PM in New Year's message

In his New Year message Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic said that Serbian citizens faced big challenges, which is why the focus had to been on common goals. Cvetkovic said that Serbia had scored major successes in the past year in protecting its sovereignty and territorial integrity, as it had achieved diplomatic success in thwarting the illegal recognition of Kosovo independence. PM in New Year's message In his New Year’s message to the nation, the prime minister said that “the past year has been marked by our efforts to move closer to the EU and preserve Serbia’s economic stability.” He said that 2009 would not be easy and that “we’ll have to manufacture more, export more, conduct reforms faster, in order to place Serbia in the community of the free and democratic world, and become a candidate for EU membership.” According to Cvetkovic, Serbia is becoming a pillar of stability and economic development in the Balkans. The prime minister said that it was necessary to “bring our country into line quick smart, for which we’ll need much wisdom, courage, unity and patience.” “We’ll be able to spread the load of the looming crisis evenly,” he said. “I wish you all the very best, good health and prosperity. Happy New Year,” said Cvetkovic, rounding off his New Year’s message. Mirko Cvetkovic (FoNet, archive) "Belt-tightening order of day" Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic says that he is entering the New Year determined to keep "tightening belts" and capping expenditure. “The budget is very restrictive and is planned on the basis of last year's revenue, expected inflation and the rate of gross domestic product growth,” said Cvetkovic in an interview for the holiday edition of daily Politika. “A correction was made to forecast GDP growth in the last quarter, and instead of the planned six to seven percent, that growth was planned at three to 3.5 percent. We had to go with the forecast of lower revenues. That also led to a lower spending forecast, which led to a restrictive budget,” said the prime minister. He said that in conditions of an “unpredictable situation”, measures had to exist to weather the crisis. “You have something that I’ve termed a principle of continuity, where it’s necessary to track what’s going on. On that basis, we’ll take new measures or bolster the existing ones,” said Cvetkovic. “Of course we have new instruments that we could use, but it’s too early to talk about that. Nonetheless, it’s too early to say whether things will turn out better or worse than we expect,” said the prime minister. Cvetkovic announced that the international economy recovery plan would have an impact on our economy as well, adding that "exporting to the CEFTA region, the neighboring countries, is also an opportunity for us, because we have had success in outbound trade in that region for quite some time." The prime minister said that none of the ministers had been happy with the projected budget, but that there had been no choice. “That evening when we cut it all up, I told the ministers: ‘People, this is your budget, I’ll accept your resignations from ten ‘o’ clock in the morning.’ They weren’t left any scope to disagree. The ministers could tender their resignations or accept the budget as it was,” he said. Asked about the authority of the government, the prime minister emphasized that "this coalition government has its authority, but it is directly in relation to the degree of sovereignty that the coalition partners have...Despite all this, as a government, we still manage to overcome all our problems."

PM in New Year's message

In his New Year’s message to the nation, the prime minister said that “the past year has been marked by our efforts to move closer to the EU and preserve Serbia’s economic stability.”

He said that 2009 would not be easy and that “we’ll have to manufacture more, export more, conduct reforms faster, in order to place Serbia in the community of the free and democratic world, and become a candidate for EU membership.”

According to Cvetković, Serbia is becoming a pillar of stability and economic development in the Balkans.

The prime minister said that it was necessary to “bring our country into line quick smart, for which we’ll need much wisdom, courage, unity and patience.”

“We’ll be able to spread the load of the looming crisis evenly,” he said.

“I wish you all the very best, good health and prosperity. Happy New Year,” said Cvetković, rounding off his New Year’s message.

"Belt-tightening order of day"

Prime Minister Mirko Cvetković says that he is entering the New Year determined to keep "tightening belts" and capping expenditure.

“The budget is very restrictive and is planned on the basis of last year's revenue, expected inflation and the rate of gross domestic product growth,” said Cvetković in an interview for the holiday edition of daily Politika.

“A correction was made to forecast GDP growth in the last quarter, and instead of the planned six to seven percent, that growth was planned at three to 3.5 percent. We had to go with the forecast of lower revenues. That also led to a lower spending forecast, which led to a restrictive budget,” said the prime minister.

He said that in conditions of an “unpredictable situation”, measures had to exist to weather the crisis.

“You have something that I’ve termed a principle of continuity, where it’s necessary to track what’s going on. On that basis, we’ll take new measures or bolster the existing ones,” said Cvetković.

“Of course we have new instruments that we could use, but it’s too early to talk about that. Nonetheless, it’s too early to say whether things will turn out better or worse than we expect,” said the prime minister.

Cvetković announced that the international economy recovery plan would have an impact on our economy as well, adding that "exporting to the CEFTA region, the neighboring countries, is also an opportunity for us, because we have had success in outbound trade in that region for quite some time."

The prime minister said that none of the ministers had been happy with the projected budget, but that there had been no choice.

“That evening when we cut it all up, I told the ministers: ‘People, this is your budget, I’ll accept your resignations from ten ‘o’ clock in the morning.’ They weren’t left any scope to disagree. The ministers could tender their resignations or accept the budget as it was,” he said.

Asked about the authority of the government, the prime minister emphasized that "this coalition government has its authority, but it is directly in relation to the degree of sovereignty that the coalition partners have...Despite all this, as a government, we still manage to overcome all our problems."