Belgrade 16 Jun (ANA) - The president of Serbia has nominated a gay woman to be his prime minister in a double first for the deeply conservative Balkan state. Ana Brnabic was chosen by the new President, Aleksandar Vucic. Her approval by parliament will be largely a formality, as his party and its allies hold an overwhelming majority. Just a few years ago, the appointment would have been unthinkable. But EU hopeful Serbia can present it as proof of increasing tolerance. Ms Brnabic is not only Serbia's first openly gay PM, but also the first woman in that post. "I believe that Brnabic has professional and personal qualities to be prime minister," Mr Vucic told reporters, "and that along with other ministers she will work on improvement and progress of our Serbia." He made no mention of her sexuality. The symbolism of the appointment comes against a backdrop of ingrained and sustained antipathy towards homosexuality. It may be more of a harbinger of change than evidence that change has already occurred. Police research in 2015 found that almost half its officers agreed with the statement "homosexuality is an illness that should be treated", reports the BBC's Guy De Launey in Belgrade. Even the leader of one of the smaller parties in the president's coalition, Dragan Markovic Palma of Unified Serbia, said Ms Brnabic was "not my prime minister". He was recently quoted as saying that the new prime minister "should be a family man who knows what children are".(ANA)

FA/ANA/16 June 2017------