Miletic: Kosovo biggest security problem for Serbia

Beograd, May 25. 2010. (Serbia Today) - The territory of Kosovo and Metohija is a stronghold of organized crime and it is currently the biggest security challenge for Serbia, said  Chief Of General Staff of the Serbian Army Miloje Miletić. “The unilaterally declared independence by Kosovo poses the biggest threat and safety problem  to Serbia”, Miletic said for Belgrade daily ‘Vecernje novosti’. Asked whether he expects a new wave of violence in Kosovo after a decision by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), he replied that a "violent threat is an already tried and used method of Kosovo Albanians use to impose pressure on the international community.” "If the court decision is not in keeping with their interests, which I sincerely hope it won't be, destabilization and violence are possible. I have received assurances by the KFOR commander that their troops will prevent any such event," said Miletić.  Underscoring that "according to the experience so far, any instability in Kosovo and Metohija directly jeopardizes security in the region as a whole, particularly in the south region of central Serbia,” he added that the Serbian Army "is ready to respond to such a scenario and has enough capacity to secure peace in the area.” Miletić also said that there was need to hold high-level meetings with KFOR and those meetings will become more frequent in the future. In regards to the army reform, Miletić underscored that the crisis had not seriously affected the reform of the defense system and that Serbia will have an army composed of professional soldiers instead of conscripts by the beginning of 2011 at the latest. “Our army will have 30,000 people, with an active reserve force, it will be well trained, armed and ready to respond to all security risks,” said the general.
 

Extradition negotiations between U.S. and Serbia

Belgrade, May 24. 2010. (Serbia Today) – The governments of Serbia and the U.S. began negotiations relating to a new treaty on the extradition of the most serious crimes perpetrators. The previous agreement of this kind was signed 111 years ago. The first and still valid extradition treaty between the governments of two countries was signed on 25 October 1901. The Serbian and U.S. governments started commenced the first round of negotiations on the new treaty in Belgrade. State secretary of Serbian Ministry of Justice Slobodan Homen said there was very good cooperation between security institutions of the United States and Serbia, stressing the healthy relationship when it comes to the fight against organized crime and drugs. "It's not enough that only the security institutions and police work together, but it is necessary that all perpetrators of crimes are brought to court and be convicted", Homen said.  He said that the willingness of the United States to extradite its citizens to Serbia is a reflection of confidence in the Serbian judiciary.  Homen said that Serbia has negotiated the same kind of agreements with Croatia and Italy and expressed his expectation that general agreement with European union will be signed as soon as possible. U.S. Ambassador Mary Warlick said that such negotiations helps for more successful and deeper relations between the two countries, but they are also an opportunity for joint operations to overcome the threats and challenges of today. "We expect productive and detailed discussions on the draft text in the next few days and successful conclusion of bilateral extradition contract.  That would provide important tools, and our countries will be able to answer all the security challenges", Warlick said .
 

Serbian telecommunications sector worth EUR 10bn

Belgrade, May, 22. 2010 (Serbia Today) -The value of Serbian telecommunications market is estimated at approximately EUR 10bn, while the total income in 2009 amounted to EUR 1.5bn. This accounts for 4.8 percent of GDP, Republic Telecommunication Agency (RATEL) Executive Director Milan Jankovic said on Tuesday. At a press conference presenting RATEL's work in the period from 2005 to 2010, Jankovic said that the number of landline clients in 2009 totaled 3.145.920, thus increasing by 42 percent.  According to Jankovic, the total number of mobile telephony users added up to 9.9 million, which represents a 132 percent rise, while the number of cable-distributive system clients increased by 13 percent, thus reaching almost one million. Over 1.7 million people now use the Internet, which is 22 percent more than in 2005, Janković noted. RATEL Managing Board President Jovan Radunovic pointed out that Serbian mobile telecommunications in the past five years registered significant market opening and liberalization. A total of seven telecommunication service licenses were issued over the past few years, the most important one being the second landline operator license, which was granted to the telecommunications company Telenor, thus preventing the state-owned telecommunications company Telekom Srbija from monopolizing the market. 

