- PRISTINA: Around 16.000 internally displaced members of ethnic minorities have returned to Kosovo since 1999, of which 44% are Serbs - UNMIK administration announced yesterday. "However, around 220.000 internally displaced members of Kosovo minorities are still in Serbia and in Montenegro waiting to return to Kosovo", says a public statement issued on the occasion of the announced termination of the UN Mission to Kosovo.
"Glas javnosti", 1. 2. 2007.

- BELGRADE: 916.257 unemployed persons were registered in Serbia at the end of December 2006, of which every 5th is over 50 years of age. It is roughly estimated that a large number of unemployed people over 50 have low professional qualifications and few years of work experience, and many have no work experience at all. Employers show no interest in hiring this category of unemployed persons.
To help these people to get work, the state has freed the employers from paying taxes for the persons they hire who are over 45 years of age; unemployed persons over 50 get higher grants from the National Employment Bureau for starting their own businesses because their chance to get a job is considerably reduced, given the competition of the young, healthy, skilled and well motivated people - says Nevena Letic, head of the Employment Intermediary Service of the Belgrade Employment Bureau.
"Glas javnosti", 1. 2. 2007.

- LESKOVAC: Sentenced for helping the poor for free - Dragoslav Dimitrijevic, former chief of the municipal Citizens' Legal Aid Service, has been sentenced to 3 months imprisonment for failing to charge the citizens of Leskovac for legal aid.
It says in the verdict that he is found guilty of providing legal assistance to citizens free of charge between January 1st and December 31st of 2004, which is contrary to the municipal decisions from 2002 and 2004, and therefore he has to pay 32.000 dinars to Leskovac self-government for the lost profit.
"Glas javnosti", 1. 2. 2007.

- UZICE: Because 259 citizens died and only 113 babies were born in Cajetina municipality in 2005, it has been decided to stimulate the natality by increasing parent allowance for the first child from 8.000 to 16.000 dinars.
"Glas javnosti", 1. 2. 2007.

- COKA: The soup-kitchen in Coka, closed in 2003, opened again two days ago. Free daily meals will be prepared for the 150 most vulnerable persons. The supply of foodstuffs provided by the Serbian Government and the Norwegian Red Cross will enable the preparation of the meals until the beginning of the farming season, says Mirjana Marjanov, deputy president of Coka municipality.
"Glas javnosti", 3. 2. 2007.

- BELGRADE: Textbooks for elementary school for next school year are already available and they can be paid in three monthly installments. A set of textbooks for 1st and 2nd grade costs 2.600 dinars each (around 32,5 euros), for 3rd grade - 2.400 dinars (around 30 euros), for 4th grade - 2.700 dinars (around 34 euros); textbooks for 5th grade are not in sale yet, but they will cost around 7.000 dinars (87,5 euros); for 6th grade - 6.300 dinars (around 79 euros), for 7th grade - 4.500 dinars (around 57 euros) and for 8th grade - around 5.600 dinars (70 euros).
"Glas javnosti", 6. 2. 2007.

- BELGRADE: Today the Red Cross of Serbia marks its 131st anniversary.
"Every day the Red Cross of Serbia faces the big social and economic problems of the citizens who still need humanitarian aid. Therefore, the majority of the Red Cross programs are aimed at daily assistance for the most vulnerable, such as the soup-kitchen program with around 16.000 beneficiaries in 58 towns, then the program of assistance for old people with around 2.000 volunteers helping around 9.000 elderly citizens; also, the program for helping Roma through daycares, through prevention of tuberculosis and many other programs", says Vesna Milenovic, secretary-general of the Red Cross of Serbia.
In the period between 1990 and 2000, at one point more than a million Serbia's citizens were beneficiaries of the Red Cross.
"Danas", 6. 2. 2007.

- BELGRADE: The Minority Rights Center has brought charges against a group of unidentified youths who attacked the Roma settlement in the part of Belgrade called Dorcol and beat up one of the inhabitants of the settlement inflicting severe injures on him.
The Center has issued a statement saying that charges have been brought for "inciting ethnic, racial and religious hatred and intolerance" against a group of 20 youths aged 15-20.
On the night of January 18th, they threw stones and bottles on the Roma settlement near the "25. Maj" Sports Center and shouted "We'll burn you Gypsies" and "We'll move you out". They beat up Ramadan Redzepi with sticks when he came out of his house, inflicting severe injuries on him. The youths ran away when the inhabitants of the settlement called the police and Redzepi spent 13 days in hospital with a fracture of the lower jaw.
"Danas", 6. 2. 2007.

