REPUBLIC OF SERBIA - MINISTRY FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS - DAILY SURVEY

 GOVERNOR SAYS CITIZEN SAVINGS SAFE

SERBIA – EULEX

JEREMIC: KOSOVO PARTITION NOT BEING CONSIDERED

BELGRADE, Nov 17 (Tanjug) - Partition of Kosovo is not being considered and is not a topic of discussions on the six-point plan, Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic said. The six-point agreement involves a precisely defined UN role. Once EULEX establishes status neutrality, scope will open for full cooperation with it anywhere in Kosovo, he told TV RTS. EULEX can take over some of UNMIK’s prerogatives but only in keeping with the UN Security Council Resolutions 1244, he said. EULEX must be committed to status neutrality and can take over some of UNMIK’s prerogatives in keeping with the UN Security Council Resolutions 1244, Jeremic said. According to the six-point plan accepted by Serbian authorities, the chain of command of local police in Serb communitites in Kosovo will remain unchanged after EULEX deployment, and a part of duties collected at administrative boundary crossings in the north will go to local Serbs. Serbia is asking the UN to have EULEX presence in Kosovo approved by the UN SC, that it be status netural and that it does not implement Martti Ahtisaari’s plan which the UN SC did not approve due to objections by Serbia and Russia.

IVANOVIC: PRISTINA NOT INDEPENDENTLY REFUSING U.N. PLAN

PRISTINA, Nov 17 (Beta) - The state secretary in the Ministry for Kosovo and Metohija, Oliver Ivanovic, expressed doubt that Kosovo officials were independently refusing the U.N. plan on the sixpoint plan concerning the reconfiguration of UNMIK and added that the strengthening of UNMIK did not suit certain big powers. "I think it does not suit certain big powers that the role of UNMIK be empowered through the affirmation of the sixpoint plan. UNMIK reconfiguration envisages a reduction in numbers, but also the strengthening of its influence. UNMIK stays and that is what many did not anticipate when they decided to unilaterally recognize Kosovo’s independence," Ivanovic explained. In a statement to the KiM Radio, Ivanovic said the rejection of the plan revealed that the Pristina authorities "do not realize the reality." According to Ivanovic, it is not clear at the moment whether U.S. envoy Daniel Fried, will try to convince the Kosovo leadership to accept the plan.

FRIED: EULEX MISSION SHOULD BE ESTABLISHED THROUGHOUT KOSOVO

PRISTINA, Nov 17 (Tanjug) - US Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried said that the US stand was that the EULEX mission should be established throughout Kosovo and that the Kosovo government was a government of a sovereign state which should listen to others and decide on issues that concern Kosovo on its own. The EULEX mission is the most ambitious mission and the United State completely supports it. This is why we have signed the agreement with the European Union and we are part of this mission. The sooner the mission is established and completes its mandate the better for all, Fried said after a meeting with Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu and Premier Hashim Thaci. He said that Kosovo was an independent and sovereign state and nobody could bring this into question and the US government consulted the Kosovo government as the government of an independent and sovereign state. Sejdiu said that he and Fried had discussed current problems in the process of establishment of the EULEX mission and added that Kosovo institutions remained true to the stand that the UN secretary-general’s six item plan was unacceptable.

BAN REPORT NOT PRESENTED TO UN SECURITY COUNCIL YET

NEW YORK, Nov 18 (Tanjug) - Spokesman Brendan Varma for the UN secretary-general has said that Ban Ki-moon’s report on Kosovo, containing recommendations on the reconfiguration of UNMIK and regarding the EULEX, will soon be presented to the UN SC members, but he could not specify when this would take place. The report will hopefully be presented soon, Varma said, adding that he could not say when this will be in more precise terms, the Pristina daily Zeri said on Tuesday. It is expected that the secretary-general’s report will give the green light for the deployment of the EULEX in the entire territory of Kosovo in early December. Over the past weeks, leaders of Kosovo Albanians were exposed to diplomatic pressure to accept the agreement on EULEX and UNMIK, the daily pointed out.

