Tadić met party leaders

Tadić met party leaders

The meeting was partially triggered by the request of the Democratic Party of Serbia to gather the ‘old’ parliament in order to adopt a position on Kosovo. Suggestions made by advisers to Prime Minister Koštunica that the new negotiating team should include representatives of all parliamentary parties also added to the urgency of calling up the meeting.

Tomislav Nikolić appeared on behalf of the Serbian Radical Party.

Slobodan Samardžić and Vladeta Janković voiced the positions of the Democratic Party of Serbia, accompanied by Miroslav Markićević from New Serbia.

Democratic Party Vice President Dušan Petrović, G17 Plus leader Mlađan Dinkić and G17 official Suzana Grubješić, Socialist Party of Serbia leader Ivica Dačić also attended the meeting.

The LDP-SDU-GSS-LSV coalition showed up with two representatives - Social Democratic Union President Žarko Korać and LDP Vice President Nenad Milić.

Neither party was willing to disclose its standpoint prior to the meeting. Zoran Lončar, DSS official, was the only one to speak up on the subject and articulate his party’s beliefs that brutal snatching of Serbian territory was at work.

Janković: “Ahtisaari’s plan unacceptable”

Vladeta Janković, advisor to the outgoing prime minister, said that the current caretaker government deems all the points of Martti Ahtisaari’s plan unacceptable, since the plan, in essence, leads to independence for Kosovo.

“It means that Serbia will be denied 15 percent of its territory. The plan envisages all the trappings of an independent country, excluding the word independence”, Janković told the BBC, adding that the government will adhere to the international law and basic documents that uphold international order in its effort to thwart Ahtisaari’s plan.

“Naturally, we will take no military action”, Janković said, adding that the government would have to reconsider the nature of its relations with the countries that cling to a unilateral recognition of Kosovo’s independence. Janković maintained that reassessing relations does not mean an immediate break, which would lead to a self-imposed isolation that Serbia cannot afford.

Svilanović: Clashing viewpoints

South-Eastern Europe Stability Pact official and former Serbian Foreign Minister Goran Svilanović told B92 that a fresh round of talks in Vienna would be in Serbia’s best interests. “Serbia should assume an active role in the talks and discuss the points of Ahtisaari’s proposal outlining the status issue and the lives of the Serbian communities in the enclaves.”

When asked whether he expected Russia to veto an unfavorable status proposal at the UN Security Council, Svilanović replied that no one could know that answer with certainty. “I believe that Russia’s behavior depends on the course of the talks, and if Belgrade chooses to be active and come up with realistic solutions or to boycott the talks. It also depends on the overall relations between Russia and the EU and Russia and the US. I think it is too early to draw any conclusions. The European Troika is currently in Moscow to discuss the issue”, Svilanović added.

“The Democratic Party of Serbia’s idea to form a new negotiating team is at odds with their previous statement that Ahtisaari’s blueprint should be rejected. Rejection would mean to no talks. I believe that no good can come out of dismissing the proposal. Taking part in fresh talks is in our interest. I see no point in creating a new negotiating team. It could only prolong the achievement of any agreement. It seems like a prelude to a concentration government”, Svilanović concluded.

Jovanović: Ahtisaari’s blueprint will take us forward