Nikolić: SRS-DSS coalition, best govt.

I think that this is a very good move for Serbia, the so called "far right" political party has just made a step towards the middle because it will benefit Serbia. I think this step towards moderation will also help Mr. Nikolic's image with the serbian voter as it shows he will do what is neccesary to form a government of action.
I hope that Kostunica shows the wisdom to take this offer and help steer Serbia in a government of dignity where Serbia will be open for outside business, but not outside interference and EU domination.

Evidently there's a big shift to more radicalism in Kostunica's approaches to the country's vital problems. It's a natural reaction to the events around.

Meanwhile I can see no radicalism in Nicolic if only closer relations with Russia and active support for the occupied parts of the Serbs is not evaluated now as radicalism. I like this man and I hope the Serbs will finally give him a chance.

Thus such a tandem I believe will be in favour of Serbia. Sure one cannot be so unjust to say that Tadic is a kind of the late Dindic. Yet it's hard to avoid the idea that he is not only a good Serb but a part of the opposite side as well ... We all know who is the other side composed of. It's a strange mix of Del Ponte , The Snake , Solana , Bush ect.

if you vote for tadic and ds, you vote for feith, rupel, solana. that i can't live with.
on the other hand, i vote for dss, so i vote for radicals? why not, perfectly legitimate to vote for legal parties that have the right to legally make coalitions.
UNLIKE the first coalition i mentioned.

Bganon,
I think you need to wait till after the elections to see the shape of the new government but it is certainly a signal that SRS will work with any party that defends first and foremost Serbia's territorial integrity. What else matters then the consideration of the Sovereignity and territorial integrity?

Also you should realise that actually in western democracy it is not an issue that an opposition party who are voted by the electorate have no governemental experience - what is so strange to you to suggest that this is a hindrance? Quite often the issue is with the so called "experts" in governement who get voted out and the influx brings with it new blood.

Surely Bganon, your not suggesting western democracy is a failure to allow gioverments from opposition parties to be formed merely becaue they lack governing experience?

Frankly given the Highway debacle where so called "ecomnomic" experts have placed political interets above a very real and urgently required economic necessity suggests DS nor G17+ are competent with regards the economy!

In which case maybe Serbia does need a radiical change (pardon the pun) in its governance!

Smile,
excellent points and it is important that as many of the electorate come out in the elections to show the likes of Thief (head of) INLEX (lawless) Kosovo mission that Serbia's electorate put Kosovo First and foremost! Without that clarity what condition will the EU suggest next and then..?

Ana, given the failure of DS to place all of Serbia first before EU membership who's to know what else they would accept being condition for membership - said it before the slogan for DS and its liberal allies might as well be;
Vote DS for a Belgrade pashlik in the EU - EU promised us by the end of the year - honest gov.!

If you come to power, I will go to bed and sleep for all the time you stay on power...

i can honesly say i hope Nikolic wins because even though he has flaws but name me one good thing that tadic has done since in power.. he even plans on joining nato .. it wasn't milosevic that messed up serbia's economy even though he did a great deal but it was mainly america and nato as america could not stand see serbia prosper they wanted to make serbia a third world country and came close to it

the people on here who think an SRS-DSS government is a good idea clearly don't live in Serbia and obviously won't have to live with the consequences of such a nightmare scenario.

it's okay for you to encourage Serbia into isolation from your comfortable couch in Canada, California or Canberra.

the reality is that such a government would frighten off investors and shatter the Serbian economy, which is still recovering from all the destruction the Radicals already caused along with Milosevic in the 1990s.

you think it's a good idea for the Radicals to get their hands on the 16 billion dollars in foreign reserves at the national bank?

instead of supporting such a government, you should be encouraging your Western-based family members with the right to vote to do what is best for their people by electing a responsible government, not one only worried about staying in power to hide its horrendous past and rob its people.

sure Tadic and co. aren't perfect, but then again, no government is. at least they are offering a faster track to the European Union, already delayed enough and slowing much-needed reforms that allow the corrupt ones to stay around and light fires that distract the public from real issues like their deplorable living standards.

The future looks bright for Serbia. Long live SRS and DSS. These defenders of our civilization and our independent future are visionaries, and it is time we offer them a chance.

We have already lost too much under the Western boot-lickers, and even the puppets got burned.

It is time for all Serbian citizens to wake up and unite, not on ethnicity, but on a common cause and concern.

Lets build our own economy, lets build our own armed forces, lets build our own cities, and lets evolve our own beautiful civilization.

Serbia is an independent state, and we should treasure this opportunity to take matters into our own hands and build the country from the ground up and costantly progress into a better future.

Enough of this G17,LDP, and DS propoganda.

They have my full support-good luck to them!

Dear Ana,

you sound decent despite what I consider to be a very wrong position. Do please understand the the country you claim to love is Serbia and that Kosovo is an integral and non-negotiable part of it. Kosovo is Serbia. The great majority of the U.N. nations will never recognize Kosovo, and neither will Russia and China allow the U.N. to recognize it. It doesn't mean that Serbia is on the side of China or Russia, after all, states have no friends, only interests, but in this case Serbia happens to have a common interest with two veto-wielding members of the Security Council. I agree with you that a lot of people here are not familiar with the living conditions of the simple people in Serbia, but you should try to understand that despite all appearences, Serbia has a lot of cards left to play in the coming negotiations in order to reverse the illegal "independence" declaration. The truth is that Tadic is selling you short, let the Radicals give it a try, they can use Kostunica as a spear-head (he kicked out Milosevic after all) and you will see that those who are behind the Kosovo adventure will start shaking in their Gucci loafers. Kosovo is not lost, neither materially or legally, believe it and you will see that a lot can be done about it.

