Serbia Press Review - January 20

Here are the top stories in Serbia’s main newspapers. Balkan Insight has not verified the reports and cannot vouch for their accuracy.

POLITIKA
The Serbian government will not allow the country's power monopoly EPS to raise prices by 20 per cent. It is said that this demand is absolutely unacceptable, as is an increase in salaries of 17 per cent for the EPS employees.

BLIC
The voting for the new head of the Serbian Orthodox church, which is scheduled for Friday, is a complete mystery since neither of bishops believe that any candidate has a sufficient majority to have his name found among the covers of the Holy Book.

VECERNJE NOVOSTI
Vuk Draskovic, who is a leader of the Serbian Renewal Movement party, is against a referendum on Serbia's joining NATO, arguing that the resolution on the so-called military neutrality was adopted in parliament without first being put to a referendum.

Source:balkaninsight.com/

Spanish FM: Serbia crucial in region

VIENNA -- Spanish FM Miguel Angel Moratinos said in Vienna on Tuesday that Serbia is a crucial country in the West Balkan region.

He added that Madrid supports its request for receiving the candidate status for EU accession.

In his address to the Permanent Council of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Moratinos said that the European perspective of the western Balkans is very important and that all regional countries should head in the direction of the EU.

All western Balkan countries are on their way towards the EU and Spain supports them in that path, Moratinos pointed out.

Serbia is the crucial country in the region and Spain, as the one currently presiding over the EU, is pleased about the submitting of the request for receiving the candidate status, he stressed.

When it comes to Croatia, Moratinos expressed hope that there will be some progress in the following months, so that negotiations with that country could be completed in 2010.

According to Moratinos, it is important that all the West Balkan countries that tend to join the EU fulfill the necessary conditions, and Spain intends to support them in it.

Moratinos stressed that the Corfu dialogue on European security should be used as a possibility, as this process reactivated the role of OSCE and it offers a strategic perspective.

The Corfu process showed that security in Europe has a global and indivisible character, Moratinos underscored.

Source:b92.net/