Serb President receives death threats over Kosovo break

The President of Serbia, Boris Tedic, has received death threats a week before parliamentary elections are due to be held. The threats are believed to be in response to Kosovo’s declaring independence in February, and the lack of any military action to reclaim lost Serb territory.

The president urged Serbians to remain calm and rational, insisting that there be “no lynching atmosphere in Serbia.”

Serbia’s elections, scheduled for 11 May, were called shortly after Kosovo declared independence. The snap elections are now reflecting the bitter divisiveness halving the country, between those who were prepared to hold onto Kosovo at all costs and embrace Russia, against those who hope to join the European Union even if it means the loss of a critical portion of Serbian territory.

Divisions also exist between the current Prime Minister, Vojislav Kostunica, and the more Western-oriented president. The President had been in full support of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (see Note), and when the Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic signed it without demanding any recognition of Serbia’s claim over Kosovo, a political crisis ensued.

Kostunica, once supported by the West because of his democratic leanings and his defeat of Slobodan Milosevic in 2000, has turned increasingly nationalistic, and has remained a staunch opponent of Kosovar independence. It is under his direction that all Serbian ambassadors have been immediately recalled from nations extending diplomatic recognition to the breakaway state.

Note: The Stabilisation and Association Agreement is branch of EU foreign relations which deals specifically with the nations of the Western Balkans, and includes Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, and Serbia. It is through this channel that EU leaders hope to encourage Balkan states to undergo solid democratisation and institutionalise democratic reforms. It is hoped that this is the first step towards EU accession for many of these states.

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