Belgrade, 08. 04. 2008.

SERBIA

• TADIC: ICTY, KOSOVO NOT TO BE MISUSED IN PRE-ELECTION CAMPAIGN
• TADIC CONGRATULATES VUJANOVIC ON ELECTION VICTORY
• TADIC: FEITH HAS NO MANDATE TO HANDLE ELECTIONS IN SERBIA
• JEREMIC: SERBIA TO SEEK COURT OF JUSTICE OPINION ON KOSOVO
• JEREMIC: SERBIAN HERITAGE IN KOSOVO ENDANGERED
• NEXT ELECTION ABOUT EU, NOT KOSOVO, SAYS JEREMIC
• SAMARDZIC: EU PRESENTS SERBIA WITH NEW CONDITIONS
• SOURCE: NO NEW CONDITIONS FOR SERBIA'S ENTRY INTO EU
• DULIC CONFERS WITH ICTY CHIEF PROSECUTOR BELGRADE/THE
• LONCAR: SOLANA DIRECTLY INTERFERES INTO SERBIAN ELECTIONS

• SAMARDZIC: WE ARE WAITING FOR RUECKER'S ANSWER
• KOSOVO DRAFT CONSTITUTION SIGNED
• FEITH: "EU TO DECIDE HOW TO TACKLE NORTH AFTER VOTE"
• OSCE DEMANDS INTEGRATION OF ROMA, ASHKALI, ETHNIC EGYPTIANS
• US OPENS EMBASSY IN KOSOVO - METOHIJA ON TUESDAY
• THIRD CONTINGENT OF RUSSIAN HUMANITARIAN AID ARRIVES

• ONLY TWO COMPANIES HAVE EXPORTS WORTH OVER 100 ML EUROS
• MILOSAVLJEVIC: TARGETED EXPORTS WORTH FIVE BILLION DOLLARS
• MINING MINISTER: LAW SHOULD DECIDE OUTCOME OF RTB BOR TENDER
• ATEC OWNER BLAMES DEUTSCHE BANK FOR MISSING RTB DEADLINE

BELGRADE, April 8 (Tanjug) - Serbian President Boris Tadic has said that it would be much better for Serbia if neither Kosovo nor cooperation with The Hague were misused in the pre-election rhetoric, and that a revision of the decision on Ramus Haradinaj's acquittal would prove the legitimacy of the ICTY.

"It is not good to make offhand statements in order to obtain votes and refuse to be ready to bear the consequences of what you have said," the Serbian president said in an interview for the Belgrade daily Blic. He underlined that the decision The Hague Tribunal had reached in the Haradinaj case "is totally unjust and Serbia has the right to say that, but it would be good if the politicians restrained from emotional reactions because the interest of the Serbian people is to be threatened in no way whatsoever," and added that slogans could not be a replacement for responsible state policy.

"There are numerous statements of witnesses about the crimes that were committed against Serbs, the Roma and (ethnic) Albanians which Haradinaj took part in and which make one's hair stand on end. I demanded from the Tribunal that the Prosecution lodged an appeal against the verdict, since justice has to be met and the ghastly war crimes properly punished," Tadic said in the interview for the Tuesday issue of the Belgrade daily Blic.

BELGRADE, April 7 (Tanjug) - Serbian President Boris Tadic on Monday congratulated Filip Vujanovic on his victory in the Montenegrin presidential elections and expressed the wish that the two brother countries should continue developing the best possible relations.

"I congratulate you on your victory in the presidential elections with the wishes that you take Montenegro forward along its pathway of European integrations. Serbia and Montenegro are the closest neighbors, friendly and brother countries, and we must continue developing the best possible relations to the welfare of the citizens of both Montenegro and Serbia," President Tadic said.

The election campaign headquarters of Vujanovic's ruling coalition proclaimed a victory in yesterday's first round of the presidential elections in Montenegro. According to the figures of these headquarters, which are in accord with the estimates of the non-governmental organizations Center for Monitoring and Center for Democratic Transition, Vujanovic won more than 52 percent of the cast ballots in the first round of voting, which secures for him a victory over the other rival candidates.

