Serbia’s new deputy prime minister has firmly rejected the possibility that a vote on Kosovo’s independence could threaten the government’s unity, despite growing fears of renewed political chaos in Belgrade when the UN votes on the issue.
Bozidar Djelic told Emerging Markets in an interview yesterday that Serbia’s new coalition will not accept a UN resolution on Kosovo that calls for independence of the Serbian province.
“As serious people we have considered all options and all outcomes. More importantly we have a complete agreement on our national policy of retaining the territorial integrity of our country,” he said.
The two largest parties in Serbia’s new pro-democracy coalition – prime minister Vojislav Kostunica’s Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) and president Boris Tadic’s Democratic Party (DS) – were at loggerheads during the last government when the DS was in opposition. The new government was approved just minutes before deadline on May 15.
Djelic’s comments come as the UN gears up for a resolution on Kosovo in coming weeks. Tomislav Nikolic, deputy leader of the nationalist Serbian Radical Party who caused a storm when he was elected as speaker of the Serbian Parliament, predicted in Parliament that Kosovo would reopen divisions between the DS and DSS.
“Boris Tadic will betray Kosovo and Metohija,” said Nikolic, whose tenure as speaker came to an end this week. “The government will break up, but we will have a parliament which will not allow betrayal to be put into action.”
Kosovo’s prime minister said Thursday that the province’s independence would guarantee stability in the Balkans, a region long torn by wars and ethnic tensions.
Russia, a traditional ally of Serbia, which wants to keep control of the province, has warned against putting the plan to a vote, and said it might use its veto to block it. Russian President Vladimir Putin warned in February that independence would be taken as a precedent by others, including pro-Russian breakaway provinces in the ex-Soviet republics of Georgia and Moldova.
Looking further ahead, Djelic, who has special responsibility for European integration, said: “We should bring Serbia by the end of this mandate in 2011 to the doorsteps of the European Union.”
Djelic emphasised continuity in the post-Milosevic years: “Over the last seven years, Serbia has earned its investment stripes by having full continuity in so far as privatisation and business is concerned. We are now facing our fourth cabinet but the privatisation model and the direction of economic policy are really overall the same. Business continues as usual.”