Belgrade, 12. 05. 2008.

SERBIA - AFTER THE SUNDAY PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS

• TADIC SAYS CITIZENS REAFFIRM SERBIA'S EUROPEAN PATH
• TADIC: CITIZENS WILL VOTE FOR BOTH EUROPEAN PATH AND KIM
• KOSTUNICA: I AM EVEN PREPARED TO BE IN OPPOSITION
• KOSTUNICA URGES SPEEDY FORMATION OF NEW CABINET
• JEREMIC: ELECTIONS ARE CRUCIAL
• EU PRESIDENCY WELCOMES VICTORY OF PRO-EUROPEAN PARTIES
• RUPEL WELCOMES VICTORY OF PRO-EUROPEAN FORCES IN SERBIA
• KOUCHNER: SERBIA CLEARLY VOTED FOR EUROPE
• BILDT: ELECTION OUTCOME BETTER THAN EXPECTED
• UNMIK SPOKESMAN ON SERBIAN ELECTIONS
• AFTER RESULTS - TALKS ABOUT COALITIONS, SETTING UP OF GOV.

• ENTIRE GOVT. VOTES FOR ENERGY AGREEMENT,ONLY PART FOR SAA
• TADIC SATISFIED WITH GOVERNMENT'S DECISIONS
• SAMARDZIC: SERBIAN CONSTITUTION VIOLATED

• RUPEL: EU WANTS SERBIA TO BECOME ITS MEMBER
• EUROPEAN COMMISSION ORGANISES RECEPTION AT OLD PALACE

• BASESCU: ROMANIA WILL NOT RECOGNISE KOSOVO INDEPENDENCE
• RUECKER: UNMIK NOT TO RECOGNIZE ELECTION RESULTS IN KOSOVO
• DICK MARTY: KOSOVO ILLUSION TO VANISH

BELGRADE, May 11 (Tanjug) - Serbian President Boris Tadic said that citizens had reaffirmed Serbia's European path at the Sunday elections and voiced his belief that the list would be the key factor of the future government although difficult negotiations would follow. "Citizens said that they wanted Serbia to be in the European Union and Serbia will be in the European Union. We have promised this and we will achieve this," Tadic told. Tadic said that the For European Serbia list would never give up its second strategic goal - preservation of the country's territorial integrity. "The government we will form will not recognise any independence of Kosovo-Metohija and we will fight for the preservation of our country's territorial integrity using all political and diplomatic means," Tadic said.

BELGRADE, May 11 (Tanjug) - Serbian President Boris Tadic on Sunday said he expects citizens of Serbia to vote for life, prosperity and speedy development in today's elections, and that they will, at the same time, vote for the European path and protection of the state's integrity. "I believe that those two goals are linked organically together, I believe they are linked functionally, and that is why I am confident that citizens will today vote for the achievement of both goals and not for a predominance of one," Tadic told reporters after casting his vote. According to him, by insisting on defense of Kosovo and Metohija Serbia would lose its southern province and its European future, and that by exclusive insisting on the European future only, Serbia would lose both that future and Kosovo. "All national forces and social groups in Serbia need to be consolidated towards achieving both goals. Only that way we can get enough votes and enough support to move towards both goals," underscored Tadic. He also said that under the new political, economic and security circumstances, Serbia needs a new national policy, and that parties which today declare themselves as patriotic had failed to offer that strategy. "In order to implement that national strategy, both our legitimate interests in Kosovo and Metohija and our European path need to be defended. On the contrary, only parts of our people will head towards Europe, whereas we would in Serbia, with our policy, contribute to a dissolution of our national being," underscored Tadic.

BELGRADE, May 12 (Tanjug) - Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said late on Sunday that he would discuss post-electoral coalitions only with the parties prepared to accept the principled policy of the DSS-NS coalition, which was in connection with the preservation of Serbia's territorial integrity and sovereignty. Addressing a news conference, Kostunica siad that he was even prepared to be in the opposition if this policy could not get the support of the majority. He underscored that he would not compromise with the state policy that his coalition advocated during the election campaign, evaluating that there are insurmountable differences between the policies of the DSS-NS coalition and the coalition around the DS coalition.

BELGRADE, May 11 (Beta) - Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica stressed on May 11 that the speedy formation of a new cabinet after elections was important to enable the policy of preserving state integrity. "I believe that it is very important to create a new cabinet after elections to enable the policy of preserving state integrity and ensure Serbia's overall stable progress," Kostunica told.

BELGRADE, May 11 (Tanjug) - Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic stated that today's elections represent the biggest, the most difficult and crucial battle for the future of Serbia. After casting his vote on Sunday, Jeremic told reporters that today's elections are "the mother of all battles - the Battle of Stalingrad for the future of European Serbia." Expressing his confidence that the list "For European Serbia - Boris Tadic" will win the elections, Jeremic said that this election is a referendum on the future of Serbia, because "those who win the majority of votes today will head Serbia for the next several generations." According to him, there are only two paths - one leading to the EU and another heading backwards, which he claims we had already walked.

