"It seems to me at times I was better off in a coma..." Ivica Dacic speaks for RTS

Photo: Marko Jovanovic

Deputy PM, Interior Minister, and SPS party leader Ivica Dacic has told RTS that he did has not discussed (presidential) elections with President Aleksandar Vucic, and reminded of his position that there should be no early elections.

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Dacic also stated that Serbia does not interfere in who will be in power in Montenegro, but that he expects Serbian national and state interests to be respected.

"Those interests were not respected in the historical sense when Montenegro recognized Kosovo. It was directly aimed, not only against the history and the present and the future of Serbia, but after all also against their own history," Dacic said.

"I don't think we have anyone closer than each other and this atmosphere is proof that Milo Djukanovic was not the only problem. The problem is creating an anti-Serb atmosphere and hysteria, and that's not good," said Ivica Dacic.

He stressed that during one of his visits to Montenegro, he told Milo Djukanovic that Serbia is looking for reciprocity - for Serbs there to enjoy everything that Montenegrins enjoy in Serbia.

Speaking about the French-German proposal about a gradual integration of the Western Balkans into the European Union, Dacic assessed that this non-paper comes 20, 30 years late.

"Why do I say that? Because the former Yugoslavia was supposed to become an associated member of the European Union. So why didn't they do that? If they had done that, maybe we would have avoided all those wars," said Dacic.

"I am so fascinated by the interest in SPS"

Asked if Branko Ruzic (from the SPS) got in touch with him while he was sick, Dacic said that this happened and noted that there are differences of opinion within the Socialist Party of Serbia.

"The Socialist Party of Serbia is a long-game party. It has its own policy. No individual can be above the party, neither myself nor anyone else. There are bodies in the party that decide and there are no dilemmas. But I am so fascinated by the interest in the SPS," said Dacic.

Asked if he will run for president and if he expects Aleksandar Vucic to endorse him, Dacic replied that they did not discuss presidential elections and reminded that his position is that early voting should not be organized.

Speaking about a recent high-profile murder in Belgrade, Dacic said that Interior Ministry's internal control is doing its job and that more than 3,000 police officers have been looked at since the internal checks have been taking place. He said that there must be no corruption of the police, but that police forces all over the world keep facing that problem.

When asked "whether it is easier to sit in the interior minister's, or in the electric chair," Dacic replied that at times, it seemed to him he was "better off while in a coma" - simply because he was not learning any information at that time.

(Telegraf.rs/RTS)