Belgrade, April 26, 2010

SERBIA - TREELATERAL MEETING IN ISTAMBUL

ISTANBUL DECLARATION ADOPTED AT TRILATERAL MEETING
ISTANBUL, April 24 (Tanjug) - Turkish President Abdullah Gul, Serbian President Boris Tadic and Chairman of the Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH) Presidency Haris Silajdzic adopted a declaration at a summit in Istanbul on Saturday, which underlines willingness to take all necessary steps to ensure regional peace, stability and prosperity.
The official translation of the Istanbul Declaration reads:” We, the Heads of States of the Republic of Turkey, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republic of Serbia met in Istanbul, as the continuation of the trilateral consultation mechanism between our countries, on 24 April 2010 to discuss the general political situation in the Balkans as well as the steps that can be taken for further enhancing the relations between BiH and Serbia.
"We have expressed our appreciation for the courage and visionary approach displayed by the leadership of Serbia and BiH for their determination in overcoming historical differences, and building a common future based on tolerance and mutual understanding. "To this end, we have agreed in tackling some ongoing issues of common concern and others which might arise with the same resoluteness and strategic approach to our region. "We are of the opinion that in order to create an environment of lasting peace, stability and good neighborly relations, a joint vision has to be developed in which our nations can live in peaceful co-existence and harmony. We are supporting the sustainable return of refugees and displaced persons to their homes of origin throughout the region.
"Having reviewed the existing situation, we have reaffirmed our commitment to contribute to regional peace and stability and underlined the importance of further developing the relations among our countries. Consequently, we have expressed our commitment to the principles enlisted below as common objectives in our future deliberations. "In this respect, we:-have expressed our commitment to the territorial integrity, sovereignty and the legal personality of BiH within its internationally recognized borders, while stressing the importance of national reconciliation within BiH,- have reaffirmed our commitment to take all necessary steps to ensure regional peace, stability and prosperity,- have agreed on a common vision whose main pillars could be summarized as security for all, high level political dialogue, economic interdependence and preservation of multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-religious social fabric of the region,- have underlined the importance of the Peace Implementation Council and the positive role played by the international community, including EU, Russia, Turkey and the USA, and agreed to intensify our cooperation with them,- have emphasized the importance of pursuing the necessary steps for integration with the European structures in collaboration with other neighboring countries and international actors, - have expressed our support for BiH for achieving the necessary reforms during the NATO/MAP process,- have commended the progress made by BiH in the process of EU visa liberalization and meeting the necessary requirements to this end, while expressing the desire for its early implementation by the EU,- have expressed our readiness for mutual support of our candidatures in international organizations,- have also underlined the relevance of the SEECP for regional cooperation and development and agreed to further intensify this cooperation within the already existing structures,- have stressed the importance of extending this trilateral cooperation to economic, environmental and cultural fields, including practical areas such as water management,- have expressed our determination for the mutual protection of the cultural heritage in our respective countries,- have welcomed the concrete results of the Turkey-BiH-Serbia Trilateral Consultation Mechanism, including the appointment of the BiH Ambassador to Belgrade and the adoption of the Declaration on Srebrenica by the Parliament of Serbia, as historical steps towards full normalization in the Balkans, - in order to overcome the existing prejudices and to build a better future based on mutual respect and tolerance, have stressed the importance of avoiding the dissemination of information which carry negative implications for the future generations,- have also underlined the importance of cross-border cooperation in particular in the areas of transportation and energy, - have stressed our determination to extend humanitarian assistance whenever needed in the region.
"Taking into consideration the fruitful results achieved through this trilateral mechanism, which has already proven to be a resilient confidence building measure, we have decided to institutionalize our meetings at the level of Heads of State three times in two years. “We have agreed on two major issues as an action plan in the coming months.
One of them is the visit of President Silajdzic, President Radmanovic and President Komsic to Belgrade within the framework of Inter-State Cooperation Council between BiH and the Republic of Srbia, shortly to take up all pending issues in a comprehensive manner.
Secondly, President Tadic together with Prime Minister Erdogan will visit BiH to commemorate the 15th Anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre."

