VOA常速英语2008年-Serbia's Presidential Election Sunday Too Close

By Barry Wood
Belgrade
01 February 2008

Over 6.5 million voters Serbia are eligible¹ to take part in Sunday's presidential election, which is being viewed as a choice between greater European integration² or further isolation³ from the West. VOA's Barry Wood reports from Belgrade that the contest is between a pro-western incumbent⁴ and a pro-Russian nationalist.

Anaylsts say Sunday's election is the most important in Serbia since a popular revolt overthrew⁵ strongman Slobodan Milosevic in the year 2000.

The contest is the between Tomislav Nikolic, the head of the Radical⁶ party, who won 40 percent of the vote in the first round two weeks ago, and incumbent Democrat⁷ Boris Tadic, who won 35 percent. Several losing candidates in the first round have thrown their support to Mr. Tadic, but the nationalist prime minister Vojislav Kustunica declined to do so. This is seen as an indirect endorsement⁸ of Mr. Nikolic.

Political analyst⁹ Svetlana Logar says the Radicals¹⁰ have waged an effective electoral campaign.

"The Radicals are all the time talking about fighting corruption¹¹," Logar said. "And this is true that you have a lot of corruption in Serbia. So the Radicals have a very good argument, no matter that we know who they [really] are."

Mr. Nikolic says if elected he will open two doors into Serbia, one for Russia, the other for the European Union. During the 1990s the Radicals were aligned¹² with Slobodan Milosevic and the party's former leader, Vojislav Seselj, who is on trial in the Hague for war crimes in Bosnia.

Political analyst Bratislav Grubacic says integration with the European Union has been the main theme of Mr. Tadic's campaign.

"The idea of Tadic's campaign was to raise up the fear of the Radicals, remembering sanctions, war, and all this stuff [from the 1990s], where the Radicals were somehow involved," he said. "And we will see if this worked. If it worked, then I think Tadic will have a good chance to win."

Opinion surveys show a majority of Serbs favor closer links with western Europe. If Mr. Tadic is re-elected, there are expectations that Serbia will follow in the footsteps of other former Yugoslav republics like Slovenia and Croatia and move towards integration with the European Union.

One of the issues holding up progress toward integration is European demands that suspected war criminals from the 1990s conflict in Bosnia, be turned over to the Hague.

Both Mr. Tadic and Mr. Nikolic oppose independence for the troubled southern province of Kosovo. But Western countries expect a Nikolic victory to result in Serbia taking a more aggressive stance against Kosovo's ethnic¹³ Albanian leaders, who are expected to declare independence in the coming weeks. Some in Serbia have called for retaliatory¹⁴ measures against countries that recognize an independent Kosovo.

1 eligible   

adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的

参考例句：

• He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
• Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。

2 integration   

n.一体化，联合，结合

参考例句：

• We are working to bring about closer political integration in the EU.我们正在努力实现欧盟內部更加紧密的政治一体化。
• This was the greatest event in the annals of European integration.这是欧洲统一史上最重大的事件。

3 isolation   

n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离

参考例句：

• The millionaire lived in complete isolation from the outside world.这位富翁过着与世隔绝的生活。
• He retired and lived in relative isolation.他退休后，生活比较孤寂。

4 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。

5 overthrew   

overthrow的过去式

参考例句：

• The people finally rose up and overthrew the reactionary regime. 人们终于起来把反动的政权推翻了。
• They overthrew their King. 他们推翻了国王。

6 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

7 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

8 endorsement   

n.背书；赞成，认可，担保；签(注)，批注

参考例句：

• We are happy to give the product our full endorsement.我们很高兴给予该产品完全的认可。
• His presidential campaign won endorsement from several celebrities.他参加总统竞选得到一些社会名流的支持。

9 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

10 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

11 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

12 aligned   

adj.对齐的，均衡的

参考例句：

• Make sure the shelf is aligned with the top of the cupboard.务必使搁架与橱柜顶端对齐。

13 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

14 retaliatory   

adj.报复的

参考例句：

• The process can take years before the WTO approves retaliatory action. 在WTO通过此行动之前，这个程序恐怕要等上一阵子了。 来自互联网
• Retaliatory tariffs on China are tantamount to taxing ourselves as a punishment. 将惩罚性关税强加于中国相当于对我们自己实施课税惩罚。 来自互联网