BELGRADE (Reuters) - The former spokesman of late strongman Slobodan Milosevic took power in Serbia on Friday, telling Europe and the Balkans to forget the past and not fear the return of a political alliance that once led the country to war with NATO.

After 12 hours of heated debate, lawmakers in the 250-seat Belgrade parliament voted 142 to 72 to endorse Socialist Party leader Ivica Dacic as prime minister at the helm of a coalition with nationalists.

The alliance condemns to the opposition benches the main reformers who ousted Milosevic in 2000, raising concern in the West that Serbia might veer from the course they set towards joining the European Union.

(Writing by Matt Robinson; Editing by Mark Heinrich)