Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic has stated that Serbia's recovery from crisis is rather certain, as the worst is over.

“We have weathered the crisis. It is now important for us to maintain stability - the ball is in our court. We will thus show to the world that we are a country with legal security, a country with no surprises, where investors are welcome and protected,” Cvetkovic stated in an interview for the Belgrade-based daily Vecernje Novosti, in view of 100 days of the reshuffled government.

According to him, Serbia has been harmed by comments that the country is facing bankruptcy and that it will go bankrupt if it does not sell Telekom.

“Wrong signals have thus been sent, not about the government, which is replaceable, but rather about the country, particularly because those signals are not true. Owing to the measures that we have continuously carried out, bankruptcy was not a threat to Serbia at any point,” Cvetkovic said.

He said that he expects that, by the end of the mandate of the reshuffled government, Serbia will obtain the EU candidate status, reduce unemployment, gradually increase the standard of living, achieve concrete results in the dialogue with Pristina, as well as that the ruling coalition will win the next parliamentary elections.

“For all this, we need economic and political stability in the months to come. After the government reshuffle, I am convinced that we can act as a strong team, fast, efficient, and with concrete results,” Cvetkovic stated.

The prime minister said that everything Serbia does is aimed at obtaining the EU candidate status by the end of the year.

“Serbia will not make any mistakes or omit doing something. Things now increasingly depend on the situation in Europe, and the mood for further enlargement. It is good that encouraging signals are coming from Brussels,” Cvetkovic said.

When asked if Europe will request from Serbia to recognize Kosovo in order to join the EU, the prime minister said that, “for as long as there is at least one EU member state that holds a different position, and currently there are five of them, there is no unique policy of the EU.”

“Therefore, recognition cannot be a condition for EU integration,” he added.

Speaking about the dialogue with Pristina, Cvetkovic pointed out that “it would be good for the citizens if those talks yielded results.”

“I do not look upon it through the EU accession process, but rather through the interests of the people living in Kosovo. Our side is constructive in that dialogue, with a series of alternative suggestions. Of course, we will not agree to any solutions which either explicitly or implicitly lead to the recognition of Kosovo's statehood,” Cvetkovic said.