Belgrade, May 15, 2007 - Serbian Prime Minister Designate Vojislav Kostunica said in his keynote address in Serbian parliament that the parties forming the government have reached full agreement over five crucial programme principles of policy that deal with the issues of Kosovo-Metohija, European integration, cooperation with the Hague tribunal, social and economy policies and the fight against crime and corruption.
The official website of the Serbian government brings the keynote address of Vojislav Kostunica in full.
Esteemed members of parliament,
Serbian parliament, which expresses the will of the people and citizens of Serbia, today has to bring a decision on whether it supports the formation of a new government of Serbia, with the programme and composition of ministers which I, as prime minister designate, propose to Serbian parliament.
Serbia got a new Constitution at a referendum by the will of the people and in line with that Constitution, we have to complete the formation of the highest institutions of the state. Formation of the government at this moment creates conditions for achieving much needed stability in the country, and I believe that we all agree that internal stability is precisely the crucial precondition for Serbia to move forward.
If I have to single out one and the most important goal of this government, it is surely that life must be better, safer and more peaceful in every part of Serbia, be it in Gracanica, in Kosovska Mitrovica, in Bujanovac, in Knjazevac, in Loznica or in Subotica. There must be more work for citizens and their overall living standards must be better. You, parliament members, will be able to easily evaluate the work of the government by judging whether it successfully fulfils this first and highest goal it has set before itself.
Precisely in order to fulfil this goal, the parties that form the government decided to put the interest of the state, nation and citizens above their mutual differences and party interests. We have reached a full agreement over five crucial programme principles of government policy: they deal with the issues of Kosovo-Metohija, European integration, cooperation with the Hague tribunal, social and economy policies and the fight against crime and corruption.
The Constitution of Serbia sets as the first and most important obligation for every state institution to protect the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity. That is why the first programme principle of the government's work refers to clear definition of state policy towards Kosovo-Metohija. This government also starts from the fact that state policy towards Kosovo is defined by the Constitution of Serbia, expressed will of the people at the referendum and the resolutions adopted in Serbian parliament. In the previous period, three of the most important state institutions - Serbian parliament, the Serbian government and the Serbian President - had a unique policy implemented by the state negotiating team. It regularly submitted reports to Serbian parliament and is to submit one more such report.
The most important thing for the country is to keep the unity of the supreme state institutions on the basis of already established policy for Kosovo-Metohija and I am sure it will be that way. Since every citizen of Serbia knows well that the state policy for Kosovo-Metohija means that Kosovo is an integral and inalienable part of Serbia's territory, in line with the UN Charter and the Serbian Constitution, I believe there is no need to expand once more all elements of our proposal of the essential, that is, supervised autonomy of the province within Serbia. I think it is more meaningful to lay out possible temptations concerning Kosovo-Metohija that are threatening us in the near future.
It is known that several Security Council member states submitted a draft resolution with the aim of enabling the proclamation of independence of our province, on the basis of Ahtisaari's plan. I want to inform you that the previous government of Serbia, the Serbian President and the entire negotiating team have made the greatest efforts possible to change the opinion of the influential states that advocate Kosovo's independence. Our arguments were strong, firmly legally and morally founded, convincingly explained and fully documented in the UN Security Council.
At the same time, from the beginning of formation of the previous government, Serbia cooperated intensively and almost daily with Russia on the formulation of a harmonised policy for the solution of the future status of Kosovo-Metohija. A number of meetings of the Serbian Prime Minister and President with Russia's top officials significantly contributed to the definition of a joint stance. Starting from the principled position that international law must be respected and that 15% of Serbia's territory cannot be snatched away from it, contrary to the UN Charter, Russia clearly stated that it finds the new resolution of the UN Security Council unacceptable because it would not be based on the existing Resolution 1244 and confirm sovereignty and territorial integrity of Serbia and inviolability of internationally recognised states.
That is why this government, just like the previous one, will start from the fact that the Security Council is the last institution in the world that can violate the UN Charter and because of this fact it will never adopt a resolution that allows the seizure of 15% of the territory of a UN member state. We simply believe that there are states, such as Russia, that will prevent that principles and foundations on which the entire world order rests be violated and pulled down.
Albanian separatists have threatened violence if they do not get independence and thus try to blackmail the international community. They even claim that if violence occurs, the victims will be responsible, and not the perpetrators of aggression and terrorists. We use this occasion to remind the international community which assumed responsibility for peace in the region once again that this would not only be a crime committed by the terrorists, but also of those who did not prevent that crime although they could have and had been warned on time.
Albanian separatists also threatened to force interim institutions in the province to declare independence one-sidedly in case that the international community does not allow in the shortest time possible the creation of the second Albanian state, this time on the territory of Serbia. Speaking about the one-sided proclamation of the province's independence, the government declares in advance its position that every such action is completely invalid for Serbia and that such an action will not and cannot cause any changes in the country's constitutional and legal system. Every citizen in Kosovo-Metohija must know that he is a citizen of Serbia, that this is guaranteed by the Serbian Constitution and that he should reject and completely ignore every one-sided decision of interim institutions. Each of our citizens in Kosovo-Metohija must know that his parliament and government will always be in Belgrade.
That is why I address now all our citizens in Kosovo-Metohija with a clear message: you have to know that for Serbia Kosovo will forever be an integral and inalienable part of our territory and you must be aware of the fact that any one-sided proclamation and recognition of independence is pure fog and cobweb. To speak more clearly, a one-sided recognition is less than zero and you must not be scared by it and forced to leave your homes and our province. This government will form a Kosovo-Metohija ministry precisely to confirm in practice that for the Serbian government Kosovo will always be a Serbian province.
Speaking about the possibility that some states may one-sidedly recognise the proclaimed independence of Kosovo, I want to remind you that I presented Serbia's unambiguous position in the Security Council on April 3 this year. On that occasion, Serbia sent out a clear warning that UN Security Council Resolution 1244 has a binding force for the governments of all UN member states, which means that no state is allowed to violate this resolution and have a one-sided position concerning the province's future status.
This government too will have a consistent policy based on the belief that any one-sided recognition of Kosovo's independence would represent the harshest and almost double violation of UN norms. Because in that case, both the UN Charter and the valid Resolution 1244 would be violated, by which every state that decides to take such an illegal action would directly undermine the authority of this world organisation. Esteemed parliament members, the Security Council is completely familiar with our arguments and the position that the Serbian government would reject any recognition of the province's independence as null and void.
In conclusion, a possible one-sided recognition of the province's independence by some states would represent a direct belittling of the Security Council's authority, violation of the UN Charter, Resolution 1244 and the Serbian Constitution. Hence, the Serbian government rejects in advance as null and void, and for Serbia non-existent, any form of one-sided recognition and states in advance that Serbia will always treat Kosovo-Metohija as its integral part. Also, the government warns that a possible recognition of the province's independence can by no means be represented as an act of friendship towards Serbia because that is an act of the harshest interference in another country's internal affairs. Every country that would decide to recognise Kosovo's independence one-sidedly has to take into account that that would cause serious consequences in mutual relations. I want to stress that the answer of every Serbian citizen in Kosovo-Metohija and of the Serbian government to any form of one-sided recognition is simply - Kosovo remains a province within Serbia.
