VZCZCXYZ0001
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBW #0662/01 1341516
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 141516Z MAY 07
FM AMEMBASSY BELGRADE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0823
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS BELGRADE 000662 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL SR
SUBJECT: Party Reactions to Coalition Agreement 
 
 
¶1. (U) The announcement of the formation of a new Serbian government 
including the Democratic Party of Serbia/New Serbia (DSS/NS), the 
Democratic Party (DS) and the G-17 Plus was received with mixed 
feelings.  Democratically oriented citizens welcomed the agreement 
with relief since it included the replacement of Radical Tomislav 
Nikolic as parliamentary speaker and eliminated the possibility of 
new elections.  However, anxiety remains - two day's worth of fear 
that Serbia could return to the political rhetoric of the nineties 
has been replaced with a real concern about whether the new 
coalition will be capable of taking a reformist course.  Political 
analysts generally agreed that the news of the agreement between the 
parties is good news for Serbia and concluded that if this 
government "survives" Kosovo, it will be able to sustain a full 
four-year mandate. 
 
TADIC CALLS FOR CONFIDENCE BUILDING, DS FOR INTEGRATION 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
 
¶2. (U) During popular B92 TV talk show "impression of the week," 
President of Serbia (and DS president) Boris Tadic said he hopes 
that the new government composed of parties from the democratic 
block will be successful.  Tadic said that coalition partners should 
"bury the hatchet", build confidence and reach political agreement 
in order to fulfill political principles that the citizens voted 
for.  Tadic denied that pressure from European officials was a 
reason why he agreed on continuation of negotiations.  He said that 
the negotiations actually never stopped since all participants had 
in mind only the interests of the country. 
 
¶3. (U) Deputy President of the DS Dusan Petrovic, meanwhile, stated 
that it was natural that the parties needed plenty of time for an 
agreement, since the country would pay a much higher price with a 
different majority (read: Radicals).  According to Petrovic it is 
most important that Serbia have a government capable of continuing 
European integration, and also to have a government with a clear 
goal of using all diplomatic and legal means to preserve the 
territorial integrity and sovereignty of the country. 
 
KOSTUNICA ON AHTISAARI'S "ERRONEOUS CALCULATIONS" 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
¶4. (U) In the official Government statement, PM Vojislav Kostunica 
said the parties that decided to form the government put the 
interest of the state, nation and citizens above their party 
interests and said that the formation of the government will bring 
stability to Serbia.  Kostunica said that the most important reason 
for formation of the government is that the country has to have a 
legitimate government when the decisive battle for Kosovo is being 
fought.  Kostunica added: "if Ahtisaari thought that there will be 
no government at the moment when Kosovo's future is decided, and 
that Serbia will be in an election campaign, it can now be seen that 
he thought wrong." 
 
¶5. (U) Milos Aligrudic, Head of the DSS caucus in the Parliament, 
said that the crucial element for the agreement was the position of 
the parties over Kosovo.  He said that he expects respect for agreed 
principles on Kosovo but also on all other issues, in which case 
this government will efficiently work in the interests of the state 
and for the benefit of all its citizens. 
 
CONDITIONS OF G17 PLUS ACCEPTED 
------------------------------- 
¶6. (U) G-17 President Mladjan Dinkic told local press he is 
satisfied with the agreement and that his party's most important 
condition, replacement of the Speaker of the Parliament, was 
accepted by coalition partners. 
 
LDP: ANTI-HAGUE GOVERNMENT 
-------------------------- 
¶7. (SBU) The agreement on the formation of a new government is the 
logical result of three years'-worth of the politics of cohabitation 
between DS, DSS and G17 Plus, that now has simply been formalized in 
a coalition agreement, LDP said in a press release.  LDP head 
Cedomir Jovanovic noted that the most prominent patrons of the 
anti-Hague lobby managed to preserve their positions - namely 
Kostunica, Jocic (Interior) and Bulatovic (BIA).  These three, he 
said, are guarantors that this government in not going to be a 
democratic, European government, but will instead continue to be the 
promoter and successor of Milosevic's system of values. 
 
¶8. (SBU) LDP MP Ivan Andric told Poloff that the party's political 
position is quite relaxed.  Andric believes that LDP can sit back 
and watch as the coalition implodes and and their numbers inevitably 
go up.  Andric believes that as the only democratic opposition 
party, LDP should give a  few weeks to the government to prove 
itself, but also believes that the government will provide enough 
reasons for criticism after only few days in office.  Andric said 
that LDP was prepared for new elections and was ready to join a 
wider democratic bloc if a new election was a real choice between a 
DSS/SRS ticket and a democratic bloc ticket, but saw no need to join 
any other potential coalition as they were confident they would be 
able to cross the threshold to participate in any future election. 
 
¶9. (U) Nenad Canak, Head of Vojvodina MP's caucus, also said he 
believes that the new government will not be much different from the 
previous one since the main posts, Prime Minister and Interior 
Ministry, stayed under the control of DSS.  Canak said it is very 
dangerous that DSS is in a position to bring down the government at 
any moment when it estimates that the government's policies start to 
threaten the party's interests on, e.g., ICTY cooperation or 
Euro-Atlantic integration.  Canak also said he hopes DS ministries 
will be more constructive and added that the formation of this 
government is bad, but the best Serbia can do for now. 
 
POLT