A hard-line nationalist government in Serbia would be a setback for the country's neighbours and the rest of Europe, Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany said Tuesday, dpa reported.
"It is neither in Europe's nor the region's interest that the Serbian radicals and nationalists get into power," Gyurcsany said after talks with his Montenegrin counterpart Milo Djukanovic.
Serbia's neighbours, including Hungary, Kosovo and Macedonia, fear relations would worsen under a hard-line nationalist government in Belgrade. Hungary is particularly concerned about the ethnic Hungarian minority in Serbia's Vojvodina province.
Serbia's May 11 parliamentary election produced a deadlock between President Boris Tadic's pro-European bloc and anti-Western parties.
Three hard-line parties, including one founded by the late strongman Slobodan Milosevic, have been negotiating to form a government. All three want to shift ties away from the European Union in protest at Western recognition of Kosovo's independence.
In Budapest, Gyurcsany said Serbia would be better off with a government led by forces "that represent European values."
Djukanovic said it was important that "Serbia keeps its democratic, pro-European policy and orientation."