Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica dissolved his country’s parliament Saturday and said he would request new elections for May 11. The action followed a conflict between Kostunica and pro-Western President Boris Tadic on how Kosovo’s independence affects Serbia’s quest for membership in the European Union.

Kostunica accused pro-Western ministers of failing to support his efforts to preserve Kosovo as part of Serbia.

”There was no united will to clearly and loudly state that Serbia can continue its path toward the EU only with Kosovo,” Kostunica said.

The new elections could determine whether Serbia continues moving toward the EU and adopting Western institutions or takes a more isolationist approach reminiscent of Yugoslavia in the 1990s under the late strongman Slobodan Milosevic.

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