Serbian officials say Mladic is 'within reach' (30.07.2009)

(Quelle:Washington Post / USA)

Europe's most-wanted war crimes suspect has been on the run longer than Osama bin Laden. But after more than a decade of looking the other way, Serbian authorities say they are finally closing in on Gen. Ratko Mladic, the Bosnian Serb commander charged with genocide and other crimes in the Balkan wars of the 1990s.

Ethnic Albanians demand Serbian police withdrawal (20.07.2009)

(Quelle:Balkan Insight / BiH)

Ethnic Albanian political leaders in southern Serbia have asked police to withdraw their forces and for the Serbian government to take responsibility for police brutality in the area. The request was made at a Presevo municipal assembly meeting on Sunday and was sent to all embassies in Belgrade and to the OSCE.

ICTY's Robinson pledges co-operation with Serbian courts (19.07.2009)

(Quelle:Southeast European Times / International)

The Hague war crimes tribunal (ICTY) is ready to co-operate with Serbian courts in handling war crimes trials, ICTY President Patrick Robinson said on Friday (July 17th) at the end of a two-day visit to Belgrade. He said the ICTY will seriously consider a proposal envisioning Serbian citizens convicted by The Hague to serve their sentences in Serbia.

Bildt: Serbia fully cooperating with The Hague (01.07.2009)

(Quelle:Balkan Insight / BiH)

Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said Serbia was now fully cooperation with the Hague Tribunal even though two indictees remain on the run. “I’m among those who think that Serbia is fully cooperating with the Hague Tribunal, but the cooperation has yet to bring ultimate success“, the Swedish politician told a press conference in Stockholm. … Presenting the Swedish presidency’s priorities in Brussels last week, Bildt stressed the importance of moving relations with the Western Balkans forward.

Balkans: media and war crimes (24.06.2009)

(Quelle:ISN Security Watch / Switzerland)

As Serbian prosecutors launch a probe into the media’s role in provoking war crimes, it will be difficult to prove a direct link between reporting and atrocities, but still, the effort sets a good example for the region, … .

UNHCR earmarks Serbia as priority (19.06.2009)

(Quelle:B92 / Serbia)

The UNHCR has put Serbia on a list of 5 states with a recurring refugee crisis, a problem it wants to resolve, says the organization’s representative in Serbia. “Now, 14 years after the wars in the Balkans, a great number of refugees still live in Serbia, which is why the UNHCR has decided to include the country on the list of five that we need to pay special attention to,“ Lennart Kotsalainen said in Vienna today.

Voting repeated in three polling stations (14.06.2009)

(Quelle:B92 / Serbia)

Voting in early local elections in the Belgrade municipality of Voždovac will repeat today in three polling stations. This was ordered after elections commissions found that last Sunday’s voting was faulty in the three locations.

Troops to join UN peacekeeping missions (09.06.2009)

(Quelle:B92 / Serbia)

Parliament has approved the participation of Serbian Defense Ministry and Army personnel in UN peacekeeping missions to Chad and the Central African Republic. Members of the VS medical corps team will link up with the Norwegian contingent already deployed there.

Serbia expects more positive ICTY Report (03.06.2009)

(Quelle:Balkan Insight / BiH)

The Chief Prosecutor Serge Brammertz of the Hague-based International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, ICTY, is scheduled tomorrow to submit his long-awaited report on Serbian cooperation to the UN Security Council in New York. Political commentators expect this report to be his most positive assessment yet of Serbia's cooperation with the Tribunal. However, the term "full cooperation" is not expected to be utilized without the arrest and extradition of Bosnian Serb wartime general Ratko Mladic.

New Brammertz report not so glowing (22.05.2009)

(Quelle:B92 / Serbia)

Hague Prosecutor Serge Brammertz’s latest report is more negative than its predecessor, as it states that the remaining fugitives are within Serbia’s reach. Although Brammertz reports to the UN Security Council that Belgrade’s cooperation is improving, B92 understands that the new report is not as complimentary as the previous one.

