EU's catch 22

A European Union deadline for Serbia to hand over war crimes suspect Ratko Mladic is set to expire. The EU says it will stop talks on closer ties with Serbia-Montenegro if Gen Mladic is not arrested by 30 April.

On Friday, EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said it was time to "locate, arrest and transfer Ratko Mladic to the Hague (tribunal) without delay". The former Bosnian Serb military chief is charged with genocide over the 1995 Srebrenica massacre and other crimes.

Along with his civilian counterpart, Radovan Karadzic, he is the most wanted war crimes suspect in Europe. He is thought to be hiding somewhere in Serbia. 'Serious consequences' The BBC's Nick Hawton says this would not be the first time a deadline had passed without the arrest of Gen Mladic.

But he says this time there could be serious consequences for the Serbian government, which has made membership of the EU a key priority. Serbia-Montenegro opened talks on a Stability and Association Agreement (SAA) with the EU - the first step on the path to membership - in October 2005.

Last month, the EU decided to carry on with the talks after assurances by UN Chief War Crimes Prosecutor Carla del Ponte and Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica that Gen Mladic would be arrested. But after meeting with Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Draskovic on Friday, Mr Rehn told reporters that the EU had "no other option than to call off the next round of negotiations" planned for 11 May if Gen Mladic was not arrested within days.
Ms del Ponte is expected to give her assessment of Serbia's co-operation later this week. If her report is also negative then the EU may feel obliged to suspend future talks with Serbia, our correspondent says.

Grenade kills two people in Kosovo

Kosovska Mitrovica - Jahir Jahirovic (26) and Mivavera Jahirovic (31) were killed in a hand grenade explosion which occurred on Saturday at about 12:30 p.m. in Vlade Cetkovica Street number 6 in the northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica.

According to unconfirmed reports, after selling at the farmer's market, which is located in immediate proximity to the accident, Jahirovic went home with his sister-in-law, entered the garage, locked the door from the inside and activated a hand grenade which killed both.

"I arrived from the market about ten minutes before the accident. I was sitting in a room with a view to their house when I heard a strong explosion. I went out on the balcony but I did not see anything. I called police right away who arrived quickly with an ambulance," an eyewitness related.

Members of UNMIK and the Kosovo Police Service have carried out an on the scene investigation. Details of the findings have not been revealed.

Future of Kosovska Mitrovica

PRISTINA, Serbia-Montenegro-Negotiators seeking to put an end to the dispute over Kosovo's postwar legal status will tackle one of the toughest questions next week, who will control the territory's only ethnically divided town.

Kosovska Mitrovica is cut in two by the river Ibar, which separates the town's Serb-dominated north and its ethnic Albanian south.

Western envoys conducting U.N.-sponsored talks between Kosovo's ethnic Albanians and Serbia are to discuss proposals for the town's future on Thursday in Vienna, Austria, as part of discussions on local government reform.

The town, 45 kilometers (30 miles) north of Kosovo's capital, Pristina, has been the scene of violent clashes in the past and has come to symbolize the deep rift between the Kosovo's two main communities.

It is also the last urban foothold for the 100,000 Serbs remaining in Kosovo after the war.
Before negotiators discuss ethnic Albanians' demands for Kosovo's independence from Serbia, U.N. mediators have been trying to steer the two sides toward an agreement over control of individual municipalities.

Kosovo has been a U.N. protectorate since the war between Serb military forces and ethnic Albanian separatists ended in 1999. In handing back control, Kosovo's international administration wants to be sure the Serb minority is protected.

Under the plans being discussed, municipalities with higher numbers of Serbs are to be given the power to run their own local affairs.

Kosovska Mitrovica, the only ethnically divided town in Kosovo, presents a tricky problem.
On Friday, a Berlin-based think-tank presented negotiators with its recommendations.
The European Stability Initiative argued against plans to set up a transitional international administration to govern the town.

Instead, the policy institute said a permanent solution to the town's local government structure should not be put off and the international community's role in the town should be to reinforce security and help the town's economic development as a way to bring the communities together.
Some U.N officials have suggested an executive role for the international mission, and Kosovo's ethnic Albanian leaders have discussed the creation of two municipal bodies, one in the south and another in the north, governed by a single executive council, which would be run by an international administrator for the next few years. The institute also said security should be increased in the area to send "strong and clear signals to hardliners on both sides that violence will not prevent the implementation of a political settlement."

