Q:
A:
Serbia will never accept Kosovo independence
Belgrade/Washington,
12 April 2008
Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic said last evening that the Serbian delegation met with IMF and World Bank representatives in Washington and conveyed Serbia’s stance on Kosovo-Metohija.
Bozidar Djelic
In a statement to the news agency Beta from Washington, Djelic said that the Serbian delegation, which includes Finance Minister Mirko Cvetkovic and governor of the National Bank of Serbia Radovan Jelasic, spoke with top officials of these two bodies, prior to the spring meeting of IMF and the World Bank in Washington.
We said that Serbia will never accept the independence of Kosovo-Metohija and we will do everything in our power to prevent a fictitious state from joining these two financial institutions, said Djelic.
He said however that this might prove to be difficult since membership in these organisations is decided by majority vote and the voting power is determined by the relative size of a member's economy or its quota.
The situation is difficult because countries which have until now recognised Kosovo hold large quotas in the IMF and the World Bank, explained Djelic and added that a tough battle awaits Serbia in this regard.
According to Djelic, it was concluded in the talks between the Serbian delegation and IMF representatives that Serbia must make more efforts in order to maintain macroeconomic stability and to keep up a fast growth rate.
He said that this will require certain efforts in budgeting and an increase in investments in infrastructure.
He said that the Serbian delegation was not able to discuss any new programme with the IMF since it is representing a caretaker government.
Djelic said that current loans were discussed with World Bank representatives, but the focus was on the new loan agreement which has been signed.
We signed a new loan agreement which is for the decentralisation of social services, and is very important for providing help to the most vulnerable social groups, said Djelic.
He said that help will be provided in the areas of education, health and social policy, and added that a lot of work needs to be done with the World Bank in this respect.
We also discussed the possibility of increasing the current amount of $600 million that we have for the next three years, and the World Bank will consider increasing the total amount by October, said Djelic.
Commenting on the general atmosphere in Washington, Djelic said that the meeting with the IMF and World Bank was held amidst growing concerns for the global economic future.
According to Djelic, the IMF predicts that economic growth will be significantly smaller during the next year, the United States economy is expected to enter a recession and the financial crisis has until now resulted in the loss of some $100 billion to the international financial system.
Djelic warned that this could have a negative influence on reforms in Serbia and said that all countries which are on the same level of development as Serbia have seen an increase in prices of resources and interest rates.
This makes it even more important to implement responsible policies in order to maintain macroeconomic stability, said the Deputy Prime Minister.
We said that Serbia will never accept the independence of Kosovo-Metohija and we will do everything in our power to prevent a fictitious state from joining these two financial institutions, said Djelic.
He said however that this might prove to be difficult since membership in these organisations is decided by majority vote and the voting power is determined by the relative size of a member's economy or its quota.
The situation is difficult because countries which have until now recognised Kosovo hold large quotas in the IMF and the World Bank, explained Djelic and added that a tough battle awaits Serbia in this regard.
According to Djelic, it was concluded in the talks between the Serbian delegation and IMF representatives that Serbia must make more efforts in order to maintain macroeconomic stability and to keep up a fast growth rate.
He said that this will require certain efforts in budgeting and an increase in investments in infrastructure.
He said that the Serbian delegation was not able to discuss any new programme with the IMF since it is representing a caretaker government.
Djelic said that current loans were discussed with World Bank representatives, but the focus was on the new loan agreement which has been signed.
We signed a new loan agreement which is for the decentralisation of social services, and is very important for providing help to the most vulnerable social groups, said Djelic.
He said that help will be provided in the areas of education, health and social policy, and added that a lot of work needs to be done with the World Bank in this respect.
We also discussed the possibility of increasing the current amount of $600 million that we have for the next three years, and the World Bank will consider increasing the total amount by October, said Djelic.
Commenting on the general atmosphere in Washington, Djelic said that the meeting with the IMF and World Bank was held amidst growing concerns for the global economic future.
According to Djelic, the IMF predicts that economic growth will be significantly smaller during the next year, the United States economy is expected to enter a recession and the financial crisis has until now resulted in the loss of some $100 billion to the international financial system.
Djelic warned that this could have a negative influence on reforms in Serbia and said that all countries which are on the same level of development as Serbia have seen an increase in prices of resources and interest rates.
This makes it even more important to implement responsible policies in order to maintain macroeconomic stability, said the Deputy Prime Minister.
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