Tadic : Regionalization will not create false states in Serbia

Belgrade, May, 21. 2010 (Serbia Today) Decentralization and regionalization to strengthen the unity of the country and enable better functioning of state administration, said Serbian president Boris Tadic. "The idea of regionalization is not to create the false states. We wish to create better conditions for the functioning of state systems”, Tadic said at the recently held inaugural Assembly of Union of national, regional and local parties in Belgrade. Serbian President added that regionalization is one of the most important conditions for economic development of Serbia and that Serbia must find its own model for regionalization in the EU because there is no single model for it. Tadic warned that some parts of Serbia are empty, and stressed that the population goes from there in the search for the better living conditions. "We are faced with the problem of depopulation, and that's  why Serbia must finish the process of decentralization and regionalization”, he said. According to him, the institutional changes are necessary to create a natural assumption for the decentralization and regionalization, and better connect all regions with the center of the state. "That's why we build roads and railways”, Tadic said, and expressed the expectation that in five years  Serbia would create conditions to implement institutional changes which  are necessary  for decentralization and regionalization.

Jeremic : Solution for Kosovo through dialogue

Belgrade, May, 20.  2010 (Serbia Today) In New York, Serbian foreign minister Vuk Jeremic announced that the opinion of International Court of Justice relating to the Kosovo issue will create the opportunity for achieving  strategic compromise between Serbs and Albanians. The Serbian chief of diplomacy has also requested support of all UN members to solve the problems of Serbs living in Kosovo. "Despite recent setbacks on the ground, I believe that we could approach the new, promising period  in Kosovo. In the future we should be focused on efforts to jointly found a solution through the dialogue, "Jeremic said at a session of the UN Security Council for Kosovo.  The Serbia foreign minister stressed that it is necessary to create a new environment, which will make possible solutions in the future. He claims that this can be achieved only by peaceful dialogue, that result in a mutually acceptable solution and providing  lasting stability in the region and beyond in the world. "The solution through dialogue, not unilateralism, is our goal. We are asking for support of all members of the UN in resolving the problem once and for all. This year could be the year of our joint success”, said Jeremic.  Jeremic said that the dialogue between Serbs and Albanians, with a fair and balanced solution, ensures the peaceful future of Europe and Western Balkans. Jeremic as an illustration of the situation on the ground mentioned the cutting of mobile phone connections for Kosovo’s Serbs. He reminded that Kosovo special police units  used force to prevent communications between Serbs outside their enclaves. He described this as a serious violation of contemporary humanitarian norms and rights. He welcomed the response of UNMIK and EULEX, which have distanced themselves from the controversial decisions of Kosovo official and their "Strategies for the northern Kosovo." Serbian foreign minister also has accused the International Civil Office (ICO) of attempting to violently implement the Ahtisaari plan, that violates UN Resolution 1244. “Serbia deeply appreciates the constructive approach of the UN and other organizations acting under their authority as EULEX. We all work together to improve the life of ordinary people”, Jeremic said. The Minister pointed out the problem of returning Serbs on Kosovo. Citing as an example the attack on the returnees in the village of Zac, as well as problem of power supply for Serbian communities in Kosovo. 

Dragutinovic: Agreement reached for tax reforms

Belgrade/ Zagreb, May, 19. 2010 (Serbia Today) - An agreement has been reached within the Serbian government for the needed tax reforms, said finance minister Diana Dragutinović on Saturday. She said that the contents of the reforms have not been finalized, but that there will be no increases on Value Added Taxes (VATs).  While attending the EBRD conference in Zagreb, Dragutinović said that the reforms are expected to decrease the number of products that are being taxed by the lower VAT rate of eight percent.  She said that these products make up 40 percent of production, and a normal percentage rate for such products would be about 10 to 15 percent.  The high level VAT rate in Serbia is 18 percent.  Dragutinović said that the tax reforms do not aim to cause loss of taxation income and stressed that the reforms are needed in the transition to a new model of economic growth, based on exports.  She said that the “Greek crisis scenario” is not threatening Serbia, since Serbia’s public debt is at about 30 percent of the gross domestic product, and the budget deficit is four percent. 

Ljaljic : Serbian government is too big

Belgrade, May, 18. 2010 (Serbia Today)- Serbian Labor Minister  Rasim  Ljajić  believes that the government  should be reconstructed because it is too big.  “The governments of European countries, by rule, resort to a reconstruction of the government at the halfway point of their mandates, and we have an additional reason to do this, which is the economic crisis, ” Ljajić told the Tanjug news agency.  He claims that a reconstruction would be “good for the government”, reiterating that he has spoken about this several times before and that he was criticized for it, because some believe that he is trying to promote himself and his party through this.  “Until I become a more influential politician, all I have left is to in this way, publicly, speak in support of a reconstruction of the government, he said.  Ljajić is a president of the Social-democratic party of Serbia. He has been calling for the government to be downsized since the beginning of the mandate. Ljajic also supports decreasing the number of parliamentary MPs to 150.