Ana,

"I guess you see me as a traitor,"
- no I wouldn't say that perhaps naive to continue believing that the more you submit to ever more demands and conditions that you will be be somehow more respected!

The situtation for Serbia is analagous to seeing the US and the big few 'EU' states as nothing more then bullies in the Global playing field. They will just keep taking while you still believe you can become an equal to their club and that the more you ubmit the more likely you will be an equal! At least many in Serbia are no longer so gullable to carry on being so naive. All would suggest to you Ana like so many others are comprehending and realise that being respected starts with self respect and not continual self humiliation!

"I see myself as someone who really doesn't want her country isolated anymore... "

- well does that not highlight the reality that despite all that Serbia has done in moving forward over the last 8 years it is still treated this way by the so called 'friends' you believe are the only ones that you must associate with. Serbia is not the one choosing that isolation (even with EU choice of governments) surely that should make you understand the point above all the more! Ah but then like I said what other conditions would you or the DS not accept? How far would you allow yourself to be humilated before awakening from the sleep you are already in thee past 8 years?

"I'm not happy with what the EU has been doing but I am sure don't think our only friends should be the Russians"

- absolutely right - nothing wrong with having as many friends as possible and in that the EU is not a single entity and is certainly not united. Lets not forget that many in the EU have stood firm to priciple an right of international law at their cost so really Serbia is not isolated at all. In fact Grecee has even relaxed its via process to open up travel. But the world is not the US and the EU alone - surely you have seen a global map to know that! Isoltion is a frame of mind in todays global world and not even SRS want to introduce a mercantilist economy let alone persue an isolationist policy.

Regarding isolationism on a indiviual scale I think it was you who said;

"If you come to power, I will go to bed and sleep for all the time you stay on power...
(Ana, "
- contradictory perhaps with your notion that you see isolation as warranted for yourself just because of a hypothetical democratic result ?

Ana,

Explain yourself. Or as Princip has suggested, are there two posters called Ana?

'sure Tadic and co. aren't perfect, but then again, no government is.'

really? why are they not perfect then? when have they ever failed YOU? :) and this is your job to post this on internet forums, or do you just add it as freebie :))

from my comfortable flat here in dar es salaam :))).. enough with gibberish please. i'm a serb in serbia, voted for tadic january, now i'll vote dss, and all you eu well wishers, get out of our faces. first stop attacking this country then come back and lets talk friendship and love.
ana… i guess your name is really srdjan. painful to read your solanisms, but also funny :) prepare to stay under that blanket for a long time though.
bganon, of course it bothers me, and deeply. you can laugh if you like at my stupidity at not being able to see what and who tadic is. for years i've voted ds, but i'm nobody's robot. when i learn something i didn’t know before it affects my decisions. part of my excuse is that even with everything i know about this country and politics here, it was still so hard to believe that someone would trample on the constitution the way tadic is doing. it can only be compared with what milosevic did. princip told me so, but it was too much to accept, too nightmarish to be true. i'm still amazed and horrified like i was the first day i realized what kind of war the eu is waging here and with what proxies.
but we got rid of milosevic and by god we'll get rid of this posse too.

bravo marko, bravo nedamote, NEDAMOGA indeed :)

Bganon,

"And sorry but no serious country offers concessions to a firm without a bankers guarantee. If the company pulls out halfway through - who ends up footing the bill - yes the Serbian public. That may be ok for you in the UK but its coming from our pockets, here in Serbia. A serious company can get the necessary banking guarantees or it isn't a serious company, or at least it thinks Serbia is a banana republic."

- Bganon, for banana republic policies look into the credit crisis fiasco hitting all western economies. More specifically as a UK taxpayer I m not so confident in the nationalisation of the Northern Rock at a huge potential loss and my taxpaying money for mny years to come. Oddly enough you fail to comprehend the huge economic importance of this highway even if it was half built and place greater credibility on a UK position where tens of billions maybe squandered for very few assests if it all goes pear shape! Talking of fruit I know who would end up with banana republic title on this current score and it certainly is not Serbia!

This government (SRS/DSS) is the best chance Serbia has to preserve its territorial integrity, freedom, dignity and yes economic STABILITY. Please don't give me that isolation nonsense/scare tactic and don't tell me it does not concern me because I am writing from some other country, this concerns all Serbs from all over the globe. It concerns me directly because it affects my relatives living there and because I have applied for Serbian citizenship and will live in Serbia once it is received. The current pro-west government is a near total failure so what now, vote for more of the same? When something is broken you should fix it!

Interesting so SRS have changed their minds and Kostunica could remain PM. This means that DSS surely cannot count on having economic portfolios as well, never mind secretary of state etc. This is a huge problem for SRS which do not have the necessary officials to carry out such tasks. They cannot just hand out almost all ministries plus Prime Minister to DSS, that would be absurd.

So in fact a vote for Nikolic is a vote for Kostunica to remain PM.

And SPS will not be in such a government - as I suspected.

