BELGRADE (AFP) – Serbian President Boris Tadic said defiant Kosovo Albanian leaders could be persuaded to accept a deal to deploy an EU mission in the disputed territory, Beta news agency reported Friday. Pristina is staunchly opposed to an agreement previously reached between Belgrade and Brussels on the deployment of the 2,000-strong European Union police and justice mission (EULEX). “Such an agreement is in Serbia’s interests and I had expected Pristina wouldn’t be happy with it,” Tadic told Beta in an interview. “On the other hand, I expect international mediators to have enough methods to persuade Pristina to accept such a solution. I am quite sure they have ways to do so,” the president said. The accord, which has to be approved by the UN Security Council at Serbia’s request, deals with EULEX’s role in Serb-dominated areas of Kosovo, especially the north.

ZAGREB (Reuters) – Croatia’s government banned all Christmas and New Year receptions and gifts in state institutions and public companies on Friday as a step to cutting costs. Croatia pledged to run a balanced budget in 2009, the first since it won independence in 1991, and the government proposed a wage freeze to reduce the impact of the global financial crisis. “We forbid budgetary users to organize any Christmas and New Year receptions or buy presents. The government also requires companies in state ownership to reduce expenses,” Prime Minister Ivo Sanader told a cabinet meeting.

SARAJEVO (AFP) – The wartime commander of Bosnian Muslim forces in Srebrenica, Naser Oric, was indicted yesterday for extortion and illegal possession of arms, a local news agency reported. In order to illegally gain money, Oric “forced a certain individual, using serious threats, to conduct activities at the expense of her/his property,” the chief Sarajevo county prosecutor Branko Sljivar told the FENA news agency. Through these actions, Oric had extorted 204,000 Convertible Marks (105,000 euros; 133,000 dollars). The prosecution also accuses Oric of illegal possession of arms and ammunition, Siljvar said in the report. Oric was arrested in Sarajevo last month.

Serbia renewed its offer to pay a 1-million-euro reward ($1.25 million) for information leading to the arrest of top war crimes fugitive Ratko Mladic, said the point man for cooperation with the UN war crimes tribunal. “The offer is absolutely valid. Anyone who gives us right information that will lead us to Mladic’s arrest will get 1 million euros,” Minister Rasim Ljajic told Vecernje Novosti daily. (Reuters)

Romanian teachers’ unions yesterday postponed a nationwide pay strike that had threatened to close schools in the run-up to a November 30 parliamentary election. It was the latest in a string of public sector strikes to be called off following promises by the ruling Liberal Party and opposition groups to increase salaries after the close-fought ballot. Wage demands have become the main election topic as politicians compete for millions of potential votes from public sector workers, drawing criticism from some economists that big rises would be imprudent at a time of global financial crisis. (Reuters)

A Romanian news agency says a barge sank after colliding with an Austrian tugboat. Two crew members are missing. The Mediafax news agency quotes Danube navigation official Florin Mihalache as saying that the Austrian tugboat Linz 2 and the Romanian barge Andreea collided near the southeastern Romanian port of Calarasi. Two crew members from the barge are missing. Authorities closed off the section of the Danube where the accident occurred yesterday. A rescue operation and an investigation were under way. (AP)