Serbian opposition leader continues hunger strike

Apr 18, 2011, 13:34 GMT

Belgrade - The condition of the Serbian opposition leader on a hunger strike to publicize his call for a snap parliamentary poll has deteriorated, doctors said Monday.

Tomislav Nikolic, the head of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), has not taken any food or liquid since early Saturday morning.

President Boris Tadic visited Nikolic on Sunday and urged him to stop the hunger strike. But he ruled out elections before Serbia formally becomes a candidate for European Union membership, expected in October.

Meanwhile, Brussels said Monday it was worried by the lack of direction in Belgrade and called for a focus on reforms rather than dates.

'We have followed the developments in Serbia this weekend with growing concern,' EU foreign policy spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic said in a statement.

Kocijancic called for a 'single-minded focus' on reforms and settlement of political disputes 'within the established political process.' A decision on EU membership will be made only when Brussels judges that Serbia is ready, she said.

Nikolic announced his hunger strike at an opposition rally that drew some 40,000 people to central Belgrade. He was hospitalized at a private clinic Sunday night as his health began to suffer due to dehydration.

Doctors at the clinic said that they administered medication to offset some of the effects of the dehydration but that Nikolic continues refusing to drink or eat.

He was in stable condition and was aware that further dehydration could cause serious harm, they told reporters.

Health Minister Zoran Stankovic said Sunday in a TV interview that doctors are bound by law to administer liquids to Nikolic if he loses consciousness.

While a person can go without food for many days, life-threatening dehydration is possible much more quickly, even after just a few hours, depending on circumstances.

Several opposition parties lined up behind Nikolic and the SNS, which leads all parties in recent popularity polls, in calling on Tadic's ruling coalition to hold early elections.

The last parliamentary election in Serbia was in 2008. A new poll is scheduled in about a year.

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