(28 May 2012) Serbia's new nationalist president a Tomislav Nikolic held talks with his predecessor and liberal rival Boris Tadic on Monday.
The pair said they would strive to overcome deep differences and work together on the formation of Serbia's new pro-European Union government.
The meeting between the two bitter political foes took place a day after Tadic announced the start of negotiations on the formation of a new government that would leave Nikolic without real power.
"This was a meeting not only about the transfer of power, giving important information, but about what Serbia's institutions should look like in the future," Tadic said.
Tadic's official talks with potential coalition partners started on Monday, just over week after he lost the May 20 presidential election to Nikolic after ruling Serbia for eight years.
Nikolic is expected to be forced to name Tadic prime minister designate because Tadic has the support of the majority of the 250-seat Parliament.
Although Nikolic's nationalist Progressive Party has the biggest number of seats, Tadic's Democrats have more allies to form the next cabinet.
The position of a prime minister is stronger than the president, a figurehead who cannot draft laws or make real political decisions.
Tadic said he would not include Nikolic's nationalists in his government, further diminishing Nikolic's role in Serbia's future policies.
The Progressive Party said that a future Serbian government that excludes them "will have a problem with legitimacy."
Tadic said his goals include improving living standards for the impoverished population and fighting unemployment and corruption - problems that contributed to Tadic's defeat against the populist Nikolic, who claims to have shifted from staunchly anti-Western to pro-EU.
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