REPUBLIC OF SERBIA - MINISTRY FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS

 EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION ON KOSOVO IN EARLY FEBRUARY

SERBIA - EU

JEREMIC INVITES DUTCH FOREIGN MINISTER TO VISIT SERBIA

BRUSSELS, Jan. 26 (Beta) - Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic said on Jan. 26 in Brussels that his Dutch counterpart, Maxime Verhagen, had accepted an invitation to visit Serbia soon, and that during the discussion with him he had received the Netherlands’ support for Serbia to become a member of the European Union. Jeremic said that during talks with ministers from Great Britain, Germany, Romania and other EU members, he had received confirmation that the EU is ready to help Serbia in achieving its priority goal EU member candidate status by the end of 2009. Jeremic said that on Jan. 26, during talks with the three EU ministers, he emphasized the significance of the EU’s decision to abolish visas for Serbian citizens because "in a political sense, it is a great step toward achieving the strategic priority of Serbia," which is EU membership. Jeremic said that he understood the stance of the Netherlands, but that it is "important that the Netherlands is ready, along with other EU members and Serbia, to use maximum effort to overcome current problems." Verhagen’s press representative told journalists that the Dutch foreign minister will visit Belgrade to see "how the Netherlands and the EU can help Serbia to establish full cooperation with the Hague tribunal," but that he did not yet know the date of the visit. Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said that the issue of Belgrade’s cooperation with the Hague tribunal is principally connected to the interim trade agreement between Serbia and the EU coming into effect, and emphasized that he hoped that would happen soon. Asked whether EU ministers would support Serbia’s intention to submit its application to join the EU, he added that he would "discuss that with Jeremic" and that the Council of Ministers had not yet held discussions about it.

VERHAGEN TO VISIT BELGRADE AT INVITATION OF JEREMIC

BRUSSELS, Jan 26 (Tanjug) - Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen has accepted an invitation to visit Belgrade and assured his Serbian counterpart Vuk Jeremic in Brussels on Monday that his county backs Serbia’s goal to join the European Union. Jeremic informed reporters that he told Verhagen that Belgrade "understands what is preventing The Netherlands from agreeing to the coming into force of the transitional trade agreement." "It is important that The Netherlands is willing, together with the other EU countries and with Serbia, to be engaged to the maximum on overcoming the current problems," Jeremic stated. EU TO BE CONVINCED SERBIA IS COOPERATING WITH ICTY

BRUSSELS, Jan 27 (Tanjug) - Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic in Brussels on Monday called on the representatives of the European Union to send a mission to Serbia and thus see for themselves that the Serbian government is fully cooperating with The Hague Tribunal, and reiterated once again that the government’s strategic goal in 2009 was progress in the European integration process. This is not just a proposal for the Netherlands, but rather for each of the 27 countries of the European Union, Jeremic said in Brussels at a joint press conference with EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn and his Czech counterpart Karel Schwarzenberg, whose country has assumed the six-month rotating presidency over the EU. The Serbian foreign minister pointed out that the Serbian government and its bodies had any doubt whatsoever as to whether full cooperation with The Hague represented a priority. This year we will make all possible effort to finalize this cooperation, Jeremic said.

RHEN: EU STRONGLY COMMITTED TO SERBIA’S EUROPEAN FUTURE

BRUSSELS/BELGRADE, Jan 27 ( Tanjug ) - European Commissioner for Enlargement Olli Rhen reiterated in Brussels on Monday evening, after a meeting of the EU Trio and Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic, the EU’s firm commitment to Serbia’s European future and announced the arrival of expert groups in Belgrade in February to consider the issue of visa liberalization. I want to express once again our firm commitment for the European future of Serbia, said Rhen at a press conference he held together with Czech and Serbian Foreign Ministers, Karel Schwanzenberg and Vuk Jeremic, respectively. I agree with Vuk Jeremic that this year could and should be very important for our relations, the EU enlargement commissioner added. He pointed out that the next step on Serbia’s path towards the EU is the implementation and ratification of the Stabilization and Association Agreement, once all required conditions have been fulfilled. I am hoping for some good news this year in respect to visa liberalization, and I know how important this is for all the citizens of Serbia, stated Rehn.

