The freshly sworn in cabinet of new Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic will be quickly confronted with pressing challenges that are likely to test the commitment of his coalition of one-time foes, dpa reported.
The alliance of camps grouped around pro-European President Boris Tadic's Democratic Party (DS) and the late Slobodan Milosevic's Socialists (SPS) have already set out their priorities.
After the cabinet's installation late Monday, what remains unclear is the road map that the large, 27-member cabinet plans to draw up to achieve its goals of European Union membership and fighting corruption while increasing growth and economic stability.
Serbia signed a pre-membership deal with the EU, but before progress can continue on this track, Belgrade must arrest war-crimes suspects still on the loose - something the Socialists have vowed to block.
Not only did Milosevic once put those suspects, considered heroes by his followers, in power in Bosnia and Croatia, but he himself died in detention while being tried by the United Nations for war crimes.
Now Milosevic's heir, new Interior Minister Ivica Dacic, controls the police and is in charge of tracking down and arresting the fugitives - assuming such plans exist - even if that is the only ticket to closer EU ties.
Serbian premiers in recent years have all vowed to fight corruption, but neither the Socialist heads of government from 1990- 2000 nor those from the DS from 2000-2004 have a good track record on this issue.
SPS as well as DS-led governments have been plagued by scandals, reportedly involving misuse of billions of dollars, but none of them has been cleared up.
Even officials who were called to account survived unscathed thanks to Serbia's cumbersome judicial system, arguably the most corrupt and inefficient of all public-sector offices.
It is widely believed that politicians, though spewing fire at each other in public, actually protect their opponents from being investigated out of fear that their own secrets might be uncovered in the process.
Cvetkovic now has a chance to disprove this cynical notion.
An economic expert and finance minister in the previous cabinet who allowed prices to slip out of control, he has promised strong economic growth amid economic stability.
But growth remains wishful thinking without reforms, which Cvetkovic and his colleagues have been cagey about, as they would likely include belt-tightening and job cuts.
On the contrary, the Socialists have promised grandiose projects, higher wages and pensions, despite stern warnings by economists that Serbia is spending far more than it can afford.
At the latest, the crunch will come in late 2008 when the next budget is due on the agenda and the coalition partners have to face reality or abandon their promises.
Overall, the lack of vision lends more credence to critics who say that the real goal of the unlikely bedfellows is to keep the ultra- nationalists lurking in opposition.
If that is the case, the new government might make gestures that would prolong its stay in power instead of having to take hard decisions that would reap long-term benefits.
In other words, Serbia would ratify the Stabilization and Association Agreement with the EU, but not arrest war criminals. Corrupt officials would likely be spared prosecution, and strict monetary policies would be overseen by the central bank, though there would be no cuts in spending.