SERBIA- EU

• KOSTUNICA: NOTHING IN SAA MUST REMAIN UNKNOWN
• EU OFFICIALS SAY AGREEMENT WITH SERBIA TO REMAIN UNCHANGED
• LJAJIC: SLIM PROSPECTS THAT SAA WILL BE SIGNED ON APRIL 28
• BASESCU SAYS SERBIA IS KEY TO STABILITY IN BALKANS
• ROMANIA SUPPORTS SERBIA'S STAND ON KOSOVO - SERBIAN OFFICIAL

• DAVIS SAYS BALKANS NOT DESTABILIZED
• CoE PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY DIVIDED OVER KOSOVO
• TRUTH ON HORRIBLE CRIMES CAREFULLY HIDDEN - RUSSIAN OFFICIAL

• DJELIC: SERBIA LIKELY TO STOP KOSOVO BECOMING IMF MEMBER
• SCIENCE MINISTRY: EVERYTHING UNDERCONTROL IN VINCA
• AMBASSADORS AND ZUKORLIC DISCUSS VIOLATION OF MUSLIMS RIGHTS

• SAMARDZIC: NO ELECTIONS IN KOSOVO COULD HAVE SERIOUS CONSEQUENCES
• UNMIK ON ELECTIONS IN KOSOVO
• IVANKO: STAND ON LOCAL ELECTIONS IN KOSOVO REMAINS SAME
• KPS: INVESTIGATION OF SERBS FOR SETTING BORDER POSTS ON FIRE
• ALEXEYEV SAYS KOSOVO ISSUE SHOULD RETURN TO LEGAL AREA
• TACI: RECONCILIATION WITH SERBS AFTER ELECTIONS

• DJELIC: SMALL AND MEDIUM COMPANIES EMPLOYING MORE PEOPLE
• BUBALO OPENS INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON E-COMMERCE
• JUB COMPANY OPENING NEW FACTORY
• GREEK COMPANIES ANNOUNCE EUR2bn INVESTMENTS IN SERBIA

BELGRADE, April 17 (Tanjug) - Serbian Prime Minister and Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) President Vojislav Kostunica has said that the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) with the European Union (EU) should not be signed until it is absolutely clear to the citizens of Serbia what the consequences of this act are in connection with the territorial integrity of the country.

"Nothing must remain undisclosed. Serbia and every one of its citizens must know precisely what we are signing with the EU and whether we are signing at the same time a continuation of the integrations and the independence of Kosovo," Kostunica said in an interview to the Belgrade daily Danas, which will be published integrally in the weekend edition of the paper. In order to eliminate any doubts regarding the treatment of the territory of Serbia in the SAA, a sentence should be added to that document explicitly stating that Kosovo and Metohija is an integral part of Serbia, Kostunica said.

Kostunica pointed out that the SAA implies the obligation of the signatory state to maintain good-neighbor relations with the countries of the region. Such a stand, provided all vague points are clarified, could be interpreted in future as the obligation that Serbia should establish good-neighbor relations with Kosovo, he said. The SAA does indeed contain a stand mentioning United Nations (UN) Security Council Resolution 1244, Kostunica said, but warned that this in itself need not be a guarantee for the territorial integrity of Serbia, since certain EU countries that have recognized the illegally proclaimed independence of Kosovo claim that the independence of this southern Serbian province is in keeping with that very resolution.

Kostunica expressed his support to the stand of South East Europe Stability Pact Coordinator Erhard Busek - who said that all countries of the Balkans should be given the status of candidate-countries for membership in the EU - but provided that statement implies that such status should be given to all Balkans states that are members of the UN.

"On the other hand, it is possible that Busek believes that Kosovo should also get the status of a candidate for EU membership, which would present an even greater precedent than the recognition of its unilateral independence," Kostunica said.

BRUSSELS, April 16 (Beta) - The EU's Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) with Serbia will be signed in the exact form in which it was initialed and no changes will be made, EU officials in Brussels told BETA on April 16.

This means, the officials pointed out, that the text is to keep Article 135, which states that Kosovo is under temporary U.N. administration, based on U.N. Security Council Resolution 1244, and that signing the SAA does not predetermine the province's status.

