15.01.08: Kostunica's Choice - The Diigo Meta page

• 18 Jan 08
  

  Prof. Dr Wolfgang Schumann

  elections enlargement enlargementpolicy_eu serbia westernbalkans enlargementpolicy_candidates

  • The next president of Serbia may well be decided based on Prime Minister Kostunica’s endorsement. The country goes to the polls on 20 January at a time when Kosovo is just about to become an independent state supported by the United States and micromanaged by the European Union. At the same time, signs indicate that Serbia will be offered some fast-tracking in its bid for EU membership as a sedative designed to ease the pain caused by the loss of Kosovo.
  • As things stand now, Brussels will invite Belgrade to sign the recently initialled pre-membership Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) a week after the first round of Serbia’s presidential election. The EU does not expect any of the presidential hopefuls to win an outright majority. Polls suggest there will be a second round between old rivals: incumbent President Boris Tadic of the pro-EU Democratic Party and Tomislav Nikolic, who leads the ultra-nationalist Serbian Radical Party (SRS).
     
     The EU hopes the imminent signing of the pre-membership agreement will give Tadic an edge over Nikolic. And with some 70 percent of Serbs favoring EU membership, a demonstration that the goal is realistic seems like a good strategy on Brussels’ part.

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