BRUSSELS, May 11 (Tanjug) - The EU Presidency late on Sunday welcomed the victory of pro-European parties at the Serbian parliamentary elections and voiced hope that a new government "with a clear European agenda" would be formed soon. The EU Presidency warmly welcomes the clear victory of pro-European forces at the Serbian elections, the Slovenian Presidency said in a statement in which the European Union also welcomed the peaceful atmosphere at the elections, which had been free and democratic according to initial assessments. The Presidency hopes that a new government with a clear European agenda will soon be formed, the statement said. The European Union expects the new government to be constructively engaged in regional cooperation, the statement said.

LJUBLJANA, May 12 (Tanjug) -Slovenia's Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel welcomed the clear victory of pro-European forces in the Serbian general elections on Sunday as good news for the Balkans as well as for Slovenia. In a statement with the Slovenian news agency STA late on Sunday, Rupel said that the victory of the coalition led by Serbian President Boris Tadic, which won 39 percent of the votes, was important for the stability in the region and its further economic development. Rupel also said that the victory is also a confirmation of Slovenia's efforts in encouraging pro-European forces in Serbia, including through April's signing of the Stabilization and Association Agreement between the EU and Serbia.

PARIS, May 12 (Tanjug) - French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner late on Sunday welcomed the important advantage of the list For European Serbia - Boris Tadic in Serbia's general elections on Sunday, evaluating that Serbia's citizens had "clearly voted for Europe." The preliminary results of the Serbian elections show a significant advantage of the coalition headed by President Boris Tadic, the French Foreign Ministry said in a statement, adding that Serbia clearly voted for Europe on May 11. In a telephone conversation, Kouchner congratulated representatives of the Democratic Party on their victory, it was also said in the statement.

STOCKHOLM, May 12 (Tanjug) - Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt on Monday welcomed the results of the Serbian parliamentary election in which the coalition of pro-European parties headed by President Boris Tadic won the majority of the votes. In a statement with Sweden's radio, Bildt said that in view of the opinion poll results, which had indicated a possible victory of the Serbian Radical Party, the election results were much better than expected. Bildt also said that there is no doubt that the pro-European bloc had scored a "moral victory," and evaluated that it would probably take months for a new Serbian government to be formed.

PRISTINA, May 11 (Tanjug) - UNMIK spokesman Russell Geekie said late on Sunday that elections for local Serbian authorities in Kosovo on Sunday did not have a legal basis and that UNMIK would neither recognise them or cooperate with the parallel structures of authority in the province. In a statement for the Tanjug news agency, Geekie said that UNMIK would not cooperate with parallel structures in Kosovo, but only with legitimate Serb representatives. He said that the legitimate representatives were those municipal heads whose term of office had been extended by UNMIK head Joachim Ruecker and that UNMIK would cooperate with them.

BELGRADE, May 12 (Tanjug) - The parties and coalitions that have won political mandates at the Sunday parliamentary elections are yet to have talks on the setting up of the future government. The Republic Electoral Commission (RIK) is supposed to announce final results by 8 pm on May 15. The parliament should be set up by mid-June, and according to the Constitution, the government has 90 days to be set up, and if not, the parliament will be dissolved once again and new elections will have to take place. Once he discusses the issue with the representatives of the election lists that have won parliamentary mandates, the president of the Republic is due to propose the new prime minister to the parliament. The prime minister-designate proposes to the deputies the programme and the members of the new government, for the setting up of which it is necessary that the majority of the total number of deputies, that is at least 126 MPs, backs the proposal.

BELGRADE, May 9 (Tanjug) - The Serbian government on Friday unanimously passed the draft bill on the ratification of the energy agreement with Russia, while the draft bill on ratification of the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) was adopted by the Democratic Party (DS) and G17 Plus ministers, during the part of the session which was chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic, in the absence of Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica and ministers from the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) and New Serbia (NS), Tanjug learned in the Serbian Government.The draft bill on ratification of the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) was included into the agenda of today's meeting of the Serbian government as the first item, but only DS and G17 Plus ministers voted in favor of placing the bill on the agenda of the government session.Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica and ministers from among the DSS and New Serbia did not wish to give any legitimacy to the document, which they believe is against the Constitution. They walked out of the meeting and did not attend the vote on the draft bill.Tanjug learned that under the Rules of Procedure of the Government work, Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic assumed the authorization to chair the session after that, and that the ministers form the DS and G17 Plus voted for the ratification of the SAA. After that, the coalition government continued the session under the prime minister's chairmanship. The coalition government unanimously passed the draft bill on the ratification of the energy agreement with Russia.

