Belgrade, 03. 04. 2008.

SERBIA-NATO BUCHAREST SUMMIT

• NATO SUMMIT OFFICIALLY BEGINS
• JEREMIC ATTENDS NATO SUMMIT
• KFOR TO REMAIN STATUS-NEUTRAL WITHIN RESOLUTION 1244
• US FAVORS CLOSER NATO - SERBIA COOPERATION
• KLAUS FOR NEW ERA OF RELATIONS WITH SERBIA
• GASPAROVIC: KOSOVO VERY SENSITIVE ISSUE FOR SLOVAKIA

• GOVERNMENT DISCUSSES ENERGY AGREEMENT WITH RUSSIA
• Kostunica EXPECTS RATIFICATION OF AGREEMENT
• Djelic: CARETAKER GOVT CANNOT ADOPT LAWS
• DINKIC NOT SUPPORT RATIFICATION OF DEAL
• ILIC: AGREEMENT WITH RUSSIA IS AN EXCELLENT DEAL

• DULIC: THIS IS NOT TIME FOR DATES, BUT TO SPEED UP PROCESS
• SOLANA ON STRONG SUPPORT FOR SERBIA'S PROGRESS TOWARDS EU
• RUPEL: EU WILL OFFER SERBIA TO SIGN SAA BEFORE ELECTIONS
• KOUCHNER & RUPEL PROPOSES FREE EU VISAS FOR SERBIAN CITIZENS
• AMADO: SERBIA DISCRIMINATED AGAINST BY EU

• KOSTUNICA: KOSOVO AND VOJVODINA ARE PART OF SERBIA
• UNMIK STILL HAS NO STAND ON ELECTIONS IN KOSOVO
• FEITH APPROVES DRAFT KOSOVO CONSTITUTION
• DE PUIG: KOSOVO MAY BE DISCUSSED AT SPRING SESSION
• CZECH GOVERNMENT DIVIDED REGARDING KOSOVO
• KOSOVO PRECEDENT AND APPROACH TO UNRECOGNIZED
• RUSSIAN POLICY IN EARLY 1990-S INFLUENCED KOSOVO PRECEDENT

• SERBIA PROTESTS TO MACEDONIA ON BORDER ISSUE
• JELASIC: STABILITY DEPENDS ON NEW GOV'T PROGRAM
• MUNTER: US REMAINS COMMITTED TO SERBIA
• WORDSWORTH WITH ETHNIC ALBANIAN REPS

BUCHAREST, April 3 (Tanjug) - The NATO Summit, which will focus on enlargement, mission in Afghanistan and rocket defence, officially began in Bucharest on Thursday in the presence of the heads of state or government of 26 member-states. Europe must be united and secure, NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said at the opening of the biggest NATO Summit in history and added that NATO's door had always been open and this had not changed - the family would continue to spread. Scheffer said that stable and multiethnic Kosovo was another NATO goal and added that the Bucharest Summit would confirm NATO's firm commitment to ensure security and stability in the province at the critical moment together with other institutions and organisations.

BUCHAREST, April 3 (Tanjug) - Serbian Foreign Minister Jeremic will arrive in a visit to Bucharest where he will represent his country at a meeting of the Committee of the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council, which will be held in scope of the the NATO summit that is under way in the Romanian capital. "In scope of the Council, Serbia will insist on a debate on the security situation in South East Europe, particularly in our southern province of Kosovo and Metohija," Jeremic announced with Tanjug ahead of his departure for Bucharest. The minister noted that Serbia would demand that "KFOR continues to be maximally engaged in the preservation of peace and stability, and above all, in the protection of the Serb ethnic community, as well as their property, churches and monasteries. "We will insist on that that KFOR has to remain neutral, all in keeping with Res 1244," Jeremic added. The Serbian foreign minister will confer, on the sidelines of the meeting, with his Romanian counterpart Adrian Cioroianu, and he is also supposed to hold a speech during the working lunch.