JONES: SC DECISION NOT NECESSARY FOR EULEX DEPLOYMENT

BELGRADE, Nov 17 (Beta) - A statement by the president of the U.N. Security Council is not a precondition for the deployment of the EULEX mission in Kosovo, which is to become operational in December, the deputy assistant secretary of state with responsibility for the Balkan region, Stuart Jones, said. Jones also said there was no dispute between Belgrade and Pristina concerning the deployment of EULEX, but only about the sixpoint plan [of U.N. Secretary General Ban Kimoon], which Belgrade had agreed with the United Nations. "Both Belgrade and Pristina agree that EULEX should be deployed in Kosovo and we would like to go forward and, in line with the EU plan, to reach the initial operational capacity by December and full capacity by next spring," Jones added. Asked whether agreement on the matter would be achieved in the U.N. Security Council, Jones said that this would "be good," but added that it was not a precondition for the U.S. "Serbia has asked that the Security Council declare itself on the matter in a presidential statement. If we can reach an agreement, it would be good, and if we cannot, I believe that we all agree that it is important that EULEX be deployed," Jones noted. Jones declined to speak about a possible decision of the International Court of Justice on the legality of an independent Kosovo, but recalled that "Kosovo has been recognized as a new state by the U.S., a majority of the EU and a majority of the neighboring countries a total of 52 countries in all." Asked to assess the relations between the countries in the Balkan region, Jones said "when everyone is thinking how to adjust to economic trends in the world, it would be better if the region also focused on those possibilities, rather than on problems." Jones stressed that he arrived on his first visit to Belgrade with the goal of "encouraging a partnership between the U.S. and Serbia and to improve cooperation for which there are numerous possibilities."

TACI: SIX-POINT DOCUMENT IS UNACCEPTABLE

BELGRADE, Nov 18 (Tanjug) - Kosovo Prime Minister Hasim Taci reiterated that the six-point document by Ban Ki-moon on the deployment of the EULEX mission in Kosovo is not acceptable for Kosovo. Taci told TV B92 that EULEX should be deployed in the entire territory of Kosovo, and in keeping with the EU documents and decisions, the decision on the independent and democratic state of Kosovo, Kosovo’s Constitution and Ahtisaari’s document. Stating that "Belgrade is the problem, because it definitely needs to realize that Kosovo is an independent and democratic country," Taci said that "Belgrade has no jurisdiction over Kosovo," and that "such Belgrade’s tendencies must be forgotten once and for all." He reiterated that "there will be no illegal or illegitimate structures in Kosovo," and that there will be "no parallel judicial system, police, customs or other sectors."

SERBIA – EU

TADIC RECEIVES PROSECUTOR BRAMMERTZ

BELGRADE, Nov 18 (Tanjug) - President Boris Tadic met with Chief Prosecutor Brammertz of the ICTY of The Hague, who is ending a two-day visit to Belgrade. Brammertz earlier met with Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic. No statements for the media have been planned following these meetings.

TADIC: SERBIA FULLY COOPERATES WITH ICTY

BELGRADE, Nov 18 (Tanjug) - President Tadic pointed out in talks with ICTY Chief Prosecutor Brammertz that Serbia’s state institutions fully cooperate with this international court. Tadic said that Serbia is intensively searching for the remaining indictees and that it is working on the successful completion of the cooperation with the Hague Tribunal, the Serbian president’s press service said after the meeting. Brammertz should submit a regular six-month report on Serbia’s cooperation with the Hague Tribunal and a possible decision of the European Union on the implementation of the Interim Agreement and the start of the ratification of the SAA with Serbia will depend on this report.

CVETKOVIC EXPECTS POSITIVE REPORT

BELGRADE, Nov 18 (Tanjug) - Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic expressed belief, in talks with ICTY Chief Prosecutor Serge Brammertz, that the next report The Hague Tribunal prosecutor would issue on Belgrade’s cooperation with that body would be positive, having in mind the progress Serbia had made over the past period in that respect. "Prime Minister Cvetkovic holds that Serbia has clearly demonstrated its readiness to cooperate fully with The Hague Tribunal and that the government of the Republic of Serbia and its authorised bodies are doing all in their power so that the cooperation could be concluded as soon as possible," the government said in a statement. According to the statement, Brammertz underlined that in the last couple of months, a very good cooperation had been established between the Tribunal and all the bodies in Serbia that were in charge of that issue.

