Belgrade, 24. 04. 2008.

SERBIA - EU

• KOSTUNICA: WE DON'T WANT "A PIG IN A POKE"
• JEREMIC: SIGNING OF SAA DOES NOT IMPLY STAND ON KOSOVO
• DJELIC, HUBNER SIGN MEMORANDUM ON COOPERATION
• REHN: EU CANDIDATES TO OBLIGE THEMSELVES TO GOOD RELATIONS
• KOSTUNICA: REHN'S STATEMENT OFFICIAL STAND OF BRUSSELS
• TURK: EU TO STRENGTHEN TIES WHEN SERBIA IS READY

• BRAMMERTZ: SEARCHING FOR INDICTEES NOT SERBIA'S PRIORITY
• KAVRAN: NOTHING NEW FROM BRAMMERTZ

• SAMARDZIC: SPAIN TO KEEP REFUSING TO RECOGNIZE KOSOVO
• SAMARDZIC: SERBIA'S INTENTION IS NOT TO PROVOKE
• RUSSIAN PATRIARCH EXPRESSES SUPPORT FOR SERB PEOPLE

• RUECKER: CHANGES IN KOSOVO TO BE TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATION
• UN OFFICE IN BELGRADE DISCUSSES TECHNICAL ISSUES
• MILOSOSKI: MACEDONIA ON STANDBY
• MACEDONIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY ON BORDER DEMARCATION
• EU POLICY LEADS TO INSTABILITY - UN MILITARY CHIEF

• GASPROM CONCERNED OVER DELAYS WITH RATIFICATION OF DEAL
• FOREIGN INVESTORS ATTRACTED BY STABILITY

BELGRADE, April 23 (Tanjug) - Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica has said that the countries that recognized Kosovo have most brutally violated the UN Charter, Resolution 1244 and the initialed Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA), which is why serious talks should be launched with Brussels, in which it would be determined in detail what each specific article of that document means.

"It would be really too much if they sold us 'a pig in a poke' and claimed that by signing the Stabilization and Association Agreement, Serbia had in fact recognized Kosovo's independence," Kostunica assessed in an interview the weekly Pecat published in its latest issue. He said that what was of crucial importance for the signing of any document was "whether it is the interests of Serbia or the interests of Belgrade that matter." "There is no doubt that Brussels has its own interests, and their present, if not permanent, interest is that Serbia recognizes, directly or indirectly, the independence of Kosovo, the first NATO state," the prime minister noted.

"The first step the new government will have to make is to file lawsuits against the countries that unlawfully recognized the unilateral independence, and the first lawsuit should be filed against the US, because they are the most responsible," he said. "This is the best message we can send to over 150 countries that recognize Serbia in its legitimate international borders. Our strongest weapon is international law and we have to use it in defending Serbia," the prime minister underlined.

"Serbia's place is in the EU not because the Union is paradise on earth, which is complete nonsense. Serbia's place is in the EU because Serbia is an old European country. Of course, its place is in the EU only if it is regarded as one whole and as an equal state," Kostunica pointed out.

BELGRADE, April 24 (Tanjug) - The signing of the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) does not imply Serbia's stand on Kosovo and Metohija, Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic has said.

The signing of this agreement does not imply in any way whatsoever Serbia's position on Kosovo and Metohija, and we will never accept the unilaterally proclaimed independence of the southern Serbian province, Jeremic said in a live broadcast by TV Pink late on Wednesday.

He said that nothing that being done in the field of foreign policy would change in the least the country's foreign policy in regard to Kosovo-Metohija. Jeremic underlined that, sooner or later, Serbia would sign the SAA with the European Union and thus be granted a number of privileges.

KRAGUJEVAC, April 23 (Tanjug) - Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic and European Commissioner for Regional Policy Danuta Hubner signed in Kragujevac on Wednesday a memorandum on cooperation in the field of regional development and Serbia's decentralization.

Hubner said that the memorandum represented an obligation and that the European Union would continue to encourage the over-border cooperation with Serbia. Once your country has joined the EU, this European association will also encourage its regional development in scope of the Union, Hubner said. She added, however, that a lot depended on Serbia and the Serbs. The EU has been investing into Serbia since 1998, and up to now, almost two billion euros have been invested in various projects, Hubner said.