- NOVI PAZAR: The Red Cross in Novi Pazar has received a donation for the soup-kitchen program from the Norwegian Red Cross and the Red Cross of Serbia, enough for the preparation of 700 free meals a day over the next 3 months.
"Blic", 3. 2. 2007.

- MAJDANPEK: The soup-kitchen in Majdanpek will open again on February 5th. Over the next three months, 200 of the most vulnerable persons on the record of the local Social Work Center will be receiving a free daily meal.
"Blic", 2. 2. 2007.

- ZAGREB: The Municipal Court in Sisak has started an investigation and assigned 30 days of detention for Milan Pekic of Serb nationality, arrested on Bosnia&Herzegovina-Croatia border on February 4th for alleged participation in the liquidation of Croatian civilians during the war in that country.
In December 2006, the municipal prosecution office in Sisak filed a request for investigation against 5 persons suspected of committing a war crime against 56 Croatian civilians between October 18th and 21st of 1991.
Pekic has both Croatian and Bosnian papers and he had been crossing the border between Croatia and Bosnia&Herzegovina without any problems until he got arrested.
"Glas javnosti", 8. 2. 2007.

- BELGRADE: At the moment, Serbia is at 43% of the development level of the 10 new member-countries of the European Union. If Serbia carries out the dynamic development strategy successfully, in 2012 it will reach 73% of the economic and overall development level of the EU countries, meaning that we shall be economically ready to join the EU.
"Glas javnosti", 7. 2. 2007.

- PODGORICA: According to a recent research by the Public Health Institute of Montenegro, 95% of the victims of domestic violence in that country are women - every 4th woman in Montenegro has been beaten by her husband, 36% has suffered insults, every 3rd woman has been thrown out of the house by her husband, every 5th has been threatened to be killed; 80% of the women have been victims of psychological violence.
According to psychologists, violence against women in Montenegro is a consequence of many centuries of patriarchal domination of men over women.
"Glas javnosti", 7. 2. 2007.

- BELGRADE: Serbia should pass a general anti-discrimination law as soon as possible, to define the term "discrimination" and provide efficient protection for the victims of human rights violations - this is the conclusion of the Anti-discrimination Coalition comprised of 8 NGOs.
"Discrimination is an endemic and systematic phenomenon in our country and it should be combatted with modern legal solutions, but also with concrete measures of legal protection and other forms of protection against discriminatory treatment", stressed Sasa Gajin, representative of the Center for Legal Studies Improvement at yesterday's press conference.
According to Gajin, discrimination is particularly present in the interior of Serbia, and the social groups most vulnerable to discrimination are Roma, but also persons of homosexual orientation.
Biljana Janic of the "Mali and Veliki" NGO said that although the Constitution guarantees free education for children with development disorders, as many as 85% of these children are outside of any form of education system. "We have special schools and the trend is to enroll Roma children in them", Biljana Janic underlined.
Dragan Popovic, executive director of the Youth Initiative for Human Rights, said, "Serbia is the only country in Europe without a general anti-discrimination law, which is inadmissible. However, I expect such a law to be adopted by the end of this year".
"Danas", 8. 2. 2007.

