PM’s priorities: Territorial integrity, better life

Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic says he expects Serbia to receive EU candidate status in March or April 2009. Cvetkovic said that EU integration and candidate status would allow Serbia access to European pre-accession funds. PM’s priorities: Territorial integrity, better life He said that the two main goals of the government were the preservation of the country’s territorial integrity and a better standard of living, adding that every other objective was connected to those goals. The prime minister told state broadcaster RTS that the adoption of the Kosovo resolution in parliament would be a clear signal that the government intended to continue the same policy as its predecessors. He said that preservation of territorial integrity meant that the lives of the Kosovo Serbs would improve both economically and in terms of security. "The general idea is never to recognize Kosovo’s independence,” Cvetkovic stressed. The prime minister said that a significant amount of tax payers’ money had been spent on Kosovo, adding that the government would work to ensure that that money was spent more efficiently, and that additional resources would be sought if necessary. "Distribution channels for those funds need to be reviewed, and we need to establish whether they are having any real effect,” he explained. Cvetkovic said that it was a good thing that parliament had postponed the debate on the Kosovo resolution, because it left room for further discussion. The prime minister explained that certain opposition parties thought that they had not been involved enough in the resolution’s preparation and wanted more talks to be held on the issue. Cvetkovic said that one week in, he was satisfied with the members of the new cabinet, stating that they were all cooperating fairly well, regardless of which party they belonged to. He said that he viewed the government as a united team that was working on a “serious project for a better life”, and himself as someone who was “coordinating” its work. "I believe that an achievement of the government would be if, at the end of its term, tangible results could be felt,” Cvetkovic said, citing as examples reducing unemployment, or repairing the country’s infrastructure. Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic (FoNet, archive)

PM’s priorities: Territorial integrity, better life

He said that the two main goals of the government were the preservation of the country’s territorial integrity and a better standard of living, adding that every other objective was connected to those goals.

The prime minister told state broadcaster RTS that the adoption of the Kosovo resolution in parliament would be a clear signal that the government intended to continue the same policy as its predecessors.

He said that preservation of territorial integrity meant that the lives of the Kosovo Serbs would improve both economically and in terms of security.

"The general idea is never to recognize Kosovo’s independence,” Cvetković stressed.

The prime minister said that a significant amount of tax payers’ money had been spent on Kosovo, adding that the government would work to ensure that that money was spent more efficiently, and that additional resources would be sought if necessary.

"Distribution channels for those funds need to be reviewed, and we need to establish whether they are having any real effect,” he explained.

Cvetković said that it was a good thing that parliament had postponed the debate on the Kosovo resolution, because it left room for further discussion.

The prime minister explained that certain opposition parties thought that they had not been involved enough in the resolution’s preparation and wanted more talks to be held on the issue.

Cvetković said that one week in, he was satisfied with the members of the new cabinet, stating that they were all cooperating fairly well, regardless of which party they belonged to.

He said that he viewed the government as a united team that was working on a “serious project for a better life”, and himself as someone who was “coordinating” its work.

"I believe that an achievement of the government would be if, at the end of its term, tangible results could be felt,” Cvetković said, citing as examples reducing unemployment, or repairing the country’s infrastructure.