Asked to comment on Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica's demand that "a sentence affirming Kosovo as an integral and inalienable part of Serbia" should be added to the agreement before it is signed, officials of the EU Council of Ministers and the European Commission stressed that the Serbian government had negotiated and initialed the existing text of the agreement, and that it should be signed as such.

According to the officials, this is also in response to "the internal political preelection reasons" for Kostunica's statement that the existing initialed agreement is "Solana's agreement."

Asked whether Kosovo's unilateral independence, declared in the meantime, does change matters, as also claimed by the Serbian prime minister, the EU sources replied that the U.N. have confirmed that UNMIK remains the only administration in Kosovo, in line with Resolution 1244.

BELGRADE, April 17 (Tanjug) - Serbian Minister for Labor and Social Policy Rasim Ljajic has reiterated that the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) with the European Union (EU) does not violate the territorial integrity of Serbia, but said there are slim prospects that the document will be signed on April 28. "The SAA does not violate the territorial integrity of Serbia.

On the contrary, Article 135 explicitly states that (United Nations Security Council) Resolution 1244 is honored," Ljajic said in an interview to the Belgrade daily Vecernje novosti published on Thursday. He confirmed that the EU illegally sent its mission to Kosovo and Metohija and consequently violated that article of the SAA and Resolution 1244.

"It is correct that we have a rebel mission that is active in Kosovo and Metohija without any legal foundation. We are all in agreement with that. However, we cannot break off all relations with the EU because of that evident injustice. We must take part in the game, if we want to win it," he said. Asked whether he believes the SAA will be signed on April 28, Ljajic told Vecernje novosti: "Hardly. According to some reports, it is not only the Dutch who are opposed to that, as it has been presented to us."

BUCHAREST, April 16 (Beta) - Romanian President Trajan Basescu said on April 16 that Serbia "is the key to stability in the Balkans," and pointed out that "without a stable Serbia, engaged on the Euro Atlantic path, there is no stability in the Balkans."

At a public debate in Bucharest devoted to Romania's security, organized by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, Basescu spoke about Serbia's role in the security of the Balkans.

Basescu underscored that Romania had insisted at the NATO summit in Bucharest in April, on suggesting a higher level of cooperation for Serbia than the existing Partnership for Peace program and on intensifying dialog, even though Belgrade has not asked for it.

He added that Romania advocated this so that the alliance could be open for the option of Serbia requesting intensified dialog, when internal political conditions permit it.

BUCHAREST, Apr 16 (Tanjug) - Romania strongly supports Serbia's stand on Kosovo-Metohija and will not recognize Kosovo independence, State Secretary in the Serbian Defense Ministry Dusan Spasojevic said Wednesday.

Romania opposes the unilateral declaration of Kosovo independence, he said after meeting Romanian Defense Minister Teodor Melescanu. Melescanu also supported the speediest possible integration of Serbia in all European structures, Spasojevic told Tanjug.

STRASBOURG, April 16 (Beta) - Council of Europe Secretary General Terry Davis said in Strasbourg on April 16 that the Balkan region has not been destabilized after the declaration of Kosovo's independence.

"Nothing was done with the intention of destabilizing the Balkans," Davis told a news conference, when asked whether the Balkans had become destabilized after Kosovo's declaration of independence, Greece blocking Macedonia's invitation to join NATO, and the calling of early elections in Serbia and Macedonia.

Davis went on to say that there was certainly "great concern for what is happening in the Balkans and for the difficulties between the countries or within them," but he also said that there have been positive steps forward in the region, such as the police reform in Bosnia Herzegovina, adding that "one should look at the whole picture."

Asked who the Council of Europe will address if one of the conventions signed with Serbia is violated in Kosovo, Davis replied that this depended on the nature of the violation, but that when it came to Kosovo, the Council of Europe "continues to cooperate with UNMIK, and through it with KFOR, based on U.N. Security Council Resolution 1244."

Davis declined to comment on the potential outcome of the upcoming election in Serbia, saying that he believed the election process would take place in the best possible manner.

STRASBOURG, April 16 (Beta) -The Council of Europe (CoE) Parliamentary Assembly expressed deep differences concerning the consequences of the proclamation of Kosovo independence at a meeting in Strasbourg on April 16.

Swedish Bjorn von Sydow of the Socialist group opened a debate on Kosovo, which was added to the agenda later on. Sydow said two million Europeans lived in Kosovo, who were not represented in international organizations and should enjoy all rights like all other Europeans, regardless of their ethnicity.

