A casket covered by the national flag, carrying the remnants of the King Petar II Karadjordjevic arrived in Serbia yesterday with state honors. The remains of King Petar II Karađorđević, who passed away and was buried in the United States in 1970, have been transferred to Serbia.

The Prince Aleksandar said in the chapel of the White Court that his father’s wish to return to the country had been fulfilled. "Welcome home, father"! he said.

People with flowers, candles and pictures of the last Yugoslav monarch, who as a young man emigrated together with then royal government on the eve of the WWII, were standing along paths of the court complex at Dedinje.

The Prince Aleksandar, Princess Katarina, their sons Petar, Filip and Aleksandar, daughter of Princess Catherine Alison, Serbia Prime Minister Dacic, Serbia President Advisor Oliver Antic, Belgrade Mufti Muhamed Jusufspahic and other officials followed the casket to the court chapel.

The burial service was held by Serbian Patriarch Irinej. "This is a happy-sad day of huge importance for the Serbian nation both in the country and in emigration. The return of the King is God’s will", the Patriarch said.

Prime Minister Ivica Dacic said that "finally yet another part of the mosaic of Serbian history has been put in place". "Serbia can solve its problems only if it is strong and it shall be strong if it respects itself and its tradition", Dacic said.

In May the King Petar II shall be buried at Oplenac hill. Until then remnants of his mother are expected to arrive from Athens as well as the remnants of his grandmother Marija from London.

According to media reports, the king was exhumed last week in Libertville "almost in secret", causing dissatisfaction among some members of the Serb diaspora in Illinois, who were not given a chance to pay their respects.

In September last year, the Serbian government decided to establish the organizing committee for the transfer of remains of the Karađorđević family members to the royal family crypt of the St. George Church, appointing Serbian President Tomislav Nikolić as chairman.

King Petar II, the eldest son of King Aleksandar I and Queen Marija, was born in Belgrade on September 6, 1923. His education commenced at the Royal Palace in Belgrade, completing which he went to Sandroyd School in England, which he left after his father's assassination in Marseilles in 1934.

At the time of the assassination, King Petar II was only 11 years old and Prince Pavle, the brother of the murdered king, was appointed Prince Regent of Yugoslavia.

In 1941, Prince Pavle decided to sign a non-aggression pact with Nazi Germany, which resulted in severe protests in the country and led to a government crisis and a coup d'état by Yugoslav officers on March 27, 1941. As a result of the coup, King Petar II was proclaimed of age.

The Yugoslav Army was unprepared to resist the ensuing invasion by Nazi Germany and Yugoslavia was occupied within eleven days. King Petar II was forced to leave the country along with the Yugoslav government - initially to Greece, Palestine and then to Egypt.

King Petar II did not abdicate. He lived in London and spent the last years of his life in America, where he died in 1970, after a long and grave illness. He was buried at the St. Sava Monastery Church in Libertyville, Illinois.

It is in both Serbia and Montenegro’s interest to have the best possible relations, Presidents Tomislav Nikolić and Filip Vujanović have agreed.

They added that everything should be done to raise cooperation of the two friendly countries to the highest possible level.

Nikolić started his official visit to Montenegro on Friday at Vujanović’s invitation.

After the talks in Cetinje, they underscored at a joint press conference that the two countries were committed to improving relations in all domains of mutual interest.

“We share the common values and goals, i.e. we have much in common. Therefore, it is unnatural that Serbia and Montenegro do not have the best possible relations,” Nikolić said.

“Belgrade considers Montenegro a sovereign state and fully fledged member of the United Nations,” he underlined.

Vujanović said that the relations between Serbia and Montenegro should be seen as a good example, not only in the region, but also globally.

“The relations between Montenegro and Serbia have been reflecting an upward trend recently and our obligation it to give full contribution to such aspirations,” the Montenegrin president noted.

“I wish Montenegro a lot of luck, difficult years are ahead of you. We will slowly follow you on the EU pathway and I hope that we will not have any obstacles other than those we can overcome and are ready to overcome many obstacles so Serbia will become an EU member and we would then open all borders between us or remove them completely,” Nikolić said.

“We would then remove all borders between us and it would not matter if you live in Serbia or in Montenegro,” he added.

