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DE RUEHBW #1108/01 2981319
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 241319Z OCT 08
FM AMEMBASSY BELGRADE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0568
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RHEHNS/NSC WASHDC
RUZEJAA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BELGRADE 001108 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV SR
SUBJECT: SERBIA: EX-RADICALS TOUT OPENNESS AND CHANGE AT FOUNDING 
PARTY CONGRESS 
 
REF: BELGRADE 1072 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1.  (SBU) At the founding congress of the Serbian Progressive Party 
(SNS), newly elected president Tomislav Nikolic and his deputy 
Aleksandar Vucic emphasized themes of open dialogue and change in 
tackling Serbia's political challenges.  Seeking to appear moderate 
and to distance themselves from the Serbian Radical Party (with 
which they broke weeks ago), Nikolic and Vucic made efforts to 
highlight the SNS's openness to international dialogue and desire 
for EU membership while avoiding inflammatory nationalist rhetoric 
on Kosovo and the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former 
Yugoslavia (ICTY).  The congress did not, however, provide any 
detailed discussion of the SNS policy platform.  Absent a new 
platform, SNS intent to diverge from traditional Radical goals 
remains unconfirmed.  End Summary. 
 
Showcasing Openness and Change 
------------------------------ 
 
¶2.  (U) The SNS held its founding party congress on October 21 and 
elected former Serbian Radical Party (SRS) leaders Tomislav Nikolic 
and Alexander Vucic as party president and vice president, 
respectively, until the election of the Main Board in six months. 
Held in the main hall at Belgrade's cavernous Sava Center with a 
standing-room-only audience of approximately 4000 people, the party 
congress was designed to highlight the SNS's new openness and its 
position an agent of change.  In addition to the familiar 
well-groomed political personalities, a number of college-aged 
students and families in working clothes filled the balconies. 
Seeking to capitalize on the positive response received from the 
international community, congress organizers placed representatives 
from the diplomatic community at the front of the hall and announced 
the presence of seven ambassadors (Slovakia, Norway, Cuba, India, 
Sweden, Denmark, and Algiers) and representatives from fourteen 
embassies (U.S., Russia, Japan, France, Germany, Spain, UK, Libya, 
Finland, Romania, Hungary, Iraq, Iran, and Greece).  Poloff and Pol 
FSN, who were prominently seated in the front row ten seats from 
Nikolic, received moderate applause with minimal booing and 
whistling.  The audience responded most favorably to introductions 
of delegations from Russia, Cuba, and Greece. 
 
¶3.  (U) The program opened with a film entitled "Serbia Moves 
Forward" featuring still shots of Nikolic and Vucic interspersed 
with images of peasants, students, mechanics, monasteries, and the 
Serbian countryside.  As the film concluded, Nikolic and Vucic 
emerged from the back of the hall to the theme song from the film 
"Rocky."  Clearly buoyed by the enthusiastic reception, Nikolic and 
Vucic appeared to relish greeting supporters while walking slowly 
toward the front of the hall. 
 
¶4.  (U) A highly animated Vucic delivered the first address, which 
he began by announcing that the SNS had attracted 70,000 members as 
of that evening.  He quickly transitioned to welcoming the members 
of the diplomatic community and praising his party's openness to 
discussing ideas face to face with other countries.  Vucic stated 
that his party's vision of Serbia was one which respected the 
international community and expected respect in return.  He 
continued by describing his party's desire to build a Serbia that 
develops into a strong, modern state and exists as a bridge between 
East and West.  The SNS would seek Serbian membership in the EU, he 
said, while preserving Kosovo's position as a part of Serbian 
territory. 
 
¶5.  (U) Vucic closed his remarks by commenting that the power of the 
SNS was derived from the people and that the party sought to 
transcend party divisions.  "Our obligation is that we do not create 
enemies on the political scene in Serbia," Vucic said.  "Our wish is 
that we have political opponents and that we live as all normal 
people in the world."  With this message, Vucic concluded, the SNS 
would realize the goal of victory.  (Comment:  During the January 
presidential elections in Serbia, Vucic told an Embassy official 
visiting Radical HQ in Belgrade that he was an admirer of Barack 
Obama. The themes and tone sounded as if he had been closely 
following the U.S. presidential race.  End Comment.) 
 
