Belgrade, March 26, 2010

SERBIA

TADIC RECEIVES CREDENTIALS OF NON-RESIDENTIAL AMBASSADORS
BELGRADE, March 25 (Tanjug) - Serbian President Boris Tadic received Thursday the credentials of eight newly appointed non-residential ambassadors, his office said in a release.
Tadic received the credentials of the Ambassadors of Azerbaijan Eldar Hasanov who will be based in Bucharest, of Bangladesh Masud Bin Momen (Rome), of Lesotho Jonas Sponkie Malewa (Rome), of Benin Albert Agossou (Paris), of Lithuania Renatas Jusska (Budapest), of Costa Rica Ana Teresa Dengo Bonavides (Vienna), of Peru Ernesto Pinto Basurco Rittler (Bucharest) and of Latvia Aiga Liepin (Strasbourg). He wished them all welcome and expressed his conviction that the relations between Serbia and their countries will continue to be fostered during their terms.

DANILO MILIC APPOINTED AMBASSADOR OF SERBIA TO GABON
BELGRADE, March 26 (Tanjug) - With a decree of Serbian President Boris Tadic, Danilo Milic has been appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Serbia to Gabon, on a non-residential basis, with the head office in Luanda, the Serbian Official Gazette has released in a statement.
A decree of president Tadic on removal from duty of Dobrivoje Kacanski, the former ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of Serbia to Gabon on a non-residential basis with the head office in Luanda, was also published.
The latest edition of the Official Gazette as well published the president's decision to remove from office Acting Secretary General of the President of the Republic Vladimir Cvijan.

CVETKOVIC: NO CRIMINAL CHARGES FILED,NO REASON FOR LAY-OFFS
BELGRADE, March 25 (Tanjug) - Serbia's Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic stated Thursday that during the audit of the final account of the 2008 budget, the State Audit Institution (DRI) ascertained that no intention was registered which would imply illegal profit or any other criminal act.
Answering the questions of MPs in the Serbian parliament, Cvetkovic said that he was ready to sack the ministers in case the DRI would determine that there is a reason for pressing criminal charges, but added that he did not do that since only misdemeanor charges were filed. The prime minister reminded that most of the reported misdemeanors were of procedural nature or inherited, so there was no reason for anyone to resign or to be withdrawn. He stated that there was no excessive expenditure of the budget funds in 2008, and added that even less money was spent than envisaged by the budget rebalance for that year.
Answering a question of the Forward Serbia whip Tomislav Nikolic, Cvetkovic pointed out that the rebalance of the 2008 budget envisaged expenditures of around RSD 695.9 billion, and that only RSD 667.8 billion was spent. "The funds spent from the 2008 budget coincide with the amount of money approved by the parliament," the prime minister underlined.

DJELIC: SERBIA ALLOCATES LITTLE FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
BELGRADE, March 25 (Tanjug) - Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic said Thursday that Serbia allocates six times less funds than the EU for sustainable development.
At the second regional economic forum on sustainable development as legacy for the future, held in Belgrade, Djelic said that Serbia and other Balkan countries need to follow Europe when it comes to projects and financing of sustainable development. Djelic said that he will put in effort into the preparation of a strategy dubbed Western Balkans 2020, which will be similar to the related EU strategy and should be officially presented before the EU and Western Balkans summit to be held in Sarajevo in June this year.
"Our aim is to identify the key infrastructure which will be built in this decade and, through a dialogue with our strategic partners, identify the European funds which will finance the infrastructure," Djelic said.
According to him, problems like the inclusion of Roma people and great poverty in Serbia will also be discussed. "The strategy should envisage the way in which the Western Balkans, and above all Serbia, will be capable to play a big part in knowledge economy during this decade. Europe currently allocates 1.9 percent of its GDP for science, but plans to raise the allocation to 3 percent. At the moment, Serbia is setting aside 0.3 percent, which is far from what it wants, since our aim is to reach two percent of the country's GDP by the end of the decade," Djelic said.

INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTIONS READY TO GIVE FINANCIAL AID
BELGRADE, March 25 (Tanjug) - International institutions are ready to continue providing financial aid to the countries of the former Yugoslavia which have been hosting numerous refugees since the nineties, it was stated at the conference on refugees underway in Belgrade.
The region's states must, however, also work together on resolving the problem of refugees, the participants noted. Advisor in the European Commission Directorate for Enlargement Andris Kesteris said that the European Union will help the region's states, which must, in turn, identify all problems encountered by refugees. Representative of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Herbert Salber encouraged the region's states to work together on resolving the problem of refugees. He also urged them to compare their statistics on the number of refugees.