SCHWARZENBERG: EU WILLING TO COOPERATE WITH SERBIA IN ALL FIELDS

BRUSSELS, Jan 27 (Tanjug) - Karel Schwarzenberg, the foreign minister of the Czech Republic, which has assumed the six-month rotating presidency over the EU, said in Brussels late on Monday that the EU was willing to maintain close ties with Serbia in all fields. We had meetings with our Serbian partners to discuss a number of topics and exchange views on the security situation in Serbia, the cooperation between the Union and Serbia, as well as the policy of development and energy security in the region, Schwarzenberg said at a joint press conference, following a meeting between the EU Troika and Serbian Foreign minister Vuk Jeremic. I think that both Serbia and the Union will be ready for the implementation of the Interim Agreement on stabilisation and association as soon as full cooperation is achieved with The Hague-based ICTY, the Czech foreign minister pointed out. He expressed hope that significant progress would be made in the field of mutual cooperation between the Union and Serbia, as that would bring greater stability to the region and head it toward a European future.

VERHAGEN: WE WILL BACK SERBIA AS SOON AS IT MEETS CONDITIONS

NOVI SAD, Jan 27 (Tanjug) - Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen on Tuesday stated that Netherlands will back Serbia in its European integrations as soon as it meets the set conditions, with the cooperation with the Hague tribunal being the key one. Confirming that he had discussed developments in Serbia with Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic, Verhagen said in a statement with the Novi Sad daily Dnevnik that he had made it clear that opinion of ICTY Chief Prosecutor Serge Brammertz is of essential importance for his country. The ICTY Prosecution is the best address to ask about an evaluation of whether Serbia is cooperating fully or not, underscored Verhagen, adding that Brammertz’s evaluation of Belgrade’s cooperation with the ICTY is always welcomed by The Netherlands, which means even before his regular report to the UN Security Council. He believes that the mission for establishment of the level of Serbia’s cooperation with the iCTY, initiated by the EU Council of Ministers, will not bring anything new, because Holland finds Brammertz’s opinion to be of utmost importance, adding that Ratko Mladic’s arrest would be the best proof of full cooperation. Verhagen confirmed that he will soon visit Serbia because, he underscored, he is always ready to discuss the ways in which the Netherlands and EU may help Serbia achieve full cooperation with The Hague tribunal. I believe that my visit will follow relatively soon, as soon as we prepare the visit to Belgrade well, said Verhagen.

STEINMEIER: SERBIA ON RIGHT TRACK

BELGRADE, Jan 27 (Tanjug) - German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier has said he is convinced that Belgrade is making maximum effort to improve its cooperation with The Hague Tribunal, which is one of the preconditions for the country’s European integration. I am positive that the current team in Belgrade knows how important the cooperation with The Hague-based International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) is, Steinmeier said. We said in Brussels that full cooperation was a prerequisite for your country’s approach to the European Union, and not only for the approach of your country, but also of both Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, he underlined. As far as this is in question, I see that Serbia is on the right track, the German foreign minister said. In an interview for the Belgrade daily Vecernje Novosti, published on Tuesday, he pointed out that all in all, he saw a number of positive things in Serbia and the region. Asked whether it would be possible to activate the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) if the Mladic case was not resolved before that, Steinmeier answered that the arrest of Radovan Karadzic had been an important step, but that other steps had to be follow as well, particularly that referring to the arrest and handover of Ratko Mladic.

DIACONESCU CONFIRMS ROMANIA’S SUPPORT TO BELGRADE

BRUSSELS, Jan 27 (Tanjug ) - Romanian Foreign Minister Cristian Diaconescu, who met with his Serbian counterpart Vuk Jeremic on Monday, confirmed Romania’s willingness to continue supporting Serbia in its efforts to join the EU. As it is stated in the announcement of the Romanian Foreign Ministry, Diaconescu assured Jeremic that Romania will be one of the strongest advocates of Serbia’s admission into the EU. The Serbian foreign minister required from Romania an active support in the international organizations and within the frame of bilateral relations, the Romanian National News Agency Agerpres reports. From that point of view, we will take the necessary steps inside the European parliament for the appointment of a rapporteur for Serbia, Diaconescu underscored.

