Belgrade, 26. 02. 2008.

SERBIAN AND RUSSIAN OFFICIALS MEET IN BELGRADE

• RUSSIA SUPPORTS THE SOVEREIGNTY OF SERBIA
• MEDVEDEV DISTANCES HIMSELF FROM COMMENT ON RUSSIAN TV
• LAVROV: RUSSIA ACTIVELY SUPPORTS SERBIA
• LAVROV: RUSSIA AGAINST ALL VIOLENT SCENARIOS
• SERBIA AND RUSSIA ENERGY COOPERATION AGREEMENT SIGNED
• TRUNK GAS PIPELINE THROUGH SERBIA TO BE COMPLETED IN 2014

• SERBIAN POLICY - BOTH KOSOVO, EUROPE, DJELIC
• EU: AGREEMENT WITH SERBIA ON TABLE
• SOLANA: SERBIA HAS ITS PLACE IN EUROPEAN FAMILY

• JEREMIC: STATE OF KOSOVO WILL BE ANNULLED
• JEREMIC: SERBIA'S GOAL IS THAT FEWEST COUNTRIES RECOGNIZE KOSOVO
• SERBIA ORDERS WITHDRAWAL OF AMBASSADORS FROM BELGIUM, PERU
• KOSTUNICA: NO NORMALIZATION UNTIL DECISION IS ANNULLED, KOSTUNICA
• DJURIC: US SHOULD ANNUL FALSE STATE IN SERBIAN TERRITORY
• OSCE DENOUNCES ATTACKS ON JOURNALISTS

• RUECKER: SERBIA TO CONFIRM ITS RESPECT FOR U.N. MISSION
• SAMARDZIC: SERBS SHOULD NOT ACCEPT SHAM STATE
• SAMARDZIC: EU MISSION IN KOSOVO LEGALLY UNFOUNDED
• GOVERMENT AIMS AT INTEGRATION OF KOSMET TAX SYSTEM
• SERBIAN ENVIRONMENT MINISTER VISITS KOSOVO

• KOSOVO WON'T BE PART OF SERBIA, SAYS STATE DEPARTMENT
• EU AND NATO TO REMAIN IN KOSOVO
• FEITH: EU PERSONNEL WITHRAWAL FROM NORTH NOT TO AID PARTITION
• MONTENEGRO RESERVED ON KOSOVO
• CIOROIANU: INDEPENDENCE FANS MINORITY TERRITORIAL DEMANDS
• ROMANIAN FM: KOSOVO INDEPENDENCE DANGEROUS PRECEDENT
• ARMENIA WILL NOT RUSH TO RECOGNIZE KOSOVO
• CLASH AT CROSSING BETWEEN KOSOVO, SERBIA
• SERBIAN MUNICIPALITIES REQUEST RUECKER TO RESPECT RES.1244
• ONE IN EIGHT PROPERTY DISPUTES SETTLED IN KOSOVO

• BANK GOVERNOR: WITHOUT FOREIGN INVESTMENT NO GROWTH
• ATEC DEADLINE FOR PAYMENT OF SALES PRICE EXTENDED

BELGRADE, Feb. 25 (Beta) - Russia is sticking to its position to support the sovereignty of Serbia within its entire territory, stated the first deputy prime minister of the Russian government, Dmitri Medvedev, in Belgrade on Feb. 25. "We assume that Serbia is a single state whose jurisdiction covers all of its territory," Medvedev said. "We will stick to this position."

After the meeting, Medvedev and Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica told journalists that the "coordination of efforts to exit this complicated situation" has been agreed to. Kostunica also said that Serbia will do everything it can to realize its jurisdiction and prerogatives in Kosovo in regards to "all loyal citizens, Serbs and nonAlbanians." "There can be no normalization of relations with the states that have recognized Kosovo's independence until they annul their decision," he added. "The protest rallies will not stop as long as that illegal independence is not annulled."

BELGRADE, Feb 25 (Tanjug) - Serbian President Boris Tadic has conveyed to Russian Deputy Premier Dmitry Medvedev that Belgrade will never recognize the independence of Kosovo and will continue to fight for its legitimate interests by peaceful, diplomatic and legal means.

