By MISHA SAVIC, Associated Press WriterSat Mar 10, 7:36 AM ET
Admirers of late president Slobodan Milosevic marked the first anniversary of his death with wreaths and speeches on Saturday, even as Serbia continues to grapple with consequences of his ruinous rule.
Officials of the formerly Milosevic-led Socialist Party gathered at his grave in the eastern town of Pozarevac, praising the man who led Serbia through several wars and ended up facing the U.N. war crimes court for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague.
"Milosevic was an honorable man who worked for the benefit of Serbia and its people," said supporter Bogoljub Bjelica. Well, I wouldn't say THAT, exactly....
Milosevic's lifeless body was found the morning of March 11 in his jail cell and the exact time of death was never determined.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070310/ap_on_re_eu/serbia_milosevic_anniversary_1
Saturday, March 10, 2007
By Matt RobinsonSat Mar 10, 9:38 AM ET
Serbia called on the United Nations on Saturday to reject a Western-backed proposal for the independence of Kosovo as Serbs and Albanians ended a year of talks on the fate of the breakaway province.
President Boris Tadic made the appeal in Vienna at a final meeting between leaders of Serbia and Kosovo's 90-percent Albanian majority before the plan drafted by U.N. envoy Martti Ahtisaari goes to the Security Council.
In a copy of his speech distributed to media, Tadic said he expected "serious debate" at the U.N. Security Council.
"If Ahtisaari's proposal was to be accepted, it would be the first time in contemporary history that territory would be taken away from a democratic, peaceful country in order to satisfy the aspirations of a particular ethnic group that already has its nation-state," he said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070310/wl_nm/serbia_kosovo1_dc_2
Serbia called on the United Nations on Saturday to reject a Western-backed proposal for the independence of Kosovo as Serbs and Albanians ended a year of talks on the fate of the breakaway province.
President Boris Tadic made the appeal in Vienna at a final meeting between leaders of Serbia and Kosovo's 90-percent Albanian majority before the plan drafted by U.N. envoy Martti Ahtisaari goes to the Security Council.
In a copy of his speech distributed to media, Tadic said he expected "serious debate" at the U.N. Security Council.
"If Ahtisaari's proposal was to be accepted, it would be the first time in contemporary history that territory would be taken away from a democratic, peaceful country in order to satisfy the aspirations of a particular ethnic group that already has its nation-state," he said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070310/wl_nm/serbia_kosovo1_dc_2
Monday, February 26, 2007
Well, here's one little problem averted, at least for now....
The highest U.N. court cleared the Serbian state on Monday of direct responsibility for genocide in Bosnia during the 1992-95 war, but said it had violated its responsibility to prevent genocide.
Bosnia had asked the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to rule on whether Serbia committed genocide through the killing, rape and ethnic cleansing that ravaged Bosnia during the war, in one of the court's biggest cases in its 60-year history.
It was the first time a state had been tried for genocide, outlawed in a U.N. convention in 1948 after the Nazi Holocaust of the Jews. A judgment in Bosnia's favor could have allowed it to seek billions of dollars of compensation from Serbia.
ICJ President Judge Rosalyn Higgins said the court concluded that the Srebrenica massacre did constitute genocide, but that other mass killings of Bosnian Muslims did not.
But she said the court ruled that the Serbian state could not be held directly responsible for genocide, so paying reparations to Bosnia would be inappropriate even though Serbia had failed to prevent genocide and punish the perpetrators.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070226/wl_nm/bosnia_serbia_srebrenica_dc_5
The highest U.N. court cleared the Serbian state on Monday of direct responsibility for genocide in Bosnia during the 1992-95 war, but said it had violated its responsibility to prevent genocide.
Bosnia had asked the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to rule on whether Serbia committed genocide through the killing, rape and ethnic cleansing that ravaged Bosnia during the war, in one of the court's biggest cases in its 60-year history.
It was the first time a state had been tried for genocide, outlawed in a U.N. convention in 1948 after the Nazi Holocaust of the Jews. A judgment in Bosnia's favor could have allowed it to seek billions of dollars of compensation from Serbia.
ICJ President Judge Rosalyn Higgins said the court concluded that the Srebrenica massacre did constitute genocide, but that other mass killings of Bosnian Muslims did not.
But she said the court ruled that the Serbian state could not be held directly responsible for genocide, so paying reparations to Bosnia would be inappropriate even though Serbia had failed to prevent genocide and punish the perpetrators.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070226/wl_nm/bosnia_serbia_srebrenica_dc_5
Sunday, February 25, 2007
It promises to be a banner week, depending upon how this decision goes....