It also proposed the founding of a multiethnic university as a flagship project, similar to a model used in neighboring Macedonia to reconcile the ethnic Albanians and Macedonians after the 2001 conflict. Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority wants independence, while its Serb minority wants it to remain part of Serbia-Montenegro, the union that replaced Yugoslavia.

As for Kosovska Mitrovica, which is linked to mainland Serbia, Serbs want to keep control the northern part of the town, which they consider their last urban stronghold. However, ethnic Albanians reject its division along ethnic lines, fearing it could set a precedent leading to the partition of the rest of the province.

The U.N.-mediated talks aim to find a solution for Kosovo's disputed status by the end of the year.

Serbia claims Mladic network comprises 130 people

Serbia has discovered a network of 130 people who have helped to hide Ratko Mladic, the former Bosnian Serb military commander and fugitive war crimes suspect, a minister has said. "But most of those people are in Republika Srpska," the Serb-run part of neighbouring Bosnia, Serbia-Montenegro Human Rights Minister Rasim Ljajic said in an interview published Sunday in the Blic newspaper.

Mladic is wanted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in the Hague for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during Bosnia's 1992-95 war. A deadline set by the European Union for Serbia to hand him over expired on Sunday. Both the EU and NATO have warned that failure to give Mladic up could jeopardise Serbia-Montenegro's chances of joining those blocs. On Friday, Brussels threatened Belgrade with sanctions if Mladic was not handed over "in the next few days".

Serbian authorities claim not to know where the fugitive is, despite repeated allegations from the chief UN war crimes prosecutor that he is on Serbian territory under the protection of elements in the security forces. Ljajic said the new information on Mladic's network of aides could help to track him down. "We have more information than before ... we have made progress but the European Union will only appreciate the result, not our efforts," he said.

Macedonia denies involvement in alleged CIA abduction

TIRANA, April 28 (Xinhua) -- A top Macedonian official on Friday denied any involvement of his country in the alleged CIA abduction and transfer of a German youth to Afghanistan, news reaching here from Skopje reported. "I can assure you that the Macedonian secret services didn't take part in any of such activities," Ljubomir Mihahlovski, the Macedonian Interior Minister, told a visiting team of the European Parliament.

He said it was just speculation that the German youth left Macedonia by plane. According to Lebanese-born Khled el-Masri, he was detained in Macedonia on December 31, 2003, and held and interrogated by armed Macedonian police for 23 days in a Skopje hotel. From there, he claims he was flown by the CIA agents to Afghanistan and kept there for several months as a terrorist suspect before being ferried and released in Albania. Officials told the visiting team that, according to record, el-Masri did stay in Macedonia for 23 days, but they did not know what happened to him during that time and considered him to be an ordinary tourist.

Further more, the interior minister said that the German youth left Macedonia at the Kosovo border crossing "Blace", not flown away from Skopje as he claimed. He told the visiting team that e-Masri left Macedonia by land and he has a stamp in his passport to prove that.

BUS AND SERB HOUSE STONED

Kosovska Mitrovica, April 23 (SRNA) - A bus transporting some 30 Serbs was stoned today shortly after 3:00 p.m. as it was leaving Suvi Dol near Kosovska Mitrovica. None of the passengers on their way to Kosovska Mitrovica was hurt but the bus sustained significant damage, the Information Service of the Coordinating Center in Kosovska Mitrovica confirmed.

According to the same source, in the afternoon the house of the Bozovic family in the northern part of Mitrovica was also stoned. The house is the temporary home of the refugee family of Repic from Prizren. After the incident was reported the Kosovo Police Service went to the scene and increased its presence in the so-called Bosnjacka Mahala quarter in the northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica.

Carla del Ponte is getting old

THE HAGUE, April 26 (Reuters) - A deadline for Serbia to deliver former Bosnian Serb General Ratko Mladic to The Hague by the end of April has not changed despite media reports of a later date, a spokesman for the chief U.N. prosecutor said. In early April, Chief Prosecutor Carla del Ponte said Serbia had promised her that Mladic would be delivered to the Hague tribunal before the end of April.

