Latest News from Serbia

Liht: Together against dangerous ghost of past

BELGRADE - President of the Belgrade Forum for Political Excellence Sonja Liht said on Wednesday the past should be fought with joint effort, adding that she was pleased there was room for optimism.

Screening on Serbia's regional policy starts Wednesday

BELGRADE/BRUSSELS - The explanatory screening for Chapter 22 is scheduled to start in Brussels on Wednesday tabling regional policy and coordination of structural instruments comprising the regulations on planning and implementation of the EU cohesion policy and realization of the Europe 2020 strategic goals by means of European structural and investment funds.

Vucic: All obligations on EU path to be met by end of 2018

BELGRADE - Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said on Wednesday that Serbia is doing its utmost for the benefit of its citizens and that he is confident that the EU member states will not be able to reject Serbia's bid for full membership in the Union.

Without a doubt, the path of European integrations is the best possible path for Serbia, Vucic said.

Serbia is ready to open Chapter 32 talks

BELGRADE - Head of Serbia's EU accession negotiations team Tanja Miscevic said Wednesday that she could not give an exact date for the holding of the second intergovernmental conference, but Belgrade was ready to begin negotiations on Chapter 32 (Financial control) with the EU.

Hahn: Serbia needs to consider sanctions against Russia

BRUSSELS - Johannes Hahn, the EU's neighborhood and enlargement negotiations commissioner-designate, says that Serbia should carefully consider its decision not to support EU sanctions against Russia if Belgrade hopes to join the European Union.

Davenport: Serbia making systematic progress

BELGRADE - Serbia is making systematic progress towards the EU and this orientation will be reaffirmed on October 8, when the European Commission is to present its progress report, says the head of the EU Delegation to Serbia Michael Davenport.

Manzo: Opening of chapters still uncertain

BELGRADE - Italian Ambassador in Belgrade Giuseppe Manzo has said that it is still uncertain if Serbia will open any negotiating chapters by the end of the year, but Italy, as holder of the EU presidency, will work towards this taking place.

Cooperation with Germany to aid efficiency in agricultulture

BELGRADE - Serbia and the German federal state of Baden-Wuerttemberg have reached agreement on the realization of a number of projects aimed to increase efficiency of Serbia's agriculture and food industry, implementation of European environmental protection standards, and cooperation between institutions of higher education.

Dacic: Serbia has greatest number of refugees in Europe

GENEVA - Serbia is the country with the largest number of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Europe, which is why it needs international assistance, Serbian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ivica Dacic said at the 65th session of the Executive Committee of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in Geneva on Tuesday.

World Bank content with reform process in Serbia

BELGRADE - Serbian Minister of Labor, Employment, Veteran and Social Policy Aleksandar Vulin met on Tuesday with a delegation of the World Bank, who expressed satisfaction with the course of reforms being carried out in Serbia.

Fiscal Council: Deficit at 8.5%, public debt at 71% of GDP

BELGRADE - The Fiscal Council of Serbia released on Tuesday that the country's deficit could total RSD 147 billion or around 8.5 percent of the GDP, while the public debt added up to EUR 22.4 billion or around 71 percent of the GDP at the end of August 2014, which constitutes a EUR 1.66 billion increase since the beginning of the year.

One-third of Serbian adults are smokers

BELGRADE - One-third of Serbian adults are smokers, including as much as 13 percent of the young, while 63.4 percent of children are still exposed to environmental tobacco smoke in their homes, participants of the conference 'Twinning project: Improving tobacco control in the Republic of Serbia' said on Tuesday.

Joint investigative teams of police and prosecutors

BELGRADE - Strengthening the investigative capacities of prosecutors and the police through joint investigations and creation of joint investigative teams in keeping with the European practice constitutes one of the recommendations of the EU and the Council of Europe with a view to increasing the efficiency of the fight against corruption in Serbia.

PM Vucic opens utility equipment factory in Senta

SENTA - Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic opened a RASCO-TAMP Ltd. utility equipment factory in Senta on Tuesday and said that the Croatian investors need not worry about exports to Eastern markets, the EU or other countries.

Association calls for truth about Albanian, Serb victims

BELGRADE - The Association of Families of the Kidnapped and Murdered in Kosovo-Metohija from 1998 to 2000 has welcomed the request of the War Crime Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade to investigate another location in Batajnica, Belgrade suburban area, which could be a mass grave of ethnic Albanians killed in the 1999 conflicts in Kosovo-Metohija.

Pages