President: I won’t renounce national interests

Serbian President Boris Tadic has said that he cannot sign Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO) program. He explained that he could not sign the document because he was not giving up on national interests. President: I won’t renounce national interests He said that he did not agree with a policy of renouncing legitimate state and national interest and assessed that it was unusual that the LDP and the SPO were even asking him to do something like that. The Serbian president stressed that “policy in Kosovo cannot be a rock around our neck but that the problem cannot be solved by amputating a part of our body”. Commenting on the LDP and SPO’s program document, he explained that the Serbian people would disappear from Kosovo in three decades if the Ahtisaari plan was implemented and that he therefore could not support the requests of the parties that insisted on changes in the policy toward Kosovo. At the same time, the president pointed out that Serbia’s interests could not be redefined every few years just because the international circumstances had changed. “A country that renounces its legitimate interests easily is that moment recognized by the big powers as a country that one can easily set new conditions and is losing credibility in the politics,” Tadic warned. According to him, everybody in Europe knew that Serbia’s interests in Kosovo are legitimate and that is why nobody is asking Belgrade to explicitly recognize Kosovo even though some countries would like Serbia to do it implicitly. He stressed that he would therefore continue to build a policy that would ensure European future and economic prosperity to Serbia and at the same time protect legitimate interests in Kosovo that the state of Serbia could not and must not renounce. “Neither there is a prosperous future if we renounce Kosovo nor there is Kosovo if we renounce European future,” the president explained and noted that redefining of the national identity, which was partially connected with Kosovo, would cause big problems for the entire Serbian people in the future. “The idea of giving up on our interests in Kosovo and Metohija is dangerous from the EU integration point of view as well. It is an illusion that Serbia would dramatically speed up the EU accession process if it renounced its interests in Kosovo and Metohija and the example of completion of the cooperation with the Hague Tribunal shows that too,” Tadic pointed out. He explained that Serbia had in a way revealed a nature of politics in Europe by completing its cooperation with the Hague Tribunal because it turned out that enlargement was not a popular topic in the moments of crisis. According to him, this is why it is an illusion that Serbia would speed up the EU integration process by changing its policy in Kosovo. At the same time, big powers as participants of the conflict in Kosovo do not allow their actions to be questioned, the Serbian president explained. “The key point is for Serbia to preserve its identity in Kosovo and Metohija and get what is rightfully hers, that is, the right to protect its integrity, and this cannot be done if the country is in conflict with the rest of the world,” Tadic concluded. Boris Tadic (Beta, file)

President: I won’t renounce national interests

He said that he did not agree with a policy of renouncing legitimate state and national interest and assessed that it was unusual that the LDP and the SPO were even asking him to do something like that.

The Serbian president stressed that “policy in Kosovo cannot be a rock around our neck but that the problem cannot be solved by amputating a part of our body”.

Commenting on the LDP and SPO’s program document, he explained that the Serbian people would disappear from Kosovo in three decades if the Ahtisaari plan was implemented and that he therefore could not support the requests of the parties that insisted on changes in the policy toward Kosovo.

At the same time, the president pointed out that Serbia’s interests could not be redefined every few years just because the international circumstances had changed.

“A country that renounces its legitimate interests easily is that moment recognized by the big powers as a country that one can easily set new conditions and is losing credibility in the politics,” Tadić warned.

According to him, everybody in Europe knew that Serbia’s interests in Kosovo are legitimate and that is why nobody is asking Belgrade to explicitly recognize Kosovo even though some countries would like Serbia to do it implicitly. He stressed that he would therefore continue to build a policy that would ensure European future and economic prosperity to Serbia and at the same time protect legitimate interests in Kosovo that the state of Serbia could not and must not renounce.

“Neither there is a prosperous future if we renounce Kosovo nor there is Kosovo if we renounce European future,” the president explained and noted that redefining of the national identity, which was partially connected with Kosovo, would cause big problems for the entire Serbian people in the future.

“The idea of giving up on our interests in Kosovo and Metohija is dangerous from the EU integration point of view as well. It is an illusion that Serbia would dramatically speed up the EU accession process if it renounced its interests in Kosovo and Metohija and the example of completion of the cooperation with the Hague Tribunal shows that too,” Tadić pointed out.

He explained that Serbia had in a way revealed a nature of politics in Europe by completing its cooperation with the Hague Tribunal because it turned out that enlargement was not a popular topic in the moments of crisis.

According to him, this is why it is an illusion that Serbia would speed up the EU integration process by changing its policy in Kosovo.

At the same time, big powers as participants of the conflict in Kosovo do not allow their actions to be questioned, the Serbian president explained.

“The key point is for Serbia to preserve its identity in Kosovo and Metohija and get what is rightfully hers, that is, the right to protect its integrity, and this cannot be done if the country is in conflict with the rest of the world,” Tadić concluded.