Democrats slam nuclear shield talk

The Democrats (DS) have reacted to reports that Tomislav Nikolic has called for the setting up of a nuclear shield in Serbia. Nikolic, the deputy leader of the Radicals (SRS), and the DS president, Boris Tadic, are headed for the Feb. 3 face-off in the second round of the Serbian presidential elections. Democrats slam nuclear shield talk Yesterday in Belgrade, Defense Minister Dragan Sutanovac (DS) said that Nikolic's comments regarding a possible deployment of a Russian nuclear shield in Serbia ran against the parliament's decision to establish the country as a militarily neutral state. "At a time when modern world turns to improving the standards of living, education and healthcare, and against destructive weapons, Nikolic is offering to have nuclear rockets placed above the Serbian citizens' heads," Sutanovac said. The defense chief added he was certain Serbians will never accept such a policy, and will reject to have any country's nuclear weapons deployed here. Sutanovac concluded that Nikolic was without a doubt "the executioner of the Vojislav Seselj politics." Seselj, a Milosevic regime ally in the 1990s, is still the SRS leader, currently incarcerated at the Hague Tribunal, undergoing trial accused of war crimes by the UN court there. Later Saturday, Beta news agency carried a statement from the Nikolic election camp which denied that their candidate "ever in his life made any statements about any kind of nuclear shields or rockets." "This is a fabrication presented by Dragan Sutanovac and some regime media, who falsely reported statements by Tomislav Nikolic," the statement said. The Radicals believe that "the only ones who jeopardized Serbia's security" are Tadic and Sutanovac, "when they made the decision to send children to Afghanistan and Iraq, to [fight] wars so that they can line their pockets." The statement then concluded that the SRS presidential hopeful was "absolutely against any use of force, particularly against nuclear weapons."

Democrats slam nuclear shield talk

Yesterday in Belgrade, Defense Minister Dragan Šutanovac (DS) said that Nikolić's comments regarding a possible deployment of a Russian nuclear shield in Serbia ran against the parliament's decision to establish the country as a militarily neutral state.

"At a time when modern world turns to improving the standards of living, education and healthcare, and against destructive weapons, Nikolić is offering to have nuclear rockets placed above the Serbian citizens' heads," Šutanovac said.

The defense chief added he was certain Serbians will never accept such a policy, and will reject to have any country's nuclear weapons deployed here.

Šutanovac concluded that Nikolić was without a doubt "the executioner of the Vojislav Šešelj politics."

Šešelj, a Milošević regime ally in the 1990s, is still the SRS leader, currently incarcerated at the Hague Tribunal, undergoing trial accused of war crimes by the UN court there.

Later Saturday, Beta news agency carried a statement from the Nikolić election camp which denied that their candidate "ever in his life made any statements about any kind of nuclear shields or rockets."

"This is a fabrication presented by Dragan Šutanovac and some regime media, who falsely reported statements by Tomislav Nikolić," the statement said.

The Radicals believe that "the only ones who jeopardized Serbia's security" are Tadić and Šutanovac, "when they made the decision to send children to Afghanistan and Iraq, to [fight] wars so that they can line their pockets."

The statement then concluded that the SRS presidential hopeful was "absolutely against any use of force, particularly against nuclear weapons."