- BELGRADE: Katarina and Dalibor Saitovic, a married couple from Grdelica near Leskovac, say that they have been told that, as a Roma couple, they can't adopt a Serb child. They have told to the Beta news agency that they have been through all the required programs for adoptive parents and they have obtained a certificate from the Social Work Center in Leskovac stating that they are "generally adequate for child adoption" but when they tried to adopt a child, there were some obstructions.
"The employee of the Social Work Center, Divna Stojanovic, had told us that, as a Roma family, we couldn't adopt a Serb child. It upset us enormously. It is unclear why Roma are discriminated against like that. Are we, the Roma, only good for voting and for serving in wars?", Dalibor Saitovic says.
They say they have filed for the adoption of a child regardless of its nationality, and they have received a negative answer a dozen times so far. "It doesn't matter to us whether a child is Roma, Serb, Turkish or black. Only that it is healthy. We want to give a child all our love because in the 7 years of our marriage, we haven't been able to have a child, not even through artificial insemination", Katarina Saitovic says.
Divna Stanojevic of the Social Work Center in Leskovac couldn't remember if she had told the bad new to the Saitovic couple "with those exact words". "Maybe I told them something in the context of every child put up for adoption having to preserve its ethnic identity, culture and language and that maybe it would be the best for a Roma child to be in a Roma family", Stojanovic has said. She also said that the social workers don't choose a child in accordance with the wishes of the potential adoptive parents, but in accordance with a child's need and with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
She says that there are 24 couples on the waiting list of the Social Work Center. "The problem is that everyone wants healthy children, and there are few healthy children among the abandoned children. We want for the children who are not healthy to also be adopted by families who would look after them, like it is done in the West where there is no health barriers", Divna Stanojevic says.
According to the documentation presented, Katarina and Dalibor Saitovic own a big two-story well arranged house in the Roma setlement of Grdelica.
"Danas", 8. 2. 2007.

- BELGRADE: On the night between Tuesday and Wednesday, a drunk man driving without any lights on his car, hit the car of Jordan Vasic, president of the Democratic Association of Roma, announced the Roma Information Agency yesterday. According to the Agency, a traffic police patrol arrived very soon, but the drunk driver had phoned three thugs who attacked Vasic and the people he was driving, first verbally and then physically. They inflicted severe injuries on Vasic kicking him and hitting him with their fists, a knife and a car lift.
When Vasic warned that police have the obligation to protect the citizens, he was told that Roma had put their heads up too high and they exaggerate with discrimination accusations and if they need help, they should call Natasa Kandic, says the statement by the Roma Information Agency.
"Danas", 8. 2. 2007.

- BELGRADE: President of the Red Cross of Serbia, Dragan Radovanovic, said at yesterday's marking of 131st anniversary of this organization, that the Red Cross of Serbia has a total of 600 employees and 60.000 volunteers without whom the implementation of the 64 programs would be impossible. "At the beginning of 2004, the aid programs of the international donors were terminated, although there has been still a great need for assistance in our country - around 20% of the population lives below the poverty line and the unemployment rate is 33%. In Serbia there are still around 400.000 refugees from Croatia and Bosnia&Herzegovina, and more than 130.000 registered IDPs from Kosovo. Every day we face big social and economic problems of the citizens in need of humanitarian aid. So many of our programs are aimed at providing daily assistance for the most vulnerable, such as the soup-kitchen program, the program for helping the elderly, the program of aid for the Roma through daycares, through prevention of tuberculosis and many other programs", Radovanovic said.
"Danas", 7. 2. 2007.

- PRISTINA: Deputy Prime Minister of Kosovo, Ljutfi Haziri, said yesterday during his meeting in Pristina with the Montenegran Commissioner for refugees Zeljko Sofranac, that the priority of the Kosovo Government is to provide adequate conditions for the return of around 16.000 Kosovo refugees in Montenegro.
"Glas javnosti", 9. 2. 2007.

- BELGRADE: In Serbia there are 155.000 destitute children and another 155.000 who are on the verge of poverty. Among them the most vulnerable are children who belong to minority groups, especially Roma, and also refugee and internally displaced children, as well as those living in remote rural areas - these are the alarming results of a joint research conducted by the Statistics Department of the Republic of Serbia, the Children's Rights Committee of the Republic of Serbia and the UNICEF office in Belgrade.
Only 1/3 of Serbia's children go to preschool, and the percentage of Roma children attending preschool education is much smaller. "2/3 of the Roma children enroll in elementary school but only 13% of the enrolled children complete elementary education. The proportion of Roma children who complete secondary education is much smaller", says Ann Lise Swenson, director of the UNICEF office for Serbia, Croatia and Montenegro.
"More than 80% of the children in the Roma settlements are destitute and they are exposed to discrimination; the research also shows that Roma children are 4 times more developmentally challenged than the national average", Swenson says.
Vesna Piperski-Tucakov, vice-president of the Children's Rights Committee, says that the Committee was founded in 2002 and in 2004 the National Plan was adopted for the reduction of poverty among children, the improvement of their education and health care.
"Glas javnosti", 9. 2. 2007.

