Pro-Russian wins Serbian presidency
Serbia's populist presidential challenger Tomislav Nikolic won an upset election victory over the Balkan nation's veteran pro-Western leader on Sunday, as voters opted for change in the face of high unemployment, stagnating economic growth and allegations of corruption. - The triumph of Mr. Nikolic, who once opposed European Union membership but in recent years has said he favors closer ties with both Brussels and Moscow, could mean a less-ardent embrace of the West and less willingness to make the compromises needed to join the EU, analysts said. "This is a turning point for Serbia," said Mr. Nikolic, the 60-year-old chief of the Serbian Progressive Party, in a victory speech at his Belgrade headquarters late Sunday. Mr. Nikolic pledged to keep the country, once ostracized for its role in the interethnic warfare that engulfed Yugoslavia as it disintegrated in the 1990s, on the path to EU membership. But he said, "Serbia must look for friends everywhere in the world" as it seeks to revive its economy and fight poverty and crime. His opponent, Boris Tadic—the head of the Democratic Party, who resigned as president last month to force early elections—congratulated Mr. Nikolic on "a fair and well-earned victory." He urged his rival not to change course on EU integration, saying, "It would be a tragic mistake if we go back" to the tensions and turmoil of the past. A preliminary count showed that Mr. Nikolic won 49.7% of the vote, compared with 47% for Mr. Tadic, according to the Center for Free Elections and Democracy, a nongovernmental election-monitoring group.