UK ambassador plays down role in govt. talks

UK Ambassador Stephen Wordsworth says he is unable to shape events in the wake of accusations that he is interfering in the formation of a new government.

Izvor: B92

Friday, 13.06.2008.

10:59

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UK Ambassador Stephen Wordsworth says he is unable to shape events in the wake of accusations that he is interfering in the formation of a new government. Asked by daily Politika whether he had met with Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) leader Ivica Dacic and other politicians from the coalition grouped round the SPS or with Delta boss Miroslav Miskovic, Wordsworth said that the talks he was holding were private, and that it would be improper to talk about who he was meeting with. UK ambassador plays down role in govt. talks The ambassador said that “we have the same aim—Serbia’s integration into Europe, which is what the majority of Serbian citizens want.“ “So it’s natural that people are interested in how certain things would look from a European perspective, and I can answer those questions. I give information, and it’s up to them what they want to do with it. Clearly I’m not in a position to decide who’ll be prime minister or who will get what job. But, in terms of how certain decisions will be interpreted, I can give my opinion,“ he explained. Following reports in Dutch daily Handelsblad, which quoted unnamed Western diplomats as saying that he and U.S. Ambassador Cameron Munter were “in the cockpit of the formation of a new government,“ Wordsworth responded that these claims were “nonsense.“ “If you’re in the cockpit, then your steer things. I’m not steering, but talking with people about the situation here, about how Europe views certain matters. The people I’m talking to take decisions themselves, I don’t influence them in this, I just give them information,“ the ambassador explained.

UK ambassador plays down role in govt. talks

The ambassador said that “we have the same aim—Serbia’s integration into Europe, which is what the majority of Serbian citizens want.“

“So it’s natural that people are interested in how certain things would look from a European perspective, and I can answer those questions. I give information, and it’s up to them what they want to do with it. Clearly I’m not in a position to decide who’ll be prime minister or who will get what job. But, in terms of how certain decisions will be interpreted, I can give my opinion,“ he explained.

Following reports in Dutch daily Handelsblad, which quoted unnamed Western diplomats as saying that he and U.S. Ambassador Cameron Munter were “in the cockpit of the formation of a new government,“ Wordsworth responded that these claims were “nonsense.“

“If you’re in the cockpit, then your steer things. I’m not steering, but talking with people about the situation here, about how Europe views certain matters. The people I’m talking to take decisions themselves, I don’t influence them in this, I just give them information,“ the ambassador explained.

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