JEREMIC CALLS ON EU TO STRENGTHEN TIES WITH SERBIA

LONDON, Nov 18 (Tanjug) - Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic has called on the European Union to prepare its arrangements with Serbia, and in a statement for the Financial Times, he noted that Belgrade expects that the decision on the implementation of the Interim Agreement will be reached before December 31, when France will end its EU presidency. The Serbian foreign minister pointed out that in case the European Union continued to hesitate on the matter, we could be faced with a strengthening of nationalist forces in the country, the London daily explained. The Financial Times reported that Jeremic had pointed to a major disappointment which was evident among the workers in Serbia, who had brought victory to the pro-European bloc in the elections. Our honey moon with our voters is about to end, Jeremic said. Our opponents keep asking what is it that we have done in getting the country closer to the EU and securing prosperity, and now we need to have something from the EU to show to the people, the daily quoted the Serbian foreign minister as saying. Serbia does hope, however, the daily quoted Jeremic, that the implementation of the Interim Agreement will begin on December 31, when the French EU presidency will be over.

ALL DEADLINES FOR ARREST LONG OVERDUE

BELGRADE, Nov 18 (Tanjug) - No new deadlines have been set for the handover of the remaining two ICTY fugitives to The Hague Tribunal, and all the old ones are long overdue, President of the National Council for Cooperation with the ICTY Rasim Ljajic said on Tuesday. Ljajic, who is also coordinator of the Action Team for the location and arrest of ICTY fugitives, said on the occasion of his Monday talks with ICTY Chief Prosecutor Serge Brammertz that it was in the interest of Serbia that Ratko Mladic and Goran Hadzic found themselves in The Hague as soon as possible. He added that Brammertz would present a report in writing to the members of the UN Security Council late next week, and that on December 10 and 11, he would inform the European Union Council of Ministers about his two day visit to Belgrade. On the following day, December 12, Brammertz will elaborate on his report at the UN Security Council, Ljajic told reporters in the government building. "Until then, Serbia has a chance and a possibility to change something in that report," Ljajic said, expressing belief that the activities of the Action Team for the location and arrest of ICTY indictees would also be included in Brammertz’s report. He said that all we could do now was continue our intensive search so that Mladic and Hadzic be handed over to The Hague Tribunal in the shortest possible term, before December 12, if possible.

DELEVIC SAYS NEXT YEAR WILL BE YEAR OF WEST BALKANS

ZAGREB, Nov 17 (Tanjug) - Next year should be the year of the West Balkans in the sense of getting closer to the European Union, head of the Serbian government’s EU Integration Office Milica Delevic said in Zagreb and voiced her belief that Serbia would get the candidate status in 2009. "Next year should be the year of the West Balkans in the sense of EU integration and the entire region would make a new step from stabilisation to accession," Delevic told a news conference held within a two-day regional conference on the EU integration in Zagreb. She voiced her belief that Serbia, which she said was very satisfied with the progress report that the EU issued in early December, would get the candidate status next year and get on the white Schengen list for visas. Delevic voiced her satisfaction with the meeting and cooperation with her colleagues from the countries of the region which also applied reforms in the rule of law, fight against corruption and organised crime and economic reforms. Asked about the strong wording exchanged between Zagreb and Belgrade, Delevic said that Croatia’s recognition of Kosovo in March was a scar on the two countries’ relations. The conference in Zagreb is organised by the Croatian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and EU Integration and the German technical cooperation society GTZ, and it has rallied more than 150 participants from the region - Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Albania, Macedonia and Montenegro as well as the European Commission representatives. The topic of the conference is the EU integration, implementation of the SAA, implementation of the pre-accession assistance instrument, IPA programme, justice, freedom and security and communication with citizens about topics in connection with the European Union. Participants agreed that regional cooperation was a precondition of the EU integration.

