SERBIA – WB CONFERENCE IN SLOVENIA

SERBIAN PRESIDENT NOT TO ATTEND CONFERENCE IN SLOVENIA
BELGRADE, March 19 (Tanjug) - Serbian President Boris Tadic will not attend the Western Balkans conference in Slovenia on Saturday, the Press Service of the President has announced. Serbia's stand from the very beginning was that the participation of Kosovo's delegation was only acceptable if in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 1244, states the announcement.
"Unfortunately, the organizers have not managed to set up the meeting according to this principle, which makes it impossible for the Serbian president to attend," the announcement explains. Serbia had a constructive approach to the talks surrounding the organization of the meeting from their very start, demonstrating its desire not to block Kosovo's participation and stating its view clearly, so that it could serve as guidance to the organizers, who needed to find a formula in keeping with UN principles, says the announcement.

EU AND SERBIA NOT TO ATTEND CONFERENCE IN SLOVENIA
BRUSSELS, March 19 (Tanjug) - The Western Balkans conference in Slovenia on Saturday will be held without Serbian and EU representatives, despite the ambitions and efforts by the organizers.
EU President Herman Van Rompuy and Serbian President Boris Tadic announced Friday afternoon that they will not be attending the meeting. Thus an incomplete list of participants is finalized just one day before the event, which leaves a dilemma as to what the outcome and messages of the meeting will be. Rompuy announced that he supports any initiative that promotes regional cooperation, adding that he is planning to visit the Western Balkans as soon as possible, which answered the question of whether he is going to attend the conference in Slovenia.
Tadic, on the other hand, refused to participate in the event because, according to an announcement by the Press Service of the President, the organizers failed to set up the meeting in such a way that Kosovo's presence would be in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 1244. "Unfortunately, this makes it impossible for the Serbian president to attend the meeting," according to the announcement. Serbia, the announcement says, "demonstrated its desire not to block Kosovo's participation and stated its view clearly from the very start, so that it could serve as a guideline for the organizers, who needed to find a formula that would be in keeping with UN principles." Kosovo insisted on taking part in the meeting as an independent country.
The conference will have no official EU representatives, apart from Slovenian representatives, because Spain's Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos, whose country is currently presiding over the EU, set Rompuy's presence as the condition for his own. EU officials see the Saturday conference, which is organized by Slovenia and Croatia, as a regional meeting, while they put the real emphasis on the EU-Western Balkans summit in Sarajevo in June, which will be organized by Spain.

SERBIA'S WANTS KOSOVO NOT TO BE REPRESENTED AS INDEPENDENT
BELGRADE, March 19 (Tanjug) - Serbia's participation at the Western Balkans conference in Slovenia on Saturday would be an act of implicit recognition of Kosovo's so called independence, Political Director of the Serbian Foreign Ministry Borislav Stefanovic said Friday.
Serbia's main interest in this case is for Kosovo not to be represented in a symetrical way to other countries, because the Kosovo government would use that to show that Serbia has recognized Kosovo's independence, which Kosovo officials have already done at some meetings, Stefanovic stated. "Our red line is well known. It involves the presence of UNMIK (UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo) officials, which is standard practice. The condition Serbia has set is based on principle and will remain in power when it comes to the national foreign policy, which means that UNMIK represents Kosovo at international meetings," Stefanovic stressed.
"There will be no consequences of Serbia's refusal to attend; it will not affect the country's European integration," Stefanovic told TV B92. He added that the relations between Serbia and Spain, the country presiding over the EU, are friendly, and that neither Spain nor the EU have recognized Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence.
JEREMIC: CONFERENCE OUTCOME IS BELOW ALL EXPECTATIONS
BELGRADE, March 21 (Tanjug) - Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic assessed that the conference of the Western Balkan countries at Brdo pri Kranju, Slovenia, "had an outcome below all expectations," adding that, regardless of their differences, all regional countries have a shared view of the future.
"We all want for the Balkans to be peaceful, prosperous and within the EU," Jeremic said in a statement for the Radio and Television of Serbia Saturday evening. Speaking about Serbian President Boris Tadic's non-attendance at the conference, Jeremic said that Serbia only requested that the agreement and earlier determined rules should be honored, which the host country, unfortunately, did not succeed in doing.
Serbia requested that the representatives of the interim institutions from Pristina should be present at the conference only in accordance with the Resolution 1244 of the UN Security Council, that is as Kosovo-UNMIK, which the organizers did not accept. The conference was not attended by EU representatives either, apart from EU Commissioner for Enlargement Stefan Fule. "In such circumstances, the Serbian president and EU officials should not have been expected to attend," Jeremic said.
According to him, there will be other opportunities and meetings when Serbia will successfully prove that "our shared goal is clear, and that is the EU." Commenting on the statement of Prime Minister of the Kosovo interim government Hasim Taci that Serbia will recognize Kosovo sooner or later, and that the Resolution 1244 is outdated, Jeremic pointed out that this is a complete nonsense, adding that "the position of the Serbian state leadership, and any of its future leadership, is clear, precise and unchangeable." "Under no circumstances, whatever the situation, will we accept the independence of Kosovo," he stressed.

