Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6296601.stm Europe diary: Serbian Radicals 25 January 2007 BBC Europe editor Mark Mardell assesses the tactics of Serbia's hardline nationalists, and falls for the charms of the capital, Belgrade. DIFFICULT PAST It could be a polling station anywhere in Europe's urban landscape, Birmingham, Berlin, or Brussels. A low concrete primary school, a faded Sonic the hedgehog spray-painted on one wall. The acting party leader, accompanied by his elegant wife, his son and daughter-in-law, walks through the rather scrubby, muddy grass that lies in front of the ranks of high-rise flats. Mr Nikolic: The West has no reason to worry The snappers snap and the cameras whirr as he places his vote in the perspex ballot box. But this is Belgrade, and the politician is the acting leader of Serbia's Radical Party, Tomislav Nikolic. Ana, a pretty 10-year-old in a red top, rushes forward excitedly to get his autograph. Afterwards she shows me his signature, and tells me that her grandmother has a photograph of him and she loves him. I doubt she knows that American diplomats and the European Union regard him and his party with distaste, as a symbol of Serbia's difficult and dangerous past. After voting, Mr Nikolic told me the West had no reason to worry about his party, but stressed that Kosovo couldn't become independent. We'll see soon enough: the UN envoy Martti Ahtisaari will announce his plans on its future in the capital, Pristina, on 2 February. GREATER SERBIA After the polls close, supporters celebrate at Radical Party HQ. They wave beer bottles, surrounded by a band blowing French horns with a passion. The party, already Serbia's largest, has increased its vote, and taken Belgrade off the Democrats, although it is unlikely to form the government. Military headgear goes down well at Radical Party rallies Newspapers in Kosovo report the election, with the headline: "Serbia votes for the past". Why? Well, the Radicals' leader, Vojislav Seselj, is in The Hague, awaiting trial for war crimes, inciting mass murder and torture. Mr Seselj has the unusual distinction of being accused of unacceptable brutality by one Slobodan Milosevic, who said he was "the personification of violence and primitivism". Not nice to have on your CV. But the Radicals were once in government with Milosevic and sell his picture at their rallies. The Radicals believe in a Greater Serbia, although they don't say how they would keep Kosovo, let alone get Croatia back. Their rallies abound with men with shaven heads, sporting a variety of military headgear and belting out nationalist songs with great gusto. WAITING FOR BETRAYAL But Mr Nikolic, who is effectively in charge of the party (as the leader is likely to stay behind bars in the Netherlands for a while yet) has been trying to soften the Radicals' image. Most of his speeches at the rallies have been about the economy and the need to fight against corruption. Talk about Kosovo is shrouded in subclauses about the need for social dialogue and is anything but rabble-rousing. But is the party really changing? The Radicals can afford to keep quiet about the parts of their programme everyone knows The excellent Balkans Investigative Reporting Network has published an article suggesting that those with their hands currently on the tiller are rather embarrassed by their captive captain. At any rate, it seems to me to be a sensible strategy to keep quiet about the bits of their programme that everyone in Serbia knows about, while trying to garner protest votes. It makes sense for them to stay in opposition, untouched by the grubbiness of real power, waiting for betrayal. But parties can come to believe their own propaganda, and changes adopted for electoral reasons can become real. (Who now thinks Labour too soft on defence, or too pacifist?) ULTRA-SHORTHAND Describing the Radicals in journalistic shorthand is a bit of a challenge. I tend to opt for "hardline nationalists". Others at the BBC have been saying "ultra-nationalists". I tend to shy away from "extreme right" or "far right" because it's too close to wrapping a value judgement up in a description. Not to mention Lord Tebbit's mischievous and thought-provoking contention that such parties are left-, not right-wing. Is fascism defined by policy, or a love of uniforms and strong leaders? I used to argue that parties like the British National Front were fascist, pure and simple, and should be described as such. (I am not keen on "neo-" in this context, and am not sure if it is meant to mean "nearly" or "new".) But I wonder now whether it is best to save "fascist" as a historical description of the rash of such parties in the 1920s and 30s. Is fascism defined by policy, or a love of uniforms and strong leaders? And are there any parties, anywhere in the world, that still call themselves fascist? THE KOSOVO FACTOR The Radicals keep stressing that all the main parties in Serbia agree that Kosovo should remain part of Serbia. It was written into the new constitution which was passed by a referendum at the end of last year. But Western diplomats are hoping that if the democrats can form a government, this article of faith will be a little like the Republic of Ireland's claim on Northern Ireland or the UK Labour Party's Clause Four: something that is clung to for years out of sentiment, without affecting real policy, until the leadership judges the time is right ditch it safely. Serbian Radical Party (SRS) - Tomislav Nikolic Democratic Party (DS) - President Boris Tadic Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) - PM Vojislav Kostunica G17 Socialist Party of Serbia Liberal Democratic Party In Britain and America there is a hard-headed view that whoever is in government in Serbia doesn't matter; Kosovo is going to become independent and there's nothing they can or will do about it. But Serbia can stir up Serb sentiment in Kosovo itself. While the Radicals went on about bread-and-butter issues during the election campaign, not so the party of the Prime Minister, Vojislav Kostunica. His Serbian Democratic Party (not to be confused with the Serbian president's Democratic Party) made Kosovo a key campaign issue. It worked. In Kosovo itself, it beat the Radicals and topped the polls. Mr Kostunica has also said Kosovo's fate will be an important part of discussions about forming a coalition. Some European Union diplomats think he was to blame last year for a suspension of talks on closer relations with the EU because he dragged his feet over the capture of accused war criminals, such as General Ratko Mladic. OLD-WORLD CHARM Some people give Belgrade a bad press but I like it here. It's a proper big city, not chocolate-box pretty, and definitely a bit grimy, but full of vim, the streets still ablaze with Christmas lights draped round the trees - the Serbian Christmas is on 7 January and New Year a week later, according to the Orthodox calendar. The years of embargo have had some positive side-effects The years of embargo and visa restrictions have taken their toll but for the visitor this means a certain old-world charm has been retained. The hotel we are staying in has proper heavy keys with a solid metal medallion at the end, rather than those plastic cards you get everywhere. It's true, the lift smells suspiciously of petrol and the hallways are filled with unidentified pieces of furniture draped with white tablecloths, as though on display before burial. But the sofas of plush red velvet and long windows, which the curtains don't quite cover, make up for that. For some reason, it reminds me of places I used to stay in France with my parents in the 60s, but others think it is straight out of 70s Moscow. I must say, I think all the European capitals I have visited have something going for them, bar one, which I am not going to name. But you can. Which European capital do you really dislike?
