SERBIA – EU

FULE: SUPPORT TO SERBIA'S FURTHER PROGRESS IN EU INTEGRATION
BELGRADE, March 17 (Tanjug) - EU Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Stefan Fule, who is paying a visit to Belgrade Wednesday, has said that Serbia's further progress in EU integration will be one of his priorities, taking into account the country's significance for the stability of the West Balkan region. I want to strongly include all the Western Balkan countries in the enlargement process, Fule said. I do not want for any country to be left behind. I will use all available political, technical and financial instruments in order to complete our engagement, Fule stated for Vecenje novosti. You can expect from me to act as a fair and a friendly partner who is ready to listen and help, but who does not want to compromise our basic values: democracy, the rule of law, protection of basic human rights, sustainable development and friendly relations between neighbors, Fule stressed. He said that his first task will be to confirm that the EC is ready to prepare its opinion on Serbia's application for the EU membership, as soon as the Council of Ministers request that. In the meantime, it is important that Serbia continues carrying out the EU integration programme and completely fulfill its obligations envisaged by the ITA, Fule said.

DEJANOVIC & KACIN: PROGRESS TO EU WILL DEPEND ON BRAMMERTZ'S REPORT
BELGRADE, March 16 (Tanjug) - Serbian parliament Speaker Djukic-Dejanovic and EP Rapporteur for Serbia Jelko Kacin said that Serbia has made visible progress in meting the conditions for integration in the EU. They, however, also noted that further progress will largely depend on the report of Serge Brammertz. Top level contacts between the Serbian parliament and the EP would bring Serbia's parliamentary activity closer to European MPs, they said. The Serbian parliament has developed a lively parliamentary activity, not only in the region but also with many EU member-states, they noted. Great steps have been made in fostering parliamentary cooperation with the countries of the former YU, Dejanovic said.

PAPANDREOU: PROPOSAL FOR EU MEMBERSHIP BY 2014, TURNING POINT
BUDAPEST, March 16 (Tanjug) - Greece's Prime Minister and Foreign Minister George Papandreou said in Budapest that the proposal to make Western Balkan countries EU members by 2014 represents a turning point that provides incentive to the region and the EU and helps solve bilateral political problems. Speaking at a joint news conference after his meeting with Hungaria's Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai, Papandreou welcomed the cooperation between Hungary, Serbia and Greece, directed towards EU integration of the Western Balkan countries, the Greek agency ANA-MPA reported. The region's European integration was also one of the topics of the meeting between Hungary's Foreign Minister Peter Balazs and Greece's Alternate Foreign Minister Dimitris Droutsas, who is on a visit to Budapest, the Hungarian agency MTI stated. Balazs and Droutsas discussed plans for a meeting between the foreign ministers of Hungary, Greece and Serbia, Hungarian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zsuzsanna Matrai said. Greece proposed a new road map for WestBalkan countries back in Oct 2009, which should make them EU members by 2014.

VARGA & KACIN ON SERBIA'S EUROPEAN INTEGRATION
BELGRADE, March 17 (Tanjug) - EP rapporteur for Serbia Jelko Kacin stated in Belgrade that the pace of Serbia's EU integration can only be decided by the Serbian institutions, adding that the progress in that respect will be monitored. After the talks with Chairman of the Eu Integrations Committee of the Serbian parliament Laszlo Varga, Kacin said that the European institutions do not request from Serbia to choose between Kosovo and the EU, stressing that this is not the request of the EU, but rather of the Serbian officials. He pointed out that progress has been made in the work of the judiciary and added that it is very important for Serbia to have as efficient judiciary as possible in order to fight against crime and corruption. Varga informed Kacin that Serbia has begun the preparations for completing the EC questionnaire, so that, when the questionnaire arrives, the country would be able to respond to it very shortly.