BERLIN, April 23 (Tanjug) - European Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said on Wednesday, when asked by the German daily Kölnische Rundschau whether Serbia could join the EU without acknowledging Kosovo, that all the candidates for EU membership would have to oblige themselves to good neighborly relations.

In an interview for the German daily, Rehn said that the European Union had still not reached consensus on the signing of the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) with Serbia. It is very important that with the signing of the SAA, a political signal be sent to Serbia regarding its future perspective, Rehn said.

A postponement of the document's ratification can be liked to the fulfillment of prerequisites, he added, noting, however, that the EU was not a centralized state and that at the moment, it lacked consensus on the issue. It depends on the Union's member countries whether or not we will get that signal, Rehn answered when asked whether the SAA would be signed with Serbia before May 11, the day of elections.

BELGRADE, April 23 (Tanjug) - Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica has assessed that the Wednesday statement by European Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn on the establishment of good neighborly relations "represents the official stand of Brussels."

"The statement by European Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn that Serbia's obligation is to establish good neighborly relations with Kosovo and that Kosovo has an European perspective obviously represents Brussels' official stand that by signing (Javier) Solana's agreement, Serbia will recognize Kosovo's independence and oblige itself to cooperation with this false state," the Serbian prime minister assessed.

In an interview for Tanjug, Kostunica underlined that since such an agreement with the EU was unconstitutional and included an evident intention of breaking Serbia into pieces, no one had the right to sign the document in Serbia's name.

STRASBOURG, April 23 (Beta) - Slovenian President Danilo Turk on April 23 said the EU should offer closer ties with Serbia only when Serbs themselves are ready for that. Slovenia is currently presiding over the EU.

According to Turk, this could mean waiting after the May 11 parliamentary elections, whose outcome could hinge on "public anger over the secession of Kosovo in February, backed by the West."

"Whatever happens has to be based on respect for the Serbian readiness to deal with this issue. We have to take their elections seriously and we should not see European element as decisive," Turk told Reuters.

"In principle, I think one has to respect the will of the people and if that means waiting after the elections, then that's a fair conclusion to make," Turk said after his speech before the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

The vast majority of EU states want to sign a Stabilization and Association Agreement with Serbia as soon as possible. However, the Netherlands and Belgium insist that Serbia must first show it is serious about extraditing war crime indictees to the Hague tribunal.

THE HAGUE, April 23 (Beta) - Hague tribunal chief prosecutor Serge Brammertz has said that Serbian officials have told him that searching for war crimes suspects is not their top priority.

In an interview with the French paper Le Monde, Brammertz said that during last week's visit to Belgrade, he had presented the opinion that Serbia must do more when it comes to cooperation with the tribunal.

Asked to assess the level of Serbia's cooperation, Brammertz replied that he "will make the assessment of whether cooperation is positive or not based on how the situation develops over the next few weeks."

"However, I think that my Serbian collocutors openly admitted that in the current political situation the search for criminals on the run is not their top priority," Brammertz said.

He added that the tribunal urged the international community to use all means to pressure those who could aid in the cooperation, but that the results so far have been limited.

"Let us say that sometimes we had limited information. However, I can't say that this is very promising," Brammertz said.

Belgian Serge Brammertz in January took over the post of Hague tribunal chief prosecutor from Carla del Ponte, who had occupied it for the previous eight years.

THE HAGUE, April 23 (Tanjug) - ICTY Spokesperson Olga Kavran said on Wednesday that in his regular contacts with European officials Chief Prosecutor Serge Brammertz has not brought up anything new from what he had already said during his recent visit to Belgrade.

Responding to a journalist question whether Brammertz has recently conferred with European and particularly with some of Dutch officials, considering that Holland strongly opposes the signing of the Stabilization and Association Agreement with Serbia, Kavran said that the chief prosecutor holds regular contacts with European officials. In these contacts, he (Brammertz) did not say anything different from what he had already said during his visit to Belgrade, Kavran said at a regular press conference in the ICTY.

