Serbian govt. “determined to resolve Kosovo issue”

BELGRADE Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) whip Branko Ruzic says that a platform for Kosovo is not “mysterious” and that everybody will be informed about its content. After foreign ambassadors in Belgrade, parliamentary whips and MPs will be familiarized with the platform, according to him. Serbian govt. “determined to resolve Kosovo issue” The MPs would then vote on the platform, Ruzic added. He said that the whips should see the text of the platform on Thursday and that it was less important whether the MPs would vote on it by the end of the year. “It is not important whether it will be before or after New Year’s. It is important that the platform reflects the realistic situation in the field and have a state-building character and that the epilogue of the platform is a sustainable, fair and just solution that will be acceptable both for Serbs in Kosovo and Kosovo Albanians,” the SPS whip told B92. When asked why the platform was so late, bearing in mind that it had been postponed several times, he said that this was irrelevant because “the platform needs to be done quickly but not hasty”. He added that one could also ask what had been done regarding the Gordian knot in the previous 12 or 22 years. “Responsibility in that sense lies with everyone, with King Aleksandar, (Slobodan) Milosevic, government’s of (PM Zoran) Djindjic, (Zoran) Zivkovic, (Vojislav) Kostunica, (Mirko) Cvetkovic,” Ruzic said and stressed that this was the first time that a prime minister had taken the role seriously and that he has the courage to solve the Kosovo issue. According to him, the Kosovo platform needs to reflect the reality in the field, conditions in which Serbs both south and north of the Ibar River live. “We should not stick our head in the sand but to be realistic, to state the differences and respect the specificities, to respect the fact and the status of Serbs who live in enclaves south of the Ibar River because there are more of them than Serbs in the north, to talk about not only functional exterior of Serbian monasteries, i.e. cultural heritage. All these topics were partially a part of the Ahtisaari plan. Now the platform should correspond to some elements of the plan and somehow improve it to the benefit of the Serbian community in Kosovo,” Ruzic pointed out. He noted that media should not speculate about the platform until it had been presented to the public. When asked why foreign ambassadors were able to see the platform before MPs, he said that this was a reality and that “today is not only important what Serbia thinks”. When asked how far Serbia was willing to go when it came to conditions on the EU pathway, the SPS official said that Europe’s condition was improvement of relations with Pristina. “We want to solve the issue of Kosovo permanently,” Ruzic explained. “In any case, Serbia must not enter any wars anymore, meaning it should get as much as it can through the negotiating process and the role and content of the platform is very important in that sense,” he underscored. Branko Ruzic (Tanjug, file) B92

Serbian govt. “determined to resolve Kosovo issue”

The MPs would then vote on the platform, Ružić added.

He said that the whips should see the text of the platform on Thursday and that it was less important whether the MPs would vote on it by the end of the year.

“It is not important whether it will be before or after New Year’s. It is important that the platform reflects the realistic situation in the field and have a state-building character and that the epilogue of the platform is a sustainable, fair and just solution that will be acceptable both for Serbs in Kosovo and Kosovo Albanians,” the SPS whip told B92.

When asked why the platform was so late, bearing in mind that it had been postponed several times, he said that this was irrelevant because “the platform needs to be done quickly but not hasty”.

He added that one could also ask what had been done regarding the Gordian knot in the previous 12 or 22 years.

“Responsibility in that sense lies with everyone, with King Aleksandar, (Slobodan) Milošević, government’s of (PM Zoran) Đinđić, (Zoran) Živković, (Vojislav) Koštunica, (Mirko) Cvetković,” Ružić said and stressed that this was the first time that a prime minister had taken the role seriously and that he has the courage to solve the Kosovo issue.

According to him, the Kosovo platform needs to reflect the reality in the field, conditions in which Serbs both south and north of the Ibar River live.

“We should not stick our head in the sand but to be realistic, to state the differences and respect the specificities, to respect the fact and the status of Serbs who live in enclaves south of the Ibar River because there are more of them than Serbs in the north, to talk about not only functional exterior of Serbian monasteries, i.e. cultural heritage. All these topics were partially a part of the Ahtisaari plan. Now the platform should correspond to some elements of the plan and somehow improve it to the benefit of the Serbian community in Kosovo,” Ružić pointed out.

He noted that media should not speculate about the platform until it had been presented to the public.

When asked why foreign ambassadors were able to see the platform before MPs, he said that this was a reality and that “today is not only important what Serbia thinks”.

When asked how far Serbia was willing to go when it came to conditions on the EU pathway, the SPS official said that Europe’s condition was improvement of relations with Priština.

“We want to solve the issue of Kosovo permanently,” Ružić explained.

“In any case, Serbia must not enter any wars anymore, meaning it should get as much as it can through the negotiating process and the role and content of the platform is very important in that sense,” he underscored.