Serbian government in deep crisis over Kosovo-EU connection
The Serbian government is in “deep crisis”, Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said on Friday, reflecting a rift between his Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) and the two other members of the coalition – the Democratic Party (DS) and the G17.
(KosovoCompromise Staff) Friday, March 07, 2008
Kostunica said he "did not have confidence anymore in the will of the coalition partners DS and G17 to remain fully engaged in the fight for Kosovo".
"The government of Serbia is in deep crisis because there was no readiness to take a decision in which we would together strongly insist that Serbia can become an EU member only as a whole, with Kosovo as its part", Kostunica said.
The latest rift was caused by the proposal of the opposition Serb Radical Party - the strongest single party in the Serbian parliament - to adopt a parliamentary resolution which would say that Serbia can become a member of the EU only as whole, with Kosovo as its province.
The DSS has accepted the proposal, but the DS and the G17 have refused, arguing Serbia could only defend its interests in Kosovo through European integration and EU membership.
The DSS and the SRS say they are only applying the Serbian Constitution and the previsous resolutions adopted by the Serbian parliament, while the DS has blamed the Radicals of wanting to stop the European integrations of Serbia.
Two key Serb leaders in Kosovo, Marko Jaksic and Milan Ivanovic, backed the draft resolution, which could be voted on next week.
The latest division in the Serbian government could lead to its fall and two possible outcomes - early parliamentary elections or a formation of a government made of the DSS and the SRS.
The DSS and the SRS could have enough seats to form a new parliamentary majority.
