Serb parties to stand united in elections in Vukovar

ZAGREB - Serb parties in the eastern Croatian city of Vukovar signed a coalition agreement to stand together in early elections for the city council and mayor, scheduled for June 15.

The agreement was signed by the leader of the Independent Democratic Serbian Party (SDSS) Vojislav Stanimirovic, Serb People's Party (SNS) leader Zoran Kojic and New Serb Party (NSS) leader Svetislav Ladjarevic.

The coalition's candidate for Vukovar mayor is the president of the Joint Council of Municipalities and an MP in the Croatian parliament, Dragan Crnogorac, and the candidate standing for president of the city council is Vojislav Stanimirovic.

After signing the coalition agreement, the SDSS said that the joint Serb list in the snap elections could win six seats, adding that around 5,000 Serbs would usually go to the polls in Vukovar but a good portion of them would vote for other parties.

Serbs make up 35 percent of the population in the city, and since September last year, they have been targeted by Croat extremists and an association of war veterans, who oppose the official use of Serbian Cyrillic alphabet, guaranteed by the law, and who have destroyed bilingual signs on the walls of official buildings in the city.

Local authorities in Vukovar were disbanded after failing to adopt the city budget in time. Also, former mayor Zeljko Sabo, who has resigned from the office, is suspected of offering bribes to MPs to move into the ranks of the ruling Social Democratic Party of Croatia (SDP), and a trial over the allegations is underway.