Serbia

NATO bombs brought change to Serbia - but much remains the same

NATO bombs brought change to Serbia - but much remains the sameBelgrade - When NATO bombed Serbia in 1999, it wanted to end bloodshed in Kosovo. Cracking Slobodan Milosevic's autocratic regime in the process and paving the way for his fall 18 months later was an added bonus.

But though the pro-Western reformist Zoran Djindjic replaced Milosevic in Belgrade, the list of Serbian achievement on the 10th anniversary of the NATO attack remains disappointing.

NATO vs Serbia, a decade on: Could it have gone better?

Brussels - After NATO bombed the then-Yugoslavia for 78 days in 1999 to force Serbian forces to pull out of Kosovo, the commanding US General Wesley Clark was asked how many targets were destroyed.

"Enough," Clark said. Now, 10 years since it launched its aerial campaign against the Serbian military, NATO still gives no figures about the number of targets it destroyed.

There is also no NATO figure on the number of civilian casualties of the bombing, as only the political goal mattered: to stop the ethnic cleansing carried out by Slobodan Milosevic's regime against the majority ethnic Albanian population in Kosovo.

Appeal verdict due at Hague tribunal on Bosnian Serb Krajisnik

The Hague - Bosnian Serb leader Momcilo Krajisnik will hear on Tuesday afternoon if his appeal against a 27-year jail sentence for war crimes has been successful at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY).

Krajisnik was found guilty in 2006 of various war crimes during the 1992-95 conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Among others, he was found responsible for the deaths of approximately 3,000 Bosnian Muslims and Bosnian Croats through murder or extermination.

The court also found Krajisnik responsible of participating in the forcible removal of more than 100,000 non-Serbs from Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Ex-Dutchbat soldier immigrates to Srebrenica to give locals "self- confidence"

Ex-Dutchbat soldier immigrates to Srebrenica to give locals "self- confidence" Amsterdam  - A former member of the Dutch UN peacekeeping battalion Dutchbat that was stationed in 1995 in the Muslim enclave of Srebrenica plans to move to the Bosnian city permanently this summer with his family.

Speaking late Monday on a Dutch television show, Rob Zomer said he wanted to move to Srebrenica because of its beautiful nature and "to boost the local population's self-confidence."

His wife, who also appeared on the show, said she found Srebrenica "a most peaceful environment."

Tito show draws crowds in Belgrade

Tito show draws crowds in BelgradeBelgrade  - More than a 1,000 visitors flocked to the opening of an exhibition in Belgrade dedicated to former Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito at the weekend in a sign that fascination with the former communist is still alive nearly 30 years after his death.

The Belgrade Museum of the History of Yugoslavia unveiled the show, called the "Tito Effect" on Saturday, and attracted more than 1,000 visitors in the first two days.

IMF and Serbia launch talks on new, 2-billion-dollar loan

IMF and Serbia launch talks on new, 2-billion-dollar loan Belgrade  - Serbia and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) were due on Monday to open negotiations on a new, 2-billion-dollar standby credit, which the Balkan country needs for macroeconomic stability.

The IMF already approved 530 million dollars in drawing rights for Serbia in a 15-month deal in January. But Belgrade says it needs more in order to cope with the adverse effects of the financial crisis.

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