This government too believes that influential states in the international community will stick to general principles of international law and that no one will dare make a one-sided recognition. From its part, the government expresses full readiness to assume its part of responsibility for finding a compromising and just solution and will be ready to start negotiations at any moment and take part in the new negotiating process. We believe that it is possible to find a compromise and will be persistent in our request that we must talk and find an acceptable form of autonomy for the Albanian minority in Kosovo-Metohija.
The second key programme principle of the government's policy is European integration. Continuation of the process of stabilisation and association is very important in terms of Serbia's overall orientation towards integration into Europe. Since before the suspension of negotiations, there was very little work left on the harmonisation of the text of the agreement, we expect that part of work to be completed shortly after this government takes office. Along with negotiations and conclusion of the stabilisation and association agreement, it is necessary to renovate the operational plan of the European partnership on the country's short-term and medium-term obligations in the process of European integration. Renovation of this process is very important for successful implementation of the agreement on stabilisation and association.
Serbia's full and equal membership in the European Union is a clearly proclaimed programme commitment of every party that enters the coalition government. Equally clear and undeniable is the position that the process of Serbia's accession to the EU can by no means be a compensation for any kind of concessions concerning Serbia's territorial integrity. That is a completely excluded possibility in every sense.
Speaking about European integration, the government will make efforts to continue and speed up the adoption of laws harmonised with EU legislation. Along with that, it will continue trying to secure a full and timely fulfillment of all criteria concerning human and minority rights, freedom of the media, principles of economic operations, independence and efficiency of judiciary, and educational standards. The first steps that are to be made in the upcoming days are the initialling of the agreement on visa relaxations for Serbian citizens, and the aforementioned continuation of negotiations on the stabilisation and association agreement.
Serbia enters the international integration process as a complete state, with internationally recognised borders, including Kosovo-Metohija as its inalienable part. Serbia will take part in integration processes first of all because of its state and national interests. Serbia entered the process of stabilisation and association as a complete state and every step closer to wider integrations is for us a step away from the country's disintegration.
Participation in the process of stabilisation and association will be important for our legislative policy and a more efficient policy of implementation of the laws adopted. From the very beginning of its mandate, the government will start the harmonisation of laws with the new Constitution and the rules and legislative norms of the European Union. It is also necessary to continue the process of training and capacity building of our public administration, which works daily on the task of getting closer to the EU. Since that is a basic and long-term orientation of Serbia, the government will use the National strategy for EU accession (adopted in 2005) as a basis for activities, since it contains basic elements of the accession policy and obligations of state organs, economic entities and other social factors in this long-term process. Acquiring the status of a candidate for EU membership must be our short-term goal.
Serbia must get closer to EU's internal market as quickly as possible. To do that, it is necessary to maintain the acquired pace of economic development, further improve the business climate for attracting foreign investments (new law on foreign investments and other), reduce the unemployment rate and introduce measures for preventing new unemployment, continue the process of restructuring (including public companies), make a general denationalisation and privatisation of building land, accelerate the introduction of industrial and agricultural standards into domestic production. It is very important to develop and encourage the efficient work of new regulatory bodies, especially of the Commission for protection of competition because the success of these regulatory bodies will serve as a basis for evaluating whether Serbia is capable of actively participating on European market.
Great attention should be paid to improvement of judicial and internal affairs, which are a priority for all potential EU candidates. An independent judiciary and the fight against organised crime, especially corruption, are a criterion for the evaluation of the rule of law in a democratic state. The strategies worked out in these fields must be applied and sufficient funds for their implementation provided.
The process of EU accession entails harmonisation of domestic legislation with that of the EU and its integration into the domestic legal system. To do these tasks successfully, first it is necessary to translate EU legislation into Serbian, which requires substantial funds, existence of a special department for translation coordination, building of an information system for coordination of the translation process and hiring of professional translators. This fact must be taken into account when adopting the new budget.
For all this it is necessary that the government, in cooperation with universities, employers and the labour market improves education programmes, implement the existing plan of training of civil servants in the process of European integration and work out a plan of employment that will be able to respond to requirements of the process of internal reforms in the process of EU accession. Continuation of education reform, training and employment will accelerate the process of EU accession. This will enable improved competitiveness of Serbian citizens in the EU labour market and increase Serbia's attractiveness to foreign investors.
The third principle of the government's policy is closely related to the process of European integration, and that is the completion of cooperation with the Hague tribunal. That means that there is agreement over the fact that all measures must be taken to complete cooperation with that tribunal as soon as possible, because that is above all in the interest of Serbia. It is necessary to increase the activity and include all state organs and institutions in the process of fulfillment of all Serbia's obligations to that tribunal. To that end, agreement has been reached that a national security council be formed that will coordinate the work of all intelligence services and direct activities so that obligations towards the tribunal may be fulfilled as soon as possible.
The fourth key programme principle of the government's policy deals with socio-economic issues. The parties that form a government majority are united in the position that the government's main goals are reduction of poverty and unemployment, improvement of living standards, continuation of large strategic investments such as building of highways and gas pipelines, completion of privatisation, attraction of new direct investments, strengthening of economic linking and increase of joint investments with Republika Srpska and countries of the region.
The government's plan is that by 2010, the annual employment rate grows continuously and that 70% of the unemployed are included in various active measures of employment. Through transition centres, the government will enable workers to get re-qualified and keep their jobs, or to find new jobs. Employment will especially be encouraged at undeveloped areas and areas with a high unemployment rate, as well as employment of the young, women, disabled persons and members of certain ethnic minorities. All that will be followed by active policy measures for reduction of overall tax burden and introduction of tax reliefs for employers. The government will adopt comprehensive social programmes for each privatisation case in order to protect the rights of employees.
Starting from the fact that in the past three years, poverty has been significantly reduced in Serbia, the government will continue to apply measures of social policy and reduce the number of the poor, aiming to reduce it to a minimum. To that end, the government will intensify the reform of the system of social care through measures such as adoption of laws on social care, improvement of quality of social services, transformation of institutions of social care, construction of daily care centres for mentally disturbed children, for elderly, disabled and children with behaviour disorders, and improvement of housing units for independent living, which will enable these users of social care services to live independently as citizens with equal rights. This will also be achieved through construction of small centres for the elderly, development of the institute of foster care and improvement of conditions for placing children without parents, mentally disturbed children and children with disturbed behaviour into foster care families.
The government will enable economic security of pensioners, continue with regular payments of pensions, fully meet all overdue debts and maintain the appropriate relation between the average pension and average salary. The government will create equal opportunities for the employment of disabled persons by legally obliging employers to have 25% of employees from this category by 2011.