TADIC: SERBIA SUPPORTS BIH
ISTANBUL, April 24 (Tanjug) - Serbian President Boris Tadic stated Saturday after the meeting with the leaders of Turkey and Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH) in Istanbul that Serbia supports all legitimate decisions rendered by the BiH institutions.
Tadic conferred with Turkish President Abdullah Gul and Chairman of the Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH) Presidency Haris Silajdzic on new initiatives for establishment of a lasting peace and stability in the region. Experts qualify the meeting as historical. The leadership of the three countries agreed on the principles aimed at promotion of security and cooperation in the region.

TADIC: JOINT INTEREST - EU MEMBERSHIP
ISTANBUL, April 24 (Tanjug) - Serbian President Boris Tadic stated Saturday in Istanbul, where he took part in a trilateral meeting with the Turkish president and the chairman of the Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH) Presidency, that the common interest of the three countries is the EU membership and expressed belief that the summit represents a new beginning.
Tadic said that there have been highs and lows in our joint history, adding that he has faith in the new beginning in which common interests are reconsidered, the media announced. One of the interests is that we all join the EU, and mutual support on the EU path is one of the forms of the joint vision to which we are all committed, the Serbian president said.
Tadic also underscored that Serbia supports all legitimate decisions rendered by the BiH institutions. The Saturday trilateral meeting, which experts qualify as historical, dealt with new initiatives for establishment of a lasting peace and stability in the region.

SERBIA

TADIC: SERBIA READY FOR COMPROMISE SOLUTION
BELGRADE, April 24 (Tanjug) - Serbian President Boris Tadic stated that Serbia wants to find a solution for Kosovo, adding that the country is ready to negotiate in order to reach a compromise solution.
Given the example of Cyprus, Serbia wants a solution for Kosovo, and not a frozen situation in which Kosovo will never become an UN member-state, because Serbia will never allow it, Tadic said in an interview for the Doha-based Al Jazeera. "We will continue leading policies towards reaching a compromise, however, the Kosovo-Metohija policies of defending our integrity and international law do not mean that we will stop from trying to become an EU member-state. Serbia will never give up on that, it is our main strategic goal," Tadic said.
Serbia is ready to negotiate so as to reach a compromise solution and the compromise does not mean that Serbia loses everything and Kosovo Albanians get all. He said that Kosovo independence will never be recognized by countries like Spain, Romania, Slovakia, and Cyprus.

JEREMIC: SERBIA IS TRYING TO DEPOLITICIZE GANIC CASE
LONDON, April 26 (Tanjug) - Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic has said that Serbia is trying, in cooperation with Bosnia-Herzegovina, to depoliticize the case involving member of the war-time BiH presidency Ejup Ganic and that it has offered to accelerate the ratification of a bilateral agreement on war crimes trials to ensure that Ganic would face charges in Sarajevo, and not in Belgrade.
"We have tried to work with Bosnia to depoliticise this. We are determined to respond positively to any questions that are asked of us," Jeremic said in an interview with the British Daily Telegraph. Jeremic underlined that "Serbia would be deeply concerned if the case did not come to trial." The Serbian foreign minister underlined the efforts the Belgrade government is making to reconcile with BiH and other former Yugoslav republics, particularly with Croatia.
"I honestly believe that our efforts are dedicated to full reconciliation. We are working very hard to ensure that there is individual responsibility for the crimes of the past so that nations are not held responsible for crimes but individuals are," Jeremic said, pointing to the need that war crimes are prosecuted and all such cases are properly tried. Mr. Ganic was arrested at Heathrow airport on March 1 following Serbia's Interpol extradition request alleging he had been involved in ordering an attack on a Yugoslav army column in Sarajevo in 1992. Ten days after that Ganic was released on EUR 300,000 bail on the condition that he remains in Britain until the court decides on his extradition.

