Serbian Radicals look set for victory in election

Serbia:Serbia's ultra-nationalist Radical Party appeared last night to have beaten the western-backed, pro-EU Democratic Party in an election that offered voters two starkly different visions of the Balkan nation's future.

An independent polling agency said that projections showed the Radicals taking 28.5 per cent of the ballot, with the Democrats claiming about 22 per cent and prime minister Vojislav Kostunica's party coming third with about 17 per cent. Turnout was about 60 per cent.

Pre-election polls suggested the Radical Party would win, but that a bloc of liberal groups led by the Democrats of president Boris Tadic would have the best chance of forming a coalition government. The Democrats' road to power could be blocked however by Mr Kostunica, who is determined to keep his post, despite the opposition of Mr Tadic.

Mr Kostunica has a strong nationalist streak and has not ruled out an alliance with the Radicals, even though it would outrage leaders across the EU and in Washington, who have made it clear that they want Serbia to turn decisively away from extremism.

Mr Tadic has made membership of the EU and Nato his goal and vows to catch fugitive war crimes suspect Ratko Mladic - something Mr Kostunica has failed to do.

"We are going to win for sure and extraditing Ratko Mladic depends on police action, and I'm totally sure that our police and intelligence are going to co- operate very well after the elections," Mr Tadic said yesterday.

He admitted, however, that the Democratic party "cannot form a government alone", and said "it is extremely important that we form a government as soon as possible. If we do that we could put Germany's EU presidency to the best possible effect." Senior EU officials have told Belgrade that it could quickly forge closer ties with Brussels if "democrats" triumphed in the election - but not if nationalists prevailed.

The Radicals, who ruled alongside former president Slobodan Milosevic, call the EU and US demands for Gen Mladic's arrest "blackmail" and have accused shadowy western forces of killing Milosevic at the UN court at The Hague, where their own leader, Vojislav Seselj, is on trial for war crimes.

While Mr Tadic has told Serbs to prepare for the independence of Kosovo - which a UN envoy for the mostly ethnic-Albanian region is expected to recommend soon after the election - the Radicals have vowed never to let it go.

"We will win and make sure that Kosovo remains part of Serbia," the Radical Party's acting leader, Tomislav Nikolic, said after voting. "We do not exclude co-operation with western powers, but we also want close relations with Russia."

In Russia - which could use its UN Security Council veto to block a resolution on Kosovo - president Vladimir Putin said Serb and Kosovo-Albanian leaders must agree on a solution for the province's future. "Russia thinks it is unacceptable to impose from outside a decision on the status of Kosovo," he said after meeting German chancellor Angela Merkel. "We think it is not in Europe's interests that one of the sides, let's say Belgrade, should be forced to accept a solution that would be demeaning for the Serbian people."

Dr Merkel urged a solution that did not destabilise Serbia, and repeated the EU line that an election victory for "democratic forces" would serve the country best.

With the Radicals and Democrats expected to finish neck-and-neck, Mr Kostunica could play kingmaker - and he would probably insist on retaining the post of prime minister as a condition of his party's support.

"Serbia must . . . continue on the stable and secure road it has taken so far, because the safe road is the quickest," he said.