Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic has declared a "clear" victory in Serbia’s presidential election, an expected result that could increase Russia’s influence in the Balkan country.

After exit polls indicated a resounding victory, Vucic on April 2 told his Progressive Party supporters: "My victory is crystal clear. This is a very important day for us, showing which way Serbia should be heading."

Vucic has vowed to lead Serbia into the European Union, but he has also pushed for closer ties to longtime ally Russia.

"A huge majority of people in Serbia support continuation of the European path for Serbia, along with preserving our traditionally good ties with Russia and China," said Vucic, who added that a "new government will be set up within two months."

WATCH: Voters Go To The Polls

Official results are expected on April 3. But Vucic declared victory after projections by different several polling agencies late on April 2 gave him at least 55 percent of the votes.

Vucic needs more than 50 percent of the votes to avoid an April 16 runoff against the next highest performer.

Former Serbian ombudsman Sasa Jankovic was second with 15 percent, an Ipsos poll showed, basing projections on 40 percent of votes counted from sample polling stations.

Jankovic said he would wait for the official results before conceding. "This is a political process that has just begun," he said.

Luka Maksimovic, a media student who ran as a satirical candidate, was third with 9 percent, exit polls showed. Maksimovic mocked corruption in domestic politics by promising to steal if he won.

Vucic is expected to use the presidency to appoint a figurehead successor as prime minister and to transform the presidency into a more powerful position to consolidate his power.

A former ultranationalist who broke away from the Radicals in 2008 to establish the more moderate Progressive Party, Vucic has pledged his commitment to Serbia's goal of membership in the EU by 2019.

At the same time, Vucic, an information minister under Yugoslavia's late strongman Slobodan Milosevic, has brought Serbia closer to Russia with increased talk of military and economic cooperation.

"We are doing all we can," Vucic said on March 27 in a broadcast on privately held TV Pink in reference to defending Serbia's interests, both east and west.

"We are cooperating with the EU, with Russia, with China, with everyone where we have our own interests and everyone knows that we are a reliable partner," he added.

The integration of the Western Balkans is a key policy goal of the EU and United States, which say they hope to stabilize a region ravaged by war and economic turmoil and riddled with political corruption.

But many Serbs are disillusioned with the country's politicians as they struggle to shake off a legacy of political corruption that has taken root since it emerged following the 1990s conflicts that broke apart Yugoslavia.

Reforms aimed at modernizing the economy and bringing Serbia into the EU have hit many workers hard, exacerbating the backlash. Longtime ally Russia, meanwhile, opposes the integration of Western Balkan countries, including Serbia, into the NATO security alliance, and the EU and is trying to extend its influence in the region.

With tensions simmering between ethnic Serbs and Albanians in Kosovo, an ethnically charged political stalemate in Macedonia, and accusations of Russian interference in Montenegro's move toward NATO and the EU, concerns have grown over Serbia's direction and how it could reignite the Balkan powder keg.

"Vucic benefits from his populist rhetoric and an image of a strong-handed leader able to successfully maneuver Serbia's interests between Russia and the West," according to Andrius Tursa, an analyst at Teneo Intelligence.

Just days before the vote, U.S. President Donald Trump told Vucic in a letter that EU membership "will help ensure a more prosperous and secure future for your country and the Western Balkans."



"Serbia's efforts to fully normalize relations with Kosovo also stand as further testament to how shared aspirations of peace can overcome even the most difficult challenges," said the letter, made public by the Serbian government.

None of the opposition candidates -- including ex-Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic, ultranationalist Vojislav Seselj, and Jankovic -- were expected to present a major challenge to Vucic.

If the exit poll projections hold, the victory gives Vucic and his Progressive Party, which has a majority in parliament, control over the entire legislative and governing process, and some observers and voters are concerned that could push the Balkan state back into the autocracy that Milosevic symbolized during his decade in power.

