Former ultranationalist is new Serbian president

BELGRADE, Serbia - Serbia is likely to get a government with ambitions to join the European Union despite the election of a pro-Russian nationalist as the country's new president, officials said Monday.

Tomislav Nikolic, a former ultranationalist ally of late Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic, beat incumbent Boris Tadic for Serbia's presidency on Sunday - a result that could slow down the Balkan country's attempts to join the EU and reconcile with wartime foes, including the former province of Kosovo that declared independence in 2008.

The state electoral commission said Monday its near-complete vote count showed Nikolic won 49.5 percent of the vote against Tadic's 47.3 percent.

The outcome was a sign of the fading allure of the EU, which is plagued by a debt crisis, and voter discontent with Serbia's weak economy. Tadic is one of many politicians in Europe who have recently lost elections because of the crisis.

Tadic built his presidential bid around pro-EU policies, but his biggest problem was the economic downturn and corruption within the ruling elite. Faced with the financial crisis in Europe, which slowed down much-needed foreign investment, Tadic's government has seen massive job losses and plummeting living standards.

Despite the loss, Tadic's Democrats are likely to form a new government with the Socialists, leaving Nikolic without real power as a figurehead president.

Ivica Dacic, the leader of the Socialists, said that the pre-election agreement with the Democrats remains in place regardless of Nikolic's victory.

But Dacic conceded that "everything will be more complicated."

"The president appoints the prime minister-designate, and the question is whom he will choose," Dacic said.

Nikolic gave no indication who he would propose in his victory speech. Although Nikolic's Progressive Party won most seats in Parliament in the May 6 parliamentary elections, pro-EU parties have a majority in the assembly which appoints the new government.

Dragan Bujosevic, the editor-in-chief of the main Serbian newspaper Politika, said Nikolic's victory only represented a punishment of Tadic, since his party will be a key part of the next Serbian government.

"It's a paradox," Bujosevic said.

Nikolic, who narrowly lost two earlier presidential votes to Tadic, claimed to have shifted from being staunchly anti-Western to pro-EU. But that change was widely believed to be a ploy to gain more votes. Nikolic has close ties with Russia and has in the past even envisaged Serbia as a Russian province.

The EU urged Nikolic on Monday to pursue the course of membership and to continue to seek reconciliation with Kosovo, the former province considered by nationalists as the cradle of the Serbian state and its religion.

Herman van Rompuy and José Manuel Barroso, two leading EU officials, said in a joint statement "it will be essential to see the momentum of reforms continuing" if Serbia hopes to start accession negotiations.

The congratulatory message to Nikolic from the two was made public by mistake, three hours before the polls closed on Sunday. It was quickly retracted.

"Serbia will not turn away from the European path," Nikolic said in his victory speech.