Belgrade, April 21, 2010

SERBIA - TRILATERAL MEETING

TADIC MEETS WITH TURKISH, SPANISH FOREIGN MINISTERS
BELGRADE, April 21 (Tanjug) Serbian President Boris Tadic met separately Tuesday with Turkish and Spanish foreign ministers, Ahmet Davutoglu and Miguel Angel Moratinos, to discuss mutual relations and Serbia's continually improving relations with countries in the region, the president's press office said in a statement.
According to the statement, President Tadic and Minister Davutoglu expressed satisfaction with how relations between Serbia and Turkey are developing, particularly noting good economic relations.
President Tadic thanked Minister Moratinos on Spain's support to Serbia's European integration and on not recognizing Kosovo's illegally declared independence. They concluded during the talk that Serbia and Spain have excellent relations.
Tadic and ministers Davutoglu and Moratinos also discussed Serbia's constantly improving relations with countries in the region. They agreed that the common goal of the entire region is stability, prosperity and a European future, reads the statement.
Ministers Davutoglu and Moratinos visited Belgrade for a trilateral meeting of Serbian, Turkish and Spanish foreign ministers.

JEREMIC: SEEKING SOLUTION FOR SUCCESSFUL SARAJEVO CONFERENCE
BELGRADE, April 21 (Tanjug) Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic said late Tuesday after a meeting with his Spanish and Turkish counterparts, Miguel Angel Moratinos and Ahmet Davutoglu, that the three ministers expressed complete dedication and willingness to find a way to make the upcoming ministers conference in Sarajevo a success.
"We discussed the Sarajevo conference which is very important and Serbia will do everything to make it successful. I hope we will manage to resolve all open issues. We have not done it yet, but we are working very hard on it," Jeremic said at a news conference he held with Moratinos and Davutoglu. Jeremic said that the three countries whose ministers met in Belgrade disagree on one issue Kosovo's unilaterally declared independence but that this must not prevent their continued cooperation on a common priority, EU membership for all European countries. "We share a common vision a stable and prosperous Western Balkans integrated into the EU," he said, adding that they are in full agreement on this matter.
Moratinos, whose country currently holds the EU presidency, stressed that the three countries share not only a common vision but also a commitment to creating a stable, prosperous and fully integrated Balkans in the years ahead. Serbia, as a key player in the Western Balkans, is very important in this process, Moratinos said.
Davutoglu assessed that the consultations on the future of Europe and the Balkans are being held at the right moment and also expressed satisfaction that all three ministers share the same vision for Europe and the Western Balkans. Talks of this kind are the mechanism best suited to achieving these goals, he added.

MORATINOS, JEREMIC EXPECT SUCCESSFUL SARAJEVO CONFERENCE
BELGRADE, April 21 (Tanjug) - Serbian Foreign Ministers Vuk Jeremic and his Spanish counterpart Miguel Angel Moratinos stated Wednesday that the bilateral relations between Serbia and Spain are very good and expressed expectation that the upcoming ministers conference in Sarajevo, organized by Spain that currently holds the EU presidency, will be a complete success.
Moratinos stated at a joint press conference after the meeting with Jeremic that Spain will do everything in its power to accelerate the EU approach of Serbia and other West Balkan countries and expressed hope that by the end of Spain's EU presidency that is late June 2010, certain progress will be made and there will be good news for the whole region.
Discussing the upcoming ministers conference in Sarajevo, both ministers underscored willingness to find a way to make the conference successful. Jeremic reiterated Serbia's stand regarding the participation of Pristina's temporary institutions in regional conferences which should imply full recognition of international law and UN Security Council Resolution 1244. Moratinos said that that Spain believes that the conference will be a complete success and that Sarajevo will be the turning point in the West Balkans' European engagement.

MADRID STRONGLY SUPPORTS SERBIA'S EUROPEAN PATH
BELGRADE, April 21 (Tanjug) - Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos stated in Belgrade today that his country would do everything during its presidency over the European Union to speed up European integrations of Serbia and other region countries.
We hope that progress will be made regarding this issue by the end of Spain's presidency and that there will be good news for the Serbian society, Moratinos told journalists after his meeting with his Serbian counterpart Vuk Jeremic.
Spain's presidency over the European Union will end on July 1 and will be taken over by Belgium. Moratinos also pointed out the EU's satisfaction over the recent steps taken by the Serbian authorities, primarily the adoption of the declaration condemning the crime committed in Srebrenica. He said the declaration had a positive response in the EU as a whole and in individual member states. He also underscored the positive response to Serbia's regional policy, which is based on good neighborly relations.

