Mladic arrested by Serbian security services

Temerin, 27 May 2011 – First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior Ivica Dacic said today that war crimes suspect Ratko Mladic was arrested yesterday in Lazarevo by members of the police Service for Investigating War Crimes and Security Intelligence Agency (BIA), based on operational work and not upon someone’s report.

After the signing of an Agreement on vocational training cooperation between the police of Serbia and Hungary in Temerin, Dacic denied speculation that some foreign intelligence agency was involved in Mladic’s arrest.

He said that Mladic lived in Lazarevo with a cousin, without bodyguards, and that during the arrest he confirmed his identity and gave up without resistance.

The Deputy Prime Minister explained that Mladic did not use false identity, but had his expired ID card and his military identity card on him.

Mladic's health is visibly damaged and the doctors and the court will decide on further action, he explained.

The Deputy Prime Minister said that five of Mladic's relatives and supporters were detained yesterday and then released, adding that the court will decide whether they will be prosecuted.

He said that the police will not prohibit registered protest rallies, but noted that any unreported rally will be prevented, adding that police do not react as long as public peace and order are not in jeopardy.

Serbia expects to get date for starting negotiations on EU membership by year’s end

Belgrade, 27 May 2011 – Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration Bozidar Djelic said today that following the arrest of Ratko Mladic and additional reforms to be undertaken, Serbia expects to get the date for starting negotiations on EU membership by year’s end.

Djelic addressed the Council of members of the European Movement International by saying that after the decisive action in the field of cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), Serbia expects to get the date for starting negotiations and not just the candidate status.

He said that Serbia's goal is to fulfill a large part of the action plan for acquiring EU candidate status by the end of June.

We have 96 items on the agenda, some can be resolved this year and some such as the fight against corruption represent a whole process, said the Deputy Prime Minister.

He said that he talked today with chairman of the working group for drafting a bill on property and income of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina and local self-governments Bojan Kostres and announced that a working group for drafting a law on restitution will be formed soon.

The Deputy Prime Minister stressed that the results of the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina are expected, but they are not a condition for the next step in European integration of Serbia.

Serbia wants to solve the Kosovo issue and to achieve a historic compromise between Serbs and Albanians. We see dialogue as a way to come to final resolution of this very serious issue, said Djelic.

Djelic said that it is a great honour for Serbia that the European Movement International, the most important political NGOs in Europe, is holding its meeting for the first time outside of the EU, in Belgrade.

European Movement International is one of the oldest pan-European civil associations founded in 1948, and the European Movement in Serbia is a member of the European Movement International since 1993.

The two-day meeting in the Serbian parliament, which began today, is also attended by Head of EU Delegation in Serbia Vincent Degert.

President to boycott regional summit over Kosovo

Source: Danas

BELGRADE -- Serbian President Boris Tadić will not attend a summit of central and southeastern European leaders in Warsaw, Poland, because of Kosovo, said reports.

Belgrade-based daily Danas writes that the decision came "because Kosovo will be treated as an equal state".
Kosovo's ethnic Albanians unilaterally declared independence in early 2008, but Serbia rejected this as an illegal act of secession.
Now Tadić will miss the summit, scheduled for May 27 and 28, "where U.S. President Barack Obama is expected to be a special guest", noted the newspaper.
According to the report, Tadić will miss the gathering because Kosovo will not be represented "asymmetrically" in relation to other participants.
Such representation, a source from his cabinet said, "is necessary in gatherings on such a high level".
Everything the president does, the source asserted, is done "in line with the government's decision", as well as UN Security Council Resolution 1244.
Serbia will likely be joined in the boycott of the summit by Romania and Slovakia, two of the five EU countries from the region that have refused to recognize Kosovo.
Poland, on the other hand, which has done so, decided to invite Kosovo President Atifete Jahjaga to the gathering.
The daily also notes that "the Warsaw summit was a chance for Tadić to have his first bilateral meeting with Obama".

Đoković wins 7th tournament of season

Source: B92

ROME -- Novak Đoković has extended his unbeaten run this ATP season to 37, beating world no. 1 Rafael Nadal in a second tournament final in the space of one week.

Đoković, who holds ATP's number two spot, triumphed in the Rome Masters final on Sunday after the clash on clay was delayed due to rain.

The Serbian won in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4, in a match that lasted two hours and 12 minutes.

"I believe this match was better even than the Madrid final," Đoković told B92 in a statement tonight. "I truly gave one of the best performances of my career on this surface."

"It's incredible that I managed to beat Nadal twice in 7 or 8 days, and he is the best player of all times on clay," said Đoković, and added that he was enjoying his victories, and preparing for the French Open.

Serbia's best tennis player also praised the crowd in Rome, saying that those who traveled to the city to attend the tournament "wished for this final to happen".

"I was close to being beaten against (Andy) Murray in the semi-finals, where he was brilliant, but I managed to salvage that match," concluded Đoković.

Djokovic triumphs at Serbia Open

Belgrade, 1 May 2011 – Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic triumphed in this year's third ATP tournament of “Serbia Open” in Belgrade today after winning over Spaniard Feliciano Lopez with 7-6 (7-4), 6-2.

This is the second victory of Djokovic at this tournament in Belgrade, where he also triumphed in 2009. This is his 27th victory in a row this season.

Serb victims from western Croatia remembered

Source: Beta

BELGRADE -- Serbia and the Serb Republic (RS) today mark 16 years since Serb areas came under attack in western Slavonia, when Croatia launched its Operation Flash.

Croatia's military and police aggression that lasted 36 hours took place on May 1 and 2, 1995, when more than 280 people were murdered and some 15,000 expelled from their homes.

Some 16,000 Croat forces attacked from several directions, engaging about 4,000 members of the Republic of Serb Krajina military, launching the assault while the civilian population was still asleep.

Some 6,000 Serbs were surrounded by Croats and the towns of Pakrac and Okučani were cut off. There were more attackers than residents in these towns.

Instead of preventing the aggression, the UN peacekeepers, who were warned in time by Croatia's generals, decided to withdraw to safe positions.

The Documentation-Information Center Veritas data shows that 283 Serbs were either killed or are listed as missing, 57 among them women, and nine children under the age of 14.

Croats buried 168 victims marking them as unidentified. Only last year the remains of 52 persons killed in the onslaught were exhumed for identification.

Starting from 1991, a total of 67,000 Serbs were driven out of the western Slavonia area, while only 1,500, mostly elderly, returned to their homes.

Croatia's courts and the Hague Tribunal alike failed to indict anyone for the crimes committed against Serbs in this region.