U.S. Embassy condemns attack on Teofil Pancic

BELGRADE, July 27 (Tanjug) - The U.S. Embassy in Belgrade condemned Tuesday an attack on Teofil Pancic, a journalist of the Belgrade weekly Vreme, and welcomed the efforts of the authorities to find the culprits of this and other attacks on journalists.

“It is the role of every democratic country to create a safe and open environment for free speech and to protect those who exercise this primary right,” says an announcement by the embassy.

“We welcome the commitment by President Tadic and other Serbian authorities to identify the perpetrators of this and other crimes against journalists and bring them to justice” the announcement reads.

Two men attacked and beat Pancic with a metal bar in Belgrade on Saturday night.

The journalist suffered a head concussion and injuries to his right arm.

Dacic: There are new information regarding attack on Pancic

BELGRADE, July 27 (Tanjug) - Serbian Interior Minister Ivica Dacic stated Tuesday that there are some new information regarding the case of attack on Teofil Pancic, a columnist of the Belgrade weekly Vreme, adding that he cannot disclose the details in public.

Commenting on the journalists' question whether the security cameras of a nearby bank recorded the incident, Dacic said that "this detail in particular is not to be released in public," adding that the police are using all methods to investigate the case.

The investigation is underway and the police are using all methods in trying to obtain information on possible perpetrators of this criminal act, taking into account that no witnesses were at the site of the incident when the police arrived and that there are no direct information on the very incident, Dacic told the journalists at the promotion of the 'Get to Know Serbia' project.

He reiterated that the police consider the attacks on journalists as attacks on official persons.

Pancic was beaten with a metal bar in Belgrade on Saturday evening, receiving a concussion and injuries to his right arm.

South Korea and Serbia sign telecommunications agreement

BELGRADE, June 30 (Tanjug) - Serbia's Minister of Telecommunications Jasna Matic, who is visiting South Korea as part of a high profile government delegation, has signed an agreement on cooperation in telecommunications with Korea Communications Commission Chairman See Joong Choi, the Ministry of Telecommunications announced Tuesday.

According to the announcement, the cooperation will involve regulations, broadband internet access, transfer from analog to digital TV, radio-frequency spectrum management, human resources development and information security.

Matic noted the agreement was the most important the ministry had signed since the agreements with the EU.

Maas: I cannot understand Minister Dinkic's statements

BELGRADE, June 28 (Tanjug) - German Ambassador in Belgrade Wolfram Maas reiterated Monday that the withdrawal of WAZ, one of the top five German investors in Serbia, is not a positive development and that he does not understand the statements of Serbian Economy Minister Mladjan Dinkic that an investor should leave the country and not return.

Talking with reporters after announcing the start of a scholarship competition for Serbian students dubbed Welcome to Germany, Maas pointed out that in all his years in Serbia he has been working on presenting the country as attractive to investors and having a favorable business environment, and that he therefore has little understanding for Dinkic's statements.

I understand his statements even less if you consider that the company through which WAZ is investing in Serbia is a joint company with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, which invests between EUR 400 and 500 million a year. I really do not understand telling a company like that not to come back, Maas said.

The German ambassador also noted he was not familiar with the details of WAZ business decisions, which he considers an internal matter of the company, and said he could not offer a definitive opinion on the issue.

Dinkic: WAZ was not good and transparent investor

BELGRADE, June 24 (Tanjug) - Serbian Minister of Economy and Regional Development Mladjan Dinkic stated Thursday that German WAZ Media Group was not a good investor for Serbia since its business is nontransparent, adding that WAZ has set up business with businessmen whose credibility is questionable.

WAZ Media Group, which owns shares in the Serbian dailies Vecernje Novosti, Politika and Dnevnik, announced its withdrawal from Serbia last week.

Addressing journalists in PSTech company, Dinkic said that he will not discuss WAZ's business in other markets, but that WAZ Managing Director Bodo Hombach should state who are his local partners.

“WAZ was not a good investor for the Serbian market and it failed to create the effects of investments. If you analyze what have happened with the WAZ investments in the last few years, you may realize that there is nothing good about it,” Dinkic said.

Dinkic stated that the withdrawal of WAZ will not trigger pulling out of German investors from Serbia, adding that a great number of German investors expressed interest to invest in Serbia at the European Automotive Components Expo 2010 in Stuttgart on Wednesday.

Dinkic announced that another German investor is expected to come to the Serbian market next week, and on the occasion an agreement will be signed.

WAZ should be banned from returning to Serbian market

BELGRADE, June 22 (Tanug) - Serbian Deputy Prime Minster and Economy Minister Mladjan Dinkic said that Serbia should issue a public ban against the return of WAZ, if the German media group is indeed attempting a back-door takeover of Belgrade based daily Vecernje Novosti after it voiced harsh criticism and announced it was withdrawing from the country last week.

In a statement with the Wednesday edition of Novosti, Dinkic said he would discuss the WAZ situation with Serbian President Boris Tadic on Wednesday and voice his position that WAZ should be banned from returning to the Serbian market even if they now desire to do so.

"(WAZ Managing Director) Bodo Hombach said in his letter that WAZ is withdrawing from Serbia. After his statements, WAZ has no place in Serbia. It is completely inconceivable that they are now trying to return to our media market through back-room maneuvering. After everything that has happened, it would be immoral for them to take over even some local paper, let alone a Serbian national brand such as Vecernje Novosti," Dinkic said.