The government will also provide housing for the poor, especially for refugees, and to that end it will pass a law on social housing and a programme of social housing construction.
Poverty reduction, increase of employment and improvement of living standards are based on realistic assumptions and real indicators. GDP per capita is constantly growing, Serbia has become the Balkan leader in the pace of reforms and record holder for the level of growth of GDP in southeastern Europe in 2006, foreign direct investment increased by more than four times, proceeds from privatisation are growing bigger, and Serbia is no longer only a place to be invested in, but has also become an investor. Telekom Srbija bought Telekom Srpske at a tender for €646 million, which from a historical point of view is the largest investment from a Serbian firm.
On the basis of the results achieved and the planned economic growth of 6% per year, the government's aim is to achieve 80% of GDP of new EU member states by 2012, to increase the annual growth of exports to 17% and to pull in between $3 billion to $5 billion in investments per year.
The major investments in Serbia that are expected are in the field of energy. The government's aim, based on realistic assumptions, is to secure at least €3 billion in investments in the next three years, first of all in the field of gas and oil industry. For example, the government plans to build an almost 400 kilometere long gas pipeline worth around €1 billion within two years.
Significant investments are expected in the construction of the road network. With the use of funds from the National Investment Plan and concessions, the highway on Corridor 10 and Belgrade-Pozega highway will be fully completed by 2010. The government will secure investments for transport partly from its own funds and partly from loans agreed with the European Investment Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the World Bank, from the funds of the European Agency for Reconstruction and EU funds.
In the area of privatisation and restructuring of the economy, the government will privatise socially owned companies. Responsible execution of restructuring public companies, increasing the efficiency of companies while liberating them from dependency on budgetary funds, investments in reconstruction and modernisation, will be continued. Amendments will be made to the Law on privatisation through technological and organisational harmonisation with EU standards in order to clearly define the principles and rules of privatisation of public companies and authorisation of state and local self-government organs in that process, giving all Serbian citizens of age the right to free shares through the Privatisation Register, or the National Privatisation Fund. Laws will be adopted on the Serbian National Privatisation Fund which will better regulate the manner and procedure for distribution of free stock shares to those Serbian citizens who have not used this right thus far; it will conclude the sale of shares from the Serbian Share Fund with the aim of accelerating the withdrawal of the state’s share in the capital of privatised companies inherited form the previous period. Laws will be adopted on privatisation of city building land, which will increase investment, develop the real estate market and provide citizens the right to unlimited access to their immovable assets. Comprehensive social programmes will be adopted for every privatisation procedure to protect the rights of employees.
The fifth key programme principle in the government’s policy is the continuation of fight against organised crime and all forms of corruption. It is a natural wish of every society to secure the rule of law, which leads to all citizens having the right to live well and safely by their honestly earned income.
Unfortunately, the majority of population lives in very difficult conditions even today, and we have a huge task ahead of us to create conditions in which every citizen of Serbia will be able to say that their living standard has improved. We all see how much patience and understanding was displayed by our citizens in those truly extremely difficult periods the country had to go through. But not a single individual in our country has or should have tolerance for is the corruption which is still present in all parts of society. We are aware that perhaps worse than anything else, injustice hurts every person in Serbia when they see how the poorest groups in society are being shamelessly robbed through corruption.
That is why the Serbian government must give an even harder, stronger and more systematic blow to corruption and crime wherever they crop up. I know well to which extent people and citizens rejoice when they hear that justice has been served and this or that mafia group has been brought to justice. As long as I am convinced that the law is stronger in Serbia than every individual and as long as I believe that the government has the strength to confront every form of crime and corruption I will be at the head of the government.
The government’s starting point in the fight against corruption is the National Strategy and Action Plan for fight against corruption. A successful fight against this kind of social evil requires efficient implementation of anticorruption measures, prevention or elimination of possibility of corruption, raising the level of general awareness and education of the public for the purpose of giving public support to implementation of the anticorruption strategy. With that aim, still more intensive cooperation between the Ministry of Interior and the prosecutor’s office will be continued, in the fight against corruption in economy, as well as in the fight against corrupt members of the judiciary.
The government will work on complete control of financial crime, general regulation of judiciary, strengthening of intellectual property rights, and the reduction of corruption to the lowest possible level in the area of economy and finance. The government will improve the capacity of the tax and customs administrations and raise the institutional capacity of all sectors in the Ministry of Finance. All forms of crime will be severely punished in all services.
Special efforts will be directed towards improving the judiciary and services of the interior department, as they are the basic institutions in the fight against corruption and crime. An independent judiciary and the fight against organised crime, especially corruption, present the basic criteria for assessing the level of rule of law realised in a democratic state.
Special attention will be dedicated to the control of organised crime, at the national as well as international level. With that aim, the government will adopt a national strategy for crime prevention. The government will make special efforts in the fight against organised financial crime, more precisely corruption, money laundering and counterfeiting money, high-tech crime and all other forms of crime in the area of finance, fight against all kinds of organised production, smuggling and trade of narcotics, fight against terrorism, uncovering organised criminal groups, resolving the most severe crimes, especially those which cause public unrest, and control of juvenile delinquency.
In accordance with the Strategy of fight against human trafficking in Serbia, and the UN Convention against transnational organised crime, the government will continue international cooperation in control of all forms of human trafficking.
The future of Serbia, its progress, can be based exclusively on the rule of law. The Serbian government has thus far every day triumphed against crime and our biggest goal is that here in Serbian parliament, no matter to which party we belong, we may declare together that Serbia has truly become a legally ordered state.
Since I have presented the five key programme principles of the government’s policy, I would like to acquaint you with the plans and necessary institutional reforms, which stem from the Constitution and Constitutional Law which was adopted with the new Serbian Constitution.
Without doubt the election of the new government will accelerate the transformation of institutions and the entire legal area in Serbia. The government intends to strongly use its rightful legal initiatives also in the area of reforming our institutions. The tasks of the government arise from two necessities: to create a legal system which makes Serbia a separate independent state, and to adjust the existing legal system with the new constitutional system. In this area it is important that the order and speed of adopting laws determined by Constitutional law is respected.
One of the priority tasks of the government is to prepare laws well in time in order to regulate Serbia’s defence, the Serbian Army and foreign affairs. Laws must be adopted to adapt Serbia’s legal order to the needs of an independent state. Adoption of these laws is necessary not just because Serbia has become a separate state, but also due to the fact that valid laws are from the period when the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia or the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia existed and do not reflect the new constitutional order of Serbia. The regulation of the Serbian Army and defence system must unite the spirit of democracy with efficiency. The army and military institutions must directly be subordinate to civil organs of executive authorities, the president and the government, and also be monitored by the highest representative body – Serbian parliament.
It is most necessary that rules according to which Serbian parliament controls the work of security services are made legally concrete. That can be achieved by adopting a new law which will determine the regulation of security services and their control, and define this more clearly than the existing law defines, which was adopted when the state union of Serbia and Montenegro existed. Besides the law which regulates foreign affairs, it is necessary to adopt as soon as possible a law which determines the conclusion and execution of international agreements, since the law currently in force was adopted in 1978.
