Serbia's going to have a pro-European government

[Winner]

Serbian Socialists to join governing alliance

Reuters
Monday, June 23, 2008

BELGRADE: The Serbian Socialist Party will join an alliance headed by the Democratic Party to form a pro-European coalition government, the Socialist leader, Ivica Dacic, said Monday.

Although details on the final division of posts and functions in the cabinet have yet to be decided, the move signals the formation of a government that will try to speed up Serbia's European Union membership campaign after years of halting progress.

The news will come as a relief to Western capitals that want to see Serbia take its place firmly in the European mainstream after years of aggression, defiance and instability.

"The main board supported with a majority of votes the formation of a government with the pro-European alliance," Serbia's state news agency, Tanjug, quoted Dacic as saying after a meeting of his party's senior officials.

Western worries intensified in the weeks after the election on May 11, which the Democrats won without clinching the 126-deputy majority needed in the 250-seat Parliament.

The nationalist Radicals and the party of the outgoing prime minister, Vojislav Kostunica, finished second and third and joined forces, brought together by their opposition to EU membership until the bloc stops backing Kosovo's independence.

The Albanian majority in Kosovo, the former southern province and Serbia's medieval heartland, declared independence in February with the EU's blessing.

In almost a month of talks, the nationalists tried to lure the Socialists by focusing on their common stance on issues such as Kosovo and by reminding them of their legacy as a party founded by Slobodan Milosevic.

But they underestimated the Socialists' desire for rehabilitation after having been blamed for the wars, isolation and poverty caused by Milosevic's aggressive nationalism in the 1990s.

The party eventually refused to freeze Serbia's EU bid, arguing that the resulting economic progress is key to the generous social policy they promised their voters, and talks with the nationalists collapsed.

"I know this decision will not be understood by part of our electorate," Dacic said on Monday, "but this is a big comeback for the Socialists and an opportunity for a new start."

The Democrats did not immediately comment on Dacic's announcement.

Once bitter critics of Milosevic in the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s, the Democrats now say they will help the Socialists change their image and could water down economic reforms to accommodate a populist agenda.
No plea on war crimes

A former Bosnian Serb police chief declined to enter a plea Monday at the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal on charges of murder, torture and persecution stemming from his command of prisons in northwestern Bosnia, The Associated Press reported from Amsterdam.

Stojan Zupljanin, 56, who was arrested this month after more than eight years as a fugitive, told the court in The Hague that he had lived in constant fear of assassination and almost welcomed being in prison.

But he wished others on the run from the tribunal's arrest warrants "a long life in freedom."

"I wish they remain at large forever," he said.

Appearing for the first time in court, Zupljanin said he would delay entering a plea for the 30 days allowed by law, but indicated he would fight the charges against him.

Prosecutors say Zupljanin had overall responsibility for the police in the Serb-dominated Krajina region of Bosnia, including Serb-run internment camps where thousands of Muslims and Croats were killed.

"I am going to prove all the untruths of this indictment," Zupljanin said. By the time the trial is finished, he said Bosnian Serbs, Muslims and Croats will erect a monument in his honor.

The indictment accuses him of joining a campaign of ethnic cleansing against Bosnian Muslims and Bosnian Croats between April and December 1992 from a territory to be annexed as a proposed Serb state.

It says Zupljanin was responsible for 38 detention facilities, locations where non-Serb captives were beaten, tortured and sexually assaulted.

Zupljanin was arrested in the Serbian town of Pancevo on June 11 and transferred to the tribunal's custody Saturday.

His capture leaves three men still at large: Radovan Karadzic, former Bosnian Serb political leader; General Ratko Mladic, his military commander, and Goran Hadzic, a Croatian Serb leader.

Source: IHT.com

Some people on this forum will be disappointed, I guess

It looks like I was right about what I said before the elections - despite all the bitterness about Kosovo, Serbia can't afford to isolate itself and give up on the membership in the EU. It's too important for its future.

 

[Rambuchan]

Wow! The "Socialists' desire for rehabilitation" is for real? This almost sounds too good to be true. They used to be diametrically opposed to the Democrats.

If Milosevic's old party can really change its spots, then this is a major boost for Serbia, leaving the Radical Nationalists out in the cold, without the support they need in parliament to carry on bringing the country and its people down.

 

[Tee Kay]

Now the question remains - whether Europe will accept Serbia.

 

[Rambuchan]

They have already said they will and demonstrated it prior to the presidential elections with a token relaxing of the visa regimes with Serbs.

 

[Winner]

They have already said they will and demonstrated it prior to the presidential elections with a token relaxing of the visa regimes with Serbs.

