President discusses Kosovo, EU, Russia, relationship with PM

President discusses Kosovo, EU, Russia, relationship with PM

"It is important to maintain the position of looking in all directions, to have good relations with everyone, not to cause offense, unless it comes to national interests. I'm not separating Berlin and Brussels, Berlin has the biggest influence on Brussels, but tell me, what is the alternative if we opt for one side? To quarrel with the other?

"We are committed to the EU, we said that to both Russia's president and the prime minister, I do not know what they are thinking to themselves - but we never received any suggestions or reproach, as we never received from Brussels clear indications that we cannot join the EU unless we spoiled relations with Russia. And we will talk about that, in many segments I do not see a common EU policy. What would it do to a member-state which jumped out and did not wish to impose sanctions on Russia?," Nikolic asked.

According to him, Serbia's policy is that of "and-and," rather than "either-or."

"We'll see (for) how long, but what is the alternative? How can we choose the Russian Federation if we have no common border, we are surrounded by the European Union. If I thought we should go toward Russia I would say so, I said that Serbia remains committed to the EU, I could freely say that I'm not in favor of that - but I am," said Nikolic.

The president also commented on his relationship with the government and Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, to say he was not in conflict with him - but that if this happened, he would withdraw from politics.

Nikolic also stressed that Serbia "cannot rest on only one man - but the government does rest on one man, and that is absolutely true."

When asked how he sees his cooperation with the government, he said he had "excellent cooperation with the prime minister and certain ministers," but refused to comment on his disagreements with some other members of the cabinet.

He did not answer directly when asked whether he will run for reelection.

Nikolic also explained why his reaction to the recent opening of chapters in EU accession negotiations had been restrained.

"The whole year, in conversations with all EU officials and representatives of member-states, I insisted that Serbia should be rewarded for all the trouble, effort, reforms, and that the least that can be done is to open those two chapters. When the news was announced, it was asked to react, and I warned about Chapter 35 (on Kosovo), since all the time, ever since we agreed with the EU to be meeting with representatives of Pristina, I have been warning that I heard it openly from the EU the closing chapters will be the closing of negotiations, and that there will be the signing a legally binding agreement (with Pristina)," Nikolic said.

After the chapters were opened, he warned against "euphoria."

"You can do a lot good, and if something slips away regarding Kosovo and Metohija - and Slobodan Milosevic best felt this for himself - then everything has slipped away from you, then nobody counts any of your achievements," Nikolic added.

He also pointed out this was "only his own view" since he is "largely excluded from (Kosovo) negotiations."

After his statement that the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) and the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (SANU) should declare themselves on the status of Kosovo, Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said it was "not necessary." Nikolic commented on this for B92 by saying:

"Dacic I did not understand me, perhaps he is too busy with politics. All year we have had the problem around the property of the SPC in Kosovo. I was also the first to warn that the vote in UNESCO (on Pristina's bid to join) will decide the status of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo, its assets and its survival. For that reason I thought that the SPC - I will speak about it with the patriarch - that it should go back on its principle that has been previously established, and that is, not to negotiate with Pristina. The SPC must present its position."

The president then spoke about his first platform on Kosovo, to say he envisioned a solution for the SPC to be within essential autonomy of Kosovo and Metohija, giving the Church "the status the Roman Catholic Church has in Italy, which has the Vatican."

Nikolic's sent another platform to the government, but received no reply. He said this represented a stance toward the paper, which is not binding, and not toward the president of Serbia.

However, asked whether his platform now makes sense, the president replied:

"Well, it doesn't.... Considering it did not receive the support of the National Assembly, it has not been sent to the National Assembly."

Weekend homes

Tomislav Nikolic also discussed a controversial piece of legislation regulating legalization of buildings, which he said was not in line with the Constitution, but which he eventually signed into law.

This new legislation has been mentioned in connection with his sons' weekend homes on the Sava River. Nikolic said his family was prepared to demolish these -"if that is necessary for the state to be satisfied."

"These buildings have been in the legalization process for eight years. They can be demolished as soon as tomorrow, if that is still a topic for you, and why would I risk it to be a topic because I didn't sign (the law) - here, let it be a topic because I did sign it, removing protection from those two buildings," Nikolic said.

As for the bill on the sale of state assets, the president said he had sent it back to the National Assembly as the legislation was obviously unconstitutional.

"I was not motivated by somebody suffering damage if the law failed to pass, I was thinking about whether all Serbian citizens were equal. For that reason I was convinced that the law was not in line with the Constitution and indicated that in a short explanation. The National Assembly was free to choose any way it wished," he said.

Nikolic also spoke about Serbian army (VS) chief, Gen. Ljubisa Dikovic, and the war crimes investigation against him related to a complaint filed by an NGO, to say that the possibility of sacking Dikovic or of him leaving his position "has not been brought up anywhere."

"I think it is completely meaningless, after so many years, after everything that happened in 1999, 16 years later, for someone to invent an indictment against Dikovic because he's the chief of staff of the VS. What's important? To determine that Dikovic was a commander in the field where a crime was committed? That's the Hague (Tribunal) principle that has left us headless. I am absolutely convinced that he is not guilty, I would surprised if I was wrong - if that's how we'll go about it, let all of us who held office at the time go to jail, in that case, we're all responsible in our own way," Nikolic said.