Word: kosovo
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...outcome came as a surprise. Most pollsters and political analysts predicted the defeat of the Democrats, who came under heavy fire after the formerly Serb province of Kosovo declared independence on February 17 and was recognized by most E.U. countries. During the campaign, Kostunica and the Radicals portrayed the E.U. as an evil empire bent on stealing a part of Serbia, while Tadic was labeled as traitor who was ready to sacrifice Kosovo for a distant promise of E.U. membership. The Radicals, whose chairman Vojislav Seselj is on trial for war crimes at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former...
...most Serbian voters rejected the siren call of nationalism, despite their general frustration over the loss of Kosovo and despite Russia's open support for the nationalists. The negative campaigning by Kostunica and Seselj's deputy, Tomislav Nikolic, appeared to have backfired, triggering another victory for Tadic, who only narrowly defeated Nikolic at the presidential polls earlier this year. The E.U. also helped Tadic by signing a Stabilization and Association Agreement - a first step toward membership - with Serbia in late April and relaxing visa requirements, which effectively prevented ordinary Serbs from traveling to the West...
...Until recently, Serbia's politics amounted to a pretty even match between pro-European moderates who wanted Serbia to join the E.U. and nationalists who wanted closer ties with Russia. Kosovo's declaration of independence tipped the balance in favor of the nationalists. Some 60% of Serbs say they want to join the E.U., but that number drops below 45% if they are told the price of E.U. entry is the loss of Kosovo. The ultranationalist Serbian Radical Party - which once advocated union with Russia and Belarus, and is now tied for first place with a coalition of more...
...stabilization" agreement aimed at starting negotiations to join the E.U, has become the subject of a hate campaign. After the signing of the E.U. agreement, the nationalist tabloid Kurir carried a photo of Tadic and a colleague toasting the deal under the headline "Serbian Pigs Rejoice! They Gave Away Kosovo!" Tadic reportedly received a letter recently accusing him of "treason" and promising him "a bullet in the forehead." Authorities are taking the threat seriously: Zoran Djindjic, the reformist Serbian Prime Minister who helped topple Milosevic, was assassinated in March 2003. Even by Serbian standards, the political atmosphere "has become poisoned...
...Kosovo Albanian?led government in Pristina has refrained from rising to Serbia's bait. Lutfi Haziri, a prominent member of the largest party, the Democratic League of Kosovo, says: "We will work very hard to integrate Serbs as much as we can." But how long their restraint will last depends in part on whether the E.U. mission can marginalize Serb hard-liners like Ivanovic. For that to happen, the U.N. Secretary-General will have to ignore Russia's griping about the illegality of Kosovo's declaration of independence and get on with handing over authority to the Kosovar government...