PODGORICA (AP) - Montenegro’s pro-independence President Filip Vujanovic said yesterday that his republic should not give up independence from Serbia for a speedier entry into the EU. “I would never sacrifice our statehood for the sake of faster membership in the EU,” Vujanovic said, speaking in the Montenegrin assembly. Vujanovic, who has pledged to secure independence for his republic of about 600,000 people, expressed hope that the EU would “understand” Montenegro’s position.

BELGRADE (AP) - The arrest in Serbia and extradition to Spain of a key terrorist suspect should not increase any al-Qaeda threats to the Balkan republic, a Belgrade official said yesterday. But the affair had drawn “unnecessary” attention to Serbia-Montenegro, according to Rasim Ljajic, the country’s human rights minister. Ljajic was referring to Abdelmajid Bouchar, a 22-year-old Moroccan who allegedly had ties with the ringleaders of the March 11, 2004 train bombings in Spain.

A Turkish passenger plane made an emergency landing at Budapest’s international airport yesterday after a passenger died, officials said. The pilots of the Fly Air plane en route to the Netherlands requested an emergency landing when a passenger onboard became ill. The passenger, who apparently suffered a heart attack, died before the plane touched down, airport officials said. (AP)

Some 30 percent of Croats are prepared to pay a bribe to get a job, according to a survey released yesterday, indicating that graft was likely to remain a major concern in the EU candidate country. According to the survey conducted by an online employment agency, Posao.hr, 30 percent of Croats said they would pay if asked to by potential employers. Some 28 percent have already had to put down some cash to secure employment, the survey said. (Reuters)

At least three people were killed yesterday in a helicopter crash in northern Montenegro, authorities said. The crash occurred around noon, northeast of Zabljak, some 150 kilometers (90 miles) north of Montenegro’s capital Podgorica, in the River Susica canyon, investigative judge Rajko Sibalic said. (AP)

Bulgaria is as ready to join the EU as the bloc’s 10 newest members were a year before their 2004 accession and will demand equal treatment, its new prime minister said in an interview published yesterday. “The current situation is significantly worse for us today than it was for the 10 countries in the last expansion,” Sergei Stanishev told the newspaper Sega in his first interview since taking power. “We insist on equal treatment on the basis of our progress. Bulgaria is not less prepared than the 10 countries from central and eastern Europe 15 months before their entry.” (Reuters)

A Croatian journalist, charged by the UN war crimes tribunal with contempt of court for revealing the identity of a protected witness, refused to appear before the tribunal yesterday, arguing it had exceeded its authority. “The UN tribunal has no jurisdiction over acts for which they are accusing me and that is why I did not go to The Hague today,” Josip Jovic told national radio. (AFP)