Belgrade, 11. 01. 2008.

C O N T E N T :

SERBIA-EU: SAA AND KiM MISSION

• TADIC: SERBIA IN EU AT THE END OF MY SECOND MANDATE
• TADIC: NOT SIGNING AGREEMENT IS INSULT TO SOME EU COUNTRIES
• DJELIC: SERBIA TO SIGN SAA WITH EU SOON
• JEREMIC: SERBIA WANTS EU BUT WILL NOT GIVE UP ON KOSOVO
• SERBIA-GERMANY
• DINKIC: REJECTION TO SIGN AGREEMENT WOULD BE DISASTER
• DJILAS AND DINKIC: SIGNING OF SAA WITH EU AS SOON AS POSSIBLE
• LONCAR: SERBIA DEMANDS FROM EU NOT TO SEND MISSION
• SAMARDZIC: SENDING A MISSION TO KOSOVO VIOLATES AGREEMENT
• PROROKOVIC: EU CHANGES POSITION ON KOSOVO, NOT SERBIA
• KACIN: FIRST SAA WITH EU, THEN VISA ABOLISHMENT
• ASSELBORN: SAA SIGNING BY END OF MONTH

• TADIC: FIGHT FOR PRESERVATION OF SERBIA'S INTEGRITY
• JEREMIC: SERBIA WILL NOT GIVE UP SOVEREIGNTY OVER KOSOVO
• MINISTRY FOR KANDM: THE POLL CONDUCTED AT ITS REQUEST HAS SHOWN…
• PROROKOVIC: SERBIA'S SYSTEM TO CONTINUE TO FUNCTION IN KOSOVO
• PROROKOVIC: SERBS IN KOSOVO HAVE NO REASON TO TRUST THACI
• POPOVIC: KOSOVO AND AGREEMENT WITH RUSSIA NOT LINKED
• THACI: KOSOVO VERY SOON TO PROCLAIM INDEPENDENCE
• ROHAN: EVERYTHING DEPENDS ON KOSOVO SERBS
• KANERVA: DECISIVE MOMENT AFTER PROCLAMATION OF INDEPENDENCE
• YAKOVENKO: UNILATERAL PROCLAMATION OF INDEPENDENCE ILLEGITIMATE
• KARASIN: SOLUTION FOR KOSOVO TO AFFECT OTHER CONFLICTS
• ROGOZIN: CERTAIN COUNTRIES SHOULD STOP HUMILIATING SERBIA
• SCHEFFER: NATO IS READY TO HANDLE ANY UNREST IN KOSOVO
• FITZGERALD: KFOR GUARANTEES PEACE AND SECURITY TO ALL IN KOSOVO
• SERBIAN MISSION TO OSCE: INDEPENDENCE UNDERMINES OSCE PRINCIPLES
• ALEXY II: KOSOVO HOLY SITES ARE NOT FOR POLITICAL TRADE
• KURTI: EU NOT TO SEND MISSION

• TADIC: RSD 7.5 BILLION FOR MODERNIZATION OF VS
• DJELIC: DEVELOPMENT GOALS SHOULD BE BALANCED
• DJELIC: TRANSIT GAS PIPELINE WILL BE BUILT
• DJILAS: GOVERNMENT HAD NOT REVIEWED THE RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT'S OFFER
• STATE TO TAKE OVER FULL CARE OF ASYLUM SEEKERS AS OF APRIL 1
• RIK: ELECTIONS OBSERVERS FROM GB AND US EMBASSIES
• SERBIA'S FOREIGN CURRENCY RESERVES REACH 10.89 BILLION
• SERBIA'S TRADE DEFICIT IN 2007 TOTALS EUR6.9 BILLION

ZAJECAR, Jan 10 (Tanjug) - Serbian President Boris Tadic said that at the end of his second term Serbia would be a member of the EU. "We should create conditions for a better life, and this will be possible only if Serbia opens up, goes towards Europe and if it does not isolate itself," Tadic told. According to him, it is absurd that today in Serbia there are those who want to push the country into self-isolation and return it into the 1990s. "Previously, it was the world that isolated us, and now there are indications that certain people within, want to isolate our country, and that would be terrible. That would be just as if we were shooting the kneecaps of our citizens,". "I will never give our country's european future and I will never give up the defence of its integrity in Kosovo, and these are two central foundations of the policy I will conduct in the coming period," Tadic set out.

