Belgrade, 14. 01. 2008.

C O N T E N T :

SERBIA – EU – KIM MISSION

• JEREMIC: SERBIA HAS NO ALTERNATIVE TO EU MEMBERSHIP
• KOSTUNICA URGES EU TO SCRAP KOSOVO MISSION PLANS
• JEREMIC, RUPEL: SERBIA NEEDS TO SIGN SAA WITH EU
• JEREMIC CALLS ON EU MINISTERS FOR HELP
• SAMARDZIC: EU -SERBIA RELATIONS IN A SERIOUS CRISIS
• PROROKOVIC: BRUSSELS,NOT SERBIA CHANGED ITS POLICY
• REHN BELIEVES SIGNING OF SAA IN JANUARY STILL POSSIBLE
• EC: RESOLUTION 1244 SUFFICIENT BASIS FOR SENDING EU MISSION

• GOVERNMENT ADOPTS ACTION PLAN FOR KOSOVO AND METOHIJA
• TADIC AGAINST ANY SURRENDER OF KOSOVO - METOHIJA
• JEREMIC: DIVISION OF KOSOVO POSSIBLE
• DULIC: SOLUTION TO KOSMET STATUS NOT TO REFLECT ON REGION
• KOSOVO PRESIDENT HINTS AT IMMINENT INDEPENDENCE
• U.S. SPOKESMAN CLAIMS IGNORANCE OF U.S., GERMAN KOSOVO DEAL
• SECURITY COUNCIL ON KOSOVO ON JAN. 16
• SAMARDZIC: KI-MOON CANNOT TRANSFER POWERS FROM UNMIK TO EU
• FRIED: SERBIA HAS LOST KOSMET, BUT HAS A EUROPEAN FUTURE
• PROROKOVIC: FRIED UNFAMILIAR WITH THE BALKANS AND LOCAL PROBLEMS
• PROROKOVIC: "NEW PARTNERS IN CASE OF KOSOVO INDEPENDENCE"
• RUECKER: HIGH TIME FOR KOSOVO STATUS
• GOENCZ: GREAT CHANCE OF EU'S COMMON STAND ON KOSOVO
• ROGOZIN: SERBIA TO BE DECISIVE, RUSSIA TO DEMAND UN SESSION
• CIOROIANU: KOSOVO'S INDEPENDENCE MIGHT CAUSE ERUPTION OF SEPARATISM

• JEREMIC: SERBIA VOTES ON EU MEMBERSHIP IN JAN 20
• OSCE LIMITED OBSERVATION MISSION TESTIFIES TO MET STANDARDS
• US, BRITISH EMBASSIES DISAPPOINTED BY RIK DECISION
• UK, US WILL MONITOR SERBIAN ELECTION WITHIN OSCE – RIK

BELGRADE, Jan 14 (Tanjug) - In an interview with Tanjug on Monday, Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic stated that Serbia has no prosperous alternative to its membership in the European Union.

"I believe that there must be no dilemma. In every sense we belong to Europe. It is our vital interest to be there. EU membership brings so far unrecorded prosperity for all European peoples. They have all found their interest in being part of the European project. I cannot simply believe that we would be the only nation in Europe that does not share the same interest. I believe that the interest is more than clear - no member of the EU has ever had a more prosperous moment than the present one," said Jeremic.

Jeremic pointed out that top-ranking European officials had clearly told him that at present the EU has absolutely no dilemma that Serbia is welcome in full membership and that all of the 27 EU member states had agreed on that. Minister Jeremic evaluated that Serbia is ready to implement European regulations, and it unquestionably has the administrative capacity to meet the criteria for its accession in the EU.

"The conditions for signing the Stabilization and Association Agreement, however, have not been met yet. One remains and it is of political nature - the cooperation with The Hague tribunal. We have met all of the other conditions. As far as the cooperation is concerned, we believe that we have met that condition too, that is we are doing everything in our power," said Jeremic, adding that the majority of the EU member states shares the stand. "Unfortunately, there are still some countries that are not convinced. It is up to us and our friends and allies now to persuade all those countries and, in the end, soon see a consensus within the EU. It is in our vital interest to sign it," underscored Jeremic.