SERBIA - EU

DJELIC: ESSENCE OF EU INTEGRATION IS BETTER QUALITY OF LIFE
BRUSSELS, March 21 (Tanjug) - Serbia is in favor of the EU structural funds being available to the Western Balkans countries before they formally join the EU, as this will contribute to the development projects and improvement of the quality of life of the citizens, Serbian Deputy Prime Minister for EU Integration Bozidar Djelic.
The current system is satisfactory neither for the countries which are on their EU pathway, nor for the EU member states," said Djelic, who visited Brussels Friday, the Radio Deutsche Welle reported. Taking the example of Croatia, which now receives about EUR 200 million from the European budget, whereas in the first year upon its EU accession it will receive about EUR 1.5 billion of EU's direct support, Djelic assessed that, on the one hand, such disbalance disables a country from preparing well for the accession, and on the other hand, when the country finally does join the EU, it has no sufficient capacity for using this amount of funds.
According to him, such financial parameters of Europe's support cause uneasiness and pressures that countries should join the EU as quickly as possible and at all cost. "There are elements for a new agreement, which would enable that the funds given to the countries preparing to join the EU would increase much faster even before the EU accession," Djelic stressed. "In this way we can prepare Serbia and other Western Balkan countries for full membership, by building infrastructure, developing the energy sector, preparing the education and science system," Djelic said. "In such a case, the date of the EU accession would not be as fateful as it is now," Djelic underscored.

DEGERT: COOPERATION WITH ICTY, STRONG JUDICIARIES CRUCIAL
NOVI SAD, March 20 (Tanjug) - Head of the European Commission Delegation to Serbia Vincent Degert stated in Novi Sad Saturday that crucial segments of the EU's policy for the Western Balkans are a full cooperation with the ICTY, strong judicial systems which will prosecute and punish the perpetrators of war crimes, as well as regional cooperation and coordination in these tasks.
Opening the sixth regional forum for transitional justice of the Coalition for RECOM (Regional Commission for Truth-seeking and Truth-telling about War Crimes committed in former Yugoslavia), Degert said that the EU does not only impose conditions, but also offers help and support to the prosecutions in the region (Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia), as well as the training of the judiciary employees of these countries. As far as regional cooperation is concerned, he believes that the existing legal and constitutional obstacles regarding the extradition of war crime perpetrators should be removed with bilateral or multilateral agreements between the regional countries.
Addressing the forum participants from Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Slovenia and Serbia, Vice-President of the Vojvodina government Ana Tomanova- Malanova stressed that agreements, as well as multidisciplinary investigation into war crimes, will contribute to prevention, better coexistence and tolerance.

SERBIA TO GET EUR 70 MILLION IN EU AID
BELGRADE, MARCH 22 (Tanjug) - Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic and Head of the European Union (EU) Delegation to Serbia Vincent Degert will sign in Novi Sad Monday an agreement on the implementation of an EU financial aid package of over EUR 70 million.
The EUR 70 million, coming from the instrument of Pre-Accession Assistance funds, will supplement the EUR 100 million in budget assistance that Serbia has already received, announced the EU Delegation to Serbia. The financial aid package is intended to support projects that will directly benefit Serbian citizens, as well as continued political and economic reforms necessary for Serbia to move forward in the European integration process.

