Serbia Elects Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic as President

Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, a former ultranationalist now a declared pro-European Union politician, is slated to win the presidency by a high margin against 10 opposition candidates, including a parody candidate who is mocking the country's political establishment.

The crowd gathered after calls on social media claimed Vucic has rigged the Sunday vote which gave him an overwhelming victory against a string of opposition candidates.

A girl shouts slogans against Prime Minister Vucic, during a protest in Belgrade, Serbia, Tuesday, April 4, 2017. Around 6.7 million voters in Serbia choose a.

The result marked a political humiliation for opposition parties. The Serbs elected their president.

Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic won Serbia's presidency in the first round, almost complete official results showed Monday, enabling him to push forward with his plan to lead the Balkan country into the European Union.

"Mr. Vucic supports this [development of relations with Russia] and therefore, of course, we are impressed that he has managed to secure victory in the election", Peskov said.

"I am very proud of the fact that we have won the overwhelming trust of the citizens of Serbia".

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

When asked by reporters whether Putin's support for Vucic had helped him win the election, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov replied: "Putin did not elect the president of Serbia". The move triggered fears of an arms race in the war-weary Balkans.

Serbia's Prime Minister Alexandar Vucic was victorious in the presidential election, held on Sunday, with 55.13 percent of the votes after 91.39 percent of ballots were counted.

Presidential candidate Luka Maksimovic, alias Beli Preletacevic, casts his ballot at a polling station in Mladenovac near Belgrade on April 2, 2017.

Official results from the election are not expected until at least Monday.

The second round of election is scheduled for April 16, provided that none of the hopefuls gets 50 percent of votes.

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksander Vucic is taking inspiration from Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Mr. 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 opposition has claimed major election irregularities, including muzzling of the media, intimidation and bribing voters.

"After this (vote) nothing in Serbia will be the same any longer", Jankovic said after voting with his family in Belgrade.