Serbs cast their votes amid lure of EU entry
Serbs voted yesterday in a parliamentary election that will show whether the lure of European Union membership outweighs their anger over the Western-backed secession of Kosovo.
The country is divided and the two front-runners, the nationalist Radical Party and the pro-Western Democratic Party, will have to woo smaller parties to form a coalition.
"This election is a referendum on whether we let Kosovo go or fight for it, this is the only reason I came to vote," said a 50-year old Belgrade man who declined to give his name.
"I feel a lot of disappointment over the broken promises," said another voter, Djordje Petrovic, who backed the Democrats in the past but now opted for a smaller, more liberal party.
The Radicals say that in the eight years since the fall of Slobodan Milosevic, acquiescence to the West and harsh market reforms have brought Serbs only humiliation and poverty. They want to put EU membership on ice and push Serbia's claim to Kosovo.
The Democrats say EU accession is the only way to attract investors and raise living standards that suffered in the 1990s, when Serbia was isolated for its role in the Yugoslav wars.
They have tried to combine firm opposition to Kosovo's secession with offering a hand of friendship to the West.
Neither of the two main parties is likely to win outright, making outgoing Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica of the nationalist Democratic Party of Serbia the probable kingmaker. He has moved closer to the Radicals' position over Kosovo and is unlikely to renew alliance with Tadic's Democrats whom he accuses of selling out to the EU.
Agencies
(China Daily 05/12/2008 page6)
