[ALBSA-Info] Text of Kostunica oath of office and speech

[Gazhebo at aol.com]

Text of Kostunica oath of office and speech

BELGRADE, Oct 7 (Reuters) - Following is the text of the oath of office taken 
by new Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunuca in Belgrade on Saturday and key 
passages from his remarks to a joint session of parliament: 

OATH OF OFFICE 

``I pledge that I will respect and fulfil the constitution of the Federal 
Republic of Yugoslavia and federal laws, that I will protect the integrity, 
sovereignty and independence of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and 
contribute to the respect of human rights and freedoms and I will carry out 
with full responsibility the rights and duties of the president.'' 

ACCEPTANCE SPEECH 

``In the last couple of days everything has happened so quickly, everything 
that is important for our country, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. That 
is why I have concluded in the past couple of days that I should address the 
parliament in a couple of days with one, more complete programmatic 
statement. 

Now I would just like to thank you for coming and to tell you that, according 
to my deep beliefs, this is a historic moment for the country we live in, for 
our people, for Serbia and for Montenegro. 

My deepest political opinions have always indicated that without the 
democratic way, there is no prosperity, happiness, and no development. 

And that democratic path is not possible if people with different political 
views cannot talk together, and cannot agree to act in one parliament, in one 
society. 

There should be something above all and that is the wellbeing and benefit of 
our country, our great and beautiful Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. 

For decades we have been living in a realm that knew no democracy in a 
traditional or modern sense of the word. Democracy exists today and was 
proved by the fact that the ruling parties are handing over power and that 
this transition is being done peacefully. By this act, the Federal Republic 
of Yugoslavia and Serbia have entered the world of democratic nations and 
shown to the world that, despite all the differences that part us, we can 
still work together and debate in this parliament of ours. 

I think the consequences of what has happened are yet to be seen and that we 
are all a little bit surprised and stunned. Even I myself sometimes think 
this all must be a dream, but a dream that turns out to be real when I wake 
up -- and that is good. 

I would like to express confidence, from this high position I am taking on 
now, that we will all be able to work together. That while we disagree in 
many things, we will still be able to agree that the wellbeing and the 
interest of the country we are living in is a matter of the ultimate 
importance. I am confident that we will enter a new era in our political and 
normal life when peace, that most precious thing, will rule among us and 
between other nations of the world. 

I hope that is the era ahead of us and that in this country we will be able 
to deal with all the problems that are standing in front of us, problems that 
are not small. 

I repeat that all the problems and temptations we have been through in the 
past month were great, but new temptations are waiting for us. After this 
truly important historic moment , I am confident we will deal with those 
temptations in a good way and be able to solve the problems in our country, 
to make the union of Serbia and Montenegro stronger than ever and that we 
will be able to bring that area where our sovereignty is not fully exercised, 
but the one of the international community in Kosovo, closer to us, bringing 
it more under our sovereignty. 

I hope we will be able to return our country to the international community, 
but I will say this immediately and it is the only condition I would accept 
for our return -- that is to return with dignity, with respect for our 
national interests and our national dignity. 

I think that there are many countries who did wrong to the Federal Republic 
of Yugoslavia and to the people of Yugoslavia, I think there is a certain 
amount of uneasy conscience in some of their recent statements, but in any 
case I think we are about to enter the international community and especially 
the family of Balkan and European nations with a dignity that has always 
marked the people from these areas in the most difficult times. 

Believe me that this moment we are in right now is something that really 
excites me personally. I was always imagining how once we would be able to be 
together and have a civilised dialogue, that even when we ultimately disagree 
we would be able to be together without drawing on heavy words, without 
violence against each other. I think this new era is ahead of us, and in any 
case, I have personally felt it in Serbia, I felt it was a demand, an order 
of the people that I met throughout Serbia. I think it is the people's demand 
to all the deputies here in this parliament, regardless of their party 
differences and political beliefs. 

Thank you and let me tell you that I have been carrying the words of the oath 
deep in my heart for as long as I can remember and that I truly love this 
country, our Serbia and Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.'' 

(Translation by Reuters) 

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