Belgrade, 22. 01. 2010.

SERBIA – REGION

• TADIC ON KIM AND PROVOCATIONS THAT ARE THREAT TO REGION
• JOSIPOVIC: POLITICIANS TO CREATE ATMOSPHERE OF TRUST
• MAROVIC: MONTENEGRO WANTS BEST RELATIONS WITH NEIGHBORS

• DJELIC: SERBIA TO BECOME EU CANDIDATE BY END OF 2010
• PACE DELEGATION VISITS SERBIAN PARLIAMENT
• CONCERT IN KOLARAC ON OCCASION OF SPAIN'S EU PRESIDENCY
• DROUTSAS AND SPINDELEGGER: WEST BALKANS TO JOIN EU BY 2014

• PARLIAMENT SPEAKER MEETS WITH USAID DELEGATION
• DACIC MEETS WITH MONITORING COMMITTEE RAPPORTEURS
• SERBIA TO SEND AID TO HAITI
• DACIC: SERBIAN POLICEMEN IN HAITI TO BE PROMOTED
• BELGRADE BY-PASS FREEZES NEGOTIATIONS WITH RUSSIA

NEW YORK, Jan 22 (Tanjug) - President Boris Tadic has announced that, at the UN Security Council session, he will speak about the situation in Kosovo-Metohija (KiM) and the provocative statements that threaten to destabilize the region, such as the recent one made by outgoing Croatian President Stjepan Mesic on the possibility of using military force against Republika Srpska (RS). "At the session of the UN Security Council, the most important international institution that deals with security policy, it is crucial that we define new security challenges we are all facing together so as to suspend provocative actions in due course and secure stability and peaceful development of the situation in which we should discuss the future status of Kosovo," Tadic stated upon his arrival to New York. With a particular reference to the proceedings before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Tadic announced that he will speak about the legal, political, diplomatic and security aspects of the situation in Kosovo, the Serbian President's press service stated for Tanjug. Tadic will once again point out that Serbia will under no circumstances recognize the independence of Kosovo and that it will fight for the protection of its own interests by a constructive policy that relies upon the international law and diplomacy. Tadic added that, apart from the debate on KiM, he will refer to the dangerous and provocative statement of Stjepan Mesic on the possibility of a Croatian military engagement in RS. The session will also consider the latest report of the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, in which the situation in the province was assessed as relatively peaceful, but potentially fragile, and Belgrade and Pristina were urged to put aside the issue of status considerations in the interest of regional cooperation.

ZAGREB, Jan 21 (Tanjug) - Croatian President Ivo Josipovic has said that the trend of Serbo-Croatian relations in the last ten years is absolutely positive, and that small rises and falls are not that important, adding that Croatian and Serbian politicians, taking care of their countries' interests, should create an atmosphere of trust and optimism. On the occasion of the statement of the outgoing President Stjepan Mesic that if a seccession referendum was called in Republika Srpska, he would send the army to the BiH entity, Josipovic told that "he does not comment on casual and informal statements," and pointed out that military option is never a solution to a problem. Speaking of the genocide lawsuits which Serbia and Croatia have filed against each other with the ICJ in The Hague, Josipovic did not dismiss the possibility that the lawsuits could be withdrawn, and pointed out that in order for that to happen, the officials from both countries should hold talks "cool-headed, calm and without the pressure of the public and the media." The president of Croatia stressed that he would like that all the countries from the region enter the EU as soon as possible, and added that this is in the interest of Croatia, a country, which, as he put it, is realistically first on the list. However, it is also in the interest of Croatia that BiH, Montenegro and Serbia be admitted in the EU as soon as possible, he added. When it comes to Kosovo, he explained that he thinks that the wheel of history cannot be turned back and that Serbia lost Kosovo a long time before independence was formally proclaimed. Josipovic reiterated that he would be glad if President Boris Tadic attended his inauguration in Zagreb on February 18, but added however that he will not see it as an act of hostility if his Serbian counterpart decided not to come.