SUTANOVAC: POLITICAL AGREEMENT ON RENEWAL OF EXPORT TO KUWAIT
KUWAIT, April 26 (Tanjug) - Serbian Defence Minister Dragan Sutanovac stated Monday that Kuwaiti officials expressed great interest in the products of the Serbian defence industry, adding that a political agreement was reached regarding the return of the Serbian military industry to the Kuwaiti market.
"We have reached absolute political agreement regarding reintroduction of export of the Serbian defence industry products to the Kuwait's demanding market," Sutanovac told Tanjug after a meeting with Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad, Kuwaiti Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammed and Defence Minister Sheikh Jaber Mubarak. "This time, Serbia will not only be an exporter of the domestic brains and products, but rather a systems integrator of a large part of military industry in the region and the whole Europe," Sutanovac said. He underscored that he expects that after Kuwait, other possibilities will be opened regarding export of the domestic defence industry products to other countries of the Persian Gulf.
Al-Mohammed told Tanjug after the meeting that Kuwait is well familiar with the military technology and equipment produced in Serbia, adding that he expects signing of a number of bilateral documents. We expect that our bilateral cooperation will go beyond commercial relations that is trade in weaponry and military equipment, and that we will also cooperate in the domain of education and exchange visits of delegations. We look forward to visiting Serbia soon upon Sutanovac's invitation, Al-Mohammed said.

SERBIA, MACEDONIA EXCHANGE EXPERIENCE
BELGRADE, April 23 (Tanjug) - Representatives of the land forces of the Serbian Army and the Army of the Republic of Macedonia exchanged experience in Nis on Friday regarding the realization of the objectives of the Partnership for Peace programme, as well as the preparations and deployment of the countries' units in peacekeeping operations.
The Macedonian Army delegation visited the Knjaz Mihajlo barracks in Nis and attended a drill of land forces, the Serbian Army released in a statement. The Macedonian delegation was headed by Commander of the Joint Operations Command Major General Zoran Dimov, who earlier in the day conferred with Serbian Land Forces Commander Lt. General Ljubisa Dikovic, the Serbian Army publicized on its website.

MIREL: QUESTIONAIRE IN SEPTEMBER
BELGRADE, April 26 (Tanjug) - European Commission (EC) Director for Western Balkans Pierre Mirel said on Monday that the Commission could send a questionnaire to the Serbian government in September, if the EU Council gives a green light to Serbia's candidacy in June.
Once the Council has decided on the issue, we will hold consultations with all the Directorates involved in the matter. This will take five to six weeks, which means that the questionnaire could be presented early in September, Mirel said in an interview with Radio and Television of Serbia RTS. According to him, the key question that should be answered is whether the country has fulfilled the pre-accession criteria that will enable the EC to propose the start of the negotiations. The questions refer to democracy, functioning of institutions, minority protection, Mirel explained.
The collocutors in the EU trust that the issue of Kosovo will not pose a problem, since the matter will be treated in a status neutral manner, as was the case in respect of visa liberalization. Problems could arise if, once the International Court of Justice has ruled on the legality of Kosovo independence proclamation, some member countries decided to influence Serbia through the European integration process. The early elections in the Netherlands, scheduled for June, could also be problem, as they could postpone the green light for Serbia's candidacy for the time when a new government is set up.

