INAUGURAL ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT BORIS TADIC

Mr. Speaker,
Mr. Prime Minister,
Mr. President of the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro,
Your Holiness,
Esteemed and Dear Citizens of Serbia,

(1) Today, we stand together in front of the flag of Serbia to usher in a five-year period which, I believe, will be adorned by harmony, progress and understanding.

(2) Each and every generation sets its own goals that it must achieve for the well-being of Serbia; so will our generation have to set and achieve our goals, too. Serbia is about to take a long step forward to make up for what it has lost and to begin to believe in a better future in front of us.

(3) The twenty-first century dawned with the conquest of freedom on 5 October 2000. That freedom, though, is still fragile, still threatened. It is threatened by political projects that dispute it, threatened by the poverty of society and citizens, by isolation, lack of perspective, demagoguery and corrupt politics. Safeguarding the freedom that we have conquered is the first and the most important task of our generation.

(4) I understand the job of the President of Serbia primarily as a duty. The duty that I have taken on your, Serbia’s citizens’, behalf. The duty to do my best for the well-being of our country and our people. Being President has nothing to do with belonging to a political party; on the contrary, being President transcends all party lines.

(5) The elections behind us have shown that this country has enormous energy to continue the job of rebuilding Serbia that we have begun and of integrating it into Europe. Serbia has had its share of misunderstanding the world and of internal disagreements and is ready to embrace a new politician who will be more responsible, work harder and speak differently. In past years, politics were plagued by disingenuousness, negativism and splits. In future, we shall achieve the necessary stability of the country only through open and sincere dialogue, readiness to accept all good ideas no matter who they may come from, through the success of those who are really the best.

(5) Serbia has always been and is a part of Europe; we therefore have the task of making it a member of the European Union as soon as possible. No matter which party or which coalition may be in power in Serbia, the integration into Europe remains our common goal and our first obligation. And we shall become a member of the Union once we complete the building of democratic, political, judicial, security and market institutions.

(7) The task of our generation of politicians therefore is to complete the work on the New Constitution of Serbia as soon as possible and to leave to those who will come after us a Serbia an ordered land, a land of law and justice equal for all. A Serbia with an anthem, coat-of-arms and a flag in which all its citizens will take pride. A Serbia with clearly defined functions of President, Government and the Parliament, with stable institutions as the basis of economic prosperity and a better life of all its citizens.

(8) The citizens of this country deserve a better life. Serbia deserves a higher standard of living. After all those difficult years, it is time we joined our forces to achieve the most important goal: a Serbia in which every citizen will be proud of what he has done and does for his family, his fellow-citizens, for himself. A Serbia in which parents will take pride in their children, and children in their parents.

(9) That’s why economic development begins and ends each and every story of the future of Serbia. The recovery of our economy through the power of the entrepreneurship of our citizens and through foreign investments, acceptance of what is coming our way from the world and what may help this major undertaking, alongside the keen awareness and appreciation of what we have in this country.

(10) In addition to being a guarantee of security and the indivisibility of our territory, the membership in the European Union will help us in our further economic development. For our citizens, it will mean a higher standard, better education, new jobs and full freedom of movement. Abolition of all visas and a more secure future for our children. Of course, fulfilment of conditions for the accession to the European Union is not a goal unto itself – fulfilment of those conditions strengthens our country and brings a better life to all its citizens. The historical enlargement of the European Union of last May should encourage all of us to make up for the lost time.

(11) The Serbia which we are building together is the Serbia that we leave to our children and their children, to all our remote descendants who will judge us only from history. What is, therefore, the obligation of our generation? To make it possible for each and every young man to achieve all his goals and ambitions in Serbia. To make it possible for each and every young man and young woman in Serbia to realize all their talents. To make it possible for our country to be a place of hope in which the dreams of each and every young man will come true. I call on all the young men of Serbia to work together to achieve this goal; I call on young men to join hands in the optimism of future Serbia.

(12) The quality of the education of the young is therefore essentially a political issue. Unfortunately, we missed an opportunity in the past decade to take part with other peoples in revolutionary technological changes and that’s why we ought to do twice as much today to make up for what we have missed. Information technology should provide the basis for the future. The quality of our young professionals is of major importance on this road of ours. No doubt, the information society, once a vision of a remote future, has become a reality – in that regard ours is the task to make a bold step forward, excel and include Serbia among the countries leading the way in the conquest of the civilizational challenge.

