EU Welcomes Deal Blocking Serbian Radicals From Power Serbia may soon have a pro-European government
Under pressure from Western powers, rival Serbian parties sealed a deal for a reformist government that will block from power extreme nationalists who finished first in January elections.
The breakthrough deal was thrashed out between leaders of the pro-European Democratic Party, the moderate nationalist Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS), and the neo-liberal G17 Plus party.
Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Serbian President Boris Tadic
President Boris Tadic's Democrats and the DSS party of Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica had clashed earlier this week after DSS deputies helped to vote in an ultra-nationalist to one of the country's most powerful posts.
The election of acting Radicals party leader Tomislav Nikolic as parliamentary speaker raised alarm among Western leaders that Serbia was headed back to the isolation of the Slobodan Milosevic era.
The European Union condemned the election of Nikolic as areturn to "darker days" and urged Kostunica and Tadic to riseabove their differences for the good of the country.
Pressing for a new government deal ahead of a looming Tuesday deadline to avoid new elections, Tadic and Kostunica met with G17 Plus leader Mladjan Dinkic until 4:00 am on Friday until an agreement was reached, the reports said.
The talks continued later in the day to hammer out details and finalize the agreement, under which Kostunica would remain premier but give up some key security powers to Tadic's Democrats.
EU welcomes last-ditch deal
Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn welcomed the recent developments in Belgrade
EU enlargement chief Olli Rehn welcomed the developments, saying such a government could open the way for Serbia to "immediately" resume European Union rapprochement talks.
"I have learned of good progress in forming a new reform- and Europe-oriented government in Serbia over the past 20 hours," Rehn said in a statement from the Belgrade office of the European Commission.
"I understand that this government would be founded on the principles of striving for EU integration, completing cooperation with the ICTY (International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia) and achieving further progress in economic reform."
"We in the EU would be very happy if Serbia would form agovernment with European and democratic parties," GermanChancellor Angela Merkel said at a regional meeting in Zagreb.
"The U.S. welcomes a new Serbian government which does notinclude the Radical Party," U.S. Undersecretary of StateNicholas Burns said at the same meeting.
Brussels froze negotiations with Belgrade over a Stabilization and Association Agreement in May last year, chiefly because of the Kostunica government's failure to arrest former Bosnian Serb general Ratko Mladic.
Mladic, wanted over the Srebrenica massacre of 8,000 Muslim males at the end of Bosnia's 1992-1995 war, is widely believed to be hiding in Serbia.
A close call
Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Serbia's caretaker Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica is expected to stay in power
In Jan. 21 elections, Nikolic's Radicals came first but fell short of a majority with 81 of parliament's 250 seats. They were trailed by the Democrats, the DSS and G17 Plus, which respectively won 64, 47 and 19 seats.
Since his election as speaker, the acting Radicals leader has made a series of inflammatory remarks, causing jitters in the region. On Friday, however, Nikolic told Tanjug news agency he would resign if parliament demanded such a move.
Before Nikolic's election, talks between the DSS and the Democrats had hit a wall over the distribution of security posts crucial to Serbia as it handles critical issues including the impending final status of its breakaway province of Kosovo and cooperation with the ICTY.
Kostunica's party had insisted on retaining control over the interior ministry and the police intelligence agency (BIA), which was rejected by the Democrats.
Division of power
Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Serbia is facing the loss of its southern province Kosovo
On Friday, a Democratic Party source said parties had since agreed on most ministries and top security posts.Tadic would oversee security services as requested by EU foreign affairs chief Javier Solana earlier this week, the source told AFP.
His Democrats would control the defense ministry and military intelligence agency (VBA). The DSS's Dragan Jocic would remain interior minister, while an independent would be responsible for the BIA.
"Everyone has made some concessions, but I'm afraid we will all the feel consequences of the irresponsible behavior (of all parties) in the coming months, maybe even years," the source told AFP.
The parliament would probably be called for a session this weekend with a key debate and vote on the new cabinet to be held on Monday, said the source.
Under pressure from Western powers, rival Serbian parties sealed a deal for a reformist government that will block from power extreme nationalists who finished first in January elections.
The breakthrough deal was thrashed out between leaders of the pro-European Democratic Party, the moderate nationalist Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS), and the neo-liberal G17 Plus party.
Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Serbian President Boris Tadic
President Boris Tadic's Democrats and the DSS party of Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica had clashed earlier this week after DSS deputies helped to vote in an ultra-nationalist to one of the country's most powerful posts.
The election of acting Radicals party leader Tomislav Nikolic as parliamentary speaker raised alarm among Western leaders that Serbia was headed back to the isolation of the Slobodan Milosevic era.
The European Union condemned the election of Nikolic as areturn to "darker days" and urged Kostunica and Tadic to riseabove their differences for the good of the country.
Pressing for a new government deal ahead of a looming Tuesday deadline to avoid new elections, Tadic and Kostunica met with G17 Plus leader Mladjan Dinkic until 4:00 am on Friday until an agreement was reached, the reports said.
The talks continued later in the day to hammer out details and finalize the agreement, under which Kostunica would remain premier but give up some key security powers to Tadic's Democrats.
EU welcomes last-ditch deal
Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn welcomed the recent developments in Belgrade
EU enlargement chief Olli Rehn welcomed the developments, saying such a government could open the way for Serbia to "immediately" resume European Union rapprochement talks.
