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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Significant results achieved in the past year

Belgrade, 3 March 2005

Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said in an interview with today's edition of daily Danas that in the evaluation of achievements of the Serbian government over the past year, the starting point should be the situation that existed at the time of its formation. He recalled that at that time, Serbia did not have a president and there were many conflicts between the government, the parliament, the Constitutional Court, and political parties. Now all institutions exist and relations between them have been brought into line with the Constitution.

Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica

The official website of the Serbian government brings excerpts from the interview:

Results in the field of legislation:

- The Serbian parliament has done a lot and adopted many important systemic laws. The impact of such legislative activity to the quality of life of citizens cannot be expected immediately. I understand that people are living in difficult circumstances, but important steps have been made in the field of economy as well. The economy has recorded growth and many debts have been written off. Progress has been made in the cooperation with The Hague Tribunal. I would have preferred that changes that bring a better life to citizens could have happened faster, but those changes have yet to give results.

Adoption of the new constitution:

- All necessary preconditions have been fulfilled, but there is still not a political will in all the sides to complete that task. I hope that the influence of the European Union will be positive in this case as well. We are sure that after receiving a favourable assessment of the feasibility study it will be clear that we cannot make a step forward towards Europe or start negotiations on the stabilisation and association agreement without a new constitution.

Will this government remain in office until the end of the term or will there be early elections?

- This government has dedicated its actions to difficult state tasks that do not yield cheap political points, but that also cannot be avoided and represent an investment into the future. The government has put the interest of the state above the interests of the political parties that make up the government. This fact is more important to us than the length of the government’s term in office. Since the very beginning, the government does not want to be long lasting; it wants to be in power until a new constitution is adopted.

Privatisation of Knjaz Milos:

- I think that this case is closed, but privatisations of such large enterprises are never simple. Efforts have been made to find a solution that would not put any of the bidders into a privileged position. The best proof of that is the fact that all of them were given another opportunity to bid.

Situation in Jat Airways:

- I believe that the measures that have been taken will enable Jat Airways to survive. We are faced with a serious problem that this government will have to address, that being the restructuring of Jat. That is an issue which could have been resolved earlier. The government may not be immediately praised for restructuring public sector enterprises, however this action is necessary and it will bring economic recovery and a better life for citizens.

Will the Feasibility Study enable Serbia-Montenegro to enter the “white Schengen list”?

- Citizens of Serbia can expect many improvements thanks to the Feasibility Study for association with the EU. We’ll see how it will look but I think that, apart from political and legal significance, this change will also have psychological benefits, however far the actual accession to the EU may be.

Serbian officials have rejected Montenegro’s proposal to create a union of independent states. Will there be talks on the future of Serbia-Montenegro soon?

- Podgorica has put forward a surprising proposal, which on the one hand, runs contrary to the Belgrade Accord and the Constitutional Charter, and on the other, represents an inexplicable setback. That proposal resembles the earliest ideas, put forward by the then Montenegrin President [Milo] Djukanovic in October 2000, of Serbia and Montenegro as independent states that should form a union. Another process was then launched, the EU got involved in talks between Belgrade and Podgorica, and a solution was reached, that being the Belgrade Accord and the Constitutional Charter. The question is how to explain the moving away from the agreement, which Podgorica accepted and pledged to respect. The Belgrade Accord and the Constitutional Charter were confirmed once again in Maastricht last September, when the EU proposed a “two-track” strategy. It is not clear what has changed in the past two years to make the Montenegrin authorities come up with a new proposal. Isn’t it in our best interest to speed up our journey to Europe instead of engaging ourselves in these kinds of disputes? Podgorica has so far been evading elections for the Serbia-Montenegrin parliament and I’m afraid that now they are trying to evade a referendum. Brussels has clearly said what it thinks about it.

Cooperation with The Hague Tribunal:

- Croatia’s example shows that until the last obligation to The Hague Tribunal is met, it is considered that cooperation is not full. So it is irrelevant who will be the next to surrender. It is only important that Serbia fulfils all its obligations. In the past few months, the process of cooperation with The Hague has improved. It is now seen in a different light in Serbia, The Hague, Brussels, and Washington. Resolving each individual case encourages others to follow the path of voluntary surrender. I expect some other indictees to be released pending trial, which will also encourage those who have not surrendered yet to do so.

Do you expect the issue of the status of Kosovo to be brought up this year and can Belgrade be excluded from negotiations?

- Belgrade can by no means be excluded and nobody is even thinking of doing that. We are ready to cooperate, however at this moment, UNMIK and Special Representative [Soren Jessen] Petersen are not showing understanding for decentralisation of power. Inexplicably, Petersen thinks that representatives of Belgrade can only have an advisory role in the working group on decentralisation. Since March 17, the work of these groups has been suspended, but it will be continued.

When are you scheduled to visit Zagreb?

- I will go to Zagreb in mid-2005. A visit to Zagreb has been arranged and it represents a return visit after a very important visit to Belgrade by Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader. It is certain that our meeting will be dedicated to all important issues that are supposed to improve relations between Serbia, Serbia-Montenegro, and Croatia. These issues include the problem of refugees, their property, the promotion of minority rights, and the transfer of prisoners.