World Court to deliver genocide ruling
By ARTHUR MAX, Associated Press Writer Sun Feb 25, 11:54 AM ET
THE HAGUE, Netherlands
Can a state commit genocide? Should an entire nation — not just its presidents, generals, and soldiers — be held responsible for humanity's worst crime?
In one of the most momentous cases in its 60 years, the U.N.'s highest court will deliver its judgment Monday on Bosnia's demand to make Serbia accountable for the slaughter, terrorizing, rape and displacement of Bosnian Muslims in the early 1990s.
If it rules for Bosnia, the International Court of Justice could open the way for compensation amounting to billions of dollars from Serbia, the successor state of Slobodan Milosevic's Yugoslavia, although specific claims would be addressed only later.
It also would be a permanent stain on Serbia in the eyes of history, regardless of any effort by Belgrade to distance itself from the brutality of those years.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070225/ap_on_re_eu/world_court_genocide_ruling_1
So, what does this mean, exactly? The official stamp on a general POV that already pervades the media, politics and public opinion (in those places where anybody either knows or cares about Serbia)? What exactly will such a decision accomplish? There is no money for reparations, so it resembles, IMO, France's "war guilt" claim and reparations against Germany after WWI. And we all know how THAT turned out.....
World Court to deliver genocide ruling
By ARTHUR MAX, Associated Press Writer Sun Feb 25, 11:54 AM ET
THE HAGUE, Netherlands
Can a state commit genocide? Should an entire nation — not just its presidents, generals, and soldiers — be held responsible for humanity's worst crime?
In one of the most momentous cases in its 60 years, the U.N.'s highest court will deliver its judgment Monday on Bosnia's demand to make Serbia accountable for the slaughter, terrorizing, rape and displacement of Bosnian Muslims in the early 1990s.
If it rules for Bosnia, the International Court of Justice could open the way for compensation amounting to billions of dollars from Serbia, the successor state of Slobodan Milosevic's Yugoslavia, although specific claims would be addressed only later.
It also would be a permanent stain on Serbia in the eyes of history, regardless of any effort by Belgrade to distance itself from the brutality of those years.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070225/ap_on_re_eu/world_court_genocide_ruling_1
So, what does this mean, exactly? The official stamp on a general POV that already pervades the media, politics and public opinion (in those places where anybody either knows or cares about Serbia)? What exactly will such a decision accomplish? There is no money for reparations, so it resembles, IMO, France's "war guilt" claim and reparations against Germany after WWI. And we all know how THAT turned out.....
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Serbia blasts U.N. Kosovo statehood plan
By JOVANA GEC, Associated Press WriterSat Feb 17, 7:35 AM ET
Serbia is convinced that a U.N. plan granting supervised statehood for the contested Kosovo province stands no chance of approval at the U.N. Security Council where Serb ally Russia holds a veto, a government minister said Saturday.
Zoran Loncar also blasted the key architect of the plan, chief U.N. envoy Martti Ahtisaari, as "biased and working in the interest of the (Kosovo) ethnic Albanians" who have sought to split the troubled region from Serbia.
"Not only Russia and China, but a great number of other countries are against taking away 15 percent of territory from a sovereign state and a member state of the United Nations," Loncar said. "It is unthinkable that the Security Council would violate basic principles of the U.N. Charter."
Loncar's comments come only days ahead of Serb-Albanian talks in Vienna, Austria, about Ahtisaari's Kosovo plan. The U.N. envoy has invited the two sides to put forward their complaints about the draft before it is submitted to the U.N. Security Council for a final vote.
The plan envisages internationally supervised self-rule for Kosovo and the trappings of statehood — such as a flag, anthem, army and constitution — while giving the minority Serbs more control over their day-to-day affairs.
The ethnic Albanians in Kosovo have hailed the plan, but also have warned that they want full independence.
Ahtisaari this week has acknowledged that chances of an agreement at the Vienna talks were slim, with the two sides firmly in their positions.
Russia has said it was against any solution that falls short of a compromise. On Friday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was quoted as warning that Kosovo independence would have "the most negative consequences," and that Moscow could block the plan.
Although formally part of Serbia, Kosovo became an international protectorate in 1999, after a NATO bombing forced Belgrade to halt a crackdown against the ethnic Albanian separatists and relinquish control.
By JOVANA GEC, Associated Press WriterSat Feb 17, 7:35 AM ET
Serbia is convinced that a U.N. plan granting supervised statehood for the contested Kosovo province stands no chance of approval at the U.N. Security Council where Serb ally Russia holds a veto, a government minister said Saturday.
