Full Coverage: South East Europe

28.02.2005 PREDA – Prijedor Economic Development Association was established in September 2003. The mission of the association is to promote entrepreneurship, to provide training and support to the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME), promote creation of new jobs and overall improvement of economic situation in Prijedor Municipality.

28.02.2005 Over 80 percent of citizens are convinced that there is corruption in Montenegro, and that it is the burning issue for the country. They think that the customs bureau, financial police, state leadership and the Privatization Council are the most corrupt institutions, shows the survey on corruption conducted by the Group for Changes, in cooperation with “Damar”, February 1-6.

28.02.2005 The RODA-Parents in Action association initiated a Petition to be submitted to the Government of the Republic of Croatia, demanding an urgent start of the Sabor (Parliament) procedure on the Draft_Law on Medically Assisted Fertilization, already reviewed at Government meeting of September 30, 2004. The Petition also demands from the Sabor to pass the proposed Law in an urgent procedure.

26.02.2005 The working meeting held by the Initiative for Legal Regulation of the Status of Volunteers in Serbia – IZVoR on February 22, a the offices of the Nature Lovers of Vojvodina movement, was seen as an experiment to gather the representatives of the initiative, the media and local authorities to present the results achieved so far and the plan for the coming period. Also, the meeting was designed to inform and provoke the interest of the public on the issue of volunteering and to involved all the interested in the initiative.

25.02.2005 “Ako se obideme da go sporedime nivoto na razvojot na informativnoto opstetsvo vo Srbija i, da receme, Svedska, se plasam deka nema da mozeme da najdeme parametri za sporedba na dvete opstestva. Vo momentov na pamet mi pagja, deka treba da pogledneme kaj nasite sosedi i da vidime kako Romancite, Albancite ili Hrvatite se spravuvaat so prasanjata koi se vazni za ovaa oblast. No, i ako go napravime toa, ke vidime deka nie imame mnogu malku za falenje i deka prakticno site zemji vo regionov se za cekor ili dva (nekoi od niv duri i za poveke) ponapred od nas vo smisol na razvoj na informativnoto opstetsvo’', veli Nenad Golcevski, koordinator na Centarot za Informativni Tehnoloski Studii (CePIT), koj raboti pod poddrska na Belgrade Open School.

25.02.2005 “If we tried to compare the levels of development of information society in Serbia and, say, Sweden, I am afraid that we couldn’t find the right parameters to compare the two societies. In my mind, at this time, we should look at our neighbourhood and see how the Romanians, Albanians or Croatians deal with the issues important in this field. Alas, even if we do that, we will see that we have little to brag about and that practically all countries in the region are step or two (some of them even more) ahead of us in terms of the development of information socieity”, says Nenad Golcevski, the coordinator of the Sentre for Study of Information Technology (CePIT), which works under the auspices of the Belgrade Open School.

25.02.2005 The MOST Civic Association presented the Code of Conduct in Free and Fair Local Elections, developed by the National Democratic Institute, in cooperation with the political parties in Macedonia. The Code was accepted and signed by 32 presidents of political parties and three independent candidates running in the Local Elections.

25.02.2005 UNDP B&H launched the www.mine.ba web page with information about mine action activities in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The mine.ba web page aims at increasing the availability of information on the mine threat and mine action generally in BiH. At the same time, the website will improve the flow of information on this important topic to donors, partners and the national and international population at large.

25.02.2005 The Media Center Belgrade demands that the Government of Serbia withdraws the proposed amendments to the Law on Information and prepares entirely different ones, to be coordinated with the media requirements, protection of their freedom and in accordance with the obligations resulting from the European regulations.

24.02.2005 In spite of the perition signed by 7,000 people and the 30 or so requests signed by NGOs from all over the Bosnia and Herzegovina, in spite of the 500 young people soaked to the bone that protested in front of the Parliamentary Assembly and the lobbying of MPs that spent 70 minutes debated the sale of the former “Marsalka” Barracks and held two-hour break to approximate their positions, the House of the Nations confirmed the decision to sell a part of the land belonging to the former military barracks to the US Government for the construction of a new embassy building.

24.02.2005 At the press conference held yesterday, the Foundation Open Society Institute Macedonia FOSIM presented its Programme and Budget for Activities in 2005.

23.02.2005 On 10 March the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) will convene a meeting of the Working Group on persons unaccounted for in relation to the events in Kosovo between January 1998 and December 2000.

23.02.2005 “Coca Cola” Company bought all shares in the “Vlasinka” Bottling Water Company owned by “Simpo”. While businesspeople see only the investment side of this acquisition, the environmental organization "Eko baza-Jug" from Vlasotince demanded from the Government of Serbia to prohibit the commercial exploitation of potable water in the South of Serbia, in order to protect the needs of the local population.

23.02.2005 When a project on legalising housing settlements in the Sarajevo area known as Gorica was completed a year ago, Dervo Sejdiæ was already thinking about the employment problems of the Roma population.

23.02.2005 The conference dedicated to the start of the implementation of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper was held yesterday in the poor Banat municipality of Plandiste, in Vojvodina. Approximately 800,000 people live below the poverty line in Serbia, with less than 4,790 Dinars monthly per household member.

23.02.2005 U organizaciji mađarskog udruženja «Zaštitimo budućnost» u Budimpešti je od 11.-13. februara 2005. održana konferencija o «Javnim sektorima, globalizaciji i održivosti u proširenoj Evropi». Zajedno sa 30 učesnika iz EU i CEE (Centralne i Istočne Evrope), koa predstavnik BiH učestvavao je Centar za razvoj, edukaciju i poslovanje «Humanitas» Doboj.

23.02.2005 The Election Campaign for the Local Elections 2005, scheduled for March 13, officially started on Monday, February 21. The Campaing will lat for 20 days, and will end on March 11, at midnight, for the one day of campaign silence period. In three weeks time, 1,711,293 registered voters ni Macedonia will elect Mayors and councillors for the City Assemblies of 85 municipalities. The political parties’ headquarters are prepared to present their candidates and platforms to the citizens.

22.02.2005 Ministry of Communication and Transport of BiH and UNDP have organized the International Conference on Information Society, on 21 and 22 February 2005. The Conference gathered over 400 participants including government officials, local and international experts as well as leading industry companies. The main purpose of the Conference is to present and promote the Strategy of the Information Society, with the focus on the legislation aspect.

22.02.2005 The ATTACK! Autonomous Cultural Centre will organize, for the eight year in a row, the Festival of Alternative Theatre Expression – FAKI 8, May 25-28, 2005.

22.02.2005 “Poverty is the greatest problem of the Roma. Because of that, people live in conditions of insufficient hygiene. The children don’t go to school because of the lack of possibilities to maintain basic hygiene, and the lack of money to buy school equipment and textbooks”, says Supanj Semsi, President of the “Neretva” Association of Roma from Mostar.