Ljajic: EP resolution - provocation by Croatian MEPs

BELGRADE - Serbian Deputy Prime Minister and head of the National Council for Cooperation with the ICTY Rasim Ljajic said Thursday that the European Parliament's resolution on leader of the Serbian Radical Party (SRS) Vojislav Seselj is a provocation by Croatian MEPs and serves as part of the campaign for Croatia's presidential election scheduled for December 28.

The debate in the EP showed that the resolution did not provoke a strong reaction from parliament members, Ljajic told TV B92.
"The debate on the resolution lasted only one hour and included only a few MEPs besides the ones from Croatia," he said.
According to Ljajic, the passing of the resolution was aimed to strengthen the positions of certain presidential candidates ahead of the forthcoming election in Croatia.

"The resolution has no legal or political significance. Who today can think that this Serbian government plans to create the Greater Serbia? It would mean that I also participate in that senseless and impossible project," said Ljajic.
"Serbia should not attach any significance to the resolution of the European Parliament or to the declaration of the Croatian parliament," he stressed.

We will not pay too much attention to it and we intend to continue to implement the reforms and bring Serbia closer to the European Union, said Ljajic.

From a legal aspect, Seselj is not a problem of Serbia, but of the ICTY. The ICTY has sent its problem over to Serbia because it could not close the case that has remained open, for no good reason, for nearly 12 years, and it is still not closed, the Serbian deputy PM said.

He underlined that the government cannot be held responsible for any politician, particularly the leader of an opposition...