BELGRADE, April 8 (Tanjug) - Serbian President Boris Tadic said on Tuesday that EULEX mission chief Pieter Feith has no mandate to be engaged on the elections in Serbia, and underscored that this mission is in Kosovo and Metohija illegally, since there is no relevant United Nations (UN) Security Council decision about its deployment.

Speaking in reaction to Feith's statement that the EULEX mission will wait for the outcome of the Serbian elections before deciding about taking over the mandate of the United Nations in northern Kosovo, Tadic said that Feith has no right to interfere in the internal affairs of Serbia. In a statement distributed to media, president Tadic said that Feith is implementing only the decisions of those EU member-states that have recognized the illegal and unilaterally proclaimed independence of Kosovo.

There are EU countries that do not recognize the illegally proclaimed independence of the southern province, he pointed out. "What Pieter Feith is doing is helping the anti-European forces in Serbia, so that their coming to power would be an alibi for giving independence to Kosovo," the Serbian president said.

BELGRADE, April 07 (Beta) - Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic has said that at the September meeting of the U.N. General Assembly, Serbia will call on the International Court of Justice to give its opinion on the legality of Kosovo's declaration of independence.

"We believe that this initiative would be backed by a majority and that the very fact that we are working on this proposal is deterring some countries from recognizing Kosovo," Jeremic told reporters.

Speaking at an international seminar on foreign policy, Jeremic said that the outgoing cabinet is under no obligation to lay the foundations for action, leaving its successor to decide whether to follow through.

According to Jeremic, Serbia's main foreign policy goal in the short term is to reduce the number of states recognizing Kosovo's secession. "In the long term, we want to ensure lasting peace and stability in the region and EU membership," he said.

Jeremic also stressed that Serbia has braved international pressure and prevented the en masse recognition of Kosovo. This, he said, indicates that it would be best for both sides to return to the negotiating table.

In his speech to representatives of Balkan and central Asian countries, Jeremic said that Kosovo Serbs must not become hostages of international relations, adding that the only way to ensure that is the neutrality of the international peacekeeping force in terms of Kosovo's status.

BELGRADE, April 07 (Beta) - Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic on April 7 said that the Serbian cultural and religious heritage in Kosovo is still endangered and described as "cultural cleansing" the attacks on that heritage over the past eight years.

Addressing the UNESCO Executive Board in Paris, Jeremic said "the greatest challenge to human rights in Serbia lies in our southern province of Kosovo and Metohija, under U.N. administration since 1999."

Jeremic recalled that over the past eight years, "more than 150 churches and monasteries, at last count, including those that were built as long ago as the 14th century, were torched by Kosovo Albanian extremists, including 35 during the March 2004 pogrom against the Serbs in Kosovo."

"The purposeful attempt to vandalize, loot, burn, desecrate and destroy what others built long ago, in the conviction that such deeds will contribute to the invention of a historical narrative of one's own, must be condemned in the strongest possible terms and identified clearly for what they are: zealous, fevered, revolting acts of cultural cleansing," the foreign minister stressed.

BELGRADE, April 07 (Beta) - On April 7, Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic said that the next general election is a watershed that will decide the fate of Serbia's bid for European integration.

Addressing an international seminar in Belgrade, Jeremic stressed that the election will determine Serbia's course regarding the EU, but not Kosovo, since the country's policy in Kosovo will not change regardless of the outcome.

"Whoever wins the election, Serbian policy on Kosovo and Metohija will not change, which is why the election is about the EU," he added.

Jeremic told officials from Balkan and central Asian foreign ministries that while he supports continued European integration, an U-turn in that regard would be entirely legal if based on the democratic process.

BELGRADE, April 7 (Tanjug) - Kosovo and Metohija Minister Slobodan Samardzic on Monday described as "peculiar in content" an open letter by the current and future EU presidents, Dimitrij Rupel and Bernard Kouchner respectively, which gave new, additional conditions for Serbia's future european integrations.

"In this, there are three new moments which should be noted. The first is that Serbia is being viewed as a unique case, rather than just Kosovo alone. Furthermore, two new conditions for Serbia are being indicated for its integration process: the first is that it should agree to the deployment of the EULEX mission in Kosovo and Metohija, and the second is that it develops and realizes good-neighborly relations with Kosovo as an independent state," Samardzic pointed out. He added that if the second condition were "to be finalized," this would mean that Serbia should recognize Kosovo in the near future.