When asked about the relations between Serbia and the United States, Jeremic said that they are "good and harmonious, with the exception of one, rather important, issue, and that is the question of the future status of Kosovo, on which the Serbian government and the U.S. Administration have fundamentally opposed stands." "We may not, and cannot, give up our stand, and we shall continue to fight for our vision to be respected and taken into account. That will not be easy, but we are not alone, we have allies who share our opinion," said Jeremic.

Speaking about the relations between Russia and Serbia, Jeremic underscored that Russia is one of Serbia's most important economic partners and it supports the stand of the Serbian government on one of the most important political issues, and that is preservation of Kosovo and Metohija", said Jeremic.

"Our future is in the European Union and that is the issue which the Russian Federation fully supports. Minister (of Foreign Affairs Sergey) Lavrov, as well as all other high-ranking officials in Russia, have said this to me on several occasions - Russia strongly supports Serbia's membership in the EU and Russia believes that it is the best thing for the Western Balkans as a whole," said Jeremic, adding that "strategic interests of Russia and the United States concur on that." Reflecting on interpretations that Serbian President Boris Tadic and Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica have different stands on the issue of European integrations and the settlement of the Kosovo issue, Jeremic said that the state policy is fully shared and that there are no differences between the stands of the prime minister and president.

"The settlement of the issue of Kosovo and Metohija and Serbia's European future are two separate processes. That is the stand of Brussels, which has so far also been Belgrade's stand, and I believe that it has to remain as such. It is in our best interest not only in respect of realizing the European future but also in the sense of preserving Kosovo and Metohija," said Jeremic.

BELGRADE, Jan. 12 (Beta) - On Jan. 12, Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica called on the EU to abandon its plans to illegally dispatch a mission to Kosovo, urging the bloc against violating the territorial integrity of Serbia.

"Based on respect for, and insistence on, European values, Serbia demands that the EU not violate the territorial unit of our country and to clearly stand down from illegally sending a mission [to Kosovo]," Kostunica told BETA.

Kostunica added that a parliamentary resolution on Kosovo approved by 220 out of 250 MPs states that "an EU decision on sending a mission to enforce the rejected Ahtisaari plan would jeopardize the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and constitutional order of Serbia."

"It is clear that on Jan. 28, the EU can either sign the Stabilization Agreement with Serbia, or decide to break up Serbia with its mission. The two do not go together and the choice is up to the EU," Kostunica said.

LJUBLJANA, Jan 11 (Tanjug) - Serbian and Slovenian Foreign Ministers Vuk Jeremic and Dimitrij Rupel agreed in Ljubljana on Friday that Serbia needed to sign the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) with the European Union as soon as possible.

"I cannot say it for certain, but there is a considerable chance that this will happen" on January 28, during a meeting of EU foreign ministers, Rupel told reporters after a meeting with his counterpart Jeremic.

Rupel, whose country presides the European Union, added that he would discuss this with his European counterparts in order for an agreement to be made, the STA news agency reported.

"In the past few years Serbia worked diligently to meet the condition of cooperation with the ICTY," Jeremic said and added that Belgrade fully cooperated with the ICTY and planned to continue doing so in future. "That is why we are looking forward to a consensus in the EU which would confirm the position of the Serbian government on this matter, which is at the same time also the position of the Slovenian government, whose support we value highly," he added.

Jeremic also reiterated Serbia's stand that its EU accession and resolution of Kosovo's status were two separate processes. "This is both the official viewpoint of Brussels and Belgrade," he stressed. Jeremic stressed that Serbia was ready to continue talks on the future of the province and added that this was the only way for finding a compromise. "Dialogue is the only way to reach peace," the Serbian minister said and added that the EU would play an important role in these efforts.

As regards an EU mission which is to replace the United Nations (UNMIK), Jeremic stressed that "only the UN Security Council can create the legal framework" for such a mission. Jeremic and Rupel also discussed the visa regime for Serbian residents entering the Schengen zone, which Serbia joined in mid-December.

