Serbia's ruling party claims majority

BELGRADE — Coalition around the ruling Serbian Progressive Party won over 127 out of 250 seats in the snap parliamentary election, announced the country's President Aleksandar Vucic at the headquarters of the party, known by its acronym SNS, on Sunday.

"This is an absolute victory that makes me very happy," Vucic said, noting that the coalition around SNS also won the elections in Serbia's northern Vojvodina Province.

Vucic said Serbia will stay on the path to European Union accession while defending its territorial integrity in its southern province of Kosovo and Metohija.

According to unofficial results of the independent election monitoring organization CeSID, based on 80.2 percent of their sample, the coalition around SNS "Serbia Must Not Stop" won 46.4 percent of votes.

The second-ranked is the pro-European opposition coalition "Serbia Against Violence", which won 23.3 percent.

The SNS looked poised to expand its presence in the 250-seat parliament with Sunday's results, Agence France-Presse reported. In the last election in 2022, the party secured 120 seats, resulting in a coalition government.

By the time polls opened at 7 am, lines had already formed in Belgrade as people waited to cast their ballots. "I came early to support our president, he must continue his work," said Stojan Milenkovic, a 67-year-old retiree.

Others were hoping the contest would bring change to the country's political scene.

Serbia has been battered by double-digit inflation, AFP reported. To blunt the hard edges of rising prices, Vucic unleashed a barrage of state spending, including pension increases and cash payouts to the elderly. He has also vowed to double average monthly salaries in the coming years.

A total of 18 parties and alliances competed for the support of the 6.5 million-strong electorate. The threshold for entering parliament is 3 percent of votes.

Official results were expected to be announced late on Monday. By law, the parliament must be convened within two weeks after the official announcement of final election results, and the parties then have 60 days to form the government, Reuters reported.

Agencies - Xinhua