BUCHAREST, April 2 (Tanjug) - Secretary of State Dusan Spasojevic with the Serbian Ministry of Defense said in a statement that it was agreed with NATO Military Committee Chairman, General Ray Henault, at a meeting in Bucharest, that the KFOR forces in Kosovo are acting within United Nations (UN) Security Council Resolution 1244 and that they remain status-neutral in future as well. Spasojevic, who is heading the delegation of the Serbian Defense Ministry to the Bucharest conference which is taking place on the fringes of the NATO summit, also spoke about his meeting with Slovak Foreign Minister Jan Kubis. "With Kubis, we primarily concluded that the decision on the unilateral proclamation of the independence of Kosovo and Metohija was a big mistake, and he once again confirmed that Slovakia will not recognize such unilaterally proclaimed independence," Spasojevic said. It was also coordinated that UNMIK will remain present in Kosovo and Metohija because that is in keeping with UN Security Council Resolution 1244, and that these issues must continue being resolved within the United Nations, he said. Spasojevic underscored the importance of the attendance of the Serbian delegation at the biggest NATO summit in history, because "it is very important that Serbia should be present at the table where it is being decided about the most important global issues."

BUCHAREST, Apr 2 (Tanjug) - US President George Bush advocated that NATO should leave the door open for closer cooperation with Serbia. "Tomorrow, NATO will make a historic decision on the admission of three Balkan nations: Croatia, Albania, and Macedonia. The United States strongly supports inviting these nations to join NATO", Bush said quoted by Romanian agency Rompres. "At this summit, we will also decide whether to accept the requests of two other Balkan nations, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro, to begin an intensified dialogue with NATO. It's a major step on the road to NATO membership, and it is a step that America fully supports for these two nations. And at our summit tomorrow, we'll also make clear that the door to closer cooperation with NATO is open to Serbia, as well", Bush said in his address to the Trans-Atlantic Forum being held on the sidelines of the NATO summit. The Forum is organized by the German Marshall Fund, the UK Royal Institute of International Affairs Chatham House and the Romanian Foreign Ministry. It is attended by nine heads of state or government who are also attending the NATO summit from April 2 to 4.

BUCHAREST, April 3 (Tanjug) - The Czech government is convinced that time has come for a new era of relations with Serbia, which should no longer be a country that is only critcised, Czech President Vaclav Klaus said in Bucharest on Wednesday. Of course, this is not just a special task for NATO, but also for all realistic countries and interested politicians, Klaus said during a working dinner which formally opened the three-day NATO summit in the Romanian capital. The Czech president added that his country was ready to continue its engagement in Kosovo, but that he was aware of the big differences regarding the positions on the chances that some time in the future, the southern Serbian province became an independent country. The Czech government suspended in Prague on Thursday its debate on the proposal for the recognition of the unilaterally proclaimed independence of Kosovo and Metohija, because the ministers had completely different stands on the issue.

BUCHAREST, April 3 (Tanjug) - The Slovak Republic does not deny it has problems with recognising the unilaterally declared independence of Kosovo and Metohija, and the matter represents a very sensitive issue for Bratislava, Slovakia's President Ivan Gasparovic has said during a working dinner by which the NATO summit in Bucharest was formally opened.Gasparovic also said that he backed the policy of open doors, and added that the Alliance's expansion should contribute to the broadening of a stable and safe zone in Europe.Gasparovic underlined that Bosnia-Herzegovina and Montenegro should be included into an intensive dialogue in the Alliance, as well as that it would be easier to achieve the stability of the West Balkans if Serbia was admitted into NATO.

