New Serbian government sworn in, Kosova a top priority

BELGRADE, May 16 – The Serbian Parliament approved a new government headed by Vojislav Kostunica late Tuesday only half an hour ahead of a constitutional deadline. 133 lawmakers out of 244 voted in favor, 106 were against, and 3 deputies abstained from the vote.
The election was preceded by a lengthy and heated debate sparked by information that police was conducting a search for war crime fugitive Ratko Mladić in downtown Belgrade.
In his first speech as new premier, Kostunica presented lawmakers with the new government’s program, with Kosova remaining a top priority.
Other concerns Kostunica mentioned included European integration, co-operation with the Hague tribunal, social and economic policies and the fight against crime and corruption.
Kostunica explained the first program principle of the government that pertained to a clear definition of state policy towards Kosova.
“This government will base its position on the fact that the UN Security Council is the last institution in the world that can violate the UN Charter, and it will thus never adopt a resolution that allows the seizure of 15 percent of the territory of a UN member state,” he said.
“We simply believe that there are states, such as Russia, that will prevent the principles and foundations on which the entire world order rests be violated and pulled down,” he added.
Speaking of the possibility of a one-sided recognition of Kosova’s statehood, Kostunica said “it was less than zero”, adding that that Kosova Serbs must not be scared by it or forced to leave their homes.
“The government warns that a possible recognition of the province’s independence can by no means be represented as an act of friendship towards Serbia, because that is an act of the harshest interference in another country’s internal affairs,” the prime minister stressed.
Kostunica remarked that every country that would decide to recognize Kosova’s independence one-sidedly had to take into account that this would cause serious consequences in mutual relations.
“We believe that it is possible to find a compromise and we will persist in our demand that talks be held and an acceptable form of autonomy found for the ethnic-Albanian minority in Kosovo,” he concluded.