Some media reports have said Serbia may be given until early or mid-May to deliver Mladic, but Del Ponte's spokesman dismissed the reports. "I have read about other dates ... May 3 or May 11, but the promise was end of April," he told journalists on Wednesday. "We will publish an assessment after that, in the beginning of May." Mladic is indicted with Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic for genocide over the 1995 Srebrenica massacre of 8,000 Muslims -- the worst mass killing in Europe since the end of World War Two -- and the 43-month siege of Sarajevo in which more than 11,000 people died. His handover is crucial to Serbia's bid to join the European mainstream after the wars of the 1990s.

The European Union had threatened to call off the next round of talks on closer ties with Serbia if Del Ponte judged that Belgrade was dragging its feet over arresting Mladic. Del Ponte, however, convinced the EU to go ahead with talks on closer ties rather than suspend them, on the understanding he would be in the dock before the next round of talks in May. In Paris, Serbia and Montenegro Foreign Minister Vuk Draskovic said at a press lunch that he could not promise that Belgrade would meet the deadline but said it remained the government's goal. "I don't know if Mladic will be in The Hague by the end of the month," Draskovic told the French Diplomatic Press Association.

Terrorist bases in Bosnia

BANJA LUKA -- Security Agencies in Bosnia-Herzegovina are investigating possible terrorist groups in the region.

According to Banja Luka daily Nezavisne Novine, who quote unnamed sources, the Bosnia-Herzegovina Security Agencies are investigating individuals and groups who may be plotting terrorist attacks. The informal leader of the former Mujehadin community in the village of Bocinja in central Bosnia, Al Hussein Imad, known as Abu Hamza, threatened that the recent revoking of illegally received Bosnian citizenship from Muslim supporters could result in protests, blockades and various other forms of unrest.

It is hard to say how many of the almost 6,000 Mujehadins who fought in the Al Mujehadin brigades during the war were given Bosnian citizenship. It is estimated that several hundreds of them now have Bosnian passports. Much of Europe is in fear of such groups, especially after the arrests of a number of suspects who were preparing terrorist actions in several countries, Bosnia-Herzegovina included, at the end of last year.

According to Sky News, the greatest number of Mujehadins living in Bosnia came from the Near East. Many of them received new passports under new names.

Western Security Agencies are pressuring Bosnia-Herzegovina to find and run checks on these people, who may be in contact with the three citizens that were arrested on suspicions of terrorism in Sweden last year. Seven more people were then arrested in Sarajevo under similar suspicions. Kevin Carty, the European Union's deputy police chief in Bosnia-Herzegovina, said that those who were arrested had ammunition, explosives and fire arms which they were planning on using, perhaps in Bosnia, and perhaps in other countries as well. "They were planning some kind of terrorist activity and that is what worries us, that people in Bosnia-Herzegovina are involved in this." Carty said.

The information of some international security services claims that there are some people responsible for the September 11 attack on the US hiding out in Bosnia, for example Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, who was wounded in the Bosnian war. Former Republic of Srpska Internal Affairs Minister Darko Matijasevic, said that that much time has been wasted in arresting the most extreme Mujehadins because of a lack of communication and unity between the different entities in Bosnia-Herzegovina. "The main goal is to infiltrate the community and create a number of elements regarding logistical support for operative units, leaders and individuals who pose potential threats to Europe." Matijasevic said.

Serbs are not returning to Kosovo

Belgrade, April 18 (SRNA) - Outgoing deputy director in UNMIK's Office for Communities, Return and Minority Issues Killian Kleinschmidt said today that 2,000 Serbs have returned to Kosovo and Metohija in the past year.

At the conclusion of his visit to Belgrade he told reporters that when he assumed the job 15 months ago he did not believe it would be possible to talk about return but now "an opportunity exists". According to him, the possibility for people returning to Kosovo and Metohija are now much greater than 15 months ago but still not enough until everyone is ensured freedom of movement and safety.

Kleinschmidt admitted that the process of return of displaced Albanians in 1999 was much faster but assessed that the reason for this lies in the fact that foreign donors provided them with great financial means for the restoration of houses while presently UNMIK has to look for donors, which is a much slower process. Office director Sandra Mitchell stated that a new approach to return and reintegration of internally displaced persons in Kosovo and Metohija creates the possibility of changing the return policy and that in the future this process will unfold more quickly.

During their visit the representatives of UNMIK's Office met with Coordinating Center for Kosovo and Metohija president Sanda Raskovic-Ivic and her associates, as well as with Serbia-Montenegro minsiter for human and minority rights Rasim Ljajic.

