Belgrade, 21. 01. 2008.

C O N T E N T :

SERBIA – PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

• LARGEST ELECTION TURNOUT SINCE 2000
• CESID: TURNOUT 61 PERCENT, NIKOLIC AND TADIC IN SECOND ROUND
• TADIC IS CERTAIN HE WILL WIN SECOND ROUND
• NIKOLIC EXPECTS VICTORY IN SECOND ROUND

• SERBIAN FOREIGN MINISTER IN ATHENS ON MON, BUCHAREST ON TUE
• EU TO LAUNCH VISA ELIMINATION TALKS WITH SERBIA ON JAN. 30
• DJELIC: REALISTIC THAT SERBIA IS PUT ON WHITE SCHENGEN BY LATE 2008
• INTERNATONAL AID FOR EDUCATION, CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS
• REFUGEE PROBLEMS: ACCOMODATION, UNEMPLOYMENT, INSECURITY

• LONCAR: EU SHOULD GIVE UP SENDING ITS MISSION TO KOSOVO
• ALIGRUDIC: PA CE RESOLUTION HAS NO CONSEQUENCES IN PRACTICE
• THROUGH DIALOGUE TO COMPROMISE SOLUTION FOR KOSOVO
• FRENCH PRESIDENT SEEKS EU SUPPORT TO KOSOVO INDEPENDENCE
• EU, CONTACT GROUP KOSOVO MEETING ENDS WITHOUT STATEMENT
• EU MISSION AND KOSOVO INDEPENDENCE SEPARATE ISSUES, RUPEL
• RUSSIA COUNTS ON BULGARIA'S CONSTRUCTIVE POSITION, LAVROV
• KISLYAK: PROSPECTS FOR NEGOTIATED SOLUTION REMAIN
• RUSSIA CATEGORICALLY OBJECTS TO IMPOSED SOLUTION, KOSACHOV
• KOSOVO PREMIER: RUSSIA ONLY MAJOR STATE AGAINST INDEPENDENCE
• THACI REFUSES TO APOLOGIZE FOR CRIMES AGAINST SERBS
• KOSOVO STILL NEEDS INTERNATIONAL PRESENCE - OSCE OFFICIAL
• SUPPORT TO SERBIA SPREADS IN HOLLYWOOD

• KOSTUNICA: WE WILL SIGN AGREEMENT WITH RUSSIA
• DJELIC: GOVERNMENT WORKS INTENSIVELY ON RUSSIA'S OFFER
• USAID TO SINK USD39 MILLION IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN 2008

BELGRADE, Jan. 20 (Beta) - At the presidential elections on Jan. 20, the largest voter turnout of any presidential election since 2000 was recorded in Serbia.

According to the data of the Center for Free Elections and Democracy (CeSID), in Serbia on Jan. 20 some 60.6 percent of voters had cast their ballots by 8 p.m. That figure is based on a 60 percent representative sample.

Up until today's elections, the largest turnout in the first round of a presidential election was on Sept. 29, 2002, when 55.5 percent of voters had cast ballots.

BELGRADE, Jan 20 (Tanjug) - According to the initial results of the Center for Free Elections and Democracy (CeSID), the citizens' turnout at the Serbian presidential elections is 61 percent or 4.1 million voters.

Candidate of the Serbian Radical Party (SRS) Tomislav Nikolic and candidate of the Democratic Party (DS) Boris Tadic will run for Serbian president in the second round of elections. CeSID Executive Director Zoran Lucic told a news conference that on the basis of the processed 80 percent of votes, Nikolic had won 39.4 or 1.6 million votes, while Tadic had won 35,4 percent or approximately 1.4 million votes. Velimir Ilic (NS) is ranked third with 7.6 percent or about 319,000 votes, Milutin Mrkonjic (SPS) is fourth with six percent or approximately 245,000 votes, while Cedomir Jovanovic (LDP) is fifth with 5.6 percent or somewhere about 230,000 votes.

BELGRADE, Jan 20 (Tanjug) - Presidential candidate of the Democratic Party Boris Tadic said late on Sunday that he is certain that he will win the second round of the presidential election.

"I have expected a second round and I am ready to start from zero, which is why everyone needs to go to the polls again," Tadic told reporters. "Let us show that Serbia does not absolutely want to give up its European path and a better life," said Tadic.

BELGRADE, Jan 20 (Tanjug) - Presidential candidate of the Serbian Radical Party (SRS) Tomislav Nikolic said late on Sunday that the second round of the presidential election in Serbia will bring the desired changes and that the result he had in the Sunday election had created a basis for his victory in the second round. Nikolic told reporters that Serbia had never been closer to changes and thanked the other candidates for their fair play during the election campaign. Nikolic expressed his satisfaction with the turnout in the first round and announced that he would start his campaign for the second round immediately.