"This sheds fresh light on relations with the EU. The DSS position is that the EU integrations are something on which Serbia, as a state, has insisted and initiated, but, over the past few months, the EU has changed its policy and started presenting Serbia with conditions that were not put before any other country," Samardzic set out. He underscored that the election campaign should be viewed in this light, because "many parties are running with the stand that integrations should be carried out unconditionally, regardless of what Europe demands from us."

BELGRADE, April 07 (Beta) - There are no additional conditions for Serbia to join the European Union, a source from the staff of Serbian President Boris Tadic told BETA on April 7, in response to a statement by Democratic Party of Serbia official Slobodan Samardzic that two new conditions have been given to Belgrade.

BETA's source said nobody had stated that there were new requirements for Serbia and it would not be good if Samardzic's statement became another of his party's election catch phrases.

HAGUE, April 8 (Tanjug) - Serbian parliament speaker Oliver Dulic conferred in The Hague late on Monday with ICTY Chief Prosecutor Serge Brammertz, the Serbian Radio Television (RTS) has reported on its Web site.

` After the meeting, which lasted for one hour and a half, Dulic did not give any details about his talks with Brammertz. He only announced he would meet with members of the Dutch parliament and have talks with Dutch Minister of European Affairs Franz Timmermans. The Dutch government opposes the idea that the European Union signs the Stabilisation and Association Agreement with Serbia as long as official Belgrade does not begin fully cooperating with The Hague Tribunal, RTS reminded.

BELGRADE, April 8 (Tanjug) - Minister of Education Zoran Loncar accused on Tuesday EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana of direct interference into the Serbian elections and the country's internal affairs. "Javier Solana says that he is very fond of Serbia and that in the elections he wants to help (Nenad ) Canak, DS, G17.

At the same time, Solana claims that the May 11 elections are very important for him and that the second most important thing is the coming into force of the constitution of the first NATO state, " Loncar told Tanjug. He assessed that in doing that, "Solana is directly interfering into the elections in Serbia," and that "what is even worse, by supporting the constitution of the first NATO state, he is brutally interfering into Serbia's internal affairs."

"We would like to remind Solana that he his decision to bomb our country brought enough harm to Serbia and that it would be necessary that he refrains now. It would also be good if Solana said something about Ramush Haradinaj and Hasim Taci, war criminals and guerilla fighters for the setting up of the first NATO state, who killed Serbs so that they could trade in human organs," Loncar said, wondering whether Solana had any comment on that topic.

BELGRADE, April 7 (Tanjug) - Kosovo and Metohija Minister Slobodan Samardzic said Monday that he is still waiting for an answer from the UN envoy for Kosovo, Joachim Ruecker, to a letter in which Serbia requested that the May 11 elections are also held in its province, adding that field preparations for the ballot are already under way.

Speaking at a DSS press conference, Samardzic refused to comment the possibility that Ruecker could reject Serbia's offer for cooperation, noting that "it is necessary to be patient and wait for an answer." He added that preparations for the ballot are being carried out "as if the right decision has been made," underscoring that if Ruecker drags his heels, "this will not have a negative effect" because "in theory, he can make this decision on May 1, and Serbia would easily implement it."

Samardzic recalled that the government has adopted a conclusion on holding elections in Kosovo and Metohija and that he has written to Ruecker informing him about the state's preparations for holding the elections in the province, requesting from him, as the representative of international institutions, to schedule elections in keeping with UN Security Council Resolution 1244.

PRISTINA, April 07 (Beta) - On April 7, top Kosovo officials signed the draft Constitution, which will be adopted in the next few weeks.

At a ceremony, organized by the Constitutional Commission, the draft Constitution was signed by Kosovo officials, Parliament deputies, ministers, and high international officials.

Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu said Kosovo is getting a modern constitution, which guarantees full equality of citizens and communities and also the implementation of the Martti Ahtisaari plan, as the basis for a resolution of Kosovo's status.

Kosovo Premier Hashim Thaci said the draft Constitution signed on April 7 guarantees freedom for Kosovo that encompasses the past, present, and future.