Lost in Shuffle, Serbian Town Sees a Future in Macedonia

TRGOVISTE, Serbia, April 20 - This could be a hard year for Serbia, whichrisks seeing both the province of Kosovo and the state of Montenegro break
away.
And then there is Trgoviste.

About 20 miles up a dead-end road next to Serbia's border with Macedonia,
Trgoviste is a backwater, a place that few people other than its 1,600
residents have reason to visit. It was all but unknown in Serbia. Until
January, that is, when local officials began talking of severing their ties
to Belgrade.

That was a surprise, considering that Trgoviste is 98 percent Serb. It has
only three non-Serb families, who are Macedonian, according to Jovica
Mihajlovic, the mayor's chief adviser and manager.

It is a placid town surrounded by unruliness. Southern Serbia's rich mix of
ethnic groups makes the region a fertile ground for separatists. Ethnic
Albanians in the nearby Presevo valley who were trying to unite with Kosovo
fought Serbian security forces in 2000 and 2001.

Neighboring Bosilegrad, part of Bulgaria until 1919 and whose population is
still mainly Bulgarian, has had frequent run-ins with the central
government.

But Trgoviste has remained quiet, and therein lies the problem. While the
Serbian government has paid attention to more troublesome areas, this town
has been forgotten, Mr. Mihajlovic said. So now, he is organizing a
referendum on breaking ties with Serbia and backing an alliance with
Macedonia.

Local officials say the government has long failed to reverse a decision
made almost 15 years ago that doomed their town. Until 1992, Trgoviste lay
on one of the main roads crossing the Balkans and connecting Europe and
Turkey. The town was a commercial center for villages in nearby Macedonia,
then still part of Yugoslavia.

But Yugoslavia was imploding, and Macedonia voted to break way. As a result,
the main road to Macedonia was closed, and Trgoviste lost its purpose
overnight, said Radovan Stojanovic, who is the mayor and the town doctor.

"This was all Yugoslavia, and you just drove into Macedonia; there wasn't a
border," Mr. Stojanovic said. After the separation, he said, Serbia created
two border crossings elsewhere and then closed the main road, about five
miles beyond Trgoviste.

"After that, the deterioration of Trgoviste started," he added.

The closed road accelerated a decline that was already being felt across
Serbia, as it pursued wars in Croatia and Bosnia. Now Serbia is experiencing
modest economic growth, but there is little sign of any benefits reaching
Trgoviste. Once hundreds of trucks passed through this town on any day. Now,
dogs lie in the street undisturbed.

As businesses failed, people moved elsewhere to find work and the population
of the town and its surrounding villages slumped to just 6,500 from 22,000,
Mr. Stojanovic said.

On a tour of the town, he explained that it was $300,000 in debt and had not
paid its employees since September. The struggle to keep basic services
running seems to have taken a toll on the mayor himself, a nervous man with
thinning hair and fraying black tennis shoes.

"We are a poor municipality and we are trying to do as much as we can, but
we can't do much more," he said.

The bid to join Macedonia, officials here admit, may be more a cry for help
than a serious attempt to break from Serbia.

Macedonia seems far from enthusiastic about being joined by a poor Serbian
town. "It's a matter of international borders," said Sasa Colakovski, a
spokesman for the Macedonian government. "It cannot be settled by a
referendum."

Mr. Mihajlovic said the town would like the same status as the Presevo
region, whose government financing has increased since the conflict there
ended.

The Serbian government, weary of an ever-diminishing state, has finally
taken notice of Trgoviste. Most of the country's major newspapers have sent
reporters to the town since it announced its plans for the referendum. On
April 7, President Boris Tadic visited.

Mr. Tadic promised he would study the possibility of reopening the road to
Macedonia, but he admonished the mayor's adviser for proposing the
referendum.

"He said such statements should not have been made with out consulting the
relevant officials in the Serbian government," Mr. Stojanovic said.

MONTENEGRO: SKULDUGGERY DOGS REFERENDUM

Podgorica, 24 April (AKI) - Montenegro opposition parties have presented a new evidence that the government has been buying votes in favour of independence at the forthcoming plebiscite scheduled for 21 May, as the debate between the "Yes" and "No" camps heats up. The opposition, which backs the continuation of the present state union with Serbia, over the weekend published clips of a film allegedly showing a government activist, Ivan Ivanovic, offering a 500 euros bribe to a local “unionist” politician in the town of Golubovci, south of the capital Podgorica.