Rupel told Jeremic that as the EU president, Slovenia would strive for the abolition of visa requirements for the citizens of the Western Balkans. Meanwhile, sources in Brussels confirmed for the STA that Minister Rupel would meet with ICTY Chief Prosecutor Serge Brammertz in the Hague on January 16 to discuss Belgrade's cooperation with the ICTY, in view of the fact that four indictees were still at large. During his visit to Slovenia, Jeremic also met with Slovenian President Danilo Tirk.

BRUSSELS, Jan 12 (Tanjug) - Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic has described the Jan 20 presidential elections in Serbia as a choice between "the european and anti-european visions of Serbia" and asked the European Union for support on the path towards the biggest regional integration in the world.

"These presidential elections will not be ordinary, rather they will be more of a referendum (...) with options for european and anti-european visions of Serbia," Jeremic told Brussels weekly European Voice. "Do you back the european future of Serbia? If you do, help us at a time when this is needed," Jeremic said in a message to the EU ministers.

However, the European Voice said that apart from a last-minute turnabout, Serbia is not likely to sign the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) on Jan 28 at a meeting of the EU Council of Ministers in Brussels, noting that Belgium and The Netherlands demand the arrest of Ratko Mladic before the SAA is signed.

BELGRADE, Jan 12 (Tanjug) - Serbian Kosovo-Metohija Minister Slobodan Samardzic has said that relations between Serbia and the European Union are in a serious crisis due to the EU's intention to recognize the independence of Serbia's southern province.

"The EU has linked Serbia's european prospects with its own intention, which will most probably later be a decision, to recognize the independence of Kosovo. We cannot ignore this fact, in as much as the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) is strategically important for us," Samardzic told Saturday's issue of Belgrade daily Novosti. He underscored that Serbia should decisively reject the announced EU mission "because its realization, without previous agreement on the future status of Kosovo and Metohija and without a corresponding UN Security Council resolution, would represent the violation of international law and a form of violence."

Asked whether Serbia should sign the SAA unconditionally of it is offered to do so on Jan 28, Samardzic said: "In question is the EU's position on Serbia, i.e. its potentional contractual partner. If the Union is prepared to accept the independence of Kosovo by violating the international law, not to mention the violation of Serbia's vital interests, how is it possible to imagine such complex contractual relations between the EU and Serbia as envisioned by the SAA?"

VIENNA, Jan 14 (Tanjug) - It was not Serbia that changed its policy towards the European Union, but rather it was Brussels that changed its policy towards Belgrade, State Secretary in the Serbian Kosovo Ministry Dusan Prorokovic assessed on Monday and warned that such a policy change might have consequences for the entire region.

In an interview with the Vienna daily Der Standard, Prorokovic said that if one part of the European Union recognized a unilateral proclamation of the Kosovo independence, that would represent a severe violation of the Serbia's territorial integrity, to which Belgrade has to react. A unilateral and illegal recognition of Kosovo would not represent "an act of friendship," and Serbia would be forced to turn to new strategic partners, that are those countries which uphold Serbia's territorial integrity.

According to him, all ministries in Serbia have made action plans, which should come into force right after a possible proclamation of the Kosovo independence.

BRUSSELS, Jan 11 (Tanjug) - European Union (EU) Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn believes there is still a chance for Serbia and the EU to sign a Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) by the end of January, but pointed out that this depends on the urgent actions that Belgrade should take in cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague, the commissioner's Spokesperson Krisztina Nagy said in a statement for Tanjug in Brussels on Friday.

The signing of the SAA depends on the fulfillment of the conditions signed at the onset of the negotiations, among other things, also concerning full cooperation with the ICTY, Nagy said. Commissioner Rehn believes there is still a chance that the SAA could be signed in January, provided Serbia undertakes urgent actions aimed at the realization of full cooperation with The Hague Tribunal, she said.