JANKOVIC: REALIZATION OF RIGHTS IS UNSATISFACTORY
BELGRADE, March 26 (Tanjug) - Ombudsman Sasa Jankovic assessed Thursday that Serbian citizens still have trouble realizing their rights before state administrative bodies.
At a meeting of the Serbian parliament Committee on Justice and Administration, Jankovic noted that when it comes to the rights of the arrested, there is no torture in Serbia, but there are isolated cases which can be characterized as such. He noted that the conditions in Serbian prisons are degrading, and that the main problem is lack of space. "The prisoners sleep on the floor. This cannot be tolerated," Jankovic said and pointed out that the state needs to provide more space, better health care and help ex-prisoners reintegrate into society. Presenting the report on the work of his office in 2009, he said the main reasons for the unsatisfactory realization of rights are excess employees in the state administration who are often insufficiently qualified, and the fact they are not penalized for low quality work.
According to him, the state administration reform has not produced the expected results because the administration remains politicized and reforms are planned without analyzing the present state. Jankovic called for greater responsibility and tighter internal control in the work of state bodies.

SERBIA – REGION

REFUGEE PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED BY COOPERATION OF ALL STATE
BELGRADE, March 25 (Tanjug) - Bosnia-Herzegovina Foreign Minister Sven Alkalaj and his Montenegrin counterpart Milan Rocen stated in Belgrade on Thursday that the refugee problem in the Western Balkan region is not entirely solved, adding that the problem can be resolved only by cooperation and participation of all regional states.
The two foreign ministers are attending the conference dubbed Lasting solutions for refugees and displaced persons - cooperation between regional states. Alkalaj said that a decade and a half after the end of the war conflict in BiH, it is a human, moral and political obligation to offer opportunity to refugees to decide whether they want a final and sustainable return to the places where they used to live or integration into the society in which they are now. He said that from 1992 to 1995, 2.2 million people left their homes and about a million of them migrated to countries across the world.
Alkalaj said that since the end of the war conflict in BiH, the majority of requests for the return of property in the country have been met, adding that out of 450,000 houses, 320,000 have been reconstructed. However, he said that there are still 500,000 refugees outside BiH, but that 80 percent of them have been integrated into the countries where they found refuge.
The majority of the people are located in Serbia and Croatia. Rocen said that five years after the adoption of the Sarajevo Declaration, the expectations of the declaration and the agreement have not been met yet, adding that there are 16,711 refugees and internally displace persons in Montenegro at the moment and while 5,000 of them are from BiH and Croatia, the rest are from Kosovo.

MINISTERS URGE RESPECT OF REFUGEE RIGHTS
BELGRADE, March 25 (Tanjug) - The foreign ministers of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Montenegro reiterated Thursday the commitment of their countries to respect of rights of all refugees and displaced persons according to international standards regardless of their current status or decision to return or be integrated.
At the international conference on refugees in Belgrade, the ministers noted that the problem of refugees and internally displaced persons has not been completely resolved in any of the four countries. The ministers agreed that priority must be given to providing accommodation and assistance to refugees and internally displaced persons in collective centers and those in particularly difficult social situation. At the same time, the four countries must fully implement the existing programs of return or local integration in a transparent manner, the ministers noted in a joint declaration issued after the conference. Mechanisms and deadlines for realizing these goals should also be defined, they said.
The ministers pointed to the need for intensifying regional cooperation in order to find a just, all-round and lasting solution to the refugee problem. This would also contribute to fostering good neighborly relations and regional stability, and to mutual support in the EU integration process, they said. The ministers reiterated the principles contained in the January 2005 Sarajevo declaration on respect of refugee individual right to decide whether to return or be integrated locally.

UNHCR INVITES REGION'S COUNTRIES TO DOUBLE THEIR EFFORTS
BELGRADE, March 25 (Tanjug) - UNHCR Director of International Protection Volker Turk has invited the Western Balkan countries to double their efforts in providing lasting solutions for all refugees who still do not have a sustainable future.
UNHCR, EU and OSCE have prepared a joint document with proposals on how to end the refugee crisis, said Turk, speaking at an international conference on refugees. The UNHCR official said that many refugee families are still in need of housing, especially those who wish to stay where they are, which is why an agreement is needed on a just mechanism to solve that problem for all those who lost their homes, and UNHCR will help provide the funds for it.
Since the region's countries state different data on the number of refugees, internally displaced persons and those who have returned home, they need to exchange information on housing programme users so the exact number could be established, Turk stated.