Biden opens new page with Serbia (20.05.2009)

(Quelle:BBC / UK)

Mr Biden is the highest-ranked American to visit Serbia since the US led a Nato bombing campaign to expel Serb forces from Kosovo in 1999. … Mr Biden said: "The United States does not, I emphasise, does not expect Serbia to recognise the independence of Kosovo.

"It is not a precondition for our relationship or our support for Serbia becoming part of the European Union," he said.

Brammertz: Serbia's progress evident (12.05.2009)

(Quelle:B92 / Serbia)

Hague Chief Prosecutor Serge Brammertz said in talks with PM Mirko Cvetkovi? that Serbia had made evident progress in cooperation with the Hague Tribunal. After the meeting, Brammerz commended the efficiency of the authorities, particularly in issues such as presenting the necessary documents and information, as well as access to archives, the government said in a statement.

Hague triples ex-JNA officer's sentence (06.05.2009)

(Quelle:Balkan Insight / BiH)

Veselin Sljivancanin, a Serb officer jailed for the 1991 massacre of people seeking refuge at a Vukovar hospital, has had his sentence more than tripled to 17 years by the International War Crimes Tribunal's appeal court.

PACE praises Serbia's progress (29.04.2009)

(Quelle:B92 / Serbia)

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on April 28 praised the significant progress Serbia has made since accession to the council. It called for the continuation of reforms for the purpose of developing democratic institutions, respecting human rights, establishing the rule of law, and finalizing cooperation with the Hague tribunal.

"NATO decision up to Serbia" (04.04.2009)

(Quelle:B92 / Serbia)

Serbia joining NATO is a matter of a national decision, and only Serbia can provide an answer to that question, says Jaap de Hoop Scheffer. The western military alliance's secretary general also said that the organizations relations with Russia are of strategic importance, but that NATO's relationship with Serbia "has nothing to do with it".

Dacic: Serbian police to join EU missions (02.04.2009)

(Quelle:B92 / Serbia)

Interior Minister Ivica Da?i? says operative negotiations are due to begin soon on the participation of Serbian police officers in EU peacekeeping missions.

Šutanovac on army internal control, reforms (22.03.2009)

(Quelle:B92 / Serbia)

Defense Minister Dragan Šutanovac has said that his ministry's reform will introduce internal control into military police and military intelligence service. "In this way we complete the civilian control which is very important since it did not exist before," he told daily Politika in an interview.

Serbien intensiviert die Suche nach Mladic (Serbia steps up hunt for Mladic) (10.03.2009)

(Quelle:Neue Zürcher Zeitung / Switzerland)

Die serbische Regierung hat ihre Suche nach dem mutmasslichen Kriegsverbrecher Ratko Mladic intensiviert. Zu mehr Tempo zwingt nicht zuletzt die Wirtschaftskrise, die derzeit in Serbien eine engere Anbindung an die EU als wünschenswerter denn je erscheinen lässt.

ICTY acquits former Serbian President Milutinovic (27.02.2009)

(Quelle:Southeast European Times / International)

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) acquitted on Thursday (February 26th) former Serbian President Milan Milutinovic of war crimes committed in Kosovo during the first half of 1999, setting him free. However, it sentenced five former senior Yugoslav and Serbian officials to

Serbien fühlt sich von UN-Tribunal "vergewaltigt" (Milutinovic acquittal gets mixed reaction) (27.02.2009)

(Quelle:Die Welt / Germany)

Der Freispruch des ehemaligen serbischen Präsidenten Milutinovic vor dem UN-Tribunal hat in Serbien eine Welle der Empörung ausgelöst. Politiker werfen dem Tribunal Einseitigkeit vor. Medien titeln "Neue Vergewaltigung Serbiens". Doch nicht alle sehen in der Entscheidung nur ein Schandurteil.

