Kacin told Dnevnik's issue of Wednesday that Nikolic's statements on Srebrenica and Vukovar were a gaffe that would soon be overcome, adding that he deserved 100 days of political peace to prove himself.
Although some of Nikolic's statements have caused uneasiness, one can expect Serbia's relations to improve with all neighbours during his tenure, said Kacin.
"The neighbouring countries need some time to accept Nikolic as Serbia's President. I believe he will be much more careful in his future statements and that he will send different messages," he said, adding that unlike his predecessor Boris Tadic, Nikolic had the chance to separate the functions of state and party president and enable the creation of an operational coalition government that would tackle the economic problems and continue drawing closer to the European Union.
Regardless of the coalition make-up, the new government will have to conclude that it needs the International Monetary Fund and drastic reforms, Kacin said, adding that organised crime and corruption were "strangling" Serbia and that if it wanted to pull through, Serbia must "start dealing with the reality, as Greece is doing."
Speaking of the other countries in the region, the Slovenian MEP said Montenegro was leading the way in drawing closer to EU membership and that it would take over from Croatia in terms of the positive effect of Euro-integration on the countries in the region.
Croatia's accession to the EU next year and the progress made by Montenegro and Serbia should lead to a political "sobering up" in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where citizens will demand changes from their political elites because the country "drastically" needs membership candidate status, said Kacin.
Speaking of Serbia's position on Kosovo, he said it would have to take a realistic approach, as more and more countries would recognise Kosovo.
"When Kosovo is recognised by the hundredth state, it will be a fact that Belgrade too will understand, although difficult to accept. Nobody is demanding that Serbia recognise Kosovo as a condition for starting (EU accession) negotiations, but there has to be dialogue with all neighbours. Serbia can't go on pretending that it borders Albania."
As for Macedonia, Kacin said it had self-isolated itself because in the dispute with Greece over its constitutional name, it refused a compromise that had already been agreed.
"One should say what the Macedonian public, unfortunately, doesn't know. Had the Macedonian elite been more responsible, it would haven been capable of accepting historic decisions that would have enabled Macedonia to join NATO in two years. Big changes for the better would have occurred in Macedonia too and the positive energy would have been directed towards the European Union," Kacin said, adding that Macedonian elites must prevent the creation of national psychosis, as in the case of a recent murder of a group of young Macedonians, when a whole ethnic group was accused, which he said was unacceptable.