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President dissolves Serbian parliament and calls elections

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.
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