"This Constitution is the guarantor of freedom. It is the signet of the state of Kosovo. This Constitution ensures dignity to every citizen of Kosovo," Thaci stressed.

The head of the international civil office in Pristina, Pieter Feith, said he signed the document after assessing that the Constitution respects in full the basic principles of the Martti Ahtisaari package.

PRIŠTINA, April 08 (B92, Beta, Reuters) - Pieter Feith says Brussels will decide on taking over jurisdiction in northern Kosovo after May 11. The EU's representative to the province was speaking in an interview to Reuters on Monday, when he says that the aim of the EU mission, dubbed EULEX, is to be operational by June 15. "Kosovo's new EU supervisors are watching closely whether proEuropeans defeat nationalists in Serbia's May election, before deciding how to tackle the Belgrade backed Serbs in Kosovo's renegade north," Reuters said.

The reports adds that Serbs in the north "are promising to resist", and says they have the backing of Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica, described as "nationalist".

Asked how his office and the 2,000strong EU police and justice mission planned to take over from the United Nations in the north, Feith told Reuters: "It would be important to see who is coming out of the elections of May 11 as the determining factor for the next government, and we'll take it from there."

"Given the current situation we are in ... we will have to continue to reflect on this and work with Belgrade and the (Kosovo) government on how this is going to be taken forward," he said.

But the Dutch diplomat, a "former NATO mediator in ethnic Albanian insurgencies in neighboring Macedonia and southern Serbia", underlined that Kosovo's Western backers would "not allow Belgrade to compromise the sovereignty of the new state". "I would not like to see Belgrade wielding a permanent veto over what happens to Kosovo," said Feith. "This is an independent, sovereign state, recognized by more than 30 of the most important democracies and economies in the world. We do not see it as a helpful proposition that the sovereignty of Kosovo would be impaired in a way as we see now."

Feith has accused Belgrade of trying to partition Kosovo along ethnic lines, Reuters added.

"To Kosovo Serbs, Feith's Civilian Office and the EU police force are 'occupiers'. A preparatory team from his office has already withdrawn from north Mitrovica, under threat of attack," it continued.

Feith said he "wouldn't exclude" the possibility of UN authorities "playing an extended role in the north", but said he "did not want to speculate". "We are aiming at establishing a modern, multiethnic justice system, a multiethnic police, a single legal space for the whole of Kosovo," said Feith. "For that you need Serb cooperation."

Monday in Priština, Kosovo Albanian leadership signed the "Kosovo constitution", previously approved by Feith. Now the diplomat, who described the document as "consolidating Kosovo as a modern, multiethnic state", called on Serbs "to chose a government in Belgrade that would give priority to its EU perspective rather than "look to the past and focus on the injustices".

"The EU is clear that it does not wish Kosovo to end up as a failed state, or as a frozen conflict," Feith concluded.

PRISTINA, April 7 (Tanjug) - The OSCE mission in Kosovo and Metohija on Monday called on the corresponding organs to help the integration of the Roma, Ashkali and ethnic Egyptians into the Kosovo society.

The Kosovo Roma, Ashkali and ethnic Egyptians continue facing marginalization and discrimination in the region, OSCE said in a statement expressing support to these communities. The OSCE mission backs the Kosovo authorities in the preparation of a draft strategy for the integration of the Roma, Ashkali and ethnic Egyptians which includes crucial issues, such as education, employment, return, housing, fight against discrimination and participation in the political life.

The OSCE statement concluded that unrealized registration of the citizens and the lack of documents are rife among the Kosovo Roma, Ashkali and ethnic Egyptians.

PRISTINA, April 7 (Tanjug) - The office of the United States in Kosovo and Metohija will on Tuesday become that country's embassy, the US media office in Pristina has announced. The event will be marked by a "modest" ceremony in the presence of top Kosovo officials, it was said.

The US was one of the first countries to recognize the unilaterally declared independence of Kosovo and Metohija, and the Serbian government responded by lodging a protest note with the UN embassy in Belgrade and withdrawing Serbia's ambassador from Washington.

So far, Germany and Switzerland also have opened embassies in Kosovo and Metohija.

