But run-off vote looms
Hardliner Tomislav Nikolic is ahead in Serbian presidential elections but will probably face a run-off against his nearest rival, partial results suggest. Mr Nikolic received about 39% while current President Boris Tadic had 35%, with less than 10% of votes counted, independent monitors said.
Mr Nikolic’s Serbian Radicals are the country’s largest political party.
The election comes at a crucial time, with tensions rising over the future of Serbia’s disputed province of Kosovo.
His campaign has benefited from growing frustration at Western backing for Kosovo independence, as well as at the pace of Western-style reforms. A small number of international observers from the OSCE and Russia are monitoring the poll.
On 11 January, Serbia’s election commission said it would bar US and British observers over their support for Kosovan independence.
Over 3,000 monitors from Serbia’s nongovernmental Center For Free Elections and Democracy (CESID) watched the poll.