SNS to support "state-building decisions"

The Serb Progressive Party (SNS) says that it will support the ruling coalition in decisions related to cooperation with Russia and preserving Kosovo. However, party leader Tomislav Nikolic said that he would oppose the Democratic Party and its coalition in all other matters. SNS to support "state-building decisions" “We will not help them in passing laws and ruling Serbia, but if Serbia needs all our help, then we will definitely be there for her,” Nikolic told the Tanjug news agency. “It goes without saying how we’ll vote for laws which regard cooperation with Russia, with the rest of the world, decisions on Kosovo, provided they are good state-building decisions,” said the SNS leader. Nikolic said that the collapse of the Serb Radical Party (SRS) and the formation of his own SNS would prevent the DS from uniting all the parties of the left and center right. “Had the SRS not collapsed, then it together with [Vojislav] Kostunica’s party (the Democratic Party of Serbia) would have gone to the ultra-right, and the DS would have been left the entire spectrum of positions it has. We would have left them the possibility of cooperation with our friends and with those who aren’t, and we’d be left hanging, without any friends, cooperation, or support, without any possibility of becoming the government in Serbia,” Nikolic said. He said that cooperation between the SRS and SNS was possible, but only in an indirect way, such as having the same opinion on parliamentary acts. “I know [SRS leader Vojislav] Seselj, and he will never allow cooperation with us of any kind,” Nikolic said, adding that the SNS was open to cooperation with the DSS and NS, but that he was not receiving the same messages from them. The SNS leader said that the DSS’s fears that their MPs could jump ship between the two parties if cooperation occurred were completely unfounded. He said that the SNS was open to cooperation with former SRS official and Novi Sad Mayor Maja Gojkovic, who recently founded her own party. “She has chosen her path, and we will be looking to see that party’s profile. If it is really a national party, as it is being called, then there will surely be cooperation between us, especially in the Novi Sad city assembly,” Nikolic said. The former SRS deputy leader said that the SNS was pursuing moderate policies, and that the policies that “set the SRS and SNS apart” would lead to victory in the elections. Nikolic added that his party would push for Serbia to become a country that “will make stronger moves towards cooperation with Russia and other friendly countries in the world, and oppose EU demands even more vehemently.” “There should be discussions and contact with the EU, development of economic relations, but all the while insisting that Kosovo is an integral part of Serbia,” said the SNS leader. He said that his policies towards the Hague Tribunal would not change and that he would continue to oppose cooperation. Nikolic said that he wanted better relations with the EU and that he planned to talk with European Union officials, which, he said, he had been forbidden to do in the SRS. He said that successful foreign policies could only be pusued by a strong Serbia, and that she could only become strong by remaining in contact with the most influential countries of the international community. “How can we not talk to the American ambassador when that is an opportunity to give him my views and tell him what could happen tomorrow. So I can talk to him about whether we can have a better tomorrow and whether giving up Kosovo is a condition for that,” Nikolic said. Asked whether the SNS supported the concept of a “Greater Serbia,” Nikolic said that this would not be the basis for his party and that it would probably not be the basis for the SRS either. He said that the party would finance itself through its members, but that it would not turn away potential businessmen and tycoons interested in helping. Tomislav Nikolic (FoNet, archive)

SNS to support "state-building decisions"

“We will not help them in passing laws and ruling Serbia, but if Serbia needs all our help, then we will definitely be there for her,” Nikolić told the Tanjug news agency.

“It goes without saying how we’ll vote for laws which regard cooperation with Russia, with the rest of the world, decisions on Kosovo, provided they are good state-building decisions,” said the SNS leader.

Nikolić said that the collapse of the Serb Radical Party (SRS) and the formation of his own SNS would prevent the DS from uniting all the parties of the left and center right.

“Had the SRS not collapsed, then it together with [Vojislav] Koštunica’s party (the Democratic Party of Serbia) would have gone to the ultra-right, and the DS would have been left the entire spectrum of positions it has. We would have left them the possibility of cooperation with our friends and with those who aren’t, and we’d be left hanging, without any friends, cooperation, or support, without any possibility of becoming the government in Serbia,” Nikolić said.

He said that cooperation between the SRS and SNS was possible, but only in an indirect way, such as having the same opinion on parliamentary acts.

“I know [SRS leader Vojislav] Šešelj, and he will never allow cooperation with us of any kind,” Nikolić said, adding that the SNS was open to cooperation with the DSS and NS, but that he was not receiving the same messages from them.

The SNS leader said that the DSS’s fears that their MPs could jump ship between the two parties if cooperation occurred were completely unfounded.

He said that the SNS was open to cooperation with former SRS official and Novi Sad Mayor Maja Gojković, who recently founded her own party.

“She has chosen her path, and we will be looking to see that party’s profile. If it is really a national party, as it is being called, then there will surely be cooperation between us, especially in the Novi Sad city assembly,” Nikolić said.

The former SRS deputy leader said that the SNS was pursuing moderate policies, and that the policies that “set the SRS and SNS apart” would lead to victory in the elections.

Nikolić added that his party would push for Serbia to become a country that “will make stronger moves towards cooperation with Russia and other friendly countries in the world, and oppose EU demands even more vehemently.”

“There should be discussions and contact with the EU, development of economic relations, but all the while insisting that Kosovo is an integral part of Serbia,” said the SNS leader.

He said that his policies towards the Hague Tribunal would not change and that he would continue to oppose cooperation.

Nikolić said that he wanted better relations with the EU and that he planned to talk with European Union officials, which, he said, he had been forbidden to do in the SRS.

He said that successful foreign policies could only be pusued by a strong Serbia, and that she could only become strong by remaining in contact with the most influential countries of the international community.

“How can we not talk to the American ambassador when that is an opportunity to give him my views and tell him what could happen tomorrow. So I can talk to him about whether we can have a better tomorrow and whether giving up Kosovo is a condition for that,” Nikolić said.

Asked whether the SNS supported the concept of a “Greater Serbia,” Nikolić said that this would not be the basis for his party and that it would probably not be the basis for the SRS either.

He said that the party would finance itself through its members, but that it would not turn away potential businessmen and tycoons interested in helping.