SPINDELEGGER AND ZBOGAR: 2010 IS YEAR OF WESTERN BALKANS FOR EU
VIENNA, March 16 (Tanjug) - Foreign Ministers of Austria and Slovenia, Michael Spindelegger and Samuel Zbogar respectively, assessed in Vienna that 2010 should be the year of the Western Balkans for the EU. A significant progress has been made since the EU members agreed seven years ago in Thessalonica on the perspective of the full integration of all the countries of the region into the EU. Now there is a position inside the EU member countries that the perspective should be turned into deeds, the two officials said in a joint statement on promoting the European perspective of the Western Balkans, given after a meeting in Vienna. The two ministers expressed their expectation that by 2011 all the countries of the Western Balkans will reach a new, more advanced level in improving relations with the EU. Spindelegger and Zbogar pointed out that the regional self-responsibility is of great importance for a real European conscience, which should be developed among the Western Balkans citizens. The ministers appealed to the countries of the region to engage themselves actively together with the EU in all other aspects of political and social life, in order to strengthen their European perspective.

SERBIA – REGION

SOLYOM CALLS FOR JOINT MEETING WITH TADIC AND JOSIPOVIC
BUDAPEST, March 16 (Tanjug) - Hungarian President Laszlo Solyom put forward an initiative for the organization of a trilateral meeting of the presidents of Hungary, Croatia and Serbia in Budapest in the near future, the MTI and Hina news agencies reported. After his talks with Croatian President Ivo Josipovic, who is paying a one-day visit to Hungary, Solyom explained that trilateral talks between the presidents have a certain tradition, since former Croatian president Mesic, Serbian President Tadic and he had already met in Kopacki rit, a nature park in eastern Croatia, and raised certain issues. These talks were held in Sept 2007, he reminded. Three days ago, I was in Vojvodina where I conferred with President Tadic. I said it was time that we (presidents of the three countries) met once again, and I think that President Tadic will accept my suggestion, Solyom said. According to Hina, Josipovic already accepted the initiative and pointed out that cooperation and security in the region, as well as good neighbourly relations, are among the main objectives Croatia wants to achieve in the field of foreign policy. The Croatian president also expressed satisfaction over the fact that Zagreb and Budapest share a common view as far as regional policy is in question. This is exactly why initiatives like the one which the Hungarian president has put forward are important, and, yes, I welcome such a proposal, Josipovic said.

SLOVENIA EXPECTS ALL LEADERS AT CONFERENCE
LJUBLJANA, March 16 (Tanjug) - Slovenian Foreign Minister Samuel Zbogar said Slovenia, as one of the organizers of the international conference on the Western Balkans to be held at Brdo pri Kranju this Saturday, expects all leaders from the region to attend. "We are expecting all the leaders. We are still working on a few remaining details...This is an important conference with an important message of the region to the EU and to itself," Zbogar said after meeting with his Austrian counterpart Michael Spindelegger. Slovenia and Austria pledged to enhance partnership in the Western Balkans and are considered to be the biggest advocates of the Western Balkans among EU nations, Slovenian agency STA reports. The other organizers of the conference at Brdo pri Kranju are Croatia and the European Commission.Serbia has made its participation conditional on Kosovo being represented as Kosovo UNMIK, not as an independent country.

BISKUPIC: CROATIA HAS ALWAYS CONDEMNED USTASHA MOVEMENT
ZAGREB, March 16 (Tanjug) - Croatian Culture Minister and Head of the Office for Relations with Religious Communities Bozo Biskupic said that the office does not support the establishment of the so-called Croatian Orthodox community (HPZ), and that it has not been registered to date. "The office does not support any form of extremism. The office has very good relations with all religious communities, including the Serbian Orthodox Church, with which the government signed a contract regulating many issues," Biskupic said. Biskupic is the first official to comment on the announced establishment of HPZ. SPC Bishop of Dalmatia Fotije asked the Croatian President Ivo Josipovic to stop the announced registration of the association of HPZ and the formation of the so-called Croatian Orthodox Church, warning of the pro-fascist nature of the association whose goal is to destroy Serbs and SPC in Croatia. "The Office for Relations with Religious Communities has never supported nor will it ever support the Ustasha movement. We have always condemned it and everything related to it," Biskupic said and pointed out that the office does not support any associations or organizations which espouse the ideology of the Independent State of Croatia, a pro-fascist state that existed during World War II.

