Key Party Withdraws From Coalition Meetings

The party of Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica announced that it would stop participating in key ruling coalition meetings, in effect withdrawing from the 18-party alliance that governs Serbia, the nation’s dominant republic.

Kostunica’s Democratic Party of Serbia, a key member of the ruling alliance, the Democratic Opposition of Serbia, announced the move Friday after it refused to endorse a draft law on cooperation with the U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague.

In a statement, the party said it would withdraw from all meetings of the coalition in protest of a “constantly deepening” crisis and “continued violation of coalition agreements at all levels.”