BELGRADE, April 3 (Tanjug) - The Serbian government will discuss on Thursday the proposal on ratification of the agreement on cooperation with the Russian Federation in the field of energy, as well as the proposal that workers of the Magnohrom company. Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica announced on Wednesday that the Serbian government would confirm the proposal on ratification of the agreement on cooperation in the field of energy with Russia, but Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic and ministers of the DS and G17 Plus announced they would not vote for that proposal. In that case, the DSS-NS coalition may be outvoted at the government's regular session. The Russian government informed on Wednesday the government in Serbia that it had done all that was necessary for the energy agreement between Russia and Serbia to come into force, and voiced expectation that Serbia would ratify the document so that it could be realised by the envisaged deadlines, Tanjug learned at the cabinet of the Serbian prime minister. The Russian-Serbian agreement was signed in Moscow on January 25, and it envisages the setting up of a joint company for the construction of the South Stream pipeline by May 25, at the latest.

BELGRADE, Apr 2 (Tanjug) - Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said Wednesday that the energy agreement with Russia will be on the agenda of the government session Thursday, and that he expects the government to forward the document to the parliament for ratification. The presence of the Serbian state leadership at the signing of the energy agreement in Moscow was the best guarantee that the government and parliament will immediately ratify the document, he told Tanjug. As this is a vital agreement for the development of Serbia's economy, Kostunica expressed his conviction tnat the government and parliament will take decisions in the interest of the country and the people.

BELGRADE, Apr 2 (Tanjug) - Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Djelic said Wednesday that the caretaker government has no jurisdiction to adopt laws, such as the bill on ratification of the energy agreement with Russia, just as the parliament cannot ratify the document. The agreement, signed on Januar 25 in Mosocow, envisages its interim implementation until ratification, which means that there is no legal vacuum, he told the press at the Serbian Chamber of Commerce. The agreement is being fully implemented, and the DS supports it unequivocally, he said, adding that the document will be adopted by the new Serbian government with full powers and ratified by the future parliament. Asked whether the bill on the ratification of the agreement will be on the agenda of the Serbian government session, Djelic said it remains to be seen, but that the caretaker government cannot adopt laws.

Belgrade, April 2 (Beta)-The Serbian minister for the economy Dinkic,announced on April 2 that the ministers from his party would vote against the ratification of the energy agreement with Russia. Speaking at a news conference after a visit to the pharmaceutical company Zdravlje-Actavis, Dinkic said the the people's coalition was politicizing the issue of the agreement with Russia on the construction of the Southern Stream gas pipeline.

"I have no intention of supporting something like this, especially during the election campaign, and when it is absolutely clear that this is a political issue. Politics must no longer interfere with the economy. If they go ahead with this, they must have lost their wits completely," Dinkic said. The minister said that the issue of the ratification of this agreement is being politicized, just like the issue of Kosovo and of the HorgosPozega motorway.

"To call for a session of a dissolved Parliament in order to ratify something, in the middle of the election campaign, is proof that they do not care about the citizens of this country, but only about gaining political points," Dinkic said. This job, the minister said, should be done by the new Serbian government, considering that only one month is left till the parliamentary elections. "It will be a fatal mistake if anyone proposes the ratification of the agreement at the government session on April 3," the minister said, adding that it will be impossible to make the decision without the votes of ministers of the G17 and the DP.

He said he was certain that "the oil part of the arrangement," i.e. the agreement on the sale of the Serbian Oil Industry (NIS) to Gasprom without a tender, could be improved in the meantime. "At this time, negotiations with the Russians can only be about cheaper oil and gas deliveries, about customsfree exports of cars and about other issues," Dinkic said.