Tadic and Medvedev met in Belgrade on Monday and they discussed economic and bilateral cooperation, as well as Kosovo and Metohija, the Serbian president's press service said. The collocutors established that the economic cooperation of the two countries was progressing and that bilateral relations were developed in the interest of both Russia and Serbia. Tadic thanked Russia for its principled stand on Kosovo and Metohija and its efforts for respecting international law. Attending the talks were Russian and Serbian Foreign Ministers Sergey Lavrov and Vuk Jeremic.

BELGRADE, Feb. 25 (Beta) - Dmitri Medvedev, first deputy prime minister of Russia, said on Feb. 25, in Belgrade, that a negative comment about slain Serbian prime minister Zoran Djindjic on Russian television did not reflect the position of the state.

In talks with Medvedev, Serbian President Boris Tadic protested over negative comments on Djindjic, assassinated on March 12, 2003, BETA learned from a source close to the talks.

Medvedev, most favored to become the next president of Russia, gave assurances that the comments did not reflect the position of the state.

The report on the Feb. 21 protest in Belgrade by Russia's state TV caused a scandal over which Belgrade has already protested.

"Inhabitants of Belgrade today probably recalled other rallies. They recalled how the mob that toppled old Milosevic ran amuck. Those same football fans. How the country that went mad on liberal promises tearfully accompanied to his resting place Western puppet Zoran Djindjic the man who broke up the legendary Serbian army and special services, who turned over to the Hague tribunal heroes of Serbian resistance in exchange for abstract economic assistance, and who deservingly got a bullet for his trouble," TV Russia said in the report.

Previously, 42 nongovernmental organizations asked Tadic and Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic to seek an explanation of this scandalous comment from the Russian government.

MOSCOW, Feb 25 (Tanjug) - Russia actively supports Serbia's demands for establishing territorial integrity, said on Monday Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, criticizing the intentions of the European Union, after undermining the territorial integrity of Serbia, to ensure the territorial integrity of an "illegal entity." It is inadmissible that, for the first time in post war history, a UN member state has been partitioned, contrary to all the principles and all the pillars that have up to now been applied in resolving territorial conflicts, said Lavrov in an interview with information channel "Vesti."

He added that he did not know what were the real motives of the United States and of some European countries, who since the very beginning talked about the unacceptability of any outcome except independence, but the fact remains that this has brought great and still not fully displayed tension in Europe.

The EU mission, paradoxically called the Mission for the Rule of Law, is rather aggressively declaring that it will ensure the territorial integrity of Kosovo. An interesting logic: by undermining the territorial integrity of one state it is preparing to ensure the territorial integrity of an illegal entity. Seriously reviewed, among other things, is the use of force for restraining Serbs who do not wish to remain under the authority of Pristina within the unilateral declared state, Lavrov said. He added that there was data that NATO contingents were attempting to use force to close the administrative boundary between northern Kosovo, inhabited predominantly by Serbs, and the rest of Serbia.

MOSCOW, Feb 25 (Tanjug) - Russia is opposed to all violent scenarios in the resolution of the "issue of Serbia and Kosovo," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday in an interview to the Russia TV channel. We are doing everything not to allow such a scenario, we highly respect the position of the Serbian leadership - both its president and premier are firmly opposed to all violent scenarios, Lavrov stated.

BELGRADE, Feb. 25 (Beta) - Representatives from Srbijagas and Russia's Gazprom signed an agreement on Feb. 25 on the construction of a pipeline for the transport of natural gas through Serbia.

Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev stated that during this difficult time Serbia needs not only moral and legal support, but also support based on concrete bilateral agreements, which will contribute to a better social and economic situation for all of Serbia's people. The details of the agreement were not disclosed and journalists were not permitted to ask questions.

As the ItarTas news agency reported, Gazprom's spokesperson, Sergei Kupriyanov, said that Gazprom and Srbijagas will establish a joint company for the construction of the future pipeline and that the company is expected to be created within three months of signing the agreement, after which 18 months will be required for the working out of the technical and economic details.

Kupriyanov added that the construction itself will "take a lot of time," reminding that according to the plan, the "South Stream" should be functioning by 2013. He refused to state the cost of the project, saying that this would be clearer after the documentation is completed.

The agreement between Serbia and Russia on energy cooperation, according to which Gazprom is expected to buy 51 percent of the Serbian Oil Industry (NIS) for EUR400 million, was signed on Feb. 25 in Moscow.