Dinkic pointed out that it is "unimaginable that someone who says one thing and does another should direct the media scene in our country."

German WAZ Media Group announced last week that it wanted to terminate its holdings in Serbia and gradually withdraw from the country.

Takeover through legal maneuvering and without CPC approval

BELGRADE, June 22 (Tanjug) - German WAZ Media Group has started a takeover of the Belgrade daily Vecernje Novosti through legal maneuvering and without permission from the Commission for the Protection of Competition (CPC), representatives of the three foreign companies which own shares in the paper said Tuesday.

Representatives of the three companies - Ardos Holding GmbH, Trimax Investments GmbH and Karamat Holdings - noted that Ost Holding Sudosteuropa GmbH, a member of the WAZ group, managed to register with a Salzburg court as 100 percent owner of Ardos Holding GmbH, without providing the required documentation.

The most important requirement for the transfer of ownership of the company was getting CPC approval, which WAZ did not obtain, the companies said in a statement.

At the same time, Ost Holding filed a motion to register as 100 percent owner of Trimax Investments GmbH, which owns 24.98 percent of shares in Nosovsti, but the Austrian court has yet to rule on this motion, because all legal steps have been taken to overturn the illegal takeover.

Company lawyers noted that they have informed the CPC of everything and asked the body to issue an opinion confirming its earlier announcement that it has not given WAZ permission to indirectly become the majority shareholder in Novosti.

WAZ spokesman Paul Binder confirmed earlier on Tuesday that the WAZ Media Group has made a complete takeover of the Salzburg based Ardos Holding GmbH, which owns around 24.9 percent of shares in Vecernje Novosti.

Biden also noted that WAZ is trying to take over the other two companies which own shares in Novosti based on a legal contract with an unnamed Serbian businessman.

Kolundzija: Tadic did not promise anything to anyone

BELGRADE, June 22 (Tanjug) - The Democratic Party (DS) and its leader, Serbian President Boris Tadic, have never interfered with foreign investors' businesses in Serbia, For European Serbia Coalition Whip Nada Kolundzija said Tuesday, denying the claims that Tadic had promised anything illegal.

"No one from the DS, especially not President Tadic, has ever interfered with it in a way that would harm Serbia or abuse and avoid laws," Kolundzija told reporters at the Parliament.

She stated that Tadic was "taken advantage of in a most unbecoming fashion" regarding the privatization of Vecernje Novosti, a Serbian daily, and the role the German media company WAZ had in it. According to Kolundzija, Tadic was accused of being implicated in something he had no connection with.

"The accusations that the president promised something illegal simply do not hold," said Kolundzija, adding that the DS and Tadic have always pushed for more foreign investments, but strictly in accordance with Serbia's laws.

Tadic has never promised anything that would go against Serbia's laws or interests, said Kolundzija.

She noted that Serbia's interest is to find out the whole truth and make those who have broken the law, abused power and gained certain privileges suffer consequences.

WAZ completely takes over Ardos

ESSEN, June 22 (Tanjug) - WAZ Media Group spokesperson Paul Binder confirmed Tuesday that WAZ has completely taken over the Salzburg-based Ardos Holding GmbH that owns about 24.9 percent of shares of the Belgrade-based daily Vecernje Novosti.

Moreover, WAZ tends to take over two other entities, which also own part of shares of the Belgrade-based daily Vecernje Novosti, based on a legal contract with one Serbian businessman, the media group released in a statement.

A few weeks earlier, WAZ publicly stated that it has allocated funds for the acquisition of 62.4 percent of Vecernje Novosti shares via the three entities, adding that by taking over the companies, WAZ would secure its ownership, the statement reads.

WAZ announced earlier that it will withdraw its investments and end the arrangement with Serbia, and according to the statement, the take over of the three companies is part of the WAZ business policy.

WAZ Media Group will not allow that its economic rights are violated in the process of withdrawal, the statement said.

The lawyers of the Serbian owners of the Ardos Holding GmbH stated that WAZ violated legal regulations by taking Vecernje Novosti.

DS requests authorities' reaction on dubious privatization

BELGRADE, June 22 (Tanjug) - For a European Serbia whip Nada Kolundzija requested from the authorities and the prosecution to take the necessary measures and determine responsibility of the former government of Vojislav Kostunica in respect of controversial privatization of Luka Beograd, a Serbia-based company engaged in the port and docking services, and the Belgrade-based daily Vecernje Novosti.

Using the right to pose a question to the government representatives at a parliament session, Kolundzija underlined that the privatization was realized back at the time when Vojislav Kostunica, the president of the Serbian Democratic Party (DSS), headed the government.

Officials of the Serbian Radical Party (SRS) requested from the authorities to determine the truth regarding the privatization of Vecernje Novosti, and in view of media reports saying that Germany's WAZ Media Group has taken over part of the daily's shares.

According to the SRS officials, WAZ Director Bodo Hombach stated that Tadic has promised him WAZ will take over Vecernje Novosti. The SRS wonders how come Tadic has right to interfere in the privatization of any Serbian company.

Kolundzija underscored that Serbian President Boris Tadic could not have been involved in the privatization, and demanded that the questions of the MPs should not be used for lying and thus diminishing responsibility of those who should be held accountable.

Kolundzija said that the then director of the privatization agency was a DSS official, and that at the moment, he is the deputy head of the daily.

