Socialist Party Leader: There Has Been No Talk of Unification with Ruling Progressive Party

Aleksandar Vucic and Ivica Dacic (BetaPhoto/Milos Miskov)

Socialist Party of Serbia President Ivica Dacic said on May 21 that there had been no talks on potential unification with the Serbian Progressive Party, but that in the event of the opposition's unified participation in the elections the ruling coalition, too, should consider a joint ticket and candidates for Serbian president and Belgrade mayor.

Speaking as a guest on Prva TV, Dacic said that the ruling coalition should "adequately" respond to the opposition's participation in the next elections.

"We must seriously discuss [our] participation in the next elections, we should consider one ticket, one presidential candidate, and even a joint candidate for Belgrade mayor. That needs to be discussed, but of course everything depends on the political approach," the Socialist party leader and parliament speaker said.

Commenting on the course of an inter-party dialogue on improving election conditions so far, Dacic said that the opposition parties thought someone would "parachute them to power." "That is unrealistic, the European Union is not so naive to back a project that has no chance of coming to life," said Dacic.

When asked about announcements of KFOR's potential withdrawal from Kosovo, he replied that Pristina had for years been requesting the withdrawal of the U.N. civil and military mission at U.N. Security Council sessions. "It is important that Serbia keep the presentation we have been cultivating all these years, to maintain good relations with traditional friends, because the U.N. mission can be abolished only by a decision of the Security Council, and the votes of Russia and China are our security there," said Dacic.