DELEVIC ON SERBIA’S EUROPEAN INTEGRATION

BELGRADE, Nov 18 (Tanjug) - Director of the EU Integration Office Milica Delevic has said she does not expect that, once Belgrade authorities have overcome "The Hague issue," the European Union would put before Serbia conditions that will differ from the ones that other countries have been faced with. Serbia can, however, expect a "more strict" checking of the fulfillment of these conditions, since the situation in the EU has changed, Delevic noted for Vecernje Novosti."What is crucial, however, for the success of the European integration process is to preserve political stability which will enable the pro-European orientation in spite of numerous internal challenges, and we have really faced with a lot of that in the past eight years," Delevic pointed out.She qualified as "firm" the position of the Netherlands not to allow the unfreezing of the EU Internal Agreement with Serbia, assessing, however, that with evaluations of ICTY Chief Prosecutor Serge Brammertz that our cooperation with the Hague Tribunal was getting better every day, the opposing of this country would be less and less sustainable. "Anyway, the decisions at the Council of Ministers are reached unanimously, which means that it is necessary that all 27 member countries vote for the Interim Agreement," Milica Delevic said.

JUDGE ROBINSON: MANDATE TIL COMPLETION OF TRIALS OF MLADIC & HADZIC

THE HAGUE, Nov 17 (Tanjug) - Jamaican Judge Patrick Robinson, whose term of office as the ICTY president started, said that he would continue to urge that the ICTY’s mandate be extended until the completion of trials of the two remaining indictees Mladic and Hadzic. At the time when the Tribunal’s mandate is coming to an end, the fact that the two indictees are still on the run casts a shadow on everything the Tribunal has achieved, Robinson said. He said that as the ICTY president he would continue to insist that the Tribunal must not be closed before the end of trials of Mladic and Hadzic, the ICTY said in a statement, a copy of which was sent to Tanjug.

KAVRAN: FOCUS ON COOPERATION, PREPARATION OF BRAMMERTZ’ REPORT BELGRADE, Nov 17 (Tanjug) - The spokesperson of the chief prosecutor of the Hague tribunal, Olga Kavran, has told that all the meetings Chief Prosecutor Brammertz had today with Serb officials focused on Belgrade’s cooperation with the ICTY in The Hague and on preparations of his report for the UN Security Council in December. All meetings focused on cooperation issues, and of course the preparation of the report to the Sercurity Council planned for mid-December, while the written report will be submitted a little earlier, Kavran told Tanjug. She said that the meetings were held in a constructive atmosphere, but did not want to say anytahing more since Brammertz insists that all details are left for the report.

SERBIA

SERBIA ISSUES 89,747 BIOMETRIC PASSPORTS

BELGRADE, Nov 18 (Tanjug) - So far, 89,747 biometric passports have been issued in Serbia, Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said on Tuesday, and proposed that the duration of the currently valid non-biometric passports should be extended until the end of 2009, because it is not possible for all these passports to be replaced by the end of this year. Explaining the proposed changes in the law on passports at the Serbian parliament, Minister Dacic said that it had not been possible to replace all the old passports over the past few months and that the changes in the law were subsequently proposed, envisaging that the validity of the non-biometric passports should be extended until the end of 2009. "Obviously, all the old passports cannot be replaced by December 31 this year and that is why I propose that their validity should be extended until December 31, 2009," Dacic said.

DJELIC ATTENDS ACTIVITIES INVOLVING NEW PASSPORTS IN VIENNA

VIENNA, Nov 18 (Tanjug) - Deputy Premier Bozidar Djelic attended the official beginning of the procedure for the issue of new biometric passports at the Consular Department of the Serbian Embassy in Vienna. After those in Paris and Dusseldorf, the Serbian diplomatic-consular representative office in Vienna also began the procedure of receiving requests from Serbian citizens for the issue of these new travel documents. "This is a great event for the diaspora in Vienna. The opening of working stations for the receipt of requests for the issue of new passports in Vienna is important because more than 100,000 of our citrizens live in Austria," Djelic said. "The new passport is our ace card for getting on the white Schengen. This passport is a prerequisite for visa-free travel to Europe," Djelic said.

