EU's Solana urges fast government talks in Serbia

BRUSSELS, Jan 22 (Reuters) European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana urged the rapid formation of a Serbian government today and put a brave face on the success of hardline nationalists in key elections.

''The majority voted for forces that are democratic and pro-European,'' Solana said as he arrived for a meeting of EU foreign ministers to discuss the 27-member bloc's strategy towards Belgrade in the light of the vote.

''I hope very much there will be a speedy formation of a government that will be on the line of pro-European forces,'' he told reporters, denying the vote had demonstrated the failure of Western efforts to quell nationalist feelings in Serbia.

The hardline Radical Party attracted most support in the election, scoring 28 percent. But there was no certainty it could form a government and party leader Tomislav Nikolic acknowledged it needed a strong coalition partner.

The result nonetheless cast a pall over EU and US hopes that they would have a progressive Serb government to deal with when the future of breakaway Kosovo was decided and Serbia's EU membership hopes, currently frozen, were re-assessed.

The West made clear to Serbs before the election that they should turn their backs on nationalism if they hoped to join the EU and NATO and make up for a decade of isolation, war and sanctions under the late autocrat Slobodan Milosevic.

But many appeared to have rebuffed those appeals. The West's great hope, President Boris Tadic, led his opposition Democratic Party to about 23 per cent of the vote, nearly double its score in the 2003 poll but well behind the Radical Party.

DECISIONS IN FEBRUARY Outgoing Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, who echoed nationalist rhetoric in his campaign, won about 16 per cent of the vote and gave no clue on who he might join in coalition.

''What kind of government emerges in Serbia is a central part of the picture,'' said an EU diplomat before the one-day meeting in Brussels, also due to cover EU policy on Iran and Africa.

''It will be too early for us to take any real decisions on Serbia today. By early February things may be clearer,'' said a second EU envoy who requested anonymity.

The EU is ready to relaunch partnership talks with Serbia frozen eight months ago -- but only if Belgrade convinces UN prosecutors it will step up moves to catch indictees such as Bosnian Serb wartime general Ratko Mladic, wanted for genocide.

While Tadic's Democrats say arresting Mladic is a priority, the Radicals are unlikely to hand over a man they see as a hero.

UN envoy Maarti Ahtisaari is expected early in February to present proposals on the future status of Kosovo which diplomats say will remove the mostly ethnic Albanian province from Serbian sovereignty.

The EU wants any transition wrapped up by mid-year with a UN resolution giving the bloc a major hand in helping to run the province. It is concerned the process could be derailed by Serb nationalists backed by UN Security Council power Russia.

Such hopes could also prove forlorn if nationalists hold sway in Belgrade, with both Radicals and Kostunica having vowed not to give up the province, cradle of Serbia's Orthodox faith.

Foreign ministers are also due at the meeting to coordinate implementing UN sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme, and look at ways to to step up pressure on Sudan to allow UN peacekeepers into war-torn Darfur.

Reuters BDP DS1420