Zoran Loncar also blasted the key architect of the plan, chief U.N. envoy Martti Ahtisaari, as "biased and working in the interest of the (Kosovo) ethnic Albanians" who have sought to split the troubled region from Serbia.
"Not only Russia and China, but a great number of other countries are against taking away 15 percent of territory from a sovereign state and a member state of the United Nations," Loncar said. "It is unthinkable that the Security Council would violate basic principles of the U.N. Charter."
Loncar's comments come only days ahead of Serb-Albanian talks in Vienna, Austria, about Ahtisaari's Kosovo plan. The U.N. envoy has invited the two sides to put forward their complaints about the draft before it is submitted to the U.N. Security Council for a final vote.
The plan envisages internationally supervised self-rule for Kosovo and the trappings of statehood — such as a flag, anthem, army and constitution — while giving the minority Serbs more control over their day-to-day affairs.
The ethnic Albanians in Kosovo have hailed the plan, but also have warned that they want full independence.
Ahtisaari this week has acknowledged that chances of an agreement at the Vienna talks were slim, with the two sides firmly in their positions.
Russia has said it was against any solution that falls short of a compromise. On Friday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was quoted as warning that Kosovo independence would have "the most negative consequences," and that Moscow could block the plan.
Although formally part of Serbia, Kosovo became an international protectorate in 1999, after a NATO bombing forced Belgrade to halt a crackdown against the ethnic Albanian separatists and relinquish control.
Thursday, February 01, 2007
US Slams Serbia Diplomatic Threat On Kosovo Independence
BELGRADE (AP)--The U.S. Thursday criticized the Serbian ruling party's threats to cut diplomatic ties with countries that recognize any future independent Kosovo.
"We are very disappointed by this approach," the U.S. embassy in Belgrade said in a statement. "The United States would like to continue its dialogue with the Serbian people and their responsible leadership on the issues of interest to both our countries."
As its condition for joining Serbia's next government, the conservative Popular Coalition has demanded that the future Cabinet must reject Kosovo's independence and cut all ties with countries that recognize it as a separate country.
The hardline demand by outgoing Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica's party came on the eve of Friday's formal presentation of a U.N. plan for Kosovo that is likely to grant the southern Serbian province some sort of internationally supervised independence.
"We hope that Serbia's leaders will form a democratic government soon and fulfill the wishes of the majority of the Serbian people to follow a constructive path toward Europe and toward Euro-Atlantic partnership," the U.S. embassy statement said.
http://www.nasdaq.com/aspxcontent/NewsStory.aspx?cpath=20070201%5cACQDJON200702010910DOWJONESDJONLINE000659.htm&
BELGRADE (AP)--The U.S. Thursday criticized the Serbian ruling party's threats to cut diplomatic ties with countries that recognize any future independent Kosovo.
"We are very disappointed by this approach," the U.S. embassy in Belgrade said in a statement. "The United States would like to continue its dialogue with the Serbian people and their responsible leadership on the issues of interest to both our countries."
As its condition for joining Serbia's next government, the conservative Popular Coalition has demanded that the future Cabinet must reject Kosovo's independence and cut all ties with countries that recognize it as a separate country.
The hardline demand by outgoing Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica's party came on the eve of Friday's formal presentation of a U.N. plan for Kosovo that is likely to grant the southern Serbian province some sort of internationally supervised independence.
"We hope that Serbia's leaders will form a democratic government soon and fulfill the wishes of the majority of the Serbian people to follow a constructive path toward Europe and toward Euro-Atlantic partnership," the U.S. embassy statement said.
http://www.nasdaq.com/aspxcontent/NewsStory.aspx?cpath=20070201%5cACQDJON200702010910DOWJONESDJONLINE000659.htm&
This is just ridiculous....
Come to Serbia - home to few people and Kazakh music
2 hours, 35 minutes ago
A commercial promoting Serbia as a tourist destination appears to be jinxed after CNN used the soundtrack for a Kazakh tourism ad as backing music by mistake.
The "Serbia - Moments to Remember" commercial was widely pilloried at home as being boring and misleading for showing Serbia as a land of rolling hills, churches and nature reserves full of wildlife, but apparently devoid of people.
Serb viewers also spotted that one mediaeval church featured prominently in the ad was not in fact Serbian but Romanian, on the wrong side of the Danube river on Serbia's eastern border.
The campaign is the first major effort to change the world's view of Serbia since the end of the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s.
Officials said they will edit the commercial to highlight the fun side of Serbia, including the vibrant cafe culture and nightlife of the capital Belgrade.