Sydow recalled that in January, the Parliamentary Assembly adopted recommendations for the implementation of human rights, combating crime and corruption, and the rule of law and added that the CoE could provide its expertise in achieving these goals. According to Sydow, the divisions concerning the recognition of Kosovo independence should not present an obstacle to the implementation of these recommendations and he stressed that the EU mission in Kosovo was in line with the recommendations.

Serbian delegation head Milos Aligrudic said the proclamation of Kosovo independence was "a dangerous precedent," which jeopardized the process of democratization and also security in the region.

Aligrudic once again stressed that Serbia would never accept an independent Kosovo and described the decision to proclaim independence as "illegal and immoral."

STRASBOURG/MOSCOW, Apr 16 (Tanjug) - Head of the Russian delegation to the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) session Konstantin Kosachov said Wednesday that it is not a coincidence that the memoirs of the former chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia Carla del Ponte on inhumane crimes of ethnic Albanian extremists, abductions and trade in human body parts appeared only after the unilateral declaration of Kosovo independence.

All these facts were known for many years, but were carefully concealed, as some powers wanted at any cost to enable Kosovo separatists do declare independence and avoid being held accountable for monstrous bloody crimes for which present Kosovo officials are responsible, he said. During a debate on the consequences of the unilateral declaration of Kosovo independence, Kosachov said that the PACE views were completely ignored in Kosovo secession and that resolving situations similar to that in Kosovo by political methods has now become very problematic.

PACE has missed a unique opportunity to take a stronger stand against Kosovo independence and secure respect of human rights in Serbia's province, Kosachov, who chairs the Duma foreign policy committee, said. Not only has there been no progress in respecting Serb rights after independence was declared, but a green light was given to Kosovo authorities to continue creating a mono-ethnic state, he said. The debate on the consequences of the unilateral declaration of Kosovo independence was included on the PACE agenda only after the session started, at the initiative of the Swedish delegation, and there are no plans for taking a vote or adopting an official document.

BELGRADE, April 17 (Tanjug) - Serbian Deputy Premier Bozidar Djelic said on Wednesday evening that there are increasing chances that Serbia will manage to block the admission of Kosovo and Metohija to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.

Serbia will intensify cooperation with those countries that have not recognized the unilaterally proclaimed independence of Kosovo and Metohija in order to prevent the admission of this southern province to this international financial institution at the IMF Executive Board, Djelic announced.

In talks with IMF Director General Dominique Strauss-Khan at the spring session of the IMF and the World Bank in Washington, DC, last week, Djelic said he had received assurances that there are no ongoing activities in the direction of the admission of Kosovo into membership of that international financial institution.

BELGRADE, April 16 (Beta) -The claims by certain media that there has been a fuel leak at the Vinca Institute near Belgrade are not alarming, Science Ministry official Katarina Petrovic said on April 16.

Petrovic told BETA that the fuel has been released into pools for a while now and that everything is under control, adding that the ministry is looking for a way to permanently store the fuel, and that it is to be transported to Russia by 2010.

She also said the problem is that the fuel is not being stored in line with European standards. According to her, the permanent storage of the fuel is also part of a US$8.6 million deal the Serbian government has made with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the European Commission.

The U.N. on April 16 announced that Belgrade's deal with the European Commission and the IAEA is part of a global action aimed at reducing the hazards of illegal trade with radioactive material, but added that the completion of the Vinca project requires about US$25 million more.

NOVI PAZAR, April 16 (Beta) -The chief mufti of the Islamic Community in Serbia, Muamer Zukorlic, on April 16 had talks with representatives of the Swedish and Finnish embassies, about the violation of religious rights of Muslims in Sandzak in the past seven months, the Meschichate announced.

The ambassadors were also interested in the role of the Meschichate in solving social issues, such as drug addiction and the return of the displaced, it said in the statement.

"They also considered the possibility of the International University in Novi Pazar, of which Zukorlic is rector, participating in development projects aimed at creating new jobs for the people returning from western countries," it was said in the statement.

BELGRADE, April 17 (Tanjug) - Serbian Minister for Kosovo and Metohija Slobodan Samardzic has warned UNIK Chief Joachim Ruecker that a postponement or failure to hold elections in Kosovo could result in serious negative consequences, because that is a question of the utmost importance for Kosovo Serbs.

