New Serbian Government Voted, AP: Hard Decision Ahead for Kosovo

Serbia's new government has been inaugurated after officially winning parliament's approval Wednesday, about six months after elections reaffirmed the domination of autocratic President Aleksandar Vuciq and his right-wing populists.

The vote in the 250-seat assembly was 157 pro and 68 against the new cabinet. The rest of lawmakers were missing, the AP reports.

The new government, which will be led by Vuciki's close associate, Anna Brnabiq, for its third consecutive term as prime minister, will have to deal with the strategic decisions facing the Balkan country. These include Western calls for Serbia to join sanctions against its ally Russia for war in Ukraine and to normalise relations with Kosovo if it wants to join the European Union.

The new cabinet has 28 ministers, including several pro-Russians as Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic. It also has officials considered pro-Western, but they will lead less important ministries that will have few words for Serbia's future foreign policy decisions.

Vuciqi, who heads the ruling SNS party and who has almost full influence over government policies, has said there is “unlimited confidence” in Brnabiqi, 47-year-old who became Serbia's first female and openly gay prime minister in 2017.

In her inaugural speech in Parliament, Brnabyqi tried to downplay claims that the new government is either pro-Russian or pro-Western.

“We are building a European Serbia and membership itself in (BE) certainly does not depend only on us”, she said. Serbia will also continue to invest in its friendships with other countries”, she added, in an apparent reference to Russia and China.

Although most of the foreign trade is with EU member states, Serbia is almost entirely dependent on Russian gas and has bought weapons from Russia, while China is a major investor.

A former anti-Western ultranationalist, Vuciq, has said he wants to lead Serbia into the EU. But he has refused to join Western sanctions against Russia and maintains friendly ties with Moscow despite the war in Ukraine. The approach of foreign policies with those of the EU remains one of the main preconditions for Serbia to join the 27-nation bloc.

Political analyst Milan St. Protic said that Vuciqi and the governments he has chosen during his 10-year rule have allowed the expansion of Russian influence in the country, Klankosova broadcast.tv.

It is clear that Serbia has entered Russian jaws”, Protic said. When that door opened, they (the Jews) entered from all sides”.

Vuciqi won another five-year term in the April elections, which were simultaneously parliamentary and presidential elections.

Analysts have said Vuciqi wanted to delay the formation of a new government to postpone making major decisions that could undermine his position among his largely pro-rus electorate.

Russia has strong political influence in Serbia, which is considered Moscow's strongest ally in Europe. In the West, there is fear that Moscow has used Belgrade to destabilise neighbours in the Balkans who are still wavering from devastating wars in the 1990s.