PANCEVO, Feb 25 (Tanjug) - Srbijagas acting director Sasa Ilic has said that Serbia made the first step on Monday to become a "highway instead of a dead-end on the gas pipeline map of Europe." After a visit of a Russian delegation to the Pancevo Oil Refinery, he told reporters that the Russian gas should go through Serbia through the trunk pipeline in early 2014.

Ilic said that the operationalisation of an inter-governmental agreement between Serbia and Russia, under which Srbijagas and Gazprom had taken the obligation to set up a joint company for the transit of gas through Serbia, had started. The joint company should be formed until May 25 and the founders will be Gazprom with 51 percent and Srbijagas with 49 percent, Ilic said. He said that only the main guidelines in the setting up of a joint company had been set and that the deadline for the start of operation had been given, so that gas should flow through Serbia on January 1, 2014. Working groups will prepare documents, so that the company can start operating in keeping with Serbia's legal regulations, he added.

Ilic said that the capacity of the pipeline through Serbia would be at least 10 billion cubic meters of gas per year, but that the fact that the planned capacity through the Black Sea was about 30 billion cubic meters, left the possibility for increasing the capacity through Serbia. The pipeline will go through the Black Sea and through Bulgaria to Serbia, Ilic said and added that the transit tax for the transport of gas through Serbia would be formed in such a way as to ensure the effective operation of the company. In order for the company to start operating, funds will have to be secured and this will be done through different types of loans, he said. The underground gas storage facility in Banatski Dvor will be the subject matter of a separate agreement which will also be signed between Srbijagas and Gazprom, Ilic said. Banatski Dvor should be operational by the end of the year, Ilic said and added that this was the first phase of construction of between 500,000 and one million cubic meters of gas per day.

BELGRADE, Feb 26 (Tanjug) - Serbian Deputy Premier Bozidar Djelic said on Tuesday that Serbian policy was "both Kosovo and Europe" and that the Democratic Party (DS) will only be in a full capacity government that works on all five priorities.

The five priorities are Djelic reminded, the defense of Serbia's territorial integrity, European integration, cooperation with the ICTY, fighting crime and corruption and improving citizens' standard of living. Pointing out that Serbia will never give up Kosovo-Metohija or its European future, Djelic announced in an interview with B92 Radio Television that it will take action against Kosovo ever becoming a member of any international organization.

According to the Action Plan, Serbia will reconsider its relations with the countries that have recognized the unilaterally declared independence of Kosovo-Metohija, the deputy premier said, assessing that Serbia should fight for the province in a peaceful and lawful manner. Djelic said that a European Commission technical team arrived in Belgrade on Tuesday and that the topics of the talks are "transportation and energy," and that next week our team is due to travel to Brussels to negotiate the lifting of the visa regime. On March 10-14 an important visit is expected by a European delegation, which will consider the harmonization of our system with the European system in the fields of the judiciary, security, as well as human rights and freedoms.

LJUBLJANA, Feb. 25 (Beta) - Dimitrij Rupel, foreign minister of Slovenia, the country currently chairing the European Union, said on Feb. 25, in Ljubljana, that the political agreement between Serbia and the EU was on the table and that Serbia could sign it at any time.

The EU has not changed its position toward Serbia. The interim political agreement is still on the table and Serbia can sign it, Rupel said after meeting with his counterpart from Bosnia Herzegovina, Sven Alkalaj.

At the same time, EU and NATO officials took a stand for strengthening ties with Serbia, but pointed out that Belgrade should also be ready for this.

EU High Representative Javier Solana reminded that elections had been held in Serbia and that the 27nation bloc had offered a mechanism for strengthening ties with the country.

That is still our goal and we believe a stable Balkans is not possible without a stable Serbia and solid relations with the EU. We will do everything in our power, but it is also important for the other side to be prepared to do the same, Solana said.

NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said the same "goes for NATO." He reminded of "messages" that could do no good, but stressed that Serbia was a very "important player" in the region.

I can understand the disappointment in Serbia, but it should look ahead. I and allies within NATO are prepared to see how we can put the fact that we have an agreement on the Partnership for Peace with Serbia to the best use in the widest possible sense, Scheffer said.

BERLIN, Feb 25 (Tanjug) - EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana said on Monday in an interview with the German daily Welt that Serbia has its place in the European family. I believe that cooperation, dialogue and peace represent the central point in the relations between Serbia and the European Union, Solana said.

