“Only DS has capacity to improve situation”

The future government gathered around the Democratic Party (DS) is the only one that can improve citizens’ lives in a reasonable time, Slobodan Homen says. The DS official told daily Vecernje novosti he believed that the citizens would recognize the fact that only such government had the capacity to successfully solve two most difficult challenges – the Kosovo issue and the EU integration issue. “Only DS has capacity to improve situation” When asked how the referendum in northern Kosovo could jeopardize Serbia’s EU candidacy, he said: “Of course it can. Just like shooting from the barricades at KFOR members has greatly jeopardized our diplomatic efforts. Holding of the referendum is completely contrary to municipalities’ legal jurisdiction. We understand citizens who are prone to the idea but not the mayors in the north, who know that the holding of the referendum is illegal and against Serbia’s interests.” When asked whether he still expected Serbia to get the EU candidate status in March, Homen said that he did not want to make any prognosis. “We should not deal with assessments, we should do everything in our power to get the candidacy. Our interest to join the EU is indisputable. The EC’s report gave a full support to the reforms in Serbia. We need to continue reforms but many things do not depend on us,” he explained. Commenting on the possible coalition with the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), the DS official stressed: “Talks about two irreconcilable parties are always interesting. The thing is that the two completely different political concepts, the policy of the past and the policy of the future, cannot reconcile. It is not enough to change a name and the rhetoric to become a modern, pro-European option,” Homen was quoted as saying. Slobodan Homen Vecernje novosti

“Only DS has capacity to improve situation”

When asked how the referendum in northern Kosovo could jeopardize Serbia’s EU candidacy, he said:

“Of course it can. Just like shooting from the barricades at KFOR members has greatly jeopardized our diplomatic efforts. Holding of the referendum is completely contrary to municipalities’ legal jurisdiction. We understand citizens who are prone to the idea but not the mayors in the north, who know that the holding of the referendum is illegal and against Serbia’s interests.”

When asked whether he still expected Serbia to get the EU candidate status in March, Homen said that he did not want to make any prognosis.

“We should not deal with assessments, we should do everything in our power to get the candidacy. Our interest to join the EU is indisputable. The EC’s report gave a full support to the reforms in Serbia. We need to continue reforms but many things do not depend on us,” he explained.

Commenting on the possible coalition with the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), the DS official stressed:

“Talks about two irreconcilable parties are always interesting. The thing is that the two completely different political concepts, the policy of the past and the policy of the future, cannot reconcile. It is not enough to change a name and the rhetoric to become a modern, pro-European option,” Homen was quoted as saying.