Nikolić seen as "biggest EU fanatic", Dačić says

BELGRADE PM-Designate Ivica Dacic has stated that Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic is a “bigger Euro-fanatic” than other Serbian politicians in the eyes of Europeans. “I think that Nikolic and (Aleksandar) Vucic had a good preparation for the election victory in the international public. They were probably helped by (former President) Boris Tadic and therefore he should not complain to anyone now,” he told Deutsche Welle. Nikolic seen as "biggest EU fanatic", Dacic says Dacic noted that the previous government had been overshadowed by key political relations in the Democratic Party (DS) and that Tadic had been both a president and a prime minister and that such situation had existed during Slobodan Milosevic. According to him, the new government may not be the first but is one of the few governments whose forming was not influenced from the outside because the international community has not been too interested on taking any sides this time. “And when we asked them if there were problems to go with one or the other option, they did not choose the DS and Tadic this time,” Dacic explained. He stressed that he and the EU representatives had talked about the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) orientation and whether it would be a problem if the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) joined the coalition and that they had said that it would not be a problem. According to the SPS leader, the EU reps stressed that the only problem would be if Vojislav Kostunica’s Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) joined the government, due to its anti-European stance. “This does not mean that somebody did not want him (Kostunica) but that there would be problems in working with the EU, bearing in mind that we are currently in the phase of candidacy,” he added. Commenting on Serbia’s EU pathway, Dacic said that only the issue of Kosovo remained disputable and that the Belgrade-Pristina talks needed to be completed and that a political dialogue needed to start. “The dialogue would determine how to establish relations without violating our European pathway and on the other hand without bringing Serbia in a situation to accept Kosovo and Metohija’s independent status with its actions,” he said. The PM-designate stressed that he and Nikolic did not discuss the president’s plan for Kosovo. When asked whether the idea of the partition of Kosovo was realistic to him, he said that it was but that the question was whether it was realistic for the Kosovo Albanians and the international community. “I still believe that this would be one of the best possible solutions,” Dacic pointed out. He said that he “did not throw sticks and stones” at Tadic after he had shaken hands with Kosovo Albanian Prime Minister Hashim Thaci at Croatia Summit in Dubrovnik, but added that “if Tadic wanted to look like a courageous man, he should have done it when he was a president, not now that he is no longer in office”. “Why didn’t you gather up the courage and did it as a president? Because, it would have had some kind of effect back then. It has no effect now aside from a ruinous effect in the electorate when he is concerned,” Dacic noted. When asked whether he as a prime minister would show such courage, he said that he certainly would. Ivica Dacic and Tomislav Nikolic (Tanjug) Beta

Nikolić seen as "biggest EU fanatic", Dačić says

Dačić noted that the previous government had been overshadowed by key political relations in the Democratic Party (DS) and that Tadić had been both a president and a prime minister and that such situation had existed during Slobodan Milošević.

According to him, the new government may not be the first but is one of the few governments whose forming was not influenced from the outside because the international community has not been too interested on taking any sides this time.

“And when we asked them if there were problems to go with one or the other option, they did not choose the DS and Tadić this time,” Dačić explained.

He stressed that he and the EU representatives had talked about the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) orientation and whether it would be a problem if the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) joined the coalition and that they had said that it would not be a problem.

According to the SPS leader, the EU reps stressed that the only problem would be if Vojislav Koštunica’s Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) joined the government, due to its anti-European stance.

“This does not mean that somebody did not want him (Koštunica) but that there would be problems in working with the EU, bearing in mind that we are currently in the phase of candidacy,” he added.

Commenting on Serbia’s EU pathway, Dačić said that only the issue of Kosovo remained disputable and that the Belgrade-Priština talks needed to be completed and that a political dialogue needed to start.

“The dialogue would determine how to establish relations without violating our European pathway and on the other hand without bringing Serbia in a situation to accept Kosovo and Metohija’s independent status with its actions,” he said.

The PM-designate stressed that he and Nikolić did not discuss the president’s plan for Kosovo.

When asked whether the idea of the partition of Kosovo was realistic to him, he said that it was but that the question was whether it was realistic for the Kosovo Albanians and the international community.

“I still believe that this would be one of the best possible solutions,” Dačić pointed out.

He said that he “did not throw sticks and stones” at Tadić after he had shaken hands with Kosovo Albanian Prime Minister Hashim Thaci at Croatia Summit in Dubrovnik, but added that “if Tadić wanted to look like a courageous man, he should have done it when he was a president, not now that he is no longer in office”.

“Why didn’t you gather up the courage and did it as a president? Because, it would have had some kind of effect back then. It has no effect now aside from a ruinous effect in the electorate when he is concerned,” Dačić noted.

When asked whether he as a prime minister would show such courage, he said that he certainly would.