BELGRADE: MEDIA ON ELECTION VICTORY OF HDZ

BELGRADE, Nov 25 (Hina) - All Serbian media on Tuesday bring reports about the results of Sunday's parliamentary ballot in Croatia, stating that with the victory of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) Croatia had made a turn to the right. #L# "Blic" daily states that "the feelings of Croatian citizens range from euphoria to concern, and even shame due to the election result, which is evident from many polls". The association of Serbs from Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina is collecting documents to file a request with the OSCE to annul the elections in constituency no. 11 (for the expatriate community). It claims that Serb refugees were "prevented from exercising their right to vote" due to few polling stations having been opened in Serbia and Montenegro, "Vecernje novosti" daily reported. Milojko Budimir, secretary of the association of Croatian Serbs, believes, too, that the elections were not fair due to the few polling stations. Dalibor Buric of the Croatian Civil Initiative from Kotor, Montenegro, said the results of the Croatian ballot were not surprising. "For Croats in Montenegro, elections in this country are much more important, regardless of the fact that Croatia, in a way, is our native country," Buric told "Danas" daily. "The election result indicates certain political and social conservatism, especially in light of the fact that the result was influenced by the public involvement of the Catholic Church in Croatia. It is not by chance that exactly in those areas where the presence of the church and its members is the strongest the HDZ had most success, and those areas are the least developed ones," reads an article in "Politika" daily. "The rhetoric of the new right is much more balanced when it comes to the relationship between Croatian and European values, patriotism and social issues. Whitewashed, the right has won more votes than the former government, which rid Croatia of the difficult legacy of Tudjman's war policy to a great extent, but failed to bring the expected prosperity," reads the editorial in "Danas" daily. "In this context, Croatia's swing to the right is neither unexpected nor illogical," the daily said. (hina) rml sb