In order to hold presidential elections for the Republic and the organs of local self-government it is necessary that the government proposes that the Serbian parliament adopt the law which regulates the position of the Serbian president and presidential elections for the Republic and local self-governments and local elections as soon as possible. The law should establish constitutional principles regarding the position of the president of the Republic while his mandate lasts and when it ends.
The law on local self-governments will give concrete shape to the increased degree of decentralisation of Serbia and the differently organised system of municipal organs. The Constitution provides a stronghold for changing the current principle of the rigid distribution of jurisdiction among municipal organs which is reminiscent of the presidential system. One of the aims of the Law on self-governments is to reduce the authority of the government and bring it to the constitutional level.
Of special significance is the law which regulates the position of the Constitutional Court, judges of the Constitutional Court and procedure in the Constitutional Court. In the new Constitution jurisdictions of the Constitutional Court are several and important, the position of judges and the manner of their selection and appointment has been changed. The law on the Constitutional Court must affirm the democratic achievements of the new Constitution and create completely normative frameworks so that the Constitutional Court becomes an organ for upholding the rule of law, legality and also efficiently protects human and minority rights.
The reform of our institutions doubtlessly includes legislative reconstruction of the judicial system in Serbia. The adoption of several laws in the area of judiciary awaits us. The position of Civil Ombudsman, state auditing institutions, government, public administration, the National Bank and several more important institutions must be harmonised with the new Constitution and constitutional principles.
I would like now, respected members of parliament, to move to other equally important segments of the government’s policy. The foreign policy of Serbia will be independent and in accordance with the real interests of the state and citizens. As envisaged by the Constitution, it will be based exclusively on the generally recognised principles and rules of international law, and in harmony with the preamble of the Constitution.
The fundamental principle of our foreign policy is indeed respect of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of internationally recognised states. According to that principle, , Serbia will establish relations with all countries in the world, and especially with countries in the region without interference in internal affairs.
Particular effort will be made on developing relations with countries in the immediate neighborhood, primarily with former Yugoslavia’s successor countries. The Agreement on Special Parallel Relations with Republika Srpska is of extraordinary importance for Serbia, as well as advancing relations with Bosnia-Herzegovina based on the Dayton Agreement. Serbia’s foreign policy will put special emphasis on strengthening ties with neighbouring countries which have acquired EU membership.
Future foreign policy will be in accordance with Serbia’s determination to fully join the European integration process as soon as possible, with the end goal of acquiring full membership in the EU.
Special attention will also be paid to further improving the excellent relations with Russia. Among the countries outside Europe, Serbia is especially interested in developing good relations with the US. China and India are the other two countries outside Europe which have priority for Serbia in its foreign policy.
As our diplomatic priority is to resolve the issue of Kosovo-Metohija in a manner which will not jeopardize the territorial integrity of Serbia, emphasis must be laid in developing bilateral relations with the countries which have more or less openly shown solidarity with our stand.
With regards to the same aim, it is necessary to, systematically and patiently, with arguments and opening of various forms of cooperation, influence the political circles in countries with a less favourable opinion on our stand, so that an acceptable solution can be reached for the issue of Kosovo-Metohija.
Serbia’s policy in the future must rest more on economic ties with the world, due to which it is necessary to significantly improve coordination between diplomatic and independent economic communication channels.
The government will take special measures to make Serbia’s chairmanship of the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers as useful as possible in the interest of establishing Serbia’s position in the international community.
In accordance with the policy of peace and good neighbourly relations, the Serbian Army will have a key role in security and stability in the region and Europe.
The chief interest of Serbia is indeed to safeguard territorial integrity, to resolve and independently reduce security risks and to become a country of key importance in preserving peace and stability in South East Europe in the near future.
The Serbian government believes that the international integrative process, such as joining the Partnership for Peace programme, should strengthen Serbia’s international and overall position and Serbia should enter this process above all due to its own state and national interests.
With faith in the long and honourable history of the Serbian Army, its immeasurable importance in safeguarding, strengthening and advancing Serbia, the government will in the upcoming period make special efforts for regulating the army, providing all necessary conditions for the army’s progress and securing a dignified existence for military personnel. In that respect, the government has specified the following priorities: professionalisation and reform of the army in accordance with the challenges, risks and threats posed by modern times; establishing new organisational structures in the system of defence and modernisation of weapons and military equipment.
The government will dedicate special attention to adopting a strategy for national security, a defence strategy and a strategy for defence review.
The implementation of the strategies also implies important normative activities, so the government will instantly engage in adopting the law on defence, law on the Serbian Army, law on security services, law on protection of confidential information and the law on democratic and civil control of the army.
The realisation of the future government’s plan in the area of defence and security reflects the determination to reform the defence system and the army, making it a reliable institute which will guarantee peace and overall stable development of the country, and each soldier will enjoy the care and support provided not just by the government but all the citizens of Serbia
I have already stressed that creating a legal state is one of the highest aims of Serbia. It is natural that the role of the judiciary is of key importance in the realisation of this aim. This government bases its judicial policy on the hypothesis that an efficient judiciary is the essential condition for realisation of the anticorruption policy. Authority, dignity and independence of the judiciary are preconditions in order that Serbia may become a truly legal state.
Above all, the efficiency of the judiciary must be increased, and court procedures should be less time consuming. The Supreme Court of Cassation, the Supreme Judicial Council will be formed in the shortest possible period, and the issue of reappointment of judges will be resolved in cooperation with that department.
The adoption of laws goes together with their effective implementation. Reform of the overall justice system will be well planned in advance and coordinated, and reforms of individual parts will be mutually harmonised.
In this area the next step is the process of integrating the domestic legal and justice systems to the European legal system. Special attention will be paid by this government to the process of legislation, judicial organisation legislation and other laws necessary for an effective justice system.
The government will secure maximum respect of property and contracts, which is essential for business and secure investments, the very backbone of economic life.
The implementation of the Constitution has priority in the area of judiciary, and in the domain of necessary harmonisation of the judicial organisation legislation (formation of network of courts, harmonisation of regulations, regulation of the question of appointment and reappointment of judges and prosecution…), as well as in the area of forming and work of the Constitutional Court (adopting of law on the Constitutional Court, appointment of judges in the Constitutional Court…).
Detailed analysis will establish the actual monetary proceeds and expenditure in the judiciary. The adoption of laws will take place, such as the law on the legal profession and the law on notary public.
Judicial reform also implies the adoption of several systemic laws which will create the basis for association with the EU, including the legal regulation of property issues, such as the privatisation of city building land and denationalisation. Apart from that, there is the introduction of the programme for expert training for raising the level of expertise in the judiciary.
The introduction of an independent court budget and autonomy in the context of determining income and expenditure will create basic conditions for an independent judiciary. The High Judicial Council, in cooperation with the Ministry of Finance, will have full jurisdiction over the budget in this area.