More importantly, the EU signed the association agreement with Serbia, which is usually considered to be the first step towards membership.

I don't think the EU can really stabilize the Balkans until the most important countries, Croatia and Serbia, are members.

 

[Simple Simon]

good.

let's just hope they can keep from murdering non-Serbs and each other long enough for the EU to take them in - that should help the country a lot.

 

[Rambuchan]

More importantly, the EU signed the association agreement with Serbia, which is usually considered to be the first step towards membership.

True. I forgot about that.

I don't think the EU can really stabilize the Balkans until the most important countries, Croatia and Serbia, are members.

Yup on the two countries being crucial. But it's not just up to the EU and it's not just in the EU's power to do this. They can do it themselves too.

good.

let's just hope they can keep from murdering non-Serbs and each other long enough for the EU to take them in - that should help the country a lot.

Oh please Simon. Don't live up to your username too much.

Let's also hope the Croats don't return to their fascistic ways and begin slaughtering Serbs. Let's hope the Albanians can keep themselves from torching Serb homes and destroying their churches. Blah blah blah. All this talk is OLD HAT and hardly constructive.

 

[brennan]

But, but, Serbs are EVIL man, pure EVIL!!!!!

 

[REDY]

Good for them and good for Europe.

 

[Tycoon101]

It just needs to be said...

SERBIA RULES, SUCKER

And, yeah. This is cool.

 

[Simple Simon]

Oh please Simon. Don't live up to your username too much.

Let's also hope the Croats don't return to their fascistic ways and begin slaughtering Serbs. Let's hope the Albanians can keep themselves from torching Serb homes and destroying their churches. Blah blah blah. All this talk is OLD HAT and hardly constructive.

Well, if you look at the history of the region for the last 100 years you get a clear picture, don't you? And as for your reminder that others are evil, too - there were evil people in France, too, before WWI and WWII, and in between. Does that make the Nazis any better?

 

[scy12]

That is good for Serbians.

 

[RedRalph]

Well, if you look at the history of the region for the last 100 years you get a clear picture, don't you? And as for your reminder that others are evil, too - there were evil people in France, too, before WWI and WWII, and in between. Does that make the Nazis any better?

I might pioint out that the Croats welcomed the Nazis with open arms whereas the Serbs fought them literally until the last day.

 

[Rambuchan]

^ Indeed.

Well, if you look at the history of the region for the last 100 years you get a clear picture, don't you?

It depends whose BS you're watching and reading. Most people who look into the history of the region in any depth and breath soon find that the picture is anything but clear. edit: Indeed, this lack of clarity, with so many warped histories being bandied about, is one of the big problems that has been holding these people back.

And as for your reminder that others are evil, too - there were evil people in France, too, before WWI and WWII, and in between. Does that make the Nazis any better?

This is drivel and nonsense and it does nothing for the future. As I said, all this talk is really quite stale and the events you refer to are now in the past. The people in these countries need to move on and they are doing so.

 

[Simple Simon]

I might pioint out that the Croats welcomed the Nazis with open arms whereas the Serbs fought them literally until the last day.

True. never said that the U guys were any better. The main difference, I must admit, is in the behavior I see here: Croats are quite aggressive and arrogant, but by far not as much as Serbs. Add to that cutural thing the last war down there, which was mainly instigated by Serbians, and the way they whine about Kosovo (who took near-autonomy away from Kosovo after Tito??? So who's to blame for Kosovo wanting to get away from Serbian control?) causes much of my dislike.


I agree the region, and Serbia especially, needs to move on. The last elections and the formation of a pro-EU government show that at least a slim majority of people WANTS to move on - which is why I said 'Good'. However, there have been ample signs that many people do not want to move away from the past, just remember the media response to each and every war criminal trial. And the Kosovo issue. That's what caused my cynic remarks about killing. Let's hope they learned their lesson. I wish them the best for that case

 

[Oerdin]

More importantly, the EU signed the association agreement with Serbia, which is usually considered to be the first step towards membership.

I don't think the EU can really stabilize the Balkans until the most important countries, Croatia and Serbia, are members.

Croatia and Serbia are the most important nations in the Balkans? I would imagine that Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, and even Turkey would all think differently.

 

[Winner]

Croatia and Serbia are the most important nations in the Balkans? I would imagine that Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, and even Turkey would all think differently.

When I say Balkans, I mean Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania. Simply the non-EU Balkan countries. Turkey is in Asia.

 

[Red Door]

I still hope Serbia gets invaded by Kosovo.