- NIS: Yesterday 22-year-old Dusan Djordjevic of Nis was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment for inciting ethnic, racial and religious hatred and intolerance in 2003 and 2004 by painting insulting graffiti against Albanians and Roma and for assaulting Esma Jusufovic of Roma nationality on two occasions for no reason or motive in the street in Nis in 2004.
"Glas javnosti", 9. 2. 2007.

- BELGRADE: Every year Serbia "loses" 30.000 inhabitants. Serbia has 4.706 settlements and in 1.100 of them not a single baby was born in the year 2004 - says Dragan Vukmirovic, director of the Statistics Department of the Republic of Serbia.
"Danas", 9. 2. 2007.

- BELGRADE: In December 2006 in Serbia there were 916.000 unemployed persons registered with the National Employment Service.
"Glas javnosti", 13. 2. 2007.

- BELGRADE: The general health situation of the Roma population in Serbia is catastrophic and none of the projects aimed at improving their situation has had no significant effects - this was said at yesterday's round table of the representatives of Roma NGOs in Belgrade, who said that the lack of personal documents, medical care booklets and information on the access to medical services, are the biggest obstacles to Roma's realization of their right to health care.

Osman Balic, representative of the YUROM Center and member of the Roma Decade league, quoted an unofficial statistic that only one in 100 Roma lives to be 60 years of age, which indicates the seriousness of the problem.
He said that 43,5% of the Roma in Serbia live in unhygienic settlements, that 65% of these settlements have no sewage system and that many also lack running water and electricity.
Balic quoted the results of some of the researches conducted in recent years - 1/3 of the Roma children don't brush their teeth and almost never wash their hands, 24% don't eat dairy products or milk, and 70% of the Roma children eat meat less than once a week.

Svetlana Ilic, activist of the Women's Roma Center, said that according to the records of the Center, 65% of the Roma don't have medical care booklet.
She pointed out the reproductive health related problems as the most acute, given that Roma women have their first child at the age of 13-15, and every Roma woman has 8-14 abortions on average.

The participants of the round table pointed out that there is no direct discrimination in the medical doctors' communication with the Roma but expensive medical examinations are mostly unaffordable for them.

Djordje Stojiljkovic of the Ministry of Health presented the results achieved so far with the Action Health Plan which is a part of the Roma Decade and underlined that 60 million dinars are assigned from the state budget for the projects of the action health plan. He said that not all the 60 million dinars have been spent yet because there hasn't been enough quality projects among those submitted by health institutions and Roma NGOs.
He said that he would advocate in the future the reinforcement of the mediators - representatives of the Roma NGOs who should go to the Roma settlements and inform people of their rights regarding health care.

The participants of the round table pointed out that greater participation of the electronic media in the projects intended for the Roma population would contribute to the success of these projects.
"Glas javnosti", 14. 2. 2007.

- PRISTINA: Aljbin Kurti, leader of the "Self-Determination" movement of Kosovo, is charged for criminal acts connected with the recent demonstrations in Pristina when two people lost their life.
According to the Pristina news media, Kurti is charged with heading of and participation in a violent protest group, for participation in a group obstructing a law enforcement officer in the performance of his duty, and inciting resistance and putting in danger the UN staff.
"Glas javnosti", 16. 2. 2007.

- TRSTENIK: There are 86 Roma living in an unhygienic settlement near Kozara (the Tannery - Z.) in Trstenik. The local Red Cross and the Social Work Center have agreed to contribute to the improvement of their living conditions by setting up showers and a fountain with clean drinking water as a temporary solution. The Norwegian Red Cross has donated 3.000 euros and the Trstenik municipality will take part in the project with another 100.000 dinars (around 1.250 euros) in the construction of the showers and the fountain.
The settlement has no electricity so the Roma have connected their homes to electric supplies in an improvised manner, very dangerous and risky.
"Glas javnosti", 17. 2. 2007.