People in Serbia have a European future and Serbia its place in the European family, said Solana, who strongly condemned the violence at the demonstrations that took place in Belgrade last Thursday and appealed to the citizens to restrain from violence in the future. Solana called on all sides in Serbia to behave and act in a responsible manner, and appealed to the Serbian authorities to guarantee the protection of foreign embassies, as envisaged by international law.

BELGRADE, Feb 26 (Tanjug) - Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic has said that the Serbian diplomatic service has set itself the goal to secure that the unilaterally proclaimed independence of Kosovo and Metohija does not get international legal legitimacy. "We will fight that as few United Nations (UN) members as possible recognize Kosovo-Metiohija as an independent state, that Kosovo does not get full membership in international organizations that would stem from its confirmed sovereignty," Jeremic said in an interview to the Belgrade daily Vecernje novosti published on Tuesday.

Asked whether the government intends to file charges with the International Court of Justice against the countries that have recognized Kosovo-Metohija, the minister replied that Serbia's first step will be to ask the International Court of Justice for its official opinion on whether the proclamation of the independence of Kosovo-Metohija was in keeping with the law. On the occasion of the recalling of Serbia's ambassadors from the countries that have recognized Kosovo-Metohija, Jeremic said that the consultations with these ambassadors at the home office will continue until further notice. "We are following developments and, in keeping with our assessments on what is our interest, we can also take more severe measures.

The next step would be that the recalling takes on a permanent nature, in fact that the effect is the permanent lowering of the level of diplomatic relations," Jeremic said. Concerning the continuation of the negotiations between Serbia and the European Union (EU) Jeremic said that a number of EU countries have decided to violate the sovereignty of Serbia with their recognition of Kosovo and Metohija as a state. "We had no other choice but to react to this with diplomatic measures and we now have weaker relations with these countries. We are today further away than a week ago from the realization of our strategic goal - membership in the EU," the Serbian foreign minister said.

BELGRADE, Feb. 26 (B92) - The Council for National Security will meet to discuss the security situation in Serbia today. The meeting was initially called for Friday by President Boris Tadic after the events of last Thursday, when the American, Croatian and Turkish embassies in Belgrade were vandalized.

Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic told B92 last night that the violence on the streets of Belgrade that broke out after peaceful protests against the unilateral proclamation of Kosovo independence will be the "only topic of discussion" at today's meeting. Jeremic said that what happened on Thursday is "absolutely unacceptable and that the violence worsens Serbia's diplomatic capacities".

He said that Serbia will continue its diplomatic fight in order to annul the unilateral independence declaration. He said that Moscow and Belgrade have put together a "united strategy for working on an international level". He explained that Serbia is doing everything to make sure as few countries as possible recognize Kosovo's secession in order to show at the UN General Assembly in September that a large majority of countries do not support Kosovo's illegal secession.

"Our idea is, after it is clear that there can be no confirmation of the international sovereignty of the so-called state of Kosovo, for there to be no other solution for the international community but to return to the negotiating table." "We have made clear the details of this strategy but we have weeks and months of work ahead of us, and a united diplomatic effort before the international community," Jeremic said.

The U.S. State Department stated that Kosovo will "never be a part of Serbia again", and that Washington will work with Belgrade ad Russia, who oppose Kosovo's independence. State Department spokesperson Tom Casey said that the U.S. "does not wish to isolate Serbia", and that it "wants Serbia to become a part of Europe".

Jeremic, however, said that Serbia is "today, unfortunately, a step further from the EU than it was on February 17," but that European integration is" still one of the country's chief priorities". "A permanent point of the government's agenda is Serbia's process of European integration, which is discussed at meetings every Thursday. The strategic goals of this government remain unchanged," Jeremic claims.

BELGRADE, Feb. 25 (Beta) - The Serbian Foreign Ministry on Feb. 25 sent protest letters to Belgium and Peru to protest the recognition by those countries of Kosovo's independence. The ministry instructed the ambassadors to return posthaste to Serbia for consultations.

Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic ordered the immediate withdrawal of the ambassadors to Belgium and Peru, Radomir Diklic and Goran Mesic, it is said in the statement.

The ambassadors are to leave their host countries within 48 hours from handing over the protest letters and return to Belgrade for consultations, the statement reads.

