Ministry of defence Republic of Serbia
 
14.12.2011.

Interview of Minister Sutanovac to "Blic"



Despite the postponement of the candidacy for EU, Serbian society has to be satisfied with the fact that we have come to the moment when it is crucial to decide, as for an interview for "Blic" Dragan Sutanovac said, the defense minister and vice president of the Democratic Party. He believes that gaining EU candidacy sooner than later does not change anything dramatically in our lives, and insisting on a peaceful solution through dialogue and the Kosovo issue certainly contributes to the stabilization of both Serbia and the region."
the policy of DS regarding Kosovo is to seek the best solution, and plans are comprehensive so we hope we will not knock on doors that do not open. We may miss or avoid knocking on some doors, but the main goal stays the same. The fact is that the Kosovo issue has not been resolved since the Battle of Kosovo in 1389 nor will it be solved by EU candidacy - said minister.

The policy of DS regarding Kosovo is to seek the best solution, and plans are comprehensive so we hope we will not knock on doors that do not open. We may miss or avoid knocking on some doors, but the main goal stays the same. The fact is that the Kosovo issue has not been resolved since the Battle of Kosovo in 1389 nor will it be solved by EU candidacy - said minister.

How do you base your optimism that Serbia has never been closer to Europe?

- I do not think of Europe where Serbia will be another star on the flag of EU, but a Europe in which Serbia will be the state with adopted European values, which are respected in all parts of its territory. There is no doubt that the reforms we have implemented meet more than the criteria required. But unfortunately, whereas these standards were the sole requirement for some countries, demands of political nature were placed were placed before Serbia.

And how to reach that goal, if it has been demanded of Serbia to waiver Resolution 1244?
- These extreme demands came after the shock shocking statements of some irresponsible politicians stating that KFOR was not welcome in Kosovo, and after German and Austrian soldiers were wounded. We are facing a period in which our partners have to convince that we as politicians deal with what is possible and feasible and that something is just not possible. Kosovo and Metohija is an integral part of Serbia as long as Serbs live there and we must do everything to ensure a stable life for citizens who are most at risk there, and that is currently non-Albanian population.

Unfortunately, over the past 12 years, we still cannot explain how 5 billion EUR were drained into to Kosovo and Metohija, and that today we have such a high rate of unemployment with people living only on the dole. Belgrade sent to Kosovo almost twice as much money than Serbia has received through donations since 1999. So we must respect the fact that the citizens in Serbia set aside parts of their income for better life of people in Kosovo.

You are often criticized for having as some say leaving people there high and dry?

- When someone states such a thing today about leaving Serbs in Kosovo on their own, they speaks maliciously, and not because factually. That is what the citizens of Serbia must know, but they also must be aware of certain political parties’ stance regarding the issue, as they need to know the position of the largest opposition party whose leader was ready to die unless election are declared, that Kosovo was as important to him as his two sons... This kind of political manipulation where one day you call yourself a duke, and the next day saying that only Kosovo Serbs would be waging a war, then that Serbia should be under Russian protectorate, and that Serbia needs both EU and US to grow is something people in Serbia do not seem to be aware of the greatest unknown in Serbian politics.

Public opinion polls show that there is actually a possibility of forming a coalition with SNS?

The current mathematics is made on the basis of polls without any rational basis, for several reasons, primarily because the Democratic Party is the only party that is not yet in the campaign. Even without a campaign we have as many sympathizers as SNS. With first days of election campaign and first clashes with the opposition it will become clear to the citizens of Serbia which party has a clear concept of development without criticism. The results of their policies are known. All political representatives were in power in Serbia at some point, and I believe that people remember what media scene was like when Vucic was the Minister of Telecommunications, what debt Serbia had incurred while Nikolic was in the government, which party was the largest while Mirko Marjanovic’s administration. I have the SNS program meticulously, which was largely copied from the DS, and can be termed as being populist to a point and presented in a way that looks graceful, but it is completely unfeasable. This indicates that the programme should only be used for election purposes in the manner of his political guru Seselj, who openly said that the provisions of the program were cited just to win the elections.

However, what if the results were such that the coalition of DS and SNS in the government is an only possibility?

- We do not share with the SNS or the same views about the past or the future vision. With Velimir Ilic, Karic, Vulin we have absolutely nothing in common ...

Supporting reforms

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen is satisfied with the cooperation with the Ministry of Defense, the standards achieved and supported the candidacy of Serbia.
- Reforms of the Ministry of Defence should be carried out on the road to raise standards and further integration of the Serbian Army we have already met and we are in a position to freely say that we are better than some armies that have long been in the EU and NATO.

NEW POLICY OF DS
The most common comments were that the DS is now needed because of the status of the start of the election campaign.
- Compared with the results we have achieved so far in the integration and, above all, I get the white Schengen list, a candidate is operationally much less important for the citizens of Serbia, so it is completely untrue that we have based their operations as the backbone and springboard for a new electoral victory. At the session of the party management we talked about change and remaining continuity by making courageous decisions and I am fully convinced that the Democratic Party in the campaign in addition to analyzing the results offer a new policy for the new time. After reconstruction of the Government in certain segments, such as in agriculture, we have already achieved very positive results and it is a clear model of how policy change can make progress. If we take a look at Vojvodina, the city of Novi Sad, as well as some cities in Serbia and the ministry, we see that there has been much progress, and it will be a model of politics that we will come forward with at the next elections.

Zeljka Jevtic
 
MOD
Ministry of defence Republic of Serbia, Bircaninova 5 street, Belgrade
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