- ZAJECAR: The number of socially vulnerable persons is increasing in Zajecar municipality and there are more than 8.000 unemployed persons registered with the local Employment Bureau.
Many of the socially vulnerable people have applied for assistance in vane, although they have no income whatsoever, because the legal criteria are very strict. So last year 5.000 public assistance applications were rejected and 300 families have been rejected in the recent months who applied for child allowance which is 1.471 dinars per child per month.
Ivana Milanovic of the local Social Work Center says that lots of old and sick people apply for assistance but the law is that if they own, for example, a hectare of land registered in their name, they can't get any form of assistance, even though they can neither farm the land nor sell it.
The requirement for obtaining family allowance (MOP) is that none of the family members are capable of work. The highest family allowance is 8.355 dinars a month for families of five and more members.
Last year 649 families of five or more members received one-time cash aid of 1.000-3.000 dinars.
The beneficiaries use one-time cash aid mostly for the purchase of food, medicines, for paying electricity bills and funeral expenses.
They say at the local administration that most vulnerable persons ask for cash aid to buy bread but it is impossible to help all of them. For example, a pregnant girl came to ask for help recently. Her family had thrown her out without any money at all. She had nowhere to go so the municipality found a temporary solution for her. They say at the local administration that there are more and more similar cases.
The local soup-kitchen had to close due to the lack of funds several months ago, but now it is open again preparing meals for 250 persons. There used to be 1.000 beneficiaries in the previous years. The number of people in need of this form of aid is still the same but there is not enough money for the preparation of meals for all of them.
"Glas javnosti", 17. 2. 2007.

- KIKINDA: There are more than 8.000 registered unemployed persons in Kikinda and the number of public assistance beneficiaries has reached 3.177 which is 5% of the population of Kikinda municipality - says Milkica Momcilov of the local Social Work Center.
"There are 1.377 MOP beneficiaries at the moment, of which 956 are children up to 14 years of age. The minimum amount is 4.174 for single-membered households and the maximum amount is 8.355 dinars a month for families of five or more members", Momcilov says.
"Glas javnosti", 17. 2. 2007.

- VRANJE: Yesterday the local bakers' association of Vranje increased the price for bread by 20%, so now a loaf of bread costs 30 dinars instead of 25. The reason is the increase in price of flour, electricity and transportation.
The last time the price for bread changed in Pcinjski County was a year ago.
"Glas javnosti", 17. 2. 2007.

- LESKOVAC, BELGRADE: Novica Selimanovic, activist of the Roma Union of Serbia, was beaten up on the evening of January 4th while putting up a Roma Union poster on a local store in the village of Priboj near Leskovac, as part of the parliamentary election campaign. Selimanovic was beaten up by Ljubisa Jorgacevic, his son Goran Jorgacevic and Zoran Jovanovic, all three of them inhabitants of Priboj.
"Ljubisa Jorgacevic had threatened me before, insulted me for receiving public assistance and when he attacked me physically he cursed my 'gypsy mother' and shouted, 'You, Gypsies, are a minority and you want your own state, we'll force you out of here'. I was covered in blood, unconscious. The villager Milos Marinkovic and the shop assistant Predrag Stojanovic who works in the store saved me, gave me first aid. While I was on my way home, Ljubisa Jorgacevic attacked me again with a stick. There are only two Roma families living in the village of Priboj and I am scared", said Novica Selimanovic for the "Danas" newspaper.
He said to the Human Rights Committee of Leskovac that Ljubisa Jorgacevic had also threatened to burn his house.
"I told him that he could quarrel with me, but not burn my house. I called the commander of the police station in Pecenjevac who was shocked when he saw me. The next day I went to a doctor and he wrote that my eye is closed with bruises. I have taken sedatives but I still have a severe headache", Selimanovic says.
The Human Rights Committee of Leskovac has informed of this case a number of local and foreign organizations, as well as the Human and Minority Rights Service of the Republic of Serbia.
"I think that the attacks on Roma are minimized in Serbia, especially in the south. They start with verbal conflicts, cursing, stereotypical insults, and often end up in physical violence. In Leskovac there has been also police torture of Roma with clear racist motivation, but none of the perpetrators have answered for it. The only thing left for us to do is to represent the victims and inform the public", said Dobrosav Nesic, president of the Human Rights Committee of Leskovac.
"Danas", 16. 2. 2007.

