Nikolić: Citizens "expect" SRS, DSS cooperation

Serb Radical Party (SRS) deputy leader Tomislav Nikolic says Serbian citizens expect cooperation between the SRS and the DSS after the elections. Nikolic told a party news conference that the Radicals would try to form the government on their own, but that they also had somebody with whom to discuss forming a future government after the early parliamentary elections on May 11. Nikolic: Citizens "expect" SRS, DSS cooperation Asked whether it was true that Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) leader Vojislav Kostunica and SRS leader and Hague accused Vojislav Seselj had discussed post-electoral cooperation between the two parties over the phone, Nikolic said that he did not have this information, and that he had not discussed the issue personally with either Seselj or Kostunica. Commenting on the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) with the European Union, Nikolic said that the agreement, "whatever it may be," should not be signed until May 11 and the election of a new government, and stressed that the agreement had to clarify how the EU viewed Serbia - as an intact state with Kosovo, or in some other way. He proposed holding a parliamentary session with just two items on the agenda - ratification of an agreement with Russia, and adoption of a resolution on the security of foreign investments in Serbia, which the Radicals had proposed to President Boris Tadic and Kostunica earlier, and which had been rejected. The SRS deputy leader said that threats of isolation if the Radicals won at the elections were unfounded, because the party urged cooperation with everybody in the world, including the EU, but on condition that they accepted Serbia as an intact state. Tomislav Nikolic (Tanjug)

Nikolić: Citizens "expect" SRS, DSS cooperation

Asked whether it was true that Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) leader Vojislav Koštunica and SRS leader and Hague accused Vojislav Šešelj had discussed post-electoral cooperation between the two parties over the phone, Nikolić said that he did not have this information, and that he had not discussed the issue personally with either Šešelj or Koštunica.

Commenting on the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) with the European Union, Nikolić said that the agreement, "whatever it may be," should not be signed until May 11 and the election of a new government, and stressed that the agreement had to clarify how the EU viewed Serbia - as an intact state with Kosovo, or in some other way.

He proposed holding a parliamentary session with just two items on the agenda - ratification of an agreement with Russia, and adoption of a resolution on the security of foreign investments in Serbia, which the Radicals had proposed to President Boris Tadic and Koštunica earlier, and which had been rejected.

The SRS deputy leader said that threats of isolation if the Radicals won at the elections were unfounded, because the party urged cooperation with everybody in the world, including the EU, but on condition that they accepted Serbia as an intact state.