“No great expectations in March”

The state cannot renounce Resolution 1244 and we should not be optimistic about getting the EU candidate status in March, Labor Minister Rasim Ljajic says. “Serbia’s maneuvering room has been completely narrowed. We are facing a brutal offer – renounce Resolution 1244 and you will get the candidacy. We cannot agree to the ‘take it or leave it’ blackmail,” he told daily Vecernje novosti. “No great expectations in March” “Serbia is requested to give up on Resolution 1244. This brings a possibility of recognition of Kosovo through the back door. The state cannot accept that,” the minister added. When asked what Serbia could expect from the European Council regarding the EU candidate status decision in March, he said: “Just like one should not view what happened on December 9 as a tragedy, one should not hope for a positive outcome and getting of the candidate status in March with euphoria and great expectations”. Ljajic believes that it would be completely wrong to give up on the principles Serbia has so far insisted on. “That way we would question the state interests and a question would be raised: why didn’t you do it in December but instead waited for two months?”. When asked how Serbia could continue its “both Kosovo and EU” policy, the minister said: “In our policy toward the EU and Kosovo we need to find some balance and forget about the extremes we are prone to. We need to turn to ourselves, economic development and reforms that are necessary in the EU accession process. The road to the EU membership will in any case be long and, as we can see, uncertain,” Ljajic was quoted as saying. When asked whether the opposition was right to propose suspension of the EU integration under the circumstances the minister said: “The fact that we did not get the candidacy does not mean we should give up on the reforms and the adoption of European laws. But we should stop idolizing the EU and presenting is a cure for all our wounds and problems. It is not the only meaning of life, action and functioning. We need to reduce the relations with the EU to a completely realistic framework. We should say loud and clear: we will do everything to enter the EU but we will not cross the national policy’s red lines”. When asked whether the authorities knew that “both Kosovo and the EU” policy was impossible, the minister said they did not. “No. The EU only changed conditions along the way in Serbia’s case. They said: once you solve The Hague issue you will get the candidacy, then they launched the Kosovo conditions by separating things that should be done for the candidacy and for a date for the negotiations… In the very end, the night when they decided on the status, they raised the bar and they set the conditions for the date (for the beginning of the accession talks) as conditions for the candidacy. Not a single country has been this brutally stopped at the very beginning of the road toward the EU,” Ljajic pointed out. When asked who should bear responsibility for the failure to achieve the state strategic goal, he said that the entire government was responsible for it. “Neither Kosovo nor the EU were any minister’s personal issues. This was a state policy. The easiest thing is to look for a culprit. The EU set conditions nobody could fulfill,” the labor and social policy minister concluded. Rasim Ljajic (Tanjug, file)

“No great expectations in March”

“Serbia is requested to give up on Resolution 1244. This brings a possibility of recognition of Kosovo through the back door. The state cannot accept that,” the minister added.

When asked what Serbia could expect from the European Council regarding the EU candidate status decision in March, he said:

“Just like one should not view what happened on December 9 as a tragedy, one should not hope for a positive outcome and getting of the candidate status in March with euphoria and great expectations”.

Ljajić believes that it would be completely wrong to give up on the principles Serbia has so far insisted on.

“That way we would question the state interests and a question would be raised: why didn’t you do it in December but instead waited for two months?”.

When asked how Serbia could continue its “both Kosovo and EU” policy, the minister said:

“In our policy toward the EU and Kosovo we need to find some balance and forget about the extremes we are prone to. We need to turn to ourselves, economic development and reforms that are necessary in the EU accession process. The road to the EU membership will in any case be long and, as we can see, uncertain,” Ljajić was quoted as saying.

When asked whether the opposition was right to propose suspension of the EU integration under the circumstances the minister said: “The fact that we did not get the candidacy does not mean we should give up on the reforms and the adoption of European laws. But we should stop idolizing the EU and presenting is a cure for all our wounds and problems. It is not the only meaning of life, action and functioning. We need to reduce the relations with the EU to a completely realistic framework. We should say loud and clear: we will do everything to enter the EU but we will not cross the national policy’s red lines”.

When asked whether the authorities knew that “both Kosovo and the EU” policy was impossible, the minister said they did not.

“No. The EU only changed conditions along the way in Serbia’s case. They said: once you solve The Hague issue you will get the candidacy, then they launched the Kosovo conditions by separating things that should be done for the candidacy and for a date for the negotiations… In the very end, the night when they decided on the status, they raised the bar and they set the conditions for the date (for the beginning of the accession talks) as conditions for the candidacy. Not a single country has been this brutally stopped at the very beginning of the road toward the EU,” Ljajić pointed out.

When asked who should bear responsibility for the failure to achieve the state strategic goal, he said that the entire government was responsible for it.

“Neither Kosovo nor the EU were any minister’s personal issues. This was a state policy. The easiest thing is to look for a culprit. The EU set conditions nobody could fulfill,” the labor and social policy minister concluded.