BELGRADE, Jan 20 (Tanjug) - Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic will be on an official bilateral visit to Greece on Monday, in the course of which he will meet with Greek President Karolos Papoulias and with Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis.

After the visit to Greece, Minister Jeremic will on Tuesday be on a bilateral visit to Romania, where meetings are planned with top state officials, the Serbian Foreign Ministry announced on Sunday.

BRUSSEL, Jan. 18 (Beta) - The European Commission has voted to begin talks with Belgrade on Jan. 30 on the lifting of visa requirements for Serbian citizens wishing to travel to the EU.

European Commission vice president for Justice, Freedom, and Security Franco Frattini has ordered the appropriate EU bodies to begin technical negotiations, according to Frattini's spokesman, Frisco Roscam Abbing, said.

Roscam Abbing went on to say that these talks could result in a list of conditions that Serbia has to meet before its citizens are allowed visafree travel to the EU.

He added that an agreement reducing visa application paperwork took effect on Jan. 1.

BELGRADE, Jan 18 (Tanjug) - Serbian Deputy Premier Bozidar Djelic, who also heads Serbia's negotiating team for european integrations, said Friday that announcements about the start of the dialogue on lifting visas for Serbia's nationals is excellent news and a confirmation that it is realistic that Serbia could be put on the white Schengen list by the end of the year.

"The announcement of the European Commission is a huge recognition for everything that the Serbian government has done in the process of european integrations, Djelic said, adding that Serbia has achieved much progress in attaining security and regulation standards that are needed for full visa liberalization.

The parliament has adopted the Law on Travel Documents and the Asylum Law, and it should soon adopt laws on the state border, on foreigners and on the protection of personal data, Djelic's office said in a statement. The Serbian government has approved a new passport, which is expected be one of the most modern in Europe, with extensive biometric protection. The working group for the white Schengen list adopted a plan for 2008, which calls for the intensive implementation of the strategy of the integrated control of borders and their modernization. Much remains to be done, but our institutions are ready to fulfill all the required standards to enable our citizens to travel without visas to all the countries covered by the Schengen Agreement at the start of 2009, Djelic set out.

NOVI PAZAR, Jan 18 (Tanjug) - Within the first stage of the project for the development of municipalities in Southwest Serbia (PRO project), funded by the United Nations and the European Union in cooperation with the Serbian government, over 600,000 euros have been invested in Novi Pazar for improving conditions in schools, day care centres and cultural institutions.

Tanjug was told on Friday in the UNDP Project Office for Southwest Serbia PRO Novi Pazar Office that furniture was replaced in two secondary schools - Technical and Design Schools, as well as in the primary school Jovan Jovanovic Zmaj, and three day care centers were renovated.

The European Union and the Swiss government have set aside 500,000 euros, and the Novi Pazar municipality an additional 100,000 euros. A total of 2.5 million euros will be allocated this year for regional projects that will include also Novi Pazar. The project for the development of municipalities in Southwest Serbia covers Novi Pazar, Sjenica, Tutin, Nova Varos, Prijepolje, Priboj, Ivanjica and Raska.

BELGRADE, Jan 18 (Tanjug) - The biggest problems of refugees in Serbia are finding accommodation, unemployment and social insecurity, the participants of a round table dubbed "Local integration of refugees in the region of Belgrade - situation and prospects" concluded on Friday.

The president of the board of managers of the Serbian Democratic Forum, Miodrag Linta, said that of the 100,000 refugees in Serbia, 30% are located in the territory of the capital, and this is why it is necessary to set up a council for refugees at the municipal level. Belgrade should also form a fund for financially aiding refugees, similar to the Vojvodina Fund that was set up on late 2006, Linta stated.

Serbian Assistant Commissioner for Refugees Suzana Misic pointed out that the state is engaged on improving the position of the refugees and that the process of their integration is the priority. "We are doing everything possible to resolve the issue of their accommodation but, unfortunately, there are increasingly less donations, while problems are mounting," Misic added, underscoring that the Commessariat is constantly lobbying the international community for new funds.

BELGRADE, Jan 19 (Tanjug) - The Serbian government expects the proposal for illegal sending of an EU mission to Kosovo and Metohija to be discarded at today's meeting of European Union ministers and officials in Slovenia, Serbian Minister of Education Zoran Loncar stated on Saturday.

