Serb Radicals Soften EU Stance for Coalition Sake

Reuters ^ | May 29, 2008

[Tailgunner Joe]

Serbia's nationalist parties are softening their anti-European Union stance for the sake of a coalition deal with the kingmaker Socialist Party, which could be signed soon, officials said on Thursday. An inconclusive May 11 election left Serbia split between hardliners led by the Radical Party of Tomislav Nikolic and liberals led by the Democratic Party of President Boris Tadic.

The Socialists of late autocrat Slobodan Milosevic hold the key to any coalition. The party, which insists on closer ties with the EU, has been negotiating a coalition with the Radicals and the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) for almost three weeks.

Radical leader Tomislav Nikolic said that the three parties had now harmonized their position towards the EU.

"There will be no brutal annulment of the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) with the EU in the Serbian parliament," Nikolic told reporters.

"We are going to further negotiate the accord and ask the EU to amend it with one sentence -- Kosovo is part of Serbia."

Serbia's former province Kosovo declared independence in February and swiftly won recognition from most EU countries.

To soften the blow and boost the pro-Western bloc before the election, Brussels gave Serbia the SAA, a first milestone on the long path to eventual membership of the bloc.

The Radicals opposed its signing and the DSS of outgoing Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said it would ask parliament to annul it, as ratifying it would be selling out Kosovo.

Nikolic refused to say what would happen if the EU said no to such a request. The bloc has made clear it supports Kosovo's secession and is deploying a police and justice mission to help the new state take its first steps.

"I believe the signing of the coalition agreement is a matter of days," Nikolic said. "For the past several days there is nothing disputable between me, (Socialist leader Ivica) Dacic and Kostunica."

Serbia's progress towards EU membership has been erratic since Milosevic fell in 2000, ending a decade of isolation imposed because of its role in the Yugoslav wars.

The Socialists, keen to emerge from Milosevic's shadow and enter the mainstream, know a pro-EU stance is the surest path to rehabilitation and told the hardliners to soften their rhetoric on the EU, or there can be no deal.

Although they agreed an alliance with the nationalists in the high-profile Belgrade city council, the Socialists are also looking to the Democrats, who are wooing them on a platform of "national reconciliation".

If no government is formed by mid September, Serbia must hold another election. The prospect of the country seeing more instability in a year of tension and often violent protests has unnerved investors, neighbours and the EU.