A HARDLINE nationalist is leading the polls in Serbia’s presidential election today, prompting fears that the country may revert to its former notoriety as a source of tension in the Balkans.

Tomislav Nikolic, 55, is on course to secure a narrow victory in the first round of voting, leading to a run-off with pro-western incumbent Boris Tadic next month. The contest is being billed as a referendum on Serbia’s future.

Nikolic is the leader of the ultra-nationalist Serbian Radical party. Its founder, Vojislav Seselj, who once threatened to “scoop out the eyeballs of Croats with rusty spoons”, is being tried for crimes against humanity in the Hague.

Nikolic said in an interview that he is “not very different” from Seselj, but insisted that if he wins, it will be a step forwards for Serbia.

His past tells a different story. He has been accused of ethnic cleansing in Croatia during the 1990s and was deputy prime minister to the Serb leader Slobodan Milosevic, who died in 2006 during his trial at the Hague for war crimes.

Nikolic has used widespread Serb resentment over western-backed moves towards independence for the breakaway province of Kosovo to breathe life back into ideas that many assumed had died with the Milosevic regime.

Once seen as a fringe party, the Radicals have softened their image and their supporters now include Marija Serifovic, 23, who won last year’s Eurovision song contest.

However, critics say the change is superficial, pointing to an incident last week when Nikolic supporters attacked rival campaigners with baseball bats as they put up posters.

Already the largest party in parliament, the Radicals face a shaky coalition of more moderate parties. Observers predict that Serbia’s relationship with the West would deteriorate under his presidency.

He has already warned that countries which recognise Kosovo’s independence would “damage their relations” with Serbia and that he would seek closer ties with Russia.

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