Serbia has a history of violence but now Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, speaking in Brussels, said, ‘We should not engage in conflicts and exchange of hard words, but make peace in the region.’ Serbia has roots of turmoil; World War I began when a Serbian nationalist assassinated Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand, leading to Austria's declaration of war against Serbia. Within months, much of Europe was at war. In 1998 the Yugoslav army and Serbian police began fighting against the separatist Kosovo Liberation Army. An estimated 1,000 Kosovars were killed in the fighting, and hundreds of thousands forced to flee their homes without adequate food and shelter. But nationalism and ethnic violence continued . In 2003 a new state was created, called Serbia and Montenegro. Today Serbia stands alone and separate from Montenegro and this week, after a meeting with Jean-Claude Juncker on Thursday, Vucic said the EC president ‘supports Serbia on its European path.’ See http://www.infoplease.com/country/serbia.html?pageno=1

A Section Fire and Civil Defence document states that forest fires each year put too much strain on emergency relief agencies, the environment and the economy while posing a threat to infrastructure and urban settlements. San Marino has found that to extinguish forest fires they have often had to resort to the external aid of personnel and equipment available to the Provincial Command of the Fire Brigade of Rimini. The main risk factors are both intentional and negligent: fires caused during cleanup of agricultural, burning of stubble, straw and other debris getting out of control, carelessness and neglect in wooded areas, cigarette butts, matches or fireworks. In this regard, the Civil Protection Service, Police, Environmental and Agricultural Resources Managements have prepared a brochure to be delivered to all households with instructions how to behave in the event of a forest fire. See also https://ca-sanmarino.civicplus.com/144/Fire-Department

‘Russia is the biggest threat to US national security and America must boost its military presence throughout Europe even as Nato allies face budget challenges and scale back spending’ said Deborah James, US Air Force Secretary, on Wednesday after a series of visits and meetings with American allies across Europe, including Poland. She said Washington was responding to Russia's recent ‘worrisome’ actions by boosting its presence across Europe and would continue rotational assignments of F-16 fighter squadrons. ‘This is no time to signal a lack of resolve in the face of these Russian actions.’ she said. Given the tensions, the air force is continuing its effort to reduce US reliance on Russian RD-180 rocket engines for military and intelligence satellite launches. She said the air force was also working hard to defend its weapons systems and networks against growing cyber-attacks.

Children and women left behind by men who have gone to find work abroad turn into thugs and prostitutes, a Romanian minister has said. As many as three million Romanians have migrated to western European countries in a bid to escape poverty in their homeland, triggering debate and concern over the consequences of the exodus from one of Europe's poorest countries. Ioan Rus, transport minister (until his resignation on Thursday night), said men working abroad could earn €1,500 (£1,000) a month, an amount to ‘turn children back home into thugs and wives into whores’. The anger triggered by Mr Rus's comments and his subsequent resignation dealt another blow to the government of Victor Ponta, which has been reeling since Friday when Mr Ponta came under a criminal investigation into corruption. The prime minister stands accused of a number of offences including forgery and money-laundering in the most high-profile corruption case in Romania since the fall of communism. (See Prayer Hub 18 June article)