Serbia's finance minister Mladjan Dinkic said today he would resign on October 1st if Serbia failed to turn war crimes fugitive Ratko Mladic over to the Hague tribunal and resume talks with the European Union.
He said his liberal G17 Plus party would follow his lead and leave parliament, bringing down the centre-right minority coalition led by Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica and almost certainly leading to an election a year ahead of schedule.
"I have written my letter of resignation, dated October 1, 2006, and so have two other ministers from G17 Plus, if conditions are not met by then for the resumption of talks with the EU," Mr Dinkic told a news conference.
"In that case, deputies of G17 Plus would also no longer be in parliament," Mr Dinkic added.
His party colleagues run the ministries of health and agriculture in Kostunica's cabinet.
Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Miroljub Labus, the leader of G17 Plus, resigned on May 3rd after the EU froze pre-membership talks with Serbia because of its failure to deliver Mladic to the UN court by the end of April.