But if I have to decide between nationalists whose
TO: ANNA

" President is currently on trial at The Hague for war crimes and DS, trust me I will give my vote to DS... "

Dear Anna !

How can you say such things of a brave and honest man as V.Sesel certainly is ! I used to think that you are a Russian. Now I can see I was mistaken ... We do not have people with such viewing OF the Serbian developments. Anyway how can you blame a man captured by the enemies and even not condemnet yet !

Please behave yourself !

RE Princip "given the failure of DS to place all of Serbia first before EU membership who's to know what else they would accept being condition for membership - said it before the slogan for DS and its liberal allies might as well be;
Vote DS for a Belgrade pashlik in the EU - EU promised us by the end of the year - honest gov."

Very interesting thoughts. Even more when we consider that you live in the UK, so the new goverment in Serbia won't affect your life at all...

First I am not DS, and I have known for years (as DS, SRS and DSS)that Kosovo was lost. I blame them all for not having the strength of saying so before any elections but used Kosovo as a victory point...

But if I have to decide between nationalists whose President is currently on trial at The Hague for war crimes and DS, trust me I will give my vote to DS...

Kostunica will never get my voice because of his flirting with SRS...

If you really believe that Kosovo will be brought back to Serbia then you are a dreamer. The only thing that can be done is for SRS to send the Army there again, again a lot of people killed and for what? For them to use a pretext to bomb us again?

I guess you see me as a traitor, I see myself as someone who really doesn't want her country isolated anymore...

This isolation has brought us to were we are and I can't stand it any more...

I'm not happy with what the EU has been doing but I am sure don't think our only friends should be the Russians...

Princip I'm not talking about governmental experience in SRS. I'm talking about people that don't have the knowledge to run ministerial departments. Experience is something else entirely. They simply don't have the capacity in their party, because much of their policy revolves around intangible concepts that we like to argue about in the kafana (dignity, who is corrupt 'ARREST THEM!'), who is 'patriotic' and who is not etc). In government there is no time for such rakija fuelled debates. Not that I mind doing such debates myself, or consuming rakija - which I will be doing this evening in a Belgrade Kafana.

And sorry but no serious country offers concessions to a firm without a bankers guarantee. If the company pulls out halfway through - who ends up footing the bill - yes the Serbian public. That may be ok for you in the UK but its coming from our pockets, here in Serbia. A serious company can get the necessary banking guarantees or it isn't a serious company, or at least it thinks Serbia is a banana republic.

smile thats not very fair to yourself - you voted for Solana didn't you? Didnt seem to bother you living with the man that bombed Serbia back in Djindjic's time. Wow you are doing well, taking on all the characteristics of your new chosen block... :(

RE: ORTHODOX RU

You are right in one thing and I accept it. Seselj is a suspected war criminal and until he is proven guilty, he is still only suspect...

Considering your "How can you say such things of a brave and honest man as V.Sesel certainly is !"

On this I would not agree. You see, I will never forget how passionate he was defending his point of view in the '90s, on live TV on why he was right to kick out from kindergarden in Zemun a little girl just because she was a holder of a Croatian passport...

You see, ORTHODOX RU, I am not Russian, I am a Serb, born and live in Belgrade and this way of thinking makes me different from the, for example, Albanians that post here and think they have never ever done nything bad...

I do not consider Serbs as a heavenly nation, we are not better or worse than any ither nation in the world. But I do think we should accept some huge mistakes that were done in our name, kearn from them and try to never repeat them...

On one hand, i am sure that a SRS-DSS coalition won`t really improve our bilateral relations, on the other hand, if Serbia,s population wants them, so be it! But WHY KOSTUNICA AGAIN? This guy is a catastrophy for Serbia. He "fights" for Kosovo? No, he doesn`t. He only has a big mouth. Until now the DSS has only lowered your chances to get the province back. And for Serbia`s economy he is simply poison.

"You see, this is the strong point that all the people of Serbia have now: We ALL think that Kosovo is Serbia (and it is). I just think that not all of us agree on the way on how to bring it back..."

Serbia won't get Kosovo back. 36 countries have recognized Kosovo as independent, including the large majority of the member-states of the European Union and NATO, seven of the G-8 states, and most of Serbia's neighbours. 36 countries in the space of a little more than a month compares nicely to the seventy countries which recognized Bangladesh in the five months after its declaration, aided and abetted by a massive Indian military intervention. After three years, Bangladesh got recognition from a resentful Pakistan and from a Maoist China that resented India's new supremacy in South Asia.

Serbia no longer has Kosovo. There is going to be no going back from this. A renunciation of Kosovo independence is unlikely in the extreme, and Serbia simply lacks the ability to persuade Kosovars of the benefits of union. As for a military option, that would be terribly stupid and self-destructive.

ghonapoftih (#3) is quite right to note that a Radical-Democratic coalition would wreck Serbia's reputation very badly. After that, there would be no movement towards the European Union, a much diminished flow of foreign investment, and an increased peripheralization on the fringes of the Balkans. Serbia used to be an upper-middle income country of note, but it's now below the level of Bulgaria. If Serbia misses this opportunity, it will be a permanent laggard. Serbians deserve much more than this.