SERBIA

DACIC: SERBIA & UK COOPERATE IN FIGHTING CRIME
LONDON/BELGRADE, March 16 (Tanjug) - Minister of Interior Ivica Dacic and UK Home Office Under-Secretary for Security and Counter-terrorism Lord West described at their meeting the bilateral cooperation in fighting crime as very good. Organized crime and international terrorism are the greatest threats to the security of both countries and to the international order, they said. Dacic and West emphasized that cooperation between the Serbian Ministry of Interior and the Home Office is very good and that it has been carried out in the past few years between the Serbian police and Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), the Ministry of Interior said. Minister Dacic started on March 15 a working visit to the UK during which he will have a series of meetings with its officials until March 18.

SUTANOVAC: PORTUGAL WILL NOT WITHDRAW SOLDIERS FROM KOSOVO
LISBON, BELGRADE, March 16 (Tanjug) - Defense Minister Dragan Sutanovac said, following his visit to Portugal, that the country's officials support Serbia's Eu integration and that Portugal will not reduce the size of its contingent in KFOR in Kosovo-Metohija. "The most important result of the visit is the confirmation we got from the Portuguese Defense Ministry that reforms in the Serbian defense system are being conducted properly and that Serbia has Portugal's full support in its continued Eu integration," Sutanovac said in a phone statement. He said that despite the two countries' different positions on the status of Kosovo-Metohija, he was assured that the Portuguese contingent will "remain in its current number and will do everything to continue to perform its duties." The Serbian defense minister met with Portuguese parliament speaker Jaime José de Matos da Gama, Foreign Minister Luis Filipe Marques Amado and Defense Minister Augusto Santos Silva. "We discussed the possibility of cooperation between the two militaries, and our defense industries as well," Sutanovac said and expressed his belief that "there is room for military-economic cooperation." "There is a lot of interest in cooperation in the field of training, education and military medicine. I am convinced that after our visit to the Rapid Reaction Brigade, the most important brigade in the Portuguese Armed Forces, there are opportunities for cooperation in the future," he said.

DAYS OF SERBIAN CULTURE IN CHINA FROM MARCH 18-24
BELGRADE, March 16 (Tanjug) - Minister of Culture Nebojsa Bradic announced that the manifestation Days of Serbian Culture in China will last from March 18-24 and on the occasion he handed the first copy of the publication World Heritage - Serbia translated into Chinese to Chinese Ambassador to Belgrade Vei Jinghua. Bradic told that this manifestation is a result of the program on cooperation between the two countries in the domain of culture for the period between 2008 and 2012 that was signed two years ago and based on which the Chinese Culture Days were held last year when the Serbian audience had opportunity to see Chinese folk ensemble and contemporary Chinese painting. He expressed belief that the presentation of the Serbian culture in China will encourage new initiatives for further cooperation, especially in the area of contemporary art, theatre, cinematography, translation of works of literature and painting. Bradic said that our program is designed so as to meet the expectations of the host, adding that the Serbia's folk dance troupe Kolo will be presented to the Chinese audience and thus open the manifestation in Beijing. The exhibition of Pirot kilims will last by March 31 and the Film Center Serbia will hold a review of film.

SERBIAN PARLIAMENT FINANCING SYSTEM PRESENTED IN BUDVA
BELGRADE/BUDVA, March 16 (Tanjug) - Parliament General Secretary Veljko Odalovic told that he presented the recently adopted parliament financing system at a meeting of general secretaries of Western Balkan parliaments in Budva, Montenegro. Odalovic explained that the meeting participants discussed budget financing for parliaments and ways to control how the budget funds are spent, adding that he presented the Serbian Parliament's plan, which will make it the first in the region to be funded from its own budget. Odalovic stated that the new parliament law also includes an internal auditor as additional control over how the funds are spent. The meeting was also attended by representatives from the UK, Netherlands, Czech Republic and Austria, who presented their own solutions, procedures and suggestions on how to improve the legislative activity, control budget spending and make parliaments more transparent, said Odalovic. The third meeting of general secretaries of Western Balkan parliaments was organized by the OSCE Mission to Montenegro. Odalovic suggested that the next meeting, scheduled for the end of the year, be held in Belgrade. The meeting was attended by parliament representatives from Montenegro, Serbia, Macedonia, Albania, Austria, UK, Czech Republic, Netherlands and Kosovo.

