Belgrade, 06. 05. 2008.

SERBIA - EU

• EU SOURCE: ABOLISHING VISAS GOODWILL GESTURE TO SERBS
• DULIC: SERBIA HAS NO POLITICAL CONSENSUS ON EU ENTRY
• DE GUCHT: WE SIGNED SAA WITH SERBIA WITHOUT KOSOVO
• GALLACH: SAA STATUS NEUTRAL
• SAMARDZIC: PROBLEM IS NOT WITH SAA, BUT WITH EU
• SAA SUPPORTED BY 53 PERCENT OF SERBIAN CITIZENS

• TADIC, DODIK OPEN RS PARK IN NEW BELGRADE
• JEREMIC: GOVERNMENT FOR AGREEMENT, RATIFICATION AFTER ELECTIONS
• JEREMIC: AMBASSADORS MAY RETURN TO THEIR POSTS IN AUTUMN
• KONUZIN: RUSSIA'S PRINCIPLED SUPPORT
• RUSSIAN AMBASSADOR, TADIC ON PUTIN'S MESSAGE
• INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION GROWTH 3.4% IN SERBIA

• GUEHENNO: RESOLUTION 1244 STILL IN FORCE
• UN TO REVIEW UNMIK, EULEX

BRUSSELS, May 05 (Beta) - On May 7, European Commissioner Jacques Barrot will deliver to the Serbian authorities "a schedule of moves a road map" for the gradual abolition of European Union visas for Serbian nationals, as an "act of trust and goodwill to Serbian citizens to become part of the European family."

BETA was told this by European Commission spokesperson Friso Roscam Abbing, who is responsible for the judiciary and internal affairs.

Barrot, who is the commissioner for transport and energy, and who is standing in for the departing minister for the judiciary and internal affairs, Franco Frattini, will present Serbian President Boris Tadic and Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic with the prepared "road map" for abolishing EU visas for Serbian nationals, which contains the conditions which Serbia must fulfill in order for the liberalization of the visa regime to take place.

As is expected, this could be achieved by the end of this year or the beginning of next year, since the government in Belgrade and the European Commission are conducting the necessary negotiations on concluding the agreement on abolishing visas.

Delivery of the "travel map" is a real "cornerstone" for the final liberalization of the EU visa regime for Serbian citizens, since in January the EU already introduced visa relaxations, Roscam Abbing said.

He explained that "substantial negotiations" will now begin and announced that the abolition of visas for Serbian citizens, after the signing of the agreement, will be introduced gradually, over the course of next year.

BELGRADE, May 05 (Beta) - The biggest obstacle to speeding up Serbia's European integration is the lack of political will to achieve that goal, said participants in a May 5 conference on bringing Serbia closer to the European Union.

Serbian Parliament Speaker Oliver Dulic said Serbia was the only Western Balkan country that did not have a political consensus on entry into the EU, a condition for association with the 27nation bloc to take place independently of political or institutional changes.

Dulic voiced the hope that proEuropean political parties would make up the majority in the Parliament after the May 11 elections. He said the Parliament should adopt new rules of procedure which would clearly define the accelerated procedure for adopting laws necessary for association with the EU, prevent obstruction of the work of the Parliament and increase its effectiveness.

Tanja Miscevic, head of the Serbian EU Integration Office, pointed out that the country lacked the capacities to implement reforms, that is, to draft and implement laws and build institutions.

Jovan Teokarevic, a professor at the Belgrade Faculty of Political Sciences, said the results of elections to date and public opinion polls showed that association with the EU had the support of the majority of the people, but that it was dropping.

BRUSSELS, May 6 (Tanjug) - Belgian Foreign Minister Karl De Gucht told Tanjug late on Monday that official Brussels held that it had signed in Luxembourg last week the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) with Serbia without Kosovo. My understanding is that we signed the agreement with Serbia itself, without Kosovo, Minister de Gucht said.

Belgium recognized Kosovo's unilateral secession on February 24, and together with the Netherlands it opposed the signing of the SAA with Serbia until the recent meeting of the EU Council. At its meeting on April 29, the EU decided offer Serbia to sign the SAA. De Gucht underlined that the signing of the SAA was aimed at sending a positive signal to the people of Serbia on the Union's intentions.

The Belgian foreign minister holds that his country and neighboring Holland have succeeded in securing that the implementation of that document be suspended until Belgrade realizes full cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). It will be possible to imply the SAA only once the EU Council has reached a new decision, by which it would determine that Belgrade is fully cooperating with The Hague Tribunal, the Belgian foreign minister pointed out.

BRUSSELS, May 6 (Tanjug) - The Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) is status neutral as far as Kosovo and Methodical is in question, Cristina Gallic, spokesperson of EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana, told Tanjug in Brussels late on Monday.