BRYANT: BRITAIN TO SUPPORT SERBIA'S EU ACCESSION
LONDON/BELGRADE, March 19 (Tanjug) - Great Britain will support Serbia's EU accession, UK State Minister for Europe Chris Bryant has stated in talks with Serbian Minister of Interior Ivica Dacic.
During the late Thursday meeting in London, Bryant and Dacic agreed that Serbia's EU accession is important not only for Serbia but for Europe as well, due to the values the country will bring to the EU. The British minister evaluated that Serbia is an important factor for the stability of the Western Balkans and the good relations between the countries of the region, the Serbian Ministry of Interior has released in a statement. Bryant stressed that Great Britain will discuss the possibility of visa abolishment for citizens of Serbia in 2011, the statement reads.
Dacic and Bryant pointed out that Serbia and UK have a traditionally good cooperation which should be continued, especially in the field of the economy. The Serbian official stressed that Serbia expects Great Britain's support on its EU pathway and the soonest possible abolishment of UK visas. Dacic concluded his four-day working visit to Great Britain late Thursday, during which he had a number of meetings with the country's officials.

SERBIA

CVETKOVIC: GOVERNMENT UNITED IN CARRYING OUT ECONOMIC POLICY
BELGRADE, March 21 (Tanjug) - Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic has stated that the government is stable and united when it comes to the carrying out of the economic policy, adding that 2010 will be much better than the previous year, but that the question is whether the improvement will actually be felt in real life.
The government must create additional demand and help the people, Cvetkovic said in an interview for the Belgrade based daily Politika Sunday, pointing out that the government will consider all the ideas jointly proposed by the employers and the unions. He believes that the differences in crisis remedies proposed by his nearest associates and top state officials are normal.
"I believe that these are only various individual prognoses. On the one hand, we have a model the aim of which is to try to solve problems caused by the crisis in a short term, since unemployment, for example, keeps growing even though our production is increasing," Cvetkovic underscored. The other model, as he said, refers to a medium-term concept, which requires a restructuring of the fiscal approach.
"These ideas are not all that dissimilar once you have discussed them with the ones who suggested them," Cvetkovic said, adding that he does not believe that the conference in Mt. Kopaonik is a good example of a unity, as the conference was supposed to be a gallery of different opinions. When asked about the comment of National Bank of Serbia Governor Radovan Jelasic that Serbia is threatened by the Greek (debt) scenario, Cvetkovic stressed that this is absolutely not true.
DAVUTOGLU SAYS SERBIA SHOULD APOLOGIZE FOR SREBRENICA CRIME
ANKARA, March 19 (Tanjug) - Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has said that Serbia should apologize for the crime over Muslims in Srebrenica, and announced that his country will launch new initiatives to improve the relations between Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH), Serbia and Turkey.
Serbia will soon apologize for the 1995 Srebrenica crime when thousands of Muslims were killed, the Turkish minister told the press ahead of his visit to Bulgaria, local media report. Davutoglu pointed out that the relations between Turkey and Serbia that were characterized by many centuries of hostility have significantly improved in the recent period, and pointed to the fact that he had met with Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic 11 times in just six months.
The relations with the neighboring countries and the countries of the Balkans, especially with Bosnia-Herzegovina, are among the top priorities of the country's foreign policy. To this aim, Ankara has already launched two trilateral dialogue mechanisms: one between Turkey, BiH and Serbia, and the other between Turkey, BiH and Croatia, in order to help resolve the problems in Bosnia, which has of lately been faced with political misunderstandings that could additionally burden the relations between Bosniaks, Serbs and Croats, Turkish media report.

