Stalemate at the ballot box” “

Not even this time did Vojislav Kostunica succeed in being elected president of Serbia. For the third time in four months, the presidential elections on Sunday 8 December failed to reach the necessary quorum, 50% plus one of the electors. Kostunica, current president of the Yugoslav Federation (comprising Serbia, Vojvodina, Kossovo and Montenegro), was confirmed the most popular candidate, with 57.5% of votes cast in his favour. But that wasn’t enough because turnout in the poll was only 45.2%. Once again Kostunica announced recourse both to the Serbian Supreme Court and the international courts, because, he claims, the electoral lists were deliberately inflated by Serbian prime minister Zoran Djindjic: the real electors – says Kostunica – are only 5.5 million, and not 6.5 million as registered in the lists. Runner up to Kostunica in the poll was the ultranationalist Vojislav Seselj, former right-hand man of Milosevic, who obtained 36.3% of the vote. Third place was taken by Borislab Pelevic, a close ally of the “tiger” Arkan, who obtained 4% of the vote. So Serbian politics basically revolves around three main political positions: the conservatism of Kostunica, the liberalism of premier Djindjic and the “nostalgic” nationalism of Seselj. The mandate of outgoing Serb president Milan Milutinovic, incriminated by the international war crimes Tribunal in The Hague for crimes committed in Kossovo, expires on 5 December. From that day the presidency of Serbia will be assumed “ad interim” by the president of the Serb parliament, Natasa Micic, until such time as new elections are held. We asked the president of the Serb Episcopal Conference, Bishop Stanislaw Hocevar , to comment on the political situation of the country. How do you assess yet another stalemate in the presidential elections? “In my view, first of all, the situation needs to be examined with great composure, because this society is currently in a phase of extreme transition. In the second place, many events are concentrated in this period, including the preparation of a new constitution aimed at regulating relations between Serbia and Montenegro, Serbia and Kosovo and so on. In the third place, great poverty is still widespread in Serbia and people are tired and confused. In particular, the urgent need is felt to achieve a new consolidation of society and more especially of the state institutions; at the same time personalities who could lead this country are still being sought. All these factors have concurred to create this situation of stalemate”. What impact will this situation have on the process of integration in Europe? “In my view, these events do not at all arrest the process of integration in Europe. To be sure the process cannot proceed as rapidly as we would hope. A longer time-span is needed for this process to be more effectively promoted. Nonetheless integration will undoubtedly go ahead. It’s only a question of finding new modes of proceeding. That’s what we need to do”. Does the wish to belong to the European Union exist in Serbia? “The wish for EU membership undoubtedly exists, even if not shared by all Serbs. The more alert and open-minded part of the population undoubtedly wants entry into Europe. But as far as the majority of people are concerned, there is more resistance. It’s a problem of information and education; it should not be forgotten that the ‘Serb political spring’ only dates back to October 2000. We cannot expect all these processes to be realized in less than two years, especially given the fact that this society is highly differentiated, i.e. there exist many ethnic minorities, each of which has its own political problems, such as the relation between Serbia and Montenegro; then there’s Kosovo, and Vojvodina with a quite special identity of its own. Europe must recognize that the reality of Serbia is very complex, that the situation cannot be resolved in a hurry as in other countries in which national identity is already well defined. The process of forming the nation’s identity must be clarified. Nor should it be forgotten that Serbia is a frontier country between East and West: that requires more time for a mentality favourable to the process of European integration to mature”. Mercede Succa