In this respect, Commissioner Rehn supports the upcoming visit of ICTY new chief prosecutor Serge Brammertz to Belgrade, where he should assess the situation concerning the cooperation, Rehn's spokesperson pointed out. The Netherlands is the chief opponent to the signing of a SAA with Serbia, as it advocates the extradition of ICTY indictee Ratko Mladic before the EU signs that document.

This stand was recently confirmed by Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen. Belgian Foreign Minister Karel de Gucht told Serbian counterpart Vuk Jeremic this week that the Belgian stand on the issue of the SAA remains unchanged, actually that Belgium is still not satisfied with the degree of the cooperation of Belgrade with The Hague Tribunal.

BRUSSELS, Jan 11 (Tanjug) - The European Commission (EC) believes that United Nations (UN) Security Council Resolution 1244 presents a sufficient basis for the sending of a European Union (EU) mission in the area of the police and the judiciary to Kosovo and Metohija, Spokesperson to EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn Kristina Nagy said in Brussels on Friday.

The EC believes that Resolution 1244 provides sufficient grounds for the sending of a mission, Nagy said in answer to a question put to her by a reporter about the EC stand regarding the legal basis for the sending of a mission. Serbia, Russia, and several EU members, such as Cyprus, however, do not agree with such a stand and believe that such a basis is absolutely unacceptable because it envisages an allegedly creative interpretation of Resolution 1244 and a back-door introduction of the possibility of the implementation of Martti Ahtisaari's plan and the recognition of a so-called coordinated independence of Kosovo province.

In a separate statement for Tanjug, Nagy said today that the future of Kosovo is a European issue.

The European Council on Dec 14 reiterated the EU determination to resolve the status of Kosovo and to play the key role in the implementation of this agreement, within a clear European future of the entire region, Nagy said. The EU is ready to send its mission to Kosovo, which she said presents evidence of the strong political will of the EU to assume responsibility and to direct the coordination of this process toward the final resolving of the status of Kosovo, Nagy said in her statement for the Serbian national news agency.

BELGRADE, Jan 14 (Tanjug) - The Serbian government adopted on Monday the Action Plan of the Republic of Serbia for the case of declaration of Kosovo's unilateral independence.

A statement of the special session of the government specifies that the Action Plan has been adopted in keeping with the Resolution of the Serbian Assembly on the protection of sovereignty, territorial integrity and constitutional order of the Republic of Serbia. "The adopted document is an expression of a unified state policy in regard to the province of Kosovo and Metohija," it is specified in the statement.

BANJA LUKA, Jan 12 (Tanjug) - Serbian President Boris Tadic has said that Serbia will never accept the independence of Kosovo and Metohija and would defend its province through talks and with arguments, adding that any surrender in this respect is out of the question. "In case of the unilateral recognition, Serbia will annul such an act.

Only the UN Security Council can adopt a genuine and valid solution for the future of Kosmet," Tadic set out, noting that Serbia would fight for its sovereignty and integrity via all legal, diplomatic and peaceful means.

In an interview to the SRNA news agency, Tadic said that Serbia should not isolate itself at any cost in the struggle for its state and national interests. "Serbia should assume an active role and be present where decisions are made," Tadic stated. Asked about the possibility that the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) with the EU could be signed by the end of January, Tadic said that the government has empowered its deputy prime minister to sign the SAA and that it is important for Serbia to do everything that strengthens its position and opens up new economic prospects for all citizens.

HAMBURG, Jan. 11 (Beta) - Serbian Foreign Affairs Minister Vuk Jeremic warned in an interview in the German weekly Der Spiegel that Serbpopulated northern Kosovo might secede, although Serbia does not wish the province to be divided.

Jeremic called the possible proclamation of Kosovo's independence "a bad decision" and stated that Serbia, except for the military option, would use all available means at its disposal to oppose such a threat to its sovereignty.

"We will do everything a sovereign country can do to defend its [territorial] integrity. We will undertake everything in our political, diplomatic, international legal and economic power against this decision which is not in keeping with the law," Jeremic said.

In addition, the Serbian foreign minister did not exclude the possibility of an economic blockade of Kosovo.