If there were any problems in the privatization of Luka Beograd and Vecernje Novosti, Kostunica's government should be held responsible, she underlined.

Tanjug photo archive exhibit opens

BELGRADE, June 18 (Tanjug) - An exhibit entitled Tanjug: A View into the Eye of History, displaying one part of Tanjug's enormous photo collection of over three million negatives, opened at the Historical Museum of Serbia Friday afternoon.

The exhibit was opened by Culture Minister Nebojsa Bradic, in the presence of President Boris Tadic, Deputy Prime Minister Ivica Dacic, representatives of the Serbian Orthodox Church, the diplomatic corps and public figures.

The exhibit showcases some 700 black-and-white and 500 color photographs and 70 large prints.

Included in the display are photographs depicting the 1915 retreat of the Serbian army over Vezir's Bridge during World War One, the anti-Nazi demonstrations held on March 27, 1941, prisoners at the Manjaca camp in 1992 and Easter in Vukovar in 1993.

Tanjug's archive of black-and-white photographs is one of the oldest and largest in Europe, as was partly passed down from the Avala news agency which operated between the two world wars and the Press Bureau before World War One. News agencies from across the world often use photographs from Tanjug's rich archives.

Tanjug covers current events in the Serbian parliament and other happenings, and a large portion of its archives consists of recordings of meetings, sessions, plenaries and congresses of the former League of Communists of Yugoslavia.

In the 1950s, the Patriarchate of Pec and the Islamic Community did not have their own photo services and used Tanjug's photographers, so the archives also contain a wealth of documentation on the life of the Patriarchate of Pec from the time of Patriarch Vikentije up to the inauguration of Patriarch German.

The Serbian national news agency broadcasts an average of 100 photographs a day to its media and agency subscribers in Serbia and abroad.

The exhibit was created by Tanjug Director Branka Djukic, historian Predrag Markovic and director Ivan Jovanovic, with Marina Dokmanovic in charge of the display design.

The exhibit will be open for visitors until August 1.

EU gives EUR 5.3 million grant-in-aid to media and CSOs

BELGRADE, June 18 (Tanjug) - EU approved Friday a grant-in-aid to the media and civil society organizations (CSOs) in Serbia amounting to EUR 5.3 million within the projects dubbed Strengthening Serbia-EU Civil Society Dialogue and the Support for Media Capacity in the Area of EU Integration.

The total of EUR 3.5 million was granted to 32 CSOs, while EUR 1.8 million was approved to 25 media organizations.

EUR 5.3 million for media and civil society organizations

BELGRADE, June 17 (Tanjug) - The EU Delegation in Serbia will award grants worth a total of EUR 5.3 million to media and civil society organizations on Friday.

The grants have been awarded under the EU-funded projects 'Strengthening of Serbia-EU Civil Society Dialogue' and 'Support for Media Capacity in the Area of EU Integration.'

EUR 1.8 million has been allocated for 25 media outlets. The funds will enable them to focus on developing professional programming and articles, as well as cover EU integration issues through real life experiences.

Among the beneficiaries of the non-repayable assistance program are print media, news agencies, radio and TV stations from several Serbian cities and municipalities.

Tijanic: RTP employees and government should work together

ZVECAN, May 25 - Radio and Television of Serbia (RTS) Director Aleksandar Tijanic has told the employees of the Radio and Television of Pristina (RTP), a former part of RTS, who have been on a hunger strike for four days now, that they will get their unpaid salaries immediately if they end the strike.

According to TV Most from Zvecan, Kosovo, Tijanic addressed the RTP employees over the phone on Tuesday, telling them to look for the solution to their status together with the Serbian government.

Tijanic stated that the RTP employees are no longer part of the RTS according to a decision by the RTS Management Board.

The medical condition of some of the strikers has deteriorated, Dr Dragoljub Lazarevic said after visiting the strikers today.

The Serbian Association of Journalists and the Journalist Society of Kosovo and Metohija have backed the demands of the strikers.

Some 150 RTP employees in Zvecan, Kovilovo and Gracanica started a hunger strike on May 18, demanding unpaid salaries and a solution to their status.

Strike representatives were not granted an audience at the government headquarters on Monday, so they have remained there in hope of a meeting with the government and RTS.

Around 150 RTP employees on hunger strike for third day

ZVECAN, May 24 (Tanjug) - About 150 employees of Radio Television Pristina (RTP) in Zvecan, Silovo and Gracanica are on hunger strike for the third consecutive day, demanding a status settlement and payment of wage arrears.

The health condition of some strikers requires medical intervention or hospital treatment, said Director of the health center in Zvecan Dr Sinisa Jakovljevic, internist Brankica Parlic and doctors on duty in the emergency room in Gracanica.

The Ministry for Kosovo-Metohija confirmed for the RTP strike committee that a meeting will be held in Belgrade later Monday between the representatives of the radio and Television of Serbia (RTS), the Serbian government, the Ministry for KIM, the RTP management and members of the strike committee, who will deal with the problem of media employees in Kosovo-Metohija.

A strike committee member Ljiljana Jankovic said for the Kosovska Mitrovica Radio Kontakt Plus that the strikers have been mislead and that no one has received representatives of the strike committee and the RTP management in Belgrade on Monday.

Jankovic added that the meeting probably took place without the presence of RTP representatives, and pointed out that the strikers will not back down from their demands.

The strike committee and the RTP management demand talks with Serbian president and prime minister on their status and salary delays.