EU's Solana appoints permanent representative in Belgrade (25.02.2009)

(Quelle:Southeast European Times / International)

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana appointed Danish diplomat Peter Sorensen on Tuesday (February 24th) as his permanent personal representative in Belgrade, responsible for relations with EULEX in Kosovo.

EU postpones decision on fact-finding mission to Belgrade (24.02.2009)

(Quelle:Southeast European Times / International)

The EU Council of Ministers on Monday (February 23rd) failed to agree on sending a fact-finding mission to Serbia to establish the current level of co-operation with The Hague war crimes tribunal. Debate will continue in March, as the Union still has reservations about the benefits of such a move.

Serbian Army observers prepare for Africa missions (02.02.2009)

(Quelle:B92 / Serbia)

Serbian Army (VS) military observers, assigned to peacekeeping missions in Liberia and Ivory Coast, will begin their preparations today. They will gather at the Center for Peacekeeping Operations of the Serbian Army General Staff.

Kouchner cool on Jeremic invitation (28.01.2009)

(Quelle:B92 / Serbia)

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner says the EU cannot undermine and hinder the Hague Tri-bunal’s work. In an interview today with daily Dnevnik, he was reserved about Serbian Foreign Min-ster Vuk Jeremi?’s invitation to the EU to send a mission to Belgrade, which would ascertain the Serbian government’s cooperation with the court.

Serbia asks Western intelligence agencies to hunt for Mladic (20.01.2009)

(Quelle:Southeast European Times / International)

The government is asking Western intelligence agencies to help search for The Hague tribunal's most wanted fugitive, former Bosnian Serb wartime commander Ratko Mladic. In an interview with Reuters on Monday (January 19th), Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said that for the time being, the search had produced no results.

Brammertz expects Mladic arrest (14.01.2009)

(Quelle:B92 / Serbia)

Hague Chief Prosecutor Serge Brammertz expects fugitives Ratko Mladic and Goran Hadžic to be arrested as soon as possible. “That will enable us to finish our job and complete our mandate,” Brammertz told daily Blic. He added that there was reason to believe that if the current operative plans for locating and arresting the fugitives were carried out and if the political authorities continued to offer the necessary support, further results could be achieved.

Milosevic's secret police chief testifies (13.01.2009)

(Quelle:Washington Post / USA)

Slobodan Milosevic's secret police chief said Tuesday he had no knowledge of a massacre by Serbian troops of ethnic Albanian civilians during the Kosovo war. Radomir Markovic testified as a witness in the trial of eight former Serbian security officers charged with ordering and carrying out the March 1999 killings in the Kosovo village of Suva Reka. … The proceedings at Belgrade Special Court are considered a test of Serbia's ability to punish those responsible for war crimes during Milosevic's tenure in the 1990s.

Ethnic Albanians protest KLA arrests in Serbia (29.12.2008)

(Quelle:Southeast European Times / International)

Several hundred ethnic Albanians gathered on Sunday (December 28th) in the southern town of Presevo to protest the arrest of ten former members of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) for alleged war crimes. Families of the ten suspects and an association of former members of the so-called Liberation Army of Presevo, Bujanovac, and Medvedja accused Serb authorities of causing tension in Presevo and of intimidating Albanians living there. Protesters also called on the international community to become involved in the case.

Ex-KLA men stay in Serb custody (29.12.2008)

(Quelle:BBC / UK)

Nine ethnic Albanian former guerrillas arrested on war crimes charges in Serbia have been remanded in custody in Belgrade for 30 days. A judge ruled the former members of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) should be held as they might otherwise abscond.

Jeremic: candidate status is priority (14.12.2008)

(Quelle:B92 / Serbia)

EU candidate status and liberalization of the visa regime remain Serbia's absolute foreign policy priority for 2009, Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremi? says. Jeremi? told Tanjug news agency in an interview published today that the issue of Kosovo and EU integrations are separate processes, but repeated that should the two overlap, Serbia would choose to preserve her territorial integrity.