Zajecar, Jan 11 (Beta) - Serbian president, Boris Tadic, stated that by not signing the SAA, Serbia would be insulting some EU members who support Serbia's attempts to keep Kosovo a part of the country. Tadic said that despite disagreement by some members of government, Serbia must sign the agreement because it is the best way to defend Kosovo. "If we failed to sign the Association Agreement, we would be insulting the members of the EU who are supporting our efforts to keep Kosovo a part of Serbia," Tadic said.He is convinced that Serbia will defend Kosovo through diplomatic means, as well as by strengthening the economy, which would be made possible by signing the agreement with the EU. Tadic reiterated that some politicians persistently link the agreement with the solving of Kosovo's status, even though the first document only regulates trade relations between Serbia and the EU."We ourselves insisted that these two issues be considered separately,".

BELGRADE, Jan 10 (Tanjug) - Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic said Thursday he expects the SAA with the EU to be signed soon. He noted that Olli Rehn expects Serbia to fully cooperate with the ICTY, and emphasized that the Serbian government is working hard to prove it is doing so in the coming days. This should pave the way for signing SAA as soon as possible, Djelic said, adding that some countries still expect Mladic to be extradited to ICTY before SAA can be signed.

LJUBLJANA, Jan 11 (Tanjug) - During his Friday visit to Ljubljana, Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic will convey to Slovenian president and foreign minister, Danilo Tirk and Dimitrij Rupel, that Serbia wants to join the EU as soon as possible, but that it does not want to give up on its sovereignty over Kosovo. "My message will be that Serbia wants a speeded integration into the EU, that Serbia wants a speeded integration of the whole of the West Balkans, and that the most important step on that path is the signing of the SAA," Jeremic told Tanjug. Adding that Serbia "highly appreciates" the support Slovenia has been giving to the soonest possible signing of the SAA, Jeremic, however, pointed out that Serbia would not change its policy towards Kosovo. "And this means that Serbia's sovereignty and territorial integrity cannot be jeopardised in any way whatsoever, that is that the future status of Kosovo has to be determined through a negotiation process," the Serbian foreign minister underlined.

BERLIN, Jan 10 (Tanjug) - Germany supports Serbia's accelerated accession to the EU and urges a speedy signing of the SAA, Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic said on Thursday after a meeting with his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Berlin. "Germany's firm commitment to clear support to Serbia's accelerated accession to the EU was reiterated to me. This, of course, primarily means the speedy signing of the SAA. I can say that Berlin's official position is that this agreement should be signed as soon as possible," Jeremic told Tanjug. He said, however, that Serbia should sign the agreement with 27 EU member-states which did not all share Germany's stand. "Everybody do not share Berlin's view, but I think that Berlin's stand has a very big influence in the decision-making process, i.e. in reaching a consensus which is necessary to sign the agreement," he said. Jeremic said that he had informed his German counterpart about Belgrade's stand that it was necessary to resume negotiations about the future status of Kosovo under UN auspices and to find a compromise solution in this way. "The deployment of a future EU mission in Kosovo must be a part of this solution and this requires an appropriate legal framework which can be ensured only by the SC through a new resolution," Jeremic said. "However, the issues of Serbia's EU integration and resolution of Kosovo's future status are two separte processes. This is Berlin's official position, this is the official position of the EU, this is the official position of Belgrade and I underscored the importance of not altering policy in that sense," and added that Serbia had to be successful on both these issues. In addition to Steinmeier, Jeremic also met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel's foreign policy advisor Christoph Heusgen.

BELGRADE, Jan 11 (Tanjug) - Our rejection to sign the SAA with the EU would be suicidal for Serbia, Minister of Economy and Regional Development, Mladjan Dinkic, has said. In an interview for the Friday issue of the daily Vecernje Novosti, Dinkic assessed that it would be disastrous if Serbia "remained the only country in the region to be outside of the EU." "That would be an expression of a shortsighted policy with enormous consequences for our people. For that reason, threats being sent on the account of the EU these days are absurd, ridiculous and counterproductive," he added. "We will insist firmly that the agreement be signed, because it brings fast development to Serbia and a much better standard of living to the citizens. No one has the right to play with the faith of the citizens of Serbia,".

