Belgrade, 13. 02. 2008.

SERBIA

• NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL HOLDS SESSION IN BELGRADE
• TADIC CALLS ON POLITICIANS TO BE MORE RESPONSIBLE
• KOSTUNICA SAYS STATE UNITY IS MOST IMPORTANT GOAL
• FOREIGN POLICY COUNCIL MEETS TO DISCUSS KOSOVO, EU
• MAINTAINING STABLE INSTITUTIONS IN INTERESTS OF YOUNG PEOPLE
• SERBIAN, RUSSIAN JUSTICE MINISTRIES CLOSE COOPERATION DEAL
• SERBIAN, CROATIAN BORDER POLICE GET NEW EQUIPMENT

• KRASNIQI SAYS INDEPENDENCE MAY BE DECLARED ON FEB. 17
• EU MISSION'S OPERATIONAL PLAN POSSIBLY EVEN BEFORE FEB. 17
• KOUCHNER FOR UNITED EU STAND ON KOSOVO
• LT-GEN DE KERMABON HEADS EULEX, FEITH SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE OF EU
• NATO: KFOR DOES NOT NEED NEW MANDATE
• LAVROV: KOSOVO'S INDEPENDENCE THREAT TO EUROPEAN SECURITY
• SERBIA REQUESTS UN SC SESSION ON KOSOVO, RUSSIA SUPPORTS
• CHIZHOV ON NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES
• KOSOVO'S INDEPENDENCE CREATES PROBLEMS FOR GEORGIA

• JOUYET : EU SHOULD GIVE MAXIMUM GUARANTEES TO SERBIA
• MAAS: COOPERATION WITH EU AFFECTS STANDARD OF SERBIAN CITIZENS

• GLOBAL AGREEMENT SERBIAN MEMBERS MEET
• ITALIAN RIMINI FIERA WANTS TO BUY BELGRADE FAIRGROUNDS
• SERBIAN, KRASNODAR CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE AGREE COOPERATION

BELGRADE, Feb. 12 (Beta) - The National Security Council held a session in Belgrade on Feb. 12, but the public was not informed of what the state leaders have agreed upon.

The meeting took place at the Security Information Agency headquarters, but it is unknown whether all the members of that body attended the session and what the conversation topics were.

Earlier announcements said that action plans in the case of a unilateral declaration of Kosovo's independence would be reviewed.

These action plans are considered a state secret.

The National Security Council was formed on May 31, 2007, with the aim of coordinating the work of all ministries from the defense sector and all security and intelligence services. The council did not meet after the convening session.

Members of the council are the Serbian president and prime minister, the ministers of justice, defense and interior affairs, army chief of staff, director of the Security Information Agency, and the heads of the Military Security Agency and the Military Intelligence Agency.

The council is presided over by the Serbian president.

BELGRADE, Feb. 12 (Beta) - Serbian President Boris Tadic on Feb. 12 called on all state officials and the leaders of all Serbian parties to "act more responsibly than they have so far, following the announcement of a unilateral declaration of independence of Kosovo and Metohija."

"With their statements and rhetoric, politicians certainly should not cause situations in which the safety of our fellow Serbs in Kosovo could be jeopardized," Tadic said, as quoted in a news release issued by his office on the evening of Feb. 12.

Tadic called for peace, seriousness and restraint.

"I urge all parties to leave party promotions aside, so that in this crisis the state can act responsibly," he said.

The news release also quotes Tadic as saying that Serbia is a European and democratic country which threatens no one, as well as one defending its sovereignty and territorial integrity in a peaceful and dignified manner. "Serbia belongs in Europe and our road is a European one. I will not abandon the fight for the interests of citizens and the struggle to preserve Kosovo. The state must be united and act responsibly when it comes to defending its integrity and sovereignty. Only in the EU can Serbia defend its Kosovo," Tadic said.