JOSIPOVIC: MUTUAL SUPPORT ON EU PATHWAY
BELGRADE, March 26 (Tanjug) - Croatian President Ivo Josipovic has stated that he and Serbian President Boris Tadic agreed on European partnership, which implies mutual support between the two countries on their EU pathway and solving of all open issues in accordance with European principles of law and justice.
The fact that Croatia will enter the EU somewhat earlier than Serbia is not important, Josipovic told the Belgrade daily Danas, and added that the two countries have a lot of common interests and similar problems which will be solved easier by exchange of experience. The Croatian president illustrated such stand by giving the example of cooperation between the police services and state prosecutor's offices of the two countries, and evaluated that this cooperation is of great importance since crime knows no limits, adding that "it is a disgrace that criminals cooperate better than the two states."
When it comes to mutual lawsuits on genocide, Josipovic evaluated that an out-of-court settlement is possible, because the lawsuits are the result of certain problems that emerged as the consequence of war events, which is why it is most important to solve the problems which led to filing of the lawsuits.

KOSOR: CROATIA HAS NOT YET CONSIDERED WITHDRAWING CHARGES
BRUSSELS, March 25 (Tanjug) - The Croatian government has not yet considered the possibility of withdrawing charges of genocide against Serbia, Croatian Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor said Thursday.
Talks must be held to resolve open issues, especially that of missing persons, she said. It would be up to the government to withdraw charges, but it has not yet considered that possibility, Kosor said in Brussels. She was commenting the statements of the presidents of Serbia and Croatia that the two countries might withdraw the suit and the countersuit they have filed with the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
Serbia and Croatia have many topics to discuss and everything must be done to resolve the issue of missing persons, she said. Resolving the issue would be a great step forward, she noted. The Presidents of Serbia and Croatia, Boris Tadic and Ivo Josipovic respectively, had an informal meeting in Opatija on Wednesday and discussed the possibility of out-of-court settlement.

JANDROKOVIC: RETURN OF REFUGEES ALMOST COMPLETE
BELGRADE, March 25 (Tanjug) - Croatia feels that the return of refugees from the 1990s war is almost complete, and that the focus should shift towards their local integration into society in the country that provided them shelter, Croatia's Foreign Minister Gordan Jandrokovic said Thursday.
The countries of the region have so far paid disproportionate attention to that aspect of the issue, although all independent research in countries that accepted refugees says that their interest in returning to the country of origin has dropped, said Jandrokovic in his opening statement at a conference on refugees held at the Serbian Parliament. "It is certain that a large number of refugees, who have been that for over 15 years, have integrated locally, especially the younger, more capable people," Jandrokovic noted, stressing that the ones who need protection now are those "most vulnerable - the elderly, disabled, poor and those who have difficulties coping with bureaucratic procedures."
Jandrokovic stated that the issues regarding refugees have been turned into a political matter in the past years, and that international law should be implemented strictly, stressing that a lasting solution based on criteria that would be equal for everyone has to be found. According to him, if the problem is really to be solved, then it is time to send a clear invitation to all refugees to make a final decision on whether they want to return or stay where they are.

FRANCE COMMENDS MEETING OF TADIC, JOSIPOVIC
BELGRADE, March 25 (Tanjug) - France commended Thursday the informal meeting that the Presidents of Serbia and Croatia, Boris Tadic and Ivo Josipovic, had in Opatija on Wednesday.
This demonstrates their will to resume dialogue at the highest level, a French Foreign Ministry spokesman said in a release. Fostering cooperation between Serbia and Croatia is a key element of regional stability and can only help them get closer to the EU, the release says. France reiterates its full support to the European perspective of the two countries, the release says.

US: TADIC-JOSIPOVIC MEETING IS POSITIVE STEP
WASHINGTON, March 26 (Tanjug) - The U.S. welcomed Thursday the informal meeting of Serbian and Croatian presidents Boris Tadic and Ivo Josipovic, and assessed that the meeting in Opatija, Croatia, is a positive step in the two countries' relations.
The Wednesday meeting of presidents Tadic and Josipovic is a positive step toward improving relations between Serbia and Croatia, a US State Department official told Croatian news agency Hina. The US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, stressed Washington's support to cooperation and good neighborly relations in the region. The U.S. continues to support the advancement of regional cooperation and good neighborly relations among all countries in Southeastern Europe, he said.

