- NOVI PAZAR: In the settlement of Sestovski Potok in Novi Pazar, the construction has started of a building with 8 apartments for refugees and 2 apartments for local vulnerable persons. The construction is expected to be completed by the end of May 2007 and it is financed by the municipality of Novi Pazar and the Danish Refugee Council.
"In Novi Pazar municipality we have 30 refugee families with 126 members. Priority in housing will be given to the families who are still in the collective center in Pazariste", says Edip Ugljanin, local commissioner for refugees in Novi Pazar.
At the same time, efforts are being made to solve the housing problems of the internally displaced Roma families who came to the municipality of Novi Pazar after the NATO bombing in 1999. Until the beginning of this year, they lived on the old garbage dump in Batnjik and then they moved to the town center of Novi Pazar. A few months ago, UNHCR provided them with special tents with heating stoves, mattresses, blankets, dishes. Thirty families with nearly 110 children live in this improvised settlement.
The biggest obstacle to a more permanent solution to these people's housing problems is finding a location to set up the housing containers. The containers have been transported from Belgrade. They are a donation from "Caritas". The local commissioner for refugees expects the problem of finding a new location for the Roma camp to be solved within a month at the latest. The Roma families will also be provided with firewood. The money for the firewood is a donation from the Swedish Committee for Refugees.
"Danas", 1. 12. 2006.

- BELGRADE: Ten persons get lung cancer in Serbia every day. According to experts, cigarette smoke is the cause of death in 84% of the patients; smoking is the biggest factor of risk and even passive smokers are in danger.
"Danas", 1. 12. 2006.

- SMEDEREVO: The married couple from Smederevo, reported to have died of hunger, were not registered as MOP beneficiaries, said Miodrag Nadaskic, director of the Social Work Center in Smederevo.
The bodies of 75-year-old Cvetan G. and his 74-year-old wife Sefketa were found several days ago in an advanced state of decomposition. It was reported that they had starved to death.
"Cvetan filed an application for social welfare in 2002 but the case was never activated. It is possible that Cvetan had come to the Social Work Center, but we don't know why the case was never activated", Nadaskic said. Sefketa wasn't registered at the Center either. "We react as soon as someone turns to us for help or as soon as we find out about someone in need of help, but we can't be blamed every time someone dies of starvation", Nadaskic said.
In Smederevo, public assistance allowance (MOP) for a single person is 4.129 dinars, for a family of two - 5.674 dinars, for a family of three - 7.223 dinars and for a family of five - 8.265 dinars, but it is not enough to get by, Nadaskic said.
"Danas", 1. 12. 2006.

- ZRENJANIN: The inhabitants of the village of Torda in Zitiste municipality in Vojvodina have warned of frequent harassment of the pupils of Hungarian nationality of the local "Adi Endre" Elementary School by their fellow students of Roma nationality.
Last week on two occasions, the fifth-grade Roma students forced their fellow fifth-graders of Hungarian nationality to go down on their knees and pray to God in Roma language.
The secretary of the local community, Janos Dobai, says that these events are not characterized as inter-ethnic incidents, but they are getting more and more frequent and they are turning into a big problem for this village with around 2.000 inhabitants, the majority are Hungarian and the rest are Roma on whom there is no accurate statistics.
Dobai underlines that the number of Roma has increased in recent years, none of them have a permanent job, so they live on public assistance allowance and from stealing.
Zuzana Kovac, headmaster of the elementary school in Tarda, says that the intervention of the institutions is necessary in order to solve the problem. Of the 179 students of the school, 18 are Roma and the rest are Hungarian. "For the first time in the school's history, classes in Serbian are introduced this year precisely for the Roma children", Kovac says, stressing that it was done to improve their education as much as possible and not in order to separate the Roma children from the Hungarian children.
"Glas javnosti", 4. 12. 2006.