The judicial system will be made independent through the regulation of the manner of appointment of judges and public prosecutors.
The efficiency in fighting corruption will be increased by improving the Law on prevention of conflict of interest and other laws, transparency of work in state institutions will be secured and internal control will be introduced in the judiciary.
The efficiency of the process of legislation will be advanced by giving wider authority to public prosecution, including its jurisdiction in criminal procedure, and the procedure of investigation will be simplified.
An important aim is to reach the “justice in good time” standard by way of adopting amendments to the Law on legal proceedings and its harmonisation with EU standards.
In the area of public finances three basic aims have been specified: securing macro economical stability, creation of a clear, predictable and motivating framework for business, securing a reliable and stable source of funds for public financing.
The realisation of these aims demands a precise, simple and neutral tax system which will be both effective and just, adapted to the tax capacity of Serbian economy and population and in harmony with the EU tax system. Further development of the tax system will go in the direction of uniform taxing rules within the framework of one tax from, reduction of a number of tax forms and bringing the discretional decision-making by state organs to a minimum. The tax incentive policy will take into account above all tax rates and a minimum number of exceptions in taxation. Keeping in mind the fact that thus far tax rates in Serbia have been relatively low, further reduction of tax rates will be directed, above all, towards encouraging development of financial and share markets in Serbia. It will also support reduction of expenses in trade of goods which are of importance for the living standard. Special attention will be given to reduction of expenses in collection and control of tax proceeds through simpler administrative procedures, increased efficiency of the work in tax and customs administrations, development of their informational capacities and professionalisation.
As for attaining the goals of the public finance policy, a special importance will be given to the transformation of public expenditure policy. The required reduction in public expenditure implies an increase in efficiency of state organs and administrations, but also a gradual resolution of the issue of company subsidies, reform of social insurance system and public company restructuring. Public expenditure policy will therefore be firmly focused on achieving these goals as far as it may within its domain. Furthermore, another important task will be the complete round-up of information and administrative capacities of the Serbian Treasury in order to enable full transparency of public expenditure, ensure that they are used purposefully and enable efficient control of public expenditure, as well as efficient management of cash and public debt.
One of the main tasks in further development of the public finance sector in Serbia is reform and development of the local public finance sector. This will primarily be achieved through support of local self-government’s capacity building for efficient planning and management of the budget process and implementation of the fiscal decentralisation principle, suited to conditions in Serbia.
Successful development of the overall finance system in Serbia also requires adjustments and harmonisation of its regulatory framework in order to reduce transaction costs and administrative obstacles in activities of institutional and individual investors, enable reliability and public accessibility of information they need while making investment decisions and thus provide an opportunity for more substantial financing of economic investments through bonds and shares. Support to the work of current and set-up of lacking institutions on financial markets will be one of the government’s priorities in the upcoming period.
Apart from helping it achieve the direct goals of its public finance and financial market development policies, the overall outcome of all the above-stated activities will enable Serbia to prepare itself and successfully take part in regional and European integration processes, become an attractive investment target and have its economy exploit all the advantages of market opening and face competition that this opening will bring.
There are realistic indicators which confirm that the pace of reforms in the economy sector is satisfactory. The results we have had so far, such as macroeconomic stability, low inflation rate, stable national currency, constant GDP growth, real salary increase, business climate improvement, considerable influx of privatisation funds and foreign direct investments and others, are a solid basis and a guarantee of a successfully completed Serbian economy transition process and reduction in its lagging behind in comparison with economies of other countries.
Naturally, this does not mean that our country will be face no further challenges and that there are no problems in this area. Though economic priorities have been achieved – order in the financial and fiscal sector, increase in the citizens’ living standard and legal formation of a new economic system – the success of every transition process is measured according to the degree to which the country managed to find the shortest and best quality road towards the final and essential goal, and that is to strengthen the Serbian economy, increase employment, reduce poverty and improve the living standard of citizens.
Key goals of Serbia’s economic and regional development are change in economic structure, that is, completion of the restructuring process of large companies, such as the Serbian Oil Industry, the public railway company, Electric Power Company of Serbia and Yugoslav airlines; continuous increase in foreign direct investment; development of the small and medium-sized enterprise sector through direct support to entrepreneurs in the form of long-term and favourable loans; unemployment reduction through financial stimuli to employers who open new companies and additional reduction in taxes and contributions to employers; opening new profit-generating work places; development of the economy in under-developed areas through strengthening infrastructure and construction of industrial zones; increased competitiveness and cooperation with international institutions; improvement of economic relations with foreign countries; improvement of bilateral and regional economic cooperation.
The government will pay special attention to even-balanced regional development. In this aspect, tourism development will be given a special place. We aim to make Serbia a developed travelling destination with a substantially higher foreign currency income, to see a considerable increase in the number of tourists and the number of those employed in the tourism sector.
According to the government’s programme, the planned investments in this area include: restructuring, rehabilitation and quality increase of existing tourist facilities; development of new accommodation facilities in line with the sustainable development concept; large projects of so-named urban rehabilitation with the aim of achieving efficient tourist valorization of city zones.
In order to realise its development programme in this area, the government has envisaged special stimulative measures, such as one-off funds and low interest rate loans, which will be provided through the Serbian Development Fund.
The precondition for Serbia’s development as a whole, and particularly for even-balanced regional development, is development of infrastructure. Since one of the government’s key aims is to stimulate investments in the country, which is conditioned by infrastructure development, the government will pay special attention to development in this area, particularly the development of road infrastructure, improvement of road safety and harmonisation of legal regulations with those of the EU.
As for road traffic, the government will in the next four years begin and carry out the construction of the Horgos-Pozega motorway, construct, reconstruct and modernise roads of international importance on Corridor 10, sections that connect Corridor 10, as well as main and regional roads. The government also plans to construct road infrastructure in Kosovo-Metohija, build access roads at border crossings as well as modernise crossings, construct access roads leading to cultural heritage facilities, monuments of culture and tourist centres, as well as construct and repair bridges on main roads.
When it comes to rail road traffic, the government will in the upcoming period concentrate on transport modernisation, reconstruction and modernisation of railway infrastructure, reconstruction and modernisation of rail roads in central Serbia and digitalisation of railway telecommunications.
As for air traffic, government priorities will be flight control modernisation with the aim of improving the safety of air traffic, repair and usage of military airports for civil air travel, completion of works on the reconstruction and modernisation of the Nikola Tesla airport.
In order to achieve these aims in the transport sector, the government will adopt an air traffic development strategy and policy, and as part of the normative activities related with air traffic, it will ratify the multilateral agreement on establishing European Common Aviation Area and the expansion of the single European airspace for Southeastern Europe, pass the law on the civil air travel directorate and the law on civil air travel.
When it comes to the housing sector, the government will continue with the Programme of Refugee Housing and Integration in seven towns and municipalities in Serbia, encourage the construction of social development and set up a cadastre of immovables and pass a law on social housing.
