Minister on ways to help Kosovo Serbs

The decision of the Constitutional Court to abolish the bonuses paid on the salaries of employees in Kosovo must be respected, Labor Minister Rasim Ljajic said. However, Ljajic said that there are other ways to help Kosovo Serbs. Minister on ways to help Kosovo Serbs “If we are going to build institutions, the decisions of the highest legal institutions must be respected regardless of what they are and what we think about them,” Ljajic said. “But the fact is that we have to find a way to stress the reality that it is not the same to live in the far away Kosovo enclaves and to live in Kragujevac, Nis or Novi Sad,” Ljajic said. He said that there would be a Serbia in Kosovo as long as there are Serbs there, and that everything must be done to “secure the conditions for having these people remain and survive in Kosovo.” “While they are in Kosovo, a realistic chance exists for the diplomatic and political fight that Serbia is leading. If the people in Kosovo leave Kosovo, the entire diplomatic battle is lost,” he said. Ljajic said that a solution could be found in accordance with the law, which will stress the difficult conditions under which Kosovo Serbs lives. “We need a peaceful and wise reaction from the government on the Constitutional Court’s decision, which must be respected, but there are different ways to help the Serbs in Kosovo,” Ljajic said. The Constitutional Court ruled that the Kosovo bonus, introduced in 2003, was unconstitutional, as it represented a form of positive discrimination. Some 45,000 people received the bonuses along with their regular salaries in Kosovo, with RSD 26bn set aside from the budget for this purpose. The current government set to reexamine the decision when it took over, and in 2008 it halved the bonus. Rasim Ljajic (Beta)

Minister on ways to help Kosovo Serbs

“If we are going to build institutions, the decisions of the highest legal institutions must be respected regardless of what they are and what we think about them,” Ljajić said.

“But the fact is that we have to find a way to stress the reality that it is not the same to live in the far away Kosovo enclaves and to live in Kragujevac, Niš or Novi Sad,” Ljajić said.

He said that there would be a Serbia in Kosovo as long as there are Serbs there, and that everything must be done to “secure the conditions for having these people remain and survive in Kosovo.”

“While they are in Kosovo, a realistic chance exists for the diplomatic and political fight that Serbia is leading. If the people in Kosovo leave Kosovo, the entire diplomatic battle is lost,” he said.

Ljajić said that a solution could be found in accordance with the law, which will stress the difficult conditions under which Kosovo Serbs lives.

“We need a peaceful and wise reaction from the government on the Constitutional Court’s decision, which must be respected, but there are different ways to help the Serbs in Kosovo,” Ljajić said.

The Constitutional Court ruled that the Kosovo bonus, introduced in 2003, was unconstitutional, as it represented a form of positive discrimination.

Some 45,000 people received the bonuses along with their regular salaries in Kosovo, with RSD 26bn set aside from the budget for this purpose.

The current government set to reexamine the decision when it took over, and in 2008 it halved the bonus.