In his address to Parliament before his cabinet was confirmed with 127 votes in the 250-seat parliament, Cvetkovic said the government also aims to boost the economy to annual GDP growth of 7% and will pursue economic ties with both East and West.
"Our plan is that, at the end of this government's mandate, Serbia will be ready to get into the EU," said Cvetkovic, who is also the outgoing Economy Minister, echoing ambitions expressed recently by Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic (EurActiv 13/06/08), who will keep his position in charge of EU integration.
The new cabinet will also immediately forward the SAA agreement with the EU to the Serbian Parliament for ratification, eyeing candidate status by the end of 2008 or the beginning of 2009, Cvetkovic said.
But on Kosovo, the Prime Minister said the coalition will never recognise the independence of the Serbian province and "will undertake all legal and diplomatic measures" to preserve it as part of Serbia. It will also "take the initiative to re-launch negotiations with the representatives of the Kosovo ethnic Albanians in order to find a mutually acceptable solution".
As for Western hopes for a more co-operative attitude on delivering the remaining remaining war crimes indictees, Cvetkovic said only that his country will "continue to pursue the policy of strict observance of international law and prompt compliance with all international obligations".
The government aims to "further strengthen and expand economic and political relations" with Russia and will ratify a gas deal with Gazprom very soon, he also announced.
