Serbia approves pro-Western governmentBy Dan Bilefsky
Published: July 7, 2008The Serbian Parliament approved Monday a new pro-Western government that aims to bring the poor Balkan nation into the European Union while banishing the virulent nationalism of the past.
The formation of the government, after two months of intense negotiations, is the product of an unlikely alliance between the Democrats of President Boris Tadic and the Socialist Party of the former Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic.
The coalition of the two once bitter rivals was approved in a 127-to-27 vote with the remaining lawmakers in the 250-seat Parliament refusing to vote, The Associated Press reported.
Milosevic's government led a war against the West in the 1990s, but the new coalition has now vowed to bring Serbia back into the Western fold.
Mirko Cvetkovic, a member of Tadic's party, who was previously finance minister, is expected to succeed Vojislav Kostunica as prime minister. Kostunica, a nationalist, helped lead the revolution that overthrew Milosevic in 2000, but has since adopted trenchant anti-Western rhetoric.
Ivica Dacic, leader of the Socialist Party, is poised to become Cvetkovic's deputy as well as the new interior minister, putting Milosevic's party in charge of the police and state security. The Socialists also secured the key infrastructure and energy ministries. The coalition of the former foes has a majority in the 250-seat Parliament, making approval of the government almost certain.
Some liberals in the West and in Serbia have expressed alarm about the political marriage between pro-Western democrats and former staunch nationalists who helped plunge the Balkans into a decade of war. But Tadic has called the union a political necessity that will lead to national reconciliation. The Democrats won the most seats in a parliamentary election on May 11, but not enough to form a majority.
Addressing Parliament on Monday, Cvetkovic, a former economist, made it clear that linking Serbia to the West was his primary goal. He called for the country's quick entry into the European Union and indicated that he would focus on improving its sluggish economy and fighting crime and corruption.
"Full-fledged EU membership is the core interest of the Republic of Serbia and its citizens," Cvetkovic said. "Joining the EU would enable Serbia to become a member of the European family of nations from which Serbia has been excluded for a long time due to certain unfortunate historical circumstances."
Cvetkovic said he would fight to ensure that Kosovo remain part of Serbia. He said Belgrade would continue to provide economic support for ethnic Serbs in the territory, which declared independence in February.
"There is a full consent among the coalition members that the new government of the Republic of Serbia will never recognize the independence of Kosovo and that the government, in cooperation with other government bodies, will undertake all legal and diplomatic measures so as to preserve Kosovo as an integral part of the Republic of Serbia."
Still, Western diplomats said they were hopeful that the new government's pro-EU stance would temper Belgrade's strident opposition to Kosovo's independence - in rhetoric, if not in practice. Western diplomats also said they hoped that Serbia would be more cooperative in handing over alleged Serbian war criminals to the United Nations tribunal in The Hague, a prerequisite to joining the European Union.