BELGRADE, Jan 10 (Tanjug) - Serbian Economy Minister Mladjan Dinkic and Minister Dragan Djilas, in charge of the implementation of the national investment plan, agreed on Thursday that Serbia should sign the SAA with the EU as soon as possible. Addressing a press conference held following a Serbian government session, Dinkic said it is Serbia's national interest to sign the SAA because that will make it stronger. Almost all countries in the region are EU members, he said, and Serbia is in Europe and it is logical that it should be an EU member as well. At its session in December, the Serbian government unanimously approved the text of the SAA and authorized Bozidar Djelic to initial it, Dinkic pointed out. President Boris Tadic himself has underscored that the process of Serbia's association with the EU must be separated from the resolving of the Kosovo problem, Djilas said. The date set for the signing will be known when Jeremic returns, Djilas said.

BELGRADE, Jan 11 (Tanjug) - Minister of Education Zoran Loncar said on Friday that Serbia "demands from the EU not to send its mission for a disintegration of our country if the Union wants us to sign the SAA on January 28." "The latest announcements of the EU that they would raise once again the issue of our cooperation with The Hague as a condition for the signing of the SAA on January 28 do not correspond to the real challenges that have presented themselves in the relations between Serbia and the EU. Now the situation looks like this - Serbia demands from the EU not to send its mission for the disintegration of our country if the Union wants us to sign the SAA on the 28th," Loncar said in an interview with Tanjug. He underlined that "the reality is such that it is for the EU to decide whether it wants the SAA with Serbia, or if it wants to send its mission for the implementation of the rejected Ahtisaari plan so as to create a quasi-state on the Serbian territory." "As a lawyer, I do not know what the phrase, which can be heard very often as of lately, that the issue of the EU and that of Kosovo are two separate processes really means. What is obvious is that the EU's decision on sending its mission to Kosovo illegally would mean a serious violation and annulment of the (already) initialed Agreement. Consequently, such a decision of the EU would in the worst possible way link the issue of the EU with Kosovo," Loncar said.

BELGRADE, Jan 11 (Beta) - Minister for Kosovo and Metohija Slobodan Samardzic said on Jan. 10 that, "from a legal point of view," the EU cannot sign the SAA with Serbia and also decide to send its own mission to Kosovo which would implement the rejected Ahtisaari plan. In a statement Samardzic said that the EU's decision to send a mission would represent a direct violation of the fundamental clauses of the initialed SAA."It is now clear that the EU must decide whether it wants an agreement with Serbia or to illegally send a mission to create an artificial state that would be called an independent Kosovo,".He stated that the EU's founding acts oblige it to respect international law, as well as the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country that the EU signs a SAA with."These obligations must also be applied when talking about Serbia, if the EU does not wish to annul the initialed agreement by sending an illegal mission to Kosovo,". Samardzic said that Serbia will respect "every word" of the initialed agreement, but that the EU must also respect the agreement to the same extent, adding that this requires the EU to abandon plans to send a mission to the province.

BELGRADE, Jan 10 (Tanjug) - State Secretary in the Ministry for Kosovo and Metohija Dusan Prorokovic said on Thursday that the EU, and not Serbia, had changed its policy towards Kosovo, and pointed to a new tendency in Serbia's relations with the EU as Serbia was now facing a threat that some EU members recognise a unilateral Kosovo declaration of independence. "At the time when the SAA of Serbia with the EU was initialed, such voices could not be heard from the majority of EU member states," Prorokovic said at a press conference in the International Press Center in Belgrade. He said that Serbia had repeatedly expressed a readiness for talks on the decomposition of UNMIK, and that no EU mission can replace the UN Mission. Prorokovic underlined that the sending of a EU mission to Kosovo was complex, because there is no legal basis for something like that.

