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| Serbian leader calls snap polls | Serbian leader calls snap polls |
| (40 minutes later) | |
| Serbian President Boris Tadic has dissolved parliament, calling snap elections for 11 May. | Serbian President Boris Tadic has dissolved parliament, calling snap elections for 11 May. |
| The move follows last week's collapse of the governing coalition led by Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica. | The move follows last week's collapse of the governing coalition led by Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica. |
| Ministers failed to agree on whether to suspend ties with the European Union, in protest at recognition of Kosovan independence by some EU members. | Ministers failed to agree on whether to suspend ties with the European Union, in protest at recognition of Kosovan independence by some EU members. |
| EU officials have said they hope Serbia's pro-EU parties will win the May elections. | EU officials have said they hope Serbia's pro-EU parties will win the May elections. |
| The fresh ballot is seen as a way out of Serbia's deepening political crisis, says the BBC's Helen Fawkes in Belgrade. | |
| Belgrade's dilemma | |
| "The elections are a democratic way for citizens to say how Serbia should develop in years to come," President Tadic said in a statement. | |
| Mr Kostunica, who leads the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS), says recognition of Kosovo by major EU states is illegal. | |
| "All parties want Serbia to join the EU, but the question is how - with or without Kosovo," he said last week. | |
| President Tadic says Belgrade will only be able to defend its right to Kosovo if it joins the EU. | |
| He says the main difference between himself and his prime minister is not on Kosovo but Serbia's "European and economic outlook". | |
| Kosovo's declaration of independence on 17 February came nearly a decade after Nato forces expelled Serbian forces from the majority ethnic Albanian territory. | |
| The US and most EU states have recognised Pristina's unilateral move. | |
| Serbia and its ally Russia say they will never accept it. |