Belgrade - Serbia's pro-European President Boris Tadic accused the nationalist caretaker Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica of lying and disseminating hatred in an interview released Wednesday, days ahead of crucial snap polls.

"It is very bad that he speaks untruths of the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) with the EU, deceiving citizens and dividing them into so-called patriots and traitors," Tadic said in the interview with the daily Press.

"He has brought hate speech to his politics. It is irresponsible to infuse bad blood into the nation for the sake of cheap political points," Tadic said.

Serbia holds early parliamentary elections on Sunday. The poll was forced when the coalition of Tadic's Democratic Party (DS) and the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) fell apart in the wake of Kosovo's declaration of independence in February.

Kostunica and the nationalist camp want Serbia to fully turn away from the EU and the West in protest at its support for Kosovo's secession, while Tadic and his bloc insist that Serbia must nevertheless continue its approach to EU membership.

Tadic and the pro-Europeans won points when the EU signed the SAA with Serbia in April, but Kostunica, counting on support from the surging ultra-nationalist Serbian Radical Party (SRS) promised to annul it in parliament after the elections.

Kostunica accused Brussels of blackmailing Serbia into allowing Kosovo to slide into independence through the back door in return for closer ties with the EU and eventual membership.

Surveys indicate a close race between the DS and SRS, but neither with enough support to form even a two-way coalition.

An eventual cabinet run by nationalists, with Kostunica again in the central role of kingmaker, appears more likely, local observers estimate. (dpa)