BELGRADE, April 8 (Tanjug) - The third plane carrying humanitarian aid, which the Russian Federation sent to Serb enclaves in Kosovo-Metohija, on the order of the Russian Ministry for Emergency Situations and Civil Defense, landed in Belgrade on Tuesday around 10:15 am, Tanjug learned in the Serbian Ministry for Kosovo-Metohija.

The humanitarian aid, containing foods, including food for children and medicines, was sent to Serbia on the order of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The first shipment of 40 tons of food and medicines that the Russian government sent to Serbs and other non-Albanian population in Kosovo arrived last Wednesday, while the second contingent landed on Friday. Russia will send a total of four contingents of humanitarian aid for Serb enclaves in Kosovo and the total delivery will include 140 tons of food and medicines, worth around USD 1.7 million.

BELGRADE, April 8 (Tanjug) - Serbian Deputy Premier Bozidar Djelic said on Tuesday that the situation regarding exports is bad in Serbia because, in spite of a certain increase over the recent years, only two companies have annual exports worth over 100 million euros.

Speaking at a presentation of the draft strategy for increasing exports by the year 2011 at the Serbian Chamber of Commerce in Belgrade, Djelic said only six companies record exports worth over 50 million euros, and 300 export products worth about one million euros. The foreign-trade deficit is stable and amounts to 28 percent of the gross social product, but the deficit in the balance of payments is 17.6 percent of the GSP, Djelic said. There are plans to increase exports at an annual rate of 25 percent in the years to come, with an increase in the participation of finished products from 43 to 65 percent, and with an increase in the number of companies that annually export more than 10 million euros' worth of products from 66 to 120.

BELGRADE, April 8 (Tanjug) - The goal of the Serbian Ministry of Agriculture is that exports of agricultural products should reach the value of five billion dollars over the next three to five years, Agriculture Minister Slobodan Milosavljevic said on Tuesday.

"That is why the state should adopt a decision on the securing of credits with international institutions for the areas of water management and irrigation, because that is the only way that we can increase yield in agricultural production," Milosavljevic said during a presentation of the draft strategy for increasing exports in Serbia by the year 2011.

The event is taking place at the Serbian Chamber of Commerce in Belgrade. Investments of one billion dollars annually are required for the department of water management, in his estimate, the minister specified, and it is known that Serbia cannot secure such funds itself. Minister Milosavljevic illustrated his statements with the facts that agriculture accounts for one-fifth of the gross social product of Serbia and for 20 percent in the overall exports of Serbia.

BELGRADE, April 07 (Beta) - Mining and Energy Minister Aleksandar Popovic said that whether or not Austrian A-Tec's revised offer for RTB Bor is accepted depends solely on legal requirements, as was the case with Romania's Cuprom failed attempt to acquire the copper mining and smelting complex.

"The letter of the law is what matters," Popovic told reporters.

He added that the failure of the ATec and Cuprom bids have nothing to do with the state, cabinet, any ministry or the Privatization Agency.

"Problems caused by the foreign partner are always at issue," he added.

Economy and Regional Development Minister Mladjan Dinkic, however, called RTB a complex issue, adding that it would be best to allow the committee tasked with the privatization and the cabinet to decide the matter.

While visiting the ImpolSeval aluminum rolling plant in Sevojno, Dinkic told reporters that the committee is due to meet on April 9, with the final decision expected on April 10.

Foreign investment adviser Milan Kovacevic said that the cabinet should give ATec the extension it has asked for to make payment for RTB Bor, but only on condition that the company can provide solid banking guarantees.

VIENNA, April 07 (Beta) - Mirko Kovac, owner of Austrian firm ATec, has said that his company will have no difficulty in obtaining loans for its purchase of copper producer RTB Bor despite the lastminute withdrawal of Deutsche Bank that caused ATec to miss its payment deadline.

"We're disappointed by Deutsche Bank, which has pulled out of all arrangements in Serbia in 2008. We have found a new bank as quickly as we could, but Deutsche Bank caused us to lose eight weeks," Kovac told BETA.

He added that the new financiers include the World Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and European Investment Bank. ATec, he said, was able to enlist their support thanks to its pledge to invest in environmental protection in the Bor area.

Kovac also said that ATec will not comment on its financial plan until the privatization deal is completed. However, he added that the information will be made public immediately afterward because ATec, as a publicly traded company, is required to disclose its transactions.