President: Serbs must not shoot at KFOR

Serbian President Boris Tadic said Thursday Serbia that needed to persuade northern Kosovo Serbs not to fire at KFOR in order to get the EU candidate status. “A great problem for me is the fact that I, as a Serbian president, do not have operative systems - military, police, institutions, which I could use to defend Serbs in Kosovo and influence Serb extremists, whose moves can destroy everything that Serbia has done in the previous years,” he pointed out. President: Serbs must not shoot at KFOR The president once again urged Serbs in Kosovo to take care of their lives and to control extremists who would like to continue war and stop Serbia in the EU integration process. Tadic said that Serbia did not get the EU candidate status on December 9 solely because it did not want to renounce UN Security Council Resolution 1244. He underlined that Serbia's maneuvering room has been narrowed down, and that Serbia had been walking on a string since 2000. He reiterated that Serbia would never agree to recognize Kosovo, neither implicitly nor explicitly. According to him, no one should doubt this, because the recognition of Kosovo would require that the government, parliament and president adopt an act on recognition. “However, no one will do that,” Tadic stressed and added that solutions had to be sought and that "red lines" should not be crossed. The president announced that he would discuss the issue with his Austrian counterpart Heinz Fischer on Thursday afternoon in Austria. According to him, the meeting will be important because Austria, together with Germany, had strongest objections to granting the candidate status. Boris Tadic is seen at the bypass construction site (Tanjug) No divisions in ruling DS, president claims The Serbian president and Democratic Party (DS) leader dismissed on Thursday speculations about divisions within the ruling party. He told reporters after visiting the Belgrade bypass that the speculations were completely unrealistic and untrue, because there were no divisions in the party, and added there were different stances within DS, the same as in all other institutions, since it was constituted of different people. Commenting on the media allegations that his deputy Dragan Djilas requested that certain ministers be dismissed, Tadic said that Djilas spoke about the need to reassess everyone's responsibility in the process, the same as in Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration Bozidar Djelic’s cabinet. "I as well review my responsibility every day," he pointed out. Tadic also said that DS had been working on resolving historical problems for years, sometimes successfully, sometimes not, and added it was normal that different opinions existed while such problems were being solved. The DS leader recalled that, with DS at the head of the ruling coalition, a lot had been done in Serbia for the first time, such as ending the cooperation with The Hague Tribunal, signing the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA), arresting criminals, etc. Tadic stressed that both the party and himself, as well as his associates, were continuously engaged in their posts. "People ask me why I look so bad. We are not ill, we are working all day long to resolve the problems, and therefore we will look like this in future as well," the president stressed.

President: Serbs must not shoot at KFOR

The president once again urged Serbs in Kosovo to take care of their lives and to control extremists who would like to continue war and stop Serbia in the EU integration process.

Tadić said that Serbia did not get the EU candidate status on December 9 solely because it did not want to renounce UN Security Council Resolution 1244.

He underlined that Serbia's maneuvering room has been narrowed down, and that Serbia had been walking on a string since 2000.

He reiterated that Serbia would never agree to recognize Kosovo, neither implicitly nor explicitly.

According to him, no one should doubt this, because the recognition of Kosovo would require that the government, parliament and president adopt an act on recognition.

“However, no one will do that,” Tadić stressed and added that solutions had to be sought and that "red lines" should not be crossed.

The president announced that he would discuss the issue with his Austrian counterpart Heinz Fischer on Thursday afternoon in Austria.

According to him, the meeting will be important because Austria, together with Germany, had strongest objections to granting the candidate status.

No divisions in ruling DS, president claims

The Serbian president and Democratic Party (DS) leader dismissed on Thursday speculations about divisions within the ruling party.

He told reporters after visiting the Belgrade bypass that the speculations were completely unrealistic and untrue, because there were no divisions in the party, and added there were different stances within DS, the same as in all other institutions, since it was constituted of different people.

Commenting on the media allegations that his deputy Dragan Đilas requested that certain ministers be dismissed, Tadić said that Đilas spoke about the need to reassess everyone's responsibility in the process, the same as in Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration Božidar Đelić’s cabinet.

"I as well review my responsibility every day," he pointed out.

Tadić also said that DS had been working on resolving historical problems for years, sometimes successfully, sometimes not, and added it was normal that different opinions existed while such problems were being solved.

The DS leader recalled that, with DS at the head of the ruling coalition, a lot had been done in Serbia for the first time, such as ending the cooperation with The Hague Tribunal, signing the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA), arresting criminals, etc.

Tadić stressed that both the party and himself, as well as his associates, were continuously engaged in their posts.

"People ask me why I look so bad. We are not ill, we are working all day long to resolve the problems, and therefore we will look like this in future as well," the president stressed.