Serbian Government in crisis over EU mission for Kosovo

Boris Tadic has been reelected President of Serbia. Tadic, who is pro-European Union, won 50.5 percent of the vote in the second round run-off. His opponent, the nationalist Tomislav Nikolic, admitted defeat after polling 47.9 percent of the vote. In his victory speech Tadic said, “I congratulate all the citizens of Serbia on our being a European democracy. We have shown to many EU member countries the democratic potential of this country.”

The election had been characterized as a turning point for Serbia. Whether it would seek EU membership as Tadic wants or continue in its isolation from the West, the direction Nikolic, who is pro-Russia, preferred.

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Another Balkans crisis looms over Kosovo’s independence

Serbs go to the polls on Sunday in the second round of their presidential election. As they do, European Union unity over the future of Kosovo, the largely ethnic Albanian province of Serbia, is crumbling.

The Balkans is a patchwork of ethnic groups in southeastern Europe, where their geographical distribution rarely coincides with the political boundaries of a state. It has long been a source of instability.

A period of relative calm ended with the end of the Cold War, as the power vacuum left by the disintegration of the Soviet Union triggered the Wars of Yugoslav Succession.

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