"Solana doing his best to offer SAA"

Javier Solana is determined to do everything in his power for Serbia to be able to sign the SAA with the EU, says LDP leader Cedomir Jovanovic. However, Belgrade must agree to complete cooperation with the Hague Tribunal before the parliaments of the EU member-states ratify the document, he said after meeting with the EU high representative on April 15, in Brussels. "Solana doing his best to offer SAA" Asked by journalists if Solana believed the agreement could be signed before the parliamentary elections in Serbia on May 11, Jovanovic replied that Solana had voiced "his firm conviction that signing the agreement and opening Europe’s door to Serbia would encourage Serbian citizens." The session of EU foreign ministers, due to be held on April 28, in Luxembourg, and the visit of Hague Tribunal Chief Prosecutor Serge Brammertz to Belgrade would be crucial, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) leader said. He added that he expected President Boris Tadic to "do everything to convince his partners in Europe that this time Serbia was truly ready to complete all the tasks that stand before it, and make up for lost trust." Asked if Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) leader Vojislav Kostunica's "obvious" shift in position, in endorsing Serbia's integration in Europe if the EU confirmed the country's sovereignty, had been discussed, Jovanovic replied in the affirmative. “We also recalled problems with the state union, with Montenegro’s independence, but the transformation now so pronounced in Kostunica's policies was visible to us back when he was still an acceptable partner to the EU,” the LDP leader stressed. After talks with European Parliament officials, he said that "signing the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) with the EU would be a great boost for the democratic forces in Serbia." But the main problem was still within Serbia itself, not the generally "improper conditions" set by the EU, Jovanovic told a joint news conference with the head of the Liberals in the European Parliament, Graham Watson, and European Parliament Rapporteur for Serbia Jelko Kacin. Asked whether he believed in a post-election coalition with the Democratic Party (DS), the LDP leader pointed out that "we are oriented towards one another, and I know that all DS voters want almost the same as LDP voters." "But we do not like the idea of forging any coalition after the election. We want a reform policy, and we do not see ourselves in a coalition that would keep doing what Kostunica's previous coalitions have done up to now," he said. Cedomir Jovanovic (FoNet, archive)

"Solana doing his best to offer SAA"

Asked by journalists if Solana believed the agreement could be signed before the parliamentary elections in Serbia on May 11, Jovanović replied that Solana had voiced "his firm conviction that signing the agreement and opening Europe’s door to Serbia would encourage Serbian citizens."

The session of EU foreign ministers, due to be held on April 28, in Luxembourg, and the visit of Hague Tribunal Chief Prosecutor Serge Brammertz to Belgrade would be crucial, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) leader said.

He added that he expected President Boris Tadić to "do everything to convince his partners in Europe that this time Serbia was truly ready to complete all the tasks that stand before it, and make up for lost trust."

Asked if Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) leader Vojislav Koštunica's "obvious" shift in position, in endorsing Serbia's integration in Europe if the EU confirmed the country's sovereignty, had been discussed, Jovanović replied in the affirmative.

“We also recalled problems with the state union, with Montenegro’s independence, but the transformation now so pronounced in Koštunica's policies was visible to us back when he was still an acceptable partner to the EU,” the LDP leader stressed.

After talks with European Parliament officials, he said that "signing the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) with the EU would be a great boost for the democratic forces in Serbia."

But the main problem was still within Serbia itself, not the generally "improper conditions" set by the EU, Jovanović told a joint news conference with the head of the Liberals in the European Parliament, Graham Watson, and European Parliament Rapporteur for Serbia Jelko Kacin.

Asked whether he believed in a post-election coalition with the Democratic Party (DS), the LDP leader pointed out that "we are oriented towards one another, and I know that all DS voters want almost the same as LDP voters."

"But we do not like the idea of forging any coalition after the election. We want a reform policy, and we do not see ourselves in a coalition that would keep doing what Koštunica's previous coalitions have done up to now," he said.