princip comparing one wrong with another does not equal a right. I am not happy that this Austrian (there's a nice manipulative detail which affects right wingers) company got this contract with not providing a bankers guarantee. If you think that is ok, thats upto you but don't try to maintain a score between the UK and Serbia. Apart from the principle being wrong completely we are not competing in the same league.
If only Serbia had tens of billions of pounds to waste....

smile I actually think you are quite smart. Honest to God do not understand how things changed for you. You talk about respecting the law and constitution. How come you didn't think about that when Milosevic was sent to the Hague? That was clearly against the law - you must have known it. Tadic's transgression is greater??? I could reel off Djindjic's transgressions as well - in fact I have no problem in doing so. I don't have an emotional stake in any party.
My point is here that I was never under any illusions about any of this, neither am I under any illusions about Tadic or what a SRS / DSS government would mean. I guess its another lesson you will have to learn. Maybe its a matter of faith for you? I seriously suggest you give up believing in politicians altogether. Nikolic will no more support the people than any other leader and by mistake (I don't believe he will do it deliberately) he will make the situation in Serbia even worse. If it happens let us see who is right. Let us see if we lose even the chance of partition due to bad policy. Let us see if the economy records negative economic growth. Let us see if we have continued instability, parts of Serbia pressing for increased autonomy or even to break away from Serbia altogether. I truly believe that this is a possibility. Bad as things are, maybe they are as good as it gets at this point. But they could get worse.

And please guys lay off Ana (or whoever she may or may not be) she has a right to an opinion. Besides I think B92 have become more strict in stopping those pretending to be more than one person on this part of the site.

At the end of the day, I don't think anybody on 'our' side of the debate supports Kosovo independence even if some of us are not happy with the way Kostunica is going about things.

I really think this is the worst case scenario for Serbia. Haven't you guys suffered enough from nationalism? If this coalition gets in power Serbia will never, ever be able to join EU. Serbs will not be able to see or visit the west apart from claiming asylum or something similar. Serbia is heading in a wrong direction. Can't you see what is happening, the far rights have made the government to collapse just to get the power. Making a big noise about something that can not be reversed such as Kosova just to keep the attention away from Karadjic and Mladic. Without catching them serbia will never move forward and Nikolic and Kostunica are hiding them. Good luck and may god help you serban people, as your government is failing you a big time.

RE: TOM and NEDAMOTE

It is one Ana at least in this post here although I do think there is one more Ana posting in this site...

I completely understand what NEDAMOTE says...

Yes Kosovo is, at least by the UN and the International Law, still part of Serbia...

But, as we have seen in recent years, it doesn't seem that there is much respect for the UN or International Law...

If you read my posts regarding the Kosovo issues you will understand that the Albanians posting there have called me rude and almost all the time they reply to my posts because of how and what I write. They don't like me and I accept that...

But, and there is always a but...at this moment I do not think that SRS can help any how with their politics. They are too nationalistic and I do not like that...Kostunica is not the same Kostunica as he was back in 2000. That is not the Kostunica that people voted for...

What has been done to Serbia is horrible and its something that we can never give up. They bombed us 9 years ago, without the go ahead of the UN. When Serbia applied to the International Court of Justice to see what could be done legally they were answered its not their job! If it isn't their job, I do not know why they exist...

The same happened with the UN this time around...

I simply think I have to vote for the party I consider will try and fix things even if it takes decades for them to be fixed...But to vote for parties that say that we are not going anywhere without Kosovo is crazy...Simply because we can not go anywhere with Kosovo right now...

We do not need any more enemies. As a friend of mine says, be very close to your enemy and then you can see on time their steps. I do not consider the EU my personal enemy, I do not like the way they are behaving but you have to get your possition strong there and then start to work hard for what you want...This time round I do think that we are lucky that Russia has Putin and not the puppet of Jeljcin as 9 years ago. And all the help we can get from Russia is more than welcomed...

I honestly believe that Kosovo will be ours again one day. But not with the help of SRS or Kostunica. It has been taken back from us several times, but it always comes back home...

You see, this is the strong point that all the people of Serbia have now: We ALL think that Kosovo is Serbia (and it is). I just think that not all of us agree on the way on how to bring it back...

RE smile

I am Ana and not any Srdjan or any other man...

Why would you consider me a man? Am I to tough or what?

I am sick sick sick and tired of listening to you folks arguing between East and West. Serbia will get nowhere until it's people have self determination.I fully support Sebia and hope that whatever route they chose at the elections, that it is right for the everyday citizen. Hey Orthodox RU. Why do you feel so compelled to interfere with Serbia? I just remembered, It's a Russian thing! Still trying to impose that Iron Curtain thing? Sort your own country out before telling others how to run theirs! I would love to hear you admit that Russia isn't without its' faults!

'it is time for all Serbian citizens to wake up and unite, not on ethnicity...'

Marko I guess that means don't vote for the Serb Radical Party then. Or is it just called Serb by coincidence? As opposed to what?

Zoran 'The current pro-west government is a near total failure so what now, vote for more of the same?'

I quite agree, tell that to Nikolic who is considering continuing this DSS led government.

If you want economic stability Zoran watch the markets after SRS / DSS victory (if they win) - you won't find it there.

RE ANA,

Wow Wow I am quiet surprised by your point that you all new KOSOVO was lost long ago. Ok then so we can move forward in this world even the intellectual Serbs such as your self “you claimed this few days ago” know this so you should be country number 40 maybe to except Kosovo.

