Serbia in coalition scramble after pro-EU party wins

SERBIA:AFTER SECURING a surprise victory in Sunday's general election, Serbia's pro-EU parties now face the prospect of having to form a coalition with the Socialists once led by Slobodan Milosevic to secure a majority in parliament.

Tomislav Nikolic, leader of the ultra-nationalist Radicals who were tipped to win the election, yesterday mocked West-leaning parties' chances of forming a viable government, and said new elections would ensue unless his party built a government with the Socialists and the nationalist DSS party led by outgoing prime minister Vojislav Kostunica.

With 98 per cent of votes counted, the Democrats, led by president Boris Tadic, were poised to secure 102 seats in the 250-seat parliament, followed by the Radicals with 77 seats and the DSS with 30. The Socialists were expected to win 20 seats, with the Liberal Democrats taking 14 and ethnic minority parties claiming the final seven places. Monitors estimated that 61 per cent of voters cast their ballots.

On ideological grounds, the most natural coalition would combine the Radicals and the Socialists with the DSS, given their shared wariness of the EU and United States and their implacable opposition to Kosovo's independence.

The Democrats and their allies also refuse to recognise Kosovo's sovereignty but, unlike the nationalist parties, they also want to push ahead with Belgrade's bid for EU membership, despite Brussels' support for the mostly Albanian region's independence.

"This is a great victory, but it's not over yet," Mr Tadic said.

"The negotiations will not be easy [but] I warn everyone not to play with the electoral will of the citizens and try to take Serbia back to the isolation of the 1990s," he added, referring to a disastrous and bloody decade presided over by Mr Milosevic. An ideological gulf separates the Democrats from the Radicals, and Mr Tadic's alliance with Mr Kostunica collapsed in acrimony over whether to sever ties with the EU following Kosovo's independence declaration.

That raises the peculiar prospect of a coalition between the Socialists and the Democrats, the latter a party once led by Zoran Djindjic, the reformist prime minister who was shot dead by Milosevic loyalists in 2003.

Vuk Jeremic, Serbia's foreign minister and a leading Democrat, said his party would "talk to everybody" in a bid to form a viable, pro-EU government. "Whoever wants to follow us on this great victorious path to the European future of Serbia, everybody is welcome," he said.

Analysts said the Democrats' victory showed Serbs ultimately favoured the prospect of EU membership and a better standard of living over a mass protest vote about Kosovo. They also predicted tough coalition talks and overtures from the Democrats towards their former enemies, the Socialists, who have worked to soften their image and distance themselves from Mr Milosevic.

"We are the ones who expect to be called," said Socialist leader Ivica Dacic. "We don't want power at any cost. We want our principles to be respected, and these are to defend state and national interests and defending social justice."

The EU's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, quickly hailed "a clear victory to the pro-EU parties" but William Montgomery, former US ambassador to Serbia, sounded a note of caution.

"Although we see a very good result for Tadic's Democrats, it remains very uncertain who will form the government," he said.

"The results show the country is divided, about 50-50, between those who support the politics of the Democratic Party and its partners, and those who support the Radicals and similar parties, like the Socialists and Kostunica's DSS."