BANJALUKA, Jan 11 (Tanjug) - Serbian Assembly President Oliver Dulic has said that the future solution to the status of Kosovo and Metohija would not have a destabilizing effect on political circumstances in Bosnia and Herzegovina, nor reflect on the region.

Assembly President Dulic in an interview with the Banjaluka Nezavisne Novine said he hoped that the future solution to Kosovo-Metohija would be within international law, as in his opinion that would be good for all. "We hope that the solution that will be reached will be in keeping both with the interests of Kosovo Albanians and with the interests of Serbia," Dulic said and added that the status of the southern Serbian province should be such that there are neither winners nor losers.

Dulic said he was confident that it would be bad if the future solution to Kosovo and Metohija did not constitute a foundation for building relations between the Serbian and Albanian peoples, which, he held, will be open in the future and must constitute a basis for the stabilization of circumstances in the Balkans. "All deputy groups in the Serbian Assembly are urging further negotiations on the issue of Kosovo, as resolving the status of the province is the most difficult task that Serbia has to confront," Dulic said.

PRISTINA, Jan. 11 (Beta) - Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu said on Jan. 11 that he has a general idea of when Kosovo will become independent, adding that although he does not know the exact date, it will happen very soon.

After a meeting with UNMIK chief Joachim Ruecker and his deputy, Larry Rossin, Sejdiu said that the decision on whether to maintain the Kosovo negotiating team will be made within several days.

He added that further steps will soon be taken towards the independence of Kosovo in cooperation and coordination with the international community.

According to Sejdiu, Kosovo still has to meet some of its obligations.

NEW YORK, Jan. 11 (Beta) - U.S. policy on Kosovo is clear and consistent, and the country remains devoted to the implementation of the Ahtisaari plan on supervised independence for Kosovo, U.S. State Department Spokesman Tom Casey said at a Jan. 11 press briefing.

He said this in response to a question about reports published in The New York Times and International Herald Tribune that the U.S. and Germany have agreed to recognize Kosovo as soon as the province declares independence and will call on the rest of Europe to follow suit.

Casey went on to say that the U.S. view is far from secret and hardly new.

The papers reported, citing unnamed senior EU sources close to the Kosovo talks, that U.S. President George W. Bush and German Chancellor Angela Merkel agree that Balkan stability needs to be achieved through a coordinated recognition of Kosovo after the Serbian Feb. 3 presidential runoff.

Casey denied knowledge of such an arrangement between his country and Germany or those talks of any form were held with German officials.

NEW YORK, Jan. 11 (Beta) - The U.N. Security Council will on Jan. 16 review an UNMIK report on the situation in Kosovo, at a session where Serbian President Boris Tadic is to be among the speakers.

This will most likely be an open session, but its final form, as U.N. officials told BETA, has yet to be determined, which is why it is uncertain whether newly appointed Kosovo Premier Hashim Thaci will be present in New York.

UNMIK chief Joachim Ruecker will present the U.N. Security Council ambassadors with a report on the situation in Kosovo in the past three months.

In the report, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon said that a status quo was "not likely" to be maintained, which was why "the continuation of resolving the future status of Kosovo should be the main priority for the Security Council and the international community."

The U.N., with support from relevant international organizations, is dedicated to aiding Kosovo on the path to sustainable stability. "In that sense, I acknowledge the EU's readiness to play a bigger part in Kosovo, as stated in the conclusions of the Council of Europe session on Dec. 14," Ban Ki Moon pointed out.

Dissatisfied with that report, the Serbian government sent a response to the ambassadors of the Security Council member countries, which Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic delivered to the U.N. headquarters.

BELGRADE, Jan 12 (Tanjug) - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon cannot transfer the powers from UNMIK to the EU mission and cannot make decisions resulting in political consequences, Serbian Kosovo-Metohija Minister Slobodan Samardzic has said.

Belgrade is opposed to the deployment of a EU mission in Kosovo and Metohija, because this is a part of Martti Ahtisaari's plan which calls for the independence of the province, Samardzic told the B92 TV station. In that case, the EU mission would be unacceptable, because it would aid the secession of Kosovo and Metohija from Serbia. "This is not (Serbia's) orientation towards the EU, but towards the issue whether Kosovo should be independent or a part of Serbia," Samardzic told the Poligraf program.