With reporting by Alan Crosby in Prague and contributions from RFE/RL's Balkan Service, Reuters, AP, and dpa</s>Vucic, 47, avoided a run-off by taking around 55 percent of votes; his nearest rival, opposition candidate and former rights advocate Sasa Jankovic, trailed on just over 16 percent, according to a two projections by polling groups CRTA and Ipsos.

Conservative Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic won Serbia's presidential election on Sunday by a huge margin, confirming his domination of the Balkan country as he pursues a delicate balancing act between Europe and Russia.

Vucic will take on the largely ceremonial post at the end of May, but is expected to retain de facto power through his control of Serbia's ruling Progressive Party.

The result marked a political humiliation for Serbia's beleaguered opposition parties, which say Vucic's rule is increasingly autocratic.

Vucic made clear his change of job would not alter the former Yugoslav republic's geopolitical balance between the European Union, which Vucic wants Serbia to join, and Russia, with which Serbs share their Orthodox Christian faith and Slavic heritage.

He thanked German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin, both of whom he met during the election campaign.

"For me it is important this election demonstrated that a large majority of Serbian citizens favours the continuation of the European path while maintaining close ties with China and Russia," Vucic told cheering supporters.

Despite economic growth and greater fiscal stability, Serbia remains mired in poverty and corruption. But to his supporters, Vucic is a firm hand in a troubled region.

"I voted for stability, we've had enough wars," said Bozica Ivanovic, a 65-year-old pensioner who voted for Vucic. "We need more jobs for younger people and if we can get higher pensions and salaries, even better."</s>Serbia Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic looked set to sweep a first round presidential election on Sunday, coming in with 56 percent of votes, according to a result projection by the Ipsos polling group.

“Voters showed which way they want Serbia to go,” Vucic said at his Progressive Party’s headquarters.

“Serbia will remain on the European and reformist path, but also friends with Russia and China.”

Declaring his victory, Vucic said he will remain prime minister another two months, until he takes over as the head of state. In his speech, Vucic went on to voice “particular gratitude” to German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin, who both met with him over the last month.</s>Serbia’s Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic is seen as the front-runner in a presidential race with eleven candidates. According to polls, Vucic, has 53 percent support among voters. The question is not whether he will win, but only whether one round of elections will be enough for his victory. If not, there will be a run-off election in two weeks from now.

In today’s presidential election, Vucic does not have competitors, at least none who would be a real threat to him. His closest rival is Luka Maksimovic, a satirical candidate, who has about one fifth of the support Vucic can count on.

Vucic has been Prime Minister of Serbia since 2014. As President, he will probably try to give himself more power. At this stage, the President of Serbia mainly represents the country at ceremonies. He might express a political opinion, but that is basically it. But Vucic will want to have a say.

The probable winner of today’s election, Aleksandar Vucic, is 47 years old. He became Minister of Information in 1998, when the Milosevic years or terror and genocide in the neighbouring states of Croatia and Bosnia were over. In the year 2000, he became the leader of the Serbian Radical party, in 2008 he co-founded the Serbian Progressive Party. In 2012, Vucic became Defense Minister, in 2014 Prime Minister.

In Belgrade, Vucic is the strongest man since Milosevic. And he wants it all. This includes joining the European Union and having close ties to Russia at the same time. He definitely is the man of contrasts. During the Milosevic era, he threatened “the Muslims”. What he meant: The free part of Bosnia, in which Muslims, Serbs, Croatians and Christian Bosnians lived and died together, during Belgrade’s brutal wars of conquest. Today, Vucic is on the other side, at least officially. He openly flirts with the E.U..

His nationalist voters believe his E.U. accession talk was just pretence, while his pro-E.U. voters interpret it as real. So, what can go wrong for Vucic today? Hardly anything.

But Serbia does have lots of problems. Weak institutions, poverty and a crumbling infrastructure are just some of them. In the refugee crisis, Serbia is not doing a good job. In 2015, this transit country, from the perspective of asylum seekers, just sent thousands of refugees to Croatia and Hungary, every single day. Since the Balkan Route was closed officially, refugees had an extremely hard time in Serbia. A thousand men and boys from Afghanistan and Syria had to spend this last harsh winter in an abandoned warehouse, which was unheated. Nor did it provide anything, apart from a roof.</s>BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) - Voters in Serbia are casting ballots in a presidential election seen as a test of public support for populist Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic and his autocratic rule.

