Micunovic: Serbs in Kosovo should not boycott elections
Prominent Serbian politician Dragoljub Micunovic of the ruling Democratic Party (DS) stated that Serbs in Kosovo should not boycott Kosovo elections. "I don't believe that in that way they helped in any way for Kosovo to remain a part of Serbia or that they deterred those who recognized independence," he said. He also said it was time Serbia should stop exploiting The Kosovo issue for daily political needs.
Serbia increases reward for arrest Mladic
Serbian interior minister Ivica Dacic said that the award for the arrest of Ratko Mladic has been increased from one to ten million euros. Dacic claimed that with this act Serbia proved its willingness to cooperate with the UN tribunal. It probably also means that Serbia has exhausted any existing leads it is now relying on someone close to Mladic to step forward with information.
Source: B92.
KFOR troop reduction announced
NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen announced a further reduction in KFOR from 10,000 to 5,000 due to improved security in the region. Local institutions are often capable of assuming responsibility of security tasks. He said it was a further step toward shifting KFOR's role to that of a deterrent presence.
NATO intends to reduce KFOR to 2,500 soldiers by 2012, depending on security conditions.
More lake Perucac victims found
The remains found along the side of lake Perucac belong to at least 97 victims, forensic experts said. The victims are believed to be some of the 1,000 Bosnian Muslims who went missing from the eastern town of Visegrad in 1992.
See: Remains found in Perucac.
Source: Reuters.
Serbia set first step to EU membership
EU foreign ministers decided to forward Serbia's EU application to the European Commission. At the same time the made it clear that Mladic needs to be arrested and that this could be a deciding factor later.
EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele said "the commission will engage immediately in the preparation of its opinion," with detailed questions going to Belgrade within weeks. An opinion is not expected until the second half of 2011.
Influx asylum seekers from Serbia
The European Commission has seen a sharp rise in the number of asylum seekers from Serbia and Macedonia. Serbian and Macedonian interior ministers, Ivica Dacic and Gordana Jankulovska have been requested to take concrete measures to reduce the abuse of visa-free travel to EU countries, specifically to Belgium and Germany.
Wolfram Maas, German ambassador to Serbia, said that many asylum seekers from Serbia are seeking to improve their standard of living. People from Serbia do not have a reason to seek asylum in the EU, he said.
EU to discuss Serbia's accession October 25
A 1993 photo of Mladic, who has
been evading arrest since his
indictment by the UN, July 24, 1995.
It is generally expected that the EU will unblock Serbia's accession process during a meeting in Luxembourg, October 25. It has largely been blocked pending the arrest of Ratko Mladic. Jean de Ruyt, EU ambassador for Belgium (currently holding the EU presidency) said that in return for the deal, the EU would closely monitor Serbia's cooperation with ICTY during the entire accession process, after completion of each chapter.
Rasim Ljajic indicates Mladic in Serbia
The head of Serbia's National Council for Cooperation with ICTY, Rasim Ljajic, said he had been wrong before when making statements as to how close Serbian authorities are to the arrest of ICTY fugitive Ratko Mladic. "We are acting as if he were in Serbia and we are conducting operations in accordance with that," he stated. ICTY chief prosecutor Serge Brammertz has a visit to Belgrade scheduled for November 15.
Serbian president: arrest Mladic matter of time
In an interview with Serbian daily Blic, president Boris Tadic said that it is a matter of time before Ratko Mladic is arrested. "I want Serbia to be free from the weight of war criminals and to become a candidate for EU membership in the full capacity," he said. Interestingly, he added that even if ICTY "were to shut down tomorrow, this government would continue to look for Mladic full force."
Source: B92.
Serbia raises issue of property in Kosovo it considers Serbian
Serbian minister for Kosovo, Goran Bogdanovic, said that the status of "Serbian property" in Kosovo needs to be negotiated. Bogdanovic also said that Serbian investments "which Serbia directed to Kosovo and Metohija through various funds" need to be discussed. Serbia intends to raise the issues with EULEX and UNMIK first.
The B92 article did not specify what specific property was referred to.
Source: B92.
ICTY chief prosecutor: increase effort to arrest Mladic
ICTY chief prosecutor Serge Brammertz called for increased efforts to apprehend war crimes fugitive Ratko Mladic.
UN High Representative Valentin Inzko said Bosnia had made little progress on unresolved war crime related issues, and that regional cooperation in the criminal prosecution of war crimes was still of key importance to truth and justice.
Brammertz is making a tour in preparation of his semi-annual report to the UN Security Council on cooperation with ICTY by countries in the Balkan region.
Spain ended Bosnia mission
Spain terminated its military mission in Bosnia-Herzegovina after 18 years. Some 20 military experts will remain to help train Bosnia's army. Troop reductions from Bosnia started in February 2010.
Spain withdrew its troops from Kosovo in 2009.
After a series of reductions, EUFOR now has around 2,000 troops from 25 countries, 20 of which are EU-member states. The mission had 7,000 soldiers initially.