BELGRADE, Jan 11 (Tanjug) - If Serbia signs the SAA with the EU by Marh, and if it prepares new passports and fulfills all technical conditions, its citizens could expect to join very soon the Schengen visa regime, which will apply for all EU member countries, EP Rapporteur for Serbia Jelko Kacin has said. A state which does not sign the Agreement cannot expect any further visa facilitation, Kacin said in an interview for the Friday issue of the Belgrade daily Blic. We expect that in March, the Schengen visa regime will be fully applied for all new members, he said. If Serbia signs the Agreement and fulfills all the required conditions by that date, it will be included in that list, Kacin underlined, adding that it all depended on how quickly Serbia would head towards the EU and provide technical conditions for that. Kacin also said that the signing of the SAA with the EU would open up many possibilities for Serbia. If the country makes progress, it can be arranged that Serbia becomes an associated member of the EU on the very day when it signs the SAA, he added. This will result in trade facilitation, free flux of people, goods, capital, ideas and services, Kacin said. If this document is signed, we will very soon organise a donors conference for Serbia, which will be the first concrete thing, the official said. We would also prepare additional, bigger actions, which, once France assumes the rotating EU presidency on July 1, would become concrete ideas, he added. This means that it is possible to realise these plans in six months, but the precondition for this would be a full cooperation with The Hague, Kacin underscored.

BERLIN, Jan 10 (Tanjug) - Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn has told the Dusseldorf daily Handelsblatt that the EU must sign the SAA with Serbia by Jan 28, because that would complete its task of securing the stabilization of the region. The signing of the SAA with Serbia is of decisive importance for the stability of the Balkans, Asselborn said, adding that this is all the more important since Serbia must face the loss of Kosovo in due time.

BELGRADE, Jan 11 (Tanjug) - Serbian President Boris Tadic has stated that after he wins the election the fight for preservation of the country's integrity and advancement towards a better standard of living of citizens will continue. In an interview published by Kurir, Tadic announced that after his victory in the election he will continue the work he had been doing daily and Serbia's diplomatic offensive for preservation of Kosovo. He said that he will go to the UN SC session on Jan 16 with a strong and justified request against an imposed and unilateral solution for Kosovo and Metohija, to explain the common stand of the state and to say that "Serbia will not accept any kind of independence of our province." Tadic also stated that he will say that the talks had not been exhausted and that there is still room for finding a mutually acceptable solution, which would bring peace and stability in the Balkans as a whole. "We will fight for our Kosovo, because it is not over yet. There will be no surrender,".

BERLIN, Jan 10 (Tanjug) - Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic said Thursday that he will convey to Slovenian President Danilo Tirk and Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel when he visits Slovenia Friday that Serbia wants to be integrated in the EU as soon as possible, but that it will not give up its sovereignty over Kosovo. Serbia wants accelerated integration for itself and the entire Western Balkans in the EU, and the signing of the SAA is the most important step to that end, he said in Berlin where he is currently on a visit. Noting that Serbia highly appreciates Slovenia's support to signing SAA as soon as possible, Jeremic, however, emphasized that Serbia will not chage its policy towards Kosovo. This means that any undermining of Serbia's sovereignty and territorial integrity is unacceptable, and that the future status of Kosovo must be determined through negotiations, he said.

BELGARDE, Jan 10 (Tanjug) - Most Serbs in Kosovo would not leave the province in the event of declaration of independence, a poll conducted by the agency Mediana Adria has shown. Kosovo within Serbia in the form of essential autonomy is the most just outcome of negotiations on future status for 82.4 pct of Kosovo Serbs. The poll was conducted at the request of the Ministry for Kosovo and Metohija. In the poll conducted in Dec last year, 60.8 pct of Serbs said they would not leave Kosovo in the event of declaration of independence, while 30.5 pct said they planned to move away. The status of Kosovo is a problem that needs to be resolved for 46 pct of Serbs, while 17.5 of those polled cited as their biggest problem the quality of life, unemployment and lack of economic prospect. Personal and property security of Serbs in Kosovo is the third priority problem - 13.5 pct, and better links with Serbia fourth - 12.6 pct. For the huge majority of Kosovo Serbs - 80.3 pct, a declaration of independence of Kosovo is completely unacceptable, while 1.4 pct of them would fully support the independence of the province. For Kosovo to stay a part of Serbia is considered the most likely outcome by 49.3 pct of Kosovo Serbs, while 10.5 pct of them consider a partition the most just outcome, and 16.9 pct as the most likely outcome.

