Tadic re-elected Serbia PresidentFebruary 4, 2008 - 14:12 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Serbia's pro-Western President Boris Tadic has won re-election in a contest with nationalist Tomislav Nikolic, but his narrow victory may only have set up a fresh struggle over the country's future course.Analysts say it puts the survival of Serbia's ruling coalition in question as it braces for the secession of Kosovo, the Albanian-dominated province, which has Western backing for a declaration of independence in the next few weeks. Tadic won Sunday's presidential election by 50.5 percent to around 47.8 percent, according to a partial count by the state electoral commission, which reported many spoiled ballots. Tadic enjoys support of Belgrade and other major cities while his opponent is backed by provinces. "Serbia has shown its great democratic potential," Tadic said, in his victory speech, praising Nikolic for "the number of votes he has won." "This is Serbia's victory. I think we have proven both to Europe and everywhere else in the world what kind of democracy we have in Serbia." In a 2004 presidential race, Tadic beat Nikolic easily by some 9 percentage points, in what the West saw as a welcome sign that the reactionary nationalism which fuelled war in the 1990s over the breakup of Yugoslavia was steadily weakening, Reuters reports. Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Kazakhstan welcomes Yerevan, Baku’s agreement to meet in Almaty Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has welcomed the agreement of Baku and Yerevan to hold negotiations in Almaty. Armenia offers to temporarily host, preserve Gaza manuscripts The Armenian Foreign Minister has said Yerevan is ready to help preserve manuscripts from the conflict zone in Gaza. Aliyev says no need for mediators in Armenia-Azerbaijan process Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev believes that Baku and Yerevan do not mediators in the process of normalizing relations. Aram I supports Karekin II’s “patriotic position” Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia Aram I has expressed support for the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin. |