Socialists "cannot contribute positively"

Socialists "cannot contribute positively"

BELGRADE -- Boris Tadić says there is "no difference" between his party's national and strategic objectives and those of the Progressives (SNS).

He also said hat he was "ready to discuss ways to achieve these goals."

The former Serbian president and former leader of the Democrats (DS), who now heads the New Democratic Party (NDS), said on Monday that he "never changed his political goals since entering politics to this day." He also asserted that "some of those objectives have been adopted by other parties in Serbia, including the SNS."

"The key question now is how to achieve these goals and we are willing to talk with the SNS about that, and the condition for cooperation is to agree on the goals. The choice of ways to get to the finish line today is critical to the ultimate success. This primarily relates to issues of economic and social policy, investment policy and the manner of implementation of sector reforms crucial for the further process of European integration," Tadić said.

According to him, reforms as a condition set by the EU represent "only a formal framework for reforms that the country needs for further sustainable development of society, while the NDS can only be part of a government implementing such a policy."

"I still stand by my position that (Ivica Dačić's) SPS cannot in any way positively contribute to a future government of Serbia and that joining a government with that party is counterproductive. If the participation of the SPS in the government in 2008 was helpful to achieve a historic national agreement on the strategic orientation of Serbia towards EU membership, now that party can in no way contribute to the negotiation...