Belgrade, 22. 05. 2008.

SEECP SUMMIT

• SERBIA LEAVES SEECP SUMMIT & PROTESTS TO BAN KIMOON
• JEREMIC: WALKING OUT OF SUMMIT - DIPLOMATIC VICTORY
• SEECP ADOPTS JOINT DECLARATION
• KARAMANLIS: KOSOVO KEY CHALLENGE TO BALKANS & EUROPE

• TADIC BEGINS CONSULTATIONS ON GOVERNMENT
• JEREMIC EXPECTS "FOR A EUROPEAN SERBIA" BLOC TO WIN MANDATE
• MUNTER: NEW GOVERNMENT WILL BE PRO-EUROPEAN
• KONUZIN: GOOD TIES WITH ANY GOVERNMENT

• CZECH REPUBLIC RECOGNIZES KOSOVO
• TADIC: NO ONE HAS RIGHT TO CAUSE OFFENSE TO OUR IDENTITY
• NIS OIL COMPANY WILL BE ONE OF LARGEST OIL COMPANIES IN EUROPE

• TADIC: SERBIA IS READY TO RESUME NEGOTIATION PROCESS
• DJELIC: SERBIA'S EU INTEGRATION WILL HELP DEFEND KOSOVO
• KERMABON: EULEX WILL START OPERATING ON JUNE 15
• KOUCHNER: FRANCE & RUSSIA CONTINUE TO DIFFER ON KOSOVO
• SEJDIU SEEKS CLARIFICATION ABOUT UNMIK
• THACI SAYS INSTITUTIONS WILL ACT THROUGHOUT TERRITORY

POMORIE (Bulgaria), May 21 (Beta) - Serbia's delegation left the Summit of the countries members of the Southeast European Cooperation Process (SEECP) in the Bulgarian sea resort of Pomorie on May 21, over the decision to allow Kosovo Foreign Minister Skender Hiseni to speak.President Boris Tadic and the delegation he headed, walked out of the SEECP Summit, after UNMIK political director Jolyon Naegele gave the right to speak to Hiseni, who presented himself as the Kosovo foreign minister. Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic said in the evening on May 21 that he had sent a letter to U.N. SecGen Ban Kimoon, in which, in his capacity as the foreign minister of a U.N. member country, he demanded that the UNMIK official pay the penalty for violating the meeting's procedure and U.N. instructions, by giving Hiseni the right to speak.

"The U.N.'s explicit instruction is that UNMIK representatives are not authorized to give the right to speak to representatives of the interim Pristina institutions. Naegele violated that direct instruction. We filed a formal protest and we expect disciplinary action to be taken against him for this," Jeremic told B92 TV.Jeremic explained that following the adoption of the final presidential declaration on May 21, the meeting's chairman gave the floor to the UNMIK representative, who, at some point, decided to give the floor to "the socalled foreign minister Hiseni." Jeremic added that the Serbian delegation fiercely protested to the Bulgarian chairman. The minister added that the Bulgarian chairman accepted the protest, saying that this matter would be addressed after the meeting, which, as Jeremic said, was unacceptable for the Serbian delegation, who then walked out.

"This meeting was important, because we showed our horns. We used our full institutional capacity to exercise our veto power and we vetoed the final declaration, which was not in keeping with Serbia's policy on Kosovo," Jeremic stressed.He went to explain that after Serbia's veto, the ministerial declaration was not adopted and added that the presidential declaration, which was, contained the terminology proposed by Serbia."By walking out from that semiformal part of the conference, we demonstrated how we shall act in future," Jeremic noted.The minister added that UNMIK addressed the gathering when the conference was already over and after the final declaration had been adopted. He stressed that during Hiseni's speech, only the Albanian foreign minister was present in the hall.

