Vol. 72/No. 12      March 24, 2008

Disagreements in the coalition government center on whether or not to pursue membership in the European Union, the majority of whose members have recognized Kosova as an independent state.

Meanwhile, Serb police stopped hundreds of former army reservists from marching to the border to remove a “Republic of Kosova” sign March 9.

Ninety percent of the Kosova population are ethnic Albanians, who have been oppressed by the government of neighboring Serbia. The February 17 independence declaration ended Belgrade’s power to impose discrimination against the Albanian majority.

The Serbian government is calling on the 120,000 Serbs who live in Kosova to ignore Kosovar authorities. Civil servants who remain loyal to Belgrade will get salary raises, in some cases doubling their current earnings, according to Radio Netherlands. The same report says that “there has been no great tension between Albanian and Serbian Kosovans. Fears of ethnic violence or large streams of Serbian refugees have proved unfounded.”

While all political parties in the Serbian government oppose Kosova’s independence, they have differences over how to respond to the changed situation.

Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica and the Radical Party, which has the largest number of seats in the parliament, are calling for no integration into the EU unless Kosova is somehow returned to Serbian control. They favor breaking diplomatic ties with all governments that recognize Kosova.

Serbian president Boris Tadic calls for forging ahead on Serbia joining the EU and trying to use that as a wedge to attack Kosova’s sovereignty. “If we join the EU, then we can make sure that this outlaw state [Kosova] never becomes an EU member,” he said on a TV talk show. Members of Tadic’s Democratic Party have argued that refusing to join the EU now will unnecessarily isolate Serbia politically and economically.

Serbia lags behind many east European countries in foreign capitalist investment. Reuters reported that Serbia gained about $11 billion in foreign investment over the last eight years, while Croatia, also a part of the former Yugoslavia, brought in $20 billion during the same period. Bulgaria, which is an EU member, received $7.5 billion in 2007 alone.

Before the Serbian government fell, plans were under way to offer lucrative investment opportunities, including floating shares in two large state-run enterprises, phone company Telekom Srbja and pharmaceutical maker Galenika, and selling about 750 state-owned firms and real estate, Reuters reported.

Elections in Serbia are scheduled for May 11.
 
 
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