The issue of national identity is taken seriously by Balkan people – including the least serious among them.
Serbian President Calls New Elections
| 13 March 2008 |
In a statement, Tadic said the vote "will be a democratic way for the people to decide Serbia’s progress in the years to come.”
The early parliamentary elections on May 11 will be held together with municipal elections and balloting for the assembly of the northern province of Vojvodina
The move came after Vojislav Kostunica's cabinet collapsed earlier this week amid a rift between pro-Western minister loyal to Tadic and his conservatives over a resolution that stipulated that Serbia would abandon its bid to join the European Union unless Brussels recognises Kosovo as lying firmly within Serbian borders.
“The vote is our fresh chance to preserve our sovereignty and territorial integrity, to bolster our economic prospects through European integration and to strengthen democracy," Tadic said.
The vote will pit Tadic's Democratic Party and a number of other pro-Western parties against the nationalist Serbian Radical Party, the single largest opposition group in the now-defunct parliament.
According to a statement Wednesday, Kostunica will remain in coalition with his ally, the New Serbia party, led by Infrastructure Minister Velimir Ilic.
Tadic also urged parties to undertake fair and democratic campaigning.
Analysts and pro-Western politicians have already said that the May 11 vote will be a referendum over whether Serbs should continue with their bid to join the European Union, even though key members of the 27-nation bloc have recognised independence of Kosovo, or slide to isolation and under the clout of Russia, a traditional ally.
Serbia's relations with the West soured after Kosovo's February 17 secession. The country recalled ambassadors from the countries that the recognised the government in Pristina, and many western embassies were attacked during riots in the capital, Belgrade last month.