SREMSKA MITROVICA, April 2 (Tanjug) - Serbian Infrastructure Minister Velimir Ilic said Wednesday that he is sorry that the issue of the realization of the energy agreement with Russia is being rised, because, when this document was signed in Moscow, everyone in the Serbian government agreed that this is "an excellent deal." "We believed that this was a done matter, since the agreement was accepted by all in the government. The agreement was signed in the presence of Serbian President Boris Tadic, and everything went according to plan, without any comments, and now this is being checked, allegedly in the interests of the people," Ilic told Tanjug. It was announced that Thursday's government session agenda would include the proposal for the ratification of the energy agreement between Serbia and Russia, and that, if all agree, the agreement would immediately be sent to parliament for adoption. Ilic said that a part of the government is acting in an irresponsible manner, because "major agreements in the history of Serbia are repeatedly being checked, under the guise of acting in the interests of the citizens of Serbia." According to Ilic, in question is "a pure marketing move ahead of the elections." He said that he sees no need to discuss something that has already been agreed, and that he fails to see that it is "a problem" to schedule a parliament session in order to ratify this agreement.

BRUSSELS, April 2 (Tanjug) - The European Union wants to speed up Serbia's integration and establish a regime of visa liberalisation, but this is not the time to speak about specific dates for next steps in these processes, Serbian parliament speaker Oliver Dulic said in Brussels on Wednesday after a meeting with EU Foreign Policy and Security Commissioner Javier Solana. "At this moment, we should not talk about dates, but about the integration process and its acceleration.. Any mention of dates creates a situation in which nobody wants us unless what has been said happens until that date, and it is not true that the European Union does not want us," Dulic said. "The objective is for the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) to be signed as soon as possible and to offer a clear perspective to Serbia by putting it on the white Schengen list," Dulic said. "At this moment we cannot say when this will happen, but the dialogue with the European Union is important because the only way for us to fight for our interests is to talk, rather than to close doors," he said. "I believe that citizens know that the solution to the problem is to join the European Union. We want to see Serbia in the European Union very soon and not in many, many years, like some would. The next few months are very important, because we must embark on this European path bravely and we must sign the SAA as soon as possible," he said. Dulic will on Thursday meet with Olli Rehn and European Parliament President Hans-Gert Poettering.

BRUSSELS, April 3 (Tanjug) - European Union High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana conveyed in Brussels a message of strong support for Serbia's progress on its path towards the EU, Solana's cabinet has said in a statement, following the official's meeting with Serbian parliament speaker Oliver Dulic. The meeting, as specified by the cabinet, offered the possibility for talks about the latest developments in Serbia, the relations between the EU and Serbia, as well as regional cooperation. Solana pointed to the Union's readiness to closely work with Serbia so that palpable results could be achieved to the welfare of the people of Serbia, as well as to the importance that Serbia continued to do its part of the job and speed the pace of required reforms.

LJUBLJANA, April 2 (Tanjug) - Slovenian Foreign Minister Dmitrij Rupel said Wednesday that the European Union would make the effort to offer to Serbia, even before the May 11 elections, to sign the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA), adding that he "hopes for the best" at the vote on this. Rupel recalled that in January, Serbia was offered to sign a provisional agrement with the EU, noting that this offer still stands and that its fate, as he said, depends on Belgrade, the Slovenian STA news agency quoted Rupel as telling a press conference in Ljubljana. Noting that, during its EU presidency over the past three months, Slovenia "did not make mistakes", Rupel said that Slovenia's biggest successes include the EU concensus over Kosovo, the offer of a provisional agreement to Serbia and the confirmation of the european prospects of the Western Balkans. According to Rupel, the most important task in February was the realization of unity within the EU with regards the independence of Kosovo which, during that same month, unilaterally declared independence.

Belgrade, April 2 (Beta)-Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel and his French counterpart Bernard Kouchner in an open letter on the Western Balkans, on April 2, called for granting EU entry visas free of charge to people from Serbia. Marking Serbia and Kosovo as special cases, the foreign ministers of the current and future holders of the EU rotating presidency, Slovenia and France, pointed out that they wanted to demonstrate support for the Serbian people and propose that the EU issue Serbian citizens visas free of charge for visits to member states. Further on in the joint letter, posted on the Slovenian Foreign Ministry's website, the two ministers say that "regardless of the above mentioned, we will persevere in getting the Serbs to keep their promise and avoid inflammatory words or acts, which could jeopardize security in the region."