They said CNN had agreed to extend the life of the ad to make up for their mistake with the Kazakh folk music.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070201/od_uk_nm/oukoe_uk_serbia_tourism_1
Come to Serbia - home to few people and Kazakh music
2 hours, 35 minutes ago
A commercial promoting Serbia as a tourist destination appears to be jinxed after CNN used the soundtrack for a Kazakh tourism ad as backing music by mistake.
The "Serbia - Moments to Remember" commercial was widely pilloried at home as being boring and misleading for showing Serbia as a land of rolling hills, churches and nature reserves full of wildlife, but apparently devoid of people.
Serb viewers also spotted that one mediaeval church featured prominently in the ad was not in fact Serbian but Romanian, on the wrong side of the Danube river on Serbia's eastern border.
The campaign is the first major effort to change the world's view of Serbia since the end of the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s.
Officials said they will edit the commercial to highlight the fun side of Serbia, including the vibrant cafe culture and nightlife of the capital Belgrade.
They said CNN had agreed to extend the life of the ad to make up for their mistake with the Kazakh folk music.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070201/od_uk_nm/oukoe_uk_serbia_tourism_1
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Sorry--forgot to post an election results update--not good news, as one can see....
Serbia: Election Deals Blow to Main Centrist Parties
Poor showing by two main democratic parties likely to slow formation of new government.
By Dragana Nikolic Solomon in Belgrade (Balkan Insight, 22 Jan 07)Centrist parties did worse than they expected in Serbia’s first general election and most diplomats and observers predicted difficulties ahead in forming a new government.
But although the hard-line nationalist Serbian Radical Party, SRS, won most votes with 28.5 per cent of ballots on January 21, it will again be denied the chance to form a government as it lacks potential coalition partners.
This means that the so-called democratic bloc will form the new administration. However, analysts say this would not be easy, firstly because of rivalries within the democratic bloc and secondly because no party among them has emerged as the clear leader.
This makes squabbles more likely over ministerial posts, delaying the new government’s formation.
“The new government will [only] be formed on the last day that the law allows,” predicted Dejan Anastasijevic, a political journalist.
A new parliament must be announced within 30 days of the election result being announced or fresh elections may be called. The official results will probably be declared on January 25.
http://www.iwpr.net/?p=brn&s=f&o=328895&apc_state=henh
Serbia: Election Deals Blow to Main Centrist Parties
Poor showing by two main democratic parties likely to slow formation of new government.
By Dragana Nikolic Solomon in Belgrade (Balkan Insight, 22 Jan 07)Centrist parties did worse than they expected in Serbia’s first general election and most diplomats and observers predicted difficulties ahead in forming a new government.
But although the hard-line nationalist Serbian Radical Party, SRS, won most votes with 28.5 per cent of ballots on January 21, it will again be denied the chance to form a government as it lacks potential coalition partners.
This means that the so-called democratic bloc will form the new administration. However, analysts say this would not be easy, firstly because of rivalries within the democratic bloc and secondly because no party among them has emerged as the clear leader.
This makes squabbles more likely over ministerial posts, delaying the new government’s formation.
“The new government will [only] be formed on the last day that the law allows,” predicted Dejan Anastasijevic, a political journalist.
A new parliament must be announced within 30 days of the election result being announced or fresh elections may be called. The official results will probably be declared on January 25.
http://www.iwpr.net/?p=brn&s=f&o=328895&apc_state=henh
THANK GOD!!!! Maybe now there will be a more equitable voice in charge.
Tue Jan 30, 10:20 AM ET
Carla del Ponte, chief prosecutor for the U.N. tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, will not extend her mandate that ends in September but hand over to somebody else to complete the work of the court by 2010.
"After eight years I will not stay any longer," Del Ponte, a Swiss lawyer who turns 60 next month, told foreign journalists on Tuesday. "I think it is the right time to leave."...Del Ponte said she had not seen any real remorse from those she had tried and few signs of reconciliation on the ground.
"It takes time, generations before we arrive at a real reconciliation," she said. Just can't give it up, can you????
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070130/ts_nm/warcrimes_delponte_dc_1
Tue Jan 30, 10:20 AM ET
Carla del Ponte, chief prosecutor for the U.N. tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, will not extend her mandate that ends in September but hand over to somebody else to complete the work of the court by 2010.
"After eight years I will not stay any longer," Del Ponte, a Swiss lawyer who turns 60 next month, told foreign journalists on Tuesday. "I think it is the right time to leave."...Del Ponte said she had not seen any real remorse from those she had tried and few signs of reconciliation on the ground.
