Byzantine Blog

Tomislav Nikolic for Stable, Ideologically United Government

"I'm entirely prepared to openly offer Kostunica the choice between the position of a premier or the majority of the government ministers", Serbian Radical Party (SRS) deputy leader Tomislav Nikolic told Novosti, hoping that "after May 11, Serbia will finally get an ideologically united and the only possible government of Radicals and [Kostunca's] DSS [Democratic Party of Serbia]."

Q: Do you believe Kostunica would choose the premiership?

TN: I can't tell you now whether Nikolic or Kostunica will be the prime minister, but I'm certain that the negotiations will be sincere. From the aspect of the reasonable political relations, it would be natural that the member of the coalition party which received bigger support gets the premiership. On the other hand, if we were to insist on the things Kostunica might not accept, we would jeopardize the formation of the new government. This is why I want to exclude the blackmails. Partly due to the fact SRS would be the member of a new coalition, we would have the correct and clear coalition relations for the first time. This offer to DSS is, in fact, an offer to Serbia to finally get out of the crisis.

Q: In case Kostunica keeps the post of premier, which position would belong to you?

TN: I am completely unimportant. Kostunica is unimportant too, because no one asked him yet whether he sees himself in that role. Therefore, everything is the subject of the party agreement. After all, my authority within the [SRS] party is such that the functioning of SRS ministers will depend on me even if I'm not the prime minister.

Kostunica Can't be Fooled Any Longer

Q: If DSS refuses your offer once again, will that be your final offer to them?

TN: In case they refuse, Serbia would not be able to offer anything any more. It is quite possible that, a year or so ago, someone from the EU told Kostunica they will give up on the independence of Kosovo and Metohija if Kostunica forms the government with [Tadic's] DS, even though Kostunica was in deep conflict with them back then already. But the circumstances have changed. Kostunica has the entirely clear picture now. If he stands behind his public statements, then there is no question whether we shall form the government together.

Q: You have definitely discarded the option of reconciliation between DS [Tadic] and DSS [Kostunica]?

TN: I don't see how is it possible for Kostunica and Tadic, after everything that went on between the two of them, to form the government again. Those two policies are now opposed to such an extent that it would be quite humiliating for Serbia if they were to get together again.

Q: Which election result guarantees you will enter the government?

TN: I believe we shall be honored to claim at least 100 mandates [MP posts in the Parliament], or around 40 percent of the votes. This is our year.

Q: Do you have a wish-list regarding the ministry departments?

TN: I honestly didn't even think about that, because we also plan to offer the national minorities to take part in our government.

Q: Is the offer to ethnic Hungarians to take over the police ministry still on the table?

TN: Yes, it is. Unlike the others, we are not the party with an imperative to run the police ministry, in order to protect or persecute someone. Due to the constant stories about Hungarian minority being endangered by our police, it would be good if they finally realized they too have to assume some state responsibilities.

We Have Been Purposely Kept Isolated from Most of the World All These Years

Q: Would your government carry out the Stabilization and Association Agreement if it was signed by [vice premier] Djelic prior to the elections?

TN: Such signature would not oblige us in any way, because this would be a DS agreement. Djelic is no longer the vice premier and he has no right to burden some future government with commitments based on his personal decisions. Tadic keeps deceiving us, claiming that the EU in that agreement recognizes Kosovo as the integral part of Serbia, despite the fact that the EU has already recognized the independence. So, SAA is merely a marketing trick, for them to make waves during the campaign.

Q: What will you do if the EU doesn't amend the SAA with the statement that Kosovo is integral part of Serbia?

TN: The agreement is off then, because the EU would clearly show it does not want us.

Q: And what kind of alternatives would you suggest?

TN: The alternatives are Russia, China, India, Arab world, Africa, Latin America, the EU members which do not recognize severed Kosovo and Metohija... We are talking about the five sixths of the humanity. We want to open completely towards the other states. You are yet to see that there is quite a bit of a good life, investments and economy cooperation with the other states. We have been purposely held in isolation during the past eight years, by the constantly dangled promise of the EU. They have brought us to such level of dependence of Brussels, that we fear of being isolated from the whole rest of the world if the EU says they won't cooperate with us. All the other roads have been closed — even to Russians, who are openly supporting us and want to invest here.

Q: Do you think we shall have better chances of preserving Kosovo-Metohija in such surroundings?

TN: By cooperating with the EU under these circumstances we are directly renouncing Kosovo-Metohija. And these other states are not issuing such requests.

"At Every Elections Criminals Start Harassing me Over my Apartment"

Q: Can you offer something new to the citizens, while at the same time counteracting their unpleasant memories of the time when you were in power, towards the end of 1990s?

TN: There is nothing for me to be ashamed of during the time we were in power. Not a single Radical had stolen anything, opened a factory, given quotes for the import and export... I was elected vice premier in March 1998, when we were facing Albanian terrorism. There wasn't one train, bus, policeman or soldier who was safe in Kosovo at the time. Then the bombardment came and the heroic defense of the state, followed by the rebuilding, up to October 5 [2000, when CIA-funded DOS overturned Serbia's government in a coup].

Q: And then [G17] Dinkic says you took an apartment from the state in 1999, when people were hiding in the basements...

TN: That's not true. First of all, I was given an apartment in 1998, when nobody knew the bombs will be falling. Secondly, I received the apartment legally, which Dinkic himself admitted at the rally, but he now turns it around, asking whether that was moral. At every elections the criminals jump on my back, demanding that I explain to them how was I given an apartment. To their greatest regret, this tactic has been failing for the past eight years. The new government formed after October 5 assessed I was given the apartment according to the law, but also that I have to pay for everything over 90 square meters. That's exactly what I have done, down to the last penny, and they are fully aware of it.

Tadic's Camp Shows Total Hypocrisy Over Energy Deal with Russia

Q: The EU officials and your political rivals are warning that your return to power would send Serbia spiraling backwards, and that the investments would peter out. How can you reassure them?

TN: This is bare-naked, primitive propaganda. I'd ask them what's with the people who have already invested here? Will they simply leave and give us their factories? A German national, for example, who wants to produce here is not guided by the Kosovo independence or by the question who is in power. He is interested in the profit and in the security of his investments. We are supporting the liberal capitalism, which presupposes that everyone's capital has to be secure. This is why we intend to propose that Parliament, prior to the elections, adopts the resolution guarantying security to all foreign investments.

Q: How can you hold the Parliament session for ratification of the energy agreement with Russia, when Dulic [outgoing president of the Parliament, from Tadic's DS] refuses to schedule the session?

TN: This is the best example of the total hypocrisy of the DS: when there is a need to ratify the energy agreement, they say that the government "lacks capacity" to do so; but when they are extending the deadline for the highway concession, or when Bor [mining complex] issues have to be resolved, then that same government has the full capacity. That is why I invited Kostunica over the phone to suggest that we should hold that session without Dulic's scheduling. If 126 of our MPs come, we can hold the session and reach a decision, and let Dulic annul it later if he can. We could, for example, call Mrkonjic as a vice president of the Parliament to preside over the session.

Opposition to Preside Over the Parliament

Q: Are you prepared to let the opposition have the post of the Parliament president, being that you claim to be a great democrat in the Parliament?

TN: Why not? I have nothing against that idea, since I've been an opposition MP for far too long, and I'm well aware that every governing majority was choosing the Parliament president who would subjugate the Parliament to the will of the government.