BELGRADE, May 22 (Tanjug) - Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic has qualified as diplomatic victory the Serbian delegation's walking out of the regional summit that was held in Bulgaria on Wednesday, and said that it represents a message that Belgrade will answer to any future attempts of treating Kosovo as an independent country at international forums. "At the summit, we showed our teeth and used full institutional capacity to place veto. As the result of this veto, the ministerial declaration was not adopted and the presidential declaration included the formulations we were insisting on," Jeremic said in a live broadcast by TB B92. The Serbian delegation, which besides Jeremic, also included Serbian President Boris Tadic, walked out of the summit of the South East European Cooperation Process (SEECP) after UNMIK Political Director Jolio Nagele had given the floor to Skender Hiseni, who introduced himself as Kosovo foreign minister.

POMORYE, May 21 (Tanjug) - Bulgarian Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev on Wednesday voiced his satisfaction with the adoption of a joint declaration from the summit of the heads of state or government of the South Eastern Europe Cooperation Process (SEECP) member-states and added that it was "extremely important that a clear message has been sent on the political wish of all countries in the region to develop cooperation process." Earlier on Wednesday the Serbian delegation, headed by President Boris Tadic walked out of the summit, protesting against the fact that Skender Hiseni, who introduced himself as Kosovo foreign minister, had received the chance to speak, despite the adopted procedure. The summit ended with the adoption of the joint declaration and at the news conference after the summit, Stanishev especially stressed the "fact that representatives of Belgrade and Pristina sat together, at the same table." Stanishev confirmed that there was a danger that the final document might not be accepted, because "there is a division among the countries of the region - some recognise Kosovo, others do not plan to do so, while others postpone their stand." Stanishev said that the fact that the Serbian delegation had walked out of the summit did not mean that unanimously adopted decisions were annulled, the BTA news agency reported. Moldova on Wednesday took over the presidency of the SEECP from Bulgaria.

POMORIE (Bulgaria), May 21 (Tanjug) - Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis told heads of state and government attending the South East European Cooperation Process (SEECP) summit in Pomorie, Bulgaria on Wednesday that Kosovo constitutes a key challenge for both the Balkans and Europe as a whole. He also noted Greece's emphasis on the need for a mutually agreed settlement in a solution for Kosovo, Greek agency ANA reports. Karamanlis also underlined that the EU should take a leading role on the issue of Kosovo, since EU values would provide guarantees of stability for the region.

BELGRADE, May 22 (Tanjug) - Serbian President Boris Tadic will hold official consultation with representatives of the winning election lists in the Serbian Assembly building on Thursday, after which he will propose his candidate for prime minister, the president's Press Relations Office has released in a statement. All representatives of the winning election lists have been invited to the talks. According to the Serbian Constitution and the Report on overall results of the elections for deputies of the National Assembly which the Republic Electoral Commission (RIK) has adopted, I will have talks with the representatives of the election lists that won most of the vote at the elections held on May 11, 2008, and after that, I will propose a candidate for prime minister in the National Assembly building, Tadic said.

BELGRADE, May 21 (Beta) - Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic said he expects that after consultations with the parties that won seats in the parliament on May 22, President Boris Tadic will give the mandate for the formation of a government to the "For a European Serbia" ticket."I expect President Tadic to give the mandate to the strongest group, which is "For a European Serbia," after which the premier designate... will continue the talks with all the political parties in parliament," Jeremic said on B92 TV.Jeremic added that the "For a European Serbia" coalition clearly defined the basic priorities of the government which it will form, which includes the preservation of territorial sovereignty and integrity and European integrations.

According to him, this bloc will have the closest ties with the parties that share these priorities, and he added that the Socialist Party of Serbia was one of them."I expect the future premier designate to continue close consultations with the Socialists," Jeremic said.Asked if the Serbian ambassadors will return to the countries that have recognized Kosovo independence if the proEuropean bloc assumes power, Jeremic replied that if he were reappointed foreign minister, he would suggest to the new prime minister not to return them.

