Belgrade, May 13, 2010

SERBIA

TADIC AND ALIYEV ON SERBIA-AZERBAIJAN COOPERATION
BAKU, May 13 (Tanjug) - President Tadic met this morning with Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev at the presidential palace in Baku.The Serbian delegation also includes ministers Ivica Dacic, Mladjan Dinkic and Vuk Jeremic. A plenary meeting of the two delegations and a press conference by Tadic and Aliyev are scheduled to be held after the meeting of the two presidents. The Serbian delegation had earlier laid a wreath at the tomb of the founder of the state of Azerbaijan, Gaidar Aliyev, in the Alley of Martyrs, where all those who gave their lives for freedom and independence of Azerbaijan are buried.

JEREMIC SIGNED AGREEMENT ON ABOLISHMENT OF VISA FOR DIPL. PASSPORTS
BAKU, May 13 (Tanjug) - President Tadic and Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev signed in Baku a joint declaration on the development of bilateral relations, and ministers of the two countries signed several bilateral agreements which give room for enhancement of cooperation in all fields. Minister of Economy Mladjan Dinkic and Azerbaijan Minister of Economic Development Shahin Mustafayev signed the Agreement on cooperation in trade and economic sphere, and Interior Minister Ivica Dacic and his counterpart Ramil Usubov signed the Agreement on cooperation in the fight against crime. The officials also signed a protocol on cooperation between the two foreign ministries and diplomatic academies, as well as the Convention on elimination of double taxation between the governments of Azerbaijan and Serbia in relation to incomes and possessions. In addition to these two documents, Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic signed the Agreement on abolishment of visa for persons who have diplomatic and official passports. At the same time, a Group of Friendship with Serbia was set up in the parliament of Azerbaijan. Belgrade and Baku have both assessed that Tadic's visit to Azerbaijan is an opportunity to establish talks concerning the improvement of economic ties between the two countries. Azerbaijan takes the 55th place on the list of Serbia's 160 export countries, and is ranked as 97th on the list of 199 import countries. Serbian export to this country has marked a constant increase since mid-90's, while the trade in 2009 totaled RSD 5.15 mil. Tadic will meet with Prime Minister Arthur Rasi Zadeh and Parliament Speaker Ogtay Asadov.

CVETKOVIC IN INTERVIEW FOR GENEVA DAILY LE TEMPS
GENEVA, May 12 (Tanjug) - Prime Minister Cvetkovic stated that Switzerland's recognition of Kosovo's unilaterally declared independence should not deter Serbia and Switzerland from cooperating in all other matters. "Our country does not agree with Switzerland's recognition of Kosovo's unilateral independence, but we can take a pragmatic approach, leave our differences aside and let the ICJ solve the problem. We are waiting for the ICJ's decision. We can intensify our cooperation regarding all other issues," Cvetkovic said in an interview for Geneva daily Le Temps. Cvetkovic said that Serbia wants all the countries of the Western Balkans to join the EU as soon as possible, and noted that countries like Croatia, which has made the greatest progress, should be further encouraged on their EU pathway. "We are aware of all the problems the EU is currently faced with, including the euro issue, but this will not discourage our efforts. We will do everything in our power, and there are many things on the list, to speed up the implementation of reforms in all domains. We are acting in keeping with the agenda," Cvetkovic said.

FRENCH EMBASSY HANDS OUT ACADEMIC PALM MEDALS
BELGRADE, May 12 (Beta) - French Ambassador to Serbia Jean-Francois Terral awarded medals of Knight of the Order of the Academic Palm to academic figures who have helped strengthen relations between Serbia and France. At the ceremony held at the French embassy, the medal was given to Mila Popovic-Zivancevic, head of the Central Institute for Conservation and director of the master studies titled Preventive Conservation of Cultural Heritage, carried out as part of cooperation between the University of Belgrade and Paris' Sorbonne. Researcher, literary translator and Faculty of Organizational Sciences professor Vesna Cakeljic, professor of medicine at the Institute in Sremska Kamenica and the Novi Sad Medical School Nevena Secen and Belgrade Faculty of Dramatic Arts professor Ivana Vujic also received medals. Other medal winners include Miroslav Jeremic, senior scientific associate of the Academy of Sciences and Arts Institute of Archaeology, Mihajlo Crnobrnja, dean and professor of the Faculty of Economics, Finance and Administration, and head of the department for hepatobiliopancreatic surgery of the Clinical Center Miroslav Milicevic.

SERBIA – EU / ICTY

CVETKOVIC: SERBIA IS COMMITTED TO FULL COOPERATION WITH ICTY
BELGRADE, May 13 (Tanjug) - Prime Minister Cvetkovic stated that Serbia is fully committed to its cooperation with the ICTY and expressed his expectation that Serge Brammertz will have reasons to give a positive assessment of Serbia's efforts in his upcoming report before the UN. The degree of cooperation so far is a clear evidence that the government and its competent organs are committed to a full cooperation with the ICTY and that all possible efforts to bring the remaining two indictees to justice are being made continuously, the Serbian government said in a statement released after the meeting Premier Cvetkovic had with Brammertz. Brammertz evaluated that Serbia's cooperation with the international court is heading towards a good direction and commended on the efficiency of all competent organs.