Thanks for speaking the truth

If you come to power, I will go to bed and sleep for all the time you stay on power...

I really think this is the worst case scenario for Serbia. Haven't you guys suffered enough from nationalism? If this coalition gets in power Serbia will never, ever be able to join EU. Serbs will not be able to see or visit the west apart from claiming asylum or something similar. Serbia is heading in a wrong direction. Can't you see what is happening, the far rights have made the government to collapse just to get the power. Making a big noise about something that can not be reversed such as Kosova just to keep the attention away from Karadjic and Mladic. Without catching them serbia will never move forward and Nikolic and Kostunica are hiding them. Good luck and may god help you serban people, as your government is failing you a big time.

RE Princip "given the failure of DS to place all of Serbia first before EU membership who's to know what else they would accept being condition for membership - said it before the slogan for DS and its liberal allies might as well be;
Vote DS for a Belgrade pashlik in the EU - EU promised us by the end of the year - honest gov."

Very interesting thoughts. Even more when we consider that you live in the UK, so the new goverment in Serbia won't affect your life at all...

First I am not DS, and I have known for years (as DS, SRS and DSS)that Kosovo was lost. I blame them all for not having the strength of saying so before any elections but used Kosovo as a victory point...

But if I have to decide between nationalists whose President is currently on trial at The Hague for war crimes and DS, trust me I will give my vote to DS...

Kostunica will never get my voice because of his flirting with SRS...

If you really believe that Kosovo will be brought back to Serbia then you are a dreamer. The only thing that can be done is for SRS to send the Army there again, again a lot of people killed and for what? For them to use a pretext to bomb us again?

I guess you see me as a traitor, I see myself as someone who really doesn't want her country isolated anymore...

This isolation has brought us to were we are and I can't stand it any more...

I'm not happy with what the EU has been doing but I am sure don't think our only friends should be the Russians...

"You see, this is the strong point that all the people of Serbia have now: We ALL think that Kosovo is Serbia (and it is). I just think that not all of us agree on the way on how to bring it back..."

Serbia won't get Kosovo back. 36 countries have recognized Kosovo as independent, including the large majority of the member-states of the European Union and NATO, seven of the G-8 states, and most of Serbia's neighbours. 36 countries in the space of a little more than a month compares nicely to the seventy countries which recognized Bangladesh in the five months after its declaration, aided and abetted by a massive Indian military intervention. After three years, Bangladesh got recognition from a resentful Pakistan and from a Maoist China that resented India's new supremacy in South Asia.

Serbia no longer has Kosovo. There is going to be no going back from this. A renunciation of Kosovo independence is unlikely in the extreme, and Serbia simply lacks the ability to persuade Kosovars of the benefits of union. As for a military option, that would be terribly stupid and self-destructive.

ghonapoftih (#3) is quite right to note that a Radical-Democratic coalition would wreck Serbia's reputation very badly. After that, there would be no movement towards the European Union, a much diminished flow of foreign investment, and an increased peripheralization on the fringes of the Balkans. Serbia used to be an upper-middle income country of note, but it's now below the level of Bulgaria. If Serbia misses this opportunity, it will be a permanent laggard. Serbians deserve much more than this.

Interesting so SRS have changed their minds and Kostunica could remain PM. This means that DSS surely cannot count on having economic portfolios as well, never mind secretary of state etc. This is a huge problem for SRS which do not have the necessary officials to carry out such tasks. They cannot just hand out almost all ministries plus Prime Minister to DSS, that would be absurd.

So in fact a vote for Nikolic is a vote for Kostunica to remain PM.

And SPS will not be in such a government - as I suspected.

the people on here who think an SRS-DSS government is a good idea clearly don't live in Serbia and obviously won't have to live with the consequences of such a nightmare scenario.

it's okay for you to encourage Serbia into isolation from your comfortable couch in Canada, California or Canberra.

the reality is that such a government would frighten off investors and shatter the Serbian economy, which is still recovering from all the destruction the Radicals already caused along with Milosevic in the 1990s.

you think it's a good idea for the Radicals to get their hands on the 16 billion dollars in foreign reserves at the national bank?

instead of supporting such a government, you should be encouraging your Western-based family members with the right to vote to do what is best for their people by electing a responsible government, not one only worried about staying in power to hide its horrendous past and rob its people.

sure Tadic and co. aren't perfect, but then again, no government is. at least they are offering a faster track to the European Union, already delayed enough and slowing much-needed reforms that allow the corrupt ones to stay around and light fires that distract the public from real issues like their deplorable living standards.

Princip I'm not talking about governmental experience in SRS. I'm talking about people that don't have the knowledge to run ministerial departments. Experience is something else entirely. They simply don't have the capacity in their party, because much of their policy revolves around intangible concepts that we like to argue about in the kafana (dignity, who is corrupt 'ARREST THEM!'), who is 'patriotic' and who is not etc). In government there is no time for such rakija fuelled debates. Not that I mind doing such debates myself, or consuming rakija - which I will be doing this evening in a Belgrade Kafana.