JAPAN GIVES SERBIA EUR 69,000 FOR EDUCATION AND SPORTS
BELGRADE, March 16 (Tanjug) - Academy Of Arts in Novi Sad and Sabac-Fujimi friendship club received a EUR 69,000 donation from the government of Japan as a support for improving the conditions in the field of education and sports. The Novi Sad arts academy received around EUR 46,000, that is a concert and a practice piano, while the friendship club got about EUR 23,000, the money for which 400 square meters of Tatami martial arts floor mats was bought, it was said at a ceremony organized on the occasion of the signing of the donation agreement. Charge d'Affaires of the Embassy of Japan Teruhiko Shinada reminded that Sabac twinned the Japanese city of Fujimi in 1982, and added that the country has so far set aside EUR 2.57 million for development of sports and culture in Serbia. Dean of the Novi Sad academy Zoran Todorovic said that the pianos will contribute to the successful work the teachers, most of whom are world-acclaimed pianists, and their students.

KOSOVO & METOHIJA

SERBS' RETURN TO KOSOVO IS RELATED TO FEELING OF SAFETY
BELGRADE, March 17 (Tanjug) - State Secretary with the Ministry for Kosovo-Metohija Oliver Ivanovic stated, on the occasion of the six years as of the great March pogrom against Serbs in Kosovo, that inspirers and organizers of the tragic event should be located, pointing out that, in spite of the fact that the demolished houses were reconstructed, the Serbs have not returned to their homes in the province. During the two days of the March pogrom, ethnic Albanians expelled more than 4,000 Serbs, ethically cleansed six towns and nine Serb villages and desecrated 35 churches and monasteries. Ivanovic told the Radio and Television of Serbia that those who tried to gain benefit from the pogrom have to be punished, since the organizers themselves "were not out on the streets." "Serbs do not feel safe in Kosovo, especially if they come back individually, and they cannot be talked into returning collectively," he said. The state secretary assessed that the status of Kosovo will not be resolved for a long time.

KPS TO TAKE OVER SECURITY OF GAZIMESTAN MONUMENT
GAZIMESTAN, March 16 (Tanjug) - KFOR began the procedure of handing over the security of Gazimestan monument to the Kosovo Police Service (KPS), a KFOR official said. The procedure will be completed in a few days, he added. Securing the Gazimestan monument is the first case in which responsibility for security of Serb cultural monuments will be entrusted to KPS. Slovakian KFOR troops started the handover procedure. Gazimestan is the name of a monument to the Battle of Kosovo which took place in 1389, and has great historic and cultural value for the people of Serbia.

DECISION ON KFOR WITHDRAWAL FROM GAZIMESTAN WRONG
BELGRADE, March 16 (Tanjug) - Ministry for Kosovo-Metohija said that the decision on KFOR withdrawal from Gazimestan monument was wrong and cast doubt on the sincerity of its endeavors to secure lasting protection of the monument. A series of vandalisms in which Serb monuments and holy sites have been destroyed and desecrated since 1999 shows that there are no guarantees that the Kosovo Police Service (KPS) will guard an protect them in the future, the ministry said in a release. The ministry therefore demands, appeals and hopes that KFOR will continue to protect the remaining Serb monuments and holy sites in Kosovo and that it will reconsider its decision, the release says.

