Serbia's deputy prime minister said Tuesday that a government crisis over a Russian energy deal could force a coalition reshuffle involving a partnership with a newly formed party of ex-Radicals.
"If there is a need for the government to survive for national interests, I am sure some (opposition) parties would understand this," Deputy Prime Minister Ivica Dacic said in an interview published in the daily Vecernje Novosti.
However, he said that he felt government divisions which emerged over the finalization of an energy agreement with Russia would "not affect the stability of government."
A government rift worsened last week when the G17-Plus party of Economy Minister Mladjan Dinkic voted against a draft on the energy agreement at a cabinet meeting.
At the time, Dinkic demanded the sale of a majority stake in Serbian oil monopoly NIS to Russian energy giant OAO Gazprom (GAZP.RS) carries "full legal guarantees" that the South Stream gas pipeline will pass through the Balkan country.
In the newspaper Tuesday Dacic directly alluded to possible support from the Progress Party, or SNS, of Tomislav Nikolic, who formed the new political grouping in October from a breakaway faction of his former party, the ultra-nationalist Radicals.
Nikolic is now more open in relations with the Democratic Party, Dacic said of the strongest party in the ruling coalition which is led by pro-Western President Boris Tadic.
Serbia's government, an unwieldy coalition of 10 parties, pledged speedy integration with the European Union when it was formed in July.
One of the new parliament's first acts was to endorse the Russian energy deal on the same day as an E.U. rapprochement accord in September.