And sorry but no serious country offers concessions to a firm without a bankers guarantee. If the company pulls out halfway through - who ends up footing the bill - yes the Serbian public. That may be ok for you in the UK but its coming from our pockets, here in Serbia. A serious company can get the necessary banking guarantees or it isn't a serious company, or at least it thinks Serbia is a banana republic.

smile thats not very fair to yourself - you voted for Solana didn't you? Didnt seem to bother you living with the man that bombed Serbia back in Djindjic's time. Wow you are doing well, taking on all the characteristics of your new chosen block... :(

RE ANA,

Wow Wow I am quiet surprised by your point that you all new KOSOVO was lost long ago. Ok then so we can move forward in this world even the intellectual Serbs such as your self “you claimed this few days ago” know this so you should be country number 40 maybe to except Kosovo.

Thanks for speaking the truth

RE smile

I am Ana and not any Srdjan or any other man...

Why would you consider me a man? Am I to tough or what?

I am sick sick sick and tired of listening to you folks arguing between East and West. Serbia will get nowhere until it's people have self determination.I fully support Sebia and hope that whatever route they chose at the elections, that it is right for the everyday citizen. Hey Orthodox RU. Why do you feel so compelled to interfere with Serbia? I just remembered, It's a Russian thing! Still trying to impose that Iron Curtain thing? Sort your own country out before telling others how to run theirs! I would love to hear you admit that Russia isn't without its' faults!

I think that this is a very good move for Serbia, the so called "far right" political party has just made a step towards the middle because it will benefit Serbia. I think this step towards moderation will also help Mr. Nikolic's image with the serbian voter as it shows he will do what is neccesary to form a government of action.
I hope that Kostunica shows the wisdom to take this offer and help steer Serbia in a government of dignity where Serbia will be open for outside business, but not outside interference and EU domination.

'it is time for all Serbian citizens to wake up and unite, not on ethnicity...'

Marko I guess that means don't vote for the Serb Radical Party then. Or is it just called Serb by coincidence? As opposed to what?

Zoran 'The current pro-west government is a near total failure so what now, vote for more of the same?'

I quite agree, tell that to Nikolic who is considering continuing this DSS led government.

If you want economic stability Zoran watch the markets after SRS / DSS victory (if they win) - you won't find it there.

if you vote for tadic and ds, you vote for feith, rupel, solana. that i can't live with.
on the other hand, i vote for dss, so i vote for radicals? why not, perfectly legitimate to vote for legal parties that have the right to legally make coalitions.
UNLIKE the first coalition i mentioned.

Bganon,
I think you need to wait till after the elections to see the shape of the new government but it is certainly a signal that SRS will work with any party that defends first and foremost Serbia's territorial integrity. What else matters then the consideration of the Sovereignity and territorial integrity?

Also you should realise that actually in western democracy it is not an issue that an opposition party who are voted by the electorate have no governemental experience - what is so strange to you to suggest that this is a hindrance? Quite often the issue is with the so called "experts" in governement who get voted out and the influx brings with it new blood.

Surely Bganon, your not suggesting western democracy is a failure to allow gioverments from opposition parties to be formed merely becaue they lack governing experience?

Frankly given the Highway debacle where so called "ecomnomic" experts have placed political interets above a very real and urgently required economic necessity suggests DS nor G17+ are competent with regards the economy!

In which case maybe Serbia does need a radiical change (pardon the pun) in its governance!

Smile,
excellent points and it is important that as many of the electorate come out in the elections to show the likes of Thief (head of) INLEX (lawless) Kosovo mission that Serbia's electorate put Kosovo First and foremost! Without that clarity what condition will the EU suggest next and then..?

Ana, given the failure of DS to place all of Serbia first before EU membership who's to know what else they would accept being condition for membership - said it before the slogan for DS and its liberal allies might as well be;
Vote DS for a Belgrade pashlik in the EU - EU promised us by the end of the year - honest gov.!

Evidently there's a big shift to more radicalism in Kostunica's approaches to the country's vital problems. It's a natural reaction to the events around.

Meanwhile I can see no radicalism in Nicolic if only closer relations with Russia and active support for the occupied parts of the Serbs is not evaluated now as radicalism. I like this man and I hope the Serbs will finally give him a chance.

Thus such a tandem I believe will be in favour of Serbia. Sure one cannot be so unjust to say that Tadic is a kind of the late Dindic. Yet it's hard to avoid the idea that he is not only a good Serb but a part of the opposite side as well ... We all know who is the other side composed of. It's a strange mix of Del Ponte , The Snake , Solana , Bush ect.

The future looks bright for Serbia. Long live SRS and DSS. These defenders of our civilization and our independent future are visionaries, and it is time we offer them a chance.

We have already lost too much under the Western boot-lickers, and even the puppets got burned.

It is time for all Serbian citizens to wake up and unite, not on ethnicity, but on a common cause and concern.

Lets build our own economy, lets build our own armed forces, lets build our own cities, and lets evolve our own beautiful civilization.

Serbia is an independent state, and we should treasure this opportunity to take matters into our own hands and build the country from the ground up and costantly progress into a better future.

Enough of this G17,LDP, and DS propoganda.

They have my full support-good luck to them!

This government (SRS/DSS) is the best chance Serbia has to preserve its territorial integrity, freedom, dignity and yes economic STABILITY. Please don't give me that isolation nonsense/scare tactic and don't tell me it does not concern me because I am writing from some other country, this concerns all Serbs from all over the globe. It concerns me directly because it affects my relatives living there and because I have applied for Serbian citizenship and will live in Serbia once it is received. The current pro-west government is a near total failure so what now, vote for more of the same? When something is broken you should fix it!