Targeting New and Old Constituencies 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (U) Vucic's speech was followed by a series of speakers who 
played toward the SNS's target constituencies; each entered to the 
"Rocky" soundtrack.  Two students from the University of Belgrade 
announced their admiration for the SNS's forward-looking approach to 
politics and commented that many young people were signing up to 
join the party.  An unemployed worker from the Zastava plant in 
Kragujevac, dressed in blue overalls, described the plight of the 
 
BELGRADE 00001108  002 OF 003 
 
 
working people and the need for Nikolic and Vucic to protect them. 
A blind pensioner spoke about the shortcomings of the current 
government in protecting the elderly, the fraudulent promises of the 
Party of United Pensioners (a member of the current coalition 
government), and the confidence she had in the leadership of the 
SNS.  Two elderly labor activists spoke about the capacity of the 
SNS to deliver on social justice, while a somber Kosovo Serb read a 
short statement - fairly unpersuasively - about the willingness of 
the SNS to preserve Kosovo as part of Serbia.  (Comment: The Kosovo 
Serb speaker was so lackluster that Simo Spasic, who heads an 
organization representing the families of missing persons in Kosovo, 
walked out of the congress complaining that the SNS had not brought 
in a real Kosovo Serb from Mitrovica.  End Comment.)  The congress 
also heard from SNS economic adviser Jorgovanka Tobakovic who 
advocated the principles the SNS's economic policies in the context 
of protecting Serbian families. 
 
¶7.  (U) One of the most warmly received speakers was a peasant in 
traditional dress who walked on stage with a flask of rakija (local 
moonshine) and a bag.  He spoke from a prepared statement describing 
the Serbian peasant as the heart of the country and underscoring the 
need for a person from the central Serbian region of Sumadija, like 
Nikolic, in power.  Concluding his remarks, the speaker held up his 
flask to speak of the rakija his family produced and then pulled a 
loaf of bread from his bag, triggering a standing ovation from the 
entire audience.  Emboldened by the audience reaction, the peasant 
went off-script and declared that "Serbia knows that her only true 
friend is Russia," which led to one of the wildest audience 
reactions of the evening. 
 
Nikolic Walks a Moderate Line 
----------------------------- 
 
¶8. (U) Nikolic concluded the program with a strong speech that 
reprised themes of openness and change while referencing ideas 
expressed during his previous campaign speeches.  In contrast to his 
emotional speeches during his presidential campaign, Nikolic donned 
glasses and coolly read his remarks.  Alluding to his split with 
Radical Party leader Vojislav Seselj, Nikolic stated that his 
motivation in politics is Serbia's interests over political 
interests, and that this approach to politics had not changed.  The 
SNS, Nikolic said, will look to protect the well-being of Serbs 
everywhere, including in Montenegro and Banja Luka (capital of 
Republika Srpska, a constituent part of Bosnia and Herzegovina), 
while never recognizing Kosovo independence.  (Comment: While 
Nikolic's reference to protecting Serbs everywhere was received with 
strong applause, his statement regarding Kosovo was met with 
strikingly moderate applause.  End Comment.)  Nikolic discussed the 
aim of the SNS to combine Serbian ideals of democracy, Europe, 
stability, and cooperation to move Serbia forward.  The SNS, he 
said, would have the power to tell corrupt officials to keep their 
hands off of the public till.  He stated that at least two million 
Serbian citizens sought the path SNS offered but for two decades 
they had been thwarted by the parties in power. 
 
¶9.  (U) Like Vucic, Nikolic made only a short mention of Kosovo; he 
said that "Kosovo is carved into Serbian history" and that "nothing 
that is Serbian will be for sale."  Nikolic described his idea of 
Serbia's place in Europe as one in which Serbia appears to be the 
"east to the west" and "west to the east," a reference to the idea 
of Serbia as a bridge.  Nikolic stated that Serbia sought to be 
respected in the world in which Serbia's "biggest friend is Russia 
and Serbia (is) a member of the EU." 
 
