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Moscow hoping for pro-Russian coalition in Serbia

May 12, 2008, 15:57 GMT

Moscow - Russia could be secure that its privileged relations and new energy contracts with Serbia would stay unchanged despite the pro-European bloc's wins in parliamentary elections, politicians and newspapers said Monday. Reactions to Sunday's election emphasized their lack of conclusiveness as Serbian President Boris Tadic's pro-European bloc is far from holding a parliamentary majority. Many also saw room for a pro-Russian coalition in the aftermath of the vote. 'The preliminary election results are very ambiguous ... it will extremely difficultly for the pro-presidential bloc to find allies,' Konstatine Kosachyov, head of Russia's International Affairs Committee, told Interfax news agency. Kosachyov guessed instead Monday that Tadik's two rival nationalist parties could unite to form a parliamentary majority. Tadic's camp won 39 per cent of votes, but is still far from a majority and faces hard talks in a bid to convert the poll result into power and keep Serbia on a Western course. 'There is the sensation that the 38 per cent obtained by this bloc is the maximum number that could be garnered by a political force, which speaks in favour of a rapprochement between Serbia and the European Union, in spite of problems with Kosovo,' Kosachyov added. Russia, which holds a UN veto, has been Serbia's longest-standing ally in its claim over Kosovo. Unlike the United States and most EU members states, Moscow has refused to recognize Kosovo's declaration of independence. State mouthpiece Rossiiskaya Gazeta feature a full-page spread entitled 'the crucifixion of Kosovo,' while popular daily Komsamolskaya Pravada featured a flame-framed spread that explored mapped out 'epicentres of humanitarian catastrophe' where ethnic Albanian enclaves are located across the province. Business newspaper Kommersant steered clear of such sensationalism highlighting the growing economic ties between Moscow and Belgrade. Three days before the snap elections, Serbia's cabinet unanimously voted to conclude an energy deal allowing Russian gas monopoly Gazprom to purchase the country's largest petroleum firm. 'So Moscow won't lose whatever the outcome of the Serbian elections,' the newspaper wrote Monday under the similarly optimistic headline 'Russia may win a majority in the Serbian parliament.' Had it been up to Tadik's bloc the Serbian oil company would have been sold in an open tender including European buyers.

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