Surnames

MOSCOW - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will pay a visit to Serbia on June 16-17, Alexander Lukashevich, spokesman for Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said on Thursday.

While in the Serbian capital, Lavrov will meet President Tomislav Nikolic, Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, and First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic, Lukashevich said.

The trial of former Croatian Defence Council fighter Perica Adzic was told that he mistreated sick and wounded people who were being treated at a school in Zepce in 1993.

"This is the most stupid thing I have read in my life," Vucic said on Tuesday, dismissing the plagiarism claims that were published by prominent Serbian independent website Pescanik.net.

"If someone wanted to attack Stefanovic, he could have been much more intelligent," he said.

BELGRADE - Serbia' First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic met with Russian Ambassador Alexander Chepurin in Belgrade Monday to discuss ways to enhance bilateral relations and a forthcoming visit to Belgrade by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

A Sudanese woman sentenced to death for converting to Christianity is expected to be released soon, a government official said on May 31, after Khartoum came under diplomatic pressure to halt her execution.

BELGRADE - The Serbian government has lifted the state of emergency in the territory of the country, and Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic thanked all ministers for their efforts in previous days.

Russia launches large-scale humanitarian operation

MOSCOW -- Russian Emergency Situations Minister Vladimir Puchkov has announced that his country had launched a large-scale humanitarian operation to help Serbia.

Serbia is experiencing the worst flooding in over a century.

The prospect of annexing the east of Ukraine to the Russian Federation is a "hypothetical question", Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday.

In an interview for Bloomberg TV, Lavrov explained that what was important in the Ukraine crisis was not about incorporation of territories, but about "how people will feel in this country".

BELGRADE - MP of the Serbian Progressive Party Veroljub Arsic was appointed chair of the Serbian Parliament Committee on Finance, State Budget and Control of Public Spending on Friday, while caucus whip of the Democratic Party (DS) Dragan Djilas assumed office as the committee's deputy chair.

BELGRADE - Nebojsa Stefanovic, Serbian Minister of the Interior who up until recently held office as the Serbian parliament speaker, won the recognition Najevropljanin 2013 (Best European of the Year) for politics.