Posted on 11/03/2004 11:02:26 AM PST by Destro
Bush, Kerry take election battle to Balkans
Friday, 29 October , 2004, 08:38
Belgrade: With the US election coming down to the wire, the Republican and Democratic camps are leaving no stone unturned in their hunt for votes, even if it means waging their campaigns in far-flung corners of Europe.
President George W. Bush and Democratic challenger John Kerry have been courting various ethnic groups in the Balkans, that complicated and poorly understood region of southeastern Europe which imploded in war in the 1990s.
Loved by some in the Balkans and hated by others, the United States is nevertheless a country of immigrants and many of the post-World War II arrivals came from the Balkan republics that constituted the former Yugoslavia.
The American Serb population is particularly significant, numbering more than a million eligible voters according to Serbian estimates, with significant concentrations in battleground states such as Ohio and Pennsylvania where they found work in factories during America's post-war industrial boom.
Both sides of US politics have suddenly taken a keen interest in Serb concerns.
Serbian newspapers have been inundated with US political advertisements, letters from the candidates and even foreign policy promises geared to win Serb support.
"These appeals from Kerry and Bush have been launched because the Serbs are very numerous in states such as Ohio and other industrial states which will be keys to victory on November 2," said local analyst Ljiljana Smajlovic.
Analysts believe most Serbs are pro-Bush, if only because it was a Democratis administration under Bill Clinton which intiated the NATO bombing of Serbia during the 1998-99 war between Serbian forces and ethnic Albanian separatists in Kosovo.
"The Serbs will vote for Bush despite his unpopularity in Europe, mainly because of the entourage around Kerry," such as Clinton's secretary of state, Madeleine Albright, said Smajlovic.
In a letter to the American Serb community which was also published last week in Serbian newspapers, Kerry promised to find a solution to Kosovo as "rapidly as possible" within the limits of UN Resolution 1244, which states that the breakaway province is a part of Serbia.
Meanwhile the local press has seized on comments attributed to a senior Bush official this week about the UN war crimes court at The Hague, where Milosevic and other Serb leaders are on trial over the wars in the former Yugoslavia.
The Washington Times reported Sunday that Bush is in favour of closing the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), which is widely seen here as an anti-Serb witch-hunt.
"There is a very real risk that the (tribunal) prosecutions will not resolve the situation in the Balkans but will create new animosities that lead to tensions," Undersecretary of State for Arms Control John Bolton was quoted as saying.
The report said Bush had lost patience with chief UN war crimes prosecutor Carla Del Ponte, a hated figure in Belgrade and a regular target of scorn in the Serbian press.
Such was the excitement generated in Serbian newspapers, where portraits of a smiling Bush were splashed across the front pages under headlines such as "I will close the ICTY!", that the US embassy was moved to issue a statement.
"The government of the United States continues to support ICTY's efforts to bring to justice those who have committed serious violations of international humanitarian law," it said.
"The United States continues to provide financial and diplomatic support to ICTY."
A little late to post - but it seems the Serbs helped pull it off for Bush in Ohio.
["but it seems the Serbs helped pull it off for Bush in Ohio"]
I believe you're correct. I think we did have an impact (pro-Bush) in Ohio.
Destro, read this. It was published on Oct. 15th.
http://news.suc.org/bydate/2004/October_15/9.html
When I saw the results George Voinovich (R-OH) is getting in the state of Ohio, I knew "Serbian Americans" will be a force for Bush in that state...
"For once, let’s us put into practice the notion of E Pluribus, Unum—“From Many, One.” “Samo Sloga Srbina Spasava” may never have sounded truer! Let us all come out, as one, for Bush-Cheney presidential ticket this November 2nd." Sonja Jekic, Ph.D on Election 04 and Serb-American Vital Interests
Fantastic!
I know that most of the Serbs I speak to in my locale voted for Bush.
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