I find it important to emphasise that when it comes to the realisation of infrastructure projects, the government has already provided funds for financing, partly from its own income and partly from loans with the European Investment Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), World Bank, funds from the European Agency for Reconstruction and EU funds.
The government will base its energy policy starting from the fact that nowadays energy is an important factor for attaining overall economic stability in the region and throughout Southeast Europe. Foreign investments are expected to be largest in the energy sector (around €3 billion). The government will strive to place the Serbian energy sector in the leading position of the region. It will use the advantages it has already constructed, such as Serbia’s electric energy system which is technically the best in the region, Serbia’s geostrategic position in the region which enables it to play the key role in electric energy transfer through its territory and the fact that through its electric energy sector it is in technical and regulatory aspects already linked with EU countries.
The gasification of Serbia will be the most attractive investment process, particularly once the Memorandum of Understanding on the construction of a gas-pipeline through Serbia is signed with Russia’s Gazprom. The government plan is to construct a 400 kilometre gas pipeline in the upcoming period, worth around €1 billion. Thus, further gasification will be enabled and will include about 400,000 households in Serbia, provide a safe supply to industry and enable further expansion of main and distribution gas networks.
Two permanent and long-term development and strategic aims in this are the following – Serbia’s active participation in planning and construction of strategic regional and Pan-European energy infrastructure for the transport of oil and gas from new supply sources, including urgent construction of the underground gas storage facility in Serbia and planning, construction and usage of new developmental, regional and strategic electric energy facilities on bordering rivers, and foreign investments with strategic partners in new power plants based on lignite from the territory of Kosovo-Metohija.
As for the oil economy, the government will round off the ongoing privatisation process of the Serbian Oil Industry, through which the current value of the company will be considerably increased. The Electric Power Company of Serbia will conclude the transformation process and the implementation of the Energy Sector Development Strategy envisages sizeable investments of domestic and foreign capital in new production capacities, such as the power plant Kolubara B, new hydroelectric power plants, revitalisation and modernisation of existing hydro and thermal electric capacities. The financial strengthening of the Serbian Electric Power Company will enable investments outside Serbia’s borders, as well.
In the utility energy sector, current heating sources will be modernised and new heating transfer systems built in the largest Serbian towns (Uzice, Cacak, Valjevo, Pancevo, Subotica, Novi Sad, Kragujevac, Kraljevo, Sombor, Pirot…).
The government will particularly focus on energy efficiency and energy saving programmes with the aim of reducing energy consumption by 10% every year.
Amendments to the Law on mining have enabled necessary safety measures when it comes to investing private capital in this economy sector. In the upcoming period, the government will ensure a large increase of private investments in geological research, excluding open coal pits, and will pass a strategy for developing the minerals and raw materials complex which will define guidelines for future sustainable development of mining in Serbia, and resolve normatively the possibility of mining concessions.
The agriculture and food industry sector is a vital element of Serbia’s economy. Approximately 45% of Serbia’s population is (directly or indirectly) involved in agriculture, and for more than 20% of people it is the sole means of income. Primary agricultural production and the accompanying processing industry participate with around 20% in the country’s total export and continually achieve surplus in foreign trade.
In managing its policy in this sector, the government will start from the fact that agriculture is of essential importance for Serbia’s development because it has not only economic, but also social and environmental significance. Appropriately, the government’s policy will include protection of domestic agricultural production by way of prevention of excessive import of basic agricultural products to Serbia. The government will not lead a protectionist policy but, in line with protection standards used by the EU as well and through implementation of the Serbian Agriculture Strategy, it will strengthen the country’s development and competitiveness.
The strategic aim of the government’s agrarian policy is the creation of conditions for efficient and sustainable agricultural development and improvement of living conditions of farmers and villagers. The government will clamp-down on monopoly behaviour in the agrarian market, carry out technical and technological modernisation of the production and processing sector, reform the education in agriculture, raise the quality of farmers’ social care, improve infrastructure in rural areas, provide faster implementation of results of domestic agricultural research and enable all farmers to earn a living and live better than before.
While implementing its agrarian policy the government will particularly focus on the following: equal-balanced regional agriculture development; enabling favourable loans for the development of agricultural production; enabling one-off funds for improving the production and environmental protection in rural areas; encouraging the placement of domestic products to new markets; increasing the competitiveness of domestic production; passing remaining laws in agriculture, harmonised with EU legal regulations; continuous increase of the agriculture budget and preservation of the maximum subsidy level in the agriculture sector.
As for the water management sector, the government will particularly concentrate on improving and reconstructing the efficient water protection system, and regarding forestry, it will conclude the restructuring process of the public company Srbijasume, compose a national action plan for forestry, increase wooded areas in Serbia, conclude the restitution process concerning state-owned forests and set up an information system for forestry resources. The government’s most important goals in the trade and services sector result from the National Economy Development Strategy 2006–2011 and include: the creation of attractive business atmosphere for raising the Serbian economy’s overall competitiveness and achieving dynamic economic growth; development based on the implementation of innovative products, new technologies, modernised service system, a permanent education and efficient infrastructure, with the ultimate goal of enabling an increase in living standards and reducing poverty.
The government will place special emphasis on the functioning of the goods and services market, ensuring that markets are fully supplied and the market and prices stable; improvement of trade, tourism and services sector; creating conditions for competitive economy and preventing monopoly behaviour; product quality control and consumer protection; managing state commodity reserves with the aim of ensuring the stability of markets and prices; establishing regulations and measures regarding trade and services policies and customs and their harmonisation with EU regulations, as well as development of trade and international tourist cooperation.
As part of the legislative activities in this sector, the government will pass adequate laws, many of which have already been drafted. It will also compose a national consumer protection programme before 2012.
The development of telecommunications and information society holds an important position in Serbia’s economic and overall development. Serbia’s greatest investment outside its territory was the purchase of Telekom Srpska, worth €646 million, and is also the largest investment made by a Serbian company. Further development and modernisation of landline and mobile phone networks, as well as of a broad-band internet network, is a strategic precondition of economic development and one of the government’s priorities.
In the telecommunications sector, the government will focus on the development of Telekom Srbija. In 2007, a CAPEX of RSD 31.6 billion, or €376 million, was planned for this company, with the aim of improving, modernising and digitalising the landline telecommunications system. The government will begin developing the Serbian academic network and implementing the Serbian electronic management project.
The government’s plan is to enable full mobile phone coverage throughout Serbian territory by end-2007.
In rural areas the government will continue works on the expansion and modernisation of the network, and where necessary it will enable telecommunications services through wireless technology.
The government will particularly give attention to the development of the Internet and the information society, which demands that an overall national strategy for information society development be defined and specified.
The right to work is one of the basic human rights guaranteed by the Serbian Constitution and a number of international conventions.
Striving towards better quality work places and higher salaries will be the government’s most significant goal in the upcoming period. The government will cooperate with unions, employers’ associations and investors on creating the most favourable social and economic climate with the aim of advancing the Serbian economy and improving the position of workers.