LJAJIC MEETS WITH BRAMMERTZ
BELGRADE, May 13 (Tanjug) - ICTY Chief Prosecutor Serge Brammertz had a meeting with President of the Serbian National Council for Cooperation with the ICTY Rasim Ljajic, the second day of his visit to Serbia. He will end his visit by talks with President Tadic, upon Tadic's return from Azerbaijan. Brammertz began his visit with a long meeting with the representatives of the Security Information Agency and members of the action team for the location and arrest of Mladic and Hadzic. Brammertz's visit to Belgrade precedes the report on Serbia's cooperation with the ICTY, which he will submit to the UN Security Council in June and which will decide on the further course of Serbia's EU integration. The Netherlands insists that, before the decision on the ratification of the SAA between the EU and Serbia, the country should arrest the two remaining Hague indictees or that Brammertz should evaluate Serbia's cooperation as positive.

KOSOVO – METOHIJA

DJIBOUTI RECOGNIZES KOSOVO'S INDEPENDENCE
PRISTINA, May 12 (Beta) - The Republic of Djibouti, a state in the Horn of Africa, has recognized the independence of Kosovo, the Kosovo Foreign Ministry stated. The diplomatic note of the recognition of Kosovo was signed by Minister Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, and was presented to the Kosovo Embassy in Paris, it was said in the statement. Foreign Minister Hiseni thanked Djibouti for its recognition, expressing readiness "for the two countries to establish diplomatic relations." Djibouti is the 68th country to have recognized independence.

USA TO MEDIATE PRISTINA-BELGRADE NEGOTIATIONS
PRISTINA, May 12 (Tanjug) - If Pristina and Belgrade are ready to start tackling the numerous technical issues, the USA will support and facilitate the talks, the US Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs, Philip Gordon, told the press in Pristina. The USA offers assistance and the role of mediator in talks on technical matters, Gordon announced at the beginning of his two-day visit to Kosovo, adding that electricity, justice, missing persons and refugees will be the main topics of the discussions. After a meeting with Kosovo Foreign Minister Hiseni, Gordon said his country supports both Kosovo and Serbia's EU integration, highlighting that certain outstanding issues need to be solved first. Hiseni pointed out that Belgrade and Pristina's differences over Kosovo status should not be an obstacle to discussing issues of mutual interest. The American diplomat said his country backs the efforts EULEX is making in the fight against organized crime and corruption.

KOSOVO POLICE DETAINS EIGHT TELEKOM SRBIJA EMPLOYEES
GRACANICA, May 12 (Tanjug) - Eight employees of the telecommunications company Telekom Srbija were detained in Gracanica by the Kosovo police while working on a transmitter in a near-by village of Badovac to restore the fixed-line and mobile telephony, Director of Telekom Srbija for Kosovo Ivan Ivanovic told. Ivanovic said that around 4 p.m., two Kosovo police patrols approached Telekom workers in Badovac, inspected their personal documents and ordered them to come to the police station. Mobile telephony network of Telekom was restored in the wider central Kosovo area inhabited by Serb population, nearly 20 days after the interim Kosovo government removed the transmitters and antennae of Telekom and Telenor companies in almost all municipalities in Kosovo south of the Ibar River.

CHAOS IN SWISS CONTINGENT IN KOSOVO
BERN, May 12 (Tanjug) - Swiss Minister of Defense Ueli Maurer is compelled to react after the report by the Swiss weekly Die Weltwoche about alleged visits to brothels, fights and drunkenness by members of the 21th Swiss contingent (SWISSCOY) within the KFOR. The minister demanded an inspection of the situation in the Swiss contingent in Kosovo and Bosnia-Herzegovina and ordered the military leadership to submit a report to him by the end of the month, the Swiss Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport (DDPS) announced. Maurer emphasized that he wants to gain a comprehensive insight into the situation, since the weekly reports on disciplinary violations, including behavioural excessess, abuse of alcohol, prostitution, and disobedience. The Swiss delegation in charge of the inspection, made up of representatives of the security and political commission, will stay in Kosovo from Sunday through Tuesday.

SERBIA – ECONOMY

CVETKOVIC: TELEKOM WILL NOT BE SOLD AT ALL COSTS
BELGRADE, May 13 (Tanjug) - Prime Minister Cvetkovic said that national telecommunications company Telekom Serbia will not be sold at all costs but that it is important to find a suitable bid both in terms of price and quality of the bidder. "We will sell Telekom if these two conditions are met," Cvetkovic said with weekly Nin, adding there is no way for the company to remain state-owned and still be profitable. In his assessment, now is the time to change the ownership structure of the company, so that it could remain competitive in the future. The prime minister reminded that Norwegian operator Telenor has been granted a landline phone service license and that in the next year or two "it will become a powerful player that we will not be able to compete with." "It would be wrong to wait until Telekom loses its market position and value and sell it then. Such a sale scenario would be destined to fail," Cvetkovic said. Discussing how the money from the sale will be spent, the prime minister said the biggest chunk will go towards building regional roads of strategic importance to Serbia. The money from the sale of Telekom must be spent transparently - it will be deposited into one account and it will be clear what the money is being spent on, Cvetkovic pointed out. Commenting on possible salary and pension hikes, Cvetkovic said that the government is in favor of raises if estimates show there is room in the budget. In this case, salaries and pensions would be adjusted to this year's rate of inflation, plus-minus one percent, he announced.