PODGORICA, Jan 22 (Tanjug) - Montenegrin Deputy Prime Minister Svetozar Marovic stated Thursday evening that Montenegro wants to have the best relations with its neighbors and that he hopes that Belgrade will show understanding for Podgorica's decision to establish diplomatic relations with Kosovo. In an interview for the Radio Television of Montenegro (RTCG), Marovic said that the country has established diplomatic relations with Kosovo taking into account its own interests, adding that Podgorica is trying to explain to Belgrade that this decision was made only for the protection of Montenegro's own interests. He said that the exchange of ambassadors with Pristina will happen after the status of Montenegrin minority in Kosovo is solved and pointed out that the pace of the exchange will depend on the pace of the solving of issues regarding the status of Montenegrins in that country. Marovic underscored that Montenegro has, above all, an obligation to itself, to protect its Euro-Atlantic interests and some of its rational priorities.

BELGRADE, Jan 22 (Tanjug) - Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic has said that he expects the country's application for obtaining the status of EU candidate to be passed to the EC in the spring, and that Serbia will become a EU candidate by the end of 2010. For daily Vecernje novosti, Djelic reminded that a regular political dialogue between Serbia and the EU will be continued in Brussels on Jan 26, adding that the issues will be the situation in the region and Serbia's candidacy, and that on Jan 29 the country will present its priorities in the scope of the future EU Danube strategy. According to him, it is not realistically that our application be passed to the EU Ministers and then to the Commission in January, and not even in February, since Bulgaria has withdrawn its candidate for the commissioner which will prolong the formal constitution of the EC as well. He therefore expects that Serbia's application be passed to the EC in the spring. When it comes to the begging of negotiations on the membership, he assessed that "it is highly unlikely that this happens before the country fully completes the cooperation with The Hague", which was also the case with Croatia, and added that Serbia should try to avoid to have the same fate as Macedonia, that has been the candidate since 2005 and still has not began negotiations. Speaking of the suggestion of the Greek Prime Minister Georgios Papandreou regarding Serbia in the EU in 2014, Djelic said that "it is important that the Greece's suggestion was supported by Italy, and that Austria announced to support it as well," but added that "the timetable is on the edge of technical possibilities, and it will depend a lot on the economic situation in EU countries."

BELGRADE, Jan 21 (Tanjug) - A delegation of the Monitoring Committee of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) conferred with representatives of the ruling majority and the opposition in the Serbian parliament on Serbia's progress in fulfilling its commitments stemming from CE membership. The goal of the visit is also to discuss the commitments the Serbian parliament should fulfill in 2010, the parliament press service said. The delegation is headed by PACE Rapporteurs Andreas Gross and Davit Harutinian.

BELGRADE, Jan 22 (Tanjug) - Spanish guitar player and composer Jose Luis Martinez held a concert in the Ilija M. Kolarac Endowment in Belgrade, before a numerous diplomatic and Belgrade audience, on the occasion of the beginning of Spanish EU Presidency. The audience enjoyed the slow, sentimental rhythm of fifteen compositions performed by the distinguished Spanish artist, accompanied by the orchestra of 18 Serbian musicians. Martinez dedicated most of his performed works to his friends. Martinez's high artistic values attracted a great attention of audience at these guest performances, as well as extraordinary reviews of expert critics.

ATHENS, Jan 22 (Tanjug) - Greek Alternate Foreign Minister Dimitris Droutsas and Austrian Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger agreed to take the initiative for sending a joint letter to all their colleagues from the EU member states, in which they would promote the idea of the need for the West Balkan countries to join the EU by 2014. Our aim is to take further steps together, Droutsas said. Greece and Austria have shared interests. Greece is the center of the region and Austria has a rich past and history in the Balkans, he added at the meeting with his Austrian colleague in Athens, expressing expectation that cooperation between the two countries will be expanded to other areas. Droutsas stressed that the crucial moment for taking the initiative was missed in the previous years and that the year of 2014 is a turning point, the Greek news agency ANA reports.

