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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Serbia can take leading role in region

Belgrade, 12 April 2008

Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said in an interview for today’s edition of the daily Pres that Serbia deserves to become the leading country in the region and can attain this position.

Speaking about the kind of relations Serbia should maintain with the EU, Kostunica said that relations should be as good as they can be, but they must be based on equality.

It is not our ambition to join the EU because of the EU, but for the sake of Serbia’s best interest. If Brussels shows respect for Serbia’s territorial integrity I will become the biggest euro-optimist. My position regarding the EU depends on the position taken by the EU towards Serbia, said Kostunica.

He said that the issue of Kosovo-Metohija is an issue of whether we are a state and a self-respecting nation or are we just a puppet state which trades off the interests of people.

According to Kostunica, NATO committed a crime when it attacked Serbia, then they built the Bondsteel military base and now they are attempting to legitimize the first NATO state where, according to Ahtisaari’s plan, the NATO commander in Kosovo will be the ultimate authority.

He said that he is convinced that Serbian parliament’s decision to declare military neutrality is in the best interest of our country, and added that this guarantees that our soldiers will not die in Afghanistan and Iraq while serving the interests of others.

I am also convinced that the Serbian people will never decide to give up military neutrality, said the Prime Minister.

Speaking about the ICTY, Kostunica said that for the EU, until now, this court was a beacon of light which was supposed to enlighten the peoples of the Balkans and determine whether Serbia can continue with its EU integration or not.

Haradinaj was awarded the certificate of innocence. Now we are interested in seeing the EU’s stance on whether it still regards the ICTY to be a legitimate institution which can still be called a court, said Kostunica.

He said that Serbia must respond appropriately to the decision by the Western states to recognise the unilateral independence of Kosovo-Metohija since, otherwise, these countries might get into the habit of targeting other parts of our territory as well.

That is why it is important to have a principled policy now and to defend our country. If we succeed in that, then I am an optimist, because then other countries will regard us with more respect, said Kostunica.