BELGRADE, Feb 25 (Tanjug) - Serbian Premier Vojislav Kostunica said Monday that there would be no normalization of relations with those countries that have recognized the unilaterally declared independence of Kosovo until that decision is annulled.

"I am certain that there can be no stabilization in the world and in the region, as long as this decision is not annulled," Kostunica told a press conference following talks with Russian Deputy Premier Dmitry Medvedev. Kostunica said that he has agreed with Medvedev that Serbia and Russia will continue their joint policy with regards the defence of Kosovo.

He reiterated that, in the UN Security Council, Serbia, Russia and all other countries which urge the respect of the fundamental principles of the international law, would fight for the annulment of this decision.

BELGRADE, Feb 26 (Tanjug) - The Serbian prime minister's media advisor Srdjan Djuric said in a statement for Tanjug on Monday evening that it is important that the United States (UN) annuls the decision on the proclamation of the false state in the territory of Serbia so that the principles of international law in the Balkans can be re-established.

Speaking in reaction to a statement by US State Department Deputy Spokesman Tom Casey, who said that Kosovo will never again be a part of Serbia, Djuric pointed out that Kosovo and Metohija province is a part of Serbia under the United Nations (UN) Charter and the Serbian Constitution and that it will remain its inseparable part. "Stability and peace in the entire region can be secured only through respect of international law," Djuric said, underscoring that Serbia's message to the whole world is simple and clear and reads: "Kosovo is Serbia."

BELGRADE, Feb. 25 (Beta) - Hans Ola Urstad, head of the OSCE mission in Serbia, on Feb. 25 denounced attacks on journalists reporting on the "Kosovo Is Serbia" protest last week in Belgrade and asked for better protection for members of the media.

An OSCE press release said that "targeted or indiscriminate violence or threats against those who cover news stories is a serious violation of journalists' rights to carry out their work freely and objectively report on the current events in the country."

"Serbian citizens as well as others are thus denied their right to a free and open flow of information," Urstad said according to the announcement.

He also condemned direct threats against Television B92 and other media and called for better protection of all journalists and media in Serbia, including representatives of foreign media.

PRISTINA, Feb. 25 (Beta) - UNMIK chief Joachim Ruecker urged Serbia on Feb. 25 to confirm its respect for the U.N. mandate after Serbs in northern Kosovo torched two UNMIK border crossings last week.

Ruecker said that he reminded the visiting minister for Kosovo and Metohija, Slobodan Samardzic, that Resolution 1244 puts the United Nations and KFOR peacekeeping forces “in charge of the entire territory of Kosovo.” “I made it very clear to him that condoning violence, directly or indirectly, is totally unacceptable,” Ruecker said, referring to a remark by Samardzic saying that attacks on border posts were “legitimate.” However, Ruecker said it is not clear whether Samardzic will distance himself from these earlier remarks.

UGLJARE/KOSOVO POLJE, Feb 25 (Tanjug) - Serbian Kosovo-Metohija Minister Slobodan Samardzic said Monday that he has informed UNMIK Chief Joachim Ruecker that the majority of the Serbs living in the province, almost 100% of them, refuse to accept the sham independent state of Kosovo.

"We condemn all forms of violence, but primarily the violence already committed against the international law," Samardzic told reporters in the village of Ugljare after meeting with Ruecker on the outskirts of Pristina. Samardzic said that Serbia demands from UNMIK and from the countries which recognized the independence of Kosovo and Metohija, to first take a stand of this and "then to lecture others." "I insisted that order and stability should be maintained. We are prepared to be held accountable for maintaining order and stability in Serb environments and to closely cooperate with UNMIK and Kfor in this respect. We are trying to convince the Serbs to continue cooperating with UNMIK, because Serbia recognizes this international presence," Samardzic set out.

He stated that the situation in Kosovo and Metohija has changed greatly, as UNMIK no longer functions in the majority of the province's territory controlled by the ethnic Albanians. "We demand that UNMIK warns the ethnic Albanians that they have broken the law. My impression is that UNMIK is doing anything in this respect. I warned that the Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija should have the same living conditions as all other inhabitants of Serbia," Samardzic pointed out, adding that "the state will carry out its duty, despite the fact that it is difficult to do so in the current chaos." "We will do that," Samardzic said, noting that UN Security Council Resolution 1244 is not being implemented, but that UNMIK and Kfor should continue their missions.