RELATIONSHIP PROGRESS, SUPPORT TO KOSOVO STAND UNCHANGED
BELGRADE, 25 April (Tanjug) - Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia (RI) to Serbia Muhammad Abduh Dalimunthe stated that the overall relations between Serbia and Indonesia are excellent, and are constantly improving at political, economic and cultural level and will continue that way in future.
Dalimunthe stressed in an interview for Tanjug at the end of his three and a half year mandate in Serbia that regarding the unilateral declaration of independence of Kosovo, the government of his country has believed from the beginning that it is a violation of international law. He said that Indonesia supports Serbia's position to preserve its own territorial integrity and Belgrade's efforts to find a proper solution for its southern province. “I think we will continue to be committed to it and will support the policy of Serbia to find a peaceful solution for that problem. It is a big problem and there are many ways to solve it. Serbia is using peaceful diplomatic means, the opinion of the International Court of Justice in The Hague, and we support that," said Ambassador Dalimunthe.
Dalimunthe believes it is very difficult to predict how the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague will decide about the request of Serbia, which was supported by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly regarding an act of the provisional institutions of a self-government in Pristina on February 17, 2008, because "the Kosovo problem is large" and therefore, "must be viewed from all angles, political, legal and others." "We hope that the court will consider the problem from a legal point of view, but international politics is very complicated. However, as they say in Serbia, whatever the decision would be, Serbia will seek a solution to the Kosovo issue by peaceful means and ask for a new round of negotiations, and we are supporting this nature of Serbian politics," said Ambassador Dalimunthe.
Speaking about economic cooperation between the two very friendly, but geographically distant countries, Ambassador Dalimunthe pointed out that the economic ties are the ones which promote overall bilateral relations. The Ambassador said that in recent years a great promotion of the economic relations between RI and Serbia has been recorded. "Trade between our two countries was worth 25 million dollars in 2006, two years later it reached 54 million, and in 2009, because of the global economic crisis, it was finally about 40 million," stated Dalimunthe who believes that statistically speaking, these relations are "definitely good." The ambassador recalled that in the past, relations between former Yugoslavia and Indonesia were very good, but because of the 1990s crisis in the former socialist federation they were reduced to zero, and it was not before 2005 that their re-development was launched.
Ambassador Dalimunthe now believes it is very important that businessmen from the two countries visit each other, participate in business events, and get to know each other better in order to understand local terms of trade and to "understand that we need each other". "After three years of having resided here, I realized that there are all kinds of different goods from Serbia that are needed by Indonesians," noted Dalimunthe, stating that those are primarily products in the fields of medicine, technology and agriculture.
Dalimunthe said that it is necessary to foster cultural and educational cooperation between Indonesia and Serbia, adding that it is particularly important to insist on mutual relations between "ordinary people in that process."

SERBIA – ECONOMY, FINANCE

CVETKOVIC MEETS WITH REPRESENTATIVES OF U.S. COMPANIES
BELGRADE, April 23 (Tanjug) - Good cooperation is being realized regarding creation of a favorable business environment for promotion of competence of the Serbian economy, it was stated Friday at a meeting of Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic and directors and representatives of the U.S. and international companies that are doing business in Serbia and are members of the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham).
Cvetkovic pointed out that the top 2010 priority of the Serbian government is increase in employment rate and economic activity, the Serbian government's press office stated. Special attention was paid to the implementation of the regulatory guillotine, improvement of the legislation in the area of working relationships and real estate market regulations. "The government creates the business environment, while an active dialogue between state and economy is extremely important," the prime minister underlined.
AmCham President Skip Bornhuetter underscored that the chamber believes that consistent implementation of reforms is crucial for future attraction of foreign investments, and particularly of those reforms that refer to reduction of bureaucracy and administrative procedures. "In the period when the level of direct foreign investments is low, it is crucial to prepare the ground for the inflow of new investments and provide an impetus to the entrepreneurship," Bornhuetter said.

USA, SERBIA SIGN AGREEMENT ON SCIENCE COOPERATION
WASHINGTON, April 23 (Tanjug) - U. S. Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs Maria Otero and Serbian Deputy Prime Minister for EU Integration and Minister of Science and Technological Development Bozidar Djelic signed an agreement on science and technology cooperation in Washington on Friday.
"Through this agreement, we are sending a message to our science community and also the U.S. science and technology entrepreneurs that Serbia is now open for cooperation and business," Djelic underscored. "We view the agreement not only as a connection between two countries or universities, but also as great opportunity for the U.S. technology companies to start doing business in Serbia," Djelic said.
"Moreover, Serbia has the strongest science diaspora in the United State, and therefore this agreement will be helpful to Americans, Serbs and Serbs in the USA and enable Americans to come and work in Serbia," Djelic said. Otero pointed out that the agreement represents a new phase of the USA-Serbia relations in the domain of science, which will open new possibilities for contacts between scientists and expend the flow of knowledge between the two countries. We will work together on new science breakthroughs.
We believe that both countries will benefit from this agreement, Otero said. The issues which are related to the global community are so big that only one nation could never solve them.
There has never been greater need for the international science community to cooperate in order to address global temptations that we are facing, Otero said. The agreement is another sign of commitment of Serbia and the USA to promote their bilateral relations, Otero underlined.

