1.
Serbia
–
Serbia, officially the Republic of Serbia, is a sovereign state situated at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Pannonian Plain and the central Balkans. Relative to its territory, it is a diverse country distinguished by a transitional character, situated along cultural, geographic, climatic. Serbia numbers around 7 million residents, and its capital, Belgrade, following the Slavic migrations to the Balkans from the 6th century onwards, Serbs established several states in the early Middle Ages. The Serbian Kingdom obtained recognition by Rome and the Byzantine Empire in 1217, in the early 19th century, the Serbian Revolution established the nation-state as the regions first constitutional monarchy, which subsequently expanded its territory. During the breakup of Yugoslavia, Serbia formed a union with Montenegro which dissolved peacefully in 2006, in 2008 the parliament of the province of Kosovo unilaterally declared independence, with mixed responses from the international community. Serbia is a member of organizations such as the UN, CoE, OSCE, PfP, BSEC. An EU membership candidate since 2012, Serbia has been negotiating its EU accession since January 2014, the country is acceding to the WTO and is a militarily neutral state. Serbia is an income economy with dominant service sector, followed by the industrial sector. The country ranks high on the Social Progress Index as well as the Global Peace Index, relatively high on the Human Development Index, located at the crossroads between Central and Southern Europe, Serbia is found in the Balkan peninsula and the Pannonian Plain. Serbia lies between latitudes 41° and 47° N, and longitudes 18° and 23° E. The country covers a total of 88,361 km2, which places it at 113th place in the world, with Kosovo excluded, the area is 77,474 km2. Its total border length amounts to 2,027 km, all of Kosovos border with Albania, Macedonia and Montenegro are under control of the Kosovo border police. The Pannonian Plain covers the third of the country while the easternmost tip of Serbia extends into the Wallachian Plain. The terrain of the part of the country, with the region of Šumadija at its heart. Mountains dominate the third of Serbia. Dinaric Alps stretch in the west and the southwest, following the flow of the rivers Drina, the Carpathian Mountains and Balkan Mountains stretch in a north–south direction in eastern Serbia. Ancient mountains in the southeast corner of the country belong to the Rilo-Rhodope Mountain system, elevation ranges from the Midžor peak of the Balkan Mountains at 2,169 metres to the lowest point of just 17 metres near the Danube river at Prahovo. The largest lake is Đerdap Lake and the longest river passing through Serbia is the Danube, the climate of Serbia is under the influences of the landmass of Eurasia and the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea
2.
Kosovo
–
Kosovo is a disputed territory and partially recognised state in Southeastern Europe that declared independence from Serbia in February 2008 as the Republic of Kosovo. Kosovo is landlocked in the central Balkan Peninsula, with its strategic position in the Balkans, it serves as an important link in the connection between central and south Europe, the Adriatic Sea, and Black Sea. Its capital and largest city is Pristina, and other urban areas include Prizren, Pejë. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, the Republic of Macedonia to the southeast, Montenegro to the west, while Serbia recognises administration of the territory by Kosovos elected government, it still continues to claim it as its own Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija. In antiquity, the Dardanian Kingdom, and later the Roman province of Dardania was located in the region, the area was inhabited by several ancient Illyrian tribes. In the Middle Ages, it was part of the Byzantine, Bulgarian and Serbian Empires, Kosovo was the core of the medieval Serbian state and it has been the seat of the Serbian Orthodox Church from the 14th century when its status was upgraded into a patriarchate. After being part of the Ottoman Empire from the 15th to the early 20th century, the war ended with a military intervention of NATO, which forced the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to withdraw its troops from Kosovo, which became a UN protectorate under UNSCR1244. On 17 February 2008 Kosovos Parliament declared independence and it has since gained diplomatic recognition as a sovereign state by 111 UN member states, Taiwan, the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, the Cook Islands and Niue. Serbia refuses to recognise Kosovo as a state, although with the Brussels Agreement of 2013 it has accepted the legitimacy of Kosovar institutions, the entire region is commonly referred to in English simply as Kosovo and in Albanian as Kosova or Kosovë. The name of the plain was