New Serbian president pledges pro-Europe policies

New Serbian President Boris Tadic pledged pro-European policies as he took office on Sunday, two weeks after cheering the West by defeating a hardline nationalist in a long-awaited election.

The reformist leader vowed to help bring stability and end division in the Balkan republic, which plunged into poverty and isolation during Slobodan Milosevic's bloodstained rule.

"The forthcoming period will not be an easy one," he told parliament during a televised ceremony. "It will be characterised by our intention to join the European Union."

Mr Tadic of the centre-left Democratic Party beat Tomislav Nikolic of the ultra-nationalist Radical Party in a June 27 runoff, seen as Serbia's most decisive ballot box showdown since reformers ousted autocrat Mr Milosevic in 2000.

Western powers hope Mr Tadic's five-year mandate will help end feuding among pro-democracy politicians who united against Mr Milosevic but later split in acrimony.

With the presidential election out of the way, Belgrade faces renewed international pressure to hand over key figures accused of atrocities during the 1990s Balkan conflicts to the United Nations war crimes tribunal in The Hague.

A US official last week said Serbia had to deliver suspects such as top fugitive Ratko Mladic and four wanted generals if it is to build closer ties with the West.

Mr Tadic said during the campaign Serbia must cooperate fully with The Hague. Others, including conservative Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, have been more critical of the UN court.

Neighbouring Croatia has stepped up cooperation with the tribunal and last month officially became an EU candidate country, a status Serbia at present can only dream about.

Mr Tadic said he could not promise that Serbia would be on the doorstep of joining the EU by the end of his mandate in 2009.

"But I do promise to put all my skills and abilities into meeting that goal," he told state television. Mr Tadic, 46, said he would not be a partisan president even if he remains head of his opposition party. "I am going to be the president for all citizens and I will overcome party divisions."

Analysts had warned that Mr Nikolic as president would have hurt relations with the outside world as his Radical Party still advocates a Greater Serbia and opposes Hague handovers.

Serbia's biggest political party, it is led by war crimes suspect Vojislav Seselj from behind bars in The Hague.

Its 82 deputies in the 250-seat assembly wore white T-shirts emblazoned with Mr Seselj's picture when Mr Tadic took the oath as president, an office with limited constitutional powers.

Serbia has been without an elected president since the mandate of Milosevic-era President Milan Milutinovic expired in January 2003. Three previous attempts to pick a new president failed because of low voter turnout.