US SUPPORTS BALKAN POLICE COOPERATION

BELGRADE, Nov 17 (Tanjug) - Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Ivica Dacic conferred with US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Balkan issues Stewart Jones on fighting organized crime in the region. Dacic briefed Jones on the active role of the Serbian police in fostering regional police cooperation and noted that bilateral agreements to this effect were signed at Serbia’s initiative with Romania, Bulgaria and Greece, the Interior Ministry said in a release. Jones commended the succesful cooperation between the Serbian police and the US embassy and said that the US will support Serbian police endeavors for fostering regional police cooperation in fighting organized crime. This is his first visit to the regional since his appointment in July, the release says.

SERBIAN & US OFFICIALS CONFER ON SECURITY ISSUES

BELGRADE, Nov 17 (Tanjug) - State Secretary in the Defense Ministry Dusan Spasojevic conferred with US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Stewart Jones. The talks focused on the political and security situation in the region, the Defense Ministry said.

GRUEVSKI ENCOURAGED BY TADIC’S STATEMENT

SKOPJE, Nov 17 (Tanjug) - Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski said that he views the latest statement by President Tadic as a positive approach and encouragement. Macedonia and Serbia should continue the bilateral cooperation which is of mutual interest, it was pointed out in a statement from Gruevski’s Cabinet. Tadic said that there is a political will in Belgrade for the improvement of relations with Macedonia, but that on the move is the government in Skopje which should appoint a new ambassador. The Macedonian prime minister also assessed that the relations should return to normalcy.

COURT COMPETENT TO RULE ON CROATIA LAWSUIT VS SERBIA

THE HAGUE, Nov 18 (Tanjug) - The International Court of Justice on Tuesday declared itself competent to handle a lawsuit filed by Croatia against Serbia for charges of genocide allegedly committed during the 1991-1995 war. The decision was announced at a public session by Court President Rosalyn Higgins of Great Britain. She also elaborated on the decision of the 17-member panel regarding the objections filed by Serbia in its stand that the ICJ is not authorized to rule in this case. Following today’s decision, unless the sides in the conflict reach agreement to settle outside of court, which is hardly likely, a debate will be opened on the essence of the conflict. In that event, Serbia will be given a deadline of not less than one year to prepare its defense and also possibly to file a lawsuit against Croatia for alleged genocide committed against Serbs for which the Serbian legal team has been preparing in parallel. The trial can be expected to begin in two years. This is the third time that the ICJ is taking a stand on the legal status of the former SFRY, and the FRY, of which the successor is Serbia. In 2004, the ICJ declared itself non-competent in a lawsuit filed by the FRY against 10 member-states of NATO for the illegal use of force and the bombardment of the FRY. However, the ICJ declared itself competent to handle the case of a lawsuit filed by Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH) against Serbia for alleged genocide in 1996, and, this time, it also finds it is competent to handle the Croatian lawsuit.

CROATIAN MFA: VISA REGIME FOR SERBIA WILL REMAIN SAME

ZAGREB, Nov 17 (Beta) - Gordan Jandrokovic, Croatia’s minister of foreign affairs and European integrations, said that Zagreb would not change the existing visa regime toward Serbia. In response to claims made in the last several days in some Croatian media that, due to recent events and the involvement of Serbian citizens in murders in Zagreb, Croatia was seriously considering canceling the visafree regime for visitors from Serbia, Jandrokovic told Croatian national television that this was not true. In a statement given during the Regional Conference on European Integrations, Jandrokovic explained that it was much more important at this time that both countries work more toward improving political and economic cooperation. Vincent Degert, head of the EC delegation in Croatia, added that, in the aim of curbing organized crime, instead of limiting the possibility for border crossing, cooperation between Croatia’s and Serbia’s a police forces, security services and judiciaries should be increased. SERBIA – ECONOMY

DJELIC: EUR 250 M FOR SMALL AND MEDIUM COMPANIES

LUXEMBOURG, Nov 18 (Tanjug) - Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic has said, after his talks with President of the European Investment Bank (EIB) Philippe Maystadt, that EIB has allocated EUR 250 M for the development of small and medium companies in Serbia. Djelic told that the funds would make it possible for the banks in Serbia to continue granting favourable loans for good projects, which, according to him, was very important for the boosting of the domestic banking system. Deputy Prime Minister Djelic said that a 540 million euro support had also been agreed upon with the EIB for the construction of the Corridor 10 highway, 300 million of which were aimed for the stretch leading from Nis to the Bulgarian border and 240 million for the Leskovac-Presevo part of the highway. He said that agreement had also been reached with Maystadt that negotiations be concluded by the end of the year on two loans - 50 million euro loan aimed for the modernisation of local infrastructure and the loan amounting to 70 million euros for the further development of clinical centres in Serbia.

