SERBIA / KOSOVO: 9 Mar. UPDATE: First Talks In 3 Years Held.

LINK CHANGE/AFP
More Details/

   A 2-day EU-sponsored meeting in Brussels was held between Kosovo and Serbia.
   It is the first time the two nations have met since Kosovo declared its independence three years ago.
    Kosovo is currently under UN administration.
    The meeting focused on, trade, telecoms and airspace.
    Serbia has rejected Kosovo's independence and still blocks Kosovo's trade, regularly stopping passengers with Kosovo passports or car registrations.
  "There was agreement that a second meeting should take place shortly," said an official.
    

SERBIA: Overcoming Patriarchal Domestic Violence.

BBC/ Video Report/ English/ 2:47 with Advert/


     Mark Lowen reports on efforts to address domestic violence in Serbia where a growing number of men and women are victims, including the opening of the first male safe house in the Balkans.

SERBIA: Are Its Soccer Thugs Impeding EU Membership?

GUARDIAN/ Ian Traynor :  
    "For the second time in three days Serbian thugs have laid waste to a European city in riots that have combined wanton and random violence with organizational talent and political backing. Yesterday in Genoa, the Scottish referee Craig Thomson had first to delay the kick-off for the Euro 2012 qualifier between Italy and Serbia by 45 minutes because of fans' rioting, and then call the game off after seven minutes. Earlier the angry young men from Belgrade went on the rampage in the Mediterranean port and Uefa have opened a "full and thorough" investigation into the incidents."
AND:"... the hooligans have been a fixture of Serbian life for decades, often used and abused by ruthless politicians, warlords and organized crime."

Plus, there's the recent ugliness in Belgrade as over 6,000 skinheads and nationalists attacked the first gay parade. That demonstration saw over 250 arrested and 150 injured.

A legitimate question is...would you want people with such uncivilized behavior in your political and economic union?

SERBIA:1ST UPDATE: Anti-gay Protestors Clash With Police; 150 Injured; 250 Arrested.

LINK CHANGE/ AP/  UPDATE: 11 OCT/
  An EU official claims that Serbia's failure to prevent an anti-gay riot could hurt its bid to join the European Union
     In the worst violence in the Serbian capital in over two years, about 5,000 police clashed with anti-gay protesters, gangs of nationalists and skinheads  Sunday in Belgrade during its first gay rights rally in nearly a decade. About 250 protestors were arrested and at least 150 were injured, including police.
   The conservative Balkan society has been slow to accept open homosexuality and last year's Serbian gay parade was cancelled because of threats.

 FOR (:59) VIDEO, SEE: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/serbia/8054094/Anti-gay-protesters-clash-with-police-in-Belgrade.html

HUNGARY/ROMANIA/SERBIA:The Trio Struggles To Sell Enough Debt.

BLOOMBERG/ Gordana Filipovic/
   Hungary, Romania and Serbia needed $55 billion in IMF bailouts in 2009. Now they can't find enough debt buyers as spending cuts weaken government power and concerns grow about stalled recovery.
Filipovic: "Serbia and Romania failed to sell the planned amount of debt on offer this week while Hungary paid more today to sell all of its debt by allowing the yield to rise. Hungary failed to sell the planned amount of 12-month debt on Sept. 2 as concern the central bank might raise interest rates damped investor demand."

THE E.U.: Settling Food Fights Over Protected Labels.

GLOBAL POST/
The EU includes over 800 foodstuffs and almost 2,000 wines and spirits in its database of protected items. They range from Scotch whisky and Roquefort cheese, to obscure items like eight varieties of Portuguese honey. To qualify for the EU’s protected status, the foods must be produced by traditional methods in the specified regions.

Serbia May Can 20% Of State Workers To Comply With IMF.

KYIVPOST/
Serbia must lay off about a fifth of its public sector — 14,000 employees — to meet conditions set by the International Monetary Fund to receive more financial aid.

TV Show Tries To Reunite Missing From Yugoslavian Break-up.

GLOBAL POST.COM.
Sasa Lekovic heads a five person team of journalists behind "Potraga" ("The Search"), produced by Belgrade TV broadcaster B92. The show has asked its viewers — averaging about 400,000 — to contribute as "citizen journalists" in searches for missing from the Yugoslav conflict.

The Former Yugolsavia Puts Itself Back Together.

THE ECONOMIST.

Almost 20 years after political bonds were broken by war, links are quietly being restored in the former Yugoslavia.

Hungarian Prime Minister Warns Ambassadors Of Social Crisis.

From the Budapest Times.