"I have learned of good progress in forming a new reform- and Europe-oriented government in Serbia over the past 20 hours," Rehn said in a statement from the Belgrade office of the European Commission.
"I understand that this government would be founded on the principles of striving for EU integration, completing cooperation with the ICTY (International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia) and achieving further progress in economic reform."
"We in the EU would be very happy if Serbia would form agovernment with European and democratic parties," GermanChancellor Angela Merkel said at a regional meeting in Zagreb.
"The U.S. welcomes a new Serbian government which does notinclude the Radical Party," U.S. Undersecretary of StateNicholas Burns said at the same meeting.
Brussels froze negotiations with Belgrade over a Stabilization and Association Agreement in May last year, chiefly because of the Kostunica government's failure to arrest former Bosnian Serb general Ratko Mladic.
Mladic, wanted over the Srebrenica massacre of 8,000 Muslim males at the end of Bosnia's 1992-1995 war, is widely believed to be hiding in Serbia.
A close call
Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Serbia's caretaker Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica is expected to stay in power
In Jan. 21 elections, Nikolic's Radicals came first but fell short of a majority with 81 of parliament's 250 seats. They were trailed by the Democrats, the DSS and G17 Plus, which respectively won 64, 47 and 19 seats.
Since his election as speaker, the acting Radicals leader has made a series of inflammatory remarks, causing jitters in the region. On Friday, however, Nikolic told Tanjug news agency he would resign if parliament demanded such a move.
Before Nikolic's election, talks between the DSS and the Democrats had hit a wall over the distribution of security posts crucial to Serbia as it handles critical issues including the impending final status of its breakaway province of Kosovo and cooperation with the ICTY.
Kostunica's party had insisted on retaining control over the interior ministry and the police intelligence agency (BIA), which was rejected by the Democrats.
Division of power
Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Serbia is facing the loss of its southern province Kosovo
On Friday, a Democratic Party source said parties had since agreed on most ministries and top security posts.Tadic would oversee security services as requested by EU foreign affairs chief Javier Solana earlier this week, the source told AFP.
His Democrats would control the defense ministry and military intelligence agency (VBA). The DSS's Dragan Jocic would remain interior minister, while an independent would be responsible for the BIA.
"Everyone has made some concessions, but I'm afraid we will all the feel consequences of the irresponsible behavior (of all parties) in the coming months, maybe even years," the source told AFP.
The parliament would probably be called for a session this weekend with a key debate and vote on the new cabinet to be held on Monday, said the source.
1 comment:
Irrefutable Proof ICTY Is Corrupt Court/Irrefutable Proof the Hague Court Cannot Legitimately Prosecute Karadzic Case
picasaweb.google.com/lpcyusa/
(The Documentary Secret United Nations ICC Meeting Papers Scanned Images)
This legal technicality indicates the Hague must dismiss charges against Dr Karadzic and others awaiting trials in the Hague jail; like it or not.
Unfortunately for the Signatures Of the Rome Statute United Nations member states instituting the ICC & ICTY housed at the Hague, insofar as the, Radovan Karadzic, as with the other Hague cases awaiting trial there, I personally witnessed these United Nations member states openly speaking about trading judicial appointments and verdicts for financial funding when I attended the 2001 ICC Preparatory Meetings at the UN in Manhattan making the iCTY and ICC morally incapable trying Radovan Karazdic and others.
I witnessed with my own eyes and ears when attending the 2001 Preparatory Meetings to establish an newly emergent International Criminal Court, the exact caliber of criminal corruption running so very deeply at the Hague, that it was a perfectly viable topic of legitimate conversation in those meetings I attended to debate trading verdicts AND judicial appointments, for monetary funding.
Jilly wrote:*The rep from Spain became distraught and when her country’s proposal was not taken to well by the chair of the meeting , then Spain argued in a particularly loud and noticably strongly vocal manner, “Spain (my country) strongly believes if we contribute most financial support to the Hague’s highest court, that ought to give us and other countries feeding it financially MORE direct power over its decisions.”
((((((((((((((((((((((((( ((((((((((((((((((((((((( Instead of censoring the country representative from Spain for even bringing up this unjust, illegal and unfair judicial idea of bribery for international judicial verdicts and judicial appointments, all country representatives present in the meeting that day all treated the Spain proposition as a ”totally legitimate topic” discussed and debated it between each other for some time. I was quite shocked!
The idea was "let's discuss it." "It's a great topic to discuss."
Some countries agreed with Spain’s propositions while others did not. The point here is, bribery for judicial verdicts and judicial appointments was treated as a totally legitimate topic instead of an illegitimate toic which it is in the meeting that I attended in 2001 that day to establish the ground work for a newly emergent international criminal court.))))))))))))))))))))))))))))
In particular., since "Spain" was so overtly unafraid in bringing up this topic of trading financial funding the ICC for influence over its future judicial appointments and verdicts in front of every other UN member state present that day at the UN, "Spain" must have already known by previous experience the topic of bribery was "socially acceptable" for conversation that day. They must have previously spoke about bribing the ICTY and
ICC before in meetings; this is my take an international sociological honor student. SPAIN's diplomatic gesture of international justice insofar as, Serbia, in all of this is, disgusting morally!
SPAIN HAS TAUGHT THE WORLD THE TRUE DEFINITION OF AN
"INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT."of the Former Yugoslavia, in Darko Trifunovic’s absence in those meetings and I am proud to undertake this effort on Serbia’s behalf.
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