Brussels, 31/05/2012 (Agence Europe) - After taking the oath of office before the Serbian parliament, the newly sworn-in president of Serbia, Tomislav Nikolic, announced on Thursday 31 May that he wants Serbia to join the EU but that, to ensure territorial integrity, Belgrade must never give up its claim to Kosovo. Nikolic, who was previously pro-Russian and opposed to his country's membership of the EU, spoke out for a “different Serbia, finally united in its fight for a better life”, a Serbia that is free of its fear of tomorrow. He spoke of his country as “a house with two doors: one open to the east and one to the west”.
The new president also criticised the policy of his predecessor, Boris Tadic, stressing that Serbia is “being devoured by a general crisis” due to “badly carried out privatisations, corruption and crime which are responsible for a general feeling of insecurity and a lack of confidence in the state institutions”. In his view, “prospects for the future are pessimistic. The media has been placed under the control and ownership of the political elite” and “reform of the judiciary has been implemented according to the interests of the (political) parties, resulting in a collapse of the rule of law and the justice system in the country”. (CG/transl.jl)