Keepin touch

Whether you have a question, comment, suggestion or any problem in the purview of the government, send us your message and we will try to respond as soon as possible. If your problem is not in our purview, we will forward your message to the relevant institution.

The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Serbia will fight with all diplomatic means to keep its territory

Belgrade, 4 October 2007

Serbian Minister of Justice Dusan Petrovic said today that the Serbian government's policy is that Serbia must fight with all its diplomatic means available to keep its territory and what is established as right in international legal documents.

Dusan Petrovic at today's press conference

Speaking at a press conference, held after the government session, Petrovic said that the policy of the government and the president of the republic are united in the position that the Kosovo issue should be resolved in a peaceful way because Kosovo-Metohija is an integral part of Serbia's territory, to which Serbia has rights guaranteed by international documents - the UN Charter and the Helsinki Act.

Commenting on the information that Radio-Television of Kosovo broadcast a report on members of the Albanian national army, the Minister said that he is worried because of the fact that there is a para-military formation in the province.

That is a sign that there might be conflicts. International forces that are deployed in Kosovo-Metohija have the mandate to keep peace and order until a final agreement is reached between Serbia and Kosovo Albanians, Petrovic said.

According to him, the question of Serbia's territorial integrity and sovereignty is based on the request that the United Nations reach a decision on the way in which the final status of Kosovo will be determined.

Speaking about the Bill on Constitutional Court adopted at today's government session, he explained that this law enables citizens to address this court through a constitutional complaint in order to protect their individual rights.

He explained that this Bill is a guarantee that citizens of Serbia will have a procedure before this law which enables a high level of protection of rights, protection of constitutionality and legality, that is, control of all acts brought by parliament and the government.

This Bill has been submitted for parliamentary discussion under emergency procedure.

The Minister said that there are 15 judges in the Constitutional Court, and the Serbian President has proposed ten candidates, of which Serbian parliament will select five.

According to the Constitutional Law, the Constitutional Court will be formed when ten judges are elected, and the remaining number of judges will be selected when the supreme court of cassation is formed, explained Petrovic.

Commenting on the case of Yugoslav National Army officer Miroslav Radic accused of war crimes who was cleared of all charges by the Hague Tribunal, the Minister stressed that he will not be handed over to Croatia if Croatian authorities demand that.

No Serbian citizen may be handed over to another country. Even if it is not a citizen of Serbia in question, if the Hague Tribunal brings a decision to clear them of all charges, it will be valid for Serbia, said Petrovic.

He added that decisions brought by the Hague Tribunal must be respected if we want to be part of the UN system.

This means that we must respect all decisions brought by the Security Council – those which protect our territorial integrity, and those which establish the statute of the Hague Tribunal, and it is on the basis of this statute that the tribunal functions and brings decisions, concluded the Minister.