"Mišković should name politicians he financed”

BELGRADE Deputy PM Aleksandar Vucic says it is important to find out who was financed by Miroslav Miskovic. He added that it would be good if Delta Holding owner Miroslav Miskovic revealed the names himself. "Miskovic should name politicians he financed” “It is important to find out who he financed. I think it’s not too big of a secret, at least for 20 politicians. But just because you have some knowledge does not mean that you have evidence. And it would therefore be good if he said it, or someone who did it together with him or on his behalf,” Vucic told daily Politika. He said that some people from various political parties, whose names he did not want to release, had tried to “put in a good work for Miskovic”. “Combat against corruption has only just started,” Vucic said and added that five out of 24 controversial privatization cases had been opened. According to him, the government is still working on a case of runaway drug lord Darko Saric and it will “intensify” its efforts. The deputy PM said that the biggest corruption in Serbia was in the public procurement system which had been present for the past 20 years. When it comes to political parties, he said that they received enough money from the budget and that they did not need additional funding. According to him, there is “personal greed among people in all parties”. When asked which ministers from the previous government were richer than many Serbian companies, Vucic said that they were not only ministers but also top officials of certain parties. He added that Democratic Party (DS) leader and Belgrade Mayor Dragan Djilas was a “typical example of how someone earns money with the help of state, political and party power”, stressing that he had evidence to back his allegations. “This is not a secret but it still isn’t a criminal act. His income has increased 800 times since 2004 when he came to power,” Vucic said and wondered where Djilas had gotten the money from. Commenting on a draft platform for Kosovo, that should be presented to whips next week, he said that the platform was pretty realistic. He also announced that a problem with customs duty at the crossings with northern Kosovo would be resolved soon. “There is a technical issue there that should be solved on Monday,” he said and stressed that possible changes to the regime would be openly discussed with Kosovo Serbs. He said that “somebody agreed on something earlier” and that credibility of the state and government needed to be preserved in a way that would not jeopardize the survival of Serbs in Kosovo and Serbia’s national interests. The deputy PM confirmed that President Tomislav Nikolic would on Monday present the draft platform to the whips of parliamentary parties. Commenting on opposition Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) claims that the platform is overdue, he said that “many things we do about Kosovo are about a hundred years too late” and that it was “frivolous, unrealistic and illogical to blame the current government for that”. He believes that “sufficient progress in the dialogue with Pristina”, which is a condition for the beginning of the EU accession negotiations, is an agreement on energy sector and telecommunications and that the hardest part is the implementation of the agreement on the integrated crossings management. Vucic added that he would confer with German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s closest associate on her latest stance on the EU enlargement. He also expressed hope that there would be no new conditions from the EU. “The delay would be a very bad news for Serbia. I will talk to her (Merkel’s) first advisor (Christoph) Heusgen in the next several days and I’ll have additional information then,” the deputy PM noted. Aleksandar Vucic (Tanjug, file) Beta Politika

"Mišković should name politicians he financed”

“It is important to find out who he financed. I think it’s not too big of a secret, at least for 20 politicians. But just because you have some knowledge does not mean that you have evidence. And it would therefore be good if he said it, or someone who did it together with him or on his behalf,” Vučić told daily Politika.

He said that some people from various political parties, whose names he did not want to release, had tried to “put in a good work for Mišković”.

“Combat against corruption has only just started,” Vučić said and added that five out of 24 controversial privatization cases had been opened.

According to him, the government is still working on a case of runaway drug lord Darko Šarić and it will “intensify” its efforts.

The deputy PM said that the biggest corruption in Serbia was in the public procurement system which had been present for the past 20 years.

When it comes to political parties, he said that they received enough money from the budget and that they did not need additional funding. According to him, there is “personal greed among people in all parties”.

When asked which ministers from the previous government were richer than many Serbian companies, Vučić said that they were not only ministers but also top officials of certain parties.

He added that Democratic Party (DS) leader and Belgrade Mayor Dragan Đilas was a “typical example of how someone earns money with the help of state, political and party power”, stressing that he had evidence to back his allegations.

“This is not a secret but it still isn’t a criminal act. His income has increased 800 times since 2004 when he came to power,” Vučić said and wondered where Đilas had gotten the money from.

Commenting on a draft platform for Kosovo, that should be presented to whips next week, he said that the platform was pretty realistic.

He also announced that a problem with customs duty at the crossings with northern Kosovo would be resolved soon.

“There is a technical issue there that should be solved on Monday,” he said and stressed that possible changes to the regime would be openly discussed with Kosovo Serbs.

He said that “somebody agreed on something earlier” and that credibility of the state and government needed to be preserved in a way that would not jeopardize the survival of Serbs in Kosovo and Serbia’s national interests.

The deputy PM confirmed that President Tomislav Nikolić would on Monday present the draft platform to the whips of parliamentary parties.

Commenting on opposition Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) claims that the platform is overdue, he said that “many things we do about Kosovo are about a hundred years too late” and that it was “frivolous, unrealistic and illogical to blame the current government for that”.

He believes that “sufficient progress in the dialogue with Priština”, which is a condition for the beginning of the EU accession negotiations, is an agreement on energy sector and telecommunications and that the hardest part is the implementation of the agreement on the integrated crossings management.

Vučić added that he would confer with German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s closest associate on her latest stance on the EU enlargement.

He also expressed hope that there would be no new conditions from the EU.

“The delay would be a very bad news for Serbia. I will talk to her (Merkel’s) first advisor (Christoph) Heusgen in the next several days and I’ll have additional information then,” the deputy PM noted.