2007年VOA标准英语-Kosovo Status a Post-Election Challenge for Ser

By Barry Wood
Belgrade
18 January 2007

More than five million citizens of Serbia are to vote Sunday in the country's first parliamentary election in three years. Soon after the election, Serbia's leaders will have to grapple with the future status of Kosovo Province, which has been under international control since 1999. VOA's Barry Wood reports from Belgrade there has been little discussion, during the campaign, of options for Kosovo's future.

 
Kosovo Albanian children wait in front of graffiti reading "Free Kosova" in the ethnically-divided Kosovo town of Mitrovica, 18 Jan 2007
In Serbia's election campaign, Kosovo is addressed mainly in terms of patriotism¹ and national identity. Candidates say the province is the cradle of the Serbian nation and a center of its orthodox Christian² church.

Any suggestion Kosovo and its 90 percent ethnic-Albanian population could become independent is rejected. But United Nations negotiators indicate they are likely to soon propose at least conditional³ independence for Kosovo.

Social Democratic Union Party leader Zarko Korac says there has been no rational discussion among candidates of how Serbia will react to the proposal for Kosovo's future.

"It is all symbolism. It is all political phrases," he said. "And there will be a very dear price to be paid after the election. [What should be] The biggest political problem in Serbia, actually, is figuring in this election campaign only symbolically⁴."

Korac and his left-of-center electoral allies say Kosovo has been de-facto independent since NATO intervened in response to repression⁵ of the Albanian majority and drove Serbian troops out of the province.

 
Vojislav Kostunica waves during final pre-election rally of his DSS-Democratic Party of Serbia, 17 Jan 2007
Korac worries that the election will produce no clear winner and that incumbent⁶ Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica could call for a national unity⁷ government that would include the ultra-nationalist radicals⁸, who are expected to get up to 30 percent of the vote.

"And you [therefore] might have a very strange non-functional government that would serve only to boost Serbian nationalism and to reject western influences," he said. "That is my biggest fear."

Human rights activist⁹ Sonja Biserko also worries that Mr. Kostunica will turn to the right and embrace the Radicals in an effort to retain power.

"I think he [Kostunica] also showed [in this campaign] that his [Democratic Party of Serbia] is really this populist [nationalistic] party similar to the radicals and has nothing to do with a democratic option," she said.

Opinion surveys suggest that Mr. Kostunica's party will come third in the election with up to 20 percent of the vote.

Biserko says her biggest fear is that Mr. Kostunica will respond to the Kosovo status proposal by calling for the Serbian minority to leave the territory. The international proposal for Kosovo is likely to be presented to the major U.N. powers by the end of this month.

1 patriotism   

n.爱国精神，爱国心，爱国主义

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• They obtained money under the false pretenses of patriotism.他们以虚伪的爱国主义为借口获得金钱。

2 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

3 conditional   

adj.条件的，带有条件的

参考例句：

• My agreement is conditional on your help.你肯帮助我才同意。
• There are two forms of most-favored-nation treatment:conditional and unconditional.最惠国待遇有两种形式:有条件的和无条件的。

4 symbolically   

ad.象征地，象征性地

参考例句：

• By wearing the ring on the third finger of the left hand, a married couple symbolically declares their eternal love for each other. 将婚戒戴在左手的第三只手指上，意味着夫妻双方象征性地宣告他们的爱情天长地久，他们定能白头偕老。
• Symbolically, he coughed to clear his throat. 周经理象征地咳一声无谓的嗽，清清嗓子。

5 repression   

n.镇压，抑制，抑压

参考例句：

• The repression of your true feelings is harmful to your health.压抑你的真实感情有害健康。
• This touched off a new storm against violent repression.这引起了反对暴力镇压的新风暴。

6 incumbent   

adj.成为责任的，有义务的；现任的，在职的

参考例句：

• He defeated the incumbent governor by a large plurality.他以压倒多数票击败了现任州长。
• It is incumbent upon you to warn them.你有责任警告他们。

7 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

8 radicals   

n.激进分子( radical的名词复数 )；根基；基本原理；[数学]根数

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals. 一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The worry is that the radicals will grow more intransigent. 现在人们担忧激进分子会变得更加不妥协。 来自辞典例句

9 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。