"It takes time, generations before we arrive at a real reconciliation," she said. Just can't give it up, can you????
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070130/ts_nm/warcrimes_delponte_dc_1
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Not bad enough that they are constantly taking hits for Mladic, now these guys are weighing in--and isn't it interesting that they mention that Serbs were also victims, but give that no credence? Of course, this is a website that allows advertisments for "preventing and curing homosexuality...."
Nazi-Hunter: Serbia Fails to Bring Justice 19:08 Jan 25, '07 / 6 Shevat 5767
(IsraelNN.com) Efraim Zuroff, head of the Israel office of the Simon Weisenthal Center, criticized Serbia for its failure to bring justice to three men accused of war crimes during the Nazi occupation of Serbia in WWII. Jews, Gypsies, and Serbs are amongst the victims of the alleged criminals. Serbia, despite promises to the contrary, has not attempted to extradite the men to stand trial.The men, currently living in Hungary, Austria, and Argentina, are all in their 90s. The mission of the Simon Weisenthal Center is to bring Nazis and other perpetrators of crimes against humanity during World War II to justice.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=120280
Nazi-Hunter: Serbia Fails to Bring Justice 19:08 Jan 25, '07 / 6 Shevat 5767
(IsraelNN.com) Efraim Zuroff, head of the Israel office of the Simon Weisenthal Center, criticized Serbia for its failure to bring justice to three men accused of war crimes during the Nazi occupation of Serbia in WWII. Jews, Gypsies, and Serbs are amongst the victims of the alleged criminals. Serbia, despite promises to the contrary, has not attempted to extradite the men to stand trial.The men, currently living in Hungary, Austria, and Argentina, are all in their 90s. The mission of the Simon Weisenthal Center is to bring Nazis and other perpetrators of crimes against humanity during World War II to justice.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=120280
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Boy, they will let anyone vote....
Milosevic gets vote call - again
January 20 2007 at 04:56PM
Belgrade - Former Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic was invited to vote in legislative elections on Sunday, despite having died more than 10 months ago, the daily newspaper Press reported on Saturday."From a legal point of view, Milosevic is still alive as his death has not been officially registered" in the Belgrade district where he lived, the paper said.The former Serbian president died in March of natural causes in a cell of the UN war crimes court in The Hague, where he was being tried for crimes committed during the wars that tore up Yugoslavia in the 1990s.Milosevic was facing charges for war crimes and crimes against humanity over his role in the wars in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo, as well as genocide for his involvement in Bosnia's 1992-1995 conflict.He had also been asked to vote in Serbia's constitutional referendum in October, with electoral officials claiming that "so far, no one has officially informed us of his death," the daily said.Under Serbian law, either the family or the Serbian embassy in the Netherlands must file a document to confirm his death to the district authorities in Belgrade."As long as this document is not submitted, Milosevic will still be getting vote invitations," the daily quoted a local official as saying.
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?from=rss_A%20Step%20Beyond&set_id=1&click_id=&art_id=iol1169302143721R131
Milosevic gets vote call - again
January 20 2007 at 04:56PM
Belgrade - Former Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic was invited to vote in legislative elections on Sunday, despite having died more than 10 months ago, the daily newspaper Press reported on Saturday."From a legal point of view, Milosevic is still alive as his death has not been officially registered" in the Belgrade district where he lived, the paper said.The former Serbian president died in March of natural causes in a cell of the UN war crimes court in The Hague, where he was being tried for crimes committed during the wars that tore up Yugoslavia in the 1990s.Milosevic was facing charges for war crimes and crimes against humanity over his role in the wars in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo, as well as genocide for his involvement in Bosnia's 1992-1995 conflict.He had also been asked to vote in Serbia's constitutional referendum in October, with electoral officials claiming that "so far, no one has officially informed us of his death," the daily said.Under Serbian law, either the family or the Serbian embassy in the Netherlands must file a document to confirm his death to the district authorities in Belgrade."As long as this document is not submitted, Milosevic will still be getting vote invitations," the daily quoted a local official as saying.
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?from=rss_A%20Step%20Beyond&set_id=1&click_id=&art_id=iol1169302143721R131
Saturday, January 20, 2007
I guess I have no faith that, even if the democratic parties were to win, and even if Mladic were found tomorrow, and even if a resolution on Kosovo could be reached that satisfied all parties, that things would change for Serbia. The West seems intent on making it a permanent whipping boy in the region, always taking the blame for anything that goes wrong.
And then, there's these guys....