BELGRADE, Jan 10 (Tanjug) - State Secretary in the Ministry for Kosovo and Metohija Dusan Prorokovic said on Thursday that the system of the state of Serbia would continue to function in the province regardless of the existing challenges. "The health, education, social system and the municipal coordinators will continue to function in Kosovo," Prorokovic told reporters at Tanjug's International Press Service in Belgrade. He said that the system "can only be better and more organised, because we have an eight and half year experience and in the system are not only Serbs." Prorokovic said that more than 300,000 Albanians from Kosovo have Serbian passports and that they were entitled as citizens of Serbia to these and other rights. The state secretary pointed out that the system in Kosovo, which was set up by Belgrade, was functioning much better that the system of UNMIK and provisional institutions.

BELGRADE, Jan 10 (Tanjug) - Serbian Secretary of State with the Ministry for Kosovo Dusan Prorokovic said on Thursday that Kosovo Serbs have no reason to trust the newly elected Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci. "Serbs boycotted two election cycles in Kosovo. A negligible number of voters among the Serbs in Kosmet and among the internally displaced persons went to the polls in the local and the parliamentary elections, which was not the case with the elections organized by Serbia," Prorokovic told reporters at International Press Center. According to Prorokovic, that is an obvious sign that Serbs in Kosovo trust the state institutions and are seeking protection from them, and not from the interim institutions.

BELGRADE, Jan 10 (Tanjug) - Serbian Minister for Energy and Mining Aleksandar Popovic said on Thursday that the question of the status of Kosovo and Metohija is in no way linked to the agreement in the area of the oil and gas industry that Russia has proposed to Serbia. Popovic declined to comment on media speculations about the offered price for the Serbian oil industry NIS, underscoring that it is not his Ministry's job to deal with privatization and changes in the ownership share in NIS, but to secure the energy stability of the country. Speaking in principle, this agreement secures long-term energy stability, he told reporters. There are ongoing contacts with the Russian side, he said, and all the details of this agreement are being worked out in detail. "As soon as work on this is completed, the public will naturally be informed," Popovic said, stressing that the final decision on the agreement will be carried by the Serbian parliament. The proposed agreement is complex and surpasses the authority of one ministry, Popovic said, adding that at least five different ministries are in authorized to deal with it, which is why the Serbian government has formed a working group "that includes a good number of ministers."

PRISTINA, Jan 10 (Tanjug) - Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci said on Thursday, during the take-over of authority with former prime minister Agim Ceku, that the independence of Kosovo will be proclaimed very soon. In his statement, Ceku said he believed the new government will have an easier task, since the question of the status of Kosovo will be resolved very quickly and that the new government will after that be able to deal with other vital issues of the population.

BUDAPEST, Jan 10 (Tanjug) -Albert Rohan, former deputy of the UN SG's special envoy for the resolving of the status of Kosovo province Ahtisaari, has said that the Finnish diplomat's team had been given an impossible mission and that the final outcome will depend on the Serbs in that province. "We knew that it was a frustrating task, because we know the Balkans. It was clear even before the beginning of the negotiations that it would be impossible to secure a compromise between the ethnic Albanian demands for independence and the Serbs' wish to preserve the territorial integrity of Serbia," the Austrian diplomat said in a statement for today's issue of the Hungarian daily Nepszabadsag. In such a situation, a plan was made based on the reality in the field, since the majority ethnic Albanian population wanted nothing less than absolute independence, Rohan said.

VIENNA, Jan 10 (Tanjug) - Foreign Minister Ilkka Kanerva of Finland, which chairs the OSCE as of Jan 1 this year, said in Vienna on Thursday that the decisive moment for the future of the OSCE mission in Kosovo will be immediately following tha unilateral proclamation of the independence of that province. The OSCE mission in Kosovo, the mandate of which expires on Jan 31, should remain in the province for a longer period, the Finnish foreign minister said, expressing doubts regarding the successful functioning of the decision to extend the mandate of the OSCE mission in Kosovo each month for the next month. The crucial moment will be the one immediately following the unilateral proclamation of the independence of Kosovo, he said.

MOSCOW, Jan 11 (Tanjug) - Russia holds that a unilateral proclamation of Kosovo's independence and its recognition by other states without a corresponding decision of the UN SC would be illegitimate, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Yakovenko said on Friday. "We are strongly convinced that there is a prospect for a negotiated solution to Kosovo's problem," he said in an interview for the Moscow daily Rossiyskaya Gazeta. He reminded that on January 16, the UN SC would continue discussing the Kosovo issue and reviewing the report of the UNMIK. According to Yakovenko, Russia believes that the UNMIK mandate remains effective until a relevant decision of the UN Security Council is made.