- BELGRADE: The People's Office of the President of Serbia Boris Tadic has information that 55% of the schools in Serbia with around 20.000 pupils has no toilets or sanitation facilities so the Office has started an initiative for the improvement of the situation in these schools. The Office has pointed out as the most drastic example the Secondary School of Economics in Kucevo with 300 pupils and not a single toilet.
"Danas", 15. 2. 2007.

- PANCEVO: The construction has started of a building with 11 apartments for refugees and one apartment for a local socially vulnerable family. The project is financed by the European Agency for Reconstruction and the Danish Refugee Council.
"Danas", 15. 2. 2007.

- PRISTINA: The return of internally displaced Serbs, as well as the members of other ethnic minorities in Kosovo, is still unsatisfactory, said Natasa Kandic in Pristina yesterday, director of the Humanitarian Law Fund.
According to UNHCR, between 2000 and 2006, around 16.000 IDPs returned to Kosovo almost half of which are Serbs, Kandic said at the presentation of the Fund's annual report on the situation of ethnic communities in Kosovo. The main obstacles to the return of IDPs are insufficient safety and freedom of movement, usurpation of their properties, bad economic situation, high unemployment rate and lack of prospects, says the report.
Kosovo Minister of Return and Communities, Branislav Grbic, said that the return process wasn't satisfactory last year, but hopefully the situation will be better this year because more than 5 million euros are assigned for the return process from the Kosovo budget. He said that the return hadn't been economically sustainable in the previous period and that it should be corrected in the coming period.
"Danas", 19. 2. 2007.

- PIROT: The soup-kitchen in Pirot had to close several months ago due to the lack of money but now it is open again preparing meals for the 400 most vulnerable citizens. There are another 107 persons on the waiting list.
The preparation of the meals is financed by the Government, the Norwegian Red Cross, the municipal budget of Pirot and the local Red Cross.
"We used to have 700 beneficiaries and no waiting list in the previous years. Now we have a limited number of beneficiaries and that's why we have a waiting list", says Miroljub Mijic, secretary of the local Red Cross.
The soup-kitchen beneficiaries are persons who receive family allowance (MOP), pensioners with low incomes, old persons without any income, children from socially vulnerable families, and also several refugee and IDP families.
"Danas", 19. 2. 2007.

- STRASBOURG: The Council of Europe has announced a campaign in Serbia and in Montenegro to raise public awareness of the situation and rights of the Roma community. The project will also be partially financed by the European Commission and it will include a training for the Roma and for the government employees to offer support to the realization of the rights of the Roma community, as well as a campaign "Enough" to promote a positive image of the Roma, contrary to the stereotypes and prejudices.
Encouraged by the election of two Roma representatives for the Serbian Parliament and by the ratification of the "Guide to the improvement and legalization of the Roma settlements in Serbia", the Council of Europe will officially launch the campaign by holding a press conference in Belgrade on February 28th.
"Glas javnosti", 22. 2. 2007.

- KRALJEVO: The house of an internally displaced Roma family from Kosovo in Sirca near Kraljevo caught fire yesterday. Luckily, no one was injured but the fire destroyed all the furniture and the roof of the house. When the fire broke out, Dzemilja Gasi and her two underage sons were sleeping but they managed to get out of the house with just minor burns on their arms and legs.
The Gasi family fled Kosovo Polje in 1999 and until last June they lived in the so-called "tent settlement" in Stari Aerodrom in Kraljevo. In Stari Aerodrom there are around 20 containers housing dozens of internally displaced Roma from Kosovo. Last summer Dzemilja managed to build a small house with just one room in Sirca and she lives on public assistance and by collecting waste on a nearby garbage dump.
"I have asked for help and everyone makes promises but if and when something will come out of those promises, I don't know. I have been told to go back to the 'tent settlement' but I can't live there. Infections and diseases rule in the 'tent settlement'. I am not taking my children there. The UNHCR has promised me two big tent canvases. If nothing else, I will cover the burnt roof of my house with them and continue to live here", Dzamilja Gasi says.
The inhabitants of Sirca were the first to help the Gasi family. They have collected some clothes, shoes and furniture.
"Glas javnosti", 22. 2. 2007.