She recalled that Brammertz will submit an official report to the UN Security Council and not to the European Union, as well as that the report, which is to be sent in mid-May, will give a more detailed assessment of Belgrade's cooperation with the Tribunal. Kavran reiterated that Serbia's cooperation with the Tribunal includes several elements, such as documentation delivery, access to archives, witness protection and search for remaining ICTY fugitives.

When asked if following the Brammertz's visit to Belgrade there are any new moments in this respect, Kavran said that the Serbian authorities have delivered several documents that are currently being examined by the Prosecution. She added that Serbian officials promised to deliver new documents, which, as she explained, should arrive in The Hague this and the following week.

During his first visit to Belgrade, Brammertz said that he insisted that the remaining four ICTY fugitives - Ratko Mladic, Radovan Karadzic, Goran Hadzic and Stojan Zupljanin - be brought to justice as soon as possible, pointing out that this is of a critical importance.

BELGRADE, April 23 (Beta) - Minister for Kosovo and Metohija Slobodan Samardzic, in a conversation with Spanish journalists, said that it was very important for Spain to persevere in refusing to recognize the unilaterally declared independence of Kosovo.

A news release from the ministry says that Samardzic told journalists the situation was deteriorating in the province after the unilaterally declared independence and recognition by certain countries, which, according to the minister, was a result of pressure from the U.S. and certain EU members.

Samardzic talked with the representatives of 15 leading Spanish newspapers and broadcasters, whose visit to Belgrade was organized by the Serbian and Spanish embassies and the European Commission delegations to Madrid and Belgrade.

The minister reiterated that Belgrade did not acknowledge the EU Mission to Kosovo EULEX, because it had been deployed without Serbia's consent and the U.N. Security Council's approval. He highlighted that the rift within the government had appeared after the EU's direct interference with Serbia's internal affairs, as the EU had taken over Kosovo from the U.S. as a "hot potato."

"The EU is now trying to solve that problem in a completely unEuropean manner, not through compromise but by imposing a solution on one side in this case, Serbia," Samardzic said. He pointed out that Serbia had begun negotiating on the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) with the EU as an integrated country, but that so far two thirds of EU members have recognized the province's unilaterally proclaimed independence.

Asked whether Belgrade feared that organizing and holding elections in Kosovo could be seen as a provocation, Samardzic replied that one must bear in mind that Belgrade did not recognize Kosovo's independence and was organizing elections on its own territory.

Samardzic shrugged off the idea of partitioning Kosovo, stressing that Belgrade had never proposed anything of the sort, and warned that the idea of dividing the province was very sensitive for a region in which Serbia was the central country, and that a chain reaction that would be difficult to control was possible.

BELGRADE, April 23 (Tanjug) - Serbian Minister for Kosovo-Metohija Slobodan Samardzic said on Wednesday that Belgrade's intention is not to provoke by organizing Serbian elections in Kosovo, but that the context is such that elections must be held because areas inhabited by Serbs need representatives chosen in a democratic way.

"We must bear in mind the context - that Belgrade does not recognize Kosovo's unilateral independence and is organizing elections on its territory. Therefore the UN Secretary General's Special Representative Joachim Ruecker in fact illegally transferred authorizations for holding elections to provisional authorities in Pristina, thus violating UN Security Council Resolution 1244," Samardzic told a group of Spanish media representatives in Belgrade on Wednesday. Speaking about the future status of local Serbian authorities following elections in Kosovo, Samardzic explained that until an additional political agreement is reached with UNMIK, they will represent a de facto section of Serbian authorities in the field and through their work help Serbs to remain on their land and live as Serbian citizens.

Samardzic reiterated that Belgrade does not recognize the EU mission, EULEX, in Kosovo-Metohija since it has been deployed without Serbia's consent, without the approval of the UN Security Council and on the basis of illegal documents such as Ahtisaari's plan that has never been approved by the UN Security Council and the so-called common action. That is why the EU mission is not only legal, but also a political problem for relations between Serbia and the European Union. He said that the rift in the government emerged after the EU directly meddled in Serbia's internal affairs.