MOSCOW, Jan 10 (Tanjug) - Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin said on Thursday that the way in which the status of Kosovo and final result would be defined would directly affect the way of resolution of other regional conflicts. Karasin said that only the UN SC could make the decision on the future status of Kosovo and that any attempt to implement a plan that did not suit both sides would inevitably result in the deterioration of the crisis. "Regarding the Kosovo precedent, we don't want it to be inevitable. We are for the continuation of the negotiating process that would ultimately lead to the solutions satisfying the sides involved in the conflict," said Karasin in an interview for the daily Nezavisimy Obozrevatel Stran Sodruzhestva. "This is our stand of principle as regards Kosovo and the settlement of conflicts in other parts of the globe, including the post-Soviet expanse," the Itar-TASS news agency quoted Karasin as saying. The Russian deputy foreign minister said that "the decision on Kosovo should be made only by the UN SC. This is what some try to forget." Karasin warned that "trying to carry out by a certain deadline the plan that does not suit both sides will inevitably lead to aggravation, and, possibly, even to bloodshed." "If we still arrive at the conclusion that in the present-day international situation the principle of a nation's self-determination is more important than the principle of territorial integrity of a state, we will have to guide by this principle in all regions of the world, not only in places where some of our partners would like this," Karasin said. "And then a nation's right to self-determination should be used both by the peoples residing on the post-Yugoslav expanse and by national minorities, also peoples of the Caucasus, residing on the post-Soviet space,".

MOSCOW, Jan 11 (Tanjug) - Russia's newly-appointed Ambassador to NATO Dmitry Rogozin has said that the method that is being proposed for a so-called pacification of Kosovo Albanians is a recipe for destructing Serbia's statehood, which cannot be tolerated since it violates international law, and added that because of this, Russia insists that certain countries stop humiliating Serbia and begin observing its sovereignty. It is no secret that NATO countries will recognise Kosovo unilaterally, since Russia's firm stand envisages a prevention of the international recognition of the independence of the southern Serbian province via the UN and other structures, Rogozin specified in an interview for the Russian government's international radio Voice of Russia. Serbia will not accept this either and it will use the methods that are codified in its Constitution for protecting its own statehood, he added. Two or three years ago, in talks with my Serbian friends, I noticed certain uncertainty in regard to their stands, Rogozin said. However, now the Serbian people can rely on Russia's support although the country is not an advocate of Serbia, but rather a defender of international law, Rogozin underlined.

BRUSSELS, Jan 11 (Tanjug) - NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer on Thursday stated that NATO is ready to handle any unrest in Kosovo. The Alliance has a clear role in Kosmet and that is to protect both the minorities and the majority of the population, Scheffer told reporters at NATO headquarters in Brussels. The situation is unstable now, but the reserve troops are ready if needed, said Scheffer, adding that no one should believe that something could be achieved by using violence.

PRISTINA, Jan 10 (Tanjug) - NATO Commander for South-East Europe Mark Fitzgerald said in Pristina on Thursday that KFOR would guarantee and ensure peace and security to all citizens of Kosovo. He said he guaranteed that NATO would continue to look after a peaceful and safe environment in Kosovo for all Kosovo citizens since this was part of KFOR's mandate under Resolution 1244. The US Admiral was speaking after a meeting with Kosovo Premier Hashim Thaci, attended by KFOR Commander Xavier Bout de Marnhac.

VIENNA, Jan 10 (Tanjug) - If international law, democratic standards and the Helsinki Final Act are violated by a declaration of Kosovo independence, the OSCE will face this year a debate on its basic principles, Serbian Mission to OSCE said Thursday in Vienna. OSCE will, in case of Kosovo independence, inevitably face a debate on the violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of a member-state, the Serbian Mission said at a session of the OSCE Permanent Council. Although OSCE will not take any political decision on Kosovo according to Western countries, each member-state must decide on its own stand on this issue, and this will in fact constitute a political decision, the Mission said, Tanjug has learned from diplomatic sources. All must clearly understand whether that decision will be in keeping with democratic principles, international law and the Helsinki Final Act, the Mission said. At the OSCE Permanent Council session at which the new chairman, Finnish Foreign Minister Kanerva, presented his priorities including Kosovo, the US and the EU advocated that the OSCE maintain its mission in Kosovo under existing mandate for one year. The US and EU regretted the decision adopted by the OSCE Permanent Council at the end of December at the request of two countries to extend the mandate of the Kosovo mission every month by one month, which means that its present mandate expires on Jan 31. Serbia and Russia prevented the plan of Western countries to extend the mandate of the 1,000 strong OSCE mission in Kosovo as the future status of the province is still unclear. Serbia and Russia pointed out that if Kosovo status is changed, the UN SC Resolution 1244, on which the OSCE mission's mandate is based, will no longer apply. Serbian diplomatic representatives said that the OSCE mission in Kosovo can do a useful and urgent job of establishing in Kosovo a society based on the rule of law and on respect of human rights. This can, however, be done only in abidance by international law, as any other option would essentially undermine the credibility of OSCE and of the principles and norms this organization wants to implement in Kosovo and other regions, the Serbian Mission said.