"We respect the opinions of our Serbian friends, but despite that Serbia must, like all the other countries striving to become EU members, become involved in regional cooperation," the ministers say. They also stress, "It is impossible to aim for EU membership, while at the same time dismissing cooperation with its missions, which are organized especially for the Kosovo Serbs.""Serbia should not allow the Kosovo issue to affect its foreign relations," the two ministers said, and added that Serbia "certainly must fulfill its international and moral obligations, before it joins the European family," i.e. signs the Stabilization and Association Agreement.

LISBON, April 2 (Beta)-Portuguese Foreign Minister Luis Amado said on April 2 that Serbia has been "subject to discrimination" by the EU, compared with other countries in the region and he advocated the "swift" signing of a SAA between the two sides. "In my opinion, Serbia was subjected to discrimination throughout this entire process. One should consider the different treatment other countries in the region have had in the past," Amado said after a meeting with his Serbian counterpart Vuk Jeremic.

"We will not have a stable Balkan region within the EU if Serbia is not there as an anchor of the region," Amado told a joint news conference with Jeremic, adding that the EU should "quickly move toward signing the SAA with Serbia." Portugal has not followed the example of 18 out of the 27 EU members in recognizing the independence of Kosovo. "The government will make a decision at the appropriate moment," the Portuguese diplomat said, regarding potential recognition.

Jeremic reiterated Serbia's determination to join the EU and its opposition to the independence of Kosovo, the AFP news agency carried."It is regrettable that the path of unilateral action was chosen, and it is even more regrettable that some countries decided to support this secessionist aspiration," the Serbian minister highlighted.

SREMSKA MITROVICA, Apr 2 (Tanjug) - Vojislav Kostunica stated that Serbia has two Mitrovicas - one in the south and another in the north, underscoring that this also shows that Kosovo is, just like Vojvodina, part of Serbia. Kostunica told citizens of Sremska Mitrovica that those who claim that Kosovo is lost are getting prepared to put their hand on other parts of the country. "The Mitrovicas in the north and south are a confirmation that Vojvodina is ours and that Kosovo is also ours," said Kostunica. Kostunica said that democracy means convincing and not intimidating citizens of Serbia, adding that Serbian is defending what already belongs to it, that its fight is based on law, and that it is supported by 150 countries, which say the same thing Serbia does - Kosovo is Serbia. He also said that after the May 11 elections, Serbia should get a state-building, nationally responsible and honest government, which will fight for further defense of Kosovo, its path to the EU, but without trading Kosovo, economic development and social justice, and which will fight against crime and corruption.

BELGRADE, April 3 (Tanjug) - UNMIK has still not reached a stand on the holding of Serbian parliamentary and local elections on the territory of Kosovo on May 11, and it is supposed to define its position on the issue in the next couple of weeks, spokesman for this international mission in the southern province Alexander Ivanko has said. Our stand that elections in Kosovo can be organised only by UMIK is well known, Ivanko sad in an interview for the issue of Vecernje Novosti. We have been informed of the statements by Belgrade officials that the voting will take place on May 11, and we are trying to define our stance on the issue, he added. Ivanko also said that UNMIK was working on the issue and that intensive consultations were under way in that respect with the Contact Group, Pristina and the headquarters in New York. Our answer can be expected in the next few weeks, he said.

PRISTIN, April 2 (Beta)-International Civil Representative Pieter Feith on April 2 approved a draft constitution of the Republic of Kosovo and voiced the belief that, based on the constitution, the government and citizens of Kosovo could start building a sustainable, multiethnic society. Feith congratulated the Constitutional Commission and said that it was his pleasure to verify the draft, which was adopted by the Commission on April 1, in line with the provisions of the extensive status resolution.

