On April 17, Serbian President Boris Tadic visited Serbian Progressive Party leader Tomislav Nikolic, who is demanding that an early election be called, and asked him to drop a hunger and thirst strike. Tadic, however, explained that elections could be held after Serbia obtained the status of a EU candidate country.

After meeting Nikolic in the parliament building, Tadic told reporters that, if met, Nikolic's request for scheduling the vote would be "a precedent in the way that disputes are resolved in society," stressing that Serbia could not be a society that condoned extortion.

"Elections are scheduled in a way defined by law and Serbia cannot go from one to another early vote," the president said, adding that unless it obtained the status of a candidate country, neither fresh investment nor new jobs were possible.

The difficult economic situation in the country Tadic said cannot be resolved either by elections or forging a new cabinet, but only through social dialog and agreement.

Tadic also said that he intended to continue pressing Nikolic to stop the hunger strike. The president stressed that he respected Nikolic's choices as a person and his right to decide whatever he liked, adding that he trusted that the leader of the Progressive Party is "searching for the best solution" in his own way.

Nikolic's condition worsening, refuses therapy

The physical condition of Serbian Progressive Party leader Tomislav Nikolic, who is on a hunger and thirst strike, took a major turn for the worse late on April 17. Nikolic has been refusing intravenous therapy according to physician Momcilo Babic.

Speaking to reporters at the private Beogradski KBC Hospital, where Nikolic was admitted around 8 p.m., on April 17, Babic said that Nikolic was still refusing therapy, but added that he would soon have to.

"We hope that a compromise will be made and that he will accept some kind of therapy, like pain killers, or blood pressure and anti-fever drugs," Dr. Babic said.

Babic said that Nikolic's blood pressure had been measured at 150/100 and that his body was highly agitated with all the symptoms of exhaustion and coagulation problems due to dehydration.

The doctor warned that Nikolic's condition could dramatically worsen over the course of the next few days or even hours, as each organism had its own unique response to food and water deprivation, although one thing was certain, that this would happen in a matter of "days, not weeks."

Dr. Babic also said that according to Serbian law, therapy could not be forced upon an unwilling patient.

Nikolic started the hunger and thirst strike on April 16, demanding an early parliamentary vote.

"As of this morning, I am not taking water or food," Nikolic said at the Progressives' rally in Belgrade on April 16. According to estimates, more than 100,000 people attended the protest.

Nikolic also stressed that this was his final offer to President Boris Tadic for parliamentary elections.