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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

New Constitution to stabilise the country

Belgrade, 10 October 2006

Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said today after a meeting with members of the Presidency and management of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (SANU) that at this moment it is most important that Serbia get a new democratic Constitution, after which elections will be called.

Kostunica said that the new Constitution will bring stability to the country and prevent its disintegration, not bringing into question democratic institutions, human freedoms and minority rights.

The Prime Minister stated that it was necessary to hear what academicians think of the new Constitution because the histories of the Serbian state, the University of Belgrade and SANU are very much alike and intertwined in many aspects.

Academicians have given me some suggestions concerning laws that should be adopted, Kostunica said and added that the meeting was closed to the public so that the discussion should be as functional as possible. Public debate on the new Constitution has been conducted in the past six years.

The conclusion of the meeting is that the main quality of the new Constitution is that it has been reached by a consensus and that it includes all democratic institutions and all rights, human and minority ones, according to European standards.

Kostunica stressed that it is very important that the Constitution has been adopted in Serbian parliament. The things that lie ahead of us are the referendum and then the elections.

All other government affairs, such as the implementation of the Action plan for cooperation with the Hague tribunal, are developing normally, Kostunica said and announced that he will examine" the plan's implementation and concrete measures with the "European trio in Brussels, but they will also touch on other topics, such as Kosovo-Metohija.

Kostunica highlighted that Serbia, by including Kosovo-Metohija in the Constitution's Preamble, clearly demonstrates that it is committed to respecting international law. He explained that the Preamble has been copied from the UN Charter which guarantees territorial integrity and sovereignty of states.

SANU President Nikola Hajdin explained that Kostunica laid out to SANU members the reasons for bringing the new Constitution and its contents. These reasons have been welcomed by all participants in the meeting and Kostunica answered several important questions made by SANU members.