Serbia: President Bucic reappointed Ana Brnabic as Prime Minister
Serbian President Aleksandar Bucic has reappointed outgoing Prime Minister Ana Brnabic to form a government to lead the country amid a war in Europe, a global energy and inflation crisis and tensions with Kosovo.
The announcement came about five months after their party, the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), won the most votes in parliamentary elections. The official announcement of the results was delayed due to irregularities in a polling station, preventing the convergence of Parliament.
Bucic said he had “unlimited confidence” in Brnabic, 46, who became Serbia’s first female and openly gay prime minister in 2020. new elections, but did not elaborate.
The ruling party has 120 of the 250 seats in the Parliament and will therefore have to look for partners in order to form a government. The Socialists and Hungarians of Vojvodina, both traditional allies of the SNS, have 31 and five MPs respectively.
Burnaby did not present the composition of the government and its program in the House of Commons in the coming weeks. One of her main tasks on the international stage will be to balance Serbia’s ambitions to join the European Union, which is the country’s biggest trading partner, with pressure to maintain strong ties with Russia and China.
Serbia is almost completely dependent on Russian gas and has bought weapons from Russia. China is a major investor in Serbia, mainly in infrastructure and the mining industry.
Both Beijing and Moscow support Serbia’s opposition to Kosovo’s independence, blocking the former Serbian province’s UN membership.
Although Serbia has voted against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine three times at the United Nations, it has refused to join the sanctions against Moscow.
Source: RES-MPE