applied to the Kosovo Province created in 1864, Albanians refer to Kosovo as Dardania, the name of a Roman province located in Central Balkans that was formed in 284 AD which covered the territory of modern Kosovo. The name is derived from the Albanian word dardha/dardā which means pear, the former Kosovo President Ibrahim Rugova had been an enthusiastic backer of a Dardanian identity and the Kosovan flag and presidential seal refer to this national identity. However, the name Kosova remains more widely used among the Albanian population, the official conventional long name of the state is Republic of Kosovo, as defined by the Constitution of Kosovo, and is used to represent Kosovo internationally. This arrangement, which has dubbed the asterisk agreement, was agreed in an 11-point arrangement agreed on 24 February 2012. By the independence declaration in 2008, its long name became Republic of Kosovo. In prehistory, the succeeding Starčevo culture, Vinča culture, Bubanj-Hum culture, the area in and around Kosovo has been inhabited for nearly 10,000 years. During the Neolithic age, Kosovo lay within the area of the Vinča-Turdaş culture which is characterised by West Balkan black, bronze and Iron Age tombs have been found in Metohija. However, life during the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age is not confirmed yet, therefore, until arguments of Paleolithic and Mesolithic man are confirmed, Neolithic man, respectively the Neolithic sites are considered as the chronological beginning of population in Kosovo. From this period until today Kosovo has been inhabited, and traces of activities of societies from prehistoric, ancient, whereas, in some archaeological sites, multilayer settlements clearly reflect the continuity of life through centuries
3.
Constitution of Kosovo
–
The Constitution of Kosovo, refers to the supreme law of the Republic of Kosovo. Article four of the constitution establishes the rules and separate powers of the three branches of the government, the constitution was signed on 7 April 2008 at 13,00 local time at the national library in Pristina. The constitution was ratified on 9 April and came to effect on 15 June 2008, the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo can be changed through the amendment process. Constitutional amendments are added to it, alerting its effect, Article 7, ensures the values and freedoms by the rule of law, equality same as respect, gender equality and social justice and the neutrality towards religion by the article 8 of the Constitution. The constitution guides Kosovos law and political culture, the final authority for the interpretation of the constitution of the Republic of Kosovo is the Constitutional Court of Kosovo. The head of the Assembly was Iljaz Kurteshi and the constitution was signed on 27 February 1974, first constitution attempted by Kosovo was integrated in the constitution of SFRY of 27 February 1974. Five points below explain the reasons for its existence and importance. Since 1944, and particularly under the 1974 SFRY constitution, Kosovo had a degree of autonomy. In all areas, social economic and national policy, Kosovo had the same protection that the republics had in disputes between Serbia and Kosovo including the Federal Constitutional court. This was removed in 1989–1990 and could not be re-established once the SFRY had disintegrated, the position of Kosovo under the 1974 Constitution was cancelled in 1989–1990 by Serbias federal authorities. Some think that this speech helped Miloševic consolidate his authority in Serbia, with the rise to power of nationalist movement in Serbia, the limitation of powers for Kosovo begin. In 1989 Serbian assembly began passing amendments for restricting Kosovos powers, however, Serbia could propose such amendments they required acceptance by the Kosovo Assembly before being adopted. Representatives handpicked by Serbia approved changes to Kosovos Constitution, starting the disintegration of the SFRY, on 2 July 1990, the self-declared Kosovo parliament declared Kosovo a republic in Yugoslavia. On 7 September 1990 in the town of Kaçanik,35 miles south of Prishtina, witch confirmed the referendum and on 22 September 1991 declared Kosovo an independent country, the Republic of Kosovo. The Constitution of Kaçanik 1990, was written to give Albanians freedom, fairness and wellbeing within Yugoslavia and stipulated that the people were the ones who select their wellbeing, the head of the meeting on 7 September 1990 was Iljaz Ramajli. Kosovos constitutional status of the period June 1999 – February 2008 was established by the United Nations in UN Security Council Resolution 1244, adopted on 10 June 1999. The Security Council placed Kosovo under the administration of the United Nations Mission in Kosovo. It also established a requirement that the status process must take full account of the principles of sovereignty
4.