BELGRADE, Feb. 12 (Beta) - Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said on Feb. 12 that the most important goal facing all state institutions now was to demonstrate full state and national unity in defending Kosovo, in the face of the announced unilateral declaration of independence.

In a statement given to BETA, Kostunica stressed that "at the moment, that's the most important message for our people in Kosovo and Metohija."

"We have decided that the government will on Feb. 14, in advance, annul all unlawful acts on the unilateral proclamation of this false state on Serbian territory. We will not allow such a creation to exist for a single moment, and it must be legally abolished the minute it is illegally proclaimed by terrorists," Kostunica said.

The prime minister underscored that "Serbia has with the greatest resolve resisted all external pressure, blackmail and offerings of benefits and rewards to justify legal violence in any way and become an accessory to the brutal violation of the U.N. Charter and the U.N. Security Council Resolution 1244."

"That way we have preserved that which is most important to have Serbia and no one but Serbia be entitled to Kosovo, according to international law and all other laws, regardless of any unlawful declaration and later recognition of independence," Kostunica said.

According to him, "no one can ever take that away from us, because now, when it is crucial, we are not giving it up and have not consented in any way to Kosovo's independence."

BELGRADE, Feb. 12 (Beta) - On Feb. 12, members of the Foreign Ministry Foreign Policy Council got together to discuss the latest developments related to Kosovo and EU accession.

A statement from the ministry said that Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic informed the council of the views of the cabinet and president.

It was Jeremic and Council Chair Zivorad Kovacevic who organized the meeting.

BELGRADE, Feb 13 (Tanjug) - Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic will arrive on a one-day visit to Ukraine on Wednesday, where he will attend a meeting of the foreign ministers of the member countries of the European Union and the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC).

According to a statement issued by the Foreign Ministry, during his stay in Kiev, Jeremic will have separate bilateral talks with Russian First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrey Denisov, and the foreign ministers of Armenia and Ukraine, Wartan Oskanian and Volodymyr Ogryzko, respectively. The Serbian foreign minister will also confer with the other foreign ministers that will take part in the meeting.

BELGRADE, Feb 12 (Tanjug) - Minister of Youth and Sport Snezana Samardzic Markovic said on Tuesday that it is in the interests of young people that the stability of the institutions in Serbia should be maintained, stressing that European integrations are a part of the coalition agreement of the parties that comprise the Serbian government.

Addressing a press conference at the Serbian government, the minister said she expected Serbia to continue along its European pathway. All relevant topics will be discussed at the government session on Thursday, she specified.

Presenting the activities of her Ministry dedicated to the European youth campaign "All Different - All Equal," she said that numerous promotional and educational activities are envisaged for the year 2008, with the objective of the affirmation of the richness of diversity and equality, as well as active participation through the fight against discrimination.

MOSCOW, Feb. 12 (Beta) - Justice Minister Dusan Petrovic has signed a cooperation deal with Russian Justice Minister Vladimir Ustinov.

After the Feb. 12 signing ceremony in Moscow, Petrovic told BETA that the deal emphasizes the political will of both ministries to work together.

The arrangement will also facilitate closer and more productive cooperation between the Serbian and Russian courts and prosecutors, as well as boost their exchange of information.

"On the other hand, the expansion of economic cooperation and trade between our nations also requires more international legal assistance. This agreement will make that aid more effective," Petrovic added.

BATROVCI, Feb. 12 (Beta) - Serbian and Croatian border police have received vehicles and equipment intended to help combat crossborder and organized crime, courtesy of the British Foreign Office and International Organization for Migration.

On Feb. 12, police manning the Batrovci border crossing received two Land Rover vehicles, two laptop computers, and two sets of night-vision equipment as part of the project, which also includes training for border guards.

Deputy Head of Mission in the British Embassy Bill Longhurst said he hopes this former site of conflict and misunderstanding will eventually become an internal boundary of the EU. He added that preventing illegal immigration, combating organized crime, weapons and drug smuggling are equally important for all of Europe.