"Last year, the UN Security Council rejected the draft resolution that would approve an EU mission for implementation of Ahtisaari's plan. Since the mission proposal had failed in the UNSC, no one, not even the EU, may have the right to make decisions that are directly opposing the U.N." Loncar told Tanjug. Loncar believes that the EU has to respect the UN Security Council decisions and international law.

"The EU's true and only reason to send a mission is to create a false state, based on Ahtisaari's plan, in the 15% of Serbia's territory," said Loncar, recalling that the Serbian parliament had decided that an EU mission would endanger Serbia's sovereignty, territorial integrity and constitutional order. "It is clear that the EU has to respect internationally recognized borders of Serbia and not to endanger our country's sovereignty and territorial integrity. That is why the EU has to abandon its decision to illegally send a mission to Kosovo and Metohija," underscored Loncar.

BELGRADE, Jan 20 (Tanjug) - Head of the Serbian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PA CE) Milos Aligrudic said on Sunday that the draft resolution tabled by British Lord Russell-Johnston about the situation in Kosovo-Metohija can have no consequences in practice.

In a statement for Tanjug, Aligrudic underscored that, apart from its unpleasant tones, the resolution can have no consequences in practice. Serbia recognizes only the United Nations (UN) Security Council as the institution that can discuss Kosovo.

"The resolution is unacceptable, but recommendations can be accepted because they pertain to the state of human rights," Aligrudic said ahead of his departure for the winter session of the PA CE in Strasbourg.

BELGRADE, Jan 20 (Tanjug) - At a meeting between Serbian Defense Minister Dragan Sutanovac and a delegation of the Chinese Ministry of National Defense, the two sides expressed readiness for the expansion of the military cooperation that has a long-standing tradition, the Serbian Defense Ministry announced on Saturday.

China, as a permanent member of the United Nations (UN) Security Council, is against the imposing of solutions and setting of deadlines in the negotiations on the future status of Kosovo and Metohija province. China supports the stand in principle that a compromise solution should be secured through dialogue, the Ministry statement said. In the talks between Sutanovac and the Chinese Ministry of National Defense Foreign Affairs Office delegation, led by Office Director Major General Qian Lihua, it was stressed that the military cooperation has been significantly promoted in the recent years.

China is making a significant contribution to the stability of international relations, and one of the ways it is doing this is through participation in peace missions in the world, said the statement, pointing out that there are 19 members of the police forces of China within the international peacekeeping force UNMIK in Kosovo province.

It was concluded at the meeting, which was held on Friday, that there is particularly good cooperation in the area of military-economic and scientific-technical cooperation, as well as in the areas of military education and health, the Serbian Defense Ministry website said. The delegation of the Chinese Ministry of National Defense Foreign Affairs Office began a several days long visit to the Sebrian Defense Ministry on Jan 17.

PARIS, Jan 18 (Tanjug) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy asked Friday the European Union to offer united and firm support to the sole possible solution for Kosovo as envisaged by UN Envoy Martti Ahtisaari's plan.

In his traditional New Year's address to foreign ambassadors, including Serbian Ambassador Predrag Simic, Sarkozy said that temporary status is no longer an option and that all potentials for negotiations have been exhausted.

He, however, refrained from using the term "independence" although he favors that option. Sarkozy at the same time asked that Serbia be offered a perspective for accession to the EU. EU should open to all countries in the region, and particularly Serbia, a true perspective for integration in the European family. They are Europeans, he said.

BRDO KOD KRANJA, Jan. 20 (Beta) - The Slovenian EU presidency held a meeting behind closed doors with the European Contact Groups members on Kosovo at Brdo near Kranj.

The meeting was attended by UK Foreign Minister David Milliband, German Foreign Minister Frank Walter Steinmeier, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, and EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn. No statements were released afterwards.

The government media relations office cancelled a schedule photo shoot on account of the participants' desire to avoid influencing the outcome of the Serbian presidential election.

The meeting, chaired by Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel, discussed the situation in Kosovo and possibilities for dispatching an EU mission to the province.

NICOSIA, Jan 18 (Tanjug) - The issue of sending a civilian EU mission to Kosovo is separate from the issue for declaring the independence of Kosovo, Slovenia's Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel said in Cyprus on Friday.

Slovenia currently holds the rotating EU presidency. At their first meeting this year, on Jan 28, the EU foreign ministers are expected to discuss technical details linked to the mission, including the legal bases for its deployment in Kosovo and its funding, but concrete decisions will most probably be left for February. Slovenian news agency STA recalled that the choice is between two alternatives: either to send the mission to Kosovo urgently, or to do this after the declaration of the independence of Kosovo.