(13) At the same time, it is necessary to show respect to the oldest generation of our citizens that they deserve. The power and size of a country is best assessed by its relationship towards its oldest citizens. It is our duty to ensure them a dignified and peaceful old age and to make use, at the same time, of their wisdom and experience. Conceit and inattention to what old age has to say lead to a blind alley. Serbia needs the synergy of three generations; only that firm connection provides the uninterrupted spiritual thread that is the basis of the survival and future of peoples. Together on the same job: experience and old age, maturity of the median generation and the energy of the youth.

(14) Our country stands before the decisive fight against organized crime and corruption. This has to be a determined and lasting orientation. In cooperation with all citizens of Serbia and the international community, we shall defeat organized crime. In the fight against corruption, it is important to establish the ideal of incorruptible government official. Politicians in Serbia must become role-models of honesty; the moral judgment of the entire people must be impeccable with respect to clean hands in government. But, this calls for cooperation of the entire society, first and foremost, the same incorruptibility and clean hands of those who figure as vox popoli.

(15) This year Serbia marked the two centuries of its restored independence. The Serbian revolution of 1804 is one of the brightest and holiest moments in the history of our people. The freedom then was won by the rural, peasant Serbia. In all the wars and insurrections, defending his homestead, the Serbian yeoman defended Serbia. At the same time, in the nineteenth century, the Serbian yeoman took up the most important national mission and sent children to foreign schools to educate themselves and return and make a contribution to the rebuilding of Serbia. In the last fifteen years we did not send our children into the world deliberately; we did so to protect them from the horrors of isolation and war. Today, we are duty-bound to create conditions for the return of those young men or for their creative inclusion in the great undertaking of developing Serbia.

(16) In order to succeed in the undertaking, the most important thing is to preserve the family and the belief that it can be formed in Serbia happily. Serbia must have more confidence in the force of women’s principle and make women equal in a more lasting and more serious way and provide them an opportunity in each and every social task. At the same time, the State must strongly and resolutely protect women, mothers and children simultaneously, from all kinds of domestic and social violence.

(17) Serbia must and will be a land in which no citizen must be forgotten, a land which takes care of all of them. The question of the quality of health and the care of the health of every citizen is the quintessential question of the future and the renaissance of Serbia.

(18) Equal opportunities for all, care for all, but also the responsibility of all of us, this is the land of Serbia as we want it.

(19) And this land of Serbia will always be a reliable and credible part of the state union of Serbia and Montenegro and accept the preservation of the state union as its essential historical, economic and European goal. The state union should rest on a functional unity, preserving the specificities of each member State and bearing in mind the common historic core of the Serbian and Montenegrin peoples.

(20) Serbia is proud of its national minorities and does, and is ready to do, all it can that Serbs and all those who do not declare as such be equal in all, that they have the same rights and the same possibilities of development and the expression of their national belongings. All citizens should be proud of their homeland Serbia.

(21) The foreign policy of Serbia, surely, is determined by our regional position. Serbia therefore should be the pillar of friendship and peaceful policy in the region. Unfortunately, it has not always been the case in the past.. Today, our foreign-policy priorities are: European integrations, good-neighbourliness and balanced relations with the three centripetal points of international politics: Brussels, Washington and Moscow. We are firmly committed to such future, with a vision of a modern, democratic and prosperous Serbia which renders its full contribution to stability in the Balkans and in Europe.

(22) The beginning of the twenty-first century created a situation in which the Serbian people lives in a number of States on the Balkan Peninsula. In addition to the economic interest, the accession of Serbia to the European Union is therefore also of the most important national interest. Only in that way and only at that time shall we all find ourselves united in a larger European integration with equal rights everywhere, united by culture and economy. Meanwhile, Serbia will follow with special attention the events in the Republic of Srpska, in the spirit of special ties established by the Dayton Agreement. Also, Serbia looks forward to a speedy solution of the question of return of all refugees and expellee to the Republic of Croatia.

(23) We welcome and support the progress of our every neighbour on the road to European and Euro-Atlantic integrations because it is the guarantee of a stable and peaceful future of the entire region. The building of good and firm relations with our neighbours, based on mutual respect, is therefore the key point of the foreign policy of Serbia and the state union of Serbia and Montenegro.

