Tomislav NIkolic, Serbian politician, leader of the Radical Party
The political parties represented in the Narodna Skupstina, the Serbian parliament, are holding talks on the formation of a ruling coalition. On Tuesday, the Radical Party and a coalition consisting of the Democratic Party and the New Serbia Party coordinated the top priorities of the future government’s policy. This was announced by Radical Party leader Tomislav Nikolic after consultations with Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, who is the leader of the Democratic Party. The Socialist Party headed by Ivica Dacic is expected to join today. If these three major political forces, which have the necessary majority in parliament, come to agreement, they shall form a new coalition cabinet. Chances are high, given the similarity of positions held by the Radicals, Kustunica’s supporters, and the Socialists on the issue of European integration and the future of Kosovo.
Aleksandr Karasev, an expert at the Institute for Slavic Studies at the Russian Academy of Sciences, commented on this. He said, “What should come first… Serbia’s accession to the European Union, and then, the issue of Kosovo recedes into the background, or the struggle to retain sovereignty over Kosovo, as insisted upon by the Radicals? They are not against European integration, but, only if their demand that Kosovo be recognised as part of Serbia is accepted”.
The Socialists will have the final say. Meanwhile, they have received a tempting offer from the For European Serbia party, which has the biggest faction in parliament. Whether this will please those who voted for the Socialist Party remains to be seen.
14 May 2008
Yevgeny Kryshkin
Voice of Russia World Service
http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&q=27012&cid=56&p=14.05.2008 (in English)
