Negotiators for Dačić’s Socialists said they agreed with the Progressive Party of President Tomislav Nikolić to form a coalition government in the next 15 days, more than two months after the 6 May election.
The new prime minister said the coalition leaders agreed that Serbia should fight corruption, contribute to regional stability and respect social justice as it moved towards EU membership.
Dačić served as Socialist party spokesman under Milošević, who was ousted from power in 2000. The party has since undergone a transformation and took part in former President Boris Tadić's pro-European cabinet formed in 2008.
Nikolić defeated Tadić in a 20 May presidential run-off.
Ideology less important?
Dačić faces a formidable task as prime minister. The economy is stagnant and the World Bank has said that unless decisive measures are taken, the country will not be able to repay its debts as early as October.
The government may have little choice to impose a combination of spending cuts and tax rises while seeking international support to keep it afloat.
Still, unpopular measures will not be easy for a government that includes the Party of United Pensioners of Serbia and the Progressives, which promised during the campaign to improve the economic situation and investment climate.
Dačić said his government would be neither pro-European, pro-Russian, pro-American nor pro-Chinese, but rather pro-Serbian.
Young party activist
The incoming prime minister was born in Prizren, Kosovo, on 1 January 1966. He earned a journalism degree at the Belgrade Faculty of Political Sciences, where he was a member of the League of Communists.
In 1990 he was elected the first president of Young Socialists of Belgrade and he later worked as an editor of the Socialist party publication Epoha (Epoch).
Dačić was the spokesman of Milošević's Socialist Party during the 1990s and used to be on the list of people who were banned from entering EU countries.
After 2000 and the toppling of Milošević, he remained at the helm of the party's Belgrade chapter and was elected party president in December 2006.
In the interim Serbian government from October 2000 to January 2001, he was the co-minister of information. In 2003 he became a member of Serbian parliament and Socialist party whip. He twice led unsuccessful campaigns for the presidency.
Dačić presented himself as an advocate of Serbia's opening to the world and as interior minister, helped Serbia get visa-free travel to the EU. He won an award from Belgrade NGOs for his contributions to Serbia's European integration.
