SERBIA TO HOLD SECOND ROUND OF PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

PanARMENIAN.Net
21.01.2008 12:50 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Serbia is heading for a showdown next month between
a nationalist who leans towards Russia and a liberal favoring the
West following the first round of a presidential election.

Nationalist Tomislav Nikolic took 39.6 percent of the vote on Sunday
in a field of nine candidates, ahead of 35.5 percent for pro-Western
President Boris Tadic.

Analysts said the 61 percent turnout – the highest since the fall of
strongman Slobodan Milosevic in 2000 – showed how seriously people
took the vote on Serbia’s place in the world, and turnout could be
even higher in the February 3 run-off.

Both candidates oppose independence for the breakaway province of
Kosovo. But Nikolic is lukewarm towards EU membership and argues that
Serbia can steer a middle course between the 27-member bloc and Russia,
Reuters reports.