HRW: Serbia won’t face past seriously
15 January 2007 17:43 Source: B92
NEW YORK -- Human Rights Watch 2006 report criticizes Serbian government for its unwillingness to confront the past seriously.The report also states there were delays in undertaking legal and other reforms contributed to a still unsatisfactory human rights situation in 2006, adding that the authorities’ failure to locate Bosnian Serb wartime general Ratko Mladić undermined relations with the European Union and United States, and destabilized the governing coalition, in turn setting back its reform agenda.The report expresses concern over state interference in the administration of justice, economic and social conditions for the Roma, and hostile criticism from the media and some political parties for the human rights organizations in Serbia. The report, however, notes that several important trials were ongoing in the War Crimes Chamber of the Belgrade District Court during 2006, although the overall number of cases dealt with by the chamber since its establishment in 2003 remains small. Negotiations over Kosovo’s final status overshadowed its pressing human rights problems during 2006, HRW report states, adding that minorities live in marginal and sometimes dangerous circumstances, while the return of refugees and displaced persons to their homes has all but come to a halt, and the justice system continues to fail victims.
http://www.b92.net/eng/news/society-article.php?yyyy=2007&mm=01&dd=15&nav_category=102&nav_id=39080
HRW: Serbia won’t face past seriously
15 January 2007 17:43 Source: B92
NEW YORK -- Human Rights Watch 2006 report criticizes Serbian government for its unwillingness to confront the past seriously.The report also states there were delays in undertaking legal and other reforms contributed to a still unsatisfactory human rights situation in 2006, adding that the authorities’ failure to locate Bosnian Serb wartime general Ratko Mladić undermined relations with the European Union and United States, and destabilized the governing coalition, in turn setting back its reform agenda.The report expresses concern over state interference in the administration of justice, economic and social conditions for the Roma, and hostile criticism from the media and some political parties for the human rights organizations in Serbia. The report, however, notes that several important trials were ongoing in the War Crimes Chamber of the Belgrade District Court during 2006, although the overall number of cases dealt with by the chamber since its establishment in 2003 remains small. Negotiations over Kosovo’s final status overshadowed its pressing human rights problems during 2006, HRW report states, adding that minorities live in marginal and sometimes dangerous circumstances, while the return of refugees and displaced persons to their homes has all but come to a halt, and the justice system continues to fail victims.
http://www.b92.net/eng/news/society-article.php?yyyy=2007&mm=01&dd=15&nav_category=102&nav_id=39080
Tomorrow should be a very interesting day....especially if the NYT takes time out of its busy schedule to actually write something about Serbia....
January 20, 2007
Election Could Decide Serbia’s Role in Europe
By NICHOLAS WOOD
BELGRADE, Serbia, Jan. 19 — While six years of democracy in Serbia have given its people ample opportunities to vote — in four presidential elections, two parliamentary elections and a nationwide referendum — many complain that the country has seen little change.
Serbia remains isolated from the European Union while most of its former Eastern bloc neighbors — Hungary to the north and most recently Romania and Bulgaria to the east — have become members.
Western governments are hoping, though, that parliamentary elections to be held Sunday will make a difference by uniting Serbia’s notoriously divided democratic bloc and by preventing the ultranationalist Serbian Radical Party from consolidating its position as the largest group in Parliament.
The election’s timing is particularly crucial. The parties that form the next government will be faced with the possible loss of Kosovo, the province that has been controlled by the United Nations since 1999 and whose Albanian majority is seeking independence.
Martti Ahtisaari, a former president of Finland who is overseeing talks on the future of Kosovo, is expected to unveil his proposals for a settlement soon after the election.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/20/world/europe/20serb.html
January 20, 2007
Election Could Decide Serbia’s Role in Europe
By NICHOLAS WOOD
BELGRADE, Serbia, Jan. 19 — While six years of democracy in Serbia have given its people ample opportunities to vote — in four presidential elections, two parliamentary elections and a nationwide referendum — many complain that the country has seen little change.
Serbia remains isolated from the European Union while most of its former Eastern bloc neighbors — Hungary to the north and most recently Romania and Bulgaria to the east — have become members.
Western governments are hoping, though, that parliamentary elections to be held Sunday will make a difference by uniting Serbia’s notoriously divided democratic bloc and by preventing the ultranationalist Serbian Radical Party from consolidating its position as the largest group in Parliament.
The election’s timing is particularly crucial. The parties that form the next government will be faced with the possible loss of Kosovo, the province that has been controlled by the United Nations since 1999 and whose Albanian majority is seeking independence.