SERBIA TO APPLY INTERIM TRADE DEAL WITH EU FROM FEB. 1

BELGRADE, Jan. 26 (Beta) - Serbia will begin to apply the interim trade agreement with the European Union on Feb. 1, Serbian Finance Minister Diana Dragutinovic announced on Jan. 26. "Technically, this will not be a unilateral application of the interim trade agreement because Serbian goods are free from customs on the EU market," she said, adding that "they did that before we did." The deal should have been put into effect on Jan. 1, 2009, but it was postponed as the parliament failed to adopt amendments to the Law on customs tariffs which would allow for its implementation in time. The agreement envisages the gradual liberalization of trade in industrial and agricultural products over the next six years. The Serbian industry will be protected the longest when importing goods on the list of "most sensitive products." In the first year of implementing the deal, customs tariffs on those products will be 85 percent of the current ones. Tariffs on the next category, "very sensitive" products, are to be phased out over four years being lowered first to 80 percent of the existing ones, then to 60, 40 and 20 percent, and lifted altogether in 2013. Customs on "sensitive products," the third category according to the interim trade agreement, would be phased out over three years, until 2011, with the first year drop at 70 percent followed by 40 percent of the current customs rate. The Stabilization and Association Agreement and the interim trade agreement between Serbia and the EU were signed on April 29, 2008, in Brussels, and ratified by the Serbian parliament on Sept. 9, 2008.

YEROCOSTOPOULOS: SERBIA COULD BECOME EU MEMBER IN 2012.

VALJEVO, Jan. 26 (Beta) - Constantin Yerocostopoulos, special representative of the secretary general of the Council of Europe in Serbia, said on Jan. 26 that Serbia could launch accession talks with the European Union this year and become a member in 2012. Talking with reporters in Valjevo ahead of a round table to the topic "Serbia in the Process of European Integrations," Yerocostopoulos voiced optimism about that process because of the Serbian people’s and politicians’ visible efforts to lead the country into the EU. He said the public always responded to the need for European integration in accordance with daytoday political events, and reminded that this was once also the case in Greece, his country of origin. Yerocostopoulos said Serbia would not miss out on anything important on its road to the EU because the country’s parliament had not appointed a delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. The round table in Valjevo is the sixth and last organized in several cities on the topic "Serbia on the Way toward European Integrations," with the participation of Austrian Ambassador to Serbia Clemens Koja, European Commission delegation to Serbia head Thomas Gnocchi, parliament European integrations committee head Laszlo Varga and others.

SERBIA

DACIC - DUAL CITIZENSHIP IS NOT POLICE ISSUE

VELIKA PLANA, Jan 26 (Tanjug) - Serbian Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said on Monday that an agreement with dual citizenship with Montenegro was not a police, but a political issue, because Montenegro was afraid that Serbia’s liberal attitude to the issue might lead to a change of the political map in Montenegro. "We have been negotiating this for months. There is a great difference in the understanding of the problem. Serbia has a liberal approach, we let our citizens have another state’s citizenship, without giving up Serbia’s citizenship," Dacic said at the opening of a new police building in Velika Plana. The minister said that Serbia allowed other states’ citizens to get Serbian citizenship without giving up their original citizenships. "Montenegro does not have this approach. Montenegro does not allow its citizens to have another state’s citizenship without giving up Montenegro’s citizenship. And this is the main problem," Dacic said. He said that Montenegro proposed, i.e. requested from Serbia as the condition for the signing of the agreement "that we do not grant their citizens our citizenship if they do not give up Montenegrin citizenship first." As for this segment, according to Dacic, Montenegro should also be constructive, because if Serbia implemented their concept, it would have to strip of citizenship all its citizens who had taken Montenegrin in addition to the Serbian citizenship. Serbia has such agreements with all former Yugoslav republics, it has such a law and cannot change it because of Montenegro, the minister said. "We have agreed to exchange the lists of persons who take both citizenships. According to us, this problem is solved through this," Dacic said.

DACIC: NO TENSIONS IN GOVERNMENT

BELGRADE, Jan 27 (Tanjug) - Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Ivica Dacic said on Monday evening that there were no tensions in the government, that it was functioning well and that presently, new elections would not be in the interest of Serbia. "The government is functioning well, it is stable, there are many different conceptions and we have to continue the realisation of the programmes that brought us together," Dacic said in an interview with the Radio Television of Serbia (RTS). He said that there was "little coordination" among the members of the ruling coalition, and that that was the reason "for the events during the (recent) voting on the modifications and amendments to the Law on Excise Duties." "If SPS (Socialist Party of Serbia) did something wrong, if there was no good coordination, we are ready to correct that. Let’s have the bill voted on once again. Only this time, we would have to reveal the manner in which privatization has been carried out in all these companies, we would have to explain where all these new businessmen have srung from, how is it that Serbia has lost 25 percent of its Srbijagas shares," he said.

