AFP Thousands of Serbs rally against 'new Milosevic'
Mon Feb 11, 2008 10:28 am (PST) <http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/1202741223.08> http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/1202741223.08 EU BUSINESS (UK) Thousands of Serbs rally against 'new Milosevic' 11 February 2008, 16:00 CET (BELGRADE) - Several thousand Belgraders rallied on Monday to urge leaders to press on with Serbia's integration into the European Union regardless of what happens to the breakaway Kosovo province. The demonstration was organised by student associations in protest at nationalist Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica's refusal last week to sign an accord with the European bloc. Carrying blue EU balloons and pro-European banners, the students braved chilly winds and chanted "Down with Kostunica, the new (Slobodan) Milosevic" in reference to the late autocratic leader ousted in a popular uprising in 2000. Kostunica blocked a cabinet meeting last week in fear his coalition partners would approve the deal with the EU, whose plans to send a mission to Kosovo, he says, is the first step to the independence of the Serbian territory. He has been denied a request to instead debate the EU mission in parliament, where he has the support of the ultra-nationalist Radical Party and Socialists once led by Milosevic. "Whatever the solution for Kosovo, it cannot and does not have to stop our integration with the EU," said one of the protestors, Viktor Rajds, a 47-year-old economist. "We are protesting against Kostunica," said a student who only identified herself as Dijana. "He would like to destroy everything because of Kosovo, when there are things much more important, such as a better life, which are not possible without the EU," she said. The demonstrators, who gathered in front of Belgrade's Philosophy Faculty, demanded the government and parliament be allowed to continue their work and for the immediate signing of the EU pact. Blowing whistles, they marched towards the Serbian government building, led by a band of noisy drummers. After presenting their demands to the government, student union leader Simon Simonovic told the demonstrators to give the authorities time to see whether their requests will be met. "Young people want to join the EU and there is no compromise for this," said Simonovic. "If the authorities do not want to take the way of European integration without compromise, we will return the next weeks with radical requests and much more," he said. Last month, Brussels offered Belgrade the interim deal on political dialogue, free trade, visa relaxation and educational cooperation in place of a wider rapprochement accord. Pro-Western President Boris Tadic, who opposes Kosovo's independence but not at the cost of Serbia's EU integration, was re-elected on February 3 without an endorsement from his coalition partner Kostunica.
