Tadić tells party end of crisis is “near”

SERBIA

DS leader Boris Tadić told his party’s main board meeting in Belgrade on Saturday that the end of the economic crisis is at hand, but that it is “not over yet”.

However, he warned against complacency.

Serbia is looking at a long and hard economic recovery and serious reforms, said Tadić. The Serbian president told the meeting of his party’s top officials that “new discipline will be introduced to the state administration, that includes layoffs”, and announced a decrease in the public spending.

Tadić appraised that all economic indicators show the economy is better than it was in previously this year, and added he expects even better results in the last quarter.

“If there are sackings in the administration, that will mean securing new jobs in the economy,” he said, and urged productive jobs to be created, that will lead to economic and social stability and an increase in the standard of living.

He also spoke about political goals to say “there are no changes there – Serbia’s most important goal is EU membership”.

“Don’t be confused by the fact Serbia is renewing her ties with other countries as well, because everything we do has only one goal – Serbia’s EU membership,” Tadić told his party.

He also said the application of the recently adopted controversial law on information, which met with criticism that it aims to stifle the media freedoms, would be “monitored carefully”.

Speaking about the country’s regionalization, Tadić said that this must not amount to ideas about creating “new centers of power and quasi-states on Serbia’s soil”, adding that the process would require “several years” to complete.