Posted on 03/08/2008 10:17:38 AM PST by Ravnagora
BELGRADE, Serbia - Serbia's prime minister dissolved the government Saturday and called for new elections after clashing with his pro-Western coalition partners over Kosovo and EU membership.
Vojislav Kostunica said that he will convene a government session Monday that will propose to parliament that new elections be held May 11.
He accused pro-Western ministers of failing to support his efforts to preserve Kosovo as part of Serbia.
"There was no united will to clearly and loudly state that Serbia can continue its path toward the EU only with Kosovo," Kostunica said.
The new elections could determine whether Serbia continues toward the EU or takes a more isolationist approach reminiscent of Yugoslavia in the 1990s under the late strongman Slobodan Milosevic.
"The government will function in a reduced capacity until the elections are held," Kostunica said.
Kosovo declared independence from Serbia on Feb. 17. The predominantly ethnic Albanian province had been under U.N. control since 1999, when NATO launched an air war to stop a Serb crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists.
But Serbia, which considers the territory its historic and religious heartland, has rejected Kosovo's move as illegal under international law.
Kostunica insists that EU governments that recognized Kosovo must rescind their decisions before Serbia resumes pre-membership talks with the 27-nation bloc.
Kostunica criticized the EU for "giving the green light to its member states" to recognize Kosovo's secession and for sending a mission to Kosovo without Serbia's consent.
Pro-Western President Boris Tadic opposes tying Serbia's EU membership to the issue of Kosovo, which has been recognized as an independent state by several leading EU nations, including Britain, France and Germany.
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Associated Press Writer Dusan Stojanovic contributed to this report
Why not move away? The EU and America have turned them over to the Terrorist Narco Regime of Al Qaeda.
Did Tadic ever return from his trip to Hungary? Is he still in self imposed exile?
Good point Wild and Crazy Russian.
Just today, March 8, 2008, the Sofia Weekly announced that Serbia is lifting Visas for Russians.
Here’s the summary:
“Serbia Lifts Visas for Russians
Serbia’s government is to abolish visa requirements for Russian citizens, the Cabinet of Ministers said on Thursday.
Serbian officials did not specify when the new rules for Russian citizens entering the Balkan country would come into effect, Ria Novosti reported.
Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica suggested discussing the lifting of visa requirements for Russians to Serbia a week after Kosovo unilaterally declared independence on February 17.
Russia is the strongest supporter of Belgrade’s opposition to recognition for Kosovo, claiming it was undermining international law.”
Good for Kostunica. He’s a brave leader. By the way, proposing that the new elections be held in May means something. That’s when General Mihailovich began his uprising against the Nazis upon reaching the Ravnagora hills in Serbia.
Here’s the Associated Press update to the original story:
Serbia’s government collapses
By DUSAN STOJANOVIC, Associated Press Writer Sat Mar 8, 2:51 PM ET
BELGRADE, Serbia - Serbia’s government collapsed Saturday over an impasse between the nationalist prime minister and the pro-Western president on how Kosovo’s independence affects the Balkan country’s pursuit of EU membership.
“The government, which does not have united policies, cannot function,” Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said as he announced the fall of his Cabinet. “That’s the end of the government.”
Kostunica said he will convene a session of the caretaker government Monday, which will propose to President Boris Tadic to dissolve the Parliament and call new elections for May 11.
Tadic said in a statement that he will call early elections because they are a “democratic way to overcome the political crisis.”
But he disputed Kostunica’s claim that their clash was over Kosovo, the Serbian medieval heartland which proclaimed independence last month with the backing of the United States and several EU countries.
“Kosovo is of course an integral part of our country,” Tadic said.
“I believe the issue is that the Serbian government does not have a united position over European and economic perspectives of Serbia and its citizens,” he added.
Kostunica said the government “will function in a reduced capacity until the elections are held.”
He insists that EU governments recognizing Kosovo must rescind their decisions before Serbia resumes initial membership talks with the 27-nation bloc. Within his government, Kostunica accuses pro-Western ministers of failing to support his efforts to preserve Kosovo as part of Serbia.
Tadic opposes tying Serbia’s EU membership to the issue of Kosovo, which has been recognized as an independent state by several leading EU nations, including Britain, France and Germany.
“All parties want Serbia to join the EU, but the question is how — with or without Kosovo,” Kostunica said. “There was no united will to clearly and loudly state that Serbia can continue its path toward the EU only with Kosovo.”
Pro-Western minister Mladjan Dinkic said Kostunica’s decision was “honorable, democratic and the only possible solution.”
“Anything else would be an agony,” Dinkic said. “It is now honest to ask the citizens which way Serbia will go in the future.”
New elections could determine whether Serbia continues toward the EU and Western institutions or takes a more isolationist approach reminiscent of Yugoslavia in the 1990s under the late strongman Slobodan Milosevic.
Kosovo declared independence from Serbia on Feb. 17. The predominantly ethnic Albanian province had been under U.N. control since 1999, when NATO launched an air war to stop a Serb crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists.
But Serbia, which considers the territory its historic and religious heartland, has rejected Kosovo’s move as illegal under international law.
The Serbian government’s cabinet, made up of Kostunica’s conservatives and pro-Western democrats, was formed in May, following months of strained negotiations in the wake of the last parliamentary elections in January 2007.
The ultranationalist Serbian Radical Party said new elections are “a good solution.”
“Serbia has been in a crisis for a long time,” said senior party official Aleksandar Vucic.
Liberal Party leader Cedomir Jovanovic said the elections should offer a “clear chance to break up with the past policies that have divided the people and pushed it away from the world.”
Jovanovic called for a new policies on Kosovo and said future government leaders should “tell the truth” about Kosovo and immediately arrest the remaining Serb war crimes fugitives.
Capture of Gen. Ratko Mladic and other suspects still at large from the wars of the 1990s is the condition set by the EU for Serbia’s further integration into the bloc.
In Kosovo, deputy Prime Minister Hajredin Kuqi expressed hope Serbia’s voters will leave the past behind in the new elections.
“For Kosovo it is very important to have a government in Serbia that is pro-Western and works for cooperation,” he said.
Associated Press Writer Jovana Gec contributed to this report.
But more importantly they aren't deep-seated Serbophobes as the governments and liberals of the EU and U.S. like to be and will continue to be.
This is like the stupid Crimean War where England and France fought the Christian empire of Russia to help the Muslims, and like the hundreds of other times they (and now America with them) have betrayed their follow Christians. Judas Iscariot had nothing on them.
While waiting impatiently to see what justice may play out in coming weeks, months, or years, I had an idea to do something instead of just getting frustrated with the daily updates.
I hope to start a list of a sort of "Honor Roll" of reporters, politicians, and other dignitaries who have stood for the truth and against the anti-Serb, anti-Orthodox machinations of recent years. There would have to be two versions: 1) those who have always been faithful and 2) those who were wrong before and now realize it. The second group is the ones that can be effective in getting the word out, like St. Paul after his conversion. I don;t know if it has been confirmed, but I saw a an article about some Hollywood actors who seem to realize that what they were fed about Serbia ten years ago is all lies. If so, we can then hope for a movie to explain things visually.
Suggestions will be welcome!
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