Vucic, an ultranationalist turned a pro-EU politician, is slated to win by a high margin against 10 opposition candidates. His political clout could face a blow, however, if he does not sweep his opponents in the first round of voting Sunday.

Vucic needs to win by more than 50 percent of the vote to avoid a runoff election on April 16 that would put him in a much trickier position against a single opposition candidate.

Current Serbian Prime Minister and presidential candidate Aleksandar Vucic, right, casts his ballot with his daughter Milica at a polling station, in Belgrade, Serbia, Sunday, April 2, 2017. Around 6.7 million voters in Serbia choose a new president in an election Sunday that will test the popularity of the dominant, populist prime minister, Aleksandar Vucic, against 10 beleaguered candidates from the fragmented opposition. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

Vucic, prime minister since 2014, is expected to use his win to appoint a figurehead successor and transform the presidency from a ceremonial office into a more muscular role.

Current Serbian Prime Minister and presidential candidate Aleksandar Vucic, right, prepares his ballot with his daughter Milica at a polling station, in Belgrade, Serbia, Sunday, April 2, 2017. Around 6.7 million voters in Serbia choose a new president in an election Sunday that will test the popularity of the dominant, populist prime minister, Aleksandar Vucic, against 10 beleaguered candidates from the fragmented opposition. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

Current Serbian Prime Minister and presidential candidate Aleksandar Vucic, left, prepares his ballot at a polling station, in Belgrade, Serbia, Sunday, April 2, 2017. Around 6.7 million voters in Serbia choose a new president in an election Sunday that will test the popularity of the dominant, populist prime minister, Aleksandar Vucic, against 10 beleaguered candidates from the fragmented opposition. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

Current Serbian Prime Minister and presidential candidate Aleksandar Vucic, right, waits at a polling station with his daughter Milica, in Belgrade, Serbia, Sunday, April 2, 2017. Around 6.7 million voters in Serbia choose a new president in an election Sunday that will test the popularity of the dominant, populist prime minister, Aleksandar Vucic, against 10 beleaguered candidates from the fragmented opposition. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

Current Serbian Prime Minister and presidential candidate Aleksandar Vucic, right, arrives at a polling station to cast his ballot, in Belgrade, Serbia, Sunday, April 2, 2017. Around 6.7 million voters in Serbia choose a new president in an election Sunday that will test the popularity of the dominant, populist prime minister, Aleksandar Vucic, against 10 beleaguered candidates from the fragmented opposition. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

Current Serbian Prime Minister and presidential candidate Aleksandar Vucic, center, speaks to media after voted at a polling station in Belgrade, Serbia, Sunday, April 2, 2017. Around 6.7 million voters in Serbia choose a new president in an election Sunday that will test the popularity of the dominant, populist prime minister, Aleksandar Vucic, against 10 beleaguered candidates from the fragmented opposition. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

Current Serbian Prime Minister and presidential candidate Aleksandar Vucic, center, speaks to media after voted at a polling station in Belgrade, Serbia, Sunday, April 2, 2017. Around 6.7 million voters in Serbia choose a new president in an election Sunday that will test the popularity of the dominant, populist prime minister, Aleksandar Vucic, against 10 beleaguered candidates from the fragmented opposition. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)</s>A passerby walks past election posters of the Serbian Progressive Party's top candidate for the presidential election, Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, in Belgrade. In the late 1990s, Aleksandar Vucic stood behind President Slobodan Milosevic as rump Yugoslavia's information minister.