In addition, Longhurst highlighted preventing illegal immigration as one of the two remaining obstacles to visa liberalization for Serbian citizens.

PRISTINA, Feb. 12 (Beta) - Kosovo Assembly Speaker Jakup Krasniqi said on Feb. 12 that Kosovo may declare independence on Feb. 17.

After a meeting with the chief of the Turkish Office in Pristina, Mustafa Sarnic, Krasniqi said that Kosovska Mitrovica Mayor and former Kosovo premier Bajram Rexhepi "was most likely right" when he had said that Kosovo would declare independence on Feb. 17.

Asked to comment on Rexhepi's statement, Krasniqi said that what Rexhepi had said "may be true." Krasniqi dismissed the possibility of Serbia imposing economic sanctions on Kosovo after the proclamation of independence. He said that the times of embargo had passed, and that the citizens of Kosovo need not worry about that.

NEW YORK, Feb 13 (Tanjug) - French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner called on the European Union on Tuesday to assume a united stand as to whether it would recognize Kosovo in case that the southern Serbian province proclaimed independence.

Following the announcements that Pristina intends to declare independence on Sunday, Kouchner said that the EU had to assume a stand as to whether or not it would back that move. The time has come for the EU member states to make a decision, the French foreign minister told journalists in New York.

We will see what happens on Monday, Kouchner added, referring to the announced meeting of the EU foreign ministers in Brussels.

BRUSSELS, Feb. 12 (Beta) - The operational plan that would officially give the go-ahead for the beginning of an EU mission to Kosovo may be adopted "through a written process" even before Feb. 17, for which the Kosovo Albanians have announced their declaration of independence.

European diplomatic sources in Brussels told BETA on Feb. 12 that the EU believed it would be better to have the mission ready before Pristina proclaimed independence.

Although experts are still working on an extensive 250page operational plan, the EU foreign ministers may make the final word on it in Brussels on Feb. 18.

The term "written process" means that the EU ambassadors will harmonize the document and give EU member states a deadline for potential objections, and if none are made the document will automatically be adopted.

The so-called joint action on the legal provisions, ways and means for the EU mission to Kosovo has already been adopted in this manner.

The operational plan, however, is the key document for the mission's launch.

BRUSSELS, Feb 12 (Tanjug) - Former commander of the KFOR, French Lieutenant-General Yves de Kermabon will head the European Union (EU) mission to Kosovo and Metohija in the area of the police and the judiciary, EULEX, while Netherlands diplomat Pieter Feith will be the EU special representative, European officials told Tanjug in Brussels on Tuesday.

Lt-Gen de Kermabon and Feith will answer to EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana. The two appointments will become official this week after the necessary documents are adopted, Tanjug's sources said. Lt-Gen de Kermabon, 58, was appointed to this office because he is very familiar with the field, the sources told Tanjug, since this would be his fourth term of service in Kosovo province in the past six years.

The French general will be receiving political instructions from Feith, as the EU special representative. Feith will coordinate all the EU activities in Kosovo, with special emphasis on the development of human rights and elementary freedoms in Kosovo. In this capacity, Feith should also head the International Civil Office, which is envisaged under the plan of Martti Ahtisaari on a supervised independence of this southern Serbian province.

MOSCOW, Feb 12 (Tanjug) - The mandate of military force in Kosovo (KFOR) and the number of troops will not be changed, Isabelle Francois, Director of the NATO Information Office (NIO) in Moscow, stated on Tuesday.

The KFOR troops have a fully clear mandate, set by the UN Security Council Resolution and it stays in force, said Francois, adding that a new mandate is unnecessary because the existing one is enough. NATO will continue to have 16,000 troops stationed in Kosovo, said Francois at an informal meeting of NATO Defence Ministers in Lithuania's Vilnius.