DJELIC: WB PROVIDES USD 580 MILLION SUPPORT TO SERBIA
WASHINGTON, April 26 (Tanjug) - The World Bank (WB) has decided to provide a USD 580 million support to Serbia in the year ahead, Serbian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and Technological Development Bozidar Djelic told Tanjug in Washington on Sunday evening.
"The concrete result of the talks we had in the WB is that the total help provided to Serbia in the following 12 months will amount to USD 580 million," Djelic said. He added that USD 400 million of the funds will be used as support to the Serbian budget, USD 50 million are planned for the construction of Corridor 10, while USD 10 million will be allocated for the revitalization of the Bor District. "Furthermore, it was decided that USD 30 million should be urgently allocated for flood prevention.
The works on the Jadar and Tamnava rivers will be launched soon, whereas USD 7 million will be granted to Timocka Krajna, Aleksinac and Toplica," the deputy prime minister underlined. Djelic has joined the Serbian delegation that takes part in the spring session of the WB and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which is being held in Washington.

DRAGUTINOVIC: SERBIA CONTINUES IMF TALKS WITHOUT PRESSURE
WASHINGTON, April 26 (Tanjug) - A Serbian state delegation is continuing talks on Serbia's macroeconomic policy results with International Monetary Fund (IMF) officials in Washington, in preparation for the IMF visit to Serbia in May, Serbian Finance Minister Diana Dragutinovic told Tanjug in Washington.
"We discussed the current macroeconomic situation and our results for the first quarter of 2010, since we had clearly defined tasks or goals," Dragutinovic said late Sunday. "We had no problems meeting those goals - we fulfilled our first-quarter tasks and feel no pressure as we enter this stage of the talks," the finance minister pointed out. Noting the importance of meeting the IMF structural requirements for pension reform and a fiscal responsibility law, Dragutinovic said that Serbia has already turned in an analysis and a first draft of the bill to the IMF. "If we reach agreement on the fiscal responsibility bill, we have essentially agreed on pension reform too," she pointed out. An IMF technical mission headed by Albert Jagger will arrive in Serbia on May 12.

KOSOVO AND METOHIJA

TADIC: I STILL STAND BEHIND POLICY OF BOTH KOSOVO AND EU
BELGRADE, April 25 (Tanjug) - Serbian President Boris Tadic stated in Belgrade on Sunday that he will never stand behind a decision which would endanger sovereignty, integrity and independence of Serbia or bring foreign military bases to the country.
"A combined goal, including both Europe and Kosovo-Metohija, is the policy that I will believe in by the very last moment, and that policy has no alternative," Tadic underlined in his address to the participants of the election assembly of the Party of United Pensioners (PUPS).

TADIC: URGENT ACTION NEEDED TO RESTORE PHONE PROVIDERS IN KOSOVO
LESKOVAC, April 25 (Tanjug) - Serbian President Boris Tadic stated Sunday that Belgrade will launch "the broadest possible international action" so as to enable Serbs in Kosovo-Metohija use the services of the Serbian mobile telephony again.
During his visit to flooded areas in southern Serbia, Tadic told journalists that he asked for urgent reaction of the international institutions on Saturday, when he was in Istanbul. "I am appalled by the reaction of EULEX, which is calmly watching the violation of human rights, because EULEX is responsible for the security of the citizens. We will have extremely difficult talks with EULEX regarding the issue. We will not abandon the Serb population in the province, not for a moment," Tadic pointed out.
The interim Kosovo institutions dismantled carriers of the Serbian mobile phone providers on Friday and Saturday leaving 100,000 Serbs in the Kosovo-Pomoravlje district and enclaves south of the Ibar Rivar without a telephone signal.

