Belgrade, 20. 05. 2008.

SERBIA - SETTING UP NEW GOVT - REACTIONS

• TADIC: FOR SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT
• DINKIC: WE WON'T ENTER CABINET WITHOUT AGREEMENT IN BELGRADE
• DI CARLO: EUROPEAN PATH FOR SERBIA USEFUL FOR REGION TOO
• WORDSWORTH: UK WILL WORK WITH ANY SERBIAN GOVT, TO DIFFERENT DEGR.

• MISCEVIC: EU AGREEMENT CANNOT BE CANCELLED
• JELASIC: TARGETED CORE INFLATION FOR 2009 HARD TO MEET
• SIEPA: FOREIGN INVESTORS GATHER INFO AND WAIT

• SAMARDZIC: THREE COUNTRIES CALL FOR TALKS ON KOSOVO TO RESUME
• SAMARDZIC: ELECTION IN KOSOVO IS SERBIAN POLICY'S SUCCESS
• YVES DE KERMABON SAYS EULEX SLIGHTLY DELAYED
• THACI: AFTER JUNE 15, KOSOVO INSTITUTIONS ACROSS PROVINCE

STARA PAZOVA, RUMA, May 19 (Tanjug) - Serbian President Boris Tadic stated that Serbia needs a socially responsible government, formed on the basis of national reconciliation. "My job is to start a national reconciliation in Serbia, to have the political forces of the 1990s and those that were at the helm of Serbia after 2000 join forces in reaching common goals, to conciliate the population, tensions and misunderstandings, to have serious words go into the oblivion and to try to enter the next decade as a stable and prosperous country," Tadic said. He told reporters at the stall of the For European Vojvodina list that he would discuss a new government with the Socialist Party and he supported the cooperation between the Socialists and the parties of the For European Serbia coalition at the local level, which has already been agreed in some municipalities. He again expressed his confidence that the For European Serbia coalition will form a new government of Serbia, which will be guided by social justice principles and will, at the same time, defend the state's European path and its territorial integrity. According to Tadic, the For European Serbia coalition, headed by him, is prepared to form a government with all those parties that want European Serbia, who want to defend the country's integrity, to create new jobs and who will not make false promises with their national policy. Tadic promised that the government of Serbia will be guided by social justice principles and that it will do everything to distribute the weight of the development of the society equally and not to have it burden only the pensioners, farmers or workers. "I believe that the government may be formed only if we develop a realistic plan of how to secure new jobs and pensions, how to attract investments, and not only of how to attract two or three million euro into Serbia, but how to head towards five billion, because that is the only way pensions may reach 70 percent of the wages. Everything else would be a rotten lie and deception of citizens," underscored Tadic.

BELGRADE, May 19 (Beta) - Minister Mladjan Dinkic said his party would not take part in a Serbian cabinet, unless an agreement with the Socialist Party was reached also in Belgrade and not only at the republican level. In a statement to B92 TV, Dinkic said his party could back a minority government of the parties gathered around the Democratic Party and the Socialists. "Participation in the government is not a priority for the G17 Plus party. We want to be in a government that is good and efficient and not in a cabinet that must make a rotten compromise with the Belgrade authorities...," Dinkic explained.

According to Dinkic, it cannot be that one coalition is in power in a city, especially one like Belgrade, which is the engine of development, and another coalition at the republican level. Dinkic added that he was certain that a cabinet would be formed in mid June and the SSA ratified later that month. He did not, however, rule out the other possibility. In his words, those who decide not to go with the "For a European Serbia" coalition will fall apart and added that "only a crazy person would go in the opposite direction." Dinkic further said it was up to the Socialists to decide whether they will be a part of a historical team that will take Serbia to the EU, or be in a cabinet that will be ousted in a short time and will be bad.

SARAJEVO, May 19 (Tanjug) - Over the past years, Serbia has been a strong partner of the United States of America and we hope that Serbia will choose the European path, which would be useful not only for the country itself but for the region as a whole, U.S. Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo has stated. In an interview published by the Sarajevo daily Dnevni Avaz, she said that one should wait and see who would form a new government in Serbia. "In any case, whoever comes into power in Serbia, we shall judge him by his work. We expect every government in the region to continue to work on what has been worked on over the past years," said DiCarlo. She underscored that the United States expects the issue of indictees for war crimes who are still at large to be solved and that this calls for a full cooperation among all authorities in the region. According to her, the united States is particularly focused on two fugitives - Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic. "The United States has made it clear that a court will always be ready for them to judge them when they get arrested. I hope that they will soon be put behind bars. That is very important not only for the EU and NATO path but also for something more important - reconciliation. We want everything to be done to bring them to justice," said DiCarlo.

