Serbian MP accuses Serbia of destabilizing Region

24.08.2011

NOVI SAD — Independent MP Vesna Pešić has stated that Serbia keeps destabilizing the region by maintaining “broken Bosnia”.

Pešić, who was elected to parliament on the Liberal-Democratic Party (LDP) ticket, said that Serbia was trying to keep hopes up in Montenegro that the country would return under Serbia’s wing.

She told the Autonomija news outlet that the present situation was being maintained mainly with the help of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC), opposition and direct pressures.

“Serbia has no realistic interest in it because its citizens are dying in poverty. This is obsession with theories which is rooted in the Serbian Orthodox Church and that’s why Serbian nationalist ideas are a disease that is difficult to cure,” Pešić explained.

She pointed out that politicians were interested in votes ahead of the elections and that the church, which played a major role in Serbia, was therefore important to them.

“A very retrograde church, such as the Serbian Orthodox Church, dominates in Serbia. It has not said a single new word in 600 years. We have to step up atheism in the society, precisely because the dominant church is so conservative that it won’t let us breathe,” the MP stressed.

She said that there was a possibility that the Democratic Party (DS) would form a coalition with the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) if pressure from the EU to quickly solve the Kosovo issue became strong.

“If Tadić was forced to withdraw from Kosovo faster, Nikolić would suit him better because he has a strong national image among the voters. Together with him he would go through the elections more easily than with distinct pro-European parties that are not considered patriotic enough,” Pešić said.

Commenting on German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s visit to Belgrade, she said that there was a possibility that Tadić would manage to get a slower withdrawal of Serbia from Kosovo and less obvious acceptance of the Kosovo reality, but that Europe’s pressure regarding the final solution to the issue of borders would be much bigger after the elections.

“Only once Serbia has definitely solved the issue of its borders, it will be seriously ready to join the EU. The Serbian nationalism needs to be fully tackled in order for Serbia to join Europe,” Pešić explained.

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