Belgrade, March 23, 2010

SERBIA

JEREMIC: SERBIA WILL NOT ACCEPT KOSOVO'S INDEPENDENCE
BELGRADE, March 22 (Tanjug) - Serbia will not accept Kosovo's independence, Bosnia-Herzegovina's (BiH) centralization and its own NATO membership, even though a part of the international community desires that, because such a solution is not democratic and will not ensure lasting peace and stability, Serbia's Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic said Monday.
"There is a number of analysts, a number of very strong voices in the world, who view the Balkans through a pair of spectacles made back in the 90s. They say there are three problems and offer the following solutions: Kosovo should become a country, BiH should be centralized and all the region's countries should become NATO members," said Jeremic, adding that "the democratically elected Serbian government cannot agree to that."
"We cannot agree to Kosovo's independence; we cannot support BiH centralization against the will of its people and political entities, and this country has opted for military neutrality democratically," said Jeremic, addressing the students of the Megatrend University in Belgrade.
The foreign minister said that Serbia's task is to find a solution in line with the democratic will of the Serbian people through dialogue with its European and Euro-Atlantic partners. "It will not be easy. Some of our partners have different opinions that are deep-seated, and we have to be calm and composed, but we must never forget where our lines are drawn and where we wish this country to go," Jeremic stated. He said that the defence of Serbia's territorial integrity in Kosovo remains a priority for the government, as well as integration into the EU, good relations with neighboring countries and developing economic diplomacy. According to Jeremic, 2010 is a key year in history, and Serbia has to find its place in world politics.

DELEVIC: THERE WILL BE NO GREEK SCENARIO IN SERBIA
BELGRADE, March 23 (Tanjug) - Director of the Serbian government's EU Integration Office Milica Delevic, Editor-in-Chief of Ekonomist magazine Milan Culibrk, and Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences in Belgrade Dusan Pavlovic agreed Monday evening that the Greek scenario is unlikely to happen in Serbia.
In a show on Radio and Television of Serbia (RTS), Delevic said that there will be consequences, but not in the financial sense, but rather due to the fact that Greece is a strong advocate of the Western Balkans' speedy EU integration. She pointed out that, if Greece has issues that it needs to resolve, it can hardly equally devote to the EU accession of the Western Balkan countries as well. The same goes for the very EU which has problems with Greece and can therefore put less time into the enlargement process.
Culibrk said that the crisis in Greece should not reflect on the life of the Serbian citizens, as this is not a crisis of the financial and the banking sector, but it has rather ensued from the unnecessary spending of the state money. Pavlovic assessed that for now it is impossible for the Greek scenario to happen in Serbia, adding that there are several ways to solve the problem, including the reduction of public spending, increase of taxes, further borrowing and the sell-off of public companies.

SERBIA EXHIBITS ITS CULTURAL HERITAGE IN FRANCE
BELGRADE, March 22 (Tanjug) - An exhibition dubbed 'Serbia - the sacred ground of European culture' will be opened Friday, March 26, in Faymoreau, the French area of Vandee, and thus the presentation of the Serbian culture across the world will be continued, the Ethnographic Museum in Belgrade released in a statement on Monday.
The exhibition will comprise of 136 items from the collection of the Ethnographic and National Museum in Belgrade and the Museum of the Serbian Orthodox Church. The Serbian national culture heritage will at the exhibition be presented by items from several thematic units and collections: traditional ethnic costumes, embellishment - jewelry, rugs and rug making, and interior decoration.
The aim is to present the high level of ethnic creativity and the spirit of the Serb population which developed in Balkans, on the bedrock of ancient civilizations such as Daco-Thracian and Illyrian, Hellenistic and Roman, and also Byzantine and Slovenian heritage. The exhibition in France will be open by May 2.

MILITARY ATTACHES: NATO BEST SECURITY GUARANTEE
BELGRADE, March 22 (Tanjug) - The participants of the Monday lecture which was held in the organization of the Atlantic Council of Serbia agreed that it would be best for Serbia to join NATO, as that would help ensure the security of the state, but also attract foreign investments.
The security guarantees which NATO membership provides was the main reason why the Czech Republic decided to join the organization, said the country's Defence Attaché Jan Wykowski. Wykowski said that NATO membership made it possible for the Czech Republic to become a stable, democratic and foreseeable country, which, as he put it, is also important in terms of foreign investments.
This has also increased the influence which this former member of the Warsaw Pact has in the world, he added. His Slovakian counterpart Frantisek Kasicky listed eight reasons which made his government require NATO admission - security guarantees, proof of sovereignty, participation in decision making, assistance on the EU pathway, cooperation with the world's best armed forces, opening of new possibilities for Slovakia's industry, creation of security environment for investments and possibility for participation in peace-keeping operations.
Norwegian Defence Attaché Terje Haverstaad said that along with security guarantees, NATO membership also offers the possibility of technical development, as one of the most important prerequisites for building a strong army. The three representatives of NATO member countries pointed to the fact that in this organization, decisions are reached by way of consensus, so that even the smallest member can influence it, and denied the claims that the US has the last say in this organization.
The lecture was also attended by the defence attaches of Austria and Sweden, two countries which are not full-fledged members of the North Atlantic Alliance, but which are part of the Partnership for Peace programme and which as such closely cooperate with the Alliance.

BOSKOVIC: SERBIA TO ESTABLISH MISSION TO NATO BY JUNE
BELGRADE, March 22 (Tanjug) - Head of the Serbian Defence Ministry's Public Relations Department Petar Boskovic announced Monday that Serbia is going to establish a mission to NATO by June.
The mission is part of Serbia's participation in the Partnership for Peace programme, but its establishment has been delayed several times so far, mostly due to technical reasons. Branislav Milinkovic has been Serbia's special representative to NATO since 2004, and he will probably become the first Serbian ambassador to NATO.
Boskovic stated Serbia has only used a portion of what the Partnership for Peace programme has to offer, adding that he expects the country to take a more active part in the programme.

