Dinkić: Governing coalition “unsustainable”

Mladjan Dinkic says that the ruling coalition is untenable in the long run. The economy and regional development minister said that there were completely conflicting views on certain issues within the government. Dinkic: Governing coalition “unsustainable” “The government must work with minimal consensus; we currently have a consensus on some things, but we have diametrically opposing opinions on others, and I admit that it is not a situation that will be sustainable in the long-term,” Dinkic told B92. The minister said that his G17 Plus party had not entered the government at any cost, adding that he expected the government to function well. “If it is going to lead Serbia towards the EU, if it will lead towards a stronger economy, a better standard of living for its citizens, then it is good. If not, then we will sit down and see what we will do,” Dinkic said. He said that Serbia could not cooperate exclusively with countries that had not recognized Kosovo’s independence because 55 percent of Serbia’s exports and imports go through the EU. Dinkic said that the government was not working cohesively and that it could not allow ministers from the Democratic Party of Serbia to tell the media that Serbia did not wish to become an EU member. “A minister from the DSS asked what people from the government were doing in the Czech embassy. Can you imagine? Someone who works for the government talked to someone from an embassy that recognized Kosovo independence! Are we in a concentration camp here? We cannot allow things like this,” the minister insisted. He said that it was necessary to rebalance the budget in order to help Serbs still in Kosovo, and that Serbia would have enough money for that once it stopped paying off Kosovo’s debt in agreement with international trustees. Dinkic said that Serbia had not had economic sovereignty in Kosovo since 1999, and he believed that his proposal to stop paying off Kosovo’s debt would be passed by the government. “Only an idiot would pretend to be blind and pay for something that will never be returned. Imagine what a disaster it would be if taxes increased as if money was growing on trees. Some people who are giving statements—I heard minister Loncar at a press conference, he obviously does not know much about economic issues, because money does not grow on trees, it is taken from the Serbian people and everyone pays their taxes,” the minister stressed. He said that one way to rebalance the budget was to increase taxes, which Finance Minister Mirko Cvetkovic also opposed, “and G17 Plus would never vote for increasing taxes for the citizens of Serbia because it is not necessary.” Dinkic said that another option was to redistribute current expenditure, which could be done by withdrawing some investments from Vojvodina or central Serbia and redirecting them towards the Kosovo Serbs. Dinkic said that he was against that as well, because the money being used to pay for Kosovo’s debt should instead be given to the Kosovo Serbs. He said that citizens would be able to receive EUR 1000 worth of free shares if Serbia continued its economic reform, European integration and kept attracting new foreign investors at the current rate. Dinkic said that G17 Plus would do everything it could to block the energy arrangement with Russia which involved selling off the Serbian Oil Industry, as it would be detrimental to the taxpayer.

Dinkić: Governing coalition “unsustainable”

“The government must work with minimal consensus; we currently have a consensus on some things, but we have diametrically opposing opinions on others, and I admit that it is not a situation that will be sustainable in the long-term,” Dinkić told B92.

The minister said that his G17 Plus party had not entered the government at any cost, adding that he expected the government to function well.

“If it is going to lead Serbia towards the EU, if it will lead towards a stronger economy, a better standard of living for its citizens, then it is good. If not, then we will sit down and see what we will do,” Dinkić said.

He said that Serbia could not cooperate exclusively with countries that had not recognized Kosovo’s independence because 55 percent of Serbia’s exports and imports go through the EU.

Dinkić said that the government was not working cohesively and that it could not allow ministers from the Democratic Party of Serbia to tell the media that Serbia did not wish to become an EU member.

“A minister from the DSS asked what people from the government were doing in the Czech embassy. Can you imagine? Someone who works for the government talked to someone from an embassy that recognized Kosovo independence! Are we in a concentration camp here? We cannot allow things like this,” the minister insisted.

He said that it was necessary to rebalance the budget in order to help Serbs still in Kosovo, and that Serbia would have enough money for that once it stopped paying off Kosovo’s debt in agreement with international trustees.

Dinkić said that Serbia had not had economic sovereignty in Kosovo since 1999, and he believed that his proposal to stop paying off Kosovo’s debt would be passed by the government.

“Only an idiot would pretend to be blind and pay for something that will never be returned. Imagine what a disaster it would be if taxes increased as if money was growing on trees. Some people who are giving statements—I heard minister Lončar at a press conference, he obviously does not know much about economic issues, because money does not grow on trees, it is taken from the Serbian people and everyone pays their taxes,” the minister stressed.

He said that one way to rebalance the budget was to increase taxes, which Finance Minister Mirko Cvetković also opposed, “and G17 Plus would never vote for increasing taxes for the citizens of Serbia because it is not necessary.”

Dinkić said that another option was to redistribute current expenditure, which could be done by withdrawing some investments from Vojvodina or central Serbia and redirecting them towards the Kosovo Serbs.

Dinkić said that he was against that as well, because the money being used to pay for Kosovo’s debt should instead be given to the Kosovo Serbs.

He said that citizens would be able to receive EUR 1000 worth of free shares if Serbia continued its economic reform, European integration and kept attracting new foreign investors at the current rate.

Dinkić said that G17 Plus would do everything it could to block the energy arrangement with Russia which involved selling off the Serbian Oil Industry, as it would be detrimental to the taxpayer.