"Your letter to me, dated April 10, did not contribute to the resolving of our common question, and that is the organizing and realization of local elections in Kosovo and Metohija. I trust, however, that there is still hope that we can complete this task in cooperation and mutual understanding, to the welfare of Kosmet Serbs and all the other communities that do not recognize the illegal and unilaterally proclaimed independence of Kosovo and Metohija," Samardzic said in the letter to the UNMIK chief, dated April 14, which was made available to Tanjug.

Samardzic stressed the evident agreement with UNMIK on the stand that Kosovo Serbs should get democratically elected authorities, and that the elections can be called only by the local United Nations (UN) Mission, in keeping with UN Security Council Resolution 1244.

PRISTINA, April 16 (Beta) -UNMIK spokesman Sven Lindholm on April 16 said he hoped the U.N. mission would reply this week to the request of the Serbian Ministry for Kosovo and Metohija, for local elections to be held in the Serb enclaves on May 11.

In a statement to the Caglavica based KiM Radio, Lindholm said UNMIK had received a letter from Minister for Kosovo and Metohija Slobodan Samardzic and added that a reply was being considered.

"We hope to have a final reply during this week," the spokesman said.

KOSOVSKA MITROVICA, April 16 (Tanjug) - UNMIK spokesman Aexander Ivanko said on Wednesday that UNMIK's stand on the holding of local elections in Kosovo had remained unchanged.

Our position remains the same - any kind of elections in Kosovo, unless they are organized by UNMIK, are illegal, which includes the Serbian elections as well, Ivanko said. If Serbia continues to insist on its policy of holding local elections in Kosovo, that will represent a violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1244 and a violation of the executive mandate of UNMIK, he said.

The UNMIK spokesman said in a phone interview with the Mitrovica-based Radio Contact Plus, that representatives of the UN civil mission in Kosovo would probably send a reply to the letter Minister for Kosovo and Metohija Slobodan Samardzic had sent about the holding of the local elections in the province, but underlined that UNMIK's stand had remained the same.

Two days ago, Minister for Kosovo and Metohija called on UNMIK chief Joachim Ruecker to call local elections in the province, which would be organized and carried out by the authorities in Serbia.

KOSOVSKA MITROVICA, April 16 (Beta) - The Kosovo Police Service (KPS) has handed the international prosecutor a report, charging 21 Serbs for participating in setting fire to border posts between Serbia and Kosovo.

In a statement to BETA on April 16, KPS spokesman Veton Elshani said seven Serbs were suspected of participating in setting fire to the border post at Jarinje, near Leposavic, while another 14 Serbs were charged with committing the same criminal offence at the Brnjak border crossing, near Zubin Potok.

"Apart from participation in setting fire to and destroying the border crossings and police checkpoints, the evidence also incriminates the suspected Serbs of disturbing public law and order and association to commit criminal and terrorist acts," Elshani explained.

According to police information, some of the Kosovo leaders are also among the suspects. Before the incidents at the border posts, the Serbs from northern Kosovo said they would not tolerate "a bogus state of Kosovo."

On April 16, the head of the Serb National Council of Northern Kosovo, Milan Ivanovic, accused the KPS of attempting to destabilize the situation in the northern part of the province with false accusations against Serbs for participating in the uproar following the proclamation of Kosovo independence.

In a statement to BETA, Ivanovic described as fabricated, the evidence the KPS had collected against 21 Serbs for participating in the incidents at the Jarinje and Brnjak border crossings.

MOSCOW/ATHENS, April 16 (Tanjug) - Russia proposes to the international community to return the situation with Kosovo to the area of international law, former Russian ambassador to Serbia Alexander Alexeyev told the Itar-Tass news agency on Wednesday.

Alexeyev, who presently heads the 4th department at the Russian Foreign Ministry, said after a meeting in Athens with Greek Foreign Ministry Secretary-General Aristidis Agathoklis that the situation in the Balkans caused great concern in Russia. "We stressed that Russia wanted the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Serbia to be preserved and that it did not recognize Kosovo's independence," he said.

"We also believe that this act is illegal and has big political costs primarily for those who recognize Kosovo's independence," Alexeyev said. He said that Russia proposed the situation to return to the area of international law, from which it had been removed and "instead of international law, the rule of stronger dominates."

