“DSS supporters will back Tadić”

Dragan Sutanovac says he is convinced that Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) supporters will vote for Boris Tadic on February 3. “I feel there is a great deal of support from the Democratic Party of Serbia, I had the privilege of talking to the leaders of their municipal councils and they support Boris Tadic, so I expect that about 90 percent of the members and voters of DSS will vote for Tadic,” the Democratic Party (DS) vice-president and defense minister said in Valjevo last night. “DSS supporters will back Tadic” Sutanovac said that the coalition of DSS and New Serbia (NS) would have been better off if it had supported Tadic from the beginning. “I do not know what their motive was, and what room to maneuver they have now because of it,” he said. Sutanovac also said that he has discussed the issue with other ministers who are DSS officials, and that they support Tadic, “but I do not know if they will ever do so publicly.” He added that the Radicals are losing patience because of the polls that show that they are not doing well, so they are trying to “hide from themselves” and put all of their blame on DS and Tadic. “The Radicals want to show how Tomislav Nikolic did not promise military bases, did not promise a Russian province, did not promise a state of emergency, and did not tell a well respected Japanese magazine that Russia is offering to put an atomic shield over Serbia,” Sutanovac said. "It will not be hard to overcome Nikolic’s first round advantage during the second round of presidential voting on February 3," the minister was confident. Asked whether Serbia will be called to sign the Stabilization and Association Agreement with the European Union today, he said that “it makes no difference whether it is signed on January 28 or February 5.” “It is more important for Serbia to fulfill all standards for European integration, and have standards of the European Union established in Serbia, ” Sutanovac said.

“DSS supporters will back Tadić”

Šutanovac said that the coalition of DSS and New Serbia (NS) would have been better off if it had supported Tadić from the beginning.

“I do not know what their motive was, and what room to maneuver they have now because of it,” he said.

Šutanovac also said that he has discussed the issue with other ministers who are DSS officials, and that they support Tadić, “but I do not know if they will ever do so publicly.”

He added that the Radicals are losing patience because of the polls that show that they are not doing well, so they are trying to “hide from themselves” and put all of their blame on DS and Tadić.

“The Radicals want to show how Tomislav Nikolić did not promise military bases, did not promise a Russian province, did not promise a state of emergency, and did not tell a well respected Japanese magazine that Russia is offering to put an atomic shield over Serbia,” Šutanovac said.

"It will not be hard to overcome Nikolić’s first round advantage during the second round of presidential voting on February 3," the minister was confident.

Asked whether Serbia will be called to sign the Stabilization and Association Agreement with the European Union today, he said that “it makes no difference whether it is signed on January 28 or February 5.”

“It is more important for Serbia to fulfill all standards for European integration, and have standards of the European Union established in Serbia, ” Šutanovac said.