Third day of hunger strike of Radio Gracanica workers

GRACANICA, May 24 (Tanjug) - About 30 workers of the Radio Gracanica have been on strike for three days requesting their status and the status of the entire Radio Television Pristina to be resolved, and the condition of some of the strikers requests medical intervention or hospital treatment, the ambulance service has stated.

The Radio Gracanica employees request from the Serbian government and Radio and Television of Serbia (RTS) management to ensure that the workers be paid the same salaries as in the previous 11 years.

"Our request is that the workers immediately be paid all illegally abolished salaries. We demand to know why an illegal act adopted by our employer Aleksandar Tijanic has made RTV Pristina an institution which is being shut down," Radio Gracanica Director Dejan Jevtic stated for Tanjug.

Jevtic said that the strikers request from the Serbian government and RTS to find a solution for the status of the employees of Radio Gracanica and Radio Television Pristina, assessing that the problem was caused by the RTS management rather than the Serbian government.

"Unless they solve the problem in the next few days we will continue the hunger strike, and should this situation last longer, we will gather in front of the Serbian government building and RTS," Jevtic said.

Al Jazeera to launch TV programme in BiH

SARAJEVO, May 21 (Tanjug) - Representatives of Qatar television network Al Jazeera will probably arrive to Sarajevo next week to sign an agreement on the purchase of NTV 99 TV station, Sarajevo daily Dnevi Avaz reports.

Although everything is still being kept under the veil of secrecy, the sources involved in bringing the Arabian CNN to BiH have confirmed that the property-legal relations concerning Adil Kulenovic's NTV 99 are no longer posing a problem and that there are no obstacles to the realization of this project, Dnevni Avaz reports.

According to the Sarajevo daily, Al Jazeera will launch its programme from Sarajevo in November, thus dismissing the speculations on the networks's engagement in the pre-election campaign, as the elections are envisaged for October.

However, it was announced that the start of the experimental program will be distributed via satellite and cable operators, which means people from the BiH capital and other parts of the country, as well as from Serbia and Croatia will be able to watch the programme.

Appeal for normal functioning of TV Most

KOSOVSKA MITROVICA, May 19 (Tanjug) - The Serb National Council (SNV) of northern Kosovo and Metohija today requested the Serbian government to provide conditions for normal functioning of Television Most, which would confirm the intent and desire of Serbia to be present in its southern province institutionally and fully.

In its statement, the National Council said that the decision of the state-owned Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) director to reduce to a minimum the wages of journalists working at TV Most in Zvecan and to subsequently discontinue them affects not only the families of over 150 employees of TV Most but it is extremely damaging to all Kosovo Serbs.

“In view of the overall circumstances in Kosovo, the proportions of the damage that would be inflicted by this decision are politically catastrophic, because a closing down of a Serbian television is in keeping with the intention of Pieter Feith to close down all media and other Serbian institutions in Kosovo and Metohija, the National Council evaluated in its statement.

Deadline for digitalization April 4, 2012

BELGRADE, May 17 (Tanjug) - Serbian Minister of Telecommunications and Information Society Jasna Matic said Monday morning for Radio and Television of Serbia (RTS) that April 4, 2012 seems to be a realistic deadline for the digitization of national television signal, and that the only problem remains to be the introduction of new broadcast technology.

She said that the digitization could cost between EUR 20 and 70 million, and explained that the difference in price is due to the rapid fall of prices in the video technology market, which makes it is difficult to predict what they will be in two years time.

According to Matic, there are around 2.5 million households in Serbia, and about a million and a half have cable television. In order to view digital RTS broadcast, these households would have to purchase digital signal adapters.

Regulation of media strategy and law on Tanjug in 2010

BELGRADE, May 7 (Tanjug) - Assistant to the Serbian Culture Minister Natasa Vuckovic-Lesendric stated Thursday that by the end of 2010 the country's media strategy will be regulated, new law on Tanjug news agency will be adopted, and directives on the International Radio of Yugoslavia and Yugoslav Survey will be amended.

"The media strategy and the proposals regarding the amendments to the law on the national news agency Tanjug and the directives on the International Radio of Yugoslavia and Yugoslav Survey can be expected at the end of July," Vuckovic-Lesendric said at the conference entitled 'Visegrad Four: learning from experience.'

She said that only after the regulation of the media strategy and six public debates which will be held with the support of the UK Embassy and Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) will there be clear guidelines for the redefining of the law on Tanjug and the directives on the Radio Yugoslavia (International Radio of Serbia) and Yugoslav Survey.

No modern democracy without free media

BELGRADE, May 5 (Tanjug) - Modern democracy cannot be achieved without free media, and the media themselves have an important role in overcoming the consequences of a totalitarian past, the participants of a Belgrade conference on investigative journalism said Wednesday.

Serbia's Minister of Culture Nebojsa Bradic said that in Serbia, unlike the countries that have high professional standards, certain media still declare sensationalism as investigative journalism.

"The crisis has led to a media commercialization, and the experience from the transition is not pleasant at all. We can often witness new media owners investing their profit outside Serbia," said Bradic.

U.S. Ambassador to Serbia Mary Warlick stated that there can be no modern democracy without free media, adding that the U.S. government is dedicated to global freedom for the media.

Each government is responsible for creating a space for free journalism, said Warlick, adding that all past and present crimes against reporters should be investigated fully.