The local politician who appears in the footage, Aleksandar Leka Cekovic, is a local leader of prime minister Milo Djukanovic’s Socialist Democrat party, was the protagonist of another film aired last month, in which government emissaries were shown offering another Golubovci resident, Musan Buskovic, to pay his 1,580 euro electricity bill if he voted for independence.

The latest film has yet to be aired, but some excerpts allegedly showing Ivanovic offering 500 euros to Cekovic not to come out and vote against independence were published by Podgorica daily Dan. “That’s for you from the government, to treat your children,” Ivanovic is reportedly heard saying. In return, he asked to take away identification cards from Cekovic and his family members, to make sure they can’t vote at the referendum.

Djukanovic has denied and poured scorn on the first film, shown on local television, saying it had been produced Serbian secret services with the aim of damaging the independence cause. The Serbian government, which wants to keep the present union with Montenegro, claims it won’t interfere in the referendum campaign, but has accused Djukanovic of resorting to illegal means to get his way.

Montenegro population of 620, 000 is split about half way over independence issue, and the latest opinion polls show Djukanovic is about ten percentage points short of victory. The European Union has proposed that at least 55 percent of the turnout voters should vote for independence to make the referendum valid.

Djukanovic has banned some 300,000 Montenegrins living in Serbia from voting in the referendum. According to the opposition, he has organised a vote buying campaign and is planning to fly in thousands of ethnic Albanians living in the USA and European countries to vote for independence.

The political standoff has been further inflamed by a visit by four opposition leaders, Predrag Popovic, Nebojsa Medojevic, Miodrag Lekic and Andrija Jovicevic to Washington last week, which angered Djukanovic and his supporters. At first, the government claimed the four had no official invitation to Washington at all, but were on a private visit. But when they were received by deputy under-secretary of state Rosemary di Carlo and other senior officials, Belgrade was blamed.

Independent analysts in Belgrade and Podgorica interpreted the visit as a sign that Washington might be sensing Djukanovic’s defeat and was opening towards the opposition. Earlier this month, Djukanovic stated that if less than 50 percent of citizens voted for independence, this would be a vote of no confidence in the current government and he would instruct Montenegro's president, Filip Vujanovic, to call early elections.

SERBIA & MONTENEGRO: Adviser Says Serbia Not Ready to Accept Independent Kosovo

Accepting Kosovo's independence in Serbia today would amount to political suicide, Serbian President Boris Tadic's chief foreign affairs adviser, Vuk Jeremic, has told Associated Press (AP) in Washington.

"If there is an independent Kosovo right now or in the near future, Serbia will not be able to accept it," Jeremic said, "for the simple reason that whoever does it in Serbia will never be able to draw a significant number of votes in a Serbian democracy."

Jeremic is in Washington this week meeting with White House leaders and staff, urging them to endorse a Senate resolution passed seven months ago that condemned violence against ethnic Serbs in Kosovo and demanded stronger democratic institutions in the province.

"If there are certain progressive forces, pro-European and pro-Euroatlantic forces in Serbia, you do not ask them to commit suicide by asking them to accept what is simply against the deep gut feeling of the Serbian people," said Jeremic. He expressed his fear that the opposition Serbian Radical Party, successors to the late former Serbian and Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic's Socialist Party of Serbia and the largest party in the Serbian Legislature, will gain a foothold in Serbian politics.

Decision to grant Kosovo independence will set precedent - Karasin

MOSCOW. April 18 (Interfax) - The international community's
possible decision to grant independence to the Kosovo Province will set
a precedent, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin said in an
interview with the Novye Izvestia newspaper published on Tuesday.
"Naturally, a decision to be taken by the international community
regarding Kosovo will have a universal nature and will set an
international precedent for other self-proclaimed states," he said.
"We will not be able to stop some [of such entities] from acting as
other [entities] are allowed to act. It would be illogically," Karasin
said.
Russia disagrees with those who say that there is no alternative to
granting Kosovo independence, but that this solution cannot be used to
sort out other similar situations, he said.
"Our opinion is that Kosovo will become another example of self-
determined nations together with Eritrea and East Timor, if this
settlement scenario is followed," the deputy foreign minister said.
Four breakaway provinces on former Soviet territory - Abkhazia and
South Ossetia in Georgia, Transdniestria in Moldova and Nagorno-Karabakh
in Azerbaijan - seek international recognition of their independence.
The authorities in Tbilisi, Chisinau and Baku want to restore control
over them.

