New Serbian government wants both EU and Kosovo[fr][de] 

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. 

Tomislav Nikolic, who heads the Serb Radical Party (SRS) parliamentary group, said he does not believe the new cabinet will have the capacity to realise its announced intentions. Nikolic, whose opposition SRS is the largest single party in Parliament, added that Cvetkovic may have said what his government will do, "but did not explain how". 

According to him, the Radicals will back the new cabinet in case there is a crisis situation in Kosovo and "if it needs assistance from friends abroad". But Nikolic also commented on Cvetkovic's statements on Kosovo, saying it remains unclear what the premier and his ministers intend to do to prevent recognition of Kosovo's unilateral independence. "What does it mean, 'continued fight to preserve Kosovo within Serbia' – does that mean war? How will the world believe us that we want to preserve Kosovo if our last defence is to say, we will not recognise?," he wondered. 

Milos Aligrudic, from the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) of Vojislav Kostunica, accused Cvetkovic of lacking the political authority to be at the helm of the government. Nowhere does the speech mention protecting Serbia's territorial integrity or the government's obligation to act on parliamentary resolutions on Kosovo, the DSS official continued. Aligrudic also attacked Cvetkovic for failing to mention the cabinet's stance on the EU mission in the province, EU-Lex. 

Pro-Western Liberal-Democrat  (LDP) leader Cedomir Jovanovic  said his party will offer "conditional support for the Cvetkovic government," adding that the strategic goals listed today are "acceptable, but unrealistic and insufficiently specific". He also addressed Ivica Dacic, the leaders of the Socialists and likely new interior minister, saying: "We expect you to arrest the remaining participants in the murder of the first democratic premier, Zoran Djindjic. That they are still at large is an affront to our society and [shows the] incompetence of our police. We are asking this from you and we are expecting this," he said.