(24) Our membership in the Partnership for Peace Programme, in the process of integration of our defence system into the international structure of collective security is also in our national interest. The reason is the fact that the security challenges and threats in the twenty-first century are essentially changed compared with previous decades. No longer do they derive from the armies of our neighbours. Our biggest threats are internal and international terrorism, as well as organized transnational crime and smuggling. The only effective response to those threats is the integration in the international system of collective security. The basic precondition of such integration is the continuation of the radical reforms of our armed forces that we have initiated, which I shall call for as a member of the Supreme Defence Council. Considering the exceptional geo-strategic position of Serbia, the continuation of our security isolation is the problem of the entire region. By speeding up reforms and integrations, we shall transform ourselves into the key proponent of regional security.

(25) Because of all of this, I believe that Serbia will take the place in our region that belongs to it by size, position and importance soon. And that it will win over that place by market, ideas, economy, environmental awareness, inventive foreign policy.

(26) On that road, Serbia has a big open wound as well: that is Kosovo and Metohija. The security of all citizens of Serbia in Kosovo and Metohija, establishment and full compliance with the principle of return of all persons displaced since 1999, rebuilding of destroyed houses, churches and monasteries and full respect for human rightsare the key for finding solutions that will bring stability and peace to the entire Balkans. We are firmly committed to the idea of a democratic, national, European solution for the question of Kosovo and Metohija. We consider that the dialogue of the Serbs and the Albanians is decisive. Considering that the Thessaloniki Summit proclaimed the EU future of the Balkans, we consider that the European Union, as well as the United Nations and the United States, are unavoidable factors in the quest for a just solution. Contact Group members have a special role and responsibility in the process leading to peace, stability and prosperity.

(27) Cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal is a priority of our foreign policy since it is the essential precondition of all European and Euro-Atlantic integrations and since it confirms our commitment to European values. It is also necessary so that we could establish individual responsibility for all crimes committed in the wars in the former Yugoslavia. The history of crimes in the Balkans is long and, in that sense, all peoples of this part of Europe owe each other an historical apology. Confronting the crimes of one’s own people, however, is the precondition of co-existence with neighbours and a lasting establishment of European values also in this, our part of Europe.

The courageous and patriotic report of the leadership of the Republic of Srpska on the crimes in Srebrenica is an example of how truth should be looked into the eye. Only in that way is the memory of Jasenovac and Jadovno, of Skelane and Gorazdevac and of all other killing fields preserved.

(28) Dear citizens of Serbia,

Serbia’s place is in Europe. The future of our fatherland must mean a better life, a higher standard of living, a stable country. A great challenge is before us and our road to Europe will not be easy; a great effort will have to be invested and we must invest it together. And on that road we shall encounter closed doors. If they continue to be closed, we shall knock; we shall not give up and falter. In the end we shall open them!

(29) I believe in the enormous moral and spiritual strength of our people. These days the monastery of Decani has been inscribed in the list of the most important shrines of the entire world spiritual heritage. There, there are still Studencia, Sopocani, the lasting sparks of light that we bequeathed to all mankind.

Fresh energy exists in our country, as well as power to overcome the big problems that we are facing today. Our capacities in culture, sports, economy and enterpreneurship are great indeed. We only need to be bold and believe in us and be ready to shoulder that great undertaking to the well-being of entire Serbia.

(30) I believe that the task of President of Serbia is to help pool the strength, the fresh energy and to prevent its waste all over again and re-direct it towards a goal beneficial for Serbia and all its citizens. I would like the result of my Presidency to be a plethora of work done by all of us. Each and every citizen of Serbia should be ready to do a great thing for himself, for his family, for his children, for their future.

(31) I believe in Serbia that has the strength to ensure to its children a better life, education, jobs and a future.

(32) I believe in Serbia in which the President serves the people. In Serbia in which harmony, agreement, justice, equal opportunities for all prevail. In Serbia which cares, in which no citizen is forsaken and forgotten.

(33) I believe in Serbia that does not lag behind its neighbours, in Serbia as a modern State which marches on to the European Union, to a better life.

(34) There is no going back for Serbia. Only forward!