Koštunica wants pro-European government, Solana says

is it again time in the west to lie about "promises" from kostunica like it was with the mladic-case?

why should he say something unserious like this?

especially when the next government is strictly connected with an realistic western approach on kosovo!

there is no need for partitioning kosovo and bosnia, but - history shows - there is also no need to believe in western logic.

at this point of time not even the next pm kostunica knows with which parties he will rule.

looking at the election results, Kostunica is now in the role of king maker -- both Tadic and the Radicals need him to form a parliamentary majority, there is no other way.

I hope that europe will remind Kostunica that Mladic has to be delivered to The Hague to face justice; so justice is made for all his victims!

It is somewhat of a false scenario to put Serbia's future as either belonging in the European sphere or the Russian sphere.Geographically Serbia is located in the heart of Europe and from an economic perspective its greatest potential lies in trade and commerce with the closest developed markets.Is it a coincidence that Germany's biggest trading partner is France or that the US' biggest trading partner by a HUGE margin is Cananda?I think not.Serbia has a free trade agreement with Russia and yet what is the total value of its trade with Russia since 1995 when this agreement was signed?Romania in 1995 signed an agreement with the EU and look how far it has progressed with the total value of its trade in the $60B range with the rest of the EU.NO self respecting economist would claim that EU membership even if we only look at it from an economic cost/benefit perspective has been a NEGATIVE for ANY of the 27 countries which have joined so far.The EU is a VOLUNTARY union and ANY country is free to WITHDRAW anytime it wishes yet for the life of me I cannot understand why there is even one person with a basic understanding of Economics 101 who claims that this bloc has not raised the living standards in every country which joined.Even the Greeks and the British who many consider arrogant and engage in anti-European rhetoric have not seen fit to withdraw from the EU after joining.Having said this I as an American economist have always called for a separation of the economic track from the Hague and Kosovo issues and I have a hunch that this might happen but I cannot be certain.As far as Russia is concerned Serbia should work very hard to attract some of those Russian petrodollars into the country but you are NOT going to get Russian money if Putin can get a better return investing it in Germany.This is the reality of free market economics.

The Serbian Radical Party is doing a great deal of harm to Serbia only because of it's name RADICAL. I support the Radical Party, and I know that the Radical Party does not have radical policies. There is nothing radical with wanting to keep your own land, every sane country wants this.

Do you have any idea just how disgusting the word radical is? You could belong to a party that had the best policies of any party in the world, but if you called yourselves the Evil Dictators Party what do you think would be the reaction from the average citizen? Just think of what the reaction is from foreigners who get lies from foreignn media.

To the Radical Party I say PLEASE CHANGE THAT STUPID NAME. Just be courageous and patriotic enough to admit that it was not wise or especially honest to have such a name and leave things in the past. Such a name does not truly represent what you stand for and I think that a name like The People's Party of Serbia would be more appropriate.

Every Serbian Honourable Member o Parliament is for Europe and for the entire world. Serbia is not against anyone, and Serbia hopes that no one is against Serbia.

What this most DEMOCRATIC elections ever been held in the history of Humankind in Serbia very clearly shows is that the will of the people is what the Honourable elected Parliamentarians of Serbia will respect.

Such a comittment is in keeping with the highest principles of the European Union, and Serbia will listen to the voice of the people.

Raso, i fully agree with you. I also say that there's no need partioning something that is allready separated from something.

NO self respecting economist would claim that EU membership even if we only look at it from an economic cost/benefit perspective has been a NEGATIVE for ANY of the 27 countries (luciano, 24 January 2007, 22:34)

Although, the economic benefits has been reaped for the EU as a whole, it has not for some members.

One of the older members Greece for example has still not reached the required EU levels. The GAP between the rich and poor as increased even though the average GDP has gone up to 24K. The Karamanlis democracy government is under mounting pressure and anti US sentiment is also growing.

New EU members-Poland, Czech, Hungary have seen large outflows of workers increasing the productivity of the stronger EU members.

For the EU to move faster to economic parity, new countries such as Bulgaria and Romania need to be closely monitored to reach required EU levels. They have been accepted without even reaching those levels.