LJUBLJANA, Jan 12 (Tanjug) - Serbia lost Kosovo back in 1999, because of the rigidity of Milosevic's regime towards the ethnic Albanians and this is why now it cannot chose between joining the EU or preserving Kosovo, but between Europe and isolation, US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Euroasian Affairs Daniel Fried has said.

In an interview to Saturday's issue of Ljubljana paper Dnevnik, Fried said that neither incumbent president and premier - Boris Tadic and Vojislav Kostunica respectively, are not to blame for the fact that Belgrade is losing Kosovo, but that it is necessary to clearly tell the Serbs that their southern province is lost. The Kosovo extremism was a marginal event, it did not have support even in Kosovo, Fried set out, underscoring that he is well informed about that, as he was a diplomat in Belgrade at the time of the former Yugoslavia.

He pointed out that all negotiations conducted so far, as well as the efforts of the international community to resolve the Kosmet issue, have shown that Martti Ahtisaari's proposal for supervised independence for the province has no alternative, although Serbia rejects it. Serbia has a european future, if it decides to use this chance. However, it is choosing between the EU and isolation, not between Kosovo and the EU, Fried stated, adding that he is certain that the continuation of the Belgrade - Pristina dialogue would be meaningless.

BELGRADE, Jan 12 (Tanjug) - State Secretary at Serbia's Kosovo and Metohija Ministry, Dusan Prorokovic, has told Tanjug in reaction to a statement by US Assistant Secretary of State for Europe and Euroasian Affairs Daniel Fried, that "everyone who addresses Serbia in such a way, only shows that they are unfamiliar with the Balkans and that they do not understand Balkan problems, which is regrettable."

"Neither (Boris) Tadic, nor (Vojislav) Kostunica are to blame for the current situation with regards Kosovo and Metohija, but the United States is accountable," Prorokovic said in comment to Fried's claim that Tadic and Kostunica are not to blame that Belgrade is losing Kosovo, but that the Serbs should be told clearly that their southern province is lost.

"The responsibility lies with the US also for all future developments in the Balkans. I do not expect Fired to admit this, but I also do not expect him to make new threats to Serbia, because threats will not contribute to the stabilization of the situation," Prorokovic stated.

VIENNA, Jan. 14 (B92)- Serbia would be forced to find new strategic partners if Kosovo gains independence, a state secretary says.

If the West supports a unilateral recognition of Kosovo's independence, Serbia would react and seek new strategic partners among countries that respect its territorial integrity, the Kosovo Ministry's Secretary of State Dušan Prorokovic (DSS) said.

Prorokovic told Vienna daily Der Standard that Belgrade "would have to react energetically" if the countries of the European Union recognize Kosovo independence, because that would represent a "harsh blow to the territorial integrity of Serbia."

"Unilateral and illegal recognition of Kosovo would not be a friendly act. Serbia would be forced to turn towards new strategic partners, countries that support its territorial integrity," Prorokovic said.

He added that Serbia's Ministries have an action plan that would take effect if Kosovo independence is proclaimed.

There are many things that are unclear about the EU's politics towards Kosovo and its European perspective, Prorokovic believes .

In his opinion, as the EU stated that the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) can only be signed with countries recognized by the UN, and since the UN will not be able to recognize Kosovo without Serbia and Russia's approval, its European perspective will remain doubtful.

BELGRADE, Jan 13 (Tanjug) - UNMIK Chief Joachim Ruecker has said that it is high time for the resolution of the status of Kosovo and that the provincial institutions are ripe for a political status. Status is the job of the international community and of those engaged in the status process.

