The upcoming elections are a new watershed and it is up to citizens to decide what kind of country they want, Polt said.
The US ambassador said he believed that people in Serbia were ready for major changes and that if they went to the polls as they had six years ago, 2007 would be a year of great progress for Serbia and the entire region.
Asked how the USA supported political forces which it believed were leading the country in the right direction and to name those forces, Polt said that his country supported the principles of democracy and freedom throughout the world and that it supported the democratic process rather than individuals or parties.
We are interested in democracy functioning, in elections being held in an open and transparent atmosphere and in a maximum number of people going to the polls to express their opinion, regardless of what it may be, Polt said.
Asked how the US government would respond if the Serbian Radical Party won the elections or if a coalition including the Radical Party was formed, Polt first would not speculate about the election outcome, but then added that his country would cooperate with any party that won the elections.
We will work with any Serbia that you choose. If it is a Serbia that is headed towards Euro-Atlantic integration, Partnership for Peace and possibly NATO membership, the European Union and a better economic future for you and your family, then it is a Serbia that corresponds with our system of values, which is not American but universal. If you choose to go in a different direction, that is not up to us, and we will then see how to respond to that other Serbia, the US ambassador said.