PM discusses accusations, milk crisis, Kosovo

BELGRADE "It is absolutely false that I helped Darko Saric flee the country," Ivica Dacic has told B92 TV in an interview late on Monday. "This is the biggest nonsense. I would be the first to arrest him," the prime minister added. PM discusses accusations, milk crisis, Kosovo Dacic, who came under fire after it was revealed that he on several occasion met with Rodoljub Radulovic, a member of the Saric crime gang, while he served as interior minister in the previous government, also said: "I never saw Saric, who was prosecuted during my time in power." "During my time more than 10,000 people have been arrested," continued Dacic. "(Rodoljub) Radulovic never mentioned Saric, and when I had contact with him he was not in the (MUP) Wite Book (on organized crime)." The prime minister, who also serves as interior minister in his own cabinet, then wondered "if he was supposed to be Sherlock Holmes". "If anyone believes that I am the helper of a drug gang, then I missed the topic. Then there's a financial benefit from it, I would not be showing my suit, and how much does what I'm wearing cost,"Dacic said, adding that "people who live in villas" were accusing him of links to the Saric gang. Dacic said he knew Radulovic - also known as Misa Amerika and Misa Banana - from before he took over as interior minister, and that he last saw this now fugitive "when Serbia won the Davis Cup - since Radulovic was president of the Tennis Association of Serbia". "In my life I've been everything. I survived October 5 (regime change), and a variety of attacks and setups. If I was hiding something and if I had ties to crime, I'd be hiding myself, spending my fortune. Do you think that I was an associate of a drug gang in exchange for a BlackBerry?" Dacic asked, in reference to reports that Radulovic gifted him with a phone. Dacic also wished to know "why the affair was being launched five years later". He said that the claim that Darko Saric and his associates received information from his cabinet was false. "My cabinet does not conduct investigations, it is impossible to get the information from my cabinet. I was neither interested in nor possessed any information. It can happen to anyone to know someone and be unaware of their activities," the prime minister said, adding that others "once socialized" with the Zemun Clan, as well as with Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic. Dacic mentioned that veteran Democrat politician and MP Dragoljub Micunovic "played chess with Rodoljub Radulovic, and nothing happened". The premier noted that he "does not play chess". "You can see from miles away that this is a political setup. If I didn't bother someone when I stay in power, made a coalition, became interior minister, how come I'm unfit all of a sudden," Dacic wondered, and then described himself as "too good-natured to be the minister of police", and concluded that in the future, he "must become much more closed up". "They need someone like (former Interior Minister Dragan) Jocic, such a person, he was authoritarian and authoritative. I am a person who helps everyone," Dacic said. He went on do describe himself as "a man and the people", and posed another rhetorical question during the interview: whether he was supposed to carry a computer along in order to check if he should shake hands with or see somebody. Another question he posed was "how come when Vesna Pesic praised Tadic and Tomislav Nikolic that was no big deal, but when she praised Dacic then something is wrong." According to him, "when it comes to the fight against crime and corruption nobody will be not protected": "It may be my brother, but if he committed a criminal offense I will have no mercy." Dacic also noted that he would "not allow anyone to criminalize his party", the Socialists (SPS), and added that there should be no concern for them, as they " won twice as many votes as the previous time." The prime minister also said that he believed that there would be no need to hold early parliamentary elections, but that "if necessary there will be elections". Dacic addressed the issue of his adviser Ivica Toncev, and stated that he would "bear the consequences if he had obtained his university degree in a problematic way". (Tanjug, file) "We can't spread panic" Dacic also spoke about the aflatoxin contamination to urge an immediate end to what he said was the spreading of panic with regard to the presence of the harmful element in milk. According to him, causing panic and endangering domestic producers was "certainly not motivated by concern for the people's health". Dacic said that the Serbian government had a meeting on the issue and that it was important that the system works, while creating an atmosphere of panic "does not contribute to a systematic solution". "If the authorities say that in some products there is a harmful substance, and that those were withdrawn from sale, and other products are healthy, then I stand by the words of the minister (Goran Knezevic)." He added that the agriculture minister, who has held his office for the past six months, could not have been the one to "cause" the problem with aflatoxin, and noted that the ministry was headed for several years before by politicians from "another party", i.e., the DS. "No one in this government could possibly be crazy enough to poison their own citizens," Dacic asserted. "Ashton did not wish to discuss status" As for Kosovo, Ivica Dacic said that he wanted the talks in Brussels "to also have the status character" - but that EU's Catherine Ashton was "less willing to talk about it that Hashim Thaci". "We would like the negotiations to have the status character, in order to resolve that. I have repeated in Brusses that the best solution would be separation, but they did not want to talk about that... more so Ashton than Hashim Thaci." Dacic said that he "could not impose his opinion", but that he believed that "this way would be more simple and faster to solve problems". Dacic then noted that "Ashton thinks that we are close to solving the problem in Kosovo" - but that his stance on this was that we are "so close, and yet so far". The prime minister denied that Serbia wanted to ensure the formation of the association of Serb municipalities within an independent Kosovo. Dacic said that he "only agreed to work on overcoming the parallelism of institutions, but without impinging on the status of Kosovo". According to the premier, he "wants to solve the problem of Kosovo but not by handing over Kosovo, rather by resolving it in the foreseeable future because over time Serbia is moving farther from a positive solution". He also denied having discussed the possibility of giving Kosovo "a chair in the UN", adding that he has long proposed "a delineation between Kosovo and Serbia", but did not get support for the idea. When asked who was against it, Dacic said that he thought Ashton was more against it than Thaci. Dacic also stated that when it came to Kosovo, he "does not pursue an independent policy", and that his first deputy, Aleksandar Vucic, was actively involved. "It is not true that he is not engaged in the dialogue... he does not take part in meetings, but no decision will be made without the coalition partners," Dacic concluded. B92

PM discusses accusations, milk crisis, Kosovo

Dačić, who came under fire after it was revealed that he on several occasion met with Rodoljub Radulović, a member of the Šarić crime gang, while he served as interior minister in the previous government, also said: "I never saw Šarić, who was prosecuted during my time in power."

