The opposition Serb Progressives (SNS) presented the program of its activities advocating Kosovo as part of Serbia and a decentralized Serbia as part of the EU.
The party, still untested in parliamentary elections but polling as one of the country’s most popular, presented its “white book” on Monday, that focused on economic issues, but also touched on minority rights and the media.
The SNS manifesto contains 20 subsections, while party officials said it was “still unfinished” – noting that it would “change depending on the development of the society”.
Regarding Kosovo and Metohija, the documents said the SNS cannot and will not “recognize Kosovo”, or accept solutions that “trampled on the dignity of Serbia, without taking into account a minimum of national interests”, as well as those that negate that Kosovo is Serbian “at least as much as Albanian”.
The party further stated that it insisted on the necessity to start negotiations on the status of the southern Serb province, “aware of the fact that a lasting and sustainable solution can only be found with painful concessions from both sides”, and adding that a solution acceptable to all would also take “good will and international mediation”.
The SNS stands for a “nationally-responsible, peaceful foreign policy based on Serbia’s membership in the EU, military neutrality, intensified cooperation with the Russian Federation, China and Japan, best possible relations with the United States, and strengthening and deepening of the country’s ties with developing countries”.
This party advocates full respect for and implementation of the Dayton Peace Accords and all other international agreements and resolutions, and “constant engagement with the goal of improving the position of the Serb nation in neighboring countries”.
“The SNS will fight for a Serbia that will become a full-fledged member of the EU through positive changes,” said the party document presented on its website on Monday.
The 120-page program states that if elected to lead the country, the Progressives will not discriminate between “good and bad markets” to sell Serbian products, and will insist on transparency that would decrease corruption, thus “saving over RSD 62bn, or about two percent of the GDP”.
The party document also asserts that the SNS will “cut taxes, fight monopolies, and eliminate the relationship between tycoons and the state”.
The SNS highlighted the energy sector, stating that the construction of the South Stream pipeline should be “one of the absolute priorities of any nationally responsible future government”, adding that Serbia should become a transit country for oil, natural gas, liquid gas and electric energy, as well as offer storage facilities.
Referring to the state-owned power and natural gas enterprises, the party also said it would work to “raise the value of EPS to EUR 10bn, and Srbijagas to EUR 7bn”, setting Serbia’s energy security as the main priority.
