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

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Wednesday, 18 August, 2004Mr Borislav NovakovicMayor of Novi SadMr Peter NagyBiographyMr Borislav Novakovic graduated from elementary school in Futog and HighSchool in Backa Palanka . He graduated from the Faculty of Philosophy inNovi Sad, Department of Sociology .He worked as Editor in Chief of the University Magazine Pro et Contra ; injournals Gaudeamus and Index ; editor of edition for sociology of religion andpolitical philosophy .He is a member of the Democratic Party since 1990 . Was spokesperson andVice President of the City Board of the Democratic Party (DS) ; was member ofthe Main Board and Vice President of the Executive Board of the DemocraticParty .Was elected to city council in 1992, 1996 and 2000, and in September 1999was elected Vice President of the City Council .At the elections in 2000 he was elected President of the City Council, and alsoas the Member of the Provincial Parliament and the Assembly of Republic ofSerbia .Since February 2004 he is the President of the Provincial Board of theDemocratic Party .He is married to Svetlana and they have three sons :Mihajlo .Aleksander, Nikola andMeeting summaryThe Mayor, Mr Borislav Novakovic, welcomed the delegation and said heappreciated the professional interest we showed to their City .We thanked him for making himself available to us and asked about theprogress of their transition from a Socialist system .It was pointed out that Serbia had not been a rigidly socialist country andcertain elements of market economy and a form of political pluralism existedbefore . However, the tragic way in which the former State of Yugoslavia splitmeant that, the country took a huge step back .In 1988 they had the potential to join the E .U and they probably would havebeen the first Eastern European country to join the E.U . had they taken thatpath . Instead they took the nationalist path of ten years of tragic which had aneffect on society and the economy . There are many problems to deal with .The greatest being changing people's mentality and making them realise thatTravel Report, Hon. Michael Atkinson, MP. and Ms . Vini Ciccarello MP., August, 2004 106
they have to accept that competition is a fact of life . They cannot come toterms that unlike under a totalitarian system nothing is certain anymore and itbecomes necessary to fight daily for what they want to achieve . Whether it isin politics, culture or the economy, the best and hardest working will win . Thefirst transitional years will be the most difficult and at the moment they areseeing some of the negative aspects . In about 10 years he expects they willsee some of the positives . In the meantime, there is a great deal of impatienceas people expect immediate results and were not prepared for some of theinitial problems such as unemployment etc . and will need some time tochange their way of thinking .Elections will be held on September 19 . This time, the City Assembly will beelected on proportional representation . The Mayor will be directly elected forthe first time . About 20 people have so far announced that they intend to run,but they need to fulfil the formal precondition of gathering 8,000 signatures ona petition, which equates to about 3% of the vote . The campaign is mainlydoor-to-door, definitely the cheapest and most effective form of campaigning .The Mayor has the endorsement of the Democratic Party and he distributesleaflets with his party's program by going door-to door . This door-to-doorpolicy is positive because it allows personal contact .All candidates make the same classic mistake - saying/promising what theyare going to build . The total annual budget of the City is only 110,000,000Euros . In terms of investments, Novi Sad is the main artery of Vojvodina, theleading centre of investment, much of which is foreign . Recently two majorinvestments have been announced, one a Slovenian Mega-market and theother a large grocery store . We are still waiting for proper big investorsbecause by its nature, it is speculative capital that enters first .The country's best investment incentives are that labour and other costs hereare cheaper than in other parts of Europe and even more so than Belgrade .This is an automatic advantage ; therefore, there is no need to offer any othertype of incentives . The city is at the initial stages of privatisation, a good timeto send a signal to business people about the good prospects of investing inSerbia .Travel Report, Hon. Michael Atkinson, MP. and Ms. Vini Ciccarello MP., August, 2004 107
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SUPPORT SERVICES OFFICE- 9 FEB 2005
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INTRODUCTIONThe Hon . Michael Atkin
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SLOVENIAGeneral backgroundSlovenia
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President, Milan Kucan, who was Pre
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when plans for the partial privatis
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founded a Slovenian language school
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Monday, 2nd August, 2004Mr Samuel Z
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cultural exhibitions play a signifi
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The Attorney-General reported on on
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acquis communautaire and those form
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Immigration is not a contentious po
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Monday, 2nd August, 2004Mr Igor Ome
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The State has adopted a number of s
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We learnt that there are 193 Munici
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CROATIAGeneral backgroundCroatia ex
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judicial system and progress human
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Economic OverviewBefore independenc
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CROATIANS IN SOUTH AUSTRALIADemogra
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CROATIA PROGRAMWednesday 4th August
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more common, the Government has not
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About 90 per cent of all the financ
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2003 President of the Democratic Ce
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If the Croatian system is not up to
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" Centre for Communication" Forensi
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There is great co-operation in figh
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Wednesday 4th August, 2004.Mr Domag
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Wednesday 4th August, 2004 .Mr Mila
Page 55 and 56: Thursday 5th August, 2004 .Mr Valer
Page 57 and 58: Mr Florean said that the defence ba
Page 59 and 60: So far, there have been no proceedi
Page 61 and 62: officers and a further 12 Croatian
Page 63 and 64: 1993 - 2001 Member of H .D .Z . Cou
Page 65 and 66: eal opportunity to achieve a synerg
Page 67 and 68: BiH is moving slowly towards becomi
Page 69 and 70: oversees the R .S .s first multi-et
Page 71 and 72: BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA PROGRAMTuesday,
Page 73 and 74: Karadjic and Mladic .tried for thei
Page 75 and 76: With support and help, the Dayton A
Page 77 and 78: Tuesday, 9 August, 2004Dr Sano Vlas
Page 79 and 80: Wednesday, 11 August, 2004The party
Page 81 and 82: create better conditions .suggestio
Page 83 and 84: within Administration . The demogra
Page 85 and 86: Australia formally recognised the s
Page 87 and 88: Foreign Affairs and Defence have De
Page 89 and 90: anking sector; adoption of new laws
Page 91 and 92: THE SERBIAN COMMUNITY IN SOUTH AUST
Page 93 and 94: The main problem facing the country
Page 95 and 96: funding constraints they are primar
Page 97 and 98: His Holiness has published Devich,
Page 99 and 100: Tuesday, 17 August, 2004Mr Vojislav
Page 101 and 102: Ms Radmila HrustanovicBelgrade Mayo
Page 103 and 104: The Mayor felt that everyone had to
Page 105: they have free time until 5 .00 p.m
Page 109 and 110: international law and specifically,
Page 111 and 112: Thursday, 19 August, 2004Mr Aleksan
Page 113 and 114: Summary of report and recommendatio
Page 115 and 116: MEDIA - AustraliaSlovenia Programme
Page 117 and 118: Croatian Program, 5EBI FMAtkinson's
Page 119 and 120: Bosnian Program, 5EB1 FMAtkinson's
Page 121 and 122: Malaysian Government and is now ope
Page 123 and 124: Serbian Program, 5EB1 FMMichael Atk
Page 125 and 126: Milosh water originates from . . .
Page 127 and 128: Media - BiHDelegation from South Au
Page 129 and 130: Wednesday, 11 .8 .2004 Sarajevo Mor
Page 131 and 132: LIBERATION (OSLOBODENJE) Wednesday,
Page 133 and 134: Friday, 13 .August, 2004 .BANJA LUK
Page 135 and 136: Sarajevo, 10.8.2004 .Public announc
Page 137 and 138: Serbia and Montenegro were still de
Page 139 and 140: AppendixDocuments ObtainedInformati
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TRAVEL REPORT The Hon. Michael Atkinson MP Attorney-General ...

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