BELGRADE, May 19 (Tanjug) - UK Ambassador to Serbia Stephen Wordsworth told Tanjug Monday that the UK will maintain a certain basic level of cooperation with any legally elected Serbian government, but that the degree of cooperation will depend on harmonizatiton of common goals. There must be common goals for Serbia to make progress, not only with the UK but with the European Union as a whole, he said. Only if there are common goals can the EU countries, including the UK, justify the spending of billions of euros of their taxpayers to support Serbia's progress, he said. To that end, Serbia must also realize full cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Wordsworth said. The previous Serbian government realized considerable progress - about 90 percent. This commitment should now be honored fully, otherwise the relations with the EU cannot move forward and investments and business will go elsewhere, he said. It is high time Serbian political parties and their leaders started to build a better future for the people, he noted. The Socialist Party of Serbia can be a part of this future too if it is ready to become a true pro-European party committed to European values, he said.

BELGRADE, May 19 (Beta) - The director of the government's Office for European Integration, Tanja Miscevic, stated on May 19 that the SAA with the European Union cannot be cancelled, nor can it be declared invalid. "The options which are left are either to ratify or not to ratify the Agreement. I cannot imagine that a parliamentary majority would not vote for such an important agreement like the Stabilization and Association Agreement. Everyone who wishes the nation well will vote for ratification," Miscevic told BETA. She added that not ratifying the agreement would send a bad message, as Serbia would be considered as a partner which is not credible in negotiations, because it has been negotiating the Agreement for three years, and then announces that it does not wish to.

Miscevic stated that there is no timeframe for the ratification of the Stabilization and Association Agreement, but that Serbia is expected to do this as soon as possible, in order to show its devotion to European integration. She emphasized that it is not necessary for Parliament to ratify the Stabilization and Association Agreement in order for Serbia to become a candidate for membership in the European Union. According to her, it is the decision of the Serbian government that is required to become a candidate, but that it would be good for Parliament to also confirm a positive stance on European integration and therefore ratify the Agreement. Miscevic expects that a transitional agreement with the EU will go into effect on July 1, which is a summary of the Stabilization and Association Agreement.

BELGRADE, May 19 (Tanjug) - National Bank of Serbia (NBS) Governor Radovan Jelasic said on Monday that it is possible to achieve the projected core inflation rate for this year if the budget is not exceeded, but that it is little likely that the targeted core inflation of 2-5 percent will be met in 2009. "We now need a stable government which will decrease the public sector expenditures, continue structural reforms in the economy, make new arrangements with the IMF, speed up the bankruptcy procedures for companies that do not have buyers," Jelasic told Belgrade's Ekonomist Magazine. "In that way, the government would add to a better credit rating of the country, which would decrease interest rates and margins we are paying," the NBS governor pointed out.

BELGRADE, May 19 (Tanjug) - Over the past few months, the interest of foreign investors to invest in Serbia has increased, but it is still in the form of information gathering, while there is an actual stagnation, representative of the Serbia Investment and Export Promotion Agency (SIEPA) Aleksandar Miloradovic told Tanjug on Monday. The stagnation in the realization of projects and actual investments in Serbia appeared due to the political crisis, and foreign investors are waiting for a new government to be formed in Serbia, said Miloradovic. According to the official statistical data, direct foreign investments amounted to around USD 800 million in the first three months of this year. The Serbian government planned in its 2008 economic policy to implement measures aimed at attracting foreign investments worth at least three billion U.S. dollars, which would be a minimum for reaching an economic growth rate of seven percent and unemployment reduction.

