TRAVEL REPORT The Hon. Michael Atkinson MP Attorney-General ...

The Mayor was commended on her bravery for having taken on the challengeof office under such dangerous circumstances and asked her toprovide somemore details of the method of government and the electoral process thatgoverns the municipality .There are about 1,400,000 voters in Belgrade and it is expected that there willbe a 50% turnout at the next election . The Mayoralty is an individual race ; butthe Council is elected according to party lists . 30% of the candidates on eachparty list must be women, a requirement which was introduced two years ago .The municipality is funded by the Republic and has a budget of about half abillion Euros . Belgrade can levy its own taxes . It is one of the rareGovernments that did not have political/financial scandals and has managedover 10,000 public tenders with less then 1 % of these processes attractingcomplaints .The Mayor who was elected to that position 4 years ago has been in politicsfor 12 years and is a member of a small and not a very strong party electedShe is not running again, but will support a colleague from her party .After the election she expects to continue as a member of the City Council .As for plans ahead she has had some talks about possible future roles but iscommitted to remaining part of this coalition until after the next election .There are no big challenges for her successor as she thinks the next periodwill be easier than the period she has presided over . The rules and legislationrequired to move forward have already been introduced and the policies andplans have been determined . During her time they had to start from zero,whereas the new Municipal leadership will now have an established base .The Mayor had once also been the Acting Director of Studio B and it wasnoted that Serbia in particular amongst the former Yugoslav Republics had ahuge, thriving film industry 20-30 years ago before the War . Some famousfilms included 'Arizona Dream', 'Underground', 'Black Cat, White Cat', 'BalkanSpy' and 'Who is Singing over There' . They have a 35 year-old film festivalthat was world-renowned and hosted such luminaries such as Hitchcock,Burton, Bergmann, Ullman and many other famous names . But like everyindustry it was devastated by the War . Now, they produce maybe 10 films ayear but feel that with their previous experience they could provided enormousopportunities for improvement and cooperation .The Mayor felt that on the issue of investment that Belgrade offered someadvantages such as, cheap labour, cheap real estate and land, a goodenvironment, but needed to be a able to provide political stability . Sheexpects this Government to remain in power for another year and that it willco-operate with The Hague . A positive campaign by the media is needed tochange Serbian attitudes and explain to the citizens what the benefits wouldbe . However, they must also be prepared to address the consequences forthe crimes committed during the war. Serbians must come to terms with whathas happened and they cannot continue to live in the past .Travel Report, Hon. Michael Atkinson, M.P. and Ms. Vini Ciccarello MP ., August, 2004 102