KOSOVSKA MITROVICA, Feb 25 (Tanjug) - Serbian Minister for Kosovo and Metohija Slobodan Samardzic said in Kosovska Mitrovica on Monday evening that there is no legal basis for the European Union (EU) mission being in the southern Serbian province, but that the Serbian authorities will continue cooperation with the local United Nations interim administration UNMIK.

Conveying the stands expressed at today's talks with UNMIK Chief Joachim Ruecker in Pristina, Samardzic stressed that the EU mission has no legal foundation at all even gradually to take over the authority of UNMIK in Kosovo and Metohija. "We will continue to cooperate with UNMIK for the sake of peace and stability," Minister Samardzic said. He pointed out that the arrival of the EU mission was not approved by the United Nations (UN) Security Council either, and that such a possibility is only mentioned in the plan of Martti Ahtisaari "which does not exist."

Samardzic said he held open talks with Ruecker, good talks, even though they had not agreed in all the elements. Samardzic said he had criticized UNMIK for being overly sensitive toward the interim institutions in Kosovo which proclaimed the unilateral independence of Kosovo and Metohija in violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1244. It is not possible to interpret Security Council Resolution 1244 in any other way than as a document guaranteeing the sovereignty of Serbia over Kosovo and Metohija province, Samardzic underscored.

His visit to the Serb enclaves in Kosovo and Metohija today has nothing to do with the meeting with Ruecker, Samardzic said, pointing out that the visit was planned within the Serbian government's support to the Serbs in the southern province. In the conditions of the violations of international law resulting from the unilateral proclamation of the independence of Kosovo and Metohija, Serbia will continue to realize its authority in the province wherever it can, he stressed. During the day, Samardzic said, he visited six Serb enclaves in Kosovo and Metohija and spoke to the representatives of the local Serbs about ways in which assistance can be provided for the Serbs.

KOSOVSKA MITROVICA, Feb 26 (Tanjug) - Finance Minister Mirko Cvetkovic stated in northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica Tuesday that the goal of the Serbian government and the department ministry is to integrate the province's financial and tax systems into the Serbian state institutions as much as possible.

During his visit to the town's Finance Ministry Tax Administration, Cvetkovic said that he is visiting the province together with his team in order to support Serbs. He recalled that the Serbian government had rejected the unilateral declaration of independence by the province as an illegal act which is contrary to international law. State Secretary of the Finance Ministry Miodrag Djidic said that working conditions of the employees of the Tax and Treasury Administration will be improved. Djidic said that a center for education of tax and finance employees will soon be set up in northern Kosovska Mitrovica.

KOSOVSKA MITROVICA, Feb 25 (Tanjug) - Serbian Environment Minister Sasa Dragin and Dean of the Pristina University School of Technical Studies, temporarily transferred to Kosovska Mitrovica, Vladimir Raicevic signed Monday an agreement on a plan for environment protection in northern Kosovo-Metohija worth 2.6 million dinars.

The Serbian government sees Kosovo as an integral part of Serbia and all programs financed by the Environment Ministry consequently apply to the province too, Dragin told Tanjug. The ministry will continue to finance various projects in the province, he said, emphasizing that all Serbian institutions in Kosovo must work as well as possible.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 25 (Beta) - Kosovo will never be part of Serbia again, the U.S. State Department said on Feb. 25, but added that Washington would continue to work on the issue with Belgrade and its ally Russia, which both oppose the province's independence.

State Department spokesman Tom Casey spoke after Russia's likely next president, Dmitri Medvedev, visited Belgrade to show Moscow's backing for Serbian sovereignty over Kosovo despite Western support for its declaration of independence. "We are going to continue to try to work with both the Russians and the Serbs on this but I think that it ought to be clear to everybody at this point that Kosovo is never going to be a part of Serbia again," Casey told reporters.

Casey said the United States, which has recognized Kosovo's independence, had no problem with peaceful demonstrations over the matter, so long as they did not turn violent. Casey said family members and nonessential U.S. Embassy personnel had left Belgrade until security there improved, but the U.S. ambassador, Cameron Munter, remained in the Serbian capital along with other U.S. officials.

