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| Europe | |
| Ultranationalists claim victory in Serb election | |
| 2007-01-22 | |
| BELGRADE - Serbia’s ultranationalist Radical Party claimed victory in national elections on Sunday, in a voter rejection of Western appeals for closer cooperation on the arrest of war criminals and on Kosovo. A projection of the result showed the opposition Radicals, strongest party in Serbia for years, taking 28 percent of the vote, a point higher than the 2003 national elections. “The Radical Party has won these elections,” said Tomislav Nikolic, the Radical’s candidate for prime minister in the absence of party leader Vojislav Seselj, who is on trial for war crimes at the U.N. tribunal in The Hague. His only regret was the Radicals did not win 50 percent. “That spoils our celebration tonight because we’re convinced that hard days lie ahead for Serbia,” said Nikolic. “Until the Radicals form a government, things will be tough for Serbia.” Western capitals worried about Serbia’s future course could take heart in the fact the pro-Western opposition Democratic Party of President Boris Tadic nearly doubled its share of the vote, at 23 percent. The projection from Serbian electoral commission, based on actual results counted, showed neither of the two parties had enough votes for a parliamentary majority. Outgoing Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica’s Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) was seen as having 17 percent of the vote. Kostunica courted the nationalist vote in his campaign and has not ruled out allying with the Radicals if he ends up kingmaker. A coalition of their two parties would have a slim majority in the 250-seat parliament. A DSS coalition with the Democrats would need the liberal G17 party to form a majority. “Coalition talks are ahead of us,” Kostunica told reporters. ”We are open, we expect other parties to be responsible.” The West made clear to Serbs before the elections that they should turn their backs on nationalism if they hoped to join the European Union and NATO, and make up for a decade of isolation, war and sanctions under late leader Slobodan Milosevic.
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| Posted by:Steve White |
| #3 Good for them---it'll take a 100 years to fix the damage that Billary did in this particular case only. |
| Posted by: gromgoru 2007-01-22 05:19 |
| #2 Dunno Matt, but with our current president the Paleos better not think of killing another one of our ambassadors. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2007-01-22 00:31 |
| #1 "The Serbs, like the Paleos, have a right to elect a government that refect their views. And we have a right to react accordingly". Does it mean any time soon YOU are going to bomb paleos for 78 days? |
| Posted by: Matt K. 2007-01-22 00:18 |