SERBIA – EU

ZBOGAR: SERBIA IS SENSITIVE ABOUT KOSOVO
BRUSSELS, March 23 (Tanjug) - Slovenian Foreign Minister Samuel Zbogar said that Serbia has been especially sensitive about Kosovo recently, as it waits for the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to render its opinion on the legality of Kosovo's unilaterally declared independence.
Zbogar told reporters in Brussels on Monday that Serbian President Boris Tadic refused to take part in the Western Balkan conference on Saturday because Serbia is waiting on the ICJ decision and does not want to prejudge it in any way, Slovenian Press Agency STA reported. This is probably why none of the proposed solutions for the conference were acceptable to Serbia, he assessed after a meeting with EU foreign ministers.
According to the Slovenian agency, Zbogar's statement came in response to a question about unofficial claims that Spain, the presiding member of the EU, pressed the Serbian president to boycott the conference at Brdo pri Kranju because it is itself planning to hold a conference on the Western Balkans. Zbogar dismissed the claims made by the British weekly The Economist that Slovenia might retaliate against Serbia by impeding its EU progress. The Slovenian government is not acting vindictively, and I think it is in both Slovenia's and Europe's interest that Serbia continue on its path toward the EU. Slovenia will keep supporting Serbia's EU path as it has done in the past, Zbogar stressed.
MORATINOS: EVERYONE SHOULD GATHER AT CONFERENCE IN SARAJEVO
BRUSSELS, March 23 (Tanjug) - Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos has stated that all parties involved should gather at the conference of the European Union (EU) and the Western Balkan countries that is scheduled to be held in Sarajevo in late May or June.
Spain that currently holds the EU rotating presidency is preparing the EU-West Balkans conference with the idea that all parties will take part in the conference in the atmosphere of good mutual cooperation and with observing international law, Moratinos stated in Brussels on Monday evening, adding that the date of the conference will be set very soon, the radio Free Europe reported.

BILDT: SERBIA IS MAJOR PLAYER
BONN, March 23 (Tanjug) - Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt has stated that the EU must ensure the presence of all the Western Balkan countries at the forthcoming conference in Sarajevo, adding that the conference must yield specific results. In an interview for Deutsche Welle, Bildt said that the conference held in Slovenia Saturday showed that the region is capable of taking the initiative on its own.
He pointed out that the unfavorable circumstance was that it was not possible for Serbia to take part and said that a regional conference without Serbia has its limits.
Serbian President Boris Tadic did not attend the conference at Brdo pri Kranju due the decisions of the UN were not honored. Namely, Serbia requested that the representatives of the interim institutions from Pristina should attend the conference only in accordance with the Resolution 1244 of the UN Security Council (SC), that is as Kosovo-UNMIK, which the organizers - Slovenia and Croatia - did not accept. EU President Herman van Rompuy and Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos, whose country is currently presiding over the EU, also did not attend the conference. In a sense, everyone lost by Serbia's nonattendance. It is evident that Serbia lost something, but the entire region is at a loss too. Serbia is a major player, as it is the biggest country in the region. However, I would also have regretted if some smaller country had not attended. Regional cooperation must be regional and comprehensive, Bildt said.
When asked if he sees the situation in Kosovo as a possible obstacle on Serbia's EU pathway, Bildt said that what the EU needs and gets from Belgrade is a practical cooperation on individual issues. When it comes to the recognition of Kosovo's independence, we all agree to disagree for now. However, we must work together despite our disagreements.

DJELIC AND DEGERT SIGN DONATION AGREEMENT
NOVI SAD, March 22 (Tanjug) - Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic and Head of the European Union (EU) Delegation to Serbia Vincent Degert signed in Novi Sad on Monday an agreement on EUR 70 million in EU financial aid to Serbia.
This donation, along with the EUR 100 million granted earlier, will be paid from the Instrument of Pre-Accession funds, and will be used to rebuild the Zezelj Bridge in Novi Sad, among other things. The new Zezelj Bridge will cost EUR 60 million, with half of the sum covered by the EU, EUR 20 million by the Vojvodina province and EUR 10 million by the city of Novi Sad. The old bridge, completed in 1961, was demolished during the NATO bombing campaign in April 1999.

KOSOVO AND METOHIJA

EULEX TIGHTENS CONTROL AT BORDER CROSSINGS IN KOSOVO
PRISTINA, March 23 (Tanjug) - EULEX Customs Service Spokesperson Alexandra George stated Tuesday that the service has tightened the control of goods and vehicles entering the border crossing points of Brnjak and Jarinje in north Kosovo.
She told Tanjug that the aim of the detailed check is to provide the highest level of security at the two border crossings in north Kosovo. George said that EULEX, the Kosovo Police Service and the customs officers have been undertaking the detailed check of certain buses, trucks and trains arriving in Kosovo across the two border crossing points for several days now. The EULEX Customs officers have been assigned to Kosovo, as a part of an EU mission, since December 9, 2008.

QUESTIONNAIRE ON TRADE WITH EU BEFORE INTERIM KOSOVO GOVT
PRISTINA, March 23 (Tanjug) - The interim government of Kosovo has a three-week deadline to fill in the questionnaire on trade relations with the European Union (EU), the Pristina-based media reported on Tuesday, adding that the questionnaire includes the elements of the stabilization and association process.
The deadline is April 15 and Kosovo Prime Minister Hasim Taci urged all members of the inter-ministerial council for the preparation of answers to complete the questionnaire by April 7 at the latest. Taci pointed out that the trade agreement is an introduction and Kosovo's preparation for the process of stabilization and association.