A journalist at Forbes believes that the Serb’s choice of Boris Tadic over the pro-Russia hardliner Tomislav Nikolic will diminish but certainly not eliminate the Kremlin’s control over national politics. However the report states that all that really matters is the energy business, which Russia was able to sew up before the elections:

“Serbia, Bulgaria, some of the other central European states, they are all aware of the fact that they’re entirely dependent on Russian firms for energy,” said Jon Levy, an analyst with Eurasia Group. However, unlike Poland or Ukraine, Serbia has far less reason to fear Russia playing energy politics, or attaching political conditions to the supply of energy, Levy told Forbes.com.