Dear Ana,

you sound decent despite what I consider to be a very wrong position. Do please understand the the country you claim to love is Serbia and that Kosovo is an integral and non-negotiable part of it. Kosovo is Serbia. The great majority of the U.N. nations will never recognize Kosovo, and neither will Russia and China allow the U.N. to recognize it. It doesn't mean that Serbia is on the side of China or Russia, after all, states have no friends, only interests, but in this case Serbia happens to have a common interest with two veto-wielding members of the Security Council. I agree with you that a lot of people here are not familiar with the living conditions of the simple people in Serbia, but you should try to understand that despite all appearences, Serbia has a lot of cards left to play in the coming negotiations in order to reverse the illegal "independence" declaration. The truth is that Tadic is selling you short, let the Radicals give it a try, they can use Kostunica as a spear-head (he kicked out Milosevic after all) and you will see that those who are behind the Kosovo adventure will start shaking in their Gucci loafers. Kosovo is not lost, neither materially or legally, believe it and you will see that a lot can be done about it.

i can honesly say i hope Nikolic wins because even though he has flaws but name me one good thing that tadic has done since in power.. he even plans on joining nato .. it wasn't milosevic that messed up serbia's economy even though he did a great deal but it was mainly america and nato as america could not stand see serbia prosper they wanted to make serbia a third world country and came close to it

Ana,

Explain yourself. Or as Princip has suggested, are there two posters called Ana?

Ana,

"I guess you see me as a traitor,"
- no I wouldn't say that perhaps naive to continue believing that the more you submit to ever more demands and conditions that you will be be somehow more respected!

The situtation for Serbia is analagous to seeing the US and the big few 'EU' states as nothing more then bullies in the Global playing field. They will just keep taking while you still believe you can become an equal to their club and that the more you ubmit the more likely you will be an equal! At least many in Serbia are no longer so gullable to carry on being so naive. All would suggest to you Ana like so many others are comprehending and realise that being respected starts with self respect and not continual self humiliation!

"I see myself as someone who really doesn't want her country isolated anymore... "

- well does that not highlight the reality that despite all that Serbia has done in moving forward over the last 8 years it is still treated this way by the so called 'friends' you believe are the only ones that you must associate with. Serbia is not the one choosing that isolation (even with EU choice of governments) surely that should make you understand the point above all the more! Ah but then like I said what other conditions would you or the DS not accept? How far would you allow yourself to be humilated before awakening from the sleep you are already in thee past 8 years?

"I'm not happy with what the EU has been doing but I am sure don't think our only friends should be the Russians"

- absolutely right - nothing wrong with having as many friends as possible and in that the EU is not a single entity and is certainly not united. Lets not forget that many in the EU have stood firm to priciple an right of international law at their cost so really Serbia is not isolated at all. In fact Grecee has even relaxed its via process to open up travel. But the world is not the US and the EU alone - surely you have seen a global map to know that! Isoltion is a frame of mind in todays global world and not even SRS want to introduce a mercantilist economy let alone persue an isolationist policy.

Regarding isolationism on a indiviual scale I think it was you who said;

"If you come to power, I will go to bed and sleep for all the time you stay on power...
(Ana, "
- contradictory perhaps with your notion that you see isolation as warranted for yourself just because of a hypothetical democratic result ?

Bganon,

"And sorry but no serious country offers concessions to a firm without a bankers guarantee. If the company pulls out halfway through - who ends up footing the bill - yes the Serbian public. That may be ok for you in the UK but its coming from our pockets, here in Serbia. A serious company can get the necessary banking guarantees or it isn't a serious company, or at least it thinks Serbia is a banana republic."

- Bganon, for banana republic policies look into the credit crisis fiasco hitting all western economies. More specifically as a UK taxpayer I m not so confident in the nationalisation of the Northern Rock at a huge potential loss and my taxpaying money for mny years to come. Oddly enough you fail to comprehend the huge economic importance of this highway even if it was half built and place greater credibility on a UK position where tens of billions maybe squandered for very few assests if it all goes pear shape! Talking of fruit I know who would end up with banana republic title on this current score and it certainly is not Serbia!

RE: TOM and NEDAMOTE

It is one Ana at least in this post here although I do think there is one more Ana posting in this site...

I completely understand what NEDAMOTE says...

Yes Kosovo is, at least by the UN and the International Law, still part of Serbia...

But, as we have seen in recent years, it doesn't seem that there is much respect for the UN or International Law...

If you read my posts regarding the Kosovo issues you will understand that the Albanians posting there have called me rude and almost all the time they reply to my posts because of how and what I write. They don't like me and I accept that...

But, and there is always a but...at this moment I do not think that SRS can help any how with their politics. They are too nationalistic and I do not like that...Kostunica is not the same Kostunica as he was back in 2000. That is not the Kostunica that people voted for...

What has been done to Serbia is horrible and its something that we can never give up. They bombed us 9 years ago, without the go ahead of the UN. When Serbia applied to the International Court of Justice to see what could be done legally they were answered its not their job! If it isn't their job, I do not know why they exist...

The same happened with the UN this time around...

I simply think I have to vote for the party I consider will try and fix things even if it takes decades for them to be fixed...But to vote for parties that say that we are not going anywhere without Kosovo is crazy...Simply because we can not go anywhere with Kosovo right now...

