Ljajic: Atmosphere of elections more important than their timing

BELGRADE- Speaking to reporters after consultations with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, Social Democratic Party of Serbia leader Rasim Ljajic said his party believed the atmosphere in which elections would be held was more important than whether they would be held in two or five months, and noted that the atmosphere was crucial for overall stability in the country.

Ljajic said that, at the meeting with Vucic, the party had noted that dialogue was the only way to defuse political and social tensions in the country.

"We are choosing between dialogue and a continued political crisis whose end will be nowhere in sight if dialogue is rejected. Also, the other thing is that we believe that the atmosphere and the environment in which the elections will be held are much more important than whether the elections will be held in two months, five months or in a year. The atmosphere of the elections and trust in the electoral process is something that is crucial for overall social and political stability across the country," Ljajic said.

"We all need to restore trust in the electoral process so that those elections really are democratic and free elections," he noted.

Speaking about Serbia's foreign policy orientation - the other topic of the consultations - Ljajic said the country's EU path was something that should remain the crucial foreign policy interest and goal, regardless of the fact that the "current lineup of bureaucrats in Brussels is completely deviating from European objectives, European ideals and European values."