The government’s social policy will be in line with the already adopted Social Care Development Strategy. Starting from real indicators, according to which in the past three years total funds for social care increased by 125%, the government will work on the improvement of social status of citizens at personal, family and wider social levels.
With the foundation of the Serbian Social and Economic Council, presumptions were created for a more successful dialogue at state, local self-government and company levels.
As for social policy, the government will focus on employment, labour, pension and disability insurance, work inspection, social care, disabled persons and veterans’ protection.
The government’s top task in the nest four years will be to achieve a considerable increase in employment. With that in mind, the government will help workers to undergo the re-training process in transition centres and either maintain their position in current companies or find new employment. It will also be fully engaged in creating new jobs for the unemployed.
The government will start reforming the salary payment system in public services and dedicate itself to drafting a new law on salaries of employees in public services and thus make the salaries and promotion at workplace depend on the results of each individual’s work.
In order to further improve pension and disability insurance, the government will compose a development strategy, ensure that pensioners are economically secure by maintaining a suitable ration between pensions and average salary and conduct the process of “linking the years of service” for around 200,000 workers.
As for the work of inspection services, the government's goal is to suppress illegal work, reduce the instance of occupational injuries and pass a law on occupational safety insurance which will put an obligation on employers to pay insurance for their workers and pay them compensation for injuries caused at work.
The government will pay special attention to social protection of disabled persons by implementing the Strategy for the improvement of the position of disabled persons and adopting a law on professional rehabilitation and employment of disabled persons, which will create equal possibilities for their work and employment.
The government pledges to adopt a law on the protection of war invalids and to solve their housing problems.
The government will continue the reform of public administration and local self-government according to the Strategy of public administration reform, with the aim of getting a public administration capable of providing high quality services to citizens and becoming their true service. The government will pay special emphasis to consistent completion of the process of depolitisation and profesionalisation of civil servants and overall modernisation through introduction of new information technologies to the work of public administration. The government will pass missing legal acts and take other appropriate measures needed for the accomplishment of these goals.
The proper ministry will work out a unique electoral poll and provide mechanisms for the implementation and control of its regular updating. The ministry will also make it easier for Serbian citizens living abroad to exercise their voting rights by making a more comprehensive list of voters living abroad.
In the field of local self-government, the government's priority will be to speed up the process of establishment of the local self-government in line with the provisions of the new constitution and to boost its capacities through the process of decentralisation of authority which is fully supported by the new Constitution. In the shortest time possible, the government will begin the preparation of a set of laws on local self-government envisaged by the Law on implementation of the Constitution, in order to secure normative preconditions for calling and holding elections for local authorities within the deadline set by the Constitution.
In order to create necessary preconditions for a successful process of decentralisation of power and accelerated development of local self-government, one of the government's priorities will be normative regulation of the issue of management of local property by organs of local self-government and the reform and control of privatisation of local utility companies. In order to enable local self-governments to have better and faster access to funds necessary for the development of their infrastructural objects, special attention will be paid to the strengthening of the role of the Agency for development of local self-government, which is part of the government as a special organisation. This Agency should enable easier access to funds and linking of local self-governments with interested investors, and assistance to local self-governments in the realisation of infrastructural projects.
The government will implement education policy starting from three fundamental assumptions: that the education system is of strategic importance for the overall development of Serbia, that Serbia has a long and good educational tradition and that on the basis of that it is necessary to go on with a well-conceived and complete reform of the education system.
The government’s aim is to functionally harmonise all aspects of educational development so that the educational system could modernise in line with contemporary requests of societal development.
Bearing in mind that education system reform is the foundation of the overall progress of Serbian society, the government will pay most attention to:
- modernisation of syllabi and teaching process,
- technical and administration training, modernisation of equipment and conditions of work in educational institutions,
- rationalisation of the Serbian educational system,
- improving the standard of educational workers,
- securing financial means for modernisation of the educational system.
The government will prepare an educational strategy in Serbia on the basis of which the Serbian educational system will harmonise with world standards. The government will also ensure care for our state and national interests and interests of the citizens, using our own comparative advantages and preserving the specific features of our educational and cultural tradition.
Decentralisation of education, that is, transferring authorities and capacities on the local level is also one of government’s tasks.
The government will see to drafting important laws, such as law on pre-school education and law amending the Law on educational system.
Starting from the multivolume importance and role of sports in our society, the government will continue to work on improvement of appropriate conditions for a successful development and promotion of both top-class and recreational sports. In this field, the first task for the government will be to pass a national sports development strategy in Serbia and a law on sports.
For the successful development of sports, it is necessary to provide stable funding, which refers to building sports facilities, providing good quality sports equipment, preparation of first-class athletes, their participation in competitions and providing a durable social status of athletes.
During the upcoming period, the government will allocate considerable funds especially for sports facilities of national importance for construction and reconstruction of large sports centres, pools, sports halls and gymnasiums, as well as open sports tracks and children’s playgrounds of local interest. Special attention will be dedicated to the development of women’s sports regardless of whether the sport activity in question is professional or recreational.
The government will create a national youth strategy, adopt action plans for its realisation and standardise protection, development and promotion of the youth. Hence the government will direct its activities towards: stimulation of youth organisations and associations; participation of the youth in social processes; exercise and protection of interests of the youth; initiating, tracking and harmonising of professional and administrative affairs of public administration bodies in planning, stimulating and implementing youth social care, particularly in the fields of health, entrepreneurship and employment, education, culture and arts, science, social position and security of the youth; preventing youth abuse; implementing their rights; stimulating cooperation with international youth organisations and associations as well as the care on development of young talents.
For the purpose of realisation of the youth-related programmes, the government will form special offices to work with youth and agencies for care on talents.
The government’s health policy will start from the fact the citizen is the main subject of the heath system. The government’s aim is to establish the system of sustainable financing and to provide continuous promotion of quality and efficiency of health care for all Serbian citizens.
The focus point of health policy will be specially directed to health care of susceptible groups of population, strengthening preventive health care and implementation of the programme of general interest, development of the programme for diseases of greater social and economic importance as well as constant continuation of quality of work in health institutions.
With a view to creating appropriate financial assumptions for executing health policy, the government will pay most attention to promotion of the hospital system. For that purpose, reconstruction of hospital infrastructure and equipping health institutions with state-of-the-art diagnostic and other equipment have stated and will go on. In order to equally and fairly execute health care in the whole territory of the Republic of Serbia, the government will reconstruct and equip the four clinical centres in the Republic in the upcoming period.
The government’s tasks in health care policy are set in strategic documents that the government already passed and prepared in the previous three years. Medium-term health policy priority objectives in the 2005-2010 period are: improving the health care system for susceptible groups of population, especially children and youth; implementation of public health strategy; improving oncology protection, prevention and control of contagious and addiction diseases; improving the quality of work of health institutions and health workers, adopting special sectoral laws.