Casey said all parties should now move forward with implementing a plan for Kosovo's supervised independence that was developed by U.N. envoy Martti Ahtisaari. "We don't want to isolate Serbia," he said, adding that the United States wanted Serbia to be able to achieve its ambition to be a part of Europe. "We think that is the future of the country and we hope that is the direction its leadership wants to take it in."

BRUSSELS, Feb. 25 (Beta) - The European Union and NATO are remaining on the entire territory of Kosovo, officials from the two organizations stated on Feb. 25 in Brussels.

After a meeting with NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, EU High Representative Javier Solana told journalists that the EU is not worried that it might come to the partition of Kosovo because UNMIK and KFOR are responsible there.

The EU and NATO are hoping that all sides in the Kosovo issue will "work responsibly in the coming period, so that cooperation with the current international presence [in Kosovo] can be constructive and positive for the region's stability," Solana added.

Scheffer reiterated that NATO is present in Kosovo on the basis of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1244 and that it will remain there "with the role of securing Kosovo and protecting all of Kosovo's citizens, wherever they are, both the majority and the minority." Scheffer expressed his hope that the region, "and especially Kosovo, will be able to avoid messages which are not helpful, and which come from certain places."

LONDON, Feb 25 (Tanjug) - EU envoy for Kosovo Peter Feith said that last week's withdrawal of EU mission preparatory personnel from the tense northern part of Kosovo, in which Serbs form a majority, would not help partition the province along ethnic lines.

We have temporarily withdrawn our personnel, but we will keep our office in the northern part of Kosovo, Feith told the London Financial Times. The Dutch diplomat said there was a possibility that UNMIK, which has been administering Kosovo since 1999, remains in areas that are exceptionally sensitive to the secession of Kosovo from Serbia, the Financial Times said, reminding that Serbs were against Brussels' plan to send in the coming weeks 2,000 policemen and judicial experts to Kosovo. EU officials, the paper assessed, will insist on the territorial integrity of Kosovo and in the end they will want to implement their mandate also in Serbian communities.

BRUSSELS, Feb. 25 (Beta) - Montenegrin President Filip Vujanovic said in Brussels on Feb. 25 that in the case of Kosovo, his country would be guided by its "state interests" and the internal situation, good relations with Belgrade and Pristina, and the necessity of preserving stability in the region.

After meeting Vujanovic, EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana said "the recent period has been very constructive for Montenegro, the country's economy is progressing well, and the political situation is very stable."

Vujanovic also met with NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, who pledged that NATO will "completely openly" support all reforms in Montenegro.

Vujanovic is to meet EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn on Feb. 26.

ZAGREB, Feb 25 (Tanjug) - Romania supports the protection of minority rights at the level of the individual, but it has not recognized the independence of Kosovo province because it does not want the setting of a precedent that might stoke territorial demands from minority communities, Romanian Foreign Minister Adrian Cioroianu said in Zagreb on Monday.

During a one-day working visit to Croatia, the Romanian minister met with Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader and Foreign Minister Gordan Jandrokovic, with whom he conferred on Romania's support to Croatia, but also Kosovo. Jandrokovic said one of the topics at the talks had been the situation in southeastern Europe, and underscored that accord had been reached with the Romanian minister that the priority was to preserve stability and peace in the region.

TEL AVIV, Feb 25 (Tanjug) - Romania did not recognize the unilateral declaration of independence of Kosovo as it can set a precedent in the region that could lead to unrest in Europe and elsewhere, Romanian Foreign Minister Adrian Cioroianu said in an interview broadcast Monday by Voice of Israel.

We have not recognized the independence of the Kosovo province and we will not recognize it in the coming period because there are certain things that prevent us from doing so, he said, noting that this unilateral declaration of independence can set a precedent in our area, especially from the perspective of the fact it encourages collective rights for minorities. It is a quite delicate concept, which we do not back and which does not have validity in the current international political practice.

Romania and other states back the minorities' rights, but not collective rights for minorities. If these collective rights of minorities came to have the status of political practice, we believe unrest would occur in Europe and other areas, Cioroianu said. Romania voiced against the recognition of Kosovo's independence out of its concern with the precedent Kosovo may set for areas such as Bosnia-Herzegovina or the Transdniester area in the Republic of Moldova or Georgia, Macedonia or Montenegro, he said.

MOSCOW, Feb 25 (Tanjug) - Armenia will not rush with recognition of Kosovo's independence, Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian said on Monday. We are discussing the issue and the only thing I may specify is that we will not rush with recognition or non-recognition of Kosovo, Oskanian told a news conference, adding that the time will come when Armenia will announce its stand.