Nine arrested on corruption charges in Serbia

Nine people suspected of criminal association, bribery and revealing official secrets were arrested by the Serbian police on 12 April, after an eight month investigation. The detainees include three state officials -- Belgrade Commercial Court President Goran Kljajevic, Commercial Court Judge Delinka Djurdjevic and an officer of the Serbian police's general inspectorate, Dejan Ivezic.

Businessmen Mika and Milinko Brasnjevic, Kreditno-Eksportna Banka director Sekula Pijevcevic, lawyers Jasmina Kojic and Nemanja Jolovic, and Postal Savings Bank chairwoman Jelica Zivkovic were also among those apprehended. A tenth person -- Slobodan Radulovic, the former general manager of the C Market retail chain -- is on the run. Police say he is probably in Spain. An international arrest warrant will be issued for him.

The ten individuals are suspected of conspiring in a series of irregular bankruptcy proceedings and company privatisations, ruining several companies in the process and defrauding the state of tens of millions of euros. The C Market chain reportedly suffered around 20m euros in losses. Other damaged companies include the formerly successful Beko, Slavija and Belgrade Department Stores, all of which which ended up being dragged into bankruptcy.

All of those arrested have been placed in month-long custody. The case has been taken over by the special prosecutor for organised crime, Slobodan Radovanovic, and has been declared a state secret.

According to Serbian Finance Minister Mladjan Dinkic, "this is the largest organised criminal group ever uncovered in Serbia."

The Serbian police "have dealt the biggest blow to economic crime and corruption in Serbia after [the toppling of Milosevic's regime on] 5 October 2000," Dinkic said, adding that Kljajevic had eluded justice until now because he had the support of politicians and key government figures. Finally the political will has been summoned to deal with him, Dinkic added.

Kljajevic has been accused of abuse of office previously, and was suspended from duty in June 2004. However, he was returned to the position due to an apparent lack of evidence.

Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica's government has been stepping up the battle against corruption in recent months. Supreme Court Judge Ljubomir Vuckovic was arrested for accepting a bribe in September 2005. In mid-January 2006, National Bank of Serbia Vice Governor Dejan Simic was also arrested for bribery. At the same time, authorities brought charges against one of Serbia's most powerful tycoons, Bogoljub Karic, who left the country soon after.

Serbia: USA leading investor in the country

United States of America are the leading foreign investors in Serbia, while the reason for such results is the country's geographic position, skilled labour and favourable tax policy, stated on Monday Balkan Insight, an Internet publication of the Balkan research network. World Bank stated that US companies invested so far in Serbia about a third of a total of USD 3,5 billion of foreign investments in the country between 2002 and 2004, according to Serbia and Montenegro Today.


Foreign investments in 2005 amounted to USD 2 billion, and it is expected that such growth trend would continue in 2006 as well, says the article. Balkan Insight says that these investments were not so much influenced by Serb Diaspora in the US, like leading companies, including Philip Morris, US Steel, Galaxy Tires and Ball Corporation, which appeared first with large investments in Serbia.

Many experts are, as it is claimed in the article, surprised with a fact that Serbia, which was considered until few years ago as a "political pariah" and which has endured in 1999 a 78-day NATO bombing, when the country's infrastructure was destroyed, could be so much attractive for US investors today.

Response to this is offered by Washington-based US-SCG Business Council Director John Sailor. He says that Serbia represents a "key point in the Balkans with skilled labour and good tax policy," says Balkan Insight. About 40% of the labour in Serbia can speak English, twice as much than in Bulgaria or Hungary.

Europe Prepares to Evacuate 40,000 Kosovo Serbs

Podgoritca. Chair of Serbian National Council for Central Kosovo Rada Trajkovic revealed that WHO and UN Refugee Agency are preparing project for evacuation of 40,000 Serbs who are expected to leave Kosovo after it receives its independence. The project is in its final stage and crisis headquarters that will receive Serbs who would leave Kosovo are being set up, Montenegrin newspaper Dan reads today.
Trajkovic expressed her regret the World Trade Organization participates in a project for moving Serbians from Kosovo. “I am waiting for official reaction from Belgrade because instead of creating an environment to keep the Serbs in Kosovo there is a project that proposes leaving it,” Trajkovic noted.

