Serbia

Serbia ranks as the 11th worst country in the world at dealing with construction permits for business, according to a recent World Bank report. The country’s protracted legal procedures for constructing industrial sites have become even lengthier, according to the World Bank’s 2009 ‘Doing Business’ report. The annual comparative study …

MPs are set to reconvene on Wednesday after the Serbian Parliament was forced to adjourn its sitting on Tuesday by opposition Serbian Radical Party deputies who refused to sit in the seats assigned to them by the Administrative Board two months ago. Parliamentary speaker Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic issued a number of …

VIENNA, Austria – Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic said on Monday (March 30th) he does not expect his country’s Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with the EU to be implemented any time soon. It hinges on arresting war crimes fugitive Ratko Mladic. At a meeting with Austrian counterpart Michael Spindelegger …

The Serbian government has done its utmost to enact necessary laws for Serbia to accede to the Schengen “white list” by the end of 2009, says the European Integration Office. European Integration Office Director Milica Delevic told B92 that a special migration management strategy and three action plans were required …

Montenegro Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic has said that relations between Serbia and Montenegro are not satisfactory, but that there is scope for improving them. He told B92 he was ready to work on establishing a quality relationship, provided Belgrade displayed the same willingness. Djukanovic said cooperation between Serbia and Montenegro …

Deputies in Serbia’s Parliament will meet for the first time today in their new chamber, the renovated Hall of the National Parliament in Nikola Pasic Square. The chamber has been restored to its 1936 appearance. President of Parliament Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic said deputies would first take part in a series of …

Trade Minister Slobodan Milosavljevic told a B92 TV talk show last night that a new solidarity tax which has caused public uproar could be introduced but is “only one of the measures considered”. Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic, in the presence of International Monetary Fund representatives, announced that the government had …

PARIS, France/NAIROBI, Kenya – Interpol said on Friday (March 27th) that a man arrested in Kenya on suspicion of war crimes in former Yugoslavia did not have the fingerprints of former Bosnian Serb commander Ratko Mladic. Police in Kenya released the detainee on Friday, saying he was a Croatian national …

BELGRADE Serbia – Hague war crimes tribunal (ICTY) Chief Prosecutor Serge Brammertz expressed his satisfaction with Serbia’s efforts to co-operate fully with the ICTY during his talks on Friday (March 27th) with War Crimes Prosecutor Vladimir Vukcevic. The meeting between Brammertz and Vukcevic was “extremely successful and efficient”, said Bruno …

BELGRADE, Serbia – It is unlikely that Serbia can start EU accession talks this year, the head of the European Commission (EC) Delegation to Belgrade, Josep Lloveras, said on Friday (March 27th). Overall, the process required to start those talks could last around 10-12 months, so it is practically impossible …