BELGRADE: Serbians voted for a new president yesterday in a run-off with the incumbent Boris Tadic, who vowed to lead the country into the European Union, set for a victory over nationalist challenger Tomislav Nikolic.
The latest surveys conducted just ahead of the final round of the presidential election project Democratic Party leader Tadic, 54, will win comfortably with up to 58 percent of the vote.
Tadic, who brought the once international pariah state to the doorstep of the European Union with candidacy status in March, has cast the vote as a referendum on the EU.
"It is a very important day for Serbia and the five years ahead because the future path of Serbia will be redefined," he said voting yesterday.
"I expect these elections are going to show once again that the orientation of Serbia towards the European Union is crystal clear.
Tadic became Serbia's first non-communist leader since World War II in 2004, defeating Nikolic in a run-off, a victory he repeated four years later.
He has vowed that, if elected, Serbia will start EU membership talks by the end of this year, with the aim of joining in five years.
Opposition leader Nikolic, 60, has also promised to steer a pro-European course but the recent convert to the European cause warned he would not join the 27-member bloc at any cost.
His alliance with an anti-EU party just ahead of the second round has allowed his opponent to cast doubts on his commitment to getting Belgrade into the EU.
During the electoral campaign Nikolic managed to cash in on voter discontent about the worsening economic situation in Serbia which has one of the highest jobless rates in Europe at 24 percent. He vowed to hike taxes for the rich and use the money to increase pensions and welfare payments.
At the Cvetko Market in Belgrade's Zvezdara neighbourhood, Pavle Knezevic, who started selling vegetables after he lost his job two years ago said change could be good for Serbia after eight years of Tadic.
"I completely changed my life, so maybe for Serbia it would be better to have a new leadership," the 42-year-old told AFP.
Shopper Vlasta Mladenovic, 35, who was picking out tomatoes at Pavle's stall disagreed with him.
"It is difficult now but it would be even more difficult without the support and aid from Europe, and Europe does not trust Nikolic," she explained. Tadic came just ahead of Nikolic in the May 6 first round, but the nationalist challenger accused him of "vote fraud".
Serbia votes for a new president