MOSCOW, Apr 23 (Tanjug) - Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia has reiterated support for the Serb people in connection with unilateral declaration of Kosovo independence. "Over many years we expressed solidarity with the Serb people, and we support these days Serbia's stand of non-recognition of self-proclaimed Kosovo independence, as that territory is the land sacred to the Serbs," the patriarch told a news conference in Moscow on Wednesday.

"There are so many shrines, monasteries and temples on Kosovo land. We, certainly, commiserate with the suffering of the Serb people," the patriarch said quoted by Itar-Tass. He conveyed warm congratulations on the coming Easter holiday to all Orthodox Christians residing in Serbia, to Patriarch Pavle, "and, particularly to those who live in Kosovo and in Metohija, who need spiritual support." "They see temples being destroyed, their lives are in danger," the patriarch said, remarking bitterly, "Life is hard in hostile surroundings."

PRISTINA, April 23 (Beta) - UNMIK chief Joachim Ruecker on April 23 said the international community should take into account the changes that have taken place in Kosovo, especially as the Kosovo Constitution is coming into effect on June 15.

"I informed the U.N. Security Council that the circumstances are changing, and the international community should bear that in mind, especially after the Kosovo Constitution takes effect on June 15," Ruecker said upon his return from New York, where he had submitted his regular report on the situation in Kosovo to the Security Council.

Ruecker described Belgrade's intention to hold local elections in Kosovo as illegitimate. He stressed that UNMIK is still the only one with the authority to organize local polls in Kosovo.

According to Ruecker, during the debate in the Security Council, many countries distanced themselves from Belgrade's intention to organize Serbia's local elections in Kosovo.

PRISTINA, April 23 (Tanjug) - UNMIK will stay in Kosovo until the UN Security Council decides otherwise, and the UN Office in Belgrade is discussing with the Serbian government only the technical issues, UNMIK representatives in Pristina said on Wednesday.

When asked whether and when jurisdictions would be transferred from UNMIK onto EULEX, UNMIK spokesman Sven Lindholm said that the UN Mission would remain in Kosovo as long as needed, that is until the UN Security Council decided otherwise. UNMIK will have to act in accordance with the political situation on the terrain, and in this sense, we will have to reconfigure the mission as the situation may require it, Lindholm reiterated.

Commenting on the writing of the papers in Pristina that representatives of the UN Office in Belgrade and the Serbian government would also negotiate on certain non-status issues regarding Kosovo, Lindholm explained that the UN Office had received an initiative from New York to look into all the matters that jeopardized UNMIK's mandate. UNMIK will not be directly engaged in these talks, but this will not undermine anything and nothing will be bypassed, Lindholm said, and added that the talks would be of technical nature. They will be very important, because there are a number of issues in Kosovo which cause concern, Lindholm noted.

VIENNA, April 23 (Tanjug) - Macedonian Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki said on Wednesday that his country, as far as the recognition of Kosovo's unilaterally proclaimed independence was in question, was on standby. We want to maintain normal relations with both Belgrade and Pristina, because they are important trade partners, Milososki said in an interview for the Vienna daily Die Presse.

Serbia cannot bring harm so easily to Austria or Great Britain, but when Macedonia is in question, this can be done more easily and represent a temptation for the radical forces in Serbia, he added. Milososki pointed out that every Albanian party in Macedonia was interested in the soonest possible recognition of Kosovo. However, we have discussed the issue with our Albanian coalition partner, as well as with the opposition Albanian party, and explained the situation to them, the Macedonian foreign minister said.

SKOPJE, April 24 (Tanjug) - The Foreign Ministry of the Republic of Macedonia views as unacceptable that the Republic of Serbia takes part in the demarcation of Macedonia's borderline with Kosovo. The stand, as Macedonian electronic media reported, was conveyed to the Serbian ambassador to Skopje some twenty days ago.

