Nikola Selakovic

Belgrade-based rights groups accused Serbian Justice Minister Nikola Selakovic of using political criteria to select shortlists for prosecutors’ positions.

After several hours of debate in the Serbian National Assembly on Monday, 139 of the 169 MPs present voted for lawyer Mladen Nenadic as the new chief prosecutor for organised crime.

But the Assembly failed to elect a new chief prosecutor for war crimes because none of the five candidates attracted the required majority of 126 votes.

The Bureau for Coordination of Security Services has "fully prepared" all operational plans in case Austria, Germany and Slovenia close their borders.

This was announced after the Bureau met in Belgrade late on Tuesday by Minister of Justice Nikola Selakovic.

Justice Minister Nikola Selakovic says it is "possible that a German amendment to the draft (EU membership) negotiation chapter 35 on Kosovo will be withdrawn."

Selakovic told the Serbian state broadcaster RTS that he was "convinced that what has appeared in public as a proposal of certain positions on the negotiation chapter 35 is subject to corrections."

After the dispute over the flow of the refugees escalated into a border dispute between the two countries, Croatia on Friday continued to block freight and some passenger traffic from Serbia while Belgrade still did not allow freight transport from Croatia to enter.

Serbia and Croatia on Thursday both closed their borders to each other's freight traffic, and to some passenger traffic, as the two countries exchanged accusations over the influx of refugees.

After Croatia closed most border crossings with Serbia last week, Serbian authorities at midnight Wednesday introduced a counter-blockade on freight coming from Croatia.

The government will analyze the consequences of the Croatian government decision to impose a ban on freight traffic with Serbia, Nikola Selakovic said Tuesday.

The justice minister added that the Serbian government will also "look into all available countermeasures."

The extension of detention for Oliver Ivanovic - who has embarked on a hunger strike - is "scandalous," Justice Minister Nikola Selakovic said on Friday.

The Serbian government believes that the new law will not only boost the fight against crime and corruption, but also ensure that people regularly report their income and pay taxes.

However, watchdog organisation Transparency Serbia warned that the outcome might not meet these expectations.

A new law offering stronger protection to those who reveal abuses and corruption goes into effect in Serbia this week.

So far whistleblowers have had only administrative protection from the Anti-corruption Agency, but now they are entitled to court protection if they seek re-employment having been dismissed for reporting corruption, for example.