Tomislav Nikolic, newly-elected president of Serbia, has stated that in spite of the importance of the EU integration process he finds Serbia more important, and announced that he will launch investigations into dubious privatizations once he assumes the presidential duties.

Speaking about the EU integration process, Nikolic said that he wants to see Serbia within the EU, but that this pathway is a lengthy one primarily due to the mistakes of the previous government, corruption, particracy of the justice system, but not because of him or anyone else in particular.

“For me, the EU is very important, but Serbia is always a priority,” Nikolic said in an interview for Belgrade daily Vecernje Novosti when asked whether his policy towards the EU will be more reserved than the previous one that claimed that the EU has no alternative.

Asked whether he would propose a halt in the EU accession process if Brussels demanded from Serbia to establish some kind of diplomatic relations with Kosovo, Nikolic said that “the EU is a road that represents future, and we have a constitutional duty to preserve Kosovo-Metohija (KiM) within Serbia.”

“In this rather narrow room for manouvre, we will try to find a secure road for our Serbia,” he added.
Nikolic announced that he will have the investigations into dubious privatizations launched, adding “that must mark the start of the fight against corruption and organized crime.”

“I will not rest until we complete that big and important job,“ he said.

Asked whether EU envoy Miroslav Lajcak delivered to Belgrade a request for the abolition of institutions in northern KiM and
the opening of the Serbian office in Pristina, Nikolic answered: “That problem has been a challenge to Serbia for decades. In the last ten years, due to the bad policy pursued by the Democratic Party (DS) regime, the problem has grown bigger and reached such dimensions that it has become the problem of the EU and UN.“

"First, I will tell the people everything the regime has been hiding from them. I think it is very important to reach a consensus among all relevant political parties in Serbia and to work together in the future to solve this problem," he said, adding that he is ready to prepare a plan for Kosovo with the Serbian government and all relevant political subjects in the country.

Asked how he would react as the commander of the Serbian Armed Forces if Albanians tried to integrate northern Kosovo
by force, Nikolic expressed expectation this would not happen.
"War is not an option that is close to me and I will do my utmost to prevent any kind of conflict or dragging Serbia into an armed resolution of this issue. I am sure international institutions will not sit idly by, because that situation would generate a whole series of problems that would be difficult to resolve in the long term," he said.

Nikolic said a solution would be found and the interests and security of the Serbs in Kosovo would be protected in a peaceful manner.