BELGRADE, Jan 22 (Tanjug) - Parliament Speaker Djukic Dejanovic met with the delegation of the United States Agency for Independent Development (USAID), which is conducting the Separation of Powers Project (SPP) in the parliament through the strengthening of its controlling role, the Serbian parliament said in a statement. USAID has been supporting the strengthening of the parliament's controlling role through the SPP, which was designed to prepare the parliament to establish its own budget and long-term planning systems. The project will be completed in Aug 2011. "It is in the parliament's interest to make the most of the remaining 18 months of the program, because one of the parliament's priorities for the coming period is precisely its controlling role," the statement quoted.

BELGRADE, Jan 22 (Tanjug) - Deputy Prime Minister Ivica Dacic met with rapporteurs of the Monitoring Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, and discussed with them the most important issues regarding Serbia, the Interior Ministry released in a statement. The participants of the meeting discussed the major events in Serbia over the last six months, the most important one being visa liberalization, and pointed to the hard work of a number of ministries, particularly the Interior Ministry and the Ministry of Justice, which preceded the relaxation. A reform of judiciary is underway, and Serbia has made significant progress as far as the fight against hooliganism is concerned, Dacic said. He added that progress has also been made in the field of regional and international cooperation, and protection of minority rights, the statement reads.

BELGRADE, Jan 21 (Tanjug) - The government adopted at its session a decision on sending aid totalling USD 100,000 to Haiti to alleviate the effects of the devastating earthquake. The government also adopted excise on cigarettes, alcohol and oil products coordinated with the rise in retail prices index in 2009. It also adopted a conclusion on the takeover of the Privredna Banka Pancevo by the Postanska Stedionica. The government also adopted regulations on the subsidized purchase of cars made in Serbia on the basis of exchanging old for new, and measures for incentives for the manufacture and sale of tractors.

ODZACI, Jan 21 (Tanjug) - Serbian Minister of Interior Ivica Dacic said Thursday that the five employees of the Serbian Police (MUP) who are engaged in the UN peacekeeping mission in Haiti, which was recently hit by a destructive earthquake, will be promoted due to their commitment to saving the people from ruins. "I have decided to promote and award our policemen who are in Haiti under the UN peacekeeping mission. They are really putting maximum effort not only into performing police work, but also into saving lives," Dacic told news reporters in Odzaci, in northern Serbia. He stated that "Serbia is ready to send, if there is a need, more policemen to Haiti in the scope of the UN or the EU," the Ministry of Interior has released in a statement. According to him, this way Serbia will show that along with an integrated system of managing emergency situations at the state level, countries "should also participate in saving people at the level of the whole planet when such tragedies occur."

BELGRADE, Jan 22 (Tanjug) - Minister for Infrastructure Milutin Mrkonjic said that investment plans for Belgrade Bypass "have frozen" the negotiations with Russia concerning a loan of USD 800 million, since Russia wants all of the money to be invested into the Serbian railways and that their companies take part in it. "There is one variant which envisages that a part of the loan, around USD 170 million, would be invested in the bypass, i.e. sector between Orlovaca and Bubanj Potok, and this now freezes the negotiations a bit," Mrkonjic told news reporters at the 11th meeting of the Corridor 10 regulatory committee held in Belgrade, which was attended by the representatives of all the European countries through which this international highway passes. He said that Serbia wants to use that amount of money for finishing the bypass around Belgrade and that the rest USD 630 million should be invested in the railways. "The interest of Russian companies is big and they are conditioning the negotiations. There are many different things at stake, but the structure of our railways is such that it corresponds to the railways of Russia, so we can therefore find a mutual language. I am of opinion that we should make an agreement and work together," Mrkonjic underscored.