Government of Serbia
–
The Government of Serbia, formally the Government of the Republic of Serbia, commonly abbreviated to Serbian Government, is the executive branch of government in Serbia. The affairs of government are decided by a Cabinet of Ministers, the incumbent Cabinet was elected on 11 August 2016. The incumbent Cabinet was elected on 11 August 2016 by a majority vote in the National Assembly and it is the second consecutive cabinet presided by Aleksandar Vučić. It has 19 members,16 with a ministry and 3 without portfolio, Cabinet of Serbia Cabinet of Serbia Cabinet of Serbia Cabinet of Serbia Cabinet of Serbia Cabinet of Serbia Official website
5.
Prime Minister of Serbia
–
The Prime Minister of Serbia, officially the President of the Government of the Republic of Serbia, is the head of the Government of Serbia. The role of the Prime Minister is to direct the work of the Government, the resignation of the Prime Minister will cause the fall of the Government. The current Prime Minister, Aleksandar Vučić, the leader of the Serbian Progressive Party, was appointed by President Tomislav Nikolić on 27 April 2014. Vučić is due to office by 31 May 2017, when he is due to take office as President of Serbia for a five-year term. Initially the Council had no ministers, just members, but in 1811 modern ministries were created, Government ceased to exist with the collapse of the First Serbian Uprising on 3 October 1813, however later continued in exile in Hotin from 1813 until 1814. Government was restored on 21 November 1815 following the Second Serbian Uprising, head of government was styled Princes Representative. The style remained official until 1861, even after the establishing of constitutional government in 1835, prior to that date, the office was of no major importance or influence and depended solely on the will of the Prince Miloš Obrenović. From 1861 until 1903, the head of government was styled President of the Ministry, from 1903 until the creation of the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes on 1 December 1918, head of government was styled President of the Council of Ministers. Under the communist regime after 1945, Serbia got a sort of separate Tito-appointed government opposed to the German-installed one in September 1941, First, the head of government was styled President of the Executive Council of the Supreme National Liberational Council until 7 March 1945. In some later articles about the recent history of Serbia, term is applied to Stanko Radmilović, Desimir Jevtić
6.
Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia
–
The Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia, is the official Deputy of the Prime Minister of Serbia. Conventionally all of the partners in the coalition, get one deputy. The office of the Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia was established on 11 February 1991 and it was initially held by four people, Slobodan Prohaska, Velimir Radivojević, Nikola Stanić and Jovan Zebić. Since then, the office was held simultaneously by several people at the same time. Also, Deputy Prime Ministers may or may not combine the post with another government portfolio, the current Deputy Prime Ministers are Ivica Dačić, Zorana Mihajlović, Nebojša Stefanović and Rasim Ljajić. Government of Serbia Cabinet of Serbia Cabinet of Serbia Cabinet of Serbia Cabinet of Serbia Cabinet of Serbia Government of Serbia Serbian ministries, etc – Rulers. org
7.
