Serbian Right-Wing Leader Resigns

[Ghost in the Machine]

Published: 5/14/07, 12:45 AM EDT
By MISHA SAVIC
BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) - A Serbian ultranationalist resigned as parliament speaker Sunday after only five days in the post, averting immediate fears that the country was returning to its warmongering past.

Tomislav Nikolic stepped down following a last-minute deal between pro-democracy parties to form Serbia's next government.

Nikolic was elected to the No. 2 position in Serbia last Tuesday, triggering fears in the West that allies of late President Slobodan Milosevic were returning to power after their ouster in a popular revolt in 2000.

"I resign from the post ... but be sure that I will watch closely what your new government will do," Nikolic told the parliament in an emotional speech following long, acrimonious debate on whether Serbia should keep striving for closer ties with the West or stick to its traditional ally, Russia.

Nikolic warned the new government that if it "peacefully accepts" independence for Kosovo, his Radicals "won't sit calmly and wait."

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[dave_p]

1. Caving in to aggression

Note the language: he's an "ultranationalist" because he demands that the government resist a foreign grab of part of Serbia's territory. We're not told why he's any more "right wing" than Serbia's governing pro-western, pro-market parties. The turnabout follows open US threats that a victory for Nikolic's Radical Party would "seriously harm" Serbia's relations with the West. This isn't about ultranationalism, it's about aggressive foreign interference in domestic politics and Serbia's reduction to an ever smaller rump.