Today’s election in Serbia will set the standard for the course of action in the next years and decide what the former center of Yugoslavia will do with its future.
Today, May 11th, we are facing yet another destiny election in Serbia. Since the fall of Slobodan Milošević, eight years ago, the vulnerable democracy of Serbia has been threatened by extreme nationalists.
But after each election until now democratic and western oriented coalitions have managed to get into power. However, after Kosovo declared independence, some months ago, the nationalists are again in a position to reach power. Many are predicting that the radical Tomislav Nikolić and the conservative prime minister, Vojislav Koštunica, will form a coalition after the election that will close the doors to Europe and instead open the gates to Russia.
Even if all polls show that the Serbian people are positive about joining EU there is a lot more to be added to the complex political situation. Kosovo became the perfect symbol of the Serbian disappointment and the Serbians’ feeling of always being the victims. After spending a few days last week in the Serbian capital, Belgrade, I soon found out that this election generates a lot more attention than the previous one.
In Belgrade most people are against the nationalist extremists but elsewhere in Serbia Nikolić and his men enjoy a lot of support. If the nationalists win Sunday’s election, many are afraid that there will be mass arrests of EU friendly politicians. Also will a nationalistic victory put trade and co-operations with other nations the Russia way back. A foreign correspondent I talked to put it this way: “If the nationalists win this election, I will pack my things and leave. It will be almost impossible to do a proper job under their regulations, and I fear that Serbia will be thrown again into a conflict that can easily turn bloody.”
Text and Photos by Torgrim Havlari (PLR member & correspondent)