ZRENJANIN, May 9 (Tanjug) - Serbian President Boris Tadic on Friday voiced his satisfaction with the fact that the Serbian government had approved a draft law on the ratification of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with the European Union and energy agreement with Russia, which will be sent to the new convocation of parliament for adoption. Speaking at the opening of the Draxlmeier car part factory in Zrenjanin, Tadic said that the Serbian government had "fallen because of the disagreement among coalition partners" on the European future, but that the arrival of foreign investors in Serbia showed why it had been important to make this government with a lot of compromise slightly less than a year ago. "I am convinced that citizens would give clear directions to the future government regarding the speed and path to be taken to Europe, because this is the only way for us to ensure the future for the creation of new jobs both for young people and for those over 50 and this is the only way to generate much more power in our state and economy to efficiently defend our interests in Kosovo-Metohija," Tadic told reporters during a tour of the factory.

BELGRADE, May 11 (Beta) - Serbian Minister for Kosovo and Metohija Slobodan Samardzic assessed that the Serbian government session, at which the energy agreement with Russia and the Agreement on Stabilization and Association were sent to the future parliament for initialing, proved the "strife due to which the government fell apart." After the government session, Samardzic told the press that the prime minister, the Democratic Party of Serbia and the New Serbia ministers were opposed to putting the agreement with the EU on the agenda, but that the Democratic Party and the G17 Plus had voted for the proposal.

According to him, by making such a decision, a part of the Serbian government accepted the fact that 19 EU countries had recognized Kosovo's independence and the signing of this sensitive and important agreement. Samardzic added that this has caused a violation of the Serbian Constitution, which was the reason why the two parties refused to participate "in the matter."

Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic assessed that the session holds great strategic and symbolic significance for Serbia, because it strengthens "the two pillars of Serbia's foreign policy."

LJUBLJANA, May 9 (Tanjug) - Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel said on Friday that one of the priorities of the Slovenian Presidency of the EU is that the countries of the Western Balkans, including Serbia, move closer to Europe. "We want a European Serbia," Rupel pointed out in a statement on the occasion of the Day of Europe. Referring to Kosovo, the Slovenian foreign minister said that the province is a European issue, which, if it remains unresolved, might "cause instability and tension."

BELGRADE, May 10 (Tanjug) - Head of the European Commission Delegation to Serbia Josep Lloveras organised a reception at the City Assembly on Friday evening on the occasion of May 9, Europe Day. The guests in the Old Palace, the Royal Palace of the Obrenovic dynasty of Serbia, were Serbian President Boris Tadic, Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic, Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic and a number of other renown political, public and cultural figures, as well as members of the diplomatic corps.

BUCHAREST, May 10 (Tanjug) - Romanian President Traian Basescu said on Saturday that his country would not recognise the unilaterally proclaimed independence of Kosovo and that it would not change its position. This is out of the question, President Basescu underlined in a live state TV broadcast. We had our half annual meeting with the ambassadors of the European Union member countries, and I conveyed to them that Romania would not change its stand on Kosovo and that it would not recognise the province's unilaterally proclaimed independence, he said. Basescu said that Romania was not isolated in the European Union because of such a stand, and that its relations with the leading EU member states were not jeopardised. President Basescu also said that one of the reasons why the Kosovo issue had not been put on the agenda of the latest NATO summit in Bucharest early in April was that Romania had been against that, Rompres reported. This issue was not on the agenda because Romania and Spain refused to accept that it be part of the (summit's) debate, Basescu said, pointing to the fact that everywhere in the NATO document, Kosovo was being referred to as a (Serbian) province.

PRISTINA, Mat 11 (Tanjug) - UNMIK Chief Joachim Ruecker said on Sunday that the elections for local Serb bodies in Kosovo are without legal grounds and that UNMIK will not recognize the results of these elections. The Serbian authorities are carrying out the local elections aware that they are defying UNMIK, which is under Resolution 1244 the only institution with a mandate to allow holding of elections in Kosovo. Illegal elections cannot have legal outcomes and their results will not be recognized, Ruecker said UNMIK voiced regrets because the Republic of Serbia chose to ignore the provisions of Resolution 1244 and hold the elections without UNMIK's permission.

BELGRADE, May 11 (Tanjug) - After an initial enthusiasm the illusions will vanish and people will realize that it is not enough to say that Kosovo is independent, member of the Swiss Council of States and of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Dick Marty has said. The economic situation is tragic, unemployment is too high, as well as crime rates. I can state that Kosovo is not a state. It neither has a state structure nor authorities that truly control the situation. Everything would collapse without the presence of international forces, Marty told the Sunday issue of the daily Vecernje Novosti. I am against Kosovo's independence, because I hold that there was still space for negotiations. The unilateral declaration of Kosovo's independence is against Resolution 1244 of the UN Security Council. Switzerland, which has a policy of neutrality and of strict adherence to international law, should not have hurried, he pointed out. He said that great powers and NATO made a decision of Kosovo's independence. There is no doubt about this. The United States was the advance guard, but it acted in agreement with Paris, Berlin and London.