Serbian Radical Party (SRS) leader and Hague war crimes tribunal indictee Vojislav Seselj called on his supporters in Belgrade on Saturday to organise themselves against the incumbent government, noting that the Radicals' strength lay in the fact that more than 50% of Serbians did not support the country's EU membership bid and boasting that he had defeated the tribunal, turning it into a "wounded beast". According to police estimates, about 3,000 people welcomed Seselj in downtown Belgrade at a rally of SRS supporters, fewer than expected by the organisers. Before the rally, held under the slogan "Return of the Victor", Chetnik songs were played on loudspeakers, with SRS supporters carrying banners and photos of Seselj and Russian President Vladimir Putin and party flags and wearing T-shirts and badges with Seselj's image. "As promised 12 years ago - I have defeated the Hague tribunal, and I have left the wounded beast bleeding, however, (Serb) captives are still there and they are being tried only because they are Serbs," Seselj said. The tribunal is imposing draconic sentences only on Serbs, but not on Croats and Muslims, with all Kosovo Albanians having been acquitted, Seselj said, using a local derogatory name for Kosovo Albanians and noting that "this traitorous regime is doing nothing about it.
" Claiming that Serbia was governed by traitors who had betrayed national interests and were "currying favour with the Americans", Seselj said that Serbia should be clear on "whether it wants to go to the East or the West". He called for turning to Russia, accusing President Tomislav Nikolic and Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic of "faking their commitment to Russia" and "rushing to join the EU". "No one wishing the Serbian people well wants to join the EU because our enemies are there. Of the 28 member-countries, 23 have recognised Kosovo's independence," said Seselj. He called on his supporters to consolidate and restore their political strength as well as win back the old members that had left the party and attract new ones. "More than 50% of citizens are against the EU, that's our strength. Let's go on a victorious walk through the city centre, touch no flower, no shop window so we can show what we are like and how dignified we are," Seselj told his supporters, joining them for a walk through the streets of downtown Belgrade, which was closed to traffic. Police stepped up security for the rally and the SRS tasked about 1,000 of its members with maintaining order. Security was also tight outside the Serbian Presidency, where the office of President Nikolic is located. He and Prime Minister Vucic used to be among Seselj's closest associates. No incidents were reported during the rally and the subsequent walk. Electronic media dedicated conspicuously less attention to the event than had been the case in the 1990s, when Seselj enjoyed the local media's strong support. After Seselj's voluntary surrender to the Hague tribunal in February 2003, Nikolic and Vucic continued running the SRS, but in September 2008 they formed a faction which broke away and grew into the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS). In the 2012 presidential election, Nikolic beat Boris Tadic and two years later, after it won early parliamentary elections, the SNS formed a new government with the Serbian Socialist Party and several smaller parties, with Vucic appointed Prime Minister. Seselj was provisionally released by the war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia on Wednesday after 11,5 years in custody due to his poor health. He was charged with war crimes committed in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia and the expulsion of non-Serbs from Bosnia and the northern Serbian province of Vojvodina. A verdict against him has not been delivered yet. He has not been banned from making public statements or engaging in politics, and the Serbian government has guaranteed that he will return to The Hague when so requested by the tribunal. Independent analysts believe that Seselj and his party cannot have any major influence on the political scene. Political analyst Cvijetin Milivojevic told Hina previously that his 12-year-long absence from the country's political life had caused Seselj to lose touch with reality, and that "some ideas, such as those about a Greater Serbia, are no longer on the political agenda." Milivojevic also said that "the most the SRS leader and his party can do at the moment is to cross the election threshold, not much more than that." /izvor: dalje.com /
