Vučić says government has "good results"

BELGRADE First Deputy PM Aleksandar Vucic said late on Monday that he "respects Prime Minister Ivica Dacic with whom he has had six months of good results". The leader of the country's biggest party, the SNS, also noted that the Serbia's international position is now " the best it has been in the past 25 years". Vucic says government has "good results" Speaking at the end of a tense day, when it seemed that the cabinet could collapse in the wake of accusations against the prime minister, Vucic appeared on Serbia's public broadcaster RTS, and was asked whether he trusts the prime minister "after his ties to Rodoljub Radulovic, a member of Darko Saric's drug ring, came to light". He responded by saying that "it is not a matter of personal relations". "We have had six months of good results. This is not a matter of personal relations. I respect him, but we have never expressed love or liking, or historic reconciliation, as some other have, nor is this our job, Our job is to realize the goals for which we formed this government, and the government has achieved much better results than the previous government had in four years," said Vucic. Asked whether he would have formed the government with Dacic if he had known at the time about his meetings with Radulovic, Vucic again said he is unable to comment. The prime minister admitted to meeting with Radulovic, but maintains that he was unaware of his connection to to the criminal group. "I already admitted at the (news) conference today that I was taken aback by the question, and these few hours between the conference and this interview was not enough time for me to come up with a better answer," said Vucic. Asked how the prime minister's ties to a member of a drug ring will affect Serbia's reputation, he stated that it was "certainly not pleasant", but the most important thing will be the government's results. "Regardless of when this government's mandate ends, we need to see what the salaries are, the situation in public companies, pensions, whether people are making ends meet. This will be a tough year. It is not easy to overcome an economic crisis," said Vucic. He added Serbia will not have a problem with an oversized budget deficit, but with lack of money for the people's basic needs. "We expect things will be better this year - not by much, but somewhat better. In 2014, we expect things will be considerably better and I think these are the visible results which are much more important than what is on the surface," believes Vucic. Talking about the government's performance so far, Vucic said Serbia's international position is the best it has been in the past 25 years. According to Vucic, the fight against corruption and crime has not only gotten rolling, but it has for the most part become institutionalized and recognized by the citizens and the international community. He added the government has put a stop to many negative economic trends - unemployment is no longer on the rise and the national currency is absolutely stable for the first time. "In December we had a rise in industrial output for the first time - not a major one, but a rise nevertheless, even though it was mostly thanks to the automobile and petroleum industries. I expect that in the coming period we will achieve results with the help of investments from the United Arab Emirates, Azerbaijan, Angola and many other countries," concluded Vucic. (Beta, file) RTS Tanjug

Vučić says government has "good results"

Speaking at the end of a tense day, when it seemed that the cabinet could collapse in the wake of accusations against the prime minister, Vučić appeared on Serbia's public broadcaster RTS, and was asked whether he trusts the prime minister "after his ties to Rodoljub Radulović, a member of Darko Šarić's drug ring, came to light".

He responded by saying that "it is not a matter of personal relations".

"We have had six months of good results. This is not a matter of personal relations. I respect him, but we have never expressed love or liking, or historic reconciliation, as some other have, nor is this our job, Our job is to realize the goals for which we formed this government, and the government has achieved much better results than the previous government had in four years," said Vučić.

Asked whether he would have formed the government with Dačić if he had known at the time about his meetings with Radulović, Vučić again said he is unable to comment. The prime minister admitted to meeting with Radulović, but maintains that he was unaware of his connection to to the criminal group.

"I already admitted at the (news) conference today that I was taken aback by the question, and these few hours between the conference and this interview was not enough time for me to come up with a better answer," said Vučić.

Asked how the prime minister's ties to a member of a drug ring will affect Serbia's reputation, he stated that it was "certainly not pleasant", but the most important thing will be the government's results.

"Regardless of when this government's mandate ends, we need to see what the salaries are, the situation in public companies, pensions, whether people are making ends meet. This will be a tough year. It is not easy to overcome an economic crisis," said Vučić.

He added Serbia will not have a problem with an oversized budget deficit, but with lack of money for the people's basic needs.

"We expect things will be better this year - not by much, but somewhat better. In 2014, we expect things will be considerably better and I think these are the visible results which are much more important than what is on the surface," believes Vučić.

Talking about the government's performance so far, Vučić said Serbia's international position is the best it has been in the past 25 years.

According to Vučić, the fight against corruption and crime has not only gotten rolling, but it has for the most part become institutionalized and recognized by the citizens and the international community.

He added the government has put a stop to many negative economic trends - unemployment is no longer on the rise and the national currency is absolutely stable for the first time.

"In December we had a rise in industrial output for the first time - not a major one, but a rise nevertheless, even though it was mostly thanks to the automobile and petroleum industries. I expect that in the coming period we will achieve results with the help of investments from the United Arab Emirates, Azerbaijan, Angola and many other countries," concluded Vučić.