- NOVI PAZAR: In the settlement of Sestovski Potok in Novi Pazar, the construction has started of a building with 8 apartments for refugees and 2 apartments for local vulnerable persons. The construction is expected to be completed by the end of May 2007 and it is financed by the municipality of Novi Pazar and the Danish Refugee Council.
"In Novi Pazar municipality we have 30 refugee families with 126 members. Priority in housing will be given to the families who are still in the collective center in Pazariste", says Edip Ugljanin, local commissioner for refugees in Novi Pazar.
At the same time, efforts are being made to solve the housing problems of the internally displaced Roma families who came to the municipality of Novi Pazar after the NATO bombing in 1999. Until the beginning of this year, they lived on the old garbage dump in Batnjik and then they moved to the town center of Novi Pazar. A few months ago, UNHCR provided them with special tents with heating stoves, mattresses, blankets, dishes. Thirty families with nearly 110 children live in this improvised settlement.
The biggest obstacle to a more permanent solution to these people's housing problems is finding a location to set up the housing containers. The containers have been transported from Belgrade. They are a donation from "Caritas". The local commissioner for refugees expects the problem of finding a new location for the Roma camp to be solved within a month at the latest. The Roma families will also be provided with firewood. The money for the firewood is a donation from the Swedish Committee for Refugees.
"Danas", 1. 12. 2006.

- BELGRADE: Ten persons get lung cancer in Serbia every day. According to experts, cigarette smoke is the cause of death in 84% of the patients; smoking is the biggest factor of risk and even passive smokers are in danger.
"Danas", 1. 12. 2006.

- SMEDEREVO: The married couple from Smederevo, reported to have died of hunger, were not registered as MOP beneficiaries, said Miodrag Nadaskic, director of the Social Work Center in Smederevo.
The bodies of 75-year-old Cvetan G. and his 74-year-old wife Sefketa were found several days ago in an advanced state of decomposition. It was reported that they had starved to death.
"Cvetan filed an application for social welfare in 2002 but the case was never activated. It is possible that Cvetan had come to the Social Work Center, but we don't know why the case was never activated", Nadaskic said. Sefketa wasn't registered at the Center either. "We react as soon as someone turns to us for help or as soon as we find out about someone in need of help, but we can't be blamed every time someone dies of starvation", Nadaskic said.
In Smederevo, public assistance allowance (MOP) for a single person is 4.129 dinars, for a family of two - 5.674 dinars, for a family of three - 7.223 dinars and for a family of five - 8.265 dinars, but it is not enough to get by, Nadaskic said.
"Danas", 1. 12. 2006.

- ZRENJANIN: The inhabitants of the village of Torda in Zitiste municipality in Vojvodina have warned of frequent harassment of the pupils of Hungarian nationality of the local "Adi Endre" Elementary School by their fellow students of Roma nationality.
Last week on two occasions, the fifth-grade Roma students forced their fellow fifth-graders of Hungarian nationality to go down on their knees and pray to God in Roma language.
The secretary of the local community, Janos Dobai, says that these events are not characterized as inter-ethnic incidents, but they are getting more and more frequent and they are turning into a big problem for this village with around 2.000 inhabitants, the majority are Hungarian and the rest are Roma on whom there is no accurate statistics.
Dobai underlines that the number of Roma has increased in recent years, none of them have a permanent job, so they live on public assistance allowance and from stealing.
Zuzana Kovac, headmaster of the elementary school in Tarda, says that the intervention of the institutions is necessary in order to solve the problem. Of the 179 students of the school, 18 are Roma and the rest are Hungarian. "For the first time in the school's history, classes in Serbian are introduced this year precisely for the Roma children", Kovac says, stressing that it was done to improve their education as much as possible and not in order to separate the Roma children from the Hungarian children.
"Glas javnosti", 4. 12. 2006.

- KRALJEVO: The construction of a sewage system in the Roma settlement of Maukovac is close to completion. When the system starts working, the living conditions of the Roma will be even better, given that they already have water system installed. The project is financed by the municipal administration with 4 million dinars. When the sewage system is ready, there is a plan to install street lights.
"We did this thanks to the local administration and thanks to the local community of Grdica and its president Rade Erc, and thanks to the member of the local parliament Aleksandar Terzic, who have all made extraordinary efforts to improve the living conditions of the Roma. For next year, we plan to expand the sewage system to the Roma settlement of Barutana and some other projects, but I have to appeal to my fellow citizens to at least pay their water and electricity bills more regularly", says Slavko Markovic, the recently elected president of the local Roma Council in Kraljevo, giving his thanks to the local Electric Company and "Waterworks" Public Utility for their understanding and tolerance for the inhabitants of the Roma settlements who don't pay their bills regularly.
"Vecernje novosti", 7. 12. 2006.