What I can say is that Kosovo is ready for the next step and that I believe that the institutions are ripe for the political status, Ruecker told US radio Free Europe in Prague. He added that UNMIK is aiding the process, and expressed hope that this issue would soon be finished. Ruecker noted that UNMIK does not have the mandate to comment the future status of Kosmet and how it will be resolved. Ruecker said that his report, to be presented on Jan 16 to the UN Security Council, underscores the progress achieved in fulfilling standards, and that its continuation would depend on the status. Ruecker reiterated that there would not be a division of Kosmet and that the north of the province is its integral part.

The UNMIK chief recalled that a recent report of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said that the further delay of the resolution of the status of Kosmet would cause instability in the region. The status issue was mentioned in the context of what the secretary general said in his report - that the status of Kosovo should urgently be resolved. We in UNMIK also hold this view. Progress in fulfilling standards depends on the status, such is the situation in the field and we must report about it, Ruecker stated. Early this month, the Serbian government said that UNMIK failed to fulfill a single of the eight international standards, and that the fulfillment of the majority of those from the sphere of human rights has not even begun, although they were declared in 2003.

BUDAPEST, Jan 14 (Tanjug) - Hungarian Foreign Affairs Minister Kinga Goncz on Monday evaluated that there is a great chance of the European Union reaching a common stand on the future of Kosovo before the region proclaims independence.

Goencz recalled that talks on EU's common stand on the future status of Kosovo and Metohija had been held last December, that talks on the level of experts is in progress and underscored that all reports indicate that Europe will reach a joint stand, the Hungarian new agency MTI reports. When asked about Hungary's stand, the minister replied that a common European stand is in Hungary's interest, adding that she would not say anything more concrete.

She announced that she will meet on Tuesday with Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic and that Kosovo will be one of the main topics of their meeting.

BELGRADE, Jan 14 (Tanjug) - In the case of a violent proclamation of Kosovo's independence, Russia will demand that a conference be organized, under the UN auspices, on the protection of international law, newly-appointed Russian Ambassador to NATO Dmitry Rogozin has said and assessed that Serbia has to remain resolute and principled as far as the Kosovo issue is concerned.

We will demand that a representative conference be organized, under the UN auspices, on the protection of international law, Rogozin said in an interview for the Monday issue of the Belgrade daily Glas Javnosti. To the question whether such a demand would suffice, he answered by expressing hope that it would, particularly, as he put it, if Serbia continued to be decisive, tough and principled in refusing to accept (Kosovo) independence. However, he voiced fear that Serbia was still somewhat divided as far as that issue was in question.

Serbia may be faced with a change of the regime, and if this happens the ones to be held responsible for this will be the Americans and those West European countries which, in cooperation with them, are strangling Serbia, the Russian ambassador to NATO added.

According to him, even in case that Belgrade did not oppose to the secession, the European Union would have to take into consideration the fact that small Kosovo is a laboratory of drugs, and that by defending Kosovo Serbs and by preventing the authority in Pristina to be transferred into the hands of terrorists and criminals, it would be defending its own standards and civilization values.

PARIS, Jan 14 (Tanjug) - Romania's Foreign Minister Adrian Cioroianu has expressed in Paris reserve of official Bucharest towards Kosovo's possible independence which might cause an eruption of similar claims in other regions with separatist aspirations.

During his Friday talks with French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and Chairman of the French Senate Christian Ponecelet, Minister Cioroianu explained that such a stand of Bucharest was based on the fact that there was no legal framework for a possible independence of that province, the Romanian national news agency Rompres reported on Monday.

He underlined that there was a danger that Kosovo independence might create a precedent for other regions, such as Pridnestrovie, Republika Srpska (RS) or the northern part of Kosovo itself, where the Serb population, which represented a majority, could fall into temptation to demand independence from Pristina. Serbs deserve an European perspective, and so does the entire West Balkans, Cioroianu said.

Furthermore, the official stand of Romania is that the individual rights of each specific member of an ethnic minority have to have advantage over the collective rights of that minority, the ranking Romanian diplomat concluded. Up to now, Romania has on several occasions expressed opposition to Kosovo's possible independence, and it is one of the few EU member states that oppose to such a solution to the province's status, Rompres reminded.

