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March 05

(There are no news summary for the first part of Mars because our employee in Serbia was absent)

- PRISTINA: More than 130.000 citizens of Kosovo have signed a petition requesting from the Hague Tribunal to release Ramus Haradinaj pending his trial.
Most signers stress that it is the least they can do for their former Prime Minister.
The drive is organized by the youth wing of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, political party whose leader is Ramus Haradinaj.
"Vecernje novosti", 20. 3. 2005.

- SARAJEVO: The constitution of the City Council of the capital confirmed the end of its multi-ethnicity. Despite the fact that under the Constitution, the City Council of Sarajevo must have at least 6 Serbs (of 28 seats, 14 belong to Bosniaks, 6 to Serbs, 6 to Croats and 2 to other ethnic communities), the Council was constituted yesterday without any Serb representatives.
The trouble of forming the City Council lasted half a year after the local election. The reason was - a lack of Serb delegates. Because none of the Serb political parties is active in any town in the Federation of Bosnia&Herzegovina except for Drvar and Bosansko Grahovo.
Only 10% are left of the 600.000 Serbs who lived in the Federation before the war. They mostly vote for the only multi-ethnic political party in Bosnia&Herzegovina - the Social-democratic Party. This party has delegates who are ethnic Serbs but refuses to appoint them to the Sarajevo City Council.
Nearly 150.000 Serbs have left the city. There are no accurate statistics because the formation of the state Agency for Statistics and Census is being stalled. That is why the fact that there are no more Serbs in Sarajevo can be concealed. According to the computer data base of personal documents, several thousand orthodox Christians live in Sarajevo, but that is only those who have taken out their documents in the capital but they actually live in Republika Srpska or in Serbia&Montenegro.
Another proof that there are no Serbs in Sarajevo or in the Federation of Bosnia&Herz., is the fact that the House of the Peoples of the Parliament of the Federation hasn't been formed yet even though the parliamentary elections were held 2,5 years ago. The reason is again - there are no Serb delegates.
Besides the mass exile of Serbs, it is estimated that as many as 50.000 Sarajevo Croats have left the city. So the administrative center of this former Yugoslav republic has completely changed its ethnic structure. Before the war, 40% of the population of Sarajevo were Muslims, now Muslims make up more than 90% of the population.
"Vecernje novosti", 20. 3. 2005.

- BELGRADE: Pessimism in Serbia has increased by 70% in the last 12 months so now we are in the 4th place in the world. According to a research by the Galup Agency, 43% of the population believes that the situation, which is bad as it is, will become even worse. Last year, 25% of the population had similar pessimistic prognosis. The fear of losing the job is expressed by 56% of the employed population, which is more by 1/4 than last year. The Government accuses the analysts of creating a panic among the population.
"Vecernje novosti", 20. 3. 2005.

- PRISTINA: ANA, proclaimed to be a terrorist organization in Kosovo, has claimed the responsibility for the recent assassination attempt on the Kosovo President, Ibrahim Rugova.
In an official statement distributed to all the media, ANA warns the international community "not to play with the people's destiny or with the map of the Albanian territories".
"Vecernje novosti", 20. 3. 2005.

- SKOPJE: The Macedonian Ministry of Police has announced that the citizens of other republics of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, who had registrered residence on October 8th, 1991 and are permanently settled in Macedonia, can obtain Macedonian citizenship.
They can realize this right if they submit an application for citizenship to the regional unit of the Ministry of Police by March 2nd, 2006.
"Vecernje novosti", 22. 3. 2005.

- PODGORICA: Two days ago, the fourth political party of ethnic Albanians in Montenegro was formed in Ulcinj - Democratic Unity of Albanians. The leader is the former vice-president of the municipality of Ulcinj, Ali Doda.
Two political parties of ethnic Albanians - the Democratic Union of Albanians and the Democratic League (of Albanians) have one representative each in the Montenegran Parliament. The third party, the Party of Democratic Prosperity, doesn't have its representative in the Parliament.
Mehmed Bardi, president of the Democratic League (of Albanians), says that this new party "doesn't bring anything new in its platform" and that it is "a localist group which will only split further the Albanian electorate in Montenegro. That is not good and it is not in the best interest of Albanians in Montenegro".
"Vecernje novosti", 22. 3. 2005.

- BELGRADE: The highest average salary in Serbia in February was in the tobacco industry - 45.261 dinars or 560 euros and the ready-made clothing industry had the lowest average salary - 2.973 dinars or 36 euros.
"Vecernje novosti", 22. 3. 2005.