- BUDVA: The most expensive cherries in the Balcans are sold in the "Slavija" supermarket in Budva at 22,80 euros per kilogram (you can buy 4 kg of veil for this sum in Montenegro). One of the shop assistants says that the cherries sell very well, that the first delivery of cherries was sold immediately and two days ago another 50 kg were sold. Mostly rich citizens of Budva, who don't care about the price, buy the cherries for their children.
For the average salary in Montenegro, one could buy 10 kg of cherries.
"Glas javnosti", 7. 12. 2006.

- PODGORICA: In the six villages of the underdeveloped municipality of Andrijevica in Montenegro, there are a total of more than 200 unmarried men approaching the age of fifty.
"Glas javnosti", 8. 12. 2006.
 
- BOR: As much as 98% of the young people in Bor want to leave their home town after they finish school and 90% don't see any future for themselves in Bor where they think there is no normal life - these are the results of a poll conducted by the Euroregion "Danube 21".
Bor has around 9.000 unemployed persons, mostly young people; 400 of them have university degrees but they don't even have a chance to get the most difficult and simplest of jobs.
"Glas javnosti", 11. 12. 2006. 
 
- NOVI SAD: According to Novi Sad based Association of Serbs from Croatia and Bosnia&Herzegovina, 142.000 refugees are living in Serbia at the moment; 51.000 of them are registered in Vojvodina.
"Glas javnosti", 9. 12. 2006.
 
- BELGRADE: Lence Clark, permanent UN representative in Serbia, says, "Serbia's economy has made a significant progress lately, which has caused a decrease in poverty, but of course, there are still lots of problems. The biggest problem is unemployment. In Serbia, like the rest of the transition countries, the gap between the rich and the poor is expanding and the vulnerable social groups are particularly affected - refugees, persons with disabilities, people in rural areas and Roma". According to him, the poverty rate in these groups is twice or even three times higher than the rest of the population, and the cause is unemployment and lack of education. He points out that only 13% of the disabled persons in Serbia are employed and that 70% are living on the verge of poverty.
"Glas javnosti", 9. 12. 2006.
 
- BELGRADE: Nearly half the Roma population in Serbia doesn't have registered residence or personal ID card, which deprives them of the possibility to exercise their basic civil rights - health and social insurance, education and employment, says Petar Antic, director of the Minority Rights Center, at yesterday's round table on "International Day of Human Rights - the situation of the Roma in Serbia".
"The armed conflicts and the overall economic crisis of the 1990s, caused massive migrations of the Roma who settled in Serbia's biggest towns and now they live in informal settlements, in shelters made of cardboard and car wrecks. According to a research conducted by the Argument and the CPM, as much as 43% of the Roma can't register their addresses in their places of residence. Therefore they live in a parallel world, outside of the social system of Serbia. Unless this problem is solved, within 10 years we will have the largest ghetto in Europe consisting a major threat to public security", Antic claims.
Without an address, it is the same as if they didn't exist at all.
Antic also says that the Government has adopted four action plans for the solution of the problems of the Roma when it comes to health care, employment, housing and education. There is also a draft action plan for the solution of the problem of personal documentation, which could be solved by amending the Regulation on addressing and marking the names of settlements, streets and squares.
"Many Roma can't exercise the right to health care. The old and the sick can't go to hospital, and it even happens that children die because there is no one to give them medical assistance. The percentage of uneducated Roma is very high because school curriculums are not adapted so Roma children react negatively to them. Besides, Roma families are destitute families, and not even elementary education in Serbia is cheap", Antic says.
"Glas javnosti", 12. 12. 2006.
 
- NIKSIC: The European Agency for Reconstruction and the German "Help" NGO have donated 2,4 million euros for a housing and employment program for 500 IDPs and refugees in Montenegro. Montenegro's Commission for IDPs is in charge of the implementation of the program. The money will be used to help the collective center of "Trudbenik" in Niksic and also the persons living in informal collective centers and private accommodation. The donation will be invested in the construction of 26 apartments, in the reconstruction of some of the existing housing units and in the purchase of building materials for IDPs and refugees building homes for themselves on their own.
It is estimated that in Montenegro there are 8.300 refugees from Croatia and Bosnia&Herzegovina and more than 17.888 IDPs from Kosovo.
"Glas javnosti", 12. 12. 2006.
 
