Serbia: Vucic sweeps presidential, parliamentary, local polls

By Talha Ozturk

BELGRADE, Serbia (AA) - President Aleksandar Vucic and his Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) swept Sunday’s presidential, parliamentary, and local elections, according to election authorities.

The Serbian Republican Election Commission said on Monday that nearly 95% of the votes had been counted in the presidential polls.

Vucic was reelected with 58.65% of the vote, easily more than the 50% needed for victory in round one, while second-place Zdravko Ponos trailed far behind with 18.25%.

In parliamentary elections, Vucic's Together We Can Do Everything coalition is leading with 42.95% of the votes based on 95.14% of the votes counted.

The alliance is expected to get 120 seats in the 250-seat parliament.

Meanwhile, the United for Serbia's Victory won 37 seats and the Socialist Party of Serbia won 32.

Vucic's SNS will retain power in almost all the municipalities where local elections were held.

Vucic thanked all the people who voted for him.

"Many thanks to the citizens of Serbia. I want to thank all the wonderful people who gave us support, great love, and to say that I am proud of our campaign, which was the cleanest and most beautiful in the history of Serbia,” Vucic said in a video on social media.

Vucic also got congratulations from numerous world officials, including French President Emanuel Macron, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Czech President Milos Zeman, Bulgaria President Rumen Radev, and Croatian President Zoran Milanovic.