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Holding of Serbia-Montenegrin parliamentary elections necessary, four generals should be tried in Serbia

Belgrade, 2 September 2004

Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said that the elections for the parliament of Serbia-Montenegro should be held in line with the Constitutional Charter and voiced hope that the European Union will not allow the violation of the Belgrade Agreement.

Holding of Serbia-Montenegrin parliamentary elections necessary, four generals should be tried in Serbia

In an interview to the latest issue of the NIN weekly, Kostunica said that he maintains good and frequent contacts with President of the State Union of Serbia-Montenegro Svetozar Marovic, as well as with Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic and Montenegrin President Filip Vujanovic.

"Owing to the joint efforts of the two republics, all institutions of the state union have been established and they are fully functional", Kostunica stressed.

If the Constitutional Charter mandates that the elections for the Serbia-Montenegrin parliament should be held in two years, than they must be held, said Kostunica. The Charter leaves the possibility of a referendum to be held one year after the elections, but Kostunica stresses that that is a "possibility, and not an obligation".

Since the Charter does not envisage that the elections could be skipped and the referendum be held immediately, Kostunica voiced hope that Brussels could not allow a state union that qualifies for the entrance to the European Union to breach an agreement made with Europe.

"Because the Belgrade Agreement is a kind of agreement of Belgrade and Podgorica with Brussels", said Kostunica.

Asked if such a position means that Belgrade and Podgorica cannot discuss some possible alterations of the Constitutional Charter, Kostunica said that it is possible only to discuss Charter's implementation, which has always been done in a correct manner.

He said that it would be very important for Serbia if the government could arrange that the four generals, indicted by the Hague tribunal, be tried in Serbia.

Answering the comment that according to the law, they should be extradited to the Hague regardless of the government's position, Kostunica said that “there are so many things in The Hague tribunal that should have been done but were never done.”

“The Hague tribunal is flexible in many aspects, it often changes its own rules,” said Kostunica and noted that “everybody knows” how much Serbia-Montenegro has contributed to cooperation with The Hague.

“Most of those indicted, who are standing trials at The Hague, are people who used to take up very prominent positions in the government, military, and police. The Hague tribunal has been granted access to a great number of documents, many people have given evidence, and so on. Several trials have been launched before domestic courts, minor ones, although they can hardly be regarded as minor,” Kostunica explained.