Serbian presidential election, 2012
–
The presidential election took place on 6 May 2012 in Serbia, on the same date as the parliamentary election. The election was called following President Boris Tadićs early resignation in order to coincide with the parliamentary, the Speaker of the Parliament, Slavica Đukić Dejanović, took over as the Acting President. As no candidate won a majority, a runoff was on 20 May, according to preliminary results published by CeSID, Ipsos and RIK, Tomislav Nikolić has beaten his opponent Boris Tadić and is the new President of Serbia. Official results confirmed that, putting Nikolić at 51. 12% against Tadićs 48. 88%, first round of the elections was held on 6 May. Republic Electoral Commission has confirmed twelve candidates, candidate numbers were decided using a random draw on 20 April. Both the SNS and the DS supported Serbias candidature for the EU, a few hours before the voting centres opened, Tadić told Croatian television that anything else would be a big risk and a big gamble for Serbias European integration for regional politics. Shortly after the first round, a coalition agreement between the DS and the SPS was reached, which meant that the SPS would also endorse Tadić in the run-off. The DSS officially supported Nikolić in the run-off, the Center for Free Elections and Democracy were amongst the electoral observers. About 6.7 million people were eligible to vote for the 12 candidates, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe will undertake the organization of voting for the roughly 109,000 Serb voters in Kosovo. Voting stations were open from 7,00 to 20,00 with no incidents reported across the country, voter turnout by 18,00 was 46. 34% in Belgrade,48. 37% in central Serbia and 47. 89% in Vojvodina. The first round resulted in no victory for any candidate. With 25% of ballots counted, Boris Tadić was leading with 26. 7% over Tomislav Nikolić who had 25. 5% of the vote, incumbent Boris Tadić has lost the presidential elections in Serbia to his opponent, Tomislav Nikolić from the Serbian Progressive Party. Nikolić has won 49. 7% of the votes in the runoff of the Serbian presidential elections on Sunday vs. 47% for Tadić, according to data of the Serbian Center for Free Elections and Democracy. This electional results are surprise, as stated by Russian media and this was an electoral earthquake, a totally unexpected result, political analyst Slobodan Antonić said on Serbias RTS state television. Thousands of Nikolić supporters gathered in central Belgrade and other Serbian towns late on Sunday, media related to 2012 elections in Serbia at Wikimedia Commons
8.
Municipalities and cities of Serbia
–
The municipalities and cities of Serbia are the second level administrative subdivisions of the country. Serbia is divided into 147 municipalities and 27 cities, forming the basic level of local government, also, the city of Belgrade has a status of separate statistical region. Municipalities and cities are the units of Serbia, and they form 29 districts in groups. They are defined by the Government of Serbias Enactment of 29 January 1992, a city may and may not be divided into city municipalities depending on their size. Currently, there are six cities in Serbia with city municipalities, Belgrade, Novi Sad, Niš, Požarevac, Užice and Vranje comprise several city municipalities each, divided into urban, Municipalities Like in many other countries, municipalities are the basic entities of local government in Serbia. The head of the municipality is the President of the municipality, while the power is held by the Municipal council. Municipal assembly is elected on local elections, while the President, Municipalities have their own property and budget. Only the cities officially have mayors, although the presidents are often informally referred to as such. The territory of a municipality is composed of a town and surrounding villages, the municipality bears the name of the seat town. Only one municipality does not share the name with the seat town and this municipality is located in Kosovo, and thus exists only on paper. The territory of the municipality was merged with part of the Municipality of Prizren in 2000 by UNMIK to form new Municipality of Dragaš and this move is not recognised by Serbian Government. Cities and city municipalities Cities are another type of local self-government, the territory with the city status usually has more than 100,000 inhabitants, but is otherwise very similar to municipality. There are 27 cities, each having an assembly and budget of its own, only the cities have mayors, although the presidents of the municipalities are often referred to as mayors in everyday usage. As with a municipality, the territory of a city is composed of a city proper, every city is part of a district. The exception is the capital Belgrade, which is not part of any district, the city may or may not be divided into city municipalities. Six cities, Belgrade, Novi Sad, Niš, Požarevac, Vranje, competences of cities and city municipalities are divided. The city municipalities of these six cities also have their assemblies, the two largest city municipalities by number of residents are the City municipality of Novi Sad and New Belgrade. The city of Kragujevac had its own city municipalities from 2002 until 2008, in 2013, the city municipality of Sevojno within the city of Užice was established
9.
