Two Serbian presidential candidates made their last-minute efforts on Thursday to appeal to voters, three days ahead of Sunday's run-off election, seen also by analysts as a referendum on the Balkan country's future.
Serbian President Boris Tadic, the candidate for the Democratic Party, speaking at a grand rally in central Belgrade Thursday evening, said he had done enough to fend off the challenge from ultra-nationalist Tomislav Nikolic, who ranked first with a 5-point percentage lead in the first round on Jan. 20.
"I seek your confidence ... to continue along the road we started on in 2000. If everyone votes we will win, with trust in a better, the best Serbia, a wonderful country in the Balkans and in Europe," Tadic told supporters on the packed Republic Square in Belgrade.
Tadic called on all citizens of Serbia, especially those who are still undecided about whether to vote in the elections, to offer their support for a European policy, a policy of "unity and a safe future."
He also called for applause for the people in Kosovo, reiterating that he would never abandon the fight for Kosovo, but only through peaceful means and with a clear idea.
Tadic is entering the run-off without support from his party's coalition partners, the Democratic Party of Serbia and New Serbia. Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said on Wednesday that he would not support Tadic's re-election bid because the incumbent president refused to commit himself to a showdown with the European Union over Kosovo's independence.
The UN Security Council held consultations last month on the future status of the Serbian province, but no conclusions were reached.
Kosovo has been under UN administration after NATO's bombing forced the pullout of Serbian troops from the ethnic Albanian-dominated province in 1999.
Meanwhile, Nikolic, the nationalist leader of the Serb Radical Party, called on citizens to vote "according to their conscience," so that "all the injustice inflicted" on them will be corrected.
Speaking at his final campaign rally in the Belgrade Arena, Nikolic said he held nothing against the European Union, and on the contrary, he wanted European values and investment in Serbia.
"I have just one small request for the EU: do not touch Kosovo and Metohija. Because we are a proud nation and we do not need the carrot and stick," Nikolic said, adding that he would open "two entrances into our house," one for Russia and the other for the European Union.
Nikolic also said he was certain of the confidence Serbia has in him, that his heart is in Serbia and that he has "no master in Moscow, Brussels or Washington."
The United States and a number of European countries are expected to recognize Kosovo's independence, but Serbia and its ally Russia have said they would oppose any such moves.
Earlier Thursday, Tadic was given a traditional welcome in Kosovo, considered by many Serbs as central to the nation's identity.
Tadic told the tiny community of Serbs in central Kosovo that he would never accept the independence to which the Albanian majority is committed. But, unlike Nikolic, Tadic said he will still cooperate with the European Union regardless of Kosovo's future status.
Following failed talks between Belgrade and Pristina on the future status of the province, Kosovo's ethnic Albanian leaders have vowed to unilaterally declare independence in early 2008, but the move is unlikely before presidential elections in Serbia.
The so-called electoral silence, during which election advertising is prohibited, will begin at midnight Thursday and last until 8:00 p.m. Sunday, when 8,481 polling stations across the country remain closed.
The Republican Electoral Commission confirmed on Thursday there are 6,723,000 eligible voters for the run-off.
The Center for Free Elections and Democracy (CeSID), a leading local polling agency, said on Wednesday that Tadic has a slight edge over Nikolic of about 100,000 votes.
"It is really difficult to say who will win. Tadic's slight advantage may mean nothing," said Djordje Vukovic, the program director of CeSID, adding that everything will depend on the voter turnout.
Source: Xinhua
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