Byzantine Blog

Kostunica's Response to "Neutral" Solana

Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica today rejected Javier Solana's claim that the SAA pact signed yesterday by Tadic's Yellows is "neutral regarding Kosovo status", reminding the EU chief it is rather unsavory to enter into comparisons with Serbian premier over who loves Serbia more.

"Based on a statement by Javier Solana, one could conclude that it is he who advocates preservation of Kosovo province within Serbia, while I am against it. And Solana's main argument is that Stabilization and Association Agreement is neutral regarding Kosovo status", Kostunica said.

"If Solana's claim is correct, then what was he doing in Pristina in the role of the EU official, when he congratulated the men for whom Serbia issued warrant arrests on the independent state? Is a decision on behalf of the EU to send EULEX mission for implementation of the Ahtisaari plan violation of the Stabilization and Association Agreement, and has such decision left the agreement still neutral regarding the status? Was recognition of Kosovo independence by the 18 EU member-states a violation of the SAA, and has the SAA remained neutral regarding the status after this unlawful act? When they ratify the SAA in their parliaments, are these states which have recognized Kosovo independence going to annul their decision on Kosovo recognition, returning it to a neutral status, or are they going to ratify the pact which applies to Serbia cut in half, without Kosovo?", Kostunica asked, stressing that the "correct answer to these questions is well known, unless we are dealing with deceptions."

"In case Solana doesn't know the correct answer, every citizen of Serbia does. Just as every Serb knows Solana's decision to bomb Serbia was not neutral, but entirely mindless. Just as every Serb knows that the decision to build Bondsteel was not neutral regarding the status, but represents building of the capital of the first NATO state Solana started to create by Serbia bombardment", Kostunica said.

He added that there is also full awareness that "Ahtisaari plan EULEX mission is implementing is not neutral regarding the status either, but regulates that NATO is the final instance of power in Kosovo".

"Solana ought to be mindful of the fact that his endowments are various ruins throughout Serbia which are still visible so, if for no other reason, at least because of that it is rather unsavory for him to enter into comparison with me over who loves Serbia more", Serbian prime minister concluded.

Judas' Seal

Belgrade daily Vecernje Novosti reported that supporters of Tadic's coalition celebrated in Belgrade and Nis yesterday, driving around the downtowns in few dozen cars, waving the flags of Tadic's DS party and Dinkic's G17 Plus, along with the EU and Serbian flags. According to Vecernje Novosti reporter, a number of them also decorated their cars with campaign posters advertising Canak-DS-G17 coalition. But the car-driving Tadic's devotees were a petty minority in a highly charged negative atmosphere, where reactions to Tadic's treacherous act were extremely sharp.

"We reject with utter contempt the Judas' seal Tadic has placed on Solana's paper, for which he will be held accountable. Serbia will not be governed by Solana, NATO and their boys Tadic, Canak and Dinkic," said Serbia's Minister of Education Zoran Loncar.

Kosovo-Metohija Minister Slobodan Samardzic was equally categorical regarding the Yellow's pre-electoral blow to the state.

"Tadic's signature is a great shame both for Serbia and for the European Union. This is a worthless agreement, which will not obligate either the EU or Serbia. Luxembourg has turned into a big political marketplace. The only purpose of that pact as an empty piece of paper is to back the so-called 'European forces' in Serbia. In this way, the EU is directly meddling in the Serbian internal affairs and its electoral process," Samardzic said.

Samardzic is convinced that "Tadic will practically accept Kosovo and Metohija as an independent state through this pact, just as the EU demands and in the same manner the EU acts in Kosovo-Metohija province".

"Even after the signing of the pact everything will be as before. The agreement will be worthless, it will be invalid, and Serbia will continue to struggle for its Kosovo and Metohija, just like it has been doing up till now," Samardzic concluded.

Parliament to Impeach Tadic

Deputy leader of the Radicals, the biggest political party in Serbia, Tomislav Nikolic said that the pact Tadic has signed with Solana is not an agreement with Serbia, but with Tadic's political party.

"This is not an offer to Serbia and Serbia's citizens. Not a single citizen of Serbia is going to benefit from this pact, there is not one new place of employment it opens, no better wages, nor is this the road to the EU. I am convinced that this pact will not be ratified in the Serbian Parliament, since it does not specify whether the EU is signing the agreement with Serbia which includes Kosovo province. This pact is a covert form of surrendering Kosovo and Metohija province as an independent state and handing it over into Albanian hands," Nikolic said.

Another high official of the Serbian Radical Party, Dragan Todorovic, was even more decisive in his comment.

"Boris Tadic will be held accountable for violating the Constitution and for the grand treason. When the new Parliament is constituted, after May 12, it will start a procedure to impeach Tadic. Signing the SAA equals signing the pact with the Axis powers during the Second World War. This is not the first pact of that kind. One just like it was signed on March 27, 1941, after which the nation had its say," Todorovic said.

Kosovo Serbs: We Say No

Serbian National Council based in Kosovska Mitrovica, the most populous Serbian enclave remaining in Kosovo-Metohija province, resolutely rejected Tadic's signature on the very same day. Thousands of Kosovo Serbs who have gathered at the rally yesterday, protested Tadic's signing the pact with Solana, sending a message that they renounce his signature.

"We say to Belgrade, we say to Tadic and Djelic that they have no right and no mandate to sign the SAA. We shall annul every one of their signatures. We say 'No'. We shall not accept this and we shall organize strikes and demonstrations," President of the Serbian National Council Milan Ivanovic said at the protest rally.

"No one has the authorization by this state and by this nation to sign any agreement with the EU, until the issue of whether the EU regards Serbia as an integral state is resolved. Serbia should join the EU, but not at the cost of accepting, directly or indirectly, the independence of Kosovo and Metohija. The pact that was signed can only be regarded as an agreement on behalf of an individual or a certain political group", President of the Serbian Socialist Party Ivica Dacic said.

"The EU offer is the best proof how much the European Union interferes in the elections in our country. Offering the signing of the SAA in the midst of elections is a flagrant violation of the rights of the Serbian citizens. The most bizarre part of that story is that the SAA will be frozen until the (EU) Ministerial Council decides whether Serbia is fully cooperating with the Hague tribunal", Minister of Trade Predrag Bubalo said.