SRS deputy leader: I'm no Milošević

Tomislav Nikolić told the Associated Press in an interview that he "doesn't like to be compared to Slobodan Milošević".

Izvor: AP

Wednesday, 07.05.2008.

09:16

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Tomislav Nikolic told the Associated Press in an interview that he "doesn't like to be compared to Slobodan Milosevic". For one thing, he says that he would have "never succumbed to western pressure during the wars in the Balkans". SRS deputy leader: I'm no Milosevic "Milosevic was a communist, then a socialist, but he was never a nationalist," Nikolic, the leader of the Serb Radical Party (SRS), said Tuesday. "I was very critical of Milosevic. He had stopped short all Serbian actions, which benefited our enemies," Nikolic said, referring to the ethnic wars in Slovenia, Bosnia, Croatia and Kosovo. "I would have done many things differently. I would have gone all the way," Nikolic said. "Milosevic handed Kosovo to the United Nations, but he knew that that was a road to Kosovo's independence," Nikolic said. "I criticized Milosevic while he was alive, but when he was handed to the [Hague] tribunal in 2001, I stopped." Nikolic also said that he would never hand over the most-wanted Bosnian Serb war crimes fugitives — former political leader Radovan Karadzic and General Ratko Mladic — to the Hague Tribunal. He said he does not believe the two men are hiding in Serbia. "I would never deliver them" even if they were, Nikolic said. "I will not lie and say I'm searching for them. I will say I'm not looking for them." Nikolic told the agency that if his party comes to power, he would turn Serbia away from its proclaimed goal of joining the European Union and lead it toward Russia. "The stand of the Radicals is that the European Union countries which recognized Kosovo's statehood are not our friends," Nikolic said, adding that he had always been "a Euro-skeptic." "Today, Russia is a desired and a precious partner of Serbia," he said. "If Russia one day decides to form a union to counter the European Union influence, I will propose that Serbia join that union." Nikolic said the Radicals would probably have to form an alliance with outgoing Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica's DSS-NS coalition because no party is expected to gain an outright majority in the upcoming vote. "There are only two postelection scenarios — our coalition with Kostunica, or another election," Nikolic said. Tomislav Nikolic (FoNet archive)

SRS deputy leader: I'm no Milošević

"Milošević was a communist, then a socialist, but he was never a nationalist," Nikolić, the leader of the Serb Radical Party (SRS), said Tuesday.

"I was very critical of Milošević. He had stopped short all Serbian actions, which benefited our enemies," Nikolić said, referring to the ethnic wars in Slovenia, Bosnia, Croatia and Kosovo.

"I would have done many things differently. I would have gone all the way," Nikolić said.

"Milošević handed Kosovo to the United Nations, but he knew that that was a road to Kosovo's independence," Nikolić said. "I criticized Milošević while he was alive, but when he was handed to the [Hague] tribunal in 2001, I stopped."

Nikolić also said that he would never hand over the most-wanted Bosnian Serb war crimes fugitives — former political leader Radovan Karadžić and General Ratko Mladić — to the Hague Tribunal.

He said he does not believe the two men are hiding in Serbia.

"I would never deliver them" even if they were, Nikolić said. "I will not lie and say I'm searching for them. I will say I'm not looking for them."

Nikolić told the agency that if his party comes to power, he would turn Serbia away from its proclaimed goal of joining the European Union and lead it toward Russia.

"The stand of the Radicals is that the European Union countries which recognized Kosovo's statehood are not our friends," Nikolić said, adding that he had always been "a Euro-skeptic."

"Today, Russia is a desired and a precious partner of Serbia," he said. "If Russia one day decides to form a union to counter the European Union influence, I will propose that Serbia join that union."

Nikolić said the Radicals would probably have to form an alliance with outgoing Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica's DSS-NS coalition because no party is expected to gain an outright majority in the upcoming vote.

"There are only two postelection scenarios — our coalition with Kostunica, or another election," Nikolić said.

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