Post by tripwire on Jan 4, 2008 1:15:18 GMT -5
Serbia: Prime minister and president split over Kosovo and country's EU bid
Belgrade, 3 Jan. (AKI) – Serbian prime minister Vojislav Kostunica on Thursday turned his back on president Boris Tadic and threw his support behind his other coalition partner, Velimir Ilic, who is now Tadic's main rival in the 20 January presidential election.
In a surprise move, Ilic, the leader of New Serbia (NS), which ran on a joint ticket with Kostunica’s centre-right Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) in the December 2006 parliamentary elections last week announced he would run.
Kostunica’s decision to back Ilic makes the outcome of the presidential race completely uncertain. Tadic, who is Kostunica’s main partner in the governing coalition, had also expected Kostunica’s backing, and without it, his re-election was far from being secured.
Without Kostunica's support, Ilic's chances of success are seen to be slender.
The vice-president of Tadic’s centre-left Democratic Party (DS), and defence minister, Dragan Sutanovac has said Kostunica’s failure to support for Tadic in the presidential contest may trigger the government's downfall.
Ilic, a tough talking, populist minister for infrastructure, is expected to draw away votes in the first election round from Tomislav Nikolic, the leader of the ultranationalist Serbian Radical Party, the biggest single parliamentary group.
Analysts were almost unanimous in predicting that Tadic and Nikolic would face each other in the run-off on 3 February, but it was now uncertain what the outcome of the nine-man race might be in the first round.
Nada Kolundzija, head of the DS parliamentary group, reacted cautiously to Kostunica’s decision to support Ilic, saying she hoped Kostunica would support Tadic in the run-off if Ilic failed to get through the first round.
Only the two candidates who garner the highest share of votes go into the run-off.
Tadic and Kostunica seemed to have definitely parted company over the fate of breakaway Kosovo province and Serbia's European Union membership bid.
The EU has declared itself ready to recognise Kosovo independence alongside the United States. Tadic has been campaigning on the slogan “Kosovo and the EU”, arguing that Serbia should seek to join the EU even if Brussels recognizes Kosovo's independence as demanded by the province's overwhelmingly ethnic Albanian majority.
But Kostunica said in a statement on Thursday he didn’t share that view. Serbia is on 28 January scheduled to sign a pre-entry talks accord with the EU. But Kostunica said that the bloc should first guarantee Serbia’s sovereignty over over Kosovo.
“We have reached a point when the EU must make a choice whether it wants the whole internationally recognized Serbia as its partner, or whether it wants to create a quasi-state on the Serbian territory,” Kostunica said.
“Therefore, the EU must decide on 28 January whether it wants to take part in breaking up Serbia, or whether it wants to sign an agreement with Serbia as its partner,” the statement said.
Kosovo ethnic Albanians have announced they intend to declare independence unilaterally early this year, after Russia last year blocked in UN Security Council a plan for supervised the independence.
Brussels and Washington have demanded that the decision on Kosovo be postponed until after the Serbian presidential elections, to improve Tadic’s chances of re-election.
But anti-American and anti-European sentiment have grown so strong in Serbia over the question of Kosovo that Tadic’s ambiguous position and western backing might backfire and ultimately deprive him of victory, analysts said.
Looks like this Kosova independence is done deal...thanks to kostunica's brilliant mind and choices. ;D
Belgrade, 3 Jan. (AKI) – Serbian prime minister Vojislav Kostunica on Thursday turned his back on president Boris Tadic and threw his support behind his other coalition partner, Velimir Ilic, who is now Tadic's main rival in the 20 January presidential election.
In a surprise move, Ilic, the leader of New Serbia (NS), which ran on a joint ticket with Kostunica’s centre-right Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) in the December 2006 parliamentary elections last week announced he would run.
Kostunica’s decision to back Ilic makes the outcome of the presidential race completely uncertain. Tadic, who is Kostunica’s main partner in the governing coalition, had also expected Kostunica’s backing, and without it, his re-election was far from being secured.
Without Kostunica's support, Ilic's chances of success are seen to be slender.
The vice-president of Tadic’s centre-left Democratic Party (DS), and defence minister, Dragan Sutanovac has said Kostunica’s failure to support for Tadic in the presidential contest may trigger the government's downfall.
Ilic, a tough talking, populist minister for infrastructure, is expected to draw away votes in the first election round from Tomislav Nikolic, the leader of the ultranationalist Serbian Radical Party, the biggest single parliamentary group.
Analysts were almost unanimous in predicting that Tadic and Nikolic would face each other in the run-off on 3 February, but it was now uncertain what the outcome of the nine-man race might be in the first round.
Nada Kolundzija, head of the DS parliamentary group, reacted cautiously to Kostunica’s decision to support Ilic, saying she hoped Kostunica would support Tadic in the run-off if Ilic failed to get through the first round.
Only the two candidates who garner the highest share of votes go into the run-off.
Tadic and Kostunica seemed to have definitely parted company over the fate of breakaway Kosovo province and Serbia's European Union membership bid.
The EU has declared itself ready to recognise Kosovo independence alongside the United States. Tadic has been campaigning on the slogan “Kosovo and the EU”, arguing that Serbia should seek to join the EU even if Brussels recognizes Kosovo's independence as demanded by the province's overwhelmingly ethnic Albanian majority.
But Kostunica said in a statement on Thursday he didn’t share that view. Serbia is on 28 January scheduled to sign a pre-entry talks accord with the EU. But Kostunica said that the bloc should first guarantee Serbia’s sovereignty over over Kosovo.
“We have reached a point when the EU must make a choice whether it wants the whole internationally recognized Serbia as its partner, or whether it wants to create a quasi-state on the Serbian territory,” Kostunica said.
“Therefore, the EU must decide on 28 January whether it wants to take part in breaking up Serbia, or whether it wants to sign an agreement with Serbia as its partner,” the statement said.
Kosovo ethnic Albanians have announced they intend to declare independence unilaterally early this year, after Russia last year blocked in UN Security Council a plan for supervised the independence.
Brussels and Washington have demanded that the decision on Kosovo be postponed until after the Serbian presidential elections, to improve Tadic’s chances of re-election.
But anti-American and anti-European sentiment have grown so strong in Serbia over the question of Kosovo that Tadic’s ambiguous position and western backing might backfire and ultimately deprive him of victory, analysts said.
Looks like this Kosova independence is done deal...thanks to kostunica's brilliant mind and choices. ;D