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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

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Serbian Prime Minister calls for new elections to be held on May 11

Belgrade, 8 March 2008

Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica called today for new parliamentary elections to be held on May 11, because the Serbian government no longer has a united policy on the issue of Kosovo-Metohija.

Speaking at an emergency press conference today, Kostunica said that a government without a united policy could not function any more.

The Serbian Prime Minister said that the best course of action is to hold parliamentary elections in May, when the provincial and local elections are scheduled to take place.

He said that the government at its session on March 10 will present the proposal to the Serbian President to dissolve the parliament and schedule new elections for May 11.

According to Kostunica, the government failed to maintain a united policy on the issue of Kosovo-Metohija because of contrasting opinions in the ruling coalition regarding the resolution for determining Serbia’s relations with the EU.

All parties in Serbia, without exception, expressed a desire for Serbia to join the EU, but there were differences on the question of how – with Kosovo-Metohija or without it. This is the essential question which caused division, said Kostunica and added that the government did not have the united will to explicitly state that Serbia can continue on the path of EU integration only with Kosovo-Metohija.

The disputed resolution, which was presented to the parliament by the Serbian Radical Party, according to Kostunica, is basically not different from a number of other resolutions which the Serbian parliament adopted earlier, apart from that that it specifies Serbia’s stance regarding the EU bearing in mind that the same principles and rules should be applied to Serbia which are applicable to all other countries.

Kostunica stressed that it was impossible for the government to function any more because of the unwillingness of government members to ask the EU to state where in its opinion Serbian borders lie, which is a question that has not been answered yet even by EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn.

He stressed that Serbia’s choice to be part of the EU was affirmed years ago but everything changed after February 17 when the EU gave the green light to the violation of the fundamental act of the EU, the UN Charter and Resolution 1244.

The Serbian Prime Minister recalled that the EU allowed its members to individually recognise the unilateral declaration of independence made by Kosovo-Metohija, which is what the majority of EU member states did. It also made the decision to send its civilian mission to the province pursuant to Ahtisaari’s rejected plan, which directly jeopardises Serbia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.

A government which is displaying such obvious differences could not last, said Kostunica and added that he has not resigned because if he had done so then, keeping in mind legal deadlines, the situation could lead to elections being held later than May 11.

Kostunica said that he will resign if coalition partners do not accept the proposal to dissolve the parliament at the government’s session.

I could resign immediately, but in that case because of deadlines and the entire procedure of submitting the resignation it would be necessary to find a candidate for the office of the prime minister within 30 days, explained Kostunica.

In practical terms this would mean that parliamentary elections would be held 15 to 20 days after May 11, and that seemed irrational to me, this is why we chose this course of action, said the Prime Minister.

According to Kostunica, the government will continue to function according to the Constitution and the law in a reduced capacity, institutions will function and the country’s stability will not be jeopardised in anyway.

Responding to the question if Serbia is about to enter a period of instability which would negatively affect the economy, the Prime Minister said that there is no reason for that to happen.