PM on Kosovo, EU accession, combat against crime

BELGRADE -- The PM says the Security-Information Agency (BIA) and Military Security Agency (VBA) do not have information about a government member’s ties with Darko Šarić.

Ivica Dačić (Tanjug, file)

Serbian PM Ivica Dačić added that he had received a written statement from the two agencies, saying they had no information that a certain member of the cabinet had talked to runaway drug lord Šarić.

Commenting on Deputy PM Aleksandar Vučić’s statement that the Serbian police (MUP) had been requested to inspect if the cabinet member had ties with Šarić, Dačić said:

“This is a planned provocation aimed at compromising the entire government because what kind of a government it would be if those sitting in it were talking to the most wanted person in Serbia. I asked our services to make a statement. I have received a written announcement by BIA and VBA that they do not have such information.”

According to him, such provocations are “a reflection of claims that the government could fall”.

“Everybody is killing themselves trying to find reason for the government to fall. Some say it will fall because of (arrested Delta Holding owner Miroslav) Mišković, others because of Šarić. If that is a reason for the government to fall, then this government is happy because there is no serious political reason for it to fall,” the prime minister was quoted as saying.

Speaking about Kosovo, he said that a UN seat was the only motive for Priština to be willing to discuss Kosovo’s status.

“The UN membership is one of the rare things that Priština cannot get today. They can get almost everything else. That is why I said we could talk about a UN seat. But let’s see a proposal for the final solution,” Dačić underscored.

When asked what Serbia could get in return, he said that he could not say.

“I cannot tell you that, you are not (Kosovo PM) Hashim Thaci,” the PM explained.

He noted that the first important step toward autonomy for Kosovo Serbs had been reached in Brussels with an agreement on payment of customs duty on administrative crossings.

“The agreement that was reached on collection of fees at administrative crossings was the first important step toward establishment of autonomy of Serbs in Kosovo because a basis of every autonomy is economic one,” Dačić said and reiterated that money from customs duties would go to a special fund intended exclusively for northern Kosovo.

He said that a Serb representative in the fund, that will be formed by the EU, would be able to veto any decision.

When asked if the autonomy was only possible in an independent state, he said that he “started the game in the second half” and that we are in the phase of the realization of agreements, including those that had earlier defined Kosovo as a separate customs territory.

The prime minister added that CEFTA agreement was signed so that it was determined that Kosovo was a separate customs territory.

“I certainly did not do it, I also did not define that customs officers will be at administrative crossings,” he explained.

Dačić said that a proposal to form a community of Serb municipalities was not a recognition of Kosovo’s independence but organization of the authorities in the territory defined by the UN Security Council Resolution 1244.

According to him, Serbian institutions will not be dismantled or abolished.

“If we manage to reach an agreement, it should be a transformation of those institution and they should have a system of special ties with Belgrade. On the other hand, if there is no agreement, we certainly won’t abolish the institutions because there are not others,” he said and added that Serbia would not remove the institutions from its system.

“Everything we agree on, in terms of authority, should be incorporated in Serbia’s legal system through the Law on Constitution, which Priština is not going to like,” Dačić explained.

When asked if there were two policies, the one represented by the president and the other represented by the government, the prime minister said that there were not and that only different jurisdictions existed.

He noted that President Tomislav Nikolić reluctantly agreed to change some parts of the platform on Kosovo.

“He is essentially right. He is right when he says it is necessary to have talks about everything and that nothing is agreed until everything is agreed. And he is right that the technical talks solve some issues but indirectly confirm Kosovo’s independence. I agree with that but this is a position you can have at the start of the talks. We cannot have it now. We have already partially accepted many things, since the UN Security Resolution 1244,” the PM said.

According to him, the European Council has clearly stated that Serbia needs to have a dialogue with Priština if it wanted to get a date for the beginning of the EU accession talks.

When asked if he could confirm that there would be no early elections in Serbia, Dačić said that if early elections were held, some of his and Vučić’s dreams would not come true – getting a date for the start of the EU accession negotiations, economic recovery and establishment of good relations in the region.

“Anybody who is in politics must be ready that elections can take place tomorrow but this is not exactly our goal. If there is no chance to succeed in what we want, if there is a stalemate in reforms, obstacles in solving thins, we can certainly talk about elections,” the prime minister concluded.