GREAT BRITAIN, SERBIA SIGN DEAL ON MILITARY COOPERATION

LONDON, Jan. 26 (Beta) - Serbian Defense Minister Dragan Sutanovac and British Armed Forces Minister Bob Ainsworth on Jan. 26, in London, signed an agreement on cooperation in defense and training Army of Serbia members in Great Britain. "Aside from problems in the past which we have discussed and problems existing today related to Kosovo, we too want to seek solutions. We are convinced that cooperation can be at a much higher level and that it is in the strategic interest of both Serbia and Great Britain," Sutanovac said after the signing at the British Defense Ministry. Sutanovac reiterated that there was a longstanding tradition of cooperation between Serbia and Great Britain, adding that both sides at the meeting had voiced the desire to continue that cooperation. "What is most important to us is the possibility to school our officers at royal colleges in Great Britain and work on promoting our relations, because we feel that to be necessary," Sutanovac declared. Ainsworth said the deal would enable but also encourage the armies of both countries to work together, train and learn from each other. Serbia has made great progress and is becoming a member of the European family of nations at a speedy pace, he stated. CZECH REPUBLIC CONTACT POINT BETWEEN SERBIA AND NATO

BRUSSELS, Jan. 26 (Beta) - The Czech Republic on Jan. 26 in Belgrade formally took over from Italy the position of the "contact point" between Serbia and NATO for the next two years. At the ceremony in the Italian Embassy, the Italian NATO representative Stefano Stefanini, said that significant progress had been made in Serbia’s cooperation with the organization over the last two years. He said that it depends on Serbia "how much it wants to develop relations with NATO," but that NATO wants Serbia to be "a partner and a friend." Serbian Defense Ministry State Secretary Zoran Jeftic said that he expects successful cooperation with the Czech Republic as the "contact point" between Serbia and NATO. Asked about NATO’s support of the Kosovo Security Forces, he said that NATO’s decision was a "large mistake," as well as that it is normal that because of it there are "certain consequences" in terms of cooperation between Serbia and NATO. Czech Ambassador to Serbia Hana Hubackova said that the "contact point" position is a very important task for her country.

TADIC: THE WORLD CAN’T ALLOW MILLIONS OF INNOCENTS TO SUFFER

BRUSSELS, Jan. 26 (Beta) - Serbian President Boris Tadic said on Jan. 26, ahead of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, that the world can never again allow millions of innocent people to suffer just for belonging to a different religious or national group. "We commemorate all the innocent victims of Nazi crimes and looking to the future, we are building a better world in which there will never again be any holocausts," Tadic publicly said ahead of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, which will be observed across the world on Jan. 27. The Serbian nation, said Tadic, never had antiSemitic sentiments, and the Serbian state has always supported the preservation of the memory of the Holocaust. "The Serbian Constitution guarantees human and minority rights and freedoms and forbids discrimination and the expression of racial, national and religious hatred. Also, the Constitution guarantees the right to preserve diversity and develop a spirit of tolerance," emphasized President Tadic. International Holocaust Remembrance Day will be observed in Serbia with the main commemoration ceremony being held at the Memorial to the Victims of Genocide in the Second World War at the Old Fairgrounds (Staro Sajmiste) in Belgrade.

HOLOCAUST VICTIMS MUST NEVER BE FORGOTTEN

BELGRADE, Jan 27 (Tanjug) - The holocaust victims must never be forgotten because it would mean forgetting the criminal policy that had send to death millions of innocent people in the most cruel way, the Ministry for Human and Minority Rights stated on Tuesday. On the occasion of the Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD), commemorating the tragic loss of life in the genocides of World War II, underscored that only "true and real examination of the past, crime condemnations, punishment of those responsible and reparations to the crime victims is a healthy basis for a society’s progress and prevention of similar crimes in the future." "The obligation towards generations to come of each and every one of us is education on tolerance and respect of diversity, in order for such crimes not to happen ever again," it was said in the statement.

310 YEARS OF TREATY OF KARLOVCI MARKED

SREMSKI KARLOVCI, Jan 26 (Tanjug) - The 310th anniversary of signing the Treaty of Karlovci was celebrated with a ceremonious programme under the slogan "Peace is still the best" in the Chapel of Peace in Sremski Karlovci on Monday evening. The gathering in the reconstructed chapel, which was built in 1817 in honor of the peace concluded after the great battle of Vienna, was attended by Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic, President of the Executive Council of Vojvodina Bojan Pajtic, the ambassadors and representatives of the participating countries and mediators in signing of the Treaty of Karlovci. Pointing out that peace is what values the most in relations between countries, Djelic said that what happened in that place 310 years ago initiated a series of later historic events relevant to our people. The Treaty of Karlovci, which ended the 16-year war, was concluded on Jan 26, 1699, between the great forces of the time - Austria, Poland, Venice and Russia on one side and Turkey on the other, with the mediation of England and the Netherlands.