- ZAGREB: Bulgaria has extradited to Croatia Zoran Obradovic (aged 41) from Bacuga near Petrinja. He was arrested on the basis of an international arrest warrant issued by the Municipal Court in Sisak, the Zagreb "Jutarnji list" daily reports. He is suspected of committing a war crime in Petrinja in 1991. He fled to Serbia during the operation "Storm" in 1995 and he was arrested in Bulgaria as a truck driver.
"Glas javnosti", 12. 12. 2006.
 
- BELGRADE: 200.000 abortions are performed in Serbia every year, meaning that every 10th woman in central Serbia and every 13th woman in Vojvodina abort one pregnancy once a year.
"Glas javnosti", 13. 12. 2006.
 
- BELGRADE: According to the latest counting of refugees, in Serbia there are 104.246 refugees from Croatia and Bosnia&Herzegovina and 206.966 IDPs from Kosovo; and also, around 200.000 ex refugees who have taken Serbian citizenship.
"Glas javnosti", 13. 12. 2006.
 
- BELGRADE: Every 4th village in Serbia will disappear within 15 years or a total of 1.200 settlements. Unless something is done, in several years Serbia will become an agricultural country with no villages or farmers, says Branislav Gulan, economic expert, member of the Scientific Society.
How alarming the situation is shows the fact that almost 2.000 villages in Serbia have no inhabitants, and around 200 villages have no inhabitants under 20 years of age. In Serbia's villages, there are around 260.000 unmarried men in their 40s.
"Glas javnosti", 14. 12. 2006.
 
- NOVI SAD: The OSCE Mission to Serbia has proclaimed Petar Teofilovic, Vojvodina Ombudsman, person of the year in the area of human rights. The OSCE explains that Petar Teofilovic was selected for his extraordinary contribution to the protection of human rights and human rights education of the youth.
"Glas javnosti", 16. 12. 2006.

- BELGRADE: A research conducted among high school and university students shows that 1/3 of Serbia's young people aged 15-24 have pshychological problems or mental disorders, said Vojislav Curcic, representative of the expert working group for youth health and development.
The research shows that young people are becoming more and more sexually active. Every year around 6.000 abortions are performed on girls under 19. There is also an increase in psychoactive substances abuse among young people.
Curcic points out that the data obtained in this research are alarming and "by the end of this year and at the beginning of next year, youth counseling offices are to start working in all the health centers in Serbia".
"Glas javnosti", 16. 12. 2006.

- CACAK: The municipality has assigned 40 million dinars for social programs from the local budget, of which 5 million will be used for the renovation of the Red Cross facilities and the soup kitchen, and the municipality will become the owner of the unfinished building of the Red Cross bakery. The building will be turned into a day care center for people with special needs and children of asocial behavior.
"Glas javnosti", 18. 12. 2006.

- BELGRADE: Branimir Gulan of the Scientific Society of Economists, warns that Serbia is in danger of becoming an agricultural country with no villages or farmers within the next several years.
"Today Serbia has 4.800 villages and every 4th village could disappear from the map within the next 15 years. The population is decreasing in 86% of the villages and it is only increasing in 12% of the villages; 1.961 villages are completely deserted and the same could happen to another 200 villages because they don't have any inhabitants aged under 20. It is also discouraging that around 260.000 men in Serbia's villages are not married and don't have their own family yet, even though they are approaching 50 years of age", Gulan says.
"Blic", 16. 12. 2006.

- BELGRADE: The temples of some small religious communities in Novi Sad, Bac and Kraljevo were stoned, robbed or bombed this weekend, B92 reports. A Molotov cocktail was thrown on the Evangelist Church in Kraljevo, the Baptist Church in Novi Sad was stoned and the catholic Church of the Holy Spirit in Novi Sad was robbed.
Police are looking for the perpetrators.
Mirko Djordjevic, sociologist, says that such attacks usually happen at the time of the major religious holidays, such as Christmas and that small religious communities are the most common targets.
According to the 2002 census, 0,2% of Serbia's population are members of the so-called nontraditional religions, or a little less than 20.000 people.
"Glas javnosti", 20.12. 2006.

-NOVI SAD: Police have announced that unknown persons broke two windows on the catholic Church of the Holy Spirit in Novi Sad, broke in and stole 10.000 dinars.
Charges are brought against Nedeljko J. (aged 24) from Deronje and Stanimir N. (aged 29) from Bac. They are suspected of stealing a bell worth 80.000 dinars from the orthodox church on the cemetery in Bac.
"Glas javnosti", 19. 12. 2006.

