Brussels, 21/05/2012 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 21 May, the presidents of the European Council, the Commission and the Parliament, Herman Van Rompuy, José Manuel Barroso and Martin Schulz, and EU High Representative Catherine Ashton congratulated Tomislav Nikolic on his election as President of Serbia. Pointing out that during the elections, “the Serbian people have given a very clear signal of support to the continued European orientation of government policy”, Barroso and Van Rompuy stressed that they trust Nikolic's commitment to this integration, adding that Nikolic “received a strong mandate to pursue this policy and move quickly to the next step of its European integration: the start of accession negotiations once the necessary conditions are met”.
“Serbia's European perspective is very concrete and we therefore hope to be able to rely on President Nikolic's personal dedication to achieve this aim”, added Barroso and Van Rompuy, “strongly” encouraging him to pursue this direction “with particular determination”. They stressed that the opening of negotiations will require Serbia to continue to “demonstrate its adherence to the spirit of cooperation and reconciliation in the region”, emphasising the importance of reforms and further progress in relations between Serbia and Kosovo. Catherine Ashton hopes for the “early resumption of work in Parliament and the rapid formation of a new government committed to reforms and continued European integration”.
Swoboda pessimistic
However, the president of the S&D Group at the European Parliament, Hannes Swoboda, was considerably more pessimistic. He feels that this election is a “blow to the policy of the European Balkans and regional stability”. He called on Nikolic to “decide how to implement his pro-European declarations by means of concrete actions”, stressing that his “nationalistic rhetoric” and his stance on Kosovo “have not yet indicated the choice of taking the European road”. “The EU should not be misled by the democratic choice of the Serbian people. The adopted line of a carefully planned and gradual integration of the region needs to be continued”, Swoboda added.
Nikolic reassuring
Since his election was announced, the new president has taken pains to be reassuring, stating that “Serbia will stay on the European road”. A number of analysts believe that the new presidency will not change Belgrade's direction. “I believe that Nikolic will continue the only realistic policy, the one followed by Tadic”, explained sociologist Jovo Bakic, adding that “the road of integration into the EU has been traced out (…); nothing worrying is likely to happen". Nikolic “will go to Brussels to try to find common political language with the principal members of the EU”, said political analyst Djordje Vukovic.
According to the initial results, Nikolic is believed to have beaten the outgoing president, Tadic, by 49.4% of the votes against 47.4%. The Serbian political parties must now get together for talks to form a majority government. The Socialist party of the outgoing deputy prime minister, Ivica Dacic, has the highest number of MPs in parliament (73 out of 250) but, if it wishes to govern, it will have to break the alliance in place with the Democrat Party under President Tadic. (CG/transl.fl)