BELGRADE, Jan 13 (Tanjug) - Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic told Tanjug news agency on Sunday that at the Jan 20 presidential elections, Serbia will be saying whether it wants to join the European Union and be a full member.

"The EU has absolutely no dilemma that Serbia is welcome. Only one more vote is needed, one more country should agree that Serbia should become an EU member, and that country is Serbia itself," Jeremic said during a visit to the national news agency. He expressed hope and belief that Serbia would opt for EU membership and underscored that the "Jan 20 presidential elections will be an opportunity for this."

"If this chance is not used, if we decide to take several more years to think matters through, we could find ourselves in the situation that the process of the consolidation of the EU is completed, when borders are established and when there is no more room for EU membership," Jeremic pointed out.

He underscored that the path towards EU membership is currently open to all countries of the Western Balkans and that no one has any dilemmas about this. In this context, Jeremic described as very important the initiative of the national news agency for opening a joint international press center of Tanjug and Croatia's HINA news agency in Zagreb.

BELGRADE, Jan 11 (Tanjug) - The Serbian presidential elections on Jan 20 will be monitored by a limited election observation mission of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), instead of a full mission, since it was concluded that the standards were generally fulfilled during the voting day in the previous elections held in Serbia, OSCE/Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) Election Observation Mission Head Nikolai Vulchanov said in a statement for Tanjug on Friday.

During the previous observer missions, reports from polling stations showed that the voting process was generally in keeping with the home laws and the OSCE standards, so that the arrival of short-term observers on election day would not provide additional value to the general evaluation of the elections, Vulchanov told Tanjug.

There will not be a large group of observers who will monitor the voting process on election day itself, but the process will be monitored on the whole, he explained. This will not be the first time that a limited observation mission is being sent to Serbia, Vulchanov said. This was done also for the 2004 presidential elections at which incumbent President Boris Tadic was the winner, he specified. However, the OSCE sent a full election observation mission to Serbia for the latest parliamentary elections, he said. A referendum was also held at that time, different rumors were circulating, and the OSCE member-states decided at that time to send a full mission, Vulchanov said.

The OSCE/ODIHR election observation mission head declined to comment on the decision of Serbia's Republican Electoral Commission (RIK) not to grant accreditation to representatives of the United States (US) and the British embassies, because he said he was not acquainted with this, and would wait for an official information on accreditation. Vulchanov said he could state in principle that he does not know whether paragraph 8 of the relevant Copenhagen document on the transparency of elections lists any obstacles to the accreditation of any observers. Nevertheless, the details in each individual case are what is important, the OSCE official from Bulgaria said.

BELGRADE, Jan 12 (Tanjug) - The embassies of the United States and Great Britain in Belgrade on Saturday expressed surprise and disappointment by the decision of the Republican Election Commission (RIK) not to allow their representatives to monitor the Jan 20 presidential elections in Serbia.

We are disappointed by the decision. The Serbian parliament has invited the US, as an OSCE member, to monitor the election. Tanjug learned from First Secretary Rian Harris. Harris recalled that US representatives have monitored elections in Serbia many times. She added that the request for observing the current elections was a "routine" one.

In the British embassy, Tanjug was told that if the media reports are true, then they are surprised and disappointed by the decision and that political disagreements should not be coupled with the issue of monitors for the elections. We will demand an explanation for the reasons why RIK made this decision, it was said in the British embassy.

BELGRADE, Jan 11 (Tanjug) - Member of the Serbian central election commission (RIK) Vladimir Galic said Friday that it is not true that RIK has not allowed UK and US embassy officials to monitor the forthcoming presidential election, since it has authorized the monitoring by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in which UK and US have their representatives.

At the same session at which it refused to authorize UK and US embassy officials to monitor the election process, RIK approved the monitoring by the OSCE Mission, in which both countries have their representatives, he said. Allowing UK and US officials to monitor the process separately would give them a privilege over the other 16 states represented in the OSCE, Galic said.

No one has been excluded from monitoring the Serbian election and the RIK decision was not politically motivated, he said. Galic was nominated for RIK member by the Democratic Party of Serbia. The presidential election is scheduled for January 20.