BELGRADE, May 21 (Tanjug) - US ambassador to Serbia, Cameron Munter, told Wednesday's issue of Belgrade daily Nedeljni Telegraf that he is an optimist and that he believes that the new Serbian government will be a pro-european one. I am an optimist and I believe that the new government will be a pro-european one and this not only because the people opted for this at the elections, but because the leaders of this country, the party leaders and the people from public life, see this as the future of Serbia, Munter stated. My impression is that there is a kind of concensus that a european future is the best for the country's prosperity, the US diplomat said, adding that his optimism is based on contacts with many people in Serbia. He said that it is difficult for him to see how a government formed by the Kostunica - Seselj coalition could take the country towards a european future. Asked whether such a coalition is realistic, Munter said that they are serious and that they have conducted talks on the formation of a government, adding that he believes that the pro-europen coalition would come into power in the end. Speaking about the EUlex mission in Kosovo and Metohija, Munter expressed optimism that its deployment in the province would pass quietly. What will happen is a very complex issue and I am certain that all sides will act constructively and that we will avoid a crisis, Munter stated.

BELGRADE, May 21 (Beta) - In an interview with the May 22 issue of the Belgrade daily Vecernje Novosti, the newly appointed Russian ambassador to Belgrade, Alexander Konuzin, expressed the hope that the future Serbian government, regardless of which parties form it, will work on developing favorable and friendly ties with Russia, because, in his words, all leading parties have a friendly stand toward Russia. Konuzin said he did not think that Serbia was facing a choice between Russia and Europe."We are interested in Serbia's harmonious relations with the EU and also with Russia. We believe Serbia's cooperation with the EU and Russia can be beneficial for everyone," the ambassador stressed.Konuzin further said he had received firm guarantees from Serbia's top officials and party leaders that the energy deal with Russia would be signed right after the formation of the new parliament.

PRAGUE, May 21 (Tanjug) - The Czech Republic on Wednesday recognized the independence of Kosovo, the Czech Foreign Ministry has announced. The right-wing center Czech government adopted a proposal for establishing diplomatic realtions with Kosovo, thus practically recognizing Kosovo, the DPA news agency quoted the Ministry as saying.

NOVI SAD, May 22 (Tanjug) - Serbian Presient and leader of the Democratic Party (DS) Boris Tadic said late on Wednesday that no one had the right to cause offense to the identity of Serbia, the Serbian people or any other nation that lived in our country. "In Pomorie in Bulgaria, where a summit of heads of state and government of South-East European countries was held on Wednesday, we did not let and will not let anyone offend Serbia, we will not let anyone offend Kosovo or Vojvodina, we will not let them offend the Serbs or any other nation that lives here," Tadic said at an election convention of the For European Vojvodina coalition. Ahead of the second round of elections for the Vojvodina Assembly that is scheduled for May 25, Tadic once again called on Vojislav Kostunica and his Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) to say clearly whether they were for an annulment of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with the EU. Addressing the members and followers of the For European Vojvodina coalition, he called on DSS and all other parties that opposed the signing of the SAA "to say once again if they want to annul the agreement with life," which was the first contract our country would sign with the EU and which enabled a better life and "once again underlines Resolution 1244 and Serbia's territorial wholeness in Kosovo."

BELGRADE, May 22 (Tanjug) - After its modernization the NIS oil company will be the one of largest oil companies in Europe and this already frightens competitors, Advisor to the Head of the Executive Body of JSC Gazprom-neft Dmitry Malyshev assessed on Thursday. In an interview with the Ekonomist, Malyshev said that representatives of other potential buyers are trying to plant a seed of doubt in the rationality of the sale of NIS, making claims that the control package could have been sold for a higher price. According to him, other potential buyers see the territory of former Yugoslavia only as a market for the sale of oil derivates. Malyshev recalled that, besides EUR 400 mill for 51 % share, Gazpromneft would invest at least EUR 500 million in the reconstruction and modernization of NIS. The exact amount of investments needed we will announce after the harmonization of the program, and signing of the contract with Serbian government representatives, Malyshev said.

