trentino-Alto Adige region.

CVETKOVIC: SERBIA NEEDS STABLE ATMOSPHERE, NOT ELECTIONS
BELGRADE, April 12 (Tanjug) - Prime Minister Cvetkovic said, in talks with the representatives of a couple of oppositional parties, that hard work is before Serbia on the recovery of the economy, for which the country needs to have a stable political atmosphere, and not some early elections that would not help stabilize the situation. During Cvetkovic's meeting with the representatives of the Progressive Party and New Serbia, Nikolic and Ilic, respectively, and representative of the Democratic Party of Serbia Popovic, it was concluded that Serbia is in a difficult economic situation and that political disagreements between the parties should not be transferred onto the level of ordinary people, Cvetkovic's press service released. The representatives of one part of the opposition presented a number of remarks regarding the functioning of the government, claiming that early parliamentary elections are the way out of the crisis. Cvetkovic qualified the talks as a step forward in the dialogue between the authority and the opposition and a proof of Serbia's democratization, but dismissed the opposition's stand on the need for elections. "Early elections would not contribute to the stabilization of the situation in the country. The present situation represents an additional stimulus for the government to continue to work hard on the realization of the goals it has put before itself. The government takes all the remarks very seriously and it is open to consultations with the representatives of the opposition, which would help improve the situation in the society and the economy in the country," Cvetkovic said. In the talks, Cvetkovic reminded that the government had realized the major part of the goals in terms of Serbia's European pathway, preservation of territorial integrity and sovereignty and the fight against organised crime, pointing out that the measures against the global downturn had saved the Serbian economy from the worst possible scenario. The representatives of three opposition parties handed out the lists with over one million signatures of the citizens to the Serbian government, which they had collected in the campaign for early elections.

OBRADOVIC: GOVERNMENT WILL SUBSIST
BELGRADE, April 13 (Tanjug) - Education Minister Zarko Obradovic has stated that the opposition's petition with one million collected signatures for the calling of early elections, which was submitted to the prime minister, will not lead to early elections since the government is stable, and added that there is a parliamentary majority. In an interview for Vecernje novosti, Obradovic said that the government will certainly remain in office until the end of the mandate. Obradovic said that Serbia is faced with a serious economic crisis that did not exist before the government was formed, adding that the whole world was hit by the same crisis and that there are very few countries that came out of it unharmed. "That is why I believe that the calling of elections would not improve the economic situation. What is more, it would be worse, as we would have a vacuum of six to nine months when the country would practically be paralyzed," Obradovic stressed. He pointed out that the Serbian government has a winning coalition and that there is nothing that should be changed.

SERBIA – EU

FRANCE READY TO SUPPORT SERBIA'S EU CANDIDACY
BELGRADE, April 12 (Tanjug) - French parliamentarians said in Belgrade that France is ready to help Serbia to obtain the EU candidate status as soon as possible. French Senate's France-Western Balkan friendship group has arrived on a three-day visit to Serbia, beginning with a meeting with Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia Micunovic and Chairman of the European Integration Committee Varga, as well as with head of the Serbia-France parliamentary friendship group Natasa Vuckovic. "Our friends from France conveyed to us that their country is willing to support Serbia's integration in the EU, and that they consider Serbia to be their key Western Balkans partner, the one to contribute to stability and trust in the region," Vuckovic told. During the meeting of French parliamentarians with Micunovic and Varga it was said that France is ready to back Serbia up, so that it could acquire the EU candidate status as soon as possible, it was stated in a release by the parliament. French parliamentarians pointed out that France regards Serbia as the most important country in the region, and that they are interested to foster privileged relations with the country, the release says. The parliamentarians expressed particular interest in Serbia's relations with other countries in the region, and in its preparations for accession to the EU. Micunovic said that Serbia's relations with its neighbors in the region have greatly improved and that efforts to this end are obvious. Serbia has opted for a peaceful policy and dialogue in resolving the Kosovo-Metohija issue, and for this reason it asked for the opinion of the ICJ on the legality of the self-proclaimed independence of Kosovo, Micunovic said. Varga said that Serbia expects a positive assessment in the report by the ICTY prosecutor and the ratification of the SAA with the EU, as well as a positive decision by the EU Council of Ministers on the submitted candidacy for EU membership. Varga added that the help of France towards the actualization of the candidacy would mean a lot to Serbia. The French delegation, which will stay in Belgrade till April 15, is headed by Jean-Pierre Michel.

DEGERT: COMPETITION PROTECTION IN SERBIA IS AT EU LEVEL
BELGRADE, April 12 (Tanjug) - Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia Vincent Degert assessed that Serbia has made great progress in the past four years in the fight against monopoly and that the country now has the same level of legally regulated competition protection as the EU. At the press conference on the occasion of the Competition Day, Degert welcomed the adoption of the appropriate law and sublegal acts in Serbia, but also stressed the need that the entire legislature related to that area should be completed, because otherwise, laws will be difficult to enforce. Degert particularly stressed how important it is to sanction the closing of the market and to establish control of the state's assistance in the free market protection. Everything has to be clear and public, so that the tax payers would know exactly what they are financing, Degert said, and called on the state bodies to carefully choose the individuals who will perform the delicate task of protecting the market freedom.

KOSOVO AND METOHIJA

VATICAN DOES NOT RECOGNIZE KOSOVO OUT OF RESPECT FOR SPC
VIENNA, April 13 (Tanjug) - Vatican has not recognized Kosovo as an independent country out of respect for the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC), German Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church and President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity Walter Kasper has stated. Of course, we know that Kosovo is a painful issue for the SPC, Kasper said in an interview for the Catholic news agency Kathpress. We also know that Kosovo is the heart and cradle of the Serbian Orthodoxy. We understand and want to respect this, he added. Kasper stressed that Vatican advocates the protection of the orthodox monuments, monasteries and churches in Kosovo and that he is very upset that there is a certain cultural brutality. Important historical, cultural and religious monuments are being destroyed in Kosovo. That must not happen. One cannot erase history in such a way, Kasper underscored. He said that the reconciliation of Serbs and Croats should be speeded up.

KOSOVO SIGNS HIGHWAY AGREEMENT WORTH BECHTEL
PRISTINA, April 12 (Beta) - The Kosovo government signed an agreement on the construction of the Vrbnica-Merdare highway, worth around EUR 700 mil. The 180 kilometer long highway will be built by the U.S. and Turkish consortium Bechtel-Enka and will connect the administrative border with Serbia (Merdare) to Kosovo's border with Albania. Kosovo Transport and Telecommunications Minister Fatmir Limaj signed the agreement on behalf of Kosovo.Kosovo Prime Minister Thaci and the U.S., British and Turkish ambassadors attended the signing of the agreement. After the agreement was signed, Thaci said that the project was a historic one for Kosovo and had fulfilled the dreams of many Kosovo citizens. He added that the resources for the highway would be secured from the Kosovo budget, current privatizations and loans from international financial organization of which Kosovo is member.