MAAS: IMPROVED RELATIONS BETWEEN SERBIA AND GERMANY
BELGRADE, March 20 (Tanjug) - German Ambassador to Serbia Wolfram Maas assessed that relations between Belgrade and Berlin have improved in the past two years, adding that Germany fully supports the top priority of the Serbian government - EU integration.
Whereas two years ago we were still faced with attacks on the German Embassy in Belgrade, that the former government at the very least tolerated, the present relations are characterized by great mutual trust, Maas said in an interview for the Belgrade daily Politika. On the occasion of Serbian President Boris Tadic's statement that he will not be happy until Germany becomes Serbia's number one partner, Maas said that his country is Serbia's very good partner in several aspects. Maas said that Serbia's aim to join the EU requires efforts, adding that it is very important to formulate this aim based on the experience of other countries, so as to avoid unnecessary frustrations. He stressed that Serbia must fulfill all the necessary criteria on its EU pathway. No one is saying that Serbia's EU integration should be slowed down, Maas said.
However, based on the experience with the latest enlargement, great attention is being devoted to making sure that all the accession criteria are fulfilled. Serbia, as well as all other potential accession candidates, is expected to comply with the Copenhagen criteria, and nothing else, Maas underscored. He said that Germany considers the unilateral declaration of independence as a resolved issue, adding that Berlin will not exert pressure on Serbia to recognize the secession of its southern province.

SUTANOVAC: SOUTH OF SERBIA IS SECURE
ZAJECAR, March 20 (Tanjug) - Serbian Defense Minister Dragan Sutanovac assessed in Zajecar Saturday that, apart from individual acts, there is no serious jeopardizing of security along the administrative borderline with Kosovo-Metohija (KiM).
The situation along the administrative line is "always complex, but secure," Sutanovac told the journalists at the garrison in Zajecar, eastern Serbia, where he attended the taking of oath of the March generation of young soldiers. Sutanovac said that the Serbian Army units in that area are performing their tasks in accordance with the orders, adding that they ensure stability. He assessed that the army has regained the trust of the people, which is shown by the fact that there has been an increase of soldiers serving military duties in uniform.
"By this time next year, we want to have an army which will be completely professionalized and modernized," Sutanovac underscored. According to him, the professional army will be better at performing tasks in all three missions - defending the country, helping civilians and taking part in peace-keeping operations.

MEETING OF SERBIAN AND HUNGARIAN DEFENSE MINISTERS
BELGRADE, March 22 (Tanjug) - Hungary fully supports Serbia's EU integration, the country's Defense Minister Imre Szekeres stated Monday. At a joint press conference held with his Serbian counterpart Dragan Sutanovac, Szekeres pointed out that the Hungarian Army in scope of KFOR in Kosovo-Metohija will keep the same number of its troops in the province.
Szekeres assessed as positive the reform processes in the defense system of Serbia, and stressed that successful reform of armed forces is one of the most important steps for European integration. Hungary wants the same number of its troops to stay in Kosovo and Metohija, he said, and added that the country's military units will continue the peacekeeping mission in Bosnia-Herzegovina as well, in order to preserve stability. Szekeres expressed his satisfaction with the Defense Cooperation Agreement signed on Monday.
Serbia's Defense Minister Dragan Sutanovac stated that he and his Hungarian counterpart also discussed the participation of Serbian defense forces in some of the peacekeeping missions in which Hungary has already been included. Sutanovac reminded that the Hungarian army switched to a completely professional way of organization six years ago, and pointed out that exchange of experience in that segment will also be very useful for Serbia.

SERBIA’S FOREIGN DEBTS REACHES EUR 22.8 BILLION
BELGRADE, March 19 (Tanjug) – Serbia’s total foreign debt reached EUR 22.8 billion at the end of last year, which is 74.1 percent of GDP, the National Bank of Serbia (NBS) released Friday. The foreign debt stayed at almost the same level in the first three quarters of 2009, but rose by 4.6 percent in the final quarter.
The slump in economic activity, however, caused the share of the foreign debt in the GDP to go up by 9.6 percentage points in 2009 and reach 74.1 percent, NBS said. A total of EUR 5.7 billion was granted in new long-term loans in 2009, of which EUR 3.3 billion in the public sector. All long-term lending totaled EUR 4.1 billion, while EUR 2.6 billion of principal and EUR 0.6 billion of interest were repayed. The repayment structure of the foreign debt improved compared to a year ago – short-term loans accounted for 10 percent of the total debt at the end of 2009, compared to 11.1 percent at the end of 2008.
The greatest portion of the foreign debt is denominated in euros (77 percent), followed by US dollars (12 percent), Swiss francs (five percent), and other currencies (six percent). Business sector debt amounted to EUR 10.9 billion at the end of 2009, a six percent reduction from the year before. Companies received EUR 2.3 billion in foreign loans last year, 30 percent of which came in the last quarter. The business sector repayed a total of EUR 686 million in 2009.
The planned borrowing from foreign creditors totals EUR 5.2 billion this year, EUR 2.7 billion of which will go to the public sector. The foreign loans to the private sector will total EUR 2.6 billion, of which 1.2 billion will be used in the banking sector and EUR 1.4 billion in the business sector.