"I congratulate the members of the Constitutional Commission and all who were involved in making the Constitution, in working on this historic document," Feith said, as carried by the International Civil Representative's service. "Kosovo will have a modern Constitution, which guarantees the full implementation of individual rights and the rights of communities, including the rights of the Kosovo Serbs, according to the rule of law. The right to local selfgovernment is firmly included in the draft Constitution," Feith stressed.After Feith's approval, the draft is open for an official vote by the Kosovo Assembly.

MOSCOW, April 3 (Tanjug) - In order for the procedure of admission of self-proclaimed Kosovo in the Council of Europe to begin, there must be a maximum majority of countries that support it, which is not the case now, Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) President Lluis Maria de Puig said on Thursday, announcing the possibility of discussing the unilateral secession of Kosovo at the PACE spring session. The PACE president told the Russian news agency RIA Novosti that in order for the procedure of admission of a state in the Council of Europe to begin, many things had to happen, such as for the international community to recognise this state, which had not happened here.

PRAGUE, April 2 (Tanjug) - The Czech government on Wednesday adjourned its discussion on a proposal to recognise the unilateral independence of Kosovo-Metohija, since the ministers had completely different stands on the issue. "They requested time to study the material additionally," government spokesperson Jana Bartosova told the Czech news agency CTK. She added that the government had not set the date for the resumption of the discussion on the proposal of Czech FM Karel Schwarzenberg on the recognition of Kosovo. Christian Democrats in the government, some ministers from the ruling Civic Democratic Party of Czech President Vaclav Klaus, and the opposition believe that Prague should not recognise Kosovo as an independent state, while Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek believes that this should be done as soon as possible without further postponement, CTK reported.

MOSCOW, Apr 2 (Tanjug) - Russia's executive authorities will carefully discuss a motion by Duma deputies on recognition of independence of the self-proclaimed republics in the territory of the Commonwealth of Independent States, taking into consideration the "Kosovo precedent," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday. "We have considered very carefully the recent declaration of Duma on principles of Russia's policy for Abkhazia, South Osetia and Pridnyestrovye," said Lavrov in his address to Duma deputies, announcing that the foreign ministry would prepare concrete recommendations. He said that recommendations will take all factors into consideration, including the situation regarding Kosovo, Russia's obligations as a permanent member state of the UN Security Council, unacceptability of use of double standards, as well as Moscow's commitment to the principles of territorial integrity of states and international law.

MOSCOW, April 2 (Tanjug) - The dangerous precedent of the recognition of the unilateral declaration of the independence of Kosovo was in advance determined by Russia's foreign policy in the early 1990s, the chairman of the Russian Duma (parliament's lower chamber) Committee on International Affairs, Konstantin Kosachev, said on Wednesday. According to him, difficulties are unavoidable because the Russian diplomacy is "resolving" problems, including the "Kosovo precedent", all of which were not created today and were the result of the often "too credulous conduct of the diplomacy until the mid-1990s, which was desoriented by unjustified hopes and illlusions." Kosachev said that such problems included the expansion of NATO, when promises made were not put on paper. "It is then that the situation with Kosovo was determined in advance," said Kosachev, who is also deputy secretary of the ruling United Russia Party Presidency. Speaking at a Duma session, also addressed by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Kosachev said that the issues of Kosovo and the unrecognized republics in the post-soviet territory are decisive for the fate of the international law and the United Nations, the balance between sovereignty and self-determination. "We are not considering Kosovo only because the precedent issue has become topical. In question is the fate of international law and what will win in the end - the rule of force or the force of the law," Kosachev underscored.