FEW FOREIGN GREENFIELD INVESTMENTS

BELGRADE, Nov 17 (Tanjug) - Direct foreign greenfield investments, which play a crucial role in the development of the economy, are still fewer in Serbia than in Romania, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Hungary, it was said at a roundtable discussion sponsored by the Center for Liberal and Democratic Studies (CLDS) and the VIP Mobile company. It was said at the meeting that such investments are greater in Serbia than in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro or Albania. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Economy Mladjan Dinkic said that since the year 2000 those investments had amounted to USD 17 billion, of which USD 5 billion were invested in the banking system, USD 2.6 billion in production activities, USD 2.4 billion in telecommunications, USD 1.7 billion in trade and USD 1.6 billion in real estate. With USD 2.5 billion invested so far, Austria is the major investor in Serbia, and it is followed by Greece with USD 2 billion, Norway USD 1.5 billion and Germany USD 1.6 billion. Dinkic also said that it is of special importance that 60 percent of investment projects were in the production sector in the past two years, mainly in the production of car spare parts, electronic and food industries. According to his evaluation, greenfield investments will be of key importance in the future, because they have positive impact on the growth of production, exports and employment rate, as well as on technological development.

WITHOUT STIMULATIONS FIAT WOULD NOT HAVE COME TO SERBIA

BELGRADE, Nov 17 (Tanjug) - Minister of Economy and Regional Development Mladjan Dinkic said that FIAT would not have invested in Kragujevac-based carmaker Zastava had the Serbian government failed to give greater investment stimulations than the Romanians. Foreign investments should be stimulated, despite the fact that economic science does not recommend giving subventions to investors, the most positive thing the Serbian government has done so far is the introduction of the system for stimulation of foreign investments 2006-2010, Dinkic pointed out. At the presentation of the study Greenfield Foreign Direct Investments in Serbia, which was organized by the Center for Liberal-Democratic Studies, he pointed out that it is important that Serbia stimulates investors, because countries in the region do the same thing.

STRAUSS-KAHN ON IMF ARRANGEMENT WITH SERBIA

WASHINGTON, Nov 18 (Tanjug) – The IMF Mission and the authorities in Serbia have reached an agreement, which should be approved by the IMF Management and the Executive Board, on the programme of economic support for Serbia by way of a loan comprising 351 million Special Drawing Rights (about 518 million dollars), in scope of a 15-month Stand-By Arrangement, IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said in a statement which was published on the Fund’s website.The arrangement was concluded, in view of Serbia’s favourable position in respect of foreign currency reserves and continuous access to foreign financing, under regular, but not exceptional, procedures and limitations, it is pointed out in the statement. The authorities in Serbia do not plan, the IMF managing director said, to withdraw the funds that are available under this arrangement unless this may prove as necessary. Serbia is beginning to feel the impact of the crisis on the global economic market, and this sudden change of the situation in the international environment will probably slow down the inflow of loans and the economic activity in this region, Staruss-Kahn noted. Although the capital of the banking sector and liquidity are on a rather high level, which should help resist the current financial turmoil, Serbia will need a tough policy so as to maintain the trust of the investors and the market, he said.

GOVERNOR SAYS CITIZEN SAVINGS SAFE

BELGRADE, Nov 17 (Beta) - The governor of the National Bank of Serbia, Radovan Jelasic, said that the foreign currency savings of citizens are safe."Everything that my predecessors and I have done over the last several years is confirmation that foreign currency savings will ’under no circumstances’ become old foreign currency savings," Jelasic said in Smederevo, where he gave a lecture entitled "Current Financial and Monetary Developments."Jelasic also emphasized that the foreign currency reserves of the National Bank of Serbia are safe and that the "largest share of the money is today in the German Bundesbank, while part of the reserves is also in firstclass state securities."

For further information:

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Serbia