Helsinki Federation worried about constitution

Helsinki Federation worried about constitution

“The constitution does not promote the idea of a civil society, rather the state of Serbs and other minorities, which will separate Serbia from Europe. The courts are put under the control of the Government and Parliament in the new constitution, and it will be hard to integrate international agreements into law, even if extraordinary cases are used, which can also be misused, especially if the Government fears the loss of power, and a parliamentary dictatorship is also possible,” Rhodes said.

“The constitution is full of contradictions regarding minority rights and religious freedoms. Rights are guaranteed, but the Parliament can take them away if it wants to. The constitution is a recipe for the centralization of the system, and international experience has shown that things get solved with decentralization.” Rhodes said.

"Somber and unforeseeable consequences"

Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica said that failing to adopt the constitution would have somber and unforeseeable consequences.

Koštunica said that there is no chance that the United Nations Security Council will allow any violations of the UN Charter and vote for the taking away of 15 percent of Serbia territory, and that Kosovo cannot be deemed independent if the UN Security Council votes for it because the members of the UN must respect Resolution 1244.

“This means that Serbia has to do its part and that we cannot expect that others respect us if we are not united and we do not adopt the constitution and do not confirm through our internal laws that Kosovo is a part of Serbia.” Koštunica said.

“The issue of the constitution is the issue of the future of the country and I am sure that Serbia will make the right decision, at it has always done throughout its history,” the Prime Minister said.