In implementing its environmental policy, the government starts from the position that a healthy environment is precondition for good health and the future of our population as well as economic progress and improving the living standards of society. The government will pass an all-encompassing programme that will cover both environment-related issues and the fields of water management and forestry.
The government will dedicate special attention to inclusion of environmental policy in other sectoral policies, creating and implementing action plans arising from the national environmental programme, which will be followed by appropriate regulations.
Special activities in this field will be directed to solving the problem of waste management and construction of regional waste dumps in cooperation with local self-government units.
As for finding a solution to the problem of biggest industrial polluters, the government will take measures to prepare a full record of polluters for whole Serbia and neutralise the biggest industrial environmental polluters.
When speaking on building the monitoring system, the government will provide continuous monitoring of air quality in Serbia in compliance with regulations of the European Environment Agency and constant monitoring of input and output waterways as well as radioactivity on the borders of the Republic of Serbia.
As for the environmental development of international cooperation and European integration, the government will conclude an environmental cooperation agreement with all neighbouring countries and countries that are Serbia’s strategic partners, and will continue cooperation with regional organisations that are in charge of environmental cooperation and will continue with ratification of international conventions and their realisation at national level.
The government’s programme for science and technology development will include a principle-based application of the Law on scientific and research activities and the Law on innovation activities, together with the Law on higher education, which make the foundation for establishing the so-called triangle of knowledge comprising education, research and innovations. Application of mentioned laws should promote top world standards in quality of research, but also promote the importance of science and technological development as the main driving force of the economic development.
In this field, Serbia is joining EU’s efforts to reach the level of setting aside 1% of GDP for scientific research by 2010. The government will practice a stimulating tax policy in order to provide additional 2% of GDP through cooperation of scientific-research and economic sectors.
The National Council for Science and Technology is expected to adopt soon the strategy of scientific and technological development that will define priority fields of science and technology in which there are realistic research potentials in Serbia.
At the same time, the policy of stimulating transfer of knowledge and technology will continue as well as stimulating application of scientific results and development of innovation systems. The policy of development of scientific and research staff, equipping the scientific and research organisations for practicing research activity, purchase of professional literature and electronic databases, publication of scientific publications, organising scientific symposiums and support to scientific and professional associations and helping special organisations of national importance, such as Serbian Academy of Arts and Sciences (SANU) and Matica Srpska, will be further developed. Special attention will be given to project of infrastructure building and revitalisation of national importance that are taking place in Serbian largest scientific institute of Vinca.
The government will support participation of Serbian institutions in programmes of international cooperation, and most importantly, Serbia’s joining the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) for research and development. In this programme, Serbia will participate under the same conditions alongside other EU member countries and equally compete for funds from EU’s budget. The support by the European Commission to Serbia as regards to associated membership in the FP7 should be followed by strong internal infrastructure support and stimuli by the state in research sector in order to secure EU funds in this area.
In the field of culture, the government will start from the position that artcraft is free, spared from the political influence.
The starting point of Serbian cultural policy is a long-term strategic plan of cultural development of the whole country, which is why the government will create a national strategy on Serbian culture and a law on culture. On the basis of the national strategy, priorities will be set in the development of culture and preservation of cultural heritage, for which the government will provide sources of funding.
Constant attention will be given to cultural institutions of utmost national importance, restoration and preservation of cultural heritage, especially in Kosovo-Metohija.
The government will provide financial support to domestic artists and performers so that they can achieve the highest level of artistic performance and be able to adequately represent the country abroad. The government will regulate in a special law the conditions for artists to get the status of independent artists and right to payment of health and pension insurance from the state budget.
Today in Serbia religion has the position as in other developed and modern democratic societies and is accepted as important factor of social development, connected and fruitfully interrelated with education, culture and science, as well as with social activism, civilisation longings and society’s public morality. The government will continue to support the social role to churches and religious communities; improvement of tolerance, dialogue and cooperation between churches and religious communities; cooperation of the state with every individual church and religious community in order to carry out common interest and general benefit, first of all, in order to harmonise relations within society, cherishing solidarity and building a reliable value system on which the new unity of European nations and states is grounded on; improvement of position of religious education in society; equal treatment of religious culture in public with other forms of culture; improvement of material position of churches and religious communities and durable preservation of shrines, clergy and monks in Kosovo-Metohija and their integration in social and cultural system of Serbia.
Preserving existing and establishing even closer ties with Serbian citizens living abroad and with those of Serbian origin but without citizenship are most important aspects of policy toward the Diaspora. The government will help them use their rights but also help them contribute to the country’s development in every aspect through popularisation of the Serbian culture and identity and promotion of the country’s image worldwide.
The government will offer assistance related to the solving of fundamental life’s issues that the Diaspora is facing: gaining citizenship, military service, denationalisation, voting in elections, tuition in the Serbian language and preservation of cultural identity abroad.
Especially strengthened will be cooperation with part of the Diaspora that is made up of younger generation, successful professionals in their fields of expertise, scientists, experts and academic workers. The aim is their connection and engagement on developing economic, scientific, cultural and integration potentials of their county of origin.
Concrete activities of the government in relation to the Diaspora will be divided into two parts. First, toward persons who are born or live outside Serbia for a longer time and intend to stay there, including members of the second and third generations of Serb expatriates. The government will put its stress on preservation of national and cultural identity and strengthening ties. Second, the focus will be on persons who live outside Serbia, either studying or working, and there is a probability or intention that they might come back to Serbia and invest in it. In that segment, programmes and activities of the government will be directed to creating more favourable conditions that provide return, employment and exchange of ideas and knowledge.
Ladies and Gentlemen Deputies, I presented you the summary of the programme of the future government of Serbia. Allow me now to suggest the future makeup of the Serbian government. I suggest Bozidar Djelic as Deputy Prime Minister in charge of European Integration, Vuk Jeremic as Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dragan Jocic as Minister of Interior, Dragan Sutanovac as Minister of Defence, Mirko Cvetkovic as Minister of Finance, Dusan Petrovic as Minister of Justice, Milan Markovic as Minister of Public Administration and Local Self-Government, Slobodan Milosavljevic as Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management, Mladjan Dinkic as Minister of Economy and Regional Development, Aleksandar Popovic as Minister of Energy and Mining, Velimir Ilic as Minister of Infrastructure, Aleksandra Smiljanic as Minister of Telecommunications and Information Society, Predrag Bubalo as Minister of Trade and Services, Rasim Ljajic as Minister of Labour and Social Policy, Ana Pesikan as Minister of Science, Sasa Dragin as Minister of Environmental Protection, Zoran Loncar as Minister of Education, Snezana Markovic-Samardzic as Minister of Youth and Sports, Vojislav Brajovic Minister of Culture, Tomica Milosavljevic as Minister of Health, Radomir Naumov as Minister of Religion, Milica Cubrilo as Diaspora Minister, Dragan Djilas as Minister without Portfolio in charge of coordinating the National Investment Plan and Slobodan Samardzic as Minister for Kosovo-Metohija.