- BELGRADE: The Initiative Committee for the replacement of the members of the National Council of Roma accused the president and some of the members of the Council yesterday of not working in favour of the people they represent.
Dragoljub Ackovic, member of the Initiative Committee and PR commissioner of the World Roma Organization, says, "there is a certain number of servants in the Council, the state is using them for its purposes because it suits the state to have the money intended for Romas under its control".
"Glas javnosti", 15. 3. 2005.

- BELGRADE: On various locations in Belgrade, anti-Semitic and chauvinist graphitti and posters appeared yesterday. The city center is covered with posters signed by a so far unknown organization called the National Line calling for boycott of RTV B92 because of its alleged "anti-Serb activity".
Chauvinist graphitti appeared at the entrances to the Humanitarian Law Fund and the Helskinky Human Rights Committee in Serbia and the president of the Committee is called "a Jewish pawn - an obedient servant to the Jewish world order".
Aca Singer, president of the Union of the Jewish Communes in Serbia&Montenegro, is convinced that the synchronized appearance of the graphitti on various locations isn't a coincidence.
A number of political parties and NGOs demand urgent police investigation about the posters.
"Danas", 23. 3. 2005.

- KOSOVSKA MITROVICA: Unemployment rate in Kosovo is 72%. Most citizens live in poverty, on welfare or on the money their relatives working abroad send them. So they look upon foreigners in the peace-keeping forces with a lot of hatred and regard them as the cause to the problems.
Around 18.000 KFOR soldiers are stationed in Kosovo, 3.500 UNMIK policemen and around 20.000 international employees. Their salaries are a thorn in the flesh of the locals. According to some sources, the head of UNMIK has a salary of 32.000 US dollars a month, the commandant of KFOR - 25.000 US dollars; municipal administrators - 9.000 euros. UNMIK policemen have a salary of 1.500-1.800 US dollars and their colleagues in the Kosovo Police Service - 200-400 euros.
"Glas javnosti", 21. 3. 2005.

- THE HAGUE: Ramus Haradinaj is accused before the
Hague Tribunal of war crimes against Serb civilians and civilians of other nationalities committed in the area of Decane, Pec, Djakovica, Istok and Klina between March 1st and September 30th of 1998.
"Glas javnosti", 15. 3. 2005.

- PRISTINA: Yesterday a rally of support to Ramus Haradinaj was held outside the Philosophic Faculty in Pristina, Around 3.000 citizens paticipated in the rally which was organized by the Independent Union of Students of the Pristina University of the classes in Albanian.
"Danas", 22. 3. 2005.

- BATUSE: 92 Serb households in the village of Batuse near Kosovo Polje were cut from electric supplies nearly 3 months ago.
Five days ago, UNMIK and the Kosovo Electric Corporation promised to reconnect them if they sign individual contracts and find donors to pay 149.040 euros, which is the alleged total amount of the village's unpaid electricity bills for the last 5 years.
"Glas javnosti", 15. 3. 2005.

- BRESTOVIK: This winter 34 Serb families returned to the villages of Brestovik and Siga. The Italian Government and the International Organization for Migrations financed the reconstruction of their houses and the water and electricity system because all that was completely destroyed after the war in Kosovo just like everything else in these villages.
One of the families in Brestovik has pre-school children and they say that more such families would return if there was a school in the village or if classes would be organized in some way.
"For the villages to survive, there must be more of us which would be difficult in these conditions because we live in uncertainty every day", say the returned Serbs.
Unlike most Serb settlements in Kosovo, there is no KFOR base or fixed checkpoints near Brestovik or Siga, only a regular patrol of the Kosovo Police Service visits them from time to time.
It is difficult for the people to live without employment and they can't even think of going outside the villages to cultivate their land (most their farmland is outside the villages). For now, they are living on the aid from the Red Cross of Serbia and an occasional donation from other humanitarian organizations.
"Glas javnosti", 15. 3. 2005.

- BELGRADE: 96 IDP famlies or 312 persons are living in the "Jastrebac" collective center in the part of Belgrade called Resnik at the moment; 96 of them are children under 14.
"Glas javnosti", 18. 3. 2005.

- ZAGREB: During the war in Croatia, over 17.000 houses, summer houses and business locations owned by Serbs were destroyed in the areas controlled by the Croatian authorities.
"Glas javnosti", 19. 3. 2005.

- BIJELJINA: President of the Association of Refugees and IDPs in Bijeljina, Veljko Stevanovic, is warning again that the authorities in the Federation of Bosnia&Herzegovina continue with the obstructions in order to make it impossible for refugee Serbs to get the recompense for damages to their properties caused by Bosniaks in post-war period.
They can't sue without a deed on the property and some municipal authorities in the Federation demand that refugee Serbs first pay the outstanding property taxes even though some of them haven't had the opportunity to even see the land, "let alone use it or farm it in over 10 years", says Stevanovic.
In the meantime, the municipal Bosniak authorities issue certificates to the local citizens enabling them to cut for free the woods that belong to the Serbs who can't return from exile yet.
"Glas javnosti", 14. 3. 2005.