BOGDANOVIC WARNS OF POSSIBLE INCIDENTS
KOSOVSKA MITROVICA, April 24 (Tanjug) - Serbian Minister for Kosovo-Metohija Goran Bogdanovic warned Saturday that there might be incidents if representatives of the Kosovo institutions try to cut the signal of the Serbian mobile telephony providers in the north of Kosovo.
"We do not want such conflicts and we will do everything in our might to prevent them, but we will also do all not to allow the total disconnection of the cell and landline telephony, as it happened south of the Ibar River. We cannot allow to have no communication with central Serbia and the rest of the world," Bogdanovic said. He underlined that the international community has to take seriously the situation in Kosovo-Metohija that has escalated lately, and urged the Kosovo Serbs to stay in the province.
It is disappointing that the international community has remained silent, Bogdanovic said, adding that although they keep a constant contact with EULEX representatives, they have not received any explanations from the mission yet. We will take steps in agreement with the international community so that both landline and mobile telephony are in service in the entire Serb-populated territory of Kosovo-Metohija, where we already have huge problems, primarily because the people who need medical help are not able to contact ambulances or hospitals, Bogdanovic said.

EULEX SHOULD PREVENT VIOLATION OF RIGHTS OF KOSOVO SERBS
KOSOVSKA MITROVICA, April 24 (Tanjug) - Serbian State Secretary with the Ministry for Kosovo-Metohija Oliver Ivanovic stated Saturday that representatives of the Republic of Serbia will urge the European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX) to intervene and prevent the violation of human rights of Kosovo Serbs that have been infringed by cutting the signal of the Serbian mobile telephony providers in most parts of the province.
Ivanovic said in a statement for Tanjug that the situation in Kosovo has not been so difficult for a long time, adding that "for the first time since 1999, someone dared to deny Kosovo Serbs the right to communication". "The one who made the decision to disconnect the Serbian cell providers in Kosovo knows that it might result in fear and uncertainty among Serbs and their departure from the province," Ivanovic said.

TRA ACTIONS ARE DIRECTED AGAINST ILLEGAL PROVIDERS
PRISTINA, April 25 (Tanjug) - EULEX spokesperson Irina Gudeljevic stated Sunday that the mission finds the action of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) acceptable, since it is directed against, as she put it, illegal mobile telephony providers.
Gudeljevic told Tanjug that EULEX is aware of the importance of telecommunications as a basic human right, adding that it will support all preliminary measures offering support to the people who have been left without a mobile telephony signal, until a legal cell provider in Kosovo is introduced. Gudeljevic said that she has no information on whether the carriers of the Serbian mobile telephony providers could be restored in Kosovo, adding that EULEX will welcome all measures that would secure signal coverage provided by legal operators. She underlined that the TRA is an independent body and that the EU mission is not familiar with its plans regarding north Kosovo, where, for the time being, the Serbian cell providers are in service.

DODIK: BIH SHOULD NOT RECOGNIZE INDEPENDENCE OF KOSOVO
BANJA LUKA, April 23 (Tanjug) - Prime Minister of Republika Srpska (RS) Milorad Dodik stressed on Friday that Republika Srpska maintains the stance that Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH) should not recognize the independence of Kosovo.
Dodik received representatives of Serbs from northern Kosovo-Metohija in Banja Luka, and acquainted them with the political and economic situation in Republika Srpska and BiH. The representatives of Serbs from Kosovo-Metohija discussed with the prime minister about the efforts by the Serbs from the province to protect their basic national and existential interests. Dodik said that he will soon visit Serbs in Kosovo, the RS Government Bureau for Public Relations announced.