A reformist, pro-Western politician defeated a nationalist ally of former president Slobodan Milosevic in Serbia's presidential elections and pledged to take the Balkan republic closer to the EU and NATO.
Democratic Party chief Boris Tadic, 46, won 53.5 percent of votes in the Sunday ballot. Tomislav Nikolic of the ultranationalist Serbian Radical Party won 45.09 percent in the election, viewed as a crossroads for Serbia.
"This means a true rebirth of Serbia ... a triumph over dark policies of the past," Tadic said, referring to the 1990s war campaigns and international isolation of Serbia during the rule of Milosevic and his Radical allies.
Tadic's Democrats were at the forefront of the 2000 uprising against Milosevic, but painful economic and political reforms in recent years led to a resurgence of nationalism and fears that the hard-liners could regain control. The Democrats lost parliamentary elections in December and handed over government leadership to moderate nationalists and conservatives.
Nikolic garnered most votes in the first round of voting two weeks ago, but fell short of outright victory. Tadic won the runoff after receiving endorsement from several candidates eliminated in the first round.
"Serbia can now safely continue on its path of European integration" and strive for membership in NATO "which is not just our fate but a willing choice of our nation, expressed and confirmed in these elections," Tadic said late Sunday.
Nikolic conceded defeat, but blamed his loss on "almost all Serbian politicians and the West for spreading fear" that Serbia would fall back into isolation if he won.
Crucial Western support to cash-strapped Serbia hinges on its cooperation with the Netherlands-based UN war crimes tribunal, including extradition of suspects indicted for their role in the 1990s Balkan wars. Milosevic and several of his allies are on trial at the court.
Nikolic is fiercely opposed to the UN tribunal, blasting it as politicized and anti-Serb.
Tadic made no reference to the much-debated cooperation with the tribunal in his victory speech but pledged that he would ensure that Serbia "meets its international obligations."
He also promised to help find a "peaceful solution for Kosovo," the province in southern Serbia that became an international protectorate in 1999 when NATO bombing forced Milosevic to stop his crackdown on Kosovo's independence-seeking ethnic Albanians.
But reviving Serbia's economy tops the list of priorities, he added.
"Solutions to economic problems are the foundation of all other solutions. An economic vitality of Serbia will be a guarantor for all our political projects, for our defense, even for our efforts to find a solution for Kosovo," said Tadic, elected for a five-year term.
A soft-spoken Sarajevo-born psychologist and Belgrade college professor, he entered politics in 1990 as a member of the pro-Western Democratic Party. He took over the party leadership after assassination of prime minister Zoran Djindjic in March last year.
CONFRONTATION: The water cannon attack was the second this month on the Philippine supply boat ‘Unaizah May 4,’ after an incident on March 5 The China Coast Guard yesterday morning blocked a Philippine supply vessel and damaged it with water cannons near a reef off the Southeast Asian country, the Philippines said. The Philippine military released video of what it said was a nearly hour-long attack off the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙) in the contested South China Sea, where Chinese ships have unleashed water cannons and collided with Philippine vessels in similar standoffs in the past few months. The China Coast Guard and other vessels “once again harassed, blocked, deployed water cannons, and executed dangerous maneuvers” against a routine rotation and resupply mission to
GLOBAL COMBAT AIR PROGRAM: The potential purchasers would be limited to the 15 nations with which Tokyo has signed defense partnership and equipment transfer deals Japan’s Cabinet yesterday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it is developing with the UK and Italy to other nations, in the latest move away from the country’s post-World War II pacifist principles. The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project, and is part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security. The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to nations
‘POLITICAL EARTHQUAKE’: Leo Varadkar said he was ‘no longer the best person’ to lead the nation and was stepping down for political, as well as personal, reasons Leo Varadkar on Wednesday announced that he was stepping down as Ireland’s prime minister and leader of the Fine Gael party in the governing coalition, citing “personal and political” reasons. Pundits called the surprise move, just 10 weeks before Ireland holds European Parliament and local elections, a “political earthquake.” A general election has to be held within a year. Irish Deputy Prime Minister Micheal Martin, leader of Fianna Fail, the main coalition partner, said Varadkar’s announcement was “unexpected,” but added that he expected the government to run its full term. An emotional Varadkar, who is in his second stint as prime minister and at
Thousands of devotees, some in a state of trance, gathered at a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok renowned for sacred tattoos known as Sak Yant, paying their respects to a revered monk who mastered the practice and seeking purification. The gathering at Wat Bang Phra Buddhist temple is part of a Thai Wai Khru ritual in which devotees pay homage to Luang Phor Pern, the temple’s formal abbot, who died in 2002. He had a reputation for refining and popularizing the temple’s Sak Yant tattoo style. The idea that tattoos confer magical powers has existed in many parts of Asia