FM: Funds from donations won't be enough

(Beta, file)

FM: Funds from donations won't be enough

JAGODINA -- Foreign Minister Ivica Dačić says it is "not realistic to expect that Serbia will be able to make up for all the damage from the floods with foreign donations."

He said that would not possible although "it turned out that Serbia has the support of the European Union, through Russia, all the way to the Non-Aligned Movement."

Their responses showed that "there have been great changes in our international position," said Dačić.

"It should now be used to strengthen our solidarity in the region. There are ideas for Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia to hold a donor conference together, and Croatia thinks we should join efforts to get more money," he told the Jagodina-based Palma Plus television outlet late on Thursday.

Dačić explained that funds from donor conferences cannot be used to compensate private citizens, but to repair public infrastructure, businesses, schools, health institutions.

"When it comes to the EU, there we count on the Solidarity Fund. One can count on tens of millions of euros depending on the assessment of damages. We estimate that it could be up to EUR 50 million. The second part of the funds is from IPA - the pre-accession funds, and the European Commission has already announced that it has allocated EUR 65 million for Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina," the foreign minister said.

As for the course of Serbia's membership negotiations with the EU, he said he was "pleased":

"Most progress has been made in Chapter 32, and we are close to opening this chapter. The second chapter is 35, where the issue of Kosovo has been placed. Add to this chapters 23 and 24 concerning security, judiciary, fight against crime...

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