Serbia and UN cooperation

Belgrade June 28. 2010. (Serbia Today) - Serbia and UN recently signed a new five year partnership document. Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremić and UN Resident Coordinator in Serbia William Infante put their signatures on the document. The Serbian foreign minister said that the new strategy between Serbia and the UN marks a new era in the cooperation between Serbia and the UN. The strategy involves USD 250mn of investments in projects between 2011 and 2015, which will be designed by the government and other partners, the Foreign Ministry has announced. The five-year strategy will support Serbia's efforts in European integration. It focuses on three areas: responsible government, sustainable development and social inclusion and finally regional stability and cooperation. The document was created in agreement with Serbian ministries and government agencies, civil society representatives and other partners. All of the projects within the new strategy are based on five general principles that define the UN global interest: gender equality and suppression of gender discrimination, environmental sustainability, human rights protection, development and government based on results, all of which are part of the UN Millenium Development Goals. The UN is proud that Serbia sees it as a reliable partner, said Infante. According to him, the strategy will rely on the experience and expertise of more than 24 resident and non-resident agencies that will provide counselling, achieve concrete results and strengthen Serbia's leadership position in the region

Tadic: EU, do you really want to accept all Balkan countries?

Belgrade June 26. 2010. (Serbia Today) EU has to be honest and say if it wants to accept all countries of the Balkan”, Serbian president Boris Tadic said addressing to recently held summit of heads of state and governments of the South-East European Cooperation Process (SEECP) During the conference in Istanbul Tadic also highlighted the union should reveal if is prepared to work with Balkan countries in a very practical way to ensure the existing criteria is fulfilled. "We all have our constraints, but we deal with them. We do not just let them be used as pretexts for doing nothing. Thus, Serbia expects that positive atmosphere and messages from recently held meeting in Sarajevo between EU and Western Balkans will be translated into action," Tadić said. Speaking about the importance of regional cooperation, Tadić pointed out that it has to be focused on fight against organized crime, the transnational networks of which pose the most direct danger to the region's prosperity. "Serbia has declared total war on organized crime and it will spare no effort in its mission to eradicate this threat. Serbia's zero-tolerance policy means no one-absolutely no one-will be permitted to stand beyond the reach of the law. Our police and judiciary institutions will continue their relentless pursuit of crime bosses and their collaborators," Tadić pointed out. Once again Tadic pointed out that Serbia will never recognize Kosovo independence.

Deputy PM Djelic in four-day visit to U.S.

Belgrade, June 26. (Serbia Today) - On Monday Deputy  PM and Minister of Science and  Technological Development Bozidar Djelic started a four-day official visit to the United States. Djelic will meet with heads of multinational companies like “Hewlett Packard, Intel, Altera, Cisco Systems, Oracle and Nokia.” According to the announcement from the Serbian ministry for Science and Technological Development the aim of these meeting will be to launch “concrete projects that will be implemented within the framework of the recently signed Agreement on scientific and technological cooperation between Serbia and the U.S.”

Brammertc: We act as Mladic is still alive

 
Belgrade, June , 25. 2010. (Serbia Today) - The chief prosecutor of the tribunal in The Hague, Serge Brammertz (Serge Brammertz) said that the court, and the Serbian authorities act under the assumption that the Hague fugitive Ratko Mladic is still alive. Brammertz said that at a press conference after the regular semi-annual reports of UN Security Council, responding to a journalist's question whether the court is against Mladic's family decision to declare dead of the Hague fugitive. He said that the Hague Tribunal "is the assumption that the Mladic is still alive" and that the competent authorities in Serbia have the knowledge that he is  still hiding. The prosecutor reiterated that the arrest of fugitives Ratko Mladic and Goran Hadzic, remain the highest priority to the prosecution. "The message is clear, there is no alternative to arrest Mladic", he said. Brammertz announced that in the past six months, the Serbian authorities continued with the operational activities for the arrest of Mladic and Hadzic, but there is still not enough real results  and that is why  Belgrade should  re-evaluate the current way of searching, expand the investigation and intensify efforts to find and arrest. Mladic. Lawyers of  Ratko Mladic family handed over on June 16 in the First Instance Court in Belgrade, the proposal to declare that dead of the Hague fugitive.


Council of Europe recognize resolution 1244

Belgrade, June 24. 2010. (Serbia Today) Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg adopted a resolution on Kosovo status, which emphasizes neutrality of the oldest European organization considering Kosovo status. Also resolution highlight the need of strong commitment to overcome problems in the field of rule of law, democracy and respect for human and minority rights. The resolution implement the neutral policy of Council of Europe towards Kosovo status and further recognizes the validity of Security Council Resolution 1244. 33 members of the European organization recognized the Kosovo independence.

United regions victory in the Bor local elections

Belgrade, June 23. 2010. (Serbia Today) The United Regions of Serbia (URS) coalition and the Socialist Democratic party of Serbia (SDPS) won the most votes in the local elections in Bor. Leader of the United regions of Serbia is G17 plus president and economy minister Mladjan Dinkic while lieder of SDP is labor minister Rasim Ljajic. Election monitors CeSID. According to CeSID's (election monitor) preliminary results, based on 80 percent of the votes, URS won 25.15 percent of the vote in the eastern Serbian municipality. According to the organization's Regional Coordinator for eastern Serbia, Radomir Milošević, the Change for Bor Group led by SNS and NS, finished second with 18.7 percent. The Democratic Party (DS) led “For a European Bor” finished third with 17 percent of the vote, while the SPS-PUPS-JS coalition finished fourth with 11.8 percent of the vote. LDP also passed the 5-percent threshold with 6.57 percent, as did DSS with 5.48 percent. The Serb Radical Party (SRS) did not pass the census, with only 4.8 percent of the vote. Milošević said that the elections would be repeated in seven days at one polling station where irregularities were noticed. SPS official in Bor Branko Ružić said that the elections results are “proof of the vitality and continuity of excellent results in all parts of Serbia” for the coalition. G17 Plus deputy leader Vladimir Ilić said that the parties of the state government would be in power in Bor as well. Ilić said that it made sense for the local government to be formed through a coalition with the municipal presidency going to a member of the URS. “This is the first time since the URS was founded that it has participated in an election,” Ilić said. The final results are expected to be known by June 23. According to initial statistics, 43 percent of registered voters in Bor participated in the elections.

New political battle for Kosovo?

Belgrade, June, 22. 2010. (Serbia Today) - New political battle will ensue after the International Court of Justice gives its opinion on Kosovo’s independence, writes Priština daily Express. The daily writes that this will have consequences for both Belgrade and Priština. “Both sides will try to interpret the opinion to their advantage, and the winner will be the side that shows greater political power,” unnamed sources from Kosovo institutions told the daily. They also said that “partner countries” of Belgrade and Priština would also be involved in the process. Priština is announcing new recognitions after the ICJ’s decision is given and expects help in that process from countries that have recognized Kosovo’s independence. “One step which will be taken by the Kosovo institutions is that they will send demands for recognition to countries that have yet to do so. Along with the demands, they will be sending their interpretation of the court’s decision,” the source said. The daily states that experts of the International Crisis Group (ICG) believe that Priština and Belgrade will “begin talks from different positions” after the court decision. “Serbia will have to treat Kosovo as an equal side. Belgrade will try to talk about the possibility of discussing Kosovo’s status, while Priština will insist on talks that only include technical questions,” ICG analyst in Kosovo Naim Rashiti said. He said that Priština and Belgrade would not talk only about technical questions, because there is a possibility that there will be talks about some parts of the Ahtisaari proposal for Kosovo’s status. The ICJ’s opinion is expected unofficially some time in July.