The border demarcation will be realized in keeping with the Martti Ahtisaari plan, which explicitly says that Macedonia has a legitimate right to define the borders with its neighbors, the Ministry explained. The reaction of the Macedonian Ministry followed the writing of papers in Pristina that during the recent close-door session of the UN Security Council, Serbian President Boris Tadic and Russian Ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin had opposed the start of the demarcation of that part of the Serbian-Macedonian borderline which borders with Kosovo and said that the demarcation could not be carried out unless Serbia was included in that process.

BRUSSELS, Apr 23 (Tanjug) - Major General Raul Cunha, Chief Military Liaison Officer of UNMIK, has criticized the "incoherence of the Western international community" in Kosovo and said that the way this process was conducted goes in the direction of instability, and not stability.

In his interview for Osservatorio sui Balcani, Major General Cunha focused his criticisms on the way EULEX is preparing to start its work and said he believes this part of the process should have been directed in a different way. He argues that the UN has to stay longer in Kosovo as the only legitimate authority, at least in Serb-dominated areas.

"The situation here is not brilliant and we are a lot to blame. We, I mean the western international community. We have maybe invested here in the worst way and we were not very careful with the money. Each time I take a look at the numbers, I notice that 80% of the investment was made on consultancy and capacity building and, practically speaking, we didn't build any capacities", he said.

"The pillar of reconstruction and economic development inside UNMIK was always a responsibility of the European Union and we can verify now that there is no productive structure in Kosovo". The European Union has spent in Kosovo 4 000 million euros, in different ways. From those 4 000 millions, 80% was spent in capacity building and consultancy, he noted. "It is also true that UNMIK had a lot of people doing wrong things. When we talk about corruption and the great sums of money that we hear, I believe that the worse cases probably happened in the pillar of reconstruction and economic development which was led by the European Union, he said.

MOSCOW, April 23 (Beta) - Russia's Gasprom is concerned over Serbia's delaying the ratification of the intergovernmental agreement on the Southern Flow gas pipeline, but hopes the ratification will take place soon, the deputy head of Gasprom and the director of Gaspromexport, Aleksandar Medvedev, stated on March 23.

"There are certain concerns over this delay, but we hope the agreement will be ratified as soon as possible," Medvedev told reporters, as conveyed by the RIA Novosti agency.

He also said he hoped the ratification of the agreement will not be used for political purposes, recollecting that the agreement on the Southern Flow is a part of the package agreement which includes the building of the underground gas storage facility and the acquisition of the Serbian Oil Industry (NIS).

Medvedev also said that, according to preliminary estimates, the passing of the Southern Flow through Serbia is the optimum variant, but that more detailed research is needed for the confirmation of this estimate.

RIA Novosti recollected that Russian and Serbian ministers, Sergei Shoygu and Predrag Bubalo, signed a protocol in Belgrade, according to which the agreement should have be ratified by May 11, but that Serbian President Boris Tadic stated later that the agreement should be ratified after the forming of the new parliament.

BELGRADE, April 23 (Tanjug) - President of the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) Dejan Cvetkovic said on Wednesday that political and economic stability and certainty had the greatest effect on foreign investors' decision to invest in Serbia and remain there.

Addressing reporters after the AmCham's business lunch, Cvetkovic said that no foreign companies had decided to leave Serbia in the past period and that the level of foreign investments had not slowed down or stopped, although it would have been greater without instability in the country. He said that if Serbia continued with European integrations it would be more acceptable for foreign investors, because countries on the way to EU membership or those wishing to become members were always more interesting for investments. Cvetkovic said that the fall of the government created uncertainty in the country and that the most frequent questions which foreign investors who wanted to invest in Serbia asked were how the winning political option would affect the level of acceptance of foreign investments. Foreign investors also wonder about the degree of security of their investments after the elections and about the readiness of new authorities to continue with reforms in accordance with the best international practice, he said.

The early Serbian parliamentary elections will be held on May 11. Cvetkovic said that the most frequent problems foreign investors encountered in Serbia were complicated administrative procedures and added that authorities had to be aware that Serbia competed with the countries in the region to attract new investments. He said that AmCham rallied 175 companies, including the 25 largest foreign investors in Serbia and five biggest exporters who had Serbia's long-term development and economic growth in their interest.