- PARACIN: Many Roma children, unfortunately, start "making money" as babies by begging in the street. Their merciless parents, walking from one "employee" to another, sometimes lose control over them so the children sometimes indulge in a short joy on the carousel. But you can't even have a ride on a carousel if you have no money. So the children sometimes ask for a chip for the carousel.
"Glas javnosti", 22. 2. 2007.

- JAGODINA: The village of Strizilo, around 15 km from Jagodina, is one of the largest Roma settlements in central Serbia. Most of the inhabitants are obese, many of them smoke and drink alcohol and suffer from hypertension - these are the results of the medical examinations that the doctors of the Health Center of Jagodina have been conducting for three months now, as part of a joint project of the Ministry of Health and Roma NGOs. The project is aimed at improving health care for the Roma.
Dr Bojana Drca of the Health Center of Jagodina says that in previous three months, 169 patients were examined (119 women and 50 men) aged between 20 and 86. "Most of them are obese, most of them smoke and drink alcohol; half of them suffer from high blood pressure, and extremely high blood sugar was found in three patients", Drca said.
The Ministry of Health finances the project with 500.000 dinars and it will last 12 months.
"Danas", 21. 2. 2007.

- NOVI SAD: Dragisa Dabetic, Commissioner for Refugees of the Republic of Serbia, said yesterday that there had been no mass settling of refugees from Kosovo in any of the municipalities in Serbia, TANJUG news agency reports, "nor is there any hints that something similar could happen in the coming days", Dabetic says, rejecting the claims by the Democratic Party of Vojvodina Hungarians.
"Glas javnosti", 25. 2. 2007.

- PRISTINA: The mortal remains of five Serbs, kidnapped and killed in Kosovo in July 1999, were handed over to their families on the Kosovo border yesterday.
"Glas javnosti", 24. 2. 2007.

- STARA PAZOVA: There are still 50 refugee families living in the dilapidated barracks full of moist in Novi Banovci and Nova Pazova. The Commission for Refugees of the Repulic of Serbia has crossed them off the list. Many of them haven't solved their citizenship status yet.
Since it is very hard for refugees from Croatia and Bosnia&Herzegovina to get Serbian citizenship, they have to take any job in order to survive so they usually work as unregistered labor.
"I am 28 and I work in a casino for 17.000 dinars a month. I have a girlfriend but we can't marry because I live with my parents in the barracks. There are no prospects here, I'm trying to get papers so I can go abroad", says Dragoljub, one of the refugees.
An Italian humanitarian organization is financing the construction of two buildings in Novi Banovci with a total of 76 apartments for refugees and socially vulnerable domicile families.
"The apartments will be finished by July, and refugees with members killed in the war and single mothers can apply", says Branko Tosic, representative of the construction company which is building the apartments.
"Glas javnosti", 24. 2. 2007.

- UZICE: There are 53 refugees and 18 IDPs living in the barracks in the collective center in the village of Sljivovica at the foot of the Zlatibor mountain, most of them old and sick with no one to look after them. Some of them have children but they live far away, mostly in America or Australia. There are also single people among the inhabitants of the center, almost none of them have a job and they don't have the right to apply for an apartment or for accommodation in an old people's home. "We are trying to help them as much as we can, we have a team consisted of a psychiatrist and a social worker, but it is very difficult", says Mira Vukicevic Gledovic of the Italian NGO "Emiti".
Drago Markovic, manager of the collective center in Sljivovica, says, "Luckily, a dozen apartments for refugees are being constructed in Cajetina, the municipality has provided the infrastructure and the location and a Greek organization is financing the project. Seven of the families from the collective center will get an apartment. The problem is single persons from the collective center who don't have the right to apply for an apartment and some of them are too young for an old people's home".
Markovic says that the Commission for Refugees of the Republic of Serbia pays all the bills for the collective center, the barracks are warm, the refugees and the IDPs get three meals every day but...
"Not everything is in the food. Several people in the center work from time to time, the rest can't even afford to buy a hygienic product or a pair of underwear or a shirt, or a razor to shave... ", Markovic says.
"Glas javnosti", 24. 2. 2007.

