BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — As Serbia's parliament prepares to elect Ivica Dacic as prime minister, the former wartime spokesman for Slobodan Milosevic is trying to dispel concern that his government could push the country back into the nationalism of the late strongman's era.
Ivica Dacic -- who had earned the nickname "Little Sloba" in the past for his admiration of the former Yugoslav president-- pledged once again in his speech to the lawmakers that he would press on with Serbia's bid to join the European Union and promote peace and stability in the Balkans. As he put it "There has been enough blood in the Balkans." But not everyone has been reassured by his speech.
Dacic's coalition of parties in Parliament has the majority needed to elect him prime minister and to approve his Cabinet. This was initially expected to happen on Thursday night, but the vote was delayed until noon on Friday after parliamentary discussion continued into the early morning hours.
