Serbian president Boris Tadic said Belgrade had no intention of making concessions in its policy toward the former province of Kosovo just to satisfy the European Union's requirements for membership, according to Reuters. Taking a defiant tone ahead of general elections in early 2012, Tadic said if the position on Kosovo adversely affected the country's ambition to be accepted as a candidate by the end of 2011, so be it. "If we see demands ... to make a choice, my answer will be that Serbia will not abandon either of its legitimate interests," Tadic said in a televised interview late on Thursday. "We will persist in both policies of preserving national interests in Kosovo and in our EU bid." German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Tuesday if Serbia wants to make progress toward becoming an EU member, it must ease relations with its former southern province, whose restive northern region is dominated by ethnic Serbs. She also said must also reform its economy, improve the business climate and root out organised crime, corruption and red tape. Analysts said Tadic's comments were aimed at drumming up populist support ahead of elections, expected by April, and also a message to Merkel. They added the Kosovo issue is something of a red herring because the real issue is that the economic and political reforms expected by the EU are behind schedule. "This is a risky pre-election policy and ... This may backfire in Tadic's face and leave Serbia without both Kosovo and the EU," said Zoran Stojiljkovic, a lecturer with the Belgrade University's School of Political Science. Serbia is still recovering from the economic downturn of 2009 and social discontent is strong. Unemployment in April reached 19.2 percent and trade unions recently said that another 200,000 people in the country of 7.3 million could lose their jobs in the coming months. "They (the government) should focus on economy and reforms," Stojiljkovic said. Economic hardships and discontent with the slow pace of reforms have led to a record low in support for Serbia's EU bid, down to 53 percent in June against 57 percent last December. Serbia had hoped to win EU candidacy late this fall after it arrested its two remaining fugitives, Ratko Mladic and Goran Hadzic, for war crimes during the 1992-5 Bosnian and 1991-95 Croatian wars, and handed them over to the Yugoslavia tribunal. KOSOVO'S INDEPENDENCE Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, nine years after NATO bombing ended a Serbian military crackdown on separatist ethnic Albanians. But Serbia does not recognise the country's independence and continues to fund parallel government institutions in Kosovo's north, mainly municipal councils, schools and hospitals. The 60,000 Serbs in the region also pledge allegiance to Belgrade. Kosovo Serbs clashed with NATO peacekeepers and ethnic Albanians in northern Kosovo last month after Pristina tried to seize Serb-controlled border posts to enforce a ban on imports. One ethnic Albanian policeman died in the unrest. Merkel said on Tuesday the support for institutions in northern Kosovo must stop. "Demands for the abolishment of our national institutions (in Kosovo) such as hospitals and schools is unnatural and Serbia can not accept such demands," Tadic said in the interview. Pro-Western opposition Liberal Democrats dismissed Tadic's remarks as irresponsible and populist. "People know that the policy of preserving both EU bid and Kosovo is a delusion," party leader Cedomir Jovakovic said in a statement. Belgrade and Pristina started a series of EU-mediated talks in March aimed at resolving practical issues such as cross-border transport of goods, customs, freedom of movement and travel documents. Talks are scheduled to resume in September. Bozidar Djelic, Serbia's deputy prime minister for EU integration and a key Tadic ally, said he will resign from his post if the country fails to secure EU candidacy in 2011.