Dimitrios Kypreos, head of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Mission to Serbia, also stressed the importance of the media in a country's transition from a totalitarian regime to a democratic one.

The murders of three Serbian journalists are evidence that the transition is not an easy one, said Kypreos, adding that journalists nowadays receive threats from hooligans who are involved in organized crime, and that the OSCE condemns such cowardly acts.

The two-day conference includes journalists from the region, representatives of non-governmental and international organizations and of embassies.

Bradic: Media should have high standards

BELGRADE, May 2 (Tanjug) - Minister of Culture and Media Nebojsa Bradic stated in Belgrade on Sunday that the department ministry would work systematically, through legislation and support to good-quality programs, on high professional standards in Serbia.

On the occasion of the World Press Freedom Day, May 3, Bradic said that a media strategy will be presented to the public in the middle of this year.

The European Commission Delegation to Serbia has already approved and is financing the project of developing a media study, the document that will include a comparable analysis of the domestic and European media legislation, as well as institutions that are in charge of the implementation of media policies, said Bradic.

Congratulating all media workers on the World Press Freedom Day, Bradic recalled that the past year was a big challenge for the media and the Ministry, but that it also showed the direction in which we should go if “we want to secure a free flow of information, stands and ideas on one side, and raise the level of work quality and professional competency, on the other.”

Sasa Milosevic wins International Center award

BELGRADE, April 27 (Tanjug) - The winner of the award of the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) and the Alliance of Civilizations (AoC) for a project in which he has been trying to assist in overcoming barriers between Christianity and Islam is a journalist Sasa Milosevic, a member of the Journalists Association of Serbia (UNS), the association said in a statement on Tuesday.

Milosevic and his colleagues from Egypt Tarek Mounir and Asmaa Fathy won the award for creating the educational site www.hijabskirt.info, which should contribute to overcoming of prejudices about women who wear hijab, but also about those who wear a skirt.

Through a symbolic reconciliation between the hijab and the skirt, they tried to reconcile Christianity and Islam, the statement reads.

The website is showing the history of mini skirts, gives a theological vision of hijab in a life of the Muslim women, but also provides practical advice, such as those how to tie a hijab, or how by wearing a long skirt a compromise can be made between Western and Islamic ways of dressing.

The awards ceremony will be held in Rio de Janeiro on May 29 this year, says the statement.

Candles lit for killed RTS workers

BELGRADE, April 23 (Tanjug) - Candles were lit and wreaths laid Friday at the 'WHY' Monument in Belgrade, where family members, accompanied by Belgrade Deputy Mayor Milan Krkobabic, paid tribute to the 16 employees of Radio and Television of Serbia (RTS) who were killed in the 1999 NATO bombing campaign.

Speaking on the behalf of the victims' relatives, Miroslav Medic, brother of Sinisa Medic who was killed in the air raids, said that an answer has still not been given to the
TV-CULTURE-EXCHANGE

Television is best tool of intercultural exchange

BELGRADE, April 22 (Tanjug) - A two-day regional conference dubbed Television as a Medium of Intercultural Exchange which aims to identify the causes behind the lack of cultural exchange in former Yugoslavia opened in Belgrade on Thursday.

The television medium is the fastest way for culture to spread across the region, which speaks the same or similar language and shares a common past and habits, Serbian Culture Minister Nebojsa Bradic said opening the conference.

"The medium is the logical connection and the best possible intermediary between people who want to exchange cultural goods, experiences and knowledge," Bradic pointed out.

He reminded that everyone knows how influential and powerful television is and how much hate and hostility it caused in the wrong hands.

"Now we have another goal - to heal wounds and open up the space to civilized cooperation," Bradic said.

Deputy Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia Adriano Martins noted that the conference proves that Serbia is looking for ways to improve regional cooperation and intercultural exchange.

You share a common past and will share a future in the EU. This is reason enough for the EU to promote regional cooperation among Western Balkan countries in many areas, Martins pointed out.

Many experts, cultural studies researchers, creators and heads of arts and cultural programming at Montenegrin, Bosnian, Macedonian, Slovenian, Croatian and other European TV stations are taking part in the conference.

Cyrillic Internet domain by end of 2010

BELGRADE, March 5 (Tanjug) - Cyrillic Internet domain will start to function by the end of 2010, and its label will most probably be .srb, Serbian Minister for Telecommunications and Information Society Jasna Matic announced Friday.

Cyrillic domain became a realistic possibility in 2009, when the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) began a speedy process of setting up national domains for the states which use non-Latin alphabets, Matic pointed out after the opening of the celebration of the Day of National Internet Domain of the Republic of Serbia.

Director of the Register for National Internet Domain of Serbia (RNIDS) Nenad Marinkovic underlined that the registering for the Cyrillic domain with ICANN will be preceded by a debate on the national level.

International Radio of Serbia marks 74th anniversary

BELGRADE, March 5 (Tanjug) - The International Radio of Serbia, the only state-run short-wave radio station broadcasting its program to all parts of the world in twelve languages, has Friday marked its establishment day, March 8, and its 74th anniversary.

At the ceremony, the radio director Milorad Vujovic pointed out that despite a series of difficulties, one of which is the non-defined status, the employees have succeeded in fulfilling all the envisaged tasks in informing the diaspora and the international public.

"The fact is that even after the transfer of founder's rights from the former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to the Republic of Serbia - the government and the authorized Ministry of Culture, the status of the radio has still not been defined, which makes our position even more difficult," Vujovic said.

