Keepin touch

Whether you have a question, comment, suggestion or any problem in the purview of the government, send us your message and we will try to respond as soon as possible. If your problem is not in our purview, we will forward your message to the relevant institution.

The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Belgrade insists that Security Council brings formal decision on continuation of Kosovo talks

Belgrade, 26 July 2007

Serbian Minister for Kosovo-Metohija Slobodan Samardzic said today that Belgrade insists that the UN Security Council brings a formal decision on the continuation of Kosovo talks as soon as the Contact Group formulates the proposal.

Slobodan Samardzic

Speaking at a press conference held after the government session, Samardzic said that at yesterday's meeting in Vienna the Contact Group did not reach any decision concerning the talks between Belgrade and Pristina and underlined that it is important that the Contact Group makes a good framework for the talks and present it to the two sides.

Samardzic explained that the Contact Group can hold consultations, give proposals, supervise and give guidelines for the new talks, but that the UN Security Council is the one who can approve the beginning of new negotiations.

He said that the Contact Group should continue to meet in order to submit a proposal to the Security Council as soon as possible.

Slobodan Milosavljevic

Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management Slobodan Milosavljevic said that all 16 active fires in Serbia, which span on the area of 12,000 hectares are under control. He specified that more than 2,500 people are taking part in putting down the fires which have gained proportions of a natural disaster. Milosavljevic stressed that the government at its session today passed a decision on forming a central headquarters which will be assigned the task to coordinate all activities regarding the extinguishing and prevention of fires throughout Serbia. The Ministry of Interior will be in charge of coordination of teams. He said that at the next session the Serbian government will bring a decision regarding the allocation of funds from the budget to secure new equipment for extinguishing fire, as well as the proposal to use funds from the current budgetary reserves for covering costs so far. Agreement was reached at the session that funds will be secured through the National Investment Plan and the budget to repair damage and restore the fauna and flora in the areas affected by forest fires, said Milosavljevic.

The Serbian government appeals to all citizens to take part in extinguishing the fires, since it is almost impossible to achieve any results without their participation, reiterated Minister Milosavljevic and added that the Russian plane will be of great help in the action.

Milosavljevic said that next week the government will adopt measures for repairing damage in agriculture due to dry weather and the long period of heat.

Serbian Assistant Minister of Interior for the protection and rescue sector Predrag Maric stressed that during the past few days there were almost 800 incidents of fire in Serbia, but they are all under control.