Could Ex-President Nikolic be Serbia’s Comeback Kid? (Balkan Insight)
By: Milan Simurdic
If Serbia’s path towards the EU hits a blockage and the country shifts toward Russia and China, former president Tomislav Nikolic could conceivably stage a political resurrection.
One year after he left the presidential office, Serbia’s former head of state, Tomislav Nikolic, is far from the public horizon.
He did, however, take over a post once perceived by Serbs as very powerful, no matter how vague its content, as Chairman of the National Council for Coordination of Cooperation with the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China.
These two countries are both at the top of world politics, and importantly, have not recognised the independence of Kosovo, which qualifies them – in Serbia’s eyes – as strategic interlocutors on this outstanding issue of Serbian foreign and domestic policy.