Opposition leader talks "party merger"

Opposition SNS leader Tomislav Nikolic says his party works toward "a merger of all political parties that want changes in Serbia". To this end, SNS had made first agreements with New Serbia, the Strength of Serbia Movement and the Movement of Socialists, he announced in Belgrade on Friday. Opposition leader talks "party merger" The party also cooperates with United Russia, and will look for similar agreements with parties from the EU, "because the Progressives want Serbia to be in the EU and cooperating with Russia". Nikolic commented on the government reaction to the earthquake that hit Kraljevo, when about EUR 46,000 were allocated to help the victims, while a reward of EUR 10mn in offered for the capture of Ratko Mladic, and said this was "horrible". "It means they are offering 200 (towns of) Kraljevo for the arrest of Mladic," said the SNS leader. SNS expects other political parties to join in and the list is open to all, said Nikolic, adding that the agreements were made on Thursday and that the government should have called early parliamentary elections long ago, expressing his confidence that SNS would win the election. The government “does not understand daily problems” and “does not care about the state or people” while “the political elite has taken the life of Serbia as a whole into their hands, Nikolic said in a live morning broadcast by the Belgrade-based Television Pink. Nikolic also said that by gathering one million signatures earlier this year SNS had given Premier Mirko Cvetkovic a timely warning that it is time to call an early general election. In regard to the visit of Serbian President Boris Tadic to Vukovar, in Croatia, Nikolic said that “others” never apologized the way Tadic is prepared to apologize, and that Croatian President Ivo Josipovic should voice his stand on Croatia's 1995 military and police operations Flash and Storm, when mass expulsions of ethnic Serbs from Croatia took place. Nikolic believes that the relations with Croatia should be maintained at a much lower level until it solves the issue of Serbs, adding that Tadic's visit granted Croatia amnesty for everything it does today to the expelled Serbs or Serbs living there. “The gesture in Vukovar was received as admittance of our guilt and we, as a nation, received nothing in return,” said Nikolic, evaluating that Tadic's move “does not clear the relations between the peoples.” Tomislav Nikolic (Tanjug, file)

Opposition leader talks "party merger"

The party also cooperates with United Russia, and will look for similar agreements with parties from the EU, "because the Progressives want Serbia to be in the EU and cooperating with Russia".

Nikolić commented on the government reaction to the earthquake that hit Kraljevo, when about EUR 46,000 were allocated to help the victims, while a reward of EUR 10mn in offered for the capture of Ratko Mladić, and said this was "horrible".

"It means they are offering 200 (towns of) Kraljevo for the arrest of Mladić," said the SNS leader.

SNS expects other political parties to join in and the list is open to all, said Nikolić, adding that the agreements were made on Thursday and that the government should have called early parliamentary elections long ago, expressing his confidence that SNS would win the election.

The government “does not understand daily problems” and “does not care about the state or people” while “the political elite has taken the life of Serbia as a whole into their hands, Nikolić said in a live morning broadcast by the Belgrade-based Television Pink.

Nikolić also said that by gathering one million signatures earlier this year SNS had given Premier Mirko Cvetkovic a timely warning that it is time to call an early general election.

In regard to the visit of Serbian President Boris Tadić to Vukovar, in Croatia, Nikolić said that “others” never apologized the way Tadić is prepared to apologize, and that Croatian President Ivo Josipović should voice his stand on Croatia's 1995 military and police operations Flash and Storm, when mass expulsions of ethnic Serbs from Croatia took place.

Nikolić believes that the relations with Croatia should be maintained at a much lower level until it solves the issue of Serbs, adding that Tadic's visit granted Croatia amnesty for everything it does today to the expelled Serbs or Serbs living there.

“The gesture in Vukovar was received as admittance of our guilt and we, as a nation, received nothing in return,” said Nikolić, evaluating that Tadić's move “does not clear the relations between the peoples.”