Ratko Bozovic

Vucic urged those Serbs who had left to return "to their ancestral homes and build a future here," promising special incentives to bring them back and help tackle the demographic crisis afflicting Serbia and much of the rest of Central and Eastern Europe.

Research by the Belgrade-based Research Publishing Center Demostat shows that Serbs see Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic as second-best leader Serbia ever had, just after former Yugoslavia's president for life, Josip Broz Tito, the daily newspaper Danas reported on Wednesday.

He may once have compared himself to Serbia's reformist late prime minister, Zoran Djindjic, but these days Aleksandar Vucic more often matches his goals and results with those of former Yugoslavia's "president for life", Josip Broz Tito.