BELGRADE, May 19 (Tanjug) - Serbian Minister for Kosovo and Metohija Slobodan Samardzic stated that the statement by foreign ministers of Russia, China and India saying that they expect Belgrade and Pristina to resume talks refers to the status of Kosovo. "When Russia's foreign minister speaks about the continuation of the talks he refers to the status. He believes that the talks had not been completed, or completed properly. I do not believe he had changed his mind. Russia's stand has continuously been that of principle," Samardzic told a press conference at the Serbian government. "We also count with India and China referring to the same thing, i.e. that the talks had not been completed and that this is the best way to solve the essential issues, one of which is the status of Kosovo," said Samardzic. According to him, it is very good that foreign ministers of the three countries had underscored their stand, because judging by the State Department's immediate reaction that followed several hours later, it is obvious that Washington had understood the intention of the proposal by Russia, India and China. "We actually see a manifested dispute over Kosovo and Metohija on the global level, which will have to be solved among the big players, but also among the small players in Serbia, that is among representatives of Belgrade and Pristina," said Samardzic. "What we had failed to finish last November, we shall continue one day and that is the stand of the three big countries," underscored Samardzic.

BELGRADE, May 19 (Beta) - Minister for Kosovo and Metohija Slobodan Samardzic said on May 19 that the local election and the forming of local assemblies in Kosovo were important steps, but would not "automatically solve all problems." Samardzic told a news conference at Serbian government headquarters that the election in Kosovo had taken place in a democratic and peaceful manner and was an important success for the Serbian policy in Kosovo. He went on to say that the Kosovo Serbs will get local governments for the first time in 12 years and will form local assemblies in 25 towns.

According to him, the election result is satisfactory, given the conditions in which the Kosovo Serbs live. Samardzic also said that 57 percent of all voters in Kosovo exercised their right to vote, whereas 35 percent of the displaced from Kosovo voted at 141 special polling stations in Serbia. According to unofficial final results unveiled by the Serbian Electoral Commission, the Serbian Radical Party won the majority in 15 municipalities, the Democratic Party of Serbia in six, citizens' tickets won the most votes in three municipalities, whereas the Radicals and the Socialist Party of Serbia will have an equal number of representatives in two municipalities.

"Regardless of how much UNMIK may deny the legitimacy of this election now, saying the matter is null and void from its point of view, those are the only Serb governing bodies in the territory and UNMIK will communicate with those governing bodies," he said.

Prizren, May 19 (Beta) - Yves de Kermabon, the head of the EU mission to Kosovo (EULEX), said in Prizren on May 19 that the mission's launch will be slightly delayed."Due to political and technical problems, the start of the EULEX mission may be a bit late," De Kermabon said, adding that he did not know how long the delay would be, but that the mission would begin as soon as possible. He refused to talk about the political aspect of the mission's postponement. "We are operatives here and that mission is primarily technical. We are to ensure security, freedom and the implementation of the laws for the members of all local communities," De Kermabon said. He reiterated that he did not expect any "green light" from the U.N. De Kermabon, a former KFOR commander, said that some 300 members of the EULEX mission, i.e. technical and other personnel, are currently in Kosovo. The mission was initially due to begin on May 15.

PriSTINE, May 19 (Beta) - Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci stated on May 19 that after June 15, when the new constitution of Kosovo goes into effect, the institutions of the province will function across the whole of its territory. "I believe that after June 15, the institutions of the Republic of Kosovo will function across the entire territory of Kosovo with full state legitimacy, which originates from the constitution of the country, with the advice and monitoring of the international civilian authorities and NATO," Thaci said at a session of the Kosovo government.The prime minister of Kosovo stated that the situation in Kosovska Mitrovica was fragile, but that the responsibilities of Kosovo's institutions are increasing and that they will also cover this part of Kosovo. Commenting on the announcement that there will be a delay in establishing the EULEX mission in Kosovo, Thaci said that Kosovo wants and is searching for one place of international civilian decisionmaking and expressed the hope that the dilemma will be resolved very quickly.

Kosovo's government considered a draft bill on the education, the scope of work and the activities of the Kosovo Intelligence Agency. Thaci said that this law must be adopted as soon as possible, in order for the creation of the agency to begin after June 15. The agency, according to him, does not need to be under party or political influence. Under international mediator Martti Ahtisaari's proposal, which was the basis for the creation of Kosovo's constitution, Kosovo is expected to have its own intelligence agency whose work is constantly monitored by the appropriate institutions.