Speaking about the stand of Cyprus, which, together with Greece, is the strongest opponent to a speedy solution for the status of Kosovo, Rupel said that the majority of EU members would like these two countries, and some others, to assume a position that would enable matters to move forward. However, Rupel underscored that "this is not pressure."

MOSCOW/SOFIA, Jan 18 (Tanjug) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Friday that Russia is counting on Bulgaria to assume a constructive position in the resolution of the Kosovo issue.

Bulgaria understands the risks of the situation and the attempts to resolve this problem unilaterally, without Serbia's participation, Lavrov told the Itar-Tass news agency.

Lavorov is part of a delegation accompanying Russian President Vladimir Putin on a visit to Bulgaria. Lavrov expressed hope that Bulgaria, within the European Union where this issue is being debated, would state its position.

In Sofia, Putin reiterated that Russia would not support the unilateral declaration of the independence of Kosovo and Metohija and urged the continuation of talks on the future status of Serbia's southern province and that Belgrade and Pristina reach a compromise.

Moscow, Jan 19 (Tanjug) - Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Kislyak on Saturday stated that prospects for resolving the status of Kosovo and Metohija through negotiations, without carrying out any unilateral activities, had been preserved.

According to Kislyak, Russia will consider illegitimate a unilateral declaration of independence and granting Kosovo the status of an independent state, the Russian news agency Itar-Tass reported. We firmly believe that the prospects for a negotiated solution for Kosovo have been preserved, the Russian news agency RIA Novosti quoted Kislyak as saying in his address at a scientific conference on Russia's national security.

STRASBOURG, Jan 21 (Tanjug) - Russia categorically objects to any decision on the Kosovo problem being imposed from the outside, i.e. by the United Nations, the European Union or NATO, and including the Council of Europe, Chairman of the Russian Duma (lower house of the parliament) Committee for International Relations Konstantin Kosachyov said on Monday.

"Hence, we shall back only a draft resolution, envisaging a continuation of the talks, consultations or other contacts and discussions on this problem, which must be continued until a compromise decision is reached, suiting both sides," Kosachov told Itar-Tass in Strasbourg, where he is attending the winter session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), at which Lord Russel-Johnston's report on the developments linked with the status of Kosovo will be in the focus.

"It is a matter of principle for us that any final decision should be accepted both by Belgrade and Pristina," the representative of the Russian parliament said.

PRISTINA, Jan. 18 (Beta) - Kosovo Premier Hashim Thaci said after returning from a trip to the U.S. on Jan. 18 that every country involved in the Kosovo status decision except Russia favors independence for the province.

Speaking to reporters at Pristina airport, Thaci said that Kosovo will gain independence very soon, adding that the matter has been decided. He admitted that several procedural issues need to be worked out by Washington D.C. and Brussels, adding that he will be traveling to Brussels next week to deal with "several more details."

"The achievements made by Kosovo are welcomed by every member of the U.N. Security Council other than Russia, but the Security Council will no longer discuss the status of Kosovo because the decision has been transferred to global decisionmaking centers," Thaci said.

Thaci was not specific about the exact date of Kosovo's independence, although he said it would happen soon.

CAGLAVICA, Jan. 19 (Beta) - Kosovo Premier Hashim Thaci on Jan. 19 refused to apologize to the Serbian people for the crimes committed during the war in 1999, when he was one of the leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army.

When asked by the press in Media Center in Caglavica whether he feels responsible for the crimes against Serbs and if he is going to offer an apology at the beginning of his mandate, Thaci answered that he is "very proud of his past and the past of his people, who have reached their aim, together with NATO."

"We should turn to the future, not the past," he said and added that "everybody knows who should be offering an apology to whom."

Thaci invited all the outcast and displaced people to return, and stated that the government will guarantee their safety.

"The patriotism of Albanians is today embodied in respect for minority communities," Thaci stressed and added that Serbian community members serving as ministers in his government will not be mere decoration.

On Jan. 23 and 24, Thaci will visit Brussels, and it is expected that the date for the proclamation of Kosovo's independence will be set during the visit, Pristina daily Koha Ditore reported on Jan. 19.

MOSCOW, Jan 18 (Tanjug) - High Commissioner of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe for National Minorities Knut Vollebaek said Friday that a strong international presence will continue to be needed in Kosovo-Metohija in the future too.

He told RIA Novosti agency before his three-day visit to Russia starting on January 21 that he witnessed during his two-week stay in Kosovo a great concern for the future among its people and their wish for continuing presence or international observers. Vollebaek will confer in Moscow with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Minister for Regional Development Dmitry Kozak and officials of State Duma committees.