- KRALJEVO: Kraljevo on the brink of disaster. At the moment, around 40% of the town's population fit for work is unemployed, around 30.000 are employed and almost half of the 20.000 registered pensioners have a pension under 50 euros a month.
Around 15.000 people in Kraljevo are unemployed; 60% of this number are people who have been fired in from their companies as surplus labour.
The irregular financial support by the state for the most vulnerable categories doesn't even satisry the most basic necessities and most citizens live in debts to banks or to public utilities.
"Danas", 19.-20. 3. 2005.

- CACAK: Four women were infected with hepatitis C giving birth in the Cacak hospital on January 4th.
Serbian Minister of Health, Tomica Milosavljevic, has announced that "the guilty parties will be punished if individual or collective responsibility is determined".
"Glas javnosti", 17. 3. 2005.

- BELGRADE: The HEPAS organization has warned that there is information that it is also possible for hepatitis to appear in the maternity wards in Belgrade because there is too much work so they don't sterilize the equipment enough.
The head of the Gynecology department of the Cacak hospital has been fired adn the head nurse of the department and the head nurse of the maternity ward have resigned.
"Glas javnosti", 18. 3. 2005.

- BELGRADE: Monthly salaries in the health services in Serbia:
nurse, 12.000-15.000 dinars
medical doctor, 21.172 dinars
medical specialist, 25.200 dinars
medical subspecialist, 28.600 dinars
"Glas javnosti", 17. 3. 2005.

- BELGRADE: We will forget what tap water is. In some regions of Serbia, bottled water has become a necessity - tap water in Vojvodina contains 10 times the permitted dosage of arsenic so water has a colour and a smell and a taste. In Kraljevo and Vranje, water is full of phenol, manganese and ammonia.
"Glas javnosti", 22. 3. 2005.

- NOVI PAZAR: The Sandzak Democratic Party strongly condemns the decision of the president of the Novi Pazar commune, Sulejman Ugljanin, to contract a purchase of machinery and equipment from Krusevac and Kragujevac worth 120 million dinars (1,1 million euros) which is 1/4 of the total municipal budget, at the time when the employees of the local public utilities don't receive any salaries because Ugljanin refuses to sign their checks so some of them are protesting outside the Town Hall.
"Danas", 17. 3. 2005.

- BELGRADE: According to this month's research by the "Faktor plus" Agency, the citizens of Serbia have the most confidence in the President, Boris Tadic and Prime Minister Kostunica is in the second place.
If the elections had been held in the beginning of March, the largest portion of the citizens would have voted for the Serbian Radical Party - 32,8%, for Djindjic's Democratic Party - 22,9%, for the Strength of Serbia Movement - 16,1%, for Kostunica's Democratic Party of Serbia - 10,5%, for Vuk Draskovic's Serbian Renovation Movement - 5,3% and 12,4% would vote for some other party.
"Glas javnosti", 18. 3. 2005.

- VRSAC: The police have identified and arrested all the persons involved in the fistfight near the Roma settlement of Balata when Stevan Stojko of Roma nationality was stabbed with a knife. His life is not in danger.
After an extensive investigation, the police have come to a conclusion that the fight wasn't ethnically or religiously motivated, that the fight happened because the participants were drunk.
After the hearing, a judge of the Municipal Court in Vrsac didn't order temporary arrest for Ilija Milenkovic (aged 19) suspected of wounding Stojko with a knife.
"Glas javnosti", 26. 3. 2005.

- KIKINDA: The owners of 30 family houses in the elite neighbourhood in Nikola Aleksic Street in Kikinda have signed a petition against the construction of 25 apartments for refugees in this street. They threaten to block the site on which the local authorities are planning to start the construction.
They have talked with the president of the commune, Branislav Blazic (of the Serbian Radical Party) and they have announced a lawsuit against him for calling them racists.
According to the urbanization plan, a daycare is to be built on the site in question and the residents of the Nikola Aleksic Street claim that in case the apartments for refugees are built, the sewerage system will be overloaded because the sewage floods the basements and cellars as it is. They announce that the neighbourhood will lose its present characteristics because of all this and they threaten to sue the municipality for damages.
"Danas", 24. 3. 2005.

- KOSOVO&METOHIJA: On the Serb cemetery in Vucitrn, Albanians are starting to build a cattle market and on the Serb cemetery in the southern section of Kosovska Mitrovica, Albanians are building family houses.
"Glas javnosti", 24. 3. 2005.

