"The Serbian government's policy towards Montenegro was badly defeated at (Sunday's) referendum (on Montenegro's independence), which is why its priority must be to change its policy towards Montenegro," Labus told Beta news agency, adding the referendum "confirmed the citizens' clear majority will" and that Serbia should not be unhappy with the referendum decision because it gained its own state.
Labus expected the European Commission to decide in a month about the launching of separate European Union membership negotiations for Serbia and Montenegro.
"It's still uncertain if Serbia will obtain an open mandate for the continuation of negotiations, or if they will be resumed once full cooperation has been established with the Hague (war crimes) tribunal, or if they will be postponed. Montenegro will resume the negotiations in a month," Labus said.
He resigned to the post of Serbian prime minister earlier this month after the EU suspended negotiations on Serbia and Montenegro's association due to lack of cooperation with the UN court.