"During my time more than 10,000 people have been arrested," continued Dačić. "(Rodoljub) Radulović never mentioned Šarić, and when I had contact with him he was not in the (MUP) Wite Book (on organized crime)."

The prime minister, who also serves as interior minister in his own cabinet, then wondered "if he was supposed to be Sherlock Holmes".

"If anyone believes that I am the helper of a drug gang, then I missed the topic. Then there's a financial benefit from it, I would not be showing my suit, and how much does what I'm wearing cost,"Dačić said, adding that "people who live in villas" were accusing him of links to the Šarić gang.

Dačić said he knew Radulović - also known as Miša Amerika and Miša Banana - from before he took over as interior minister, and that he last saw this now fugitive "when Serbia won the Davis Cup - since Radulović was president of the Tennis Association of Serbia".

"In my life I've been everything. I survived October 5 (regime change), and a variety of attacks and setups. If I was hiding something and if I had ties to crime, I'd be hiding myself, spending my fortune. Do you think that I was an associate of a drug gang in exchange for a BlackBerry?" Dačić asked, in reference to reports that Radulović gifted him with a phone. Dačić also wished to know "why the affair was being launched five years later".

He said that the claim that Darko Šarić and his associates received information from his cabinet was false.

"My cabinet does not conduct investigations, it is impossible to get the information from my cabinet. I was neither interested in nor possessed any information. It can happen to anyone to know someone and be unaware of their activities," the prime minister said, adding that others "once socialized" with the Zemun Clan, as well as with Ratko Mladić and Radovan Karadžić.

Dačić mentioned that veteran Democrat politician and MP Dragoljub Mićunović "played chess with Rodoljub Radulović, and nothing happened". The premier noted that he "does not play chess".

"You can see from miles away that this is a political setup. If I didn't bother someone when I stay in power, made a coalition, became interior minister, how come I'm unfit all of a sudden," Dačić wondered, and then described himself as "too good-natured to be the minister of police", and concluded that in the future, he "must become much more closed up".

"They need someone like (former Interior Minister Dragan) Jočić, such a person, he was authoritarian and authoritative. I am a person who helps everyone," Dačić said.

He went on do describe himself as "a man and the people", and posed another rhetorical question during the interview: whether he was supposed to carry a computer along in order to check if he should shake hands with or see somebody.

Another question he posed was "how come when Vesna Pešić praised Tadić and Tomislav Nikolić that was no big deal, but when she praised Dačić then something is wrong."

According to him, "when it comes to the fight against crime and corruption nobody will be not protected":

"It may be my brother, but if he committed a criminal offense I will have no mercy."

Dačić also noted that he would "not allow anyone to criminalize his party", the Socialists (SPS), and added that there should be no concern for them, as they " won twice as many votes as the previous time."

The prime minister also said that he believed that there would be no need to hold early parliamentary elections, but that "if necessary there will be elections".

Dačić addressed the issue of his adviser Ivica Tončev, and stated that he would "bear the consequences if he had obtained his university degree in a problematic way".

"We can't spread panic"

Dačić also spoke about the aflatoxin contamination to urge an immediate end to what he said was the spreading of panic with regard to the presence of the harmful element in milk.

According to him, causing panic and endangering domestic producers was "certainly not motivated by concern for the people's health".

Dačić said that the Serbian government had a meeting on the issue and that it was important that the system works, while creating an atmosphere of panic "does not contribute to a systematic solution".

"If the authorities say that in some products there is a harmful substance, and that those were withdrawn from sale, and other products are healthy, then I stand by the words of the minister (Goran Knežević)."

He added that the agriculture minister, who has held his office for the past six months, could not have been the one to "cause" the problem with aflatoxin, and noted that the ministry was headed for several years before by politicians from "another party", i.e., the DS.

"No one in this government could possibly be crazy enough to poison their own citizens," Dačić asserted.

"Ashton did not wish to discuss status"

As for Kosovo, Ivica Dačić said that he wanted the talks in Brussels "to also have the status character" - but that EU's Catherine Ashton was "less willing to talk about it that Hashim Thaci".

"We would like the negotiations to have the status character, in order to resolve that. I have repeated in Brusses that the best solution would be separation, but they did not want to talk about that... more so Ashton than Hashim Thaci."

Dačić said that he "could not impose his opinion", but that he believed that "this way would be more simple and faster to solve problems".

Dačić then noted that "Ashton thinks that we are close to solving the problem in Kosovo" - but that his stance on this was that we are "so close, and yet so far".

The prime minister denied that Serbia wanted to ensure the formation of the association of Serb municipalities within an independent Kosovo.

Dačić said that he "only agreed to work on overcoming the parallelism of institutions, but without impinging on the status of Kosovo".

According to the premier, he "wants to solve the problem of Kosovo but not by handing over Kosovo, rather by resolving it in the foreseeable future because over time Serbia is moving farther from a positive solution".

He also denied having discussed the possibility of giving Kosovo "a chair in the UN", adding that he has long proposed "a delineation between Kosovo and Serbia", but did not get support for the idea.

When asked who was against it, Dačić said that he thought Ashton was more against it than Thaci.

Dačić also stated that when it came to Kosovo, he "does not pursue an independent policy", and that his first deputy, Aleksandar Vučić, was actively involved.

"It is not true that he is not engaged in the dialogue... he does not take part in meetings, but no decision will be made without the coalition partners," Dačić concluded.