BELGRADE, Apr 2 (Tanjug) - The Serbian embassy in Skopje protested Wednesday to the Macedonian Foreign Ministry against the start of illegal activities for demarcation of the Serbian-Macedonian border in the section bordering Kosovo-Metohija. The Republic of Macedonia has committed an act contrary to international norms and the provisions of the 2001 bilateral agreement which defined the border between the two states by starting to demarcate the border together with Pristina representatives who have no legitimity and are not empowered for such activities, the Serbian Foreign Ministry said. In addition, the Republic of Macedonia has also broken the 1996 bilateral agreement on regulating and fostering cooperation, which commits both states to respect each other's sovereignty and territorial integrity, the ministry said. As Macedonia has through this act openly violated international norms, the UN Charter and the bilateral border agreement, Serbia will raise this issue before relevant UN institutions, the ministry said.

Belgrade, April 2 (Beta)-As of April 14, citizens will not have to deposit 20 percent in cash when taking dinar loans without a foreign currency clause, Serbian National Bank Governor Radovan Jelasic told the April 3 issue of the Belgrade daily Blic. Jelasic added that the National Bank had also increased deposits for loans indexed in foreign currency from 20 to 30 percent.Jelasic explained the reasons for these measures. "There are two reasons. Firstly, to increase the number of dinar loans and secondly, to make dinar loans more attractive, by abolishing the 20percent deposit. It is a significant relaxation. We will see whether citizens will take out more dinar loans, or whether they will opt for euro loans with the required 30 percent deposit, although the overall cost of dinar and foreign currency loans will be the same," Jelasic explained.

Asked why the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was closing down its office in Serbia, Jelasic replied that the IMF's income had considerably dropped, which led to cuts in staff in Washington and elsewhere in the world. "The IMF has been withdrawing its personnel from all the countries that do not have an arrangement with it and that is what will most likely happen to the IMF office in Serbia," the governor said. Speaking about the impact of the upcoming parliamentary elections on macro economic security in Serbia, Jelasic said that holding parliamentary along with local elections had come as a surprise, and it means there will be no extra expense. "We are more concerned for the period after May 11, that is with the question of when a new government will be composed, what its program will be like, and most importantly what the budget will look like," Jelasic told the Blic.

NOVI SAD, April 2 (Tanjug) - US Ambassador to Serbia Cameron Munter said in Novi Sad on Wednesday that the United Sttes wanted to remain committed to Serbia and that despite the February 21 developments the US Embassy had remained open for all citizens. Speaking at a news conference Munter said that the Embassy had on Tuesday reopened its Consular Section, closed after the February 21 protest outside the Embassy against the US support to Kosovo's secession when a young man from Novi Sad who had been displaced from Kosovo died. According to Munter, this shows that all Serbian citizens have the opportunity to come to the United States and he expects that the Exmbassy will be in a position to send 3,000-4,000 young people from Serbia to the United States to get work experience and see how Americans live. Munter said that the commitment to Serbia was also reflected in the fact that the United States would continue through USAID to send assistance to Serbia and local governments and that the Embassy would continue through its Economic Section to work with potential investors.

Bujanovac, April 2 (Beta)-British Ambassador to Belgrade Stephen Wordsworth met with political representatives of ethnic Albanians from Bujanovac and Presevo in Bujanovac on April 2, to discuss the upcoming parliamentary elections in Serbia.In a statement to BETA, Movement for Democratic Action leader Jonuz Musliu said Wordsworth wanted to know whether his party would run in the elections, scheduled for May 11.

"We discussed local and parliamentary elections, but I could not tell the ambassador whether my party will run in the parliamentary vote, because the party presidency has not convened yet. I expect that will be known by April 5," said Musliu, who is also the deputy head of the Bujanovac municipality. Wordsworth met with Riza Halimi, the leader of the Party for Democratic Action, which will run in the vote.

Party election staff chief Nader Sadiku told BETA that Razimi believed that his party should run in the elections in a coalition with several other ethnic Albanian parties. Sadiku added that no concrete agreement with any party has been reached so far. The Democratic Party of Albanians, led by Ragmi Mustafa, who is also the head of the Presevo municipality, and the National Movement of Albanians, led by Orhan Rexhepi from Presevo, said they will not take part in the May 11 vote.