lol@Serbia

Serbia's government collapses

By DUSAN STOJANOVIC, Associated Press Writer 2 hours, 3 minutes ago

BELGRADE, Serbia - Serbia's government collapsed Saturday over an impasse between the nationalist prime minister and the pro-Western president on how Kosovo's independence affects the Balkan country's pursuit of EU membership.

"The government, which does not have united policies, cannot function," Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said as he announced the fall of his Cabinet. "That's the end of the government."

Kostunica said he will convene a session of the caretaker government Monday, which will propose to President Boris Tadic to dissolve the Parliament and call new elections for May 11.

Tadic said in a statement that he will call early elections because they are a "democratic way to overcome the political crisis."

But he disputed Kostunica's claim that their clash was over Kosovo, the Serbian medieval heartland which proclaimed independence last month with the backing of the United States and several EU countries.

"Kosovo is of course an integral part of our country," Tadic said.

"I believe the issue is that the Serbian government does not have a united position over European and economic perspectives of Serbia and its citizens," he added.

Kostunica said the government "will function in a reduced capacity until the elections are held."

He insists that EU governments recognizing Kosovo must rescind their decisions before Serbia resumes initial membership talks with the 27-nation bloc. Within his government, Kostunica accuses pro-Western ministers of failing to support his efforts to preserve Kosovo as part of Serbia.

Tadic opposes tying Serbia's EU membership to the issue of Kosovo, which has been recognized as an independent state by several leading EU nations, including Britain, France and Germany.

"All parties want Serbia to join the EU, but the question is how — with or without Kosovo," Kostunica said. "There was no united will to clearly and loudly state that Serbia can continue its path toward the EU only with Kosovo."

Pro-Western minister Mladjan Dinkic said Kostunica's decision was "honorable, democratic and the only possible solution."

"Anything else would be an agony," Dinkic said. "It is now honest to ask the citizens which way Serbia will go in the future."

New elections could determine whether Serbia continues toward the EU and Western institutions or takes a more isolationist approach reminiscent of Yugoslavia in the 1990s under the late strongman Slobodan Milosevic.

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia on Feb. 17. The predominantly ethnic Albanian province had been under U.N. control since 1999, when NATO launched an air war to stop a Serb crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists.

But Serbia, which considers the territory its historic and religious heartland, has rejected Kosovo's move as illegal under international law.

The Serbian government's cabinet, made up of Kostunica's conservatives and pro-Western democrats, was formed in May, following months of strained negotiations in the wake of the last parliamentary elections in January 2007.

The ultranationalist Serbian Radical Party said new elections are "a good solution."

"Serbia has been in a crisis for a long time," said senior party official Aleksandar Vucic.

Liberal Party leader Cedomir Jovanovic said the elections should offer a "clear chance to break up with the past policies that have divided the people and pushed it away from the world."

Jovanovic called for a new policies on Kosovo and said future government leaders should "tell the truth" about Kosovo and immediately arrest the remaining Serb war crimes fugitives.

Capture of Gen. Ratko Mladic and other suspects still at large from the wars of the 1990s is the condition set by the EU for Serbia's further integration into the bloc.

In Kosovo, deputy Prime Minister Hajredin Kuqi expressed hope Serbia's voters will leave the past behind in the new elections.

"For Kosovo it is very important to have a government in Serbia that is pro-Western and works for cooperation," he said.

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