Slovenia which has done relatively well within the EU has decided to try move away from the EU currency. The EU currency has been a disaster for Greece which has substantially raised the price of goods while salaries have not proportionally risen in Greece.

is it again time in the west to lie about "promises" from kostunica like it was with the mladic-case?

why should he say something unserious like this?

especially when the next government is strictly connected with an realistic western approach on kosovo!

there is no need for partitioning kosovo and bosnia, but - history shows - there is also no need to believe in western logic.

at this point of time not even the next pm kostunica knows with which parties he will rule.

looking at the election results, Kostunica is now in the role of king maker -- both Tadic and the Radicals need him to form a parliamentary majority, there is no other way.

I hope that europe will remind Kostunica that Mladic has to be delivered to The Hague to face justice; so justice is made for all his victims!

It is somewhat of a false scenario to put Serbia's future as either belonging in the European sphere or the Russian sphere.Geographically Serbia is located in the heart of Europe and from an economic perspective its greatest potential lies in trade and commerce with the closest developed markets.Is it a coincidence that Germany's biggest trading partner is France or that the US' biggest trading partner by a HUGE margin is Cananda?I think not.Serbia has a free trade agreement with Russia and yet what is the total value of its trade with Russia since 1995 when this agreement was signed?Romania in 1995 signed an agreement with the EU and look how far it has progressed with the total value of its trade in the $60B range with the rest of the EU.NO self respecting economist would claim that EU membership even if we only look at it from an economic cost/benefit perspective has been a NEGATIVE for ANY of the 27 countries which have joined so far.The EU is a VOLUNTARY union and ANY country is free to WITHDRAW anytime it wishes yet for the life of me I cannot understand why there is even one person with a basic understanding of Economics 101 who claims that this bloc has not raised the living standards in every country which joined.Even the Greeks and the British who many consider arrogant and engage in anti-European rhetoric have not seen fit to withdraw from the EU after joining.Having said this I as an American economist have always called for a separation of the economic track from the Hague and Kosovo issues and I have a hunch that this might happen but I cannot be certain.As far as Russia is concerned Serbia should work very hard to attract some of those Russian petrodollars into the country but you are NOT going to get Russian money if Putin can get a better return investing it in Germany.This is the reality of free market economics.

The Serbian Radical Party is doing a great deal of harm to Serbia only because of it's name RADICAL. I support the Radical Party, and I know that the Radical Party does not have radical policies. There is nothing radical with wanting to keep your own land, every sane country wants this.

Do you have any idea just how disgusting the word radical is? You could belong to a party that had the best policies of any party in the world, but if you called yourselves the Evil Dictators Party what do you think would be the reaction from the average citizen? Just think of what the reaction is from foreigners who get lies from foreignn media.

To the Radical Party I say PLEASE CHANGE THAT STUPID NAME. Just be courageous and patriotic enough to admit that it was not wise or especially honest to have such a name and leave things in the past. Such a name does not truly represent what you stand for and I think that a name like The People's Party of Serbia would be more appropriate.

Every Serbian Honourable Member o Parliament is for Europe and for the entire world. Serbia is not against anyone, and Serbia hopes that no one is against Serbia.

What this most DEMOCRATIC elections ever been held in the history of Humankind in Serbia very clearly shows is that the will of the people is what the Honourable elected Parliamentarians of Serbia will respect.

Such a comittment is in keeping with the highest principles of the European Union, and Serbia will listen to the voice of the people.

Raso, i fully agree with you. I also say that there's no need partioning something that is allready separated from something.

NO self respecting economist would claim that EU membership even if we only look at it from an economic cost/benefit perspective has been a NEGATIVE for ANY of the 27 countries (luciano, 24 January 2007, 22:34)

Although, the economic benefits has been reaped for the EU as a whole, it has not for some members.

One of the older members Greece for example has still not reached the required EU levels. The GAP between the rich and poor as increased even though the average GDP has gone up to 24K. The Karamanlis democracy government is under mounting pressure and anti US sentiment is also growing.

New EU members-Poland, Czech, Hungary have seen large outflows of workers increasing the productivity of the stronger EU members.

For the EU to move faster to economic parity, new countries such as Bulgaria and Romania need to be closely monitored to reach required EU levels. They have been accepted without even reaching those levels.

Slovenia which has done relatively well within the EU has decided to try move away from the EU currency. The EU currency has been a disaster for Greece which has substantially raised the price of goods while salaries have not proportionally risen in Greece.