No reason for government to fall, PM says

WASHINGTON Serbian PM Ivica Dacic says he has not committed any crime and that his meeting with a drug gang member should not be used for “political manipulation.“ “I have never met with members of organized criminal groups because at the time when it happened I had absolutely no information about all that. I learned about it later and a topic of my talks was not any crime, on the contrary,” he told VOA. No reason for government to fall, PM says The prime minister said that the state bodies should be let to do their job and that it was in his best interest to completely solve the case. He added that as a public figure he could make mistakes in communication but that he would never make a mistake to cooperate with criminal gangs. “I am an interior minister who is supposed to arrest them,” Dacic noted and reiterated that nobody would be protected in combat against crime. He said that there was no serious political reason to topple the government regardless of such attempts because it would “stop Serbia”. “This is not the first time, I have been attacked from all sides, first that I am a traitor, that we should not have the talks with Pristina, including some low attacks on me personally and the hidden camera and now manipulation of the information from 2008 and 2009. You can see yourself that this (Rodoljub) Radulovic (member of drug lord Darko Saric’s gang) was indicted only in 2011,” the prime minister explained. He assessed that his meeting with Radulovic was now being mentioned because “somebody did not like the fact that Serbia is starting to live normally like the rest of the world”. Dacic, who is visiting Washington where he will attend the Prayer Breakfast, said that bilateral relations between Serbia and the U.S. were one of Serbia’s top priorities. “Regardless of the fact that there are issues that we do not agree on and regardless of the fact that some of those issues are extremely important for our national and state interests, I think that we need to overcome the situation we had in the last several decades and that is that positions of America, as one of the most important and most influential countries of the world, are contrary to our national and state interests,” the Serbian PM concluded. Ivica Dacic (Tanjug, file) “Political dialogue with Pristina to resume on February 19-20” Dacic announced that the political dialogue with Kosovo PM would resume on February 19 and 20 and that institutions in northern Kosovo would be on the agenda. “The dialogue will continue on February 19 and 20 and the topic will be what they refer to as parallel institutions or parallel structures, but I prefer to call 'parallelism of institutions' and an attempt to find a way to unblock them, that is to make them acceptable both to Pristina and the Serbs in the north, and not just in the north but in entire Kosovo," he noted. He said this was an essential issue that was dealt with in the government Platform and parliamentary Resolution on Kosovo. When asked about a meeting between Serbian and Kosovo Presidents Tomislav Nikolic and Atifete Jahjaga, the prime minister said that it represented significant progress. "We (the Serbian government) have a common policy which is based on trying to defend our national and state interests through dialogue, meaning as an active factor," Dacic said. The prime minister said the meeting in Brussels was "a step forward and a significant part of the ongoing process." He said he could not know "everything they (Nikolic and Jahjaga) discussed in the meeting." Dacic recalled that the idea to elevate the dialogue to the political level came from Nikolic and his Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) and he agreed to head the talks because Thaci was on the other side. "This process must not be interpreted as talks between Thaci, myself and (EU High Representative) Catherine Ashton, but should be seen as part of an attempt to find a compromise and just solution which will not touch on the status and will not force Serbia to recognize Kosovo's independence, but will regulate how life will function in this part of the territory which is considered special even under (UN Security Council) Resolution 1244," stressed the prime minister. The prime minister also said defending national interests "will be no easy task" and Belgrade and Pristina would face difficult issues in the dialogue. Beta Tanjug

No reason for government to fall, PM says

The prime minister said that the state bodies should be let to do their job and that it was in his best interest to completely solve the case.

He added that as a public figure he could make mistakes in communication but that he would never make a mistake to cooperate with criminal gangs.

“I am an interior minister who is supposed to arrest them,” Dačić noted and reiterated that nobody would be protected in combat against crime.

He said that there was no serious political reason to topple the government regardless of such attempts because it would “stop Serbia”.

“This is not the first time, I have been attacked from all sides, first that I am a traitor, that we should not have the talks with Priština, including some low attacks on me personally and the hidden camera and now manipulation of the information from 2008 and 2009. You can see yourself that this (Rodoljub) Radulović (member of drug lord Darko Šarić’s gang) was indicted only in 2011,” the prime minister explained.

He assessed that his meeting with Radulović was now being mentioned because “somebody did not like the fact that Serbia is starting to live normally like the rest of the world”.

Dačić, who is visiting Washington where he will attend the Prayer Breakfast, said that bilateral relations between Serbia and the U.S. were one of Serbia’s top priorities.

“Regardless of the fact that there are issues that we do not agree on and regardless of the fact that some of those issues are extremely important for our national and state interests, I think that we need to overcome the situation we had in the last several decades and that is that positions of America, as one of the most important and most influential countries of the world, are contrary to our national and state interests,” the Serbian PM concluded.

“Political dialogue with Priština to resume on February 19-20”

Dačić announced that the political dialogue with Kosovo PM would resume on February 19 and 20 and that institutions in northern Kosovo would be on the agenda.

“The dialogue will continue on February 19 and 20 and the topic will be what they refer to as parallel institutions or parallel structures, but I prefer to call 'parallelism of institutions' and an attempt to find a way to unblock them, that is to make them acceptable both to Priština and the Serbs in the north, and not just in the north but in entire Kosovo," he noted.

He said this was an essential issue that was dealt with in the government Platform and parliamentary Resolution on Kosovo.

When asked about a meeting between Serbian and Kosovo Presidents Tomislav Nikolić and Atifete Jahjaga, the prime minister said that it represented significant progress.

"We (the Serbian government) have a common policy which is based on trying to defend our national and state interests through dialogue, meaning as an active factor," Dačić said.

The prime minister said the meeting in Brussels was "a step forward and a significant part of the ongoing process."

He said he could not know "everything they (Nikolić and Jahjaga) discussed in the meeting."

Dačić recalled that the idea to elevate the dialogue to the political level came from Nikolić and his Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) and he agreed to head the talks because Thaci was on the other side.

"This process must not be interpreted as talks between Thaci, myself and (EU High Representative) Catherine Ashton, but should be seen as part of an attempt to find a compromise and just solution which will not touch on the status and will not force Serbia to recognize Kosovo's independence, but will regulate how life will function in this part of the territory which is considered special even under (UN Security Council) Resolution 1244," stressed the prime minister.

The prime minister also said defending national interests "will be no easy task" and Belgrade and Priština would face difficult issues in the dialogue.