BELGRADE, Jan 11 (Tanjug) - A continuation of negotiations on the resolution of Kosovo status is the only way in which new tragedies can be avoided, Patriarch of Moscow and All of Russia Alexy II has assessed. To our great misfortune, some are trying to resolve the Kosovo issue without taking into consideration the aspirations of the people that have lived there from times immemorial, the Russian Patriarch said in an interview for the Friday issue of the Belgrade daily Blic. The stands of certain political powers, both inside the region and outside it, are often completely foundless, the Patriarch said, pointing to the fact that the information coming from Kosovo spoke of the suffering of refugees and desecration of holy sites. Patriarch Alexy also assessed that the only way out of the difficult situation regarding the dispute between the Serbian Orthodox Church and the unrecognised Macedonian Orthodox Church lay in a resumption of brotherly negotiations that would be based on the respect of the Holy Canons of the Church. In the negotiations, the two sides should not seek their personal benefits, but rather work to the advantage of the Church itself, and express maximal tolerance and willingness to listen carefully and understand each other better.

BRUSSELS, Jan 10 (Tanjug) - Kosovo Albanian separatist movement Self-Determination urged Thursday in an open letter the EU foreign ministers not to send a mission to Kosovo, as it would be undemocratic and doomed to failure. EU officials did not wish to comment the letter, to which Tanjug has had access. The letter signed by the movement's leader Albin Kurti asks the EU not to become another occupation force in Kosovo. Sending the mission would be undemocratic as the people of Kosovo were not consulted, the letter says. The mission would be based on Ahtisaari's plan which has not been officially accepted as a basis for resolving Kosovo status, the letter says. The EU mission is doomed to failure as it will be undemocratic although it claims its goal is to build democracy in Kosovo, the letter says, noting that the envisaged international civilian office has no plans for mechanisms for responsibility, which leaves Kosovo at the mercy of its interpretation of justice. By its very presence, the EU mission would prevent Kosovo sovereignty and independence, Self-Determination said. Something called "supervized freedom" does not exist, the letter says.

PANCEVO, Jan 11 (Tanjug) - Serbian President Boris Tadic on Friday stated that RSD 7.5 billion will be allocated from the National Investment Plan (NIP) for modernization of the Serbian Army (VS) and purchase of modern equipment and arms this year At the end of his tour of the Special Brigade in Pancevo, Tadic told reporters that the VS will buy only modern equipment and arms. Beside Tadic, Defense Minister Dragan Sutanovac and Chief of General Staff Col-Gen Zdravko Ponos also visited the Special Brigade.

BELGRADE, Jan 10 (Tanjug) - The Serbian government is preparing a strategy of sustainable development which will make it possible to balance the economic, social and environmental goals of development, Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic said on Thursday. In a public debate on this document at the Belgrade University School of Technology and Metallurgy, Djelic said that the strategy rested on three pillars - environment, knowledge economy and social policy. Djelic said that Serbia invested four times less money in sustainable development than countries that had entered the EU in the past few years. "Only 12 percent of waste is recycled in Serbia today, 60 percent in the European Union and up to 90 percent in the West. Still, Serbia has made a step forward because only three percent of waste was recycled three years ago," Djelic said. He said that recycling was an economic opportunity estimated to 100 million euros of turnover per year. He said that the government expected a large number of ideas from this school, including a proposal for the construction of windmills to use renewable sources of energy in Serbia. Djelic said that sustainable development also meant that the society that would be built would not have too prominent differences and inequality among people.