The SAA is status neutral, as it was stated last Tuesday (April 29) after the signing of the document in Luxembourg, Gallic said when asked to comment on the statement by Belgian Foreign Minister Karol De Gucht that official Brussels understood that it was signing the SAA with Serbia without Kismet.

For us in the EU, and I am not speaking about any particular EU member countries, the SAA is status neutral, High Representative Solana said on the occasion of the signing of the SAA with Serbia. It is not the EU itself, but rather the Union's individual member countries, that can recognize Kosovo's independence, as it was stated on February 18, a day after the unilateral act of the temporary self- government institutions in Pristina.

BELGRADE, May 05 (Beta) - Minister for Kosovo and Metohija Slobodan Samardzic on May 5 said there are no objections to the content of the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA), but to the behavior of the EU, which, in his words, promotes the independence of Serbia's southern province.

In an interview with Belgrade B92 TV, Samardzic confirmed that representatives of his Democratic Party of Serbia agreed to the text of the SAA last year and that the government authorized Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic to sign the document. However, he added that "the situation should be reconsidered after certain EU countries recognized Kosovo's independence."

Samardzic also confirmed that the signed SAA also contains a provision on the implementation of U.N. Security Resolution 1244, but added that the resolution "has become an empty word," the moment the EU started implementing independence.

He went on to say that the SAA "could be saved" and could be ratified, providing the EU returned to a position toward Serbia, which it respected before the recognition of Kosovo's independence.

The minister further said he doubts a poll by the agency Strategic Marketing, according to which the majority of Serbia's citizens back the signing of the SAA. Samardzic added that an agency, which his ministry hired on several occasions, concluded that more than 70 percent of citizens do not want to continue [European] integrations, if that requires giving up Kosovo.

BELGRADE, May 5 (Tanjug) - The signing of the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) is supported by 53 percent of Serbian citizens, while 37 percent believe that its signing indirectly implies the recognition of independence of Kosovo-Metohija, according to a poll conducted on 546 citizens one day after the signing of the SAA on April 30 by the Strategic Marketing agency.

Strategic Marketing Research Director Svetlana Logar said at a conference of the European Movement on Monday that 58 percent of the polled believed that the signing of the SAA did not indirectly imply the recognition of Kosovo's independence. "Out of this percentage, 37 percent believe that the signing of the Agreement strengthens Serbia's position in further efforts to preserve its territorial integrity, while 21 percent believe that the signing of the SAA and Serbia's policy towards Kosovo are two separate things," Logar said.

She said that 58 percent of the polled believed that the SAA was important for Serbia's economy, 54 percent believed that it was important for the future of the country, while 51 percent of citizens believed that it was important for their personal lives and the lives of their families. Speaking about security issues, Logar said that the poll conducted on March 22-26 had shown that 51 percent of citizens believed that Serbia's national security was not threatened and 84 percent of the polled believed that their personal safety was not threatened. She said that most Serbian citizens wanted to live normally and that they put their economic and social security first.

BELGRADE, May 05 (Beta) - President Boris Tadic and Republika Srpska (RS) Premier Milorad Dodik opened the Republika Srpska Park in New Belgrade, on the left bank of the Sava River, on May 5.

Tadic recalled that Serbia has invested much in RS over the past few years and added that Belgrade will continue to invest.

Tadic stressed that special ties between Serbia and RS are a precondition for RS development and added that the victory of democracy in Serbia is necessary for the stability of the entire region.

Dodik underlined the support of his Party of Independent Socialists to Tadic's Democratic Party and stressed that RS will never acknowledge the independence of Kosovo.

Dodik also welcomed the signing of the Stabilization and Association Agreement between Serbia and the EU and added that he hopes that Bosnia Herzegovina and RS will do the same soon.

BELGRADE, May 6 (Tanjug) - Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic said late on Monday that at its forthcoming session, the Serbian government would adopt the proposal on the ratification of the energy agreement with Russia and that the document would be ratified by the new convocation of the parliament.

"The Democratic Party (DS) backs the agreement with all its heart, since it will ensure the country's lasting energy stability, but we hold that the issue should not be dealt by the parliament's current convocation and that this should not be done ahead of the elections, because the issue might be misused in the pre-election campaign," Jeremic said in an interview with TV Foks.

He said that the DS had wanted to avoid all that and that the media had misinterpreted the statement by Serbian president and DS leader, Boris Tadic, as to which convocation of the parliament should ratify the energy agreement. Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said that he would convene a session of the government, dedicated to the energy arrangement with Russia, for Friday, May 9. In an interview with Tanjug, Kostunica assessed that "it is very good that announcements are being made that this time, all ministers will vote for the energy agreement, which is of vital interest for Serbia."

BELGRADE, May 05 (Beta) - Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic said on May 5 that there was a possibility that ambassadors who were called back for consultations in Belgrade would be sent back to their posts in the fall.

