Pro-Western official confident in wake of divisive parliamentary election that his bloc will govern Serbia

BELGRADE, Serbia: A senior pro-Western official expressed confidence Tuesday that his bloc will lead Serbia's new government, despite a bid by the nationalists to take power following a divisive weekend election.

Outgoing Economy Minister Mladjan Dinkic said the first task of the new government will be to ratify a pre-entry agreement that Serbia recently signed with the European Union.

Dinkic did not reveal whether his group — which won the most votes in the Sunday election, but not enough to govern alone — has managed to form a wider coalition that will hold the majority of seats in Serbia's 250-member parliament.

"In order to take Serbia into the European Union, one must make a compromise," Dinkic said. "And such a compromise will be made."

The pro-Western camp, led by President Boris Tadic, needs the support from the Socialist Party, once led by late strongman Slobodan Milosevic, to form the new government.

Tadic faces a challenge from the nationalists, who have announced plans to team up and counter the election gains of the pro-Western camp. The nationalists, too, have attempted to court the Socialists.

Any party of coalition needs 126 seats for a majority in Parliament.

Near-complete results released by the state electoral commission gave Tadic's bloc 102 seats and the far-right Serbian Radical Party 78.

Tadic was reaching out to the Liberal Party, which won 14, and to an ethnic Hungarian party that took four seats. If Tadic persuaded the Socialists to join him with their 20 seats, he would have a total of 140 seats.

But the Radicals also had the support of the 30 deputies belonging to the Popular Coalition of outgoing Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, and if they get the Socialist swing seats, their alliance would total 128 seats.

The Socialists ruled Serbia in the 1990s during Milosevic's decade-long reign. Under Milosevic, the party was blamed for inciting four wars in the Balkans and destroying Serbia's economy.

But since Milosevic died in the custody of the U.N. war crimes tribunal in 2006, the Socialists' new leadership has sought to change the party's image, portraying it as a modern leftist group.

Party officials have not ruled out cooperation with either of Serbia's rival camps.

Sunday's election in Serbia was widely considered a crucial choice between pursuing EU integration — or restoring the defiant nationalism of the Milosevic era.

The nationalist bloc advocates dropping Serbia's bid to join the EU because more than half of the EU member states have recognized the independence of Kosovo, which Serbia cherishes as its medieval heartland.

While Tadic also rejects independence for Kosovo, he has advocated quick integration into the European Union regardless of EU support for Kosovo's statehood.

In Brussels, EU Foreign Policy chief Javier Solana said Tuesday that the election showed Serbia's citizens want to join the EU. He suggested that the EU would support including the Socialists in a new, pro-EU government.

Dinkic said he expected the government will be formed within a month. He said "a lot of work" lies ahead, such as achieving higher salaries, or ensuring more foreign investment in the impoverished country.

"None of this can be done if we don't move toward the EU, and that is why I expect this government to be formed soon," he said.

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