New authorities "abandoned detrimental policy toward EU"

BELGRADE Opposition DSS leader Vojislav Kostunica says Serbia's new government "has given up on the detrimental policy" that membership in the EU "has no alternative". Kostunica, who previously served as Yugoslav president and Serbian prime minister, noted at the same time that membership in the organization would in fact be "a rope around Serbia's neck". New authorities "abandoned detrimental policy toward EU" "The new government has not yet fully charted a course that Serbia will take. To begin with, it is significant that the state has finally given up on the detrimental policy that the EU has no alternative," Kostunica told the daily Vecernje Novosti. Asked whether the new government had "really changed anything for the better" in the past six weeks since taking over, Kostunica said that "despite its calls to loyalty to Brussels, it is nevertheless implementing a policy which diverges from the pernicious policy that the EU has no alternative, which was implemented by the Democratic Party (DS)". "Now there are alternatives, other partners and other support points. We have new relations with Russia, which we see as a change and a positive direction," he said, and added that the success of the new authorities will depend on whether they will make a clear discontinuity with the former policies - "because the former authorities devastated and made the country miserable for a long time, in the economic, political, and moral sense". Talking about Kosovo, Kostunica noted the DSS was waiting to see the new state policy on the southern province and added that the government's messages that it would honor all the agreements its predecessors made with Pristina were "a particularly sensitive issue" because the agreements on freedom of movement and integrated border management were of special importance to Serbia's future. "They refer to personal documents of our citizens in Kosovo and answer the question of whether there is an international border between Serbia and Kosovo. It is of utmost importance that the Constitutional Court annul these agreements as anti-constitutional," believes the DSS leader. Asked whether his party will continue to insist on abandonment of EU integrations if the Serbian president offers a consensus solution regarding Kosovo, Kostunica said that the DSS "undoubtedly will not back down from our position that political neutrality is the best solution for Serbia". "The option that says Serbia's state goal is EU membership needs to be removed from the agenda. Joining the EU would represent a rope around Serbia's neck. We are completely open to discussions regarding the state policy on Kosovo," the DSS leader concluded. Vojislav Kostunica (Tanjug, file) Tanjug Vecernje novosti

New authorities "abandoned detrimental policy toward EU"

"The new government has not yet fully charted a course that Serbia will take. To begin with, it is significant that the state has finally given up on the detrimental policy that the EU has no alternative," Koštunica told the daily Vecernje Novosti.

Asked whether the new government had "really changed anything for the better" in the past six weeks since taking over, Koštunica said that "despite its calls to loyalty to Brussels, it is nevertheless implementing a policy which diverges from the pernicious policy that the EU has no alternative, which was implemented by the Democratic Party (DS)".

"Now there are alternatives, other partners and other support points. We have new relations with Russia, which we see as a change and a positive direction," he said, and added that the success of the new authorities will depend on whether they will make a clear discontinuity with the former policies - "because the former authorities devastated and made the country miserable for a long time, in the economic, political, and moral sense".

Talking about Kosovo, Koštunica noted the DSS was waiting to see the new state policy on the southern province and added that the government's messages that it would honor all the agreements its predecessors made with Priština were "a particularly sensitive issue" because the agreements on freedom of movement and integrated border management were of special importance to Serbia's future.

"They refer to personal documents of our citizens in Kosovo and answer the question of whether there is an international border between Serbia and Kosovo. It is of utmost importance that the Constitutional Court annul these agreements as anti-constitutional," believes the DSS leader.

Asked whether his party will continue to insist on abandonment of EU integrations if the Serbian president offers a consensus solution regarding Kosovo, Koštunica said that the DSS "undoubtedly will not back down from our position that political neutrality is the best solution for Serbia".

"The option that says Serbia's state goal is EU membership needs to be removed from the agenda. Joining the EU would represent a rope around Serbia's neck. We are completely open to discussions regarding the state policy on Kosovo," the DSS leader concluded.