Van Rompuy and Barroso congratulate Nikolić

Top EU officials on Monday congratulated Tomislav Nikolic on his victory in Serbia's presidential elections, Tanjug news agency reported. European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso at the same time expressed their hope that the country would stay firmly on its European path. Van Rompuy and Barroso congratulate Nikolic "We wish success to President Nikolic in facing the challenges ahead and in meeting the huge expectations about economic growth and prosperity coming from the Serbian people," the two presidents said in a joint statement. President Nikolic now bears the particular responsibility to ensure that Serbia gets stable and well-functioning institutions, the statement reads. Van Rompuy and Barroso noted that the Serbian people had given a clear support to the European-oriented government policy in the elections, adding that the authorities were now given a strong mandate to continue pursuing the policy and take the next step on the European path and start the accession negotiations, after the necessary EU recommendations are meet. We strongly encourage President Nikolic to continue in this direction, said the European leaders, cautioning him about the challenges he is about to meet, as they require a high degree of statesmenship to be successfully tackled. Serbia will have to prove its commitment to the spirit of reconciliation and cooperation in the region, according to the statement. Barroso and Van Rompuy stressed that it was of crucial importance to preserve the pace of reforms and to make further progress in the dialogue with Pristina. The European perspective of Serbia is quite certain and we hope that we will be able to rely on the personal commitment of President Nikolic in working towards achieving that goal, said the two European senior officials, adding that they look forward to cooperation with Nikolic, which they hope will be fruitful. Tanjug

Van Rompuy and Barroso congratulate Nikolić

"We wish success to President Nikolić in facing the challenges ahead and in meeting the huge expectations about economic growth and prosperity coming from the Serbian people," the two presidents said in a joint statement.

President Nikolić now bears the particular responsibility to ensure that Serbia gets stable and well-functioning institutions, the statement reads.

Van Rompuy and Barroso noted that the Serbian people had given a clear support to the European-oriented government policy in the elections, adding that the authorities were now given a strong mandate to continue pursuing the policy and take the next step on the European path and start the accession negotiations, after the necessary EU recommendations are meet.

We strongly encourage President Nikolić to continue in this direction, said the European leaders, cautioning him about the challenges he is about to meet, as they require a high degree of statesmenship to be successfully tackled.

Serbia will have to prove its commitment to the spirit of reconciliation and cooperation in the region, according to the statement.

Barroso and Van Rompuy stressed that it was of crucial importance to preserve the pace of reforms and to make further progress in the dialogue with Priština.

The European perspective of Serbia is quite certain and we hope that we will be able to rely on the personal commitment of President Nikolić in working towards achieving that goal, said the two European senior officials, adding that they look forward to cooperation with Nikolić, which they hope will be fruitful.