KOSOVSKA MITROVICA (AP) – Serbia’s government leader ventured into the UN-run province of Kosovo early yesterday, and pledged in a New Year’s speech to prevent its secession. Arriving from Belgrade among heavy security, Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica met with members of the dwindling Kosovo Serb community that lives in the north of the contested territory. “Kosovo is the most precious part of Serbia,” Kostunica told several hundred Serbs who gathered to greet him. “Preserving Kosovo (as part of Serbia) is vital to Serbia’s future.” The UN spokesman in Kosovo, Neeraj Singh, said Kostunica was on a private visit to northern Kosovo and that the UN mission there was “duly informed” about it.

KOZLODUY (AFP) – Bulgaria on Sunday closed down two reactors at its sole remaining nuclear power plant, addressing safety concerns ahead of its midnight entry into the EU but sacrificing lucrative energy exports. The decision to close the reactors at Kozloduy, in the northwest of the country, was taken reluctantly but was part of the price of entry into the EU. Reporters watched as Mityo Hristozov, director of the central operations directorate of the national electric company, ordered the shutdown process to begin – not without a touch of bitterness. “Every child in Bulgaria knows that the reactors are safe and everybody knows that their safety is better than that of 80 percent of the reactors in France,” Hristozov said.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called Sunday on the people of Iraq to look to the future and abandon any thoughts of vengeance in the aftermath of the hanging of deposed dictator Saddam Hussein. In his country’s first official reaction to the death of Saddam, Erdogan said he was very worried about the effect that the execution might have on public order in neighboring Iraq. “At the moment there is a civil war in Iraq... about 650,000 people have lost their lives in the violence,” he told reporters in Istanbul, according to the Anatolia news agency. “It is a real catastrophe.” He emphasized that Iraq was a much higher priority for Turkey than the membership in the EU Ankara is seeking. (AFP)

The medieval Saxon city of Sibiu in Transylvania yesterday became one of Europe’s official capitals of culture. Celebrations, including fireworks, light shows and concerts, were planned for later in the day. Also known by its German name of Hermannstadt, Sibiu symbolically represents Romania’s new status as an EU member. The other city of culture for 2007 is Luxembourg. (AP)