Five days ago, Azerbaijan's authorities warned that Yerevan does not recognize Kosovo, while Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov underscored that recognition of the unilateral declaration of independence by Serbia's province is contrary to international norms and that it does not set a precedent for the conflict regarding Nargorno-Karabakh.

PRISTINA, Feb. 25 (Beta) - At least 19 members of the Kosovo police and five Serbian army reservists were injured on Feb. 25 at an administrative crossing 35 kilometers from Pristina while the reservists were protesting against Kosovo’s proclaimed independence.

Kosovo police spokesman Veton Elshani told BETA that a group of around 150 reservists had thrown rocks, motor oil and water at Kosovo police members at the Mutivode crossing, northern Kosovo, forcing them to use tear gas. The protesters also torched tires, Elshani said, adding that the demonstrators withdrew once KFOR members appeared at the scene.

After briefly withdrawing, participants in the protest returned, hurling stones at the police, chanting slogans against Kosovo’s independence and shouting out insults against ethnic Albanians. One of the younger demonstrators, not a member of the military reserves, threw a tree stump at a BETA and Blic daily journalist, calling her a traitor.

Members of the Serbian police watched the events without responding. When the journalist asked one of them why they had not provided her with protection, he “said with a smile that he hadn’t seen anything and that he had been looking the other way.”

During the entire rally, some protesters continually moved through the crowd asking for the B92 Television crew.

KOSOVSKA MITROVICA, Feb 26 (Tanjug) - At a meeting held in Kosovska Mitrovica on Monday, representatives of the Serbian municipalities in the north of Kosovo requested Joachim Ruecker to respect UN Security Council's Resolution 1244 and nullify the declaration of Kosovo's independence, which was adopted by the province's parliament.

President of the Leposavic municipality Velimir Bojovic told Tanjug that Ruecker was requested to respect Resolution 1244 and nullify the declaration of the Kosovo interim institutions on the province's independence. Bojovic pointed out that the Serbian people does not want customs checkpoints on the administrative line, which was also pointed out to the head of the UN in Kosovo. "We want to live in Serbia and the Serbs in Kosovo do not need any customs checkpoints between the province and the rest of Serbia, and we certainly do not want money for the so-called state of Kosovo to be collected on the administrative lines with Serbia," Bojovic said.

PRISTINA, Feb 25 (Tanjug) - The Kosovo Assets Agency has made decisions for one in eight property disputes created due to armed conflicts in Kosovo-Metohija in 1998 and 1999, the Agency said in a statement.

The Kosovo Assets Agency commission has made decisions for 5,749 out of 39,171 filed property claims, the statement said. The Agency will continue to work on the settlement of the remaining 33,422 claims in line with the Martti Ahtisaari plan. The commission, set up in June 2007, is expected to end the adoption of decisions for all filed property claims in early 2010.

BELGRADE, Feb. 25 (Beta) - The governor of the National Bank of Serbia, Radovan Jelasic, warned on Feb. 25 that closing Serbia to foreign investment would badly affect the development of the economy and the living standard of the citizens.

The governor, regarding a call to boycott foreign companies and banks in Serbia whose founders are from abroad, said that he believes that the citizens will be guided by economic interests, in other words, that they will use the goods and services that suit them most.

The general director of the National Bank of Serbia's economic analysis and research department, Branko Hinic, underscored that the central bank will not deviate from the plan for this year's base inflation rate to be between three and six percent.

The vice governor of the National Bank of Serbia, Diana Dragutinovic, announced that the central bank is preparing measures to urge banks to authorize more credit in dinars.

BELGRADE, Feb. 25 (Beta) - The Privatization Agency has extended until Apr. 4 the deadline for Austrian ATEC Industries to pay the sales price for the Bor Mining and Smelting Basin, on condition that the company pay USD150 million by Feb. 29.

If ATEC does not pay that amount by then, Mar. 14 is the final deadline for paying the total sales price of USD466 million. ATEC sought an extended deadline in order to pay the sales price on Feb. 21. The contract for the sale of the mining and smelting basin and the transfer of exploitation rights was signed in the Serbian government on Feb. 7. ATEC also agreed to invest USD230 million into the modernization of production.