Martti Ahtisaari, a former president of Finland who is overseeing talks on the future of Kosovo, is expected to unveil his proposals for a settlement soon after the election.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/20/world/europe/20serb.html
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Somehow, I have a problem with considering a mental hospital a "time capsule"....
Yugoslavia lives on in Kosovo time capsuleFri Jan 12, 2007 7:07 PM GMT
By Matt Robinson
STIMLJE, Serbia (Reuters) - More than a decade after Yugoslavia shattered into separate countries along ethnic lines its multiculturalism survives.
In a mental institute.
The dialects and languages of the old federal state can all be heard behind the iron gates of Stimlje mental health institute in Kosovo. Some patients rant about the icons of the old days, whose legacies blight the landscape.
"The patients came here when Yugoslavia was still alive," says the director, Kujtim Xhelili. "So we have Serbs from Kosovo, from Serbia, from Vojvodina, Croats from Croatia. We have Albanians, Macedonians, Roma, Muslims from Bosnia."
The 50-year-old facility in central Kosovo bears all the hallmarks of an underfunded, Socialist-era mental hospital. But the political reference points for patients who arrived before the break-up of Yugoslavia now exist only in their minds.
http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/articlenews.aspx?type=worldNews&storyid=2007-01-12T190541Z_01_L12571668_RTRUKOC_0_UK-KOSOVO-ASYLUM.xml
Yugoslavia lives on in Kosovo time capsuleFri Jan 12, 2007 7:07 PM GMT
By Matt Robinson
STIMLJE, Serbia (Reuters) - More than a decade after Yugoslavia shattered into separate countries along ethnic lines its multiculturalism survives.
In a mental institute.
The dialects and languages of the old federal state can all be heard behind the iron gates of Stimlje mental health institute in Kosovo. Some patients rant about the icons of the old days, whose legacies blight the landscape.
"The patients came here when Yugoslavia was still alive," says the director, Kujtim Xhelili. "So we have Serbs from Kosovo, from Serbia, from Vojvodina, Croats from Croatia. We have Albanians, Macedonians, Roma, Muslims from Bosnia."
The 50-year-old facility in central Kosovo bears all the hallmarks of an underfunded, Socialist-era mental hospital. But the political reference points for patients who arrived before the break-up of Yugoslavia now exist only in their minds.
http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/articlenews.aspx?type=worldNews&storyid=2007-01-12T190541Z_01_L12571668_RTRUKOC_0_UK-KOSOVO-ASYLUM.xml
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Serbia criticises UN envoy for Kosovo
Belgrade has criticised the UN special envoy for Kosovo over reports he is going to propose what is being described as "supervised independence" for the province. Martti Ahtisaari is due to release a report on the future of the territory after elections there on January 21.
"No one in Belgrade has seen Ahtisaari in the past six months," said Serbia's Prime Minister, "and he's now talking about completed negotiations, on the basis of which he will make his proposal." Vojislav Kostunica added: "It's not clear how and with whom he's negotiated, and how he arrived at his proposal." Ethnic Albanians outnumber Serbs by 17 to one in Kosovo, which has been under UN control since 1999. Press reports indicate that Ahtisaari will make his proposals to the six-nation contact group for Kosovo on January 26.
http://www.euronews.net/create_html.php?article=399576&lng=1
Belgrade has criticised the UN special envoy for Kosovo over reports he is going to propose what is being described as "supervised independence" for the province. Martti Ahtisaari is due to release a report on the future of the territory after elections there on January 21.
"No one in Belgrade has seen Ahtisaari in the past six months," said Serbia's Prime Minister, "and he's now talking about completed negotiations, on the basis of which he will make his proposal." Vojislav Kostunica added: "It's not clear how and with whom he's negotiated, and how he arrived at his proposal." Ethnic Albanians outnumber Serbs by 17 to one in Kosovo, which has been under UN control since 1999. Press reports indicate that Ahtisaari will make his proposals to the six-nation contact group for Kosovo on January 26.
http://www.euronews.net/create_html.php?article=399576&lng=1
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
A still-unsettled issue for the new year....
Serbia's PM Wants UN To Prevent Possible Kosovo Secession
BELGRADE (AP)--Serbia's prime minister sought support Wednesday from the United Nation's new secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, against granting independence to Kosovo, the separatist province whose future is being discussed in international talks...
Belgrade has proposed a broad autonomy for Kosovo, but the province's majority population demands complete secession.
"It is simply unacceptable and impossible that Serbia's borders be redrawn against its will," Kostunica said in his letter, a copy of which was obtained by the Associated Press.