Montenegro
–
Montenegro is a sovereign state in Southeastern Europe. Its capital and largest city is Podgorica, while Cetinje is designated as the Old Royal Capital. In the 9th century, three Slavic principalities were in the territory of Montenegro, Duklja, roughly corresponding to the half, Travunia, the west, and Rascia. In 1042, archon Stefan Vojislav led a revolt that resulted in the independence of Duklja, Duklja reached its zenith under Vojislavs son, Mihailo, and his grandson Bodin. By the 13th century, Zeta had replaced Duklja when referring to the realm. In the late 14th century, southern Montenegro came under the rule of the Balšić noble family, then the Crnojević noble family, large portions fell under the control of the Ottoman Empire from 1496 to 1878. Parts were controlled by Venice and the First French Empire and Austria-Hungary, from 1515 until 1851, the prince-bishops of Cetinje were the rulers. The House of Petrović-Njegoš ruled the country from 1697 to 1918, from 1918, it was a part of Kingdom of Yugoslavia, which was succeeded by SFR Yugoslavia in 1945, FR Yugoslavia in 1992, and subsequently by the state union of Serbia and Montenegro in 2003. On the basis of a referendum held on 21 May 2006. Montenegro is also a candidate negotiating to join the European Union, on 2 December 2015, Montenegro received an official invitation to join NATO, whereby it would be the 29th member country. This invitation was meant to start accession talks. The countrys name in most Western European languages reflects an adaptation of the Venetian Montenegro, many other languages, particularly nearby ones, use their own direct translation of the term black mountain. Examples are the Albanian name for the country, Mali i Zi, the Greek name Μαυροβούνιο, the Chinese name 黑山, all Slavic languages use slight variations on the Montenegrin name Crna Gora, examples include the Czech Černá Hora and the Polish Czarnogóra. Chechen and Ingush people call the country Ӏаьржаламанчоь, the name Crna Gora came to denote the majority of contemporary Montenegro only in the 15th century. The aforementioned region became known as Old Montenegro by the 19th century to distinguish it from the acquired territory of Brda. Its borders have changed little since then, losing Metohija and gaining the Bay of Kotor, the ISO Alpha-2 code for Montenegro is ME and the Alpha-3 Code is MNE. By 1000 BC, a common Illyrian language and culture had spread across much of the Balkans, interaction amongst groups was not always friendly – hill forts were the most common form of settlement – but distinctive Illyrian art forms such as amber and bronze jewellery evolved. In time, the Illyrians established a federation of tribes centred in what is now Macedonia
10.
Human rights
–
Human rights are moral principles or norms, which describe certain standards of human behaviour, and are regularly protected as legal rights in municipal and international law. They are applicable everywhere and at time in the sense of being universal. They require empathy and the rule of law and impose an obligation on persons to respect the rights of others. They should not be taken away except as a result of due process based on circumstances, for example, human rights may include freedom from unlawful imprisonment, torture. The doctrine of human rights has been influential within international law. Actions by states and non-governmental organizations form a basis of public policy worldwide, the idea of human rights suggests that if the public discourse of peacetime global society can be said to have a common moral language, it is that of human rights. The strong claims made by the doctrine of human rights continue to provoke considerable skepticism and debates about the content, nature, ancient peoples did not have the same modern-day conception of universal human rights. Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the family is the foundation of freedom. All human beings are free and equal in dignity and rights. According to Jack Donnelly, in the ancient world, traditional societies typically have had elaborate systems of duties, conceptions of justice, political legitimacy, and human flourishing that sought to realize human dignity, flourishing, or well-being entirely independent of human rights. These institutions and practices are alternative to, rather than different formulations of, one theory is that human rights were developed during the early Modern period, alongside the European secularization of Judeo-Christian ethics. The most commonly held view is that the concept of human rights evolved in the West, for example, McIntyre argues there is no word for right in any language before 1400. One of the oldest records of rights is the statute of Kalisz, giving privileges to the Jewish minority in the Kingdom of Poland such as protection from discrimination. Samuel Moyn suggests that the concept of rights is intertwined with the modern sense of citizenship. The earliest conceptualization of human rights is credited to ideas about natural rights emanating from natural law, in particular, the issue of universal rights was introduced by the examination of extending rights to indigenous peoples by Spanish clerics, such as Francisco de Vitoria and Bartolomé de Las Casas. In Britain in 1689, the English Bill of Rights and the Scottish Claim of Right each made illegal a range of oppressive governmental actions, additionally, the Virginia Declaration of Rights of 1776 encoded into law a number of fundamental civil rights and civil freedoms. These were followed by developments in philosophy of human rights by philosophers such as Thomas Paine, John Stuart Mill, hegel during the 18th and 19th centuries. Although the term had been used by at least one author as early as 1742, in the 19th century, human rights became a central concern over the issue of slavery
