“LDP interested in coalition, but not at any cost”

Cedomir Jovanovic says that he believes LDP has a chance of being part of the government after the elections. The president of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) told B92 that his party would stand independently at the parliamentary elections, and that it was a “political fact that there are only three parties that can participate independently at the elections – the Serb Radical Party (SRS), the Democratic Party (DS) and the LDP.” “LDP interested in coalition, but not at any cost” He said that the LDP saw itself in the Serbian government after the May 11 elections, “but not at any cost,” adding that it would be possible to enter a coalition with the DS. “It is clear that we must be prepared to reach an agreement with the Democratic Party and parties that will receive the support of the citizens on that European list, as they’ve called it,” Jovanovic said. The LDP leader said that he wanted to reach an agreement “regarding jobs that will change Serbia, and not principles around which agreements of the past were made.” He said that the DS’s accusations against and rigid position vis-à-vis the LDP were pointless. “President Tadic cannot equate the LDP’s opinion of him with the LDP’s views on Europe,” Jovanovic said, adding that European policies were the vision of the late prime minister, Zoran Djindjic. The LDP leader said that he did not agree with Tadic’s view that “Serbia needs to enter the EU in order to block Kosovo’s accession to the EU.” He said that the LDP would not join a coalition with the Serbian Renewal Movement or the Vojvodina League of Social Democrats. “That does not seem like something that goes together. That’s political maths where the LDP has no place. It is a coalition that is not necessary for either Canak or Draskovic", said Jovanovic. The LDP leader added, however, that his party would have no problem working with those parties after the elections. Asked whether he supported Serbian accession to the EU with or without Kosovo, he said that “life has already answered that question.” “Serbia lost Kosovo and that is a horrible historical loss of ours, and I would like it to be our last,” Jovanovic said, adding that it was true that there had been “violations of human rights.” The LDP leader said that Serbia had violated international law during the 1990s, and that the question of who was responsible for what happened then should be asked. Asked whether Serbia should recognize Kosovo’s independence, he replied that he would only recognize what he could participate in. “I wanted to be partners with the Kosovo Albanians and the world in a political sense in looking for an answer to the complicated question of Kosovo’s final status, because such a problem is not solved with a declaration of independence,” Jovanovic said. The LDP leader said that he wanted to reach an agreement with the Kosovo Albanians as a politician, and to be able to tell the people what the relations between Serbia and Kosovo and its people would be, adding that he was calling for support for those policies. He said that the slogan, “Kosovo is Serbia”, was a “manipulation of national emotions,” and that “it is not good for politicians in Serbia to show their patriotism and love towards their country through Kosovo.” Cedomir Jovanovic (FoNet)

“LDP interested in coalition, but not at any cost”

He said that the LDP saw itself in the Serbian government after the May 11 elections, “but not at any cost,” adding that it would be possible to enter a coalition with the DS.

“It is clear that we must be prepared to reach an agreement with the Democratic Party and parties that will receive the support of the citizens on that European list, as they’ve called it,” Jovanović said.

The LDP leader said that he wanted to reach an agreement “regarding jobs that will change Serbia, and not principles around which agreements of the past were made.”

He said that the DS’s accusations against and rigid position vis-à-vis the LDP were pointless.

“President Tadić cannot equate the LDP’s opinion of him with the LDP’s views on Europe,” Jovanović said, adding that European policies were the vision of the late prime minister, Zoran Đinđić.

The LDP leader said that he did not agree with Tadić’s view that “Serbia needs to enter the EU in order to block Kosovo’s accession to the EU.”

He said that the LDP would not join a coalition with the Serbian Renewal Movement or the Vojvodina League of Social Democrats.

“That does not seem like something that goes together. That’s political maths where the LDP has no place. It is a coalition that is not necessary for either Čanak or Drašković", said Jovanović.

The LDP leader added, however, that his party would have no problem working with those parties after the elections.

Asked whether he supported Serbian accession to the EU with or without Kosovo, he said that “life has already answered that question.”

“Serbia lost Kosovo and that is a horrible historical loss of ours, and I would like it to be our last,” Jovanović said, adding that it was true that there had been “violations of human rights.”

The LDP leader said that Serbia had violated international law during the 1990s, and that the question of who was responsible for what happened then should be asked.

Asked whether Serbia should recognize Kosovo’s independence, he replied that he would only recognize what he could participate in.

“I wanted to be partners with the Kosovo Albanians and the world in a political sense in looking for an answer to the complicated question of Kosovo’s final status, because such a problem is not solved with a declaration of independence,” Jovanović said.

The LDP leader said that he wanted to reach an agreement with the Kosovo Albanians as a politician, and to be able to tell the people what the relations between Serbia and Kosovo and its people would be, adding that he was calling for support for those policies.

He said that the slogan, “Kosovo is Serbia”, was a “manipulation of national emotions,” and that “it is not good for politicians in Serbia to show their patriotism and love towards their country through Kosovo.”