President reaches 1,000 days in office milestone

President reaches 1,000 days in office milestone

BELGRADE -- Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic has spent 1,000 days in office, allowing, unlike his predecessor, the prime minister the lead role in the political life.

However, he has not been "an unnoticeable figure," either.

Public gaffes, affairs related to his closest associates or his son's illegally built cottages represent a lesser problem compared to the increasingly obvious differences between the president and the government over the country's foreign policy.

Ruling SNS party member Veroljub Arsic commented on the milestone to say that the former SNS leader deserves the highest marks for his performance as president.

"No president of the republic in Serbia's history previously resigned his party membership and leadership. That means he is above all the president of all citizens," Arsic said.

Head of the opposition DS party group in parliament Borislav Stefanovic said he was "sorry that a man because of whom citizens of Serbia are embarrassed is president of Serbia."

"A man who violates the Constitution and laws, who attacks independent institutions, who attacks the war crimes prosecutor. In other words, a man who has in essence showed we (should) all change channels or close our eyes when he talks, especially abroad," said Stefanovic.

Commenting on Nikolic's remark about "yellow people" during his meeting with the Chinese prime minister last year, Arsic said it was "no gaffe":

"It's just a different point of view. There's no gaffes there, it's something normal that happens in the political life of a country and of a president."

Nikolic's predecessor, now leader of an opposition party, Boris Tadic, thinks that the...