Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic has declared a "historic triumph" of his Progressive Party (SNS) in early parliamentary elections, promising keep the country on its course to European Union. 
"Serbia will continue on its European path and we'll try to accelerate it," Vucic told supporters gathered in the SNS headquarters. "There is no compromising with that". 
Vucic called the elections two years early, saying that he wants a full four-year mandate to allow time for EU membership talks and reforms. 
Vucic claimed that his party won more than 50 per cent of the votes, after taking 48 per cent two years ago and 158 of the 250 seats in parliament. "It is a historic result," he said. 
According to projections by the CeSID election-monitoring agency, however, the SNS won 49 per cent of the votes, but the number of the seats may yet swing significantly. 
Three small parties hovered around the 5-per-cent mark, the minimum they must win to claim seats. The more parties enter the legislature, the fewer votes are left over for redistribution, which gives the SNS the lion's share as clear winners. 
Socialist Party (SPS), the junior partner in the outgoing government coalition and the party of Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic, came in second, projected at 11.6 per cent of the votes.

Source: QNA