He specified that the radio has an "unresolved legal status, therefore it is officially Radio Yugoslavia, and we add International Radio of Serbia to the title, which is primarily in use."

According to Vujovic, this medium broadcasts 12.5 hours of programme daily in Serbian and eleven other languages - via the internet, short wave frequencies and in written, audio and video form via the internet.

Assistant Culture Minister Natasa Vuckovic-Lesendric congratulated the employees on the jubilee, adding that the government and the ministry will continue supporting their work.

Apart from the programme in Serbian, the radio broadcasts various contents in English, French, German, Russian, Spanish, Arabic, Albanian, Greek, Italian, Hungarian and Chinese language.

Man sentenced for threatening journalist

BELGRADE, March 4 (Tanjug) - Stefan Hadziantonovic from Belgrade was sentenced Thursday to one year for threatening B92 TV journalist Brankica Stankovic.

Hadziantonovic pleaded guilty during the trial and apologized to Stankovic.

Hadziantonovic was earlier given a suspended sentence of four months for violent behavior.

Stankovic had received death threats from soccer fans after a series of programs Insider in which she revealed ties among criminals, soccer clubs and fans. She was subsequently given police protection.

NUNS condemns Kouchner's behavior towards reporter

BELGRADE, March 3 (Tanjug) - The Independent Association of Journalists of Serbia (NUNS) condemned most severely the reaction and behavior of France's Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner who offended Voice of America reporter Budimir Nicic.

“Instead of answering the questions on human organ trafficking of the persons kidnapped in Kosovo in the time when he was the head of UN Mission and the existence of the so-called Yellow House, Kouchner told the reporter that he is insane and advised him to seek medical help,” the NUNS stated.

The NUNS pointed out that “it is irrefutable that the current French foreign minister, who is a doctor, has right to dismiss the accusations that connect him with one of the biggest scandals and crimes committed during his presidency of the UN Mission to Kosovo,” adding that his fear should not result in offences directed toward journalists.

“It is needless to remind that it was not the journalists who invented the scandal, but that the human organ trafficking is the object of investigation that involves respective institution of the international community,” NUNS stated and “asked for France's explanation of Kouchner's behavior that is far beyond acceptable”.

Kouchner insults reporter

GRACANICA, March 2 (Tanjug) - France's Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner refused to comment on the "yellow house" case on Monday by advising the Voice of America reporter who asked about it to seek medical help.

The reporter asked Kouchner to comment on the fact that the families of Serbs who were kidnapped in Kosovo and killed have accused him of taking part in human organ trade in Kosovo.

Kouchner laughed at that and asked the reporter if he was ill, advising him not to believe everything people say.

When asked if he knows about the existence of the so called "yellow house," where the organs of kidnapped Serbs were allegedly harvested, Kouchner told the reporter that he should go get a checkup, adding that the people who say such things are low-lives and murderers, according to Radio KIM.

The Serbian Office of the War Crimes Prosecutor has been investigating allegations of human organ trade in Kosovo and northern Albania, where the yellow house is and where the organs from kidnapped Serbs and other ethnic non-Albanians were allegedly harvested.

Kouchner was the first head of UN Mission in Kosovo from July 1999 to January 2001.

Knezevic: Tobacco mafia is behind Pukanic murder

ZAGREB, Feb 25 (Tanjug) - The Montenegrin tobacco mafia is behind the murder of Ivo Pukanic, Montenegrin businessman Ratko Knezevic said at the murder trial Thursday, noting that Stanko Subotic and Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic are behind the crime.

“The tobacco mafia started threatening Pukanic right after he published the first articles on Montenegro's state-sanctioned cigarette smuggling in the discontinued daily Rebulika,” Knezevic said in his testimony before the Zagreb District Court.

He added that the threats continued with Pukanic's writings in the weekly Nacional, and that the first assassination plans were foiled by secret services of several countries way back in 2002.

Knezevic also claims that Pukanic told him he was offered money to stop covering the topic - first two, and then five million Euros.

“That is the mafia way - first they threaten, then bribe, then kill,” the witness said, stating that he was threatened not only by those close to Subotic, but also by Subotic himself on two occasions over the phone, and that the threats were at first veiled and later direct.

“Based on Pukanic's discoveries, European investigators identified Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic, who used cigarette smuggling to fill a parallel state budget which was under his direct control and intended for buying election votes at EUR 50 to 100 per vote,” Knezevic said.

Out of 914 applications, 820 media outlets registered

BELGRADE, Feb 12 (Tanjug) - Out of the 914 public media outlets that applied, a total of 820 have been registered with the Serbian Business Registers Agency (APR), including newspapers, news agency services, radio and television stations and internet media.

A total of 50 internet media, 483 newspapers, including 20 print dailies, 177 radio stations, 19 news agency services and 91 television stations have been registered, APR told Tanjug.

Deputy Registrar of the Register of Public Media Outlets Ruzica Macukat said that 914 registration applications were received from October 14 last year, when the Register started its work, until January 11 this year. According to her, some one hundred applications are still in the process of registration because incomplete documentation was submitted, and the completion of those cases is expected in the next ten days.

“The law does not prescribe any sanctions, such as banning registration at a later date, for the public media outlets which failed to submit the documentation before January 11,” she said and added that all media outlets which did not submit registration applications before the deadline, can still do so.

