Pro-EU Serbs claim poll victory but face challenge

By Douglas Hamilton

BELGRADE (Reuters) - Serbia's pro-European Union president, Boris Tadic, claimed victory over his nationalist rivals in a parliamentary election on Sunday but fell short of a majority and faced an immediate challenge.

The independent monitoring organisation CESID, citing projections of the outcome, said Tadic's Democratic Party and its smaller allies would take 39 percent of the vote.

The Radical Party of hardline nationalist Tomislav Nikolic was running second with 29 percent, it said.

The election was fought on whether Serbs should swallow their anger over EU support for the independence of Kosovo, the Serb province which seceded in February, or turn their backs on the bid for EU membership, Tadic's top priority.

"Serbs have undoubtedly confirmed a clear European path for Serbia," Tadic told supporters at his Democratic Party headquarters. The idea that a nationalist-led government could still take power was unacceptable, he said.

Democratic Party supporters celebrated to fireworks and rock music in the streets outside the party's Belgrade headquarters, but Nikolic quickly disputed the claim of victory.

"There exist very clear possibilities of a coalition which does not include the Democratic Party," he told supporters.

He accused Tadic of a "grave violation of the constitution" by ruling out a coalition of nationalist parties, which collectively were close to a majority of seats.