KOSOVO AND METOHIJA

IVANOVIC: MULTI-ETHNIC COMMUNITY CAN BE CREATED IN PRIZREN
PRIZREN, March 19 (Tanjug) - State Secretary in the Ministry for Kosovo-Metohija Oliver Ivanovic assessed in Prizren on Friday that a multi-ethnic community could function in the city, thanks to its urban spirit, but noted that help from the international community, the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) and the Serbian authorities is needed.
Ivanovic visited the St. George Church in Prizren and met with Serbs who have returned to the city and a local priest who has been helping with the restoration of the church since last year. St. George Church was damaged in the violence of March 2004, along with many other Serbian Orthodox churches in the province. Only 17 Serbs currently live in Prizren.
"Prizren was and still is an urban environment. I believe it will be the first place where a multiethnic community will develop, but representatives of the international community, SPC and Serbian authorities need to help make this happen," Ivanovic believes. Ivanovic assessed that it is very important to establish indirect communication with the interim Kosovo authorities. The Serbs who have returned to the area cannot survive without support from all sides. Right now, the only thing keeping them here is strong faith, Ivanovic said.

INCENTIVES FOR SERB RETURNEES TO KOSOVO
BELGRADE, March 20 (Tanjug) - Serbian Ministry for Kosovo-Metohija (KiM) will invite applications for the granting of RSD 35 million to the Serb returnees to Kosovo who are starting up businesses for the first time, the ministry said in a statement Saturday.
During his visit to Prizren and the surrounding settlements in southern KiM Friday, State Secretary at the Ministry for Kim Oliver Ivanovic said that the ministry has allocated a total of RSD 146 million of incentives (EUR 1 = RSD 100), and that the competition for the granting of RSD 111 million in incentives is underway. According to Ivanovic, the Serb returnees in Kosovo live mainly on welfare, pensions, and they are engaged in agriculture.
He assessed that Prizren, as an urban environment, could be a multiethnic town, adding that this requires assistance from the international community, the Serbian Orthodox Church and the official Belgrade. There are only 17 Serbs living in Prizren.

CIRILOV: STATEMENTS ON KOSOVO CHURCHES ARE OUTLANDISH
BELGRADE, March 19 (Tanjug) - Head of the Serbian National Commission for Cooperation with UNESCO Jovan Cirilov stated on Friday that he cannot believe that anyone serious can state that the medieval churches in Kosovo-Metohija do not belong to Serbs and that they are the ancient cultural heritage of Albanians.
Kosovo academician Mark Krasnici stated for the Pristina-based daily Bota Sot that no medieval church in Kosovo, besides Visoki Decani Monastery, belongs to Serbs since they were built by an Albanian architect. Commenting the statement of Serbian Minister of Culture Nebojsa Bradic that Pristina is trying to adopt the Serbian cultural heritage, Krasnici said that Albanians have nothing to appropriate given that this is their cultural heritage. "I cannot believe that anyone serious in Europe can say something like that after hundreds and thousands of pages of scientific research on the topic of the Serbian medieval art," Cirilov told Tanjug.
Cirilov added that the Serbian cultural heritage that has been put on the UNESCO World Heritage List belongs to everybody exactly because it was said to belong to the world. The heritage belongs to the whole Europe, including the Albanians as members of the European community. However, I do not understand this, there is no reason to falsificate history in such a manner, Cirilov said.

