Serbia

One dead, hundreds injured in freezing rain and ice in Serbia

SerbiaBelgrade - One person has died and hundreds have been injured in Serbia after slipping on ice caused by freezing rain that's been falling for days, local media reported Thursday.

An elderly man died Thursday after falling on ice, while emergency rooms around the country are packed with people that have suffered broken arms, legs or hips.

More than 850 people were treated in Belgrade's Clinical Centre alone in the past 48 hours, hospital's spokesman Drago Jovanovic told journalists. "This is the worst rush we had in the past 15 years," he said.

Serbia preparing lawsuit against Ukraine, official says

Belgrade - Serbia plans to raise the question of the responsibility both of Ukraine and Russia for the crippling gas crisis, the head of national supplier Srbijagas, Dusan Bajatovic, said Thursday.

"We will ask for explanations from the Russian Jugorosgas and Gazprom, as well as the Ukrainian Naftogaz and if we find any of them unacceptable, we will raise the question of responsibility," Bajatovic told radio B92.

Jugorosgas is a majority Russian joint venture with Serbian partners with the monopoly right to supply Russian gas.

A lawsuit against Ukraine was already being prepared in Serbia, Bajatovic said. He said there was no "legal and economic ground" for proceedings against Russia.

Serbian officials call on citizens to help capture Mladic

serbia mapBelgrade - Serbian officials urged the country's citizens on Tuesday to help capture former Serbia military chief Ratko Mladic, who is wanted on charges of war crimes.

Rasim Ljajic, head of the National Council for Cooperation with the UN War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague, said citizens would be doing a "good thing for the state" if they reported any information on the whereabouts of Mladic and 1990s Croatian Serb leader Goran Hadzic.

Serbian Justice minister gives birth to baby girl

SerbiaBelgrade - Serbian Minister of Justice Snezana Malovic gave birth to a baby girl on Friday

President Tadic sacks Serbia's top general

Boris TadicBelgrade - Serbian President Boris Tadic on Tuesday sacked the army's top general, Zdravko Ponos, ending a rift that shook the defence system last week.

Tadic, who as president also serves as supreme commander of the military, appointed General Miloje Miletic as new head of the general staff, the president's cabinet said.

Ponos, 46, last week publicly criticized Defence Minister Dragan Sutanovac, accusing his ministry in newspaper interviews of incompetence and corruption.

Tadic announced his decision a day after the supreme defence council met in a marathon six-hour session to discuss the Ponos- Sutanovac row.

President Tadic to end defence rift on Monday

President Tadic to end defence rift on MondayBelgrade  - Serbian president Boris Tadic has called for the National Security Council to meet Monday to discuss the public rift between Defence Minister Dragan Sutanovac and Chief of General Staff Zdravko Ponos.

"Because of their disagreement in public, each of them has a responsibility and I will analyse and propose measures all in line with my powers," Tadic told Vecernje Novosti daily on Saturday.

The conflict began when Ponos ordered generals not to attend Sutanovac's New Year reception and later when he accused the Defence Ministry of incompetence.

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