Serbian President Boris Tadic yesterday dissolved parliament and called elections for May 11, following the collapse of the ruling coalition in a policy rift over EU integration and Kosovo.
"The elections are a democratic way for citizens to say how Serbia should develop in years to come," Tadic said in a statement.
The dissolution of parliament was requested by nationalist Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica's government, which said it was unable to overcome differences over Serbia's integration in the EU and Kosovo's independence.
"In accordance with the Constitution of Serbia ... I signed the decree on dissolution of the parliament ... and the decision to call the elections for May 11," Tadic said.
Last weekend Kostunica announced that his Democratic Party of Serbia had failed to solve the dispute with its pro-European coalition partners from Tadic's Democratic Party.
The rift came less than a month after ethnic Albanian majority Kosovo unilaterally proclaimed independence from Serbia, which considers the territory a cradle of its history and culture.
Angered over most EU countries' decision to recognize an independent Kosovo, Kostunica, backed by the opposition ultra-nationalist Serbian Radical Party, vowed to stop Serbia's further integration until the 27-member bloc rejected the break away.
Tadic and his party, which also opposes the independence move, have argued that Serbia has no alternative but to try to join the EU as soon as possible, regardless of the dispute over Kosovo.
"This is a new chance for us to strengthen ... our economic perspective through a process of European integration, to confirm our democratic capacity and to change things for better," Tadic said in the statement.
The May polls have already been seen as a referendum on Serbia's EU accession.
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
Armed with 4,000 eggs and a truckload of sugar and cream, French pastry chefs on Wednesday completed a 121.8m-long strawberry cake that they have claimed is the world’s longest ever made. Youssef El Gatou brought together 20 chefs to make the 1.2 tonne masterpiece that took a week to complete and was set out on tables in an ice rink in the Paris suburb town of Argenteuil for residents to inspect. The effort overtook a 100.48m-long strawberry cake made in the Italian town of San Mauro Torinese in 2019. El Gatou’s cake also used 350kg of strawberries, 150kg of sugar and 415kg of
RSS