BELGRADE, May 21 (Tanjug) - President Boris Tadic said on Wednesday that Serbia is ready to resume the negotiation process on the status of Kosovo and Metohija under the auspices of the UN Security Council only. Serbia's position is that it is ready to return to the negotiation process, which has to be carried out under the auspices of the UN Security Council, Tadic said in a statement with Serbia's state TV RTS in Bulgaria's town of Pomorie, where he is taking part of the summit of the South East European Co-operation Process (SEECP). Whatever is decided by the United Nations, that is by the Security Council, it would also be acceptable to Serbia, concluded Tadic. Addressing reporters, Tadic said that Serbia does not recognize illegal independence of Kosovo and that it would not accept its membership in the European Union to be conditioned by giving up its stand. He also said that Serbia will continue to pursue its stand on international forums in which attempts would be made to treat Kosovo as an independent state in the region. "The Serb delegation will block every attempt or intent to insinuate independence of Kosovo at this or any other meeting in the future. That is our stand of principle,". Tadic also said that "Serbia is a sovereign state, member of the U.N." and that "its territorial integrity and sovereignty have to be respected."

BELGRADE, May 21 (Tanjug) - Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic said Wednesday after a visit to Strpce that only integration in European structures can guarantee that Serbia will be able to continue to efficiently help its loyal citizens in Kosovo-Metohija. Its only a strong and recognized Serbia that can have the financial and diplomatic capacity to defend its own interests and those of its loyal citizens in Kosovo, he told Tanjug. Djelic visited Strpce to inspect the realization of projects financed by the Serbian government, including a ski center at Brezovica. He also presented a feasibility study on building a mini hydro-power plant worth two million euros, which should normalize power supply to the enclave.

PRISTINA, May 21 (Tanjug) - Former KFOR commander, French Lieutenant-General Yves de Kermabon, who will head the European Union mission to Kosovo in the area of the police and judiciary, EULEX, stated on Wednesday that he would not allow to be under the U.N. command regardless of the arrangements that are being made regarding the restructuring of the future international civil presence in Kosovo. In an interview published by Koha Ditore, Yves de Kermabon said that deployment of EULEX had not been stopped, only slowed down. EULEX is being deployed, we have our people in the field and the process continues, said Kermabon, adding that EULEX is faced with some difficulties owing to which they are forced to have some delay in the deployment. For the time being, the U.N. is responsible, UNMIK will carry on with its mission, and Res 1244 is still in force, said he. In that light, responsibility is for the time being in the hands of the U.N. SecGen. When asked whether he would permit two functional missions, Kermabon replied that this is impossible.

MOSCOW, May 21 (Tanjug) - Russia and France continue to have different views on Kosovo, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Wednesday in Moscow after meeting his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov. He pointed to the need for precise solutions bearing in mind historical reality as regards conflict regions such as Abkhazia, S. Ossetia and Kosovo.The EU proposes a permanent dialogue on security and defense issues for regions.

Pristina, May 21 (Beta) - Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu requested the U.N. Secretary General Ban Kimoon to clarify the position of UNMIK in Kosovo, and stressed the need for cooperation between the U.N. and the EU in order for the transitional phase to be completed by midJune.In a statement to the May 21 issue of the Pristina daily Lajmi, Sejdiu said he had told the SecGen that UNMIK should transfer its jurisdiction to the institutions of Kosovo, in order to prevent dual rule.Sejdiu believes that the EU should pressure Serbia into changing its stand regarding Kosovo.The Kosovo president added that, after the Constitution comes into effect, the functions of "the state and institutions" will cover the entire Kosovo.

PRISTINA, May 22 (Tanjug) - Kosovo Premier Thaci said that Kosovo institutions would start functioning throughout the territory after June 15, when the Kosovo Constitution takes effect. "The Kosovo government will take its competences and we will establish our authority step by step, we will establish the civilian and security services throughout Kosovo," Thaci said after a meeting in Pristina of the member-states of the International Steering Group. Thaci said that Kosovo institutions had taken the obligation to implement and complete everything envisaged by the Ahtisaari plan in cooperation with the international community and NATO.