According to Francois, it was underscored in Vilnius that the peace-keeping contingent in Kosovo should secure safety for both the minority and majority of the population in Kosovo, and that NATO's approach is objective and neutral.

GENEVA, Feb. 12 (Beta) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in Geneva on Feb. 12 that a unilateral declaration of Kosovo's independence would jeopardize security in Europe, reiterating that Kosovo could not be a special case.

Unilateral independence "would jeopardize the foundations of security in Europe, it would shake up the foundations of the U.N. Charter," Lavrov told journalists in Geneva, where he is attending a conference on disarmament.

Lavrov also said that many countries, including EU members, had announced that a unilateral proclamation of independence was totally inevitable, claiming they would support that proclamation.

"I understand that many have failed to grasp the basics, since they are talking about breaking up the foundations of international law in Europe," he said.

Lavrov is also convinced that Kosovo cannot be an isolated case, and that "an absolutely double standard" is dominant, according to which Kosovo is "a special case that in no way affects the situation in other regions."

NEW YORK, Feb 12 (Tanjug) - Russian Ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin has said that Serbia is requesting a special session of the UN Security Council on Kosovo for Thursday, Reuters reports Tuesday.

"We are going to support it," Churkin told the press. British and US envoys said they knew nothing about the request.

VIENNA, Feb 13 (Tanjug) - Russian Ambassador to the European Union Vladimir Chizhov has announced that the countries that recognize Kosovo independence will suffer negative consequences in regard to their relations with Moscow.

This, first of all, refers to the EU which does not have a consensus on this issue, Chizhov said in an interview for the Vienna daily Die Presse while replying to the question in what way the recognition of Kosovo independence from the part of most EU member states would influence the Russian-EU relations. Of course, negative consequences would be suffered by those countries that recognize Kosovo, but I do not want to say which countries this will be, he added. Commenting on the possible development of events after the proclamation of Kosovo independence, Chizov underlined that if that happened, there would be a wide destabilization in the region.

The reaction of the Serbian side can be predicted and it is probable that the remaining 100,000 Serbs in Kosovo will not recognize it (independence), he said, adding that violence could not be ruled out. He pointed out that Kosovo might provoke consequences in other regions as well, such as Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia, for example. This does not have to be the last chapter of the Balkan drama, Chizov underlined.

Asked whether he expected that once Kosovo proclaimed independence, other provinces in the world would also secede, including those in the region of the former Soviet Union, he answered that that would definitely be the case. Too many of them will see Kosovo as a precedent, and so will certain pertain parts of the former Soviet Union, such as Georgia, Chizov underscored, reminding that experts have established over 200 cases which would view Kosovo as a precedent. Need I mention Belgium, Scotland, West Sahara, he wondered, pointing out that Abkhazia was not the reason for the strong stand his country had on the Kosovo issue.

VIENNA, Feb 13 (Tanjug) - Georgia's new Prime Minister Lado Gurgenidze has warned that Kosovo's independence would create problems for his country. Georgia follows the developments in Serbia very closely, Gurgenidze said.

In case that Kosovo became independent, as it is being planned, Georgia would have two problems - Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which would see a precedent in that, he pointed out. Along with this, the role of Russia, with which we have enough problems as it is, would strengthen, Gurgenidze underlined in an interview for the Vienna business daily Wirtschaftsblatt.

He said he hoped that the latest events had not already brought damage. We want to join NATO as soon as possible, and I hope that at the Alliance's summit in Bucharest in April we will officially be given the status of candidate, the prime minister of Georgia said.

PARIS, Feb 12 (Tanjug) - The European Union should give maximum guarantees to Serbia for its association with the EU, French European Affairs Minister Jean - Pierre Jouyet has told Tanjug in Paris.

What is important at this moment is to give maximum guarantees to Serbia and to help our Serbian friends, Jouyet said ahead of Wednesday's meeting of the representatives of the EU and Russia in Ljubljana, at which he will be one of the participants. Jouyet said that the crucial moments for the Balkans will take place next week, alluding to the possible declaration of the Kosovo Albanians on the independence of Kosovo.

