SERBIA

VUCIC MEETS WITH BIN ZAYED

BELGRADE, December 11 2018 (Beta) - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic traveled to Abu Dhabi on Dec. 11 to meet with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Crown Prince, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, to discuss economic, trade and development ties, along with the regional and international issues of mutual interest, the Serbian presidency reported in a press release. President Vucic said that cooperation with the UAE was of vital importance for Serbia. The president and the crown prince agreed to work together to develop a bilateral economic partnership, with a strong emphasis on investment. The two officials were also pleased to see the Belgrade Waterfront residential complex grow, and that bilateral ties were strengthened through Etihad's investment in Air Serbia. They also discussed new projects in energy, agriculture and education. The Serbian president said to the UAE crown prince that Pristina's insistence on exorbitant taxes on imports from Serbia and a new Kosovo army had made Serbia seriously concerned about the future of the Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija. Vucic asked the sheikh to use his influence to ensure support to a peaceful solution to the problem.

BRNABIC MEETS WITH SLOVAK PRESIDENT

BELGRADE, December 11 2018 (Beta) - Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic met in Bratislava, on Dec. 11, with Slovakia's President Andrej Kiska, the Serbian government reported. During her one-day visit to Slovakia, Brnabic also met with her Slovak counterpart Peter Pellegrini. Together with the country's interior minister, Denisa Sakova, the Serbian PM visited the Slovak ministry's Client Center, where she was introduced to new solutions and experiences in e-governance, the modernization of public administration and cyber security. The prime minister ended her visit to Slovakia with a tour of a naive art exhibition, displaying the works of art by Slovaks of Kovacica, which she opened together with the Slovak culture minister, Ljubica Lasakova, Brnabic's cabinet released.

GERMAN EMBASSY TO HELP REPAIR SUMARICE MUSEUM'S LEAKY ROOF

KRAGUJEVAC, December 11 2018 (Beta) - The 21. Oktobar Museum's years-long problem with a leaky roof will come to an end with the help of the German Embassy in Belgrade and the German GIZ organization for international cooperation, Kragujevacki Oktobar Memorial Park director Marijana Stankovic has said. She told BETA that the problem with the museum which was located in the Sumarice memorial park dated back to 1999 when a a number of domes were damaged during air strikes on nearby barracks. The domes were soon replaced with new ones which proved to be inadequate in terms of material and that was when the problem began. "The German Embassy launched the initiative to solve the [museum's] problems in a project in association with GIZ. This was confirmed by German Ambassador Thomas Schieb who visited the museum and laid a wreath next the graves of the students and professors who were executed in Sumarice," Stankovic said. Stankovic thanked the German ambassador to Belgrade for the initiative, as the museum had been looking for a donor to pay for the cost of at least several domes. "Given that the museum has a leaky roof, a project was launched based on which works to repair the roof will be conducted. As a contribution to the museum's further work we expect and will do everything to have the roof fixed by Oct. 21 next year," Schieb said during his visit to the center. The Kragujevac city's website said that Ambassador Schieb wrote that the atrocities German soldiers had committed against innocent civilians, including many children, were horrific. "It is exceptionally important to preserve the memory of these terrible events, to document them in detail and comprehensively introduce the public to them. The Kragujevacki Oktobar Memorial Park does this in an impressive and dignified way," Schieb wrote.