http://news.serbianunity.net/2008/02/06/5876/

Serbia’s government deadlocked over agreement with EU, Associated Press
February 6, 2008 on 7:16 am | In News in English, Kosovo & Metohija |

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) - Serbia’s government was deadlocked Wednesday because of a clash between the prime minister and his pro-Western coalition partners over a proposed agreement with the European Union, just days before the possible declaration of independence of Kosovo.

The fragile Cabinet has been on the verge of collapse since pro-Western President Boris Tadic’s
won re-election last weekend by edging out an extreme nationalist in a closely contested runoff vote.
The country’s nationalist prime minister, Vojislav Kostunica, has refused to call a government meeting, saying the parliament should convene first to discuss and likely reject an aid-and-trade agreement offered by the EU. His Cabinet is dominated by rival Tadic’s supporters.

Parliament speaker Oliver Dulic, of Tadic’s Democratic Party, refused to call a session of the nationalist-dominated assembly, saying the government should be the first to convene.

«Serbia has to stabilize in the next few days as the country is faced with tough challenges, or we’ll need to find some other options,» Dulic said Wednesday, referring to the possible collapse of the Cabinet.

«The work of the government is paralyzed and this is a very serious situation,» Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic said.

The clash was over the EU’s plan to send a 1,800-strong policing and administration mission to Kosovo to replace the current U.N. mission, and the planned signing of the agreement with the EU that would establish regular trade ties and lift visa restrictions on Serbs.

Kostunica opposes the EU mission, saying it would be a prelude to Kosovo’s independence. He says the planned signing of the pre-membership deal with the EU, scheduled for Thursday, would mean Serbia has approved the EU’s Kosovo mission.

The government faction allied with Tadic insists on signing the agreement with the EU on Thursday in Brussels. But it formally needs approval from the government, whose session Kostunica has refused to convene.

Investment Minister Velimir Ilic, who is allied with Kostunica in the coalition, said whoever signs the agreement with the EU without government approval «will be proclaimed a traitor.

Kostunica _ who refused to endorse Tadic in the election _ may try to bring down the government, leading to new parliamentary elections. Or, he may try to form a new Cabinet with the ultranationalist Radicals, who have urged a tough response if Kosovo’s secedes.

The province has been run by the U.N. and NATO since the 1999 war in Kosovo when NATO bombed Serbia for 78 days to stop its crackdown against the province’s Albanian separatists.

Kosovo’s Albanian leaders said they would declare independence days after the Serbian runoff, and they expect the U.S. and most EU countries to follow up with quick recognition.



Serbia coalition close to collapse over EU accord, Reuters

Ellie Tzortzi, Reuters

BELGRADE (Reuters) - Serbia’s prime minister on Tuesday denounced an offer to sign an accord with the European Union as a trick to lure it into rubber-stamping an independent Kosovo, piling pressure on his tottering coalition.

The statement by Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica exposed a deep rift with pro-Western President Boris Tadic over Serbia’s EU accession drive and could threaten plans to sign a deal that would put Serbia on the road to membership.

Tadic won re-election on Sunday on a pledge of pursuing EU membership no matter what happens with Serbia’s breakaway province where the 90-percent Albanian majority is poised to declare independence this month, with the West’s backing.

The EU, which on Monday authorized a supervisory mission to Kosovo ahead of its independence declaration, had hoped to sign the accord — focusing on trade, visa and education issues — on Feb 7 in the hope of preventing a nationalist backlash.

“The EU’s proposal to sign a political agreement with Serbia while at the same time sending a mission to break apart our state is a deception aimed at getting Serbia effectively to sign its agreement to Kosovo independence,â€