Ćuruvija was murdered". (The journalist Slavko Ćuruvija was murdered on 11 April 1999 in front of the door of his building.) Nikolić was elected Speaker of Parliament on 8 May 2007, defeating Milena Milošević of the Democratic Party by 142 to 99 votes out of 244 members of Parliament. The Democratic Party of Serbia endorsed him. Hajredin Kuçi of the Democratic Party of Kosovo, Ylli Hoxha of the Reformist Party ORA, and the Prime Minister of Kosovo Agim Çeku condemned the election of Nikolić as "counterproductive and dangerous for Kosovo". On 9 May, Nikolić met with Russian Ambassador Aleksandr Alekseyev and gave a speech to Parliament in which he advocated making Serbia part of a Belarus-Russia superstate, saying that together they would "stand up against the hegemony of America and the European Union". He resigned from his position as speaker on 13 May after the Democratic Party and the Democratic Party of Serbia formed a preliminary alliance in preparation for a coalition government. Nikolić told the Democratic parties that, if they "peacefully accept" the independence of Kosovo, the Radical Party "will not sit calmly and wait". In 2008, he ran again for the presidency in the 2008 presidential election. His slogan was With All Heart (; ). On 20 January 2008, Nikolić again won the first round with 39.99% of the vote. Nikolić and incumbent Boris Tadić, who garnered 35.39% of the vote, faced off against each other in a runoff election on 3 February. Nikolić lost, receiving 2,197,155 or 47.97% of the vote. Nikolić abruptly resigned from the Radical Party leadership on 6 September 2008. Serb media cited differences between Nikolić and other members of the Radical Party hierarchy, especially party leader Vojislav Šešelj, about how the party should react to the proposed European Union membership for Serbia. In the following days, Nikolić formed a parliamentary group with a number of other Radical Party representatives called "Napred Srbijo" (Forward, Serbia). Nikolić told the press that the "old Serbian Radical Party no longer exists". On 11 September 2008, Šešelj addressed all Radical Party members in a letter. He named Nikolić and his group as "traitors, Western puppets and agents". He also called upon all SRS members to remain loyal to the ideology of "Serbian nationalism, anti-globalism and pro-Russian politics". On 12 September 2008, Nikolić and his group were officially ejected from the Radical Party. Nikolić announced that he would form