The evolution has already been determined and the current status is unsustainable. We are continuing the dialogue on Kosovo with our Russian friends, Jouyet indirectly answered Tanjug's question whether a new crises over Serbia's province is being opened due to the opposing stands of numerous EU members and Russia. Jouyet stated that he strongly urges that Serbia is offered a very clear perspective for joining the EU, in the spirit to respecting the EU criteria and its values.

He said that it is necessary to go furthest in this offer to Serbia during the Slovak and French EU presidencies in order to respect the wishes of those who voted for the re-election of democratic candidate and incumbent President Boris Tadic at the recent elections in Serbia.

BELGRADE, Feb 12 (Tanjug) - Serbian Minister for State Administration and Local Self-Government Milan Markovic and German Ambassador to Serbia Wolfram Josef Maas met in Belgrade on Tuesday and marked the beginning of the program for the renewal of the water supply and sewage systems in medium-sized municipalities in Serbia that is being financed by the German government.

The four-year program is worth 30 million euros, it is financed by the German development bank KfW, and it will be implemented in two phases. Ambassador Maas said, in a message to Serbian citizens, that Serbia's cooperation with the European Union (EU) and its members has a direct and immediate effect on their standard.

The results of the recent presidential elections - which present an encouraging sign that Serbia is moving toward the EU, demonstrate that the citizens of Serbia realize this fact, Maas said at the meeting with Minister Markovic and representatives of eight Serbian municipalities.

Through this joint work, it will be demonstrated to the Serbian citizens that the pathway toward the EU is at the same time the right pathway toward the improvement of their everyday lives, Maas said.

Municipalities present important partners in the process of association with the EU, since decentralization is the foundation stone of European integration processes, the ambassador pointed out.

BELGRADE, Feb 12 (Tanjug) - The first working meeting of the members of the UN's Global Agreement has been held in the National Bank of Serbia (NBS) focusing on socially responsible business in Serbia so far, NBS announced on Tuesday.

On Feb 7, the Global Agreement in Serbia offered an opportunity to enterprises, financial institutions and the non-government sector to debate corporative social responsibility and ways for promoting good business practices in this sphere. Global Agreement is the biggest voluntary association in the world for promoting socially responsible business, with over 4,000 companies from more than 100 countries.

BELGRADE, Feb. 12 (Beta) - Representatives of the Italian Rimini Fiera on Feb. 12 confirmed they were interested in buying the Belgrade Fairgrounds.

The Italian company intends to take part at the tender for the sale of the Belgrade Fairgrounds, due to be published late in February, Rimini Fiera owner and chairman of the board Lorenzo Cagnoni told Serbian Trade and Services Minister Predrag Bubalo.

Italian Ambassador to Serbia Alessandro Merola was also present at the meeting, held at the Ministry of Trade and Services.

Rimini, one of the biggest organizers of fairs in Italy, is also interested in developing congress services in Belgrade, the press release from the trade ministry said.

Aside from Rimini, the Austrian Reed Exhibition and the Lyonbased GL Event is also interested in buying the Belgrade Fairgrounds, company representatives stated earlier.

MOSCOW, Feb 12 (Tanjug) - Serbian Chamber of Commerce (PKS) President Milos Bugarin and his counterpart from the Krasnodar Chamber of Commerce, Yuri Tkachenko, signed in Krasnodar, Southern Russia, an agreement on cooperation between the two chambers.

The two chambers underscored their readiness for aiding the development and strengthening trade and economic relations in Serbia and Krasnodar, and pledged to exchange economic and trade information.

The two chambers will exchange commercial offers and information about business and investment possibilities and legal and other acts in the foreign economic sphere and cooperate in the realization of projects, including presentations and business visits.