Serbia PM quits over divided coalition

Published on Saturday 8 March 2008 18:39

SERBIAN Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica resigned yesterday, announcing the end of a governing coalition too divided over Kosovo to carry on.

"This is the end of the government," Kostunica told a news conference. "I have called a government session on March 10 to discuss dissolution of parliament."

If adopted, Serbia would hold an early parliamentary election in May to decide a fundamental question – can it continue seeking membership of the European Union now that the EU has recognised the independence of the southern province?

Dissolution was the best course for "a government that is not working", Kostunica said. The election would most likely take place on May 11, the date set for local elections in Serbia.

Kostunica gave no clue to whether his small nationalist party would now seek an alliance with the hardline nationalist Radical Party – Serbia's biggest – and the Socialists of the late autocrat Slobodan Milosevic.

Such a coalition would be likely to adopt an unyielding position on Kosovo, possibly shutting down Serbia's bid for EU membership in favour of closer ties with Russia.

Kostunica has indirectly accused his pro-western coalition partners of giving up defending Serbia's claim to Kosovo in favour of better ties with the west, which backs Kosovo's secession.

He said part of the coalition wanted Serbia to be a member of the European Union only if the independence of Kosovo, which two-thirds of EU members have recognised, is revoked, while a majority did not want EU membership linked to Kosovo.

His decision to end the government puts him in direct conflict with Serbia's pro-western president, Boris Tadic, and his party, who formed the backbone of the coalition which came to power 10 months ago.

Kostunica's Democratic Party of Serbia says it will support a Serbian Radical Party resolution in parliament, calling on the European Union to "clearly and unambiguously" confirm Serbia's territorial integrity, as a condition for further European integration.

Tadic's Democratic Party and its liberal G17 Plus partner opposed the resolution in cabinet earlier last week and defeated it two to one.