¶10.  (U) Nonetheless, Nikolic reverted somewhat to his old Radical 
rhetoric toward the end of his speech.  Describing himself not as a 
politician but as a Sumadijan (considered the "heart" of Serbia), 
Nikolic said that the SNS would preserve the values he had protected 
while in the SRS.  Nikolic warned that while welcoming good 
neighborly relations, Serbia would not let any foreign country 
prevent all Serbian children from sleeping peacefully. The congress 
ended with a performance by a single violinist accompanied by a 
choir singing the Serbian hymn "Tamo Daleko," chosen as the party's 
official song, in which the entire audience joined in singing. 
(Comment:  "Tamo Daleko", or "There, Far Away" is a Serbian 
nationalist hymns dating back to World War I: it had been banned 
during the Tito era.  End Comment.) 
 
SNS Eager for Dialogue, Pleased with Congress 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶11.  (SBU) At a reception following the congress, Nikolic and Vucic 
warmly greeted Poloff and expressed appreciation for the Embassy's 
presence.  Vucic on two occasions expressed his desire to meet 
Poloff to continue discussions about his party's vision for Serbia's 
future.  Nikolic, within range of journalists and TV cameras, 
greeted Poloff in English to express thanks that the Embassy took an 
interest in his party.  (Comment:  Nikolic previously refused to 
 
BELGRADE 00001108  003 OF 003 
 
 
speak English with foreign representatives, and never revealed in 
public that he spoke English.  End Comment.) 
 
¶12. (SBU) SNS spokesman and newly elected member of the party 
presidency Nebojsa Stefanovic told Poloff that he was pleased that 
the party congress had gone off with few hitches.  Hinting that he 
had been concerned about what some of the speakers would say, 
Stefanovic commented that the speeches ended up as moderate as he 
had hoped.  He revealed also that his position in the SNS would 
include responsibility for overseeing SNS political strategy in 
Belgrade and said that he looked forward to inviting Poloff to 
official and social events in the future. 
 
¶13. (SBU) SNS organizers were concerned that the SRS would attempt 
to mar the occasion.  Vucic told an Embassy contact that the SRS had 
sent Luka Karadzic, brother of indicted war criminal Radovan 
Karadzic, to crash the congress and get embarrassing photos with SNS 
leadership.  Standing immediately behind Karadzic in the receiving 
line, Poloff observed Vucic gently pushing Karadzic away as the 
latter tried to kiss him.  During the congress Karadzic complained 
loudly to those seated around him about Nikolic and Vucic's failure 
to mention his brother or the ICTY.  Another Embassy contact told 
Poloff that representatives of the ultra-nationalist youth group 
Obraz were present at the reception and some members were assisting 
the SNS to organize its youth groups. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶14.  (SBU) Nikolic and Vucic made great effort to present a modern 
moderate face of a dynamic party by discussing Kosovo without the 
emotional, nationalist rhetoric that characterized their speeches as 
Radicals.  Similarly, they touched on relations with Russia briefly 
and only in conjunction with aspirations of EU membership.  No one 
referred to the ICTY, which was a staple of SRS oratory.  Although 
the tone of the congress speeches was therefore encouraging, it is 
important to note that they articulated only principles, not 
policies.  The extent to which the SNS is truly attempting to shed 
its SRS skin will remain open to question until the policy platforms 
are released, which our contacts say will occur next month. 
References to partnership with Russia, traditional values, and 
protection of Serbia's interests received the greatest applause of 
the evening, suggesting that Nikolic and Vucic will find it 
challenging to attract SRS believers without a nationalist platform. 
 One significant test of the SNS's ability to succeed will be the 
November 9 local elections in four municipalities, including the SRS 
stronghold of Ruma.  End Comment. 
 
 
MUNTER