- BELGRADE: Every day 4 women in Serbia get cancer of uterus.
"Glas javnosti", 19. 12. 2006.

- KRAGUJEVAC: The "Roma Assistant" program has been implemented in the "Natalija-Nana Nedeljkovic" Elementary School in Kragujevac for 4 years and as of next school year it will be mandatory in all elementary schools. The Ministry of Education supports the project and it is a part of the "Roma Decade".
The assistants are expected to help Roma children to achieve the curriculum and adapt to the school environment.
The "Roma Decade" project is implemented with the support of the international community.
"Glas javnosti", 19. 12. 2006.

- BELGRADE: It is estimated that next year 800 state-owned companies in Serbia will be privatized and around 65.000 people will lose their jobs. The Government has prepared a project "Use dismissal wages to get a new job" to stimulate the people who are proclaimed surplus workers to invest their dismissal wages to start their own business instead of just spending the money. The implementation of the project will start in January.
"Danas", 20. 12. 2006.

- BELGRADE: According to the latest statistics, the average monthly salary in Serbia is 22.340 dinars and according to a recent research conducted by the "Blic" daily newspaper, the average family of four needs at least 52.077 dinars a month just to cover the most basic living costs.
"Blic", 19. 12. 2006.

- PRISTINA: According to the Pristina news media, KFOR and Kosovo police have seized a large quantity of weapons, including ammunition and missiles, and arrested a member of the Alliance for Kosovo's Future (political party which is part of the coalition in power in the Province), as well as the advisor of the Kosovo Ministry of Social Issues.
"Glas javnosti", 22. 12. 2006.

- PRISTINA: Kosovo Parliament has elected Albanian representatives to be the new ombudsman of Kosovo and his deputy. The former deputy ombudsman, Ljubinko Todorovic, lost by 5 votes to the Albanian candidate.
"Glas javnosti", 22. 12. 2006.

- CACAK: The local self-government in Cacak has provided a location for the construction of 76 apartments for refugees and socially vulnerably local residents. The apartments will be rented out for a period of 3 years, at an economic price of 1 euro per square meter.
The apartments are being constructed according to the program of the UN Habitat. The Italian Government has donated 1,2 million euros for the program and Cacak municipality has provided a free location, infrastructure and all the necessary documentation, which is 30% of the total worth of the project.
Applications will be received in the next 30 days. The decision on who gets the right to use the apartments will be made in accordance with the criteria of the UN Habitat and the situation in the municipality.
"Glas javnosti", 22. 12. 2006.

- BELGRADE: No one will be arrested for evading military service and anyone can come to Serbia, says Vojislav Vukcevic, Serbian Minister of Diaspora, adding that he personally guarantees for it. However, he also adds that the Ministry of Diaspora does not have the authority to free anyone from military service and, as contradictory as it may sound, the legal procedure is such that police must arrest anyone who crosses Serbia's border against whom military evasion charges are brought.
He says that it has been enabled for the persons subject to military obligation residing abroad to transfer to reserve force if they submit an application to the nearest Serbian embassy and enclose a dual citizenship certificate, a permanent residence certificate and a written statement that they don't want to do their military service in Serbia.
"Blic", 27. 12. 2006.

- BAC (Vojvodina): Bac is a small town with a population of 6.000 and the whole municipality has 18.000 inhabitants, and all of them have permanent housing. Tomislav Bogunovic, president of the municipality, says that he has found a simple solution for 1.150 refugees who came to Bac from Croatia and Bosnia&Herzegovina:
"Each our refugee has been provided with a house for which they pay in installments. We did it quickly and efficiently thanks to a donation from Switzerland and a good plan. We offered the owners of abandoned households to buy their properties. They all accepted. We gave cash to the owners, we gave their houses to the refugees and the Eksim Bank enabled the refugees to pay for the houses under very favorable conditions. Depending on the size of the property, each family pays 50-80 euros a month to the bank", Bogunovic says. Forty-five properties have been purchased in this way in the municipality of Bac and also a refugee settlement has been built. Some of the refugees got jobs in the municipal administration, others live by farming. They all manage to support themselves and their families - they are all engaged in some income-generating activity.
"Vecernje novosti", 24. 12. 2006.


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