Analyst: Serbia at crossroads

A former U.S. envoy to the Balkans believes Serbia would be turning away investors and Europe if it resumed the old path with the group led by PM Vojislav Koštunica.

Izvor: Beta

Tuesday, 03.06.2008.

10:54

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A former U.S. envoy to the Balkans believes Serbia would be turning away investors and Europe if it resumed the old path with the group led by PM Vojislav Kostunica. “Serbia is now at a crossroads at a critical time,” said Robert Gelbard last night in an interview with Voice of America, adding that it was now time for the Serbian people to issue their leaders political guidelines, and to “clearly say” that it wanted EU integration to become a reality. Analyst: Serbia at crossroads He expressed his disappointment with the prime minister and his work over the last few years, stressing that those responsible for Serbia’s economic success thus far had been the people from the Democratic Party and G17 Plus. Gelbard said that he believed that the Serbian people had voted for the European option, and that Europe had shown that it was willing to accept Serbia by signing the Stabilization and Association Agreement. The former envoy criticized the Serb Radical Party, and said that it had not shown that it was ready to break from its past, though he said he was “impressed” by the strides taken by the Socialist Party of Serbia to accept democratic ideals, and that party leader Ivica Dacic was “displaying a progressive stance in that respect.” As far as talks over Kosovo were concerned, he said that he felt Kostunica had not taken advantage of the “historic possibility to take positive action towards the Kosovo Albanians,” to show that what had gone on in the past had been a mistake, and to work on improving relations. As to the province’s current status, Gelbard said that the fact was that Kosovo was a sovereign state, and that “the new Serbian government knows that it will have to live with Kosovo and, in spite of everything, dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina is required.”

Analyst: Serbia at crossroads

He expressed his disappointment with the prime minister and his work over the last few years, stressing that those responsible for Serbia’s economic success thus far had been the people from the Democratic Party and G17 Plus.

Gelbard said that he believed that the Serbian people had voted for the European option, and that Europe had shown that it was willing to accept Serbia by signing the Stabilization and Association Agreement.

The former envoy criticized the Serb Radical Party, and said that it had not shown that it was ready to break from its past, though he said he was “impressed” by the strides taken by the Socialist Party of Serbia to accept democratic ideals, and that party leader Ivica Dačić was “displaying a progressive stance in that respect.”

As far as talks over Kosovo were concerned, he said that he felt Koštunica had not taken advantage of the “historic possibility to take positive action towards the Kosovo Albanians,” to show that what had gone on in the past had been a mistake, and to work on improving relations.

As to the province’s current status, Gelbard said that the fact was that Kosovo was a sovereign state, and that “the new Serbian government knows that it will have to live with Kosovo and, in spite of everything, dialogue between Belgrade and Priština is required.”

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