SERBIA

DEJANOVIC: SERBIA AND BULGARIA MAY STRENGTHEN COOPERATION
BELGRADE, April 20 (Tanjug) Serbian National Assembly President Slavica Djukic Dejanovic stated Tuesday that Bulgaria and Serbia could further strengthen their bilateral cooperation and that the parliaments of the two states could stimulate this process through competent parliamentary bodies and committees.
"The cooperation between the two states should be strengthened through parliamentary and business contacts aiming at overcoming the consequences of the world economic crisis," underscored Djukic Dejanovic in her statement with Tanjug upon her return from Sofia. She specified that the priorities include construction of motorways, Corridor 10, gas pipeline, border crossings, solutions to the energy stability issues and the Danube River program.
"Those topics will be discussed separately by the premiers of Serbia and Bulgaria during the visit of Prime Minister Boyko Borisov to Belgrade next Monday," said Djukic Dejanovic. She also underscored that the visit and meetings with the Serbian prime minister will stimulate the cooperation in several economic and social areas. Djukic Dejanovic went to a oneday visit to Sofia on Monday, at the invitation of Bulgarian Parliament Speaker Cecka Cacheva, where she also met with President Georgy Parvanov, Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Nikolay Mladenov.
During my meeting with President Parvanov, the importance of the integration of the Western Balkans as a whole into the European family was underscored, said Djukic Dejanovic, adding that Bulgaria will continue to assist Serbia in its next steps towards a full membership in the EU. "During our discussion on the status of the Bulgarian ethnic minority, I informed the Bulgarian president that the Ministry of Education is drafting bylaws that would regulate the issue of education in the Bulgarian language in Serbia, primarily, printing of textbooks in Bulgarian," said Djukic Dejanovic.

BULGARIA TO PROVIDE POLITICAL, EXPERT SUPPORT TO SERBIA
SOFIA, April 20 (Tanjug) Bulgaria will continue to provide political and expert support to Serbia in the integration process, President Georgi Parvanov said quoted by a release by his office Tuesday.
Bulgaria is interested in the European future of the countries of the Western Balkans, which is particularly true of its western neighbors Serbia and Macedonia, he said meeting Serbian parliament speaker Slavica Djukic Dejanovic Monday in Sofia.
Parvanov pointed to the active role of the two parliaments in fostering bilateral relations. He also thanked Djukic Dejanovic for her readiness to support the opening of new border crossings between the two countries. Parvanov and Djukic Dejanovic also share the view that Bulgarian-Serbian business contacts should be encouraged to mitigate the impact of the global crisis.
Discussing the energy sector, Parvanov noted Bulgaria's interest in the speedy construction of an interconnector between the gas transmission systems of Bulgaria and Serbia as the most effective prevention of new problems in natural gas supply. He stressed that the South Stream gas pipeline is part of the two countries' common European future and is important for Europe's energy security. He recalled his suggestion that the countries of Southeastern Europe should get involved in the construction of the Belene Nuclear Power Plant less for the sake of the project's financial stability than to stabilize the electricity market, which all countries need, he said. Parvanov raised the issue of the creation of a stateoftheart early warning system for emergencies along the Danube, the release says.

VOA OFFICIAL: SERBIA WAS NOT MILITARY ENDANGERED IN 2009
BELGRADE, April 20 (Tanjug) Deputy Chief of the Military Intelligence Agency of Serbia (VOA) Colonel Dragan Vladisavljevic said Tuesday that Serbia was not military endangered during 2009.
He said that the main focus of the agency's work was acquiring information on the sources of asymmetric threats extremism, terrorism, organized crime and weapon and drug trafficking. At the Tuesday sitting of the Serbian parliament's Committee on Defense and Security, Vladisavljevic presented the Military Intelligence Agency's 2009 Activity Report, and pointed out that VOA cooperates with a number foreign agencies in collecting information on asymmetric threats.
He said that the cooperation is carried out according to positive domestic regulations and that it benefits everyone included, and expressed belief that it would be continued in the future. Asymmetric threats are a global problem and that they represent the biggest danger in the Balkans, as a region which has become a fertile ground for such activities, Vladisavljevic explained. He also underlined that stability of Bosnia Herzegovina (BiH) and the unilaterally proclaimed independence of Kosovo were among the key issues the international community and the countries of the region focused on in 2009.
According to him, VOA paid special attention to the phenomena and factors in the complex international surroundings which could directly or indirectly endanger the most important national interests and security of Serbia. Vladisavljevic also said that information acquired by VOA contributed to the efficiency of the intelligence system of the Defense Ministry and Serbian Armed Forces. Referring to Serbia's plans to intensify its engagement in multinational operations, Vladisavljevic said that VOA carried out a study on important international military engagements under the UN and EU mandates and presented the military, financial and security aspects of the country's possible participation in such operations. The members of the Defense and Security Committee unanimously accepted the VOA Activity Report.

US DONATES USD 500,000 EQUIPMENT TO CUSTOMS ADMINISTRATION
BELGRADE, April 20 (Tanjug) The government of the United States of America donated to the Customs Administration of the Republic of Serbia equipment worth about USD 500,000, within the framework of the Export Control and Related Border Security Assistance (EXBS) program, the administration said in a release on Tuesday.
The equipment is intended primarily for the department for the control of implementation of customs regulations. The Customs Administration of the Republic of Serbia has been participating in the EXBS program from June 2005. Since then, the US government has donated equipment worth several million dollars to Serbia's Customs Administration. By the constant modernization of its service, the customs administration is trying to meet two main criteria a quick transportation of goods and passengers and an efficient control, protecting safety and security of the country and citizens, the release says.

