Serbians, haunted by Milosevic´s ghost, head to polls

By WILLIAM J. KOLE
Associated Press Writer

Serbs were voting Sunday in elections that will decide whether the nation takes another step toward mainstream Europe or reverts to a hard-line stance reminiscent of the late strongman Slobodan Milosevic.

The ultranationalist Serbian Radical Party held a slim lead heading into the parliamentary vote, closely trailed by President Boris Tadic´s pro-Western coalition. The state electoral commission said early turnout was strong.

Neither the Radicals nor Tadic´s coalition was likely to get enough votes to govern alone. Potential kingmakers included nationalist Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica´s conservative bloc and Milosevic´s Socialists. One _ or both _ could help form a new government with an anti-Western and pro-Russia stance.

Tadic called Sunday´s elections "vitally important" and expressed confidence that Serbs will make a clean break with their turbulent past.

"I am convinced that people will vote for a European future," he said. "I am totally sure that a return to the 1990s would not be good for our country, which would happen if the Radicals return to power."

Voters also were casting ballots in newly independent Kosovo, where Serb leaders organized parallel local elections in the former Serbian province in defiance of international authorities.

The U.N. branded the local elections illegal but did not stop people from voting, and NATO peacekeepers stepped up patrols as a precautionary measure.

Kostunica and Radical Party leader Tomislav Nikolic capitalized on an acute sense of betrayal after Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in February and gained formal recognition from the U.S., Canada, Japan and key European powers.

Serbs consider Kosovo the heart of their ancient homeland and Serbian Orthodox faith, and their bitterness has nudged the country toward ultranationalists promising to restore bruised national pride.

"I want Kosovo to remain in Serbia _ that´s why I voted for Serbian patriots," said Zoran Jovanovic, a 66-year-old retiree. "The European Union and the West want to take Kosovo away from Serbia. That´s why there is no place for us in that bloc. Russia is our true friend."

The nationalists also have exploited disenchantment with 30 percent unemployment, rising prices and corruption.

It remained unclear exactly what combination of parties would join forces to form a government _ but a Kostunica-Nikolic alliance looked likely, with Kostunica to stay on as prime minister.

Both have said Serbia should shelve its proclaimed goal of joining the EU and concentrate instead on establishing close political and economic ties with Russia.

"For the people of Serbia, today is the day they will feel a change for the better ... when it will be worth living in Serbia," Nikolic said after voting Sunday. He said he expected to quickly make an alliance with Kostunica "which will finally lead to the formation of a good government."

"It is very important that a new government is formed quickly after the elections to keep the country´s territorial integrity and overall stability," Kostunica said.

Tadic, who opposes Kosovo´s independence but wants to steer Serbia toward the European Union, has received death threats. He has also been publicly denounced as a traitor for signing a pre-entry aid and trade pact with the EU _ a deal that Kostunica and Nikolic contend amounts to blood money in exchange for giving up Kosovo.

Over the past five years, the Radicals have steadily gained power and influence in Serbia. In the three most recent elections, they won a majority in the 250-seat parliament but were unable to govern without the support of Kostunica´s bloc.

Some Serbs were understandably skittish about the possibility that their country could revert to nationalist or even ultranationalist rule and slide deeper into instability and isolation.

"I voted for Europe and against the road that leads us back to the misery of the 1990s," Milica Ostojic, a 22-year-old university student, said after casting her ballot in New Belgrade.

Milosevic was ousted by a pro-democracy movement in 2000, and the former leader _ who presided over the bloody 1990s breakup of Yugoslavia _ died in March 2006 in a prison cell in The Hague, Netherlands, where a U.N. tribunal was trying him for atrocities in the Balkans.

Charles Ingrao, a Balkans expert at Purdue University, insisted the world shouldn´t fear a reprise of Milosevic-style bloodshed.

"The days of Milosevic are gone," he said. "Serbia can no longer project power beyond its own borders like it did in the 1990s. I don´t know what we´re afraid of. Times have changed."

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Associated Press writer Dusan Stojanovic in Belgrade and Nebi Qena in Pristina, Kosovo, contributed to this report.