New Serbian government voted, eyes EU talks

BELGRADE (Reuters) - Serbia's parliament approved the moderate government of Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica on Tuesday to the relief of the West, which feared the Balkan country's fragile democracy would relapse into nationalism.

The vote came just before a midnight deadline and despite an ultranationalist protest. Kostunica told parliament his coalition would seek to take Serbia into the European Union and cooperate with The Hague war crimes tribunal.

But he said Serbia would make no concessions on its southern breakaway province of Kosovo, which a U.N.-supervised process has set on course for independence.

In a dramatic parliament session, hardline deputies protested over a late-night police search for war crimes fugitive Ratko Mladic, who they see as a hero, and dragged the debate out to 30 minutes before the constitutional deadline.

EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn was due in Belgrade on Wednesday to meet Serbian leaders. Bozidar Djelic, deputy PM in charge of EU affairs, said he had been given the "excellent news" that talks with the EU would be "deblocked immediately".

"We will have confirmation officially tomorrow," he told reporters.

Kostunica, a moderate nationalist, agreed a coalition with pro-Western president Boris Tadic last Friday. The government got 133 votes in the 250-seat house.

Kostunica told parliament the coalition had agreed on the "five pillars" of its policy, notably on Kosovo, EU membership, cooperation with the Hague tribunal, social and economic reforms and fighting crime and corruption.

SERBIA'S ASPIRATIONS

"Serbia's aspiration to become a full member of the EU is a clearly declared commitment of every party in this coalition," Kostunica told parliament earlier.

The EU had been urging the formation of a moderate coalition since Serbia's inconclusive January 21 election, but toughened its stance last week when ultranationalist Tomislav Nikolic was elected parliament speaker.

Brussels was shocked and put pressure on Kostunica and Tadic to agree a coalition, and replace Nikolic. The result was a delicate balance: Kostunica is prime minister but Tadic's Democratic Party gets 13 of 25 cabinet posts.

"Serbia today is getting a puppet government," Nikolic said during the parliamentary debate.

The Democrats and Kostunica's Democratic Party of Serbia will have joint control of the security services, something Tadic and the EU insisted on because Kostunica failed to arrest Mladic during his previous tenure.

"There is an agreement that all necessary steps must be taken to finalize cooperation with The Hague (tribunal) in the shortest possible time," Kostunica said.

The EU last year froze talks on a Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA), the first step towards membership, because of Belgrade's failure to apprehend and hand over Mladic.

Rehn said on Monday the EU was "rather confident" the program of the new government would warrant an immediate resumption of SAA talks, but noted Belgrade would have to send Mladic to The Hague before the SAA could be signed.

(additional reporting by Beti Bilandzic, Gordana Filipovic, Ivana Sekularac, Ljilja Cvekic)