There are some lines by Albert Camus that apply perfectly to Serbia over the past two decades. They also help to explain why I decided, without fear, to accept the position of prime minister of a country with a dark and difficult historical heritage.
The lines are: “I shall tell you a great secret my friend. Do not wait for the last judgement. It takes place every day…”
Four cruel wars, sanctions, bombardment, refugees, an assassinated prime minister, inflation, a devastated economy, the highest unemployment rate in Europe… You have to admit it is quite a difficult task, being the Prime Minister of Serbia. But I had no alternative.
First, because I have never had any alternative. I myself have been an actor on the Serbian political scene for 23 years. I have witnessed, and felt, every mistake my predecessors have made. So I have always seen my mission as a kind of act of historical justice: those of us who were watching and, if nothing else, were not preventing what was happening, are the ones who have a duty to fix it all, regardless of how difficult it may be and regardless of the sacrifices it requires.
Second, I was fully aware that another wise Frenchman, Victor Hugo, was completely right when he said: “There is nothing like a dream to create the future.” And I had a dream: a normal, decent, well governed, stable, rich Serbia.
A Serbia in Europe; and Europe – its values, its regulations and its systems – in each Serbian village. To bring Serbia into Europe and Europe into Serbia. I was aware it was the only way for people in my country to live, as we often say, “like any normal people”.
In talks with Aleksandar Vučić, president of Serbia’s biggest political party and my coalition partner in government, it turned out that we shared the same dream. So we turned that dream into a goal, and developed a clear plan of how to achieve that goal.
The first task was European integration. And, for Serbia, one very difficult condition: normalisation of relations with Pristina.
I have headed into this task in the knowledge that I have no right to lie to anybody – not to people in Serbia, not to partners in the international community. Serbia, in which the majority of the population was still dreaming the myth of the “heavenly kingdom” with Kosovo at its heart, needed to be brought back to earth promptly.
That is why I have agreed to talk to a man with whom I was at war ten years ago.
It was necessary to demonstrate, to people still living this myth, that Hashim Thaci is not “the dragon, the old serpent” (Revelation 12:9) that assaulted our heavenly kingdom, but an ordinary man, an opponent not mythical but political, with whom we can and have to talk.
Thank God, Serbia learns quickly. Since that initial meeting I have had a dozen meetings with Thaci, and not one serious voice raised against it in Serbia.
The first of many seals of Serbia’s destiny had been opened and nothing dreadful had happened. Just one more of the old walls had collapsed. And, in the distance, we could see Europe – a Europe that had regained its trust in us because of what we had done. And it started accepting us as serious partners.
Now we need to expand our horizons and make that European horizon part of our own, Serbian, horizon. To do so here in the new, earthly Serbia, we must devote ourselves to essential, life-concerning issues.
The economy is first among them. The economy was our primary reason for embarking on a reshuffling of the government. We want new principles, new goals and new plans in the economy. A new vision.
Serbia’s economy and its public finances must be set on the path of long-term sustainability. The state must be the guarantor of a functioning market system, not the instrument of distorted social policies or the main player on the market.
We need production, innovation, competitiveness, exports and increased employment. We need, and we have already introduced it, zero tolerance of corruption and other crime in the economic sphere.
We need more foreign investment and professional management. We need meaningful regulations or, more precisely, only regulations based on reason and that are enforceable. We are changing a whole set of laws (on construction, privatisation, etc) to create a positive environment for business. We have initiated aggressive guillotining of regulations and, wherever possible, we have introduced e-government.
We are embarking on reform of the pensions system; implementing reform of public administration and the public sector; making long-term plans, for the next five and ten years.
We are relying on our comparative advantages in agriculture and the food industry, in energy, the auto industry, IT…
Most importantly, we are already working on this. Crucially, our European partners have recognised our good intentions, determination and firm wish to make Serbia a proper European country.
That is why our Stabilisation and Association Agreement entered into force a few days ago, and that is why we are awaiting the first Accession Conference before the end of the year, to officially start negotiations on Serbia’s accession to the EU.
But, you know what? We, leaders of the Government of Serbia, are not satisfied with all this that has already been achieved.
And since, personally, I do not see progress as simply amending the past but as constant moving forward, I don’t have any intention to stop, not for a moment. I cannot stop. Serbia needs constant motion.
Serbia needs the future.
It needs something of which, according to the latest opinion polls, I have managed to convince the majority of my countrymen: to believe in their own country, its future, as much as I believe in it.
And today, I don’t believe in anything else but that.
It appears that Dacic has recently undergone shock therapy or a frontal lobotomy or both. Consequently, Serbia's Malaysian financial expert, sj has been relieved of his duties and is scheduled to be treated with the same medical procedures as Dacic.
(The Count of Kosova, 23 September 2013 14:08)
It appears that Dacic has recently undergone shock therapy or a frontal lobotomy or both. Consequently, Serbia's Malaysian financial expert, sj has been relieved of his duties and is scheduled to be treated with the same medical procedures as Dacic.
(The Count of Kosova, 23 September 2013 14:08)
It appears that Dacic has recently undergone shock therapy or a frontal lobotomy or both. Consequently, Serbia's Malaysian financial expert, sj has been relieved of his duties and is scheduled to be treated with the same medical procedures as Dacic.
(The Count of Kosova, 23 September 2013 14:08)