BELGRADE, Jan 10 (Tanjug) - Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic said on Thursday that a working group for the privatisation of NIS had received additional information regarding the gas part of the arrangement with Gazprom, confirming the wish of the Serbian side and determination of the Russian side to have the trunk transit pipeline built, rather than a side section, through Serbia. Addressing journalists at the Belgrade University School of T&M before speaking about Serbia's draft sustainable development strategy, Djelic said that new oil industry proposals would be reviewed on Friday and announced that a Russian delegation would arrive again at the weekend. He said that the government did not speak about all details in order not to undermine its negotiating position, but that the results of the talks would be presented to the Serbian parliament and citizens who would be able to assess whether the agreement was in the country's interest. Djelic said that the part of the arrangement referring to gas would ensure Serbia's economic and geostrategic interest.

BELGRADE, Jan 10 (Tanjug) - Serbian Minister Without Portfolio Dragan Djilas, who is in charge of the National Investment Plan, said that on Thursday the Serbian government had not reviewed the Russian government's offer for cooperation in energy and confirmed that the Russian delegation should visit Belgrade soon. Djilas said that the Serbian government still supported the adopted platform on negotiations for the conclusion of an energy cooperation agreement with Russia and added that the most important thing would be to precisely define the route of the pipeline through Serbia and its capacity. Asked by reporters whether the majority sale of NIS to the Russian partner would mean that citizens would lose their right to free shares, Minister of Economy and Regional Development Mladjan Dinkic said that this issue had been defined under the Law on the Free Distribution of Shares, which took effect on January 3.

BELGRADE, Jan 11 (Tanjug) - The Serbian Commissariat for Refugees will as of April 1 take over from the UNHCR the full care of asylum seekers from the third world countries, who, until their requests are resolved, can be housed in the reception center for asylum seekers in Banja Koviljaca, Commissioner Dragisa Dabetic said on Thursday.The Law on Asylum envisaged the transition to take place as of the beginning of 2008, but the deadline is prolonged until beginning of April, when the law is to take effect. One of the prerogatives for joining the European Union and the white Schengen list was also the adoption of the Law on Asylum. The law however takes effect on April 1, and before that date a number of legal acts have to be adopted and an asylum office has to be set up. This means that the first asylums might be received soon after that. The Iraqis, Curds, Afghans, Somalis, Uzbeks and others are the ones that most often seek asylum in Serbia. As long as the state procedure on their asylum requests is not concluded, it will be for the state itself to fully take care of the housing, food and medical care of all those who cannot afford private housing in Serbia.

BELGRADE, Jan 11 (Tanjug) - The Republic Electoral Commission (RIK) late on Thursday did not authorize observers from the embassies of Great Britain and the United States to monitor the presidential elections, while it made decision to allow observers from the OSCE and from the Inter-parliamentary Assembly of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). January 20 Serbian presidential elections will be monitored by 23 representatives of OSCE and three observers from the Inter-parliamentary Assembly of the CIS. During the session an occasionally fierce debate was held as to why the RIK did not authorize the two embassies to monitor the presidential elections.

BELGRADE, Jan 11 (Beta) - Serbia's overall foreign currency reserves reached EUR10.89 billion or US$16.06 billion, at the end of 2007, the National Bank of Serbia announced on Jan. 10. According to the news release, the National Bank's foreign currency reserves last year increased by EUR614.4 million to EUR9.63 billion, or US$14.2 billion.That level of reserves is threefold higher than the M1 money supply, the bank added.

BELGRADE, Jan 11 (Beta) - Economist Stojan Stamenkovic said on Jan. 10 that Serbia's foreign trade deficit for 2007 will amount to some EUR6.9 billion. Stamenkovic told a news conference that exports reached about EUR6.5 billion, whereas imports totaled around EUR13.4 billion last year. Presenting the latest two issues of the Institute of Economics bulletin, Stamenkovic said that the growth of industrial production in Serbia in 2007 will turn out to be under four percent, despite projections of over 4.5 percent. "The weaker growth in industrial production is a result of reduced production in the food industry and the overhaul of the Smederevobased U.S. Steel Serbia," Stamenkovic said.According to him, this could affect the projected GDP growth, which could be around seven percent instead of 7.3 percent.