Austria

BELGRADE - Serbia's delegation headed by Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic will pay an official visit to Austria on March 27 and 28, the president's press service released in a statement.

The Serbian president will confer with Austrian President Heinz Fischer and Parliament Speaker Barbara Prammer.

Austria and Luxembourg have agreed to back EU plans to increase transparency in tax reporting at a summit in Brussels, Thursday.

The shift in policy comes almost two years after the government said it planned to sell the company to a foreign investor - but failed to choose a consultancy firm that would find the best model for privatization.

VIENNA - Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz has congratulated Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) leader Aleksandar Vucic on the landslide electoral win.

In that victory I see a clear message from the Serbian citizens that the course of EU accession, advocated by the SNS, must be continued consistently, Kurz said in a statement on Monday.

Saric, who is accused of heading an organised-crime gang involved in large-scale drug smuggling, surrendered to police after coming to an agreement with the Belgrade authorities to give himself up, Serbian justice minister Nikola Selakovic told a press conference on Tuesday.

BELGRADE - "Rabbitland", a short animated movie by Ana Nedeljkovic and Nikola Majdak junior, was awarded a Diploma of Merit at 44th Tampere Film Festival in Finland which was held from March 5 to 9.

Since it premiered at 63rd Berlin Film Festival in 2013 and got the Crystal Bear, "Rabbitland" was screened at numerous festivals across the world.

The EU freezes the bank accounts of 18 former government officials of Ukraine as of Thursday. 

The list of names is not officially announced, but among them are the ousted president Viktor Yanukovich, his two sons, the former chief prosecutor Victor Pshonka, interior minister Vitalii Zaharenko, justice minister Olga Lukash and heads of Yanukovich's administration. 

BELGRADE - Serbian government advisor Alfred Gusenbauer stated that it is of strategic importance for Serbia to stabilise in economic and political terms because it is the crucial country in the Western Balkans.

The initiation of EU accession talks is a sign that the EU appreciates Serbia's reforms, Gusenbauer said in an interview for Radio-Television of Serbia.

BELGRADE - Austrian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sebastian Kurz stated on Wednesday that Austria is interested in reforms in Serbia so that the country could become a member of the EU as soon as possible.

After the talks with officials in Belgrade, Kurz told Tanjug that Serbia's EU accession will depend on the pace of the reforms.

BELGRADE - Serbian Foreign Minister Ivan Mrkic and his Austrian counterpart Sebastian Kurz conferred in Belgrade on Wednesday over the strengthening of the two countries' political dialogue and economic cooperation.