Start the conversation, or Read more at Weekday Magazine.</s>The current head of the government in Serbia and leader of the ruling conservative Serbian Progressive Party, Aleksandar Vucic, has been elected as the Balkan country's president, exit polls show.Based on 40 percent of votes counted from a sample of polling stations, Vucic won the Sunday election with around 55 percent of the vote, Reuters reported citing the CRTA and Ipsos polling groups. According to the exit poll results, there will be no run-off.Vucic's nearest rival, opposition candidate and former ombudsman, Sasa Jankovic, took some 16 percent of the vote, according to the polls.Additional data, provided by a Serbian NGO, Center for Free Elections and Democracy (CeSID), suggested Vucic took 61 percent of the vote, while 11.3 percent voted for Jankovic, TASS reported.Eleven candidates were registered by Serbia's election committee to run for the presidency. Among the other candidates were comedian and political activist Luka Maksimovic (who received nine percent of the vote, according to the Ipsos poll, as reported by TASS), Serbia's former minister of foreign affairs Vuk Jeremic (five percent) and leader of the far-right Serbian Radical Party Vojislav Seselj (four percent).The election turnout stands at 55.5 percent, TASS reported citing Vucic's campaign office. Some 6.7 million people were eligible to vote in Serbia, RIA reported, adding that those voters include people living abroad and in Kosovo and Metohija, with OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) representatives having monitored the election process in the region.In total, almost 2,000 local and over 120 international observers monitored the elections, with the head of the Russian delegation having told TASS that no violations had been registered and the voting was "calm."The president of Serbia is elected for a five-year term and one person can only serve two terms. The Presidential role is largely ceremonial, with the Serbian president having such formal powers as representing the country in the international arena, offering parliament a candidate to head the government, having the right to sign and veto laws, as well as to appoint ambassadors and giving awards. The president is also the commander-in-chief.In total, almost 2,000 local and over 120 international observers monitored the elections, with the head of the Russian delegation having told TASS that no violations had been registered and the voting was "calm."The president of Serbia is elected for a five-year term and one person can only serve two terms. The Presidential role is largely ceremonial, with the Serbian president having such formal powers as representing the country in the international arena, offering parliament a candidate to head the government, having the right to sign and veto laws, as well as to appoint ambassadors and giving awards. The president is also the commander-in-chief.Vucic was named as the front-runner before the voting. Various polls suggested he would win the vote, only having argued whether or not he would receive more than half of the votes, avoiding the run-off.With the conservative ruling party leader being widely expected to appoint a loyal ally as new prime minister, Vucic's opponents claim he's adopted an authoritarian streak since his party rose to power in 2012, Reuters reported. Vucic denies such a charge.Vucic's supporters however say they "voted for stability," according to Reuters. Vucic himself said that Serbs had voted for a continuation of Serbia's path into the EU, while at the same time maintaining strong ties with Russia and China.</s>Conservative Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic won a presidential election on Sunday with a landslide majority, taking 58 per cent of the votes and avoiding a run-off, according to a result projection.

Vucic’s nearest rival, opposition candidate Sasa Jankovic, took 14 per cent of the votes, the Ipsos polling group said, based on 40 per cent of votes counted from a sample of polling stations.

The result confirmed Vucic’s almost unchallenged domination of the Balkan country, which he wants to take into the European Union while preserving strong ties with fellow Orthodox Christian Russia.

The role of president is largely ceremonial, but Vucic is expected to retain real power through his control of Serbia’s ruling Progressive Party.

To his supporters, Vucic, 47, is a cool head and a firm hand in a troubled region.

“I voted for stability, we’ve had enough wars,” said Bozica Ivanovic, a 65-year-old pensioner who voted for Vucic. “We need more jobs for younger people and if we can get higher pensions and salaries, even better.”

Vucic’s opponents, however, say he has an authoritarian streak that has led him to take control over the media in Serbia since his party rose to power in 2012 and he became prime minister three years ago.

He denies the charge but has struggled to shake it given his record when last in government in the dying days of Yugoslavia.

Then in his late 20s, Vucic was Serbia’s feared information minister behind draconian legislation designed to muzzle criticism of the government during the 1998-99 Kosovo war.

As president Vucic would have few formal powers, among them the right to send legislation back to parliament for reconsideration.

But he is widely expected to appoint a loyal ally as prime minister and try to keep a tight rein on policy, as former President Boris Tadic, then of the Democratic Party, did between 2004 and 2012.

