Serbian president confers with OSCE mission head

BELGRADE - The partnership the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) has had with Serbia since 2001 has contributed to the implementation of reforms, Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic said during a meeting with the head of the OSCE Mission to Serbia Peter Burkhard on Tuesday.

"Unfortunately, we have not used that in the right way," the president said, noting that all governments prior to 2012 worked solely on boosting their own popularity, rather than on an essential, comprehensive social and institutional reform.

"We have no more time left and the cuts will be painful, so we all need to provide wind in the sails of the government, because any groundless criticism will only slow down the agony that we need to overcome as soon as possible," Nikolic said.

Assistance from the OSCE and other European organisations in the implementation of reforms is valuable, a statement from the presidential press office quoted Nikolic as saying.

Burkhard noted that the mission is working with the government on the implementation of reforms and that it has understanding, but that there is not much time or room left for any mistakes.

The example of the judicial reform has shown us how costly mistakes can be, and that is very difficult to correct, Burkhard said.

He noted that he does not want to blame anyone for the mistakes because all those who have been involved are partly to blame.

Burkhard expressed hope that the government, besides the great efforts it is investing in solving crucial issues, will have the strength to also address matters that are related to not only central Serbia, but other parts of the country as well.

Noting that support to the implementation of reforms...