Nikolic's Gaffes Will Linger in Serbia's Memory

As the inauguration of Aleksandar Vucic as Serbia's new President looms, and as Tomislav Nikolic starts the last month of his mandate, some of the events of his five years in office will likely be remembered as more embarrassing than dignified.

"Gynecology is knowledge about a woman, if anyone can dare to say that they have that. Gynecology deals with a woman being allowed to be healthy so she can grow up, procreate and give birth," Nikolic said in September 2015 at the Symposium of the Association of Gynecologists and Obstetricians, drawing a sharp reaction from women politicians and NGOs advocating women's rights.

As the candidate of the then opposition Serbian Progressive Party, Nikolic became President of Serbia after his narrow victory in the 2012 election against Boris Tadic, leader of the Democratic Party.

He delivered one of his best-known speeches during the 2014 visit of Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang, when he cited parts of the "Kremansko prophecy", a compilation of the alleged prophecies of two illiterate Serbian peasants recorded by a local priest.   

"Two hundred years ago there was a wise but illiterate man and he was a prophet. He had never heard about China but said: 'People are coming from the east, yellow people, and they will rule the world. They will drink water from the Serbia's Morava river,'" Nikolic told his guest at the event.  

This was by no means the last of Nikolic's diplomatic gaffes. In July 2015, he sent a letter to Britain's Queen Elizabeth asking her to influence the British Government into withdrawing a controversial UN resolution on Srebrenica from the Security Council.

"Your Majesty, I'm addressing you personally, aware that my remarks could be interpreted as...