NUMEROUS FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC COMPANIES IN SERBIA
BELGRADE, April 20 (Tanjug) According to the latest data released by the Serbian Business Register Agency (APR), there are 1,431 registered active representative offices of foreign legal entities and 183 of their branch offices in Serbia.
Besides those, there are 7,710 registered active business associations, whose founders also include foreigners, it was publicized at the APR's website. In midMarch, the APR also announced that a total number of 333,464 active business entities had been registered in Serbia, of which 111,283 business associations and 222,181 entrepreneurs.
The majority of business associations had been registered for retail trade (14,775), rough construction works and specific works of civil engineering (2,983), consulting and management (2,954), road transportation of goods (2,658) and engineering (2,426).

KOSOVO AND METOHIJA

MILITARY INTELLIGENCE AGENCY: NO SECURITY THREATS IN KOSOVO
BELGRADE, April 19 (Beta) - The Military Intelligence Agency of the Army of Serbia believes that there is no danger in Kosovo of great security threats and that any reduction in the number of KFOR members in the province would not have a negative impact on the safety of the Serb population.
Responding to questions by members of the Security Committee of the Serbian Parliament, Snezana Vukadinovic Sundric, an advisor at the agency, said its analyses showed that the situation in Kosovo was peaceful and that problems were increasingly being solved through political means. According to her, despite the withdrawal of a number of international forces in the province, the safety of Serbs will not be jeopardized, as KFOR has reorganized and its forces are more mobile. She added that the Military Intelligence Agency was monitoring developments in northern Kosovo so it can issue a timely warning of any possible deterioration of security, but that there was currently no reason for alarm.
Speaking of terrorist threats, Vukadinovic Sundric said they were not particularly great in the region, but that they could never be ruled out as a latent danger, due to their very nature and the fact that the Balkans were part of a global terrorist network.
Vukadinovic Sundric said taking control over the border with Albania and Macedonia by the Kosovo police was a violation of Resolution 1244 of the U.N. Security Council.

IVANOVIC: CONSTITUTION DEFINES KOSOVO AS SERBIA'S TERRITORY
BELGRADE, April 21 (Tanjug) State Secretary at the Serbian Ministry for Kosovo Metohija (KiM) Oliver Ivanovic stated Tuesday evening that the participation of the representatives of Kosovo Albanians in international conferences must not imply the selfproclaimed status of Kosovo's independence.
Ivanovic said that the issue of the attendance of Kosovo representatives at international conferences will be the topic of the meeting between Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic and his Spanish and Turkish counterparts, Miguel Angel Moratinos and Ahmet Davutoglu respectively, and added that the organizers of conferences will have to find an option acceptable for all the participants.
"Our principle is that Kosovo can attend conferences on condition that their presence does not imply their selfproclaimed status," Ivanovic stated for television B92, adding that he is surprised by the reactions of international factors, as it cannot be expected that Serbia will accept the Kosovo's secession and independence. According to him, it is undisputable that the attendance of the representatives of Kosovo Albanians in regional conferences should be supported in a sense, which means that "they can come without a title, but not as foreign ministers of the Republic of Kosovo."

UK IN FAVOR OF KOSOVO'S PARTICIPATION IN OLYMPIC GAMES
PRISTINA, April 20 (Tanjug) UK Ambassador to Kosovo Andy Sparks said Tuesday in Pristina that the UK will lobby with countries which have not recognized Kosovo's independence to accept it as a participant in the 2012 Olympic Games in the UK. He made this statement after meeting Kosovo Culture Minister Ljutfi Haziri.
Sparks and Haziri conferred on the protection of cultural heritage in Kosovo. Haziri said after the meeting that realization of a project for the protection of cultural heritage in Kosovo will start on April 24. That project is supported by the UK embassy in Kosovo.

DE KERMABON: RULE OF LAW NEEDS TO BE REINSTITUTED IN KOSOVO
BELGRADE, April 21 (Tanjug) EULEX Head Ives de Kermabon said that the greatest problem his mission is faced with and his biggest nightmare is reinstituting the rule of law in Kosovo.
This is the most important thing. We need to take small steps and first try to establish the foundations of the rule of law. In order to do this, we must build trust, De Kermabon said in an interview published in the Wednesday edition of the daily Politika. He stressed that EULEX is not a political, but a technical mission and that it does not discuss political or status issues. The EULEX mission was set up through an agreement of 27 EU countries, five of which have not recognized Kosovo, so it does not deal with the issue of Kosovo's status, he said. De Kermabon noted he is ready to serve a second term and is waiting on the EU to extend the mission's mandate which ends on June 15.