- BATUSE: Serbs in the Kosovo village of Batuse were reconnected to power supplies yesterday. They were cut from electric supplies on December 18th last year.
The locals say that the Kosovo Energetic Corporation reconnected them only temporarily, for a period of one month, in which term an agreement should be reached on how the debt will be paid and a social card should be made based on which it will be determined who among the Serbs can afford to pay for electricity bills.
"Glas javnosti", 24. 3. 2005.

- BELGRADE: Statisticians have calculated that if the current return rate of displaced Serbs from Kosovo continues, it will take 3 centuries for all 250.000 of them to go back to their homes in Kosovo&Metohija.
"Glas javnosti", 28. 3. 2005.

- BELGRADE: The former general of the Army of Republika Srpska, Vinko Pandurevic, went to the Hague yesterday, escorted by the Minister of State Administration and member of the National Council for Cooperation with the Hague, Zoran Loncar.
"Glas javnosti", 24. 3. 2005.

- BELGRADE: Police general, Sreten Lukic, is going to the Hague on Thursday.
"Glas javnosti", 26. 3. 2005.

- BELGRADE: The remains of 6 Serbs kidnapped and then killed during the war in Kosovo in 1998 and 1999 have been handed over to their families on the administration border crossing in Merdare. The bodies were exhumed after the year 2000 on locations near Suva Reka and Pristina.
"Glas javnosti", 26. 3. 2005.

- BELGRADE: Inter-ethnic relations and the situation of ethnic minorities in Vojvodina have improved compared to last year, announced Janos Oros, Vojvodina deputy secretary of regulations, administration and ethnic minorities, before the members of the Serbian Parliament's Commission for inter-ethnic relations.
"Glas javnosti", 26. 3. 2005.

- BUJANOVAC (in the south of Serbia): Sasa Nedeljkovic (aged 18) was stabbed in the back in the center of Bujanovac two nights ago. He is in the hospital in Vranje and his life is not in danger. He was stabbed by Meljajim Alitu (aged 24).
After a fistfight between 2 Albanian and 3 Serb youths over who brushed against whose shoulder while they were passing each other, the boys dispersed but then Alitu came back with a knife and stabbed the Serb youth from the back.
"Glas javnosti", 28. 3. 2005.

- BELGRADE: Sweden and the United States are taking serious steps in the struggle against women trafficking in Europe. The two countries will finance the NGOs engaged in the struggle against people trafficking and sexual abuse in 11 European countries, including Kosovo and Serbia&Montenegro.
"Glas javnosti", 28. 3. 2005.

- PALE: Investigation team of the Ministry of Police of Republika Srpska has gathered 4.814 dossiers with incontestable documents on the war crimes committed against Serbs in the Federation of Bosnia&Herzegovina, especially in Sarajevo.
"Glas javnosti", 26. 3. 2005.

- ZAGREB: Head of the Croatian Counter-intelligence Police, Tomislav Karamarko, has launched an investigation to determine the authenticity of the "Brion transcript" based on which the Hague prosecution qualified the military action "Storm" as a criminal undertaking.
According to the transcript, the Croatian President at the time, Franjo Tudjman, ordered for the action "Storm" to "deliver such blows to Serbs that they disappear from Croatia forever".
"Glas javnosti", 26. 3. 2005.

- ZAGREB: In the end of February, the Parliament and the Government in exile of the Republic of Srpska Krajina were established. Savo Strbac, director of the "Veritas" Documentation-Information Center, says that Croatia had 10 years to solve the Serb issue but nothing has been done except for individual returns and with this, Croatia has provoked the esablishment of the Krajina Parliament and Government in exile in February.
"Glas javnosti", 25. 3. 2005.

- NOVI PAZAR: Employees of the public utility of "Cleanness" in Novi Pazar have started a general strike because they haven't receive any salaries in 3 months. The president of the commune of Novi Pazar, Sulejman Ugljanin, refuses to transfer the money for the salaries for the employees of the "Cleanness" and other public utilities in Novi Pazar in which "his" directors were replaced after the recent local elections.
Garbage dumps are already forming around the street containers in Novi Pazar. Jasmin Ahmetovic, president of the trade union, says that the employees will be on strike until they are paid.
"Glas javnosti", 26. 3. 2005.

- BELGRADE: There are 8 new TBC patients in Serbia every day.
"Danas", 25. 3. 2005.

- BOR: The Bor river is the most contaminated river in the world. There is no flora or fauna in it. According to UN experts, the river is totally lifeless.
"Glas javnosti", 24. 3. 2005.

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