Macukat said that the law prescribes a ban on operations and high fines for unregistered media outlets.

110 journalists killed last year

VIENNA, Feb 11 (Tanjug) - In 2009, 110 journalists were killed on duty, the Vienna-based International Press Institute (IPI) said in its report.

This is the highest number of casualties since 2000, the IPI underscored in its annual report.

Iran is mentioned as a country with the highest arrests of journalists - over one hundred reporters and bloggers have been arrested there since the presidential election last June.

With 55 killed journalists, Asia is referred to as a “deadly region”, and it is followed by South America with 28 killed journalists. In Africa, 14 journalists lost their lives, while four wee killed in Iraq.

Seven journalists were killed in Europe - five in Russia, one each in Turkey and Azerbaijan.

The most dangerous country to journalists was the Philippines, where 38 journalists were killed last year. It is followed by Mexico (11), Somalia (9), Pakistan, Columbia, Russia and Honduras.

Police raid TV BN

BANJA LUKA, Jan 13 (Tanjug) - Bjeljina-based TV BN stopped its broadcast Wednesday morning, after the Republika Srpska (RS) police raided the building upon the order of the District Court and its prosecutor.

RS Police Director Uros Pena, who learned about this operation from journalists and then checked the facts, confirmed for Tanjug that the police were checking the TV BN accounting documentation upon the order of the District Court and were looking for proof regarding abuse of office and tax evasion.

TV BN Director Vladimir Trisic said in a statement for Tanjug that he was forced to stop broadcast because of the way in which the police search had been conducted.

“I agree that everybody should do their job, but not in this way, which we see as a direct pressure on the media,” said Trisic, and stressed that the Wednesday police raid had been carried out in such a violent manner as though the media house had been some kind of criminal organization.

TV BN stands for one of the most objective media in Republika Srpska.

UNS and Local Press demand concrete help for media

BELGRADE, Dec 30 (Tanjug) - The Association of Journalists of Serbia (UNS) and the Business Association of Independent Local Media “Local Press” expressed Wednesday their hope that the state will “finally take concrete steps” in 2010 when it comes to helping the media, most importantly to local and regional press media.

UNS and Local Press view that in 2009 the state was more occupied with providing legal support for enforcing the restrictive and bounding policy towards the media and journalists than with providing assistance.

According to them, the next year represents an opportunity for the state to acknowledge the fact that the economic crisis is prone to hit the media more often than any other economic subjects.

They added that journalists have a lot smaller salaries in relation to the people employed in state offices or public enterprises.

One person arrested for threatening Brankica Stankovic

BELGRADE, Dec 21 (Tanjug) - Dragan Djurdjevic, 27, has been arrested on suspicion of sending death theats to TV B92 reporter Brankica Stankovic, the Serbian police announced Monday.

Djurdjevic, the seventh person arrested for threatening Stankovic, was apprehended by the police in cooperation with the security services of the Serbian Armed Forces, and he is to remain in custody.

Djurdjevic led a group of Partizan fans during the football match between Partizan and Shakhtar Donetsk in Belgrade on December 16, inciting them to sing offensive songs pointed against Stankovic, which he himself sang as well, the anouncement states.

Six other people had been arrested before Djurdjevic, all suspected of threatening Stankovic with death.

Dacic: Several more arrests expected

BELGRADE, Dec 18 (Tanjug) - Serbia's Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said on Friday that several more persons who had threatened B92 TV reporter Brankica Stankovic will be arrested later in the day.

The police have identified several more persons who had threatened Stankovic, Dacic told a press conference, adding that three persons were arrested on Thursday for endangering security.

The arrested were placed in police custody for 48 hours, he said.

He also announced severe punitive sanctions for all forms of violence at sports events, which have nothing to do with sport support.

Dacic also announced cooperation with UEFA experts, who should transfer the experience of western countries in dealing with violence at sports events.

Aleksov: Minority programming on Hungary's MTV in jeopardy

BUDAPEST, Dec 18 (Tanjug) - The Serbian self-government in Hungary has lodged a strong protest with the authorized bodies over the closing down of ethnic minority programming departments at Hungary's national public-service television (MTV).

“Other minority self-governments have joined us, and we have forwarded a protest note to the Hungarian prime minister, parliament speaker, ombudsman, MTV management and other entities,” Serbian self-government President Ljubomir Aleksov told Tanjug, following a meeting with his counterparts from the remaining 12 officially recognized ethic minorities in Hungary.

It was also agreed that the minority groups report the new situation to their respective homelands, which could help resolve the problem.

According to Aleksov, it is “utterly unacceptable” for the Serbs in Hungary to be left without “Serbian Screen,” a Serbian language show on MTV, and they will exhaust all legal avenues in order to prevent this.

Lesendric: Work on improvement of media to be continued

BELGRADE, Dec 14 (Tanjug) - Serbia is faced with a wide range of unsolved problems in the traditional media and the Serbian Ministry of Culture will continue to work on the improvement of the media sphere, Serbian Deputy Minister of Culture Natasa Vuckovic-Lesendric stated Monday.

At the opening of the round table meeting New media - standards of the European Council, she pointed out that there are no ready-made solutions in the area and that the ministry is working intensively on outlining standards of the new media.

Deputy Special Representative of the Council of Europe Secretary General Nadia Cuk stated that by the adopting of the media law, Serbia fulfilled its formal obligations after becoming a member of the Council of Europe but that there are still many reforms to be implemented in the area.