“The two of us want to eliminate those issues immediately and to put all problems and unresolved issues on the table so we would not leave any of them to others that are coming,” the Serbian president noted.

The Serbian president will also meet with Montenegro’s Prime Minister Milo Đukanović, parliament Speaker Ranko Krivokapić, representatives of Matica Srpska and New Serb Democracy leader Andrija Mandić during his one-day visit.

Ahead of the visit, Nikolić stated that all open issues between Belgrade and Podgorica “should be solved in a brotherly manner” because Serbia and Montenegro were close countries.

He added that he was a “typical Serbian politician” because he had good relations with most Montenegrin politicians.

“I think there is an adequate solution to every problem. It is always possible to find a solution if there is wisdom and good will on both sides. I assure you that there will be no lack of good will on my part. I expect the same from my interlocutors and I hope that together we will have enough wisdom to start solving the piled up problems in the interest of all our citizens,” the Serbian president told Podgorica-based daily Dan.

He stressed that Serbia and Montenegro had almost always had good relations.

When asked if Montenegro’s recognition of Kosovo’s independence affected the Belgrade-Podgorica relations, Nikolić said that the Montenegro’s decision certainly did not contribute to improvement of relations with Serbia.

“I cannot turn back the time, I cannot change the past but I want to contribute as much as I can so we do not ruin any further what our fathers, grandfathers and other ancestors left us and those are brotherly relations between Serbia and Montenegro,” he explained.

source: b92 news

Minister of Justice and Public Administration Nikola Selakovic said today that he received assurances that the Prosecutor’s Office of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), within its capabilities and competencies, will try to provide conditions for making a review of the court’s decision on acquittal of Croatian generals Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markac.

Selakovic, who is on a two-day visit to The Hague, told the news agency that he was told this by ICTY Chief Prosecutor Serge Brammertz during today’s meeting held on the tribunal’s premises.

He said that he conveyed to Brammertz the general feeling of dissatisfaction in Serbia, not only because of the acquittal of the Croatian generals, but because of other cases as well, like that of Ramush Haradinaj.

Earlier today the Minister met with ICTY President Theodor Meron and with the tribunal’s Secretary John Hocking, with whom he discussed the possibility that convicted Serbian citizens serve sentence in Serbia.

He underlined that Serbia will do its level best so that this could be put into practice.

Tomorrow Selakovic will visit Serbian citizens in the detention unit in Scheveningen.

source: Serbian government

The 6th International Film and Music Kustendorf Festival dedicated to future film makers and masters of the contemporary author film are beginning at Drvengrad today.

Until January 22 this festival shall host some of the most important names of the world cinematography such as directors Zhang Yimou (China), Behn Zeitlin (USA), Aleksey Balabanov (Russia), Matteo Garrone (Italy), Elia Suleiman (Palestine), Peter Gotar (Hungary), Yesim Ustaoglu (Turkey) and special guests Monica Bellucci (Italy) and Audrey Tautou (France). It is however still uncertain if members of one of the best groups of all times "Pink Floyd" Nick Mason and David Gilmour will be among the guests. This year even 70 journalists from Serbia and abroad shall follow the festival what is two times more than in 2012.

The first film to be screened will be Yimou’s "Flowers of War" within the "Retrospective of the Masters", a program dedicated this year to this Chinese movie director. His films "Not One Less" awarded with the Golden Lion at the Venice Festival and "Raise the Red Lantern" awarded with Silver Lion at the same festival and nominated for the Oscar as the best film outside English speaking countries.

Twenty eight films of young authors from eighteen countries shall compete for the awards – the Golden, Silver and Bronze Egg. More than 400 films have been applied for competition, the largest number until so far. The "Contemporary Tendencies" program shall this year, too present some of the best films of the last year production and its authors who shall also hold workshops. The "Evergreen" program shall remind the guests of the Kustendorf about some of the most important films from the past such as "The Time Has Stopped" (1982) by Peter Gotar.

The "New Authors" program shall present the film from the last year festival in Venice "She Doesn’t Want to Sleep Alone" by young Mexican director Natalie Berstein, then "No Football" by young Russian Konstantin Smirnov and "It Is Simple" by Sonia Karpunine who won Kustendorf in 2011.

source: blic news