GIFFONI: NORTHERN KOSOVO STRATEGY IS NOT EU DOCUMENT
BELGRADE, March 22 (Tanjug) - The strategy for northern Kosovo, drafted by the interim Kosovo institutions and supported by European Union (EU) Special Representative in Kosovo Pieter Feith, is not an EU document and cannot be presented as one, said Italian diplomat and EU envoy for northern Kosovo Micheal Giffoni.
If we are talking about the goals that need to be achieved, however, there may be some crossover. The EU also wants the rule of law, safety and social-economic stability to be established, and especially the responsible implementation of laws, Giffoni said when asked to what extent his mandate coincides with Feith's plan, writes the Monday edition of the daily Blic. Nothing that 27 EU members have supported his informal role as envoy for northern Kosovo, the Italian diplomat said that his task is to promote EU values.
These are values that concern all people, in the north and in all of Kosovo. My task is to initiate the process of solving quality-of-life problems in a pragmatic manner, Giffoni said and added that this can be achieved through dialogue and not through imposed solutions, as was done in the past. Giffoni pointed out that he will work from the ground up and not from the top down as was the established practice until now. He said that the office of EULEX and the European Commission which is due to open in the northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica next week will give the EU an opportunity to raise its credibility in the realization of projects designed to improve the living standards of the local population.

FULE URGES DECISIVE FIGHT AGAINST CRIME AND CORRUPTION
PRISTINA, March 19 (Tanjug) - EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fule said Friday in Pristina that the EU expects the interim Kosovo institutions to strengthen the rule of law, and pointed out that fight against organized crime and corruption is the most important task. We do not want only nice words, but actual deeds as well, said Fule, who is visiting Pristina in scope of his Balkans tour.
He met with Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu, Prime Minister Hasim Taci, International Civilian Representative Pieter Feith and Head of the European Commission Liasion Office in Pristina Renzo Daviddi. Fule said that there is no dilemma among the members of the EU concerning the European prospects of Kosovo, although not all of them agree when it comes to its status. After the meeting, Sejdiu told that he and the EU enlargement commissioner discussed the European future of Kosovo, pointing out to its orientation towards the NATO and EU accession. In an interview given to the Kosovo media Fule said that the EU is carefully observing the work of the Kosovo authorities regarding the undertaking of reforms. The EU commissioner said that Serbia and Kosovo cannot avoid cooperation as the future two members of the EU.

FITZGERALD: TRANSFER OF JURISDICTION IS POSITIVE SIGN
PRISTINA, March 19 (Tanjug) - The transfer of jurisdiction from KFOR to the Kosovo police regarding the protection of monuments of culture is a reflection of the improvement of the security situation in Kosovo, former NATO commander Mark Fitzgerald said, adding that KFOR has no mandate to implement the political plan for the North of Kosovo. Fitzgerald, who met with KFOR Commander Markus Bentler and president of the self-proclaimed state of Kosovo Fatmir Sejdiu, said that KFOR has no mandate to implement the political plan for the North of Kosovo. KFOR Mission to Kosovo is authorized by UN Security Council Resolution 1244.
The plan for the North of Kosovo is made at the political level and we are not involved in it, Fitzgerald said. Bentler said that KFOR is not part of the plan for the North of Kosovo and cannot take part in its implementation, adding that the reaction of KFOR is not excluded in case it is needed for the preservation of the security in Kosovo.

KFOR TO PERFORM DEPLOYMENT EXERCISE ACROSS KOSOVO
PRISTINA, March 22 (Tanjug) - KFOR will Monday begin a five-day unit deployment exercise across Kosovo, with the aim to strengthen the capacities of KFOR, EULEX and the Kosovo police so that they could react to any scenario that brings security into question.
The operation will be managed by KFOR Commander Markus Bentler, and it will mobilize many units from all multinational battle groups, KFOR statement reads. KFOR will handle its force in Kosovo very flexibly and determinedly. The aim of these operations is to strengthen the capacities of KFOR, EULEX and the Kosovo police so that they could respond to any scenario that brings security into question.