According to her, it is necessary to enact a law which would regulate the area of forbidden joining of ownership in media and a systematic reform in the strengthening of the ethic code of journalists and protection of journalists who do investigative journalism.

Lesendric:Role of local media to be more important in future

BELGRADE, Dec 11 (Tanjug) - Assistant to the Minister of Culture Natasa Vuckovic-Lesendric stated Friday in Belgrade that the Serbian Ministry of Culture will continue to work actively on the amendments to the media laws and the strategy and harmonization of the regulations with the European standards in the media sphere.

Lesendric said at a conference of the business association of local independent media Local Press that the proposed amendments to the Public Information Law were filed by the Serbian Ministries of Culture and Education adding that this was a huge step in media professionalization.

“First of all the standards of media reports were raised to a higher level,” Vuckovic-Lesendric said.

She pointed out to the importance of the role of local media, adding that in many European countries they have greater importance than national media.

“I sincerely hope that this is our future as well,” Vuckovic-Lesendric said.

She said that the Serbian Ministry of Culture recognizes the role of Local Press and believes in the potential of the local media which played the key role in the democratic social changes in the nineties.

IFJ: Threats against Serbian journalists uacceptable

BELGRADE, Dec 10 (Tanjug) - At the moment when Serbia is seriously considering its application for EU accession, it is unacceptable that there are still journalists working in fear of physical attacks just because they carry out their duty, General Secretary of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) Aidan White said on Thursday.

The International Federation of Journalists and its European group the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) expressed deep concern about serious threats against Serbian journalists working for B92 broadcaster and other independent media, IFJ says in a statement it presented to the Independent Association of Journalists of Serbia (NUNS).

The attacks on B92 and the threats directed at the authors of the B92 investigative reporting programme Insider, have been intensified as of lately, especially after the broadcast of the latest Insider on individuals hiding behind hooligan groups, in spite of the fact that Serbian President Boris Tadic has warned he will not tolerate any violence coming from hooligans or criminals.

The IFJ and its members, the Journalists' Association of Serbia and the Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia welcomed President Tadic's undertaking to take all the measures necessary to protect journalists in accordance with the law and to arrest and prosecute anyone threatening other people's lives.

Bogdanovic: Government to support Serb media in Kosovo

BELGRADE, Nov 12 (Tanjug) - The Serbian government will use all of its resources, including financial, to support the network of Serb media in Kosovo and Metohija, Serbia's Minister for Kosovo and Metohija Goran Bogdanovic said Thursday.

Giving his statement for Tanjug, he said: "We think that there are jobs for 100 to 130 people in that network," adding that "the work should mostly be done by TV Pristina employees."

"We have already agreed on a triangle between the Serbian government, Radio and Television of Serbia and the Serb media in that part of the country, and I think that the agreed plan of financing and operation will begin functioning at the start of 2010," Bogdanovic stated.

"We will do everything to have the media in Kosovo operate in the interest of all Kosovo citizens, espeacially Serbs and other non-Albanians," Bogdanovic stressed.

At the moment, Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija have four TV stations, some 30 radio stations and Jedinstvo, a weekly newspaper.

Ministry to finance media in KIM as of January 1

BELGRADE, Nov 12 (Tanjug) - Minister for Kosovo and Metohija Goran Bogdanovic stated late on Wednesday that the ministry will start financing the Serbian-language media in Kosovo and Metohija as of January 1, 2010.

“The Serbs and other non-Albanians, particularly those who use the Serbian language in their everyday communication, need those media,” Bogdanovic said in a statement with the RTS.

Bogdanovic said that between 100 and 130 people are employed by those media and that the government had decided, after meetings with representatives of the RTS and Kosovo media, to finance and help survival of the media in Serbian.

“The people in Kosovo and Metohija may not be left without information in their own language,” said Bogdanovic.

Bradic on Ljubljana meeting, cisis, laws...

BELGRADE, Nov 11 (Tanjug) - Serbian Minister of Culture Nebojsa Bradic said Wednesday that Serbia's participation in the recent conference on cultural heritage in Ljubljana was very important.

It enabled Serbia to successfully present three projects, he said.

Another reason was that Kosovo was prevented from getting a treatment which is not in keeping with UN Security Council Resolution 1244, he noted.

On his return from the conference on the rehabilitation of the joint cultural heritage in southeastern Europe, Bradic told Tanjug that the Ljubljana process is an important initiative taken during Slovenia's presidency of the Council of Europe Council of Ministers.

Thanks to that process, some cultural heritage rehabilitation projects were successfully realized and presented at the conference, he said.

He also welcomed that adoption of a declaration on cultural heritage from reconciliation to sustainable social and economic development and of a declaration on the implementation of the next phase of the Ljubljana process.

New TV station to be created in Kosovo

GRACANICA, Nov 10 (Tanjug) - Licensed TV producers in Kosovo and Metohija reached agreement Tuesday in Caglavica to support a project of founding a new TV station in Serbian language.

Representatives of TV stations Herc, Mir and Zoom and TV Production (New Press, Glas Juga, Link Production, Free Production) founded a joint company Kosovo Media Group (KMG).

Research carried out a few months ago by the UN Development Program showed that Serbs and other non-Albanians want a new TV channel in central Kosovo that would cover its entire territory.

The initiative for a new TV channel was presented by the Association of Journalists of Kosovo and Metohija at the Kosovo status talks in Vienna.

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