(1 Feb 2008) SHOTLIST
1. Wide of Democratic Party election rally
2. Supporters waving Serbian flags
3. Serbian President, and Democratic Party leader, Boris Tadic on stage during rally
4. Supporters
5. SOUNDBITE (Serbian) Boris Tadic, Serbian President and Democratic Party leader:
"I want to fight for Kosovo as a representative of a proud Serbian nation, a European nation. Europe has an identity in Kosovo through our existence on Kosovo."
6. Supporters waving Serbian flags
7. Tadic waving Serbian flag on stage
8. SOUNDBITE (Serbian) Vox pop, Tadic supporter:
"We came here to give support to Belgrade and Boris Tadic. Please forget about the Radical Party."
9. SOUNDBITE (Serbian) Vox pop, Tadic supporter:
"I expect only the best - Boris Tadic to win."
10. Set-up shot of political analyst, Nebojsa Spaic
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Nebojsa Spaic, Political analyst:
"If Mr Tadic wins, that will mean not only his victory and not only securing the road he is leading, but also extremely serious strengthening of political option he is advocating."
12. Democratic Party election campaign poster with image of Tadic in centre
13. Wide of Radical Party election rally
14. Supporter holding poster of Vojislav Seselj, boss of the Radical Party
15. Radical Party leader, and Serbian presidential candidate, Tomislav Nikolic, and his wife singing Serbian national anthem during rally
16. Nikolic on stage during rally
17. Supporters chanting and clapping
18. SOUNDBITE (Serbian) Tomislav Nikolic, Radical Party leader and Serbian presidential candidate:
"Serbia is my boss. I don't have a boss in Moscow, Brussels or in Washington."
19. Wide of rally, supporters holding flags and balloons
20. Nikolic and wife on stage
21. Set-up shot of political analyst Aleksandar Vasovic
22. SOUNDBITE (English) Aleksandar Vasovic, Political analyst:
"A Tomislav Nikolic's victory would likely mean a significant drop in living standards here. Particularly in terms of rapid drop in foreign direct and portfolio investments. Simply because investors would be discouraged to invest in a country with an uncertain political position, with a government which is potentially conservative to investors, so all these things could significantly affect ordinary people."
23. Wide of Radical Party election campaign billboards, billboard on right reading (in Serbian) "Kosovo is Serbia"
STORYLINE
A pro-Western incumbent and a pro-Russian, ultra-nationalist challenger are vying for Serbia's presidency in a runoff vote due on Sunday that could lead the Balkan nation closer to the European Union or drag it back to to the Slobodan Milosevic era.
Serbia's two presidential candidates held rallies in the capital Belgrade on Thursday in the run up to Sunday's election which is likely to determine how Serbia will respond to Kosovo province's probable declaration of independence, expected in February.
The election is considered crucial for Serbia, which will choose whether to press on with Western integration or return to its recent nationalist past , when the country faced international sanctions for fomenting the Balkan wars of the 1990s that left hundreds of thousands dead and displaced.
Leading the polls by the narrowest of margins is incumbent Boris Tadic, a pro-European moderate of the Democratic Party who came to prominence after the fall of Milosevic, the late Serbian strongman turned war crimes suspect.
Like his main nationalist challenger, Tomislav Nikolic, Tadic rejects independence for Kosovo, but refuses to sever ties with Western nations that might recognise it.
Like his opponent, Tadic opposes Kosovo's secession.
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