- PARACIN: Although the law prohibits street begging, Svetlana Kostic of Roma nationality begs on the bridge in Paracin near the "Petrus" hotel.
She says that she is married to Pera Todorovic of Paracin and that she doesn't beg every day, only when they have no money. "I've got six children to support. I am illiterate and I can't think of anything else I could do. We sometimes sell waste iron, copper and aluminum, and we get public assistance. But when we run out of money, I come here to beg on the bridge", Svetlana says.
"Glas javnosti", 24. 2. 2007.

- PRISTINA: Seven vehicles of the OSCE and two private cars were damaged in an explosion in Pec yesterday morning, Kosovo Police Service has announced. Another unexploded device was also found at the scene of the blast.
"Glas javnosti", 27. 2. 2007.

- BELGRADE: More than 70% of Serbia's young people have never been abroad - shows a research conducted by the Students Union of Serbia. The remaining 30% have mostly travelled as tourists, with their parents, mostly to Hungary and Greece.
The international IAESTE organization, which sends the best students of natural and technical sciences from Serbia abroad for professional training every year, has even worse statistics.
"One of the questions in the application form is 'Have you ever been abroad'. This year nearly 80% of the applicants answered negative, and only 6,3% answered that they have travelled abroad normally or spent a year abroad studying secondary school or college. Around 14% have travelled abroad with their parents, mostly to Greece and Hungary", says Dragan Vukicevic, director of the IAESTE office for Serbia and Montenegro.
"Glas javnosti", 26. 2. 2007.

- PIROT: The soup-kitchen in Pirot, which closed several months ago, is open again preparing 400 meals every day for the most vulnerable persons. There are another 107 on the waiting list.
The program is financed by the Serbian Government, the Norwegian Red Cross, the municipality of Pirot and the Red Cross of Pirot.
Each family has the right to 3 coupons, regardless of the number of family members.
Those who fail to pick up their meal 4-5 times, are taken off the list.
"Glas javnosti", 26. 2. 2007.

- BELGRADE: A total of 899 persons were killed and 18.405 were injured in traffic accidents in Serbia in 2006 (7% more than the previous year). The accidents were mostly caused by drunk driving, speeding and driving through the red light. But one of the factors is also the vehicles themselves which are 14-5 years old on average.
"Glas javnosti", 23. 2. 2007.

- BELGRADE: The computer addiction epidemic has hit Serbia, where 150.000 people suffer from pathological use of the internet, i.e. from internet addiction.
"Danas", 27. 2. 2007.

- ZRENJANIN: The Italian humanitarian organization INTERSOS and UNHCR have a joint program of providing donations for refugees and IDPs whose main profession is farming. The idea of the project is to help refugees and IDPs to achieve economic independence and improve their situation through the improvement of their farming production.
The donations consist of tractors, implements, cattle, food for cattle, beekeeping and green house equipment.
The applicants have to submit a refugee status certificate and a certified statement that they live by farming.
Multimember families, subtenants, persons with no regular employment and income, and families with disabled members will have the priority.
"Danas", 23. 2. 2007.

- RAMUS HARADINAJ: The trial in the Hague Tribunal against former Kosovo Prime Minister Ramus Haradinaj will last around 9 months and it is necessary to provide another 1,5 million euros to pay his lawyers, said the coordinator of Haradinaj's legal team Michael O'Reilly. "Haradinaj's lawyers have spent 7,5 million euros so far", said O'Reilly.
"Blic", 28. 2. 2007.

- BELGRADE: According to some estimates, around 3 or 4 million Serbian citizens are living abroad, in more than 100 different countries, says Aleksandar Cotric, secretary of the Ministry of Diaspora. There is no accurate method to determine the exact number of migrants and it is a common problem in all the countries in the world.
"Blic", 28. 2. 2007.

- KRALJEVO: By the end of this year, 61 refugee families and 15 local socially vulnerable families will move into the apartments in the settlement of Beranovac in Kraljevo, thanks to the SIRP program implemented in our country by a number of Italian NGOs. The families will be paying monthly rent for 3 years of 1,2 euros per square meter, which is the lowest rent in Serbia.
Refugee families and local socially vulnerable families can still submit their applications to the municipal housing agency in Kraljevo.
An apartment building for refugees and local destitute persons already exists in Beranovac.
"Blic", 28. 2. 2007.