SERBIA - EU

ÐELIC: CANDIDATE STATUS IN 2011 BELGRADE, March 25 (B92, Beta) - Deputy Prime Minister Božidar Ðelic says that Serbia's priority is to obtain EU candidate status by mid-2011 but also to continue with reforms. After the meeting with members of EU Coordination Group for Western Balkans said that Serbia's goal was to continue reforms in judiciary, combat against organized crime and corruption and protection of competition and to be actively involved in creation of the EU Danube strategy.
The deputy PM said that he had proposed that one of the main topics at the EU-Western Balkans conference in June in Sarajevo should be the perspective of the Western Balkans by 2020, in order to harmonize plans of this part of the Balkans with those of the EU. "Serbia will prepare this proposal and present its program for the next ten years," he said, and added that Belgrade would formulate proposals for "solving the strategy for inclusion of Roma and the issue of refugees".
"The EU is working on financial, economic but also political aspects together with Serbia," said Chief of the EU Delegation to Serbia Vincent Degert, adding that the EU Delegation would discuss those topics with the Serbian representatives during its three-day visit to Belgrade. "We want to help, especially regarding the ratification of the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) and procedures concerning the application for the EU candidate status," Degert said, and pointed out that it was important that EU member states were familiar with political, economic and social aspects in Serbia.

SERBIAN PARLIAMENT SPEAKER MEETS WITH EU DELEGATION
BELGRADE, March 25 (Tanjug) - Serbian Parliament Speaker Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic met with representatives of the EU coordination group for the Western Balkans on Thursday to discuss the Parliament's results and activities in harmonizing Serbia's legislation with that of the EU.
According to an announcement from the speaker's Cabinet, Djukic-Dejanovic said the European Commission gave a positive evaluation of the Parliament's legislative activity, which improved with the implementation of the current rules of procedure, adopted in 2009. Djukic-Dejanovic stated that the Parliament's efficiency is also reflected in the number of adopted laws, because it has adopted 96 percent of the laws proposed by the government.
A series of regulations enabling Serbia's accelerated EU integration is also among those, said Djukic-Dejanovic. She noted that the Parliament's diplomatic activities show Serbia's efforts towards a faster integration into the EU, citing contacts with other parliaments in the region as an example of this. Head of the EU delegation to Serbia Vincent Degert commended the work of the Parliament in 2009, expressing support for its legislative activity and implementation of European laws.

DACIC AND MALOVIC MEET WITH COWEB DELAGATION
BELGRADE, March 25 (Tanjug) - Serbian Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Ivica Dacic and Justice Minister Snezana Malovic informed Thursday a delegation of the working group for the Western Balkans COWEB about the progress made in the past three months, and stressed that Serbia will continue to implement regulations and strengthen and reform its institutions in accordance with EU standards.
COWEB representatives commended Serbia's activities in the fight against organized crime and corruption and the country's determination to tackle the problem, it is said in a statement issued by the Interior Ministry. They also expressed satisfaction with the two ministries' efforts to enable Serbian citizens to travel freely after more than ten year, which was achieved in November 2009.
The meeting was also attended by Head of the Delegation of the European Commission to Serbia Vincent Degert, it is said in the statement.

AUSTRIA SUPPORTS SERBIA ON EU PATH
BELGRADE, March 25 (Tanjug) - Serbia's Minister of Economy and Regional Development Mladjan Dinkic and Austria's Minister of Economy Reinhold Mitterlehner signed a memorandum on economic cooperation between the two ministries in Vienna on Thursday, which has confirmed once again Austria's support for Serbia's European integration, the Serbian Ministry of Economy has announced.
The goal of the document is to improve business, trade and investment cooperation, as well as to promote joint appearances in other markets, production cooperation, exchange of experience and training. "Austria is an extremely important economic partner to Serbia, because Austrian companies are the biggest investors in Serbia. They employ a large number of people, and Serbia is therefore very interested in improving that cooperation," said Dinkic, adding that the Austrian minister of finance is going to visit Serbia to sign a contract on avoiding double taxation.
Dinkic and Mitterlehner also discussed a strategy for the Danube, which is part of the memorandum and serves as a good platform for improving investments and removing trade barriers. Dinkic also met with President of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber Cristoph Leitl and representatives of the top 50 Austrian companies, some of which are already present on the Serbian market, while others are considering the possibilities of investing in some sectors, says the announcement.