He also said that if Kosovo - which accounts for 15% of Serbia's territory - becomes independent, it would effectively "create another Albanian state" in the Balkans, in addition to neighboring Albania. (END) Dow Jones Newswires
01-03-071328ET
Copyright (c) 2007 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
http://www.nasdaq.com/aspxcontent/NewsStory.aspx?cpath=20070103%5cACQDJON200701031328DOWJONESDJONLINE000613.htm&
Serbia's PM Wants UN To Prevent Possible Kosovo Secession
BELGRADE (AP)--Serbia's prime minister sought support Wednesday from the United Nation's new secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, against granting independence to Kosovo, the separatist province whose future is being discussed in international talks...
Belgrade has proposed a broad autonomy for Kosovo, but the province's majority population demands complete secession.
"It is simply unacceptable and impossible that Serbia's borders be redrawn against its will," Kostunica said in his letter, a copy of which was obtained by the Associated Press.
He also said that if Kosovo - which accounts for 15% of Serbia's territory - becomes independent, it would effectively "create another Albanian state" in the Balkans, in addition to neighboring Albania. (END) Dow Jones Newswires
01-03-071328ET
Copyright (c) 2007 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
http://www.nasdaq.com/aspxcontent/NewsStory.aspx?cpath=20070103%5cACQDJON200701031328DOWJONESDJONLINE000613.htm&
Just an interesting factoid for you to digest....
Serbia opens military academy to women
BELGRADE, Serbia, Jan. 3 (UPI) -- About 20 women have enrolled in Serbia's military academy, the first time females joined the academy, army Col. Joze Sivacek said.
Women will study under the same curriculum and training program as men but will be accommodated in separate facilities, local Belgrade media reported.
Sivacek said women can enroll as cadets in military-police affairs, logistics and as pilots in the air force.
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20070103-114357-3821r
Serbia opens military academy to women
BELGRADE, Serbia, Jan. 3 (UPI) -- About 20 women have enrolled in Serbia's military academy, the first time females joined the academy, army Col. Joze Sivacek said.
Women will study under the same curriculum and training program as men but will be accommodated in separate facilities, local Belgrade media reported.
Sivacek said women can enroll as cadets in military-police affairs, logistics and as pilots in the air force.
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20070103-114357-3821r
Friday, December 29, 2006
While it's nice to see that good things may be happening, let us not forget what the West considers to be the only important issue with regards to Serbia and its current status:
BELGRADE (AP)--Serbia's prime minister said resumption of pre-entry talks with the European Union would speed up the arrest of top U.N. war crimes suspect Ratko Mladic.
Vojislav Kostunica told Serbian state television in an interview late Thursday the E.U. decision earlier this year to freeze the negotiations with Belgrade over Serbian failure to capture Mladic only made it harder for the country to hand him over. The fugitive general is wanted on genocide charges by the U.N. court in The Hague, Netherlands.
"Had the talks continued, then the obligation to detain and transfer Ratko Mladic to The Hague would have been more easily fulfilled in an atmosphere of cooperation," Kostunica said.
Kostunica didn't explain how restarting E.U. talks would help in hunting down Mladic, insisting his government isn't aware of the general's whereabouts. He, however, said "it was very important not to suspend those talks."
There was no immediate comment from the E.U.
http://www.nasdaq.com/aspxcontent/NewsStory.aspx?cpath=20061229%5cACQDJON200612290649DOWJONESDJONLINE000336.htm&
BELGRADE (AP)--Serbia's prime minister said resumption of pre-entry talks with the European Union would speed up the arrest of top U.N. war crimes suspect Ratko Mladic.
Vojislav Kostunica told Serbian state television in an interview late Thursday the E.U. decision earlier this year to freeze the negotiations with Belgrade over Serbian failure to capture Mladic only made it harder for the country to hand him over. The fugitive general is wanted on genocide charges by the U.N. court in The Hague, Netherlands.
"Had the talks continued, then the obligation to detain and transfer Ratko Mladic to The Hague would have been more easily fulfilled in an atmosphere of cooperation," Kostunica said.
Kostunica didn't explain how restarting E.U. talks would help in hunting down Mladic, insisting his government isn't aware of the general's whereabouts. He, however, said "it was very important not to suspend those talks."
There was no immediate comment from the E.U.
http://www.nasdaq.com/aspxcontent/NewsStory.aspx?cpath=20061229%5cACQDJON200612290649DOWJONESDJONLINE000336.htm&
Here's a link to some background on the Jugoremedija situation:
http://www.zmag.org/Sustainers/Content/2006-07/16grubacic.cfm
http://www.zmag.org/Sustainers/Content/2006-07/16grubacic.cfm
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