Some analysts said that could yet prove difficult.

“Vucic will now be distanced from everyday policy-making and executive affairs and will have to rely on a proxy,” Eurasia Group wrote in on March 30. “This will likely generate some tensions in the chain of command.”</s>Serbia’s powerful Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic claimed victory Sunday in the presidential election that was a test of his authoritarian rule, an outcome that could expand Russia’s influence in the Balkans. Speaking to supporters at his right-wing party’s headquarters, Vucic said, “My victory is crystal clear. This is a very important day for us, showing which way Serbia should be heading.”

“A huge majority of people in Serbia support continuation of the European path for Serbia, along with preserving our traditionally good ties with Russia and China,” Vucic said, while his backers chanted “Victory, victory!”

While Vucic has said he wants to lead Serbia into the European Union, he has been pushing for deeper ties to longtime ally Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin endorsed him. Right before the election, Vucic visited Putin, who reportedly promised his signature on the delivery of fighter planes, battle tanks and armored vehicles to Serbia. The move triggered fears of an arms race in the western Balkans, which Russia considers its sphere of influence.

Vucic claimed victory after projections by different independent polling agencies had him receiving more than 55 percent of the votes cast during Sunday’s election. Liberal challenger Sasa Jankovic placed second with 15 percent and Luka Maksimovic, a media student who ran as a parody politician, came in third with 9 percent, according to the pollsters.

Official results are expected Monday. Vucic, a former ultranationalist who now declares support for Serbia joining the European Union, had been forecast to win the presidency by a high margin. He needed to secure more than 50 percent of the vote to avoid a runoff election on April 16 that would have put him in a trickier position facing off against a single opposition candidate.

Vucic has been prime minister since 2014. He is expected to use a win in the presidential race to appoint a figurehead successor as prime minister and to transform the presidency from a ceremonial office into a more powerful post from which he could rule unchallenged.

The opposition has accused Vucic of muzzling the media and intimidating voters ahead of the election. Vucic denied the allegations, saying only he can bring stability to a region scarred by the wars of the 1990s, which Vucic supported at the time. Jankovic, an independent candidate with no party affiliation, said Sunday he was happy with his campaign, which galvanized the pro-democratic movement opposed to Serbia’s persistent corruption and growing autocracy.

Jankovic said he would await the official results to concede defeat, and called the election “just the beginning.”

“Even participation in such an election was worth respect,” he said, referring to the unfair pre-election conditions. “But this election race goes on, and will go on.”

The biggest surprise of the election was Maksimovic, a media student who ran as a parody politician. As a satirical candidate decked out in a white suit, oversized jewelry and a man-bun, Maksimovic mocked corruption in Serbian politics by promising to steal if he were elected. His supporters were mostly young voters alienated by Serbia’s decades-long crisis and economic decline.

Maksimovic’s widely viewed videos on social media networks portrayed him doing pushups, sucking a raw egg and riding a white horse surrounded by mock bodyguards.

For all the latest World News, download Indian Express App now</s>Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic claimed he had won presidential election held in Serbia on Sunday, Sputnik reported.

The news comes as the Central Election Commission said earlier in the day that Vucic is winning the presidential election with 59.79 percent of votes after processing of more than 10 percent of the ballots.

“It was important that the victory had to be crystal-clear. So that nobody could think something. The margin is significant,” Vucic said addressing to his supporters in Belgrade.

He also said that the new government would be formed within next two months.

Vucic is the ruling coalition's candidate and the main favorite of the election.

Other notable candidates are independent candidates Sasa Jankovic, Vuk Jeremic, and Luka Maksimovic (also known as Ljubisa Beli Preletacevic), as well as Serbian Radical Party’s head Vojislav Seselj.

The second round of election is scheduled for April 16, provided that none of the hopefuls gets 50 percent of votes.
Voters in Serbia go to the polls for an election, which Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić of the conservative Serbian Progressive Party is expected to win. In projections, Vučić gets around 55% of the votes, avoiding a second round.