We do not need any more enemies. As a friend of mine says, be very close to your enemy and then you can see on time their steps. I do not consider the EU my personal enemy, I do not like the way they are behaving but you have to get your possition strong there and then start to work hard for what you want...This time round I do think that we are lucky that Russia has Putin and not the puppet of Jeljcin as 9 years ago. And all the help we can get from Russia is more than welcomed...

I honestly believe that Kosovo will be ours again one day. But not with the help of SRS or Kostunica. It has been taken back from us several times, but it always comes back home...

You see, this is the strong point that all the people of Serbia have now: We ALL think that Kosovo is Serbia (and it is). I just think that not all of us agree on the way on how to bring it back...

'sure Tadic and co. aren't perfect, but then again, no government is.'

really? why are they not perfect then? when have they ever failed YOU? :) and this is your job to post this on internet forums, or do you just add it as freebie :))

from my comfortable flat here in dar es salaam :))).. enough with gibberish please. i'm a serb in serbia, voted for tadic january, now i'll vote dss, and all you eu well wishers, get out of our faces. first stop attacking this country then come back and lets talk friendship and love.
ana… i guess your name is really srdjan. painful to read your solanisms, but also funny :) prepare to stay under that blanket for a long time though.
bganon, of course it bothers me, and deeply. you can laugh if you like at my stupidity at not being able to see what and who tadic is. for years i've voted ds, but i'm nobody's robot. when i learn something i didn’t know before it affects my decisions. part of my excuse is that even with everything i know about this country and politics here, it was still so hard to believe that someone would trample on the constitution the way tadic is doing. it can only be compared with what milosevic did. princip told me so, but it was too much to accept, too nightmarish to be true. i'm still amazed and horrified like i was the first day i realized what kind of war the eu is waging here and with what proxies.
but we got rid of milosevic and by god we'll get rid of this posse too.

bravo marko, bravo nedamote, NEDAMOGA indeed :)

But if I have to decide between nationalists whose
TO: ANNA

" President is currently on trial at The Hague for war crimes and DS, trust me I will give my vote to DS... "

Dear Anna !

How can you say such things of a brave and honest man as V.Sesel certainly is ! I used to think that you are a Russian. Now I can see I was mistaken ... We do not have people with such viewing OF the Serbian developments. Anyway how can you blame a man captured by the enemies and even not condemnet yet !

Please behave yourself !

RE: ORTHODOX RU

You are right in one thing and I accept it. Seselj is a suspected war criminal and until he is proven guilty, he is still only suspect...

Considering your "How can you say such things of a brave and honest man as V.Sesel certainly is !"

On this I would not agree. You see, I will never forget how passionate he was defending his point of view in the '90s, on live TV on why he was right to kick out from kindergarden in Zemun a little girl just because she was a holder of a Croatian passport...

You see, ORTHODOX RU, I am not Russian, I am a Serb, born and live in Belgrade and this way of thinking makes me different from the, for example, Albanians that post here and think they have never ever done nything bad...

I do not consider Serbs as a heavenly nation, we are not better or worse than any ither nation in the world. But I do think we should accept some huge mistakes that were done in our name, kearn from them and try to never repeat them...

princip comparing one wrong with another does not equal a right. I am not happy that this Austrian (there's a nice manipulative detail which affects right wingers) company got this contract with not providing a bankers guarantee. If you think that is ok, thats upto you but don't try to maintain a score between the UK and Serbia. Apart from the principle being wrong completely we are not competing in the same league.
If only Serbia had tens of billions of pounds to waste....

smile I actually think you are quite smart. Honest to God do not understand how things changed for you. You talk about respecting the law and constitution. How come you didn't think about that when Milosevic was sent to the Hague? That was clearly against the law - you must have known it. Tadic's transgression is greater??? I could reel off Djindjic's transgressions as well - in fact I have no problem in doing so. I don't have an emotional stake in any party.
My point is here that I was never under any illusions about any of this, neither am I under any illusions about Tadic or what a SRS / DSS government would mean. I guess its another lesson you will have to learn. Maybe its a matter of faith for you? I seriously suggest you give up believing in politicians altogether. Nikolic will no more support the people than any other leader and by mistake (I don't believe he will do it deliberately) he will make the situation in Serbia even worse. If it happens let us see who is right. Let us see if we lose even the chance of partition due to bad policy. Let us see if the economy records negative economic growth. Let us see if we have continued instability, parts of Serbia pressing for increased autonomy or even to break away from Serbia altogether. I truly believe that this is a possibility. Bad as things are, maybe they are as good as it gets at this point. But they could get worse.

And please guys lay off Ana (or whoever she may or may not be) she has a right to an opinion. Besides I think B92 have become more strict in stopping those pretending to be more than one person on this part of the site.

At the end of the day, I don't think anybody on 'our' side of the debate supports Kosovo independence even if some of us are not happy with the way Kostunica is going about things.

On one hand, i am sure that a SRS-DSS coalition won`t really improve our bilateral relations, on the other hand, if Serbia,s population wants them, so be it! But WHY KOSTUNICA AGAIN? This guy is a catastrophy for Serbia. He "fights" for Kosovo? No, he doesn`t. He only has a big mouth. Until now the DSS has only lowered your chances to get the province back. And for Serbia`s economy he is simply poison.