Opposition leader pleased with declining support for EU

BELGRADE -- Vojislav Koštunica has stated that Serbia can only make progress "if it leaves behind the illusion about the paradise on earth brought by the EU".

Vojislav Koštunica (Beta, file)

Koštunica, now leader of the opposition DSS party who served as Serbia's prime minister for two terms, said in a statement sent to the media in Belgrade on Friday that it was "good news that the citizens have been changing their stance toward the EU to a significant degree".

"What's important is that a majority of the citizens have not accepted the dogma that there is no alternative to the EU, which the authorities have been trying to impose for years. There is nothing more wrong than establishing a relationship of idolatry toward the EU", said Koštunica.

According to the government's EU Integrations Office, at this point only 46 percent of Serbians support the country's membership in the EU, while 37 percent are opposed. This is the lowest level of support for the idea recorded since 2000.

Koštunica believes that the citizens "are more than clear on the fact that interests of the EU and NATO are to a large extent opposed to national and state interests of Serbia", and that this cannot be obscured by propaganda and demagoguery.

"The citizens are also aware that there is a huge crisis in many EU countries, which is facing strong social and political unrest. For all these reasons, the voice of the people should be heard, saying that it's high time for Serbia to turn toward itself and its own economic, national and state interests," the DSS leader concluded.