“Serbia must reassess its policy by April 2”

BELGRADE Serbia's PM Ivica Dacic says that if no compromise is reached in the dialogue by April 16, Serbia will have to wait until 2014 to continue the EU integration. He reiterated that he had insisted on the extension of the dialogue, noting that not much could be done until the next round of the dialogue except to call for a compromise. “Serbia must reassess its policy by April 2” “We really have done everything. I prolonged the dialogue. (EU High Representative) Catherine Ashton already gathered her folders and was about to say the negotiations were over,” the PM said. He added that “playing heroes” should be set aside now. “Let’s try to find another way for now so Serbia is not again accused for the failure of the negotiations,” Dacic stressed. He said that the issue of Kosovo needed to be resolved as soon as possible, separately from the EU integration process. The prime minister noted that Serbia by April 2 needed to reassess the realpolitik it would lead. Dacic explained that Serbia wanted to get a date for the beginning of the EU accession talks in order to change its geopolitical and geostrategic position which was “not easy because it has no one to turn for help in the region”. “Our friends are far away to make plans about joining other unions with them when Serbia is surrounded by the EU and NATO and has no friends in this part of the world. We want an agreement and compromise, but in order to reach that there has to be the minimum if not maximum of fairness on all sides,” he pointed out. Commenting on allegations that he could be dismissed as the prime minister, Dacic stated that a new prime minister would mean the election of a new government as well. However, he said that those were only speculations and that the ruling coalition had not discussed it. “(First Deputy PM Aleksandar) Vucic and I have not officially discussed the issue because we have been dealing with the most important state issues,“ the prime minister told reporters after laying a wreath a the monument to the killed members of the Yugoslav Army in the NATO bombing. “There is no issue that Vucic and I have disagreed on so far. We have nothing against each other, this government has full legitimacy,” he added. “If someone starts to talk about it (the government reshuffle), then we need to define whether we want a new government or just a personnel reshuffle,” Dacic explained. He noted that all political factors in Serbia should focus on solving the most important political issue – Kosovo. “We need the state agreement on the issue of Kosovo and Metohija,” the PM said and stressed that political opponents held it against him both because he was leading the dialogue and because the dialogue might not yield results which would harm Serbia’s European future. Ivica Dacic (Beta, file) Beta Tanjug

“Serbia must reassess its policy by April 2”

“We really have done everything. I prolonged the dialogue. (EU High Representative) Catherine Ashton already gathered her folders and was about to say the negotiations were over,” the PM said.

He added that “playing heroes” should be set aside now.

“Let’s try to find another way for now so Serbia is not again accused for the failure of the negotiations,” Dačić stressed.

He said that the issue of Kosovo needed to be resolved as soon as possible, separately from the EU integration process.

The prime minister noted that Serbia by April 2 needed to reassess the realpolitik it would lead.

Dačić explained that Serbia wanted to get a date for the beginning of the EU accession talks in order to change its geopolitical and geostrategic position which was “not easy because it has no one to turn for help in the region”.

“Our friends are far away to make plans about joining other unions with them when Serbia is surrounded by the EU and NATO and has no friends in this part of the world. We want an agreement and compromise, but in order to reach that there has to be the minimum if not maximum of fairness on all sides,” he pointed out.

Commenting on allegations that he could be dismissed as the prime minister, Dačić stated that a new prime minister would mean the election of a new government as well.

However, he said that those were only speculations and that the ruling coalition had not discussed it.

“(First Deputy PM Aleksandar) Vučić and I have not officially discussed the issue because we have been dealing with the most important state issues,“ the prime minister told reporters after laying a wreath a the monument to the killed members of the Yugoslav Army in the NATO bombing.

“There is no issue that Vučić and I have disagreed on so far. We have nothing against each other, this government has full legitimacy,” he added.

“If someone starts to talk about it (the government reshuffle), then we need to define whether we want a new government or just a personnel reshuffle,” Dačić explained.

He noted that all political factors in Serbia should focus on solving the most important political issue – Kosovo.

“We need the state agreement on the issue of Kosovo and Metohija,” the PM said and stressed that political opponents held it against him both because he was leading the dialogue and because the dialogue might not yield results which would harm Serbia’s European future.