BUDAPEST, April 16 (Tanjug) - President of the temporary Kosovo government Hasim Taci said on Wednesday that he was ready for negotiations on reconciliation with Belgrade, but that it would not be possible to begin the talks before the Serbian elections.

We are aware of the fact that the Kosovo issue has become part of the pre-election campaign in Serbia, Taci said in an interview for the Hungarian daily Nepszabadsag. Only after the elections will the negotiations on the possibilities for Kosovo recognition begin, and this is a condition for Serbia to join the European Union and NATO, he added.

I am willing to work together with the Serbian authorities on a better future for both countries, Taci said. He denied the possibility that the process began with his apology to Serbs for the crimes that had been committed. According to him, Kosovo independence is a reality, but the situation is still complex. UNMIK is still in Kosovo, and EULEX head Peter Feith has arrived, Taci said. The United Nations has done a good job there, but our future path will be known on June 15, when our recently adopted Constitution comes into force, Taci said.

BELGRADE, April 16 (Beta) - Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic stated on April 16 that 450 of the most successful small and medium enterprises in Serbia are planning to increase the number of their employees by 16 percent this year.

At the opening of the first conference of entrepreneurs and the Serbian government, Djelic said these were the results of a survey carried out one month ago, adding that the number of employees in these 450 companies grew by 22 percent last year.

"There are more than 300,000 small and medium enterprises operating in Serbia that participate with two thirds in the turnover of goods on the Serbian market, and 40 percent in exports. This shows that the success of Serbia's transition will be measured by the success of these companies," he stated.

PALIC, April 16 (Tanjug) - Serbian Minister of Trade and Services Predrag Bubalo opened in Palic on Wednesday the 8th international conference on e-commerce and e-business and said that a law on trade, which would regulate the area and improve the development of cashless trade in Serbia, had already been prepared.

The conference is the biggest gathering on e-business in Serbia, which is to monitor the creation and development of the domestic and regional electronic markets - Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Macedonia.

In a statement for Tanjug, Bubalo said that the fact that businessmen, bankers and insurance companies participated in the conference showed that great interest and practical implementation of e-commerce had started long before the adoption of legal regulations in Serbia.

BELGRADE, April 16 (Beta) - The Slovenian company JUB has announced that it will start building a factory for producing facade mortar in the town of Simanovci this year, with an investment of about EUR6 million.

Director Vladimir Miletic told BETA on April 16 that the capacity of the factory will be 10,000 tons per year, and that the start up is planned in two or three years. In his words, the factory's products will be exported throughout the region. He recollected that the two factories already working in Simanovci are producing adhesives and paints, saying that sales in 2007 grew by 35 percent. Miletic said that, last year, this factory produced about 50,000 tons of finishing materials for the construction industry, worth about EUR25 million. "This factory is among the 50 exporters, and it exports 75 of its annual output, to Bosnia Herzegovina, Romania, Montenegro and Macedonia," he said.

JUB operates in 26 countries, making dispersion paints, decorative mortar and other chemical products for the construction industry.

BELGRADE, April 16 (Beta) - Greek companies intend to invest EUR2 billion in Serbia over the next two years, the chairman of the Hellenic Business Association in Serbia, Vasilios Dertilis, announced on April 16.

The majority of investments will be in realestate and trade, while three other retail chains are expected to enter Serbia, Greek investors announced in talks with reporters in the residence of the Greek ambassador in Belgrade.

Dertilis said about 50 companies from Greece intend to start doing business in Serbia, but that some of the investors wish to be sure of political stability before the realization of the investments. In his words, Greece is the biggest foreign investor in Serbia, with direct investments exceeding EUR2 billion, while more than 25,000 Serbian citizens are employed by Greek companies.

He stressed that the problems the Greek businessmen operating in Serbia are facing are mainly related to the regulation of ownership rights on land and to the certification of products, but he added that the Serbian authorities are informed about this and are working to solve these problems.

The Greek ambassador to Serbia, Christos Panagopoulos, stated that investments so far and those that have been announced, are proof of the Greek companies' longterm plans to do business on the Serbian market. "The exceptional atmosphere of good and friendly relations between Serbia and Greece is being shaped in the best way through dynamic business relations between the two countries," he pointed out.