Nikolic: Serbia is on clear course that cannot be stopped

BELGRADE - The outgoing government had a difficult task and performed it successfully, meaning that Serbia has started the talks with the EU, so it is on a clear course, which cannot be stopped, Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic has said.

"It is up to this govrenment to continue on that path in a more resolved way and at a faster pace. So, responsibility, commitment, synergy and competence, that is what I expect from the next government. I will criticize and encourage every government. I am obligated to do that as the preseident of all the citizens of Serbia," he told the daily Kurir.

The coming election is a way to speed up change, and had he wished so, Serbian Progressive Party leader Aleksandar Vucic could have taken over as prime minister even without an election, Nikolic stated.

"This is not about particular people being picked for various positions, but about the ability to create a certain environment and having Serbia start working, conducting reforms in all fields," he noted.

Commenting on the recent police operation dubbed Thunder, he said most of the police employees did their job honestly, but that the report on the repeated operation Thunder indicated there had been big mistakes.

"The biggest drug traffickers were not found in locations available to the police, or nothing was found on them that would warrant placing them in custody. It is obvious the level of confidentiality is not high enough to yield more tangible results from those operations," he noted.

The president said he was not the only one being wiretapped and that the Security Information Agency and the Interior Ministry had been notified about it.

He stressed he would not stop insisting on every law being followed...

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