Late on July 7, Serbia finally secured itself a cabinet after two months of hard coalition bargaining. A total of 127 members of parliament of the 250-seat Serbian assembly approved the government composition prime minister Mirko Cvetkovic proposed earlier in the day along with the cabinet programme, after which the new ministers were sworn in.

This outcome came after Serbia had several months of political instability in the wake of the secession of its southern province of Kosovo on February 17. In March, former Serbian prime minister of the nationalist Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) Vojislav Kostunica resigned over disputes with his coalition partners of president Boris Tadic’s Democratic Party (DS) on the country’s European integration. Kostunica believed all ties with the European Union should be cut because most of the bloc’s members recognised the independent Kosovar state, while the DS, dedicated to not letting Kosovo go, thought Serbia’s future EU membership was not something to be sacrificed.

At the May 11 snap elections, the DS-led For a European Serbia coalition won the most seats in parliament, but not enough to govern on its own. The nationalist Serbian Radical Party (SRS) and DSS came second and third, respectively, but, even after agreeing to join forces after the polls, did not manage to reach the necessary majority.

The Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS), sunk into oblivion for eight years, unexpectedly emerged as the kingmaker for the future cabinet. It first negotiated with the nationalists, but this failed, so negotiations with the pro-European bloc started.

All this led to the newly-elected Serbian government being made up by the parties gathered in the DS-led For a European Serbia coalition, the coalition around the SPS and some ethnic minorities parties. It has 24 portfolio ministers, one minister without portfolio, a first deputy prime minister along with three other deputy prime ministers. The alliance between former rival Socialists and Democrats saw the SRS and the DSS remain in opposition.

The key principles of the Cvetkovic cabinet, as set in its programme, include commitment to a European future for Serbia, non-acceptance of the independence of Kosovo, strengthening the economy, increasing the social responsibility of the government, stepping up efforts to combat crime and corruption, and observing international law.

“One of the first moves of the new government will be to submit the Stabilisation and Association Agreement [with the EU] to parliament for ratification,” Cvetkovic said. “The government’s main objective is for Serbia to gain EU candidate country status by the end of this year or by the beginning of next year,” he announced. If the new Serbian government is to so actively pursue its country’s European integration, it should fulfil the bloc’s requirement of full co-operation with the Hague war crimes tribunal, something the one-time Milosevic-led SPS has not been exactly keen on over the post-war years.

Cvetkovic also said that one of the priorities of the new cabinet will be to expand Serbia’s ties with Russia. “In that respect, the ratification of the gas supply arrangement with Gazprom by Serbian parliament will be the first legislative initiative of the new government.”

At the same time, Serbia’s cabinet will aim to develop its relations with the US and with other countries throughout the world, “in particular with China, India, countries of the Mediterranean basin and with the unallied countries, with which Serbia has had successful co-operation in the past”, Cvetkovic said.

“There is full consent among the coalition members that the new government will never recognise the independence of Kosovo and Metohija and that, in co-operation with other government bodies, it will undertake all legal and diplomatic measures so as to preserve Kosovo and Metohija as an integral part of the Republic of Serbia,” he said.

According to the programme, the main economic objectives of the Serbian government will be dynamic growth of the economy related activities, employment rate increase, improvement of the living standard of Serbia’s citizens and achieving a more even regional development.

Achieving a seven per cent GDP growth annually, creating at least 200 000 new jobs, reducing the unemployment rate from 18.1 to 11.9 per cent and securing an inflation rate drop from the current twelve per cent to about four per cent annually in 2012 are among the key economic priorities on Cvetkovic’s agenda.

Key ministers in the new Serbian cabinet

Prime minister: Mirko Cvetkovic (DS) Cvetkovic has a PhD from the University of Belgrade’s faculty of economics and has worked as an economist at a number of Serbian institutions, as well as on various projects for the World Bank.
First deputy prime minister and minister of interior: Ivica Dacic (leader of the SPS)
Deputy prime minister and minister of economy and regional development: Mladjan Dinkic (leader of DS ally G17 Plus)
Foreign affairs minister: Vuk Jeremic (DS)
Defence minister: Dragan Sutanovac (DS)
Finance minister: Diana Dragutinovic (DS)
Justice minister: Snezana Malovic (DS)
Energy and mining minister: Petar Skundric (SPS)
Minister for Kosovo-Metohija: Goran Bogdanovic (DS)