KFOR: KOSOVO POLICE RESPONSIBLE FOR PROTECTION OF GAZIMESTAN
PRISTINA, March 17 (Tanjug) - KFOR confirmed that they will officially transfer the responsibility for the protection of Gazimestan monument to the Kosovo Police Service (KPS), based on the decision made by the North Atlantic Council. The monument in Gazimestan was put up in honor of the heroes of the Battle of Kosovo, fought between the Serbian and Turkish army in 1389. The monument was set up in 1953, and was made by Serbian architect Aleksandar Derok. The transfer of responsibility will be carried out in the presence of the official representatives of KFOR, EULEX and KPS, the statement says, adding that this reflects the trust that NATO and the KFOR contributing nations have in the competence of the Kosovo police to perform this important task. This decision represents an important cornerstone in the transfer of main responsibilities of protection of cultural and religious sites in Kosovo to the Kosovo police, statement reads.

SERBIA – ECONOMY

DJELIC ANNOUNCES ECONOMIC AGREEMENT WITH POLAND
BELGRADE, March 17 (Tanjug) - Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic announced that President Tadic will pay a visit to Warsaw next week and sign a bilateral economic agreement with Poland. Djelic said at the business forum of the Serbian and Polish businessmen in the Serbian Chamber of Commerce (PKS) that Poland is the only country in Europe that had a positive growth last year and is at the sixth place among the European economies. He pointed out that the cooperation between Poland and Serbia is not at a satisfactory level adding that trade and investments should be increased. Djelic also mentioned the fact that in the last 20 years, Poland has attracted investments worth EUR 100 billion. According to the PKS data, the value of the total trade between Serbia and Poland in 2009 amounted to USD 345 million, while the Serbian export equaled USD 67.3 million which is a 57 percent drop compared to the previous year. The import was down by 33 percent and amounted to USD 277.7 million.

USD 800 MILLION RUSSIAN LOAN IS STILL BEING NEGOTIATED
BELGRADE, March 16 (Tanjug) - Finance Minister Diana Dragutinovic said that the first part of the Russian loan, in the amount of USD 200 million, intended to support Serbia's state budget and finance the deficit, has been finalized, while the technical details are still being harmonized for the second part worth some USD 800 million. Dragutinovic told in the Serbian parliament that the Russian loan is still "in the early stages," and that the first part, which was easier to negotiate, has been finalized, while the technical details of the second, far more complex part, are still being harmonized. According to her, that part amounts to USD 800 million and is intended for various infrastructure projects. "We are still working on the details of the infrastructure projects," the minister said and explained that at least six months must pass from the start of negotiations until Serbia receives the funds. She added that the loan is long-term, given in U.S. dollars and on very favorable terms - a fixed interest rate of four percent and a grace period of one year. The negotiations on the Russian loan in the total amount of USD 1 billion started in late October 2009. The loan was arranged in principle on October 20, 2009 when Russian President Dmitry Medvedev visited Belgrade.

CONTRACT ON USD 200 MILLION RUSSIAN LOAN IN LATE MARCH
BELGRADE, March 16 (Tanjug) - Assistant Finance Minister Zoran Cirovic told that a contract for the first part of the Russian loan, totaling USD 200 mil and intended to finance the Serbian budget, will be signed by the end of March, and expressed his expectation that the Russian Finance Ministry will officially approve the USD 800 mil loan intended for infrastructure projects by the end of the month. Cirovic said that Evgeny Lukin, the head of the economic section at the Russian Embassy in Belgrade, informed the Serbian Finance Ministry that it can count on a contract being signed by the end of March for a USD 200 mil loan to finance the Serbian state budget. "I expect that we will really get around to signing the agreement for budget support by the end of March. The loan then needs to be ratified in the Serbian parliament," the assistant finance minister said and expressed hope that the ratification of the loan will not take over a month, so that Serbia can start using the funds in April or early May. "When it comes to the other USD 800 million, we are awaiting a definite confirmation from the Russian Finance Ministry, which is tied to their positive assessment of the infrastructure projects we submitted," Cirovic pointed out and explained that four infrastructure projects were negotiated and that the Russian side is optimistic about them. Cirovic noted that he has not received official confirmation from the Russian Ministry and that he cannot claim all four projects have been rated positively. "Of course, I hope and expect that they will be. We have submitted the documentation and expect a positive outcome.