He explained that Serbia was currently doing everything to keep Kosovo from becoming a member of any international organization and attempting to reduce the number of countries that decide to recognize "the illegally proclaimed independence of Kosovo."

"As long as we are in the process of stopping the recognition of the illegally proclaimed independence of Kosovo, I would not suggest the return of ambassadors to the government," Jeremic said in a telephone conversation with citizens at the headquarters of the Democratic Party, to which he belongs.

He repeated that, in September, Serbia would propose a resolution to the General Assembly of the U.N. asking consent from representatives of other U.N. members to ask for an opinion from the International Court of Justice on the proclamation of Kosovo's independence.

"At the General Assembly, every country has one vote. I believe we can pull off a win in the vote there," Jeremic said.

BELGRADE, May 5 (Tanjug) - Serbian President Boris Tadic received on Monday Russian Ambassador to Serbia Alexander Konuzin who told him that Vladimir Putin's message is principled support to Serbia and to its peaceful and consistent fight for preserving its territorial integrity and for defending principles of international law, the press service of the Serbian president said on Monday.

Tadic pointed out that Serbia will never recognize Kosovo's independence and that it will continue to fight for its interests and for the adherence to international law with all political and diplomatic means available, without use of force. The Serbian president pointed to the importance of Russia's principled stand and expressed satisfaction with the fact that the bilateral relations of the two countries are constantly on the rise, the statement said.

BELGRADE, May 05 (Beta) - On May 5, Serbian President Boris Tadic received Russian Ambassador Alexander Konuzin, who told him that the message from Russian President Vladimir Putin is the principled support of Serbia for its peaceful and consistent fight to maintain its territorial integrity and to defend the principles of international law.

As it was announced by Tadic's cabinet, Tadic stated that Serbia will never recognize Kosovo's independence and that it will continue the fight for its interests and for international law to be respected through all available political and diplomatic means, without resorting to the use of force.

The Serbian president emphasized the importance of the principled stance of Russia and expressed his satisfaction with the fact the bilateral relations between Serbia and Russia are constantly growing, the statement adds.

BELGRADE, May 5 (Tanjug) - Industrial production in Serbia increased by 3.4 percent in the first quarter of this year against the average figure for last year, while production in March increased by 2.6 percent against March 2007, Serbia's Republic Statistics Bureau has announced.

Industrial production increased six percent in the first three months of the year in comparison with the corresponding period of last year, the Bureau said. The figures on industrial production and according to production groups show a growth of 9.9 percent in energy production, of 4.1 percent in intermediary products (without energy), and of 1.4 percent in capital products. A drop in production was recorded in durable consumer products by 27.3 percent and in non-durable consumer products by 0.4 percent, the sources said.

BELGRADE, May 05 (Beta) - Jean Marie Guehenno, head of U.N. peacekeeping operations, said on May 5, in Belgrade, that it was important to find practical solutions in cooperation with Belgrade in order to secure peace and safety in Kosovo and Metohija.

Guehenno told Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica that U.N. Resolution 1244 on Kosovo was still in force, a press release from the government of Serbia said.

Kostunica reiterated that Kosovo and Metohija, in accordance with the U.N. Charter, Resolution 1244 and the Helsinki Final Act was an integral and inalienable part of Serbia. He added that Resolution 1244 must be respected and that the European Union mission in Kosovo was in breach of law and illegally present on Serbia's territory.

Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic and Minister for Kosovo and Metohija Slobodan Samardzic also met with the U.N. delegation headed by GuehenAccording to an announcement from the Ministry for Kosovo and Metohija, topics at the meeting included future joint action by Serbia and the U.N. on implementation of Resolution 1244 and solving specific problems experienced by Serbs and other nonAlbanians after the unilateral proclamation of Kosovo's independence.

UNITED NATIONS, May 5 (Tanjug) - The United Nations is reviewing the possibility of legalising the EU mission in Kosovo-Metohija, while taking into account Russia's stand on the necessity of observing Resolution 1244, Tanjug was told at UN Headquarters in New York.

According to diplomats, the United Nations will not let the EU mission, Eulex, replace UNMIK after Kosovo's Constitution takes effect on June 15 like Pristina hopes. Diplomats from the most influential countries in the United Nations hold talks on the possibility of enabling the deployment of the EU mission in the province under the UN auspices.

Tanjug was told that these were initial and informal talks. In this context, the United Nations points at a statement made by head of UN peacekeeping operations Jean-Marie Guehenno in Pristina two days ago that the UN Security Council holds talks with EU representatives to ensure peace and stability and implementation of Resolution 1244 in the province. According to diplomatic sources at the United Nations, UN secretary-general's special representative in Kosovo-Metohija Joachim Ruecker, who according to Kosovo Serbs and Belgrade supports Kosovo's independence, might soon be replaced by another UN official.