Serbia

NOVI SAD - According to the assessment of The Financial Times, Vojvodina ranks first among 54 mid-sized regions in effectiveness of foreign investments, and fourth among all European regions and cities in relation to the same criteria, Bojan Pajtic, president of the Vojvodina government, has said.

BELGRADE - The coalition gathered around the New Democratic Party (NDS) headed by Boris Tadic submitted to the Republic Electoral Commission (RIK) the list of MP candidates for the early parliamentary elections scheduled for March 16.

BELGRADE - Citizens will cast their ballot at 8,262 polling stations, including those in penal institutions, in the territory of Serbia during early parliamentary elections that will be held on March 16, the state electoral commission (RIK) decided on Tuesday.

Polling stations in Kosovo-Metohija and the ones abroad have not been included in this number.

NOVI SAD - Serbia has to encourage people to live on agriculture in the countryside, since agricultural land is the country's great potential, Dragan Glamocic, outgoing minister of agriculture, forestry and water management, stated on Tuesday.

BELGRADE - Minister of Justice Nikola Selakovic said on Tuesday that any new evidence in relation to the murder of Serbian prime minister Zoran Djindjic is welcome.

BELGRADE - Leader of the Socialist Party of Serbia Ivica Dacic pointed that early elections should also be held in Vojvodina, as the composition of the parliament in this northern Serbian province does not reflect the political will of its people.

ATHENS/BELGRADE - Evangelos Venizelos, Foreign Minister of Greece as the current chair of the EU Council of Ministers, stated that he has come to Belgrade to bring the message of encouragement and support to the country's further EU integration and internal reforms.

BELGRADE - The Fairground Magician by Jelena Lengold has been published in English, and as announced by the Belgrade-based publishing house Arhipelag, Lengold will stay in London from February 19-22 and take part in promotions of her book's English edition.

BELGRADE - Aleksandar Vucic, Serbia's outgoing first deputy prime minister, visited the U.S. company NCR Corporation, and announced on the occasion that this company will employ 2,000 people by the end of the year.

BELGRADE - Leader of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Cedomir Jovanovic said that his party does not want to wage a war in the election campaign but instead to collaborate with the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) and its leader Aleksandar Vucic.