Text of report by Montenegrin TV on 26 November
[Presenter] Montenegro supports international community's decision to begin the process of defining Kosovo's final status, Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic has told Pink TV, adding that it was time for Serbia to give up irrational policy imposed by nationalists. On the eve of [Slovene President] Janez Drnovsek's visit to Montenegro, the prime minister said that the Slovene president was welcome.
[Reporter] Assessing that it was about time to solve the status of Kosovo and that a further postponing would not be productive, Prime Minister Djukanovic said that Montenegro would offer to help with this process.
[Djukanovic] We support international community's decision to begin the process of defining the final status of Kosovo by the end of this year, under the conductor's baton of an experienced European statesman such as Martti Ahtisaari - on behalf of the United Nations and the Contact Group - with an ambition to end this process some time in mid-2006.
[Reporter] The prime minister assessed that it was time for Serbia to give up irrational and mythomanic policy.
[Djukanovic] This is why I think that it is now crucially important that the Serbian president and the prime minister of Serbia - as heads of the Serbian negotiation team - realize that there is this realistic political room [for manoeuvre], and simply say thanks to the people who exert unrealistic political and nationalistic pressure on them. They should then take up the steering wheel in a responsible manner and attempt to reach the best possible solution.
[Reporter] The prime minister is not expecting the relations with Serbia to cool down, following the visit by the Slovene president to Montenegro.
[Djukanovic] I wish to say, with a fully peaceful conscience, really, that it is a great honour not only for the president of the [Montenegrin] republic [Filip Vujanovic] but for myself personally, that Montenegro is visited by the president of a friendly country, and also a member of the European Union, which is Slovenia, and - Janez Drnovsek.
[Reporter] The prime minister reiterated that the referendum on the legal status of Montenegro as a state would be held in spring, adding that there were no concrete demands on part of European officials to postpone the declaration of referendum results, although this possibility was mentioned.
[Djukanovic] There might possibly be a talk about postponing this for a month or two, I do not believe longer than that.
[Reporter] Djukanovic reiterated that the doors for the opposition to discuss conditions of the referendum were opened
Source: TV Crna Gora, Podgorica, in Serbian 1830 gmt 26 Nov 05
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2 comments:
I don't think Djukanovic cares much about Kosovo one way or another, he's more interested in sniping at Serbia ahead of the referendum.
Also, widely suspected of participating in smuggling and other criminal activities, Djukanovic isn't seen as a very 'clean' guy in the West
What I'm saying is that Djukanovic isn't the best guy to build a relationship with if you want to look respectable.
Sure, he hasn't be proven guilty in court, but what Balkan politician has ever been... In politics, reputation is everything and Djukanovic's isn't that good. He was popular as a counterweight against Milosevic, now he's seen more as a nuisance/irritant.
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