FM Lavrov says too early to speak of giving Kosovo independence

MOSCOW, April 10 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's foreign minister says it is early to speak of granting independence to the troubled Serbian region of Kosovo, the ministry said Monday.

Sergei Lavrov told Slovak newspaper Pravda last week that hasty decisions on giving Kosovo sovereignty "would be immediately projected on other conflicts, including in the CIS [Commonwealth of Independent States]."

Lavrov said that it was tempting to establish the Kosovo case as unique and say it did not create international legal precedent, but that this was no more than an attempt to evade international legal norms.

"Double standards and selectiveness in conflicts settlements are unacceptable," Lavrov said.

Earlier, some Russian politicians expressed concern that independence for Kosovo would create a precedent for recognition of breakaway regions in the former Soviet Union.

Moldova is dealing with a separatist regime in Transdnestr, while Georgia has two breakaway regions in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Nagorny Karabakh, a largely ethnic Armenian enclave inside Azerbaijan, has long been a source of friction between the two Caucasus states.

Formally part of Serbia, Kosovo has been a UN protectorate since 1999, following a NATO military campaign to drive out Yugoslav forces accused of atrocities against Albanian civilians.

No breakthrough at Kosovo-Serbia talks

Kosovo and Serbia negotiators on Monday ended their third round of difficult talks in Austrian capital on the self rule powers for Serbian minority at municipal level, without a breakthrough.

UN deputy envoy Albert Rohan (who is the chairman of the talks) said that Ethnic Albanians and Serbian teams are still divided mainly on the level competencies of existing and new municipalities to be created and the relations of Serbia with municipalities populated mainly by Serbs.

Rohan told reporters that “there are considerably differences between two sides” although on number of the issues common ground has found in previous rounds.

He said that Kosovo team wants a “system of decentralisation for all municipalities motivated on good governance, ethnically neutral with of course readiness to address the aspirations of various ethnic groups”, while the Serbia’s team wants “large degree autonomy for Kosovo Serb majority municipalities”.

“More we go into substance, more visibly become the differences” Rohan said.

UN deputy envoy said that another meeting is scheduled for fourth May announcing the flashpoint issue of northern divided town of Mitrovica to be included on the agenda.

Mitrovica remains divided with Serbs living in the north of the river Iber and Ethnic Albanians in the south, since the war in Kosovo ended in June 1999.

TEXT OF SLOBODAN MILOSEVIC'S LETTER TO THE RUSSIAN MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

The text of a handwritten letter dated March 8, 2006, written by Slobodan Milosevic to Russia asking for its help. It was provided in an English translation by his lawyer Zdenko Tomanovic:

To the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation:

Dear ladies and gentlemen,

With my acknowledgment for the solidarity and understanding which you expressed by accepting to receive me to come for medical treatment and by giving guarantees, I would like to inform you about the following:

I think that the persistence, with which the medical treatment in Russia was denied, in the first place is motivated by the fear that through careful examination it would be discovered, that there were active, willful steps taken, to destroy my health, throughout the proceedings of the trial, which could not be hidden from Russian specialists.

In order to verify my allegations, I'm presenting you a simple example which you can find in the attachment. This document, which I received on March 7, shows that on January 12th (i.e. two months ago), an extremely strong drug was found in my blood, which is used, as they themselves say, for the treatment of tuberculosis and leprosy, although I never used any kind of antibiotic during this 5 years that I'm in their prison.

Throughout this whole period, neither have I had any kind of infectious illness (apart from flu).

Also the fact that doctors needed 2 months (to report to me), can't have any other explanation than we are facing manipulation. In any case, those who foist on me a drug against leprosy surely can't treat my illness; likewise those from which I defended my country in times of war and who have an interest to silence me.

Dear Sirs, it is known to you that Russian physicians, who rank among the most respected physicians in the world, came to the conclusion that the examination and treatment of the vascular problems in my head are inevitable and urgent. I know very well that this is true, as I feel very bad.

I'm addressing you in expectation that you help me defend my health from the criminal activities in this institution, working under the sign of the U.N., and that I be enabled as soon as possible to get adequate treatment in your hospital, in whose physicians, as well as in Russia, I have absolute confidence.

Yours sincerely,
Slobodan Milosevic