VIENNA, Jan 21 (Tanjug) - After Hollywood stars George Clooney and Sharon Stone had announced that they would organize protests against a secession of Kosovo from Serbia, their colleagues, Richard Gere and the most famous James Bond - Sean Connery - decided to join them.

If Serbian statesmen or Russia do not manage to defend Kosovo, it might be achieved by famous Hollywood, the daily Frankfurtske Novosti writes, adding that protests will be organized in defense of the southern Serbian province in the heart of the world's film industry of Hollywood as soon as next month, which will be supported by the most famous Hollywood names - Richard Gere and Sir Sean Connery.

In his earlier interview with the daily, Clooney said that despite the fact that he is closely following all world news, when it comes to resolving the status of Kosovo he does not have the opportunity to hear the Serbian side. Clooney revealed that his friend Sharon Stone has so far met with a number of influential people in the United States in order to prevent a violent secession of a part of Serbia.

According to the daily, Gere will take part in this action because he is very suspicious as to why the great powers are so resolute in their intention to grant Kosovo independence. He said that there must be something in that Kosovo, when they fight for it so hard. The most famous James Bond of all times, Sir Sean Connery, reacted in a similar manner. He connected the situation regarding Kosovo with the country of his birth - Scotland. In its history, Scotland had much more right to be independent but it was not allowed to, the celebrated actor said, wondering about the difference between his country and Kosovo that such a precedent could be made now.

BELGRADE, Jan. 18 (Beta) - Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica on Jan. 18 expressed the belief that the Serbian government and the Russian Federation would reach an agreement on "strategic cooperation in the energy field."

"It is the basic goal of the Serbian government to ensure the clear economic future and commercial development of Serbia. Because of that I am convinced that the Serbian government and the government of the Russian Federation will reach an agreement on strategic cooperation in the energy field," it says in a statement Kostunica sent to BETA.

The negotiations with Belgrade on the sale of the Serbian Oil Industry (NIS) will soon be completed, said the director of Russian giant Gazprom, Aleksej Miller, in Sofia on Jan. 18.

"We are close to a final agreement. The negotiations with the Serbian side are coming to an end, and a draft of an intergovernmental agreement has been prepared," said Miller, who is in Bulgaria as part of the Russian delegation being led by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic stated on Jan. 18 that the talks between Russia and Serbia on cooperation in the energy field are "difficult," but that he expects that both sides will find a "common language."

"Just as the Russians and Bulgarians had difficult negotiations, so the Serbs and Russians are having difficult negotiations. Of course, what's important and what is in the interest of the citizens are the conditions under which such an agreement is implemented," Djelic told BETA.

Djelic underlined that the Serbian government's working group responsible for considering the gas arrangement with Russia is united, as is the government.

BELGRADE, Jan 19 (Tanjug) - Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic stated late on Friday that the government is working intensively on the offer of the Russian Federation's government to cooperate in the area of energy, and announced that the government's Working group will defend Serbia's interests, the same way Moscow defends Russia's interests.

"The Russians and Serbs negotiate as hard as the Russians and Bulgarians do," said Djelic, but did not reply directly to the question on whether there is a serious disagreement within the government's Working Group over the conditions of the Russian offer to Serbia. "We defend the Serbian interests the same way Moscow defends Russia's interests, but there is also a common interest and that is to have Serbia take part in this Russian-European project," underscored Djelic in his statement with the RTS, recalling that Italy's ENI will be the end client of the Russian gas. "That would mean that Serbia would provide for its energy security, that we would pay much less for the gas transit and will find the right partner for NIS, who would provide for reaching the European standards in the area of ecology by the end of 2010 and to have the domestic oil refineries ready for market liberalization," said Djelic.

The agreement between Moscow and Sofia means that the project for the gas pipeline construction would be realized and that the capacity of the Bulgarian section pipeline will be around 30 billion cubic meters per year, and it is up to Serbia now to make sure that as big quantity as possible of gas runs through its territory, clarified Djelic. The Serbian government has to provide the best possible conditions for the privatization of NIS and construction of underground gas storages in Banatski Dvor, said Djelic. "If the overall 'package' is in the interest of our citizens, it should be supported," underscored Djelic.

BELGRADE, Jan. 18 (Beta) - The U.S. Agency for International Development announced on Jan. 18 that it plans to invest USD39 million in projects intended to encourage Serbia's economic development in 2008.

According to what USAID officials told a news conference, USD24.5 million will be spent on the Agribusiness Project, and USD14.7 million will go to pay for the Competitiveness Project.

Both are scheduled for completion by 2012.

According to U.S. Ambassador Cameron Munter, these projects aim to attract investment and create new jobs in manufacturing, services, and agriculture by boosting sales and exports.