SERBIA – ECONOMY, FINANCES

RUSSIA TO PAY NIS MONEY BY MID 2009

BRUSSELS, Jan. 26 (Beta) - Finance Minister Diana Dragutinovic on Jan. 26 said Russia would pay EUR400 million for a 51 percent stake in state oil company NIS in the beginning of the second half of this year. Although the cabinet calculated the NIS money in the 2009 budget, Dragutinovic said this should not create problems in the budget, because the biggest expenses were envisaged for the second half of the year. Dragutinovic added that capital expenses would be financed after the privatization money was paid. Asked whether Serbia would have to adopt a budget rebalance due to a drop in economic growth, the minister replied that she did not exclude that possibility, but added that it was too early to consider that. Revenue figures in January are not encouraging, but January is generally a bad month, the minister noted.

MILOSAVLJEVIC: CRITERIA FOR ASSISTING ECONOMY IN TWO WEEKS

BELGRADE, Jan 26 (Tanjug) - The Serbian government will define, within the next seven days, the criteria for distributing one billion euros of state assistance to the economy, Minister of Trade and Services Slobodan Milosavljevic announced on Monday. The funds should become operational within the next 10-15 days, and exporters would be given priority, so that the high foreign trade deficit could be reduced and the stagnation and drop in export demand arrested, Milosavljevic said, speaking at the Serbian Chamber of Commerce (PKS). "The government must preserve its buyers, primarily on the markets of the CEFTA countries, but also on other markets," the minister said. It was agreed at a meeting with Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic last week that around 100 billion dinars (around one billion euros) of stimulative funds for the economy should be secured this year, which should enable the realization of the expected gross domestic product growth rate of 3.5 percent.

NO EU MEMBERSHIP WITHOUT SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

BELGRADE, Jan 26 (Tanjug) - In order to implement the National Sustainable Development Strategy 2008-2017, Serbia needs to earmark more financial resourses, because it is one of the main conditions for joining the European Union, the participants of the first session of the Working Group for Environmental Protection, which is held in scope of the European Movement in Serbia project entitled National Convent on the EU, assessed on Monday. By allocating 0.4 percent of the gross national product (GNP) for environmental protection, the same amount of funds as in 2008, Serbia will accomplish nothing on that plan and will experience great problems, evaluated Slobodan Milutinovic, head of Working Group for social-economic issues which is in charge of the drafting of the National Strategy on sustainable development. Milutinovic said that the EU member-states were under no obligation to fulfill such conditions before joining this international organization, but that Serbia will not be spared of it. He underscored that the National Strategy predicts that up to 2014, we will manage to allocate 1.5 percent of GNP, and by 2017 as much as 2.5 percent. Milutinovic expressed his expectation that Serbia will be able to increase these allocations in spite of the global economic crisis.

KOSOVO AND METOHIJA – SITUATION, REACTIONS

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION ON KOSOVO IN EARLY FEBRUARY

PRISTINA, Jan. 26 (Beta) - Members of the European Parliament are to vote early in February on a new resolution on Kosovo, which stresses that the role of EULEX is to assist Kosovan authorities in building judicial and police authority and customs services. MP Joost Lagendijk, who outlined the resolution, told the New Kosova Report website that there had been a lot of misconstruction surrounding the role of EULEX in Kosovo, adding that the authorities in Belgrade were interpreting decisions by U.N. Secretary General Ban Kimoon to mean that the EULEX mission was status neutral, which it is not. The second part of the document outline points out a demand to Kosovan authorities to operate transparently, especially when it comes to privatization. The Jan. 26 issue of the Pristina daily Koha Ditore said the European Parliament’s proposed resolution on Kosovo demanded more involvement by Kosovan and EU institutions. All amendments such as the one that Ahtisaari’s package had not been adopted by the Security Council, or that the status of Kosovo is not recognized by international organizations, that Serbia attempted to include in the resolution via certain MPs from Romania and Greece, were voted down in the European Parliament Foreign Policy Committee, the daily reported.

For further information:

Minister for Forign Affairs of Serbia